Derek Ciapala Articles - Page 3

Steve Rebeiro and Johnny Gomez break down each position on the Los Angeles Rams roster heading into free agency, including what they should do and who will be back with the team. Did the Rams play a game on Sunday? They might also talk about that. Listen to “Butting Heads Ep. 30: Taking Inventory” on […]

Description: Derek Ciapala and Michael Stewart break down the Los Angeles Rams’ 13-3 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots. They will also address Todd Gurley, playcalling concerns, Jared Goff, and the problem covering Julian Edelman. Listen to “Ep. 2019:17 – Super Bowl LIII Postgame Show: L.A. Rams suffer 13-3 loss to New England […]

Another regular season has come and gone with the New York Jets missing the playoffs. It’s been eight years since the Jets last advanced to the NFL postseason. However, the team isn’t far from competing again in the AFC East. The New England Patriots are nearing the end of their run with Bill Belichick and […]

The Los Angeles Rams travel to face the New Orleans Saints for the third time this year in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, January 20. Both teams have changed dramatically since their last meeting in Week 9. With that in mind, the Rams and Saints will provide a much different game than what we’ve […]

The Kansas City Chiefs suffered their first loss of the season 43-40 against the New England Patriots back in Week 6. Now both teams will sit on the sidelines for Wild Card Weekend. The odds are good that the Chiefs and Patriots will meet at Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC Championship game. Can the Chiefs […]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired head coach Dirk Koetter following the team’s 34-32 season-ending loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, December 30. The same will not be said about starting quarterback Jameis Winston. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that Winston will return as the Buccaneers’ starting quarterback in 2019. Several experts and fans questioned […]

The Green Bay Packers will enter the 2019 season with chips on their shoulders. They haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 2010, despite featuring one the best quarterbacks of this generation. Green Bay has made the playoff in six of the last eight seasons, but something has been missing about this legendary franchise for […]

Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson surprised much of the NFL this season after making his rounds to Arizona and New Orleans. He’s rejuvenated his career and figures to be an interesting free agent to watch this offseason. Peterson registered 247 carries for 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns for a 4.2 yards per game average […]

The NFL regular season is almost over, but there are still plenty of fireworks to go following Week 16. The Baltimore Ravens defense proved that with their 22-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night. However, fireworks exploded in Northeast, Ohio, where Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis likely signed his pink slip after […]

The NFL features several players worthy of being named “Most Valuable Player.” Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes leads the pack, followed by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Yet there is one name that should be mentioned as well: Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. Most experts expected the Chargers to put together a […]

The Green Bay Packers finally fired head coach Mike McCarthy amid another disappointing season two weeks ago. Since then, numerous candidates have been suggested to take over the reins of one of the NFL’s legacy franchises. However, none of them make more sense than current Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. Here are three reasons Harbaugh […]

The 2017 NFL season got a little darker when Houston Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered an ACL tear last fall. At the time, Watson had taken the league by storm. He completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 1,699 yards, 19 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in seven games. Watson had the Texans offense running […]

It would be an understatement to say that the 2018 Minnesota Vikings have been a disappointment. They entered the season with a talented roster on both sides of the ball, including newly-signed $84-million dollar man in quarterback Kirk Cousins. Instead, the Vikings have floundered to a 7-6-1 record and fired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo. Yet, […]

The end of the 2018 NFL regular season is drawing nigh, and playoff spots are filling fast. Some teams took a step towards wrapping up a playoff berth or better. Others crumbled under pressure. Let’s take a look at the highs and lows of Week 15. Highs Steelers save their season … for now The […]

The playoff hunt got even more confusing thanks to a series of upsets during Week 14. Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams became the most recent team to fall victim to Khalil Mack and the vaunted Chicago Bears defense. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts made the AFC South a lot more interesting with an upset […]

The legendary Urban Meyer retired as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football program on Tuesday, December 4. Two days later, the dust is still settling from Meyer’s decision. His departure leaves several question marks about the direction of the Buckeyes both in the present and in the immediate future. The roster is still […]

Ohio State lost one of the great college football head coaches in the last 25 years when Urban Meyer retired on Tuesday. His decision isn’t surprising considering the recent speculation about his health, but his story may not be over yet. At age 54, Meyer will still find coaching opportunities in the future if he […]

Week 13 of the 2018 NFL season went down as one of the most interesting weekends of the year. The Los Angeles Rams became the first team to clinch a playoff spot and division title. Their AFC counterparts, the Los Angeles Chargers, stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second half to keep pace with the […]

The New York Jets were in the running to sign Kirk Cousins instead of taking a quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft. When Cousins chose the Minnesota Vikings, the Jets looked elsewhere. In the end, New York traded up three spots in the first round to get USC quarterback Sam Darnold. However, what would have […]

Thanksgiving weekend brought us turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and plenty of heartburn. It also gave us five days of great football. Thursday alone the featured three NFC contenders setting themselves up to win their divisions. The rest of the weekend wasn’t too shabby either. Here is a look at Week 12 of the NFL […]

