Note: this episode was produced before Laremy Tunsil news today and his injury makes the WAS off season moves any more pressing and to the point of the podcast.

This is a deep dive into the most unbalanced and volatile trench division in professional football. In this episode, our hosts break down the NFC East using the unique lens of Trench Power Rating (TPR)—the unit-first analytic platform built in partnership with the Sport Analytics program at Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport.

We go beyond the individual player grades to show you how cohesiveness upfront dictates the entire rhythm of the game.

What’s Inside the Trenches:

The Dallas Divide: How the Cowboys' elite, #2 ranked offensive line (161 OL TPR) was completely betrayed by a league-worst defensive front (16 DL TPR) that surrendered a jaw-dropping 30 points per game.

The Eagles' Gritty Paradox: Why Philadelphia’s dominant, #8 ranked defensive line (136 DL TPR) had to repeatedly rescue an offensive line that finished at a vulnerable #25 ranking and led the league in three-and-outs.

The Washington Makeover: A look at how the Commanders aggressively weaponized their offseason, leading the division with 32 total additions to completely rebuild a porous defensive front.

The Offseason Arms Race: Breaking down how teams prioritized their lines (trenches first, free agency first, draft second) to patch their fatal structural flaws.

The Fantasy & Fan Edge: How to use the "Matchup Gap" as an absolute cheat code to predict NFC East matchups and maximize your fantasy roster’s efficiency.

Hope you enjoy and please, subscribe, like and share. It helps a ton.

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For a decade, the AFC West meant one thing — Kansas City. Division title. Playoffs. Patrick Mahomes. Rinse and repeat. Oh, and the Pop Star and TE!

In 2025, that script got shredded.

The Chiefs missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014 and finished with a losing record for the first time since 2012. 

The Denver Broncos finished 14-3 and won the division behind the most dominant defensive trench unit in the entire NFL — a 204 DL TPR, number one in the league. 

The Los Angeles Chargers finished 11-5 chasing Denver all season. And the Las Vegas Raiders? A 3 OL TPR. Three. The worst offensive line in professional football.

4 teams. 4 wildly different trench identities. And a division that looked nothing like anyone expected.

TrenchPowerRating breaks down the AFC West from the trenches up — and this one has a story worth telling. A dynasty that crumbled up front. A Broncos defensive line that was genuinely historic. A Chargers unit that did just enough. And a Raiders offensive line so broken it redefined what a bad trench unit looks like.

We score every offensive and defensive line as a unit on the things that actually sustain and stall drives — Rush and Pass First Downs, Sacks, Yards per Carry, 3 & Outs, Yards per Pass Attempt. Indexed to 100. Built in collaboration with Syracuse University's Falk College of Sport.

The AFC West finally changed hands in 2025. TPR will tell you exactly why — and what every team did this offseason to stake their claim in 2026.

Free. Weekly. All season.

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The AFC North has a reputation. Physical. Brutal. Unforgiving. The kind of division that chews teams up in January.

But in 2025? It was something nobody saw coming — wide open, oddly undefined, and strangely short on personality.

BAL R1 Rush 1st Downs, R27 Total Pass Yards | CIN R1 Neg Yard Plays, R32 Opp Total Rush Yards | CLE R31 O-Line TPR, T2 D-Line in Forcing Punts | PIT T9 with just 31 Sacks Allw, R24 in allowing 7.7 Yards per Pass Att.

4 teams searching for an identity up front. Four trench stories that raised more questions than answers. And one unit that stood apart from the rest — the Baltimore Ravens' ground game, quietly one of the most dominant rushing attacks in the league, doing the kind of damage in the trenches that the rest of the division simply couldn't match or stop.

TrenchPowerRating breaks down the AFC North from the trenches up — scoring every offensive and defensive line as a unit on the things that actually sustain and stall drives. No individual grades. No hype. Just the data, built in collaboration with Syracuse University's Falk College of Sport.

What really happened up front in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Baltimore in 2025 — and what every team did this offseason to find the identity they're still looking for.

Free. Weekly. All season.

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Most football analysis tells you what already happened. TrenchPowerRating tells you what's about to.

TPR is a weekly podcast obsessed with one question — why do some teams win games they probably shouldn't, and lose games they definitely shouldn't? The answer, more often than not, lives in the trenches.

We evaluate offensive and defensive lines as units — the way coaches actually see the game — and score them on the things that sustain and stall drives. Built in collaboration with Syracuse University's Falk College of Sport, TPR gives fantasy players and football obsessives a genuinely different lens on the game they love.

Published alongside Hall of Football's Frank Cooney — the man who helped build the original EA Madden player ratings. Yeah, that guy.

Free. Weekly. All season. Subscribe and stop picking up the league dinner bill.

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Here we look at the 2025/26 season in one of the more unbalanced divisions in the league. TPR (TrenchPowerRating) looks at only the O-Line and D-Line and the 12+ stats and plays that sustain or stall drives.

These podcasts look at strengths and challenges/needs of the teams as well as what they did in the off season, both Free Agency and Draft.

TPR Explainer.  We focus only on the play of the O-Line and D-Line, as a unit, not specific players or individual grades. They play the game as a unit, so we evaluate them that way. We leave ‘skill positions’ to the many other sources covering those guys really well.

For the numbers themselves, TPR is an analytics and data platform that looks at 10+ plays that Sustain or Stall drives, things like Pass & Rush 1st Downs, 3 & Outs, Sacks, Yards per Carry and the like. For more details on what’s www.TrenchPowerRating.com/About.

This is the close of our first year.  TrenchPowerRating is a collaboration with the Sport Analytics program in Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and it’s great to hear how people are receiving and using this approach.

#FantasyFootballAdvice #NFL #FantasyFootball #TrenchPowerRating 

In this episode, we breakdown the AFC South with two dominant squads, JAX and HOU, as well as a team not far off the lead, IND. TEN is waiting for the transfer portal unless things change big time this coming season.

TPR Explainer.  We focus only on the play of the O-Line and D-Line, as a unit, not specific players or individual grades. They play the game as a unit, so we evaluate them that way. We leave ‘skill positions’ to the many other sources covering those guys really well.

For the numbers themselves, TPR is an analytics and data platform that looks at 10+ plays that Sustain or Stall drives, things like Pass & Rush 1st Downs, 3 & Outs, Sacks, Yards per Carry and the like. For more details on what’s www.TrenchPowerRating.com/About.

This is the close of our first year.  TrenchPowerRating is a collaboration with the Sport Analytics program in Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and it’s great to hear how people are receiving and using this approach.

#FantasyFootballAdvice #NFL #FantasyFootball #TrenchPowerRating