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    Iranian Regime Sentences Artist to Death for Advocating Freedom and Insulting Muhammad

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    X-Factors on defense for the AFC, NFC Championships

    Conference championship games are played in rarefied (and sometimes thin) air. The stakes are obviously higher, individual plays mean more, and the game script can veer in highly unpredictable ways that can decide things pretty [...]
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    Setting the Stage for Open Source Sonar Development

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Iranian Regime Sentences Artist to Death for Advocating Freedom and Insulting Muhammad

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About The Author

Maria Herrera Mellado

María Herrera Mellado es una abogada y analista política muy respetada. Licenciada en Derecho en EE.UU. y España, también tiene un doctorado en Ciencias Jurídicas y varios títulos de la Universidad de Granada (España), de la Universidad de Arizona y de la Florida International University. Con amplia experiencia en derecho internacional, asesoría en inversiones, representación en inmigración, y protección de la privacidad y lucha anticorrupción, ha asesorado a organizaciones y políticos europeos, estadounidenses e hispanoamericanos. Ha escrito sobre seguridad nacional e inmigración, protección de datos, derecho constitucional, consumo financiero y derecho bancario en revistas internacionales y coescribió libros publicados en Perú y Colombia. Es reconocida por su servicio comunitario en EE.UU. y es considerada una de las mujeres más influyentes de Florida. Es experta en varios idiomas y participa frecuentemente en debates en canales como Univisión, Fox, France 24, Telemundo y es la Editora Jefe de Gateway Hispanic.
María Herrera Mellado is a highly respected lawyer and political analyst. She holds law degrees from both the United States and Spain, as well as a Ph.D. in Legal Sciences and several diplomas from the University of Granada (Spain), the University of Arizona, and Florida International University. With extensive experience in international law, investment advisory, immigration representation, privacy protection, and anti-corruption efforts, she has advised organizations and politicians across Europe, the United States, and Hispanic America. She has written about national security and immigration, data protection, constitutional law, financial consumer protection, and banking law in international journals and co-authored books published in Peru and Colombia. Recognized for her community service in the United States, she is considered one of the most influential women in Florida. A polyglot, she frequently participates in debates on channels such as Univisión, Fox, France 24, Telemundo, and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Gateway Hispanic.
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Analytics predicts winners for NFL playoff Conference Championship games

We are down to four teams, three games, two rounds and one champion in the NFL playoffs this year. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders have made it to the Conference Championship round with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Before the season, the Chiefs, Bills and Eagles would not have been surprises to make it this far but the Commanders have come out of nowhere.
With the College Football Playoffs over and The Ohio State Buckeyes taking home the trophy after an impressive four-game run, the NFL playoffs now get the stage to themselves. Which teams will continue their playoff runs with a chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season?
The AFC Championship game could see Kansas City punching their ticket on the way to a three-peat but Josh Allen is positioned to get the Patrick Mahomes legend off his back. While Washington has been a surprise, they have reasons to be encouraged heading into the NFC Championship game while Philadelphia has the experience to head back to the Super Bowl.
So far in the playoffs, FTN’s DVOA has only batted .500 in predicting the results of each playoff round. For the divisional round, we noted that analytics cannot take into account injuries that have decimated the Detroit Lions on the defensive side of the ball. While that wasn’t the only reason the top seed in the NFC lost, it played a huge factor and cannot be accounted for in the data.
DVOA is a metric that breaks down the quality of play compared to the league average while adjusting for the strength of the opponents being played. DVOA is one of a couple of catch-all analytics measures that help us understand the beautiful game of football better.
Attempting to predict the results of these games, when the best are playing the best, is difficult. Bettors on FanDuel, and FanDuel themselves, are looking for every morsel of information to help make their predictions.
Interestingly, the two teams that earned the top seeds and bye in their conference were not the top overall DVOA team during the regular season. Neither of the top teams in DVOA made the conference championship games. For the second year in a row, the Baltimore Ravens held the top spot with a 41.4% Total DVOA, down from 45.5% last year. The Detroit Lions were second overall at 34.8% while the Kansas City Chiefs are all the way down at eight at 14.7%
To be clear, FTN’s DVOA isn’t perfect nor would it claim to predict the winners of certain games. Too many variables that cannot be codified, like weather, injuries, officiating and more, can play a role in a one-game sample.
While DVOA has only batted .500 so far in this year’s NFL playoffs, let’s take a look at what it says for the Conference Championship round.

