Category: Sports Fox

Chaos. That’s the only way to describe Week 1 across the NFL, and not just because the superteam Rams went down, down under. Some of the best teams in the league struggled to find their early footing. Meanwhile, the Jets, the Raiders and the Cardinals all won their openers! It has made an absolute mess out of my Power Rankings. Here’s what the carnage looks like heading into Week 2. *Super Bowl odds courtesy of DraftKings Super Bowl odds: +50000 The expectations for this team couldn’t have been much lower, and they still couldn’t meet them. It’s going to be a long season in South Florida. Hope the weather is nice, at least. Super Bowl odds: +30000 How long will Todd Monken stick with Deshaun Watson at QB? Maybe longer than you think. Better question: Does it even matter? Super Bowl odds: +20000 Brian Daboll’s offense managed just 195 yards against the Jets — and 65 of those came on the final garbage-time drive of the game. Robert Saleh’s Tennessee debut was a total disaster. Super Bowl odds: +15000 RB Ashton Jeanty was healthy, which is good, but QB Kirk Cousins still turns the ball over too much. Winning is nice, but good thing Las Vegas was only playing Miami. Super Bowl odds: +13000 Their fall isn’t just about their ugly loss in Pittsburgh. It’s about their broken QB room that left them with Cooper Rush having to start despite back spasms. Ouch. Super Bowl odds: +25000 Efficient on offense, stingy on defense. Could the Jets actually be … good? Probably not. The Titans are just that bad. Super Bowl odds: +6500 Jayden Daniels didn’t look like his old, dynamic self, but the Commanders still nearly upset the Eagles. Not sure whether that says more about Washington or Philadelphia. Super Bowl odds: +30000 Where did that come from? The Cardinals shut down QB Justin Herbert and thoroughly beat a Chargers team some think is a sleeper Super Bowl contender. So much for predictions of an 0-13 start. Super Bowl odds: +5500 For $165 million over three years, the Bucs expect a lot better than this from QB Baker Mayfield. He has too many weapons for the offense to be as bad as it looked. Super Bowl odds: +9000 What does $170 million get you these days? That’s about what the Panthers spent this offseason to rebuild their defense … which gave up 59 points and 552 yards in Week 1. No refunds, by the way. Super Bowl odds: +2500 It’s bad enough that all that work they did to fix their defense didn’t work. But if their vaunted offense is really as mediocre as it looked on Sunday night, this could be a painfully long season in Dallas. Super Bowl odds: +6500 They ran into a Baltimore buzz saw, but there were encouraging signs. QB Daniel Jones looked healthier than I thought he’d be, which could bode well when they start playing lesser teams. Super Bowl odds: +2000 Well, at least one Harbaugh brother had a good day, because Jim’s opener was a stinker. His defense got run over by a Cardinals team that figured to be one of the worst in football. And where was Mike McDaniel’s brilliant, energy-induced offense? What a dud! Super Bowl odds: +9000 QB Tyler Shough was terrible. Then he was brilliant. In the end, the Saints were one two-point conversion in overtime away from pulling off an upset that would’ve defined their season and proven to everyone they might be the surprise of the NFL this year. Super Bowl odds: +2000 Jordan Love threw for a lot of yards, and it looks like he has some good WRs. But an offense without Josh Jacobs and a defense without Micah Parsons feels like too much for the Pack to overcome. Super Bowl odds: +5000 It’s a well-deserved leap in the rankings after John Harbaugh’s debut showed he has a tough, well-rounded and healthy team. When WR Malik Nabers is off his pitch count, this versatile offense is going to cause problems for everyone. Super Bowl odds: +5000 Aaron Rodgers was OK, not great, but he didn’t need to do a lot thanks to a defense that was stifling against a battered Falcons team playing its third-string QB. Super Bowl odds: +4000 It was, and still is, easy to underestimate the Vikings because of their QB issues. But Kevin O’Connell is a terrific coach, and that defense was outstanding in the fourth quarter against the Packers when it mattered most. Super Bowl odds: +1900 I know they were playing the Bills, but giving up 36 points and 409 yards? What happened to the best defense in the NFL? Super Bowl odds: +1800 Coming within a failed, two-point conversion pass in overtime of losing to the Saints at home isn’t great. Then again, the Saints are better than a lot of people think. Super Bowl odds: +1400 They’re baaaaack. Patrick Mahomes didn’t even look like his old self Monday night and the Chiefs still dominated the Broncos. When Mahomes rounds into form, KC might be ready to reclaim its throne. Super Bowl odds: +2500 Yeah, yeah, Liam Coen’s team looked great. Trevor Lawrence looked unstoppable. I’ll be way more impressed if the Jags do this against anyone other than the Browns. Super Bowl odds: +2100 Three interceptions by Drake Maye, an injury that will cost WR A.J. Brown a month, and they couldn’t beat a Seahawks team led by Drew Lock. Unfortunately, their schedule won’t get any easier. Super Bowl odds: +1700 Jalen Hurts did what he had to do to win, but I’ve got the same feeling about the Eagles that I had last year: That offense really should be better. Why is it always such a struggle for them? Super Bowl odds: +2000 Denver was one game – and Bo Nix injury – away from the Super Bowl last season after winning 14 games and earning the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Broncos looked really far from that level after one week, though, following a blowout loss to the Chiefs. You can scratch Nix off any lists of early contenders for MVP after his disastrous showing. Super Bowl odds: +1400 They heard all the talk about the dream team Rams and became L.A.’s worst nightmare. If the Niners stay healthy, they actually could end up the best team in the dangerous NFC West. Super Bowl odds: +1900 They got relentless pressure and forced four turnovers to prove they might have a defense this year. If they do, Cincinnati will be hard to stop. Super Bowl odds: +650 The big debate is how far they should plummet because of their opening flop? It could turn out to be a travel-induced anomaly. But if the Rams lose to the Giants on Sunday, you’ll find them in the high teens next week. Super Bowl odds: +950 They put up 36 points and 409 yards on a Houston defense that gave up an average of 17 points and 277 yards per game last year. Apparently, Joe Brady can coach and call plays at the same time. Super Bowl odds: +1100 They still have a championship-caliber defense. But with QB Sam Darnold out with a hip injury, that offense didn’t look primed for another Super Bowl run. Super Bowl odds: +2100 Ben Johnson doesn’t want to just beat other teams. He wants to destroy them. And with that offense, his team is going to break some bodies and records along the way. Super Bowl odds: +900 Vindication, after all the criticism I took for ranking them too high. The 1-2 punch of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry looked as potent as ever, and Jesse Minter’s defense is strong, too. Injuries to WRs Zay Flowers and Ja’Kobi Lane could be a looming problem, though.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs closed Week 1 by turning back the clock. For at least one night, they looked like the AFC West’s dominant force once again. After missing the playoffs, Kansas City came out of the gates in 2026 with a dominant win over the Denver Broncos, who won 14 games and were the AFC’s No. 1 seed last season. The Chiefs defense caused fits, impressively containing a capable Broncos offense. Here are my takeaways: Would the healthy return of Mahomes also mean the return of the Chiefs as the dangerous postseason threat you knew them to be? Mahomes made that clear from the first drive, taking off from the 15-yard line and diving into the end zone for a touchdown and an early lead on the Broncos. He got up in the end zone, brushed the proverbial dust off his chest and was back at home with the Arrowhead faithful. Overall, though, this was big-money acquisition Kenneth Walker’s night, with a 60-yard touchdown on the way to the best rushing game by a Chiefs running back in 14 years. In his Kansas City debut, Walker rushed for 173 yards and scored two total TDs. Was it vintage Mahomes? Of course not. He completed two of his first 12 passes for 14 yards but found a spark before halftime, and his defense really took care of the rest. Even a bad interception out of his own end zone that set Denver up at the 5-yard line only resulted in a field goal for the Broncos, with the Chiefs defense again stepping up to help the QB out. There was punctuation as well: On the first play of the fourth quarter, Mahomes found rookie running back Emmett Johnson for 25 yards on a third down, setting up a flip-toss touchdown to Walker for a 31-10 lead to put the game out of reach. Mahomes improved to 8-0 at home against Denver in his career, one of the longest home streaks for any quarterback against any opponent. After his shaky start, Mahomes went 11-for-13 for 145 yards and two touchdowns to pull away. Exactly one year earlier, the Chiefs had lost at home to the Eagles to fall to 0-2. They’d dig out of that to get to 5-3 before losing eight of their last nine in a wholly disappointing season. Are the Chiefs back as a pop-culture phenomenon? Taylor Swift was perched in a suite to cheer on her husband, Travis Kelce, on a 59-yard catch that was his longest in five years. Tom Cruise was sitting next to Swift, drawing cheers when he was shown on the stadium video boards. A surprisingly resounding Week 1 divisional win, combined with the Chargers’ wobbly start losing to Arizona, and just like that, the AFC West goes through Kansas City again. Denver gave up a first-round pick to land receiver Jaylen Waddle from Miami, and the hope was that Bo Nix would have more of a downfield passing game in 2026. That didn’t take shape Monday night, as the Chiefs — despite losing rookie corner Mansoor Delane after one drive — effectively took Waddle and Courtland Sutton out of the game. Midway through the fourth quarter, the two receivers had combined for 13 yards on eight targets. Nix threw an interception on the opening drive, and there seemed to be a hesitation to gamble downfield, even with the Chiefs down a corner. A 19-yard touchdown to tight end Evan Engram was the only pass play longer than 13 yards entering the fourth quarter. Nix will get a better feel for Waddle, and they’ll connect as you’d expect. That didn’t happen when the Broncos needed it to on Monday night, though. So much of Kansas City’s offseason was about departures in the secondary. Cornerback Trent McDuffie was traded to the Rams for a first-rounder, and fellow corner Jaylen Watson joined him in L.A. in free agency. Meanwhile, safety Bryan Cook signed with the Bengals. And yet the Chiefs’ defense controlled the Broncos the entire game, even after losing Delane early. Kristian Fulton stepped up at corner, Nohl Williams had a sack, while L’Jarius Sneed had a great open-field tackle on Waddle on third-and-short. You go to seven Super Bowls, you’re going to get raided in free agency. For at least one game, though, the Chiefs don’t seem to be worse off at all. We’ll get to know these new players elevated into major roles, but they made a name for themselves keeping the Broncos in check Monday night. 3 ½. What’s Next? Denver went 14-3 last year, and its upcoming schedule is daunting enough that it might have four losses by mid-October, without even really playing poorly. The Broncos’ next five games? Home vs. the Jaguars and Rams, at the 49ers and Chargers, then home against the Seahawks — all 2025 playoff teams expected to do the same this season. You could argue that the Chiefs, even at Arrowhead, were an easier opponent than any of those five. Denver could go from the top seed in the AFC and hosting a conference championship game to being under .500 at Halloween, unless they step up to a wildly difficult level of competition. Kansas City, meanwhile, will play next Sunday night at home against the Colts, who are 0-1 after a loss on Sunday to the Ravens.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

NFL teams ran over 1,800 plays in Week 1. Unless you’re Sean McVay, you’ll probably forget 99% of them by the time Week 2 kicks off. And by October, that percentage will be even higher. But every Sunday gives us a handful of plays that will stick with us for the rest of the season. Those kinds of moments inspired this new weekly feature, where I’ll take a deeper look at three plays that shaped the past week in NFL football. We’ll dive into the strategies, the matchups, and everything else that created Sunday’s most memorable moments – along with what those moments mean for the future. This week, we’ll look at Josh Allen’s game-winner in Houston, Washington’s failed two-point conversion in Philadelphia, and the biggest play of the Bears’ 59-point outburst. Josh Allen went down to Houston and exorcised some demons. The demons, in this case, were a Texans defense that has given him hell over the past two seasons, including last year’s two-interception, eight-sack stinker. Some of the lowest moments of Allen’s career have come in Houston, but Sunday’s win was one of the better games you’ll see out of the Bills star, and it was capped off by a 34-yard touchdown strike to Josh Palmer that put Buffalo ahead for good. Here’s the all-22 angle. As Allen said after the game, the play wasn’t designed to go to Palmer. He was running a “clear out” route to open space for Dalton Kincaid’s intermediate route. “That is not where the ball is supposed to go,” Allen said. “We have never once repped the ball going there. I just felt that those safeties started cheating to DJ [Moore] a little bit.” The Texans played man coverage with just a single safety deep. With Moore isolated to the bottom of the screen, you can see that centerfield safety, Calen Bullock, hovers closer to Moore’s side. Based on the way Kamari Lassiter is cheating to the inside on Palmer, it appears he knows he won’t have safety help in the middle. Credit to Allen for noticing the subtleties of Houston’s positioning. Most quarterbacks see that look and don’t even consider throwing to Palmer. Based on everything they’re taught, it’s an absurd decision. But Allen isn’t a by-the-book quarterback. He’s an artist who specializes in absurdism. He sees a safety who’s out of position and a cornerback who will have to quickly flip his hips to keep up with Palmer’s post route. Still, it requires a high level of trust in both Palmer and his own ability to make the throw. Allen makes it look routine. The takeaway: That play didn’t just decide Sunday’s game; it also provided a promising sign for a passing game that could be bogged down by man coverage a season ago. In 2025, Allen didn’t have receivers who could dictate coverage or deter defenses from playing aggressively in the secondary. Enter Moore. Allen’s shiny, new toy in the receiving corps caught five passes for 100 yards and a score in his debut. Moore gives Allen an answer for man coverage. And if teams want to throw extra safety attention at him, it just makes things easier for his teammates. Even on a play where Moore was helping out in protection, as he did on Palmer’s game-winner, the Texans felt the need to get eyes on him. Houston hardly played any man coverage on Sunday after spamming it in last year’s matchup. If Moore’s presence can just influence how much man coverage the Bills see, he’ll be a valuable addition to the team—and maybe the one who finally gets Buffalo over the hump. (As a Maryland grad, I’m compelled to point out that the last time the Bills traded for a former Terps receiver – Stefon Diggs – Allen and the offense leveled up. We’ll see if Moore has a similar impact.) Philadelphia’s 24-22 win was peak NFC East football. It may have lacked well-executed play for the most part, but it made up for it with a tense ending. After a sleepy performance, Washington’s offense rallied for a late touchdown and could have forced overtime with a two-point conversion. That put the Commanders’ first-year offensive coordinator, David Blough, in the spotlight. He made the bold decision to dial up a shovel pass to the backup tight end. It went as well as you’d expect. Blough and quarterback Jayden Daniels have caught some heat for the outcome of the play, but I’m going to defend both. Let’s start with Daniels, who could have thrown the ball to running back Rachaad White in the flat for what looked like a walk-in touchdown. Sure, that may have been the best option based on how things eventually played out, but Daniels can’t pause the play or peer into the future. And based on the look the Eagles defense gave him – and the design of Washington’s play—he made the correct choice. Philly had three defenders against two Commanders blockers to the perimeter plus linebacker Jalyx Hunt ready to help out. Daniels has only a fraction of a second to make the decision. Daniels saw a 4-on-3 in the Eagles’ favor and moved on before it became clear that White had an angle to the end zone. In the screenshot above, you can see that he’s already looking at Bates for the shovel. And, really, the shovel should have worked. The Commanders have the right numbers and blockers to open up a clear path for Bates to waltz into the end zone. Unfortunately for Washington and Blough, football is not played on a whiteboard with scribbled Xs and Os. Talent and execution matter, and on this play, Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo out-talented and out-executed the Commanders offensive line. Ojomo saw the down blocks and the pulling guard and knew immediately that he’d need to cross the face of the center, Nick Allegretti, to make a play on the ball carrier. Just reading that all out in a second or two is impressive on its own, but then Ojomo pulled off a sweet spin move that left Allegretti blocking air before he enveloped Bates well short of the end zone. The takeaway: Washington’s failed two-point attempt came on a sound play design, with the quarterback making the right decision; the Commanders just didn’t have enough talent to execute. Based on Sunday’s game, this won’t be the last time that’s the case. The offensive line might be worse than advertised without Laremy Tunsil at left tackle, and the wide receiver group didn’t make Daniels’ job easier. A change at play-caller isn’t going to make up for the talent deficiency. Without any clear avenues for improvement, it could be a long season for Daniels and this offense. I could have picked any of the 10 explosive plays Chicago hit Carolina with on Sunday, but Monangai’s big run that stretched the Bears’ lead to double digits and put the Panthers away for good is a perfect encapsulation of what makes Ben Johnson’s run game so damn hard to defend. Johnson had been setting up that run all afternoon. The Bears aligned in that same formation twice earlier in the game and had Luther Burden motion across the formation both times. Chicago ran “outside zone” to the weak side on both snaps. On Monangai’s big run, the Bears come out in the same formation but snap the ball just as Burden starts his motion. And instead of running outside zone to the weak side, they run their “duo” play to the strong side. You can see the hesitation by the backside safety, who is expecting Burden to motion across the formation and for a run in the same direction. He takes one false step, but in a game of inches, that makes the difference between a 10-yard run and a 61-yard touchdown. We also have to give credit to the Bears receivers, who put on a blocking clinic and bullied Carolina’s secondary all afternoon. Burden makes an impressive mid-play adjustment to block safety Tre’von Moehrig and create crease for Monangai, while Kalif Raymond clears out the second level with a pancake block on Chau Smith-Wade, who was not a stationary target. Those blocks even offensive linemen would be proud to make. The Bears’ skill players made those plays all afternoon. The takeaway: Johnson says Chicago’s goal is to break the scoring record, and I’m not doubting him after what I saw Sunday. The Bears have a dynamic talent at quarterback, a strong offensive line, cutting-edge play calling, and skill players who have fully bought in. “No block, no rock” isn’t just a gimmick in Chicago. These receivers live it, and Johnson rewards them with play-making opportunities. Raymond graded out as the team’s best run blocker on Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus, so it’s no surprise that he also led the team in targets. The bigger names like Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, and Colston Loveland had quiet games in the box score but were still blocking their tails off in the second half. If they keep blocking like that, this won’t be the last 50-burger the Bears serve up this season. 1. I’m pretty sure Justin Jefferson went off script on his 39-yard touchdown catch. Based on the other routes on the play, Minnesota looked as if it was running a “dagger” concept, with Jauan Jennings running a deep crosser to clear out the coverage and T.J. Hockenson sitting down underneath. That’s a staple of Kevin O’Connell’s passing game. But the superstar receiver saw the penalty flag, realized the Vikings had a free play, and took off for the end zone. Credit to Carson Wentz for also noticing the flag and giving Jefferson a shot to make a play. 2. New Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is a star, and he won’t be in Baltimore for much longer if he keeps up the pace he set in Sunday’s win over the Colts. I could highlight so many plays from that game, but wide receiver Zay Flowers’ long touchdown stood out. Doyle had Flowers lined up in the backfield, which complicated Indy’s coverage assignments. All of the corners are playing outside, and you don’t want a linebacker on a receiver in space, so the Colts dropped a safety down to pick up Flowers, who was running an option route. Staying in front of Flowers is difficult enough. Doing so when he’s got a two-way go is even harder. And doing it from depth is downright impossible. 3. Honestly, I think Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer showed restraint when reviewing his defense’s performance after Sunday night’s loss to the Giants. The young defense was botching even the most routine concepts. As Schottenheimer points out, the Cowboys didn’t “push three times to the f***ing flat route,” and two of them came on consecutive plays. With the running back running out to the flat fast, the linebacker, Jashawn Barham, has to follow him out there. You can even see the safety pointing that out to him on the first play, only for it to happen again on the next one. That’s the type of thing you’d expect to see from a high school defense. The Cowboys have a lot to clean up.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The vaunted Rams … What happened?! Drake Maye … What are you doing?! Brian Flores … brings the heat! That Cowboys defense … yikes! The Chiefs are … back? After Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season, I know you have strong reactions from the football you watched — both positive and negative. And it’ll be that way all year long. That’s why I’ll be giving you my best and worst superlatives every week. I’ll drill down into the best and the worst in a number of categories. For Week 1, let’s talk plays, coaching and defense: In the Commanders’ Week 1 loss to the Eagles, special-teamer Tyler Owens produced one of the best gunner reps you’ll ever see. He fought his way through a double team at the snap from Philly’s Jonathan Jones and Darius Cooper. He stiff-armed Jones about five yards downfield. Then he stiff-armed Jones and Cooper simultaneously. He threw Cooper to the ground. He threw Jones down about 10 yards later. And if all that wasn’t enough, he took down Eagles punt returner Britain Covey with a textbook tackle, driving him to the ground. On an individual basis, regardless of the phase of the game, it’s one of the most impressive plays in recent NFL history. The clip will be on a loop for football teams at all levels all week and referenced for years to come as an example of the kind of effort and finish coaches want to see on the field. Each of Maye’s three picks were bad in the Patriots’ 13-10 season-opening loss to the Seahawks, but his final one, which sealed New England’s loss, was particularly puzzling. The Patriots faced a third-and-5 from the Seahawks 16 with 26 seconds left, trailing by three points. That’s where Maye forced a throw to a tightly-covered Mack Hollins in the end zone. Seeing that Hollins wasn’t open, Maye should’ve thrown the ball away, giving New England a chance to tie the game with a field goal. That’s quarterbacking 101. You cannot have a turnover (or take a huge yardage loss on a sack) in that situation. For a quarterback of Maye’s caliber to make a rookie-level mistake like that is baffling. His track record against great defenses isn’t good, so that will be something to watch as his third NFL season unfolds. Flores concocted a brilliant defensive game plan to help the Vikings to a 39-22 season-opening victory over the Packers. The veteran playcaller was relentless in harassing Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who was blitzed on 78.3% of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats. That’s the fourth-highest rate by a defense in any game in at least eight years. Minnesota generated four sacks and an interception on second-half blitzes. Vikings linebacker Black Cashman had seven quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds), which was the most by a player at his position in a single game since at least 2018, per NGS. Third-year edge rusher Dallas Turner registered a career-high 10 pressures. Flores, the former Dolphins head coach, has been in the mix for head coaching openings for years only to be passed over — to the benefit of the Vikings. His complex defense has consistently ranked among the league’s top units since he became Minnesota’s defensive playcaller in 2023. I’m banking on that continuing in 2026. Next week, Flores takes on Ben Johnson and the Bears, the NFL’s highest-scoring offense in Week 1. The Rams’ decision to take a 16-hour flight and arrive in Melbourne, Australia, the day before their opener against the 49ers didn’t seem to make much sense. Sure enough, the Rams looked flat in their 27-7 season-opening loss in what’s being called “The Jet Lag Game.” Even if you chalk that up as an organizational decision based on advice from experts in sleep study, McVay fell short in other ways. His decision to call a goal-line quarterback sneak with 38-year-old Matthew Stafford, who has a history of back issues, was puzzling (Stafford was stuffed). But what stood out the most to me was McVay’s poor handling of star edge rusher Myles Garrett’s knee issue. After the Rams’ loss, a game in which Garrett went without a tackle for the first time since Week 11 of the 2024 season, McVay said the reigning Defensive Player of the Year’s knee was 100 percent to his knowledge. A couple of days later, it was announced that Garrett, who was held out for much of training camp due to his knee, would have arthroscopic surgery and be placed on injured reserve. That means he’ll miss at least four games. The Bengals’ new-look defense lived up to the hype. Cincinnati generated a league-high four turnovers, including on three straight possessions in the first half, to help the team to a 33-27 victory over Tampa Bay. Those four takeaways led to 24 points, including a defensive touchdown by linebacker Demetrius Knight, who registered the team’s first fumble recovery for a TD since 2022. All four of the turnovers forced by the Bengals were fumbles, which came from four different Cincinnati defenders — linebacker Barrett Carter, safety Bryan Cook, defensive ends Myles Murphy and Boye Mafe. That speaks to the depth of the defense, which gave up just 89 rushing yards. After finishing 31st in total defense last season, don’t be surprised to see Cincinnati be top-10 good defensively this year. Yes, the Panthers gave up 59 points. But I think that says more about Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams and the dynamic Bears offense. So my focus here is on the Cowboys, who spent all offseason telling us that this year’s defense wasn’t the same as last year’s only to … look like last year’s. They appeared to be completely overwhelmed and unprepared against the Giants in Week 1. Dallas gave up 165 rushing yards and three drives of at least 12 plays to end the game. New York went 9-of-10 on third down, excluding the game-ending kneel down. Quarterback Jaxson Dart completed 79.3% of his passes. There were coverage lapses everywhere. The Cowboys had a four-man pressure rate of just 10.0%, their lowest in a game in five years, according to Next Gen Stats. I think Christian Parker, the Cowboys’ 34-year-old defensive coordinator, is a good young coach. Defensively, Dallas is better on paper. But Monday’s performance was putrid.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The 2026 NFL season opened with two of the NFC North’s rising stars putting together performances that had the league buzzing, and Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski were paying close attention. On the debut episode of FOX Sports’ “Gronk & Jules,” Edelman and Gronkowski handed out their Week 1 “Employees of the Week” honors, and each host picked one star from teams in the NFC North. Edelman went with Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, while Gronkowski sided with Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Julian Edelman’s Employee Of The Week Edelman rolled with the guy who quarterbacked the highest-scoring offense on Sunday as his “Employee of the Week.” “Employee of the week for me, Caleb Williams,” Edelman said. “That was a fun game to watch. That’s what you want to see out of your offense. Week 1, 59 points, man. He threw it well. He rushed it well. He looked fast. The whole embracing the Chicago culture — that was a fun, cool win, man. That was big time.” Williams torched the Carolina Panthers in a 59-37 win, completing 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns while adding 65 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground. His 124.1 passer rating and four total touchdowns made him the first quarterback in Bears history to record at least 200 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 50 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the same game. Gronkowski agreed, adding that Williams’ style of play is drawing eyeballs to Chicago’s offense. “He’s gonna draw viewers in because of the way he plays the game,” Gronkowski said. “It’s special. It’s entertaining. That’s what people want to see. He’s electric, and when you’re electric, you know that’s a special trait to have. People are going to tune in. The city of Chicago is head over heels in love.” Rob Gronkowski’s Employee Of The Week Gronkowski then turned to his own pick, one that came from the other side of the division. Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs authored a milestone of his own in a 31-30 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Gibbs carried 29 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns, adding five catches for 30 yards. His first score of the day was his 50th career touchdown in his 50th game, and he finished the afternoon with 51, making him just the sixth player in NFL history to reach 50 touchdowns within his first 50 games, joining Jim Brown, Marcus Allen, Chuck Foreman, Larry Johnson and Steve Van Buren. “And for my employee of the week … Jahmyr Gibbs, I gotta go with him,” Gronkowski said. “He absolutely balled out. 156 yards, two TDs rushing. He contributed in the pass game as well. Fastest player to 50 touchdowns in history. He has 51 touchdowns currently because he scored two in this game in 50 games. This guy is a special talent, and just like Caleb Williams, he’s electric as well, and he’s fun to watch.” With Williams and Gibbs showing out on Sunday, Edelman and Gronkowski couldn’t hold their excitement for the Lions-Bears matchups later this season. “It’s going to be a helluva game when the Detroit Lions face the Chicago Bears,” Gronkowski said. Williams’ Bears and Gibbs’ Lions meet twice this season, starting with a Thanksgiving Day clash at Ford Field on Nov. 26 before meeting again at Soldier Field in Week 17 on FOX’s “America’s Game of the Week.” That matchup carries extra history for both teams given Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s roots in Detroit. Johnson spent three seasons (2022-24) as the Lions’ offensive coordinator, helping build one of the NFL’s most productive offenses before Chicago hired him as head coach in January 2025. “Another reason why it’s going to be a battle? Ben Johnson came from Detroit,” Gronkowski said. “This rivalry is getting more special as it goes on.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The second week of the college football season gave us top-25 meltdowns, redemption and a comeback for the ages. Then-No. 4 Texas stunned formerly top-ranked Ohio State by coming back from down 20 points in the fourth quarter to win, Michigan responded to last week’s almost disastrous outcome by beating then-No. 11 Oklahoma at home and then-No. 6 Oregon was outplayed by an Oklahoma State team with a brand-new roster. It was a fun and wild weekend, complete with College Football Playoff and conference title ramifications. And with that, let’s get to it with our college football Week 2 superlatives. Austin was rocking on Saturday night as more than 100,000 fans packed Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in the hot, steamy late-summer air for a top-5 showdown between Texas and Ohio State. The sideline was star-studded, with Texas celebrities ranging from Matthew McConaughey to Kevin Durant. The Buckeyes looked like a team capable of winning the national championship in the first half, racing to a 20-3 halftime lead as the Longhorns turned the ball over early. Quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith were unstoppable, and Texas’ revamped defense had no answers for them. Ohio State remained in control until the fourth quarter, up until its 23-3 lead evaporated. Led by quarterback Arch Manning, Texas put together three drives spanning 40 plays and more than 14 minutes, scoring 21 points in the process. It all culminated in an epic 73-yard drive — we’ll get to that later — after a missed Buckeyes field goal that would have essentially sealed the game. Smith was targeted eight times in the first half, racking up 110 receiving yards and a touchdown. In the second, he was held to 54 yards. Sayin finished 17-of-32 for 278 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Manning went 23-of-37 for a touchdown and an interception. Both quarterbacks, who are in the Heisman Trophy conversation this season, were sacked twice. This was the third meeting between these non-conference opponents in less than two years, with Ohio State winning the first two. “We couldn’t lose to them again,” Manning told the broadcast postgame. “I had nightmares about that game last year.” Ohio State led Texas 23-17 late in the fourth quarter when kicker Connor Hawkins had a chance to all but close things out with a 45-yard field goal. Hawkins had been perfect up to that point, going 3-for-3 on the night, including a 48-yarder he made in the third quarter. But the kick sailed wide left, giving Texas good field position with 4:10 left and an opportunity to go down the field and win. Which is exactly what the Longhorns did. Manning, who had been inconsistent earlier, engineered a 73-yard game-winning drive that ended with NC State transfer running back Hollywood Smothers scoring on a one-yard touchdown run to give the home team a 24-23 victory. Ohio State had 25 seconds to get into field-goal range, but Sayin’s final heave was intercepted. This was undoubtedly one of the biggest wins in Steve Sarkisian’s tenure at Texas, and was the first time a Ryan Day team lost when leading by at least 20 points. In one week, Michigan went from needing one second added back to the clock to beat Western Michigan to stunning No. 11 Oklahoma, 17-10, at the Big House. It was a statement win for Kyle Whittingham in just his second game as the Wolverines’ head coach. Michigan was the underdog entering this game, with Oklahoma viewed as a favorite to make a second straight run to the College Football Playoff. Quarterback Bryce Underwood, who was shaky at best in Week 1, responded by leading the Wolverines with 111 passing yards and 87 rushing yards while adding a 38-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. There had been some awkwardness earlier in the week when Whittingham said that Underwood is “our quarterback right now. It’s not something that’s infinite.” And when the signal-caller was asked about those comments, he said he hadn’t seen that but said, “It’s cool.” Doesn’t matter now — the Wolverines are feeling confident after knocking off Oklahoma and are 2-0. They’ll face UTEP next week before conference play begins. Meet Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who outplayed Oregon Heisman Trophy contender Dante Moore in a shocking 39-31 upset of No. 6 Oregon on Saturday. Mestemaker, who followed coach Eric Morris from North Texas to Oklahoma State, threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 109 yards and another score. He opened the game with a 75-yard run on the Cowboys’ first play from scrimmage and later soared into the end zone for a touchdown that quickly went viral. The quarterback, who is emerging as a top 2027 NFL Draft prospect, was swarmed by field stormers after the win. “Someone took my helmet,” Mestemaker said after the game. “I was getting, like, carried off the field by some cops to do some interview or something. It was wild. But I’m so glad we got that done, and I’m so glad the fans got to experience that, too.” Oregon had been a popular pick to win the national championship this season. After two weeks, that seems less likely. In Week 1, the Ducks got what coach Dan Lanning called a “wake-up call” when they needed to rally to beat Boise State in their home opener. In Week 2, the cracks became more apparent when they were outplayed by Oklahoma State in Stillwater and ended up on the wrong side of a field storm celebration. Moore went 14-of-29 for 191 yards and two touchdowns, but the offense managed only 281 total yards. Oregon had 12 first downs and was 5 of 14 on third down. As a team, the Ducks committed seven penalties to the Cowboys’ two. Entering the season, Oregon was considered to have one of the most talented rosters in program history. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, was expected to have more of a transitional year with a new coach in Morris and 92 new players on the roster. Yet that group snapped the Ducks’ 41-game win streak against unranked opponents. It’s not looking great in Eugene right now and Oregon is certainly in danger of missing the playoff if it doesn’t fix things. It’ll have to do it quickly with a Big Ten showdown against USC coming up in two weeks. There’s no question about this one: The biggest storyline entering Week 3 is Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford where No. 7 LSU visits No. 8 Ole Miss. In case you forgot — though, how could you?! — Kiffin left Ole Miss, where he coached from 2020-25 before last year’s CFP to take the head coaching job at LSU. Now, less than a year later, and in the third week of the season, he’ll take his new team on the road to play his old one. Kiffin isn’t a stranger to these awkward returns. He went back to Tennessee, where he coached for one season, when he was Alabama’s offensive coordinator and again when he was at Ole Miss. So he knows what to expect from angry fans who might shout or even throw things at him. He’ll be facing plenty of former players, too, including Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy. This is the game of the week. And, by the way, it’s also a top-10 matchup.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

When the season began, FanGraphs projected the Rays to finish last in their division and the Brewers to win 83 games. Now, with two weeks left in the regular season, the Brewers (93-57) and Rays (90-59) have already punched their tickets into the postseason and look to secure the top seeds in their respective leagues. Still, no team is infallible, and even the best clubs in baseball have their flaws. Here are our latest contender rankings, along with one reason for optimism and pessimism for every team on the list. (Note: Only teams within five games of a playoff spot as of Monday morning are included in our rankings. The Marlins, Cardinals and Twins were knocked off the list this week.) They’re only here by default because the AL West is putrid enough that a team 10 games under .500 is just five wins behind the division leader. We know the offense has been a problem all year, but a rotation that should be among the best in baseball has an ERA over 5.00 for the past month. The only real reason for optimism is the schedule; seven of Seattle’s last 12 games are against the Angels. Remember when they got up to .500 at the end of August? Well, the O’s have gone 3-9 since then and have the lowest slugging percentage and OPS in baseball in September. Third baseman Coby Mayo’s late-season resurgence has been a bright spot amid the slide, though. He has the highest OPS against left-handed pitching of any qualified hitter in the sport. Corey Seager is heating up, and Nathan Eovaldi and Josh Jung were just activated from the injured list. None of them, however, can address a bullpen that has been a problem all year and nearly cost the Rangers their latest series win in Arizona. Vladdy finally did it. It’s almost unfathomable that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn’t have a home run at home all year until Sunday, in the Blue Jays’ 150th game of the season. But he finally went deep as part of a four-hit day, and maybe that provides a spark. Their postseason push is not made easier by the fact that their besieged rotation lacks depth behind ace Dylan Cease. Despite the Astros’ many flaws, having Yordan Alvarez playing at an MVP level always provided hope. However, Alvarez is hitting just .238 with three home runs over his past 31 games and is now dealing with an ankle injury that forced him out of two games this weekend. His absence underscored the Astros’ lack of depth as they got swept by the AL-best Rays. The reason for optimism in Houston? The Astros play in the AL West, and their pitching has been better than expected in September (or, at least it had been until Sunday). As terrific as the bullpen is — and it is terrific, boasting the highest strikeout rate in MLB this season and a 2.24 ERA in September — an inconsistent starting rotation (6.33 ERA in September) and anemic offense (29th in OPS this season) make it tough for this club to find any consistency. Rookie Travis Bazzana is heating up at the right time, though, and Steven Kwan is having a much better second half. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Guardians doing anything of note unless or until José Ramírez finds another gear. The South Siders’ ability to mash is what got them to this point, but they’ve scored the fourth-fewest runs in baseball in September and rank 29th in OPS this month. Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery are all ice-cold at the same time. Meanwhile, the deadline addition of Luis Castillo has done nothing to help the rotation. On a positive note, they rank sixth in MLB in home runs on the year, and adding rookie Hagen Smith to the bullpen in a multi-inning role has provided more stability to a problem area. Maybe the offense finds it again before it’s too late. Arizona boasts the lowest team ERA in the NL this month, and the D-backs’ rotation suddenly looks like it might be a strength now that Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen and Michael Soroka are all back from injury. The offense, however, has yet to put it all together (21st in OPS this season). It doesn’t help that Corbin Carroll’s back is banged up or that the D-backs did little to help their lineup at the deadline. The Padres are doing what they need to do, beating up on lesser teams to work their way into the playoff mix. It already looks like it’ll be a two-team battle between them and the D-backs for the NL’s final playoff spot, but at this rate, either could also end up the No. 4 or 5 seed. The deadline additions of Casey Mize and Robbie Ray have not exactly worked out, but if Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill continue to hit the way they are now, that’s a trade-off the Padres might take. Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and Payton Tolle have a combined 1.15 ERA in September. That should get the Red Sox excited about October. Less exciting? Their offense still isn’t inspiring a ton of confidence. And after going 3-3 this week against the Angels and Royals, the Red Sox now have to finish the season against four contending teams (Rangers, Rays, Guardians, Cubs). While the lineup hasn’t looked quite as dynamic lately — Chicago scored 12 runs total while getting swept by the first-place Brewers last week — the Cubs still have the best offense (No. 1 in OPS and wRC+) and defense (No. 1 in defensive runs saved and outs above average) in baseball this season, and Alex Bregman is playing his best baseball at the right time. That’s a heckuva starting point for any postseason hopeful. The problem? The pitching still lacks reliability and playoff-caliber stuff both in the rotation and the bullpen even after a medley of deadline moves. Aside from a clunker in Cristopher Sánchez’s last start, the Phillies’ rotation has been dynamite in September. The bullpen, meanwhile, is another story. And as good as Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm have been at the plate lately, the depth of the lineup remains a concern. The Phillies have to hope Jesus Luzardo’s stiff shoulder is only a temporary issue, because a lot is riding on that rotation carrying the team next month. A number of important pieces in the Yankees’ lineup (e.g. Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Luis Garcia Jr.) look great right now. The biggest superstar, however, is still finding his way. Aaron Judge is 3-for-17 with nine strikeouts and no extra-base hits since returning from the injured list. There’s a similar situation going on in the rotation, as Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler, Carlos Rodón, Max Fried and Will Warren have combined for a 1.29 ERA in September while Gerrit Cole has allowed seven homers in 16.2 innings this month. If they can get Judge and Cole right by October, there’s obviously a lot to like here. Questions loom about the depth of the Braves’ rotation behind ace Chris Sale come October, but deadline addition Tyler Mahle (1.25 ERA in seven starts) is providing more optimism. Overall, the Braves’ lineup hasn’t exactly torn the cover off the ball lately; however, Ronald Acuna Jr. is looking like a star again. That might matter more than the rest of the offense’s September cold spell. A top three of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell might render all the Dodgers’ other problems moot, but the bullpen isn’t nearly as reliable as the top of the rotation. In addition, some encouraging signs lately from Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker — plus the spark provided by top prospect Josue De Paula — can’t make up for the fact that both Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman are banged up at a brutal time. With Shane McClanahan on the shelf, the Freddy Peralta resurgence is coming at the right time. Peralta has a 0.78 ERA over his last four starts, and along with Drew Rasmussen, Nick Martinez, Ian Seymour and potentially McClanahan (if he’s healthy), there should be enough capable arms for the pitching to be a strength. The Rays’ offense, meanwhile, ranks first in batting average and second in steals, but it remains to be seen how their contact-heavy approach — they rank 21st in homers, 28th in expected slugging percentage and 29th in hard-hit rate — will play in October. There’s a lot riding on the power of Junior Caminero. It still would have been nice if they had added another impact bat at the deadline, but their lineup is leading MLB in every slash-line category in September, and Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras all look capable of carrying an offense right now. Strangely, considering how masterful their entire pitching operation is, the Brewers can’t feel supremely confident about their options to start games in October apart from Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Mike Macdonald has not lost his touch or his mastery over the Patriots, kicking off this NFL season exactly how he finished the last one: with a statement win over New England. The Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks reminded the league that they’re the team to beat by taking down the Patriots in the 2026 NFL opener. But the Seahawks were hardly the only team to announce themselves as contenders. The 49ers manhandled the Rams in Australia on Thursday. The Bears swallowed the Panthers whole. And the Minnesota Vikings somehow erased a 12-point third-quarter deficit and took down the Green Bay Packers despite losing new quarterback Kyler Murray after just 10 offensive snaps. That’s what was obvious this week. Now let’s go below the surface. This is Sound Smart, where I try to spin forward, dive deeper, think outside the box and read between the lines. If I do my job, you’ll be fluent in the NFL’s Week 1 action. Jalen Hurts and Tom Brady got to talking about how to play quarterback. How to make the position easy. Or, at least, how to avoid making the position more difficult than it needs to be. Here’s what they talked about during the production meeting for the FOX broadcast leading into the Philadelphia Eagles’ 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders in Week 1. “When you’re playing the position, a lot of it is about making sure you’re in the right play,” Hurts told reporters after the game. “When you’re doing the right thing, that takes no talent. So are we in the best run? Are we protecting ourselves in protection? Is everybody aligned? Doing those little things first — I think that’s most important. It’s more of an operation and being able to set the table and manage the things that you’re tasked with managing as a quarterback.” After that? Everything should come naturally: first downs, touchdowns, wins. I’d argue that in 2024 and 2022, Hurts made it look too easy. It looked so effortless for him to play the position that everyone chalked up his success to running back Saquon Barkley, receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert and coach Nick Sirianni. Hurts still doesn’t get credit for his role. He’ll never ask for it. But for the past 12 months, Hurts has not made the position look easy. Even this week, I don’t think anyone would say Hurts made it look easy, not even with 203 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 46 rushing yards. The criticism surrounding Hurts has led even me, an aficionado of the QB’s unorthodox playing style, to wonder if the Eagles might part ways with him if things get ugly this year. But let’s hold off that conversation. Because on Sunday, Hurts got back on track. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t always fun to watch. But the result was a Week 1 win. Hurts delivered the fourth-quarter touchdown that helped the Eagles stave off a comeback by the Commanders. The Eagles QB delivered a clock-eating drive in the fourth quarter, where he hit on a 22-yard carry and, later, a 43-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert. Sirianni was quick to praise Hurts’ clutch scramble after the game. “You don’t care how you get explosive plays,” Sirianni said. Just that you get them. It would be hyperbole to say that Hurts took over the game. It would even be hyperbole to say Hurts was dominant. But the beauty of what we saw on Sunday was that the Eagles let Hurts play football how he wanted. Yes, that’s an indirect reference to former Eagles receiver A.J. Brown and former Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. I don’t think Hurts loved working with either guy last year, with Brown applying pressure about what the offensive identity should be — and Patullo largely seeming like a bad fit for the gig, which applies its own kind of negative pressure. It appears new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is giving Hurts the freedom he needs — and frankly deserves. Hurts is running an offense that sets up him to succeed — and play the game how he likes. He’s good at winning — historically good. Against the Commanders, Hurts overcame some difficulties from guard Landon Dickerson, who allowed a team-high five pressures, per Next Gen Stats. Hurts set up Saquon Barkley for an efficient game, with the running back ganing 83 yards on 15 carries. And Hurts made good use of newcomer Dontayvion Wicks, who hit on a 64-yard reception and a nine-yard touchdown. The Eagles barely made use of first-round receiver Makai Lemon, who spent most of training camp recovering from a hamstring injury. DeVonta Smith was fairly quiet. Barkley wasn’t as explosive as he should have been, in part because this offensive line is still getting used to the new run scheme. In other words, there’s room to grow. But Hurts and the offense looked solid — not structurally infirm, like the offenses of years past. And it looked like it had the potential for healthy, linear progress. Again, unlike the erratic offenses of years past. You’d never hear or see Hurts get energized during his press conferences. So this quote is about as close as it gets. “I think collectively, we’ve got a lot to build on — and obviously a lot to correct,” Hurts said. “I’m excited to get back into the process of becoming the team that we’re supposed to become.” And that is, of course, not just a Super Bowl contender, but a Super Bowl winner. Ben Johnson has many goals. The question isn’t whether they’re ambitious. It’s whether they’re delusional. And it was easy to feel a sense of skepticism around the Chicago Bears entering 2026. They seemed to be getting a tremendous amount of hype for a team with an enormously difficult schedule. But in Week 1, the Bears sent the message that they will not regress. They will not back down. They will not turn into a one-year wonder. They blew out the Panthers 59-37. It was — more or less — what the second-year Bears coach told us his team would do. “You’ve got 31 other teams coming to training camp saying, ‘Our goal is to win the Super Bowl.’ I want more than that,” Johnson told The Athletic during training camp. “I want to have the highest-scoring offense ever, which happens to be the 2013 Denver Broncos. I know how many points per game they scored [37.9], and I want to surpass them.” The offense’s 59 points on Sunday were the second most in franchise history in the Super Bowl era, per FOX Sports research. Chicago also recorded six rushing touchdowns in a game for the first time since 1941. During the offseason, Johnson told me that he wanted quarterback Caleb Williams, who completed just 58.1% of his passes last year, to top 65% this season. He’s at 72% through one week. What’s even more impressive is that Williams threw for 269 yards and the Bears scored 59 points without the QB throwing a touchdown to receivers Luther Burden and Rome Odunze — or tight end Colston Loveland. “I don’t think I called a really good game there in that first half,” Johnson said at the postgame podium. This was another promise — with Johnson emphasizing that he’d seek explosives in the rushing game, rather than doing what most teams do, using the run game to stay on schedule and move the chains. Johnson wants the end zone. He wants points. He wants a Super Bowl. “Obviously, this is going to be our worst game,” Williams said in a postgame press conference. “I know the points don’t necessarily show that.” Worst game? What a humblebrag. Look out, NFL. Here come the Bears. This game was going to be hard enough to win. Drake Maye didn’t need to make it any harder. But he found a way to make things worse. In some ways, the New England Patriots quarterback was set up to fail on Wednesday night against the Seattle Seahawks. Opening the season against the team that beat him handily in the Super Bowl is tough because Maye undoubtedly felt the complicated emotions of a Super Bowl rematch, but he also faced one of the NFL’s most confusing and deceptive defenses. To top it off, Maye and the Patriots had to travel across the country and then lost star wide receiver A.J. Brown to a high ankle sprain in the first half. Maye made everything worse with interception after interception … after interception. He had picks on back-to-back-to-back drives to end the game. All in the fourth quarter. Eventually, Maye clinched a Seahawks win with his final turnover, a bad interception in the end zone with 26 seconds remaining. The Patriots were down three and in field goal position. He’d squandered a shot to win. “You just have to throw it away and say, ‘We can’t win it on this throw.’ Drake will learn from it, we will all learn from it, and hopefully we will be better for it in the end,” coach Mike Vrabel said in the wake of the game. With the whole offseason to ruminate over the film from the Super Bowl, you’d think Maye would’ve have a few more answers for what Macdonald threw at him. Even more important, you’d think that Maye would have kept his cool when Macdonald didn’t throw anything at him. In the case of Maye’s three interceptions, he had clear keys and reads. He forced the ball into coverages he shouldn’t have. Most egregious, he did it at moments in the game that didn’t call for him to make a huge play. His situational awareness was appalling. Afterward, he offered an honest and on-point assessment of how he played. “I thought we had the game under control. I thought we had a good plan to try to start chipping away and just be patient. And yeah, lost patience. And it cost us,” Maye told reporters after the game in Seattle. “It’s unacceptable.” This isn’t doomsday for Maye. But it perpetuated the idea that his MVP runner-up play last season was simply a product of the Patriots’ easy schedule. I think he’ll be OK. He’s a good player, whose situational awareness and processing speed (in reading defenses) have been trending upward. But this was a stinker, comparable to what he did in the Super Bowl. So, why didn’t he learn from the Super Bowl? He had all offseason to do so. Now we’re left to wonder: When will he learn? Tom Brady pulled out a piece of NFL history during the Eagles’ win over the Commanders. It was the call sheet that Brady and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels referred to as a “Picasso.” It was the call sheet that won Super Bowl LI for the Patriots, coming back from a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons. Brady showed the call sheet on the broadcast and broke down how the Patriots organized their plays for that particular game. “You see third down. You see red area. Everything is very specific to the situation that we’re in. You’re not just looking down at 120 calls. You’re actually looking at a very segmented set of plays,” Brady said on the FOX broadcast. So how did they pick which play appears at the top of each situation? “If it’s the first one of the game, that’s the first one he’s going to call, because that’s what the quarterback wants,” Brady said. “Interesting thing is, all these reasons that these [plays] get put in the boxes is there’s a lot of tendencies going in [to the Super Bowl]. The problem with September football is they’re not showing any of these tendencies.” It’s one thing to peel back the curtain on playcalling. It’s another thing to see the sheet that sprung the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. Per Next Gen Stats, the 49ers offense featured motion at the snap on 65.6% of plays against the Rams, their highest rate in a game in the Kyle Shanahan era (since 2017). There were a lot of reasons to send fullback Kyle Juszczyk in pre-snap motion during this game. And one of them was fairly simple (as Juszczyk alluded to in a tweet about his elite cardio): The 49ers looked like they had fresh legs after a week in Australia. The Rams, fresh off the plane, looked like they did not. They looked stiff and disoriented from the first snap to the last. But there were clear schematic advantages for San Francisco, too. It wasn’t long ago that the Miami Dolphins popularized the “cheat motion,” where former coach Mike McDaniel would send receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in motion — and upfield — to give them an advantage to beat coverage, particularly press coverage. The NFL tweaked its rulebook and began to officiate it harder in an attempt to tighten that down. Well, we’re seeing something similar but different in the 49ers’ offense. Their motions with Juszczyk sometimes sent him flying upfield and hurtling toward the Rams’ defense, giving him a running start to lead the way for running backs Christian McCaffrey and Kaelon Black. The movement also created new gap assignments for the opposing defender, forcing increased communication for L.A. It wreaked havoc on the Rams. So, yes, this is for real. And the new wrinkle was so effective that, if the NFL doesn’t start flagging it, it will be implemented into playbooks league-wide.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

EverBank Stadium (Jacksonville) — It would be easier if it were as simple as changing quarterbacks. The Cleveland Browns had their first game in the post-Myles Garrett era Sunday, and their matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars went about as poorly as you could expect. The offense got a Deshaun Watson interception on the opening drive, and didn’t cross midfield again until they trailed 24-0. The defense allowed Trevor Lawrence to have his highest passer rating in a game of his NFL career, watching the fourth quarter from the sidelines after four easy touchdown passes. The final score was 34-10, and that doesn’t do it justice. Cleveland got its only touchdown with two minutes left, and Jacksonville’s offense looked like it was just trying to finish the game without injuries for most of the second half. The NFL teaches you that Week 1 can tell outright lies, that teams can win big or lose big in that first game, and two months later they look nothing like that first glimpse, for better or worse. The last time a Browns head coach had his first game, first-year coach Kevin Stefanski saw his team lose to the Baltimore Ravens 38-6. But Stefanski quickly turned that group around in 2020, going 11-6 and winning their first playoff game in 26 years. This didn’t feel like a lie. This felt like the hard truth of a team that entered Sunday’s game as the heaviest underdog in the league this week, and needed a garbage-time score to fall two touchdowns short of those low expectations. “I’m not down. I’m disappointed,” 60-year-old Todd Monken said after his first game as an NFL head coach. “I mean, you’re not going to get me down. Waited a long time to be a head coach in this league. Kind of freaking awesome. We’re not where we want to be, and. they’d better get us now. Because we’ve got a good young group, and we just didn’t play well today.” The idea that Watson, playing in his first game since 2024, was their best option — long-term, short-term, anything — is fairly damning in itself, with the threat of second-year pro Shedeur Sanders not exactly looming from the sidelines. Watson is in the final year of a five-year, $230 million contract, his on-field struggles surpassed only by off-field issues that had his own fans booing him in preseason. The right thing to do would have been to cut him, to sever ties to a terrible decision that will work against the franchise’s chances of success even after he’s gone. Monken was careful to not single out Watson postgame — and there was plenty else that went wrong. “It’s a ‘we’ thing,” Monken said. “It’s not a me, it’s not a they thing, it’s a we thing. We’re going to fight like hell to get better. That’s what I’ve always done. That’s what we’re going to continue to do.” The Browns’ locker room wasn’t anything disconsolate, more just aware of little things that need to change for them to have a chance to beat good opponents. They owned the most lopsided loss of the opening weekend, struggling on the same day that the Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants — all who picked in the top five of the draft — opened with victories. Monken was asked if he was definitely sticking with Watson heading into next week’s might-be-even-hotter 1 p.m. game in Tampa against the Bucs, and he didn’t sound like a coach making a change. “I’d rather just talk about today, because I haven’t had time to even look at the tape,” Monken said. “I mean, I’m sure as hell not firing me. I’m not firing our staff. I’m not giving up on the players. So [Watson] happens to be one of the 53, and however many practice squad guys we’ve got, and our staff, he’s one of them. We’ll evaluate everything. But to just say that emotionally here at the end, when we didn’t play good enough and didn’t coach well enough.” This was going to be a long year before the Browns traded Garrett to the Rams for a slew of draft picks, sacrificing today for tomorrow in losing the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. They gave up 24 points in the first half Sunday in their first game without him, and it matched the most points they’d allowed in any first half since Sept. 2017, two weeks before Garrett’s debut with the Browns. “It’s like boxing,” said Jared Verse, acquired from the Rams in the Garrett trade and tasked with replacing him. “They hit you in the face, you get your feet right back up and punch back. We just backed up a little bit, and by the time we got more collected … it was too late. They already had done the damage.” If you had to encapsulate all that was wrong with Cleveland on Sunday, take a sequence of plays just before halftime, when Watson had completed back-to-back passes for 20 and 11 yards, getting them to the Jaguars’ 39 with 51 seconds before halftime. A touchdown would cut the lead to 17, but instead, they had a holding penalty and a false start and a delay of game, all in a row, to set up first and 30. A short gain, then another holding penalty for second and 34. They did not score. Accountability has never been Watson’s best skill, and Sunday was no different, owning his part but saying things like, “Of course, everyone’s going to look at the quarterback in this situation overall.” Asked how he handles adversity and keeps his confidence, he spoke to the support he says he has from his teammates. “Just keep moving forward, keep stepping forward, you know, keep smiling, regardless of who’s against me or who’s with me,” Watson said. “I think that’s more beneficial for the team in that locker room. I had a lot of support in that locker room after the game, telling me to keep my head up, keep pushing forward, keep working. They’re behind me, so that’s always positive to see and hear. We’ve just got to keep going. You know, the adversity is going to be there. You know you’ve got to embrace it … keep pushing through until you break that wall.” There weren’t many hopeful moments Sunday. Rookie receiver Denzel Boston caught a 46-yard touchdown in the final two minutes, but the game was over an hour earlier. Quinshon Judkins, a second-year back with potential, had 12 carries and none of them went for more than five yards. Verse, a potential star, had just one tackle in the first half. Monken is a patient man (you don’t take the Browns job in 2026 without patience), and his combination of optimism and bluntness will serve him well in surviving what will be a long season. They have other bad teams on the schedule — the Titans in Week 7, the Raiders in Week 12 — but they look to be hard-pressed to match last year’s 5-12 record. Knowing that each loss increases their odds of landing an elite quarterback in next year’s draft, that might not be a bad thing. “I told the team, ‘There is no testimony without a test,'” Monken said. “It’s just one of them. This is one of 17 games we’ve got, and we certainly didn’t play well enough. We certainly didn’t coach well enough. But I love our guys. I love the way they work, and we’re going to come back tomorrow and fight like hell to fix it.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The Giants are no longer hoping to have success. They’re expecting it. That’s what owner Chris Mara said in a radio interview before the season. With John Harbaugh in the picture — an experienced, Super Bowl-winning coach who regularly took the Ravens to the playoffs — the calculus has changed for a franchise accustomed to disappointment in its recent history. Just how much was apparent at the start of the Harbaugh era in the form of a victory over the division-rival Cowboys on Sunday night, a game in which they never trailed. Dallas was 16-2 in the teams’ previous 18 matchups dating back to 2017. Here are my takeaways: Dart threw the ball with accuracy and precision. He protected himself as a runner. He looked poised as he operated the Giants’ offense. The 2025 first-round pick looked terrific in the first game of his second season, completing 79.3% of his passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, plus 11 carries for 54 yards. The former Ole Miss star has two reliable pass catchers in wide receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Lisaiah Likely, who could supercharge his growth. Nabers tore his ACL in Dart’s first career start last season, so the two never had a chance to build a connection a year ago. We saw the beginning of what should be a strong rapport Sunday, connecting six times for 69 yards. And Likely, who is the Giants’ TE1 after years of backing up Mark Andrews in Baltimore, showed that he can be a steady and dependable target for Dart. The fifth-year pro posted team highs in catches (eight), receiving yards (78) and receiving touchdowns (2). In addition to having a Super Bowl-winning coach in John Harbaugh at the helm, Dart has a very experienced offensive coaching staff around him that can nurture his development. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan, tight ends coach Tim Kelly and senior offensive assistant Greg Roman all have play-calling experience. Everything is in place for Dart to establish himself as the Giants’ true franchise quarterback. Look, the talent is there on Dallas’ revamped defense. The playmaking potential, too. Highly-touted rookie defensive back Caleb Downs rocked Dart on a nickel blitz for his first career sack. Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams chased down running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. for a punch-out for a forced fumble. But the Cowboys had way too many coverage lapses. Dart was too comfortable on a two-minute drill at the end of the second quarter, which resulted in a wide-open touchdown for Likely. The Giants imposed their will in the run game, registering back-to-back touchdown drives of at least 12 plays to start the second half. Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker, 34, looked like the green play-caller that he is. Dallas could be good in time defensively. Parker is a talented young coach. But the talk of the Cowboys being a top NFC contender, combining their talented offense with a defense that is much better on paper, was premature. The Giants prioritized building a physical football team this offseason, and offensively that showed in drafting guard Francis Mauigoa 10th overall and signing perennial Pro Bowl fullback Patric Ricard. We got the first taste of how strong of a rushing team they’ll be Sunday, when they put up 165 rushing yards. Dart took what the Cowboys gave him on the ground. Running back Cam Skattebo caused issues for Dallas all game. New York set the tone with the running game from its opening drive, rushing seven times for 41 yards and the touchdown. Dart needs to show that he can consistently protect himself, but he’s a proven dual threat. Skattebo, who had 101 carries for 410 yards and five touchdowns in eight games in 2025, is back after a season-ending leg injury cut his rookie season short. The Giants have the personnel to run the ball. Harbaugh’s teams have always had a run-first mindset offensively. New York has what it needs to be a dominant rushing team. 3 ½. What’s Next? The Cowboys (0-1) will have a second straight NFC East matchup, as they’ll host the Washington Commanders (0-1) in America’s Game of the Week next Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, FOX). The Giants (1-0) travel cross-country to Los Angeles to face the Rams (0-1) on Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET).​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports