Dak and dunk is not working out. Tim Warner/Getty Images
NFC East
Redskins (5-2) A: If we were listing “where the hell did this come from” teams in the league, Washington is right at the top and so is Adrian Peterson. Talk about resurrection from the dead, he is fifth in the league in rushing, and Washington is just solid everywhere. It is so important to win in the trenches, and this team basically dominates the point of attack in every game on both sides of the ball. They’re doing it with an old school running back, quarterback, and philosophy. Can they keep up on the scoreboard against the big boys down the road?
Eagles (4-4) B -: Let's just be honest, this team does not look as good as they did last year. Carson Wentz is playing well coming off the injury; that is the lone bright spot for a very one dimensional team. Wentz has 13 TDs and 2 interceptions, and keep in mind he has not played in all eight games. He looks great, but this team has zero quality wins. Atlanta, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and the NY Giants. None of those teams are above .500. Many people think Philly will win this division and four of their first five games are within the division. Show us you’re a true champion Philly.
Cowboys (3-4) C: Dallas fans, are you ready for a really alarming statistic? They have 16 plays that have gone at least 20 yards this year. THAT’S IT. That is second worst in the league as they trail only the Tennessee Titans. The word that comes to mind when you think about this “Dak and Dunk” offense is underwhelming. They are the Anti-Kansas City. It’s bland, stale, and just completely unimaginative. Dallas has a great defense this year, but if the combination of playcalling / Dak’s playmaking ability doesn’t improve soon, this team will go nowhere.
Giants (1-7) F: As a Giants fan this has been the worst season of my life. I’ve gone through every stage you go through during a break up. 1.) Desperate for answers 2.) Anger 3.) Sadness 4.) Acceptance. I would like to get to 5.) “redirected hope” but there is no hope with no answer at QB for the future. When you go through a breakup you eventually realize there are 100,000 other fish in the sea and and you go fishing. I have no idea what the Giants plan is to get a QB, offensive line and defensive line together. This team sucks.
NFC North
Bears (4-3) B-: There is so much to like about this team. The Khalil Mack acquisition, young innovative offensive mind as the head coach, playmakers all around. But I think the story in the first half of the year for Chicago is “they could have drafted Patrick Mahomes OR DeShaun Watson.” Mitchell Trubisky is the hot girl that you FINALLY get a chance with. You ask her out, set up this great date, get a haircut, get your sister to iron your shirt, clean your car and go to pick her up…. Then at the end of the night you drop her off, shake your head and say to yourself damn, her personality SUCKS and she’s got this zit on her nose I cannot unsee. Such a disappointment. I’m not saying he cannot improve, I’m not saying he’s bad, he’s just a bit disappointing given the weapons and coach that he has and the quarterbacks they could have had.
Vikings (4-3-1) B -: Just like Philly, lets review the wins.. They have beaten the Jets, Cardinals, Eagles (nice), and San Francisco. Three out of the four are just not very good. Not having Dalvin Cook has hurt them a lot this year and you just would like to see more from them. Coming into this season I thought they were the most balanced team outside of the Rams. Solid at every level offensively and defensively but they are losing close games to good teams. They play three divisional games to start the second half, show us who you are.
Packers (3-3-1) C: This is the only division in football where the team with the best quarterback is not leading the division. Aaron Rodgers needs help from his running game, offensive line, wide receivers and defense. That’s right, he’s more on an island this year than Russell Wilson. They have not won a road game yet this year and Rodgers' magic has personally won two games for them this year. They SHOULD win this division, but they’ve been underwhelming so far.
Lions (3-4) C: This is about what I expected the Lions to be this year. Detroit is this year’s “Never bet on them OR against them” team. They will have days where they beat Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, and they will have days where they lose to the Jets and 49ers. They are the hands up in the air to the side, confused face emoji. I don’t know what else to say, they are who they are, a slightly below .500 squad.
NFC West
Rams (8-0) A+: The Rams are just a force, plain and simple. Where to start with the compliments? Offensive line is tremendous, Todd Gurley is an MVP and Sean McVay is Coach of the Year. Is that enough? Defensively they get after the quarterback, and if I were to criticize one thing it would be one on one man coverage. However they have had injuries in the secondary this year. Tough stretch of games coming up though against the Saints, Seahawks and Chiefs (how lucky is Mexico City?) We’ll see if they take a loss..
Seahawks (4-3) B-: This team has overachieved, no question about it. A running game has finally emerged with Chris Carson, and you have got to give Pete Carroll a ton of credit in addition to Russell Wilson. If I told you at the beginning of the year that a team with Chris Carson, Mike Davis, David Moore, Ed Dickson, Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett as the top skill position players would be averaging 8.5 yards per play (sixthth in the league) you would tell me to get off the internet and stop writing. That’s what they’ve done and it’s impressive.
Cardinals (2-6) D: I am fearful of Arizona screwing up Josh Rosen’s first year just like I am of Cleveland screwing up Baker Mayfield. They fire their offensive coordinator and just are not giving him a great chance to develop right now. Nobody expected this team to be good, but Rosen has to LEARN. He has a 55% completion percentage and a 69.0 Passer Rating. I put a lot of this on the coaching staff who can’t get David Johnson working correctly either. This team has had bad leadership since Bruce Arians left.
49ers (1-7) D: One bad decision ruined this team’s season. Jimmy Garoppolo not stepping out of bounds on a play where he tried to get more yards, cost him a healthy ACL. Dude, you are the FUTURE and the FRANCHISE. Be smarter in the future.
NFC South
Saints (6-1) A: I don’t think we’ve seen the best of this team yet, which is scary. Mark Ingram was suspended the first four games of the season and just like last year, this defense started slow. I think they only get better from here with Michael Thomas having a career year and the threat of running the football with two quality backs is super scary to any defensive coordinator. Drew Brees, just like Tom Brady, has not declined with age. I love this team.
Panthers (5-2) A: Cam Newton has at least two touchdowns in each of his last six games. Norv Turner has come in and totally progressed this offense. John Harbaugh gave a quote after Carolina beat Baltimore last week saying “They out-schemed us.” That is the offensive coordinator doing one hell of a job, and that is Newton buying in. With 13 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, he has a 97.4 passer rating which is the second most he has averaged in his career. Cam is also completing 66% of his passes which is the best percentage in his career. I CANNOT WAIT until they play the Saints the last two weeks of the year
Falcons (3-4) C: Injuries have killed this team on both sides of the ball. Having said that, I believe they have the best trio of wideouts with Ridley, Sanu, and Jones. I’m actually relatively curious if they can make a push for a wildcard just because of the offensive firepower they have.
Bucs 3-4 C: The Fitzmagic flame was rekindled last week, but realistically this team is going nowhere. They fired their defensive coordinator already and they have a really long-term quarterback dilemma. Is Jameis Winston their guy? The 10 interceptions in four games leads me to think the answer is no.
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It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!
*ChatGPT assisted.
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