Jared Goff ain't winning a Super Bowl this year or ever. As great as the NFL is week to week in-season because anything can and often does happen, the postseason is more and more reserved for a select group of teams with star quarterbacks. 2015 seems like a million years ago, and Foles playing like a superstar during the Eagles' 2017 run is the outlier of outliers. Otherwise, the Brady-ization of the NFL means teams are rarely if ever going to win a Super Bowl without a star behind center.*
*Granted, it doesn't seem like the usual suspects are as dominant. In the AFC, Mahomes' receivers can't catch, Burrow is done for the season and Allen's heroics couldn't get the Bills to the big game even before the rest of the team fell apart. That leaves an opening for a team like Jacksonville, and Lawrence is a star, even if it is taking him a little longer than expected to prove it. Perhaps the Ravens could back into a SB berth, although I wouldn't count on Lamar to lead ants to a picnic (he does fit the star narrative, though). In the NFC, I don't see how any team other than the Eagles or Niners ends up in the Super Bowl. Now, you might point to the Niners and Purdy to disprove my theory, but I would argue that him winning a Super Bowl would prove how good he really is, not that he's a system guy who backed into a ring. This is a passing league, and I don't think you can hide your quarterback (full circle!) through a SB victory. Makes next week's matchup very interesting. If he holds his own against the Eagles, I'm on the bandwagon. If he doesn't, then I wouldn't bet on the Niners getting out of the NFC.