1. Health. There are a few guys whose loss would instantly remove us from contention, guys like Stafford, Whit, Kupp, AD, and Ramsey. And quite a few who would badly hurt our chances like CB, Fuller, Floyd, Allen, etc. So we need things to go our way on health to get there.
2. Improvement on defense. Every team that draws us in the playoffs will have the same gameplan: sustain drives and eat clock on offense to keep Stafford and company off the field, and on defense hold us to field goals. That is the model for playing explosive offensive teams going way back in this league. So they need to improve their ability to get off the field, i.e. their third down conversion rate, at a minimum to be that last team standing.
We're in a very nice place right now. Offense looks fantastic, they can march downfield one first down at a time if they need to, they can run the ball well to eat clock or convert downs, or beat teams over the top and get quick strikes for points. Defense has to improve. If it does we have an outstanding chance to get that Lombardi this year.