Kansas City Chiefs vs Buffalo Bills

Overall DVOA: Kansas City 8th vs Buffalo 4th
Offensive DVOA: Kansas City 8th vs Buffalo 2nd
Defensive DVOA: Kansas City 12th vs Buffalo 11th

Edge: Bills – Much like analytics can’t factor in injuries, it also can’t factor in the Andy Reid, Travis Kelce and Mahomes factor. Did the Chiefs take it easy during the regular season (despite their gaudy record) or are the Bills that much better than them? Hard to bet against the two-time defending champions despite what the data says.
Philadelphia Eagles vs Washington Commanders

Overall DVOA: Philadelphia 5th vs Washington 10th
Offensive DVOA: Philadelphia 13th vs Washington 6th
Defensive DVOA: Philadelphia 1st vs Washington 23rd

Edge: Eagles – Unlike the AFC, the NFC has the team with more experience also ranked higher in the data. Philadelphia has not been a well-oiled machine this year but has still played well, especially on defense. At some point, Jayden Daniels’ lack of experience could become a problem but it hasn’t so far. In what feels like a mismatch, Washington has another chance to prove their doubters (and the analytics) wrong.

FTN’s DVOA was far from perfect to start the NFL playoffs but the data provides another piece of information as you make betting decisions, discuss the playoffs with your coworkers or make daily fantasy decisions. This weekend, the data suggests the Bills will face the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
We are excited to see the games played on the field and see whether or not DVOA is able to do a better job this week than it did last week in predicting the games. […]

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X-Factors on defense for the AFC, NFC Championships

Conference championship games are played in rarefied (and sometimes thin) air. The stakes are obviously higher, individual plays mean more, and the game script can veer in highly unpredictable ways that can decide things pretty quickly.
For the four teams left in the 2024 season as we turn our attention to the NFC and AFC Championship games, it’s also about maximizing the efforts of the most important players on both sides of the ball. Some key players are key players because of position, some because of talent, and some because of specific scenarios that may require them to play the games of their lives if their teams are to meet their goals of a Super Bowl appearance.
Given the importance of these X-Factors, we’ve expanded the discussion to include one player from each team on both offense and defense. Here’s one defensive X-Factor for each of the four teams that will face off on Sunday for the honor of participating in Super Bowl LIX.
Washington Commanders at Philadelphia EaglesSunday, January 26, at 3:00 p.m. EST
Philadelphia Eagles: EDGE Nolan Smith
When the Eagles selected Georgia edge-rusher Nolan Smith with the 31st overall pick in the 2023 draft, it was a bit of a calculated risk. Not just because there were questions about the 6’2, 238-pound Smith’s ability to hold up to the rigors of the NFL at his size, but also because he missed several games in his last season at Georgia with a torn pectoral muscle. However, Smith’s status as basically a coach in the Bulldogs’ second straight National Championship season, and the great scouting combine he had, allayed some of those fears.
Smith was a reserve in Philly’s loaded EDGE rotation in his rookie season, totaling two sacks and nine total pressures in 95 pass-rushing snaps. And while he was light with production in the first four games of the 2024 season (no sacks and three total pressures), the light started to come on in Vic Fangio’s first season as the team’s defensive coordinator. From Week 11 through the Divisional playoffs, Smith has led the team in sacks with five, and he ranks third behind Milton Williams and Jalen Carter in total pressures with 26. Not to mention the fact that in two games against Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, Smith was able to take care of business with two sacks and several other impressive pressures.

“He’s done a great job working, and he’s constantly improved,” Fangio said this week of Smith’s development. “The more you play, the more you practice, and he’s getting more snaps now, too, since BG went down. Gets more practice plays, game plays. You get better. That’s the only way you get better is to practice and play. He was improving in those first four weeks, too. Like you’ve made note, it’s come to fruition here since.”
Smith still has all that speed and athleticism, and he’s learned to drop the hammer physically at the NFL level. Now, there are no worries.
Washington Commanders: LB Frankie Luvu
Luvu was one of my favorite defensive players to watch in the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Carolina Panthers, because there were very few things he couldn’t do well – from off-ball run and coverage stops to legitimate edge rushes. The Commanders were just as positive about Luvu’s potential, as they signed him to a three-year, $31 million contract this offseason. Luvu has done everything possible to live up to it – and more. This season, he’s amassed eight sacks, 38 total pressures, 73 tackles, 45 stops, and he’s excelled everywhere from the edge to the box to the slot. The Commanders have an outstanding linebacker duo in Luvu and Bobby Wagner, but it’s Luvu who allows the defense to be as versatile as it is.
In two games against the Eagles this season, Luvu has been a guided missile all over the place. Two sacks, two tackles for loss, an interception, and tackles, pressures, and stops from everywhere.

