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If your team has reached this stage of the MLB postseason, there’s a good chance you’re also thinking: Could this be the year we finally win the World Series? Or, if you’re a Dodgers fan – could we really make it three in a row? Each of the eight teams left has its own strengths and weaknesses, some more than others. It’s now time to see if these World Series hopefuls can capitalize on what got them to this stage, or whether their pitfalls will send them home. Let’s break them down, starting with the National League teams before diving into the American League contenders. NATIONAL LEAGUE 2026 Record: 94-68, 1st in NL EastWorld Series Odds: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total) NLDS Opponent: Los Angeles Dodgers Why They Will Win The World Series: Their combination of star power, elite performance against .500 teams and resilience in the face of significant injury challenges makes this Braves team a true World Series contender. Atlanta was dominant against the Dodgers this season, going 5-1 against the reigning back-to-back champions. They’ve been solid in one-run games and in extra innings, pointing to their battle-tested mentality entering October. Plus, this is one of the best bullpens the Braves have taken into the playoffs in recent years. Closer Raisel Iglesias and high-leverage relievers Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes, and Dylan Dodd have all had excellent seasons, and Robert Suarez is back from injury, making an already dominant group even stronger. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: The Braves’ offense is a little too inconsistent and struggling in important areas, weakening the club’s chances of a deep postseason run. It’s less than ideal that the Braves had the third-worst walk rate in MLB during the regular season, which makes them too prone to chasing pitches outside the zone, and that can be exploited all too easily by dominant pitching staffs in a short playoff series. The offense has been sporadic at times, and the lineup is lacking a top-30 hitter in the majors, unlike other serious World Series contenders. He sets the tone every time he takes the hill, whether it’s from the bullpen to close out a do-or-die game as he did on Thursday against the Phillies to clinch an NLDS spot, or it’s for a start against the almighty Dodgers. Keep an eye on Sale’s career 5.83 postseason ERA. 2026 Record: 100-62 (1st in NL West; 2nd in NL)World Series Odds: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total) NLDS Opponent: Atlanta Braves Why They Will Win The World Series: Is there any pitcher in baseball you trust more in October than Yoshinobu Yamamoto? Behind him, the Dodgers will have two multiple Cy Young Award winners in Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell. Shohei Ohtani is back to lead the offense, and Freddie Freeman has already demonstrated his ability to take his game to another level in October even when he’s not 100%. Perhaps most encouraging is the recent play of Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández. After struggling offensively all year, all three are finding their rhythm at the right time. The Dodgers’ starting pitching advantage can mask any other issues with their roster (as their starters demonstrated last year), and they’ll be able to bump Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan into relief roles in October. This group is battle-tested, flipping a switch in September again and will be the favorites to three-peat for a reason. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: The age of the Dodgers’ roster was evident throughout the second half. Ohtani, the engine that makes this machine go, won’t be 100% this year and hasn’t looked like himself offensively since July. Freeman’s knee is acting up and has sapped his power in recent months. Fellow All-Star Andy Pages is coming off a fractured hand, and who knows how long it will take for him to look like himself again? They beat up mostly on bad teams in September, but they have a losing record against teams at .500 or above this year and looked unimpressive for months. And as much as they would like to lean on their unbelievable rotation, a late-season groin issue for Snell and some September shakiness from Tyler Glasnow threaten to cause problems for their greatest October advantage. Considering their bullpen also looks unstable again, and they may not have a set closer in the postseason, any of those concerns could end their hopes of a three-peat. After looking like the MVP favorite again in the season’s first half, injuries to Ohtani’s left knee and right biceps forced him to stop pitching after July 3 and turned him into a mere mortal at the plate after the break. The Dodgers are hopeful his September injured list stint, plus the break after a first-round bye, will have him looking like himself again at the plate. If he’s not, that could spell trouble. 2026 Record: 103-59 (Best in MLB)World Series Odds: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total) NLDS Opponent: San Diego Padres Why They Will Win The World Series: They’re the best team in baseball. At some point, that has to mean something, right? The Brewers do all the little things well. Their offense gets on base, hits for average and consistently produces with its scoring opportunities. Outfielder Jackson Chourio, second baseman Brice Turang and first baseman Jake Bauers are more impactful hitters this year than any of their top bats were last season, and catcher William Contreras looks like a completely different force offensively over the last month. Milwaukee gets a first-round bye, and then it has the most unhittable starting pitcher in baseball ready to go for Game 1 in Jacob Misiorowski, who’s a different beast than he was last season as a rookie. For Game 2, they’ll have another strong arm in Logan Henderson, who has a 2.22 ERA in 11 second-half starts. The Brewers pitching staff has the lowest ERA in the National League, and they can shift some of their rotation depth arms into relief. It’s a complete unit and Milwaukee’s best chance to return to the World Series for the first time since 1982. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: Have we already seen this movie before? The Brewers have now won the division four straight years, but that hasn’t translated to October success. They didn’t spend big on another impact bat who could help an offense that looked overmatched against the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS, and they’ve hit the fewest home runs in the National League. That’s not typically a recipe for postseason success. Each of the last six World Series winners ranked in the top five in MLB in home runs, and each of the last 10 World Series winners ranked at least in the top half of baseball in the category. Remember: The Brewers swept the regular-season series against the Dodgers last year. We know what happened next. In addition, with Kyle Harrison’s struggles of late, the depth of the starting rotation behind Misiorowski and Henderson is suddenly a major question. You want pitchers who can miss bats in October. No starter in the sport does that better than Misiorowski, who surrendered the lowest opponent batting average (.157) and the second-highest strikeout rate (37.9%) ever for a qualified MLB starter over the course of a full season. 2026 Record: 91-71 (2nd in NL West; 4th in NL)World Series Odds: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total) NLDS Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers Why They Will Win The World Series: Sometimes it’s just about getting hot at the right time. While steamrolling the Cubs in the wild-card series, they showcased everything that makes them a title contender. After a slow start to the season, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and center fielder Jackson Merrill look like superstars again. First baseman Ty France has been a steady force all season in a career year, and late-season upticks from third baseman Manny Machado and shortstop Xander Bogaerts provide more reasons for encouragement with the offense, which was at its best in September. As a team, the Padres are playing their best ball at the right time. And if they get a lead in the middle innings come October, the game should be over. The Padres have one of the most intimidating bullpens in the game, led by All-Star closer Mason Miller, who has been the best reliever in the sport. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: They might have the worst rotation in the playoff field. The additions of starters Casey Mize and Robbie Ray were supposed to fix the problem, but both additions have ERAs over 5.00 since joining the Padres. And as good as the offense has looked lately, this is a group that ranked dead last in OPS before the All-Star break and did nothing at the deadline to fix the offensive depth concerns. You can almost directly tie the team’s turnaround to Tatis’ turnaround. In the season’s first half, he had five home runs and the Padres were 48-48. After the break, he had 20 home runs and the Padres went 43-23. They’ll go as he goes. AMERICAN LEAGUE 2026 Record: 84-78 (2nd in AL Central; 5th in AL)World Series Odds: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total) ALDS Opponent: Cleveland Guardians Why They Will Win The World Series: Beware a young team with nothing to lose. No one expected the White Sox to be in this position, just a year after losing 100 games. Now, they’re playing with house money. Home runs win in October, and the White Sox have a number of hitters who can change a game with one swing. First baseman Munetaka Murakami, third baseman Miguel Vargas and right fielder Colson Montgomery all hit at least 30 home runs during the regular season, while outfielder Sam Antonacci and second baseman Chase Meidroth give the team two more above-average bats in the lineup. Rookie lefty Hagen Smith has been a revelation in the bullpen, and manager Will Venable has a number of options to go multiple innings, which can mask some of the team’s starting pitching deficiencies. But it’s the offense, which scored the most runs in the American League, that gives this youthful club a chance to shock the world. They also might have divine intervention. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: They don’t have enough starting pitching, and the all-or-nothing offense — the White Sox ranked fifth in MLB in both homers and strikeouts — was trending the wrong way toward season’s end. They stopped slugging or hitting much at all in September, but it’s their pitching that’s the more glaring October problem. Chicago’s starters have been among the least productive in baseball, and things only got worse in the rotation after the All-Star break. The deadline addition of Luis Castillo did nothing to help, and the bullpen arms started to look tired down the stretch after throwing more innings than any team in MLB by a wide margin. They found their energy again in the wild-card series in Houston, but a magic summer on the South Side could turn into an ominous autumn if their arms get gassed in a longer series. The fact that the White Sox stormed through Houston without Vargas recording a hit in the wild-card series is a testament to the depth of their lineup. But they’ll need the All-Star third baseman, who led the team in runs, RBI and OPS this year, to get going if they want to continue further. 2026 Record: 85-77 (1st in AL Central; 4th in AL)World Series Odds: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total) ALDS Opponent: Chicago White Sox Why They Will Win The World Series: Death, taxes and the Guardians making a late-season push. The rookies are here to play. Outfielder Chase DeLauter and second baseman Travis Bazzana provided a jolt to the lineup, and lefty Parker Messick is already one of the best starting pitchers in the American League. The offense looked more potent after adding Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe at the deadline, and outfielder Steven Kwan seemed like himself again following the All-Star break. There might be just enough offense here to envision a deep run, given the arms they have at their disposal. Their bullpen is again one of the most dominant in baseball, leading MLB in strikeout rate and WHIP, and is led by one of the best closers in the sport in Cade Smith, who looked untouchable down the stretch. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: Another year, same story for Cleveland’s weak offense. The Guardians’ lineup is again one of the least potent in the sport, and this time even third baseman José Ramírez is a below-league-average hitter. The seven-time All-Star hasn’t looked like himself all season, and a June hamate fracture certainly didn’t help matters. If he can’t find his superstar form, it’s hard to envision this offense having enough firepower to make any serious noise in October. There’s a lot on the shoulders of rookies DeLauter and Bazzana, and the offensive deadline additions don’t change the fact that this remains one of the least intimidating lineups in the postseason field. One year ago, DeLauter’s first big-league experience came in a do-or-die postseason game. Now, he has established himself as one of the best hitters in a Cleveland lineup that ranked 26th in OPS and needs his pop at the plate, especially after a down year from star Jose Ramirez. 2026 Record: 93-68 (2nd in AL East; 2nd in AL)World Series Odds: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total) ALDS Opponent: Tampa Bay Rays Why They Will Win The World Series: They have the best starting pitcher in the American League, and a starting pitching staff whose biggest concern right now is former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. In other words, if Cole is the rotation’s only worry going into the ALDS, the Yankees are in excellent shape. Schlittler is all but a lock to win the AL Cy Young award after he lowered his season ERA to 1.95 in his final outing of the year. Schlittler has been so good for the Yankees that he’s receiving serious MVP consideration. And even outside of Schlittler, the combination of Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers and Cole has recorded the top rotation ERA (3.24) in the major leagues this season. If the Yankees make a deep run and end their 17-year championship drought, it will be because of their outstanding rotation. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: The unknown factors surrounding Judge’s second trip to the injured list and a bullpen that is overworked and lacking depth. Judge potentially missing the postseason with a calf strain isn’t the same as when the 2021 Braves won a championship without Ronald Acuńa Jr., who was injured from July for the rest of the season that year. Atlanta’s offense still ranked top 10 in most offensive categories without Acuña. The Yankees plunged to the bottom of the league this summer in most hitting stats without Judge. Judge is too important to these Yankees, who instantly play better when he’s in the lineup. Even though the Yankees picked up more slug at the trade deadline by acquiring a pair of power hitters in second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. and outfielder Heliot Ramos, they don’t make up for the loss of Judge, one of the most prolific hitters of all time. The offense was terrific against an inconsistent Red Sox team in the wild card series, but they need any help they can get against a flawless Rays team. Anything the Yankees get from their three-time MVP will be an added bonus. Presuming the rest of the lineup continues to produce as it did against the Red Sox in the Wild Card series, all eyes will be on Judge to step up in high-leverage moments to put the Yankees over the edge. Keep an eye out for when he will be activated from the injured list (calf strain). 2026 Record: 98-64 (1st in AL East; Best in AL)World Series Odds: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total) ALDS Opponent: New York Yankees Why They Will Win The World Series: The Rays are on the verge of locking up home-field advantage throughout the postseason, and they’re also nearly impossible to beat at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay owns a remarkable 55-26 record at home this season, good enough for a .679 winning percentage that’s the best in baseball. Plus, the Rays are Ray-ing again. They’ve sustained excellent fundamentals, run prevention, small-ball, defense and heads-up baserunning throughout the season, which are all major reasons they spent the majority of the year in first place. Third baseman Junior Caminero is enjoying an MVP-caliber season, and he can be a true weapon for the Rays’ offense in October. As usual, Tampa Bay has the pitching depth to make a deep run. And if they win the division, which looks likely, that first-round bye will only help them reset and start the postseason stronger. Why They Won’t Win The World Series: They could’ve used another bat at the trade deadline. As impressive as Caminero, first baseman Jonathan Aranda and designated hitter Yandy Diaz have been for the top of Tampa Bay’s lineup, the bottom of the order has been a disappointment. A weak lower third of the lineup has burned the Rays before, in the 2023 wild-card series against the Rangers, where they were swept by Texas. This year, the Rays’ 7-8-9 hitters own an 84 wRC+ (17th in MLB) and a .345 slugging percentage (27th in MLB), and it’s far too easy to envision that dropoff in production becoming their playoff bugaboo. He started all 162 games at third base for the Rays, and his durability is a major reason Tampa Bay’s offense never took a step back this year. He wrapped his second straight season with at least 40 home runs (42 this year after belting 45 in 2025).​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

