After two hard weeks, the Los Angeles Chargers finally bounced back and overcame a litany of injuries to defeat the Miami Dolphins in thrilling fashion! So what did we learn? Tre Harris Deserves Snaps For weeks, Tre Harris has been used primarily as a blocker in the run game and sparingly as a pass catcher. This past week, he led the Chargers' skill players in offensive snaps with 53 , showing that he took all of the injured Quentin Johnston’s snaps as the full-time X receiver. Tre Harris showed flashes in the pass game and continued to be the best blocker among the WR corps, and it is very hard to imagine a world where he doesn’t carve out a role in this offense going forward. His numbers are not eye-popping by any means, but it’s clear that the Chargers staff views him highly. Ladd McConkey, WR1 Staying local to the WR Room, we bring our attention to Ladd McConkey, the highest-rated Charger in Week 6 according to PFF. McConkey has faced criticism for his slow start out of the gates, but it was only a matter of time before Justin Herbert rekindled his connection with the Georgia product. Herbert has now found McConkey in the endzone each of the last two contests, as well as enabling his first 100-yard performance of the 2025 season this past Sunday against Miami. McConkey has dominated target shares for the Bolts thus far, so his return to form should not be unexpected, especially given the circumstances of the offense with no Quentin Johnston vs Miami and a shoddy O-line. This is an offense where Ladd’s ability to find separation quickly underneath is paramount to success. Even with the return of Q imminent, I expect McConkey to continue to retain his rightful place as WR1 in the eyes of both Herbert and play caller Greg Roman. Benjamin St-Juste Deserves His Flowers It's a signing that was once totally ripped to shreds, but the former Washington Commander has turned heads during this early stretch of the season. St-Juste was forced into action earlier in the year due to an injury to Cam Hart, and has not just been serviceable, but has done enough to cut into a healthy Hart’s playing time. BSJ is all the way up to 37% snap share on defense, his highest of the year when both he and Hart are healthy, contrary to Hart’s 39% which would be his lowest of the year when both he and St-Juste are healthy. Truthfully, it’s not hard to see why. If I were to tell you before the season that St-Juste would be the highest-rated corner on the Chargers, would you believe me? Well, he is! With an 81.2 PFF grade, St-Juste is the eighth-highest ranked corner in the NFL–albeit in limited action–and the highest rated Chargers corner. And while PFF’s word isn’t gospel, the eye test has shown it too; St-Juste has finally gotten to a point where he’s mixing his freakish athleticism with sound ability, making for plays like we saw on Sunday. St-Juste he undercut an in-breaking route, diving in front of Devon Achane and making an impressive INT that put the Chargers in the drivers seat to take home a huge early season W. This play becomes a lot more significant when you take into account Cam Hart had an opportunity to make Tua pay on an extremely late throw to the boundary and couldn’t. For a defense that needs to find a way to force more turnovers, it is important to note who is making them happen and who isn’t. The Tagovalioa Versus Herbert Debate Is Dead and Buried Not long ago, Justin Herbert was a social media quarterback, and Tua Tagovailoa was the guy who “just gets the job done”. Fast forward to today, and there is reason to believe that Tua may be in his last season as the Dolphins’ signal caller. Meanwhile, Justin Herbert has his team in first place of the AFC West after orchestrating a clutch game-winning drive, his 18th since entering the league (behind only Patrick Mahomes’ 19 in that same span). As Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel calls Tua’s postgame comments on Sunday “misguided” , Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is describing Justin Herbert’s game-winning throw to McConkey on Sunday as something that “will be burned in my brain until they throw dirt on top of me”. These two QBs never were, and never will be in the same stratosphere; their coaches know it, the league knows it, it’s about time the media and fans know it. To quote WWE’s LA Knight, “That’s not an insult, that’s just a fact of life.”

Although the Pittsburgh Steelers offense had a productive day in a 23-9 victory against Cleveland, the defense was the biggest story of the afternoon. With zero touchdowns allowed on the day, the unit looks to be in great shape through five games. With a short week coming up, let’s take a quick look at the state of the defense before we see them against Cincinnati on Thursday. Good: Healthy defense eats rookies for breakfast Dillon Gabriel got the starting nod at quarterback for the second straight week, while the Browns also started Quishon Judkins at running back and using Gage Larvadain, Isaiah Bond, Harold Fannin Jr, and Dylan Sampson throughout the game. With so little experience on the opposing offense, Pittsburgh’s defense feasted all day. Gabriel was sacked six times , including two each for Jalen Ramsey and Nick Herbig. Judkins was held to 36 yards on the ground, and outside of Fannin’s 81 yards on seven receptions, no receiver had more than 45 yards. Alex Highsmith and Joey Porter Jr. both made their season debuts for the Steelers' defense, making an immediate impact with half a sack for Highsmith and two pass breakups for Porter Jr. With Derrick Harmon and DeShon Elliott also joining the lineup somewhat recently, the defense finally had the opportunity to play at full health, and it looked lethal in their sharpest outing so far this year. Bad: Acrisure Stadium’s playing surface All of Pittsburgh’s points in the first half came from the leg of the ever-reliable Chris Boswell, but he missed one badly late in the game to extend a Steelers lead. Upon replay, it was obvious that he lost his footing while stepping into the kick, which means that the Steelers' home field cost them three points. Acrisure Stadium has also hosted several Pittsburgh Panthers home games so far this season, so the grass surface has seen more wear and tear then most NFL fields at this point in the year. The playing surface was in visibly poor condition for much of the game, to such an extent that Aaron Rodgers criticized the field for being a danger to the players. There’s been much debate about playing surfaces in relation to player safety recently, especially with the dangers of artificial turf in terms of knee injuries. With how often the Steelers have been plagued by injuries in the past few seasons, they cannot afford to have their home field be a disadvantage. Ugly: An arm-for-hire who knows the Steelers all too well Gabriel’s new position as QB1 in Cleveland led them to make a rare in-division trade, sending Joe Flacco to Cincinnati. Flacco is in line to make his second start for the Bengals against the Steelers this Thursday night. Most quarterbacks would struggle to adapt to a new team in the middle of the season, but as Mike Tomlin noted on Monda y, it "doesn't appear to be hard for Joe Flacco.” Tomlin is plenty familiar with Flacco by now. Between his decade-long tenure in Baltimore and his stints in Cleveland and now Cincinnati, Pittsburgh is the only AFC North team yet to employ Flacco’s services. In total, this will be Flacco’s 12th year in the Steelers’ division. With Flacco’s veteran presence combining with a lethal Bengals receiving corps, Thursday’s game will determine if Pittsburgh’s defense is truly ready to be elite or if they simply beat up on a young squad on Sunday.

With a 3-0 start to the preseason, the New York Knicks were firing on all cylinders and playing like a true playoff-caliber team. Then came Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden, where none of the starters received minutes. Miles McBride, Pacome Dadiet, Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson and Malcolm Brogdon were sent out to defend home court. However, the five backups were no match for the Wizards, who cruised past them to pick up the 120-103 victory. Marvin Bagley III ended the game with an 18-point and 11-rebound double-double, while Tre Johnson and Kyshawn George combined for 21 points. McBride ended with 11 points, but went 2-for-9 from 3-point range. Yabusele and Clarkson scored in the double digits, but Brogdon fell short of that tally with just four points. The Knicks' only source of offense was Tyler Kolek’s 20 points, four rebounds and six assists. The 17-point loss highlighted two key problems among New York’s bench: defense and good 3-point shooting. Knicks were Outscored by 23 in the 1st Half Defense has always been a recurring problem for the Knicks, and it became more apparent on Monday night. By the time there was 5:51 left in the first quarter, the Wizards already held a sizable seven-point lead. Tristan Vukcevic then nailed a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter to put Washington up by 10. It didn’t get much better for the Knicks in the second quarter, as they went down by 23 at the end of the first half. Worst of all, the Wizards made six 3-pointers in the second quarter, while the Knicks only made one. Something needs to change if the bench is getting outscored by this much in the first half. Head coach Mike Brown needs to have his team work more on their 3-point defense and defensive pressure when close to the basket. Furthermore, I want to see Dadiet work more on his defensive prowess because at 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, he has the size to make plays on defense. The same goes for Yabusele, because if he starts to develop defensively, the Knicks will have a better chance at stopping larger forwards because he will be paired with centers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson. Shooting 31% from 3-point Range with 1 Week Left in Preseason 3-point shooting has never been the Knicks' strong suit, which became even more evident against the Wizards. Dadiet, Yabusele and Clarkson got two 3-pointers to fall, but missed three to four of their attempts. The rest of the team made five from long range but missed 11. Ultimately, New York ended with a 31% 3-point percentage, falling short of the Wizards' 39%. Washington made 54% of its attempts from the field, while the Knicks ended with 44% from the field. If your team is struggling this much to hit 3-pointers, then some work needs to be done. Brown should have his team spend extra time practicing deep and corner 3-pointers until they become more comfortable shooting threes well. This can specifically benefit McBride , a talented shooter who missed seven 3-pointers against the Wizards. The one good thing about the Knicks' loss to Washington is that they still have a week left until the start of the regular season, meaning there is still time for them to work on their defense and 3-point shooting. They still have one more preseason game on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets, but Brown has to prepare his team for their home and season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 22.

Charlotte finally got a preseason win, and did it against one of the most intriguing teams going into this season in the Dallas Mavericks. Charlotte made a noticeable adjustment entering its third preseason game, changing the starting lineup and adding some veteran experience to it. The Hornets elected to start veteran guard Collin Sexton, who they acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz this offseason. The other change they made to the starting lineup was at center, with Ryan Kalkbrenner starting instead of Moussa Diabaté. Kalkbrenner made an immediate impact, shooting 7-7 from the field, finishing the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and one block. Kalkbrenner was effective without even showing his full arsenal offensively with his ability to stretch the floor. He found his spots on the court, especially in the paint, and was rewarded by his playmakers for doing so. Another standout was Miles Bridges, showing every facet of his game offensively, from his three-point shooting, his ridiculous athleticism when attacking the basket and catching lobs. He also dominated the glass; he led the team in rebounds with 11, making two Hornets who recorded double-doubles on Saturday night. Bridges finished the night with 20 points; his efficiency wasn’t where it needed to be every night, at just 38% from the field, but he shot 50% from three, which is a significant improvement for him to unlock another level of his game offensively and give opponents another facet to worry about. Offensively, it was a good effort from Charlotte collectively, shooting just under 50% from the field and over 40% from beyond the arc. The most impressive piece of this game from the Hornets was that six players scored over double-digit points, including the entire starting five of LaMelo Ball, Sexton, Bridges, Brandon Miller and Kalkbrenner. The starting unit looked comfortable together, and Charlotte was able to find all sorts of open looks from outside and in the paint. The sixth player to crack double digits was Kon Knueppel, who still looked comfortable on the floor even though he didn’t start for the first time this preseason. Ball also chipped in 20 points. He shot an excellent 61% from the field, and along with Bridges was 4-8 from long distance. Obviously, he won’t shoot 61% for the season, but if he can stay above the 50% mark, then that should catapult his offensive production even higher than it has been in years prior. The only gripe on Charlotte’s 120-116 win over Dallas was the fact the final score was as close as it was. There were multiple points in the first and second half where Charlotte had built a double-digit lead, and each time they did, Dallas was able to respond and bring itself right back into the game. If Charlotte looks to truly improve and make noise in the Eastern Conference, then it'll have to be able to put teams away rather than give teams late opportunities to steal games. Charlotte has two more preseason games left to build on, facing off against the Memphis Grizzlies and the New York Knicks.

The historic OKC defense was a huge factor in the team's success last season. Now everyone is trying to copy the same blueprint coming into 2025-26. Defense wins championships. That’s what the Thunder proved in the 2024-25 season when it campaigned for what has been the best season in franchise history. This eventually led to their first championship in the OKC era, but now a bigger task lies before them: Defending their title. But is it truly an easy thing to copy what they have been doing all season long? We have seen how champions have set the bar. The Golden State Warriors in 2015 introduced the small-ball lineup and an increased volume of threes, and many teams have adopted the same. The Boston Celtics, in 2024, emphasized the importance of depth, and many teams added key role players to their squads. So when the Thunder took pride in its defense, contending teams were quick to join in on the hyp e. Breaking Down the OKC Defense The Oklahoma City Thunder’s identity was established a long time ago, since it became a competitive team in the Western Conference. Thunder GM Sam Presti forged this identity without many people noticing it. They even had a shot at the big trophy in 2012, but youth got the better of them. This was expanded further when they molded the rest of the team to be versatile defenders in their own right. If you take a look at the OKC roster, almost every single one of them is a proven threat on defense. Even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, finished with the second-most steals last season. This physical approach to the defense proved that Oklahoma City’s mentality became a testament to how champions should always focus on defense first. Of course, the fabled OKC defense led the league in defensive rating, opponent FG% and forced turnovers in the 2024-25 campaign alone. We have seen how the Thunder turned defense into offense, wreaking havoc with plenty of disruption. Their physical defense is outstanding proof that they can truly take over and control the game. All of these point toward Oklahoma City being the catalyst of a generational defense that hasn’t been seen in a long time. Now more than ever, OKC is the gold standard for a lot of teams heading into the season. But will any team succeed in copying their defensive level of play? You Need Good Defenders Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace. These three players have been causing chaos for opposing teams, and it shows. Caruso and Wallace, known as the “Cookies and Cream” duo, are the latest defensive standouts so far. Caruso is already known for being able to provide the 3-and-D option for OKC, and so is Dort with his impressive on-ball defense that earned him an All-Defense recognition. Wallace, on the other hand, is a young player getting a bigger spotlight and getting mentored by impressive defenders. Then there’s the fact that Chet Holmgren is a rising shot blocker and is even a top-two favorite for the Defensive Player of the Year this coming season. Then you have SGA’s two-way ability, who had 131 steals in 2024-25. Jalen Williams is also a lethal defender who can turn up the energy for OKC, and it’s worth noting that he was named to the All-Defense Second Team last season. When Nikola Jokic commented on the new defensive style by Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman, it turned many heads and ignited a lot of discussions. “We are trying to be aggressive,” Jokić said last Friday per the Denver Post . “We’re trying to be, like, close to a foul — testing the refs to call the fouls. That’s something that we’re gonna try to do. That was the emphasis of the practice.” Well, that’s a first. The Nuggets made some roster revamps, and while this is a step forward, they don’t have the same defensive-minded players that OKC has, which sets a significant difference to begin with. The Thunder had prepared for this, building up this defensive identity for years, and it paid off. Youth Plays a Critical Role Back then, the OKC defense was often criticized for being too unconventional and unpredictable by NBA standards. Aside from having great defenders, OKC has also relied on a young roster, which makes it tougher to imitate them. The defensive identity that the champs have made says a lot about how unique a team they are. Youth plays a bigger role than most people think. Fresh legs, fresh perspective and an eagerness to lay their bodies on the floor to dive for loose balls, go for steals, deflections and so on. Oklahoma City has been that way for quite some time now, which points to more years of dominance and learning. As we have seen in the previous season, having less experience than other Western Conference teams isn’t much of a bad thing. It allows the Thunder to be themselves, and their youth has become quite a strength rather than a weakness. They aren’t accustomed to the rules in approaching the postseason like many other teams do. They do it in their own way. The mere fact that the OKC defense can revolutionize the modern NBA says a lot about how youth is their main power for the time being. The Thunder Chemistry is Hard to Achieve Overall, replicating the OKC defense can be a hard thing if the copying team doesn’t have the same level of team chemistry. We have seen over the years how the Thunder slowly kept the same core of players and eventually grew close throughout the rebuilding years. It felt longer, but they were only out of playoff contention for a few years, and quickly won a championship after a strong set of seasons. This just says a lot about how the Thunder's chemistry has evolved over the years. With it, the OKC defense also became prominent . They trusted one another to bring the energy on both ends of the floor, and it has paid off with a league title. Their level of trust in each other is quite hard to achieve with many teams. At this point, fans can expect to see a lot of gritty teams doing the same things that OKC does. Running down the floor, hustling for loose balls, doing some full-court presses, and even coming up with huge margins of victories. This is the Thunder brand, and one can say that this is going to take some time before the OKC defense can be truly replicated and turned into a championship recipe for another team.

No one expected the New York Giants to play that well in a primetime game against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. It wasn’t a close game either, defeating Philly in a convincing 34-17 at home on Thursday night in a game they were widely expected to lose. The team improved to a 2-4 record, winning two out of their last three games, while the Eagles dropped to 4-2 with their second straight loss. The team was firing on all cylinders for the first time this season, showcasing what can be done if there isn’t any parts out of order. Making it sweeter, the rookies all came out to play in some way, especially on offense. Perhaps this might be the week the team finally turns the corner they’ve been stuck on for the last few years. Rookies On Offense Finally Blossom One thing that plagued the Giants the previous week was their five turnovers against the New Orleans Saints in the second half, effectively shutting off their offense. This week, they did not commit a single turnover all game on offense and moved the ball efficiently among an even clock spread. In fact, the team had the most yards from scrimmage in a game this season. Cam Skattebo had a breakout game, earning over 100 yards from scrimmage and scoring three touchdowns on the ground. Averaging five yards per carry, it was his most effective game this season. The 23-year-old rookie had more rushing yards, touchdowns, receptions, and even a more efficient YPC rating than Saquon Barkley. The Giants may have found a perfect fit for their offense after all. Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart rebounded from an awful game in New Orleans to earn his first real statement win of his career. He went 17-for-25 with 195 yards and a touchdown in the air, and nearly 60 yards and another touchdown on the ground. The Ole Miss product now has over 50 rushing yards per game in his first three starts thanks to a seemingly improving offensive line. The offensive line, one of the team’s many areas of concern, all scored above a PFF grade of 60. Andrew Thomas’ return and subsequent performance have given the rookie duo blindside protection and some running lanes to utilize. They did play against an Eagles team without Jalen Carter up front, but there’s reason to be at least hopeful the line can hold for most of the season. Key Fourth Quarter Turnover Seals the Deal Philadelphia did have two opportunities to turn the game into a one-score affair in the fourth quarter. Up 27-12 with just over 11 minutes to go, the Eagles were in the Giants' red zone, Hurts in shotgun formation. A pass to his left was intercepted on a fantastic coverage scheme by Cordale Flott, which he nearly returned for a touchdown. That drive ended in a Skattebo touchdown. Later in the quarter, Philadelphia again found itself deep in Giants territory, only for AJ Dillon to fumble the ball after catching a pass. That ended the game as New York was then able to run down the clock with a 34-17 lead. The team also ended up getting three sacks against Jalen Hurts and limited Barkley to only 58 yards rushing. The Eagles were without Landon Dickerson, but New York performed exceptionally well. This is a team that ranks 27th in overall yards per game, so a defensive game was needed in the worst way. Their two takeaways bring their turnover ratio to negative three, but leave their total turnovers at eight. There’s really not much to complain, except for the fact the team’s schedule is expected to get harder in the next few weeks. They have a challenge ahead of them against the Denver Broncos, Philly again, and the San Francisco 49ers.

