Posts by Jason Bailey
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Appreciating the Underappreciated: In Praise of Brandon Marshall
You reach into the bag for another handful of chips and find only crumbs. Your city faithfully cheers on an NFL team every autumn Sunday until, poof, it’s gone. And sooner than you expect, you’ll be experiencing football without Jets receiver Brandon Marshall.
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Carolina’s Defense Has Been Great … Against Three Bad Teams
During Cam Newton’s tenure, the Panthers defense has finished 27th, 18th, second, and 21st in points allowed, and it doesn’t take Superman to guess which one of those was Carolina’s lone winning season.
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Sophomore Survey: Time to Check In With the Second-Year Quarterbacks
Last Sunday, Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, and Derek Carr each showed us a glimmer of their potential alongside a reminder of their flaws.
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Denver’s Dilfer: If the Old Peyton Manning Never Comes Back, Can the Broncos Defense Carry Him?
It still feels blasphemous to even type these words, but after Sunday’s defensive dominance and Denver’s struggles behind center, we have to ask: Might Peyton Manning become something like Trent Dilfer 2.0, a below-average quarterback who’s carried to the Super Bowl by a ferocious defense?
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Stopped on a Dime: Could Marshawn Lynch Be the NFL’s Last 10,000-Yard Rusher?
Lynch is likely to hit that milestone in this season or the next. After him, though, the field for viable candidates looks barren.
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The Legion of Whom? Dan Quinn Tries to Find an Identity for Atlanta’s Nondescript Defense
In going from the Seahawks to the Falcons, Quinn has left the boldest defense in the league to fix the blandest.
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Motown Mirage: Don’t Expect Eric Ebron to Break Out in Year 2
After the dazzling debuts of rookie first-round receivers in 2014, their futures are so bright that it’s easy to forget that the Lions thought they discovered their own supernova by drafting tight end Eric Ebron no. 10 overall.
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Snyder Stays Silent: Why Washington’s Quiet Offseason Provides a Welcome Change in D.C.
For those accustomed to the annual March ritual of Redskins owner Daniel Snyder sidling up to the nearest aging defender with his checkbook in hand, it has been a disorienting offseason.
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Giveaway Eagles: Should Philadelphia Be Worried About Its Turnover Problem?
Lowly Jacksonville got everyone’s attention by strip-sacking Nick Foles on Philadelphia’s first two drives of the season, and the turnovers haven’t stopped — the Eagles now lead the league with 28.
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All-Pro Infusion: Can Aldon Smith and Josh Gordon Change the Postseason Picture?
It’s not every year that a Pro Bowler suddenly returns to his team in the midst of a playoff race, but that’s about to happen for the second time in as many weeks.
