mat Page 8 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

In college coaching, it’s better to have a <i>Succession</i> plan than deal with a surprise retirement
So much about sports is often about who’s next. But ironically, over the last few years, we’ve seen how multiple team’s inability to look to the future in one certain area has hurt more than it’s helped. From Nick Saban and Jay Wright to what Tom Izzo has recently shared, it’s clear that focusing on...

Can the Bruins win without any centers?
The Boston Bruins are the perfect team in the NHL to have the eternal-long fatalism vs. determinism debate. They sit atop the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference once again, just as they did last year. Just as last year, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are two of the best players in the league...

It’s time to give Jordan Love and the Packers their flowers
Wild Card Weekend in the NFL is a wrap and while it wasn’t as exciting as billed, it did lead to some shocking moments. One of the biggest happened in Dallas where the Packers came through like a tornado and tossed the Cowboys around like rag dolls. Everyone has been focused on the Cowboys getting o...

All the remaining NFL playoff teams, ranked
Anything can happen in the playoffs, and I mean anything. In just the wild-card round alone, we saw:...

2023 NFL postseason passing yards leaders
See how Patrick Mahomes, Justin Jefferson, and other top NFL players performed this season — check out more Deadspin NFL Stats below:...

They thought Matt Patricia was an answer
When you’re turning to Matt Patricia, it’s obvious you’re out of answers. You may not even know the questions....

Maple Leafs have unexpected problem; Winnipeg surprises everyone; Hockey players & psychologists?
It’s hard to be an afterthought for an NHL team in Canada, and yet it kind of feels like the Winnipeg Jets are one. They’re not grouped with either of the other blocks. They aren’t near Toronto or Montreal in the Atlantic Division, and even the Ottawa Senators get more shine from being caught betwee...

NFL teams ripe for an upset; Aaron Rodgers is still a dolt; So is Jameis Winston; All the coaches & GMs who got axed
After 18 weeks of grueling NFL action, we’ve made it to Wild-Card Weekend and the first round of the postseason. We often hear the term “must-win” during the regular season, but once a team makes it this deep into January, every game is truly a must-win scenario. Like any other week, there’s always ...

Bill Belichick tried to eff around without a first-class Tom Brady clone and found out
From the beginning, Bill Belichick flaunted the egalitarian team culture he sought to establish in New England. Before they took the field for Super Bowl XXXVI, the St. Louis Rams’ Show on Turf offensive starters followed tradition by exiting the dimly lit tunnel one by one by one into the spotlight...

These are the biggest flops of the 2023 NFL season
The NFL is a small-sample league. Before you can even blink, 18 games have flown by and we’re left trying to make sense of everything that happened. It means that luck can play a massive part in whether a team succeeds or fails, with a few bounces of the ball defining the entire story for an entire ...

Revenge is a dish best served in the NFL playoffs
According to Christopher Wallace’s definition, beef is when you need two gats to go to sleep; when your moms ain’t safe up in the streets; when I see you, guaranteed to be an ICU; when you make your enemies, start your Jeep; and when you roll no less than 30 deep. While I don’t know how many of this...

These are the teams most likely to suffer upsets during NFL's Wild-Card Weekend
After 18 weeks of grueling NFL action, we’ve made it to Wild-Card Weekend and the first round of the postseason. We often hear the term “must-win” during the regular season, but once a team makes it this deep into January, every game is truly a must-win scenario. Like any other week, there’s always ...

The NFL’s Black coaches are turning Wild-Card Weekend into a diversity showcase
There’s one storyline the NFL hasn’t highlighted heading into the postseason, and that’s probably for legal reasons. At least, I can’t imagine the league’s attorneys would advise them to showcase its entire roster of Black head coaches making the playoffs, considering Brian Flores’ lawsuit is still ...

Every team in the NFL playoffs, ranked
The NFL playoffs are officially set. All the ups and downs, laughs and years, improbable comebacks and unprecedented collapses, none of those mean anything now. All that’s left is a four-week sprint to immortality. ...

Who had Pete Caroll on their fired NFL coaches bingo card?
Pete Carroll will no longer be the Seattle Seahawks head coach, and instead serve in an advisory role with the franchise, owner Jody Allen announced Wednesday....

The Bears once again do the minimum in the most backward way possible
To make it clear right at the top, here are all the things Matt Eberflus was allowed to do to keep his job: Completely waste training camp, except getting pretty much half the team hurt. “Mr Track Shoes” didn’t have his team ready to start the season, starting 0-4 and looking bewildered while doing ...
![San Francisco 49ers fire DC Steve Wilks after Super Bowl LVIII loss [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/1ef4ca96da9eb6ed7f574e0392ed764f.jpg)
San Francisco 49ers fire DC Steve Wilks after Super Bowl LVIII loss [Updated]
It’s one of the toughest times of the NFL calendar. The end of the regular season has been unofficially dubbed “Black Monday” for the head coaches, general managers, and coordinators who will ultimately lose their jobs. In some cases, a relationship has simply run its course, and a business-driven l...

Pat McAfee lets Aaron Rodgers spout more garbage on today's show
After a week of controversy, New York Jets signal-caller Aaron Rodgers was welcomed back to The Pat McAfee Show with applause and a standing ovation from its host. (To be fair, McAfee is always standing, though at least he’s wearing sleeves today.) ...

Patriots may bring back another failed HC if Bill Belichick stays
Another former member of the New England Patriots coaching staff who couldn’t succeed when out on his own may return if the team elects to keep Bill Belichick on as head coach....
