Luka Doncic had 44 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in his return after a three-game absence and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-112 in the opening game of the NBA Cup for each team
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Luka Doncic had 44 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in his return after a three-game absence and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-112 on Friday night in the opening game of the NBA Cup for each team.
Austin Reaves added 21 points for the Lakers and Jake LaRavia scored 13. It was Doncic’s 11th straight games of scoring at least 25 against the Grizzlies.
Jock Landale and Jaylen Wells scored 16 points each to lead Memphis and Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 15 points. Ja Morant was held to eight points — going 3 of 14 from the field — and seven assists.
The Lakers continued to play without LeBron James, who is dealing with right sciatica. But Doncic, who missed the last three games with a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion, returned to the starting lineup.
Both teams had significant runs before it settled into a closely played game. Memphis’ rally came in the second quarter and the Lakers answered it in the third before pulling away in the fourth.
The Grizzlies built a double-digit lead in the second quarter while scoring 42 points, including a 27-4 rally in the closing minutes of the half. That gave them a 69-55 lead at the break.
But the Lakers with Doncic controlling the offense, sliced away at the Memphis advantage in the second half, erasing the deficit in the first seven minutes of the third. That led to an exchange of leads as Doncic had 16 in the quarter.
Entering the fourth, there had been 14 lead changes and seven ties.
Aaron Schatz is an NFL analyst for ESPN.com. He has more than 20 years of experience working in NFL analytics and is the creator of the DVOA and DYAR metric. He also serves as the Chief Analytics Officer at FTN Network.
Garrett has played for bad or mediocre teams for most of his career, going back to when Cleveland selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft. In his rookie season, the Browns went 0-16. After a few seasons of floating at around .500, things have gotten bad again over the past two years, as the Browns are 5-20 since the start of the 2024 season. But the poor surroundings don’t stop Garrett from consistently being a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Last season, he was first-team All-Pro and third in the DPOY voting.
But Garrett is far from the only great player to be on a bad team. Who else has suffered despite playing at a high level? I think of these players as the Cortez Kennedy All-Stars. Kennedy was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle who played his entire career for the Seattle Seahawks (1990-2000). In 1992, he won the DPOY award and even got Most Valuable Player votes despite playing on a team that finished 2-14 with the worst pass offense ever measured by my DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) ratings.
There have been numerous examples of this happening throughout NFL history, so I narrowed it down by position and limited it to the 25 seasons since 2000. Below, I’ve picked the best seasons by players who were on teams that won four games or fewer.
Garrett’s current teammate hasn’t played well since he came to Cleveland in 2022, but his play was impressive before he left Houston. In 2020, Watson led the league with 8.9 yards per attempt and 4,823 total passing yards for a 4-12 Texans team. Watson was fifth in the league in total passing value that season based on my advanced DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) metric.
It’s hard to have a QB season this good for a team this bad because the signal-caller has so much control over how well the offense plays. But Watson is not the only quarterback this has happened to since 2000. Matthew Stafford of the 2012 Lions, Matt Ryan of the 2013 Falcons and Philip Rivers of the 2015 Chargers also ranked in the top eight of my DYAR stats for 4-12 teams.
Running backs tend to rack up stats when they’re running out the clock in the fourth quarter for winning teams. But Tomlinson carried the ball 313 times for 1,645 yards with 13 touchdowns, even though the 2003 Chargers only won four games.
He led the league with 2,370 scrimmage yards and added 100 catches for 725 receiving yards with another four touchdowns. Tomlinson finished second in the Offensive Player of the Year voting behind Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, who had a 2,000-yard season that year.
The Lions’ defense collapsed coming off a 2011 playoff appearance, and Detroit dropped to 4-12 in 2012. But Johnson still gave fans something to cheer for amid the misery, setting the NFL record of 1,964 receiving yards.
Johnson had only five touchdowns with all those yards, in part because defensive problems meant the offense often started in bad field position far away from the end zone. In all, Johnson led the league in receiving yards, targets (204) and receptions (122); he averaged 122.8 yards per game.
In his final season in Kansas City, the 32-year-old Gonzalez caught 96 passes for 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was chosen as a first-team All-Pro for the first time in six seasons and led all tight ends in DYAR. In fact, Gonzalez is one of three players since 2000 who led the league in tight end DYAR on a team that went 4-12 or worse. The others were George Kittle of the 2018 49ers and Billy Miller of the 2002 Texans.
Which Thomas season puts him on this list? Feel free to pick from a number of possibilities, as he played in Cleveland from 2007 to 2017. Thomas was chosen as a first-team All-Pro six times, and Cleveland’s record in those six seasons was a combined 28-68. He is the only offensive lineman since 2000 to make the All-Pro first team despite playing for a team that had four wins or fewer.
But he wasn’t even the only good player on those Browns offensive lines! Center Alex Mack was a frequent Pro Bowler playing alongside Thomas in the second half of his career.
Garrett starred last season for a Browns defense that struggled everywhere else. He had 14 sacks and 47 tackles, and he led the league with 22 tackles for loss for last season’s 3-14 Browns team. He finished 2024 ranked third in the DPOY voting one season after winning the award.
What about Garrett’s 2025 season? Although we are only nine weeks in, things don’t seem quite as bad for Cleveland compared to last year. The Browns’ defense finished 2024 ranked 25th in DVOA, and now it is ranked sixth. Cleveland’s upcoming schedule includes sack-prone offenses such as the Jets (31 sacks) and the Titans (34 sacks), so it’s possible that Garrett could top his career high of 16 sacks this season. That would make him a very strong DPOY candidate once again. He currently has the second-best odds per ESPN Bet.
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2:26
Eisen wonders what Garrett is thinking after Hutchinson’s extension
Rich Eisen wonders what Myles Garrett’s thought process is after seeing Aidan Hutchinson’s big extension with the Browns well out of playoff contention.
Much like Garrett in 2024, Allen starred for a defense that struggled everywhere else. The Vikings were only 23rd in defensive DVOA in 2011, even as Allen compiled 22 sacks to come within a half-sack of the all-time NFL record.
Although the Vikings were only 3-13, Allen was second in the DPOY voting behind Terrell Suggs of the Ravens. This was the second time Allen was named first-team All-Pro for a team with four wins or fewer, as he also made it with the 4-12 Chiefs in 2007.
The Rams finished 4-12 in their first season after moving back to Los Angeles, but don’t blame Donald, who was as great as always. Although he had only eight sacks, he led the NFL with 31 quarterback hits and led all interior linemen with 44 pressures. He received three votes to finish fourth in the balloting for DPOY that season.
David has played for much better Buccaneers teams, including the 2020 squad that won the Super Bowl. However, 2013 — when the team finished 4-12 — was the only time he was a first-team All-Pro.
David had five interceptions, seven sacks and 13 quarterback hits. I keep track of a stat called defeats, which combines turnovers, tackles for loss and plays to prevent a conversion on third or fourth down. David had 52 of them in 2013, the second-highest total since at least 1989, behind only J.J. Watt’s 2012 season in Houston.
Since 2000, no defensive back has been chosen as a first-team All-Pro for a team that went 4-12 or worse. However, Law had a very good season for a bad Jets team after leaving the Super Bowl champion Patriots in free agency.
Law had a career-high 10 interceptions, including a pick-six. He also had 62 tackles and 18 passes defensed, and he made the Pro Bowl. The Jets often used him on the opponent’s No. 2 receiver, and New York ranked second in DVOA against WR2s that season.
Bill Barnwell is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. He analyzes football on and off the field like no one else on the planet, writing about in-season X’s and O’s, offseason transactions and so much more.
He is the host of the Bill Barnwell Show podcast, with episodes released weekly. Barnwell joined ESPN in 2011 as a staff writer at Grantland.
So, should your favorite team be trying to add veterans on deadline day? Should it be moving on from players to acquire draft picks that can help it in the future? Or should it be staying put with what it has, neither dealing for players nor dealing them?
I’ve put together a guide for each of the league’s 32 teams and whether they should be adding or subtracting veteran talent over the next week. I’ll also highlight the biggest needs for the teams that should be pursuing players and some of the potential trade candidates for organizations that should be working the phones to get players out of town. And then I’ve split the league’s teams into five tiers based on how they should be approaching the deadline.
Let’s start with the teams that should be most active in looking to add players who can help their chances of winning in 2025.
These teams shouldn’t be trading every pick or young player they have to add difference-makers to their rosters, but they should be open to considering more substantial moves and be willing to target players on expiring contracts who could contribute to a potential deep playoff run.
Biggest needs: S, DT, WR
Bills fans will want GM Brandon Beane to go into the market for a star wide receiver and come away with someone like A.J. Brown, but barring something truly shocking, I’d be surprised if the Bills went that direction. Remember that Beane shipped a third-round pick to the Browns for Amari Cooper last year (that selection landed Cleveland its current starting quarterback in Dillon Gabriel). Cooper had 20 catches for 297 yards in a Bills uniform before leaving and then retiring.
Defensive help for coach Sean McDermott would make sense, especially with Ed Oliver suffering a serious biceps injury. DaQuan Jones will return from his calf injury in the weeks to come, and Larry Ogunjobi is back from his six-game suspension, but the Bills could stand to add another rotational player at defensive tackle. Landing a safety McDermott trusts would be a dream scenario, but the demand around the league there is far greater than the potential supply.
Biggest needs: Edge, CB, OL
My dream of an all-in move for Trey Hendrickson and Jaelan Phillips probably died when the Bengals star went down with a hip injury in Sunday’s loss to the Jets. The Lions already have plenty of injured defenders, especially in the secondary, where they were down four of their five starters in the Week 7 win over the Bucs. Coach Dan Campbell should get many of those guys back in the weeks to come, but this organization doesn’t need to be reminded about how thin it has been in the secondary over the past two postseasons.
The main priority should still be adding an edge rusher, even if it’s just someone to rotate with Al-Quadin Muhammad across from superstar Aidan Hutchinson. I also wonder if the Lions should consider trying to find some additional depth along the offensive line, where Giovanni Manu struggled filling in for Taylor Decker before hitting injured reserve with a knee issue.
With so many of their young standouts likely to earn extensions and massive raises over the next 12 months, 2025 is the Lions’ best shot at winning a Super Bowl. They should act accordingly.
Biggest needs: CB, QB, K
The wildly unexpected and entertaining 7-1 start calls for the Colts to make a play. Indianapolis has earned the top spot in the AFC through eight weeks, and ESPN’s Football Power Index makes it a massive favorite to finish there at the end of the season, with a 47.8% chance of claiming the first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. GM Chris Ballard is never going to tear up his future draft capital and trade a bunch of picks to make midseason additions, but if there was ever a time for the Colts to take an unexpected swing or two to add guys to their roster, it’s now.
Cornerback has been the one revolving door for the Colts, as free agent addition Charvarius Ward is on injured reserve with a concussion suffered in a pregame collision. Coordinator Lou Anarumo imported former Bengals corner Mike Hilton to play in the slot while Kenny Moore II was out, but Hilton also landed on IR shortly thereafter. Indy played late-summer additions Mekhi Blackmon and Cameron Mitchell and undrafted free agent Johnathan Edwards as its three top outside cornerbacks in Sunday’s blowout win over the Titans.
The other move to consider would be trying to hedge against a scenario that has haunted organizations in the past. The easiest way to have a great season fall to pieces is an injury to your quarterback at the wrong time. Ask the 2016 Raiders, who went 12-4, lost Derek Carr in December and had to play Connor Cook in what would be his only NFL start as they crashed out of the wild-card round. The 2015 Cardinals went 11-5 and couldn’t do anything in the playoffs when they were forced to start Ryan Lindley against the Panthers. The 2020 Commanders probably weren’t going to do much in the playoffs, but when Alex Smith was unable to go, they were forced to turn to Taylor Heinicke in his second career start against Tom Brady and the Bucs.
Daniel Jones is thankfully running the lowest sack rate of his career by a considerable margin, but he has managed to complete only one full season as a pro without missing time due to injuries. With Anthony Richardson Sr. out indefinitely and struggling badly when he has played, the next man up would be sixth-round pick Riley Leonard, who is yet to throw an NFL pass. A veteran backup to shore things up behind Jones would be a logical hedge for a Colts team with aspirations of playing deep into January.
Biggest needs: Edge, DT, S
The Chiefs are in a perpetual championship window with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, which creates some challenges. A team spending as much as Kansas City does on its top players needs to hit on draft picks to build a cost-controlled roster around those stars, which makes trading those selections for veterans a bit of a dangerous game. Brett Veach has gotten some of those picks back by trading his own vets, including L’Jarius Sneed and Joe Thuney in recent years, but the longtime Chiefs general manager is understandably going to be selective about how many picks he moves between now and the deadline.
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0:50
Graziano: Chiefs are the scariest team in the AFC
Dan Graziano explains why the Colts are the best team in the AFC but the Chiefs are the scariest moving forward.
The offense appears to be set after the returns of Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, leaving Veach to focus on the defensive side of the ball. Along the D-line, Felix Anudike-Uzomah and rookie second-rounder Omarr Norman-Lott are both out for the season, costing the Chiefs two players who were expected to be part of their rotation up front. Veach has gotten useful work here at the bottom of the lineup from players he has added during the season in the past, including Terrell Suggs in 2019 and Mike Pennel in 2023, though those were both signings as opposed to trades. I think the Chiefs could add at least one lineman between now and the start of the postseason.
Biggest needs: CB, LB, K
With Matthew Stafford flirting with retirement (or a new contract) on seemingly an annual basis, the Rams have to consider adding more talent around their veterans if they want to win another ring. Would they have beat the Eagles in Philadelphia last season during the playoffs if the guy they signed to upgrade the interior of their line over the offseason, Jonah Jackson, was good enough to hold up against Jalen Carter? Who knows.
That would seem like a cautionary tale against adding outside talent, but the Eagles beat the Rams in their rematch earlier this season by physically overwhelming Los Angeles’ cornerbacks. Coordinator Chris Shula’s front might be the best defensive line in the league, but the Rams clearly needed a cornerback and traded a pair of Day 3 picks to the Titans for Roger McCreary, who’s in the final year of his rookie deal.
McCreary spends most of his time in the slot, where the Rams were already using Quentin Lake. Will they move him outside? If not, you could still make a case that the Rams need another cornerback who can play outside to take snaps away from Darious Williams and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. Unfortunately, you’ll note that so many of the other teams competing for a Super Bowl this season are likely to be shopping for cornerbacks, too. A veteran kicker also wouldn’t hurt, given Joshua Karty‘s struggles this season.
Biggest needs: Edge, OL, CB
The Eagles made their move at cornerback Wednesday by shipping John Metchie III to the Jets for Michael Carter II (with a late-round pick swap), who had seen his role diminish this season. Like the Rams, who traded for Roger McCreary, the Eagles acquired a slot cornerback despite really needing a corner who can line up on the outside, where Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson have struggled this season. There just aren’t many outside CBs on the market right now. Philly will likely move Cooper DeJean out of the slot, which will be a major test for the second-year standout, while Carter takes over slot cornerback duties.
Otherwise, GM Howie Roseman is probably looking at adding depth on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Brett Toth hasn’t looked great filling in for Cam Jurgens, and injuries have already led Philly to bring Brandon Graham back out of retirement on the edge. I would be surprised if Roseman sprung a trade for a weekly starter anywhere else on the roster besides cornerback, but bringing in some big bodies up front who can fill in for a handful of snaps or a spot start here and there seems like a logical move.
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0:34
Why Schefter does not think the Eagles will trade A.J. Brown
Adam Schefter says he wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles make a move before the deadline, but he doesn’t expect A.J. Brown to be traded.
Should probably add players
These teams should be open to adding players who can immediately help, but they shouldn’t be as confident or aggressive as the organizations in the tier above.
