By Chris Kourkoulakos
May 1, 2025
Football. The word alone is enough to make a grown man cry. There's nothing like the excitement of watching your team in a close game, or the despair you feel when they inevitably blow it in the most unimaginable way possible. We've all been there but we keep coming back for more. Each season has its ups and downs. New hope is created and previous hype is destroyed. As we power through the depression and withdrawal that the offseason brings, let us reminisce on the big storylines and trends of the previous season to fill our hearts with joy in this dark time without the game we love.
We all love football and it's clear that Dan Campbell does as well. Since taking over as the Lions' head coach in 2021, he has had a reputation as a high roller, consistently attempting to extend drives on fourth downs when other coaches would opt to punt or a kick a field goal. In fact, Dan Campbell loves attempting fourth down conversions so much that the Lions have a record 151 fourth down conversion attempts over the four-year period since he became the head coach. With the Lions' recent success (and the fact that Dan Campbell still has a pulse), there's little question that the Lions will look to continue their risky play calling antics in 2025.
If you've been in a coma for the last half-decade, you might have missed the start of the whole Dan Campbell saga in Detroit and the revival of the Lions. That might also make you excited to see the new favorites to win the Super Bowl after the inevitable fall-off of the Chiefs dynasty. To that, I say try waking up in another half-decade because the Chiefs dynasty is still alive and well. The good news is that they are starting to look at least somewhat beatable:
For all the Chiefs fans out there, here are a couple facts to make you feel better:
Now for the rest of us, here are a couple more things to keep in mind:
In all seriousness, what the Chiefs have done over the last decade has been nothing short of remarkable. Even in what felt like a down year the Chiefs were still able to reach the Super Bowl and somehow sneak 15 wins out of the regular season through their late game heroics (and a healthy dose of luck and favorable calls). While their record and season outcomes suggest that they will continue to be Super Bowl favorites for many years to come, this past season has some thinking that it's only a matter of time before the magic runs out.
Building on the theme of new developments on old trends, no storyline from 2024 is more fitting than that of Saquon Barkley. We always knew he was good at football, but this past year showed that Saquon is really good at football. Perhaps it was the change of scenery (but more likely the upgraded offensive line play) that vaulted Saquon's status to one of the most elite running backs in the league.
Look away Giants fans. Saquon not only had a career year in his first season away from the G-Men, he had a historic year. Had the Eagles not rested him in the last week of the season, he would have had the chance to break Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record for the regular season.
There aren't many people on our beloved planet that are capable of jumping backwards over a 6 foot 200 pound man trying to knock the living daylight out of you. Thankfully for us, Saquon Barkley is indeed one of those people. Was this just an outlier of a season or have the Eagles really unlocked a new potential for Saquon? T-minus four months until we find out.
This website was made as part of a final project for a data visualization course at Brown University, taught by Reuben Fischer-Baum. Massive thank you to Reuben for an incredible and informative course. Please go check out his work — it is all amazing!
Data were collected from NFL Savant as well as Pro Football Reference. All visualizations were created using R and Adobe Illustrator.