| While we were doing some research on the note in PHILADELPHIA, we saw that the seven of the eight teams that started in business in the AFL in 1960 begin 2025 with exactly 1,000 games played. The exception is the Bills at 999, because of the 2022 cancellation in progress of their game with Cincinnati due to the injury to Demar Hamlin. Of those eight teams, the Chiefs/Texans have the most wins at 547, two more than the Boston/New England Patriots at 545. The Jets/Titans are last at 433, well below the 479 of the Oilers/Titans.- – – The Athletic polled 47 staffers on a variety of questions. Here are several: Which NFL coach will get fired first? Shane Steichen Colts 15.5Mike McDaniel Dolphins 15Brian Daboll Giants 10Kevin Stefanski Browns 3.5 What they said“Shane Steichen. There is plenty of talent on the Indianapolis roster, but if the Colts don’t get consistency from the quarterback position, the losses could pile up and force a move.” — Dane Brugler, NFL Draft analyst “Mike McDaniel. With a tough schedule in their first 11 games before their bye, a quarterback who has availability concerns, a below-average offensive line that lost its best player in the offseason and a questionable defense to boot, this could be a recipe for a firing in their bye week.” — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer “Brian Daboll. Other than perhaps Mike McDaniel, no coach enters with a hotter seat than Daboll, who received a stay of execution midway through a 3-14 finish in 2024. The Giants have a tough early-season schedule, including a matchup with the Chiefs and two with the Eagles in the first eight games. Something tells me Daboll will wait too long before benching Russell Wilson and going with rookie Jaxson Dart.” — Joe Person, Panthers beat writer “Kevin Stefanski. Nothing this offseason has screamed, ‘Cleveland’s going to be better.’ Joe Flacco is not the answer, and Jimmy Haslam may soon decide Stefanski isn’t either.” — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer “Shane Steichen and Kevin Stefanski. Both for the same reason: Their teams will be unable to weather the storm that comes with their shaky quarterback situations.” — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer Which team will be the biggest surprise? Patriots 10Jaguars 6Panthers 5Bears 4Cardinals 3Falcons 3Raiders 3Seahawks 3Jets 2Steelers 2 The New England Patriots had a busy offseason, and voters like the direction of this team under new coach and familiar face Mike Vrabel. The aforementioned uncertainty in Indianapolis and the boost from Hunter’s arrival in Jacksonville gave the Jaguars support among voters as well. What they said“New England Patriots. Huge upgrade with Mike Vrabel, the best coach available in the last hiring cycle. Drake Maye will take a big leap forward.” — Ian O’Connor, columnist “The Patriots will double their win total from last season under Mike Vrabel.” — Zak Keefer, senior writer “Jacksonville Jaguars. The AFC South just always feels like a wide-open division, even though the Houston Texans have been solid for a while and I like C.J. Stroud. But if Liam Coen can work even a little bit of magic with the continually underperforming Trevor Lawrence and two-way star Travis Hunter offers a bit of a jolt, why can’t the Jags sneak up and contend for a division title?” — Jimmy Durkin, NFL managing editor “Jaguars. With the Colts quarterback concerns and the Titans starting a rookie, the AFC South seems ripe for a legitimate challenger to the Texans this year. New head coach Liam Coen has the coaching pedigree and the high-end talent on offense to spark the Jaguars to push for either a wild-card spot or the division. Five of their last six games are against the Titans, Colts and Jets, so they could go on a pretty serious late run.” — Buscaglia “Carolina Panthers. They’ve strengthened both lines over the past two offseasons. If Bryce Young continues improving the way he did at the end of last season, they can compete in an NFC South that lacks a dominant team. Will Carolina make the playoffs? I’m not going that far, but if the Panthers can get out of the gate quickly — their first seven games are against teams with losing records in 2024 — it could make the second half of the season interesting in Charlotte for the first time in years.” — Ken Bradley, NFL senior editor “Chicago Bears. Caleb Williams’ stock is on the low end after a bumpy rookie season, but I think he makes a Year 2 leap with Ben Johnson calling plays, an improved collection of offensive weapons and a beefed-up offensive line. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them make the postseason.” — Tashan Reed, Raiders beat writer Who will win the Super Bowl? Ravens 26Bills 10Chiefs 6Eagles 2 Wow, not a lot of love for any dark horses. And the defending champs. |
| NFC NORTH |
