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The Ravens got past the Bengals, but they still have problems to fix
Through five games, it is quite clear that the Baltimore Ravens do not have the best roster in the NFL. Their pass protection is not elite, their receiving corps is at best young and feisty, at worst inexperienced and lacking depth. They even had to sign Jason Pierre-Paul after the start of the regu...

NFL Week 5 Takeaways: The NFC East, for once, is nowhere near the least — except for Washington of course
Most people who pay close attention to the NFL knew that 2022 was going to be a down year for the NFC. The conference with Kyler Murray, Matthew Stafford, and the aging greats — Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady — as its best quarterbacks has a clear lower level of talent at the position than what is in t...

Picking our MLB American League award winners
The 2022 MLB season is coming to a close today and here at Deadspin, we decided that despite the fact that we will likely never, ever, get to actually vote on awards — let alone get credentials — we’d still offer up our take. It’s not like the infallible BBWAA has ever been wrong with its picks befo...

Week 4 NFL Most and Least Valuable Players: Baker Mayfield watched Patrick Mahomes’ transcendent talent from the NFL cellar
Justin Jefferson’s 10 catches for 147 yards in London buoyed the Vikings’ win over New Orleans, Saquon Barkley once again took on multiple duties in the Giants’ zero-quarterback offense and Seattle’s Geno Smith earned the weekend’s highest pass-rating, but in Kansas City’s resounding win, Patrick Ma...

Baseball cares not for your plans, especially when you’re the New York Mets
History will record it as another case of Mets-ian fortune. A Mets team that still might win 100 games blowing the NL East on the last weekend of the season. A Mets team that at one point was 10.5 games ahead of the Braves. A Mets team that really only had to win one game of three in White Flight Co...

NFL Week 4: Are backup QBs better than we give them credit for?
America loves an underdog story, but the betting public hates backup quarterbacks. Despite the Cowboys going 2-0 with Cooper Rush filling in for Dak Prescott, Dallas is seeing only 16.7 percent of bets placed on them to take down their division rivals, the Washington Commanders on Sunday....

Why it’s easy to feel good about this Jags team
The Jacksonville Jaguars shocked the NFL world this past Sunday when they not only defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, but absolutely molly-whopped them 38-10. Yes, Keenan Allen was out. Yes, Justin Herbert was working through a rib injury. But no one was expecting this type of beatdown. This was a D...

NFL Week 3 Powerless Ranking: Fear and losing in Las Vegas
It’s time to check in on the teams that can’t get out of their own way. The first few weeks of the 2022 NFL season have been somewhat unpredictable, but there are always a few teams we expect to disappoint their fan base. Now let’s get into the powerless ranking for Week 3....

Offense was nonexistent for the 49ers and Broncos on Sunday Night Football
The San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos totally mailed in the offense on Sunday Night Football. Even for the few fans (like myself) that still enjoy a defensive battle at times, it was hard to focus on this game. The passing games were despicable for both teams, and Jimmy Garoppolo made his best ...

Cooper Kupp’s dominance knows no bounds as he continues to set NFL records for the Rams
The 2022 NFL season has gotten off to a slow start for the Los Angeles Rams. LA was pummeled by the Buffalo Bills in the season opener, 31-10. The Rams haven’t looked great all-around, but the one constant has been Cooper Kupp’s production. In Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals, Kupp could become ...

Here’s the one area the dominant Buffalo Bills sorely need to improve
The Buffalo Bills have been the plow, while their first and their first two 2022 opponents — the Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans — have been the snow. Both were pushed up and down the field with great ease as the preseason Super Bowl favorites have looked like that assessment was well deserved...

Kirk Cousins’ Monday nightmare
In a weak NFC, the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles soundly defeated their Week 1 opponents. They linked up in Philadelphia for a primetime matchup last night....

Are we done being salty about the Astros yet?
Last night, the Astros clinched their fifth AL West title out of the last six. And that one they missed was the 2020 season, which basically doesn’t count. So for all intents and purposes, this is their fifth straight division title. Currently, that’s the longest streak in the majors, as the Dodgers...

Yordan Alvarez would like you to know that play time is over
There are less than 20 games left for each MLB team, and a lot of fan bases have already switched to football mode. When you mix that with these home runs races — Aaron Judge mashing balls toward the Yankees franchise record, and Albert Pujols trying to reach career home run No. 700 — it’s easy to f...

NFL Week 2: Bears, Texans are favorites among underdog bets
After a Week 1 that saw bettors nail their underdog pick of the week — Chicago over San Francisco — gamblers are riding the hot hand and rolling with Da Bears once again in Week 2 to take down their “owner” Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. However, this time the Bears aren’t alone, they’ve g...

Jaylen Watson's pick-6 is on Brandon Staley, not Justin Herbert
Last night’s Chargers-Chiefs game was fantastic, a display of two of the best young talents in the game at quarterback. Ultimately, the Chiefs walked away with the 27-24 victory, proving that the road to an AFC West title still runs through Kansas City....

TNF Week 2: Chiefs offense must flow through Travis Kelce for a KC win
I know several fans might be inclined to think this Thursday Night Football game will be lower scoring than we’re anticipating. L.A.’s Keenan Allen was ruled out, and this will be the first time in the Justin Herbert era that the Chiefs will be without Tyreek Hill. However, in case last week wasn’t ...

With Justin Herbert at the helm, can the Chargers change the hierarchy of power in the AFC West?
As someone who prefers Marvel comics to DC — you can like both but every nerd has a favorite child — I find DC’s attempt to replicate Marvel Studios’ somewhat coherent movie IP charming. Really, really bad and borderline unwatchable, but charming nonetheless. So when I see The Rock announce that “Th...

What are the odds? Try zero
In his NFL head coaching debut, Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett’s pall extended beyond football notoriety. On the same night Quinta Brunson accepted her Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series over the still body of Jimmy Kimmel, Hackett played dead during what should have been ...

Week 1’s most and least valuable players
Saquon Barkley had never won a season opener in the NFL prior to Sunday. If it weren’t for his 24 touches and 194 yards from scrimmage, Barkley would be starting an NFL season in a 0-1 hole for the fifth time in his career. Instead, Barkley’s high usage day kept the New York Giants afloat in their 2...