Putting rookie quarterbacks in challenging situations is part of what the NFL preseason is all about. There are no real consequences for failure, and the level of competition is high enough such that the experience is both revealing and an opportunity for growth. Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields learned that in his first preseason game […]
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t known for their defense — or if they are, it’s for the wrong reasons. Ranked just 18th in yards per play allowed in the regular season — and with the baby GOAT at quarterback casting a long shadow — the defensive unit is more often seen as a different kind […]
If NFL analytics is a set of festive Russian nesting dolls, the final pea-sized matryoshka is defense. We’re actually pretty good at understanding offensive skill position players at this point. When a quarterback change is made on a team, our models and the betting markets move in response. No Patrick Mahomes? “That’s bad for Kansas […]
Last year’s Miami Dolphins didn’t just have the worst scoring defense in the NFL, they had one of the worst scoring defenses of the past 20 seasons. So it’s no wonder that until cornerback Xavien Howard snagged the Dolphins’ third interception of Patrick Mahomes on Sunday — and the attention of the football-watching world in […]
When the Indianapolis Colts hired Chuck Pagano as head coach, he promised to “Build the Monster”: a perennially tough, hard-nosed team like the one he coached in Baltimore. Through nine games of the 2020 season, the Colts defense has allowed the fewest yards of any defense in the NFL, just the kind of Ravens-esque unit […]