| GREEN BAYParkinson’s Disease for former Packers QB Brett Favre. James Cohen of The Daily Mail: NFL legend Brett Favre has given a rare and emotional insight into his battle with Parkinson’s – and his fear of being ‘dominated’ by the disease. The Hall of Fame quarterback, who was an ardent supporter of Donald Trump during the election campaign, revealed he had the disease during a congressional hearing in September last year. Once one of the brightest stars in the National Football League, Favre, 55, played 20 seasons in the NFL. He spent most of his career with the Green Bay Packers, with whom he won the Super Bowl in 1997. Favre has previously given insights into his battle with Parkinson’s and did so again on The Sage Steele Show. He explained that a new symptom he’s struggling with is a difficulty with swallowing and a fear that the disease is ‘progressing’. Favre said: ‘There’s times where I think I’m choking. It’s sort of scary because they can’t fix that [but] I try not to think about it. I try to just focus on getting after the day. ‘But there are often times during the day, maybe at night, when I decompress and I think I’m progressing a little bit. ‘There’s no way to predict who is going to progress faster than others. We all age differently. I constantly think about – even though I know I shouldn’t – am I going to be the one that ages quicker? ‘Is the disease going to eventually dominate me? I think right now [that] I’m dominating the disease. ‘I wake up every day and think, did I progress 2% or am I staying the same? Am I looking into this progression more than I should? All those thoughts go through my mind’. Favre was known for his durability during his Hall of Fame career. He had an NFL-record streak of 297 consecutive starts, a figure that goes up to 321 if playoff games are included. He won three straight MVP awards with the Green Bay Packers from 1995-97. Favre led the 1996 Packers to their first Super Bowl title in nearly three decades and brought them back to the Super Bowl the following year. Favre was with Green Bay from 1992-2007 and also played for the Atlanta Falcons (1991), New York Jets (2008) and Minnesota Vikings (2009-10). |
| NFC EAST |
| NEW YORK GIANTSAre the Giants worth $10 billion? Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: The New York Giants have agreed to sell 10 percent of the franchise in a deal that values the franchise at more $10 billion, the highest valuation ever for a sports franchise. Julia Koch and other members of her family have reached an agreement with the Mara and Tisch families to purchase 10 percent of the team, according to Bloomberg. The deal would have to be approved in a vote of the league’s other owners before the sale can be finalized. According to Sportico, the deal is for the Kochs to pay more than $1 billion for a 10 percent stake in the Giants. Currently the Mara and Tisch families each own 50 percent of the team, and after the deal the split will be 45 percent owned by the Mara family, 45 percent owned by the Tisch family and 10 percent owned by the Koch family. The deal does not give the Koch family a path to a controlling stake in the team. Previously, the highest valuation ever for a sports franchise was the $10 billion valuation in the sale of a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, a deal that was agreed to this year. Koch and her three children are becoming major players in New York sports, having spent about $1 billion to buy 15 percent of the parent company of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty and Barclays Center last year. Julia Koch, widow of David Koch, has a net worth estimated to be between $70 billion and $80 billion. It’s pronounced “coke.” Here is more on Julia, from Wikipedia. Julia Margaret Flesher Koch (born April 12, 1962) is an American socialite and philanthropist who is one of the richest women in the world. As of May 2025, her fortune was over $74.2 billion. She inherited her fortune from her husband, David Koch, who died in 2019. LifeJulia Margaret Flesher was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 12, 1962. Her family came from a farming background, but when she was born, her parents, Margaret and Frederic Flesher, owned a furniture store called Flesher’s. She spent her early childhood in Indianola, Iowa, then when she was eight years old her family moved to Conway, Arkansas, where her parents started a clothing store called Peggy Frederic’s, which she considered “a beautiful, beautiful shop”. By 1998, her mother still lived in Conway but her father had moved back to Indianola. After graduating from the University of Central Arkansas and working as a model, Flesher moved to New York City in 1984, where she worked as fashion designer Adolfo’s assistant and did fittings for Nancy Reagan. She met David Koch on a blind date in January 1991, although they did not continue dating at the time. She later described her reaction: “I’m glad I met that man because now I know I never want to go out with him”. However, the two met again at a party later that year and started dating. She stopped working in 1993, and they got married in May 1996 at David Koch’s house on Meadow Lane in Southampton. In December 1997, she made what the New York Times called her “New York society debut” at the Met Gala. She was co-chairwoman of the gala that year, along with Anna Wintour and Patrick McCarthy. McCarthy said she was “one of those people who occur in New York every few years…she’s beautiful, she loves fashion, she knows how to entertain, she’s married to an extraordinarily rich man.” Julia and David Koch had three children. Julia and David Koch spent years living in an apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue, but in 2004 they moved to an 18-room duplex at 740 Park Avenue. According to 740 Park: The Story of the World’s Richest Apartment Building, David Koch bought the apartment for about $17 million from the Japanese government, which previously used it to house their permanent representative to the United Nations. In 2018, the couple also bought an eight-bedroom townhouse in Manhattan from investor Joseph Chetrit for $40.25 million. David Koch died in August 2019, and Julia Koch and their three children inherited 42% of Koch Industries. As a result, she was listed by Bloomberg as the richest woman in the world and was included on Forbes’ list of the 10 richest women in the world in 2020. In 2022, Koch put the apartment at 740 Park Avenue on the market; a spokesperson said that she wanted to sell it because she was spending more time at houses in Southampton and Palm Beach. |
