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Issue X – Welcome!
WINTER WEATHER HAS ARRIVED ❄️
It’s officially winter where I am. We’ve been under a Winter Weather Warning since Saturday night and I woke up to a good 5 inches of snow on Sunday morning. It continued off and on all day, making it the perfect heated blanket, writing from the couch day. ☺️
Is it snowing where you are? Send me your photos and I’ll feature them on LinkedIn and in next week’s newsletter.
– jen
In today’s memo:
The impact of the NFL trade deadline
Remember Legendary NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue
A preview of the College Football Playoffs bracket
and more!
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NFL 🏈
DEAL OR NO DEAL
📸: AP
Every fall, right around midseason, the NFL gives us one chaotic little holiday that rivals the drama from my family’s Thanksgiving: the trade deadline.
It’s the league’s “last chance to switch seats” rule—after that date, teams can’t trade players until the offseason. Front offices have had half a season to figure out what they are: contenders who need help, or messy teams who should start collecting draft picks and vibes for next year.
The deadline’s been around in some form since the league’s early days, but it got spicier once the NFL moved it later in the schedule so teams had more info on who they really are.
This year’s trade deadline happened last week on Nov. 4, and here are some key notables:
The Jets hit the red button.
New York basically tore it down in one afternoon, shipping All-Pro Sauce Gardner to the Colts for two first-round picks plus WR Adonai “AD” Mitchell. That’s not a tweak, that’s a rebuild announcement in all caps.Dallas buys a whole new middle.
The Cowboys grabbed Quinnen Williams from those same Jets for a first-round and second-round pick plus DT Mazi Smith. Their defense has been a mess, so this is Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones basically saying, “I’ll fix it with cash and chaos.”The Eagles went full “super team” on defense.
Philly looked at the board and said, “We’ll beef up our defense, thanks,” adding Jaelan Phillips plus Michael Carter II and Jaire Alexander. If this works, opposing QBs are going to be living in stress dreams.Chargers hit a buzzer-beater for protection.
After losing rookie stud Joe Alt, the Chargers traded for Trevor Penning right at the horn. That’s a classic “please don’t get my quarterback killed” move.This wasn’t a normal deadline — it was historic.
Across the league, 27 players were traded in-season, the most in the last 25 years, and multiple first-rounders moved just on deadline day. Front offices weren’t nibbling this year; they were swinging.
Week 10 Scores
THUR, Nov 6
Denver Broncos (8-2) 10, Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) 7
SUN, Nov 9
Indianapolis Colts (8-2) 31, Atlanta Falcons (3-6) 25
Chicago Bears (6-3) 24, New York Giants (2-8) 20
Miami Dolphins (3-7) 30, Buffalo Bills (6-3) 13
Baltimore Ravens (4-5) 27, Minnesota Vikings (4-5) 19
New York Jets (2-7) 27, Cleveland Browns (2-7) 20
New England Patriots (8-2) 28, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) 23
New Orleans Saints (2-8) 17, North Carolina Panthers (5-5) 7
Houston Texans (4-5) 36, Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4) 29
Seattle Seahawks (7-2) 44 , Arizona Cardinals (3-6) 22
L.A. Rams (7-2) 42, San Francisco 49ers (6-4) 26
Detroit Lions (6-3) 44 Washington Commanders (3-7) 22
L.A Chargers (7-3) 25, Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4) 10
MON, Nov 3
Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) @ Green Bay Packers (5-2-1) — 8:15 PM EST, ABC/ESPN
Week 10 Byes: Bengals, Cowboys, Titans, Chiefs
NFL 🏀
REMEMBERING PAUL TAGLIABUE — THE QUIET POWER BROKER OF THE NFL
📸: CNN
With so much going on in the sports world, I try not to cover the same league or sport twice, but I’m making an exception this week (bc I’m the boss and therefore I can 😝).
Over the weekend, the NFL lost one of the main architects of the league we watch now. Paul Tagliabue, commissioner from 1989–2006, died Sunday at the age of 84.
What makes this man so special isn’t just his 17-year rein, but everything he accomplished for the NFL. For example, under his watch, the league went from 28 to 32 teams (hello Panthers, Jaguars, new Browns, Texans), built 20 new stadiums, signed monster TV broadcast deals, opened the NFL Network, and enjoyed 17 seasons without a labor stoppage.
He also helped steer the NFL through some brutal moments:
post-9/11, when he paused games.
post-Hurricane Katrina, when he pushed to get the Saints back to New Orleans instead of becoming a permanent road show.
He also backed diversity efforts like what became the Rooney Rule, pushing owners to at least interview coaches of color.
Was everything perfect? No. His early stance on concussions aged badly, and he later admitted the league needed better data and a better response.
But the TV money, expansion, stadium boom, and overall stability that define the modern NFL are stamped with his signature. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020, and today basically every owner, coach, and player is operating inside the house he helped build.
"All of us in the NFL are deeply saddened by the passing of Paul Tagliabue, whose principled leadership and vision put the NFL on the path to unparalleled success."
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CFB 🏈
IF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS STARTED THIS WEEK…
📸: NCAA
Depend on who you’re rooting for, there are about 2-3 weeks left in the regular season. And if the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket dropped today, your top four — aka the teams chilling with first-round byes — would be:
Ohio State
Indiana
Texas A&M
Alabama
Everyone from Georgia and Ole Miss to BYU, Texas Tech, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas, and Oklahoma would be partying in that 5–12 range, setting up some extremely fun first-round campus games.
But how do they pick teams and where they fall?
Well, a lovely football committee ranks the Top 25 each week based on wins, strength of schedule, and how you look against real competition.
The big change this year: byes now go to the four highest-ranked teams overall, not automatically to the top four champs, and that’s because the committee has leaned harder into who you beat instead of just “how many wins you have.”
They also took a lot of flack last year for their rankings. So, in other words, they’re saving face. 😉
FANTASY
NOTABLES FROM WK 10
Jonathan Taylor went full cheat code.
49.6 fantasy points, 244 rushing yards, three TDs and an OT walk-off for the Colts. That’s the highest fantasy score by anyone this season and puts him back on top of RB scoring.De’Von Achane reminded everyone he’s terrifying.
40.5 points, five double-digit runs, and 72 rushing yards over expected in a blowout win vs. Buffalo. The Dolphins might be a mess, but Achane is a weekly top-5 RB when healthy.Justin Jefferson face-planted (blame Baltimore).
On 12 targets, he turned in just 37 yards and 7.7 fantasy points as the Ravens corners smothered him. Annoying, yes. Panic? No—next up is the Bears.Injury notes you actually need:
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid left with a hamstring and didn’t return; Rams WR Davante Adams exited late with a back issue after dropping 19.7 points. Giants QB Jaxson Dart left the game early in the third quarter due to a concussion.
TERMINOLOGY
ONSIDE KICK
An onside kick in American football is basically a last-chance heist by a kicking team. Instead of blasting the kickoff deep, the kicker taps it just 10 yards so the ball stays close and his own team can try to recover it. It’s usually used when a team is losing late and needs the ball back right now. It’s high risk, low odds, pure chaos—AKA very fun TV.
