Baily's Sports & Stuff

I'm a little salty as I write this thanks to a series of unfortunate events causing me to miss the fantasy football playoffs, but I'll try to put my bias aside and recap an exciting week of football. The best game of the week came on Sunday night, with three consecutive offsides penalties on the Steelers (three!) gifting the Los Angeles Chargers a key AFC victory. With that win, the Chargers, at 9-3, are very likely to make the postseason, although they still have tough games ahead against the Ravens, Chiefs, and Broncos. If they lose all three, they could find themselves on the outside looking in. But this win was huge for Los Angeles, as Philip Rivers stepped up in Melvin Gordon's absence to deliver a critical victory. The Chiefs, Patriots, and Texans all won, with New England looking particularly sharp on defense against Kirk Cousins and the mediocre Minnesota Vikings. As it stands, New England and Houston are threats to take the top seed in the AFC. The Texans are o

The future of the NFL was on full display last night, with the Chiefs and Rams squaring off in one of the most exciting games in NFL history. The Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to put up 50 points...and lose. The Rams won 54-51 in what many are calling a Super Bowl preview. Do I think the game will be a Super Bowl preview? Absolutely not. Neither team has the defense to win games in January. Both teams abandoned the run game, as Kareem Hunt and Todd Gurley combined to contribute 6 of the game's 105 points. Sure, the offenses played well. But the game was sloppy and turnovers were plentiful. The Real Super Bowl Favorite Once again, the New Orleans Saints, who dethroned last year's champion Philadelphia Eagles 48-7, look unstoppable. The game was shocking to me, as Carson Wentz played horribly and the now 4-6 Eagles looked completely lost. Meanwhile, New Orleans broke the 45-point threshold for the third week in a row, spreading the love to Michael Thoma

Atlanta 23, Dallas 20 Both teams need this game badly. At 4-5, the loser is going to have incredibly long odds to make the postseason. Home-field advantage and better offensive production gives Atlanta the edge in a tight game. Carolina 35, Detroit 14 After getting thrashed in the Steel City last week, Cam Newton continues his MVP season against the crumbling Lions. Carolina will get back on track. Indianapolis 24, Tennessee 23 The Titans have lost four games, and only one of those losses came at the hands of a team with a winning record. In a game Tennessee should win, the inefficient offense will catch up to them. Andrew Luck wills his way to a heroic and unexpected home victory to keep the Colts rolling. Tampa Bay 27, New York Giants 20 Ryan Fitzpatrick will throw for a lot of yards against a depleted Giants team, and, while his turnovers will keep New York in the game, Tampa Bay is the better team. Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham Jr. aren't enough. Houston 20,

Seattle rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat Green Bay 27-24, keeping its playoff hopes well alive while casting a cloud of doubt around Green Bay's. Game Recap Aaron Rodgers and the Packers started Thursday night's contest in Seattle about as well as they possibly could have by forcing a Chris Carson fumble on the first snap of the game before scoring on an Aaron Jones run a few plays later. After surrendering a Seattle field goal, Rodgers made an incredible throw on the run, finding Robert Tonyan (who?) for a 54-yard touchdown. But the Seahawks climbed back into the game with a Russell Wilson touchdown pass and a Carson run, taking the lead late in the second quarter. Rodgers responded with a touchdown pass to Aaron Jones, but after trading field goals, it was Wilson who got the last laugh. He threw a beautiful pass to Ed Dickson on an "uncovered" concept my high school team used to run. No linebacker or safety was remotely close to Dickson off the lin

The New England Patriots lost, so Week 10 was a great week to be an NFL fan. However, while the Patriots lost, the other top dogs of the NFL prevailed. The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams finally emerged victorious in ugly games, while the New Orleans Saints staked their claim as the kings of the NFL. NFC Overview The Saints stomped the 5-3 Cincinnati Bengals 51-14 to retain the top spot in the NFC. Drew Brees broke Brett Favre's mark of 508 career touchdown passes, putting himself in second place all time in career passing touchdowns. He threw three and ran for one on Sunday. If you have someone on that New Orleans offense, consider yourself lucky. Ingram, Kamara, Brees and Thomas all put up phenomenal fantasy numbers. Ingram broke 100 yards rushing and caught a touchdown, Thomas caught two touchdowns, and Kamara ran for two. The Saints didn't have Dez Bryant, but they clearly didn't miss him. The Saints are still technology a half-game behind the Rams, who

From second grade to 10th grade, I used sportswriting as a way to keep myself busy after school and as something I could devote my overwhelming energy to. This blog was what excited me more than anything as a kid, but as I got into high school and faced a demanding schedule, I stopped prioritizing this interest and essentially stopped altogether. I would occasionally write an article about sports for my school newspaper, but my passion was no longer the same as I was so caught up in the day-to-day pressure of being a high school student. Now that I'm off in college, however, I've had some time to reflect on what I truly love as I try to find a passion that I can devote a lot of my time to. I've found myself with a lot of spare time and lacking something that makes me truly excited. I was talking to my girlfriend about this, who told me I should start writing for this blog again because I loved it so much when I was a kid. I first dismissed the idea as childish and pointl