Storylines around the NFL

Analyzing the 2023 trade deadline moves:

The NFL trade deadline for 2023 has come and gone. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much action altogether as last year, nor did we have legit superstars being moved. Most frustrating among the names everybody wanted to see with a change of scenery was Davante Adams, whose frustration in Las Vegas has continued to grow and since then the names at the top of the operation have been let go. However, we did see a few contenders make potentially crucial additions and also a couple of surprises on Halloween.

So now I want to take a look at those eight trades that went down this week, talk about the compensation and break down what those mean for both sides. I did not include Kevin Byard being shipped from Tennessee to Philadelphia for a bag of chips a week prior, because Eagles GM Howie Roseman yet again was able to acquire a veteran DB that should be a key pieces at a position of need for way under market value.

Let’s focus on the rest of the list now:


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NFL Film Breakdowns, Why did this happen?

How the Ravens obliterated the Lions (Week 7 – 2023)

The early Sunday slate of week seven was highlighted by a highly-anticipated inter-conference matchup between the Lions and Ravens. However, Baltimore took control right now and turned this into a 38-6 beatdown.

I’m breaking down what exactly they did on both sides of the ball!

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Player Rankings

Quarterback rankings a third into the 2023 NFL season:

Now six weeks into the NFL season, I thought it was time to examine the quarterback landscape and rank all 32 starters (no backups included). In order to paint the picture better, I grouped them into tiers, which can include between two and six names. I’ll discuss each of these guys’ biggest strengths and weaknesses, add different statistics but then also add the needed context, based on watching the tape.

For this exercise, I’m trying to extrapolate the individual player from his respective team and envision a roster made up from perfectly average pieces, without the benefit of elite play-makers or -callers to take pressure off them. Of course, certain types of signal-callers can maximize what the system they’re in gives them, while others may not execute on as consistent a level, but can elevate what’s around them.

So the basis of this will always make it an imperfect problem to solve, but we’ll try to get as close as we can!


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NFL Power Rankings, Power Rankings

NFL power rankings after the first quarter of the 2023 season:

We’re one month into the NFL season and it’s time for our first power rankings over the year. While there are teams we feel more or less confident about in our opinions on them, generally I believe we have a good understanding for who the main contenders in both conferences are and which ten plus/minus two teams have a legit shot at lifting up that Lombardi trophy in February. At the same time, there may be about the same amount of groups I feel like don’t have real playoff aspirations. That’s why the middle of the pack may end up being so interesting, to see who still rises of falls.

As always, these are rankings, not standings. I did not want to simply list teams by record and then shuffle them around a bit, but rather actually evaluate how good these 32 franchises are right now. I will incorporate a lot of numbers to support my case, but also try to add the needed context to them, based on what I see on film. That means even if we have two teams with the same record and one of them beat the other head-to-head, that doesn’t automatically determine their order.

Let’s get into the list:



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Uncategorized

Under-the-radar NFL stars through three weeks:

Every NFL fan is aware of the Dolphins offense putting up historic numbers, how dominant the 49ers have looked on both sides of the ball and the main storylines.

I wanted to shine a light on the top performers across the league, who aren’t talked about enough, but have stood out in a major way through the first three weeks.

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NFL games, NFL Weekly Recap, Storylines around the NFL

Three key takeaways from each week one NFL game (2023):

Every week of the NFL season there are a million things going on and it’s impossible to keep up with it all. So after watching the first full slate of games, I decided to outline three key storylines or takeaways for all 16 contests. These can be based around an individual player, coach, team unit or schematic nuance to track going forward.

Of course, week one can be liar and we shouldn’t overreact to anything we just watched, but based on where we stand right now, these are things that jumped to me across the league upon watching every game and trying to put them into context.



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NFL award winners, NFL Playoffs, NFL Predictions

Predicting the entire 2023 NFL season:

We’re less than a week away from the NFL regular season being kicked off in Kansas City and it’s time to put myself out there yet again, by predicting every single NFL award, the playoff picture and ultimately my pick for Super Bowl LVIII.

As always, I will list my top three candidates for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and all the other awards, reveal my seven seeds in either conference and work my way through the eventual matchups, in order to get to the participants in the big game next February. Yet again I added the Excel sheet, where you can find my predictions for all 285 total games, at the bottom of this piece.

Once again, I attached the full regular season grid at the bottom, if you’re interested in how I ended up with the eventual playoff seedings or want to know where your team finished, if they didn’t make the cut.

This is what I think the 2023/24 season will look like:


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Storylines around the NFL

Most pivotal situations of the 2023 NFL season:

Only two weeks away from the 2023 NFL season being kicked off, I decided highlight some situations across the league that are highly volatile and I’m most interested in how they work out. These can be players, team units or coaches heading into crucial years. Altogether I came up with eight questions I’m waiting to have answered.

Just two quick disclaimers:
– Obviously how Deshaun Watson might bounce big for the Browns will be key, but I wanted to focus on different topics, without any off-field implications
– And I had already recorded this before the 49ers lost Taco Charlton to IR

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