Biggest needs: DT, Edge, LB
The Ravens shouldn’t be selling out to prop up a disappointing, injury-hit team, but finding guys who can make an immediate impact on this roster while also featuring for what will presumably be a better version of this team in 2026 would make some sense. GM Eric DeCosta has already made a deal by swapping edge rusher Odafe Oweh for Chargers safety Alohi Gilman, which allowed the Ravens to move uber-versatile star Kyle Hamilton into the box more often after their Week 7 bye.
Oweh probably didn’t figure into future plans for the Ravens, but they’re pretty thin along the defensive line right now, both on the interior and at edge. Rookie Teddye Buchanan has also looked overmatched at linebacker, and although getting Roquan Smith back helps, I wonder if the Ravens will look to bring in a veteran linebacker who can solidify things next to the three-time first-team All-Pro.
Biggest needs: G, CB, LB
Flying high atop the AFC West at 6-2, Sean Payton’s Broncos probably aren’t going to be doing much at the trade deadline. I thought they might look at tight end options with Nate Adkins out, but Payton went for one of the most experienced players in football when Denver signed 41-year-old tight end Marcedes Lewis this week. Lewis will take a handful of snaps as an inline tight end until Adkins returns.
The Broncos are down a starting guard (Ben Powers) and a key offensive line reserve (Matt Peart), so although they’re probably not going to land a starter to take over until Powers returns from his biceps injury, a utility guy who can serve as the sixth or seventh lineman on game day would be a nice find for GM George Paton.
There’s no replacing Pat Surtain II at corner, and I suspect the Broncos will move forward over the next month with a larger role for first-round pick Jahdae Barron, who has played just 24% of the snaps so far.
Biggest needs: CB
I’m trying to list three positions of need for each team, but I could have written down cornerback three times for the Packers. It’s the one clear liability on the roster. Nate Hobbs has struggled badly on the outside since joining from the Raiders in free agency, and Keisean Nixon has developed some problematic habits in coverage. He is tied for the league lead with nine penalties this season.
Of course, these are the Packers, and GM Brian Gutekunst is already down two first-round picks after the Micah Parsonstrade. Everything about how Gutekunst has operated suggests the Packers are going to hold on to the picks they have, and they typically don’t target players toward the tail end of their careers. The question then becomes whether Gutekunst makes one of his wide receivers, most likely Romeo Doubs or Dontayvion Wicks, available for trade.
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1:19
Does the road to the Super Bowl go through the Packers?
Alex Smith, Adam Schefter and Rex Ryan discuss the Packers’ young roster and their chances of reaching the Super Bowl.
Biggest needs: S, RB, OL
After their early-season winning streak was derailed by a series of injuries to key players, the Chargers have begun to get some of those players back. Khalil Mack (elbow) returned in Week 7, and starting tackles Joe Alt (ankle) and Trey Pipkins III (knee) were back on the field for the win over the Vikings last Thursday. Omarion Hampton (ankle) is making progress, though there’s still no timetable for the rookie running back’s return to the lineup.
The problem is that as one injury stack faded into the past, another popped up at safety. Derwin James Jr. and Tony Jefferson both went down in the win over Minnesota, and backup Alohi Gilman was dealt to the Ravens as part of the Odafe Oweh trade. Rookie RJ Mickens might be forced into the lineup in the short term if GM Joe Hortiz can’t find a veteran to help fill in. There are a lot of teams looking at safety help and few options available, especially after Kyle Duggerwent to the Steelers earlier this week.
Biggest needs: S, RB, Edge
One of the few teams with defensive depth on the market, the Patriots consummated a pair of trades when they dealtKyle Dugger to the Steelers and Keion White to the 49ers on Tuesday afternoon. Both moves have been in the cards for most of the 2025 season, but the trades were more about getting rid of players who didn’t fit Mike Vrabel’s system than shipping off players from a position of strength. The Pats probably wouldn’t mind adding a safety to rotate in alongside Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson.
On offense, the Patriots have been remarkably healthy, as the only regular contributor missing from the lineup right now is backup running back Antonio Gibson, who is out for the year with a torn ACL. Rhamondre Stevenson (fumbles) and TreVeyon Henderson (pass blocking) haven’t been reliable, so a move for a back who could play a handful of snaps per game as the third option in the lineup wouldn’t be shocking. The Patriots could be similarly looking for backups at spots such as edge rusher, tight end and defensive tackle — but I wouldn’t expect anything dramatic.
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2:17
Schrager to McAfee: Patriots might not be done making moves
Peter Schrager tells Pat McAfee that the Patriots’ recent moves not only free cap space but also show Mike Vrabel is building a new culture.
Biggest needs: G, Edge, LB
The 49ers have already made a handful of trades over the past few months, bringing in Brian Robinson Jr., Skyy Moore and Keion White. That limits GM John Lynch’s flexibility in shipping off more draft capital for guys who won’t be difference-makers on the roster. You can understand his desire to keep the roster competitive while players such as Trent Williams and George Kittle are in their title windows, but the 49ers have been hit by too many injuries and have lost too many star players.
Some of those standouts are coming back, so I’m not sure the 49ers are going to do anything besides wait for Brock Purdy, Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall and Bryce Huff to return. This team isn’t in rental territory right now. If the Niners can find young players who can make an impact in 2025 and stick around in 2026 and beyond, though, Lynch could probably justify making a move or two.
Biggest needs: OL, WR
Blessed with one of the youngest and healthiest rosters in the league, the Seahawks probably aren’t looking to do too much at the deadline. But GM John Schneider has surprised us in the past. Grey Zabel has settled in as one of the better guards in the league as a rookie, and the Seahawks are set at tackle with Abraham Lucas and Charles Cross, but this running game wouldn’t suffer from adding another lineman on the interior. There should be rookie contract (Jackson Powers-Johnson) and veteran (Kevin Zeitler) possibilities on the market, so if Schneider wants to make a move, he’ll have options.
The Seahawks are obviously thrilled with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Cooper Kupp is making an impact with his blocking, but there are always going to be questions about Kupp’s ability to stay healthy in his 30s. We’ll see more Tory Horton in the second half, but getting a veteran wideout who can block well as the third or fourth option would track.
Biggest needs: LB, OL, Edge
Likewise, GM Jason Licht and the Buccaneers can’t realistically expect to replace a half-dozen starters in the trade market. They mainly must hope to get healthy versions of Bucky Irving, Chris Godwin Jr., Luke Goedeke and Mike Evans between now and the end of the season. If the Bucs can find a lineman to help settle things down on the right side of their O-line or a pass rusher who can help deal with the absences of Calijah Kancey and Haason Reddick, they would have to consider it.
The only spot they might look to upgrade in the starting lineup in the long term is linebacker, where SirVocea Dennis has been overmatched in coverage and stretched trying to tackle in the open field. With veteran Lavonte David, 35, playing on a series of one-year deals, the Bucs might need to acquire two new off-ball linebackers to start this offseason. Could they call up the Bengals about Logan Wilson or ask the Dolphins about Jordyn Brooks?
Should take a neutral approach
There are a handful of organizations that don’t really have a clear path forward. They could add or subtract talent on the back end of their rosters, but it would be a surprise if they did something serious. Their most logical move might be doing nothing at all.
After last week’s ugly loss to the Dolphins, the Falcons are down to a 12.4% chance of advancing to this year’s postseason, per ESPN’s Football Power Index. They don’t have their own first-round pick in 2026 after shipping it to the Rams to get James Pearce Jr. in April, so you might argue that they’re less incentivized to tank (or at least lean into playing their younger guys) than teams that are hoping to land a top-10 pick in next year’s draft.
Opening up more playing time for Pearce and Jalon Walker would make sense, though, and the Falcons could move one of their existing edge rushers to recoup some of that lost draft capital. Ebiketie had six sacks in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but his role has been reduced in 2025, and the Falcons are likely to let him hit free agency after the season.
A three-game winning streak in Carolina was brought to a screeching halt by an ugly loss to Buffalo with Andy Dalton under center. A loss to the Packers in Green Bay this week would drop the Panthers to 4-5, and they still have games against the Rams, 49ers and Seahawks to come, as well as a home-and-home with the Buccaneers. Panthers fans are desperate for a playoff berth after eight years in the wilderness, but I’m not sure one’s in the cards in 2025, regardless of what Carolina does at the deadline.
One way to solve the Panthers’ sudden logjam at running back would be to trade Hubbard or Dowdle to a contender. Dowdle has been the more productive RB in recent weeks, and coach Dave Canales signaled that he was expecting to lean more toward him going forward. But the franchise also gave Hubbard a contract extension last season and signed Dowdle for only one year. Trading Dowdle to a contender like the Chargers or Chiefs would probably be the right long-term decision, even if it wouldn’t be easy to sell to the fan base right now.
Here’s another team that had its winning streak brought to a painful end last week. The Bears should realistically take GM Ryan Poles’ phone away from him at the trade deadline, given that he has made in-season moves to trade second-round picks for Chase Claypool (who caught 18 passes in a Bears uniform) and Montez Sweat (a good player who signed a superstar extension after the trade). Those picks became a pair of standout young cornerbacks in Joey Porter Jr. and Cooper DeJean.
The Bears could use DeJean or Porter right now given that their top three corners (Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson) are all injured. Poles shouldn’t be selling out to get a replacement, but I wonder if coordinator Dennis Allen would want to look up Alontae Taylor or Isaac Yiadom from his old stomping grounds in New Orleans as a short-term solution.
If there’s a prominent player who could unexpectedly make sense as a potential trade candidate at the deadline for me, it’s Moore. The 28-year-old is starting a four-year, $110 million extensionnext year, but he hasn’t found a consistent role in Ben Johnson’s offense; he is averaging a career-low 47.3 receiving yards per game. I get the sense that Johnson’s preferred option would be to work with 12 personnel when tight ends Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland are healthy or work Luther Burden III into the mix alongside Olamide Zaccheaus and Rome Odunze in three-WR sets. A trade during the offseason would make more sense, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Moore became the odd man out in Chicago.
The Jaguars are still figuring themselves out. They’ve already beatenPatrick Mahomes and lost toJake Browning. They’re still in the thick of the playoff hunt in the AFC South, but with the Colts three games ahead, it’s going to take a sweep of Indianapolis if the Jags want to win the division.
While there has been fanciful talk about potentially trading second-year wideout Brian Thomas Jr., what the Jags and their new brain trust really need is time to settle in. This team signed a bunch of new starters in free agency and then traded forGreg Newsome II earlier this month. It’s still figuring out the best role for Travis Hunter, who just had his most productive game as a pro in the loss to the Rams. GM James Gladstone could move on from some of the players he inherited from the Trent Baalke regime, such as Smith and Jones, but I would suggest that the Jags stand pat and give their roster time to coalesce.
The Steelers already made their deadline moves by signingMarquez Valdes-Scantling and making a trade with the Patriots for rugged safety Kyle Dugger, who is only a couple of years removed from being a standout on an excellent Patriots defense under Bill Belichick. Of course, this secondary is full of guys who are only a couple of years removed from being standouts, and the Steelers aren’t getting what they hoped out of veterans such as Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay and Juan Thornhill. They need more out of their cornerbacks and inside linebackers with Patrick Queen struggling, but those guys are locked into roles and aren’t going to be replaced until the offseason.
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2:35
Stephen A. fired up over Steelers’ awful defense
Stephen A. Smith is not giving the Packers too much credit for beating a bad Steelers defense.
Could Pittsburgh be more aggressive in trying to get Aaron Rodgers one more playmaker at running back or wide receiver as it tries to win a title with the 41-year-old? Maybe. The Steelers do have an extra third-round pick in the upcoming draft after the George Pickenstrade, so maybe that leaves GM Omar Khan with a little more flexibility to ship out a Day 3 pick for the right player.
Should probably deal players for picks
Everybody wants to be in a position to justify adding talent to plug roster holes and win some games, but these teams aren’t really in position to prioritize veteran talent right now. They shouldn’t be holding everything-must-go signs, but they might want to make a selective move or two to create an opportunity for a young player on their current roster or move on from a pending free agent and save some money.
The league’s coin-flip team, the Cardinals have had each of their seven games decided by seven points or fewer this season. Arizona is better than its 2-5 record, but with three five-win teams ahead in the NFC West, I’m not sure that really matters much. The Cards’ playoff odds are down to 4.4%, per the FPI. After Sunday’s game in Dallas, their next five games are against teams with winning records. I still believe Arizona can make a run, but it hasn’t looked capable of running the ball like it did in 2023 and 2024, and that has really caused the offense to stagnate.
With Walter Nolen III and BJ Ojulari theoretically set to return at some point during the second half of the season, the Cardinals have more defensive line depth than just about anybody else in the league. Campbell is continuing to play at a high level, and he might want to simply finish his career where it started in Arizona, but the 39-year-old is good enough to play meaningful snaps on a team that’s competing for a Super Bowl. He would be a great fit for a team like the Chiefs or Bills, both of whom could use extra depth up front.
After losing to the Jets on Sunday, the Bengals fell to 3-5. Their playoff odds per the FPI fell to 12%, a figure that is only partially informed by the toe injury to Joe Burrow, whose timetable for return is still unclear. The AFC North is still wide open, which might keep the Bengals from leaning more heavily into trading their veteran players. And Hendrickson’s hip injury, which has kept him out of eight of the past 12 quarters of football the Bengals have played, might reduce his trade value to the point where the Bengals would rather just keep their star edge rusher, even if he’s going to leave in free agency after the season.
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Schrager: I’m calling for Trey Hendrickson if I’m 49ers
Peter Schrager and Louis Riddick explain why the 49ers and Colts should call the Bengals to try and get Trey Hendrickson.
Should they move fringe players like Taylor-Britt or Wilson if a team comes calling, though? Absolutely. Taylor-Britt has been in and out of the lineup this season, and he had a pair of illegal contact penalties in the loss to the Jets. Given how many teams are desperate for cornerback help right now, director of player personnel Duke Tobin should be trying to find a home for Taylor-Britt, who will also be a free agent after the year.
The Texans aren’t out of the wild-card race at 3-4, but GM Nick Caserio would do well to add some future draft capital for players on the fringe of his roster. The Texans didn’t have a first-round pick in 2024 because of the trade up for Will Anderson Jr., and although they made a solid trade down with the Vikings to accrue extra capital, their 2025 second-round pick went to the Bills as part of the ill-fated deal for Stefon Diggs. They already have six picks in the first four rounds of next year’s draft, which is a plus, but every little bit helps.
Autry’s tenure with the Texans never really went as planned. He signed a two-year, $20 million deal in free agency, was suspended for the first six games of the 2024 season for violating the league’s PED policy and then missed the first five games of the 2025 season with a knee injury. But in his first 25 snaps of 2025, Autry already has a sack of Sam Darnold to his name. Due $2.2 million over the rest of the year, Autry could fit as a rotational tackle for teams that need an interior pass rusher.
Down their fourth-round pick in next year’s draft (but with a third-round compensatory pick on the way and handful of late-round picks to make up for it), the Vikings might also want to follow in Houston’s footsteps to make up for some of the aggressive moves they made in the past. The Vikings had only five picks in 2025, and at 3-4, they haven’t looked like a team that can make a deep playoff push this season.
They’ll obviously hope to improve after getting second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy back from his ankle injury, but the defense has been surprisingly lacking for coordinator Brian Flores. The Vikings had the second-best defensive performance of the season by EPA per play against Jake Browning and the Bengals in September and otherwise rank 25th by the same metric against everyone else, down from second a year ago.
Moving on from Jones might be more about saving money than anything else. He is owed just over $1 million in 2025 and has $2 million of his $10 million compensation in 2026 guaranteed, a deal the Vikings are likely to move on from this offseason. Would a team like the Chargers be willing to essentially pay $3 million to have Jones in its lineup for the rest of 2025? Pace, who has fallen out of the starting lineup and played just 17 defensive snaps over the past two weeks, is a restricted free agent after the season.
