ick Page 209 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Is Eric Bieniemy being held to an unrealistic standard?
Eric Bieniemy’s circuitous route to an NFL head coaching throne has taken him through at least 16 interviews, and the beat goes on. The coaching game of musical chairs is nearing its conclusion once again, and Bieniemy’s only coaching interview during this cycle has been with the Indianapolis Colts....

The cringe factor in Bengals-Chiefs is off the charts
The Cincinnati Bengals are looking for a second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl this weekend, and in their way lies a familiar foe. For the last five years, the road to the Super Bowl has run through the Kansas City Chiefs. Fortunately for the Bengals, they’ve got experience beating the Chiefs. T...

Bettors slightly favor Chiefs despite Joe Burrow's 3-0 record vs. Patrick Mahomes
Joe Burrow is 3-0 against Patrick Mahomes in his career. He’s been so dominant against Cris Collinsworth’s favorite quarterback that Cincinnati Bengals’ players and fans have started referring to the Chiefs’ home stadium, Arrowhead, as “Burrowhead.” Despite this success and confidence from Bengals’ ...

NFL QB candidates for the Daniel Jones ‘Don’t give up on me just yet’ award
One of the biggest stories to come out of a very eventful New York Giants season was the emergence of Daniel Jones. Jones went from not having his option picked up to being nicknamed “Vanilla Vick” and the team most likely franchise tagging him. There are two narratives to come of this development. ...
![Everything we know, right now, about Patrick Mahomes' ankle [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/8af7f38c76e30ae915550ef16e20e6b4.jpg)
Everything we know, right now, about Patrick Mahomes' ankle [Updated]
It’s conference championship week. With only four teams on the NFL schedule this week — the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Cincinnati Bengals — one interesting storyline can dominate the entire conversation leading up to the games. This time, it’s QB Patrick Mahome...

The Sports Nihilist: Like life, defense shouldn’t matter
When someone goes for 85 points in an NBA game this season, please don’t downplay the accomplishment. I know Kobe Bryant’s 81 is immortalized, and Lakers fans don’t have much to keep them warm at night nowadays, so they’ll cling even harder, but it feels like someone is going to approach the modern-...

Another AFC championship loss and the Chiefs’ run will begin to resemble the Pistons of the 2000s
Over the last five years, the Kansas City Chiefs have been the closest thing we’ve seen to a dynasty in the NFL. Having won only one Super Bowl, the clock is ticking on their opportunity to claim the dynasty title. Playing in five consecutive AFC title games is an accomplishment but bringing home ju...

The NFC Championship Game’s weakest links
The Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers have been the NFC’s two-headed monsters all season. For the majority of this season, they’ve been the kaijus of the conference. However, the bigger they are, the harder the fall — and one of these behemoths has to end the weekend with a gaping hole in ...

The AFC Championship Game’s weakest links
A championship-caliber unit is only as strong as its weakest link. Entering Championship Weekend, the rosters are so deep, and refined that it gets tougher to find dents in their armors. These aren’t the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears. The Kansas City Chiefs found a way around their lack of go-to ...

So, a food delivery person walks into a basketball game...
If you aren’t familiar with @FootyScran on Twitter, and judging by their follower count you probably are, you should correct that. It’s a Twitter feed that documents some of the horrors, and the rare joys, that pass as food at various soccer stadiums around the globe. If you think you know what the ...

NFL Coach of the Year: The Good, the Snubbed, and the Bumbling
NFL Coach of the Year finalists are out, and we’re ranking them, plus an added bonus of a couple of snubs and coaches who need to stay as far away as possible from any awards. Some names are expected, and others might surprise you by where they land on the list. ...

Is it the coach or the team?
Determining an NFL head coach’s value is difficult as hell. Sometimes it’s easy, like with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Urban Meyer, or the New York Giants and Brian Daboll. But most of the time, figuring out how much of a team’s success is based more on the coach or the talent on their roster is an...

Sports networks will invest in just about anything before women’s sports — including pickleball
In a sign that ESPN and other networks can choose to devote broadcast hours to new and emerging sports, the American sports cable channel announced that it was adding pickleball to the lineup....

No, we don't need a rule change due to Tony Pollard and Patrick Mahomes' injuries
When it comes to injuries, one of the ways in which the NBA and the NFL have similar dangers are ankle injuries. Harm to that area of the body is why the San Francisco 49ers are currently starting the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft at quarterback in the playoffs, and why Patrick Mahomes completed t...

Lakers need to add more than just Rui Hachimura before the NBA trade deadline
After a pair of scintillating comeback victories over the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies jolted the Los Angeles Lakers back to life, their embattled General Manager Rob Pelinka decided to clock in for the first time this season by finalizing a deal that would acquire Rui Hachimura from...

Top 5 non-QB playmakers remaining in the NFL playoffs
We’re down to the final four teams remaining in the NFL playoffs. One of these teams will make history by winning LVII. All these teams have numerous playmakers, but like anything else, there are always a few who stand out above the rest. So, we’ll rank the top five non-QB playmakers remaining in th...

Fred Warner is the defensive quarterback of our generation
Fred Warner’s role as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive quarterback is to exist as destructive offensive antimatter. Every type of matter in the universe has an antimatter equivalent. Once they make contact, annihilation ensues. Similar physics applies to the gridiron. Warner is a defensive particl...

The remaining four NFL playoff teams — ranked
We’re down to four and they were arguably the NFL’s four best teams all season long — the Bengals, 49ers, Eagles, and Chiefs. For all the offseason shuffling of quarterbacks and coaches, three of the four teams from last year’s conference championship weekend, with the lone exception being the team ...

The Bengals put on the show of the season in Buffalo
The Cincinnati Bengals were a prime regression candidate prior to the beginning of the 2022 NFL season. At 10-7, the main reason they won the AFC North in 2021 was Lamar Jackson’s late-season injury. He went down when the Baltimore Ravens had the best record in the conference at 8-3, and they went w...

Since reboots are what’s hot these days, let’s crank up Cowboys vs. 49ers again
Reboots from the previous millennium are all over television these days. If this is the direction that entertainment is heading, of course the NFL would bring back one of it’s classic programs, the Dallas Cowboys vs. the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs....