national-football-league Page 81 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Mathieu and Hitchens aren’t all too pleased with Chiefs fans right now
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t playing exactly as well as we all thought they would. Through seven weeks, the reigning AFC champions are 3-4, tied for last place in their division, and just not looking like the Chiefs we’ve come to know, love, and/or root against in recent years. Star quarterback Pat...

Week 8 NFL Betting Primer: Best Over/Under, Spread, Teaser and Prop Bets
A 3-1 week or better is always the goal. Fortunately, we were able to reel off another such showing last weekend, this one coming at a crucial time following the one and only below-.500 performance of the year. Let’s shoot for the same result....

NFL Week 8: Hear me out… The winless Lions are not terrible
The Detroit Lions are the last remaining winless team in the NFL. Coincidentally, the Detroit Pistons are the last winless team remaining in the NBA, but that’s irrelevant right now. The fact is that, despite the Lions record starting with a zero, they’re one of the best terrible teams we’ve seen in...

Aaron Rodgers is still the best player in the NFL
Don’t look now, but Aaron Rodgers is the MVP of the NFL — again....
![Someone notify the Nobel Prize committee — this new Rooney Rule is racial equity perfected [sarcasm font]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/bdf0705824e606d94b927a96e8d1f56d.png)
Someone notify the Nobel Prize committee — this new Rooney Rule is racial equity perfected [sarcasm font]
The NFL is continuing its tradition of not doing enough to promote diversity by doubling the Rooney Rule requirement to interview at least two external minority general manager/executive/coordinator candidates. Head coaching slots were already under this rule, but now, along with GM roles, must incl...

Mark Ingram returns to New Orleans, but far gone from his 2017 form
Yesterday, the Houston Texans traded their lead running back, Mark Ingram, to the New Orleans Saints along with a swap of late-round draft picks....

Thursday Night Football, Week 8: Injuries and COVID — it’s beginning to feel like 2020 again
Thursday Night Football has a reputation for being underwhelming. Just look at the seven Thursday games we’ve had thus far this season. Only two were really enticing matchups: Week 1's Cowboys-Bucs and Week 5's Rams-Seahawks. Luckily, in Week 8, we get another thrilling matchup between the 7-0 Arizo...

What will history make of JJ Watt?
“JJ Watt is out with what looks to be a season-ending injury.” ...

Bengals exemplify not overthinking a top draft pick with Ja’Marr Chase
The Cincinnati Bengals had an important decision to make with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Joe Burrow played plenty well enough in 2020 to solidify his place as the Bengals’ franchise quarterback for as long as he is able to play football. In the draft, the Bengals needed to use tha...

NFL owners have a fixer — his name is Roger Goodell
Ray Donovan. Olivia Pope. Roger Goodell. ...

Houston Texans owner Cal McNair is the latest disgrace in the NFL
I’m starting to sense a pattern here....

Those who don't know their history (from earlier in the day) are doomed to repeat it
Banner day for commissioners all around, as Roger Goodell couldn’t wait to get his whole foot in his mouth and possibly brain as well. Goodell announced that the investigation into the WFT’s culture won’t be released publicly other than a summary. This was on the same day, the SAME DAY, that an NHL ...

Pete Carroll finally making some sense — but will it be enough to keep Russ cookin’ in Seahawks kitchen?
Pete Carroll and Seattle Seahawks fans are getting a taste of what life without Russell Wilson could be like if he leaves the franchise. The Seahawks were struggling before Wilson injured his right middle finger in their Week 5 game against the Rams, and they’re now 0-2 without him in the starting l...

I dare you to ask Mike Tomlin about the USC job
On Monday, former USC quarterback Carson Palmer appeared on the Dan Patrick Show. At the end of the interview, Patrick threw in a question about Palmer’s role in USC’s coaching search and it turned into the highlight of the interview. He said that USC is looking at several coaches, and mentioned a n...

Week 7 Rookie QB Rankings: Wilson goes down, Lawrence manages not to lose
We’re coming up on the halfway point of the NFL season, and rookie quarterbacks have been front and center and living up to the hype (Mac Jones), even when they get absolutely no help from their head coach or offensive line (Justin Fields). With that, let’s take a look at how our young wards fared i...

The Mannings are back to try to save a far-from-marquee <em>Monday Night Football</em> matchup
The Manning brothers took a one-fifth season hiatus, but they were back yesterday for the fourth Manningcast of the 2021 NFL Season. Eli and Peyton returned to their respective dens, or basements, or whatever on ESPN2 providing their commentary on a low-scoring Saints-Seahawks Monday Night Football ...

Burrow, Bengals bash Baltimore, Chiefs drop stink bomb on Titans, and Colts go 2021 NBA Playoffs on 49ers
Did you know yesterday was National Tight Ends Day? Of course you did, because no one shut up about it...

Week 7 NFL Powerless Rankings: The Chiefs keep falling, the Jets are real bad
We’re about halfway through the 2021 NFL season, and at this point, we can pretty much separate the serious contenders from the pretenders....

Deshaun Watson is still not on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, and looking into recent NFL history it’s beginning to make sense why
For NFL teams who wish to make a trade, the league calendar has hit the two-minute warning. The deadline is Nov. 2, and this is normally the time where the rumor mill is working non-stop. It’s no different this season, except this is one of those years where one potential trade is dwarfing all other...

Patrick Mahomes takes a vicious hit to the head
Every week, it seems, something happens to remind us just how dangerous it is to play pro football. On Sunday night, it was the Seahawks’ Darren Taylor being back-boarded and carted off the field. This week, it was Patrick Mahomes, the face of the NFL, being helped off the field by his teammates....