Half of the NFC playoff field was decided in the final two weeks of the 2023 regular season.The top three teams in the conference finished with matching 12-5 records and a .706 winning percentage, but not all division champions are created equal.Envisioning Super Bowl bridesmaids and the West champion 49ers return to the top perch isn’t all that challenging, but the Philadelphia Eagles (11-6 last season) know a thing or two about Super Bowl runner-up hangover.In the AFC, four non-playoff teams entered the final two weeks with a more than realistic shot at the postseason and, among them, the Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts all have enough to flip 9-8 records to 11- or 12-win campaigns this season.Here’s a look at three playoff teams who are set to take a…

Last season we did our weekly rookie quarterback tracker, but with only one taken in the first round of 2022, we’ve moved onto another highly coveted position. For 2022 we’ll keep track of all six first-round wide receivers and their progress throughout the year. Some of our first-round rookies are already off to the races and contributing heavily to their teams. Let’s check out this year’s group of rookie first-rounders. Inactive: Jameson Williams – Detroit Lions (torn ACL) source: Getty Images Although Williams can officially practice with the team now, he hasn’t been cleared yet. Lions head coach Dan Campbell says the rookie is rehabbing, but he’s still “several weeks away” from playing. The No. 12 overall pick is running again but still has a ways to go before de…

It is difficult, for a number of good reasons, to wake up on any given day and resolve to visit the 9/11 Museum. That it is struggling to lure local visitors may not surprise you. A new Wall Street Journal piece details the museum’s attempts to cope: a new marketing campaign, advertising on the subway and on local television, creating before-and-after videos with NYC locals who were “coaxed into visiting,” surveying regular museum-goers in the tristate area about why they haven’t gone to this particular museum. Their reasons are predictable: a third said they didn’t plan to visit because they “didn’t want to relive that day or because the subject matter was too emotional.” More than half said they intended to, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet, which summed up a very …

Some people are fans of the San Francisco 49ers. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the San Francisco 49ers. This 2016 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here. And buy Drew’s new book here. Your team: San Francisco 49ers. Oh, did I say San Francisco 49ers? Because I meant Anodyne Exurban Strip Mall 9,000 Miles Away From San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco no longer has an NFL team. The Niners may as well have moved to fucking Alaska. Unless you’re a shitbag tech billionaire with a Learjet sharing app account, you’ll never see this team again. Your 2015 record: 5-11. I have to say, that’s a good three or four more wins than I expected after this team cut Jim Harbaugh loose, dropped their roster into a garbage compac…

Dip over to Salon and dig the most gifted Jennifer Egan: One of my strengths as a writer is that I’m a good problem-solver. I write these unthinking, ungoverned first drafts. The project for me always is to turn that instinctive stuff into pages that work. I want all the flights of fancy, and I can only get them in a thoughtless way. So I allow myself that. Which means that my next step has to be all about problem-solving. My attitude cannot be, Gee, I wrote it, it’s good. I’d never get anywhere. It’s all about seeing what’s wrong from a very analytical place. It’s a dialectic. Once I have a draft I make the plans, edit on hard copy, and make an extensive outline for the revision. The revision notes I wrote for “Look at Me” were 80 pages long. This essay appears in th…

Alabama defensive line coach Karl Dunbar’s backpack—which held his playbook and laptop—was stolen from the team’s Atlanta hotel before this week’s national championship game against Georgia. According to Atlanta’s WSB-TV, Dunbar left his backpack in a conference room at the hotel before it disappeared. In addition to the playbook and laptop, it contained his cellphone, passport and $1,300 in cash. Some of those items were later found in a bathroom, but the playbook was not among them. Police say they do not know who stole the backpack. The information from the police report is supplemented with some nice man-on-the-street reporting by WSB-TV to get an important perspective: what do Georgia fans think? “It’s bad. It’s definitely bad. One shouldn’t do it and I belie…

data-mm-id=”_7cf51j8ic”>Charlotte Flair was the biggest star of Wrestlemania 36, once again showing she's still one of the best and most consistent performers the WWE has on its roster. For the third year in a row, Flair did incredible work in one of the best matches on a Wrestlemania card.On Sunday night, Flair battled Rhea Ripley for the NXT championship. Ripley is a 23-year-old rising star and many expected her to win the match as a way to secure her status as one of WWE's next big things. She and Flair battled for more than 20 minutes in a back-and-forth affair. It was a blast to watch and Flair came away with the victory, surprising many in the end.Welcome home, @MsCharlotteWWE. ?#WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/y1AFS4IuNb— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 5, 2020Flair and Ripley …

data-mm-id=”_6tt41rnb5″>Sports Illustrated soccer writer Grant Wahl took aim at Maven ownership and CEO James Heckman late Sunday night on social media. The since deleted messages, captured by Awful Announcing, read:””Thankful to have a job, but the people who were laid off from SI this week at least got a good severance package. If we’re laid off July 1, we get absolutely nothing. Plus Maven has already decreased my salary 30% and is trying to make that permanent beyond the pandemic, which is shameful. Who would take advantage of a pandemic to permanently reduce someone’s salary beyond that pandemic? Maven and James Heckman would.””Sports Illustrated endured another round of layoffs last week, with some high-profile writers and editors among the cuts. Wahl, one of the remaining marque…

data-mm-id=”_dnkm7ni6s”>I've been on quite a swimming-run recently, taking a dip in the four most typical watering holes humans congregate in over the last month. It started in upstate New York with forays into Colgate Lake and Spruce Creek at the base of Kaaterskill Falls. Next was the Atlantic Ocean at Lewes Beach in Delaware. Finally, there was a pool excursion at my parents' house this weekend. I mention that not to brag but simply to set up the fact that clearly I'm an expert when it comes to ranking which experience was best for cooling down and enjoying a leisurely swim in the sun. So without further ado, I present my ranking of the best swimming experience, which should help inform your decision for how to spend your next weekend. 4. River There's nothing li…

data-mm-id=”_cdor73n07″>Gordon Hayward must be out of his mind. The 30-year-old has opted out of the final year of his contract with the Boston Celtics, walking away from $34.1 million and entering free agency. Here's the thing: there is no possible way anyone will offer him anything close to that as a free agent.Hayward signed a massive four-year, $127.8 million deal with the Celtics in 2017 and reunited with Brad Stevens, who had coached him in college. Just a few minutes into his debut with the team, Hayward landed awkwardly on his left leg, fracturing his tibia and dislocating his ankle. He missed the rest of the season and hasn't been the same player since. Hayward spent the first seven years of his career with the Utah Jazz, slowly morphing into an All-Star. During his …