{"id":389113,"date":"2026-01-05T12:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389113\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:43:10","slug":"the-winners-and-losers-of-the-nfl-week-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389113\/","title":{"rendered":"The Winners and Losers of the NFL Week 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Steelers and Panthers, surprisingly, are in the playoffs, the Ravens and Bucs are out, the Seahawks made a major statement, Myles Garrett made history, and more.<\/p>\n

Every week this NFL season, we will break down the highs and lows\u2014and everything in between\u2014from the most recent slate of pro football. This week, the NFC South race came to a sloppy end, the Steelers won the AFC North in a thriller, Myles Garrett and the Jets made different kinds of history, and more. Welcome to Winners and Losers.<\/p>\n

Winners: Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the games we got Aaron Rodgers for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those were Mike Tomlin\u2019s words to the Sunday Night Football crew <\/a>ahead of the winner-take-all AFC North matchup between the Steelers and Ravens. Anybody who\u2019s watched Rodgers limp down the stretch of this season may have rolled their eyes at Tomlin, especially after his 42-year-old quarterback played his worst game of 2025 in a Week 17 loss to the Browns. Hell, Tomlin\u2019s statement sounded laughable after the first half of Sunday night\u2019s game, with Rodgers producing just 98 passing yards on his first 27 dropbacks and the Steelers trailing 10-3 going into the break.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, eventually, the veteran quarterback showed why Pittsburgh was willing to put its 2025 offseason on hold while it waited on Rodgers to make a decision about his future in football. He completed 72.7 percent of his second-half passes and averaged nearly 9 yards per attempt in leading the Steelers to a thrilling 26-24 win. The game featured four lead changes and ended on a missed field goal by Baltimore\u2019s rookie kicker Tyler Loop as time expired. With the win, the Steelers clinched the AFC North, and they will host the no. 5 seed Texans in the wild-card round next Monday night. And the Ravens\u2019 season from hell is over.<\/p>\n

As well as Rodgers and Lamar Jackson played down the stretch, the Ravens and Steelers defenses made things easy for the two quarterbacks with a number of coverage busts. Pittsburgh\u2019s secondary didn\u2019t bother covering Zay Flowers on Jackson\u2019s two long touchdown passes in the final quarter. Rodgers\u2019s game-winning touchdown pass to Calvin Austin came after Ravens cornerback Chidobe Awuzie slipped in coverage, leaving Austin free down the sideline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Steelers secondary still had one mistake left in them, letting Baltimore tight end Isaiah Likely get free downfield on fourth-and-7 with only 21 seconds left on the clock. Likely\u2019s catch got Baltimore to the 26-yard-line with 14 seconds and one last timeout, but instead of using it to shorten Loop\u2019s game-winning attempt, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh had Jackson center the ball with a kneel, pushing the attempt back an additional two yards. That may have made the difference as Loop pushed the kick just outside of the right upright.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of blame to go around for Baltimore\u2019s loss. The pass rush couldn\u2019t get close to Rodgers down the stretch and the defense couldn\u2019t protect the multiple leads the offense provided. Jackson also started slow and threw a crucial interception on a tipped pass. Even holy spirits seemed to be working against Baltimore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No matter where you want to point the finger for Sunday\u2019s loss, the failure of this season ultimately falls on Harbaugh, whose seat was already starting to heat up before losing this elimination game. The Ravens haven\u2019t resembled a well coached team for two years now. The defense has regressed since Mike Macdonald left for Seattle after the 2023 season, the offense has grown stagnant in Todd Monken\u2019s third year as coordinator, and it seems increasingly common that this team is making mistakes late in crucial games. If Harbaugh wasn\u2019t coaching for his job on Sunday night, he certainly will be in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tomlin may also be on the hot seat<\/a> next season, but this win should earn him some grace over the offseason. This Steelers roster was not nearly as talented as it appeared on paper before the season, and he still managed to squeeze another winning season and playoff berth out of it. Games like this are why you keep a coach like Tomlin around for as long as he\u2019s willing to stay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Winner: Mike Macdonald\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 13-3 final score doesn\u2019t really tell the story of Saturday\u2019s de facto NFC West title game. If not for a bad Sam Darnold sack<\/a> near the goal line and a kicking disaster class from Jason Myers, the Seahawks would have put the 49ers away by halftime\u2014sparing general manager John Schneider from sweating through the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Seahawks bossed the game en route to locking up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They demoralized a 49ers team whose offense had put up 90 points over the two previous weeks. San Francisco didn\u2019t surpass the 90-yard mark until the third quarter. San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy finished the game with just 120 net passing yards, which could be considered a letdown for a Seattle pass defense that surrendered only 40 net passing yards to Carolina last Sunday. Yet the Niners\u2019 run game was even less effective, producing just 32 yards on 10 designed runs. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has owned Kyle Shanahan the handful of times they\u2019ve faced off\u2014including a five-turnover stinker for the 49ers on Christmas in 2023, when Macdonald was calling the Ravens defense\u2014but this may have been the most lopsided of their matchups.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yesterday was the worst rushing performance for the 49ers since Kyle Shanahan became their head coach, according to success rate.<\/p>\n

