by Brent Schwartz
Week 2 in the NFL this season had a flair for the dramatic, with the late afternoon window in particular featuring wild finishes out west in Los Angeles, Arizona and Seattle. There's still a few weeks left to play before any rash conclusions or predictions can be made, as many call September the "extended preseason." … Continue reading NFL Monday Morning Madness Week 2: Drama-filled Sunday provides extra excitment
Sunday marked the return of the NFL in full tilt for its 102nd campaign. Stadiums filled with fans across the league after a pandemic-alerting season in 2020 blocked them from doing so this time last year. The last year-plus has been a tragedy due to the countless lives lost. And although it's quite a sobering … Continue reading NFL Monday Morning Madness Week 1: Reflecting on 9/11 + NFC West makes a statement
In an attempt to reboot the team after a 7-9 transition season in a post-Tom Brady world, during a pandemic, Bill Belichick hurled an NFL-record $159.6 million of guaranteed money in free agency to attempt to fix his team on both sides of the ball. Some criticized the move, calling some of the contracts "overpays," but the moves were strategic, as the Patriots were one of just a couple teams with the available cap space in 2020 after the salary cap shrunk in an attempt to make up for lost revenue from a lack of fan attendance during last season.
A couple of days have now passed since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' complete mastery of the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55. As always, there's more to uncover when the game tape is broken down and a there's been some time since the result, allowing additional storylines to marinate. Here are some … Continue reading Brent’s Extra Points: Todd Bowles’ brilliance, Brady’s run + Chiefs’ future
Every February, there's a rush to uncover both the biggest and unheralded Super Bowl storylines that surround and directly affect the NFL's annual big game. In terms of beyond-the-game storylines, it simply doesn't get bigger than Tom Brady versus Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1357314845163536385 Although we're now in the year 2021, this is … Continue reading Super Bowl LV Preview: Brady, Mahomes to meet in legendary QB battle
And then there were two. Kansas City-Tampa Bay. Patrick Mahomes versus Tom Brady. There will be time to do a deep dive on the fascinating Super Bowl 55 matchup that is to come ( you can expect my mega preview next week), so let's use this space to tackle some of the initial takeaways from … Continue reading NFL Conference Championship Madness: Brady tops Rodgers, KC’s well-oiled machine moves along
Roughly 24 hours after Aaron Rodgers put forth the most efficient quarterback performance of the weekend, Tom Brady shook off some early rust to make the throws necessary to likely dispel Drew Brees from New Orleans (and the NFL) en route to joining the soon-to-be-named MVP Rodgers in the conference championship round — the 14th such … Continue reading NFL Divisional Round Madness: Brady-Rodgers championship tilt finally materializes
After a quarter of jawing back and forth, hard hits and the feel of a true playoff game reminiscent of the Ray Lewis-Eddie George, Ravens-Titans rivalry of the early 2000s, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson found himself in a familiar place. With Tennessee leading 10-0, and Jackson's Baltimore-led offense struggling to play from behind, valid questions … Continue reading NFL Wild Card Madness: Jackson’s first playoff win a new chapter of renewed Ravens-Titans rivalry
Just four months ago, many wondered if the NFL would successfully get through all 256 games during their preset, schedule-based time frame. Well, it wasn't easy, and several somewhat-questionable decisions were made to work around the COVID-19 pandemic, but alas, the regular season is over, and the playoffs will begin on time. Before jumping into … Continue reading NFL Playoff Primer: Are Chiefs destined to repeat?
With the final games of the year (not season) 2020 behind us, a new year will dawn with the end of an odd, pandemic-altering season. I decided to empty my brain's notebook of takes this week prior to Week 17 and the playoffs by taking a deep dive into the NFL MVP race, giving perhaps … Continue reading NFL Tuesday Morning Madness Week 16: A shakeup in the MVP race, and other musings
No Guts No Glory 