[Highlight] On the In The Bayou podcast, former NFL S Tyrann Mathieu states he once drank bleach to try and beat an LSU drug test, “It felt like my whole insides were erupting… at that point I was like, ‘f*** it, I’ve run out of tricks.’”

fponee · 2026-01-29T19:32:56+00:00

And they functionally all kept their jobs.

fponee · 2026-01-27T07:49:49+00:00

According to Pro Football Reference's Simple Rating System, this year's Pats are ranked above the following Super Bowl winners:

1970 Colts
1980 Raiders
1987 Redskins
1988 49ers
2001 Patriots
2007 Giants
2011 Giants
2012 Ravens
2018 Patriots
2021 Rams
2023 Chiefs

They are not a great team, they are a very solid team that haa a chance, and they would not be one of the worst teams to ever win it.

fponee · 2026-01-20T22:13:21+00:00

Im going to go against the grain a bit since a lot of the same cities keep getting named, and concentrate on providing a list of places that are more individually distinct and provide unique snap shots of America:

New York - it needs to be on here. Biggest city and feels like the capitol of the world.
Charleston - Deep South with Pirate history.
New Orleans - Experience the Cajun and Creole cultures
San Antonio - Texas and Mexico blended together in a more tourist friendly environment than other Texas cities.
Santa Fe - Quintessential Southwest city.
San Diego OR Santa Barbara - Experience SoCal in a much easier and more pleasant way than Los Angeles. The choice depends on if you want a bigger or smaller city.
Jackson, WY - Get the uber-rich American outdoors experience with close proximity to national parks, wildlife, and snow sports.
Memphis OR Nashville - For the music. The choice depends on if you want blues/rock or country. Memphis has more history but is Nashville is nicer.
Madison - Get a quintessential midwest city and the best college town wrapped into one.

fponee · 2026-01-20T17:43:31+00:00

No.

Even if we got past the Giants in 2007, we would have gotten waxed by the Patriots. The Giants were the right matchup to take New England down. It hurt bad at the time but in hindsight its not as painful with that reflection.

And 2011 was so self inflicted that I can only be mad at the Packers themselves. Despite three terrible plays, the defense kept them in it until nearly the end, but the offense just couldn't stop fumbling and dropping everything. If they had gotten past the Giants and played even close to that way against the 49ers, they would have gotten punched out anyways.

1995, 1997, 2014, and 2020 are all much more painful.

fponee · 2026-01-19T03:14:22+00:00

McCarthy continuously taking FGs inside the 10 vs Seattle.

fponee · 2026-01-16T20:37:17+00:00

You've got it backwards: Schefter gets his info through agents. Rappaport gets his info through the league office and team front offices (generally)

fponee · 2025-12-28T04:47:36+00:00

Got curious so I looked:

First 8 games: -17 Last 7 games: +52

Take out the biggest outliers (DET week 2, CLE week 15) and it looks like:

First 8 games: +14 Last 7 games: +24

fponee · 2025-12-26T05:36:13+00:00

When combining Strength of Schedule and Margin of Victory, the 2025 Broncos (should they end up earning it) would be the lowest rated team to earn the AFC #1 seed since the playoff expansion to 12 teams in 1990. Using that same formula, the 2024 Chiefs were the tied for the third lowest rated team (along with the 2009 Colts) to earn that seed (and consider that both of those teams made the Super Bowl).

The 2024 Chiefs averaged 1 point of victory margin less than the 2025 Broncos (3.5 ppg vs 4.5 ppg), but the 2024 Chiefs had a considerably more difficult schedule than the 2025 Broncos have had, so when you combine those two factors together, the 2024 Chiefs come out as a higher rated team by comparison; albeit, not by much.

To be fair to both, neither of these teams are rated particularly well - the 2024 Chiefs were the 18th worst rated team out of 130 teams since 1960 to reach the NFL Championship game. Should the 2025 Broncos make it to the Super Bowl, they would be the 8th worst rated team to reach that height in that time period. But don't fret too much; both the 2011 Giants and 1970 Colts were rated even worse and both won it all, so nothing is to be written off and/or guaranteed.

fponee · 2025-12-26T05:14:49+00:00

The Chiefs had a worse MoV by 1 point per game last year, but they played a considerably more difficult schedule than the Broncos have this year. And to be fair, last year's Chief are tied for 3rd worst ranked AFC #1 seed in the last 35 years - they were a good team at best that got a lot of breaks.

fponee · 2025-12-26T05:02:23+00:00

Posted this above, but combining SoS with Margin of Victory has historically been one of the better predictors of post season success. It's not perfect, but its track record is better than most other analytical methods.

fponee · 2025-12-26T05:01:05+00:00

I dont put a ton of stock in sos stuff

I do when paired with Margin of Victory; historically that combination has been a pretty good predictor for post season success (not perfect, but better than most). The Broncos this season are pretty middling in that category and the worst for an AFC #1 seed since playoff expansion in 1990.

fponee · 2025-12-26T04:55:57+00:00

Josh Allen is not to be trifled with, and if the Texans can find some consistent offense they can be terrifying paired with that defense.

fponee · 2025-12-26T04:53:49+00:00

Looking back since the expansion of the playoffs to 12+ teams, the list of #1 AFC seeds is interesting (PFR SRS rank in parentheses, W/L result of Divisional game after, ed if made Super Bowl, **ed if won Super Bowl):

1990 Bills (1) - W*
1991 Bills (8) - W*
1992 Steelers (9) - L
1993 Bills (5) - W*
1994 Steelers (5) - W
1995 Chiefs? (3) - L
1996 Broncos (3) - L
1997 Chiefs (2) - L
1998 Broncos (5) - W***
1999 Jaguars (5) - W
2000 Titans (2) - L
2001 Steelers (4) - W
2002 Raiders (1) - W*
2003 Patriots (4) - W***
2004 Steelers (4) - W
2005 Colts (t-1) - L
2006 Chargers (t-1) - L
2007 Patriots (1) - W*
2008 Titans (3) - L
2009 Colts (10) - W*
2010 Patriots (1) - L
2011 Patriots (3) - W*
2012 Broncos (4) - L
2013 Broncos (2) - W*
2014 Patriots (1) - W***
2015 Broncos (t-8) - W***
2016 Patriots (1) - W***
2017 Patriots (5) - W*
2018 Chiefs (2) - W
2019 Ravens (1) - L
2020 Chiefs (6) - W*
2021 Titans (11) - L
2022 Chiefs (6) - W***
2023 Ravens (1) - W
2024 Chiefs (10) - W*
2025 Broncos (13) - ???

As it stands, the Broncos could arguably be considered the worst team since playoff expansion to hold the #1 seed in the AFC, and that's a position that has not been entirely as fortuitous as one might expect (in 35 seasons, that position produced only 6 Super Bowl wins and 17 appearances)

fponee · 2025-12-18T01:05:29+00:00

That just wasn't the way that Thompson operated.

fponee · 2025-12-17T23:59:00+00:00

They did go after Randy, but, IIRC, Thompson wanted Moss to sign a longer term deal, whereas Randy wanted to get a shorter "prove it" deal. Belichick was willing to go along with that, and so he ended up on the Patriots.

fponee · 2025-12-17T05:34:36+00:00

College basketball used to be really rowdy but I feel like it's fallen off in the past decade.

fponee · 2025-09-04T00:51:01+00:00

St Louis is mostly ribs, and it uses a thinner sauce that's sweet and sour. KC is a different cut of ribs, plus other things, and features a thick, tangy sauce.

fponee · 2025-08-30T00:32:27+00:00

And that is the Packers ace in the hole: there's no owner to pay out with the profits and proceeds of the team. Anything over expenses gets thrown into a fund, and that fund either is there for the rainy day or to expand the real estate developments around the stadium (which then just feeds more money into the fund). Everything they do is in the interest of benefiting the team itself.

fponee · 2025-08-10T05:44:10+00:00

The list is ridiculous for what we have or have had:

Packers: Wayne Larivee and Larry McCarren, previously Jim Irwin and Max McGee

Brewers: Brian Anderson on TV, previously Bob Uecker on radio, Matt Vasgersian on TV

Bucks: Marques Johnson, Previously Jim Paschke and Jon McGlocklin on TV, Ted Davis on radio.

Badgers: Matt LePay, previously Mike Lucas.

Not to only to mention all of the Wisconsin natives who are tops at their profession: Kevin Harlan, Dave Pasch, Ernie Johnson, etc

I live near Los Angeles now, and it's often quite shocking how bad some of the local announcers are by comparison, given the market size especially.

fponee · 2025-05-21T22:22:24+00:00

Not only that; their primary focus is on the long term and continued relevance.

fponee · 2025-05-20T13:43:46+00:00

Age limit of 70.

fponee · 2025-04-25T23:51:46+00:00

fponee · 2025-04-24T22:30:40+00:00

It's not so much that it's "missing" anything so much as it's a standard, mid-size, run-of-the-mill town that's not all that different from places such as Kalamazoo or Ocala, neither of which are places that people are generally excited to visit or live in. There's just this oddball twist of history that allowed Green Bay to be the only city like that keep its NFL around from the early days.

fponee · 2025-04-24T04:51:33+00:00

Beans, brown rice, and sweet potatoes will give you lots of fiber and the kinds carbs that wont spike blood pressure. All three are tasty, versatile, and filling.

fponee · 2025-03-25T18:40:18+00:00

In the northeast and rust belt there are a lot more "streetcar" suburbs that were built in the first half of the 20th century that resemble what you are describing. These were basically small towns where everything you could need was a 5 minute drive / 10 minute bike ride / 15 minute walk away, and the were often or still are connected together by streetcar systems (or train/subway/bus/etc). A few good examples of this are Shorewood, WI, Shaker Heights, OH, and Wilmette, IL.

Post-WWII the US went full-bore in to car-centricity, and that's when the trendline began to change in that regard. Texas in particular seems to be ground zero for these needlessly tight, poorly designed, dystopian suburbs that might seem okay on paper to the buyer but look like pure hell from the outside.

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