There never is a lack of hype about the National Football League, no matter the time of year.

Despite its regular season spanning just 18 weeks, by far the shortest schedule among major North American pro sports, the NFL is the king of the hill and has made its l-o-n-g offseason a publicity-fest. There’s the much-promoted scouting combine. Then comes the draft, which has become a traveling carnival with hundreds of thousands of fans now attending. Even the announcement of the upcoming season’s schedule has become a made-for-TV and streaming extravaganza.

The regular season finally kicked off last weekend, with robust viewership numbers and scintillating finishes in the nationally televised Sunday and Monday night showcase games.

So things will settle down a bit now that the season is mo

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