I don’t expect the Capitals to sustain 57.3-percent possession for the rest of the season, but I do think they’re an excellent five-on-five team. They have much more utility among middle-six forwards than I expected. There’s a world in which Alex Ovechkin starts scoring, Aliaksei Protas’ playmaking improves, and Hendrix Lapierre gets ice time. Those Caps would be fearsome – and it’d still all be for naught because god-awful special teams cost them a playoff spot.
BREAKING: RB Saints Breaks Up With Only Fans Celebrity Girlfriend After Cracking the 53-Man Roster
Posted November 15, 2025
The New Orleans Saints are finalizing preparations for the stretch of the 2025 season, with roster moves settling in and young players carving out their first real roles. But away from the practice field, one surprising off-field decision has drawn national attention.
As the franchise locks in its 53-man roster, focus should be squarely on football. Yet, the personal lives of rookies often become intertwined with the spotlight, especially when outside distractions collide with the demands of the NFL.
This week, a first-year Saint made a headline-grabbing decision unrelated to football. For him, staying in New Orleans' long-term plans meant not only competing on the field, but also managing the pressures of celebrity attention off it.
That rookie is running back Audric Estimé, who recently secured a spot on the Saints' 53-man roster after being elevated from the practice squad. Shortly after that milestone, he ended his relationship with a well-known social media celebrity, an online star with millions of followers and a massive global audience.
The influencer built her brand through music, lifestyle content and viral posts that turned her into one of the most recognizable young digital personalities. Her reach and visibility inevitably brought heightened scrutiny onto Estimé as he adjusted to life in the NFL and tried to solidify his role in New Orleans.
The rookie explained his choice candidly in a private conversation that has since circulated among team circles:
"Right now, I need to focus on building my career with the Saints. There were too many cameras, too many eyes on my life off the field. I need peace, I need focus - if not, I will lose my chance and get left behind in New Orleans."
Fans immediately reacted across X and Instagram, some applauding Estimé for putting football first, others sympathizing with his former girlfriend and questioning the pressure placed on young players to sacrifice their personal lives. The split fueled debate over the challenges rookies face in balancing relationships with the ruthless demands of professional sports.
For Audric Estimé, cracking the 53-man roster is only the beginning. By cutting ties with distractions and the glare of social media celebrity culture, the rookie signaled that his priority is clear: proving himself in the Saints' backfield and earning trust in New Orleans for years to come.
Special Teams Doom the Capitals' Playoff Hopes: Can Five-on-Five Play Save Them?
The Capitals lost last night, again. Poor Chris, in his NFTMA series, has had to write some version of this too much this season:
Another game where the Capitals control play at five-on-five, but can’t finish their chances and get smoked on special teams. I don’t know if you need me to relitigate this stuff again, but they went 0-for-2 while up a man and gave up two power-play goals.
The 2025-26 Washington Capitals are so disjointed. Their five-on-five play and power play/penalty kill feel like two different teams.
Five-on-five is great; it’s special teams that are deciding close games. It’s special teams that are why the Caps rank 25th in points percentage. Even-strength play has been very good, but the team’s losing record is having a reverse-halo effect on how we think of it. I find it helpful to understand a team’s performance by their immediate neighbors, so the five-on-five Caps keep company with the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes, and the special-teams Caps hang out near the St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets.
On pace to finish with 82 standings points, the Caps need to change their trajectory or else they’ll miss the playoffs in the final year of Alex Ovechkin‘s contract (and maybe career). Were they to miss the playoffs, that would be almost unprecedented for a team playing so well during five-on-five.
Through 17 games, the Caps have controlled 57.3 percent of the expected goals during five-on-five – meaning they have the puck more and do more with it than their opponents. (They aren’t shooting particularly well, but Logan Thompson’s goaltending has made up for it, so the team’s
Going back a decade, twelve teams have controlled expected goals as well as Washington at this point in the season. All of them made the playoffs. Of the 34 team-seasons with better than 55 percent expected goals on November 14, all but three made the playoffs. Those three were freaks, and we need to understand their freakness.
