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.
Jacksonville is 12–4, Tennessee is 3–13, and this is the kind of Week 18 that feels like a verdict. The Jaguars have won seven straight, and one more win can stamp the AFC South, with higher seeding still breathing if the rest of Sunday cooperates. EverBank should sound like a playoff gate, because the league’s […]
January 3, 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
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
Week 17 shows up with bright lights and sharp edges, because the Rams are 11–4 and already in, but still stuck fighting for the cleanest January lane. Atlanta is 6–9 and eliminated, yet this still reads like a national stage for young pieces and future contracts. Last week left the Rams simmering after a chaotic, […]
December 29, 2025
Week 17 lands like a fork in the road for both franchises, even with different maps in their hands. Jacksonville is 11–4 and already punched a playoff ticket, but it still chases the cleanest path through January. Indianapolis is 8–7 and now eliminated from the playoff picture, so the urgency shifts into evaluation, pride, and […]
December 28, 2025
New England is 12–3, and every win still buys it something in the AFC’s top tier. The division is still on the table, and the seeding math still matters, so the Patriots can’t treat this like a preseason Sunday. The Jets are 3–12, living in that late-season fog of auditions, injuries, and quiet exits, where […]
December 27, 2025
Nashville gets a Week 17 that feels like a tryout and a verdict at the same time. Tyler Shough (QB) and Cam Ward (QB) aren’t placeholders, so nobody is calling it safe, even if the standings aren’t the headline. New Orleans arrives with a little late-season pulse, the kind that comes when the tape finally […]
December 27, 2025