Culture
Lions Super Bowl? McCarthy’s seat the hottest? The Athletic NFL staff’s midseason picks
Back in September, The Athletic’s NFL staff made picks for MVP, Super Bowl champion and more. Two months later, the season’s (approximate) midseason point, is the perfect time to update those predictions. Some things remained the same (like the consensus Super Bowl LIX matchup), while others have changed (MVP and Super Bowl winner picks).
Forty-six staffers responded. Here are their predictions.
Voter fatigue might have been a factor in Lamar Jackson drawing zero MVP votes in our poll two months ago, but his performance to this point has been undeniable. Patrick Mahomes was the pick before the season started, but while he’s been better than his box-score statline would suggest he might have too steep a statistical hill to climb to overtake Jackson.
GO DEEPER
NFL midseason predictions for every team: Kirk Cousins wins comeback award; NFC East champ is …?
Like his quarterback teammate who now leads the MVP race, Derrick Henry didn’t draw a single OPOY vote from our staff in the preseason, though Henry now seems to be a healthy second half of the season away from clinching the award for a second time in his career. The two top vote-getters in September have been done in by injuries — Tyreek Hill to his quarterback, and Christian McCaffrey to himself.
Watt finished third in the preseason vote, behind Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett. Parsons’ injury and Garrett’s (relatively) down season have swung the door open for Watt to win DPOY honors for a second time — which would put him one trophy away from catching big brother J.J., a three-time winner with the Houston Texans. Warner and Chris Jones also drew votes in September’s poll.
GO DEEPER
2024 NFL trade deadline winners, losers: Chiefs, Lions get richer; why did Giants stay put?
Jayden Daniels finished second to the draft’s top pick, Caleb Williams, in the preseason vote. Though while Williams’ play has improved as the season has gone on, Daniels has been spectacular and is primarily responsible for the staggering turnaround of the Commanders’ on-field fortunes. (Also, while we didn’t split the rookie vote into Offensive and Defensive awards like the NFL does, one voter did highlight Rams edge rusher Jared Verse as the top defensive rookie.)
The Chiefs drew 28 of 42 votes (67 percent) to win the AFC in September, and now get a similar share (63 percent) at midseason. They have run into some injury issues (specifically top receiver Rashee Rice) coming off a 21-game season a year ago, but with a perfect record things are set up to run through Kansas City in the AFC playoffs. There’s not much reason to move off the two-time defending champs.
GO DEEPER
NFL Coach of the Year, MVP and biggest surprises (and disappointments) at midseason
While the Lions were the preseason pick with less than half the vote (16 of 42, 38 percent), their performance in the first half of the season, specifically of late, has made them heavy favorites in the NFC (87 percent of the vote). The Packers, 49ers and Eagles were second, third, and fourth, respectively, in September as well.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
While the two conference champion picks held from the summer, the Lions have won over the staff’s confidence when it comes to potentially lifting the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl LIX. While the Chiefs got more than half the vote (23 of 42) in September, Detroit drew only two votes to win the Super Bowl before the season started, tied for fifth (behind the Chiefs, 49ers, Texans and Bengals) at that time.
What they said
“The Dolphins are flawed on defense and can’t afford more than two more losses, but they’ve got a supercharged offense and the conducive schedule (Rams, Raiders, Patriots, Browns, Jets twice) to go on a run and steal the AFC’s seventh playoff spot.” — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer
“It’s the 49ers if they get Christian McCaffrey back and he’s able to stay on the field. Otherwise, I’d go with the Bengals.” — Mike Sando, NFL senior writer
“I almost picked the 49ers to win the NFC despite their 4-4 start. They have played shorthanded all season, and while they’re not getting Brandon Aiyuk or Javon Hargrave back I think they have enough elsewhere to win it all if things break right. Brock Purdy has taken another step, and the offensive line has more upside than in previous years. If Christian McCaffrey gets right, San Francisco could be a juggernaut again.” — David DeChant, senior editor
“The Rams are in a vulnerable division, and the offense is getting healthy.” — R.J. Kraft, staff editor
GO DEEPER
2025 NFL mock draft: How many QBs crack the top 10? Is Travis Hunter worth the No. 1 pick?
What they said
“Doug Pederson is under the most pressure; Jaguars ownership publicly set expectations so high entering the season.” — Mike Sando, NFL senior writer
“It might already be unsalvageable in Dallas, but there’s no way Jerry Jones can turn back to Mike McCarthy if this thing goes further off the rails.” — Jim Ayello, senior editor
“You just don’t bench a 22-year-old quarterback who was the fourth overall pick for his 39-year-old backup if you aren’t all-in on this year.” — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Sam Hodde / Getty Images, Patrick McDermott / Getty Images, Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about books, authors and literary culture. This week’s challenge celebrates allusions to characters and plots from classic novels found in music and television. In the five multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to the books.