| PHILADELPHIAEven with all the success of this century, the Eagles are still an overall losing proposition. That can change tonight. Mike Florio: The year was 1933. The team mascot was Dick Levy, who is the kid in the photo next to Red Grange of the Chicago Bears. It’s the last time the Eagles had an all-time record of .500 record in the regular season, at 3-3-1. Two losses to end the season dropped them to 3-5-1. They have not yet reached .500 in their all-time regular season record since then. With a win on Thursday night, the Eagles will finally get back there. The tip came from a reader. NBC has confirmed it. The Eagles are 638-639-4 all-time in the regular season. A win against the Cowboys will get the Eagles to .500 overall for the first time in 92 years. Even if it doesn’t happen on Thursday night, it presumably will happen sooner than later in 2025. Since 2000, the Eagles are 242-160-2. That’s the 5th-best record in the NFL in that span behind New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Baltimore. The Chiefs, who we thought would be one of the top four, check in down at 7th at 232-172-0. From 1933 to 1999, the Eagles were 396-479-25, 22nd best of the team that have won 100 games in that span.- – -The Eagles tried to get in on EDGE MICAH PARSONS, but Adam Schefter hears the Cowboys said no at any price: The Philadelphia Eagles made a strong push to trade for Micah Parsons this summer, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Philadelphia called Dallas to try to acquire Parsons, but the Cowboys had no interest in trading the two-time All-Pro pass rusher within their own division — especially to the rival Eagles, sources told Schefter. After months of failed negotiations on a long-term contract, the Cowboys ultimately traded Parsons last week to the Green Bay Packers, who then signed the four-time Pro Bowler to a record-breaking four-year, $188 million deal. The contract included $120 million fully guaranteed at signing and $136 million in total guarantees, making Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Despite their heated and historic rivalry, the Eagles and Cowboys previously agreed to a high-profile trade during the NFL draft in 2021, when Philadelphia moved up two spots to select wide receiver DeVonta Smith with the 10th pick. Dallas, ironically, used the No. 12 pick on Parsons. A Parsons trade would have bolstered an already stout Eagles defense that led the NFL in total defense last season while finishing second in points allowed. A trade to the Eagles also would have been a homecoming of sorts for Parsons, who was born and grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was a college superstar at Penn State. Despite the Pennsylvania ties, Parsons grew up rooting for Dallas and “wanted to be a Cowboy,” according to his agent. “He grew up cheering for the Cowboys, wore the blue and white at Penn State, wore it in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys,” agent David Mulugheta told ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday. “He wanted to be a Cowboy, and we did everything we could for him to remain a Cowboy.” |
| NFC SOUTH |
| TAMPA BAYBuccaneers fans got it right with their selection of the best moment in the 50-year history of the franchise. Scott Smith at Buccaneers.com: You could hear a pin drop in the soon-to-be-shuttered Veterans Stadium. The same was definitely not true in living rooms all across the Tampa Bay area. The greatest single moment in the first 50 years of Tampa Bay Buccaneers football has been determined by fan voting in a thoroughly entertaining 64-entry tournament, and the winner is no great surprise. Rondé Barber’s 92-yard pick-six that sealed the Buccaneers’ win in the 2002 NFC Championship Game, sending the NFL’s 27th franchise to its very first Super Bowl, has long been considered the team’s signature moment. Now Buccaneer fans have made it official. After five previous rounds of voting, Barber’s pick-six that “shut down the Vet” went head-to-head with the Buccaneers’ historic achievement of being the first team ever to play in (let alone win) a Super Bowl in its own home stadium. As significant as that latter achievement was, nothing could top the indelible mental highlight reel of Barber sprinting past the deflated Philadelphi Eagles’ bench and then into the end zone, his left thumb hooked over his shoulder to point at his jersey’s name plate. Tensions had grown for Buccaneer fans as star quarterback Donovan McNabb had threatened to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter on that January 19, 2003 evening, but Barber erased all of them in an instant, and the parties started back in Tampa. The team has also named the 50 Greatest Buccaneers (players only, not fan voting but expert panel deliberation): Here are the top 10: 10. Mike Alstott, FB (1996-07)9. Tristan Wirfs, OL (2020-present)8. Tom Brady, QB (2020-22)7. Lavonte David, LB (2012-present)6. John Lynch, S (1993-03)**5. Ronde Barber, CB (1997-12)**4. Mike Evans, WR (2014-present)3. Warren Sapp, IDL (1995-03)**2. Lee Roy Selmon, EDGE (1976-84)**1. Derrick Brooks, LB (1995-08)** You might quibble that Wirfs inclusion is premature, but otherwise this seems reasonable. |