To paraphrase one sage intellectual of our time, Tiffany Gomas, a woman pushed beyond the brink of this reality, beyond the fabric of this mortal world, before declaring what was so clear to her before a captivated airplane audience: THAT (redacted) IS NOT REAL. Neither is Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer — not against AP top-25 teams on the road. He is not real. In fact, DeBoer is so unreal that he invites abject skepticism from otherwise ball-knowing folks, forcing them to question what they’re seeing with their own eyes, similar to Ms. Gomas’ viral outburst three years ago. But as we understand, at this moment in time, when clocks still turn right, the sun continues to rise in the east and intelligent lifeforms beyond our blueberry-colored planet have yet to be discovered (or made themselves known), we must contend with the rather sobering Disclosure Day-level facts: Among active FBS head coaches, he is the absolute best at winning in hostile environments against teams most of us believe are good (ranked!). And it’s not actually that close. DeBoer included, there are only four head coaches with winning percentages higher than .500 in road games against top-25 opponents (with a minimum of five games). Ohio State coach Ryan Day ranks second with a 7-4 record against top-25 teams in true road games, Georgia coach Kirby Smart ranks third (8-6) and Oregon coach Dan Lanning ranks fourth (3-2). Notably, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman owns a 4-4 record in top-25 true road games. But you, a ball-knower, have intuitively figured out that among those coaches, all five have reached the College Football Playoff, and all five have reached the CFP semifinals. Four have had their teams advance to the national championship game (DeBoer, Day, Smart, Freeman), and two have won it all (Day, Smart). Success against ranked teams with tremendous home-field advantage isn’t the kind of stat that gets to hide, either. Like a good edition of the Resident Evil franchise, that stat is captivatingly hideous upon viewing. In fact, being terrible in this category is one of the major reasons Penn State canned James Franklin, whose Nittany Lions were 2-13 against AP top-25 opponents on the road and 0-10 at top-10 ones. DeBoer’s Alabama is my pick against Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville. This is not just because he’s found a way to get the best out of his teams against some of the sport’s most competitive programs and away from the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium. It’s also because — not unlike the Bulldogs with dynamo quarterback Kamario Taylor — Crimson Tide quarterback Keelon Russell can probably match just about anyone. Both quarterbacks are completing at least 69% of their passes, both have thrown just two interceptions apiece and both are throwing for at least 282 yards per game. The only way I could feel even better about my pick is if DeBoer wears his long-sleeved, black hoodie, in which he has an impressively high win percentage when wearing what Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz once called “the Black hoodie of death.” See? This is how we all become Tiffany Gomas: Superstition becomes supposition, and supposition gets willed into fact because we cannot do without a narrative fallacy to, as we Millennials say, Make it [clap] make [clap] sense [clap]. Some things are just not real, and Kalen DeBoer’s demolition of ranked opponents in their own backyards isn’t real — even if it is.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

First-year Browns head coach Todd Monken told everyone who would listen this offseason that he thought he could win in Cleveland. And for the most part, everybody laughed. But nobody is laughing anymore. One month into the season, Monken’s Browns are now in first place in the AFC North after their wild, dramatic, 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Cleveland on Thursday night. It took a 56-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt with 10 seconds left to do it, but the win left the Browns with a 3-1 record. Not bad for a franchise that won a total of eight games over the last two seasons. They have a young, talented team, a confident and fearless coach, and last night it sure looked like they’ve found a quarterback, too. Here are my takeaways from a night where they surely made Pittsburgh’s Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers feel old: When I visited Browns’ training camp this summer, Monken made it clear to me that his main issue was to “find a quarterback.” He seemed to think it might even be a season-long search. But it seems pretty clear that he’s got his guy — at least for the short term. Deshaun Watson was mostly outstanding against the Steelers on Thursday night, completing 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He was a lot better in the first half than the second, but he was also pretty good at the end of the game, when he went 4 for 5 for 46 yards. Watson has been pretty good all season too, though this was the first time he flashed some of his old potential. For the most part, he was on target, showed off his strong arm, and, maybe most importantly, he almost single-handedly kept the Steelers’ pass rush off-balance, using his mobility to get out of trouble and extend plays. Watson is 31 now and has barely played the last five years, so who knows how long this will last? But he’s coming through when it counts and the Browns are winning, so any thoughts Monken might have had about giving a shot to second-year pro Shedeur Sanders have to be on the back burner now. Back in the summer, Monken seemed ready to ride Watson as far as he could. And right now he doesn’t seem to be slowing down Maybe Sanders will still be the Browns’ quarterback of the future. It’s hard to imagine the Browns would bring Watson back next year under any circumstances once his fully guaranteed $230 million albatross of a contract finally expires. But that’s a problem for later. For now, Watson is giving Cleveland everything it needs. When Aaron Rodgers was leading the Steelers back from a 21-10 deficit in the fourth quarter, he looked like his younger self. He fired a strike down the field to DK Metcalf. He rolled out of the collapsing pocket and threw a 21-yard dart to tight end Darnell Washington for a touchdown. He even threw his 42-year-old body over the middle for a 2-point conversion on a quarterback sneak. It was fantastic to watch. It was just like old times. The problem is, it’s increasingly rare. Rodgers completed 22 of 40 passes for 299 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions — hardly a good game by his standards. But it’s what is beyond the numbers that really is most alarming. Until he found Metcalf deep in the fourth quarter, he struggled to throw anything beyond 15 yards. Most of his downfield throws were wobbly floaters that were way off target. And even worse, he has become a sitting duck in the pocket. Most of the time when he tries to escape, he looks like he’s running in slow motion. That’s why he took a beating from the Browns defense, which ended up sacking him five times. There are things Rodgers can still do well. He’s got a brilliant football mind and rarely makes a mistake with where he throws the ball. His release is still lightning quick. He also knows how to throw his players open, maybe better than any quarterback in the league. And, as he showed late against the Browns, he’s still clutch. He knows what to do and how to do it when the game is on the line. But his ability to be consistent is shot. His big-play skills are all but gone, only available for an occasional cameo. And that’s turned McCarthy’s attack into something of a predictable, plodding mess that feels like it moves in slow motion. That can be effective — like on their game-opening, 17-play, 78-yard, 9:48-long touchdown drive — but only in small bursts. What they need is a lot more of the Rodgers they saw in the fourth quarter, the one who can move and still fire accurate throws down the field. Unfortunately for them, it just doesn’t look like Rodgers is capable of doing that with any regularity anymore. This has not exactly been the NFL’s best-run franchise in the seven-year reign of general manager Andrew Berry, but he deserves some credit for this: This roster is loaded with good, young, dynamic players on both sides of the ball. If they can solve their long-term quarterback problem, they could be set up to be good for years. But all that youth seems like it’s a bit of a problem right now, because they sometimes play like they’re a bunch of inexperienced kids. The Baby Browns committed 14 penalties on Thursday night, including five (one that was declined) in the final 5.5 minutes. That included a defensive holding that gave the Steelers another shot at the game-tying touchdown, and an offside (by star edge rusher Jared Verse) on the ensuing 2-point conversion. They survived, but it’s not easy to make that many mistakes and still pull a game like this off. Better opponents are going to take advantage of that. It will be the Browns’ undoing if they somehow stay in the playoff race. Make no mistake, though: The kids are good, and they were showing off against the Steelers, particularly on offense. That includes their two terrific rookie receivers, Denzel Boston (4 receptions for 89 yards) and KC Concepcion (5 receptions for 64 yards), and two finds from last year’s draft, tight end Harold Fannin (3 receptions for 27 yards and a touchdown) and running back Quinshon Judkins (17 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, plus six catches for 43 yards). And on defense, they’ve got a few young impact players, like edge rusher Jared Verse, whom they got in the Myles Garrett trade with the Rams, and linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year. That kind of talent will carry them a long way in the future. The penalties and youthful mistakes, though, will keep holding them back.