iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

I think some of the Hall of Fame voters who didn't vote for Bill Belichick voted strategically. They thought, "Belichick is a lock and I can only vote for 3, so I'll vote for 3 other candidates and not use one of my votes on the shoo-in. And I'll assume 10 other voters won't do the same thing."

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

I don't think I've ever seen a player hurt his team quite like Riq Woolen just did. The Rams were about to punt when Woolen decided to taunt their sideline, giving them an automatic first down. Very next play, Woolen is burned for a touchdown pass. Incredible.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Miami just standing there, running all that time off the clock and calling timeout on fourth-and-2 is dumb. At least line up your offense and see if you can draw Indiana offside before the timeout.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

If you have so little faith in your QB getting a first down that you feel the need to punt while down by 12 with 4 minutes left, then you should have benched your QB a long time ago.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I'm guessing the model doesn't consider Denver's altitude?

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Punting for 25 yards instead of trying a 58-yard field goal at Denver's altitude (with a kicker who has made a 60-yarder at sea level) is a shockingly bad decision by Sean Payton.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I thought so on first view but re-watched the play and Broncos had an offensive lineman several yards downfield so I don't think it was going to be a pass.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

CBS has the Bills' field goal target line at Matt Prater’s career long, which he made in Denver when he was 29 years old. That’s not his range at sea level and 41 years old.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Always funny to see a guy run off the field celebrating after an interception on a deep pass on fourth down. You're celebrating that you just cost your team 27 yards of field position.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Newsflash: Curt Cignetti is better at evaluating talent than the people who decide if high school football players deserve 4 or 5 stars.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

The Packers getting Malik Willis for a seventh-round pick was one of the best personnel moves in the NFL in recent years. The Titans giving up Willis for a seventh-round pick was one of the dumbest moves in recent years. If you can get a talented QB, get him. If you have one, keep him.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Dan Campbell has turned into a different coach. bsky.app/profile/nfl4...

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Seriously the difference between what the Packers' offense would be able to do if both Tucker Kraft and Christian Watson were healthy and what it will be able to do down the stretch if neither is healthy is enormous.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Dan Campbell has looked gun shy the last few weeks. Kicking on a play when the analytics say you should go for it is unusual for him. The fact that they missed the field goal makes it worse for the Lions, but the issue is the decision, not the result. bsky.app/profile/nfl4...

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

I would love to be proven wrong because it would be fun to see Philip Rivers play a great game today, but I just do not believe a 44-year-old coming off a five-year layoff can walk back into the NFL and play at a high level.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

It's not just you, RedZone Channel's audio is out all over the place. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll fix it in time to show lots of commercials. It really sucks what the NFL has done to this once-great product.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

"A Mississippi man will coach Mississippi."

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Red Barber kept a three-minute hourglass next to him that he turned over every time he said the score. He would never let all the grains of sand fall into one end.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

That was not an Ohio State touchdown. He lost possession for a split-second and that was the only split-second he was in the end zone. Replay process basically concluded, "We hate to overturn such a great play for such a stupid reason so we'll pretend he had possession across the goal line."

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Mike Kafka with the rare "Go for it when the analytics say to kick" call. Coaches often kick when the analytics say to go for it. They virtually never go for it when the analytics say to kick. bsky.app/profile/nfl4...

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Yes, completely agree. It was just kind of a lucky break for the NFL and an unlucky break for MLB that data analysis showed the optimal strategies for winning in the NFL are also the strategies fans find exciting, but in MLB it's strategies fans find boring. (NBA is a bit of a mixed bag.)

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Football is so much more fun thanks to the nerds teaching the coaches how to coach. A team going for it on fourth-and-1 is just a fundamentally more exciting play than a punt.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

I watch NFL games on my iPad using the apps for ESPN, Peacock, Prime Video and YouTube. ESPN is by far the worst. Constant glitches.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Teams with bad kickers on windy days should go for two as the default.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

The Titans gave Malik Willis to the Packers for a seventh-round pick just before last season. Since then Willis has played well every time the Packers have needed him, and the Titans' offense has been a disaster. A talented QB for a seventh-round pick is such an obvious steal of a trade.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

I'd watch a follow-up series that makes Conkling the hero.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Josh Allen already has as many interceptions this year as he had in 17 games last year, as many fumbles as last year, and more sacks than last year. He's always had a lot of, "What's he doing? ... Wow it worked!" plays, but this year more of them are missing the "it worked" part.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

So are we all agreed that Russell Wilson is the worst of the three QBs on the Giants' roster? It's far from the only reason Brian Daboll is now unemployed, but he should've just let Jaxson Dart work with the first-string offense from Day One and have Jameis Winston back him up.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

I thought the Dolphins should have kicked the field goal. The analytics says it was not a bad call to go for it, even though it didn't work. bsky.app/profile/nfl4...

