2026 NFL Power Rankings: Week 4

 ()=Previous Ranking

1.(2) San Francisco 49ers (3-0) Week 4 opponent: Denver Broncos

2.(3) Buffalo Bills (3-0) Week 4 opponent: New England Patriots

3.(4) Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) Week 4 opponent: Las Vegas Raiders

4.(10) Denver Broncos (2-1) Week 4 opponent: San Francisco 49ers

5.(1) Seattle Seahawks (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers

6.(8) Minnesota Vikings (3-0) Week 4 opponent: Miami Dolphins

7.(12) Chicago Bears (2-1) Week 4 opponent: New York Jets

8.(11) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

9.(5) Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars

10.(6) Los Angeles Rams (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles

11.(13) Baltimore Ravens (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Tennessee Titans

12.(18) Las Vegas Raiders (3-0) Week 4 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs

13.(20) Detroit Lions (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Carolina Panthers

14.(9) Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Los Angeles Rams

15.(22) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Cleveland Browns

16.(25) Cleveland Browns (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

17.(16) Dallas Cowboys (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Houston Texans

18.(7) New England Patriots (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Buffalo Bills

19.(14) New Orleans Saints (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Atlanta Falcons

20.(24) Indianapolis Colts (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Washington Commanders

21.(15) Carolina Panthers (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Detroit Lions

22.(28) Washington Commanders (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Indianapolis Colts

23.(23) New York Giants (2-1) Week 4 opponent: Arizona Cardinals

24.(31) Atlanta Falcons (1-2) Week 4 opponent: New Orleans Saints

25.(19) Houston Texans (0-3) Week 4 opponent: Dallas Cowboys

26.(21) New York Jets (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Chicago Bears

27.(17) Green Bay Packers (1-2) Week 4 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

28.(26) Arizona Cardinals (1-2) Week 4 opponent: New York Giants

29.(27) Los Angeles Chargers (0-3) Week 4 opponent: Seattle Seahawks

30.(29) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3) Week 4 opponent: Green Bay Packers

31.(30) Tennessee Titans (0-3) Week 4 opponent: Baltimore Ravens

32.(32) Miami Dolphins (0-3) Week 4 opponent: Minnesota Vikings

Week 3 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers: 2026 Edition

Quarterback

Biggest Winner: Brock Purdy (49ers)

While the 49ers certainly weren't in top form in their win over the Cardinals, their QB sure was. Purdy erupted for 297 YDS and 4 TD's through the air and gained an impressive 34 YDS on the ground on just 2 carries. The Brockstar is off to a good start to 2026 and is probably worth starting in most leagues against the Broncos in Week 4.

Honorable Mentions: Tyler Shough (Saints), Bo Nix (Broncos), Matthew Stafford (Rams)

Biggest Loser: Drake Maye (Patriots)

If you weren't already panicking about Maye, now is the time to start. The reigning MVP runner up outdid his poor showings in the opening pair of games with an absolutely dreadful performance down in Jacksonville (199 YDS, 0 TD's, 2 INT, 18 Rushing YDS, FUM Lost) as the Patriots got run over by the Jaguars. Maye's odds of finally getting out of the gutter in Week 4 aren't overly high as the struggling Patriots have the misfortune of having to play the 3-0 Bills on the road. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Jalen Hurts (Eagles), Justin Herbert (Chargers), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)

Running Back

Biggest Winner: Jahmyr Gibbs (Lions)

As expected, Gibbs' transition to being a workhorse back is going very well. The Lions superstar held down an even larger share of touches (27) than usual versus the Jets as Amon-Ra St.Brown had a very quiet game by his standards (4/19/1) and was able to turn that slightly increased workload into 164 scrimmage YDS (99 rushing, 65 receiving) and 3 scores. Gibbs is a real threat to clear 200 scrimmage YDS for the 1st time this season this week when he goes up against a Panthers defense that has had zero answers for running backs so far. 

Honorable Mentions: Bijan Robinson (Falcons), Derrick Henry (Ravens), Kenneth Walker III (Chiefs)

Biggest Loser: Omarion Hampton (Chargers)

For the first time this season, Hampton didn't find the endzone. Without a touchdown to boost his line, Hampton's lack of passing game productivity (0 receptions on just 1 target) and inefficient running (56 YDS on 15 carries) that's at least partially brought on by his woeful offensive line play landed him in this unfavorable spot as the Bolts dropped to 0-3 with a loss to the Bills. Things won't get any easier for Hampton this week as he'll be tasked with trying to find rushing room against the Seahawks stout front.

Dishonorable Mentions: TreVeyon Henderson (Patriots), David Montgomery (Texans), Bucky Irving (Buccaneers) 

Wide Receiver

Biggest Winner: Jaxson Smith-Njigba (Seahawks)

JSN's blazing hot start to 2026 continued in Week 3 as he caught 10-of-14 targets for 128 YDS and 2 TD's in what was otherwise a surprisingly ugly performance for the Seahawks in an upset road loss to the Marcus Mariota-led Commanders. Assuming he can remain healthy and the Seahawks rushing game continues to struggle, he's going to have a good chance of repeating as the #1 fantasy WR in 2026.

Honorable Mentions: Drake London (Falcons), Garrett Wilson (Jets), Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals)

Biggest Loser: Tetairoa McMillan (Panthers)

It was a very weird afternoon for the Panthers top pass-catchers as both McMillan and Jalen Coker were held under 20 YDS (McMillan caught 2 balls for 17 YDS) on a day where Bryce Young threw for 291 YDS and they suffered a shocking 21-18 loss to the Browns. McMillan should be back in business against the Lions porous secondary this Sunday night, especially if Coker is forced to sit out with the quad strain he sustained against the Browns that knocked him out of the game in the 3rd quarter.

Dishonorable Mentions: Jaylen Waddle (Broncos), Malik Nabers (Giants), Brian Thomas Jr. (Jaguars)

Tight End

Biggest Winner: George Kittle (49ers)

Kittle was the top beneficiary of Purdy's big day against the Cardinals, hauling in 6 receptions for 82 YDS and 2 TD's. After back-to-back strong performances, the 32 going on 33-year-old star looks to have fully recovered from the Achillies tear he suffered back in January and can be comfortably fired up as a weekly TE1 in all leagues.  

Honorable Mentions: Brock Bowers (Raiders), Harold Fannin Jr. (Browns), Juwan Johnson (Saints)

Biggest Loser: Dalton Kincaid (Bills)

It was a pretty ugly showing for the entire Bills offense as they turned the ball over a whopping 5 times against the Chargers. Unlike James Cook and Josh Allen, Kincaid wasn't able to redeem himself with a TD after losing a fumble in the 3rd quarter and ended up here in fantasy purgatory thanks to his modest 2 reception/38 YD output. Kincaid will look to get back to the elite form he showed in Weeks 1 and 2 against the Patriots on Sunday afternoon.

Dishonorable Mentions: Isaiah Likely (Giants), Tucker Kraft (Packers), Kyle Pitts (Falcons)

Defense/Special Teams

Biggest Winner: Vikings

What a glorious day for the Vikings D/ST in Tampa. Their 6 sack/2 INT/punt return TD effort was ultimately the difference in a 23-16 victory that kept the Vikes unbeaten on the year. The Vikings defensive talent, Brian Flores' motivation to embarrass his former employers and the Dolphins lack of talent/interest in winning football games seems like the perfect recipe for this group to end up in this very spot for a second straight week.

Honorable Mentions: Jaguars, Broncos, Texans

Biggest Loser: Eagles

Being on the receiving end of Case Keenum's stunningly productive return to NFL action is a tough pill to swallow. This talented group didn't log a single sack or takeaway as the 38-year-old journeyman who was standing on the sideline with an earpiece a week ago punched them in the mouth for 4 quarters and led the Bears to a stunning 27-7 blowout victory. Despite their issues with turnovers so far, playing them this week against the Rams doesn't seem like the best idea.

Dishonorable Mentions: Seahawks, Patriots, 49ers

Movie Review: Primetime

NBC's To Catch a Predator only ran from November 2004-December 2007. For a show that only aired for a little over three years, it left behind quite a legacy. Host Chris Hansen is a pop culture icon who spawned multiple catchphrases ("Why don't you take a seat?", "You see how this looks right?") that remain in the lexicon today and the show's questionable ethics have become an even hotter topic of debate in recent years as several copycat shows have emerged on social media platforms like TikTok. 

It was just last year that a documentary examining the show's history and legacy entitled Predators received a limited theatrical release before heading onto Paramount+. Now, a dramatized look at the show and Hansen himself from director Lance Oppenheim- who is ironically a documentarian making his narrative feature debut-entitled Primetime has arrived to reignite conversations about To Catch a Predator among a much wider audience. 

Primetime is adapted from a 2007 Esquire article Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die" by Luke Dittrich. The entirety of the film is set in 2006 right after To Catch a Predator had been moved to a primetime slot (Wednesday nights at 9 EST) and largely deals with how Hansen and his team become obsessed with the idea of luring somebody of a higher societal status like a politician, celebrity or law enforcement official with the hopes of further boosting their ratings now that the show is airing in a slot where it's commanding more eyeballs than it was in its previous time slot on Friday nights at 10 PM EST. They got their wish when they entrapped an assistant district attorney from Dallas/FortWorth named Bill Conradt and caused him to commit suicide on camera when the show's crew arrived alongside local police at his home in Terrell, Texas to serve him multiple warrants that stemmed from the conversations he had with the people from the show that were posing as a underage boy. This incident proved to be the beginning of the end for the controversial show and Conradt's estate later successfully sued NBC for damages related to his suicide (the settlement took place outside of court, so it's not known about how much Condradt's estate received) 

To Catch a Predator is not a series that I saw much of when it was on. My parents weren't watching much Dateline before, during or after its run and ironically, I was spending my Wednesday nights watching Lost when it shifted to the Wednesday at 9 PM slot in the fall of 2006. Most of the knowledge that I have of the show is from watching miscellaneous clips online and seeing the flurry of memes that have been blasted all over the internet in the years after it went off the air. 

My take on the show isn't a particularly novel one: I view it as a very entertaining product on the surface that becomes very insidious once you think about all of the actions that go into its creation. As much Hansen tried to build himself up as this noble guy who had dedicate his whole life to taking pedophiles off the street, neither him nor anyone on were concerned about anything else other than getting good footage that would help boost their ratings. Nobody who was serious about stopping pedophilia would go about it in such an exploitative, public facing way that shows a deep disrespect for the people out there who've been legitimately preyed upon online. Not to mention, this shows produced an easily mimicked playbook for baiting prospective predators that has been used by people with even sketchier moral compasses than Hansen. Many of the aforementioned social media shows are just guys luring men to a location, so they can beat the shit out of them on camera. Nothing says "I empathize   with the plight of victims of child sexual abuse" quite like making videos where five guys pop out of the bushes and start wailing on the guy who thinks he's about to meet the 13-year-old he's been flirting with online for the past week or two. I'm sure the people who make and consume this content are similarly mad about The Epstein Files and the powerful people that are implicated in them. 

While Singh's script certainly would've benefited from digging a bit deeper into its subject matter, Primetime still make for an awfully haunting, absorbing snapshot into the legacy of the show and the people that made it possible. Entrusting Robert Pattinson to play Hansen provides Oppenheim with the unshakable foundation he needed to bring the rest of his vision into place. Pattinson is such an intuitive, committed performer that he knows when to lean into the theatrical showmanship that defined Hansen's television persona and when to be the pathetic, insecure coward that is gutted that the entire world doesn't view him as the benevolent hero that he views himself to be. It's yet another incredible performance that shows off a completely different side of him as an actor and as of today at least, it looks there's a pretty good chance that this effort will propel him to his first career Oscar nomination. 

Playing Hansen rightfully makes Pattinson the face and driving force of Primetime. What proved to be the most pleasantly surprising element of the movie for me seeing Merrit Wever and Skyler Gisondo do incredible work that is crucial to the film's examination of how this machine was run. Wever makes for the perfectly ruthless, self-absorbed partner to Hansen as the show's lead producer while Gisondo gives the most endearingly nuanced performance of his career as a struggling young actor who hopes that appearing on the show as a decoy will help him achieve his dream of becoming a working actor in Hollywood but isn't quite prepared to reckon with what the job actually entails or how his work is being viewed by his peers or audiences. Without this duo showing up and bringing plenty of additional depth to these characters, this movie wouldn't landed with the same force that it does-particularly during the pivotal final scenes where their characters are forced to directly confront the consequences of their actions and whether or not they can live with them in the name of keeping their popular television show afloat. 

Where Oppenheim goes as a feature director after this will be fascinating to watch. His understanding of the power of performance, knowing when to go big and when to let something breathe and coming up with creative visual compositions (cinematographer David Bolen does some seriously excellent work here, particularly in the surrealist moments where the lighting changes mid-scene) are incredible for someone coming from the world of documentary filmmaking. If his confidence, skill and visual eye are able to be combined with a sharper script, he could make something really incredible in the near future. 

Grade: B+

DreamWorks Animation Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm ranking the DreamWorks Animation filmography in honor of the release of their latest project "Forgotten Island"-which hits theaters today. 

DreamWorks Animation's Filmography Ranked:

27.Shark Tale (F)

26.Antz (D)

25.Monsters vs. Aliens (C-)

24.The Prince of Egypt (C)

23.The Road to El Dorado (C+)

22.Home (C+)

21.Dog Man (B-)

20.The Croods: A New Age (B-)

19.Madagascar (B-)

18.Kung Fu Panda 4 (B-)

17.Megamind (B-)

16.The Croods (B-)

15.Kung Fu Panda 3 (B-)

14.Shrek 2 (B-)

13.Puss in Boots (B)

12.Chicken Run (B)

11.Kung Fu Panda 2 (B)

10.Over the Hedge (B)

9.Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (B)

8.Rise of the Guardians (B)

7.The Bad Guys 2 (B)

6.How to Train Your Dragon (B)

5.The Bad Guys (B)

4.Kung Fu Panda (B)

3.The Wild Robot (B+)

2.Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (B+)

1.Shrek (B+)

Top Dog: Shrek (2001)

Shrek is one of the last animated movies that really hit for me as a kid. It was definitely the VHS tape that played the most at my house for the next couple of years after its initial release (Donkey was pretty much the pinnacle of comedy for me at that time) and the enthusiasm for the green ogre and co. remained high in my household until Shrek 2 was released and neither me nor my brother was overly impressed by it. As you can see from the above list, I didn't even bother to watch another Shrek-related movie until 2011's Puss in Boots and still haven't seen either of the latter two sequels in the main series. If I were to rewatch Shrek now, I'm confident that I'd be more appreciative of how it goes about satirizing and subverting traditional fairy tale tropes and go into a bit of a nostalgia haze watching something that brought me so much joy during a few years of my childhood. 

Bottom Feeder: Shark Tale (2004)

On Columbus Day weekend in 2004, I successfully convinced my friend to accompany his dad and 4-year-old sister to a showing of Shark Tale over going to see Ladder 49 by ourselves as I was concerned that the trailer for Seed of Chucky could play ahead of the PG-13-rated firefighter drama and didn't want to freak the fuck out in the theater. This proved to be a costly decision on my part as sitting through Shark Tale was one of the most miserable experiences I've ever had in a movie theater. In a shocking development, the whole application of mob movie tropes went clean over my head at the time, but that didn't stop me from finding the whole movie to be deeply grating, dull and unfunny. While it's certainly possible that I would view it more favorably today, my eagerness to give it another shot is very low. 

Most Underrated: The Bad Guys (2022)

Honestly, either installment of this franchise could be placed here. The animation is vivid, the titular band of bank robbing animals that pretend to become "good guys" for a gig, only for their leader (Sam Rockwell) to earnestly begin to experience a change of heart in the process of pulling off the con are a funny bunch with an entertaining buddy dynamic and above all, it unironically serves as a good introduction to the fun of heist/crime movies for younger audiences. 

Most Overrated: Madagascar (2005)

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with Madagascar. It's really as simple as Madagascar is burdened by the existence of so many talking animal movies existing in the American animated movie space and it doesn't have enough personality, laughs or heart to stand out from the pack.

2026 NFL Power Rankings: Week 3

 ()=Previous Ranking

1.(1) Seattle Seahawks (2-0) Week 3 opponent: Washington Commanders

2.(2) San Francisco 49ers (2-0) Week 3 opponent: Arizona Cardinals

3.(3) Buffalo Bills (2-0) Week 3 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers

4.(9) Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) Week 3 opponent: Miami Dolphins

5.(13) Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) Week 3 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

6.(12) Los Angeles Rams (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Denver Broncos

7.(7) New England Patriots (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars 

8.(11) Minnesota Vikings (2-0) Week 3 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

9.(8) Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) Week 3 opponent: Chicago Bears

10.(14) Denver Broncos (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Los Angeles Rams

11.(10) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1) Week 3 opponent: New England Patriots

12.(4) Chicago Bears (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles

13.(5) Baltimore Ravens (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Dallas Cowboys

14.(24) New Orleans Saints (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Las Vegas Raiders

15.(23) Carolina Panthers (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Cleveland Browns

16.(22) Dallas Cowboys (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Baltimore Ravens

17.(18) Green Bay Packers (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Atlanta Falcons

18.(27) Las Vegas Raiders (2-0) Week 3 opponent: New Orleans Saints

19.(6) Houston Texans (0-2) Week 3 opponent: Indianapolis Colts

20.(15) Detroit Lions (1-1) Week 3 opponent: New York Jets

21.(20) New York Jets (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Detroit Lions

22.(16) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

23.(17) New York Giants (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Tennessee Titans

24.(28) Indianapolis Colts (0-2) Week 3 opponent: Houston Texans

25.(32) Cleveland Browns (1-1) Week 3 opponent: Carolina Panthers

26.(19) Arizona Cardinals (1-1) Week 3 opponent: San Francisco 49ers

27.(21) Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) Week 3 opponent: Buffalo Bills

28.(25) Washington Commanders (0-2) Week 3 opponent: Seattle Seahawks

29.(26) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2) Week 3 opponent: Minnesota Vikings

30.(30) Tennessee Titans (0-2) Week 3 opponent: New York Giants

31.(29) Atlanta Falcons (0-2) Week 3 opponent: Green Bay Packers

32.(31) Miami Dolphins (0-2) Week 3 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs

Week 2 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers: 2026 Edition

Quarterback

Biggest Winner: Josh Allen (Bills)

Week 2 kicked off with Allen putting together one of the vintage stat sheet-stuffing performances that has made him the most coveted fantasy quarterback in the league over last few seasons. The Bills signalcaller lit up the Lions limp defense from the opening whistle until they took their foot off the gas early in the 4th quarter once a victory was guaranteed, throwing for 248 YDS and 3 TD's and rushing for 69 YDS and 2 TD's on 14 carries. Through 2 games, Allen looks like he's going to be in the thick of the MVP race once again and could very well be in line to win the league's top honor for the 2nd time in the last 3 years. He gets handed the gift of playing a Chargers team that has looked like complete shit out of the gate and could be on the verge of full-blown implosion in Week 3.

Honorable Mentions: Dak Prescott (Cowboys), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Jared Goff (Lions)

Biggest Loser: Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars)

After playing lights out in the opener against the Browns, Lawrence crashed back to Earth in a big way in Week 2 with a pretty poor performance (189 YDS/0 TD's/1 INT, 2 CAR/6 YDS) against a Broncos defense that returned to form after a horrid showing against the Chiefs in Week 1. Lawrence will be on the QB1/QB2 borderline for their Week 3 matchup with the Patriots. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Drake Maye (Patriots), Justin Herbert (Chargers), Lamar Jackson (Ravens)

Running Back

Biggest Winner: Jonathan Taylor (Colts)

While Taylor wasn't consistently effective against the Chiefs on Sunday night, he was once again the focal point of the Colts offense and made enough plays to be a top-tier RB1 play by turning his 24 carries into 92 YDS and 2 TD's. As an added bonus, he also managed to be more involved with the passing game than usual-hauling in 4 receptions for 40 YDS. Taylor could be in line for tougher sledding this week when the Colts take on a Texans defense that has been very good against the run so far. 

Honorable Mentions: Kenneth Walker III (Chiefs), Christian McCaffery (49ers), James Cook III (Bills)

Biggest Loser: David Montgomery (Texans)

After an impressive debut against the Bills, Montgomery completely flopped in his second game with the Texans. The veteran RB was a complete afterthought as the Bengals dismantled Houston's offense on their home field. securing just 8 touches (6 carries, 2 receptions) for 24 YDS. What made this performance particularly alarming is that Montgomery got out snapped and out touched by Woody Marks, although the second year back also didn't fare well (40 scrimmage YDS on 10 touches) against this suddenly excellent Bengals defense. Montgomery should be able to bounce back against a Colts defense that has gotten killed by the rush in both games this season.

Dishonorable Mentions: Jeremiyah Love (Cardinals), Travis Etienne (Saints), Rhamondre Stevenson (Patriots)

Wide Receiver

Biggest Winner: Jaxson Smith-Njigba (Seahawks)

JSN casually annihilated an overmatched Cardinals defense on Sunday, securing 9 receptions for 155 YDS and 3 TD's. The reigning Offense Player of the Year is off to another incredible start and will look to keep rolling against a Commanders defense that CeeDee Lamb torched this past week. 

Honorable Mentions: Davante Adams (Rams), CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys), Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions)

Biggest Loser: Malik Nabers (Giants)

Nabers' much anticipated return to action in 2026 produced another dud as he struggled to deal with a physical Rams secondary that was hellbent on proving their embarrassing Week 1 loss to the 49ers in Melbourne was mostly a product of jet lag and a completely out of rhythm Jameis Winston. He ended up catching just 1-of-4 targets for 1 YD in what was a really horrendous MNF loss for the Giants that erased all of the excitement that was surrounding them after their nice Week 1 win over the Cowboys.  About the only positive that stemmed from this game was that Nabers shook off a shoulder injury that looked serious when it initially happened and returned to action after missing only one drive. With Winston locked in as the starter for the next 4-6 weeks while Jaxson Dart is sidelined with what is believed to be an MCL sprain, Nabers will be facing an uphill battle to return to weekly fantasy relevance. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Luther Burden III (Bears), Ladd McConkey (Chargers), DK Metcalf (Steelers)

Tight End

Biggest Winner: Travis Kelce (Chiefs)

Sunday night produced a host of horrific sights for the people that believed the Chiefs reign of terror was finally over after their below average 2025 campaign as not only did Patrick Mahomes look like his old self, but the nearly 37-year-old Kelce turned back the clock with a vintage dominant performance as the Chiefs clear top receiving threat (9/101/1) in an OT win over the Colts. Kelce is now firmly back on the weekly TE1 radar and could be in line for another big day against the Dolphins sorry ass defense in Week 3.

Honorable Mentions: Dalton Schultz (Texans), Dalton Kincaid (Bills), Jake Ferguson (Cowboys)

Biggest Loser: Colston Loveland (Bears)

Good news, Loveland made his first catch of the season against the Vikings. Bad news, it was the only reception he made on the day, and it was for 3 YDS. It's been an alarmingly slow start to 2026 for Loveland as he's only managed 5 targets and the aforementioned lone reception through 2 games. With Tyson Bagnet presumably starting for at least a game or two while Caleb Williams recovers from the hamstring injury he suffered on Sunday, Loveland might not be able to imminently turn things around. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Tucker Kraft (Packers), Kyle Pitts (Falcons), Brenton Strange (Jaguars)

Defense/Special Teams

Biggest Winner: Patriots

On a day where the Patriots offense didn't look all that great overall, the defense showed up in a big way and allowed them to cruise to a 20-3 victory over the Steelers. Zak Kuhr's group made life miserable for the Steelers offensive line, running backs and ancient QB, registering 4 sacks, an INT and a fumble recovery TD from Elijah Ponder that came off a strip sack by Christan Barmore. The current number 1 scoring defense in the NFL has a date with the Jaguars this week. 

Honorable Mentions: Vikings, Rams, Seahawks

Biggest Loser: Buccaneers

Typically, streaming a defense against the Browns is a surefire way to secure a lot of fantasy points. This week, that plan backfired spectacularly as the Buccaneers got embarrassed by a Browns offense that could barely even move the ball until garbage time against the Jaguars in Week 1. While it was bad enough that the Buccaneers logged 2 sacks and 0 takeaways and surrendered 23 points in the loss, the most embarrassing aspect of their performance was allowing the league's premier washed up sex pest Deshaun Watson to have his best game (24/30, 238 YDS and 2 TD's, 6 carries for 23 yards) in years. There's no danger of anyone hanging onto the Bucs D/ST heading into this week and anybody that got burned by them here will probably think twice before electing to play them as a streaming option later in the season. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Ravens, Eagles, Jaguars

Movie Review: Resident Evil (2026)

 

No video game property has garnered more attention from the film/television industry this century than Resident Evil. The original Mila Jovovich-led movie franchise from Paul W.S. Anderson spawned a whopping six entries from March 2002-January 2017 and since the start of the 2020's, there's been both an ill-fated movie (2021's Welcome to Racoon City) and television series reboot (the 2022 Netflix series that was so widely panned that it got some people to retroactively be kinder to Welcome to Racoon City)  True to the cliche phrase, the third time was the charm when it came to reinvigorating Resident Evil as a film brand as the rights holders over at Constantin Film and Sony brought in Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) to handle the latest big screen adaptation of the classic survival horror/zombie franchise.  

What's particularly cool about Cregger's Resident Evil is its simplicity. He completely eschews the expectations placed upon those who are brave and/or foolish enough to take on the responsibility of turning a popular video game into a movie by refusing to recreate a specific game or digging into the franchise's lore. Instead of forging down the comfortable fan service path, he elected to build a movie around dropping an original character named Bryan (Austin Abrams, who somehow manages to be even more magnetic and hilarious here than he was in Weapons) into a real time survival situation as he tries to transport an important mystery medical package into Racoon City mere hours after the heinous virus that mutates humans into bloodthirsty zombies accidently made its way out of a lab at the Umbrella Corporation. 

