Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken have been deeply engaged in intense research for today’s column …
Well, at least they’re off the couch for once.
Anyway, a look at the NFL. With the trade deadline come and gone, and the stretch drive for playoff positions now engaged, a look at where everyone stands suggests itself. In some teams’ cases, it’s more where everyone is on crutches due to injuries, but you get the idea.
There’s always been a grain of truth in the truism “on any given Sunday,” but this season has featured so many “they beat THEM?!!” moments it’s been dizzying. The only genuine common thread is teams running hot and cold. For example, the Kansas City Chiefs started the season looking like their winning ways were firmly in the rear-view mirror. A little health plus one post-suspension wide receiver later, and they were clicking right along, regular-season Buffalo Bills notwithstanding ... right until they got busted by a bunch of Broncos in Denver and are now in genuine danger of missing the postseason. I’m amazed no one is attempting to spread the rumor that it’s all a plot financed by Taylor Swift to make finalizing a wedding date to Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce easier. Speaking of the Bills, they started the season hot, then went cold, and currently they are hot again. At least on offense, as their defense is now pictured in the dictionary next to “susceptible.”
The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have been terrific on defense but average at best on offense. Same with the aforementioned Broncos. Should they meet in the Super Bowl, it might create the hitherto thought impossible reality: people actually looking forward to the Bad Bunny halftime show as a way to alleviate the tedium.
The Los Angeles Rams have a solid argument to be considered the best overall team in the league right now in terms of combined offense and defense, but have special teams issues that have cost them games. The Seattle Seahawks have a similar claim, but, as the Rams exposed in their recent tilt at SoFi, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold does not perform well under heavy pressure. Neither does Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. While the Lions will most likely make the playoffs, unless the team somehow mightily ups its pass blocking, it’s challenging to see Detroit making it to its first Super Bowl ever this coming February.
There is no one team that you can look at and say, “They’ve got it all together.” The New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts have each improved significantly from last season. However, the Patriots can’t keep their opponents from using quarterback Drake Maye as a tackling dummy. As far as the Colts are concerned, while running back Jonathan Taylor is having an all-world MVP-quality campaign, they are still counting on quarterback Daniel Jones to keep up his Peyton Manning impersonation for the remainder of the season. Can he?
The San Francisco 49ers have weathered a ton of injuries to stay competitive. The Chicago Bears are playing well enough to win more than they lose, as are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Neither team scares anyone. A well past his sell-by date Aaron Rodgers is trying to will the Pittsburgh Steelers into the playoffs, aching wrist permitting. The Los Angeles Chargers are, as of this writing (November 20th, 2025), 7-4, but are falling apart. The Green Bay Packers are 6-3-1, but are even less formidable than the Bears and Buccaneers.
It makes for simultaneously fascinating and frustrating viewing. Fascinating, in that you never know what will happen. Frustrating, in that if you have a rooting interest in one or more teams, you … never know what will happen. Nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the ride as best one can.
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