A span of 9 years, 161 games, and no other defense had shut them down quite like the Seahawks did.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

A 10 percent success rate on the ground is embarrassingly bad on its own, but it looks even worse considering how the Seahawks deployed their defense on Saturday night. They played with at least five defensive backs on every snap and had an average of 6.5 men in the box, per TruMedia. Seattle played light, with both personnel and structure, yet the 49ers\u2014who were without star left tackle Trent Williams, to be fair\u2014couldn\u2019t move them in the ground game, which had a knock-on effect on the pass game, with San Francisco playing behind the chains most of the game. Seattle was able to play its zone coverages, and the defensive line could play in pass rush mode all night. Purdy was under constant duress and had to settle for short passes underneath, and Shanahan\u2019s play calls failed to unlock the deep parts of the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s the dream for any defensive play caller, and it\u2019s one Macdonald has been living all season after quickly building the ideal defense to attack modern offenses. Saturday night\u2019s win was a fitting cap to one of the most dominant defensive seasons we\u2019ve seen in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to find a weak point in Seattle\u2019s defense thanks to the emergence of linebackers Ty Okada and Drake Thomas late in the season. The defensive line is stout in the middle, with second-year star Byron Murphy II serving as the anchor of the run defense and Leonard Williams playing off him. DeMarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu are disruptive as hell on the edges. Rookie Nick Emmanwori already looks like a game-changing slot defender and gets better every week. Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen are tough, reliable corners on the outside. And then you have Macdonald crafting the game plans and calling the plays. Some of these pieces were already in place when the second-year head coach inherited the team, but his fingerprints are all over this defense\u2014which might be the best unit in the league on either side of the ball.\u00a0
Macdonald is my pick for Coach of the Year for that reason. Typically, the award is given to the coach of the team that performs best compared to preseason expectations, which explains why Mike Vrabel is still the odds-on favorite to win it. But New England also has the MVP favorite at quarterback and a possible Assistant Coach of the Year (yes, that\u2019s an award) in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Ben Johnson and Liam Coen are building impressive offensive attacks in Chicago and Jacksonville, respectively, but both teams still look a year away from true contention. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are the favorite to win it all in February, and Macdonald\u2019s defense is the reason why.<\/p>\n

Loser: The NFC South<\/p>\n

The conclusion of this season\u2019s NFC South race was everything we had hoped\u2014or feared, if you\u2019re a fan of one of these teams. The football was pure slop. The Buccaneers outlasted the Panthers in a rain-soaked game Saturday afternoon, and the Falcons spoiled the Bucs\u2019 effort by beating the Saints on Sunday, creating a chaotic three-way tie between Atlanta, Carolina, and Tampa Bay, each at 8-9, at the top of the division. Carolina, with its minus-69 point differential, won the division thanks to an edge in a three-way tiebreaker and heads to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long time coming for a Panthers fan base that\u2019s been subjected to some horrid football since the end of the Cam Newton era, but it\u2019s hard to feel too good about it since the team is backing into the playoffs in perhaps the most frustrating way possible. The officiating from Brad Allen\u2019s crew on Saturday was the source of most (but not all) of that frustration. It was so bad, a missed call like this barely made waves:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s crew also called a critical defensive pass interference penalty against Carolina\u2019s Nick Scott after Tampa Bay tight end Cade Otton tripped over his own feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That bad call came shortly after a 32-yard catch by Carolina\u2019s Tetairoa McMillan was wiped off the board by a soft offensive pass interference flag for what appeared to be run-of-the-mill hand-fighting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then there was this comedy of errors from Allen and Co. The Bucs blew up a screen for Rico Dowdle, forcing Bryce Young to throw a backward pass that was blown dead erroneously. After realizing his crew had made a mistake, Allen ruled the play a fumble for a loss of 7 yards. As Allen explained after the game, the Panthers should\u2019ve had the option to replay the down, which coach Dave Canales surely would have taken if it had been offered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Official pool report via @gregauman<\/a> on two critical plays in #Panthers<\/a> loss to #Bucs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In part, regarding the call on the backward pass to Rico Dowdle \u2026 \u201cBecause of the erroneous whistle, the Panthers could have had a choice to replay the down.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/MORHmA3IPC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05) January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

And despite all of those misses by the refs, the \u201cworst call of the game\u201d still goes to Canales for his inexplicable decision to call a red zone flea flicker in a downpour. The Panthers predictably botched the execution, and Young couldn\u2019t fall on the fumble to salvage what had been a promising drive with the game still in reach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was the third time Canales has called a trick play in the high red zone since last season, and the third time the tactic failed. Carolina ran a reverse pass with Andy Dalton against the Falcons last season in Week 6, which resulted in a tight-window throw near the sideline. Canales tried it again a few weeks later against the Bucs in Week 13, which ended with Young throwing the ball away through the back of the end zone when no one could get open.<\/p>\n

Canales backed Saturday\u2019s flea flicker call after the game, calling it \u201can aggressive decision\u201d and saying he liked \u201cthe opportunity it presented us.\u201d The wide angle of the play didn\u2019t show much of an opportunity, though. McMillan appeared to be running a hitch-and-go, but the cornerback didn\u2019t bite, and Tampa Bay had a safety in the middle of the field there to provide some backup even if he had.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Per Pro Football Focus\u2019s database, which stretches back to 2001, there have been only five flea flicker\u2013style plays called in the red zone over the last quarter century, and literally none of them have worked. Canales needs to give up on this dream.<\/p>\n

Somehow, Carolina wasn\u2019t done in by the egregious officiating and its own blunders\u2014thanks to Atlanta\u2019s intervention on Sunday. The Falcons and Saints played an equally sloppy game but didn\u2019t have the excuse of poor weather conditions. The game started with a Falcons three-and-out, followed by a Saints fumble, a Kirk Cousins interception, a New Orleans three-and-out, an Atlanta four-and-out, and a blocked punt by the Falcons that set Bijan Robinson up for the game\u2019s opening touchdown. And that was just the first quarter!\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The quality of the game didn\u2019t improve over the next three quarters. Saints rookie QB Tyler Shough was one of the few bright spots, but he threw the game-losing interception, halting a potentially game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter and putting Atlanta in position to stretch its lead to two possessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Saints did rally for another touchdown and open up the potential for an extreme case of Falcons-ing, but Atlanta scooped up the ensuing onside kick, sending Tampa Bay to an early vacation and Carolina to the playoffs. The win was the fourth in a row for the Falcons, but it wasn\u2019t enough for head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot to keep their jobs; both were fired Sunday evening.<\/p>\n

the falcons were eliminated from the playoffs on december 7th and finished tied for 1st for their division lol<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

All this mess was a fitting end to the most convoluted divisional race in recent memory. Let\u2019s do it again next year.<\/p>\n

Winner: Trevor Lawrence\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jaguars fell short in their long-shot quest for the AFC\u2019s top seed when the Broncos and Patriots beat up on short-handed teams Sunday afternoon. But Jacksonville will enter the playoffs as the conference\u2019s hottest team after running their win streak to eight with a 41-7 dismantling of the Titans, clinching the team\u2019s first divisional title since 2022. Jacksonville also has one of the league\u2019s hottest quarterbacks, Trevor Lawrence, who had yet another big day. After an uneven start to the season, Lawrence posted top-five marks in EPA and success rate and finally made the leap the Jaguars have been waiting years for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen Lawrence string together brilliant stretches of play in the past, but his current high level of play feels more sustainable with Liam Coen\u2019s backing. Now, it feels like Lawrence is equipped for a deep run through a questionable AFC playoff field. The spotty accuracy, inconsistent timing, and questionable decision-making\u2014issues exacerbated by inept coaching and roster building, to be fair\u2014no longer feel like issues for the 26-year-old QB, who just wrapped up the best season of his career. With three touchdown passes against Tennessee, Lawrence set a career high and a franchise record with 38 total touchdowns. He also surpassed the 4,000-yard mark before bowing out of the blowout to rest up for the playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The story of Lawrence\u2019s 2025 season is far from finished, though. A two-month heater against a fairly soft schedule isn\u2019t enough to establish Lawrence as one of the league\u2019s top quarterbacks just yet, but he could enter that conversation over the next few weeks with a big game in the wild-card round against Josh Allen\u2019s Bills. Either Drake Maye or Justin Herbert would be waiting for him in the divisional round if the Jags take care of Buffalo. Lawrence has already beaten Herbert in the playoffs, and he went toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes back in 2022. If Lawrence looks like he belongs over the next few weeks, you\u2019ll start seeing his name near the top of quarterback rankings going into next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will be a tough road for Jacksonville based on how the AFC bracket worked out, but avoiding Houston\u2019s terrifying defense and a potential game against Denver may have been the best possible outcome for Lawrence and the Jags. The prospect of playing Allen, Maye, or Herbert is also terrifying, but the Bills can\u2019t stop the run; the Patriots can\u2019t rush the passer; and Jacksonville has already blown out the Chargers once this season. Things are perfectly aligned for a deep run for the Jaguars and a star-making month for Lawrence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Winner: Myles Garrett<\/p>\n

It came down to the wire, but Garrett is the NFL\u2019s new single-season sack king. He broke T.J. Watt\u2019s and Michael Strahan\u2019s record when he recorded his 23rd sack of the season in the fourth quarter of Cleveland\u2019s surprising win in Cincinnati.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was the perfect way for Garrett to break the record. It may look like a run-of-the-mill sack, with Joe Burrow taking a bit of a dive, but don\u2019t overlook the sheer physical talent that was required from Garrett to finish it off. Keep in mind that Garrett is 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds. No player that massive should be able to bend and dip around the corner like Garrett does to beat the left tackle and force Burrow into scramble mode. The ability to explode out of this position to pressure the quarterback \u2026<\/p>\n

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\u2026 before making a hairpin turn to finish off the play is why Garrett is the league\u2019s preeminent pass rusher and best defensive player. Any \u201cfan\u201d questioning the validity of the sack or the quality of the rush does not know ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bonus Loser: Zac Taylor<\/p>\n

Speaking of salty reactions, Bengals coach Zac Taylor took issue with the referees stopping the game to allow Garrett and his teammates to celebrate the historic moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

#Bengals<\/a> HC Zac Taylor on the refs stopping play after Myles Garrett broke the NFL sack record:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s five minutes left in our season. We\u2019re playing for our lives here, and I was never told that we\u2019re gonna stop the game \u2014 and in a critical moment like that. And the refs just\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/S6ZgJ2ogUK<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fighting for our lives,\u201d Taylor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a ridiculously dramatic claim from someone who\u2019s coaching a team that was eliminated from the playoffs a month ago and is only a week removed from dialing up a (non\u2013trick play) target for an offensive lineman, just for the bit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Loser: Aaron Glenn<\/p>\n

Myles Garrett wasn\u2019t the only one rewriting the NFL record books on Sunday. The Jets joined him by setting a record that will probably never be matched: They became the first team to finish a season without recording a single interception. The previous record was held by the 49ers, who had just two interceptions during the 2018 season. The Jets\u2019 opponents finished the season with a perfect 36-to-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio after Aaron Glenn\u2019s defense allowed Buffalo\u2019s Mitchell Trubisky, filling in for Josh Allen, to find the end zone four times in a 35-8 rout on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jets have been bad for a long time\u2014their 15-year playoff drought is the longest in the NFL\u2014but this feels like a new low for the franchise. They had a chance to avoid indignity in the third quarter, when Trubisky threw a pass right to Quincy Williams\u2019s chest, but the Jets linebacker couldn\u2019t haul it in, to the dismay of his teammates, who appeared to be very aware of what was at stake.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jets defenders haven\u2019t had too many chances to get their hands on the football this season\u2014they\u2019ve forced just seven turnover-worthy throws, per PFF\u2014and the few chances they\u2019ve had have been comically bad.<\/p>\n

This didn\u2019t turn into a pick:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Neither did this:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Or this:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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If there\u2019s a silver lining here, it\u2019s that New York\u2019s interception luck is basically guaranteed to improve in 2026. The four teams that failed to intercept five passes in a season all doubled their interception totals the following season. The 49ers team that previously held the record rebounded with 12 the following season! The Browns finished with 11 this season after grabbing only four interceptions in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

TeamSeasonINTsNext-Season INTsBrowns2024411Lions200849Texans202031749ers2018212Jets20250?<\/p>\n

As of Sunday night, it seems like Glenn will return for year two and get the chance to lead the revival, even after this disaster of a season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much to build off, though. New York\u2019s defense regressed over the second half of the season, and the offense broke down completely after Justin Fields\u2019s injury. Effort seemed to be an issue, and the performance in the season finale may have been the team\u2019s worst. It feels like a minor miracle that this team managed to win three games. Even if they\u2019re due for some positive regression in the interception column, an increase in wins still feels like a long shot given the current state of Glenn\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

Loser: Nick Sirianni\u00a0<\/p>\n

The teams in the NFC playoff field were already set by the end of Sunday\u2019s early slate, but with the Eagles and Bears vying for the no. 2 spot in the conference, there was still plenty to sort out in the second wave of games. Philadelphia didn\u2019t seem too interested in earning it. A win over the lowly Commanders combined with a Chicago loss to Detroit would have pushed the defending Super Bowl champs to second place in the NFC and set up a first-round matchup with the injury-depleted Packers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lions did their part to make it happen, knocking off the Bears with a last-second field goal. But with Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni choosing to rest his starters\u2014except for DeVonta Smith, who played long enough to get over 1,000 receiving yards for the season before calling it a day\u2014the Eagles lost, 24-17, to the Commanders. The loss means the Bears get the 2-seed, and the Eagles are no. 3, which will make the path back to the Super Bowl exponentially harder to navigate. Philadelphia will now face the 12-win Niners team that was rolling before its loss to Seattle. Survive that, and the Eagles have a potential trip to Chicago, which might be the best-case scenario. The other option is a visit from the Rams in the divisional round, should the Bears lose to Green Bay in the wild-card round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Siranni doubled down on the choice not to play for the win and a better seed after the loss to Washington, telling reporters he didn\u2019t regret the decision to rest his starters. \u201cOne thing I could guarantee was giving them rest,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cI couldn\u2019t guarantee anything else. And us being healthy and going into the playoffs healthy is a big deal for us. That\u2019s served us well in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing at home has also served Philadelphia in the past. It hasn\u2019t lost a home playoff game in five tries under Sirianni but has gone 0-2 on the road, with both losses coming in Tampa. Losing Sunday\u2019s game increased the likelihood that the Eagles will have to win at least two road games to make it back to the Super Bowl. The city of Philadelphia is always looking for a reason to be pissed off at its football coach, and he provided it with a legitimate reason on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Loser: The Giants\u2019 Offseason Plans<\/p>\n

If you give the Giants a chance to tank their draft position with a meaningless late-season win, they won\u2019t pass it up. It\u2019s the only thing they\u2019ve been consistently good at over the past few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve won 13 total games since the start of the 2023 season. Four of those wins have come in the final weeks of the season\u2014after New York had already been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention\u2014and each led to a slide down the draft board. In 2023, a Week 18 win over the Eagles cost the team a chance to draft in the top five. In 2024, a Week 17 win over the Colts cost them the first pick. Two weeks ago, they had the inside track to the no. 1 pick once again and fumbled it away with back-to-back wins over the Raiders and Cowboys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the time the top of the 2026 draft order had been settled late Sunday afternoon, the Giants had dropped down to the fifth slot, out of the range to draft a top quarterback prospect\u2014which should have been a consideration despite Jaxson Dart\u2019s presence on the roster\u2014or to make a trade down to significantly build up the team\u2019s cache of draft picks. The Giants\u2019 win over the Cowboys meant the Raiders had secured the top pick before kicking off their season finale against the Chiefs (which they went on to win with a last-second field goal).<\/p>\n

If you want to get a sense for the current state of New York City\u2019s football teams, just look at how the Giants and Jets fan bases are reacting to Sunday\u2019s results. The fans in blue are downright miserable after watching their team put up 30-plus points in back-to-back weeks, while the fans in green are ecstatic after a five-game losing streak helped them leapfrog the Giants and land the no. 2 pick\u2014and another chance at drafting a top quarterback prospect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an argument to be made that winning games, even meaningless ones, is good for the locker room. It makes sense, but it hasn\u2019t worked out for the Giants over the past few years. You don\u2019t get to roll over wins to the next season, and whatever momentum New York has built with victories over a terrible Raiders team in Week 17 and a Cowboys team that gave up weeks ago won\u2019t help them win games next September. If the Giants are going to pull themselves out of this rut, they\u2019ll need to add talent to a lacking roster. The past two weeks will make it more challenging to do that this offseason.<\/p>\n

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Steven Ruiz<\/p>\n

<\/a>Steven Ruiz has been an NFL analyst and QB ranker at The Ringer since 2021. He\u2019s a D.C. native who roots for all the local teams except for the Commanders. As a child, he knew enough ball to not pick the team owned by Dan Snyder\u2014but not enough to avoid choosing the Panthers.