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You're probably familiar with the "hometown discount," the millions of dollars that a player entering free agency is supposed to leave on the table so he can exhibit loyalty to the piece of laundry that acquired his rights (often with little or no in...

On Monday afternoon, two notable wide receivers were dealt away in trades that seemed to make little sense for the organizations who were giving away their best wideouts. The Vikings, a playoff team one year ago, dealt Percy Harvin to the Seahawks fo...

The intelligence and patience of Ozzie Newsome have made Baltimore into a team built for the long haul.

With the rest of this off week between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl, I'll be taking a look back at the playoffs (today) and the season at large (Thursday and Friday) before diving back into Super Bowl coverage next Monday. Today, I...

This week's Fourth-and-Short has four more thoughts on the four conference championship teams. In the cases of the 49ers and Ravens, it's time to begin the arduous process of breaking down the Harbaugh Bowl. With the Falcons and Patriots, now is a go...

In football, it's usually true that everything you see has happened before and will happen again. Sure, you might only get an Immaculate Reception once every 200 years or so, but when it comes to team-building and paths to success, the league's 32 or...

With a couple of rematches on tap, here are all the numbers you need to look smart when talking about the NFL playoffs.

The Ravens and Redskins have been two nearby teams at opposite ends of the NFL spectrum for most of the past decade. They're case studies in how to run an organization and how not to run one, respectively, a contrast between the cool approach of long...

Going deep inside the numbers to deliver everything you need to know about Day 2 of the NFL playoffs.

If there's a silver lining to the injury bug that's bitten the Baltimore Ravens this season, it comes in the form of being able to finally evaluate Joe Flacco as the team's leader and star player. Against the Raiders on Sunday, Flacco was clearly up ...

If season-ending injuries in the same game for Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb weren't a Ravens fan's worst nightmare, seeing what the defense looked like without them on Sunday probably qualifies. Baltimore was blown off the field by the only other tea...

This week, Fourth-and-Short travels around the league to touch on three notable news bits, beginning with Denver's stunning comeback victory over the Chargers last night. I Can't Believe I'm Going to Defend Norv Turner, But ... As you might ...

The Ravens' success has more to do with their defense than with the guy under center.

With just four business days left before the start of the NFL free agency period, it's high time for us to start the final portion of our sprawling, seemingly endless free agent preview. After standing in for agents, scoffing at the largesse of owner...

The marriage between Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts whimpered its way to a conclusion on Tuesday night, as Chris Mortensen reported that the team will release Manning to avoid paying the $28 million roster bonus due to the future Hall of F...

How close were Sunday's conference championship games? Well, if you consider the final scores to be a sign of how close they were, let's go with the closest ever. Two three-point wins meant that the combined margin of victory for the Patriots and Gia...