Injuries and late collapses against the Cowboys and Broncos have sapped the Giants’ chances of competing on the fringes of the wild-card picture in the NFC. General manager Joe Schoen isn’t going to want to do anything that compromises Jaxson Dart‘s development, but moving on from players who aren’t seeing many snaps on offense or former first-round picks who are going to be squeezed out on defense would make sense — especially if the Giants can add young players who would help them on offense.
Thibodeaux’s situation is probably the most interesting. The 2022 fifth pick has an 11.5-sack season to his name, and he is owed just $610,000 over the remainder of the season with a $14.8 million fifth-year option locked in for 2026. He’s still playing 73% of the snaps for the Giants, but their future on the edge is Abdul Carter and Brian Burns. Thibodeaux has been inconsistent, but talented young pass rushers with a year-plus of cost control at a very reasonable price don’t come available very often. The Giants have suggested publicly that they aren’t interested in trading Thibodeaux, but they also said that about Odell Beckham Jr. once, and you remember how that went.
Injuries have hurt, but it’s very clear that this version of the Commanders isn’t living up to the expectations raised by their 2024 success. Many of the veterans GM Adam Peters & Co. have added over the past 12 months haven’t panned out. Holdovers both old (Lattimore, Bobby Wagner) and young (Mike Sainristil, Brandon Coleman) have taken a step backward. There’s just not enough young talent on this roster, and the Commanders are down their second- and fourth-round picks in next year’s draft. They probably won’t be able to regain those selections with any of their trades, but adding some Day 3 picks would help.
Samuel is due just $1.1 million after the season, and if the Commanders aren’t going to re-sign him, getting something for the veteran wideout would make sense. Lattimore has been a disaster, and Igbinoghene hasn’t been playing — despite some of the worst secondary play in the league. But the sheer number of teams that need cornerbacks around the NFL makes me believe there could be a potential landing spot for the two Commanders corners. Peters would surely have to be willing to eat some money, though, as Lattimore is still owed $8.9 million over the remainder of 2025.
Should definitely deal players for picks
It’s time to face facts and accept that this isn’t their year. These teams aren’t going to compete for a Super Bowl in 2025, and although there’s still enough time for anyone to get hot and run into a postseason berth, these rosters aren’t good enough to make a deep playoff run. Moving on from some veterans and accruing draft capital or younger players for 2026 is the right thing for these teams to do.
Anything that isn’t nailed down. The Browns aren’t going to deal Myles Garrett or anybody from their promising rookie class, and I’d be surprised if they traded Denzel Ward, though the star cornerback is owed just over $1 million for the rest of 2025 and would surely have a ton of interest given the complete lack of options on the CB market.
Anyone else should and very well might be available for the Browns, who are realistically thinking about 2026 and 2027. When he put together his list of potential trade candidates earlier this month, ESPN’s Adam Schefter included the entirety of the interior of Cleveland’s offensive line.
Players such as Ford and Njoku, who have been usurped by Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr., respectively, aren’t going to be part of that 2027 roster. Njoku is in the final year of his contract and due only $1.3 million over the rest of the year, so although the Browns would surely like to use 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE) with Njoku and Fannin, getting a meaningful pick might be more valuable. The Browns are also likely to be active in free agency this offseason, which will limit their ability to rack up compensatory selections.
Well, you’ve watched the Cowboys’ defense. At 3-4-1 and with a stretch of games against the Eagles, Chiefs and Lions later this season, it’s tough to envision the Cowboys making it to the postseason, let alone doing anything once there. Jerry Jones has proudly bragged about the draft picks the Cowboys got for Micah Parsons and how they might help Dallas land a handful of valuable players, but barring something unexpected, those picks aren’t going to make a difference in 2025.
I would be stunned if the Cowboys traded Aubrey, but I’m throwing him out here more as a thought experiment than anything else. A going-nowhere Cowboys team doesn’t have much use for Aubrey, and although kickers can play into their 40s, the former soccer player is already 30 years old. He’s obviously a valuable player, but Aubrey is eligible for an extension next offseason, and the Cowboys need to save money around Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to address their defense.
Most teams aren’t going to trade a premium pick for a kicker, but Aubrey is so good that I wonder whether all-in teams might be willing to make an exception. Would someone like the Rams be willing to offer the Cowboys a second-round pick for Aubrey? My guess is no, but it’s fun to think about.
Williams, having a career season on a one-year deal at running back for a team that clearly sees running backs as replaceable in the post-Ezekiel Elliott era, would also have an interesting market.
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‘Get Up’ crew sounds off on Cowboys’ defensive woes
The “Get Up” crew takes stock of the Cowboys’ defensive struggles this season.
Things haven’t gone as planned for Pete Carroll in his first season with the Raiders. Smith has struggled to protect the football, and the 35-year-old might not make it through the season with his job intact. The Raiders owe Smith $13.3 million over the rest of 2025 and have already guaranteed $18.5 million of what he’s owed in 2026, which makes a deal unlikely unless one of the league’s playoff contenders has its starting quarterback suffer a season-ending injury next week.
It’s more likely that the Raiders will move on from a pending free agent like Meyers or some young players they inherited from the prior regimes in the desert. Wilson is likely to have his fifth-year option declined this offseason, and Richardson hasn’t played a single defensive snap after starting seven games a year ago.
Powers-Johnson has frustrated the team at guard, and coordinator Chip Kelly doesn’t appear to see the former Rimington Trophy winner as an NFL center. He has already been benched this season, but there are undoubtedly teams around the league that had positive grades heading into the draft on a player who came off the board with the 44th pick. He could use a change of scenery.
Although a blowout win over the Falcons helped to restore some semblance of confidence for the Dolphins, it would be a stretch to draw a line from that win to a real path toward a wild-card spot. Thursday’s game against the Ravens might determine what happens next for the Dolphins. A win could encourage GM Chris Grier & Co. to hold on to their vets before the trade deadline. A loss would drop Miami to 2-7 in advance of a game against the Bills, which might be a wrap on both the Dolphins’ season and this era of the organization.
The big question is what the Dolphins do on the edge, where they should be able to actually extract a meaningful pick if they make one of their starters available. Chop Robinson looked wildly impressive as a rookie, but he has played only 40% of the defensive snaps this season, with one sack in eight games. He needs more playing time. Getting it would require the Dolphins to trade one of the players ahead of him.
Phillips has looked great this season and ranks 15th in the league in quick pressures, per NFL Next Gen Stats. He’s owed $7.4 million in the final year of his contract. Chubb is in Year 1 of a three-year, $54 million extension, although none of that money is guaranteed after this season. He also makes just under $700,000 over the remainder of the year, which might make him more attractive in the short term. On the other hand, Chubb hasn’t been as impactful this season and is three years older than Phillips.
I didn’t include Jaylen Waddle or De’Von Achane as likely trade candidates. With Tyreek Hillunlikely to return to the organization after this season, I’m not sure why the Dolphins would aggressively be looking to trade their two most important offensive playmakers, especially without much else on the roster behind them. Miami would incur $23.3 million in dead money on next year’s cap if it traded Waddle, which isn’t impossible to manage but doesn’t make a trade more likely. Anything can happen if a team is willing to do something over the top, but I wouldn’t expect the Dolphins to move either player at the deadline.
It might have been easier to list the players the Saints shouldn’t consider trading. I’d peg that to be their 2025 draft class, defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, wide receiver Chris Olave, injured center Erik McCoy and running back Alvin Kamara, the last of whom has requested to stay with the organization for the remainder of his career. Everyone else should be available. I’m not sure more than a handful of players would attract meaningful interest, but the Saints are 1-7 and the seventh-oldest team in the NFL on a snap-weighted age basis. The best time to start their rebuild was yesterday.
There wouldn’t be meaningful returns for many of these players, unfortunately, as guys like Davis and Jordan, with expiring contracts at the tail end of their careers, would offer only short-term depth to competitive teams. Shaheed should attract meaningful interest if he does hit the market given how desperate teams are for speed, although the Steelers — my preferred destination for the pending free agent — appeared to signal that they were going in a different direction by signing Marquez Valdes-Scantling this week.
Last week’s comeback win over the Bengals shouldn’t trick the Jets into doing anything short-sighted or foolish. This team should still be looking to move on from veterans who aren’t going to be part of the team in 2026 and beyond. That could include Hall, who is coming off one of his best games as a pro. Are there teams that would be willing to give up anything more than a late-round pick for a 24-year-old back two months away from unrestricted free agency? The Jets shouldn’t deal Hall for the sake of it, but they should at least be open to calls for their 2022 second-round pick.
I alluded to the Cowboys trading Aubrey, but a Folk trade would be much more logical and realistic. The 40-year-old veteran has made all 26 of his kicks this season and is owed just $1.3 million over the remainder of the season. There are too many competitive teams with vulnerable kicking situations around the league, and the Jets could justify trading Folk for a sixth-round pick if he is willing to try to compete for a ring somewhere else.
Let’s play the same game we played with the Saints earlier. The Titans should be holding on to their 2025 draft class, star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, newly re-signed safety Amani Hooker, guard Peter Skoronski and 2024 second-round pick T’Vondre Sweat. As with the Saints, unfortunately, I’m just not sure there would be a ton of interest in what they’re offering if the Titans did make most of their roster available.
Jones has flashed at times this season, including a sack through Colts tackle Bernhard Raimannlast week on a spin move, and he’s set to make only $1.4 million over the remainder of 2025. In a league where everybody wants more pass rushers in the postseason, Jones would make sense as a short-term acquisition for someone. Okonkwo, an athletic tight end entering the final year of his deal, could be an interesting target for a team that wants to play more multi-tight end groupings.
The Titans landed a swap of Day 3 picks for cornerback Roger McCreary from the Rams, and they would be looking at a similar return for most of their available players.
However, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo may have stolen the show. He dressed up as a minion from the animated film series “Despicable Me” while arriving to the Bucks game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
Here are how some other stars who got into spooky season.
Charlie Manning dressed up as his “favorite Giants quarterback ever” — but that might not be who you’d expect. Giants rookie-signal caller Jaxson Dart, who the younger Manning decided to imitate, was touched by the gesture.
Charlie said he wanted to dress up as his favorite @Giants quarterback ever for Halloween… guess he got his wish. pic.twitter.com/oQXmuIMncv
Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen face each other again for what’s expected to be another thriller. The Vikings and Lions will square off in an NFC North battle, and Saints rookie QB Tyler Shough will make his regular-season debut against the Rams.
We have you covered with everything you need to know. Our NFL Nation reporters take you inside the locker room with the best thing they heard this week, and ESPN Research provides a key stat to know and a betting nugget for each contest. Plus, analytics writer Seth Walder makes a bold prediction for each matchup, and fantasy analyst Eric Moody shares fantasy football intel. We also have Football Power Index (FPI) matchup quality ratings (out of 100) and game projections, and three analysts — Pamela Maldonado, Moody and Walder — give us final score picks for every game.
Let’s get into the full Week 9 slate, which culminates with the “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Cardinals and Cowboys on ESPN. (Game times are Sunday unless otherwise noted.)
1 p.m. ET | Fox | Matchup rating: 70.5/100 ESPN BET: HOU -1.5 (39.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Broncos: Denver will be without Pat Surtain II (left pectoral strain) starting this week. For a team that plays the most man-to-man coverage in the league — the Broncos are the only team that plays at least 60% of coverage snaps in man — missing the league’s best coverage player is significant. The Broncos might have to pick and choose how aggressively they pursue QB C.J. Stroud or play more zone than they have all season. It was a difficult balance for Denver the last time it faced Stroud (in 2023), when he had 274 passing yards on 16 completions but was sacked five times. — Jeff Legwold
What we’re hearing on the Texans: The Broncos lead the NFL in sacks (36) while the Texans’ offensive line ranks 28th in pass block win rate (55.1%). One group is perceived as a strength, and the other group is slowly improving. Last week, Houston gave up zero sacks for the first time this season, so the hope is the line can carry that momentum against one of the NFL’s top defenses. — DJ Bien-Aime
Stat to know: The Texans have allowed 103 points through the first seven games of the season, the fewest in franchise history. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Broncos CB Riley Moss will record a 12% target rate or lower. Moss’ season average is 18%, but that number was inflated by playing opposite Surtain. Even when Surtain was opposite him, Moss allowed 1.1 yards per coverage snap this season, average for an outside CB. — Walder
Fantasy nugget: Some fantasy managers might be forced to rely on Broncos QB Bo Nix and WR Courtland Sutton this week with four teams on bye, but it’s important to set realistic expectations, given the matchup. The Texans’ defense has allowed the fewest fantasy points per game to QBs and the fourth fewest to WRs. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Texans are 1-4 ATS (against the spread) against teams with winning records this season. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Texans 23, Broncos 20 Moody’s pick: Broncos 20, Texans 17 Walder’s pick: Broncos 23, Texans 17 FPI prediction: HOU, 50.1% (by an average of 0.3 points)
1 p.m. ET | CBS | Matchup rating: 67.5/100 ESPN BET: IND -3.5 (50.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Colts: The Colts have been thriving in spite of an injury-plagued defense that is starting to show some cracks. Facing the Aaron Rodgers-led Steelers offense could be a revealing moment. Indianapolis has the league’s No. 1 offense and has played with sizable leads all season, and that has resulted in the defense giving up tons of yardage. The Colts rank 24th in yards allowed per game (345.1) and 30th in third-down defense. They have the firepower to win a potential shootout, but they’ll need to make consistent defensive stops. — Stephen Holder
What we’re hearing on the Steelers: They got torched by Packers TE Tucker Kraft, and the assignment doesn’t get easier this week as they face rookie TE Tyler Warren. Not only does Warren lead all tight ends with 492 yards, but the Steelers will be without hard-hitting S DeShon Elliott (knee). To help fill Elliott’s shoes, the Steelers traded for Patriots S Kyle Dugger, but he might not be ready to fully take over Elliott’s role on short notice. “It’s only but one DeShon, and you don’t want everybody to be DeShon. You want DeShon to be DeShon,” CB Darius Slay said. “You want whoever playing his position to be them. So, we just go out here and just compete, play together.” — Brooke Pryor
Stat to know: Colts RB Jonathan Taylor has scored 14 touchdowns this season, which is equal to or more than five NFL teams (Browns, Saints, Falcons, Raiders and Titans) thus far. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Steelers RB Jaylen Warren will record under 4.0 yards per carry for the first time since Week 3. The Steelers run inside zone 30% of the time, third most in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Colts are allowing just 2.3 yards per inside zone run this season, which ranks first. — Walder
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1:06
Daniel Jones to McAfee: Jonathan Taylor is ‘playing unbelievable right now’
Daniel Jones tells Pat McAfee how Jonathan Taylor’s dominant stretch has lifted the Colts’ offense.
