Chill Sports

When analysts are asked to talk about the qualities that make Jimmy Garoppolo a good starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, they often resort to the same subset of talking points: accuracy , leadership , poise under pressure , and intelligence . This is, however, in spite of the fact that Garoppolo as a quarterback does not actually possess many of these qualities. He’s frustratingly jumpy in the pocket with spotty footwork, has trouble deciphering blitzes and making smart decisions when they do arrive, and is accurate only when the system around him simplifies the game down for him to near-rookie levels. His abilities as a leader of men has, for the most part, never been in question, but in truth he has quietly shown a consistent pattern of an unwillingness to take accountability in losses -- including after his disastrous performance in a Sunday Night Football loss to an equally disastrous Broncos team -- and reportedly has a habit of “ van...

With two weeks of NFL action in the books, we’ve seen quite a wide range of quarterback talent on display. On one end of the spectrum are the known commodities like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, who have been going scorched earth on the league and cementing their status as being in a tier of their own. Per RBSDM, Mahomes and Allen are first and second in EPA/play among quarterbacks with marks of 0.479 and 0.476, respectively; the next-closest quarterback has an EPA/play of 0.360 (more on him soon!). More intriguing, however, is the play from the quarterbacks with chips on their shoulders. I could gush about players like Allen and Mahomes for pages and pages, but “Guys Who You Know Are Good at Football Continue to Be Good at Football” reads almost like a headline from The Onion. So instead I’d like to focus on the passers with points to prove-- let’s discuss those who are silencing their doubters, and those who are playing their way out of employment. Trending Up: ...

Week 1 is officially in the books, and it was pure magic. We had two overtime games, some brilliant quarterback play from the game’s biggest stars, a handful of stunning upsets, and even a tie! It was the NFL we know and love; despite some horrendous kickers and some even worse head-coaching decisions, these past few days were extremely entertaining. Now that the dust has settled, what can we actually learn from the opening week of football? Week 1 storylines often quickly fall flat on their face, and breakout or underwhelming performances need to be taken with a heavy grain of salt -- just this time last year, we thought Aaron Rodgers was cooked, before he went on to win his second MVP award in as many years. Still, there are trends I saw on Sunday that seem likely to stick around. Let’s discuss three of the biggest things I learned from Week 1. To Blitz or Not To Blitz? It’s no secret that in today’s NFL, passing is king. There is still a place for run-heavy offenses, s...

It’s that time of year again. You’re starting to see those end-of-summer rains, you feel cautiously optimistic about your fantasy football team that will end up missing the playoffs, and folding tables in the city of Buffalo are already beginning to scream for mercy . The NFL is finally back after almost seven full months, and ‘tis the season for awful, irresponsible, almost certainly doomed predictions. Football is a notoriously volatile sport, and while every individual game is ripe for in-depth analysis of tactical chess matches, trying to predict the league’s results well in advance is a fool’s errand. Only those who are grossly overconfident in their limited knowledge of the sport and who have absolutely no shame whatsoever will do something like try to prophesize exactly who will win each division this season. So without further ado, here are my predictions about who will win each division this season. AFC East: Buffalo Bills The Bills went into the offseason with...