| NFC WEST |
| SAN FRANCISCOAdded incentives have placated WR JAUAN JENNINGS. Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com: After wide receiver Jauan Jennings returned to practice Monday and participated again Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers bolstered his earning potential for 2025. Jennings’ agents, Drew and Jason Rosenhaus, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday night that the Niners and Jennings have agreed to add $3 million in play-time incentives to his contract for this season. Jennings, who is entering the final season of the two-year contract he signed last offseason, can now earn up to $10.5 million. He is slated to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, as he and the Niners didn’t come to an agreement on a long-term extension. Earlier Wednesday, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said he didn’t think “there’s totally a resolution” with Jennings in terms of his contract, though he reiterated that the team would like to keep Jennings for 2025 and beyond. It was an indication that at least some contract modification could be coming, however. “There’s a business side but it’s something that I think both sides would love to get worked out,” Shanahan said. “Just don’t know if we can.” While much was made of Jennings’ contract situation during the 36 days of camp and the preseason he missed, he also was dealing with a calf injury that he suffered in the fourth practice of camp. Shanahan said Wednesday that Jennings had imaging done before the team returned to practice Monday and that it showed the wideout is “good to go.” Jennings was listed as a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, though Shanahan said Jennings will be ready to play in Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Seattle Seahawks. “Having him back on the practice field Monday was awesome,” Shanahan said. “We love J.J. When he is not there, he is greatly missed. The way he carries himself, the energy he plays with and how good of a player he is makes everyone very excited.” San Francisco general manager John Lynch acknowledged last week that Jennings had requested a trade “a while ago” but said the team and player had moved past that, adding that the Niners had no interest in trading Jennings and that he would be expected to play once his calf healed. That, apparently, happened in recent days, clearing the path for Jennings to return to practice and for him and the Niners to find a way to bolster his contract for this season. It’s a similar playbook the Niners have followed for other players who have requested trades in the past. More from Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com: With Jennings’ contract still set to expire after the 2025 season, San Francisco and the wideout are not necessarily done negotiating. Jennings has also been dealing with a calf injury, but he was on the field on Wednesday as a limited participant in practice. “[T]he great news is Jauan has looked great out there, and he’s ready to go, and he kept himself in really good shape,” Lynch said in a Thursday interview with KNBR, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “Is there going to be a little rust? Hopefully not. He’s played a lot of football for us, and his energy out there is palpable. We feel it. We’re going to continue to try to work on a long-term deal, but right now we’ve got something, a solution, that works for everybody for the short term, and that’s a good thing for the Niners.” Lynch noted that while the club couldn’t come to an agreement with Jennings now, the door isn’t closed. “Some teams do have the policy, once you hit the season, they put all contracts away. That’s not something we’ve done,” Lynch said. “We are going to kind of focus on going and beating Seattle right now, but we’ll continue to try to work towards that. We’ve said it many times, we love J.J., we love his presence on this team, and we want to keep him around here for a while.” Jennings, 28, caught 77 passes for 975 yards with six touchdowns in 2024 — all career highs. “I want to commend Jauan,” Lynch said. “I think the way he took care of his business, both getting healthy and his want for a new contract, he handled it in a good way. One thing I do pride myself — we talked about strategic transparency — we’re pretty transparent people. When I say stuff, I usually mean it. And when I was saying that those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive — Jauan did battle a calf injury, and he did want a new contract, and both things seemed to get right, right at the right time. So, that’s a good thing for us.” |
| SEATTLERT ABRAHAM LUCAS has an extension. NFL.com: RT Abraham Lucas has agreed to terms on a three-year, $46 million contract extension that includes a chance to earn more via incentives, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported. Lucas, a 2022 third-round pick, was entering the final year of his contract. |