Fantasy nugget: Steelers WR DK Metcalf and Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. both have favorable matchups this week. Metcalf has scored 16 or more fantasy points in two of his past three games while averaging seven targets per contest. Pittman has gotten nine targets and topped 20 fantasy points in each of his past two outings. Both receivers face defenses that rank inside the top five of fantasy points allowed per game to wideouts. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Colts are 6-2 ATS, tied with the Patriots for the best record in the NFL. Indianapolis is 4-1 ATS as a favorite and 6-0 ATS in conference play. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Colts 30, Steelers 27 Moody’s pick: Colts 35, Steelers 28 Walder’s pick: Colts 24, Steelers 20 FPI prediction: IND, 57.5% (by an average of 3.1 points)
1 p.m. ET | Fox | Matchup rating: 60.3/100 ESPN BET: DET -9.5 (48.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Vikings: The Lions’ offense has largely dominated Minnesota, scoring at least 30 points in the past four matchups. Though most defenses set out to stop the run first against Detroit, which ranks 10th in win probability added on rushing plays, the Vikings’ real antagonist has been QB Jared Goff. In those four games, Goff has an 80.6 QBR, having completed 78.5% of his passes for 1,020 yards, 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The Vikings will have to reverse those trends Sunday. — Kevin Seifert
What we’re hearing on the Lions: Edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson will face off against his college teammate QB J.J. McCarthy, a matchup Hutchinson described as being “exciting” because of their strong relationship. Hutchinson and McCarthy played at Michigan in 2021, when they won a Big Ten championship and dreamed of reaching this point in their careers. Now, they will compete for the first time in the NFL. “I think I texted him when he got drafted, telling him, ‘I’ll roll off a little bit on the end’ and not try to … you know,” Hutchinson said, smiling. “But it’s going to be fun.” — Eric Woodyard
Stat to know: The Vikings are the only NFL team with multiple sacks in every game this season. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Goff will record a QBR under 50. Minnesota’s defense hasn’t been the same this season as it was in the recent past. But it is a zone-heavy team, and the Lions have severe man-zone splits, averaging 0.44 EPA per dropback versus man and 0.09 versus zone. — Walder
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1:46
McAfee: Hutchinson deserving of big extension with Lions
Pat McAfee evaluates what Aidan Hutchinson has meant to the Lions after signing a four-year, $180 million extension.
Fantasy nugget: Lions RB Amon-Ra St. Brown and Goff should shine at home. Goff has averaged 16.8 fantasy points per game this season — giving him a reliable floor — but he has been even better at home, with an average of 20.1 points per game. The Vikings’ defense gave up big fantasy performances to Chargers QB Justin Herbert (25.2) and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (24.0) in each of its past two outings. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: Minnesota is 14-7 ATS on the road since 2023. All four Vikings road games this season have gone over the total. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Lions 30, Vikings 17 Moody’s pick: Lions 34, Vikings 17 Walder’s pick: Vikings 23, Lions 21 FPI prediction: DET, 74.9% (by an average of 10.3 points)
1 p.m. ET | Fox | Matchup rating: 55.8/100 ESPN BET: GB -13.5 (44.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Panthers: QB Bryce Young appears to be headed back to the starting lineup after missing this past Sunday’s game because of a high ankle sprain, but things could look different for the offense. Coach Dave Canales strongly suggested he will give RB Rico Dowdle a heavier workload and ditch the alternating series with Chuba Hubbard, calling what Dowdle has done “excellent.” Running against the Packers, who have the league’s third-best rush defense, will be key to keeping the pressure off Young to carry the offense. — David Newton
What we’re hearing on the Packers: QB Jordan Love was on the hottest streak of his career this past Sunday, when he completed 20 straight passes. “I knew it was going well,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “But I guess in the moment, I didn’t realize it was going that well.” Love’s start to this season — 13 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a 70.9% completion rate — is reminiscent of his eight-game stretch to finish the 2023 season (with 18 touchdowns and just one interception). “Obviously, when your quarterback is playing really good football, it’s good for everybody,” LaFleur said. — Rob Demovsky
Stat to know: The Packers have only four takeaways this season, which is tied with the Ravens for the second fewest in the NFL. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Packers WR Christian Watson will record another 85-plus-receiving-yard game. Watson, who returned last week from a torn ACL, managed 85 yards on just 23 routes. If he gets a target, there’s always a great chance it’ll be a big gain. Last week, 52% of his routes were verticals. — Walder
Fantasy nugget: Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan finished with a season-high seven receptions and tied his season high with 10 targets last week. He has averaged 12.5 fantasy points per game, but his ceiling could rise against a Packers defense that has struggled against outside receivers over the past month. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Panthers are 12-4 ATS in their past 16 games as underdogs. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Packers 27, Panthers 19 Moody’s pick: Packers 28, Panthers 17 Walder’s pick: Packers 30, Panthers 9 FPI prediction: GB, 77.1% (by an average of 11.5 points)
1 p.m. ET | CBS | Matchup rating: 55.4/100 ESPN BET: SF -2.5 (48.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the 49ers: The 49ers are averaging just 20 points per game, their lowest mark through eight games since coach Kyle Shanahan’s first season (2017). This week, they face a Giants defense that has allowed 215 points, its most in an opening eight-game stretch since 2019. For the 49ers to take advantage of that, they will need their offensive line to protect better than it did against Houston. “[They’re] similar in the fact they have an elite defensive line, as good as there is from the five rushers that they get on the field at the same time and the depth they have behind them,” Shanahan said. “[They are] as good as it gets from a pass rush standpoint.” — Nick Wagoner
What we’re hearing on the Giants: The Giants have to move forward without rookie RB Cam Skattebo, who is out for the season because of a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia. “I mean, other guys just kind of have to pick it up,” QB Jaxson Dart said. That starts with second-year RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. and extends to veterans such as WR Darius Slayton. New York will need some playmakers to step up against San Francisco’s top-10 scoring defense. — Jordan Raanan
Stat to know: The 49ers are second in the NFL in passing yards per game this season (259.3), trailing only the Cowboys. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Giants WR Wan’dale Robinson will record seven or more receptions. San Francisco nickelback Upton Stout is allowing 1.5 yards per coverage snap, the most among all slot corners with at least 100 coverage snaps. Stout has a shoulder issue, and if he cannot go, then Robinson would face a fill-in. Either way, he’s got a good matchup. — Walder
Fantasy nugget: Tracy should inherit a large share of Skattebo’s workload. Injuries to Fred Warner (ankle) and Nick Bosa (knee) have gutted the 49ers’ defense, leaving the unit last in pressure rate and struggling with tackling, coverage and consistency. Tracy and the Giants’ offense should capitalize on that weakness. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: Since the start of last season, overs are 11-1 in 49ers games after a loss. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: 49ers 34, Giants 29 Moody’s pick: 49ers 23, Giants 21 Walder’s pick: Giants 31, 49ers 27 FPI prediction: NYG, 56.2% (by an average of 2.5 points)
1 p.m. ET | CBS | Matchup rating: 48.9/100 ESPN BET: CHI -2.5 (51.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Bears: The key for the Bears’ offense will be converting on red zone opportunities, which has been a struggle since Week 3. Chicago has the NFL’s second-lowest red zone TD percentage (36.8%) and scored a league-low 3.9 points per red zone drive in that span. Going against a Cincinnati team that ranks 30th in red zone defense (70.3% TD rate) could help the Bears break through. “We place a lot of onus on being able to run the ball down there,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “I thought we could have done a little bit better inside the 10 [at Baltimore]. We had some negative plays that certainly didn’t help the cause. I feel good about the plan that we put into place.” — Courtney Cronin
What we’re hearing on the Bengals: If QB Joe Flacco (shoulder) can’t go Sunday, this could be the ultimate test for Jake Browning, who has eight interceptions this season. The Bears lead the league in interceptions (11) and turnover margin. Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said, “We’ve just got to play every down with a clear plan as to what you’re going to do with the football and know your keys and play with vision, don’t guess, and make responsible decisions.” — Ben Baby
Stat to know: The Bengals are allowing an NFL-worst 31.6 points per game this season and are seeking to avoid allowing 30-plus points in three straight games. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Bears RB D’Andre Swift will record 100-plus rushing yards for the third time in four games. Chicago runs outside zone on 50% of its designed runs, the third-highest rate in the NFL. And the Bengals are allowing 5.9 yards per carry against outside zone, also third most. — Walder
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2:10
Are the Bears serious playoff contenders?
Taylor Lewan, Dan Orlovsky, Andrew Hawkins and Will Compton debate if Caleb Williams and the Bears are frauds.
Fantasy nugget: Bengals RB Chase Brown erupted for 25.5 fantasy points on 15 touches in Week 8, while fellow RB Samaje Perine added 17.0 on 10 touches. With Flacco potentially out, Cincinnati could lean on its backs against a Bears defense that ranks 25th in run stop win rate (28.5%) and allows the sixth-most rushing yards per game (143.3). See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: Overs are 4-0 in Bengals home games and Bears road games. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Bears 20, Bengals 13 Moody’s pick: Bengals 35, Bears 31 Walder’s pick: Bears 30, Bengals 16 FPI prediction: CHI, 54.6% (by an average of 1.7 points)
1 p.m. ET | CBS | Matchup rating: 42.2/100 ESPN BET: NE -5.5 (44.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Falcons: Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa was the first QB to throw for over 200 yards against the Falcons’ defense. Now, Atlanta has the task of containing QB Drake Maye, whom defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich referred to as a “younger Josh Allen.” Expect continued aggression from a defense that leads the league in blitz rate on opposing dropbacks (47.8%) and has allowed the fewest passing yards per game (149.1). — Marc Raimondi
What we’re hearing on the Patriots: Starting RB Rhamondre Stevenson (toe) didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, highlighting potential depth concerns at the position as rookie TreVeyon Henderson and former practice squad player Terrell Jennings (2024 undrafted free agent) are next up. The team also added three RBs to the practice squad last week (D’Ernest Johnson, Jonathan Ward and Rushawn Baker). Maye noted the Falcons’ stingy pass defense and blitz-heavy approach, and considering Stevenson is also the Patriots’ most reliable RB in pass protection, whether he can play (team-high 62% of offensive snaps) is a top storyline. — Mike Reiss
Stat to know: Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte has a receiving touchdown in three straight games. He could become the third Patriots player in the past 10 seasons with a receiving score in four straight games. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Maye will lead the league in QBR this week. He has been great in 2025, but his numbers have been particularly exceptional against man coverage (89.1 QBR). Now, he faces the Falcons, who play man coverage 58% of the time, which is second most in the NFL. — Walder
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Woody: Drake Maye is the best QB in 2024 draft class
Damien Woody says Drake Maye is playing like a top-5 quarterback and is the best QB from the 2024 draft class.
Fantasy nugget: Falcons TE Kyle Pitts Sr. has piled up 19 targets over his past two games and scored at least 13 fantasy points in each. Though the Patriots’ defense is formidable, it allows the fifth-most fantasy points per game to tight ends. The unit also just gave up big performances to Browns TEs David Njoku (13.7) and Harold Fannin Jr. (18.4). See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Falcons are 6-14 ATS in their past 20 games as an underdog. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Patriots 30, Falcons 10 Moody’s pick: Patriots 24, Falcons 21 Walder’s pick: Patriots 31, Falcons 20 FPI prediction: NE, 64.9% (by an average of 5.8 points)
1 p.m. ET | CBS | Matchup rating: 39.5/100 ESPN BET: LAC -9.5 (43.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Chargers: Sunday will be somewhat of a revenge game for many in the Chargers’ locker room, as seven players spent time in Tennessee. That group includes cornerstones of their defense, DT Teair Tart and S Elijah Molden. There’s also edge rusher Bud Dupree, who signed a five-year, $85 million deal with the Titans in 2021. Molden, who was traded for a seventh-round pick after training camp last season, said he doesn’t have added motivation playing the Titans. “The move was great for me. So, it’s almost like, ‘Thank you,’” he said while laughing. — Kris Rhim
What we’re hearing on the Titans: The Titans’ secondary (specifically, cornerback) has been stripped down due to trading starters Jarvis Brownlee Jr. last month and Roger McCreary earlier this week, in addition to placing L’Jarius Sneed (quad) on injured reserve. Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson will have his hands full going against Justin Herbert, the NFL passing yards leader (2,140). — Turron Davenport
Stat to know: The Titans are seeking to avoid losing four straight games by double digits for the first time since the franchise relocated to Tennessee ahead of the 1997 season. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Chargers edge Tuli Tuipulotu will record two or more sacks. He has recorded six sacks this season, and everyone has a better chance of a multi-sack day when facing QB Cam Ward and his 11% sack rate. — Walder
Fantasy nugget: Chargers RB Kimani Vidal has been superb since taking over. He has accumulated 21 or more touches in two of his past three games and scored at least 19 fantasy points in both. Vidal is in another great spot this week. The Chargers are heavy favorites, which could create positive game flow, and Tennessee’s defense allows the third-most fantasy points per game to backs. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Titans are 1-6 ATS in their past seven games. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Chargers 28, Titans 14 Moody’s pick: Chargers 33, Titans 17 Walder’s pick: Chargers 31, Titans 12 FPI prediction: LAC, 74% (by an average of 9.9 points)
4:05 p.m. ET | Fox | Matchup rating: 46.3/100 ESPN BET: LAR -14.5 (43.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Saints: Rookie QB Tyler Shough will make his first start of the season. Coach Kellen Moore said he didn’t want to flip-flop quarterbacks, and expects Shough to be the quarterback for the rest of the season. Spencer Rattler, who was benched midway through this past Sunday’s game, will be the backup. — Katherine Terrell
What we’re hearing on the Rams: They have had back-to-back games with four or more sacks. According to ESPN Research, another such game would tie their longest streak with four or more sacks since Sean McVay took over in 2017. McVay pointed to the group’s efficiency on early downs. “That’s one of the best defenses that I’ve ever been around or gone against,” he said. — Sarah Barshop
Stat to know: Saints RB Alvin Kamara had a season-low 21 rushing yards against the Bucs last week. He has failed to reach 40 rushing yards in each of the past four games, which is tied for the longest streak of his career (2017, rookie season). — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Rams CB Darious Williams will record an interception. Not only is he facing Shough, but Williams is having a strong season with 0.6 yards per coverage snap (per NFL Next Gen Stats), seventh best among outside corners with at least 100 coverage snaps. — Walder
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Is Alvin Kamara no longer a lineup lock?
Mike Clay explains why Alvin Kamara’s decreased fantasy production this season barely makes him a top-20 running back in Week 9.
Fantasy nugget: Rams QB Matthew Stafford was on a hot streak before the Week 8 bye, scoring at least 25 fantasy points in three of his previous four games. The stage is set for Stafford and WRs Puka Nacua and Davante Adams to deliver big performances against a Saints defense that has allowed 14 touchdown passes, the sixth most in the league. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Saints are 2-6 ATS this season, tied for the worst record in the NFL. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Rams 27, Saints 18 Moody’s pick: Rams 31, Saints 16 Walder’s pick: Rams 29, Saints 10 FPI prediction: LAR, 86% (by an average of 16.3 points)
4:05 p.m. ET | FOX | Matchup rating: 30.8/100 ESPN BET: JAX -2.5 (44.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Jaguars: To snap a two-game losing streak, coach Liam Coen stressed the importance of being balanced offensively. The Jaguars threw 90 passes and ran it 38 times combined in losses to the Seahawks and Rams, a significantly higher pass-run split than the first five games, when they averaged 37 passes and 28 runs. “I need to call more runs,” Coen said earlier in the week. What also would help is the Jaguars cutting down on penalties to avoid getting behind the sticks (they lead the league with 48 offensive penalties and 37 accepted offensive penalties). — Michael DiRocco
What we’re hearing on the Raiders: Las Vegas coach Pete Carroll is a big fan of Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter. On Wednesday, Carroll called Hunter a savvy football player who is aggressive in coverage. Even though Carroll knew the Raiders didn’t think Hunter would fall to the No. 6 pick, he was impressed by the Heisman Trophy winner during the interview process. “I would have loved to have had the chance to [play Hunter both ways],” Carroll said. “That’s what we talked about in the interview, and he was right on it as far as the mentality that it would take to do something like that.” — Ryan McFadden
Stat to know: The Raiders have been held to fewer than 30 points in 27 consecutive games. That’s the longest active streak in the NFL and third-longest streak in franchise history. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Jaguars CB Greg Newsome II will allow a touchdown in coverage. Newsome has played just 24 coverage snaps in two games as a Jaguar since his trade from the Browns, but he has allowed 3.9 yards per coverage snap and two touchdowns in that span. — Walder
Fantasy nugget: Hunter set season highs in targets (14), receptions (eight) and fantasy points (24.1) before the bye. The rookie has a great chance to keep that momentum going. Brian Thomas Jr. is limited because of a shoulder injury, and the Raiders’ defense is allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to wideouts. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Raiders are 1-5 ATS in their past six games, including 0-4 ATS as an underdog in that span. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Jaguars 27, Raiders 21 Moody’s pick: Jaguars 27, Raiders 19 Walder’s pick: Jaguars 24, Raiders 20 FPI prediction: JAX, 54.6% (by an average of 2.4 points)
4:25 p.m. ET | CBS | Matchup rating: 89/100 ESPN BET: KC -2.5 (52.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Chiefs: One reason many of the Chiefs players love their rivalry with the Bills is how both fanbases support their team and hate the other team. “They do not like the Chiefs,” QB Patrick Mahomes said of the Bills’ fans. “It is a cool environment. I love playing in historic stadiums and that stadium has had so many great players play in it.” Sunday’s game could be the Chiefs’ last appearance in Highmark Stadium. Mahomes hopes Kansas City can pull together for its first victory in Buffalo since 2020. — Nate Taylor
What we’re hearing on the Bills: Though the Bills’ offense has reigning MVP Josh Allen, and RB James Cook III is off to an explosive start, questions linger about the recent struggles of the outside passing game. The defense is also dealing with injuries and will have to keep pace with a Chiefs offense that has gotten hot after Rashee Rice‘s return. “Anytime you’re playing against a good team and a good quarterback, you have to get to play at the top of your game in order to win a football game,” Allen said. “So, not that you don’t go out there and try to play your best all the time, there is a heightened sense of awareness to that, of understanding who’s on the other side of the football.” — Alaina Getzenberg
Stat to know: This is the 10th matchup between Mahomes and Allen, including the playoffs. Since 1950, no QBs under 30 have faced off more from different divisions. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: The Bills will record multiple 30-plus-yard gains on crossing routes. They run crossing routes 13% of the time, second most in the NFL, while the Chiefs — despite having a good pass defense — have allowed 0.77 EPA per play against targeted crossing routes (second worst). — Walder
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0:45
Riddick: Bills’ roster is designed to beat Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
Louis Riddick explains why a Week 9 loss to the Chiefs at home would be a devastating blow for the Bills.
