Analysis: Omicron looms ominously over NFL's playoff races

Updated Dec. 28, 2021 2:49 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Quick, who's your favorite team's backup quarterback? Or the backup's backup? Who's their best pass rushing proxy? Fill-in cover cornerback? What about the substitute snapper or the stand-in blindside protector?

Who is, as coaches like to say, the next man up?

Now's a good time to get to know the bottom of your roster and even the practice squad.

With COVID-19's

Plenty of teams were hamstrung in Week 16 while missing key players at key positions.

The Broncos saw their playoff chances dive to less than 1 percent with

Without starting center Lloyd Cushenberry III, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Broncos managed a mere 18 yards rushing on 16 carries, including minus-4 from Melvin Gordon, the worst performance in his 96-game career.

The Lions, Giants and Ravens also lost with backup quarterbacks Sunday.

Tim Boyle started for Detroit, with Jared Goff in COVID-19 protocols. He

The Eagles moved into playoff position in the NFC

The Ravens, who were running away with the AFC North a month ago at 8-3, lost their fourth straight game Sunday in Cincinnati, where both teams' QBs made history.

Joe

Only three QBs in NFL history have thrown for more yards in a game. But Burrow was more interested in what the final score — 41-21 — meant for his team, which took over first place in the AFC North with two games left.

“We control our destiny," Burrow said. "Win these next two games, and we’ve got the division locked.”

Burrow broke Boomer Esiason’s team record of 522 yards. Only Norm Van Brocklin (554 yards), Warren Moon (527) and Matt Schaub (527) have thrown for more yards in a game.

With Lamar Jackson out with an ankle injury and backup Tyler Huntley on the COVID-19 list, Josh Johnson — signed as a free agent 10 days earlier — started at quarterback for the Ravens (8-7) and threw for 304 yards and two TDs.

Although Johnson became the first player since 2016 to throw a touchdown pass for multiple teams in the same season — he had three TD tosses for the Jets earlier this year — the Ravens found themselves on the AFC playoff bubble hoping to get key players back from injuries and the COVID-19 list for their final two games, against the Rams and Steelers.

“It’s just challenging circumstances all the way around,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “... You want to be full strength. You always strive to be full strength with what you have, but that isn’t how the world works. That’s not the world we live in all the time."

The Vikings were missing star running back Dalvin Cook for their

COVID-19 threw a wrench into the Chargers' playoff plans in a game featuring lineups that looked more like an exhibition game in August than a post-Christmas matchup.

The Chargers (8-7) had more than a dozen players sidelined due to COVID-19, including pass rusher Joey Bosa, running back Austin Ekeler and receiver Mike Williams.

The Texans were missing 16 players, including top receiver Brandin Cooks and kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, but

Although other teams overcame absences to win their games, the omicron variant looms ominously with the dawn of each new day as 2021 winds down.

The

Both Kansas City and Buffalo managed to win with a bevy of backups, but the playoffs are fast approaching and teams and fanbases alike can only pray that infections and injuries don't waylay their championship aspirations.

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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi and AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy contributed to this report.

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