| AFC WEST |
| LAS VEGASOwner Mark Davis said he had Tom Brady all ready to sign with the Raiders in 2020 – them Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock stepped in. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Raiders owner Mark Davis has long wanted Tom Brady to be part of his team, and Davis eventually made that happen by selling Brady a piece of the team. But he still wishes the Raiders had signed Brady when he became a free agent in 2020. In an interview published by the Raiders, Davis said he still has “some bad feelings” about Brady signing with the Buccaneers instead of the Raiders. Davis said he would have liked to sign Brady, but that then-head coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Mike Mayock decided to stick with Derek Carr. “He was supposed to be here in 2020,” Davis said of Brady. “That’s when our relationship started, was in 2020 when he was a free agent and we talked to him about coming here to play quarterback. Obviously, it was a tough decision, he was close to coming here, but the head coach and general manager decided they wanted to go in a different direction. So, we didn’t sign him, but as I got to know him through that process, I let his agent know that when he was done playing, I would like him to be a part of our organization.” Davis talking to Brady’s agent about Brady becoming a part of the organization when Brady was was still an active player could have run afoul of league tampering rules, and league rules surrounding Brady’s minority ownership of the Raiders have been an ongoing topic of conversation. The NFL recently adjusted the Brady rules to give Brady more access to other teams in his capacity as a Fox broadcaster, which Davis supports. “It wasn’t an easy process, but the National Football League eventually let it happen,” Davis said. “Now, in fact, the other day, they changed the rule on him and he’s allowed now to talk to players.” When Brady was allowed to talk to all 32 teams in 2020, Davis could have overruled his football people and signed him. Instead, Brady won one more Super Bowl in Tampa Bay, and Brady became a Raider only after he retired.– – -WR AMARI COOPER has decided to retire. Nick Shook of NFL.com: Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper has informed the team that he no longer has the desire to play football and intends to retire, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported on Thursday. Cooper was on the verge of completing his career circle in 2025 after signing with the Raiders — the team that made him the fourth overall pick of the 2015 draft — a little over a week ago in a move that represented both a happy homecoming of sorts and a welcome addition to Las Vegas’ receiving corps. Pelissero reported, however, that Cooper had struggled to ramp up toward game readiness in the last week as the Raiders prepped for their regular-season opener against the Patriots on Sunday. Thus, the 31-year-old Cooper decided it was best for him to walk away from the game after 10 seasons. Browns trading QB Kenny Pickett to Raiders in exchange for 2026 fifth-round pickAmari Cooper still has ‘juice left’ as he reunites with RaidersCooper’s career began in Oakland, where he caught 225 passes for 3,183 yards and 19 touchdowns over 52 games before the Raiders traded him to Dallas as part of an in-season tear down that also saw the team deal Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears in 2018. Cooper didn’t miss a beat in his new home, catching another 292 passes for 3,893 yards and 27 touchdowns over 56 games with the Cowboys, who eventually sent him to the Cleveland Browns as part of a salary dump trade in 2022. Throughout his first nine seasons, the reserved Cooper was consistently productive, posting seven 1,000-yard seasons and earning five Pro Bowl nods. He didn’t begin to show signs of a player nearing retirement until 2024, in which the usually sure-handed Cooper struggled to reliably secure passes in his final weeks with the Browns before they traded him to the title-contending Buffalo Bills last October. In Buffalo, Cooper stormed onto the scene by catching a touchdown pass in his first game with the Bills. It would be his final shining moment, as he faded into the background down the stretch, catching just one more touchdown pass in the 2024 season. Cooper finishes his career with 711 receptions for 10,033 yards and 64 touchdowns But on the other hand, the Raiders don’t need Cooper to take the place of WR JAKOBI MEYERS. Again, it is Nick Shook: Just before the start of the 2025 season, the Raiders’ top wide receiver decided he wanted out. Las Vegas refused Jakobi Meyers’ trade request, however, and that was that. Given the chance to speak on his surprise decision Wednesday, Meyers was refreshingly candid in his explanation. “I asked, they said no. That’s where that stopped,” Meyers said with a laugh. “I mean, I’m just going to keep doing my job until something shakes out either way, honestly. I don’t know which way it’s going to go, but I’ll be ready for whatever.” Despite being flatly denied by the Raiders, Meyers didn’t seem interested in maintaining his stance with the season opener on Sunday against the New England Patriots just days away. If anything, he’s begrudgingly playing for the Raiders because it’s where he’s