When you reflect on where the top 14 picks have wound up, it might be safe to say that there’s never been an NFL draft like the 2007 NFL draft. It feels like just yesterday the Oakland Raiders took JaMarcus Russell first overall. And while so much has happened in the last nine years, it’s […]

If indeed Marshawn Lynch is done playing, he’s retiring at a bad time. Not only are running backs less valued now than ever before, but Lynch might be forced to become Hall of Fame-eligible at the same time as Peyton Manning and Calvin Johnson. So the former Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks running back won’t […]

On Sunday, Super Bowl 50 will very likely be decided based primarily on what Wade Phillips top-rated Denver Broncos defense can do to slow down the NFL’s highest-scoring offense and its MVP quarterback. Exactly two years prior to that, I wrote a post right here asking how in the world Phillips was unemployed. It made […]

The Carolina Panthers stand as a 5.5-point favorite for Super Bowl 50. Facts surrounding that line… If that holds up, it’ll be the first time we’ve ever had a 5.5-point Super Bowl spread. The Cowboys were a 6-point favorite when they beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI, ditto for when they beat the Broncos in […]

It works for the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. Why not the NFL? Why can’t professional football spruce up its all-star festivities by adopting a mid-season all-star weekend? At this point, dramatic change couldn’t hurt. Nobody in the industry actually likes the Pro Bowl, and television ratings for the dull annual event have dropped […]

Wondering why the Detroit Lions don’t seem to be publicly stumping for Calvin Johnson’s return? It might have something to do with the fact the star wide receiver would cost the Lions upwards of $16 million if he were to decide not to retire after all. Frankly, when you consider that Johnson’s rate-based statistics have […]

All signs suggest Calvin Johnson is retiring at the age of 30. Will it stick? It did when Barry Sanders did the same thing in the same city at the same age 20 years ago, but we’ve seen waffling from other “retired” superstars in the NFC North. But even if Johnson does walk away for […]

There’s a chance the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot could be one of the most intriguing we’ve had in years in terms of newly-eligible candidates. That’s because there’s a growing belief that surefire first-ballot quarterback Peyton Manning will retire after this year’s Super Bowl, and Manning might not be the only active star […]

Great players make those around them better. For proof, look no further than the impact inevitable 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton has had on journeyman receiver Ted Ginn. The 30-year-old Ginn has changed teams five times in nine NFL seasons, but the two best statistical seasons of his career have taken place in Carolina with […]

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has won four Super Bowls, which is tied for the most in NFL history. But he’s also lost two of them and has been defeated in three of his last four AFC title game appearances. In the last decade, he’s 3-4 in the AFC championship game, with three of […]

During the regular season, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer was a legitimate MVP candidate. The 36-year-old, who led the NFL by a wide margin with a yards-per-attempt average of 8.7, was having a career year. And considering that he entered the playoffs supported by a top-notch receiving corps, a great running game and a stellar […]

This weekend in NFL stupid, we’re actually going to take you back three weeks to Jan. 3, 2016 — the final Sunday of the 2015 regular season. That’s because it was on that day when Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots rather inexplicably conceded the top spot in the AFC to the Denver Broncos […]