Clik here to view.
How Unexpected Was Cleveland’s Shellacking Of Cincinnati?
Before Thursday night’s game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, our Elo ratings predicted a 77 percent probability of a Bengals win. Cincinnati had the higher Elo rating before the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2015 NFL Preview: The Ravens, Bengals, Steelers And, Yes, Even The Browns...
In preparation for the 2015 NFL season, FiveThirtyEight is running a series of eight division previews, each highlighting the numbers that may influence a team’s performance (including projections and...
View ArticleThese Bengals Are The Best In Franchise History
UPDATE (Nov. 6, 7:39 a.m.): The Bengals added six points to their Elo rating on Thursday night, defeating the Cleveland Browns 31-10. Cincinnati’s current Elo rating, 1672, is the best in franchise...
View ArticleLosing Andy Dalton Crushes The Bengals’ Championship Hopes
What had been the greatest season in Bengals history took a regrettably Bengals-like turn Sunday, when Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton fractured his thumb, likely putting him out for the season....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anyone Could Win The AFC North — Except The Browns
To go with our 2016 NFL predictions, FiveThirtyEight is previewing each division. AFC North fans are blessed with one of the NFL’s most exciting divisions. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and...
View ArticleDo Toothless Offenses Like The Bengals’ Ever Recover?
The Bengals entered this year as playoff contenders with a retooled offense that was considered one of the fastest units in the NFL. But two games into the season, they’ve kicked three field goals. And...
View ArticleBengals-Ravens — On A Thursday Night! — Is The Most Important Game Of Week 2
Just one week into the NFL season, it’s hard to know exactly which teams will be contenders and which will be focused on their spot in the draft next spring. So it probably seems too early to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
If Vegas Predicts Your NFL Team For Six Wins, You May Be In Luck
Every year, we look back on preseason win totals produced by forecasters and betting markets and chuckle at some of the more egregious misses. Last season, the Chicago Bears were initially forecast for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Did We Learn About The Contenders In The NFL’s Week 13?
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): Week 13 had a little bit of everything: matchups between division leaders, out-of-nowhere upsets and yet another Chargers heartbreaker. A kicker caught a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Eagles Played To Not Lose … Or Win
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): In Week 3 of the NFL season, we saw many exciting finishes from evenly matched teams — with the best game of the week and maybe even the season (on paper,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Lions Won A Game, The Ravens Lost A Close Call, And The Chiefs Made A...
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): The Sunday that brought Minshew Mania back to the NFL gave us a little more chaos and a little more clarity. In Week 13, one hapless team (the Houston...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We Remain Baffled By The NFL’s So-Called Contenders
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): Fortunes swung wildly during Week 14 of the NFL season, with a few games making a big dent in some teams’ playoff hopes while boosting others. Three games...
View ArticleClik here to view.
With NFL Playoff Spots Up For Grabs, Don’t Be Surprised If These Divisions...
The Cleveland Browns just lost a crucial game they easily could have won, the Baltimore Ravens are a M.A.S.H. unit, the Cincinnati Bengals have been playing over their skis and the Pittsburgh Steelers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who’s In, Who’s Out And Who Has Us Worried As We Barrel Toward The NFL Playoffs
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): It’s so strange that 17 weeks of play are in the books and we’re not yet done with the regular season, but the NFL clearly has a lot more to give us this...
View ArticleWhat To Watch For In The NFL’s Wild-Card Weekend
After an exhilarating week of games closed out the NFL’s extra-long 2021 regular season, the playoff bracket could deliver another helping of chaos. Most (though not all) of the teams left standing...
View ArticleThe Bengals May Be The Real Winner Of ‘The Tie That Wasn’t’
Twitter was rooting for Las Vegas to end its 2021 regular season on Sunday with a quarterback kneel and tie, but the Raiders had a business decision to make: Tie, and open the playoffs against the No....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The NFL’s Wild-Card Weekend Was Weirder And Dumber Than It Had Any Right To Be
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): Though only a third of the games were competitive on the first weekend of the NFL playoffs, we still got plenty of weirdness across the board. An...
View ArticleWhat To Watch For In The NFL’s Divisional Round
The NFL’s elite eight will convene this weekend with the divisional playoffs, and after a relatively upset-free wild-card round (sorry, Cowboys — I said relatively), we have some titanic matchups to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nothing Will Top The NFL’s Greatest Playoff Weekend Ever
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, sports editor): We couldn’t have asked for much more from the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. We got three upsets, all won on last-second field goals by the road team,...
View ArticleOur Guide To The NFL’s Conference Championships
After a weekend of football that was, even by the divisional round’s usual high standards, probably the best in NFL history, we can only imagine what’s left in store for the rest of the playoffs. The...
View Article