Advanced football analysis indicates that it’s difficult to make the playoffs while allowing more points than you score. Prior to this year, 564 teams had made the playoffs since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, and just 46 (8.2 percent) did it with a negative point differential. Of those, just 10 allowed regular-season opponents to outscore […]
After an exhilarating week of games closed out the NFL’s extra-long 2021 regular season, the playoff bracket could deliver another helping of chaos. Most (though not all) of the teams left standing have a decent shot at the Super Bowl, and everyone but the respective No. 1 seeds in each conference will be in action […]
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): The NFL’s 2021 season brought us pure, beautiful chaos from start to finish, and we concluded Sunday night with more of the same. We were on the cusp of the most amazing result in NFL history, in the win-and-you’re-in, tie-and-you’re-also-in matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders. […]
The Cleveland Browns just lost a crucial game they easily could have won, the Baltimore Ravens are a M.A.S.H. unit, the Cincinnati Bengals have been playing over their skis and the Pittsburgh Steelers might not make it to eight wins for the first time since 2003. Three of the AFC North’s four teams have taken […]
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): The Sunday that brought Minshew Mania back to the NFL gave us a little more chaos and a little more clarity. In Week 13, one hapless team (the Houston Texans) was eliminated from playoff contention, while another (the Detroit Lions) got its first win. Does anyone know what happened in […]