46+ min ago (242+ words) There's little to gain by benching your quarterback this late in the season. This can be said of teams which expected to compete, and those that didn't. Look no There's little to gain by benching your quarterback this late in the season. This can be said both of teams that expected to compete, and those that didn't. Look no further than Tua Tagovailoa and Shedeur Sanders, both of whom suddenly find themselves in a conundrum heading into Week 14. That being said, there are plenty of quarterbacks that deserve a spot on the bench after an abysmal Week 13. Such is usual for the NFL. Most NFL teams think they found their QB of the future. Half of those teams are wrong. Did Tua work out? What about Tyrod Taylor? You get my point by now, I'd hope. Benching any quarterback takes…...

51+ min ago (348+ words) Well, well, well. Look who turned it around. At 6-5-1 after Week 13, the Cowboys are riding a three-game winning streak that has catapulted them from the dregs of the NFL to the brink of playoff contention. George Pickens is on a 17-game pace of 1,600+ yards and 11 touchdowns, their defense has suddenly picked up its performance, and Dak Prescott is turning in one of his best seasons to date. But the race isn't over yet. Prior to Week 13, the NFL playoff picture still has Dallas as the ninth seed in the NFC, just a game and change out of the last Wild Card spot. And unfortunately, that distance might be just enough to keep them out. Here's what needs to happen for them to get to the playoffs: But as for the other Wild Card contenders -- that might be a different story....

1+ hour, 11+ min ago (325+ words) Again: Sanders is by no means a terrible quarterback. He has a quick release and above-average accuracy, and I'm not going to pretend like he's been put in an ideal situation in Cleveland. He clearly has a place in this league, and within the context of the Browns, he deserves a chance to show what he has and whether he's something to build around. The problem is that he hasn't been billed as a talented but limited player who shows some promise but will need to work hard and make improvements to stick as a starter. He's been billed as the next big thing, a franchise QB waiting for whichever team will finally get out of the way and let him shine. Don't believe us? Maybe some numbers will help drive the point home. Of course, we know how Tebowmania…...

6+ hour, 17+ min ago (910+ words) The Lane Kiffin saga seems set to end on Sunday, with the high-profile head coach set to jilt Ole Miss in favor of LSU after weeks of speculation. That heaps a ton of pressure on the Rebels' administration to move quickly to secure a replacement who can keep the momentum going in Oxford. Still, given the way this whole mess has unfolded, the pressure is on Ole Miss to come up with a coaching candidate who can both win the press conference and win games on the field in 2026 and beyond. These five names should be at the top of the Rebels' shopping list. Make no mistake: There's a healthy portion of the Ole Miss fan base that would push back on keeping anyone associated with Kiffin in the fold. But it's worth noting that Golding has already said he…...

1+ day, 5+ hour ago (568+ words) At 6-6 in a very competitive AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs look destined to miss the postseason, ending a long run of AFC Championship Game appearances for quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs are far from a bad team, but bad luck in one-score games has put them on the precipice of missing out on postseason play. But there are other teams outside of the playoff picture at the moment who have a good shot to get back into it, depending on how the next few weeks go, including two teams in the AFC who are peaking at the right time. Here are the three teams that are currently not in the playoff field, but that will make their way there by the end of the season. Houston has seemingly fixed the offensive line woes that have plagued the team all year,…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (333+ words) Virginia has the simplest path to the ACC Championship Game of any of their conference peers. With a win against rival Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Cavaliers will punch their ticket to Charlotte. However, as the crazy tiebreakers start to take shape in the league, there is one avenue in which UVA can lose and still make it into the conference title bout. Should the Hoos get upset in Charlottesville to end the regular season, they would still sneak into the ACC title game if SMU and Pitt also lose, while North Carolina beats NC State in their rivalry game. That's not the likeliest option, though, and it would behoove Virginia to avoid the chaos that has swept across the league all year and just take care of business against the rival Hokies. However, things could again get complicated, much…...

1+ day, 7+ hour ago (634+ words) After 12 weeks of NFL football, the playoff picture looks nothing like you would have thought. In the AFC, the Patriots currently hold the No. 1 seed while the Broncos sit at No. 2 in the conference, while perennial playoff teams Houston, Kansas City and Baltimore sit outside of the top seven. The 6-6 Chiefs are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since Patrick Mahomes became the team's starting quarterback, but that's not because Kansas City is "bad." It's simply a function of two things: bad luck in close games and a very difficult schedule. Kansas City went 11-0 in one-score games last year, an unsustainable number that spoke to the team's clutch ability but also spoke just as loudly to randomness. When a game boils down to one series, things get funky. This year, the Chiefs are 1-6 in one-score games,…...

1+ day, 8+ hour ago (320+ words) To be clear, we have more clarity, but there are still a couple of permutations for how things could play out with SEC tiebreakers that could really shake things up for the conference heading into its championship game next week in Atlanta. Texas A&M's loss on the road at DKR to the rival Longhorns stings worse than a normal defeat this time of year. With the loss, the Aggies are officially elminated from the SEC Championship Game, despite having only one loss on the year and in conference play. Conversely, while Georgia not only won in rivalry week, their status in the SEC was already set after finishing with a 7-1 record and a rivalry matchup against a non-conference Georgia Tech. But with the A&M loss on Friday night and the aforementioned tiebreakers, Georgia has now officially secured its…...

1+ day, 23+ hour ago (606+ words) Many declared the Dallas Cowboys' season over before it even started after the team traded Micah Parsons away to the Green Bay Packers. It certainly felt as if their season was over when they started the year 3-5-1. Well, after defeating both of the teams that participated in Super Bowl LIX in a four-day span, the Cowboys have now won three in a row and have a record of 6-5-1. Dallas' defensive line, particularly with Quinnen Williams, has been dominant. The team's wide receiver duo of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens has been among the best in the NFL. Dak Prescott has played at an All-Pro level. A look at the NFC's current playoff field shows that while Dallas isn't in a playoff spot yet, the team is a clear threat to do serious damage in the league. Here's how things shake…...

2+ day, 4+ hour ago (465+ words) Another week, another frustrating one-score loss for the three-time reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes and the offense moved the ball pretty well on Thanksgiving against the Dallas Cowboys, but crucial mistakes short-circuited drives at the worst possible time " errors that K.C. couldn't afford given how badly Steve Spagnuolo's defense struggled to get even a single stop. We've been waiting for Andy Reid and Co. to click into gear for months now. But at this point, they might be out of runway: Thursday's loss in Dallas dropped them to 6-6 on the season, buried all the way in ninth place in the AFC standings. And even if they're able to go on a run to close the year, it might be too late. Here's how things currently stack up, after the Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens both lost on Thursday night…...