NFL Blitz Bracket Elite Eight gives us the Patriots vs. Raiders matchup we deserve

Derek Carr’s broken leg didn’t just sink the Raiders’ AFC title hopes. It also struck a nerve for football fans everywhere who were sick of seeing the Patriots swarm to the Super Bowl like a cloud of indifferent locusts.

Oakland represented the conference’s best title contender outside of Foxborough, but any title hopes slipped away when Carr crumpled to the turf in Week 16. Without their MVP-candidate quarterback, the Raiders conceded the AFC West to the Chiefs before suffering the ignominious fate of losing a postseason game to Brock Osweiler.

Fortunately for them, the Blitz Bracket doesn’t care about injuries. The great thing about video game rules is they take each player at his best. That means that not only is Carr without question marks, but his new tight end Jared Cook is a) going to be around for every game and b) one of the game’s better red-zone threats thanks to its size and athleticism.

Will that be enough to dethrone the top-seeded Patriots in the bracket’s quarterfinals? Here’s where the Elite Eight stands: It features the league’s top quarterbacks and also Philip Rivers.

Needless to say, things get tricky here. There are no more Alex Smiths or Bryce Pettys to make matchups an easy call. If you picked any of these teams at the arcade, you’d be able to feel good about your chances of victory. The best may be an NFC Championship rematch between the Cowboys and Packers, which pits Dallas’ big three (Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant) against a Green Bay team whose offense just got even more dangerous by adding Martellus Bennett.

Blitz offenses are predicated on passing, which means an overlooked runner like White is still a major asset thanks to his ability to rewrite Super Bowl records in the receiving game. The Raiders have the edge at WR1 and are competitive at every other position, but that’s not enough to stop the league’s top offense. New England advances based on its “no weak links” roster.

Winner: Patriots.

The Packers dropped 34 points on the Cowboys in a Divisional Round victory back in January. Now they’ve got Bennett on the roster instead of the aforementioned Cook, who made one spectacular play in that postseason showdown but also several forgettable ones. Dallas is one of the toughest competitors in the bracket. Elliott’s versatility as a receiver out of the backfield is the perfect counter for blitz-heavy defenses.

Unfortunately, that’s not enough to make up for the gaps between Cobb and Beasley and a healthy Bennett and an aging Witten. Green Bay earns another win here.

Winner: Packers.

Much of the Chargers’ Cinderella run through the bracket has been the promise of an ideal-version Keenan Allen. His 1,000-yard rookie year was electric, but his best year may have been 2015 when he upped his catch rate and was on pace to cover 1,450 yards through the air before injury stripped him of his season. His All-Pro potential was enough to buoy a roster that’s otherwise just “pretty good.” Tyrell Williams and Melvin Gordon proved their worth last fall but aren’t quite reliable stars yet.

Even a full-strength Allen can’t carry Los Angeles past the NFC champs. Matt Ryan throws to a double-covered Julio Jones all game, who manages to make catches despite being tackled while the ball is still in the air because he’s just that inexplicably good.

Winner: Falcons.

The Saints’ run to the Final Four hits a roadblock by way of the Steelers, who boast the top QB/RB/WR combination in the tournament. New Orleans has the deeper roster here, but it’s not enough to overcome the talent deficit created by Pittsburgh’s All-Pro playmakers. A narrow Steeler victory locks in a Final Four that features all four top seeds.

Booooooo.

Winner: Steelers.

After 28 games, here are the survivors of the first three rounds of the Blitz Bracket:

The least capable quarterback remaining is Ben Roethlisberger, a man who has guided the Steelers to two NFL titles. The least qualified tailback is either Super Bowl hero James White or Green Bay’s dual-threat back Ty Montgomery. That’s a lot of firepower for a game hell-bent on turning every quarter into a shootout.