Without having to strictly adhere to any characters or events from the franchise, Cregger gets to focus on something much more important: Accurately recreating how it feels to blindly step into a Resident Evil game. Every new place you encounter is a new opportunity to be greeted with the sight of some unholy monstrosity that's trying to kill you and through a combination of traditional movie photography and video game-inspired POV shots, he frames every scene in a way where Bryan is scanning every inch of his immediate surroundings to see where something could pop out from before deciding where to move. Unleashing a bumbling regular guy protagonist into such an unknown world of immense, horrifying danger only adds to the authenticity of this approach as he's doing shit on screen like dropping a flurry of f-bombs every time a threat announces its presence, frantically running around in circles trying to evade whatever nasty creature is chasing him and quickly pivoting from jubilation to panic when he discovers the thing he just shot in the head isn't actually dead mimics how the player behind the controller would be reacting to being confronted with these horrific scenarios. Constructing the movie in a manner that is centered around the sights, sounds and feelings that drive the experience of playing the game is great way to show reverence for the source material without shamelessly pandering to the fans with recreations of the scenes they like the most from the series (although from what I've read online from people in the know, there are plenty of easter eggs for them throughout). As much as I liked the trashy stylized action horror aesthetic of Anderson's movies, this movie's uniquely unqualified hero, visceral intensity and vile creature design/VFX made it an even more fun ride.

The cherry on top of this whole ordeal is that Cregger wraps things up on a definitive note that gives him the freedom to not return for a potential sequel. After all of the shit he's gotten from a vocal group of hardo fanboys online for being a "tourist" in the world of Resident Evil, he deserves to return to the solace of making original movies while quietly reflecting on the success his first IP-driven movie has enjoyed.   

Grade: B+

Paul Walter Hauser Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Paul Walter Hauser-whose latest project "Resident Evil" releases in theaters today. 

Paul Walter Hauser's Filmography Ranked:

16.Songbird (D)

15.Balls Up (C-)

14.Queenpins (C)

13.Late Night (B-)

12.The Luckiest Man in America (B-)

11.Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (B-)

10.Americana (B)

9.Super Troopers 2 (B)

8.Da 5 Bloods (B)

7.The Fantastic Four: First Steps (B)

6.Cruella (B)

5.Inside Out 2 (B)

4.Richard Jewell (B+)

3.BlacKkKlansman (B+)

2.The Naked Gun (A-)

1.I, Tonya (A)

Top Dog: I, Tonya (2017)

As this year's edition of the Toronto International Film Festival enters its final stretch, it's fitting that the opportunity to look back at one of the biggest independent movies to debut there in the last decade has presented itself. Not only did I, Tonya earn Allison Janney an Oscar, introduce the world to Hauser and contribute to Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan being more taken more seriously as actors in subsequent years, it was one of the earliest signs that Neon was going to become a juggernaut in the American indie film space as this became the biggest acquisition they made during their first year of operations following its TIFF premiere. I, Tonya does such a great job of being both a chaotic, darkly comedic look at Tonya Harding's tumultuous life and painting a deeply sympathetic portrait of a woman who was vilified in the media for the actions of the people that surrounded her. It's kind of a shame that it only managed to earn 3 Oscar nominations (Robbie and editor Nicole Karakatsansis received the other nominations) in the very competitive 2017 field, but in my eyes at least, its legacy is far richer than many of the films that were competing for the big prizes that year.   

Bottom Feeder: Songbird (2020)

Rushing a COVID-themed pandemic movie into production and releasing it before the end of 2020 was a scummy move by everybody that was involved with Songbird. That being said, being in bad taste isn't even close to the biggest problem with this awful dystopian romance. How quickly Songbird came together is particularly felt in its nonsensical mess of a script that can't decide if it's trying to be gritty or fun, deeply unconvincing central romance (the lack of chemistry between K.J. Apa and Sofia Carson is so immediately apparent that it's almost impressive) and its veteran supporting cast that features the likes of Demi Moore, Bradley Whitford and Alexandra Daddrio seemingly only accepted their roles because the opportunity to leave their Los Angeles-area homes for a bit presented itself.  Honestly, the only redeeming element of the movie is Peter Stromare doing the cartoony villain schtick that he's so reliably good at and he doesn't have enough screen time to provide a meaningful jolt in the arm to this otherwise sleepy, stupid affair. 

Most Underrated: Richard Jewell (2019)

Now that's he 96 years old, it's safe to assume that Clint Eastwood has retired from directing and acting for good this time. With this in mind, I'm going to declare that Richard Jewell is the last great film he made. It actually serves as a great companion piece to I, Tonya as Eastwood delivers a compelling, thoughtful look at the unholy beast that is our sensationalism-driven media ecosystem that values scandalous headlines over humanity and how that reckless style of journalism contributed to ruining the life of security guard Richard Jewell (Hauser) after he was baselessly accused of staging the planting of an explosive device at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta after being hailed as a hero in the immediate aftermath for alerting the authorities and helping evacuate the area before it detonated. Hauser gives a heartbreaking turn as a man trying to cope with having his name dragged through the mud in the front of the whole world, Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates further add to this story's rich emotional core with their fiery, vulnerable performance as Jewell's lawyer and mother respectively and Eastwood does a great job of delivering a bittersweet ending that argues that Jewell's eventual exoneration didn't free him from the deep emotional burden of being subjected to such a harrowing witch hunt. 

Most Overrated: None

Hauser is the epitome of a modern character actor. With that mantle comes a wide variety of work that spans across many different genres, budgets and release platforms. One thing he hasn't amassed across his impressively dynamic filmography is a film that I consider to be overrated. The heaviest of hitters he's appeared in (I, Tonya, BlacKkKlansman, The Naked Gun, Inside Out 2, Cruella, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) are all movies that I like to varying degrees while the rest are either too small or not broadly liked enough to pick up such a distinction. By the looks of the critical reviews so far, Resident Evil would certainly qualify for overrated status, but I would be stunned and disappointed if that ended up being the case. 

2026 NFL Power Rankings: Week 2

 ()=Previous Ranking

1.(1) Seattle Seahawks (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Arizona Cardinals

2.(7) San Francisco 49ers (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Miami Dolphins

3.(9) Buffalo Bills (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Detroit Lions

4.(6) Chicago Bears (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Minnesota Vikings

5.(13) Baltimore Ravens (1-0) Week 2 opponent: New Orleans Saints

6.(5) Houston Texans (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

7.(3) New England Patriots (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

8.(8) Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Tennessee Titans

9.(18) Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Indianapolis Colts

10.(11) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Denver Broncos

11.(14) Minnesota Vikings (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Chicago Bears

12.(2) Los Angeles Rams (0-1) Week 2 opponent: New York Giants

13.(21) Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Houston Texans

14.(4) Denver Broncos (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars

15.(15) Detroit Lions (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Buffalo Bills

16.(16) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) Week 2 opponent: New England Patriots

17.(25) New York Giants (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Los Angeles Rams

18.(10) Green Bay Packers (0-1) Week 2 opponent: New York Jets

19.(29) Arizona Cardinals (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Seattle Seahawks

20.(28) New York Jets (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Green Bay Packers

21.(12) Los Angeles Chargers (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Las Vegas Raiders

22.(17) Dallas Cowboys (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Washington Commanders

23.(19) Carolina Panthers (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Atlanta Falcons

24.(23) New Orleans Saints (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Baltimore Ravens

25.(24) Washington Commanders (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Dallas Cowboys

26.(20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Cleveland Browns

27.(30) Las Vegas Raiders (1-0) Week 2 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers

28.(22) Indianapolis Colts (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs 

29.(26) Atlanta Falcons (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Carolina Panthers

30.(27) Tennessee Titans (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles

31.(32) Miami Dolphins (0-1) Week 2 opponent: San Francisco 49ers

32.(31) Cleveland Browns (0-1) Week 2 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers  

Week 1 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers: 2026 Edition

Quarterback

Biggest Winner: Caleb Williams (Bears)

The Bears offense kicked off the 2026 campaign by absolutely obliterating the Panthers defense in Charlotte and Williams did his fair share to contribute to this highly productive day with the best dual threat outing of his career so far (269 YDS and 2 TD's through the air, 65 YDS and 2 TD's on the ground). Williams and the Bears should be in line for a much tougher test when they face off against Brian Flores' unpredictable Vikings defense on Sunday.

Honorable Mentions: Josh Allen (Bills), Jaxson Dart (Giants), Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars)

Biggest Loser: Bo Nix (Broncos)

While new Broncos OC Davis Webb didn't exactly cover himself in glory during his first game as an NFL playcaller, it would've been hard for any coach to have a good day with this version of Nix playing under center. The 3rd year QB looked completely overwhelmed by Steve Spaguolo's defense and comically out of rhythm with all of his pass-catchers in his first game action since breaking his ankle in the Broncos Divisional Round victory over the Bills in January as the Chiefs absolutely rolled over the defending AFC West champs last night. Nix will look to get back on track against the Jaguars at home in Week 2.

Dishonorable Mentions: Matthew Stafford (Rams), Drake Maye (Patriots), Justin Herbert (Chargers)

Running Back

Biggest Winner: Derrick Henry (Ravens)

Henry kicked off his age 32 season in style by lighting up the Colts defense for 144 YDS and 3 TD's on 24 carries. He also added a 19-YD reception on his sole target of the day. There's absolutely no reason to believe right now that Henry is in line to slow down in 2026 and it's going to be really fascinating to see how much longer he can continue to produce at this absurd clip. 

Honorable Mentions: Kenneth Walker III (Chiefs), D'Andre Swift (Bears), Jahmyr Gibbs (Lions)

Biggest Loser: Quinshon Judkins (Browns)

A suffocating Jaguars defense and horrendous gamescript (the Browns were down 24-0 with 6:18 left in the 2nd quarter) put Judkins in fantasy purgatory to kick off the season as he notched just 50 scrimmage YDS on 14 touches (12 carries, 2 receptions). Judkins will be a shaky FLEX option for the Browns Week 2 showdown with the Buccaneers. 

Dishonorable Mentions: James Cook III (Bills), Saquon Barkley (Eagles), Omarion Hampton (Chargers)

Wide Receiver

Biggest Winner: Christian Watson (Packers)

Prior to the Packers 3rd stunning late game collapse in their last 5 games dating back to last December, Watson was in line to be the #1 topic of discussion among Cheeseheads. The talented but erratic veteran receiver who is now officially the uncontested top pass-catcher in Green Bay was pretty much unstoppable for the first 3 quarters against the Vikings, turning 6 catches into 147 YDS and a pair of TD's. The Packers will be looking to redeem themselves in a big way this week when the Jets come into Lambeau. Watson should be viewed as a borderline WR1/2 option in this potential bloodbath game. 

Honorable Mentions: Justin Jefferson (Vikings), Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions), Chris Olave (Saints)

Biggest Loser: Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals)

It's not every day that the Bengals ride their defense and Mike Gesicki to a victory, but that's precisely what happened against the Buccaneers in Week 1. Chase was barely involved at all catching 2-of-4 targets for 12 YDS-which tied him with Andrei Iosivas for seventh most on the team-on a day where Joe Burrow wasn't overly sharp. Chase could be in line to get the ball funneled to him early and often in Week 2 as the Bengals travel down to Houston to take on a Texans team that got torched through the air by the Bills in the season opener.

Dishonorable Mentions: Jaylen Waddle (Broncos), George Pickens (Cowboys), Terry McLaurin (Commanders)

Tight End

Biggest Winner: Isaiah Likely (Giants)

All of the buzz surrounding Likely emerging as a focal point of the Giants offense came to fruition in Week 1. The free agent pickup from the Ravens was who Jaxson Dart looked to whenever he was in a gotta have it situation on Sunday night against the Cowboys and he delivered on every single occasion-catching all 8 of his targets for 78 YDS and 2 TD's. If Likely can further solidify himself as Dart's most trusted option in the passing game, he should be in line to become one of this year's breakout fantasy stars.

Honorable Mentions: Dallas Goedert (Eagles), Trey McBride (Cardinals), Dalton Kincaid (Bills)

Biggest Loser: Colston Loveland (Bears)

The craziest part about Caleb Williams' big day against the Panthers in Week 1 is that his favorite receiver from the second half of last season wasn't involved at all. That's right, Loveland walked away with a goose egg and only got targeted twice as Kalif Raymond and Luther Burden led the way in receptions/receiving YDS and Cole Kmet and Jahdae Walker found the endzone. It should only be a matter of time before the second-year pro returns to his high-end TE1 form and a Vikings defense that struggled in coverage before their pass rush got cooking in the 4th quarter against the Packers could very well provide him with the redemption him and his fantasy owners are seeking. 

Dishonorable Mentions: George Kittle (49ers), Kyle Pitts (Falcons), Harold Fannin Jr. (Browns)

Defense/Special Teams

Biggest Winner: Steelers

About the only fireworks that came out of the Week 1 clash between the Steelers and Falcons were from the Steelers defense. Fill-in Falcons starter Cooper Rush proved to be his usual woeful self, getting sacked 4 times and throwing 2 picks including a pick 6 to T.J. Watt as the Steelers glided to a 20-13 victory in the first game of the Mike McCarthy-era. The Steelers could find themselves in a feast-or-famine situation in Week 2 depending on what version of Drake Maye shows up at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Honorable Mentions: Jaguars, Seahawks, Lions

Biggest Loser: Texans

Nearly all of the D/ST's that were first off the board in this year's drafts got off to a rough start in 2026, but none were as bad for fantasy purposes than the Texans. DeMeco Ryans' group was horrendous in coverage for most of the game and struggled to generate much pressure on Josh Allen, which lead them to coming out on the wrong end of a 36-31 shootout with just 2 sacks and 0 takeaways. They'll be aiming to return to the top of the D/ST food chain against the Bengals this Sunday. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Chargers, Rams, Broncos

Movie Review: Hope

I'd love to have been on a fly on the wall for the world premiere of Na Hong-jin's Hope at Cannes back in May. The prestigious French film festival doesn't shy away from screening genre films that aren't interested in being intellectually stimulating. In fact, it was just last year that the Australian shark serial killer movie Dangerous Animals debuted there. These films just tend to be screened in the Midnight Screenings sidebar section that has enough proximity from the main attractions to avoid drawing the ire of the people who are only there to watch movies that have higher artistic aspirations. Hope, on the other hand, was competing for the Palme d'or-the festival's top prize which regularly serves as a preview of what films are going to go on to compete for awards around the globe later in the year. An unwieldly action spectacle about the residents (Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-Sung, Ho-yeon, Lee Sang-hee, Im Hyun-sik) of a small South Korean mountainside town near the North Korean border called Hope Harbor banding together to fight a group of mysterious aliens that are already in the process of laying waste to their community when the movie begins being unveiled under these conditions is like somebody showing up to a black-tie event doing Edward 40 Hands. The disgust that came over some attendees upon discovering that a piece of unapologetic low art had somehow snuck into their prestigious party was felt in many of the negative reviews that followed its Cannes premiere, which subsequently helped it go down as one of the most polarizing titles to play at this year's festival. Unsurprisingly, its reception has been a bit better once it broke the containment of the hostile environment it debuted in, but it's still attracted some really harsh criticism from viewers that were expected something more refined from the guy who made The Wailing.  

To me, Hope is a leading example of how much the adrenaline of well-executed action and moments of levity can mask serious flaws within a movie. An ending sequel tease so shameless and silly that it could easily be read as a satirical shot at one of the worst trends in modern American movies and some clunky stretches where director Na does his best impression of telling an alien invasion story where the humans decided to do some half-assed sleuthing as to why these extraterrestrials have launched an attack on Earth before they go back to trying to vanquish them are just simply no match for sprawling chase/shootout sequences where it looks like the people performing the stunts could die at any moment and a scene where a side character describes his encounter with the aliens while battling severe diarrhea in the middle of the woods in great detail. 

The entire movie is kind of like if you took the cast of a South Korean take on a Coen Brothers movie like Fargo or Raising Arizona and inserted them into a Michael Bay-esque action movie where the main characters reveal themselves to be flying debris, explosions that can be seen from outer space and the biggest fucking guns humanity has ever created. If Cannes had a section dedicated to the joys of seeing bullets penetrate surfaces, perfect slow-motion usage and borderline unkillable aliens that run like cheetahs and have the strength of King Kong, Hope would've won in a landslide. This movie is catnip for anyone who starts shaking with excitement upon hearing that an action movie is chaotic, dumb and messy and I have no qualms with just how hard I ate up the big buffet of dumb maximalist madness that this madman Na hong-Jin put into the world. Thank you director Na for being such an ally to our community and it would be incredible if you were kind enough to feed all of us charlatans another delightful meal someday. 

Grade: B+

Nicole Kidman Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Nicole Kidman-whose latest project "Practical Magic 2" releases in theaters today. 

Nicole Kidman's Filmography Ranked:

25.Lion (D)

24.The Others (D+)

23.Practical Magic (D+)

22.The Beguiled (C-)

21.Secret in their Eyes (C)

20.The Paperboy (C)

19.A Family Affair (C)

18.Batman Forever (C+)

17.Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (B-)

16.Stoker (B-)

15.Dead Calm (B-)

14.Days of Thunder (B-)

13.Eyes Wide Shut (B-)

12.Just Go with It (B) 

11.Destroyer (B)

10.Bombshell (B)

9.Babygirl (B)

8.The Upside (B)

7.Being the Ricardos (B)

6.Paddington (B)

5.Aquaman (B+)

4.Rabbit Hole (B+)

3.The Northman (B+)

2.To Die For (B+)

1.The Killing of a Sacred Deer (B+)

Top Dog: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Even by the standards of notorious sicko Yorgos Lanthimos, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is going to be a tough sell for a lot of people. This is a BLEAK movie that goes to some dark places early on and only ventures further down a rabbit hole of despair and hopelessness as it progresses. This dedication to uncompromising darkness alongside the terrific performances from Colin Farrell, Kidman and Barry Keoghan are the main reasons why this deeply unnerving movie is very high on my list of favorite Lanthimos joints. 

Bottom Feeder: Lion (2016)

While I can't speak to how true to reality its fact-based story of an Indian man (Dev Patel) who mostly grew up in Australia returning to India with the hopes of finding the family he was accidently separated from when he was 5, Lion plays out in such a shamelessly melodramatic matter that I didn't buy an ounce of the wannabe feel good bullshit it was putting down. Disingenuous, faux sentimental bullshit like will never not piss me off and part of me is glad that the love Lion received during the 2016 awards season has largely dissipated with time. 

Most Underrated: Rabbit Hole (2010)

Rabbit Hole is a moving, raw and honest portrayal of grief and guilt that has really managed to fly completely under-the-radar since it was released 16 years ago. Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are stellar as a married couple that's struggling to maintain their relationship as they try to process the death of their 4-year-old son in a tragic accident and the really smart script from David Lindsay-Abair does a terrific job of delivering a sensitive, emotionally intelligent exploration of how this unfathomable loss is driving a wedge between them that may never be able to be repaired.

Most Overrated: The Others (2001)

The Others was one of those movies that I was too young to see when it came out but was old enough to process just how much buzz there was surrounding it at the time. By the time I finally got around to watching it in the spring of 2022, I was kind of taken aback by how I didn't like it. Outside of its gorgeous gothic haunted house aesthetics, nothing about this movie impressed me in the slightest. The pacing is brutal, the performances are merely alright, and the really silly twist ending manages to further unravel an already pretty weak story. 

2026 NFL Prediction-Palooza: Division Standings, Playoffs, Super Bowl, MVP and More

Today is NFL Groundhog Day as a rematch of the last consequential game that was held (Super Bowl LX: Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots) is set to kick off the 2026 regular season. In honor of this wonderful occasion, I've put together a long list of predictions for the upcoming season that includes MVP, Super Bowl and for the first time ever as I elected to retire the NFL Preview Series this year, division standings. Hope you enjoy this collection of nonsense and the game tonight.

Division Standings:

AFC East:

1.Buffalo Bills (10-7)

2.New England Patriots (10-7)

3.New York Jets (4-13)

4.Miami Dolphins (2-15)

AFC North:

1.Baltimore Ravens (12-5)

2.Cincinnati Bengals (10-7)

3.Pittsburgh Steelers (8-9)

4.Cleveland Browns (3-14)

AFC South:

1.Houston Texans (11-6)

2.Jacksonville Jaguars (10-7)

3.Indianapolis Colts (7-10)

4.Tennesssee Titans (5-12)

AFC West:

1.Denver Broncos (12-5)

2.Los Angeles Chargers (9-8)

3.Kansas City Chiefs (7-10)

4.Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)

NFC East:

1.Philadelphia Eagles (11-6)

2.New York Giants (9-8)

3.Dallas Cowboys (7-10)

4.Washington Commanders (5-12)

NFC North:

1.Minnesota Vikings (12-5)

2.Green Bay Packers (11-6)

3.Chicago Bears (9-8)

4.Detroit Lions (6-11)

NFC South:

1.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-6)

2.Carolina Panthers (8-9)

3.New Orleans Saints (6-11)

4.Atlanta Falcons (5-12)

NFC West:

1.Los Angeles Rams (14-3)

2.Seattle Seahawks (11-6)

3.San Francisco 49ers (8-9)

4.Arizona Cardinals (3-14)

Playoffs:

AFC:

1.Broncos

2.Ravens

3.Texans

4.Bills

5.Patriots

6.Bengals

7.Jaguars

Wild Card:

Ravens over Jaguars

Bengals over Texans

Bills over Patriots

Divisional Round:

Broncos over Bengals

Ravens over Bills

Conference Championship:

Ravens over Broncos

NFC:

1.Rams

2.Vikings 

3.Eagles

4.Buccaneers 

5.Seahawks

6.Packers

7.Giants

Wild Card:

Vikings over Giants

Packers over Eagles

Seahawks over Buccaneers

Divisional Round:

Rams over Packers

Seahawks over Vikings

Conference Championship:

Rams over Seahawks

Super Bowl:

Rams over Ravens

Year-End Awards:

MVP: Joe Burrow (Bengals)

Offensive Player of the Year: Justin Jefferson (Vikings)

Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett (Rams)

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Carnell Tate (Titans)

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Reuben Bain Jr. (Buccaneers) 

Comeback Player of the Year: Kyler Murray (Vikings)

Coach of the Year: Jesse Minter (Ravens)

League Leaders:

Passing YDS: Joe Burrow (Bengals)

Passing TD's: Joe Burrow (Bengals)

Rushing YDS: Bijan Robinson (Falcons)

Rushing TD's: Jonathan Taylor (Colts)

Receiving YDS: Justin Jefferson (Vikings)

Receiving TD's: Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals)

Receptions: Brock Bowers (Raiders)

Sacks: Myles Garrett (Rams)

Interceptions: Derek Stingley Jr. (Texans)

Forced Fumbles: Aidan Hutchinson (Lions)

Tackles: Edgerrin Cooper (Packers)

Miscellaneous Awards:

AFC Team Most Likely to Surprise: Bengals

AFC Team Most Likely to Disappoint: Patriots

NFC Team Most Likely to Surprise: Giants

NFC Team Most Likely to Disappoint: Bears

Head Coach Most Likely to Be Fired During the Season: Aaron Glenn (Jets)

2026 NFL Power Rankings: Week 1

1.Seattle Seahawks Week 1 opponent: New England Patriots

2.Los Angeles Rams Week 1 opponent: San Francisco 49ers

3.New England Patriots Week 1 opponent: Seattle Seahawks 

4.Denver Broncos Week 1 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs 

5.Houston Texans Week 1 opponent: Buffalo Bills

6.Chicago Bears Week 1 opponent: Carolina Panthers

7.San Francisco 49ers Week 1 opponent: Los Angeles Rams

8.Philadelphia Eagles Week 1 opponent: Washington Commanders

9.Buffalo Bills Week 1 opponent: Houston Texans

10.Green Bay Packers Week 1 opponent: Minnesota Vikings

11.Jacksonville Jaguars Week 1 opponent: Cleveland Browns

12.Los Angeles Chargers Week 1 opponent: Arizona Cardinals

13.Baltimore Ravens Week 1 opponent: Indianapolis Colts

14.Minnesota Vikings Week 1 opponent: Green Bay Packers

15.Detroit Lions Week 1 opponent: New Orleans Saints

16.Pittsburgh Steelers Week 1 opponent: Atlanta Falcons

17.Dallas Cowboys Week 1 opponent: New York Giants

18.Kansas City Chiefs Week 1 opponent: Denver Broncos

19.Carolina Panthers Week 1 opponent: Chicago Bears

20.Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 1 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

21.Cincinnati Bengals Week 1 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

22.Indianapolis Colts Week 1 opponent: Baltimore Ravens

23.New Orleans Saints Week 1 opponent: Detroit Lions

24.Washington Commanders Week 1 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles

25.New York Giants Week 1 opponent: Dallas Cowboys

26.Atlanta Falcons Week 1 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

27.Tennesee Titans Week 1 opponent: New York Jets

28.New York Jets Week 1 opponent: Tennessee Titans

29.Arizona Cardinals Week 1 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers

30.Las Vegas Raiders Week 1 opponent: Miami Dolphins

31.Cleveland Browns Week 1 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars

32.Miami Dolphins Week 1 opponent: Las Vegas Raiders

Movie Review: Onslaught

 

Adam Wingard brushed off the failures of Death Note and Blair Witch in a very unique way by making a pair of successful, pretty well-liked blockbusters in Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. With his artistic image rehabilitated and producers eager to work with him after making Warner Brothers a boatload of cash, Wingard had the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted when he elected to not come back for the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. Instead of going bigger, Wingard decided to return to his down-and-dirty genre movie roots for the first time since 2014's The Guest with original action horror vehicle Onslaught. While it's not as high on giddy energy or sleazy thrills as You're Next or The Guest, it's still a welcome return to the style of filmmaking that put Wingard on the map. 

For those of you out there that have seen Wingard's early work, Onslaught is speaking a language you're fluent in. His fascination with the evils of the military industrial complex and love of 80's B-movies are the driving forces behind this tale of a PTSD-afflicted Army veteran (Adria Arjona) rotting away in an isolated trailer New Mexico trailer park who has to rely on her old skill set when a trio of genetically enhanced super soldiers (Alex Pereira, Dave Campbell, Tyler Hall) created by a former Nazi scientist (Dan Stevens) designed to wage war on the American populace escape from a secret government facility after a test run for their private contractor buyer (Michael Biehn) goes awry. Wingard is completely at ease returning to operating in his old sleazy register as he concocts an efficient, stylish pseudo-slasher flick that feels like it was ripped from the bottom shelf of a video store circa 1986. Some viewers will take issue with how thin Onslaught's story/social commentary is, and I can't argue with them on that point as it's mostly just there to provide an excuse to unleash these glowing-eyed killing machines onto an unsuspecting population. However, there is so much cool shit going on (Gigantic blood squibs! Insane chainsaw kills! Oren Soffer becoming the latest cinematographer to prove that night scenes on digital cameras can look sick if they're lit properly!) and magnetic actors (Arjona, Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Reginald VelJohnson, Eric Warehiem and MVP Drew Starkey with a mesmerizing freak turn that has finally sold me on his status as one of the industry's rising stars) having fun throwing themselves into this weird little fucked up world that I didn't really care that Wingard was more interested in reveling in his long overdue return to his beloved grindhouse aesthetics than examining the contempt the United States government has for its own people and the role that the military plays in carrying out this violent disdain. Onslaught is a flavor of genre picture that doesn't really exist anymore and when somebody like Wingard is responsible for bringing one into the world it's a legitimate cause for celebration among the small group of sickos who care about this sort of thing. Welcome home to Sleazeville Mr. Wingard, hopefully you can stay a while before you get called back up to the higher class digs of Blockbuster City.

Grade: B

RIP Andy Williams

I was shocked and saddened to hear that musician and professional wrestler Andy Williams died early this morning after collapsing following a match last night in Millvale, Pennsylvania. He was 48. Williams was best known as one of the founding guitarists of Buffalo metalcore outfit Every Time I Die, a role that he remained in until they disbanded in 2022. Williams elected not to join the rest of the instrumental section from ETID's final lineup (lead guitarist/fellow founding ETID member Jordan Buckley, bassist Stephen Micciche, drummer Clayton "Goose" Holyoak) in their new band Better Lovers to focus on his wrestling career with AEW, but he was part of a newly founded post-hardcore/sludge metal band called Atomic Rule that released a pair of EP's last year. 

As I'm not a wrestling fan, Williams' work in ETID is what I'll primarily remember him by. Him and Buckley were such a formidable guitar tandem that always knew when to punch people in the face with their riffs or give them a chance to breathe before picking the tempo back up again. On top of his top-notch guitar playing, he was a colorful personality that fully embodied the goofy energy that ETID often carried themselves with. ETID would've never become the beacon of consistent greatness that made them one of the most influential bands in the history of metalcore without Williams and his electrifying presence. He'll be sorely missed and my thoughts go out to his family and friends. 

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II- whose latest project "By Any Means" releases in theaters today. 

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Filmography Ranked:

11.The Greatest Showman (C)

10.Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (B-)

9.All Day and a Night (B-)

8.Baywatch (B-)

7.First Match (B-)

6.Candyman (B-)

5.The Matrix Resurrections (B+)

4.Aquaman (B+)

3.The Trial of the Chicago 7 (B+)

2.Us (B+)

1.Ambulance (A)

Top Dog: Ambulance (2022)

Michael Bay, please come back to making movies. There are a few thousand of us that miss your demented ass dearly. Ambulance is one of the purest distillations of Bay's maximalist style that he's ever put out and its unwavering commitment to being relentless makes it an exhilarating movie that particularly popped on the big screen.   

Bottom Feeder: The Greatest Showman (2017)

Egregious whitewashing of P.T. Barnam's legacy aside, The Greatest Showman is just a very vanilla musical that suffocates the talent of its exceptional cast (Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Abdul-Mateen II) with its pervasive plainness. 

Most Underrated: Ambulance (2022)

As we enter the final quarter of 2026, I can confidently say that I believe that Ambulance is currently among the best movies released this decade thus far. Bay is firing on all cylinders as he uses brain-breaking drone shots, massive explosions and dangerous stunts to heighten the chaos of a heist movie that is centered around a pair of bank robbers (Jake Gyllenhaal, Abdul-Mateen II)-who happen to be adoptive brothers-hijacking an ambulance after the job goes sideways and racing around Los Angeles trying to avoid getting arrested or killed while the EMT (Eiza González) tries to keep the cop (Jackson White) someone from their crew shot alive. The fact that all of this manic spectacle was delivered on a shoestring budget ($40 mil) by Bay's standards makes its tremendous success that much more impressive.

Most Overrated: The Greatest Showman (2017)

It's not exactly hard to deduce why The Greatest Showman became a crowdpleasing box office sensation that remains in the zeitgeist nearly 9 years after its release. Underdogs and outcasts overcoming adversity to find success is the ultimate feel-good movie formula and the aforementioned ensemble cast is full of actors that are well-liked by the masses. While I'm definitely not immune to this style of storytelling or being swept away by watching actors that I like on screen, The Greatest Showman doesn't have enough personality or excitement in its DNA for its "charms" to work on me.  

10 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2026

10.Judiciary-Stalagmite Angels (Release Date: September 4)

9.Darkest Hour-Suffer Divine (Release Date: October 30)

8.Queens of the Stone Age-Perfecth (Release Date: October 30)

7.Anthrax-Cursum Perficio (Release Date: September 18)

6.Hatebreed-Fatal Paradox (Release Date: November 6)

5.Amon Amarth-The Allfather Awakens (Release Date: October 2)

4.Frontierer-Ultraviolet Parasite (Release Date: October 23)

3.Tove Lo-Estrus (Release Date: September 18)

2.Carly Rae Jepsen-Day and Night (Release Date: September 18)

1.Remi Wolf-Mud (Release Date: October 9)

Also Intend to Listen to:

156/Silence-From a Distance (Release Date: September 4)

Behemoth-I, Scvlptor (Release Date: September 4)

Chat Pile-Who Loves the Sun (Release Date: September 4)

Harrison Gordon-BLISS (Release Date: September 4)

PRESIDENT-Blood of Your Empire (Release Date: September 4)

Brat-Manslayer (Release Date: September 25)

The Ocean-Solaris (Release Date: September 25)

Pain of Truth-Pain of Truth (Release Date: September 25)

Victoria Monét-Frequency of Love (Release Date: October 2)

The Number Twelve Looks Like You-Howls from the Holographic Heart (Release Date: October 16)

Anderson. Paak and Cordae-Heavy is the Crown (Release Date: October 23)

Mental Cruelty-Echoes of a Forlorn Land (Release Date: October 23)

Entheos-Empty on the Inside (Release Date: October 23)

Polyphia-Be Not Afraid (Release Date: October 23)

Northlane-Anemoia (Release Date: October 30)

Carnifex-More Than Misery (Release Date: November 6)

Royal Blood-Dead Company (Release Date: November 13)

10 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2026

Unlike damn near everything else in the world right now, the summer of 2026 went very well for the movies. Not only did the box office build upon the positive momentum that materialized during the inaugural portion of the calendar to the point where it's still actively challenging to unseat 2013 as the highest grossing summer slate in history, but there was a steady stream of movies released over the past four months that really resonated with people. 

The fall slate is in an excellent position to keep the good times rolling. Cinephiles can delight in things like the conclusion of Denis Villleneuve's Dune trilogy, finally getting the chance to see the biggest titles that lit up Cannes back in May (Fjord, Club Kid, The Black Ball) and the latest original projects (Wild Horse Nine, Werwulf, Digger) from some of the most beloved auteurs of this century while Avengers: Doomsday alone will be enough to ensure that domestic exhibition clears the $10 billion mark for the first time since 2019. Here are the 10 moves from this exciting multi-faceted September-December slate that I'm most excited to watch.

10.The Debut (December 11):

Jesse Eisenberg's follow-up to the great A Real Pain applies the destructive egomaniacal attitudes of artists to the typically low-stakes world of community theater. Casting a pair of acting titans in Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti to play the roles of the theater's hardo actor and director respectively is an excellent choice that could lead to something really special.

9.Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (September 25):

The MCU Blade movie may have fallen apart, but it didn't hinder the creative partnership between Mahershala Ali and that aborted film's first attached director Bassam Tariq. Their movie that came together after Tariq exited Blade is a character study surrounding a widowed hitman (Ali) raising three kids including an infant who's really struggling to maintain the balance between his personal and professional life. Ali was made for complex roles like this and the balancing act between the dramatic, philosophical and action elements appear to have a lot of potential to be melded into something uniquely compelling.

8.Primetime (September 25)

Playing To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen in a biopic about that now-infamous show that aired on NBC from 2004 to 2007 that looks like it has shades of Nightcrawler to it could be yet another home run for Robert Pattinson and the combination of fearlessness, versatility and commitment that makes him one of the most interesting actors working today. 