It’s very possible that the 49ers just had their King Kong moment. In a year in which they’ve been able to brush off losses of everyone from their starting quarterback to star pass-rusher, yet been able to grind out some incredible wins along the way, the loss of All-World linebacker Fred Warner in the early goings of Sunday’s defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could’ve been the bullet that finally hit the team’s season in the chest. Writing of Warner’s importance to the 49ers would take another article all of its own, but suffice it to say that on a franchise containing linebacking heroes like Patrick Willis, NaVarro Bowman, Charles Haley, and Jack Reynolds, among others, Warner didn’t just put himself in the same company as them, but arguably pushed him into the front of the line. The better player between him and particularly Willis is often debated, something which increased recently when Warner passed Willis in terms of forced fumbles. Yes, I’m Still an Optimist As with Nick Bosa, I will always trend towards the more optimistic bent when it comes to 49ers injuries–I simply believe that no team that has shown the grit, heart, and will to win that this 4-2 49ers team has shown this season can ever truly give up on the year–but Warner’s absence may actually be more destructive. There was an immediate hole in coverage in the middle of the field, something Baker Mayfield exploited ruthlessly, and the 49ers' run defense also suffered with Warner off the field. It will be a huge challenge for Tatum Bethune, Dee Winters, and third-round draft choice Nick Martin to fill the void, and if we’re being entirely honest with ourselves, they won’t. No one can play like Fred Warner. But if the team is able to be passable on defense, there are signs that the team’s offense, youth, and enthusiasm might just be able to carry them through, a la last year’s Detroit Lions. The biggest problems facing the 49ers, however, have nothing to do with injuries. They’re more fundamental. The 49ers are Fundamentally Lacking, No Matter Who is on the Field Missing your two best defensive players is a situation no one wants to be in. I can’t sit here with a straight face and write that "the 49ers don’t need Nick Bosa and Fred Warner to be successful," and it’d be churlish of me to do so. They’re great players, and even someone as optimistic as I can’t tell you they don’t matter to the team’s performance, in spite of Tony Romo’s peculiar screaming of ‘YA THINK FRED WARNER DOESN’T MATTER?!’ following a Tampa Bay touchdown on Sunday. (This continued his Joe DiMaggio-like streak of arguing against points absolutely no one made. He remains the worst analyst in football, but what can you expect from an ex-Cowboy?) That said, I don’t honestly think the absence of Fred Warner was why the 49ers lost on Sunday. On a base level, one could look at the defense failing to make a stop on Tampa Bay almost from the second he went out of the game as a damning indictment of the team’s prospects without its star linebacker ... but things go a little bit deeper than that. I did coach this game, once, many many years ago, and the fundamentals of this sport remain pretty much as they always were: you have to block, you have to tackle, and you have to play what’s in front of you. The 49ers spectacularly failed on all three counts on Sunday. Blocking: The 49ers allowed a staggering 16 pressures on Sunday, with six of them becoming sacks, and the running game once again failed to get going in its stead. The interior line was particularly culpable, with the triplet of Connor Colby, Jake Brendel, and Dominick Puni doing their best imitation of matadors. Puni has the excuse of likely playing injured, whereas Colby is a rookie who’s possibly overmatched, but it’s sad to watch Jake Brendel at this point. He shouldn’t even be on a football team, let alone starting. Tackling: Possibly the most egregious example was Baker Mayfield’s "miracle" 3rd-and-15 play that largely swung the game. With at least four missed tackles on the play, let’s just say Jesus would’ve found miracles much easier if he’d been able to do them against the 49ers defense. But there was an overall malaise with the tackling in general, with many players doing passable interpretations of Fred Warner’s Red Adair-like flying to the ball, but forgetting the part about putting the man on the ground. (Malik Mustapha particularly stands out.) The run defense failed to stuff Tampa as a result, continually putting Mayfield in favourable situations. A game-changing defensive tackle, or the continued development of Alfred Collins and CJ West, would make this defensive unit roughly a million times better. Playing what’s in front of you : Directly after "Baker’s miracle," the team gave up a long touchdown pass, allowing a lead they would never pull back. Safety Marques Sigle was culpable, but there were multiple busts in coverage throughout the day. The fact is, it doesn’t matter if you’re starting Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, or even Reggie White and Derrick Thomas, if you cannot do fundamental things that decide football games effectively, you will not win games. Some things are a function of growth of a young defense, or John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan’s baffling aversion to investing in the offensive line , but as I said before the Rams game, there can be no excuse-making or hiding behind injuries. Sadly, I suspect, after briefly rallying without Bosa, there are certain players on the 49ers who are willing to hide behind "well, Fred’s not here" or something similar to justify poor defensive play. Well, enough is enough. Do the basics right, and you can still win football games. Get them wrong, as the 49ers did against both Tampa and Jacksonville in recent weeks, and, well, you’ll be watching from the couch in January. Where to Next? The 49ers have a chance to right the ship on Sunday Night Football against the Atlanta Falcons, and I wouldn’t have any issues with picking them to do so. That begins a run of games up until their (late) bye that could decide what sort of season the team’s about to have: Falcons @ Texans @ Giants Rams @ Cardinals Panthers @ Browns On paper, they’re all winnable games, particularly as George Kittle and others return to the lineup, but a stumble prior to their second meeting with the Rams could change the trajectory of the year, and see more playing time for rookies and younger players. I’m still not ready to punt on the season. At 4-2, with this young defensive core, a great defensive coordinator, and Kyle Shanahan, I still think this team can win the NFC West. That starts with a win over Atlanta on Sunday. With what we’ve seen this year, in spite of all the complaints, online overreactions and caterwauling, I happen to still believe in this team. I just hope they believe in themselves.

The Cardinals suffered their fourth straight loss on Sunday, falling to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 31-27. While the Colts are a good team, this marked yet another week of Arizona playing competitive football, but being unable to close out the game. This was supposed to be the easy portion of the schedule, and with the league's second-hardest strength of schedule from week seven on, things look like they’ll only get worse barring a miracle. Jonathan Gannon’s seat feels scorching hot, and the betting market reflects it. He needs a win in the worst way, or he could be shown the door come Monday morning. The Green Bay Packers coming to town could provide the spark that Arizona needs, but they’re an extremely talented team with an offense similar to the Colts and a much scarier defensive front. Let’s take a look at matchups on both sides of the ball and determine how winnable this game is for Arizona. Green Bay Offense vs Arizona Defense The Packers' offense profiles similarly to the Colts in that they both want to lean on their running games with bellcow running backs and strong offensive lines, piggybacking off that success with play action passing that gives their quarterbacks time to work. Jonathan Taylor ran all over the Cardinals last week, totaling 123 yards on 21 carries, good for 5.9 yards per carry. Taylor has been excellent all season, but the Colts' PFF run blocking grade ranks fifth in the league, showcasing that Indianapolis' rushing success is a complete effort. The Packers have a back in Josh Jacobs that is fully capable of doing the same amount of damage Taylor did, if not more, thanks to his punishing running style. Green Bay’s team run blocking grade sits all the way down at 25th in the league, as they’ve been hampered by offensive line injuries, but week six was by far their best performance, albeit against a Cincinnati defense that Ohio State University would find success against. The Packers' passing game has found quite a bit of success this year. While the offensive line injuries have at times held them down, they’ve been able to generate explosive plays through the air at the league's fifth-highest rate over the last month. The Packers can generate chunks of yardage on short throws or deep ones, thanks to a deep group of weapons, including a tackle-breaking machine in tight end Tucker Kraft and multiple burners at receiver, the most exciting(and healthy) of which being rookie Matthew Golden, who has seen his role grow over the last few weeks, and showcased his full skillset against Cincinati. Romeo Doubs is having a great season in a contract year for Green Bay, and Christian Watson could potentially make his season debut on Sunday, giving the Packers yet another deep option. Jordan Love is the offensive X-factor for Green Bay, and now that he’s past the knee injury that bothered him for most of last season, his play resembles a lot more of the late-year breakout that got everyone so excited two years ago. He’s graded out as PFF’s 5th best quarterback overall, and the best QB in the league against the blitz. The best and seemingly only way to get Love off his spot this season is being able to get pressure with three or four rushers while maintaining strong coverage on the backend, as his grade drops all the way to 49.8 in that scenario, ranking 19th among qualified passers. The only team able to do this was Cleveland, and while Josh Sweat has been awesome this season, he isn’t Myles Garrett. The Cardinals' overall grade out as the league’s 25th-rated pass rush, and it doesn’t seem feasible to say that they’ll figure things out against an offensive line that’s now healthy, and one of the most talented that they’ve seen so far. Green Bay Defense VS Arizona Offense The conversation around Arizona’s run game can be told rather quickly: with or without Kyler Murray under center, the run game completely stinks. The run blocking has been bad, grading out as the league's 24th overall group, and the backfield rotation of Michael Carter, Bam Knight and Emari Demercado can’t pick up yardage if the blocking isn’t there. The Cardinals are generating explosive runs on 3.1% of carries over the last month, which ranks 24th in the league as well, and when you pit that against a Packers defense allowing explosive runs on just 1.6% of carries over that same span, the offense is going to be in 2nd/3rd and long situations all day. At the time of writing this article, it’s unclear whether Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. will be available on Sunday. Jacoby Brissett was awesome last week, but I’ll be seriously concerned if he has to start again. As previously mentioned, it’s doubtful the run game puts whoever is at QB in advantageous spots on 2nd and 3rd down, which was acceptable against an Indy team so desperate for a pass rush they felt the need to use wide receiver Ashton Dulin as part of a blitz package. But Rashan Gary and Micah Parsons are both sensational edge rushers who are going to give the Cardinals' O-line fits. I expect Paris Johnson to hold his own, as he has all season, but Jonah Williams is going to get worked if he doesn’t get help from a running back or tight end. The Packers could be without their best interior rusher in Devonte Wyatt, and are likely to be missing their third edge rusher, Lukas Van Ness, two big breaks for Arizona, as both are playing very well. The Packers defense has ceded big plays through the air at a 21.3% clip over the last month, ranking just 23rd in the league, though a decent amount of that can be attributed to a miserable night in Dallas. Against Washington, Cleveland and Cincinnati, the longest completion they allowed was 20 yards. Game Prediction: Cardinals Lose 24-7 The statistical profiles of both teams paint a rough picture for Arizona. The Cardinals will have either Murray on an injured foot or a backup in Brissett, supplemented by one of the league's worst rushing attacks against one of its best run defenses, which will likely allow the Green Bay pass rush to pin its ears back. On the flipside, an Arizona defense giving up explosive plays at one of the worst rates in the league faces a rushing attack rounding into form and a passing game that already ranks among the league's most explosive. The Packers have had trouble getting up for games against poor competition so far this season, but unless Arizona manages to fluster Love into some turnovers, I think the Gannon era could come to a tough end on Sunday.

Despite being the clearly better team on Sunday morning, the Denver Broncos found themselves desperately trying to hold onto their one-point lead over the New York Jets. Still, with five minutes remaining in the London, England game, Quinn Meinerz held a New York defender in the endzone, awarding the Jets with two points and an 11-10 lead. Denver’s next two drives were three-and-outs. The Broncos finally put together a 12-play, 65-yard drive, which ended in a Wil Lutz field goal, stamped by the only goal-to-go situation for either team. New York had only nine total plays with possession of the ball for the rest of the game, and Denver escaped with an underwhelming win. Even after beating the defending Super Bowl champions in Week 5, though, this kind of performance felt more than possible, and it’s because Denver doesn’t know how to play a clean game six weeks into the season. Meinerz's hold in the end zone was the biggest mistake of the game, and it could have cost Denver the game, but that wasn’t the only time on Sunday that a costly mistake ended a drive and rewarded the Jets. On the Broncos’ third offensive play of the game, receiver Troy Franklin put the ball on the floor, and New York recovered the ball. Despite gaining just three yards following the turnover, New York still scored three points on the possession. Denver ended the game with six penalties for 37 yards, while the Jets committed just two penalties for a total of 15 yards. The 4-2 Broncos nearly lost to the 0-6 Jets, who are six games into the Aaron Glenn era, because of self-inflicted mistakes. To be fair, offensive guard Ben Powers’ absence slotted backup lineman Matt Peart into the lineup, and he was responsible for three penalties, according to Pro Football Focus . Penalties have been a detriment to the Broncos’ season so far. In fact, if they played four quarters of clean football consistently, they very well could have been undefeated. Against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2, Denver led for the entire fourth quarter. The clock even hit zero with the Broncos in the lead, but a leverage penalty on the missed game-winning field goal attempt gave the Colts another try, which they sent down the middle of the uprights. In Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver had a four-point lead and had the ball at the Chargers’ 4-yard line, but a Franklin offensive pass interference set Denver back 10 more yards, forcing them to settle for a field goal and remain up one possession instead of two. After the defense forced a punt, the offense then had a chance to extend the lead, but after offsides and face mask calls, a second-and-6 turned into a second-and-20 and an eventual three-and-out. The Chargers took advantage of the opportunity, scoring a touchdown on the following drive and a game-winning field goal as time expired on the next drive. This season, Denver is tied for the fourth-most penalties in the league with 49. It has 448 penalty yards against the team, which is the second-highest mark in the league. A mix of poorly timed penalties and spotty situational play calling is responsible for the Broncos’ two losses so far this season. Contending teams don’t have this issue, especially not at the end of the season, but Denver’s defense has been elite enough to get the Broncos out of a few of these situations. While the New York offense is far from a juggernaut, Denver racked up nine sacks, driving the Jets 55 yards back, and since Jets quarterback Justin Fields passed for just 45 yards all morning, Denver held New York to -10 net passing yards. If the offense looked like it did in the fourth quarter of the win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Denver would be undoubtedly a contender. The issue is that it more often looks like the unit that couldn’t score on a lackluster Tennessee Titans defense and fell short against the Chargers. A win’s a win, and Denver is still second in the AFC West with a 4-2 record, but this season isn’t just about winning regular-season games; it’s about building toward a postseason run. The Broncos aren’t going to amount to much if they don’t polish their on-field product. In fact, they could miss the playoffs if they continue being as prone to mistakes as they have been through six weeks.

The Chicago Bulls are trapped — not by injuries, not by bad luck, but by their own indecision. This once-proud franchise has spent the better part of a decade chasing quick fixes instead of committing to a real direction. The result? A team that’s too good to tank, too flawed to contend, and far too stubborn to admit it. Let’s call it what it is: the Bulls are stuck in NBA purgatory. And the worst part? They did it to themselves. The downfall didn’t start overnight. It began years ago with the same pattern of overpaying for short-term stability instead of long-term growth. Remember when the Bulls threw big money at Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo in 2016, selling fans on a “Three Alphas” era with Jimmy Butler ? That team lasted one season and flamed out spectacularly. Then came the Jabari Parker contract — two years, $40 million for a player who couldn’t defend a chair. The front office kept chasing name recognition instead of building an actual foundation. Even after finally trading Butler in 2017, a move that should’ve triggered a full rebuild, Chicago refused to commit. They drafted decent players — Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., Coby White — but couldn’t develop them into stars because the organization kept flipping the script every two years. Then, in 2021, the front office made its biggest gamble yet: they doubled down on mediocrity by trading for DeMar DeRozan on a $85 million deal and trading for Nikola Vučević the season before, while sending out valuable picks that could’ve been used to rebuild. The plan was clear — skip the rebuild, jump straight to relevance. It worked… for about half a season. Apr 19, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) dribbles the basketball as Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) defends in the first quarter during a play-in game of the 2024 NBA playoffs at Kaseya Center. Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images That 2021–22 team, led by Zach LaVine , DeRozan and Vučević, was fun. They moved the ball, played hard, and briefly held the top seed in the East. But when injuries hit and defenses adjusted, the Bulls were exposed. Since then, they’ve been the NBA’s definition of average — hovering around .500, flirting with the play-in, and pretending it’s progress. The contracts haven’t helped. LaVine’s $215 million extension became one of the league’s most immovable deals before he was even traded. Vučević’s three-year, $60 million extension made even less sense for a team clearly not built to win now. And now, DeRozan’s future looms large again, forcing Chicago to choose between re-signing a 35-year-old scorer or letting another asset walk for nothing. No matter what path they pick, it feels like a lose-lose. Meanwhile, teams that embraced the rebuild — like Indiana, Orlando and Oklahoma City — are thriving. They drafted well, developed young cores and stayed patient. The Bulls, on the other hand, tried to fast-forward through the hard part. They’ve been operating like a franchise scared to be bad, when in reality, being bad for a couple of years might be the only way out of this mess. It’s not just the contracts — it’s the culture. The Bulls haven’t had a clear identity since Derrick Rose’s MVP season. They’re not an offensive powerhouse. They’re not a defensive juggernaut. They’re a team that exists in the middle, night after night, hoping for something to magically click. And it never does. The fans know it, too. Chicago isn’t a market that celebrates mediocrity. The city that watched Michael Jordan dominate the ’90s and saw Derrick Rose rise from Englewood to superstardom deserves better than “play-in potential.” Yet year after year, the Bulls front office feeds the same narrative: stay competitive, keep the seats filled, and maybe sneak into the postseason. It’s basketball without ambition. The Bulls don’t need tweaks — they need transformation. They need to stop handing out loyalty contracts and start stockpiling draft picks. They need to pick a direction, not another patchwork lineup of “solid veterans.” Because right now, Chicago isn’t chasing greatness — they’re clinging to relevance. And in a league built around stars, that’s not just being stuck. That’s being trapped.

The Golden State Warriors look to be back in championship shape after opening their 2025-26 preseason with a perfect record, backed by their strong team chemistry, the seamless integration of veteran additions, and a shockingly productive bench effort. Given their mix of veteran experience and young talent, it may spark nostalgia for the beginning of the Dubs' dynasty. While Stephen Curry and the returning core set the tone, the most impressive takeaway is how well Al Horford has integrated himself into the Warriors’ system. In their preseason-opening victory against the Los Angeles Lakers, Horford’s defensive presence was on full display. The 39-year-old key offseason acquisition showcased his veteran savvy and defensive prowess, plugging in three blocks, three assists, and a steal in only 14 minutes of playing time off the bench. His elite passing and spatial awareness as a big man were also shown, including an accurate pass to a cutting Curry that was a testament to their instant chemistry. Take a look at Curry speaking on Horford’s impact and the play from the Golden State Warriors X account: Coach Steve Kerr raved about Horford, according to Sam Gordon of Yahoo Sports , stating, “He’s an incredible player and fit for us. He just has that presence on the floor. “To see the size and the shooting ability, passing ability, just the flow of the game – yeah, what an addition he is. He just fits any lineup, makes every lineup better. We’re lucky to have him.” Horford’s knack for protecting the rim and spacing the floor should alleviate some of Draymond Green’s on-court responsibilities, allowing for more effective production from the heart and soul of the team. Lineup Experimentation and Stellar Bench Play Kerr has sampled various lineups in the initial exhibition preseason games, using them as an experiment for different potential combinations. In the opener against the Lakers, he started a small-ball unit of Curry, Green, Jimmy Butler, Brandon Podziemski, and Moses Moody. This group had success last season, but against the Portland Trail Blazers, Horford started. Their bench play was also notable, with a resilient performance in their comeback win against the Blazers. The depth of their rotation–featuring players like Quentin Post and Moses Moody–sparked their offense tremendously. Moody, in particular, has taken strides as a continuation from last year, carrying that momentum and playing an essential two-way role. Curry Looks Primed for a Championship-Level Year Even with limited minutes, Curry has proven to be in tip-top shape heading into this season. Against the Lakers, he scored 14 points in just 15 minutes, yet another reminder of his efficiency and range. His quick start and long-range shooting display served as a clear message that the Warriors’ engine is running smoothly and Chef Curry is ready to cook up an excellent season. This is especially true given the new rule against “high-five” defense, as coach Kerr stated, “I think it’ll help Steph every game because of the relaxed rules over the last few years, everybody’s out there just trying to hammer him on the arm,” according to Alex Simon of MSN . While the preseason is more about building team chemistry and testing out different lineups and strategies, the Warriors’ approach is paying off. Since the 2020-21 season, the team has gone 21-4 in exhibition games, which is a testament to its commitment to using October to reinforce winning habits. With key pickups fitting in with ease and the central core of Curry, Green, and Butler, the Warriors look well-equipped for another title run.

