Analysing football is a tricky thing. To differentiate yourself from the ‘hot take artists’, you feel you have to crunch the tape and study the numbers. But sometimes, it just feels that overarching narratives are inescapable. The Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears’ recent histories have been littered with back-breaking loss after back-breaking loss. As the youngest franchise in the NFL, …
Seen by many as the best weekend of the NFL season, the Divisional Round of the Playoffs is upon us. We are down to the final eight teams, with just seven games remaining of the 2025 campaign. Wild Card weekend was, for the most part, ‘wild’, and saw the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles crash out, the Buffalo Bills …
The regular season is in the books, and Wild Card Weekend is upon us. Twelve of the remaining 14 teams with aspirations of lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February are in action over the weekend, with the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks enjoying their hard-earned byes. Let’s look at the six matchups in question, in order of kick-off time. …
The 2025 NFL regular season concluded Sunday, setting the stage for the playoffs with a full 14-team field ready for Wild Card Weekend. Top seeded Denver Broncos (AFC) and Seattle Seahawks (NFC) earned the first-round byes and will advance directly to the Divisional Round, and will retain home-field advantage for as long as they remain in the competition prior to …
Like the proverbial curate’s egg, Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season was ‘good in parts’. Elsewhere, the smell was quite apparent. Of the edible fare, two offensive masterminds went to battle in northern California on Sunday night, as the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers duelled over the right to play for the NFC’s #1 seed. A barnburner ensued …
The NFL has finalised its late-season broadcast plans, unveiling a holiday-heavy Week 17 schedule while also announcing a key flex for Week 16 that reshapes the prime-time slate. Week 17 will open with a Christmas Day triple-header spread across three streaming platforms. The day begins with an NFC East rivalry as the Dallas Cowboys visit the Washington Commanders (1pm ET, …
The NFL never ceases to surprise, but there are always times when the dust appears to settle and a degree of clarity emerges, causing onlookers to believe they know what happens next. Then the chaos resumes. Week 13 of the 2025 NFL season was no exception. Amidst all the Thanksgiving celebrations, the Carolina Panthers shocked the Los Angeles Rams; Ben …
Tyrann Mathieu has surprised the New Orleans Saints by declaring his intention to retire from the NFL on the eve of training camp. The four-time All-Pro is three years into his stint in NOLA but, after 12 years in the league, has decided that the time is right to say… well, not goodbye. “As I hang up my cleats, I’m …
The NFL has announced its full 18-week, 272-game, regular season schedule for the coming season via the now-familiar television marathon, despite several ‘highlight’ games and the six-sevenths of the International Series having already been revealed. The new season kicks off on Thursday 4th September in Philadelphia and concludes with a full slate of 16 divisional games in Week 18, with …
Day one of the 2025 NFL Draft is in the books, and we now know the destination of the first 32 rookies coming into the league. Here’s a breakdown of the picks, sorted by moves we expected, the outcomes of trades, and the few selections that, even at this early stage, have us scratching our heads. PAR FOR THE COURSE …
With the NFL’s annual ‘free agent frenzy’ well underway, it is easy to have missed crucial deals involving your favourite team and/or players. The following tables, the first based on PFF‘s Top 50 free agents as featured in Issue #85 of Gridiron magazine, should hopefully fill in the gaps in what happened over the opening days of the ‘legal tampering’ …
The 2025 NFL salary cap has been set (at a cool $279.2m) giving teams a little extra headroom to ply with when it comes to re-signing key components of their roster and adding new faces that they hope will be the key to winning a Super Bowl. With the big game now in the rear view, and the NFL Scouting …
The best weekend of the NFL season promised a quarterback matchup for the ages, a pitched battle in inclement weather, a potential shootout in the Motor City and the chance for a young quarterback to upstage the league’s reigning champ. While some of those expectations were met, others fell a little flat. In Detroit, Jayden Daniels took the football intelligentsia’s …
While there was just one Wild Card game that went the distance with its result in the balance — thank you Commanders and Buccaneers — the outcomes of the opening round of the NFL playoffs have combined to produce some intriguing matchups amongst the final eight teams. Detroit and Kansas City enter the postseason fray this weekend, but neither will …
The opening week of the 2024-25 NFL playoffs did not provide the close battles many were anticipating, with just one outcome in the balance as the final seconds played out. In the end, four of the expected winners — based on home advantage — came out victorious, while another played up to their superior regular season numbers to down a …
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 …
For all the action that takes place over the first 18 weeks of a new NFL campaign, nothing hits quite as hard as playoff football, where everything is on the line every weekend. There can be no quit from here on in, with elimination from the Super Bowl race potentially around the corner for each and every team. Six games …
With just two rounds of games remaining in the 2024 NFL regular season, there is still plenty to be sorted out with regard to the playoff positions and draft order. Neither conference has a top seed locked in, and several division titles remain wide open — with ‘all or nothing’ scenarios and no wildcard safety net looming for those involved. …
The NFL’s decision to save division matchups for the final weeks of the regular season continues to pay off with the biggest games of Week 16 all featuring rivals looking to deny each other more than just bragging rights. If there is no crown to be fought over, there is at least a spot in the playoffs, so everything will …
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 …
Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has been suspended for three games without pay for repeated violations of rules intended to protect the health and safety of players, including a late hit during Sunday’s game against Jacksonville that saw opposing quarterback Trevor Lawrence forced out of the contest with a concussion. Lawrence was making his return to the Jaguars’ lineup after …
Bill Parcells used to say the NFL season doesn’t start until Thanksgiving. With snow on the ground, MVP cases being made and playoff seeding starting to take shape, it does feel like we’ve entered the regular season’s end game. Week 13 of the NFL season saw heroics from a superstar quarterback, the battle of the two best running backs in …
Thirty-two players have been nominated for the eleventh annual Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, the winner of which will be determined in the build-up to this year’s NFL Pro Bowl. Created in 2014, the award honours the late Art Rooney Sr., founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers and now resident in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Each NFL team nominates a …
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 …