“This is my first going run for it, for the playoffs,” Luvu said Tuesday. “And I’m just trying to keep my emotions here, keep it neutral, and just I know all the guys are the same way.”
Frankie Luvu with even more motivation? That could be a scary thought for any opponent.
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City ChiefsSunday, January 26, at 6:30 p.m. EST
Kansas City Chiefs: LB Drue Tranquill
Most of the time, players are X-Factors in games because of their positive plays and memorable exploits. In the case of Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill, the story goes a different way. In the Buffalo Bills’ 30-21 Week 11 win over the Chiefs, Tranquill – who is normally a very good player and a key cog in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense – had a game he would likely rather forget. Buffalo ran the ball 31 times for 104 yards and three touchdowns.
It was a nightmare for Tranquill. He missed tackles on each of James Cook’s two touchdown runs, and he was out of position on Josh Allen’s 26-yard scramble touchdown that salted the game away with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter.

Drue Tranquill is a really good linebacker, but he’ll probably want to redeem himself in the AFC Championship game after what happened to him in Week 11 against the Bills. pic.twitter.com/28v7wVw5yd— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) January 21, 2025

Overall, Tranquill has enjoyed a good season, with three sacks, 18 total pressures, 61 solo tackles, 30 stops, and generally solid coverage. But if Tranquill doesn’t square up in those situations against Buffalo’s run game this time around – and make no mistake, Buffalo’s run game will be a very big deal – that could be a serious impediment to Kansas City’s run at a three-peat.
Buffalo Bills: Safety Taylor Rapp
For years, when the Bills put their rosters together, they could count on one thing: the NFL’s best safety duo in Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde. But as is the case with everything in the NFL, things change. In the 2024 season, Buffalo’s safety responsibilities have been covered by Damar Hamlin (whose own story is incredible), 2024 second-round pick Cole Bishop, veteran Cam Lewis, and Taylor Rapp, the former Los Angeles Rams defender who signed a backup deal with the Bills in 2023, and did enough to merit a three-year, $10.625 million contract this offseason.
Rapp has alternated between box, slot, and free positions this season, and he’s most recently known for the interception he bagged against the Ravens in the Bills’ Divisional-Round win on a miscommunication between Lamar Jackson and receiver Rashod Bateman. Overall this season, Rapp has allowed 14 catches on 22 targets for 236 yards, 95 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, three interceptions, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 90.5.
Another of Rapp’s three interceptions this season came in Buffalo’s Week 11 win over the Chiefs, in which Rapp was in the right place at the right time for a Patrick Mahomes pressure-predicated overthrow to tight end Noah Gray.

.@BuffaloBills safety Taylor Rapp, who had a crucial interception against the @Ravens in the divisional round, also bagged a pick against the Chiefs in Week 11. Pressure caused it, but Rapp was in the right place at the right time. pic.twitter.com/oLxgXORyLX— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) January 23, 2025

Rapp has been dealing with hip and back issues this week, and right now, he’s day-to-day (as are we all). If he can’t go, it will be a hit to a Bills secondary that needs his field awareness and understanding of the game. […]

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Iranian Regime Sentences Artist to Death for Advocating Freedom and Insulting Muhammad

by Gateway Hispanic in Uncategorized 0

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  • We are down to four teams, three games, two rounds and one champion in the NFL playoffs this year. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders have made it to the [...]
  • Conference championship games are played in rarefied (and sometimes thin) air. The stakes are obviously higher, individual plays mean more, and the game script can veer in highly unpredictable ways that can decide things pretty [...]
  • [SHOT 2025] Mars Inc.’s Precision Grenadier System | thefirearmblog.com […]This post was originally published on this site
  • No Picture
    At Hackaday, we see community-driven open source development as the great equalizer. Whether it’s hardware or software —  if there’s some megacorp out there trying to sell you something, you should have the option to [...]