Fantasy nugget: Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt is set up for success with Isiah Pacheco dealing with a right MCL sprain. Hunt’s nose for the end zone has kept him on the fantasy radar, scoring five total touchdowns in eight games. The Bills’ defense also allows the sixth-most fantasy points per game to RBs. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: Allen is 4-1 outright and ATS against Mahomes in the regular season, including four straight wins and covers. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Chiefs 23, Bills 20 Moody’s pick: Chiefs 32, Bills 24 Walder’s pick: Bills 27, Chiefs 24 FPI prediction: KC, 58.2% (by an average of 2.6 points)
What we’re hearing on the Seahawks: They aren’t sure which Commanders QB they’ll face Sunday night — Jayden Daniels or Marcus Mariota. Coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday that they don’t need drastically different game plans for either because Washington runs the same offense regardless. “I think both operate it really well, both have really great arm talent, both can extend plays, both are really fast,” Macdonald said. — Brady Henderson
What we’re hearing on the Commanders: Washington’s defense continues to allow explosive plays. The Commanders have allowed 27 pass plays of at least 20 yards, and only four teams have yielded more. Only one team (Dallas) has allowed more total yards on such plays. It’s due to myriad problems, from communication to discipline and sometimes just getting beat. Meanwhile, in only seven games, Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 14 receptions of 20-plus yards — and has 101 more total yards off such plays than any receiver in the NFL. — John Keim
Stat to know:Sam Darnold has had 19 completions of 20-plus air yards, most in the NFL this season. The most by a Seattle player in the first eight games over the past 20 seasons is 20 by Russell Wilson (2019 and 2017). — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: Commanders LB Bobby Wagner will lead all players in combined tackles in Week 9. If Seattle gets out to a lead, it’ll want to run the ball plenty — hence giving Wagner tackle opportunities. Plus, my tackle model gives Wagner a 46% chance to reach double-digit tackles — the highest of any player this week. — Walder
Fantasy nugget: Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet is in a great spot behind an offensive line that ranks 10th in run block win rate (72.7%), facing a Commanders defense that’s middle of the pack in fantasy points allowed to the position. Charbonnet has had 10 or more touches in every game this season. He finished with a season-high 19.5 fantasy points before the bye. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Commanders are 11-26-1 ATS in prime-time games since 2013 (0-3 ATS this season). Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Seahawks 30, Commanders 19 Moody’s pick: Seahawks 28, Commanders 21 Walder’s pick: Seahawks 27, Commanders 21 FPI prediction: WSH, 56.8% (by an average of 2.3 points)
Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN | Matchup rating: 54.2/100 ESPN BET: DAL -2.5 (53.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Cardinals: They are at the proverbial fork in the road with their season. If all the tweaks they made during the bye week pay off with a win, they could salvage a season that has been marred by a five-game losing streak. If they extend that streak to six games, the season could be hanging on by a thread. “I think the main thing for us is you can’t look into the future. You can’t look back now. We are where we are. We got to do everything that we need to do to try to win a game,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. — Josh Weinfuss
What we’re hearing on the Cowboys: At 3-4-1, the Cowboys are in must-win territory at the midway point of their season — not just for playoff purposes, but for feeling like ‘the-season-isn’t-slipping-away’ purposes. Since 2000, the Cowboys are 15-10 in games before their bye week. In the past 10 seasons they have made the postseason, they have lost the game before their bye only once and still made the playoffs (2018). That year, they made a season-changing trade for Amari Cooper before the trade deadline. Do they have a similar move in store this season? — Todd Archer
Stat to know: The Cowboys are the first team in NFL history to average 30.0 points per game and have a negative point differential through the first eight games. — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: If he starts, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray (foot) will record his highest air-yards-per-attempt game of the season (previous high: 7.0). Cowboys opponents have averaged 8.6 air yards per attempt this season, highest in the NFL. — Walder
Fantasy nugget: Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. has been underwhelming so far, topping 13.0 fantasy points in only three games and reaching 10 or more targets just once. Things are looking up against a Cowboys defense that has struggled against outside receivers and is allowing the most fantasy points per game to wideouts. See Week 9 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is 29-22-1 ATS in his career as a home favorite with overs going 35-17 in those games. Read more. — ESPN Research
Maldonado’s pick: Cowboys 48, Cardinals 20 Moody’s pick: Cowboys 41, Cardinals 31 Walder’s pick: Cowboys 33, Cardinals 24 FPI prediction: DAL, 61.1% (by an average of 4.2 points)
TORONTO — George Springer was back in the Toronto Blue Jays’ lineup for Game 6 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night after missing two games with an injury to his right side.
Springer was set to lead off as designated hitter for the Blue Jays, who led the Series 3-2 and were one win from their first title since 1993.
“Once you get confirmation that there’s nothing terribly wrong, it’s kind of ‘What can you tolerate?’” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s somehow, at age 36, made significant progress in the last 48 hours.”
Bo Bichette, still regaining his fitness after a sprained knee that sidelined him for seven weeks, was at second base.
Springer strained his right side while taking a swing in Game 3 and immediately left the game after the first pitch of his plate appearance.
“It wasn’t great,” Schneider said of Springer’s exit. “He’s tough. I think any hitter, when you kind of feel something there, you get a little worried. I think that kind of scares guys a little bit but I’m really happy that he’s back.”
Schneider said the Blue Jays don’t believe Springer can aggravate or worsen his pain by playing.
“That’s kind of how we’re approaching it,” Schneider said. “There’s always some risk, too. There’s a difference between being injured and hurting. He’s not injured right now. But yeah, there’s always a risk.”
Springer worked out in the batting cage and again on the field before Game 5. He was preparing to pinch run for Bichette in the ninth inning, but Bichette grounded out.
“He was pretty close two days ago,” Schneider said of Springer. “It was just trying to balance another day and a half of rest or would he be all right. If we needed him, he was going to come into the game in some capacity. He’s a gamer, man. Ready to go.”
Springer has the second-most leadoff homers in major league history with 63, trailing only Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson’s 81.
Springer hit a three-run homer in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against Seattle on Oct. 20, playing a major role in sending the Blue Jays to their first World Series since 1993.
Springer was the World Series MVP for the Houston Astros in 2017, when he tied a Series record by hitting five homers against the Dodgers. Los Angeles fans have booed him at Dodger Stadium since that Astros title was later tainted by the revelation of their illegal sign stealing.
___
Associated Press freelancer writer Ian Harrison contributed to this report.
Jannik Sinner beat Ben Shelton 6-3 6-3 in the Paris Masters quarter-finals to continue his pursuit of returning to the top of the ATP rankings.
Sinner looked fatigued but battled through in straight sets to reach the last four in Paris for the first time and will play Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev on Saturday.
Carlos Alcaraz’s surprise defeat to Britain’s Cameron Norrie gives Sinner an opportunity to become world No 1 going into the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin on November 9-16, live on Sky Sports Tennis.
“I’m not thinking about the ranking. It’s all a consequence of how I’m playing,” said Sinner.
“We take it day by day. Every day we have difficult challenges. Today was a tough one, so I’m happy to come through.
“Whatever comes out, comes out. It’s been a long season with some great results and I never take that for granted. I’m happy to be in this situation and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
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Carlos Alcaraz and his coach, former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, where seen having a heated discussion during his defeat to Britain’s Cameron Norrie at the Paris Masters
Sinner bent down several times from early in the match with Shelton but it did not stop him from breaking in the fifth game with some sublime ball-striking.
The Italian broke again to clinch the opening set in 34 minutes, dropping just one point on his own serve and continued that dominance into the start of the next set with an early break.
However, Shelton showed some fight by breaking back to make it 3-3 but any hopes of a great comeback were short lived as Sinner won the next three games to secure a place in the semi-finals.
Image: Jannik Sinner has beaten Ben Shelton seven times in a row
“I’m very happy. It was a tough match,” said Sinner.
“At times I didn’t have much control because of his incredible serving but I returned well and from the back of the court I was solid, and also very aggressive, so I’m very happy about the match.
“Tomorrow will be a physical match, so let’s see how I feel.”
Vacherot’s impressive run comes to an end
Felix Auger-Aliassime ended Valentin Vacherot’s impressive run at the Paris Masters with a 6-2 6-2 win in the quarter-finals.
Vacherot had won his previous 10 Masters matches – highlighted when he defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to win his first title in Shanghai earlier this month – but Auger-Aliassime proved too strong for the Monegasque player as he advanced to his fourth Masters semi-final.
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Highlights of Felix Auger-Aliassime against Valentin Vacherot at the Paris Masters
Auger-Aliassime, who has reached 10 tour-level semi-finals this season, going on to win in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels, is hoping to at least make the final to try and qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals.
The 25-year-old will take on Alexander Bublik in Saturday’s first semi-final after the unpredictable Kazakhstan player came back to beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-5.
Watch the Paris Masters and the start of WTA Tour Finals this weekend, live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
Dan Wetzel is a senior writer focused on investigative reporting, news analysis and feature storytelling.
LSU currently does not have a president, an athletic director or a head football coach.
Louisiana does have a governor, Jeff Landry, who essentially fired the latter two and, having apparently solved all the issues facing the people of his state, is spending his time lording over the athletic department.
That’s a task that always seems easy, whether from an internet message board or a Tiger Stadium bleacher.
Landry initially said the job of hiring a new coach would fall to a subcommittee set up by the school’s 17-member Board of Supervisors. After days of criticism, interim athletic director Verge Ausberry said Friday that a search committee was set up but that he had been given full authority to hire “the best football coach there is.”
Well, unless Landry empowers President Trump to make the selection.
“He loves winners, you know?” Landry said back on Wednesday.
Landry was joking. We think. Really, who can tell? After all, having a sitting president with no actual ties to a university selecting the football coach makes about as much sense as choosing one via bureaucratic committee.
(Who would Trump choose? Tommy Tuberville? Herschel Walker? Another job for Marco Rubio?)
“Total clown show,” said one rival SEC athletic director.
Even by the standards of the three-ring circus known as college football.
The question is whether the political involvement will hinder LSU from identifying the right athletic director/coach combination to lead the Tigers back to a national championship — or worse, scare the best candidates away.
This sport is tough enough without a meddlesome governor.
LSU dropped to 5-3 on Saturday via a humiliating loss to Texas A&M. It caused not just Landry, but many Tiger fans to lose complete faith in Brian Kelly, whom athletic director Scott Woodward hired away from Notre Dame 3 1/2 seasons ago.
Kelly was just 34-14 (19-10 in SEC play) in Baton Rouge. The program’s three previous coaches all won national titles. Kelly didn’t even manage a playoff bid. So Landry orchestrated a Sunday firing, complete with a $54 million buyout for Kelly and his “fam-uh-lee” to go away.
Days later, at a press conference about food stamps and behind a sign that read “Protecting The Most Vulnerable,” he set his sights on humiliating, and essentially firing, Woodward for hiring Kelly in the first place.
“I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting our next coach,” Landry said.
Kelly’s 10-year, $100 million contract obviously broke bad for the school, but that sum was also about the standard going rate and was unanimously approved by … the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Woodward whiffed on Kelly, an odd fit who turned out uncomfortable in the quickly shifting NIL/transfer portal era. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t a complete disaster. Those three losses this season were to three Top 10 teams — 8-0 A&M, 7-1 Ole Miss and 7-1 Vanderbilt.
Woodward, it’s worth noting, is also responsible for hiring LSU’s baseball and women’s basketball coaches — both of whom have led the school to national titles. Women’s gymnastics has also won it all during Woodward’s tenure.
In previous AD jobs, Woodward hired Chris Petersen to revive the Washington football program and Jimbo Fisher to lead Texas A&M. Fisher eventually flamed out and was owed his own massive, $76 million buyout.
“This is a pattern,” Landry said of Woodward being responsible for big payouts.
The governor had the timing wrong, though. After some early success while Woodward was the AD in College Station, Fisher’s contract was actually renewed by Woodward’s successor. Landry also suggested that taxpayers were on the hook for Kelly’s golden parachute. That’ll be handled by private money.
But, hey, let’s not let the facts get in the way of things here.
None of this is to say Kelly or Woodward needed to stay in their jobs. It’s just that some tact was in order, if only for external perception. Nor was Landry all wrong about a few things — coaching contracts are out of control, too many ADs and coaches share agents, and most notably, LSU and its fans deserve a program that can win national titles.
Like most things in politics, there is just enough truth for almost any argument to work.
The problem for LSU is that this isn’t politics. It’s college sports. Passion fuels everything, but precision is what delivers.
If Landry thinks LSU is going to get Lane Kiffin to leave Ole Miss without a Kelly-esque contract (or bigger), then he doesn’t understand the business.
LSU has the resources, recruiting base and tradition to be considered a top-five job in the country. It is a special place, a coveted job. Hiring a coach, though, is a complicated dance. The best candidates have other great options — from Florida to Penn State to staying put. Recruitment is often done in secrecy, not via committee.
Ausberry, the executive deputy AD under Woodward, is part of the search group, along with select individuals from the Board of Supervisors and donors.
But are they really going to let an interim AD make a $100 million hire?
Even when they find a coach, no one knows if the new guy will be successful.
Now, LSU has to contend with the perception of chaos … and a wild-card governor who controls the very Board of Supervisors that will hire not only the coach, but a president and permanent AD who need to work closely together in a time when money stocks rosters.
You don’t just pick a coach; the coach has to be persuaded to pick you.
Louisiana in general, and LSU in particular, is always surrounded by a healthy dose of crazy. That’s part of its power, part of its appeal, part of what makes it special. Play Neck. Geaux Tigers.
It also, after a clumsy few days of political grandstanding, has become a self-constructed hurdle to overcome.
The FIA has rejected criticism of Liam Lawson by Mexico’s motorsport federation by insisting the Racing Bulls driver was “not at fault” for a near-miss with marshals during Sunday’s race.
On the third lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Lawson narrowly avoided a collision with two marshals who had been sent out to clear debris in the first sector, with the incident leading to the sport’s governing body to launch an investigation after the race.
Despite that investigation being incomplete, Mexico’s FIA-sanctioned motorsport federation, ODMAI, released a statement on Thursday accusing Lawson of failing to slow sufficiently under the double waved yellow flags and for not altering his line into the first corner as he approached the marshals.
While not mentioning the ODMAI statement, the FIA released its own statement on Friday absolving Lawson of any wrongdoing.
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Highlights of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The FIA statement said: “Whilst the investigation remains ongoing, we acknowledge that any situation where marshals find themselves on track in front of oncoming cars is something we never want to see, and hence it is natural that such an incident will provoke concern and numerous comments.
“It is fortunate this incident did not result in any serious consequences, but we are conducting an internal investigation to understand exactly what happened and to identify any areas where procedures can be improved.
“We are collaborating openly and transparently for this purpose with the OMDAI (Mexican Automobile Club) and with Racing Bulls Formula One Team, with the ultimate objective to achieve our common aim, which is to always improve the safety of our Sport.
“As with all serious incidents, the full analysis will take some time, as it involves collecting and reviewing all relevant evidence, including radio communications in multiple languages from the various parties involved, and synchronising all of these diverse inputs. The findings will be shared once the review is complete.
“Having analysed the telemetry from the incident, we can confirm that the driver of Car #30, Liam Lawson, slowed appropriately and reacted correctly to the double yellow flags displayed in the area, braking earlier than in other laps and passing significantly slower than racing speed into Turn 1. He is not at fault in this incident.”
Image: Lawson was involved in a near-miss with two marshals during the Mexico City GP
The incident appeared to be a result of the marshals being deployed onto the track under the belief that the whole field had passed through the opening corners at the start of lap three, when Lawson was still to clear the section having pitted for a new nosecone at the end of the second lap.
The FIA had explained in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s race that the marshals had been dispatched without awareness that Lawson had pitted, and that the instructions to send them onto track were rescinded and double yellow flags waved as soon as the presence of the approaching Racing Bulls car was noted.
Double-waved yellow flags signify that drivers must reduce their speed significantly, cannot overtake and must be prepared to change direction or stop due to the presence of a hazard on track and/or marshals being on or beside the circuit.
There are more extreme options for intervention available to the race director, such as a Virtual Safety Car, Safety Car, or red flag.
The FIA added: “Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the volunteers and marshals for their professionalism and dedication – without them, our sport could not operate safely.”
Daniel Oyefusi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. Prior to ESPN, he covered the Miami Dolphins for the Miami Herald, as well as the Baltimore Ravens for The Baltimore Sun.
BEREA, Ohio — For the second consecutive season, the Browns are 2-6. And Cleveland enters its Week 9 bye on the heels of another anemic offensive performance in a 32-13 loss to the New England Patriots. That defeat has added to the many questions surrounding the Browns’ quarterback situation, which includes rookies Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and veteran Deshaun Watson.
Gabriel, who took over for the benched and since-traded Joe Flacco at the beginning of October, just completed his fourth NFL start. But in a month with the 2025 No. 94 pick at the helm, Cleveland’s offense hasn’t looked markedly different, averaging 17.5 points in Gabriel’s four starts compared to 14 points in Flacco’s four starts.
Despite Gabriel throwing two interceptions against New England and posting the second-lowest Total QBR (25.8) in the NFL — above only Tennessee Titans rookie Cam Ward — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said he would stick with the 24-year-old for the team’s Week 10 road game against the New York Jets (Nov. 9, 1 p.m., CBS).
Meanwhile, Sanders, who was inactive last Sunday because of a back injury, awaits his opportunity during a regular-season game. Watson, who has spent the first half of the season on the physically unable to perform list, continues to rehab his Achilles injury. And Bailey Zappe, who served as QB2 against the Patriots in Sanders’ place, remains on the practice squad.
Here’s what you need to know about the Browns’ quarterback situation with nine regular-season games to go.
Why is Stefanski sticking with Gabriel?
Stefanski said he would “look at everything” shortly after the Browns’ Week 8 loss in Foxborough, Massachusetts. But when asked about the quarterback situation, he said he would continue to stick with Gabriel, who has completed 59.9% of his passes for 702 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions this season.
“When I say look at everything, when you lose like this, you have to look at everything,” Stefanski said after the game. “Every position, everything I’m doing. It’s frustrating for where we are as a team. Every position you have to look at. But let me say that with a young quarterback, you understand there’s going to be ups and downs.”
Stefanski, who did not rule out giving up playcalling duties after the bye, again explained the decision to stick with Gabriel on Monday, saying he was looking at ways to improve the entire offense.
“Dillon will continue to learn, will continue to get better, but it’s really an entire offensive type of thing where we all need to better,” Stefanski said.
Issues for the Browns’ offense haven’t been limited to the quarterback position. Cleveland ranks 19th in ESPN’s run block win rate metric and 26th in pass block win rate. The offensive line has used seven starting combinations in eight games, and five players have logged a snap at tackle.
The Browns’ pass catchers have also struggled. Cleveland’s 13 drops are the third most in the league. And the team’s top four targeted players — Jerry Jeudy, Harold Fannin Jr., David Njoku and Isaiah Bond — all rank in the bottom 10 of ESPN’s receiver scores, which assesses receiver performance in getting open, contesting and making the catch, and generating yards after the catch.
“We have confidence in Dillon to keep improving,” Browns left guard Joel Bitonio said Monday. “He’s had four games, he’s had some tough matchups and we want the offense to continue to grow. It’s not a one-person issue at times, so we want to give our quarterbacks a chance, and I think this bye week gives him a chance to reset, is going to be good for his growth.
“For a young guy in this league, four games is so minuscule on a big platform, so we have to give him a chance to adjust and to see what he likes. I think going back, rewatching these games and being like, ‘What plays were we successful with on offense? What does he like? How does he like to move in the pocket? Where does he like to set up?’ All those things are still questions that we have to answer. “
When could we see Sanders play?
Sanders had served as the backup to Gabriel in the two games (against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins) that preceded the back injury that forced him to be inactive in Week 9.
“He obviously came in Saturday with his back injury,” Stefanski said Monday. “We were hopeful that he’d be able to move around well enough to suit up on Sunday. But, put him through a pregame warmup, and obviously just didn’t feel like he was ready to play … but he’s getting better every day and I’m hopeful that he’ll continue to improve.”
Sanders, the No. 144 pick in this year’s draft, said after the game that it wasn’t his choice to be inactive but that he would be “good” healthwise after the bye.
This week, while speaking on a live stream, Sanders said he would stay in Cleveland during the bye to continue receiving treatment on his back and “get ready.”
When asked about a potential change to Sanders at quarterback, Stefanski on Monday said, “Honestly, my focus is where we are right now. … That’s not my focus.”
Sanders has been in the QB2 role, but Stefanski said he has not received reps with the starting unit, the way Gabriel did when Flacco was the starter for the Browns’ first four games.
“With a young quarterback, with Dillon starting, you want to make sure he gets a lot of reps,” Stefanski said. “Different when you have a veteran like Joe, but still getting reps in a bunch of periods.”
But Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees have reiterated Sanders is getting reps in alternative ways.
“There’s a lot of walk-through reps that go around, there’s a lot of learning opportunities that go around, there’s reps built into practice that are still game-plan reps that might not be with the first group all the time,” Rees said. “So, definitely using all the resources we have to make sure that we maximize it.”
But the question regarding when Sanders will play appears to be a matter of if, not when, with nine games left. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said at the beginning of training camp that it was important to see both rookie quarterbacks ahead of the 2026 NFL draft, when the Browns currently hold two first-round picks — their own and the one obtained from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“He’s working hard and really learning by the day, by the week,” quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave said of the former Colorado quarterback. “He’s doing a nice job of getting the most out of each and every day and feeling more comfortable with the system.”
Will Watson play at all this season?
The Browns haven’t provided an update on Watson’s status since saying in January that he would “likely miss significant time during the 2025 season” after a second surgery to repair his right Achilles tendon.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, speaking during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Oct. 13, said Watson was “a good month away from being cleared for any football activity.”
Over the past few months, Watson has posted videos of himself throwing and moving on his repaired Achilles, but an exact timetable for a return still remains unclear. He has been involved in meetings with the other quarterbacks and has been a veteran presence for the team’s position room, according to Musgrave.
Watson has one year left on the five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract that he signed upon being traded from the Houston Texans in March 2022. The Browns owe Watson $46 million in cash in the 2026 season.
If Watson is medically cleared and ready to return to football activities, the Browns could open his practice window. Watson would then have 21 days to practice until the Browns would have to decide on activating him to the 53-man roster or sidelining him for the rest of the season.
“He’s definitely been through a lot,” Musgrave said. “I know he wants to play a lot of football again. He feels like he’s got a lot of tread left on his tires.”
College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
The defining trait of this coaching cycle in college football isn’t scope but speed.
Yes, the number of open jobs in the FBS seems to grow by the weekend, with LSU being the latest — and biggest — to drop. We’ve seen early-season and midseason firings before, most recently in 2021, when jobs including USC and LSU were already open at this point in the calendar. The number of power-conference vacancies before Nov. 1 this season, though, is notable.
More than anything, the pace at which the carousel is moving stands out. Consider the Penn State coaching search, only 18 days old. We barely had time to digest the magnitude of James Franklin’s firing after 11-plus seasons at PSU — and a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance in January — before potential replacement Curt Cignetti agreed to a new eight-year, $93 million contract with Indiana. A day later, Nebraska‘s Matt Rhule — considered by many to be the favored target for Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft — saw the Cornhuskers lose 24-6 at Minnesota, their sixth consecutive defeat to the Golden Gophers. Then Rhule agreed to his own extension on Oct. 30.
Where will Penn State turn now? And how will Texas A&M‘s surge under Mike Elko, a New Jersey native who played college football at Penn, impact the search? Who else is working their way into the mix?
The Lane Kiffin-Florida exclusive courtship lasted only a week before LSU entered the chat. Kiffin could end up deciding between two of the better jobs in the SEC or he could stay at Ole Miss, which he has built into a national contender and where he receives strong support. Ole Miss’ position as a CFP hopeful could take the process well into December.
“Hard for me to see Lane staying with this much movement,” a coaching agent said.
If Kiffin stays put, Florida will need to turn elsewhere. Missouri‘s Eliah Drinkwitz, Louisville‘s Jeff Brohm and SMU‘s Rhett Lashlee are intriguing options, but would they get Gators fans anywhere near as excited?
LSU’s non-Kiffin options could include Drinkwitz, Brohm and others with varying profiles as the job is undoubtedly among the nation’s best. Can LSU swing big? Absolutely. Should it? That’s another question entirely.
Every weekend of results shapes the carousel, as so many sitting coaches are expected to be targeted for new jobs. Some are leading CFP hopefuls, which ultimately could limit their ability to move in December.
It’s time to reset the carousel as November nears, spotlighting jobs, candidates and an upcoming stretch that will reshape the leadership in several key spots around the country.
Targeted searches at PSU and Florida
Coaching circles often have a trickle-down effect, starting with the most appealing jobs, which are Penn State and Florida. What ultimately happens in State College and Gainesville might affect other open searches, as well as those that could come open, such as Florida State and Auburn. Kiffin, for example, will be high on FSU’s wish list, as well.
The belief among industry sources is that both the PSU and Florida candidate pools will be limited. If either school is talking to six or seven candidates, something probably isn’t right.
“Even though we have a ton of potential searches, there’s some niche searches,” a source said. “Penn State could not really be a search, and Florida might not really be a search. It might just be the obvious candidates.”
Those would have meant Rhule at Penn State and Kiffin at Florida, but that has changed. Elko, who has Texas A&M off to an 8-0 start, certainly would fit the PSU program, given his roots and how he spent the first 15 years of his coaching career in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic or Midwest.
Elko might be deciding between two well-resourced programs. The difference is that Penn State has accomplished way more on the field than Texas A&M has and is now clearly striving for national titles. Elko is certainly motivated to, as he has put it this season, break down doors. “We have high goals and expectations for this team and for this program,” he told ESPN last week. “We know in order to meet them, we have to do things that haven’t been done.”
Being the coach to elevate a historic underachiever is enticing. Elko also has followed college football for decades. He knows that outside Ohio State and Michigan, Penn State has had fewer barriers to success over the years, including no rival like Texas in the same state.
“Elko should take that [Penn State] job,” an industry source said.
Then again, if Texas A&M makes the CFP as a top-four seed, Penn State might have to make its hire sooner.
Vanderbilt‘s Clark Lea is emerging as a name to watch at Penn State and elsewhere. Would Penn State hire a coach from Vanderbilt twice in a row? Until last season, Lea was 9-27 at his alma mater. But he’s now doing things that Franklin never did at Vanderbilt (7-1), and Lea showed his flexibility as a coach by bringing in quarterback Diego Pavia and others from New Mexico State to spark the program. Lea is an Elko protégé and could appeal to PSU for many of the same reasons.
“The guy can win big games when the lights are bright,” an industry source said. “Last year against Bama, this year against LSU and Missouri, like, he shows up.”
Florida clearly has interest in Kiffin, but what if he’s not the guy? Drinkwitz and Lashlee both seem ready for a jump and could be good fits in Gainesville. They’re both in good situations, though, especially Lashlee after making the CFP last season. Missouri has capitalized on its SEC schedule across the past two campaigns but hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent in the league. Next season, the Tigers will visit Georgia and Ole Miss, and they will host Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Florida.
“They’re not going to have this path,” an industry source said. “Drinkwitz is smart enough to know he’s got to get out.”
Brohm is another option, especially because of his big-game record. He is 4-4 against AP top-five opponents following an Oct. 17 win at Miami. Although Brohm also has struggled in losing games he shouldn’t, his big-game success and creative offense are appealing. He also is extremely rooted in Louisville — both at the university and in his hometown — so it would take a lot to pull him away.
Unique dynamics in the LSU search
When Brian Kelly was fired Sunday, LSU immediately shot to the top of open job lists. There are two truths about LSU, though: It is a great job; it also is a complicated job.
Tiger Stadium is about 3 miles south of the Louisiana State Capitol, and the football program and state politics are historically intertwined. LSU also doesn’t have a permanent university president, and while an answer is expected soon, the school’s Board of Supervisors has a significant role in major university matters. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry appoints the board, and was part of the discussions Sunday that led to Kelly’s firing.
Landry, on Wednesday, shook up the search when he lit into LSU athletic director Scott Woodward, making it clear Woodward would not be hiring Kelly’s successor. The governor pointed to Woodward’s hires of Kelly and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M, and the significant costs both schools incurred when the coaches were fired.
“Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach,” Landry said “Hell, I’d let [President] Donald Trump select him before I’d let him do it. The Board of Supervisors is going to come up with a committee and find us a coach.”
In announcing Kelly’s firing Sunday night, Woodward presented himself as LSU’s lead decision-maker, referring to being “a proud alum” and “the current caretaker of our athletics programs.” Woodward said he made the decision to fire Kelly.
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Kiffin to McAfee: My players have movement rumors like I do
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin joins Pat McAfee and explains why he thinks the coaching rumors about him aren’t a big deal to his players.
But after Landry’s comments, it’s more than fair to wonder: Who will really make this hire?
Landry also criticized the hefty contracts coaches receive and the insular agent-administrator world that often yields those coach-friendly deals.
“This is a pattern,” Landry said.
Will this mean LSU avoids the big-splash hires Woodward has historically made, and the price tags that come with them? What’s the immediate future of Woodward, who has led LSU’s athletic department since 2019?
LSU’s search is clearly more complex than some of the others, and could take longer to wrap up. The school needs a clearly outlined process and might need to look at a wider candidate pool.
Remember, Kelly came to LSU with more accomplishments than his three predecessors — Orgeron, Les Miles and Saban — who all won national titles there. Coaches with different profiles can succeed there.
Kiffin has never worked at LSU but knows more than enough about the job from his time in the SEC. He might ultimately view Florida as a more sensible option, or even staying at Ole Miss.
LSU could prioritize SEC experience (Drinkwitz, Lea, Georgia Tech‘s Brent Key, Arizona State‘s Kenny Dillingham) or those connected to the state (Tulane‘s Jon Sumrall, Houston coach Willie Fritz, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator and former LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard).
But the candidates might be secondary right now, as LSU has to get its very stormy house in order.
The James Franklin factor
One emerging theme of this coaching cycle is potentially not having enough quality candidates to fill all of the major openings. But there’s also a sizable contingent of notable coaches not currently working and seemingly wanting to get back in the game.
The group includes two national-championship-winning coaches in Fisher and Orgeron. Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald wants to coach again now that his wrongful termination lawsuit against the school has been settled. Dave Clawson, who resigned from Wake Forest after the 2024 season, also might see a path to the sideline.
Then there are the recently fired coaches, headlined by Franklin and now Kelly. Rarely has a coach with Franklin’s credentials — 128-60 FBS record, nine AP Top 25 finishes, a CFP semifinal appearance — been jettisoned so quickly, and Franklin made it clear on “College GameDay” that he wants to coach in 2026.
“The X factor right now in a bunch of these searches is James Franklin,” an industry source said.
Franklin told the “College GameDay” crew that he will resume his national championship quest at his next job. Does he see a program such as Virginia Tech having that potential? Virginia Tech has committed to fund its program better than it has previously, and the school has an easier CFP path in the ACC. Franklin would be a strong hire there, but the Hokies haven’t had an AP top-10 finish since 2009.
How Franklin views Big Ten jobs is another layer. Other than Penn State, UCLA is the only current vacancy. UCLA has some pluses, especially from a lifestyle standpoint, but would have to take a massive jump to become a national contender. Franklin could have more interest in Big Ten jobs that haven’t opened yet, such as Wisconsin and perhaps Michigan State.
Other potential vacancies such as Florida State and Auburn could enter Franklin’s radar too, especially FSU. He would bring a level of credibility to both jobs.
Kelly’s next move is a bit harder to plot out. His final game at LSU took place on his 64th birthday, so he likely won’t be coaching that much longer. Could he go from fired at LSU to another national contender such as Penn State? Probably not. The more sensible jobs for Kelly might not be open yet.
Before the LSU job, he spent 35 years of his coaching career in three states: Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. If Wisconsin or Michigan State make changes, Kelly would make sense. The same goes for other jobs in the Midwest or Northeast.
Resetting searches outside of the big three
Penn State, Florida and now LSU have taken up a lot of oxygen in the coaching world, and so have the will-they-or-won’t-they situations at Florida State, Wisconsin and Auburn. But several searches have been underway for more than a month and will be winding toward resolutions.
Before Oklahoma State fired Mike Gundy, there was a lot of chatter in industry circles that Cowboys athletic director Chad Weiberg, who was working without a contract, might be out first. Not only did Weiberg survive the transition but last week had a new four-year deal approved. His job stability is a good sign for the next Cowboys coach.
Who will that be? Oklahoma State could look at several sitting Group of 5 coaches, including North Texas‘ Eric Morris, whose wizardry with quarterbacks has propelled his profile, and South Florida‘s Alex Golesh, a former Oklahoma State graduate assistant. The school might want a clean break from the Gundy era, but former quarterback Zac Robinson, the current Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, has some support around the program.
The candidate who has generated the most attention for Arkansas is former Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino, who is leading the team on an interim basis. Despite how his first go-round ended, Petrino still has support in the state because of his on-field success. The problem is he hasn’t won a game as interim coach.
Lashlee might be the dream candidate, but as of now, it seems unlikely he’ll be headed home. Golesh, Sumrall and Memphis‘ Ryan Silverfield could be in the mix. Silverfield works in the same region. He beat Arkansas on Sept. 20 and won the head-to-head battle with Golesh on Saturday. Silverfield is 49-22 at Memphis.
Stanford and UCLA are the two Power 4 jobs that have been open the longest — Stanford since the spring — and both have performed fairly well under respective interim coaches Frank Reich and Tim Skipper. Former Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard, who spent 2010 to 2022 as a Stanford assistant before becoming quarterbacks coach of the Washington Commanders, is the name generating the most attention for the Cardinal.
UCLA certainly could take a run at Franklin or perhaps one of the top Group of 5 candidates. If Michigan State fires Jonathan Smith, would UCLA pursue the Pasadena, California, native, who had a lot of success on the West Coast? The UCLA search has been fairly quiet so far, and there are questions swirling around athletic director Martin Jarmond. The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that a group of 64 former UCLA players sent a letter to chancellor Julio Frenk asking for Jarmond to be replaced.
Baylor‘s Dave Aranda could be a name to remember, especially if Wisconsin comes open. Aranda served as defensive coordinator for the Badgers from 2013 to 2015 and loves the area. Aranda, a California native, also would make sense at both UCLA and Stanford. He entered 2024 on the hot seat and went 8-5, but Baylor is just 4-4 this fall, setting up a potential split.
Jon Sumrall and the other non-Power 4 coaches to watch
Whenever a Power 4 job comes open, there’s an expectation, externally and even internally, that other Power 4 coaches will jump to take the job. But those moves happen less than people might think.
Given the number of Power 4 vacancies, which certainly will grow in the coming weeks, it’s a good time to be an emerging Group of 5 coach, and there are several names to know.
Tulane’s Sumrall is the most talked about Group of 5 coach entering the hiring cycle. He won two Sun Belt Conference championships at Troy, and he brings a 15-6 record at Tulane into Thursday’s game at UTSA. Sumrall is an Alabama native who played at Kentucky and also coached at his alma mater as well as Ole Miss. He would be a natural choice for just about any vacancy — current or future — in the SEC. After serious talks with North Carolina about its vacancy last year, he also might fit in the ACC at a job such as Virginia Tech. The 43-year-old Sumrall certainly will have options.
“Sumrall is probably the best G5 right now,” an industry source said.
Silverfield and Golesh are two other coaches to watch in the American Conference. Golesh has a diverse background, having coached in the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC as an assistant before landing his first head coaching gig at South Florida, where he is 20-14. Memphis’ Silverfield has done great work within the American, going 3-0 against Golesh and handing Sumrall his first conference loss last season. Silverfield operates a very productive offense, has NFL experience with the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions, and seems like a fit for jobs both in the South and the Midwest.
James Madison‘s Bob Chesney is another intriguing Group of 5 candidate. He has spent his career in New England and the mid-Atlantic region, guiding Holy Cross to consistent FCS playoff appearances and a 44-21 record. Chesney is 15-5 at James Madison and could be a name to watch at Virginia Tech and maybe even Penn State.
Western Kentucky‘s Tyson Helton has been a consistent winner, finishing with at least eight wins in five of his first six seasons with the Hilltoppers, who are 6-2 this fall. Helton, who has received interest from Purdue and other higher-profile jobs, runs a dynamic offense that ranks fifth nationally in passing offense during his tenure.
Southern Miss‘ Charles Huff also merits consideration. He guided Marshall to a Sun Belt championship last season then made a unique intraleague move to Southern Miss, which went 1-11 in 2024 but is 6-2 — including 4-0 in league play — this fall under Huff. He is a Maryland native who played college football in Virginia (Hampton) and has made coaching stops in both the Big Ten (Penn State) and SEC (Alabama, Mississippi State). He could be an intriguing option for Virginia Tech or several other SEC, ACC or Big Ten jobs.
What about the coordinators?
A look at the AP top 10 reveals six teams — No. 1 Ohio State (Ryan Day), No. 5 Georgia (Kirby Smart), No. 6 Oregon (Dan Lanning), No. 8 Georgia Tech (Brent Key), No. 9 Vanderbilt (Clark Lea) and No. 10 BYU (Kalani Sitake) — overseen by first-time head coaches. The right hires in college football often have come from the assistant ranks, especially primary coordinators.
The coordinator pool isn’t overly deep, even after a light hiring cycle last season.
“It’s a little thinner there compared to years past,” an industry source said.
Still, there are several names to know, especially on the offensive side.
Texas A&M’s Collin Klein is thriving in his second season there, overseeing an offense that ranks 14th nationally in both scoring and plays of 20 yards or longer. Klein, 36, is a former Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback for Kansas State who remains beloved at his alma mater after assisting there for many years but has enhanced his profile by leaving for a high-pressure gig at Texas A&M. He could be a name to watch for Big 12 or SEC openings.
Oregon’s Will Stein has continued the offense’s success from predecessor Kenny Dillingham and has done it with different quarterbacks in Dillon Gabriel and now Dante Moore. Stein could be a name to watch if Kentucky moves on from Mark Stoops or if Brohm were to leave Louisville, where Stein played quarterback. Stein also is an interesting name for possible jobs in Texas, where he spent time coaching from 2015 to 2022.
Ohio State’s Brian Hartline has been on the radar for Power 4 jobs and could be again, especially with more direct influence in the playcalling this season. Hartline, a former Buckeyes wide receiver who played in the NFL, is the best collector of wideout talent of his generation and has helped propel his alma mater. He won’t leave Ohio State for just any job but would make sense for Big Ten openings, in particular.
Georgia Tech’s Buster Faulkner is a veteran playcaller with a distinctive scheme that has helped put the Yellow Jackets into the CFP mix. The Georgia native has spent much of his career in his home state or in neighboring states and would be a good option for vacancies in the region.
On the defensive side, Georgia’s Glenn Schumann and Oregon’s Tosh Lupoi are both names to track.
Schumann has worked with Smart and/or Saban throughout his career and has been around Lanning and other top coaches. The 35-year-old from Georgia seems fairly tied to the Southeast, but that’s where many of the jobs (current and expected) are located.
Lupoi built his reputation as a West Coast recruiter then made coaching stops at Alabama and with three NFL teams before returning as Oregon’s defensive coordinator under Lanning. The 44-year-old former defensive lineman at Cal should be a name to watch for West Coast vacancies, in particular.
Indiana held onto both of its coordinators — Mike Shanahan (offense) and Bryant Haines (defense) — after its first CFP run. That might be tougher after an even more impressive 2025 season so far. Haines was a finalist for the 2024 Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant, and has Midwest roots. Shanahan, a former Pitt wide receiver, has spent most of his career alongside Hoosiers coach Cignetti.
NYON, Switzerland — Bayern Munich’s stadium is set to host another Champions League final in 2028, and staging the 2029 final is a contest between Wembley Stadium in London and Barcelona’s renovated Camp Nou.
UEFA confirmed Friday the list of interested bidders from among its member associations, suggesting a long-speculated final in New York will not happen until at least 2030.
“The declarations of interest are not binding, and the final proposals must be delivered with the bid dossiers by June 10,” UEFA said in a statement.
Munich hosted the final last season and Wembley staged the previous final in 2024. Barcelona has not been the final venue since 1999.
The UEFA executive committee is due to decide next September on hosts for all club competitions’ finals in 2028 and 2029.
The Champions League final this season is at the Puskas Arena in Budapest — with a new early evening kickoff time in Europe — and the 2027 final is at Atletico Madrid’s stadium.
Showcased by World Series Game 6 starters Kevin Gausman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, split-finger fastballs have been used for 6.8% of postseason pitches this year, more than double last year’s 2.4% and up from 1.5% when pitch tracking started in 2008.
“There’s so many good pitches in today’s game — there’s so many good sweepers and sliders and cutters,” Gausman said. “I think the split is almost kind of a just a little bit different of an animal. You can recognize the spin and you can still have a pretty ugly swing on it if the metrics are right.”
Toronto used splitters a big league-high 9.3% of the time during the regular season, according to MLB Statcast. That was the highest percentage of any team since pitch tracking started in 2008, topping 7.8% by Minnesota in 2023 and Baltimore this year.
Gausman has thrown his splitter 41.4% of the time in the postseason, followed on the Blue Jays by fellow starter Trey Yesavage (27.7%), closer Jeff Hoffman (25.9%) and relievers Seranthony Domínguez (16.7%) and Yariel Rodríguez (8.6%).
Roki Sasaki, shifted from rotation to relief, tops the Dodgers at 45.9%, followed by Yamamoto at 24.7% and Shohei Ohtani at 7.4%.
“Roger Craig is smiling somewhere,” New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, referring to the late pitching coach and manager, among the splitter’s most prominent proponents. “With all these cameras and technology and stuff, you’re really able to outfit guys with what they should be doing based on how their body moves.”
Bruce Sutter, Jack Morris and John Smoltz utilized the splitter during careers that earned induction into the Hall of Fame.
Splitters are throw with index and middle fingers spread wide, intended to have substantial downward break.
Sutter credited his reaching the Hall to learning the splitter from Fred Martin, a big leaguer from 1946-50 who became a Chicago Cubs minor league instructor.
“He told me to spread my fingers apart and throw it just like a fastball,” Sutter said during his Hall induction speech in 2006. “There were players throwing forkballs at the time and a few guys were using it for a changeup, but nobody was throwing what he called the split finger. It was a pitch that didn’t change how the game was played but developed a new way to get hitters out.”
Craig taught the splitter to Morris as pitching coach of the Detroit Tigers and to Mike Scott when he was with the Houston Astros. Roger Clemens learned how to throw it from Scott at a charity golf event in 1986 and started calling the pitch “Mr. Splitty.”
Usage dropped after the pitch gained a reputation for causing elbow injuries. Just 1.4% of regular-season pitches were splitters when tracking started. The percentage climbed to 2.2% in 2023, 3.1% in 2024 and 3.3% this year.
“Going back a few years, I think certain people thought they couldn’t throw it, they couldn’t actually get their fingers wide enough,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Pitch design has changed, and I think guys have figured out different ways to grip it, like, Gaus’s is different than Trey’s, Trey’s is different than Seranthony’s, Yariel’s is different than — they all hold it a little bit differently. So I think pitchers have just gotten to the point where they understand that pitch works against certain swing types that are pretty prevalent in the league and they figured out ways to kind of manipulate to get the same action.”
Gausman’s 37.6% splitter usage during the season was third behind Detroit’s Rafael Montero (46.9%) and Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran (39.7%) among those who threw at least 1,000 pitches.
Among starting pitchers who threw at least 100 splitters, Yamamoto held batters to a .136 average, third behind Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (.119) and Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach (.132).
Batters had a .181 average against Gausman’s splitter, down from .230 vs. his fastball and .342 against his slider.
“One of the few pitches I thoroughly believe a hitter can know it’s coming and still get out,” Gausman said. “I’ve always felt like the changeup is the best pitch in the game because it looks like a fastball, and anything that looks like a fastball and isn’t is really good.”
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has doubled down on his squad selection and playing style despite a poor run of form for the Premier League champions.
Wednesday night’s 3-0 home loss to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup was Liverpool’s sixth defeat in seven matches in all competitions, with the Reds also seven points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Slot was criticised for the team he put out against Palace, with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike among the host of first-team players left out of the matchday squad.
But Slot said on Friday – ahead of the home game against in-form Aston Villa on Saturday – that those changes were necessary as Liverpool have been unluckier with injuries than they were last season.
“I’m happy with the quality of the team. But I’m also convinced by the strategy and policy we have,” said Slot in his press conference.
“What makes it ‘the issue’ – not all of them have had a proper pre-season. When three or four are injured, you go down to having 16 players.
