Neil’s Substack

Track how I'm forecasting every team’s chance to make — and win — the NBA Finals, all season long.

Power ratings and forecasts for every NHL team and player this season.

A roundup of what I wrote, read, watched, etc. over the past week.

Ratings, rankings and forecasts for every NFL team this season.

Oklahoma City's dominance — plus some evidence that teams treat Cup games differently — suggest the NBA's in-season tournament is edging closer to playoff territory.

For years, the NFL’s holiday games weren't as compelling as they could have been. Now, with a deeper slate and a better version of the Lions, Thanksgiving is finally a real showcase again.

To bye, or not to bye? That's my question. But Tyler is happily feasting on the favorites.

In a 12-team bracket, the playoff picture is clearer than ever for the best teams — and the bubble teams may not end up mattering to the title race.

CP3 will retire as an all-time great whose playoff résumé never matched his statistical brilliance — reopening the debate over what his career reveals about point guards.

Despite a Super Bowl MVP, Jalen Hurts is learning that the quarterback is always on trial in Philadelphia… especially after losses like Sunday's collapse.

A roundup of what I wrote, read, watched, etc. over the past week.

Old and bad teams like this almost never rebound. In fact, the modern NHL has seen only one other case like Pittsburgh's unexpected revival — and the parallel is too poetic.

We overhaul our spreadsheets just in time to roll past the midpoint of the 2025 NFL season.

A wave of teenage girl phenoms — led by Rayssa Leal and Chloe Covell — is reshaping competitive skateboarding and pushing the sport’s age-curve sharply downward.

A quirk in early WAR once placed the new Hall of Fame candidate among the inner-circle greats — until the stat evolved and brought him back down to earth.

Once written off as a short-term superteam, the Rams have somehow become deeper, more complete and — remarkably — better than ever in 2025.

Blowouts, skewed standings and historically bad bottom-feeders are twisting the entire season out of shape — and the tank race hasn't even started cooking yet.

A roundup of what I wrote, read, watched, etc. over the past week.

At 20 years old, Bedard is reaching a new level of play — and starting to mirror the career arcs of hockey's inner-circle greats.

We stage an emotional intervention for ourselves — and for every gambler who’s sworn off half the league by Week 11.