Long before the word “goat” became capitalized, mnemonic-ized and internet-ized into “GOAT” it meant something very different. The “goat” — or “scapegoat” — was the person to blame for a loss, the one remembered for all the wrong reasons. Think Leon Lett. Think Bill Buckner. Think, literally, “The Curse of the Billy Goat” that supposedly plagued the Cubs for decades. Jackie Smith — a Hall of Fame tight end who played for 16 years — dropped a ball in Super Bowl XIII, and guess what’s the first thing that Google suggests when you search his name?

Now we have the “GOAT” — greatest of all time, though that’s thrown around loosely. A single clutch performance can turn a good player into a legend. Think Dwight Clark, a two-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro now immortalized with a statue, thanks to “The Catch.” The examples span far and wide, but nearly every franchise has its goats and its GOATs, even if they only earned those titles for one notable play. Remember “The Helmet Catch” from David Tyree?

Postseasons, of course, are where legends are made, good or bad. This NFL postseason will be no different. Here are 10 NFL players who could be remembered forever, one way or the other, for what they do in the coming weeks.

(NOTE: There are no quarterbacks on this list, because every quarterback is an easy GOAT or goat candidate. That’s football.)

Detroit’s speedy wideout has grown leaps and bounds in his third NFL season. Williams hardly played as a rookie returning from a major knee injury, and his up-and-down second season featured explosive plays but also drops and a suspension for gambling. It was as tantalizing as it was frustrating.

This year, Williams went over 1,000 receiving yards and scored eight total touchdowns. His 17.3 yards per reception were most of any 1,000-yard receiver. The Lions used him in a variety of ways, and he, for the most part, has delivered.

It’s the “for the most part” that is scary. Williams is still a boom-or-bust player, and while he has been much better not dropping the ball (just three all season), a couple of his drops have been on potential big plays. There’s certainly a scenario where Williams wins deep in a big situation, and whether or not he converts will loom large.

The Commanders made the biggest splash of the trade deadline acquiring Lattimore, a four-time Pro Bowler with the Saints. But the feisty, talented cornerback has played just two games since joining Washington; he was nursing a hamstring injury when he arrived, and he aggravated it in a win over the Eagles just before Christmas. He hasn’t played since, but is expected back against the Buccaneers.

That leads to the elephant in the room: Mike Evans. Lattimore and Evans, it’s safe to say, do not like one another.

In the teeny, tiny sample size Lattimore was on the field, opposing quarterbacks had a 58.6 quarterback rating. When he hasn’t been on the field, that number is 103.8. Lattimore alone has allowed just five completions on 13 pass attempts as the primary defender in his short time in the nation’s capital. With him not on the field, Washington uses Benjamin St.-Juste, who is tied for the league lead in coverage penalties (seven) and is Pro Football Focus’ 113th-ranked cornerback (out of 116). Safe to say, there’s a lot riding on Lattimore’s shoulders … and hamstring.

Yes, a kicker. But not just any kicker. It’s Justin Tucker, whose name and reputation are vastly different from his performance this season. His 73.3% field goal percentage is 36th out of 44 players who attempted at least one field goal, and he went just 6 for 11 from 50 yards or more. He missed two field goals in a two-point loss to the Steelers. He missed two field goals and an extra point in a five-point loss to the Eagles. Against the best teams in the playoffs, where every point looms large, the Ravens can ill afford a similar performance.

We could have gone any number of ways for the Steelers, who are the first team riding a four-game losing streak into the postseason since the 1999 Lions. But Pickens is the guy who brings Pittsburgh’s offense closest to its best, a guy whose talent is truly irreplaceable. The mercurial wide receiver has four catches (on 13 targets) for 50 yards and zero touchdowns since returning from a hamstring injury, and his regular-season finale against the Bengals was … less than inspiring.

Pickens is an elite downfield threat, and because Wilson relies so heavily on the deep ball — a notoriously unreliable source of offense — he needs more from his top receiver.