“I am a firm believer in 21 or 22 players are enough. But you have to keep them fit as we did last season. We are struggling to keep them fit this season for, in my opinion, obvious reasons.
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Slot is ‘completely happy’ with Liverpool’s squad depth after he faced criticism for fielding a weaker team in the League Cup defeat to Crystal Palace
“Alex [Isak] came to us on September 1. A few others missed out in pre-season. It has been more difficult than last season to keep them more available. When players are not available, it [workload] comes down more to the same players.
“Maybe last season we were more lucky [with injuries], this season we are more unlucky. No excuses for results, but we have had to play a lot of away games with only two days in between. That would have been difficult last season, and for any player that has been fit this season through pre-season, but it has not been the case this season.
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“Then you have to manage it. The upcoming week is three games in eight days. It has nothing to do with squad depth, but it has how we have run through the season in terms of injuries, availability and playing every two or three days.
“That has been something what every team has. It’s not an excuse for us. What was a bit different than last season is last season they all had one year Premier League experience as a minimum – and they all stayed fit.
“Now they weren’t all fit from the start, then some players have to play more than you want them to do, which is a risk for them getting injured as well.
“But it is what it is. We have more than enough players on Saturday to get a result, to play the game on Tuesday and Sunday. But I have to take care of a few of them. That’s why I decided not to play seven or eight players a few days ago.”
Slot confirmed that Ryan Gravenberch could come back into the team to face Villa on Saturday after returning to training on Thursday, but Curtis Jones and Alexander Isak are “99.9 per cent” out.
‘It goes against my beliefs’ – Slot on playing style
Slot also admitted he will not change Liverpool’s playing style, amid this poor run of games.
He said after last weekend’s 3-2 defeat to Brentford that his side are struggling to deal with long balls and low blocks.
Brentford also managed 17 shots on the Liverpool goal – the most they have managed all season – but Slot says his side are not going to play more defensively.
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“It [going defensive to be less open] does go against my beliefs,” he said. “But I’ve won games in the past – Man City away for example [last season] – where it went against my beliefs but it was necessary to play it in the second half.
“I would be more than open to adapt in certain situations. But I don’t think the story is we concede chance after chance after chance and we’re too open. It’s not like this.
“Maybe against Palace when in the first half we should have be 2-0 down or 3-0 down, maybe Brentford too. But all the other games we deserved more than what we got.
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Highlights of the Carabao Cup fourth-round match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace
“We barely concede chances – even against Palace [in midweek] with the team I put out. I think they only conceded three big chances – and all three went in because they were big.
“I don’t see us conceding a lot of chances, so I don’t see a reason to change our playing style completely. But we need to do better at not conceding goals.”
Have Slot’s contract talks stalled?
Slot also addressed rumours over his Liverpool future in an eventful press conference.
Reports emerged in midweek that the Dutchman was in talks with the club over an extension – but the recent run of poor form has led to those negotiations being parked for now.
Slot refused to be drawn on those rumours – but did admit his immediate focus is getting the team’s results back on track.
“That was the last question I was expecting. My focus is fully back on getting Liverpool back to winning ways. That’s my first answer.
“The second answer is: contract talks – if they are even there – we never speak about this here [in press conferences]. Let us first start to win again. That’s where my main focus is on.”
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Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In his first game in 32 days, quarterback Lamar Jackson immediately returned to his MVP form and provided hope that the Baltimore Ravens can get back into the playoff hunt.
After missing three games because of a right hamstring injury, Jackson threw four touchdown passes in a 28-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night. The Ravens (3-5) have shaken off a 1-5 start to close to within 1½ games of the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3).
“He’s a two-time MVP for a reason,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said of Jackson after the game. “With [No.] 8 leading the charge, we’re a dangerous team.”
Jackson hadn’t played since injuring his hamstring Sept. 28 against the Chiefs in Kansas City. In his first game back, he completed 78% of his attempts (18 of 23) for 204 yards.
Acknowledging he felt “a little bit” rusty on the first drive, Jackson later connected with Andrews for touchdown passes of 2 and 20 yards and added TD throws to tight end Charlie Kolar (3 yards) and wide receiver Rashod Bateman (9 yards).
“It’s awesome,” Jackson said. “I just wanted to get out there with my guys … it was just great to be back and get a W.”
This was also a homecoming for Jackson, who grew up in South Florida. Of Jackson’s 13 career games with four or more touchdown passes, three of them have come against the Dolphins, his most against any team.
“Whenever you’re away from the game, you miss it,” Ravens running back Derrick Henry said. “It was even better that, when he came back, it was in his hometown. So, it probably gave him a little more juice.”
Jackson returned to practice last week as a limited participant but didn’t receive reps with the starting offense. In the quick turnaround for the Thursday night game, Jackson had only one full practice with the first team before playing the Dolphins.
He didn’t run often against Miami, other than a 13-yard scramble early in the third quarter, but he showed great mobility in the pocket to avoid pressure. He went 5-of-7 for 71 yards and 3 touchdowns when under duress, which are the most such touchdown passes by a QB this season, according to ESPN Research.
“I didn’t have any problems,” Jackson said of his hamstring. “I was feeling good out there.”
With Jackson, the Ravens looked like a high-powered offense again. In the three games that he missed, Baltimore averaged 14.3 points. With Jackson this season, the Ravens are averaging 31.8 points.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh told Jackson after the game that “it’s been a long journey.”
Harbaugh added: “I’m proud of the way he came out and played.”
After tying the worst start in the franchise’s 30-year history, the Ravens have won two games in five days and have a chance to go on a run. Baltimore’s next four opponents — at the Vikings and Browns and home against the Jets and Bengals — are a combined 9-22 (.290).
“Having your MVP back,” Kolar said, “it just brings a whole new level of confidence in the team.”
With the announcement of his latest children’s book, “Happy Spooky Halloween,” on Thursday, LeBron James has put on his author hat once again.
The 32-page picture book with illustrations by Ariel Landy is about “teamwork and Halloween thrills.” It is set to release on July 21 by publisher HarperCollins.
“You guys know how much I love Halloween and this one’s going to be special,” James said in a short video on social media. “So happy spooky Halloween … to everyone.”
The plot follows a main character named Zara and her friends attending a Halloween party “the big kids” are throwing at fictional Hickory Elementary, according to HarperCollins’ description.
James has previously published three children’s books: “I Promise” in 2020, “We Are Family” in 2023 and “I Am More Than” in 2024. “I Promise” became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
LSU athletic director Scott Woodward resigned under pressure from the post he’s held for six years on Thursday night, four days after the firing of football coach Brian Kelly and a day after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said Woodward would not hire Kelly’s replacement.
Woodward, a Baton Rouge native and LSU graduate, was hired as athletic director at his alma mater in April 2019. Since then, LSU has won national championships in football, baseball (twice), women’s basketball and gymnastics.
“We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Scott Ballard said. “He had a lot of success at LSU.
“Our focus now is on moving the athletic department forward and best positioning LSU to achieve its full potential.”
Among the coaches hired by Woodward was Kim Mulkey, who led LSU to its first women’s basketball national title in 2023. Her team played an exhibition game on Thursday night, and Mulkey declined to attend a postgame news conference, sending assistant Bob Starkey instead.
“In 40 years of coaching, I’ve worked with two phenomenal athletic directors,” Starkey added. “One was Skip Bertman (at LSU). The other one was Scott Woodward.”
Verge Ausberry, LSU’s executive deputy athletic director, will replace Woodward on an interim basis and lead the search for a football coach, the university announced.
In an open letter to LSU fans, Woodward said, “Our University will always hold a special place in my heart and I will never be too far from LSU.”
“Others can recap or opine on my tenure and on my decisions over the last six years as Director of Athletics, but I will not,” Woodward said. “Rather, I will focus on the absolute joy that LSU Athletics brings to our state’s residents and to the Baton Rouge community.”
When Woodward was hired in 2019, James Carville, a political pundit who graduated from LSU, taught there and was named to the university’s Manship School of Mass Communications’ Hall of Fame, hosted a welcome party for him at his house in New Orleans.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday night, Carville, a Democrat, expressed disgust at the circumstances surrounding Woodward’s sudden departure.
“The Louisiana governor and the LSU board has damaged the reputation of our university,” Carville said. “Landry’s IQ is the equivalent of the temperature of dishwater.
“The LSU board is weak and pathetic,” Carville added. “This is not about my politics. It’s about my university.”
According to Woodward’s contract, he is owed more than $5 million through 2029. LSU has not yet announced the financial terms of his separation agreement.
Under Woodward, the football program bought out former coach Ed Orgeron for about $17 million in 2021. The buyout for Kelly, whom Woodward signed to a 10-year contract worth about $100 million in December 2021, is about $53 million, which is among the largest in the history of college sports.
Texas A&M’s $77 million buyout of former coach Jimbo Fisher, who was fired in 2023, is the largest.
Woodward was Texas A&M’s athletic director when Fisher was hired to coach the Aggies in December 2017. But Woodward already had been at LSU for two years when A&M, in 2021, gave Fisher a contract extension that effectively doubled the cost of his buyout.
Still, Landry assigned blame for Fisher’s buyout to Woodward.
“This is a pattern,” Landry said. “Right now, we’ve got a $53 million liability. … We are not doing that again.”
Kelly went 34-14 at LSU, never reaching the College Football Playoff, which was expanded from four to 12 teams in 2024.
LSU does not currently have a president. Its most recent president, William F. Tate IV, left to become president of Rutgers in July. The next president will be hired by the Board of Supervisors, whose members are appointed by the governor to six-year staggered terms.
Since Landry took office in January 2024, he has appointed nine of the 18 board members, and will have the chance to appoint four more in 2026.
The board has announced that it expects to select the next president on Tuesday.
Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
Marcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.
Oct 30, 2025, 11:09 PM ET
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — If there was any doubt, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson made sure the football world knew he was back.
In his first game in 32 days, Jackson threw four touchdown passes in a 28-6 win over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player had missed the past three games with a hamstring injury, but he didn’t show much rust in his return.
Jackson completed 18-of-23 attempts for 204 yards as he once again celebrated in South Florida, where he grew up. Of Jackson’s 13 games with four or more touchdown passes, three of them have come against the Dolphins — his most against any team.
In winning their second game in five days, the Ravens improved to 3-5 and appear set to go on a run. Baltimore’s next four opponents — at Vikings and Browns and home against the Jets and Bengals — are a combined 9-22 (.290). The Ravens are now 1.5 games back of the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3), who play host to the Indianapolis Colts (7-1) on Sunday.
Here are the most important things to know from Thursday night for both teams:
What to make of the QB performance: There was a question on how much Jackson would run coming off a hamstring injury. He only had five rushing attempts but his 13-yard scramble in the third quarter converted a third down to extend what would be a touchdown drive. Jackson was elusive in the pocket and threw three touchdown passes when under duress, which are the most by a quarterback this season.
Trend to watch: The Ravens held a team under 17 points or fewer in three straight games, which ties the longest steak by any team this season. This is quite a turnaround for a Baltimore defense that had been heavily criticized after allowing an NFL-worst 35.4 points per game in the first five weeks of the season. It can be chalked up to the Ravens defense getting healthier and not having to face the likes of Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff, which they did in the first month of the season. With two forced fumbles and an interception, the Ravens recorded their most turnovers since they had three in their last meeting against the Dolphins in 2023.
Stat to know: Andrews certainly enjoyed the return of Jackson, catching touchdown passes of 2 and 20 yards in the first half. This was Andrews’ 12th career game with multiple touchdown catches, which are the most by any tight end since he entered the league in 2018. Andrews has caught 48 touchdown passes in Jackson’s 90 starts and has totaled five touchdown receptions in 21 games when Jackson was sidelined. — Jamison Hensley
Even if Thursday night was the first Dolphins game you watched all season, don’t worry — you’ve essentially seen them all.
The Dolphins outgained Baltimore in the first half, won the time of possession battle, averaged nearly 6 yards per play and held a Lamar Jackson-led offense to just 109 yards — but still trailed 14-6 at halftime thanks to a series of all-too-characteristic miscues.
There were the ones that were their fault: a false start on fourth-and-one that set up a missed 35-yard field goal, an incomplete pass on fourth-and-two from deep in the red zone, and a lost fumble on their own 18 that set up Baltimore’s first touchdown of the night. There was also the one that wasn’t their fault — a questionable tripping call on running back Ollie Gordon II that wiped out a 36-yard catch.
The frustration on the sideline wasn’t just palpable — it was filmed in high definition. Both coach Mike McDaniel and Gordon were shown mid-outburst in the first half, all while the Ravens looked like the team destined to turn around their sub-.500 start to the season. Miami now enters a 10-day mini-bye before hosting the Buffalo Bills in Week 10 and travelling to Madrid to play the Washington Commanders in Week 11. With the trade deadline coming Tuesday and a 2-7 record weighing down any optimism for this season, it’s reasonable to wonder how different this roster — or coaching staff — will look the next time Miami takes the field.
QB Breakdown: One week after carving up the Falcons’ league-leading pass defense for 4 touchdowns, Tua Tagovailoa came down to earth a bit against Baltimore.
His connection with receiver Jaylen Waddle looked sharp in the first half, and he showed a burgeoning chemistry with tight end Greg Dulcich. But Miami struggled to stretch the field outside of Waddle and the Ravens largely kept the ball in front of them. Tagovailoa got the ball out quickly, but struggled when his first read wasn’t there. On pass attempts within 2.5 seconds of snapping the ball, Tagovailoa completed 17-of-23 passes for 197 yards. On attempts that took longer than 2.5 seconds, he completed just 5-of-11 passes for 35 yards with a -23.2% completion percentage over expectation. He finished 25 of 40 for 261 yards with no TDs and the pick.
Biggest hole in gameplan: The Dolphins ran the ball 37 times in last week’s win over the Falcons; obviously, the game script impacted its playcalling Thursday night but Miami ran the ball 20 times against the Ravens with De’Von Achane handling 14 of those attempts. Before the game got out of control, the Dolphins failed to set the tone at the line of scrimmage like they did in Week 9, turned the ball over three times without taking it away, and came away empty-handed in three red zone trips. That’s a nearly guaranteed recipe for losing a game.
Most surprising performance: All of it. Miami turned in a complete effort last week in what players and coaches called one of their best complementary games under McDaniel. They spoke all week about staying consistent and not allowing that win to be a one-off. But all three phases fell flat Thursday. Miami didn’t look like a team ready to turn the corner; it looked like a 2-7 team.
Turning point: On second and 1 early in the second quarter, Tagovailoa found Waddle for a 36-yard gain that gave Miami the ball at the Ravens’ 7-yard line — but any celebration was cut short by flag in the backfield. Gordon was penalized for tripping Ravens linebacker Mike Green, but he had appeared to slip and accidentally fall into Green. The Dolphins punted two plays later and Gordon was seen irate on the sideline. Miami managed to cut its deficit to 14-6 on its following drive but failed to convert on fourth down from the Ravens’ 13-yard line just before the half. The Dolphins’ felt lifeless after that and failed to put points on the board for the remainder of the night. — Marcel Louis-Jacques
Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
Marcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.
Oct 30, 2025, 10:23 PM ET
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson returned to action Thursday night after missing two games with a hamstring injury, and his team’s slim playoff chances depended on him returning to his MVP form against the Miami Dolphins.
The Ravens started the season 1-5, and since the first NFL postseason in 1933, only four of 358 teams — which amounts to 1.1% — made the playoffs after starting 1-5 or worse, according to ESPN Research. But the Ravens are hopeful the return of Jackson and a wide-open AFC North will help them become the fifth team to achieve the feat.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, also are coming off a win as their victory over the Atlanta Falcons snapped a three-game losing streak.
Stay with this file as Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley and Dolphins reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques provide all of the highlights and key plays Thursday night.
