Writer/Editor/Founder of Too Deep Zone: Subscriber-supported gonzo NFL journalism. Former NFL writer for Football Outsiders, Bleacher Report, the New York Times, Sports on Earth and other publications, some of which still exist!
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Pumped for today’s Between The Hashmarks Podcast with @miketanier.bsky.social and a really cool guest! Get it first, and delivered to your inbox by subscribing to Between The Hashmarks: MattLombardoNFL.substack.com We *really* appreciate the support and are looking forward to a great season! 🏈
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If you have to ask ...
New at @ftnfantasy.com from @brykno.bsky.social is a look at 2025 NFL awards. For each award, we look at a favorite, a value, and a longshot. Can Bijan win OPOY? Will Joe Burrow take home an MVP? CMC or Aidan Hutchinson for CPOY? MVP free, rest $ ftnfantasy.com/nfl/nfl-pres...
Lol. Would have had a hard time focusing on lifting weights and learning the playbook myself.
Must-read here from Zak on a topic that will resonate with Bears fans
Most NFL decision makers aren’t really trying to win a Super Bowl in most years. They are simply trying to avoid getting fired. Winning the Super Bowl just happens to be the most surefire way to avoid getting fired. miketanier.substack.com/p/secret-wis...
That's 10 AM Defending Super Bowl Champion time!
The eldest starts student teaching today but has an apartment. He may move back next year to save dough when he gets his first job. Two teachers getting ready at dawn = me sleeping in the backyard for 10 months.
And of course I wake up to "get the kids ready for school," even though they are off at college. So I make coffee, feed the dog and then sit here and LOL at Bill Belichick's debut for 45 minutes.
ME, ALL SUMMER: Waking up around 6:30 AM, relatively refreshed and ready to start the day. ME, WAKING UP TO WIFE'S BACK-TO-SCHOOL ALARM AT 6:15:
Labor Day protest to support immigrant workers and their families. #resistenciaenaccion #indivisible #iceoutprinceton
An unexpected guest at the demonstration! @njindivisible.bsky.social
Spirited Anti-Trump demonstration, Black Horse Pike, Bellmawr NJ. @njindivisible.bsky.social
That's the spirit! How Bout Dem Cowboys!
#Bears receiver DJ Moore understands that perception is reality, and he plans to be more aware of how he’s perceived this year. More here at WCG: www.windycitygridiron.com/chicago-bear...
Sean McVay said he expects QB Matthew Stafford to start this Sunday vs. Texans.
Patton Oswald traveling back in time to play the devil on that cover.
I walked into practice and it looked like the 49ers had 400 healthy players today -- after what it's been the last few weeks. I literally had to ask who No. 94 was because I forgot from last year after not seeing him at all this summer. That's Gross-Matos.
Welcome to Snaps & Stats, where I'll be posting content this season snaps-and-stats.ghost.io/welcome-to-s...
Decent crowd at the HB pier, about a hundred people so far protesting Trump.
Reasonable! But have you landed on "He's actually not that good?" Or "We're smart for not making moves like this one?"
Happy Labor Day
Surprisingly few modern contracts actually do that. Also, when the argument boils down to "let's see who's laughing in 4 years..."
Lol. That was never my strong suit. Maybe...using the written word to communicate ANYTHING of value?
Yep
Based on my timeline both Cowboys and Lions fans have switched to prescription-strength copium over the Parsons trade.
Yes indeed.
It's time to consider Commanders' GM Adam Peters' roster point of view without waiting for free agency and the draft. Why examining Washington's 2026 roster offers insight into 2025 goals. open.substack.com/pub/lastmans...
John Harbaugh: “We need to find a way to do it better.” Spoke w the #Ravens coach about changes he made on the field and off it going into his 18th season and in pursuit of a Super Bowl title. Story #RavensFlock www.baltimoresun.com/2025/09/01/r...
New Ringer NFL Show: The debut edition of Kapadia Court! @syedschemes.bsky.social makes arguments for 8 QBs to break out in 2025. I dress up like a judge and make an eventual ruling. (You might want to *watch* this one). Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/21lt... YouTube: youtu.be/LOMWMs3EqxE?...
QB guru Greg Cosell: Browns Dillon Gabriel reminds Kevin Stefanski of a Top 20 QB www.dawgsbynature.com/cleveland-br...
Good morning 🌞Column is up! It’s my colossal NFL Preview Spectacular! Every division winner, every award category, and a Super Bowl pick that will probably surprise some folks! mattlombardonfl.substack.com/p/from-eagle...
Gonna hit folks with some NFL reposts this AM as we get ready for kickoff.
Maybe Arch is tanking for them!
Just a reminder, DC folks! We're gonna have a great group of folks together running from 14th and U NW to the White House and back tomorrow (Monday) at 10am. All running and walking paces are welcome! @therunchat.com @51st.news @wcp.bsky.social @washingtonian.com
Micah Parsons and the Value of One Player www.wideleft.football/p/micah-pars...
WOW - 80 yd punt return TD for South Carolina's Vicari Swain
4 days until the NFL season kicks off! This graphic has the 13 players with the most approximate value wearing the #4 jersey. How many can YOU name? Fantastic, four.
