football
Talking about college and professional football daily. Chances are we hate your team.
Four Teams, One Amazing Logjam (AFC North Preview)
Since the 2020 season, the American Football Conference has seen an immense rise in stock. For the longest time, the AFC was the weaker of the two conferences by an immense margin. Now, the AFC is quite beastly. As last season showed us, the core of the conference's strength came from the AFC North. AFC North games have been quite fun to watch lately, especially in the 2023 season. All four teams remained in the race until Week 17, but even then, we saw a rarity. Every team in the AFC North finished with a winning record. Holy moley!
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
The Bills are Screwed, and They Don't Deserve Sympathy (AFC East Preview)
That time is coming, ladies and gentlemen! The NFL season is on the horizon. The month of July is the last month before any NFL games take place of any kind. Also, IMO, this is the month that fans should dive in and start drafting in Fantasy Football. I have my many reasons why I'm excited for the 2024 NFL season, and honestly, one of these reasons will be mention in this story. My original plan was to pick just one team from each of the eight divisions and focus on them only, but I decided to just make it about each of the divisions as a whole and discuss what to expect from each of them. Also, the teams will be listed in reverse standings order, because I cannot end each story with teams we know aren't going anywhere.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 1 Recap: Bonjour
The Canadian Football League season is back, and as usual, I'm here for all of it! I've mentioned this before regarding my CFL fandom; I've been fascinated by Canada's version of the game for a long time, and I finally started watching the CFL back in 2013. Yeah, hard to believe it's been over a decade since I started watching this, and the games are just amazing. The CFL makes the wait for the NFL a lot easier. The NFL has the longest offseason out of the four main leagues, and thankfully, the CFL starts just as the NBA and NHL are about to crown their champions. Sports fans can't live on baseball alone.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
A Look at the Nine Current Minority Coaches in the NFL
Two years ago, I wrote a story about how the NFL has a diversity problem, and boy, did that. At one point after the 2021 regular season, the firing of David Culley and Brian Flores as head coaches left Mike Tomlin, the longtime stalwart, as the only Black head coach in the NFL for a very brief while. Counting Ron Rivera and Robert Saleh, that totaled three coaches of color out of 32. Not even one-eighth of the league at that time.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 13 Recap: One Down, 31 to Go
The month of December is here, NFL fans! That final month that decides who will live on to join the big dance, and who will miss out completely, as well as the teams who will end up with the best draft picks. Week 13 kicked off the final home stretch of the season, and it ended with the Jacksonville Jaguars hosting the Cincinnati Bengals, with the latter actually having a chance to actually move up to the #1 seed in the AFC. The Bengals played their second game without Joe Burrow, and regarding this outing, it was as back and forth as you can get.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
Love Conquers All...Including Mahomes
Are you finally ready to admit that Jordan Love is HIM?! Entering this week, the Green Bay Packers had been on a bit of a mini-roll, beginning with a home win over the Los Angeles Chargers on two weeks prior. Now Love doubters will say, "It's the Chargers, big deal." The Chargers are better than people say they are, but even so, the big test came on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. This was a win we needed and it was against a Lions team that is not like the version we had seen for years. Love knew this, and absolutely dominated the Lions in Motown. A massive win on Thanksgiving against a Lions team who is favored to win the NFC North this season.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
It's That Time Again (Week 13)
Well, NFL fans, we made it! Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now we have reached the final one-third of the season, which takes the season into the pivotal month of December. This is the third year of the 18-week format, and it's the fourth year of the current playoff format that sends seven teams per conference into the postseason--four division winners (East, North, South, West) and three Wild Cards. As a result of this format, only the top seed will receive the conference's first-round bye.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 9 Recap: Nine Months. Top Story - November 2023.
January 2, 2023. We all remember that Monday evening. The Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals faced each other in what was the final Monday night game of the season. Regarding the game and the storyline, it was two teams jockeying for position in the AFC, as they were both in position to possibly take the AFC's #1 seed. This was an important game for both teams, but before the 1st quarter ended, there was suddenly something much, much more important than the game of football.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 21 Recap: Let the Games Begin
For the second straight season, the 21st and final week of the CFL season was full of games that had no bearing on the playoff picture, as everything was settle in Week 20. The Calgary Stampeders nabbed the last spot in this year's playoffs, though it could be said that they got it by default, and once again, the road in the West Division will go through Winnipeg. The remaining three games of the regular season are played for pride, history, and in the case of a pair of teams, practice.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 8 Recap: Bedlam in the Bay Area
Following the San Francisco 49ers' second straight loss, the news broke that Brock Purdy was under concussion protocol, and it actually looked like the Niners would have to start Sam Darnold in their game against the Cincinnati Bengals. As I was fathoming to possibility of seeing the QB who famously said he was seeing ghosts during the last Sunday of Halloween, an update was made that Purdy was good to go.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
History of the NFL Playoffs (Part III: The Merger - 1970-1977)
In 1960, a new league debuted to rival the National Football League, as Lamar Hunt's American Football League served as a formidable foe to the longer standing NFL. Throughout the entire decade, each league had their set of teams and crowned their champions, but the 1966 saw the leagues decide to have their champions play against each other to crown an overall World Champion in pro football. The first-ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15, 1967 and was won by the NFL's Green Bay Packers over the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won the first two games, while the AFL's New York Jets and the aforementioned Chiefs won the next two.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 7 Recap: Just One of Those Days
Last week, the Buffalo Bills were coming off quite a shaky performance. The offense was totally off for the most part, Josh Allen wasn't his usual self, and Tyler Bass missed a pair of field goals. Despite this, they got right back on track in the fourth quarter and won. This has been a regular occurrence for the Bills in recent years. They tend to have what I call, "just one of those days," where very little goes right, and Allen is less than the high level QB we know he is. The Bills either get away with it, or they don't. In the case of last week, they got away with it.
By Clyde E. Dawkins12 months ago in Unbalanced
