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We are inching ever closer to the NFL playoffs. Week 15 was a strange one. Playoff seeding position, draft positioning, and pride were all on the line. Here's how I saw it all go down:
The Good
-The Bills' 17-10 win over the Steelers featured the first trio of brothers to play in an NFL game since 1927. The Steelers' Terrell and Trey Edmunds lost to Tremaine Edmunds' Bills as the Bills clinched a playoff spot and may have eliminated the Steelers. In 100 years of NFL football, it took 92 years before we saw this occur again. Kudos to the Edmunds family.
-Eagles running back Miles Sanders had a great game in their win over the Redskins. Sanders had 25 touches for 172 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles needed every bit of his performance and a fumble return for a touchdown to beat the Redskins 37-27 and keep thei playoff hopes alive.
-Bucs' quarterback Jameis Winston became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 450 yards in back to back games. the games were also wins in which they scored 38 points each. Winston combined for 914 yards, eight touchdowns, and four interceptions. He now leads the league in passing yards and second in passing touchdowns. He's trying to make his case to stay in Tampa next season.
The Bad
-In possibly his final game as a starter, Giants quarterback Eli Manning had the most Eli game he could: 20/28 for 283 yards two touchdowns and three picks. Pretty accurate with the 71.4% completion percentage, but the three interceptions are what will stick out. He ended his career (allegedly) with a 1.5:1 touchdown to interception ratio.
-The Raiders closed out their last game in Oakland with a 20-16 loss to the Jags. This was not the way fans of The Black Hole envisioned this ending. The fans of the Raiders have been arguably the most loyal fans in the NFL. They booed and threw trash on the field as the team left it for the final time since they're moving to Las Vegas.
-The Browns are now 6-8 and still the biggest dumpster fire in the league. They lost to the Cardinals 38-24 as Kyler Murray outdueled Baker Mayfield in the battle of former OU Heisman trophy-winning number one overall picks. For as much fanfare as they came into this season with, they flamed out just as bad. This offseason will be eventful for them considering how hard they fell off the hype train.
The Ugly
-Vikings running back Dalvin Cook went down woth a shoulder injury and isn't expected to return for the regular season. The Vikes suspect he will be healthy for their playoff run. But when your star running back has a shoulder injury that keeps rearing it's ugly head, you have to call it into question as a major sticking point in the argument for them as a true NFC contender.
-Phillip Rivers is done as a viable option as a starting quarterback in the NFL. The same can be said for Andy Dalton, and possibly Marcus Mariota. They may have futures as backups, especially Dalton and Mariota since they have age/time on their side. Rivers, however, is done.
-Word came down Monday that Seahawks receiver Josh Gordon is suspended indefinitely by the league for a violation of the substance abuse/PED drug program. This is Gordon's fifth such suspension since he entered the league. He's one of the most physically gifted and talented receivers we've seen, but his inability to do right has cost him his career most likely.
The only team in the NFC playoff picture without 10 or more wins isn't a wildcard team. Meanwhile, in the AFC, there are five teams with a mathmatical shot at the last playoff spot. With the schedule now giving us division matchups in the final week of the regular season and the race for positionining is so tight, every game means something in these last two weeks. Every win or loss could effect how we watch the playoffs, or the draft depending on how you're looking at things. Let's enjoy these last couple weeks of the regular season.
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Cal Raleigh becomes the first catcher, switch-hitter to win the Home Run Derby. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images.
Cal Raleigh approached the All-Star Home Run Derby like a day on the lawn. Dad was on the mound and baby brother was behind the plate.
Only this time, there were tens of thousands looking on at Truist Park and a $1 million prize.
“It goes all the way back to him coming home and me forcing him to throw me a ball and hit it in the backyard or in the house or something probably shouldn’t be doing,” a beaming Cal said, flanked by Todd and Todd Jr. after defeating Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in the final round Monday night.