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has taken a more conservative approach in his play calling over the last three games, which is understandable. Injuries along the offensive line have made both pass protection and run blocking suboptimal at best, and anytime you can avoid your $55 million men getting hit, you take it. Still, LaFleur’s conservative play-calling has handcuffed Green Bay’s offense at times. Jordan Love’s average depth of target was just 1.7 yards against the Cleveland Browns and 5.9 against the Dallas Cowboys, whose defense has had a historically poor start. That number improved to 8.1 against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6, but overall, the offense remains reluctant to let Love sling the ball downfield. As I mentioned previously, pass blocking has not been great. Entering Week 6, Green Bay ranked among the bottom five teams in pass blocking efficiency . Still, LaFleur needed to make adjustments to maximize what was working in the offense — the passing game. That’s where Matthew Golden enters the picture, a player who could be the X-factor for this group if given the proper opportunities. Coming out of the draft, arguably, Golden’s most impressive trait was his hands. Brian Gutekunst, the Packers general manager, even described him as arguably having the best hands in the class — and that’s before even mentioning his 4.29 speed, the fastest at the combine. When you pair those traits, he’s a dynamic playmaker capable of elevating an offense to the next level. Still, the Packers have largely used Golden in a short, quick passing game this year, featuring screens and end-arounds. He had only four targets in the first two games and didn’t top 60 receiving yards until Week 6, when he then delivered his best performance of the season against the Bengals. Against the Bengals, Golden caught 3 of 5 targets for 86 yards. Two of those catches were huge, and they came on plays that actually let him go downfield — a glimpse of what he can do when Green Bay uses him beyond the short-game looks he’s usually stuck in. In the second quarter, Green Bay faced a 3rd-and-10 from their own 30-yard line. Love fired a laser down the sideline to Golden, who made a beautiful, smooth catch for the first down, putting the Packers in Cincinnati territory. The catch was as effortless as it was impressive. Late in the game, Green Bay faced a crucial 3rd-and-9 from their own 39-yard line. Leading 24-18, they needed a first down to move closer to a win. Love dropped back, rolled left and fired a dart to Golden, who made the catch and moved the chains, putting the Packers inside the Bengals' 30-yard line. “We had a concept call, a deep concept and I felt the pocket kind of moving and a lane to get out, so I started moving left,” Love explained in the press conference after the game. “MG was taking it deep and saw me working the scramble, so he was able to put his foot in the ground and come back down. I just threw it up for him, and he made a great play.” In the last three games, Golden has put up 4 targets for 52 yards, 6 targets for 58 yards and 6 targets for 94 yards. His workload should only increase. After the game, Love spoke about his first-round receiver. “He adds another explosive playmaker. I think he made some big-time plays today,” Love said. “Both really explosive plays with the go ball down the sideline and that last play to him." "I think he’s a guy we’re going to keep trying to get going and keep finding ways to get him the ball, because he’s done some really good things," he added. "It’s always about trying to spread it around, but he’s definitely a very explosive playmaker, and we just have to keep finding ways to get to him.” Hopefully, the offensive line continues to get healthier, which should give LaFleur the confidence to call more intermediate and deep concepts to take advantage of Golden’s speed. Sure, his speed is useful on quick, short routes, but how many cornerbacks in the league can keep up with 4.29 speed? Probably not many. His ascension as Green Bay’s potential number one receiver can only benefit the offense in the long term, but first, they need to let him loose.

On Friday morning, 105.3 The Fan Sports radio station in Dallas featured an announcement from the Cowboys' Executive Vice President, Stephen Jones, who confirmed that RB Miles Sanders will miss the remainder of the season due to an ankle and knee injury. Consequently, Jaydon Blue will officially take the position of RB 2, backing up Javonte Williams. Last week, Blue was finally activated to play against the New York Jets, where he had a limited role with four carries for seven yards. He also participated in special teams, making one return for 32 yards. I anticipate that his role will expand from this point, providing him with more opportunities to showcase his skills. Now, let's see what Blue contributes to the RB2 position. Blue's Explosive Playmaking Ability Blue's greatest asset is his ability to burst through openings and his acceleration at the second level. During his time at the University of Texas, he was recognized for transforming short runs into impressive gains of 20-30 yards. Notable highlights from his career include a 77-yard touchdown against Clemson University and a 69-yard run against Texas Tech University. Throughout his time at Texas, he averaged 5.4 yards per carry. The Cowboys have needed a runner like him since Tony Pollard. In this year's draft, the Cowboys selected Blue with the 149th overall pick in the 5th round, hoping to replicate or achieve similar results to what they experienced with Pollard. Reliable RB 2 Option Blue could serve as a change of pace behind Williams, who is currently the NFL's third leading rusher with 447 rushing yards and ranks second in rushing touchdowns with five TDs, according to ESPN. While Williams is known for his physical downhill power running style, Blue offers 4.4 speed as an outside zone runner. I anticipate they will utilize him in Jet Sweeps and motion plays similar to the strategy employed with WR KaVontae Turpin before his injury. Additionally, he will likely be featured in third-down packages and Two-RB sets to disguise play directions. Receiving Threatout of the Backfield Blue is not only a dynamic runner but also proved to be an effective receiver out of the backfield during his tenure at Texas. They utilized him by splitting him out wide and employing option and wheel routes to put pressure on the linebackers. In his last seasons with the Horns, he recorded 42 receptions for 368 receiving yards and six touchdowns. The Cowboys should leverage Dak Prescott's skill set within a short pass rhythm, particularly in third-and-medium situations. Conclusion In summary, Blue significantly contributes to the team as a special teams player (returner/gunner), a big play runner and a dynamic receiver in the backfield. Ultimately, it comes down to him executing what is required to officially secure the RB 2 role.

Two months after reaching their first Eastern Conference finals in 25 years, the New York Knicks were looking to add another superstar to their roster. Malcolm Brogdon, Jordan Clarkson, and Guerschon Yabusele were some of the new faces they added to the roster, and they also made Mike Brown their head coach. However, there was one player the front office couldn’t bring in: Giannis Antetokounmpo . On Tuesday, NBA insider Shama Charania reported that the Knicks were involved in trade negotiations with the Milwaukee Bucks to acquire the nine-time All-Star. Frustration had been growing between Antetokounmpo and his current team because he couldn’t lead them past the first round of the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. The Knicks were the only other franchise the 2021 NBA champion and Finals MVP wanted to join. The reason Antetokounmpo wanted to go to New York is unclear. Ultimately, neither side was able to agree because the Bucks thought the Knicks needed to make a stronger offer. Charania noted that, financially, New York is in a challenging position because it re-signed Mikal Bridges to a four-year, $150 million contract extension, making him ineligible to trade until February. After all of this, I think it’s better that the Knicks didn’t trade for Antetokounmpo for now. Don’t get me wrong; I would’ve loved to see one of the league's best players play in New York, but I believe the Knicks need to prioritize developing good chemistry, and adding another superstar could ruin that. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Bridges have become a very talented core of players who work well with each other despite struggling defensively. However, I don’t think getting rid of one or more of those players would’ve helped them. Instead, it may worsen the Knicks' chances of competing for a championship. On the flip side, adding Antetokounmpo can give them the talent they need to reach the finals, but it will likely come at the cost of trading away Bridges and Towns. If the Knicks are willing to make the trade, I’m not too sure if I’d be all in because there is always next summer, especially if frustration continues to develop between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. In that scenario, I believe the Knicks should capitalize on the opportunity to add another superstar. However, to get to that point, there is an entire season of NBA basketball in which both franchises look like they have a shot at being the Eastern Conference’s best team. The league ranked the Knicks as the second-best team in the conference, while the Bucks are sixth. Both teams play their respective season openers in two weeks on Oct. 22.

The Los Angeles Chargers have fallen to 3-2, a nice reminder of how quickly the NFL can humble both a team and its fans. So now what? The Mehki Becton Problem Another week down, time for another segment on the offensive line woes. The Chargers current offensive line is Austin Deculus (43.4 PFF grade), Zion Johnson (62.2 PFF grade), Bradley Bozeman (49.5 PFF grade), Mehki Becton (50.7 PFF grade), and Trey Pipkins (46.6 PFF grade). Four out of those five are at the bottom of the barrel, and this is not an NFL-caliber unit. These are all things we already knew, but we didn’t realize that Mehki Becton would revert back to his pre-Jeff Stoutland days of constantly finding himself off the field, then struggling when he is on the field. Maybe I’m being harsh when I say this, because if Mehki can get healthy and finally find his footing, he is a perfect addition to this roster. If you are a Chargers fan (or even the front office right now), you have to be thinking about the very real possibility that a guy with red flags in his past may be starting to struggle with those past problems once again. And it is another indictment of a front office that made the conscious decision to run back the Bradley Bozeman and Zion Johnson experiment once again after a disgusting display of ineptitude in 2024. The Chargers Front Office Feels the Pressure The door is open now. The AFC is mediocre, the Bolts still find themselves in first place in the AFC West, thanks to a Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. With their two losses to teams that they were expected to beat, the front office feels the pressure to get back to some winning ways, as evidenced by their recent acquisition of edge rusher Odafe Oweh. The team shipped off long-time starter Alohi Gilman in the process, a homegrown player who blossomed into a good starter but struggled to find consistency. This is a sentiment shared by Ravens fans in regards to Oweh, who has found his footing this year with a 70.3 PFF grade. Oweh immediately bolsters a pass rush unit that, outside of Tuli Tuipolotu, is easily one of the worst in the NFL. Non-Tuipolotu rushers on the Chargers rank 106th and 111th in Pass Rush Win Rate ... out of 115 qualified rushers. Oweh ranks 28th, immediately creating a room that has talent and depth once future Hall of Famer Khalil Mack returns to the fold. I expect an aggressive Chargers front office if this team is still making a push for the AFC West title come trade deadline time. I could see them trying to bolster the linebacker room, and while it would be nice for offensive line help to fall into their lap, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a team willing to deal a starting-caliber lineman midseason. The Injury Bug of Doom and Dispair Rashawn Slater, Josh Harris, Denzel Perryman, Khalil Mack, Najee Harris, Mehki Becton, Omarion Hampton, Derius Davis, Joe Alt, Will Dissly, and Elijah Molden. That’s all of the starters who have missed time with injuries this year thus far. Slater, Harris, Perryman, Mack, and Hampton all find themselves on injured reserve, with Slater and Harris being done for the entire season. This is before you discuss guys like Trey Pipkins, who have been banged up all year, or Daiyan Henley, who is still recovering from a brutal sickness that left him in tears during the Week 2 win in Vegas . The Chargers' roster is in tatters right now, and as a result are back to relying on superhero play from Justin Herbert to even have a chance to compete. Justin Herbert is Just Fine I should clarify, I’m sure he’s not fine physically after once again dealing with double-digit QB pressures despite getting the ball out in less than 2.5 seconds on average. But as far as the product he is putting out on the field, Justin Herbert is still playing very good football. (This is something that shouldn’t be in doubt, but if you look at the box score, you might be very worried.) Justin Herbert put up an 84.0 PFF grade on Sunday, once again proving that even when the sky is falling around him, he is still doing his part. Watching Herbert right now should still give all of the Chargers fans optimism that they can hang with any team on any day. When he’s kept upright, he is still carving teams up, and hopefully–with Joe Alt’s return right around the corner–you can expect to see a more aggressive downfield passing attack similar to what they put on display in Weeks 1-3.

Minnesota Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier called out the leadership of the WNBA in her exit interview, accusing league commissioner Cathy Engelbert of being “negligent” in her position of power. In her exit interview last Tuesday, Collier, a five-time WNBA All-Star, told the media that the league has failed to address several issues among players, including compensation, officiating and the state of the overall product, according to ESPN. "Our leadership's answer to being held accountable is to suppress everyone's voices by handing out fines," Collier said in her statement. "I'm not concerned about a fine, I'm concerned about the future of our sport. At some point, everyone deserves to hear the truth from someone who I hope has earned the benefit of the doubt to fight for what is right and fair for our athletes and our fans." Collier also alleged that Engelbert, who's been the league’s commissioner since 2019, said that young stars like the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark “should be on their knees” in gratitude for the platform the league has given them, ESPN reported. Clark, along with other young stars like the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and the Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers, all became household names at their respective colleges, also securing numerous NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals as well. "We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world. If I didn't know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn't feel this way, but unfortunately for them, I do. We serve a league that has shown they think championship coaches and Hall of Fame players are dispensable, and that's fine,” Collier said. It 's professional sports, but I will not stand quietly by and allow different standards to be applied at the league level,” she added. In response to Collier’s fiery statement, Engelbert said that even though she has the “utmost respect” for Collier, she was “disheartened” with her comments on current league affairs between its players and its leadership, ESPN reported. "My focus remains on ensuring a bright future for the players and the WNBA, including collaborating on how we continue to elevate the game," Engelbert’s statement read, released Tuesday. "I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver." This comes as the players’ union, the Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), is gearing up to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the league owners this offseason, as many believe that the league might enter a lockout if both sides don't agree to a new CBA. During a news conference last Friday, Engelbert said that there were a lot of “inaccuracies” in what Collier said in her exit interview statement, adding that she highly respects the league’s players. "[Players] are at the center of everything we do," Engelbert said at the news conference. "I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and me personally don't care about them or listen to them. If the players in the 'W' don't feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better, and I have to do better." "I feel confident that we can repair any loss of trust. ... I will do everything I can to change that,” she added. “No one should ever doubt how deeply I care about this league, this game and every single player who makes up what the WNBA is."

He has four game-winning drives in the first five weeks of the regular season. He is fourth in passing yards, tied for third for passing touchdowns and has thrown just one interception. Last Sunday, he became the first NFL quarterback in recorded history to throw for over 375 yards with fewer than five incompletions in a regular-season game. Looking at the NFL before the 2025 season began, those accolades would have made sense for defending NFL MVP Josh Allen or perhaps a healthy Joe Burrow. But no, after five games, they can be attributed to Tampa Bay Buccaneers captain Baker Mayfield—and he has been operating with a skeleton crew for a surrounding cast. Hold your nose, Browns fans. Here comes the cold water. If Mayfield continues at this pace, there is a very good chance he will win his first NFL MVP in the second year of a three-year, $100 million contract. That’s a $33.3 million average annual value when he signed on the dotted line, which slid him in as the 19th-highest paid quarterback in the league. He has since restructured the deal with Tampa, adding more guaranteed money, but the sentiment still stands. Now, if any casual fan just started watching football in the last couple years and is unfamiliar with Mayfield’s career trajectory, that contract seems insane. The guy was third in passing yards and second in touchdowns in 2024, and he might even be better this year. How is it possible that he signed such a weak contract? Before landing in Tampa—and the hearts of Bucs fans—Mayfield had a period of time when he almost ceased to play football. After being discarded like soggy trash by the Cleveland Browns organization, Mayfield went 1-5 as a starter in Carolina before being cut in December 2022. The Browns’ move was questioned heavily, but onlookers couldn’t exactly fault the Panthers for parting ways with Mayfield. He was not good in a Panthers uniform. People thought it was his fault. Mayfield revitalized his career after signing on as an emergency injury replacement with the LA Rams before signing a one-year "prove it" deal with Tampa ahead of the 2023 season. The way he proved it was by making the Pro Bowl in his first season. Fast forward to now—approaching Week 6 of the 2025 season—Mayfield sits in that second year of his three-year deal with the Bucs, and he has only gotten better as time has passed. He has amassed a 4-1 record through five weeks, and he put together late-game heroics in each dramatic victory. When a quarterback experiences a rebound like this, one of the typical reasons for it is a dramatic improvement in his surrounding cast. But so far this year, Mayfield has operated with offensive line and receiving corps situations that have been anything but favorable. Second-year receiver Jalen McMillan has been gone all season. Before Week 4, the Bucs were without Pro Bowl-caliber slot Chris Godwin. Since Week 3, they have operated with no future Hall-of-Famer Mike Evans. And in Week 5, there was no Bucky Irving to be found. Still, with that ever-shifting arsenal of weapons, Mayfield has produced at a top-five level in nearly every statistical category. Well, his offensive line is incredibly injured, so how is he doing it? His average time to throw is 2.60 seconds , which is blazing fast for a passer who is expected to process as quickly as him. When he can’t get the ball out that fast, his pocket often collapses, but he has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league at extending plays and picking up crucial yardage with his legs. And his deep ball has been unflappable, especially at some of the biggest moments in the game . After five weeks, following injuries to Burrow and Lamar Jackson and a poor Sunday Night Football performance from Allen, Mayfield should garner many of the eyes from voters. If the Bucs finish the regular season as one of the top teams in the NFC, it will be difficult to deny him as a frontrunner. That’s all great—Baker is a fun guy to root for. But Bucs fans, the team better reach that mountaintop in the next two years if he keeps playing at this level. MVPs do not come with low price tags.

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? Outmanned, outgunned, and with "no hope," according to most "bright NFL minds," the San Francisco 49ers walked in on the road (insofar as it could be on the road against a team with absolutely no fanbase*, which basically means facing 100 Los Angeles fans and a couple of megaphones) and found a way to win against the Los Angeles Rams, eventually allowing me to go to bed at 5:00am following an epic 26-23 victory. [* - Editor's Note: Sorry, Devin.] The win was vital for a few reasons even before Sunday’s games–it moved the 49ers to 3-0 in the division, already meaning they surpassed their division win total for 2024, and put them out at 4-1 overall. The stupid thing is, but for a catalogue of mistakes against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, this team that no one is talking about, that is mostly playing backups, and for whom the media continually tries to manufacture quarterback or coaching controversies ... would be undefeated. Not bad, I guess. The Moneyball 49ers, and Rooting for the Underdog The biggest surprise about it all is the players making heroes of themselves by achieving what they have so far this season. True, we’re still seeing big plays from potential Hall-of-Famers like Christian McCaffrey and Fred Warner, but the most impactful plays have come from players that might not have otherwise seen the field. Jake Tonges has had several key catches, including the game-winner in Week 1. Kendrick Bourne led the team in receiving. Eddy Pineiro came in for Jake Moody and continues to hit critical kicks–as it stands, he has two game-winners. Mykel Williams, as a rookie, is becoming a huge force on the defensive line. Renardo Green’s return stemmed the flood of plays being given up in the secondary. Alfred Collins, another rookie, had one of the game’s most impactful plays, essentially punching Kyren Williams in the face to force a goal-line fumble. The team is currently fourth in rookie snap percentage, which shows the amount of youth and inexperience showing up on the field for the team. If you’re not a 49ers fan reading this piece–and perhaps even if you are–your reaction to seeing the above names listed is probably akin to that of the scouts in Moneyball as Scott Hatteberg is proposed as the solution to the team’s first base issues : WHO?! That’s the beauty of the game of football, and there’s something quite comforting and homely about rooting for the underdog. Much like in the team’s surprise late run to the playoffs in 2021, the 49ers are defying expectations and beliefs to continue to be competitive. Thanks to Seattle and Arizona’s collective meltdowns on Sunday (Arizona’s coming in hilarious and scarcely believable fashion to the Tennessee Titans), they’re even in sole possession of the lead of the NFC West, and have at least a game gap on each of their rivals. Despite that, you’ll note that each of my pieces seems to contain some sort of "no one believes in us," siege-like mentality, and it’s largely because when one looks out across sports media, that’s actually the case . The 4-1 49ers is one of the league’s most remarkable stories, but may actually be one of the league’s least-covered teams. No one’s writing things like this column about this team, sans the tired attempts to create a quarterback controversy between the admittedly stunning Mac Jones and recently-minted franchise quarterback Brock Purdy. In Praise of Mac Jones Speaking of which, no, there is of course no controversy. Jones has been a revelation, and frankly, had his grit-and-toughness performance on Thursday night, battling through multiple injuries and cramp, been performed by one of the league’s darling quarterbacks, we’d likely be hearing about it for decades to come. Alas, for Mac Jones, it was just a Thursday. One can’t argue with what he’s done, as he’s won all his starts, and quite often he has been a big part of the reason for it, particularly as the run game remains execrable (with Christian McCaffrey averaging just barely over three yards a carry). He’s also done it without the vast majority of his weapons, with even Ricky Pearsall, who was threatening a breakout season, missing against the Rams. Purdy, meanwhile, came back into the lineup last week versus Jacksonville, and was iffy at best, with a couple of key turnovers that were at least partially involved in dooming the 49ers to defeat. A Quarterback Controversy? No, But… So then–controversy abounds? Well, not quite. Purdy’s played parts of full seasons in the same situation and been equally as impressive. I stand by that if he had not played as well as he did in the early portions of last season, the team’s disappointing 6-11 finish would’ve been even worse. Pretty much all the games the team won were because of Purdy, not in spite of him. If, however, you only want to deal with this season, it should absolutely be noted that Purdy led a game-winning drive in Seattle in Week 1, in a performance not dissimilar to Jones’ three wins. Ultimately, Purdy is just a better player. He’s more athletic, more accurate, makes decisions faster, and makes more top-level plays than Jones. He’s able to play outside the scheme, create plays in difficult situations, and is ultimately the higher-ceiling player. That’s not to take anything away from Jones, as he can play within a scheme very well, and a large reason we’re seeing more of the Mac Jones who was once considered for the No. 3 overall pick is because he’s being catered to correctly by Kyle Shanahan and his coaching staff, who are, frankly, coaching their asses off. Shanahan and the 49ers Must Keep Learning That said, one thing Shanahan should learn from this sojourn with Jones could perhaps have Purdy playing at his highest level again–no matter what the opponent, no matter how smart you think you are, create top-level, sensible gameplans that play to your players strengths. Shanahan is a peculiar coach that almost seems to improve when faced with adversity–with less to work with, he fills the gap with his incredible ability to put together an offensive gameplan. It’s almost as though having top players like Purdy, people he trusts, causes him to rest on his laurels, and allow the players to "create their moments" and big plays rather than scheming them up. If he can marry the excellent coaching job he’s done through five weeks of the season to the return of the team’s big hitters like Purdy, Kittle, Jennings, and Aiyuk, the sky can be the limit for the offense. Similarly, on defense, there’s still moments of frustration and miscommunications, but all this experience for the team’s young players should pay dividends in the dog days of the season in late November and early December. The schedule, on paper at least, gets a little easier after Sunday’s road game in Tampa Bay, and while that might be one challenge too far for this young team, the experience will be invaluable for the late-season stretch. If they continue to ace the crash course they’ve been put on so far this season, they could even be playing in January. And wouldn’t we all just love that? Enjoy the ride.

Most people thought it was going to be another embarrassing loss for the Titans on Sunday, but instead it turned into an all-time comeback and their first win of their season. The Cardinals jumped out to a big 21-3 lead behind their run game, with touchdowns from Michael Carter, Kyler Murray, and Bam Knight. Same old Titans. The Titans' offense was once again a disappointment as it had only managed six points early in the fourth quarter, and it looked like the game was all but over when Cardinals running back Emari Demarcado busted off a 70-yard touchdown run to make the game 28-6. Then the impossible happened. Upon replay review, Demarcado let the ball go before he crossed the goal line. Thus, his touchdown run became a touchback, giving the Titans back the football down 15. The Titans marched down the field in six plays after big completions from Calvin Ridley and Gunner Helm. Tony Pollard then finished it off with a touchdown run to make it 21-12. The Titans then attempted an extra point to make it a one-possession game, but Joey Slye missed his first extra point of the season. The Titans weren’t done though, as they forced a three-and-out and got the ball back immediately. It only took the Titans eight plays to go right back down the field for another scoring chance. Then on third and two, the Titans scored the weirdest touchdown in recent memory. On a tipped pass from Cam Ward, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson made the interception, but then fumbled the football when he hit the ground. His teammates kicked the ball backwards as Calvin Ridley tried jumping on the football. The ball then squirted out again and made its way into the endzone, where Tyler Lockett was there to recover it and give the Titans a touchdown, making it a 21-19 game. The Titans miraculously got another stop and had two minutes to go down the field and win the game. With just 32 seconds left, the Titans were stuck at their own 47-yard line when Ridley came in clutch with a 38-yard reception to put the Titans in field goal range. Joey Slye came in to hit his third field goal of the day, and walk it off for the Titans with a 22-21 win. How the Titans did it, I don’t know, but this could result in a win streak as the Titans have a struggling Raiders team coming up next week. This could be a massive confidence boost for the Titans as they look to salvage what has been a tough year so far.

Five weeks into the NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are performing above expectations. With a 3-1 start, a marked improvement for the defense after the first two weeks, and an offense that’s starting to gel nicely, it’s not insane to think that the Steelers might be in prime position to make a run in the playoffs this year. With Alex Highsmith's return to practice this week adding to the overall optimism around the team, Pittsburgh’s best football might still be ahead of them. Before they take on the Browns on Sunday, let’s lay out the Steelers' path to postseason success. The Division While Pittsburgh enjoyed a week off after their trip abroad, the AFC North crashed and burned around them. The Ravens, thought to be one of the best teams in the league at the beginning of the season, have looked out of character during a 1-4 start due to the weakest defense in the league , injury issues on both sides of the ball, and an inability to get Derrick Henry going. The Browns share the same record, and it’s still unclear if new starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel will be able to do anything to fix a lethargic offense in Cleveland. The Bengals are barely any better at 2-3. Life without Joe Burrow is a nightmare once again, and their defense is in no position to save them. Pittsburgh has all six divisional games still left to play. As of today, they should be expected to win both games against Cleveland (the first of which is this weekend) and Cincinnati, and the Ravens are beatable even if they’re healthy. This is the easiest road to a division title for the Steelers since 2020, and it might be their best shot for a while considering the impending return to health for both Jackson and Burrow. The Conference As of Monday, the Steelers have the top teams in each of the other three AFC divisions on their schedule. The Bills still look like the best team in the AFC despite falling to New England on Sunday night. Buffalo’s defense has a few exploitable holes in the secondary, as exposed by Drake Maye and Stefon Diggs, but game-planning for Josh Allen isn’t a simple task. In the AFC South, the Colts have stunned the league with dominant performances on both sides of the ball. They’ve had the privilege of playing some of the weaker teams in the league so far, but that doesn’t change how dangerous they’ve looked so far. Over in the AFC West, The Chargers are starting to slow down due to a flat-out awful offensive line. If they can get healthy and protect Justin Herbert, they have the ability to hold off the Chiefs and the Broncos to stay in control of the division, but that’s far from a guarantee. As of right now, I’d expect the runner-up in the AFC West to be the top at-large team in the playoffs, with a significant gap between them and the next best squad. Assuming Pittsburgh wins their division, playing their way up to the three seed from the four seed could be huge for their hopes of making it to the AFC Championship. The Remaining Schedule Besides the six divisional games and the three games against the other divisional leaders, The Steelers have games against the Packers, Bears, Lions and Dolphins. The Dolphins have looked rough to start the year, and that was before Tyreek Hill went down. Running through the entire NFC North is a daunting task, but Pittsburgh made it past Minnesota already. The Lions will likely be the biggest challenge with their lethal offensive capabilities, but Green Bay could prove to be a rough opponent as well. Pittsburgh is seven wins away from double digits in the win column- Two wins against Cincinnati and Cleveland each, expected wins against Chicago and Miami, and a split with Baltimore would do it. Given the remaining schedule, that should be the floor for this team going forward. Winning any of the other remaining games, all of which are winnable, would put this team firmly in contention for the AFC.

Basketball is in the air as we are less than a month away from the NBA season tipping off. The Hornets began their preseason campaign against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, which kicks off a two-game preseason slate in Charleston, South Carolina. Oklahoma City didn’t play its franchise cornerstones, such as reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren. The most notable players who stepped onto the court for OKC were center Jaylin Williams, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins ... and the Hornets still got smacked around. It’s only preseason; it’s not time to panic by any means, but the defensive output from Charlotte is the biggest concern going into the season, and last night’s preseason opener didn’t help the cause. The Hornets allowed OKC to score 135 points on 53% from the field and just over 40% from three, with 20 three-pointers made. Any team that shoots like that is going to be hard to beat, no matter who’s on the court. Charlotte also made the game easy for OKC at times, as they ended the game with 17 turnovers, and OKC was able to take advantage of them in transition. The positives for Charlotte in the loss were two pieces of the young core, led by fourth-overall pick Kon Knueppel, who looked the part of a top -ive pick in his 23 minutes of action, scoring 18 points, making good decisions, and not second-guessing himself on the court. He was decisive all night with the ball and looked like someone with more experience than a rookie normally would. The other highlight from Charlotte was center Moussa Diabaté; his stat line wouldn’t suggest how impactful he was. He ended the game with just seven points, but he had great defensive plays and ended the game with a blocked shot and two steals. More than anything, he played with a sense of urgency, which is just what this hornet’s team needs, especially on the defensive end. If Diabaté stays healthy, he can be a real spark plug for this team and a great lob threat. Another potential positive is that the stars looked like stars, of course, referencing LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. It was especially encouraging to see Brandon Miller play with confidence and look like he hasn’t missed a step coming off season-ending wrist surgery that took place earlier this year. Ball was making all the plays we know him to make: off-the-dribble, step-back one-legged threes, elite ball handling ... all he must do to make a real jump is limit turnovers and shoot efficiently. The preseason is about getting the roster warm and acclimated to live game situations, while making sure all the players get reps. The Hornets look to improve to 1-1 in the preseason as they face off against the Thunder once again on October 9 at 8pm Eastern time.

A series of miscues, bad defensive plays and turnovers led to a 26-14 loss for the New York Giants against the New Orleans Saints. New York’s record falls to 1-4, coming on the heels of a win in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers at home. New Orleans’ record improved to 1-4, snapping an eight-game losing streak dating back to 2024. The Giants' offense hummed enough in the first half to take the lead for the most part and stay within striking distance into the second quarter. A late second-quarter fumble led to a New Orleans field goal, before the team turned the ball over on every single possession in the second half. Bad plays, a lack of being able to secure the football led to what could be the breaking point for the team’s inconsistent offense. The Giants Turned the Ball Over Repeatedly There was a fantastic quote from Jim Mora during his tenure as the Indianapolis Colts head coach. It came off the heels of a five-interception game from Peyton Manning in 2001 against the San Francisco 49ers. He summed it up in the most blunt, painfully honest ways anyone could bring it up: “I don’t care who you play. When you turn the ball over five times … you ain’t going to beat anyone. That was a disgraceful performance.” That quote continued to ring true on Sunday when the Giants’ offense committed six turnovers in the span of just over two quarters. It started late in the second quarter when veteran wide receiver Darius Slayton fumbled a pass from Jaxson Dart in New Orleans territory with 1:13 to go. That turnover led to a field goal and put the Giants behind. It spiraled out of control as Dart was sacked near midfield on their first possession of the second half, which led to another field goal. Then, rookie running back Cam Skattebo fumbled deep in New Orleans territory, which was promptly run back for a touchdown to bring the score to 26-14. Dart capped off the turnover parade with two interceptions before turning the ball over on downs with 40 seconds to go. A brutal day for everyone involved on the offense, and it put immense pressure on the defense to go back out repeatedly on short notice. The team now ties with the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals for the third-worst turnover differential rate at -5. And it doesn’t stop at just a lack of producing and mitigating turnovers in general. The Defense is Fading Quickly Early in the season, the Giants’ defense was considered to be the real shining point of the team’s overall construction. They performed well in the preseason and seemed to have an idea of where they wanted to go during week-one action. Now, the team’s once-promising defensive corps is wearing down early in the season. The team is surrendering the seventh-highest yards per game on average and ranks in the bottom half for points surrendered. What’s worse is that the team has 43 penalties called against them, the second-highest in the league, with 19 called on the defense . Nothing that the Giants are doing is bringing a sense of discipline and awareness to their defensive corps. It was evident how disorganized this defense could get when they surrendered an 87-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed during the game and failed to record a single turnover. Their red zone defense prevented any touchdowns, but it's those small moments in a game that can really weigh on or completely break the team. The question now is whether defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is on the hot seat alongside head coach Brian Daboll. While their defense was similarly weak in 2024, they still had a strong passing defense that limited teams to just over 200 yards a game. It’s that penalty issue and lack of producing turnovers that might have Bowen on the ice. Whatever it is, the defense is fading fast and needs a jolt of energy before the entire organization falls apart again.

The Arizona Cardinals' record fell to 2-3 on Sunday after a shocking loss to the Tennessee Titans by a score of 22-21. It was yet another game that featured a solid all-around performance in the first half, with the Cardinals building a 21-6 lead heading into the break, before allowing 16 unanswered points thanks to brutal errors on both sides of the ball. When Joey Slye’s 29-yard field goal split the uprights and the clock hit zero, the emotional impact was overwhelming anger mixed with confusion. Tennessee is the worst team in football, with an offense that averaged just 12.75 points per game and was fresh off a shutout against the Houston Texans. Yet, the Cardinals' offense toiled around in their own stupidity long enough that an offense as inept as Tennessee was able to overcome the brutal mistakes they made throughout the game and come out with a victory. With 10:43 left in the second quarter, Zonovan "Bam" Knight punched in a one-yard touchdown that gave Arizona 21 points and an 18-point lead. It was nice to see, but it was also somewhat expected against the NFL’s worst team, at home, as a 7.5-point favorite. I’d wager that even the most pessimistic fan wouldn’t have been able to fathom that the offense wouldn’t score another point, with a drive chart that reads: Punt, 3-and-out, 3-and-out, fumble, 3-and-out, fumble, 3-and-out, punt. Those fumbles were particularly frustrating, as the first bounced right off the helmet of an unsuspecting Kyler Murray, and the second saw Emari Demercado race 71 yards untouched before simply dropping the ball a few inches short of the goal line, which showed a lack of discipline so severe that Jonathan Gannon gave him an earful on the sideline. The offense did some nice things during that early outburst, including the Kyler-Marv connection looking like it was building fourth quarter against Seattle, but Harrison didn’t see a target after his fourth and final catch at the 11:22 mark of the third quarter, and the Cardinals went back into the conservative shell they’ve showcased so frequently when holding a lead this season. If Dadrion Taylor-Demerson just held onto his interception of Cam Ward with 4:06 to play, this is likely just another eye roll about offensive ineptitude, but the Titans scored one of the flukiest touchdowns in years, and after three losses in a row, it’s time for a change at offensive coordinator. Drew Petzing was able to hide behind victories in the season's first two weeks while the offense was inconsistent at best, but it’s clear that his style is overly conservative and not built to maximize the skillsets of his quarterback and outside playmakers. Petzing has stubbornly relied on a terrible run game that has failed to churn out yards in big situations all season, and when you look at the dropoff the Arizona ground game has seen from 2024 to 2025, it’s pretty clear how much Klayton Adams meant to this coaching staff, as he’s currently in command of the league's best rushing offense in Dallas, and seems to have revived the career of Javonte Williams, despite him running behind an offensive line missing multiple impact players. The Cardinals need new direction on offense, and if Gannon can’t see that after five miserable weeks, then he needs to be shown the door as well, especially with how the 2024 season ended for Arizona. The answer at offensive coordinator could be bringing back Adams, or looking at someone like Mike McDaniel, who looks like he’ll be cut loose from the Miami Dolphins soon. A swing for the fences could be Denver Broncos pass game coordinator Davis Webb, who is only 30 years old and has been generating buzz as the next hot OC candidate. Whatever answer the Cardinals choose, it can’t be continuing to employ Petzing. This is a playoff-caliber roster with the league's easiest opening schedule, and anything less than a 4-1 start should be unacceptable to everyone involved, but as we sit here today, 2025 feels doomed to be another year without a playoff game, and the only hope for improvement is swift changes to one of the league's worst offensive staffs.

With 3:52 remaining in the third quarter of the Denver Broncos’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Denver punted for its sixth time in a row. Nearly 20 minutes remained in the game, but the Broncos seemed out of life. Even after J.K. Dobbins ran the ball in for a touchdown with 13:11 remaining, it felt like more than a one-score game. It wasn’t until tight end Evan Engram’s 11-yard receiving touchdown that the game truly felt winnable. Then, coach Sean Payton made one of the riskiest calls of the season. Instead of tying up the game, Payton kept the offense on the field for the two-point conversion despite being able to tie the game with a point-after attempt. With seven and a half minutes left, the play wouldn’t have even guaranteed a win. With this, though, the move symbolized something bigger for the team. Denver converted the play, stopped Philadelphia on the next drive, scored a field goal and stopped an Eagles Hail Mary attempt. If that two-point attempt wasn’t converted, the Broncos may not have left with a win. Payton clearly believes this team can contend for a Super Bowl, and if the team plays like it did in the fourth quarter, it can beat any team in the league. This was one of the Broncos’ biggest wins in years, but that doesn’t mean the team was perfect against the Eagles. The issue so far this season is that not every fourth quarter has looked like this. By the end of the game, everything was worth celebrating, but the feeling from the first three quarters is still lingering, as well. To be Super Bowl champions, a team must be nearly perfect and sustain a high level of play for at least three games, likely four, during a playoff run. The Broncos consistently have competed with good teams, but a couple of disastrous collapses led up to Sunday’s big win. In Week 2, a missed field goal and a dumb penalty gave the Indianapolis Colts the victory. In Week 3, Denver choked a fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Los Angeles Chargers by a field goal. The silver lining, though, is that the Broncos hadn’t trailed in the fourth quarter of any game until Sunday’s win over the Eagles. The bad news is that the team has yet to play four quarters of good football against a worthy opponent. While Sunday’s inconsistency is confusing, the team succeeded in a few replicable areas. One of the most interesting points of the game was how the Broncos’ stellar pass rush would stack up with the Eagles’ stout offensive line. In the first half, Denver didn’t get as much pressure, but as the game went on, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph found ways to get into the backfield and get after quarterback Jalen Hurts. Philadelphia's 3-and-13 attempt with 12 minutes left, for example, showed what Joseph was throwing at the Eagles’ offense. Joseph lined seven players up across the line and had three drop back into coverage from the interior of the line. That left three players running at the left side of the line, and sending Ja’Quan McMillian from the slot ultimately got the sack. Hurts didn’t know how many people were trying to sack him or where they were coming from. That ended the Philadelphia drive, and Denver took the lead on the next possession. The offense also took tremendous strides by the end of the game. Quarterback Bo Nix wasn’t playing terribly, but we did see more examples of Nix overthrowing a deep threat. The most egregious such case came on a great design from Payton and the offense that gave Trent Sherfield Jr. a step. But Nix missed Sherfield Jr. for what would have been a touchdown. By the end of the game, Nix was playing clean football, though. In the fourth quarter, Nix completed nine of 10 passes for 126 passing yards, a touchdown and three scoring drives. Part of what had him playing at the top of his level was receiver Courtland Sutton’s play. As the game went on, Nix went to his go-to target much more often. Sutton ended the day with eight catches for 99 yards, but the timeliness of his production was key. Sutton had six catches for 81 yards on eight targets against Eagles star corner Quinyon Mitchell; he had three for 64 against Mitchell in the fourth quarter. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Mitchell had never allowed more than two receptions or 49 yards in a game previously in his career. Offensively and defensively, Denver relied on its best players to bring the game back, and if the Broncos can manage to see all those pieces clicking at the same time for full games at a time, there isn’t a team the Broncos can’t beat. While some of Payton’s situational decision-making this year has been controversial, his play-calling has been great. Now, the team just needs to clean up the product. Nix needs to pass the ball more consistently, and the team as a whole needs to stop shooting itself in the foot. The Broncos are tied for the second-most penalties against, 43, and are second in penalty yards against them, 411. Those are the kind of problems Super Bowl contenders don’t face. While Denver is not a true contender yet, it can give any team a good fight, and if the Broncos become a more disciplined, consistent team, there’s a path to the top of the AFC, and even maybe the league.

After a drawn-out stalemate, the Golden State Warriors began their season with a flurry of moves to improve their existing roster, with Jonathan Kuminga signing a two-year contract being the headline and ready for the upcoming season in this X post by the team: This move closes the chapter on the organization’s issues with the young and talented forward, and the Big Three of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler also shared their perspectives on this topic. On a brighter note, the team was officially able to welcome veterans Al Horford, Seth Curry, and Gary Payton II. These moves are enormous for the Warriors, adding significant depth and experience to the franchise. Kuminga’s Contract Kuminga’s new contract is valued at $48.5 million for two years, with a team option in the second year. Sources reported that the team option was included at the team's urging, to which Kuminga stated, “It’s a business. At the end of the day, all that matters is that we got it done, and I’m excited to be here,” according to Kalyb Chamoion of NBA.com . His deal was structured for a potential trade in the future. Even in the midst of this news and the duration of contract negotiations, key veterans like Curry and Green expressed the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing : focusing on the upcoming season. Kuminga shares similar sentiments, conveying a commitment to contributing to the team’s success and winning a championship, despite lacking certainty about his future. Knowing this, the Warriors should make a conscious effort to let Kuminga showcase his abilities on the court. One reason is that he can be a key piece with the way their roster is currently constructed. Additionally, if plans are to part ways with him, allowing him to showcase his abilities consistently could improve his trade value. In the 2024-25 season, he averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting 45.4% from the field and 30.5% from three in 24.3 minutes per game. For a player with inconsistent minutes, playing alongside three stars like Curry, Green, and Butler shows how capable he is of contributing on a much higher level. Veteran Additions and Injury Updates In the wake of the stalemate with Kuminga coming to an end, the Warriors were finally able to sign multiple veterans to bolster their roster. Al Horford is joining the dynasty, replacing Kevin Looney at the center position. He brings defensive prowess, floor spacing, and experience. Seth Curry, Steph Curry’s younger brother, is also joining the team, in what he and Kerr consider the perfect time to team up. “I know their style. I know how they play. I should be able to fit right in, whatever they need,” according to Sam Gordon of the San Francisco Chronicle . His shot-making ability and competitiveness will be tremendous for them. Gary Payton II, a significant player for the team since his initial stint, is resigning with the Warriors. His energy and defensive tenacity should prove valuable. Lastly, De’Anthony Melton, a free-agent guard, has also re-signed with the team, but is recovering from a left ACL injury and will be sidelined for the entirety of the preseason and potentially the start of the regular season. When healthy, he can make an impact on both sides of the floor, having the ability to guard on the perimeter defensively and make shots on the offensive end. 2025-26 Season Outlook: A Refined Title Contender Following their 48-34 campaign last season that ended with a painful playoff exit to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Warriors are hoping to advance further this season. Acquiring Jimmy Butler proved to be transformative, as they had a 23-8 record following his arrival. The team now possesses a more apparent identity and a winning mentality. They have two bona fide closers in the Butler-Curry tandem, and Green remains their defensive anchor and glue that holds the team up, with Butler stating, “I get to do this thing from day one,” Butler said. “Be with the guys from day one and do what we started to do from the very beginning. I’m super hyped,” according to Ron Kroichick . Al Horford will be a big help to Green, who can now primarily play the four and let Horford handle bigger bodies. While the loss of Klay Thompson signaled the end of the “Splash Brothers” era and took away from the team’s shooting presence, the additions of Melton, Seth Curry, and Horford provide a great complementary cast of shooters and defenders around their core players. The biggest question that remains is whether Kuminga can make an impact or if he’ll be a mid-season trade piece. For now, Golden State enters training camp more equipped to compete with the rest of the daunting Western Conference. This season should offer a nostalgic ride for fans, as the veterans chase one last championship ring.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is off to a hot start to the 2025 season. Whether it’s from a clean pocket on third down, or in the red zone — whatever you ask of him, he’s been producing at a high level. Through four weeks, Love ranks 1st in Adjusted EPA per play, 5th in success rate, 3rd in CPOE, 11th in air yards and 5th in PFF passing grade. That’s even more impressive considering Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Zach Tom, Anthony Belton and Aaron Banks have all missed at least one game this year. Still, injuries along the offensive line haven’t helped, and they were a key reason Matt LaFleur leaned on more conservative passing game plans against the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys. For context, Love’s average depth of target was 12.9 yards in weeks one and two, but that number dropped to just 3.8 yards over the last two games, including only 5.9 yards against a bad Cowboys passing defense. It made sense for LaFleur to play it safe against Myles Garrett and Cleveland’s defensive front, but Love attempted just one pass of 10+ yards all game — and it came in the fourth quarter. You can’t win in the NFL without at least trying to stretch the field. Yes, the Browns’ front seven was dominating the line of scrimmage, but that’s when you adjust, keep extra blockers in, have both tight ends chip and buy Love enough time for a shot. The bottom line: you have to test defenses vertically, and Green Bay never did that against Cleveland. In week four against Dallas, early in the game, the Packers faced a fourth-and-two at the midfield line. Rather than keeping the offense on the field with a quarterback who was heating up, they chose to punt. LaFleur later said that “some guys” wanted to go for it, but he had no plans to, worried that a failed attempt would put Dallas in Brandon Aubrey’s range. The Cowboys’ defense got off to a historically poor start this season. Entering week four, they ranked among the bottom five in EPA per play, total EPA, success rate and EPA per pass. They allowed the most passing yards in the league and were 27th in sack rate. Yet LaFleur still couldn’t trust his offense to gain two yards against one of the worst passing defenses in modern NFL history. On their lone possession in overtime, Green Bay had 4:40 on the clock. They converted a fourth-and-six with just over three minutes left, faced no third downs until the final six seconds, and somehow targeted the end zone only once. LaFleur spammed RPOs throughout the drive, despite having a quarterback who ended the game with 31-of-43 for 337 yards and three touchdowns — becoming the first Packers player in history to post 30+ completions, 300+ passing yards, three touchdown passes, zero interceptions and 25+ rushing yards in a single game. Last year, the Packers leaned on a run-first attack with Josh Jacobs — the heartbeat of the offense and arguably their best player. However, that has not been the case in 2025. Entering Sunday, Jacobs ranked 14th in rushing yards. Among players with at least 25 carries , Jacobs sat at 22nd in EPA per rush, 31st in total EPA, 36th in yards per carry, 16th in success rate and 29th in explosive run rate. This year’s offense is built to throw first, and the ball needs to be in the hands of their best player, who is currently Love. Sure, Jacobs’ stat line is more a reflection of injuries along the Packers’ offensive line than a drop in his own production. When the line struggles, the running game suffers, and that has been evident early this season. However, the passing game has simply been on another level. After four games, Love ranked first in total EPA, passing EPA, average depth of target and PFF passing grades against the blitz. From a clean pocket , he completed 87.2% of throws, averaged 10.7 yards per attempt and had a 93.9 PFF grade with a 140.3 passer rating. On third down , Love led the league with 327 passing yards and 18 first downs, ranked second with three touchdown passes, averaged 9.3 yards per attempt and had a 110.1 passer rating, adding three scrambles for 49 yards. In t he red zone, he led all passers with 16 completions, 115 passing yards and eight touchdown passes, while ranking second with five touchdowns inside the 10-yard line. Love ranks as a top-four quarterback in nearly every advanced metric, and Green Bay needs to let him sling the football. The offense is at its best when Love drops back and stretches the field vertically, and they need to get back to that. Who knows if Banks and Tom will be available for week six against the Cincinnati Bengals, but LaFleur is one of the game’s best offensive minds — he has to find a way to fix pass protection and give Love time to make plays.

Throughout the summer, national media frequently claimed that the Lions were likely to decline in 2025. The primary reason cited was that they had to replace both coordinators who left for head coaching positions. Detroit Lions fans and local media became increasingly frustrated with the narrative suggesting that the departures of Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn would lead to the Lions taking a step back in 2025. It was somewhat questionable to say that Johnson's departure meant the end of the Lions' offensive dominance, especially considering how well Dan Campbell and his coaching staff have been performing. Last season, they had some record-breaking moments. After a rough start in week one against the Green Bay Packers, it felt like the critics might be onto something, but John Morton's squad has since put up 52, 38 and 34 points in the last three games, proving they're back as the top-scoring offense in the NFL. Johnnie-Mo's offense ranks 6th in total offense, 6th in rushing and 10th in passing. They are also 4th in scoring within the red zone and tied for 4th in turnovers. The offensive scheme incorporates creative play-calling, with the Lions frequently utilizing 21 pony formations that feature both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery on the field at the same time. The most impressive performances have come from the run game. For instance, the Lions went into Baltimore Ravens and consistently ran the ball using largely the same play, which was both effective and enjoyable to watch. The 900 yards of offense and 90 points combined in weeks two and three are the most the Lions have put up as a franchise since 1950. Even Myles Garrett acknowledged their accomplishment after the Lions did what no other team had achieved this season: running for over 100 yards against the Cleveland Browns. Detroit didn't have a great offensive performance against the Browns, but still managed to put up 27 points against the NFL's top defense. Although it hasn't always been smooth, Johnnie-Mo is making a name for himself in the coaching world. He has a unique style, and aside from the game against Green Bay, Morton has successfully silenced his critics in the national media. Many may not know that he assisted Johnson in implementing the Lions' offense while he was part of the coaching staff in Detroit in 2022. Numerous Lions content creators and beat writers have shared this sentiment, stating that they did not predict a decline in performance. Johnnie-Mo has a different personality from Johnson. He coaches hard, sits in the booth instead of the sideline, he's old school in every way, and right now he's silencing his doubters.

The Cowboys brought on RB Javonte Williams in early March during the free agency period. Fans had hoped for him to be a reliable rotational back at best , but he has exceeded those expectations this season. Williams meets nearly every criterion you seek in a primary running back. A consistent physical runner capable of overpowering defenses? Check. An effective pass catcher in screens and flats? Check. And outstanding in pass protection for the quarterback? Double check! This is impressive, especially considering he was coming off a three-year recovery from an ACL injury in 2022. The Cowboys signed him to a one-year contract worth $3.5 million, which is essentially a steal at this point. Now, let's take a look his stats so far. Currently, Williams is on track for 1,326 rushing yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry, and 17 rushing touchdowns, all of which would set new career records for him. His overall statistics include 63 carries (ranking 13th in the league), 312 rushing yards (sixth in the league), five yards per carry, and four touchdowns (tied for second) alongside Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs and Josh Jacobs. He is just one touchdown shy of the leading rushing touchdown scorer, Bills RB James Cook. With these impressive stats, he is certainly in good company among running backs and is also making waves in the passing game with 16 receptions for 74 receiving yards. In concluison, if Williams maintains this level of performance, the Cowboys will need to seriously consider re-signing the 25-year-old running back.

The Titans got steamrolled late in Houston this weekend after a tough 26-0 loss at the hands of the Texans. The Titans have now dropped to 0-4 and are tied for the worst record in the AFC and the NFL. In what was a 6-0 game heading into the fourth quarter, the Titans had more than enough chances to tie the game, or even have the lead by that point. Joey Slye, who has been automatic the first three weeks of the season, missed two 40-yard field goals leading up to that point. The Titans' defense did what they could, but ultimately ran out of gas, giving up three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Titans now have more turnovers (five) than touchdowns on the season (three). Many are curious about the problems going on right now in Tennessee. Who will be traded? Will Brian Callahan be fired? Is Cam Ward a franchise QB? People want answers, and the players within the organization are not thrilled with the start. Ward was asked in a post-game interview about his stance on the Titans thus far, and he responded by saying, “We A**”. Now that's not the exact thing you want to hear your young QB say, but he is being transparent, and his follow-up response was perfect. "We're 0-4. At this point, we have nothing to lose. We dropped a quarter of our games, and we've yet to take any action. We have to lock in, especially myself. Offensive line from the defensive line from and special teams, to all three phases, we have to play together. We have not played together this year yet, and that's just something that we want to preach about it every day. It’s good to see Ward lifting his team and taking accountability for what goes on on the field. The players can hopefully rally behind him, as they have yet to do so with Callahan. Callahan is now 3-20 as the Titans' head coach, and put together a lengthy response when talking about the resilience of his team and the negative responses that have followed. “My job is to try to lead, and leading’s hard. It’s hard right now," Callahan admitted. "But that’s my job. My job is to continue to fight. Continue to help wherever I can help and keep pushing guys to continue to get better. That’s the only thing you can do when you’re in a spot like this. You just keep coming out and you keep swinging.” With the Titans playing in Arizona to take on the 2-2 Cardinals this week, the Titans desperately need a win. Morale is at an all-time low, and jobs will soon be on the line. However, the Titans may struggle once again, as they go up against a good dual-threat QB in Kyler Murray and a solid pass defense that the Cardinals possess. The Titans need to get out of this funk and break this 10-game losing streak dating back to last season. If they start 0-5 or worse, major changes will be coming very soon.

Welp, there it is: the sobering reality that the Los Angeles Chargers are still very much The Chargers . Week 4 brought forth the most obvious “trap game” where the Chargers' nightmares became reality. So what did we learn? The Chargers are Not Contenders As much fun as Weeks 1-3 were, there were big flashing signs warning all viewers not to buy into the Chargers as true contenders. The biggest being the ability, or lack thereof, to protect Justin Herbert. Herbert has been hit 26 times in the last two weeks . With the newest injury to the Bolts’ All-Pro-caliber tackle, Joe Alt, sidelining him for at least a couple of weeks, that number is poised to balloon even further. The offensive line unit of Austin Deculus, Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman, Jamaree Salyer, and Trey Pipkins is not even a preseason starting five, much less one you can run out in an NFL game. Alas, here we are. They’ll get Alt back, and they are poised to re-add Mehki Becton to this unit soon. So there’s hope for an improved offensive line down the stretch ... but the ceiling with the three starters outside of them is uninspiring to say the least. Regarding other issues this team has, the talent level is simply not up to par with the best of the best. The secondary is still a shaky unit with journeymen starters, the linebacker room past Daiyan Henley is not NFL-caliber considering the unreliable health of Denzel Perryman, and the pass rush is still up and down. Tuli Tuipolotu Steps Up Tuli Tuipolotu is one of the brightest spots of this Sunday. The young edge rusher finally broke out this year with four sacks vs the New York Giants, with three of them coming in the first half alone. But rest assured, this was not a random performance. After this week, Tuli has now jumped up to third in the NFL with 23 pressures and fourth in the NFL with 15 hurries . He was already performing well without the sack numbers to show for it, but now that he can add four sacks to his season total, he’s looking every bit of the edge rusher the Chargers needed him to become. The USC product has always been a stout run defender with some pass rush capability, but he’s putting it all together right now on a pass rush unit that needs him in the worst way. Greg Roman is Broken We need to turn him off and turn him back on again. Greg Roman, the man responsible for some of the most run-heavy offenses in modern NFL history, has decided to adopt the belief that the run game is obsolete in today’s NFL. I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around a universe where a Greg Roman offense is ranked third in pass play percentage (63.64% ). When you consider the two teams ahead of them (Dallas and Cleveland) have spent majority of their games chasing their opponents, compared to a Chargers team that has been in either control of their games or in close contests, the number becomes genuinely startling. This was fun when Herbert was being kept upright and the run game was sputtering; it just meant he was sticking with what was working and giving the Chargers offense their best chance to succeed. It became a lot less fun when Herbert was getting battered and Omarion Hampton was averaging north of 10 (!!!) yards per carry, and I’m still watching Greg Roman’s adaptation of the Air-Raid offense. This is an extremely long-winded way to say … run the ball! Don’t Panic With Ladd McConkey Trust me, I get it. Ladd has been concerning thus far. With two crucial drops in Sunday’s contest, last year's WR1 has not had a sensational start to his sophomore campaign. But with his pedestrian surface-level numbers comes strong underlying data. McConkey is still running his routes at an elite level, putting up a .207 separation score , which is actually an improvement from his .160 score in his rookie campaign. The talent is still obviously there, and Herbert is most certainly not a guy to give up on his weapons (see Quentin Johnston). So while he’s currently taking a backseat to the rekindling of Herbert to Keenan Allen–and the ascension of Johnston–trust me when I tell you that Ladd McConkey will be just fine and have a strong rest of his 2025 campaign.

“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.” - Andy Bernard. That is how I feel when talking about the electric point guard Derrick Rose of Chicago. Not only did the Bulls have less than a one percent chance of landing the number one pick in the 2008 draft, but Rose had less than a half-percent chance to even play in the NBA. I was in favor of drafting Michael Beasley, who was coming off a sensational freshman season at Kansas State averaging 26 points and 12 rebounds a game. He felt like a natural fit alongside Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah. But Rose was a different breed. The Rise One of the best prep prospects Chicago has produced, Rose followed a legendary lineage by attending Simeon Career Academy. He led the school to two 2AA state titles and delivered noteworthy performances, including hitting the game-winning shot in the 2006 State Title game and making an impressive sophomore debut during an ESPN-televised matchup. The moxy, swagger, and fluidity with which he played made it feel like his team was never out of the game. At the NBA draft combine, Rose showed off a 40-inch vertical along with his near three-second ¾ court speed, which at the time was a top 10 record. He had a smooth mid-range floater that kept his defenders on their heels. In his only year at Memphis, Rose led the Tigers to the national championship game. A couple of months later, he became a Bull, and that set the stage for potentially the story of a lifetime. The Dream Rose wanted to be a Bull and wanted to bring his hometown team a title. Many run from the ghost of Michael Jordan. The Bulls have not gotten one notable free-agent or franchise-altering player since the retirement of Michael Jordan in 1998. That all changed when the Bulls drafted Rose. The fanbase felt new energy. During his rookie season, Rose helped the Bulls get back to the playoffs and went toe-to-toe with the defending champion Boston Celtics. In his playoff debut, Rose dropped an NBA record 36 points and 11 assists in an overtime victory in Game 1. He followed up his rookie season by averaging 20 points along with 6 assists per game. He also made his first All-Star Game as a reserve. Then the hype began with a simple phrase that would become the unofficial slogan of his third season. ”Why can’t I be the MVP in the league? Why can’t I be the best player in the league? I don’t see why not.” The statement was audacious and bold as Rose was confident letting his game do the talking. He led the Bulls to a league-best 62 wins, the only time since the Jordan-era when the Bulls won 60+games in a season. He was the only player to be top 10 in the league in points and assists per game, en route to winning the league MVP at 22, being the youngest player in NBA history. He stopped Lebron James from winning his 3rd straight MVP at the time and four of five awards overall. The Bulls made it to the Conference Finals in 2011 but fell in five games to the Miami Heat. The Bulls felt ahead of schedule and ready to compete for championships for the decade under their budding superstar. The Fall Bulls’ fans remember when he made that pro-hop into the lane, and landed awkwardly. The call “Rose is down, holding on to his knee and down”. The city fell silent. It is one thing to lose title hopes by elimination, to get bested by a better team. But this one stung more. The Bulls' title chances were done for the season, and for more seasons to come. Rose tore his ACL in Game 1 in the first round of the 2012 playoffs. He was out for the next year and did not return until late into the 2013-2014 season. In the following seasons, Rose continued to get hurt. He tore his MCL in 2013-14 and then tore it again in 2015, along with an orbital fracture. As the injuries piled up, Rose continued to battle back. Unfortunately, this stripped him of his athleticism and playing time. Once a potential top player in the world, he became a Sixth Man, and eventually a savvy veteran who mentors the younger players. Put A Bouquet On It When it comes to Derrick Rose, we watched how someone could rise in their craft, and how easily it can all be taken away. If he wasn't injured, his career could be defined by many what-ifs. He loved putting in the work and wanted to be one of the best players to wear a Bulls jersey. Rose was the total package. He retired in September 2024 and in early January 2025, the Bulls honored Rose with a weekend of memories and tributes to the Chicago legend. In January 2026, Rose will be enshrined in the United Center rafters alongside the other greats of this organization, where he belongs, as the second-best player in Bulls history!