employed — and where he has a chance to prove himself again in 2025. “It’s a job,” Meyers said. “At the end of the day, I’m happy to be doing my job with my boys, but I can be happy anywhere.” Las Vegas’ receiving corps was incredibly thin in 2024 following its midseason decision to trade Davante Adams to the New York Jets, leaving Meyers as the Raiders’ obvious best option at the position. He turned in a career year, catching 87 passes for 1,027 yards and four touchdowns, positioning himself as strongly as possible to negotiate a contract extension. So far, Meyers and the Raiders haven’t made much progress on a new deal. With the season arriving, Meyers knows he’d only cost himself future dollars by digging in, so he might as well hit the field and prove he’s worth more money with his play. “I’m ready to go if you need me to go; I’m ready to play if you need me to play,” Meyers said. Often, these situations are complex, and progress is slow. Meyers has accepted that perhaps now isn’t the best time to cash in and is instead embracing the opportunity in front of him. |
| AFC EAST |
| NEW ENGLANDThe Tar Heels opener didn’t reveal many reasons Patriots scouts would want to venture to Chapel Hill – but if they do, the “Not Welcome” sign is out. Mike Florio ofProFootballTalk.com: Well, now we possibly know what Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said what we said about Bill Belichick’s debut. Via John Middlekauff, Belichick has banned Patriots scouts from North Carolina practices. Indeed he has, with the message sent by his consigliere, G.M. Mike Lombardi. It’s a stupid move, a reflection of his infantile pettiness regarding his former employer. Belichick’s biggest selling point is that he can get college football players ready to play in the NFL. So why would he stop any NFL team from properly evaluating North Carolina players? The news will become Exhibit A for any team trying to land a player Belichick and Lombo want. And it should work. Why would any kid choose to play for a coach who will prioritize his desire to settle scores over maximizing opportunities for his players? It’s the latest bizarre chapter in the final years of Belichick’s coaching life. He desperately needs someone to tell him when he’s about to do something that will harm his interests — and to tell him to not do that. So good luck, Tar Heels, in getting great players to come to Chapel Hill. Because Chapel Bill would rather stick it to the Patriots than help his players get an opportunity with one of the companies in an industry with only 32 of them. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| BOLD PREDICTIONS?Garrett Podell of CBSSports.com says these are 5 BOLD predictions. Before we check them out – JOE BURROW throwing 40 TD passes or the Eagles repeating as champions would not be BOLD. The Titans winning the AFC South or Patriots rookie RB TraVEON HENDERSON leading the NFL in rushing would be BOLD. Let’s see if Garrett is indeed BOLD. Here are five bold predictions for the 2025 season. Yours truly has been entrusted over the last few years to write weekly bold predictions columns that come out on Fridays, and that will continue to be the case this season, but this column is about five bold predictions for the entire upcoming season at large. Cheers to the return of pro football. Chiefs won’t win the AFCWhy is this a bold prediction? Well, the Kansas City Chiefs are the first team in NFL history to reach five Super Bowls in a six-season span, and they’ve won three of them. Kansas City also typically plays home games in the postseason thanks to nine consecutive division titles, the second longest division title-winning streak in NFL history. Their current run trails only the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick New England Patriots’ run of 11 in a row from 2009-2019. That run is buoyed by almost always playing in the friendly confines of Arrowhead Stadium in January, with 12 of Patrick Mahomes’ 14 AFC postseason starts coming at home. Kansas City is 12-2 in its 14 playoff starts with Mahomes under center. This season, the Chiefs will once again win their division, but they won’t go 15-2 again to clinch homefield advantage. Eleven of Kansas City’s 15 regular-season wins from a year ago were by one possession, and they went a perfect 11-0 in one-score games last season, which tied an NFL single-season record with the 2022 Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings took a major step back and went 7-10 the following season in 2023. Kansas City will still win the AFC West, but losing its grip on the one seed and having to play on the road will be its undoing come January. Travis Hunter wins both rookie of the year awardsNo one has ever won both of the NFL’s Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards. That’s obvious because, since the first year the awards began being issued, 1967 (the start of the common draft era), no one played at a high enough frequency on both offense and defense to earn both accolades. Rookie second overall pick Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter could be the first to do so. He told yours truly, under two weeks before the Jaguars traded up to select him second overall, that he would rather retire than only play one position in the NFL. New Jacksonville coach Liam Coen is one of the league’s top play callers, and there’s definitely a path