A couple dozen pages into “Clown Town,” Mick Herron’s latest novel, two veteran spies share a bench in London. They’re Jackson Lamb and Diana Taverner, notorious fictional fixtures of MI5, the British intelligence service. Fans of “Slow Horses,” the Apple TV series adapted from Herron’s earlier Slough House books, will recognize the pair as the characters played with brisk professionalism and callused gravitas by Kristin Scott Thomas and Gary Oldman.
Those incomparable actors are a big part of the show’s appeal, but the Britain they inhabit — weary, cynical, clinging to the tattered scraps of ancient imperial glory — is built out of Herron’s witty, corkscrew sentences.
And this bench, like others where Lamb and Taverner meet with some regularity on both screen and page, is hardly an incidental bit of urban furniture. It holds not only their aging bureaucratic bums, but also a heavy load of literary and sociological significance.
An ambient sarcasm hangs in the foul air around his characters. Nearly every word is freighted with a mockery that is indistinguishable from judgment. Herron’s prose bristles with the kind of active, restless grudge against the world that is the sure sign of a moralist.
While spies, bureaucrats and especially politicians come in for comic scolding, the real target of his satire is an administrative regime that will be familiar to many readers and viewers who have never cracked a code or aimed a gun. In interviews, Herron has often noted that unlike John le Carré, to whom he is often compared, he has had no first-hand experience of espionage. But he has spent enough time toiling in offices to understand the absurdity — the banality, the cruelty, the cringeiness — of modern organizational life.
“Slow Horses” is a workplace comedy, and Diana and Jackson — nightmare colleagues and bosses from hell — are its flawed, indispensable heroes. Their nastiness to each other and everyone else is a reflection of their circumstances, but also a form of protest against the ethical rottenness of the system they serve.
The gimlet-eyed Diana, managing up from a precarious perch high in the organization, must contend with the cretinous crème de la crème of the British establishment. The epically flatulent Jackson, a career reprobate exiled to a marginal post far from the center of power, manages down, wrangling MI5’s designated misfits, the Slow Horses who give the series its name. Those poor spies need to be protected from external savagery, internal treachery and their own dubious instincts.
Jackson and Diana seem to share a cynical, self-serving outlook, but what really unites them is that they care enough about the job to do it right. More than that: They may be the last people in London who believe in decency, honor and fair play, embodiments of the humanist sentiment that lurks just below the busy, satirical surface of Herron’s novels. Not that they would ever admit as much — especially not to each other, planted on a public bench, where anyone could be spying on them.
A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz highlights the locations of thrillers and crime novels set around Europe. (Even if you aren’t familiar with the book, most questions offer an additional hint about the location.) To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. At the end of the quiz, you’ll find links to the books if you’d like to do further reading.
Rethinking the Art World
Challenges to Pelosi part of broader movement to replace the Democratic Party’s old guard
LGBTQ+ youth’s mental health struggles are getting worse, according to a new survey
Coach-of-the-year candidates in high school football keep expanding
Trump to host NATO chief at White House as Putin meeting collapses
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Trump to host NATO chief at White House as Putin meeting collapses
New York City ICE raid nets 9 arrests of illegal aliens from West Africa, 4 protesters also arrested
Video: Federal Agents Detain Man During New York City Raid
Hunter Biden breaks silence on pardon from dad Joe: ‘I realize how privileged I am’
European Council President Costa joins Euronews' EU Enlargement Summit
-
World2 days agoIsrael continues deadly Gaza truce breaches as US seeks to strengthen deal
-
News2 days agoTrump news at a glance: president can send national guard to Portland, for now
-
Technology2 days agoAI girlfriend apps leak millions of private chats
-
Business2 days agoUnionized baristas want Olympics to drop Starbucks as its ‘official coffee partner’
-
Politics2 days agoTrump admin on pace to shatter deportation record by end of first year: ‘Just the beginning’
-
Science2 days agoPeanut allergies in children drop following advice to feed the allergen to babies, study finds
-
News21 hours agoBooks about race and gender to be returned to school libraries on some military bases
-
World19 hours ago
European Council President Costa joins Euronews' EU Enlargement Summit