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NFL Thread: 2025-26 Season
- Thread starter adjectivenoun
- Start date
On this week’s episode of the weekly recap… not much to say about this week, really, other than Zach Charbonnet getting a handful of effectively garbage time points and that the NFC South has a chance to do something really funny. If the Falcons somehow pull the upset over the Rams tomorrow, and proceed to win against the Saints, and the Buccaneers win against the Panthers, all three of those teams will finish 8-9 with a 3-3 division record and a 6-6 conference record. To my knowledge, Tampa Bay would still win the tiebreaker with a win over Carolina regardless, but it’s still fun to think about.
I hope the Panthers just win, but if the Panthers lose Sunday and the Falcons some how win out, then the Panthers would win the tiebreaker since the Panthers would be 3-1 against the Bucs and Falcons combined and the Bucs would be 2-2 against the Panthers and Falcons. But that shouldn't happen because if Bryce Young continues the pattern, then he should have a great game next week. Should...
I wouldn't be so sure. These playoffs feel super open; almost every team feels some degree of fraudulent. Even a number of the good teams are getting blown up by injuries, and all it takes is remembering how to play football for some 60 minutes.
Oh my goodness… my heart. Oh, this is beautiful.
For context, I got my hands on a fresh copy of Madden NFL ‘15 for my PS4 for Christmas, and I’m finally playing this for the first time tonight, going through the set-up stuff as we speak. I specifically asked for this for Christmas for two reasons. For one, I didn’t have a PS4 or was really into Madden back when my Seahawks were in their prime. I suppose I could have booted up my brother’s old Xbox 360, but it really doesn’t make much of a difference. More importantly, with Seattle having arguably their best season since the glory days this season (jury’s still out on Sam Darnold in the playoffs though), I wanted to go back in time before the end of the regular season and get my hands on this game entirely for nostalgia’s sake, see how things have changed both in Madden and with this team in around the past decade and, ideally, finally have the chance to play with my favorite era of my favorite sports team of all time.
And all I’m going to say is… please, God, take me back to 2014 because this is giving me memories I didn’t even know I had. I remembered a lot more of these players than I thought I might and I just had the biggest smile on my face looking at the Seahawks roster. So many guys I watched dominate in their prime. I… man. I know this post isn’t related to the current season basically at all, but this really is one of those things that makes you go “Those were the days.” I am so happy right now.
For context, I got my hands on a fresh copy of Madden NFL ‘15 for my PS4 for Christmas, and I’m finally playing this for the first time tonight, going through the set-up stuff as we speak. I specifically asked for this for Christmas for two reasons. For one, I didn’t have a PS4 or was really into Madden back when my Seahawks were in their prime. I suppose I could have booted up my brother’s old Xbox 360, but it really doesn’t make much of a difference. More importantly, with Seattle having arguably their best season since the glory days this season (jury’s still out on Sam Darnold in the playoffs though), I wanted to go back in time before the end of the regular season and get my hands on this game entirely for nostalgia’s sake, see how things have changed both in Madden and with this team in around the past decade and, ideally, finally have the chance to play with my favorite era of my favorite sports team of all time.
And all I’m going to say is… please, God, take me back to 2014 because this is giving me memories I didn’t even know I had. I remembered a lot more of these players than I thought I might and I just had the biggest smile on my face looking at the Seahawks roster. So many guys I watched dominate in their prime. I… man. I know this post isn’t related to the current season basically at all, but this really is one of those things that makes you go “Those were the days.” I am so happy right now.
Hello again, my friends. In a departure from my previous post- I do apologize for double posting, though- I wanted to take one last look at the league before Week 18 and the postseason both kick off (ha ha) and for this post, I wanted to really start diving into who I think could go the distance and why my current Super Bowl winner is… not necessarily my Seattle Seahawks? Wait, what?
Here’s a fun trivia fact for you. Since the 2016 season, seven of the nine Super Bowl champions have ended up being the team with the best performance across combined regular season and postseason games they were not favored to win. In sports betting this is what people usually call the underdog, but I think it goes a bit deeper than that. Long story made very… very short, championship winning teams aren’t always the best team during the regular season, and with football games being as long and as physical as they are, underdogs often have to try and come up with ways to sustain success throughout not just one, but sometimes multiple unfavorable scenarios.
Taking a look at my Seahawks, we’re 13-3 and most sources are loving our chances to at least attempt making a run, and while our team is tied for a league-best 10-2 record in games after a win, usually a good indicator that a team can win multiple games down the stretch, Seattle is only 1-2 in the few games that we have not been favored in by major betting markets, and we’re also only 2-4 after a bye week so far this decade. While our point differential and performance against the point spread are among, if not the best in the league right now, the numbers and recent history both show that postseason games and regular season success can and should be looked at separately. During the 2020s, Seattle is 0-2 in playoff games with a -14 margin of “victory” (or there lack of), and the 49ers (5-4) and the Rams (6-3) both have a winning record and more playoff games played in general. All of these factors come together to form a situation for a team that, led by a quarterback who isn’t known for his performance in big games, can and will likely only go so far relative to the teams we could end up facing in the postseason.
