NFL 2026 Season Plan

Comparing Things

In this text, we see words used to show a difference between two or more things. This is a key skill for A2 English.

1. Basic Opposites

• Easy $\rightarrow$ Hard
• Strong $\rightarrow$ Weak
• Wins $\rightarrow$ Loss (implied)

2. The "-est" Rule When we compare one team to everyone else, we add -est to the end of the word:

• Easy $\rightarrow$ Easiest (The best/simplest path)
• Hard $\rightarrow$ Hardest (The most difficult path)

3. Using "Very" To make a word stronger, put very before it:

• Hard $\rightarrow$ Very hard
• Strong $\rightarrow$ Very strong

🚀 The 'Contrast' Engine: Moving Beyond 'But'

At the A2 level, you probably use but for everything. To hit B2, you need to show the reader that you can connect complex ideas using Contrast Markers.

Look at this specific shift in the text:

"The Cleveland Browns have the easiest schedule... In contrast, the Chicago Bears have the hardest schedule."

🛠️ How it works

While but is a small bridge between two short ideas, "In contrast" is a heavy-duty pillar. It tells the reader: "I am now going to describe a completely different situation to show you the gap between two things."

The B2 Pattern: [Sentence 1: Fact A]. $\rightarrow$ [In contrast / However], $\rightarrow$ [Sentence 2: Fact B].

⚡️ Upgrade Your Vocabulary

Instead of saying "The weather is hot but the water is cold," try these B2-style transitions found in or inspired by the text:

• However $\rightarrow$ Use this when you want to introduce a surprising exception. (Example: The Lions have a great team. However, their schedule is very difficult.)
• In contrast $\rightarrow$ Use this when comparing two opposite categories. (Example: The Eagles are ranked 7th. In contrast, the Giants are 26th.)
• While $\rightarrow$ Use this to balance two facts in one sentence. (Example: While their offensive line is strong, their cornerbacks are weak.)

💡 Pro Tip for Fluency

Notice that In contrast and However usually start a new sentence and are followed by a comma. This pause creates a professional, academic rhythm that examiners look for when grading B2 students. Stop gluing sentences together with but and start building them with these markers.

The Architecture of Formal Precision: Nominalization and Abstract Cohesion

To transition from B2 to C2, a student must move beyond describing actions and begin conceptualizing states. The provided text is a masterclass in Nominalization—the process of turning verbs (actions) or adjectives (qualities) into nouns. This is the hallmark of academic, legal, and high-level analytical English.

🔍 The Linguistic Pivot

Observe the shift from a B2-level sentence to the C2-level construction found in the text:

• B2 Style: The NFL is deciding how difficult schedules are by looking at how teams did in 2025. (Verb-heavy, linear, simplistic).
• C2 Style: "The determination of schedule difficulty is currently approached through two primary methodologies..."

What happened here?

1. Determination (Noun) replaces deciding (Verb).
2. Difficulty (Noun) replaces how difficult (Adjective phrase).
3. Methodologies (Noun) replaces ways of doing it (Vague phrase).

🛠️ Deconstructing the "C2 Weight"

By utilizing nominals, the author achieves density. This allows for the insertion of complex modifiers without losing the sentence's structural integrity. Consider the phrase: "Significant volatility in schedule strength is evident."

If we "denominalize" this, it becomes: "The strength of the schedule changes a lot."

While the latter is grammatically correct, it lacks the analytical distance required for C2 mastery. Nominalization allows the writer to treat a complex concept (volatility) as a discrete object that can be analyzed, measured, and described.

📈 Application for Mastery

To implement this, stop focusing on who is doing what and start focusing on what phenomenon is occurring.

The Formula: [Abstract Noun/Phenomenon] + [Stative Verb/Linking Verb] + [Evaluative Descriptor]

Example from text: $\text{The departure of GM Chris Grier} \rightarrow \text{coincides with} \rightarrow \text{a leadership overhaul}$.

This structure removes the "storytelling" element and replaces it with "systemic analysis," which is the primary objective of the C2 Proficiency level.