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Definitely felt closer to, "We're seeing two teams that are supposed to be Super Bowl contenders displaying their shortcomings" than, "We're seeing two teams that are Super Bowl contenders displaying their great defenses."

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

The Packers trailed 3-0 in the fourth quarter and faced a fourth-and-11 at the Eagles’ 40-yard line. The analytics said the best choice was a 58-yard field goal and the next-best choice was going for it. Matt LaFleur picked the worst choice, a punt. www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootb...

nbcsports.com

Packers' punt for a touchback in the fourth quarter came back to haunt them

With the Packers trailing 3-0 in the fourth quarter on Monday night, they faced a fourth-and-11 at the Eagles' 40-yard line.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

The NFL's officials have just decided to stop doing their jobs on the tush push. The Eagles false start? Don't call it. The Eagles fumble? Claim forward progress was stopped. It's unreal.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

The Panthers beat the Falcons 30-0. The Falcons beat the Bills 24-14. The Bills beat the Panthers 40-9. Football is weird.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Thank you, you are correct. Mike Garafolo misunderstood what Jeff Miller said (which was actually about injury data from the preseason) and I repeated what Garafolo reported. I should have double-checked it before posting.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

ESPN's officiating analyst Russell Yurk will tell the viewers one thing, the replay ruling is something else, and then the ESPN broadcast just acts like there’s no need to explain.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

When the NFL started running commercials on RedZone Channel, the spin from the league was that they would be very minimal, just four 15-second ads over the course of seven hours. That didn't last long. www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootb...

nbcsports.com

NFL adds more commercials to RedZone Channel

When the NFL decided to add commercials to RedZone Channel — which had long been advertised as "Seven hours of commercial-free football" — the spin from the league was that these commercials would be ...

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

The Giants were winning 19-0 at the start of the fourth quarter, scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, and lost. Amazing.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Right call by Matt LaFleur to go for it on fourth down but you'd hope he wouldn't need to burn a timeout before making the right call.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

Remember when people first started complaining about commercials during RedZone and we were told, "Relax! It's only four commercials during the whole seven-hour show"? Yeah, well they've already increased it. By my count there have been six so far today. They'll keep steadily adding more and more.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

The combination of the new kickoff rules and the fact that a 60-yarder is now doable for most NFL kickers has totally changed what it means to get into field goal range. It used to require a sustained drive. Now you receive the kickoff, you pick up two first downs, and you're in field goal range.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

There have been as many field goals longer than 60 yards in the NFL in the last five minutes as there were in the entire 20th Century.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Did Shohei Ohtani just play the greatest game in the history of baseball? As a pitcher he threw six innings, gave up no runs and struck out 10. As a hitter he went 3-for-3 with three home runs. The game won the Dodgers the NL pennant. Has any player ever done that much in a game that important?

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Are we sure the Bills are good? The four teams they've beaten have a combined record of 3-22.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Buccaneers now have four wins and they did not have a lead with 1:00 remaining in the fourth quarter in any of them

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Adonai Mitchell just fumbled away a sure touchdown because he started celebrating at the 2-yard line and dropped the ball. It's amazing that this happens every football season. You'd think it happens once, ever, and then every single player makes absolutely certain to secure the ball before scoring.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

USC just got called for roughing the passer when Illinois ran the Philly Special. Rare to see roughing the passer called for a hit on anyone other than the quarterback, but by rule roughing the passer applies to all forward passes except illegal forward passes beyond the line of scrimmage.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Matt Eberflus finally got the most out of Caleb Williams' talent.

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Michael David Smith @michaeldavidsmith.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

The Buccaneers were losing with 1:00 remaining in the fourth quarter of all three of their games this season. They're 3-0.

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