to where Hunter could play mostly wide receiver and then catch enough interceptions defensively to get voters’ attention. Hunter became the first player in FBS history, since 1978, to produce a season with over 1,000 receiving yards (1,258 receiving yards) and over three interceptions (four). That’s why he won the Heisman Trophy in 2024. That two-way ability is also why he could make NFL history by taking home both rookie of the year awards in 2025. Packers’ Matt LaFleur finally wins Coach of the Year Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s 67 wins since coming to the Lambeau Field sidelines in 2019 are the second most regular-season wins in the first six seasons by a coach in NFL history. He trails only two-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert’s 75 from 1989 to 1994. Yet, LaFleur doesn’t have a Coach of the Year award on his mantle despite producing the types of seasons the voters typically look for when submitting their ballots. In 2019, he reenergized a fading Aaron Rodgers and helped lead Green Bay back to the NFC championship game for the first time since 2016 with a 13-win regular season. The next two years, the Packers were dominant: they ripped off 13 wins in both of those years as well, while the marriage between his playbook and Rodgers led to the aging passer winning consecutive NFL MVP awards. Those first three seasons from 2019 to 2021 marked the only time in NFL history that a team has won at least 13 games in three consecutive seasons. Fast forward to 2023, Rodgers is a New York Jet, and Jordan Love, the 2020 first-round pick who has been marinating on the bench under LaFleur’s tutelage for three years, takes over as the starter for the now-NFL’s youngest roster. Green Bay exceeded all expectations and slid into the postseason with a 9-8 record. The Packers entered 2024 as the NFL’s youngest squad once again, and they improved to 11 wins while having both a top 10 scoring offense (27.1 points per game, eighth in the NFL) and a top 10 scoring defense (19.9 points per game allowed, sixth in the NFL) in 2024. Whether it’s been pure dominance (2020-2021) or lifting the NFL’s youngest team to consecutive postseason berths in the first two years post-Rodgers, LaFleur has had a strong case for the award. Now, the 2025 season will be his year as he finally takes the hardware home. The entire NFL world has its eyes on Green Bay after general manager Brian Gutekunst ripped All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons out of Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones’ hands by trading just two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas in exchange for the 26-year-old four-time Pro Bowler. The attention plus consistently strong on-field play will finally be rewarded, and LaFleur will rise above his +2200 odds, tied for 12th in the league according to FanDuel, to win the award in the 2025 season. Vikings finish last in NFC North a year after 14-win 2024The Minnesota Vikings flex the best offensive ecosystem in the NFL. They have 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year wide receiver Justin Jefferson, whose 7,432 career receiving yards are the most in NFL history in a player’s first five seasons all time. Jefferson is flanked by 2023 first-round pick Jordan Addison (who will serve a three-game suspension to begin the 2025 season), two-time Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson, Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones and coach Kevin O’Connell — the reigning NFL Coach of the Year. All of that offensive talent will be asked to uplift the 2024 10th overall pick J.J. McCarthy. The issue is McCarthy’s draft makeup entering his rookie year was that of a bust. That was before he became the first quarterback taken in the first round in the common draft era (since 1967) to miss his entire rookie season with an injury. McCarthy tearing his meniscus last preseason halted his football development while on the bench as a rookie. He is also the first first-round quarterback drafted with zero collegiate seasons with either 3,000 passing yards or 500 rushing yards since these same Vikings selected Christian Ponder 12th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft out of Florida State. The most recent passer chosen in the top 10, like McCarthy, who had not had such a season at the college level, was Detroit Lions 2002 third overall pick, Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington — he was a complete bust. The NFC North is one of the top divisions in football, and the Vikings entering 2025 with an inexperienced quarterback who didn’t produce at a high level in college could add up to a last-place finish for Minnesota. Cardinals win a playoff gameThe Arizona Cardinals haven’t won a playoff game since the 2015 season. That’s when Carson Palmer was their quarterback, chucking the football deep downfield to Larry Fitzgerald. They’ll win a wild card round playoff game in the 2025 season. Former top-five pick wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will take a leap in Year 2 to become a Pro Bowl wide receiver. The Cardinals’ revamped defense will transform into a top 10 unit in scoring defense after the addition of former Eagles edge rusher Josh Sweat, the return of defensive tackle Calais Campbell, and the draft selections of first-round defensive tackle Walter Nolen and