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Watch out, Dodgers. Here come the triumphant Braves.One night after the Phillies stole Game 2 of the Wild Card series with a late rally and a clutch 10th inning home run, the Braves stepped up at Truist Park in the winner-take-all finale. An unlikely hero opened a bullpen game, Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson supplied the power, and Atlanta shut the door on Philly to advance to the NLDS for a date against the two-time defending-champion Dodgers.Here are my takeaways: It’s a do-or-die game, and Don Mattingly’s Phillies put Aaron Nola, their unpredictable right-hander, on the hill instead of Zack Wheeler, their reliable ace. Outside of excessive concerns about Wheeler pitching on short rest, the decision to go with Nola over him made little sense well before the first pitch was thrown.Nola has been the definition of volatile for the Phillies this season, alternating between flashes of brilliant stretches and frustrating spirals. In the first half of the year, Nola produced a 5.75 ERA across 19 starts and 97 innings pitched. In the second half, he recorded a 3.33 ERA in 14 starts and 78 ⅓ innings. So the Phillies were encouraged enough by Nola’s second-half turnaround that they decided he was the better option than Wheeler, who turned in a six-inning, one-run gem against the Rays on Sunday. Going with Nola’s unpredictability was a mistake. The 33-year-old recorded the shortest postseason start of his career on Thursday against the Braves. Nola lasted just 1 ⅔ innings after coughing up a three-run home run to Michael Harris II and putting the Phillies in a 3-0 hole in the first inning.Mattingly finally turned to Wheeler at the top of the third inning, but the damage was already done. Wheeler allowed a two-run home run to Ozzie Albies in the fourth inning, but that was his only blemish. Wheeler ended up pitching four innings before his night was over, so he was clearly OK with pitching on short rest. If your best pitcher is available in an elimination game, you start him. Perhaps the Phillies were saving Wheeler for Game 1 of an NLDS that they never reached. Mattingly and the Phillies learned that lesson the hard way. The Braves pitching staff has been remarkable this season, serving as the primary engine behind the club’s strong season. Despite the revolving door of injuries to the rotation and bullpen, Atlanta’s pitching staff finished the season with the fifth-best ERA (3.63) in the major leagues. Most teams would collapse after losing 4–5 starting pitchers, but the Braves depth pieces and next-man-up mentality kept them elite. So it was no surprise that when the Braves called on 32-year-old southpaw Ray Kerr to take the mound in Thursday’s elimination game, he delivered. Kerr grew up in foster care, then later worked at a 7-Eleven and a movie theater in Reno, Nev., before the Mariners offered him a minor-league contract in 2017. After getting traded to the Padres for a cup of coffee, Kerr joined the Braves in 2024, and pitched in just 10 games before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He finally made it back to the mound in August this season and recorded a 1.47 ERA in nine games (one start) before he received the nod to start Thursday’s elimination game for Atlanta. In the most important outing of his career to date, Kerr held the Phillies to 3 ⅓ scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk and striking out two. Even though he was just the latest pitcher to step up and deliver for these Braves, his performance was still nothing short of special given all that he had to overcome to be there in the first place. Despite the Braves’ early 3-0 lead that soon turned into a 5-0 deficit for the Phillies, the visiting club still created a handful of chances to cash in on runs. Philly just couldn’t get the job done when it mattered most, which has been an unfortunate recent October trend for the club. Their best chance to trim their deficit was in the sixth inning, when Kyle Schwarber lined a one-out single to right field and Bryce Harper followed with a double to put runners on second and third for the Phillies. But the rest of the Phillies’ lineup couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain as Alec Bohm grounded out and Bryson Stott flew out to end the inning and the threat. Again, in the eighth inning, Derek Hill led off the frame with a triple to center. Trea Turner brought Hill home on a sacrifice fly, but that was all the Phillies could muster. With two outs in the eighth, Braves manager Walt Weiss went to his best weapon — a cutthroat Chris Sale sprinting in from the bullpen to face Bryce Harper. Sale struck out Harper on four pitches, with none of those four offerings ever touching the strike zone. Sale took care of business in the ninth and punched Atlanta’s ticket to the NLDS.The Phillies went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Their season, which was on the brink of ending without a wild-card berth after last week’s brutal collapse, finally ended in a whimper at the hands of their division-rival Braves. After multiple disappointing October endings, dating back to when the Phillies lost the Fall Classic to the Astros in 2022, it’s hard to tell where they go from here.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Tucked high in the upper rungs of Michigan Stadium, Eric Brown clasped his hands near his mouth, almost as if to warm them on a cool fall afternoon. His wife, Lesley, stood to his right with the same pose – equally nervous, hands held equally tight, heart palpitations running equally high. The Browns are deeply religious people. Sundays are spent at All Christ Church Nashville before plopping on the couch to watch NFL games or bouncing between any of their five children’s athletic events. They believe firmly in Christ. God has a path for all, they might tell you. Consider their prayers answered. As Hank Brown’s eyes slid from center to left and the shotgun snap hit his hands, Eric and Lesley’s son cocked back the arm that was once deemed not good enough to carry Auburn back to relevancy and rifled a pass to the front left pylon of the end zone below his parents. Toe-tapping with the grace of Baryshnikov, wide receiver Reece Vander Zee perfectly matched his massive mitts to the back-shoulder throw, held on through contact from a Michigan defender and secured the grab through the ground. Iowa 20, Michigan 19. “I just ran as fast as I could to the end zone to celebrate with him,” Hank Brown told me. “I guess at the time, I didn’t really. I mean, I knew the game was over, but people from the sidelines started running and just tackling us. It was just a crazy, crazy experience.” You know the jokes by now. That Iowa football’s best offense might actually be its punter. That the Hawkeyes’ defense might often outscore those charged with, well, scoring points. That, in a college football world of wide-open schemes and downfield passing, head coach Kirk Ferentz might prefer the anti-passing approach of pre-World War II legends like Knute Rockne and Pop Warner. That was before Brown. Iowa marches into Saturday’s home date with No. 5 Ohio State at 4-0 for the first time since 2021. Their quarterback — a one-time SEC castoff and COVID recruit who won a quarterback competition this preseason — is completing nearly 70% of his passes and adds an element the Iowa offense has definitively lacked for the better part of a decade. Of course, this wasn’t always the plan. “He kind of became Hugh [Freeze’s] fall guy to a certain degree,” Brown’s high school coach and Super Bowl champion quarterback Trent Dilfer told me. “I love Hugh. Hugh’s a friend, but I thought that he got a raw deal there. “He very easily could have been the starting quarterback at Auburn doing this, too.” ‘They Know His Name’ There’s an angst all mothers know. It starts in kindergarten, dropping backpacks into a locker in a room