Blowouts in sports feel like a dam breaking. The cracks, both apparent and hidden to the naked eye, become larger. The weaknesses even weaker. Until they cripple under the unyielding pressure of water flow and the cracks become gaps, gaps become holes, holes become chasms, and everything is caught in the path of now-freed water. … Read more
The quarterbacks and other stars, like Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce, are sure to grab much of the attention as the NFL has its final four weekend in Kansas City and Philadelphia. For this week’s Football 301 Playbook, we are going to put a spotlight on some of the character actors for this weekend’s theater. … Read more
One of the greatest sports weekends of the year is here to get us going in 2025. The NFL divisional round features teams with either a playoff win under their belt (for the first time in two decades for the Commanders) or are coming off a well-earned bye week as the No. 1 seed. While … Read more
It’s a battle for the No. 1 seed in the NFC! While the rest of the Week 18 NFL schedule leaves much to be desired, Vikings-Lions is as juicy as they come. Two Coach of the Year candidates. Two dangerous offenses with supreme play-callers. Two aggressive defenses that have battled injuries of varying degrees lately. … Read more
The Detroit Lions were looking like a force. It was Dan Campbell’s magnum opus, with an offense hitting body blows against overwhelmed defenses before capping off drives with designer head shots and a defense that snuffed out running games and dared offenses to beat Detroit’s tight man coverage. But the Lions, unfortunately, have suffered from … Read more
It’s wild out west in the NFC. The Seahawks, Cardinals, Rams are all vying to usurp the back-to-back division champion (and preseason conference favorite) 49ers who are currently reeling as they send even more players to the injured reserve. In this week’s playbook, I took a gander at the four teams in the NFC West, … Read more
John and Jim Harbaugh face off as the Ravens take on the Chargers in Los Angeles on Monday Night Football this week. (You can join me and fellow Yahoo Sports NFL writer Charles McDonald for the game in the new Discussion tool in the Yahoo Sports app. Here’s how.) The Chargers are surging behind disciplined … Read more
To say the Washington Commanders have exceeded expectations in 2024 is a wild understatement. At 7-3, they’ve already blown past their preseason betting total of 6.5 wins with seven games to spare. Retread head coach Dan Quinn, at one point seeming more like a consolation prize in the Ben Johnson sweepstakes than a preferred hire, … Read more