7.Street Fighter (October 16)

I've consistently been in awe of how the trailers for Street Fighter have teased a colorful, endearingly campy take on the iconic fighting video game franchise. I remain bullish that Kitao Sakurai (The Eric Andre Show, Bad Trip) is nutty enough to pull this off and will be very bummed if it ends up not being as fun as the marketing has made it seem to be.  

6.Werwulf (December 25)

A Robert Eggers werewolf movie sounds sick as hell and the teaser trailer that came out in late June only further solidified this belief. There are just all sorts of gnarly directions he could take this in, and I can't wait to see just how crazy he goes. 

5.Onslaught (September 4)

Pumping out a pair of successful Godzilla x Kong movies back-to-back earned Adam Wingard the industry cache to return to his scuzzy genre movie roots. Onslaught appears to be operating in a similar tonal territory as The Guest, which is music to my ears as that movie is pure B-movie sicko bliss. Bringing alongside a cast that includes rising stars (Adria Arjona, Drew Starkey), his frequent collaborators (Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall) and some heavyweights from action movies of yesteryear (Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn) only heightens the appeal of this 80's exploitation throwback. 

4.Wild Horse Nine (November 6)

While I'm not confident that Wild Horse Nine will be able to match the brilliance of The Banshees of Inisherin, a new Martin McDonagh movie is always grounds for celebration in my book. Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich are a great oddball buddy pairing and its heavy presence on the festival circuit starting later this week at Venice and Telluride indicates that McDonagh probably has another winner on his hands.   

3.Resident Evil (September 18)

Depending on who you to talk to, Zach Cregger's take on Resident Evil is either on track to be the most exciting or blasphemous big screen adaptation of the popular survival horror/zombie video game franchise to date. Given what Cregger has done since reinventing himself as an excellent horror filmmaker during this decade and his sales pitch of delivering a movie that's basically a real-time mission in the world of the video game that doesn't strictly adhere to any specific narrative or lore, I'm firmly in the former camp. There are some rumblings going around right now that Cregger succeeded in making the movie he set out to make and I'm very excited to discover it for myself in a couple of weeks. 

2.How to Rob a Bank (November 13)

A heist movie falls squarely into the wheelhouse of David Leitch and having the antihero protagonists (Nicholas Hoult, Pete Davidson, Anna Sawai, Rhenzy Feliz) be social media stars who livestream their robberies is an inspired wrinkle that could lead to some dynamic setpieces.  

1.The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth (November 25 theaters/December 23 streaming)

Look, I'm under no delusions that this is a lock to be great. Quentin Tarantino very well could've just sold this script off to add some $$$ to his bank account since he's too much of a coward to direct another movie. That being said, the prospect of David Fincher directing a Tarantino script that also happens to be a spin-off of the excellent Once Upon a Time in Hollywood... is just too damn appealing to me as a fan to put this anywhere but the top spot on this list. 

Also Plan on Seeing:

Fall 2: Deadpoint (September 2)

By Any Means (September 4)

Hope (September 9)

Runner (September 11)

The Uprising (September 11)

The Weight (September 18)

Charlie Harper (September 25)

Forgotten Island (September 25)

Heart of the Beast (September 25)

Beware Boiúna (October 2)                     

Digger (October 2)

Verity (October 2)

Love of Your Life (October 7 theaters/October 14 streaming)

Animals (October 9)

California Schemin' (October 9)

Fjord (October 9)

Misty Green (October 9)

Other Mommy (October 9)

The Social Reckoning (October 9)

La bola negra (October 16 theaters/December 2 streaming)

Sacrifice (October 16)

Whalefall (October 16)

Ali G: Who Iz I? (October 23)

Clayface (October 23)

Klara and the Sun (October 23)

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (October 23)

Wicker (October 23)

The Mosquito Bowl (October 30 theaters/November 25 streaming)

Club Kid (November 6)

Godzilla Minus Zero (November 6)

I Play Rocky (November 6)

Paper Tiger (November 13)

Victorian Psycho (November 13)

Madden (November 18)

Elsinore (November 20)

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (November 20)

Josephine (November 20)

Focker-in-Law (November 25)

Hexed (November 25)

Behemoth! (December 4)

Violent Night 2 (December 4)

Clarissa (December 11)

Ink (December 11 theaters/January 8 streaming)

Avengers: Doomsday (December 18)

Dune: Part Three (December 18)

Ray Gunn (December 18)

Jumanji: Open World (December 25)

Artificial (TBD) 

A Long Winter (TBD)

Fantasy Football 2026: Most Overvalued Players

Quarterback: Jayden Daniels (Commanders) (ADP:  Yahoo: 54 ESPN: 50.9)

Last season confirmed every fear that people had about Daniels coming into the draft. He simply invites too much contact for a guy that has too slight of a frame to endure the grueling punishment that comes from it and his reckless playing style caused him to miss 10 games with a variety of ailments (knee sprain, dislocated elbow, hamstring strain). In addition to being absent for over half of the 2025 season, Daniels struggled when he was out there, particularly on the accuracy front where his numbers dipped nearly 9% from his standout rookie year (69 to 60.6%). Could Daniels turn it around if he's able to stay healthy this season? Absolutely, but investing a top 50-60 pick on a guy with this many medical red flags that's coming off a very underwhelming season is just bad business. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Jaxson Dart (Giants), Brock Purdy (49ers), Aaron Rodgers (Steelers)

Running Back: Jeremiyah Love (Cardinals) (ADP: Yahoo: 28.3 ESPN: 22.8)

Outside of Bijan Robinson, Love is my favorite RB prospect of the 2020' thus far. The fluidity in space, vision/patience/burst combo and dual-threat polish that was all over his tape from Notre Dame has me very optimistic that he'll be a force in the NFL for many years to come. With all of that being said, I don't like Love's odds of contributing much as a rookie. The 2026 Cardinals are not looking to win many games as they launch their rebuilding efforts, which likely means they'll be saddled with a whole lot of negative game scripts where running the football becomes frowned upon and there's the very credible threat of him being stuck in an even committee with productive vets James Conner and Tyler Allegier whenever all three backs are healthy. On top of that, Love has lost out on a ton of valuable early reps after suffering a sprained ankle in the first preseason game and may even been in danger of missing their Week 1 game against the Chargers. Unless his ADP drops off a bit over the next week or so due to his ill-timed injury, it's hard to justify coveting him as an RB2 on draft day.

Dishonorable Mentions: Ashton Jeanty (Raiders), Josh Jacobs (Packers), David Montgomery (Texans)

Wide Receiver: Drake London (Falcons) (Yahoo: 19.1 ESPN: 18.5)

The Falcons rewarded London with the big extension (4 years/$141 mil/$100 mil guaranteed) he deserved in early June. Those rewards aren't likely to carry over to the field this season as London and all of his cohorts are stuck with one of the ugliest QB situations in the league heading into this season. Whether it's the rapidly diminishing Tua Tagovailoa or erratic Michael Penix Jr.-who is coming off yet another major injury-under center, it's hard to feel good about London's odds of being in a position to consistently contribute the low-end WR1/high-end WR2 numbers that he's been putting up over the bulk of the past 3 seasons and that makes him a very shaky option for the 2nd round of the draft. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Puka Nacua (Rams), Malik Nabers (Giants), Ladd McConkey (Chargers)

Tight End: Kyle Pitts (Falcons) (Yahoo: 72.9 ESPN: 64.8)

This is a runaway choice for me as it's easy to envision a scenario where all of the tight ends that are going in the top 55 or so (Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren) are the #1 pass-catchers are on their respective offenses this season. Pitts doesn't have that luxury as the aforementioned London and Robinson are clearly ahead of him in the receiving pecking order. The biggest concern surrounding Pitts isn't how many targets will come his way or even the Falcons ugly QB situation, it's the grim reality that he could fall back to earth after an excellent 2025 campaign now that's he secured the payday he was seeking There's really not much difference between taking a chance on Pitts' ability to replicate his 2025 success or waiting a couple of rounds to bet on whether George Kittle or Travis Kelce still have enough left in the tank to put up solid numbers, so why not just spend your 6th or 7th round pick on a QB, RB or WR instead? 

Dishonorable Mentions: Mark Andrews (Ravens), Dallas Goedert (Eagles), Greg Dulcich (Dolphins)

Defense/Special Teams: Patriots (ADP: Yahoo: 127.4 ESPN: 150.4)

The Patriots defense was stout last season, ranking 4th in scoring defense, 9th against the pass and 6th against the run. However, there are a few elephants in the room that need to be pointed out. Their redzone defense was actually the 3rd worst in the league-conceding a TD 67.5% of the time that their opponent got the ball to their 20-YD line, neither their sack (34) or takeaway totals (19) are overly impressive and it's impossible to dispute that their creampuff schedule didn't contribute to their strong YDS/PTS allowed totals. With a much more difficult schedule on paper and very little in the way of meaningful on-field personnel change during the offseason, I believe that they will regress enough in 2026 that their standing as a strong weekly D/ST play will be at risk. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Bears, Lions, Cowboys