The Chris Rawle Show

Welcome to Monday On The Margins, a weekly examination of how small the margins are between winning and losing. A bevy of games (including Illinois-Penn State, Oklahoma-Kansas, Oklahoma State-Iowa State, and Washington Football Team-Green Bay) come down to fourth down conversions, red zone execution, and measurements by referees.

Tom Brady and Michael Jordan are two of the most iconic athletes of all time. However, both rose to the top of their professions using drastically different motivational techniques. What is the best pathway to success?

At the highest level of any profession, everyone can find success. What separates the best from the rest is the ability to sustain that success. Two years ago, LSU and coach Ed Orgeron were celebrating a national championship; this week, they are parting ways. What changed?

The College Football Playoff rankings will be released two weeks from today. How will the top 5 (Georgia, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio State) be ranked? Will the playoff committee ever treat a non-Power 5 team with respect?

Welcome to Monday On The Margins, a weekly examination of the fine line between winning and losing in college football, the NFL, and sports gambling. The funkiness of Buccaneers-Eagles on Thursday leaks into the weekend and portends strangeness in Kentucky-Georgia, Purdue-Iowa, and Cowboys-Patriots.

There are many different ways to play quarterback and find success. In the past, small, mobile quarterbacks were (in large part) ignored by the NFL. Now, Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals are showing what happens when an offense is built with a quarterback’s unique skills in mind.

NFL teams are going for it on fourth down at unprecedented rates. New Chargers coach Brandon Staley is continually making aggressive in-game decisions that fly in the face of conservative, traditional coaches of the past. Is he helping to usher in a new era of fourth down attempts and conversions?

Opinions are divided about the positional value of running back and the interchangeable nature of the position. Is there truly a separation in talent at RB, or do your surroundings dictate your ability to perform to such a degree that nothing else really matters? And how important is it to be able to run the football in a passing league?

Welcome to Monday On The Margins, an examination of the weekend’s football games and the marginal difference between winning and losing. Amidst a plethora of tight games (like Oregon-Stanford and Titans-Jets), Tom Brady returned to New England in a game that could only end in one way: a field goal doink.

When is the correct time to move on from a franchise icon? For teams with championship aspirations, it’s imperative to find a balance between patience and urgency. As Ben Roethlisberger struggles with the Pittsburgh Steelers, what can be learned from the final years of Drew Brees with the New Orleans Saints?