THE HFL CRIMSON CHRONICLE
Week 1
On the cover: Josh Allen, QB, Cleveland Browns
Josh Allen goes first, quarterbacks go one through five, and 1,728 picks later the HFL has 32 new rosters for Season IX. Veronica "Ronnie" Ruckus takes over the desk, and HFL-NN goes on the air.
Week 22
On the cover: Jayden Daniels, QB, Green Bay Packers
Green Bay beats Houston 34-10 to win the HFL Championship, closing a 16-1 season and the entire Madden 26 cycle in the same afternoon -- no box score survives from the game itself, only the final score. Inside: the full Season VIII retrospective, all four champions of the cycle, Jenna Tulls's farewell column, and the league's introduction to its next correspondent.
Week 21
On the cover: Quintin Warner, QB, Houston Texans
Cincinnati's 17-0 season ends in the AFC Championship as Houston wins 29-14 despite four Nicholas Battle interceptions, Green Bay survives Washington by one point, and the HFL Championship is set: Houston at Green Bay, a rematch of a game the Packers won by two points in Week 4.
Week 20
On the cover: Baker Mayfield, QB, Miami Dolphins
Baker Mayfield throws for 369 yards and four touchdowns and loses by one, Bijan Robinson answers with 212 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns of his own, and the Chronicle's pick to upset Green Bay is wrong by 26 points. Four teams are left for two conference-championship rematches.
Week 19
On the cover: Joey Bosa, REDGE, Tennessee Titans
Denver's perfect season is over. Tennessee, the seven seed at 8-9, wins 16-13 in Denver behind three Harrison Butker field goals and two Joey Bosa sacks, and the Broncos are held to their lowest point and yardage totals of the year. Arizona beats San Francisco by a point, Houston is outgained by 131 yards and wins anyway, and Philadelphia runs for 267 in a 41-3 rout. Eight teams remain, Cincinnati is the last unbeaten one, and the bracket reseeds for the divisional round.
Week 18
On the cover: Joe Burrow, QB, Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati and Denver both finish the regular season 17-0 — the first double-perfect season in league history — Jahmyr Gibbs closes with 3,126 rushing yards to shatter the single-season record, and Joe Burrow throws for 370 yards and four touchdowns to send Carolina into the offseason on a high note.
Week 17
On the cover: Riley Leonard, QB, New York Jets
Denver and Cincinnati both push to 16-0 with one week left, Jahmyr Gibbs runs for 221 yards and four touchdowns to close in on the rushing record, and Riley Leonard's near-flawless day leads the Jets to a 37-0 shutout of New England.
Week 16
On the cover: Louis Geyer, WR, Seattle Seahawks
Denver and Cincinnati both push to 15-0, a one-point classic decides the Game of the Week, and Warren Davis and Marvin Daniels turn a Broncos-Titans shootout into the highest-scoring game of the week.
Week 15
On the cover: Quintin Warner, QB, Houston Texans
Denver and Cincinnati both push to 14-0, Dallas is shut out in the Game of the Week, and Jahmyr Gibbs runs for 324 yards to put the single-season rushing record within reach.
Week 14
On the cover: Pete Werner, WILL, Minnesota Vikings
Denver and Cincinnati both push to 13-0, Green Bay routs San Francisco in the Game of the Week, and a Jaguars running back breaks two all-time records in the same afternoon.
Week 13
On the cover: Breece Hall, HB, New England Patriots
Denver and Cincinnati both push to 12-0, New England and Seattle combine for 115 points in the season's second-biggest shootout, and Jahmyr Gibbs closes in on the single-season rushing record with five games to play.
Week 12
On the cover: Brock Purdy, QB, Arizona Cardinals
Denver and Cincinnati both push to 11-0, Josh Allen throws for 501 yards and seven touchdowns and still loses, and a Cardinals quarterback outlasts a shootout in Carolina.
Week 11
On the cover: Jonathan Taylor, HB, Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay's perfect season ends in Philadelphia, Denver and Cincinnati are the last two teams left unbeaten, and a running back the Chronicle had never featured before is the reason why.
Week 10
On the cover: Tucker Kraft, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Three teams are still unbeaten through ten weeks, De'Von Achane runs for 248 yards and four touchdowns, and a Buccaneers tight end delivers the two touchdowns that hold off Cleveland.
Week 9
On the cover: Nicholas Battle, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
A rookie quarterback ends Washington's perfect season, Green Bay and Denver both push to 9-0, and a kicker in Los Angeles breaks a record that has stood since the league's first season.
Week 8
On the cover: Trevor Etienne, HB, Green Bay Packers
Green Bay and Denver both push to 8-0, Cincinnati and Washington join them at 7-0, and San Francisco's perfect season ends in New York as the league's unbeaten group narrows to exactly four.
Week 7
On the cover: Anthony Richardson Sr, QB, Washington Commanders
Two teams are still perfect after seven weeks, a fourth team joins the winless column, and Washington's quarterback still hasn't thrown a single interception.
Week 6
On the cover: Saquon Barkley, HB, Atlanta Falcons
The season's first bye week thinned the slate to fourteen games and the league still found a way to rewrite the record book, play a 66-50 shootout, and send three teams to 6-0.
Week 5
On the cover: Dylan Sampson, HB, Chicago Bears
Five teams still perfect, two shutouts on the same afternoon, and a running back in Chicago nobody could bring down.
Week 4
On the cover: Jahmyr Gibbs, HB, Denver Broncos
A rushing record falls in Denver, four winless teams finally win, and Philadelphia wins by seventeen with nineteen passing yards.
Week 3
On the cover: Mark Andrews, TE, New York Giants
Eight teams still unbeaten, a perfect passer in New York, and a tight end who tied the record book on a Sunday afternoon.
Week 2
On the cover: Kaiir Elam, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Ten teams unbeaten, ten teams winless, and one cornerback with the record book in his hands.
Week 1
On the cover: De'Von Achane, HB, San Francisco 49ers
A revenge-tour 56-point outburst in San Francisco, a banner-raising win in Cincinnati, and two rookie quarterbacks who won their openers.