On Thursday, a collective of ESPN insiders released their NBA preseason 2025 rankings. Perennial All-Stars Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic represent the top three, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama landed right outside. Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant round out the list, with Jalen Brunson coming in at No. 10. With all due respect to the insiders who created this list, Brunson could have cracked the top eight. After witnessing him perform well last season, he deserves the spot over Wembanyama and Durant, who I’d move down to ninth and tenth place. Last season, Brunson made his second consecutive NBA All-Star team and was named a starter. He was also named second-team All-NBA after averaging 26.0 points, 7.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game on 48.8 % shooting from the field. Brunson was key in leading the New York Knicks to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000. The former Dallas Maverick led New York to victory over the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics in the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs, with the Knicks ultimately falling short of reaching the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Wembanyama and Durant, perennial All-Stars, could not lead their respective teams to the playoffs. Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs cornerstone center, had his season cut short due to Deep Vein Thrombosis in his shoulder. Durant, on the other hand, played his eighteenth NBA season with the Phoenix Suns and missed the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. He averaged 26.6 points, 4.2 assists, and 6.0 rebounds per game before being being dealt to the Houston Rockets at the start of the summer. Brunson has struggled against tight defenses throughout his entire career. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, he has problems rebounding, getting steals and blocking shots. Another problem is that he missed 18 games last season due to an ankle sprain. Brunson was out of action for most of March but returned in time for the playoffs. As the NBA landscape shifts, stars like Wembanyama and Durant face challenges that remind us how fragile even the brightest careers can be, while Brunson’s determination to overcome injuries and defensive hurdles highlights the resilience needed to compete at the highest level. Perhaps this season his Knicks finally get over the hump and make to the Finals. That would catapult Brunson higher than top 10.

Entering Sunday’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles in Tampa, something had to give. Both squads had compiled a 3-0 record and sat at the top of their divisions, and despite an abundance of injuries, it was expected to be one of the most competitive games of the weekend. Many thought it was one of those games that could come down to one or two mistakes. Well, something did give—two minutes into the game. The Bucs’ offense was stymied on their first possession, and they opted to punt from just shy of midfield. A punt on their first possession wasn’t a great sign, but it wasn’t disastrous— until it was . Philly’s Cameron Latu burst through the A-gap barely touched and got what looked like his entire upper body on the ball as it came off of punter Riley Dixon’s foot. The ball was then scooped up by defensive back Sydney Brown, who sauntered into the end zone and killed every ounce of positive energy from the home crowd—7-0 Eagles, and the game had barely started. If the block was an isolated incident, it wouldn’t necessarily be cause for worry. Kicks get blocked in the NFL every once in a while because almost every player on the other side of the ball is very big and quite fast. Unfortunately for the Bucs, over the first four weeks of the season, blocked kicks have become more of a pattern than a mistake. The Eagles’ block could be lumped in with one from the Texans game in Week 2—and, well, one from the Jets game in Week 3. There have been two blocked punts and a blocked field goal against the Bucs in the last three weeks, and two of them have been returned for touchdowns—both to take the lead in their respective games. When the Bucs were winning every game, it was easy to overlook the game-changing plays because they were outshined by game-winning drives. But now that Tampa has tasted defeat, the issues cannot go unaddressed. “Right now, we’re looking at all avenues to improve our special teams … It really doesn’t matter. (The blocks) are all bad. Whether they block it from the outside or the inside, it can’t happen. Those are things that cannot happen for us to have guys on our punt team that are here strictly for special teams,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said of the recent miscues. For PFF believers, the Bucs currently sit as the No. 24 overall team in terms of special teams grade , but I don’t know if that grade accounts for the blocks being returned for touchdowns. If it doesn’t, it should. Moving forward, the “looking at all avenues” Bowles is doing started with open tryouts to replace Dixon. The team brought in a couple punters for a Tuesday workout, but opted not to make any signings, per Fox Sports’ Greg Auman. While Dixon is pretty solid when he gets the punts off, he has been notorious for a while as one of the slowest punters in the league. If Tampa Bay long snapper Evan Deckers and his fellow linemen are having trouble blocking (and his 35.6 overall PFF special teams grade says he is), Dixon better speed up his operation or it could lead to more disaster. With a date with the Seahawks–who have blocked a field goal and a punt themselves in 2025–on the horizon, special teams execution needs to be one of the main emphases this week in practice. One more miscue should lead to drastic changes—Bowles can’t afford for one of the best rosters in the NFC to have its year spoiled by woes in the third phase.

With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Denver Broncos’ routing of the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night, J.K. Dobbins did something that hadn’t been done since January of 2023. Coach Sean Payton had never had a 100-yard rusher during his tenure with the Broncos, but a 16-yard run by Dobbins finally ended that drought. The Broncos won Monday night’s game, 28-3, for many reasons. Quarterback Bo Nix played an almost mistake-free game. The Denver pass rush was all over Bengals backup Jake Browning, and the Cincinnati offense simply had zero life. The driving force of the Broncos’ domination was the rushing attack, specifically Dobbins. Going into this season, I was curious how much the overhaul in the running back room would affect the Broncos. Javonte Williams left for the Dallas Cowboys, and RJ Harvey joined the team via the second round of the NFL draft. That, alone, felt like it was the right decision, at least in the long run. Then Denver brought in Dobbins. The former Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers back was coming off a massive comeback season, but struggled to find a team in the offseason. When he joined Denver, questions were raised. How much better would he be compared to Williams behind an offensive line that couldn’t seem to pave holes for Williams? Will Harvey get the touches fans want to see him get as a rookie? Would Dobbins clog the room and slow Harvey’s development? All were fair questions, but none of them matter now. Through the first four games of the season, Dobbins is on pace for the best season of  his professional career . He has 57 carries for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Instead of clogging the running back room, Dobbins has been the star of the backfield, so much so that he’s the player fans want to see more involved. He’s averaging 5.7 yards per carry and is on pace for a career-high 242 carries. The best part about the transformed rushing attack this season is how Dobbins is being used. Last year, whether it was fully his fault or not, Williams struggled mightily. However, he was also not asked to do much. Most of his rushing attempts went  up the middle of the field  for minimal gains. Dobbins, though, has fewer limitations as a rusher. Another year removed from his latest season-ending injury, the injury-prone Dobbins looks as strong and quick as ever. Because of his rehab, Dobbins isn’t limited to any one kind of run. He  isn’t used in any one gap  much more than the rest, and he’s been extremely efficient. His emergence has been a great sign for Denver. The Broncos love to get Nix on the run, and Dobbins’ success will force defenses to respect the team’s play-action calls, and if Nix feels freer, the offense will move the ball, and the defense won’t need to carry the weight of the world on its shoulders. Plus, Harvey hasn’t even been relied on heavily yet. Going into Monday’s victory, Harvey had 13 total carries in his young NFL career. Monday night, he had 14 carries for 58 yards and four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. Harvey is more explosive than Dobbins, but each of them can break a big play. The matchup with a porous Cincinnati defense gave Harvey the chance to find his legs and build some confidence moving forward. Not every game will be that easy for the Denver rushers, but Monday’s win over the Bengals showed the potential this group has, and the better they perform, the less Nix will be expected to carry the team in only his second season in the league.

The Arizona Cardinals fell to 2-2 last Thursday at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 23-20. Despite a valiant offensive surge late in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals' offense effectively lost them the game with three quarters of awful football, continuing a trend of offensive ineptitude. A big culprit has been the run game, and it once again proved ineffective on Thursday. Kyler Murray scrambled five times for 41 yards, but outside of him, the running back room provided just 48 yards on 12 carries. Arizona's overall rushing success rate ranks 30th in the league through four weeks. If they’re going to stay committed to running the ball and still envision this as a playoff team, then a move needs to be made for a complement to Trey Benson. Tyler Allgeier The ideal option to replace James Conner is the first we’ll be discussing. Benson has shown the ability to generate explosives in the run game and catch passes out of the backfield, but his consistency running between the tackles isn’t there yet, and it’s going to hold the offense back, so enter Tyler Allgeier. Allgeier is an absolute hammer of a runner who has consistently turned nothing into something on inside runs during his career, forcing 30+ missed tackles each year. His latest performance against the Washington Commanders highlights everything you can expect from him as a runner, as he forced a whopping seven missed tackles on just 16 attempts. Allgeier is also a free agent this offseason, so he could be cheaper to acquire , and with Conner’s contract having an out this offseason, Allgeier could be re-signed as a replacement if the team isn’t confident in Conner’s ability post-injury. While not the same receiving threat as Conner, Allgeier could fill a very valuable role as an early-down grinder and short-yardage weapon, keeping Benson fresh and more likely to generate explosives on the ground and through the air. Nick Chubb Take everything said about Allgeier and dial it back about 30%, and that’s what you’ve got with the 2025 version of Nick Chubb. Most of his explosiveness has been zapped by injury, and he’s not at all the player he was at his peak, but this isn’t necessarily about finding a superstar, just a back that can fight for yardage on early downs and short yardage situations. If the Houston Texans' season continues going south, Chubb would be dirt cheap to acquire, and given his veteran minimum contract , a seventh-round pick could get it done. While he certainly isn’t the same player anymore, he’s still been able to flash the wheels at times for Houston. Rico Dowdle Another solid veteran back on a team going nowhere quickly, Rico Dowdle proved to be a capable starter for the Dallas Cowboys last year, posting 1,079 rushing yards on 4.6 yards per carry while forcing 45 missed tackles and catching 39 passes. Things haven’t gone well for the Carolina Panthers this year, with the team sitting at 1-3 and Dowdle averaging just 3.0 yards per carry as the backup to Chuba Hubbard. This suggestion seems gross compared to the others. Still, Dowdle is on a veteran minimum deal and has shown to be an effective runner before, so his skillset couldn’t hurt to add as someone who would still be an upgrade over Emari Demercado. It’s still early in the season, so more names could materialize before we hit the trade deadline on November 4th, but these three backs are logical targets for a team searching for more physicality in the run game, and it should be in their best interest to start making some calls and make this backfield a true 1-2 punch.

I’d like to throw out a question for Green Bay Packers fans: how would this team be perceived if, in their first four games, they had beaten the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys, tied with the Washington Commanders, and lost to the Detroit Lions? Sure, it’s just a hypothetical, but it’s at least funny to imagine how different the conversation might be under another set of results. It was an up-and-down September for the Packers. They opened the year 2-0 against two of last season’s top-four NFC teams. Then came a flat performance on the road against the winless Browns, followed by one of the strangest games in NFL history against the Cowboys—a wild 40-40 tie that stands as the second-highest scoring tie the league has ever seen. Everything seemed perfect after the first two weeks. Since then, though, the vibe around the fanbase has shifted. With that in mind, let’s look at a few takeaways as the Green & Gold head into their Week 5 bye. 1: Jordan Love is "That Guy" Through four games, Love ranks sixth in PFF grade, fifth in passing yards, and sixth in touchdowns. He’s also been careful with the ball, ranking third-fewest in interceptions, while sitting third in passer rating, fourth in yards per attempt, fifth in CPOE, third in pass EPA, and second in EPA per dropback. Love had a fantastic Sunday night against Dallas, completing 31-of-43 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns. He also added a 25-yard scramble that put Green Bay in prime position on Dallas’ side of the field. After four weeks, he ranks as a top-three quarterback in passing grade on both intermediate (10–19 yards) and deep (20+ yards) throws. He also the NFL in passing grade against the blitz, and is tied for third in passing touchdowns while throwing just one interception. 2: Special Teams have Not Been so Special According to Pro Football Focus, the Packers rank among the bottom five teams in special teams grading. Since Rich Bisaccia took over as special teams coach in 2022, Green Bay has never been graded higher than 26th. Those struggles showed up in Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns, when the Packers had a chance for a potential game-winning field goal. Cleveland blocked it, then drove down the field to kick the game-winner. Even if the kicker had missed, an offside penalty on Green Bay would have given the Browns another shot anyway. Field goal protection continues to be a glaring problem. After already losing a game due to a blocked kick, you would expect the team to focus on fixing it. Instead, in the first half against Dallas, they allowed another block —this time on an extra point—which handed the Cowboys two points and shifted momentum. That three-point swing mattered in a game that eventually went to overtime and ended in a tie. The Packers were literally a blocked field goal and a blocked PAT away from being 4-0 heading into the bye week. The frustrating part? They should already be 4-0 if they had addressed an issue that has clearly been recurring. 3: Micah Parsons has Been As Good As Advertised The Packers pulled off their biggest offseason move since signing Reggie White in the ’90s, and so far, it’s paying huge dividends for Jeff Hafley’s defense. Through four games, Micah Parsons has been dominant, leading the NFL in pressures alongside Will Anderson Jr. with 25 each. In his return to Jerry World in Week 4, Parsons recorded 10 pressures, seven hurries, and a 94.3 pass-rush grade—all ranking first among NFL edge rushers. He also added a QB hit and a sack, finishing with a 31.0% pass-rush win rate. Parsons’ impact on the field goes well beyond his own stats. Everyone around the Packers’ front seven benefits from his presence. Through the first two games, Green Bay was one of just three teams—along with Houston and Seattle—to have five different players record at least five pressures. That’s a testament to DeMarcus Covington’s coaching, but Parsons deserves plenty of credit too. 4: Romeo Doubs is Making his Case for a Second Contract Through four games, Doubs leads the Packers in targets, receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, yards after the catch, and contested catches. He put on a show against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, hauling in three receiving touchdowns, and has clearly established himself as Jordan Love’s go-to option in the passing game. Khalil Shakir’s $60.2 million contract extension with the Buffalo Bills could serve as a baseline for Doubs’ next deal. That said, Doubs has been more productive throughout his career and would likely push for a higher number. A salary in the $16–18 million per year range would be justifiable. The question, however, is whether the Packers are willing to allocate that kind of money with Christian Watson, Sam Reed, Matthew Golden, and Romeo Williams already under contract for 2026. It’s still too early to tell, but Doubs is doing his part on the field to make sure he earns a new deal.

At least a short week will get it out of our system quickly, I guess? The 49ers’ Sunday crumble to the Jacksonville Jaguars was as baffling as it was infuriating. I don’t mean to disparage Jacksonville when I say this, but the facts are there, and the yardage totals speak to it too – the 49ers lost to an inferior team, and possibly a much more inferior team. For all the teeth-gnashing about the 49ers performance, the only reason the Jaguars were even in the game largely boiled down to poor play: inexplicable drops, turnovers, and special teams miscues, all of which led to 17 points. The Jacksonville offense didn’t actually produce anything in the second half of much note , sans the drive which helped them run out the clock. The Reasons for Defeat are Numerous and Complex That’s what makes everything so annoying, and it’s a difficult loss to shake off. Those fond of lazy narratives and today’s ‘gotcha’ culture will happily tell you it was all down to Nick Bosa missing, or Brock Purdy playing poorly, and how he’s a terrible quarterback, and the 49ers shouldn’t have paid him, yada yada yada…the reality is, there’s very few players on any side of the ball that could emerge from that game with any credit. Christian McCaffrey dropped a ton of passes, one of which led to an interception. Jauan Jennings dropped a touchdown. Jason Pinnock took a horrible angle on a run-stop that led to a 48-yard touchdown run…I could easily hit my word count just by explaining those who let the team down on Sunday. Coaching Issues: the Red Zone Remains Impenetrable Nor should the coaching staff escape criticism. Six points from two early redzone appearances summed up an ongoing running sore for Kyle Shanahan, namely getting the ball into the endzone. Sure, George Kittle is missing, but the 49ers redzone gameplan currently seems to follow a pattern not dissimilar to that of South Park’s underpants gnomes: - Run Christian McCaffrey into a brick wall - Throw a contested pass (if you’re lucky–see Jake Tonges in Week 1–this might work) - ?????????? - Field goal. Defensively, while things tightened up in the second half, Robert Saleh’s gameplan brought back memories of games in 2019 and 2020 without Nick Bosa and other impactful edge players. I said in last week’s column that I had misgivings about Saleh without elite players to rely on, but I did have some faith that he would be a better coach the second time around and therefore find a way to make it work without them–unfortunately, it took too long in this one. The signs are okay, but he’s going to have to find a solution quickly to zero pressures being recorded on Sunday. One suspects it wasn’t all on the individual players, but perhaps also the passivity of the defensive scheme, with the 49ers seemingly content to allow Trevor Lawrence short completions throughout the game. In fairness, it almost worked, but it’s a defensive style that not many are accustomed to seeing from a man who describes his scheme as "all gas, no brakes." Special Teams is Still the Worst Part of the 49ers Special teams also remains the bane of the 49ers existence, with some back-breaking returns given up, including one that led to a touchdown. We’ve changed the coaches on special teams, we’ve changed kicker and punter, so maybe it’s just the fact that players refuse to give their all on special teams units that accounts for the problem. Ji’Ayir Brown, fresh off branding himself a top five safety in the league (he’s barely a top five safety on the 49ers) and Chase Lucas, a roster fringe player, in particular, gave disgraceful efforts on key special teams plays. Will the 49ers ever find an answer here, or is it going to continue to be the same issue it’s been for the last decade? No Excuses in Week 5 More than anything, though, I just want to stop hearing excuses. Yes, Bosa is gone. Yes, offensive playmakers are missing ... and Ricky Pearsall would seem to be joining them, derailing what was looking like a breakout season. Yes, there were some baffling refereeing calls on Sunday, particularly on Upton Stout’s interception. But you can overcome all that if you’re smart, execute, and play with some urgency, especially with a bunch of talent still on the roster. The 49ers did none of the three on Sunday until it was too late. Key veterans like tackle Trent Williams and even McCaffrey are letting the team down with insipid, half-hearted performances. Coaching is letting the side down by proving Einstein’s theory of insanity week after week, and refusing to fix glaring flaws that have existed for eons. The 49ers, with or without Nick Bosa, have a roster capable of winning games, especially against teams like Jacksonville. That they don’t is down to attitude, execution, and sometimes, how much the team cares. It’s a short week, and an already-huge divisional game with the Los Angeles Rams looms large on Thursday Night Football . It’s time for the 49ers to put up or shut up, because even as early as Week 5, it’s time to find out what sort of team this is. Is it the team who gutted out three wins in the season’s opening weeks, despite adversity? Or is it the half-hearted team that crumbled in the face of problems on Sunday? We’ll find out, and honestly, I’m not sure which it’s going to be. The 49ers can certainly beat an unimpressive Rams team, if it plays its best, hardest, and cares about the result. Alternatively, it can continue to point to the losses of players like Bosa, and hand in the season before the clocks have even gone back.