Bucky Irving has it. Whatever “it” is, the Buccaneers’ rookie tailback — one of my favorite players to watch this season — is just a terrific football player. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, Irving brings a level of physicality that belies those measurements while also providing the juice and explosiveness typical of an undersized ball carrier

Irving was in a timeshare with Rachaad White earlier this season, not a surprise for a fourth-round rookie. Yet as the season progressed, Irving’s talent became undeniable, and his playing time surged. He has played at least half of Tampa Bay’s offensive snaps in six games this season, with five of those coming since Week 11. In those six games, he’s averaging 135 yards from scrimmage per game and has scored five touchdowns.

This season, Irving ranks sixth in yards over expected per rush, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. He handled a season-high 72% snap share in Week 18’s must-win contest against the Saints. All the way back in Week 1, he had 62 yards on just nine carries against the Commanders, who have one of the NFL’s worst rushing defenses. This is finally Irving’s backfield, and he can make a major impact this weekend and potentially beyond.

At his best, Jalen Carter is an absolute game-wrecker on par with any interior defensive lineman in the league. He finished tied for second in tackles for loss (12) and fumbles forced (two) and second in batted passes (six) among defensive tackles this season. Against the Ravens, Carter had a sack, three tackles for loss and eight(!!!) pressures. He also makes splash plays in the run game, using his ridiculous speed/strength/size/suddenness combination to get past blockers in the blink of an eye.

Carter can run a little hot and cold, especially as a run defender, but overall, he has been excellent. One area that could turn him into a goat, though, is penalties. His three unnecessary roughness penalties this year were tied for most in the NFL.

When the Vikings acquired Cam Robinson to fill in for the injured Christian Darrisaw, they were hoping the former Jaguar could provide solid enough play that Darrisaw’s absence — while noticeable — wouldn’t be a massive issue.

Instead, since Week 9, Robinson has allowed five more hurries (35) than any other offensive lineman in the NFL. His 32 pressures allowed over that span are tied for second most, and his 57.5 PFF grade ranks 41st out of 45 qualifying tackles. It’s quietly been one of the more disappointing midseason moves. In Sunday’s loss to the Lions, with the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line, Robinson allowed a career high-tying eight pressures and a sack.

Robinson has had some good games for Minnesota — Week 17 against the Packers, for example — and the Vikings are counting on him bouncing back.

Still encapsulates the Chargers’ feel-good season as a whole. The fifth-round rookie blossomed into the team’s best cornerback, with his ball-hawking traveling from one coast (five interceptions as a senior at Maryland) to the other (four interceptions this season, tied for second most among rookies). He allowed plenty of big plays, but such are the trials and tribulations of a young cornerback. In general, the returns have been overwhelmingly positive, specially considering he often faces the opponent’s top receiver.

That starts with Nico Collins in the wild-card game against the Texans. How Still holds up could go a long way in determining which team advances.

9. Any Bills pass rusher

Insert any name you want. The Bills need someone to bring the heat after the team ranked 23rd in both sack rate and pressure rate this season. Here are some of the candidates:

• Von Miller earned GOAT status in Denver — the team he’ll face to open this postseason — nine years ago when he won Super Bowl 50 MVP. Overall, he had five sacks and two forced fumbles during the playoff run. Six years later, he had four sacks and six tackles for loss in his second Super Bowl run, this time with the Rams. Miller actually had the best pressure rate (16.1%)  — albeit in limited snaps — for Buffalo this season. Was he being saved up for the playoffs?
• Greg Rousseau led the Bills with eight sacks this season, and he has been one of the league’s more effective pressure creators on a per-snap basis over the past three seasons.
• A.J. Epenesa might be the Bills’ best player at creating quick pressures, though it was a somewhat down year after an improved 2023. He’s still looking for his first career playoff sack.
• Ed Oliver is one of the league’s better interior pass rushers. Like Epenesa, he had better numbers last year, but there’s plenty of talent here.

Playing cornerback opposite Patrick Surtain II is a tough ask, because Surtain is so good that teams often avoid throwing at him. Moss has been solid this season, and it’s no coincidence that the Broncos’ pass defense took a dip when he missed time with a knee injury.

Moss returned to a rude awakening in Week 17, though, when he was often on the wrong end of Tee Higgins‘ 11-catch, 131-yard, three-touchdown performance. Cornerback is an inherently volatile position, and there are few if any teams that have the receiving corps the Bengals do. But Moss is going to be plenty busy no matter who he’s facing.