Quartet announced as latest Hall of Fame class

Craig Llewellyn NFL

Four new names were added to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s all-time roster during the NFL Honours ceremonies on Thursday night as defensive back Eric Allen, defensive end Jared Allen (no relation), tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe were voted into footballing immortality. The four-man class is the smallest since 2005, but inducting a quartet is …

GRIDIRON POWER RANKINGS: THE FULL 32

Nicholas McGee NFL

Welcome to Gridiron’s final power ranking of the 2024 NFL regular season, featuring — for the first time — all 32 teams. Who comes out on top after 18 weeks of competition? Is the worst team in the league the one that will be picking first in April’s Draft? And how are the 14 playoff teams stacking up?   GRIDIRON POWER …

NFL WEEKEND PREVIEW: WEEK 15

Neil Dutton NFL

Bye weeks are a thing of the past as all 32 NFL teams knuckle down for the final four games of their 2024 campaign. For many, the season is lost and all that matters now is pride (or possibly draft position, depending on the mindset) but, for the rest, the playoffs remain on the horizon, with all important seedings and, …

Walter Payton Award nominees unveiled

Gridiron

The NFL has announced the 32 nominees for this year’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide, reflecting the off-the-field endeavours of those better known for their performances between the lines. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award has become the league’s most revered honour, recognising players who excel on the field and demonstrate …

Black Friday is new Black Monday for Eberflus

Craig Llewellyn NFL

The Chicago Bears’ patience has finally been exhausted, as the franchise relieved Matt Eberflus of his duties as head coach following the shambolic Thanksgiving Day defeat in Detroit. Despite appearing to have sufficient time on the clock to march down the field and punish the hometown Lions for not putting the game away before the break, Chicago proved equally profligate, …

This Given Thursday: Reasons to be thankful

Thomas Ritchie NFL

Ah, Thanksgiving. The time to stuff your face with turkey, spend time with family, and then spend frivolously on useless merchandise for the next couple of days.  The most American of holidays means little to us on this side of the pond. For NFL fans, it’s a chance to enjoy some midweek football. I’m thankful for that. For that reason, …

Not Dallas Again?

Gridiron NFL

Contrary to popular belief, playing football on Thanksgiving Day is not an NFL invention. The league may be credited with bringing a lot of innovations to the sport, but the origin of games being played as part of festivities celebrating a successful harvest predate the formation of the National Football League by nearly 50 years, when the college teams from …

This Given Sunday: Heart stopping action league-wide

Thomas Ritchie

Week 12 of the NFL season should have come with a health warning. Blocked punts, missed extra points, botched holds, onside kicks returned for touchdowns, muffed kickoffs recovered and housed, overtime and game-winning field goals. Not suitable for the faint of heart. The beady-eyed among you will note most of those pulse-raising plays happened in one game. In fact, in …

LEAGUE GOES ALL-IN ON MADDEN CELEBRATIONS

Gridiron NFL

The National Football League will continue to honour the late John Madden at next Thursday’s Thanksgiving games with commemorations of the former player, coach and commentator liberally sprinkled throughout. Madden once said that, ‘There’s no place that I would rather be on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game,’ and the now-annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration aims …

NFL Weekend Preview: Week 11

Craig Llewellyn NFL

Week 10 was one of the worst weeks of the 2024 season in terms of offensive output. Teams averaged 1.86 points per drive and threw interceptions at a 2.9% rate, both “good” for the second-worst weeks of the season. But while Week 11 can’t guarantee more explosive play on offense, it promises to be a fascinating week with several key …

This Given Sunday: Kickers take headlines in Week 10

Thomas Ritchie NFL

In a league season characterised by close games, it’s only inevitable that kickers would take centre stage more and more frequently. There have been 82 games decided by seven-or-fewer points and 72 games decided by six-or-fewer points this season, both the most such games through Week 10 in NFL history. That said, rarely would you see so many games decided …

NFL Weekend Preview: Week 10

Craig Llewellyn NFL

With nine of 18 weeks — and 138 of 272 games completed — the 2024 NFL regular season has edged past its halfway point with the Kansas City Chiefs still clinging the league’s last unbeaten record, having moved to 8-0 with a hard-fought overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. With the win, the Chiefs became …

