Mel Tucker was ready. His Michigan State football team had just delivered a statement win, rallying from 16 points down to beat rival Michigan 37-33. The Spartans had soared to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll and would be unveiled at No. 3 in the season’s first College Football Playoff rankings. And their […]
One way to measure the tacit respect a football offense has for a defensive player is to monitor how frequently the ball is schemed away from him. For example, it takes only a few snaps to recognize that Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux is respected by his opposition. When the 6-foot-5, 258-pound, likely future No. […]
Defensive ends and outside linebackers tasked with harassing the opposing quarterback are among the most physically imposing players in the NFL. Weighing 260 pounds on average, the current crop of NFL edge rushers is full of athletic marvels. Cleveland Browns defensive end and former first overall pick Myles Garrett has the physique of a pro […]
In this space a week ago, I detailed how Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs is enduring the first bona fide slump of his entire career. Up until Week 8 of this season, Mahomes had gone an incredible 61 straight starts to begin his career without stringing together so much as two back-to-back below-average […]
The Baltimore Ravens are 6-2, at least a game ahead of every AFC North rival and a half-game behind the Tennessee Titans in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed. If they just keep playing the same way they’ve played their first eight games, they could be on track to finish with a 9-8 […]