surrounded by unicorns and rainbows. It perpetuates into middle school, where pre-pubescence and hormones bring out the worst in us. It prolongs into high school, where cliques run rampant and maturity is marked by one’s ability to avoid trouble and make grades. Is my kid going to make any friends? These scattered thoughts percolated in Lesley Brown’s mind as she sat in the bleachers for Lipscomb Academy’s final scrimmage in the fall of 2020. “As a mom, you’re like, ‘Did we make the right decision moving five kids down here?’” Lesley told me. Hank grew up in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, Illinois, the same town where Lesley and Eric met years earlier as high school classmates; where Eric was Wheaton College men’s soccer’s all-time leading goalscorer; where Hank — a scrawny late-bloomer and the second-eldest of four boys and a daughter — learned the game. But as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the country and high school football in Illinois was canceled, Hank was suddenly without a team. Parents and students at Wheaton Warrenville South filed a class-action lawsuit against the Illinois High School Association over the cancellation of fall sports. Those involved even gathered outside the Chicago home of Gov. JB Pritzker to voice concerns that their children would lose scholarship opportunities and that their mental health would be affected. Eric proposed a more dramatic solution: What if the family moved to Tennessee? “We left a town where Les and I both were raised. We lived there. We went to college there. We were raising our kids there. We kind of always kid around like we knew everyone and everything,” he said. “So we moved to this town, Nashville, where we knew no one and nothing.” As the Browns ruminated on the move and looked into schools for their kids, an old college soccer teammate who lived in the area called up Eric and asked if he’d considered Lipscomb Academy. He’d heard of it but didn’t know details — not least that Dilfer had been named its head football coach. Eric and Dilfer connected in the days that followed. A short conversation turned into an hour, and an hour turned into two. Eric loved what he heard. Dilfer loved the idea of a talented signal-caller joining his ranks. The only problem? Lipscomb had an entrenched starter, and Hank would have to play JV football his junior year. “I would have never thought Hank Brown would be the starting quarterback at the University of Iowa when I first met him as a fifth grader,” quipped Greg Holcomb, Brown’s longtime private trainer. “He’d throw a football and be like, ‘Oh yeah, he’ll be all right.’ He’s really done a great job just putting himself around the right people.” “As a quarterback, you want to play young, and you want to play early,” Brown told me. “But, at the same time, you don’t want to play before you’re ready. I was a late-bloomer. I didn’t fully develop even really until I got to college, and he knew that I’d be ready by my senior year to be able to go out there and execute.” Brown was never supposed to have a starring role in Lipscomb’s final scrimmage of the fall. But the program’s starting quarterback picked up an illness before kickoff that shelved him. As did a classmate also battling for the backup quarterback job. That led to Brown. With the poise and precision he’s since flashed in Iowa City, he tossed three touchdowns and nearly 300 yards on the night against a solid Father Ryan squad. The student section — still not all too familiar with the new kid from the Chicago suburbs — started chanting his name. A mother’s fears were swiftly swept away. “I’m just crying,” Lesley conceded. “Not because he played well, [but] because I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, they know him. They know his name.’” ‘The Guy You Want In The Locker Room’ Hank’s junior year on the JV team at Lipscomb Academy didn’t dissuade recruiters. By spring, he’d cemented himself as the starter for the coming fall, and those coaches who flocked to the school to see his high-profile teammates were suddenly interested in the talented signal-caller by way of Chicago who’d yet to take a truly meaningful snap in Nashville. A six-inch growth spurt helped the equation. As did Dilfer’s tutelage. A three-star recruit, Brown owned around a dozen offers by season’s end. He settled on Liberty and Freeze, drawn in by the coach’s previous work with quarterbacks and the program’s emphasis on faith. That is until Freeze was hired by Auburn in late November. “I took the Auburn job just a few weeks away from signing day, and was debating what to do in the quarterback room — which was not in good shape when I took the job here,” Freeze told me. “Not that you’re depending upon a high school freshman to come in and be the savior, but looking at the options … we all had this sneaking suspicion, whether or not Hank Brown ends up being the guy at Auburn, he is the guy you want in the locker room.” Brown eventually followed Freeze to Auburn, where he was thrust into that aforementioned unsettled quarterback situation. The program hadn’t totally bottomed out under previous head coach Gus Malzahn, but cracks had begun to form. Freeze, a quarterback whisperer since his days at Ole Miss, had a fixation on finding a dynamic signal-caller to run the offense that had given Nick Saban fits before Freeze was thrust out of the SEC under the cloud of scandal. Brown had his moments at Auburn. He completed 7-of-9 passes for 132 yards in the Tigers’ 2023 Music City Bowl appearance. But after a 2024 campaign in which starter Payton Thorne was largely ineffective and Brown was granted limited opportunities, Freeze and his staff decided to dip into the portal for a quarterback ahead of the 2025 season. “I tried like heck,” Freeze said. “I did not want to lose him.” How that was communicated depends on who you ask. Freeze says he made it clear he intended to keep Brown, even if the program brought in another quarterback to compete for the starting job. Eric said he felt there were mixed signals sent between what Freeze said and what Auburn’s general manager shared. The Tigers eventually signed former five-star Oklahoma signee Jackson Arnold as the heir apparent to inherit the starting job from the departed Thorne. By that time, Brown had already called Freeze to tell him he’d decided to enter the transfer portal and seek a starting chance elsewhere. “I’m super close with those coaches at Auburn — even still talk to some of them — but, at the end of the day, it’s part of the sport, especially the past few years, how much it’s changed,” Brown said. “It was a hard conversation, but they understood to an extent what the situation was, but we were also obviously bummed.” Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester and Eric Brown hadn’t spoken in 15 or 20 years. That’s life for high school acquaintances. Lester attended Wheaton Warrenville South in the mid-1990s with Brown’s parents, while he credits Hank’s uncle, Jeff — a prolific college quarterback in his own right at Wheaton College — as the reason he wanted to play the position himself. Lester kept enough tabs in his hometown to know about Eric’s son; enough to give Eric a shout when Hank entered the transfer portal; enough that he had already watched Hank’s film out of curiosity. “The first time we talked, I don’t know if we talked about Hank for like a half-hour into the conversation,” Lester joked. The former Western Michigan head coach was also clued into those in Brown’s Auburn orbit. Thorne’s grandfather coached Lester in high school, while his father, Jeff, served as Lester’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2022. That comfort prompted a swift recruiting process. Brown took in a basketball game in Iowa City on his lone visit after entering the portal. He was committed to the Hawkeyes within five days in December 2024. “Knowing the family and knowing the town that we come from, being a part of this type of culture, I felt strongly [about Brown],” Lester told me. “But they had to feel strongly about wanting to be a part of it.” ‘Nobody Is Surprised’ There’s a blurriness to the immediate aftermath of last week’s win over Michigan. Brown said he raced around the field celebrating with teammates. Eric and Lesley, leaping into the heavens, hugged any willing stranger donning Hawkeyes gear around them in the furthest corners of Michigan Stadium. Back home, youngest brother, Brooks — a prolific 2028 quarterback recruit in his own right — and his high school buddies celebrated in the living room, racing around shirtless, screaming at the top of his lungs. A friend donning a No. 9 Hawkeyes jersey flashed it for the cell phone camera. “Hank Brown is the greatest quarterback!!” they boisterously proclaimed. Dilfer thought back to two signs that hang in his office at Lipscomb Academy that read: “The edge of uncomfortable is where you find greatness,” and “Do hard things because they equal great things.” Brown spent hours in that room during high school. On Sundays after church, he’d whip over to school to comb through the offense with Dilfer and pick his brain on quarterbacking. “This is nothing new,” Dilfer said. “Nobody who knows Hank is surprised. Not one human. Not one teammate. Not his parents. Not his friends. Not his mentors. Nobody is surprised.” That’s paying off in spades for Iowa — where Brown was only officially named the starter over Wake Forest import Jeremy Hecklinski ahead of the Michigan game. Lester said Brown has been more confident in his arm talent in recent months. A few minor tweaks around footwork and throwing motion during bowl practices last fall did wonders. “The only way to get better is to go through hard s—,” Lester said. “That’s the only way. There’s no easy path to being good at anything. He’s (Hank) been through hard.” Even on The Plains last week, they celebrated. Lesley received texts from parents they’d come to know during Hank’s time at Auburn after Iowa’s upset win. In the waning moments before the Tigers kicked off against Vanderbilt that afternoon, Brown’s final pass at Michigan played on the big screen. The whole stadium cheered.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

We’re not even a month into the season, and six NFL teams have already had to replace their starter for at least one game. The Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears have had to replace two potential starters, and they got two very different results from their QB3s. Cooper Rush sabotaged a talented Falcons offense that immediately broke out once Michael Penix Jr. returned to the lineup. In Chicago, the Bears offense didn’t suffer any hiccups with Case Keenum stepping in for Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent. Having Ben Johnson dialing up the plays certainly made things easier for Keenum. The best backup quarterback might just be a good play-caller. Every NFL season offers several reminders of how handy a good backup can be, and this one is no different. So with that in mind, let’s rank which teams could survive without their starting quarterback and which ones would be ruined by a QB injury. Tier 5: ‘We’re Losing This Game’ Cade Klubnik and Kyle McCord could develop into mid-tier backups at some point, but we just haven’t seen enough from either to get a good feel for their respective ceilings. We’ve seen more than enough of Tommy DeVito and Kyle Allen to know an offense is in trouble if either of them is in the starting lineup. Both quarterbacks struggle to make routine throws consistently and compound that issue with questionable decision-making. Tier 4: It Will Be Bad, But It Might Be Fun! Enjoying these three comes down to your taste in quarterback play. If you enjoy quarterbacks frantically trying to escape pressure and occasionally pulling off miracle completions, these are your guys. Pickett has the most experience; Huntley is more well-rounded thanks to his running ability; and Howell has the best arm but shaky pocket presence. If you combined their skill sets, you’d get Baker Myfield. Watching Jalon Daniels fire off tight-window throws in the preseason was a blast. But that tape was also full of sprayed passes, so don’t expect an efficient stat line from the Day 3 pick as he fills in for an injured Baker Mayfield. If Shedeur Sanders had Daniels’ arm and athleticism, he’d be much higher on this list. He approaches the game as if he does, which can get him into trouble. The long sacks and throws into coverage offset his good plays. Trey Lance and Justin Fields are one bad preseason away from officially losing their “high potential” tag, if they haven’t already. Lance made some dreadful decisions and had a few frustrating misses during his preseason run. Fields is still dealing with the issues that plagued his rookie season. Both can produce a jaw-dropping throw or two per game, but neither is reliable down-to-down. Fields has Andy Reid and Ken Walker in his corner, so he’d have a fighting chance if he had to play this season. Lance would be overwhelmed by the Chargers’ offensive dysfunction. Tier 3: Can Execute A Game Plan – But It Better Be A Good One At their athletic peaks, these three would have landed in the first tier. Erratic throwing ability and waning athleticism don’t make a winning combination for quarterbacks, though. It’s been over six years since Trubisky and Taylor put together a full season of competent play. Josh Dobbs played relatively well for Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota, but who doesn’t, other than J.J. McCarthy? These three can still lead you to a win if they don’t have to do too much and the defense can keep the scoring in the high teens. These quarterbacks have a good grasp on their offenses and just enough accuracy to complete passes, but they can’t make all the throws needed to lead a successful passing game. They’re the quarterbacks who prove that arm strength matters. Andy Dalton still isn’t immune to lapses in judgment, as we saw this past week on Monday night. Quinn Ewers has some Mac Jones potential but needs more reps to fully realize it. Jarrett Sidham and Mason Rudolph are essentially the same quarterback. They’re solid backup options in theory, but once they step on the field, it becomes apparent why they’ve never gotten a real shot at a starting job. This group is the dividing line between the competent backups who can keep an offense on the rails for a game or two and those who will completely tank their teams. Davis Mills has been a valiant backup in Houston, thanks to quick processing and decent accuracy. Tyson Bagent and Stetson Bennett haven’t played much, but both seem to be in the perfect systems to maximize their skill sets. Tier 2: It Might Be Bad, But It Will Be Fun Carson Wentz and Jameis Winston offer the same experience as fill-in quarterbacks: they’ll make a few solid throws, but an inexplicable mistake is always around the corner. I still believe. Anthony Richardson would be the second-youngest starter in the NFL right now, and he’s coming off a solid preseason showing. Richardson’s inability to make simple passes has been a limiting factor, but he’s put some legitimately great throws on film. His contributions to the run game make him a viable spot starter. Tier 1: Little To No Drop-off If you’re looking for “The Next Sam Darnold,” Rattler is a strong candidate. He’s got legitimate arm talent and looks comfortable in the pocket. With a little more accuracy and significantly fewer mistakes, Rattler could lock down a starting job eventually. Gardner Minshew can be tolerable in small doses. At his best, Minshew can do a passable impression of Baker Mayfield. He doesn’t have the arm to make some of the throws Baker can, but, like the Bucs quarterback, he can spread the ball around and knows how to escape from crumbling pockets. Minshew’s zeal for play-making comes at a cost, though: he runs himself into sacks, and he can be reckless when throwing outside the pocket. This might be too high for Tua Tagovailoa based on what he put on tape in 2025. I’m willing to give him a pass – that Dolphins offense was a mess from top to bottom – and consider his larger body of work. Tagovailoa still has a skill set that can thrive in a point-and-shoot offense. Drew Lock is basically a value-brand Sam Darnold, so Seattle doesn’t have to change its approach when the former second-round pick has to play. He’s got a live arm and a desire to use it. Lock’s accuracy is hit-or-miss, but when he’s on, he can put on a show. The Raiders offense would likely improve in certain areas if Fernando Mendoza replaced Kirk Cousins. Mendoza is more mobile and more willing to push the ball downfield. The Las Vegas offense would be more explosive with Mendoza but not nearly as consistent. Over the last two years, Washington’s offense has actually been more efficient with Marcus Mariota on the field. Jayden Daniels offers a higher ceiling, but Mariota raises the floor. And while Mariota doesn’t create as many explosive plays, he’s been more accurate. Kyle Shanahan wouldn’t lose any sleep if Mac Jones had to step in for Brock Purdy at any point this season. He doesn’t create out of structure like Purdy, but he plays the point guard role just as well. There was a slight uptick in San Francisco’s offensive success rate when Jones played in 2025. Joe Flacco’s complete lack of mobility is really the only thing holding him back from still being a starting-level quarterback. If his offensive line keeps him in a clean pocket, Flacco can pick apart a defense at all three levels. If Joe Burrow misses time, the Bengals have a backup who can keep the ship afloat.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