Week 11 featured several epic matchups, but none lived up to their billing like the Monday Night Football meeting between the Los Angeles Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs. Here is a look at that thriller and the others highs and lows of the weekend’s matchups. Highs 3. Monday Night Duel for the Ages between […]

The Green Bay Packers’ 27-24 loss at the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday put the team and quarterback Aaron Rodgers in near-crisis mode only 10 games into the season. They currently sit in eighth place in the NFC with two teams able to push them further down the standings by Sunday night. NFL pundits hit social […]

It’s hard to believe the 2018 NFL regular season is already past the midway point. The season has had more than its share of highs (like the Cleveland Browns upsetting the Atlanta Falcons) and lows (like the Cincinnati Bengals getting throttled by the New Orleans Saints), and Week 10 was no exception. Here is a […]

The 2018 NFL season is halfway over following Week 8, and the true contenders are emerging. The Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints lead the NFC ahead of their big matchup this weekend. Meanwhile, in the AFC, Pittsburgh, New England, Houston, and Kansas City moved ahead in their respective divisions while the Jacksonville Jaguars […]

Week 6 of the 2018 NFL season proved to be one of the best yet. Shootouts, nail-biters, and near-upsets reminded us why the game is still the best America has to offer (unless you’re an Oakland Raiders fan). Here is a look at Week 6’s highs and lows: Highs 3. New England Hangs On I’m […]

The 2018 NFL season has been loaded with drama. Week 5 was no different. The Cleveland Browns survived another overtime game. The Atlanta Falcons fell to 1-4. Matt Stafford and the Detroit Lions beat another future Hall of Famer at home in Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Oh, and the Los Angeles Rams […]

Week 4 of the 2018 NFL season featured several shootouts and late-game heroics by some of the league’s biggest stars. Here is a look at the highs (including the Los Angeles Rams staying undefeated) and lows (Earl Thomas breaking his leg in the Seattle Seahawks’ win) of the weekend: Highs 3. Los Angeles Rams stake […]

Week 3 of the 2018 season got off to a flying start with the Cleveland Browns’ 21-17 victory and ended with a fascinating clash in Tampa Bay on Monday night. The wild week in football included multiple upsets (who had the Buffalo Bills going into Minnesota and beating the Vikings?) and forced fans across the […]

It’s hard to believe the NFL is already entering Week 3. The first two weeks featured several surprises, including two ties, an undefeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a winless Seattle Seahawks. Here is a quick look at Week 3’s games, headlined by the Battle for Los Angeles and a NFC South class between the Atlanta Falcons […]

The 2017 Pittsburgh Steelers saw their Super Bowl dreams crushed in a defensive collapse at home last January. The 45-42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars raised several questions about both the coaching staff and the personnel entering the offseason. Months later, the Steelers return a talented team, but did they fix the problems that held […]

The New England Patriots won their NFL record ninth straight AFC East division title in 2017. What’s more amazing is that the Patriots have finished atop the AFC East in 14 of the last 15 seasons. The 2018 season looks no different, although there are signs that one team is on the rise. Here is […]

Last season, the NFC South finished as one of the best divisions in the NFL. Difficult schedules and personnel changes will make the road to the playoffs tougher, but the NFC South is loaded with talent again, led by the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. Here is a look at what promises to be […]

The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the NFC East in 2017, rallying around quarterback Nick Foles after Carson Wentz’s season-ending injury to win the Super Bowl. With questions surrounding the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants, the Eagles appear set to run away with the weakened NFC East once more. Still, let’s break down the […]

The 2018 NFL draft kicked off with plenty of surprises on Thursday night, and the hits kept coming afterwards. Here is a look at the winners and losers in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft: Losers 4. Seattle Seahawks What on earth is going on with Seattle? Their offensive line has been a […]

The 2018 NFL Draft produced high drama from the moment it began on Thursday night. It started with the Cleveland Browns taking Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and it ended with the Baltimore Ravens trading back into the first round for Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. Here is a look at five key surprises from the first […]

Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington and Mark Sanchez. Those are the last three quarterbacks to lead the New York Jets to the playoffs. Two of them proved to be solid NFL starters, while the other ended up becoming a bust. Nearly six years after Sanchez’s last game, the Jets are finally primed to contend if they […]

The New England Patriots’ 2017 season ended with plenty of question marks. Their Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles exposed several issues and left fans wondering what happened. Still, there has been no better team in the NFL over the last 20 years than the Patriots, and there are many options as NFL free agency […]

The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the 2018 free agent period looking for solutions after their disappointing playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pittsburgh’s major issues surround their secondary and linebackers, and if they are going to address those issues in free agency, they will need to do it on the cheap. According to Spotrac, the Steelers […]

The Green Bay Packers struggled through much of the 2017 season. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s season-ending injury proved to be only part of the problem. With Rodgers out of the lineup, other weaknesses on the roster slowly exposed themselves. The deeper problem with the Packers stems from their current payroll, making the upcoming NFL free agency period […]