NFL Weekend Preview: Week 9

Gridiron NFL

Week 8 of the 2024 NFL season was a riot of scoring, with 777 points scored across the 16 games. But the theme of the season, namely close games, continued, with 13 of the games within eight points heading into the fourth quarter. Through the first eight weeks of the season, 67 games have been decided by seven points or …

This Given Sunday: Commanders produce magic moment

Thomas Ritchie NFL

While the league’s best tight ends tried to take the headlines on their special day, it was Jayden Daniels who delivered the lasting image of Week 8 of the 2024 NFL season.  The Commanders’ last second Hail Mary was one of five game winning scores in the final two minutes of action on Sunday. With one game left to play …

NFL Weekend Preview: Week 8

Neil Dutton

Week 8 of the 2024 NFL season sees all 32 teams in action, and all back on American soil with the London leg of the International Series in the books. A rarity in being a full house during bye weeks, there is also no shortage of fascinating matchups, with legends chasing history, historic powerhouses looking to kickstart their season and …

This Given Sunday: NFC North establishes dominance

Thomas Ritchie NFL

In a season that had been characterised by tight, low-scoring affairs, Week 6 of the new NFL campaign brought a barrage of points as a number of teams signposted their status as contenders with statement wins. The 622 points scored in the 12 completed matches so far, for an average of 51.8 points per game, would be the highest average …

Kmet adds snap to winning performance

Craig Llewellyn

Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet will surely be remembered for the two-touchdown performance he put up in his team’s 35-16 win over Jacksonville in London, but will go down in the NFL annals for an anomaly that rarely happens. When long snapper Scott Daly went down injured at the end of the Bears’ opening drive, Kmet suddenly found himself …

‘Comfortable’ Williams sends warning to league

Craig Llewellyn NFL

Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is good. Who’d have thought that of the first overall pick in April’s NFL Draft? Williams’ first couple of games in the pro league may have been shaky, big stage nerves maybe, but a four-touchdown performance in the Bears 35-16 demolition of the Jacksonville Jaguars in London confirmed that the USC product has found …

This Given Sunday: Rookies struggle in Week 1

Gridiron NFL

Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels became the eighth quarterback pairing taken with the first two picks of the NFL Draft to start on the opening weekend of their rookie season, but both learned that life in the pro game is vastly different from the college game they graced in 2023. Along with 12th overall selection Bo Nix, who got the …

THE GLOBAL GAME

Neil Reynolds NFL

“This is a unique time in our history to advance our growth, particularly internationally. It may be the single-most important growth moment in our history.” Those were the comments made to me when I sat down with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in Frankfurt last November. The league has certainly backed up that bold statement by announcing that five regular season …

Four-Day Weekend celebrates NFL kickoff

Gridiron NFL

The NFL is set to stage its biggest opening weekend ever, with four days of games and global events designed to engage fans worldwide. To excite fans for the start of the season, the NFL recently unveiled its season-long brand campaign for 2024, titled ‘This Is Football Country’. The campaign highlights the passion and community spirit that football cultivates, while …

Eight live games to close NFL preseason coverage

Gridiron NFL

NFL Network will wrap up its preseason schedule by showing no fewer than eight live games this week, including a double-header on Friday (August 23rd) and a quadruple-header on Saturday (August 24th) as well as re-airs of every game played over the three-day period. The schedule kicks off in the early hours of Friday when the reigning Super Bowl champion …

Saturday foursome leads preseason Week 2 coverage

Gridiron NFL

NFL Network’s preseason Week 2 schedule features six live games — including a quadruple-header on Saturday, August 17th — as well as re-airs of every matchup. Although the live programme kicked off on Thursday, with the New England Patriots hosting the Philadelphia Eagles, Saturday’s lineup provides the main attraction, starting at 6pm BST when the Chicago Bears welcome the Cincinnati …

2024 International Series Match-Ups Confirmed

Gridiron NFL

The National Football League has announced the schedule of the 2024 International Games that will be played across London, Munich and São Paulo as the league’s global footprint continues to expand. The Minnesota Vikings will kick off the league’s return to Europe on Sunday, October 6th, as they play the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The following — …