second-round cornerback Will Johnson. That will lead to Kyler Murray outdueling either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Atlanta Falcons — whoever wins the NFC South — in the NFC’s opening round of the postseason for Arizona’s first playoff win in a decade. We do not think picking the Chiefs NOT to win the AFC is bold, much less Bold, mucher less BOLD. The DB sees the current odds of the Chiefs winning the AFC as +350. So if you get 350 back on a bet of 100, that means the oddsmakers see the Chiefs having about a 75% chance of not winning the conference. So not that bold to place a bet against them. Podell still thinks the Chiefs will win the AFC West. We, on the other hand, would bet against the Chiefs winning the AFC West, much less the AFC. Our BOLD prediction would be – The Chiefs Have A Losing Record in 2025. Of Podell’s picks, we can accept the other four as somewhat Bold, although maybe not BOLD. Our other BOLD predictions – Patriots win 12 regular season games and a playoff game. Baker Mayfield throws 50 TD passes. The NFC West is a 4-way tie at 9-8. JaMarr Chase catches 20 TD passes and goes for 2,000+ receiving yards. |
| HAWKEYEIs the NFL’s electronic measuring system ready for its closeup? Jonathan Jones of CBSSports.com makes some interesting points with this report. As the NFL begins its 106th regular season Thursday night when the Eagles host the Cowboys, the league will also debut its virtual measurement system in the regular season for the first time. After years of tinkering with it in the background and preseason, millions of dollars spent and 180 cameras installed across 30 different American stadiums (plus even more internationally), the NFL is finally ready to flash its new technology in games that matter. But sources across the league have indicated to CBS Sports that they will be watching Thursday and the rest of Week 1 with bated breath after some uneven test results. The new system that has rendered the chain gang as the backup for line-to-gain measurement is supposed to cut down on dead time during games when everything works the way it should. “The accuracy isn’t the problem. It’s just how long it takes sometimes,” said one league source. Another source added that an extra year of testing would probably ease some tension. Using six mounted cameras in a stadium, the league has a virtual system powered by Sony Hawk-Eye now in place that can measure whether a team made the line to gain for a first down. The system does not spot the ball — officials will still do that — but it does replace the need for the chain crew to come onto the field with the markers to determine if a fresh set of downs is needed. The league tested the system publicly during the 2024 preseason and on background during the 2024 regular season. On average, virtual measurements took about 30 seconds compared to the 75 seconds for the chain crew. The league loves for its games to be around three hours, and every half-minute is valuable as the NFL has strengthened aspects of the game like its expedited review and replay assist. But the system has encountered snags. The graphics weren’t up to the standards of many in the league last year, and they worked to enhance them this year. There would be latency issues that continued into this preseason: Some measurements would take 20 seconds, others seemed to take as long as, if not longer than, the chains would have. Multiple league sources say the NFL “over-tested” the system this preseason as a form of practice. Several virtual measurements taken in the exhibitions would have never taken place in a regular season game as officials could have made the determination with the naked eye, but the league wanted reps ahead of this season. Another source chalked up some of the delays this preseason to operator error. Whether it was in-stadium graphics or getting those graphics on air working with a local TV broadcast, the extra time it took in August may not be there in September. In the spring, the NFL made the virtual measurement system the primary form of measuring whether the line to gain has been achieved. But the chain gang will remain on the sideline this season and, very likely, beyond that. Game participants still need a visual for what is a first down, and the league wants a backup system in place in the event of a failure with the virtual system. Only if the virtual system is rendered inoperable will the chain crew ever come out to do its traditional work in measuring moving forward. A common misunderstanding has been that this system will mark the ball. Because there are 22 bodies and their associated parts on the field, and because the football is an oblong shape, and because the ball carrier can be down or stopped in various methods, the league will continue to have human officials spot the football — at least until the technology it tested at last season’s Super Bowl becomes operable. For now, once the ball is spotted by the official, that’s when the camera technology seen most notably in tennis comes in to determine whether that ball is at or beyond the line to gain. The league’s historic foray into the future will be on full display this week with 16 games, including four prime-time games and what is essentially five nationally televised contests. It starts Thursday with a team, in the Eagles, that is no stranger to close line-to-gain measurements. |
