Tom Brady is an anomaly. His career defies what we thought was humanly possible for an NFL player, in terms of both on-field success and longevity. Brady was a legend of the game long before he turned 40, but the 44-year-old just keeps going. You don’t have to conduct a statistical analysis to know that […]
In 1997, we hired Sean Payton to be the quarterbacks coach for the Eagles. I actually don’t remember who sourced Sean’s name. It wasn’t me, but a small group of us interviewed him for the job. Ray Rhodes was the Head Coach at the time, and Sean worked under Jon Gruden, who was the Offensive […]
While Sunday’s game between Kansas City and Buffalo demonstrated why both teams are very likely to remain successful for a long time, each team’s success is not just because of the quarterbacks. As exceptional and important as Mahomes and Allen are, Andy Reid and Sean McDermott have also set their teams up for the long-term. […]
The decision to increase the number of teams in the playoffs and the length of the regular season resulted in reducing the number of Wild Card byes to just the top seed in each conference. Many correctly interpreted this change to be an even greater advantage for the teams that earned the week of rest […]
Throwing for 525 yards against Baltimore has served as a catalyst for praising Joe Burrow. But as good as his performance was Sunday, it should not have been necessary for the second-year QB to get the recognition he deserves. People seem to forget how good Burrow was as a rookie prior to getting hurt. This […]
Sunday’s slate included two crucial games that will likely determine division winners. Dallas beat Washington 27-20, increasing their lead in the NFC East to three games. This win essentially guarantees that Dallas will host a playoff game as a division winner. In the AFC North, the Browns defeated the Ravens 24-22 and cut the Ravens’ […]
The 2021 Draft was somewhat anomalous in that there wasn’t a defensive player selected in the top 5 for the first time since 2012. That year, CB Morris Claiborne was the first defender off the board when he was selected by Dallas with the sixth pick. In 2021, Carolina broke the streak of seven consecutive […]
As a term, analytics has become a sort of lightning rod. It is the enemy of some who actively like seeing it proven wrong. In most cases though, this reaction stems from a mischaracterization and lack of understanding about what it is. Hearing the word should not cause blood pressure to rise, nor should it […]
Many of the major points of contention with analytics revolve around running the football. On opposite ends of the spectrum lie those who live by “establishing the run” and those who posit that “running backs don’t matter.” As much as these views diverge, they actually have something in common: they’re both wrong. “Establish the Run” […]
Every week during the NFL season, the 33rd Team will present some of the most interesting Tweets that come across our timeline during Sunday’s action. Here’s the Week 12 rundown: New England has scored on 50% of drives and held opponents scoreless on 73% of drives this season. Both marks lead the NFL through Week […]