It was a prefab take. The Purdy deal could have been $50mil over 3 years and half the Internet would have gone "Herp derp, too much money, Purdy overrated." And NFL execs get half of their oppo research from ESPN.
NFL execs gossip like the middle school color guard.
Every one of the execs polled would have given Purdy the same contract except for the ones that would have paid him more.
Rival NFL execs shouldn't throw stones.
Gosh golly gee thanks for the information. Tell me more! (Mutes argumentative dillwad)
Most cities aren't full of sports media doomers. Philly is unique in that sense.
Nah. RJ is realistic. Just putting lots of sugar in the medicine.
At least vintage Jerrah would have bagged Isaac TeSlaa.
... in which Jerrah, riverboat gambler and roster architect, chose a RB from his alma mater at precise moment the rest of the league was figuring out the analytics behind drafting RBs in the first round.
The triumphant Felix Jones/Mike Jenkins draft! Who can forget how it changed the balance of power in the NFL forever?
NFL Predictions column is officially written and scheduled. It’s massive. My key thoughts, a winner for every award, and a Super Bowl prediction I don’t think you’ll see coming 👀 Subscribers get it first, before you wake up in the morning. Subscribe here and save 30% OFF … Forever.
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The Arch Push
Rats. Looked like a true breakout candidates
My god, he will select the head of John the Baptist
The Dolphins are what happens when you hire Brainy Smurf to coach your football team. miketanier.substack.com/p/closing-ar...
Settle in with your morning coffee, and what I’m hearing from folks inside the NFL. ☕️
DPOY: +750 Comeback Player of the Year: +275 Whatever you do, do not parlay them.
That is REALLY overstating it. Seasons 4 and 6-7 of VOY are pretty darn good. Lower Decks is hilarious and sweet. Strange New Worlds was great up until this uneven current season.
"For the Saints, this was a slice of the Superdome. As Manning lined up in the shotgun with 3:24 left, down 24–17, the energy in the stadium reflected the mood in the rest of the country, anything but neutral." -- Lee Jenkins, 2010 miketanier.substack.com/p/five-signa...
I mean, it's fun, but: a) Maybe we should be off helping planets with their personal problems; and b) It feels weird that Spock got with the entire female Enterprise staff, and by TOS all are gone but Uhura and a heartsick Chapel.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now Bridget Spock's Diary.
You are down with the Making Movies album?
Listen to the whole album!!!
Gonna aim to attend this one!
Labor Day 8:30am #OceanCity NJ www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...
Sunday #Montclair NJ www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...
showing up is part of the work
Here's an interesting change from the Micah Parsons trade. Detroit and Chicago now move ahead of the New York Giants for the toughest projected schedule by average DVOA of opponents. San Francisco still the easiest. Full DVOA projection update with new playoff odds coming Sept 3.
Maybe Shedeur Sanders just struggled and the Browns aren’t out to get him… Or maybe Kevin Stefanski was possessed by a Two-Face variant that caused him to purposely sabotage the rookie quarterback, right? RIGHT?! Now on The Snap⤵️
"It was so crowded we couldn't even get from the pregame show to the opening kickoff in the press box. There was U2, Green Day, a giant jazz fest. There were just masses of people everywhere who weren't even going to the game." -- Bobby Hebert. miketanier.substack.com/p/five-signa...
Well, he's not coming for you personally.
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.
Jerrah if the Packers win the Super Bowl...
This was like watching a merchant in an RPG explain why he bought 150 wheels of cheese off an adventurer
From late July: miketanier.substack.com/i/169365950/...
I amend this to you should also really know the last name of your superstar wide receiver.
Wrong cognitive issue.
What do we think is really in Stephen's water bottle?
Matthew Stafford got an upgrade!
"This is what being bad at a job you can't get fired from because you own the company looks like!"
omg
A good time to read @miketanier.bsky.social's pouring out a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue for the Jerrah Cowboys as a serious NFL organization: miketanier.substack.com/p/oh-jerrah-...
Might want to hug a Lions fan...
Sorry ... struggling a bit to place a fascinating unique spin on "clownshow organization trades one of the best defenders in NFL to playoff team seeking a missing piece on defense."
Expert analysis on the Micah Parsons trade from the Cowboys to the Packers: It does pretty much what is says on the label.
The house has spoken.
Damn. Kimber AND Jones?
Actually, if there's anything Jerry Jones does right, it is drafting. They have a good drafting record especially offensive linemen!
Morale level in the Cowboys locker room...
Jerrah playing poker with Pokémon cards.
Just had a light family dinner and walked the dog. Did I miss anything?
That's my entrance music!!!
WATCH AND LISTEN IF YOU ARE COMING TO THIS LATE. "CDC SAVES LIVES, CDC SAVES LIVES" There is power in collection action - and reason, science, and compassion. New possibilities exist now that didn't exist earlier today.
She's not a gold digger. She's the femme fatale from a film noIr written by ChatGPT.
Guys, I have been saying it and writing it for weeks. I don’t think Micah Parsons wants to be, or will be a Cowboy. mattlombardonfl.substack.com/p/just-to-be...
Back then: Brilliant! Today: Sorry, about 385 words short of needed for SEO.