When Justin Herbert threw a costly interception in the Los Angeles Chargers’ loss to the Buffalo Bills last week, Tom Brady was more than blunt when he assessed the quarterback’s errant throw. “There’s a safety in the middle of the field. Poor awareness, poor decision, throws him a meatball sub,” Brady said of Herbert’s throw, which landed right in the arms of Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Brady’s quote quickly went viral. FOX Sports’ video of the quote generated over 300,000 likes on Instagram, while a handful of posts on X about Brady’s comment garnered several thousand likes and views. But how did Brady learn about the term that’s become popular on social media for whenever a quarterback throws a bad pass? In the latest edition of #AskTom, Brady let everyone know that his kids have helped keep him hip to popular social media vernacular. “Chill, chill. Relax. Everyone’s got to remember, I’ve got three kids, OK? So, that should just point you in the right direction,” Brady said when asked who told him to say “meatball sub.” Brady’s “meatball sub” remark was the second straight week that he said something on a broadcast that quickly made the rounds on social media. A week earlier, he called one of Dak Prescott’s passes a “piss missile” in the Dallas Cowboys’ victory over the Washington Commanders. Brady apologized for the “piss missile” comment in last week’s edition of #AskTom. But he isn’t apologizing for his “meatball sub” quote, although he admitted that some of his passes were meatball subs. “I threw a lot. I probably threw over 200 interceptions in my career. I would say somewhere between 25 and 50 [were meatball subs],” Brady said. “And, believe me, Coach [Bill] Belichick, he never let me forget those.” That led Brady to express his appreciation for the coaching he got from Belichick over his career as he touched on that topic and more in this week’s #AskTom. Here’s what Brady had to say about Case Keenum’s surprising performance, Sean Payton’s gutsy calls in the Broncos’ win over the Rams and how cleats can make a difference in a quarterback’s throw. Case Keenum is 38, third on the depth chart and hasn’t started since 2023, but he helped the Bears beat the Eagles on Monday night. What does a week like this look like for a veteran thrust into the spotlight? Brady: Well, there’s definitely some nerves and anxiety as you prepare for the week. It’s been a long time since you’ve been the starter. It’s been a long time since the team really needed you to step up and play well. But, look, when you’re a veteran quarterback and you’ve got a lot of years of experience, as that ball’s kicked off and you run your first play, you settle in very quickly. There’s a lot of experience you can rely on and he’s really well-coached. I love this Ben Johnson offense. There were a lot of great throws out there and he made a lot of great decisions. That’s what it takes. That’s why you’re the backup. That’s why you pay ya to deliver for your team. Sean Payton went for it twice in the third quarter to tie the game in the Broncos’ win over the Rams. How much of that is a coach’s decision vs. the QB potentially going and fighting for the chance to win there? Brady: In the end, it’s all about the head coach’s decision. What I think a lot of people need to understand is that the head coach needs to be accountable for every decision — offensively, defensively or special teams. It all comes down to one guy: the head coach making the decisions. He’s the one responsible in those big moments to make the call and put his team in the best position to win. Who told you to say meatball sub? Also, can I get an exact number of meatball subs that you threw during your career? Brady: Chill, chill. Relax. Everyone’s got to remember, I’ve got three kids, OK? So, that should just point you in the right direction. And I threw a lot. I probably threw over 200 interceptions in my career. I would say somewhere between 25 and 50 [were meatball subs]. And, believe me, Coach [Bill] Belichick, he never let me forget those. Was Bill calling them meatball subs? Was that where that lingo came from? Brady: No, [Belichick would say]: “Brady, you bum.” And I just took it like a man. I learned from it, and hopefully I didn’t go out there and repeat them too often. Actually, I’m glad you brought that up, because I think, and what I notice so much in the NFL is there’s so many people telling everybody how great they are all the time. I don’t think a lot of young people understand that the best way to learn is by getting outside their comfort zone and learning from coaches who are really pushing them. Coaches are the ones who should be telling you the truth every day. I was very fortunate. I had the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. He never let me forget when I threw an interception. He never glazed over it. He didn’t move on. He let me know about it, created awareness about it and he let me sit in the pain of letting the team down for a day or two before moving on. I think it was great learning for me, even though it was painful. It let me grow up. It helped me toughen up. It let me gain the respect of my teammates and coaches when they saw that, and I was able to move on and put it behind me. Did you have that perspective in the moment, or was that something that came afterwards? Brady: All of it’s learned. I think the great fortune for me is, being retired for four years, I look back on all the things that allowed me to be the player I wanted to be. I’m so grateful for everybody that was on my journey and all the coaches that pushed me and pushed me every single day, when they had higher expectations for me and they knew I could achieve them and they pushed me to do that. That’s what every great athlete should want. You should want a coach that’s demanding and calls you out when you’re not playing up to your standard, because that’s going to elevate your game. Yeah, it may sting in the moment a little bit, but when you reflect back at the end of a long career, you’re going to be appreciative and respectful of the coaches that did just that. How much attention did you pay to a field and the cleat choice going into a game and what did that have to do with your throwing mechanics? Brady: It was always important that you had to know the surface that you were playing on. But, listen, I loved grass fields. I hated turf fields. What we’re doing to kids at turf fields in high school, college and, ultimately, when they get to the pros, the wear and tear on those bodies over time really takes a toll. I really love the grass fields. So what, it’s a little bit slick? So what, it’s a little bit muddy? I’d much rather fall on a grass field than not. I think the most important point when you have a field that’s a little bit slick is you wear a longer seven-stud, so it digs into the surface. A lot of guys actually didn’t like playing with the long seven studs. But I always felt as a quarterback, if I was able to drive the ball, I would need a really firm base in the pocket. And when I plant on the back foot of either a three-step, five-step or seven-step drop, the back cleats really allowed me to dig into the surface to transfer my ground force going backwards into going back into my hitches. If I was hitching into the throw, I could create a lot of ground force going into my target, the right amount of torque with my body — my shoulder-hip dissociation — and then, when I released the ball, I still maintained the whip. The problem is, if you lose your ground force because you’re slipping on the surface, your whole mechanics shift to only using your torque and this really relaxed whip in your arm. So, I would say you become much stronger with your throw. The whole point, I would say, is to get the ground force from your legs into your torque into the whippy arm. That’s how you generate the maximum force throwing a football. Equipment managers everywhere are scrambling this week after that, Tom. Brady: Hey, go figure it out, young equipment managers. You have to figure it out, too.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