Here’s a fun trivia fact for you. Since the 2016 season, seven of the nine Super Bowl champions have ended up being the team with the best performance across combined regular season and postseason games they were not favored to win. In sports betting this is what people usually call the underdog, but I think it goes a bit deeper than that. Long story made very… very short, championship winning teams aren’t always the best team during the regular season, and with football games being as long and as physical as they are, underdogs often have to try and come up with ways to sustain success throughout not just one, but sometimes multiple unfavorable scenarios.
Taking a look at my Seahawks, we’re 13-3 and most sources are loving our chances to at least attempt making a run, and while our team is tied for a league-best 10-2 record in games after a win, usually a good indicator that a team can win multiple games down the stretch, Seattle is only 1-2 in the few games that we have not been favored in by major betting markets, and we’re also only 2-4 after a bye week so far this decade. While our point differential and performance against the point spread are among, if not the best in the league right now, the numbers and recent history both show that postseason games and regular season success can and should be looked at separately. During the 2020s, Seattle is 0-2 in playoff games with a -14 margin of “victory” (or there lack of), and the 49ers (5-4) and the Rams (6-3) both have a winning record and more playoff games played in general. All of these factors come together to form a situation for a team that, led by a quarterback who isn’t known for his performance in big games, can and will likely only go so far relative to the teams we could end up facing in the postseason.
Run the ball, you dumb fucking meathead. This is, what, the half-dozenth time the Lions have thrown in exactly this fashion this season? I don't understand how it's possible to be this bad at game management.
Oh, the Bears out-choked them. Hooray! It barely matters. This game was the embodiment of the Lions' entire season: throwing. When they won, it was because they escaped their own self-sabotage. I envisioned a paragraphs-long rant after this game, but I'm too apathetic for that, so here's the quick version:
- Dan Campbell needs a real offensive coordinator. His game management is already shaky, and it craters when he has to call plays.
- They need to rethink their practice philosophy. Free agents have spoken about how brutal Campbell's practices are even by NFL standards, and I would bet a lot of money that's part of why the injury bug is now a recurring problem. "Grit" is all well and good, but you can't be crunching players like that in a league with 17 games, one bye week, and Thursday Night Football. Pace yourself.
- Brad Holmes needs to be more proactive. His great 2023 draft has been masking a lack of other quality acquisitions, and the team's lack of depth in the trenches has been brutally exposed this year. Go out and get reinforcements. No, Parsons getting injured does not validate the "sit on your hands and do nothing" philosophy of trades/free agency. The Packers are in the playoffs, and you aren't.
- Even with a quality offensive coordinator, Campbell needs to learn how to manage a game. I'm sick of watching this team pass three consecutive times with 2:30 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Make the sensible decision.
Since my Seahawks have a playoff bye this week and make it hard to post about most of the other teams since I’m keeping my bracket private this year, I instead want to write a post regarding the complete opposite end of the success spectrum, because as bad as the New York Jets have been during the 2020s thus far (still probably better than the 2010s Browns though, rip), I don’t think there’s been a team that’s been nearly as screwed over in the past two years as the Tennessee Titans. Pretty much everything that could go wrong for the Titans besides being able to draft Cam Ward has gone wrong, and I don’t know how they’re going to turn things around in the new-look AFC South. Let me just make a list of some of what’s happened to Tennessee fans in recent memory:
Instead, we have the Raiders and Jets ahead of them both, which, to be fair is good for both teams and their respective needs at quarterback (imagine the Raiders take who the Jets want just to screw with them lol), but the Jets have nowhere to go but up, I feel like, and that scares me if I’m a rebuilding AFC team given their draft capital and Top 5 cap space heading into the 2026 season. Please, Lord, have mercy on the Titans… what did they do to deserve this?
- Derrick Henry left and became a Baltimore Raven
- AJ Brown got traded to the eventual Super Bowl winning Eagles
- Mike Vrabel just took Drake Maye and the Patriots to a 14-3 record following back-to-back 4-13 seasons beforehand
- Tennessee has a combined 6-28 record since 2024, the worst mark in the league
Instead, we have the Raiders and Jets ahead of them both, which, to be fair is good for both teams and their respective needs at quarterback (imagine the Raiders take who the Jets want just to screw with them lol), but the Jets have nowhere to go but up, I feel like, and that scares me if I’m a rebuilding AFC team given their draft capital and Top 5 cap space heading into the 2026 season. Please, Lord, have mercy on the Titans… what did they do to deserve this?
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I blame Bud Adams. The Oilers were already cursed while they were in Houston; moving them made it even stronger.