Todd Raleigh, former coach of Tennessee and Western Carolina, threw the pitches and Cal’s 15-year-old brother, Todd Raleigh Jr., did the catching. A first-time All-Star at age 28, Cal became the first switch-hitter and first catcher to win the title. He’s the second Mariners player to take the title after three-time winner Ken Griffey Jr., who was on the field, snapping photos.
“Anybody that’s ever played baseball as a kid dreams of stuff like this,” Cal’s dad said. “I dreamed of it. He dreamed of it. When you’re a parent, you look at it differently because you want your kids to be happy.”
Leading the major leagues with 38 home runs at the All-Star break, Cal almost didn’t make it past the first round. The Mariners’ breakout slugger nicknamed Big Dumper and the Athletics’ Brent Rooker each hit 17 homers, and Raleigh advanced on a tiebreaker for longest long ball: 470.61 feet to 470.53 — or 0.96 inches. At first, Cal wasn’t aware whether there would be a swing-off.
“An inch off, and I’m not even in the final four, which is amazing,” Cal said. “So I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit.”
Raleigh totaled 54 homers. He won his semifinal 19-13 over Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, whose 513-foot first-round drive over the right-center field seats was the longest of the night.
Cal Raleigh's #HRDerby by the numbers:
Total HR: 54
HR of 425+: 31
Top distance: 471 ft
Avg distance: 430 ft
Total distance: 23,212 ft
Top exit velo: 112 MPH
Avg exit velo: 102 MPH pic.twitter.com/0pV6nGWLsA
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025
Cal’s brother, nicknamed T, kept yelling encouragement to the brother he so admires.
“His swag, the way he plays, the way he hustles,” T said.
Hitting second in the final round, the 22-year-old Caminero closed within three dingers — MLB counted one that a fan outfielder caught with an over-the-wall grab. Using a multicolored bat and down to his last out, Caminero took three pitches and hit a liner to left.
“I didn’t think I was going to hit as many home runs or make it to the finals,” Caminero said through a translator.
Cal was just the second Derby switch-hitter after Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman in 2023. His dad was a righty and wanted both his sons to hit from both sides.
“Did it from the first day, when he was in diapers, literally,” Todd Sr. said. “I would take that big ball and he had a big red bat. I’d throw it slow and he’d hit it. Then I’d say stay there, pick him up, turn him around, switch his hands and do it again. I was a catcher. I played a little bit, and I just knew what a premium it was. I didn’t want either one of my boys to ever say, am I right-handed or left-handed?”
There was a downside.
“I don’t recommend it if you have two kids, they’re both switch hitters, if you want to save your arm, because that’s a lot of throwing,” said dad, who had rotator cuff surgery.
Raleigh hit his first eight homers left-handed, took a timeout, then hit seven right-handed. Going back to lefty, he hit two more in the bonus round and stayed lefty for the rest of the night.
“Was grooving a little bit more lefty so we were like, since we have a chance to win, we might as well stick to the side that’s working a little better,” Cal said.
Caminero beat Minnesota’s Byron Buxton 8-7 in the other semifinal. Atlanta’s Matt Olson, Washington’s James Wood, the New York Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Rooker were eliminated in the first round of the annual power show.
Cruz’s long drive was the hardest-hit at 118 mph.
Wood hit 16 homers, including one that landed on the roof of the Chop House behind the right-field wall. Olson, disappointing his hometown fans, did not go deep on his first nine swings and finished with 15, Chisholm hit just three homers, the fewest since the timer format started in 2015.fter it was all over, the Raleighs headed out. Stephanie, the boys’ mom and Todd Sr.'s wife, is surrounded by baseball.
After it was all over, the Raleighs headed out. Stephanie, the boys’ mom and Todd Sr.'s wife, is surrounded by baseball.
“We kind of leave it in the cage. We’ve got a cage at home, a building,” Todd Sr. said. “Or we leave it in the car on the rides home. There’s probably been a few times where she says, yeah, that’s enough.”