By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Last week, we were thanking our lucky stars for a guy named Aaron Rodgers. This week, not even he could keep the Packers in serious contention. It was that kind of Championship Sunday.

The home teams dominated, and left little room for the stars of the road squads to flourish. The bar has been lowered on this week of two games with two hosts now heading to the Super Bowl. Worry not — we’ve found a few fellas worth highlighting.

Here are your greatest on the road from Championship Sunday. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Thank the heavens for Aaron Rodgers.

That’s what football fans everywhere outside of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area were saying Sunday, when the Packers quarterback led Green Bay to a thrilling upset victory over the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys. A week after all four home teams came away with resounding wins, Rodgers and his green-and-gold-clad friends gave us fans of road teams reason to cheer. Thankfully, we have warriors away from home to celebrate.

It was great for football, and even better for this weekly column. But those weren’t the only stars listed under the visitors category. Here are the greatest on the road from the Divisional Round. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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There were those weeks during the regular season when the road teams performed admirably, but came up on the losing end of the scoreboard in a good amount of games.

And then there was Wild Card Weekend.

All four home teams emerged victorious in the opening round of the playoffs, making that bus ride back to the hotel and airport that much more painful for the road squads. As a result, it’s difficult to pick out stars in defeat. We’re taking on that task anyway, because we don’t fear challenges. We embrace them.

Here are your greatest away from home — and best losers — of Wild Card Weekend. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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There’s finishing strong, and there’s what the road teams did in Week 17.

Teams away from home won a whopping six of 16 games in the final week of the regular season. We’ve seen better.

The playoffs are now on deck, so let’s look back on the final week of the season with fondness and a few great performances on the road. And as always, thanks for reading this season. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Yikes.

Some NFL teams had to spend Christmas Eve or Christmas Day on the road. Most of them looked like they’d rather be home.

You can’t blame them, of course, but their performances warranted coal in their stockings. Of the first 15 games of Week 16, road teams went 5-10. That’s worse than stale fruitcake or overcooked turkey. Christmas ham? Road squads weren’t getting any of that with these performances.

But then, there were the heroes of the holiday weekend. Miami saw its wrecking ball of a runner regain his steam, David Johnson broke enough records to surround a Christmas tree and a certain quarterback has Atlanta flying high into the playoffs.

These are your greatest guys from Week 16. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Another week has come and almost gone, and the road teams have something to hang on their collective mantles, right above their stockings and wedged between framed photos of an awkward Eli Manning face, Antonio Brown‘s most memorable touchdown celebrations and shots of Bill Belichick’s sideline attire, arranged like your favorite seasonal catalog. Want to buy Belichick’s winter hat, cut from the oppressive clutches of elastic? Mail in the order form and a check, and you can pair it with your long-sleeved hoodie cut into a short-sleeved hoodie for the deal of the century at just $29.99 plus shipping.

But enough with your holiday wardrobe selections. As the road teams deck the halls with boughs of holly, they can gather for a family photo with big grins displaying their pride in their Week 14 performances. That’s right — this week, the squads away from home went 7-8 with Baltimore owning a Monday night chance to ship a gift of a .500 week back to road team headquarters. As gifts are wrapped, eggnog is sipped and candy canes unwrapped to be enjoyed, we take a look at the week’s stars on the road.

Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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This Monday of Week 13 presents an internal football conflict I’d wish upon no one.

Thursday and Sunday featured plenty of exciting action, seemingly more than usual. But it wasn’t a good week for the road squads (5-10) — it rarely ever is. I want to be pleased with Week 13, but in this space, we’re forced to acknowledge that the road squads might need to retool. We must remove emotion and forge onward, as many of this week’s visitors will do.

Dallas kicked things off with a white-knuckle win over Minnesota at the shiny new home of the Vikings, and things were looking promising from those spending their Sunday away from home after Kansas City’s close victory. Things went south from there, but yet again, bright spots emerged. Here are your three stars (sleeping in hotels with ratings that have more stars than that) from Week 13. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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It’s a good thing we lovers of football and various hearty dishes had a holiday to celebrate this week, because the road squads sure didn’t give us a reason to party.

If it wasn’t for Kansas City’s stunning overtime win over Denver on Sunday Night Football, we’d have only had five wins for teams away from home all week. Thankfully, we’re sitting at 6-9 with the Packers-Eagles contest yet to be played. We can become the equivalent of the Jeff Fisher era in St. Louis and Los Angeles if the Packers pull out a victory tonight. Hope springs eternal, even if this column doesn’t have the future of it riding on the shoulders of Jared Goff. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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So much for all that good karma the road squads built up last week. Just five of 13 visiting teams won games in Week 11, and only two were by double digits, with the league’s worst two teams — Cleveland and San Francisco — falling at home to Pittsburgh and New England. The rest were close, coming down to the final possession, which is what we all want, right?

Well, with the slant leaning toward road teams in this specific space, we’d like to have some more candidates. But we’ll make do with what we have. These are your best away from home in Week 11. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Monday night stands as the home side’s last chance to even out the host/visitor split for Week 10. That’s right — for the first time this season, the road teams have won more games than the home squads.

Thanks to some white-knuckle wins on the parts of Dallas and Miami, visiting clubs emerged with a 7-6 record through 13 contests, with the Cincinnati-New York matchup yet to be played. Big-time performances on both sides of the ball propelled the two winning teams to victory, while Seattle locked down on the goal line to preserve a win, and the Broncos turned to a well-timed leap and return to depart New Orleans with a stunning victory. Heroes abound! These are your greatest on the road from a wild, wacky and wonderful Week 10. Continue reading →