Dan Johnson has been an editor, writer, and analyst for DraftKings and DraftKings Network since 2024. He’s previously held editorial posts at The Paris Review, Macmillan Publishers, Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, ASSIGNMENT Magazine, and FantasySixPack. You can find his various editorial work & writing (sports-related and non-) at all of the above.
Here we arrive at the 2025 regular season finale. An AFC North referendum. A battle for the whole division. And it’s just loaded with stakes. Baltimore still has a playoff spot to win, and the division stakes pull every fourth-quarter lever. Henry’s birthday angle lands because the Ravens’ identity is still him, especially after the […]
January 4, 2026
New England is 13–3, and the final Sunday still has teeth. Miami is 7–9, and the week feels like a scouting meeting for 2026. The Patriots can still climb the AFC ladder, and that demands a real four-quarter posture. This rivalry always drags ego into the cold, even when the standings separate. Gillette should feel […]
January 4, 2026
Los Angeles sits at 11–5 and already punched a ticket, but December left a bruise on the brand. The Rams wanted a cleaner path and a louder seed, and they let it slip. Sunday still matters, because a win grabs the five seed and a loss drops them to six. That result ripples straight into […]
January 4, 2026
Chicago walks into Week 18 at 11–5 with the NFC’s No. 2 seed still in its hands, while Detroit sits 8–8 playing pure spoiler. A Bears win or tie keeps that slot, which matters because it blocks Philadelphia from jumping them in the bracket. If Chicago slips and the Eagles beat Washington, the teams swap […]
January 4, 2026
U.S. Bank Stadium is loud even when the stakes are strange, and this one is strange in a way only Week 18 can manage. Green Bay is already locked into the seven seed, so the whole objective is to leave the building intact. Minnesota is eliminated, yet the game still carries weight, because the quarterback […]
January 3, 2026
Mercedes-Benz Stadium turns into a switchboard when the division title sits on someone else’s table. Tampa Bay just beat Carolina 16–14, left both at 8–9, and shoved the NFC South into this Sunday’s rivalry. If New Orleans wins or ties, Tampa Bay steals the division and the No. 4 seed. If Atlanta wins, it creates […]
January 3, 2026
Levi’s turns into a pressure chamber when the one-seed sits on the table. Seattle walks in at 13–3 with the bye in reach, and San Francisco arrives at 12–4 needing a win. A Seattle win or tie locks the NFC West, the No. 1 seed, and the lone bye. A Seattle loss drops it straight […]
January 3, 2026
Charlotte in early January still feels like football borrowed from fall, even when the calendar lies. Wake Forest is 8–4 and chasing a ninth win that reads like a real season, not a loophole. Mississippi State is 5–7, here through the back door, and trying to turn the trip into a bridge year. That contrast […]
January 2, 2026
Memphis gets a bowl that feels like a referendum on continuity, the kind of game where December choices echo on every third-and-two. Navy walks in at 10–2, ranked, and built to cash one more disciplined performance for an eleventh win. Cincinnati walks in at 7–5, coming off a four-game skid, and trying to keep its […]
January 2, 2026
We’ve got one week left, and Week 18 turns into bracket engineering, not just matchups. Only one seed is truly frozen right now: Green Bay at No. 7. The league even staged the leverage on Saturday—Panthers at Buccaneers at 4:30 p.m. ET, then Seahawks at 49ers at 8:00 p.m. ET—because those two results reshape what […]
January 1, 2026
New Year’s Eve in Vegas usually means noise and neon, but this bowl reads like a ledger. Utah arrives at 10-2, top-15, and still built on blunt force. Nebraska arrives at 7-5, proud progress, and a roster that looks different by the hour. This isn’t a postcard bowl for either sideline, it’s a reckoning. Utah […]
December 31, 2025