Steelers Nation, we’ve survived Ireland. Despite a last-minute surge from the Minnesota Vikings, the Steelers hit the bye week 3-1 and feeling much better about the defensive woes that plagued the first two games. While Pittsburgh rests up from a physically taxing trip overseas, let’s take a look towards the offseason. There’s still plenty of football left to play at both the college and NFL level, but prospects are starting to shine, and front offices are taking notice. Let’s look at three prospects who’ve shined through the first full month of college football and could prove themselves worthy of being selected by the Steelers in 2026. QB: Dante Moore, Oregon With Aaron Rodgers more than likely gone after this season, The Steelers will have a fascinating crop of QB prospects to choose from in 2026. While the projected standouts from this draft have had up-and-down starts, Oregon QB Dante Moore has risen up the rankings with a white-hot start to the season. Moore gambled on a transfer away from UCLA to sit on the bench behind fellow transfer Dillon Gabriel and develop, and it looks like the developmental year in Eugene has paid off. Accuracy and decision making, both weak points of his as a freshman, have improved greatly, pairing well with his natural arm strength. Oregon’s offensive scheme and personnel have created an environment for Moore to put elite play on tape, and he continues to take advantage of those opportunities. Depending on who else the Steelers sign to fill out the quarterback room, Moore would be a strong candidate for the starting job early on. WR: KC Concepcion, Texas A&M With the Steelers currently at 3-1, the chances of them landing a draft pick high enough to grab Arizona State star Jordyn Tyson are low. With that being said, there are plenty of other options further down the board, especially for a team who already has a clear cut WR1 on the roster. DK Metcalf had a breakout game against the Vikings, and Calvin Austin is playing well so far, so the Steelers will look for someone to complement their two established weapons and grow along with their new quarterback (whoever that may be). Enter KC Concepcion, a shifty receiver out of Texas A&M who possesses elite footwork and body control. His crisp route-running made him a highly coveted asset in the transfer portal (coming from NC State), and he’s built a strong connection with Marcel Reed so far with the Aggies. While his catch percentage might cause some concern among scouts, Concepcion’s playmaking ability would add a new element to Pittsburgh’s offense. CB D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana Pittsburgh is determined to get every last drop of quality football out of Darius Slay before he hangs it up, which is admirable. However, much like the quarterback position, they’ll need a replacement soon for the 34 year-old. D’Angelo Ponds followed head coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana before their breakout 2024 season. Ponds silently removes his assignment from the play, blanketing receivers with tight man coverage ability. He also has elite ball skills that punish any quarterback who forces the issue. Ponds also performs well when asked to provide run support, making him a versatile defender who will earn playing time at a rapid rate if given an opportunity.

The New York Giants finally secured a win on Sunday afternoon, beating the Los Angeles Chargers 21-18 in Jaxson Dart’s first career start. The offense seemed to be moving the ball well, and the defense did its best to keep Justin Herbert and company at bay. It was a gradual improvement from their disastrous Week 3 performance against the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately for the Giants, that win was brutally overshadowed when Malik Nabers came down awkwardly on his leg and crumpled in pain. What was supposed to be their biggest asset on offense and a reliable target for a rookie quarterback is now out of the equation. New York is now left with a critical fork in the road so early in the season: Seek out a trade option for a temporary solution or bite the bullet and throw the white flag early. Nabers Out for the Season With Torn ACL The star wide receiver was having a light day before Dart threw a long pass down the sideline to set the Giants up in the red zone. Nabers got tangled up with cornerback Cam Hart and had to stop and jump to go up for the ball. Almost immediately, his leg coiled up, and he seemed to hurt himself on the jump before landing on his side. The second-year wideout was carted off the field shortly after. While not official, insiders believed Nabers had indeed suffered a torn ACL on either the jump or landing during the play, according to NFL.com . That injury thins the Giants’ wide receivers corps significantly, leaving Wan’Dale Robinson with likely WR1 duties or sharing them with veteran Darius Slayton. As with most ACL injuries, barring a miracle or new treatment that hasn’t been used before, we won’t see him until 2026. It’s a detrimental blow to a team that was looking to turn it around after benching Russell Wilson after Week 3. A rookie quarterback now has to learn with more of a stopgap roster rather than depending on a star wideout to give him some confidence in the pocket. Jaxson Dart Made the Most Of It While not the most electric debut from a first-round quarterback draftee, Dart somehow managed not to turn over the ball and keep drives moving. The Ole Miss product completed 13 of 20 passes for only 111 passing yards, but also threw a touchdown to tight end Theo Johnson in the third quarter. He also added a rushing touchdown in the first quarter on a 15-yard scramble. The offensive line continued to let down the team, allowing six sacks the entire day, five of them against Dart and one against Wilson for a series. The unit was just enough to give Dart some time to scramble and make completions, even if they were only for a few yards. Chipping away at the defense might be the way for this team to go. Cam Skattebo is Here to Stay Giants fans went nuts when they drafted Skattebo in the fourth round of the NFL draft. He’s not a Saquon Barkley by any definition, but he can certainly hold his own on this offense. Plus, it’s clear to see he plays with an intensity matched for the city and for the history of this team. Following a lackluster Week 1 start, Skattebo is seeing an increasing workload and is doing his best to be productive for the team. He scored touchdowns in weeks two and three, while rushing for an average of six yards a carry against Kansas City. It’s only a matter of time before he runs for 100 yards in a game. With Nabers out, he’s going to see a surge in his workload across the board.

The Golden State Warriors’ 2025 offseason was primarily marked by the saga surrounding their relationship with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. With training camp on the horizon, the Warriors have found themselves in an unprecedented state of limbo because many of their potential offseason signings remain on hold due to the prolonged contract negotiations with Kuminga. Shams Charania reported Jimmy Butler led a mini-team training camp, where Kuminga will be absent. The Kuminga conundrum has dominated the Warriors’ summer and become a significant narrative in the NBA world. The former lottery pick desires more control and trust, which he’d take as a long-term deal that provides more financial stability and a player-option. Conversely, the Warriors face the dilemma of capitalizing on the remaining success of Curry, Butler, and Draymond Green while developing younger talent. Despite the uncertainty of what their roster will look like by the start of the 2025-2026 season, league sources have reported the organization has a queue of veterans ready to sign with the team as soon as the Kuminga situation is resolved. These potential signings include Stephen Curry’s blood ‘splash brother’, Seth Curry. Expected Veteran Signings According to Marc Stein , these veterans are expected to sign with the Warriors: Seth Curry: Curry’s younger brother, a dynamic shooter who could prove to be a valuable offensive spark off the bench, reportedly verbally already agreed to a deal. Al Horford: The 18-year veteran, most recently with the Boston Celtics, is a primary target to replace Kevon Looney at center, who departed to the New Orleans Pelicans this summer. Horford’s floor-spacing ability, defensive intelligence, and playoff experience make him an ideal fit for the Warriors’ system. De’Anthony Melton: A versatile two-way guard, Melton briefly played for the Warriors last season before an injury sidelined him. His defensive tenacity, playmaking, and shooting ability would prove to be huge for their second unit. Gary Payton II: A fan favorite and key contributor during the Warriors’ 2022 championship run, Payton II is expected to return to the Bay Area. His elite perimeter defense and energy would give them a much-needed boost. What’s Next? These signings are dependent on the outcome of Kuminga’s negotiations with the Warriors. Should he sign the qualifying offer, which is reportedly expected, he would play out the 2025-2026 season on a one-year deal, allowing the team to finalize their desired free agents’ contracts. A long-term agreement with a team option on the final year remains a possibility as well, which would make him a trade asset in the future. In addition to those notable veteran free agents, the Warriors also intend to sign second-round draft pick Will Richard, who received high praise from Warriors’ Insider Monte Poole , stating he “has a chance to contribute for Golden State. Maybe as a rookie.” While many aspects of the roster are decided, the team may look to consolidate its guard depth in a trade during the season, given the potential additions of Curry, Melton, and Payton II. As training camp approaches, the Warriors and their fans are anxiously awaiting a resolution to the Kuminga stalemate. The whole picture of their roster will be seen once that happens.

The Cardinals fell to 2-1 on Sunday after a 16-15 loss at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers. It was a performance that saw the Cardinals' offense shed its early-season inconsistency and instead turn in a complete 60-minute disaster against San Francisco. The blame for these offensive shortcomings has fallen squarely on the shoulders of Kyler Murray and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. Still, the root of the issues runs deeper than any one person. Kyler ranks among the top tier of quarterbacks in both PFF grade and estimated points added (EPA) per play, which might seem crazy, but Kyler is doing what he can to salvage drives that have routinely gotten off to slow starts due to an incredibly inefficient run game. The Cardinals' run game was their offensive engine in 2024, and despite Petzing trying to downplay the loss of offensive line coach and run game coordinator Klayton Adams to the Dallas Cowboys It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that outside of center Hjalte Froholdt, the entire starting offensive line has seen their run blocking grades decline substantially. (The worst of which being Isaiah Adams and Paris Johnson Jr., who’ve seen their grades fall by over 15 points each .) James Conner did all he could with the blocking in front of him, but his season-ending ankle injury means this is Trey Benson’s backfield now, and while he’s shown the ability to hit home runs on the ground, he doesn’t have Conner’s down-to-down consistency. Benson is going to need a compliment, and for now, it appears to be Emari Demercado, but he isn’t a big enough threat on early downs. Unless Arizona plans on going shopping for a new complement to Benson, their best shot to simply survive on the ground is more carries for Kyler. Only nine of his 20 carries this season are designed runs, and his largest carry load so far is seven. While the injury risk is real, adding between four and six designed runs a game for Murray would only help open things up for an offense desperately hunting some explosive plays. The passing game might be more ineffective than the run game, but for entirely different reasons. For all the run blocking issues discussed earlier, the offensive line has held up incredibly well in pass protection, grading out as a top-five unit. With such great pass protection, ranking 28th in passing yards per game, and generating explosive pass plays at a measly 5.4% rate (also 28th) is a grand indictment of both the offensive weaponry and the offense's overall design . The Cardinals' usage of two and sometimes three tight ends on the field at once naturally limits the amount of deep concepts they can effectively run, but those formations are almost better for the offense, given how badly the receivers have played. The Marvin Harrison Jr. conversation has been and will continue to be the focal point of talks regarding the offensive struggles, and he has to play much better, but what’s up with Michael Wilson? By no means is he some secret weapon, but he was a reliable second receiver before this season, so a 9% target share through three games feels jarring. NFL defenses have shifted to heavy zone coverage with two high safeties in recent years, limiting the ability to generate explosive plays, and that seems to be Kyler’s answer as to why the Cardinals can’t get downfield in a hurry , and while that would provide a reasonable explanation, it’s interesting to note that the Cardinals' first three opponents this season heavily base their defenses out of cover 3, which deploys a single high safety. The lack of early down success running the ball, coupled with a passing game that feels incapable of throwing downfield makes this offense something worth panicking about, especially with their next test being the Seattle Seahawks second ranked scoring defense on a short week. Seattle mixes up their defensive structure and runs two high safety looks at a high rate, while still limiting opposing rushing attacks to 3.2 yards per carry, so things will likely get worse for the offense before they get any better.

Malcolm Brogdon spent the majority of his last three seasons in the NBA coming off the bench. After signing a one-year , non-guaranteed deal with the New York Knicks on Sep. 12, his role is expected to remain the same. However, he’s expected to play a key role off the bench, according to NBA insider Shams Charania . Charania also clarified that Brogdon and fellow guard Landry Shamet are expected to suit up for the Knicks on opening night. Due to his experience in the league, Brogdon should have a stronger impact than Shamet. He won the 2016-17 NBA Rookie of the Year and the league’s Six-Man of the Year in 2022-23. In 24 games last season, he averaged 12.7 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game. However, injuries have been a reoccurring issue throughout Brogdon’s career. He had last season cut short due to a left ankle sprain and had four other years where he appeared in fewer than 50 games. But if Brogdon can put the injuries behind him, he should perform well as New York’s backup guard. He’s slated to join a stacked backcourt, which consists of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Jordan Clarkson, Miles McBride, and Tyler Kolek. He will be the perfect player to replace Brunson and Hart during games due to his level of experience backing up All-Star level players. He is also a proficient playmaker, which should complement sharpshooters Clarkson and McBride. The Knicks' home and season opener is on Oct. 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Expect a big debut game performance from Brogdon.

The Dallas Cowboys are returning home to take on the Green Bay Packers in Sunday Night Football. This will mark the official homecoming of Packers Edge Micah Parsons as he returns to Arlington to compete against the Cowboys. Here are three key strategies the Cowboys must implement to have a shot at defeating the Packers. 1. Get the ball out to Javonte Williams Last week, Williams ran 10 times for 76 yards — averaging almost 8 yards per carry — and looked every bit like the bruising back we saw before his ACL injury in 2022. He’s currently seventh in the league in rushing yards and third in touchdowns. This is a guy who's clearly on a resurgence. His power and physicality are back, and he's running like he never missed a step. That’s exactly why the Cowboys need to feed him the ball early and often — especially against a Packers D-line that can be worn down. Pair him with Miles Sanders, who brings that shiftiness and quickness in the flats, and you've got a legit one-two punch that can keep the defense guessing and the chains moving. 2. The Cowboys' defense needs to execute As fans, it's easy to point fingers at the coaches when mistakes pile up — but the players share responsibility too. We've seen lapses in execution and effort on the field. That said, Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus and the defensive staff also need to be held accountable for personnel decisions. A prime example: safeties Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson have struggled in coverage, yet no real adjustments have been made. Instead of continuing to roll with what's not working, why not give Juanyeh Thomas and Marques Bell more snaps? Both have proven to be effective in run support, show physicality and have fluid change-of-direction skills. The return of cornerback DaRon Bland after a foot injury will be a huge boost to the secondary, and the emergence of Reddy Steward in the nickel spot has been a pleasant surprise. Up front, the interior duo of Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark is doing a solid job setting the tone in the trenches. If this team can execute and Eberflus is willing to make the necessary adjustments especially when it comes to putting players in the right situations, they should be just fine. 3. Contain Micah Parsons We already know Parsons is going to try to show out against the Cowboys. So, here’s how they can contain him. Running 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs) is key. Getting tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford involved as a chip blocker can help slow Parsons down on the edge — especially on run plays. He can help push Parsons off his spot and buy Prescott just enough time to get the ball out quickly and effectively. Now, notice I said minimize Parsons — not stop him. He’s a perennial game-wrecker, so completely shutting him down isn’t realistic. But what you can do is limit his impact by playing physical, staying disciplined and sticking to a smart game plan. If the Cowboys bring that kind of energy and execution on Sunday, they’ll give themselves a real shot.

The NBA season is right around the corner, and ESPN has released its annual preseason top 100 list. One noticeable ranking on the list was Hornets franchise cornerstone LaMelo Ball, who was slotted at 63rd. Some may ask why a player of his talent level is ranked so low; the short and simple answer is injuries. It’s clear now that LaMelo Ball is starting to enter the same territory as Zion Williamson, someone whose talent far exceeds where media and fans look at them within the landscape of the NBA due to lack of availability and playing style, which is more prominent in Ball’s case. Ball, while only playing in 47 games, averaged 25 points and seven assists, clearly showing that when he’s on the court, he can put up All-Star caliber numbers. Ball only shot the ball at a 40% clip from the field, and when you combine that with his struggles to stay on the court, then the ranking he gets will follow suit. The more controversial piece of this ranking is the players that are ranked over Ball, who, while he hasn’t stayed on the court as much as he needs to, is clearly a more talented basketball player than some of the guys ranked ahead of him. Here are some surprising players ranked ahead of Ball at 63. 62. Christian Braun 60. Austin Reaves 59. Jalen Suggs 54. Paul George Braun, by far, is the most surprising ranking throughout this list in general, coming off a year where he averaged 12 points per game, on 45% shooting, and shot only 30% from three. He did contribute to a talented Denver team that gave Oklahoma City some trouble but based on the production he had, he shouldn’t be ranked ahead of the Hornets star. Braun was available playing in 79 out of 82 games last season, which is the bulk of his argument over LaMelo Ball. Another shock was Jalen Suggs, who does possess great perimeter defensive skills, averaging over a steal a game and a block as a guard. The problem is that the criteria becomes questionable for this list, because if Suggs played 65-70 games last season, then the ranking over Ball may be warranted, but he only played 35. He didn’t make enough of a leap last year to where he’s in the same conversation as a LaMelo Ball, who most still view as an all-star talent. The last one that was a surprise was the placement for 76ers forward Paul George, a former All-NBA caliber forward who played just 41 games last year and didn’t produce to his standards when on the floor, and even he admitted that on his “Podcast P’ show. “I didn’t hold up to my bargain,” George said on his podcast back in May of this year. This one’s the most similar to Ball’s situation, former all-stars who couldn’t stay healthy but the difference is that Ball was still giving the Hornets 25 points and 7 assists every night he played. Ultimately, these rankings are to create conversation and debate, and in doing so, create pressure for Ball, who is entering a “prove it” season where he has to show he can lead Charlotte to improvement, especially in the wide open Eastern Conference. It’s up to Ball to show his worth and where he places in the league. If he does what he’s supposed to, he’ll be a lot higher than 63 by the end of the year.

The Kansas City Chiefs inaugurated their win column on Sunday night in an entertaining game against the New York Giants. Patrick Mahomes and company faced a tough team in the first half, as the Giants scored six points ahead of halftime thanks to rookie running back Cam Skatteboo. The second half belonged to the Chiefs, thought, as they added 13 points to close the deal against one of the worst teams in the league. Winning is always positive, but when it comes to the Chiefs, this victory needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Per Sumer Sports , they posted 0.17 expected points added (EPA) and had a 50.7% success rate, which is a lot compared to a team that had only one positive thing going on offense. New York found something positive in this loss, as they succeeded on 12 of 24 designed rushes (50%), their best since Week 10 of the 2024 season against the Carolina Panthers, per Doug Analytics . Cam Skatteboo was the heart and soul of the Giants' offense, as he posted 121 total yards with one touchdown rushing. On the other hand, the Chiefs faced Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Abdul Carter on 29 snaps (43%), three of them on 53 snaps (79%) and at least two of them in 62 snaps (93%) and still survived against the Giants' best unit. Mahomes connected with wide receiver Tyquan Thornton for five receptions, 71 yards and one touchdown. He distributed the ball among JuJu Smith-Schuster (4 receptions for 55 yards), Marquise Brown (four receptions for 42 yards) and Travis Kelce (four receptions for 26 yards), showing that they still have a decent unit. It is always good to win, but after two losses in which their weaknesses were exposed, are the Chiefs back in their best form? How soon can fans expect them to play at the highest level? Ongoing Red-zone Struggles and a Soft Opponent The Chiefs tallied 306 total yards (201 passing and 105 rushing), but they still allowed 281 total yards from the Giants. They only made six more plays than the Giants (67 against 61), averaged the same yards per play (4.6), but took a major advantage on 3rd-down efficiency (8-15 against 1-10). Considering that they played Super Bowl LIX last season and that the Giants are just starting another rebuilding process, these aren't the numbers you expect to see from a team with Super Bowl expectations. They weren't dominant last season and won multiple one-possession games, but most of them were against competitive opponents ... not against the Giants. The Chiefs might not face an easy matchup until Week 13, at least. They will host the Baltimore Ravens, a dangerous team eager to dethrone them in the AFC. Then, they will go against the revamped Jacksonville Jaguars. Week 6 will be a tough matchup against the Detroit Lions, a team that went from worst to best in three weeks. The Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos ,and Indianapolis Colts will face off against the Chiefs in the next five weeks, before they visit a disappointing Dallas Cowboys team at the end of November. It will be hard to see one of these teams rolling over like the Giants did on Sunday, and things could go south if they don't build on Week 3's win. The Chiefs' offense has scored in 50% of its red zone trips, per Football Insights . That's a ways away from the 100% the Eagles, 88% from the Steelers, 75% from the Jets and Commanders, 69% from the Lions, and 67% from the Bills, to name a few. The season is still young and the Chiefs have room for growth, but when you see how fast the Lions turned their situation around and how competitive the Eagles, Bills and Broncos still are ... plus the new level the Jaguars and Colts are displaying, things don't look that favorable for the Chiefs.

