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In the NFL more than just about any other sport, the draft can make or break a franchise. Rookies in the league are required to learn on the job and, right from the beginning, are expected to contribute. The draft is about talent and thinking toward the future, but with more and more money riding on draft picks, there's pressure right away to perform. As has been seen again and again, ...

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports broke news this past weekend that the NFL will begin to require that teams consult independent neurologists or neurosurgeons prior to clearing players to play medically when reporting symptoms of a head injury. But while it's another in a long lines of moves by the league and its franchises to curtail the impact of concussions, there was some question as to whether the league is really ...

Patriots? Colts? Steelers? Brady? Manning? Roethlisberger? Lost in much of the discussion over which team is the best of the decade is just how much more successful quarterbacks have been at passing the ball as the decade has worn on. Rule changes, advances in medicine, and a change in the organizational philosophies of NFL teams have led to a league in which passing the football is as efficient as it has ever been. The ...

There are certain things to look forward to in November. Turkey, Black Friday (if you're not working), Turkey (leftovers edition), and the best tryptophan-induced nap of the year.á But one thing I missed as a football fan last year is the seemingly inevitable showdown between the Colts and Patriots with an undefeated record on the line. Last year the 4-4 Colts welcomed the 5-3 Patriots as a hobbled Peyton Manning took on Tom ...

Generally, after eight games, you know what each team is about. Injuries may heal or multiply, suspensions can be lifted or handed down, and players can still emerge or fade down the stretch. But beyond all the vagaries the second half of the NFL season brings with it, pundits and fans alike generally understand what their team is going to be. This year, in New England, that isn't the case. Depending on which ...

After just barely two months of regular season play we've already seen players rise and fall, teams championed one week and dismissed the next, and a host of MVP candidates fall by the wayside. But as interesting as the twists and turns of the 2009 season have been, the MVP race is shaping up to be an historic one. We've got great running backs you'd never expect, one quarterback who could shatter ...

With the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers playing to a sold-out crowd in London last night, one of the hot topics of discussion has been the idea of putting an NFL franchise somewhere in England. I'll get to my review of the game later in the week (The cliff's notes: penalties are becoming a big problem for every unit, special teams continues to be hit-or-miss, and the running game ...

They always say in New England that if you don't like the weather, wait a minute. It'll probably change. New England's fortunes for the year may have just gone through a similar transformation after their destruction of the Tennessee Titans. That was a whippin'. Plain and simple. There's got to be little joy in piling on a hopeless team, but while it might be a good week to turn your television off if ...

Tracking the statistical shifts of each NFL season in real time is always a pretty daunting task. Every season brings new coaches, new players, new schemes, new stadiums, and new situations to impact those who make decisions that determine the outcome of football games. Take this year: So far, compared to the whole of last year, passing is up while total offensive plays are down, by quite a big margin. Already, teams are ...

I've watched the NFL long enough to know that, even in the salary cap era, it doesn't take long for the strong to separate themselves from the weak. Yet this year, that doesn't seem to have happened to the degree we might be used to. What is most puzzling is that, going into Week Five, there were still five undefeated teams, a mark that's among the best in NFL history. But despite what ...