I’ll always try and keep this column a safe space from the shrieking and hysteria. That feels like a particularly difficult job today, after the announcement of Nick Bosa’s torn ACL. It’s been a few hours at the time of writing since it was announced (I wanted to take some time to consider my response), and yet all around the Internet, the only reaction seems to be anger, despair, and most 49ers content creators throwing the season into the garbage. It won’t surprise you to know, if you’ve read anything I’ve written so far, that I’m not on board with this. Call me a happy-clapper if you must, but I’d prefer to focus on those who are on the field. At the end of the day, the team just won a third close game in three weeks, finding a way to win in difficult circumstances, and they’re 3-0, with a 2-0 record in the division. They’ve done that without their starting quarterback and most of their offensive playmakers. This team may not be winning with style, but it does seem to have some big things: youth, grit, and resilience. Nick Bosa’s In-House Replacements are Obvious How that pertains to Bosa, well, that’s a little different. Obviously, any time you lose an All-Pro and borderline Hall of Fame talent, your team’s weakened. Trying to argue against that, whatever my optimistic thoughts, would be ridiculous. Bosa is a fantastic player. 64.5 sacks across what is essentially four pro years (two, now, being abbreviated by a torn ACL) tells you enough to know that. But the 49ers did do some preparation for this; this was the whole point of that much-maligned offseason. True, adding players like Mykel Williams in the draft, Bryce Huff by trade, and previous additions like Yetur Gross-Matos were done to complement Bosa, rather than replace him. But we are seeing those players develop, with Williams and Huff in particular big factors in Sunday’s narrow win over Arizona. What likely happens now is that those two players take more prominent roles, with Huff moving from part-time pass rusher to full-time defensive end, while Williams will be asked to accelerate his pass-rush growth to add extra pop to the team’s defense. That might be coming along well, as Huff and Williams combined for eleven of the team’s 22 pass-rush pressures in Sunday’s game. They’ve certainly made noise as rushers, and while neither are Bosa as a one-on-one threat, they are good NFL players. Sometimes you have to recreate in the aggregate. Third-year defensive end Sam Okuayinonu seems to be Bosa’s primary replacement, recording the majority of snaps along with Williams on the defensive line on Sunday. He’s also already been part of the team’s "finishing" package, being on the field as a rusher along with Bosa, Huff, and Williams in the crunch time of the team’s opening games. While he’s not a household name (and many probably can’t even spell it), he has proven to be a solid NFL player in his time with the team, and had a strong season last year in another year of attrition for the 49ers defensive line. …But the Damage is Further Downstream Where the team gets hurt is further downstream, namely in depth. Both Kris Kocurek, as a defensive line coach, and Robert Saleh as a defensive coordinator, build their scheme on depth across the defensive line and frequent pass-rush rotations. Saleh’s 2019 unit, including the likes of Dee Ford and Ronnie Blair, benefited greatly from this. The idea was always to put players in their best spots, with those two players in particular being particular forces as spot pass-rushers rather than every-down players. That was clearly the plan with Bryce Huff this year, too, and it worked to perfection, particularly against the New Orleans Saints, where Huff came up with a game-winning forced fumble late in the fourth quarter. With him now becoming a seemingly more regular part of the defensive unit, it’ll require others to step up in his absence. One issue here, though, is the sheer lack of depth in terms of edge players. The vast majority of the 49ers defensive ends, Williams included, function better as ends on base downs who switch to the inside on passing downs. That also applies to Yetur Gross-Matos. The only real pass-rushing specialist end on the team was Huff, and he will be less useful in that situation now. One possible solution would be to make Okuayinonu the every-down end, with Huff still rotating in in pass rush situations, but minus Bosa, that makes Huff more of a focal point, rather than able to clean up as teams focus on Bosa’s phenomenal talent. Robert Saleh will Earn his Money Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism, though, is the man who’ll be tasked with figuring out the answers, namely defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. I’ve written previously about my scepticism over the rehiring of Saleh this offseason, but through three weeks of the season, he’s more than eliminated those doubts. He looks a much more experienced and varied defensive coordinator than in his first spell with the team, and the unit is continuing to improve week on week. Yes, Bosa is a loss, but he’ll still be able to work with the likes of Fred Warner, Deommodore Lenoir, and the rapidly improving Dee Winters to come up with a solution. I’ve total faith in him doing so, moreso than in 2020, when the team last lost Bosa. People forget this now (and I did at the time, too), but the team’s backup plans and depth for Bosa–Solomon Thomas and Ziggy Ansah among them–also went down that year. Not only did Saleh have to maneuver his chess pieces around anyway, but he had far less of them to play with than he does in 2025. He also suffered attrition in the secondary and at linebacker, too, something which, mercifully, seems to be missing from this year’s unit so far. What will he do schematically? Well, dammit, Jim, I’m a writer, not a defensive coordinator , but I’m thinking he might go to some more blitz-heavy looks (something he’s done a little more of this season already), but also will likely put more emphasis on the 49ers’ talented secondary, giving the depleted pass rush a little bit more time to get home. Regardless, I’ve no doubt that whatever he does, he’ll find a way to put together a coherent and talented unit. It’s just what he does. Could the 49ers Make a Move? One of the first questions seemingly everyone asked in the immediate aftermath of Bosa’s injury announcement was this: could the 49ers make a splashy trade move to cover his loss? Simple answer: Yes. John Lynch has shown aggressiveness and belief in his roster even when the world didn’t, acquiring the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Randy Gregory, Chase Young and Emmanuel Sanders with varying degrees of success. It’s not hard to imagine that the team might make a similar move here. However, I wouldn’t expect it just yet. With the possible exception of the devastated Miami Dolphins, no one seems yet ready to become sellers at the trade table, so a move is unlikely to be on the horizon any time soon. Closer to the deadline, though, and with some Robert Saleh-experienced players out there? You betcha. My guess, though, is that they’ll try and give the team’s incumbent players a chance to fill the Bosa void first. That’ll begin in Week 4 against Jacksonville. Hang on to your hats, folks. Let’s see what this team is really made of.

For the first time since 2002, the Los Angeles Chargers (then of course of San Diego) are 3-0! And not just 3-0, but 3-0 all in AFC West play. So what have we learned about the Bolts through these 3 games? The Q Breakout is Actually Here: Quentin Johnston has now put together three performances that have completely flipped the narrative on the TCU product’s career. His most recent win was against reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II, who followed him on 86% of Johnston’s routes run. Johnston put up three receptions for 61 yards on routes run against Surtain, good for the most allowed by Denver’s CB1 in the last two seasons. Sunday’s performance included yet another impressive catch and run , a staple of Johnston’s game thus far in the season ... but also highlighted his ability to bring in contested catches. If he is able to continue to do he may make a legit run at becoming a true WR1 in an offense that features a career revival by Keenan Allen and a reliable Ladd McConkey in the slot. If that happens to be the case, the WR Room has gone from a concern to the best Justin Herbert has had in his career thus far. Oronde Gadsden II: TE1 Now I don’t want to take a victory lap this early (I actually really want to), but there’s a reason why I spent so much of my Chargers preview of the tight end room gushing about the potential of the fifth-rounder out of Syracuse. The young WR converted to a TE took his first step towards realizing said potential on Sunday. In his first game active for the Bolts, he reeled in five catches on five targets for 46 yards, posting a team-high 84.0 PFF Grade in his NFL debut. The most notable impact was the fact that he was trusted by Justin Herbert in the most crucial of situations on the eventual game-winning drive, flashing his “excellent hands” that made him an intriguing draft prospect in the first place. There should be no reason that Gadsden II falls behind Conklin or Dissly on the depth chart after proving to be a trustworthy target when it mattered most, and there most certainly is no excuse for him to ever be a healthy scratch again. This Team is Far From Perfect The Chargers are 3-0, and I love that more than words can express. The Chargers are also not a perfect or even great roster at this moment. The offensive line depth issues finally reared their head as Justin Herbert faced a 54% pressure rate on Sunday (That's higher than Patrick Mahomes against Tampa Bay in that Super Bowl.) The pass rush was objectively bad–and is now non-existent with the current Khalil Mack-less unit–and the secondary completely fell apart on Sunday as evidenced by the stunning PFF grades posted by Donte Jackson (29.5), Alohi Gilman (29.6), and Tarheeb Still (52.2). Time will tell if that secondary blow-up was an anomaly or if this unit drastically overperformed in Weeks 1 and 2, and was just bailed out by Bo Nix batting .000 on the deep ball on Sunday. As far as the first two points ... if Mehki Becton misses Week 4 due to his concussion, an already rough O-line will be forced to see a dangerous New York Giants pass rush in a situation that could further expose the Chargers' biggest weakness offensively. L.A.'s pass rush being as shaky as it is will only amplify the issues on the back end defensively for the Bolts if they are what they seem. The AFC West is Must-Win Now Going from talking about all of the blatant weaknesses of this team to claiming a divisional title is the bare minimum is a hilarious 180, but such is the way the football world works. The Chargers have beaten each of their divisional opponents, and all three other teams are 1-2. Simply put, the Chargers are in a position to not look back after coming out of the gate on fire. With a matchup against a Giants team hoping for a potential Jaxson Dart start, 4-0 is not just within reach, but expected. Frankly, with the Las Vegas Raiders being the latest on Chip Kelly’s list of things he’s ruined, the Denver Broncos facing the very real regression/sophomore slump of Bo Nix, and the Kansas City Chiefs' dysfunction and makeshift receiving room, the Chargers absolutely need to win the division to prove that the Jim Harbaugh era is real and this is not the same old Chargers. A wild card berth, while still welcome, is no longer the expectation for the 2025 Chargers. They absolutely must dethrone the Chiefs and be the first Chargers team to win the AFC West since 2009.

The Phillies are once again positioned for an October run, but questions about the starting rotation and offensive consistency remain as the postseason nears. Aaron Nola hasn’t been able to provide the steadiness the Phillies once relied on from him. The right-hander has mixed strong outings with shaky ones, often undone by command issues and home runs. His ERA is currently 6.46 heading into the postseason, according to Baseball Reference , raising concerns about his reliability in a playoff series. With Zack Wheeler sidelined, the Phillies no longer have their ace to set the tone in a postseason series. That absence increases the urgency for the rest of the staff to step up. Nola’s inconsistency leaves questions at the top, while Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez, and Jesus Luzardo have been steady but untested in extended October roles. Manager Rob Thomson made one thing clear : “I mean, Nola’s never pitched out of the ’pen,” he said, confirming the veteran will remain in the rotation despite his uneven form. That’s where Walker Buehler could play a pivotal role. Acquired from the Red Sox, the right-hander owns a 3.04 ERA in 19 career postseason appearances, according to Baseball Reference, and has thrived in elimination games. He also notched a save last year in the Dodgers’ World Series-clinching victory, adding another layer to his October résumé. By contrast, Nola carries a 4.02 career postseason ERA and is coming off one of his worst Octobers, posting a 7.20 ERA last year, a sharp reminder of the gap in reliability between the two. Even while working back from Tommy John surgery, Buehler’s playoff track record makes him the frontrunner to claim the fourth spot in the rotation, or even step into a larger role if the Phillies need him. Based on how he’s been pitching in recent weeks, Buehler looks like the better fit. His command has sharpened, and he’s shown the ability to limit damage against playoff-caliber lineups. When you combine that current form with his postseason track record, he stands out as the arm the Phillies can trust most once October begins. Perhaps the biggest debate in the outfield revolves around Nick Castellanos. The veteran has been a fixture in the Phillies’ lineup, but his prolonged slump has raised questions about whether he should remain an everyday starter once the postseason begins. Castellanos has the power to change a game with one swing, and his track record suggests he can deliver in big moments. But his recent struggles chasing pitches out of the zone and failing to produce consistent contact has put a strain on the middle of the order. Keeping him in the lineup means betting on his ability to break out when the lights are brightest. It’s the kind of call that could define a postseason. Stick with the veteran and hope he finds it, or risk shaking up the lineup in search of steadier production? For Thomson, it comes down to trust. Does he believe Castellanos can flip the switch when October arrives? The contrast with the rest of the outfield only makes the debate harder. Brandon Marsh has given the Phillies steady defense in center and flashes of timely hitting, while Max Kepler brought in during the offseason has added balance from the left side and a more disciplined approach at the plate. Together, they’ve provided a level of consistency that Castellanos has lacked. For Thomson, the postseason challenge will be deciding how much faith to place in Castellanos’ streaky power versus the steadier options Marsh and Kepler bring. The Phillies don’t lack talent their roster is built to contend but October often comes down to who steps up when the margin for error disappears. Whether it’s Nola finding his form, Buehler proving healthy enough to carry a bigger load, or Castellanos rediscovering his swing, the answers to those questions will determine how far this team goes.

He’s back, and this time, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have given him the green light to actually play football. On Tuesday, news broke that the largest man the NFL has ever seen—defensive tackle Desmond Watson —found his way back to the Bucs’ roster. The timing was curious; Tampa currently stares down Sunday afternoon’s matchup with the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles, a team that has cracked the code on how to get one yard any time it needs to. Sunday’s onlookers at Raymond James Stadium may get to see an incredible spectacle when the infamous “tush push” gets opposed by Vita Vea and Watson. For the most part since the play was popularized by Philly almost five years ago, no other team has had an answer for it. When two teams are fighting over a yard, and only one of them knows the snap count, that team obviously has a marked advantage. But what happens when you throw two men who weigh a combined 800 pounds in front of the play? Nobody knows yet, but Sunday could be the chance to see. Before Watson was picked up, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles relayed that the move would not be made specifically for the matchup against the Eagles. "He had a good workout," Bowles said Monday after the team had worked Watson out. "But we'll never bring him in just to stop a tush push. If we've got to bring in a guy to stop one play and the tush push never comes up, you're wasting your time. If we bring him in, we think he can play, not just for a Philadelphia thing. It's very unlikely he'd be ready to play, once we bring him in, for Philadelphia right now anyway." While that quote does not make it sound promising that Watson will be a big part of the team’s defensive game plan against Philly, things can change on the field. If the Bucs face three 3rd-and-shorts on Philly’s first drive and fail to stop any of them, it could be time for “Big Des” to shine. Even if Todd Bowles is telling the truth about Watson being signed as a season-long asset, it’s hard to imagine he will see a ton of reps. Bowles’ defense relishes the ability to dial up creative blitzes, and it uses a lot of speed in the box to do so. Seven different players on the Bucs have already recorded a sack in their first three games. If Watson was asked to shift three gaps for a stunt, it seems like his lack of mobility would throw off the entire dynamic of the defense’s gap responsibility. Bucs fans want to see Watson on the field for one reason—to stop the run—and they want to see it this weekend especially. Bowles has typically been a man of his word, so if he says Watson won’t be ready for Sunday, he likely will not see the field. But come on, Todd. Do the right thing. You’re going to be at home in front of a packed crowd. Yes, you have a game to win, but think about the decibel level if you were to send “Big Des” out there on 4th-and-1. Do it for the people.

Facing a third-and-10, Denver Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton was running down the sideline, a step ahead of the nearest Chargers cornerback. Second-year quarterback Bo Nix’s pass went just past the diving Sutton, the Broncos punted and the Chargers went on a game-winning drive. What if Nix just made that pass? Denver probably wins the game, as the completion likely would have been just enough for field goal range with less than two minutes remaining. Instead of winning the game and taking hold of first place in the AFC West, Denver is 1-2 and looking to get back on track. Nix always was going to be the focus of the 2025 Denver Broncos, at least for the fans. While he hasn’t completely lost the fans’ trust, he’s had some prominent lows through three games. Besides the miss to Sutton in the fourth quarter, Nix couldn’t seem to connect on his deep shots. He also missed two shots to Marvin Mims that likely would have resulted in touchdowns. Generally, three missed passes that don’t result in turnovers shouldn’t be overblown. But this is a frequent struggle for Nix. On the first attempt to Mims, head coach Sean Payton called a flea flicker that would have worked perfectly if Nix was on target. The ball was just past Mims’ outstretched hands. He had Nix and Troy Franklin and if he got the ball to either of them, it would have been a 63-yard touchdown on third and long. If Nix was just slightly off, that would have been one thing, but Nix missed because of his bad habits in the pocket. The sophomore dances around in the pocket and throws off balance much too often, and that’s why he missed Mims on the first try. Nix had an edge rusher coming at him from the right edge, but he just needed to take a step or two up into the pocket. Instead of stepping up and settling, he unnecessarily kept moving and tried to make the throw while on the run. That’s enough to result in a missed target. The second miss was much less on Nix. He stepped up in the pocket, stood strong and put the ball just in front of Mims, but the receiver was thrown just enough off his route to make for an incompletion. Nix could have made the pass, and it was a missed opportunity, but it’s a tough pass to make. His final big miss to Sutton simply needs to be completed. He stayed still in the pocket, and while he could have been lined up with his target a little better, it was just a simple miss. If Nix converted that pass, Denver would have had a first down at the Los Angeles 35-yard line, and it would have been the Broncos’ game to lose. “A lot has been made of the two long balls,’’ Payton said Monday. “I’ll be honest with you, driving in this morning, that’d be like 50th on my to-do list item.” Payton obviously isn’t blaming the quarterback, but he never does. For better or for worse, Payton essentially refuses to say a bad thing about Nix. And the rest of the Denver team is on board with having the back of their quarterback. “I gotta make more plays for him, and that's it,” running back J.K. Dobbins said after the loss. “He ain't made no bad throws. It is what it is. We gotta make a play for him, even if it's not a (well)-placed ball. Gotta make the play." Whether the blame falls primarily on Nix or those around him, this aspect of the Denver offense needs to improve. Sunday, Nix completed three-of-nine passes more than 10 air yards down the field, according to NFL Next Gen Stats . Against the Indianapolis Colts , Nix was three-of-seven with two touchdowns and a pick on passes 10 air yards down the field. And against the Tennessee Titans , he had three completions, a touchdown and two interceptions on nine attempts. Within 10 yards, the former Oregon Duck is great. But as he starts to push the ball down the field, his accuracy starts to decline. Last year, he completed 41.6% of his 77 attempts 20 yards or further down the field, according to Pro Football Focus . Nix is capable of hitting those throws, but it seems the more he thinks about the throw, the worse it goes. On Nix’s miss to Mims against Tennessee on fourth down, Nix put a lot of air on the ball, but didn’t throw an accurate pass. That’s the same thing that happened Sunday. The second-year signal caller is still learning, but the deep game needs to start working as intended. Payton has his flaws as a play caller, but he’s making big-time calls at the right times. Nix just needs to convert them.