A year ago, the quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft were all the rage. Drake Maye led the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl and was the MVP runner-up. Caleb Williams also helped the Chicago Bears win a division title, and Jayden Daniels was a year removed from a surprise NFC Championship Game appearance with the Washington Commanders. Now, not even a month into Year 3 for the six quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2024 draft, some cracks have emerged. Williams and Daniels have been sidelined due to injuries, while Michael Penix Jr. just returned from an ACL tear. The bigger focus this past week, though, was on Maye and J.J. McCarthy. Maye has arguably been the worst starting quarterback in the NFL through the first three weeks of the season, with the Patriots getting out to an 0-2 start. The Minnesota Vikings, meanwhile, ripped the band-aid off the McCarthy experiment and traded him to the New York Giants for a fifth-round pick. Why is Maye performing so badly, and are his problems fixable? What should we make of the Giants’ trade for McCarthy? We asked those questions to people around the league, and many expressed concern for both quarterbacks. Here’s more from what we learned about Maye and McCarthy from our conversations with league insiders. Ralph Vacchiano: The New England Patriots have a lot of problems, but they never imagined Drake Maye would be one of them. Their third-year quarterback has been terrible so far this season, and fixing him will be a lot easier said than done — just ask some people around the league. “He looks like a rookie, and not a particularly good one,” one AFC scout told me. “If he were anyone else, based on those three games, the [coaching] staff would say, ‘He’s just not ready yet.’ “But how do you say that about a guy who nearly won MVP?” And that is the problem the Patriots are facing when they try to figure out what’s gone wrong with their 24-year-old quarterback, who has thrown six interceptions and just one touchdown pass this season, while losing two fumbles and failing to throw for more than 208 yards in any single game. They know he can do it. He dragged them to the Super Bowl last season. He was basically one vote away from beating Matthew Stafford for the MVP. Now, this season, “He looks lost,” another scout told me. “His confidence is completely gone, and you can see why,” the scout added. “He’s making comical errors — like real rookie stuff. The ball popping out of his hand, lofting it towards tightly covered receivers with no zip on the ball, not seeing any of the coverage in the area and thinking a guy is open, not stepping up in the pocket to avoid the rush, or stepping up into it. “It seems like every other decision he makes is wrong.” So what’s the solution? It might be, as one NFL assistant coach told me, the one thing the Patriots really can’t afford to do. “That’s the problem. You can’t bench him, even though he looks like a guy who needs a few weeks on the bench,” the coach told me. “What are you going to do, pull the guy who took you to the Super Bowl, the MVP runner-up, so he can watch Tommy DeVito play? That doesn’t do any good. You might lose him even more. “They have to let him play through it. That’s all they can do. The problem is, right now he doesn’t look like he can.” Eric D. Williams: It seems like a long time ago, but New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was the MVP runner-up last season for a reason. Maye finished first in the NFL in passer rating (112.9), third in passing touchdowns (31) and fourth in passing yards (4,394). Maye also led the league in completion percentage (72%) and yards per attempt (8.9). But his 47 sacks during the season and New England’s easy schedule should have been a sign of things to come. Maye was sacked 21 times and finished with four turnovers in four postseason games. As Ralph mentioned, Maye has thrown a league-high six interceptions and just one touchdown through three games, and his 58.6 passer rating is the worst among qualifying passers this season. And one talent evaluator told me that some of New England’s moves this offseason might be to blame. “Maye carried this offense last year,” a senior NFL personnel executive told me. “He also had Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte. With the A.J. Brown injury, he now has no one. Another reason why I don’t like trading depth.” Brown, who the Patriots surrendered a first-round pick to get, is on the injured reserve after suffering an ankle injury in Week 1. New England released Diggs, who was its leading receiver in 2025, at the start of the offseason to clear cap space. Kayshon Boutte, who had six touchdowns in 14 games last season, was traded toward the end of training camp, with head coach Mike Vrabel saying that he would’ve likely been a game-day scratch had he remained on the roster. But while the people Ralph spoke with weren’t sure how Maye and the Patriots get out of the hole they’re in, another talent evaluator I spoke with offered a solution to get the quarterback back on the road to playing good football. “Simplify the offense like last year,” the talent evaluator said. “Get A.J. Brown healthy. And tell Drake to stop trying so hard. He is pressing.” Vacchiano: The Giants’ decision to trade a fifth-round pick for quarterback J.J. McCarthy was clearly an act of desperation in the wake of the season-ending injury to quarterback Jaxson Dart. Their hope is that McCarthy might turn out to be at least an upgrade over their current starter, Jameis Winston. But some around the league think that might be a little too much to ask. “There’s no doubt McCarthy has talent,” one scout told me. “He’s probably a good fit for what they want to do, too. But honestly, if the Vikings were willing to dump their one-time franchise quarterback for a fifth-round pick, you really got to wonder what they know. Teams don’t usually dump young quarterbacks like that, especially ones they took 10th overall.” To be fair, McCarthy has had injury issues. He missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. Then last season, when he was finally the starter, he missed seven games with an ankle sprain, a concussion, and a fracture in his throwing hand. Somewhere along the line, though, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell lost complete faith in him. Because rather than give McCarthy his job back for 2026, the Vikings instead signed free agent Kyler Murray, a reclamation project, and even brought in veteran backup Carson Wentz. “Think about that,” one NFL assistant told me. “He couldn’t beat out Murray or Wentz. That doesn’t happen to a high first-round pick. That’s what happens with late-round and practice squad-type guys. So that tells you everything about what Minnesota thinks of him. “Maybe a change of scenery will help. But O’Connell is pretty good with quarterbacks. If he couldn’t get anything out of the kid, I don’t know if anyone on the Giants can.” Williams: Two longtime NFL scouts I spoke with didn’t mince words when asked where they evaluated J.J. McCarthy when he entered the 2024 NFL draft. “Third round,” said one. “Fourth round,” said the other. Of course, McCarthy was one of six quarterbacks taken in the first 12 picks, the fifth one taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 10th overall pick. McCarthy won a national title at Michigan under head coach Jim Harbaugh, who said he was the best quarterback in the draft. But Harbaugh also said Justin Herbert will be the greatest quarterback in NFL history, so we can take what he says with a grain of salt. One scout was skeptical McCarthy could turn things around with the New York Giants after the Vikings traded him for a fifth-round pick. “If Kevin O’Connell couldn’t do what he did with Sam Darnold and Joshua Dobbs filling in for Kirk Cousins — and it looks like he’ll do the same thing with Kyler Murray — then I don’t think Giants OC Matt Nagy can,” the longtime NFL scout told me. “Matt doesn’t have the kind of resume that Kevin has – no slight to Matt.” Another NFL quarterback evaluator was more optimistic about a turnaround for McCarthy, considering Harbaugh’s older brother, head coach of the Giants John Harbaugh, should have all the intel on him from his time at Michigan. Along with that, McCarthy will have lowered expectations, serving as the backup to Jameis Winston, with Jaxon Dart still considered the quarterback of the future in New York. “A fresh start with people that chose him is a good thing,” the talent evaluator told me. “The Harbaugh history helps, too. Matt Nagy, I would think, knows what he’s doing, too. “It reminds me of when guys like Mac Jones, Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield go somewhere to back up and hopefully become a starter somewhere else someday.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Can Kamario Taylor keep it rolling against No. 7 Alabama, or will Kalen DeBoer’s history of defeating ranked teams continue? Will Jon Sumrall and No. 8 Florida continue to climb the rankings? In the Big Ten, No. 14 Iowa’s stingy defense will try to finally stop Ohio State superstar Jeremiah Smith, while No. 18 USC looks to bounce back against Washington. Elsewhere, Minnesota hosts Michigan on “Big Noon Kickoff,” and Darian Mensah aims to continue building his Heisman Trophy case against Clemson. Week 5 brings another exciting slate of college football games, and we’re breaking down our straight-up picks and the matchups to watch closely throughout the weekend. When: Saturday, noon ET (ABC)Where: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, MississippiLine: Alabama -6 RJ Young: AlabamaKalen DeBoer has been spectacular on the road against Associated Press Top 25 teams with a 9-2 record, including 4-0 on the road during his Alabama tenure. Laken Litman: Mississippi StateThis game isn’t at night, but you know Starkville will be electric and rocking with those cowbells. Quarterback Kamario Taylor puts on a show at home, and the Bulldogs beat the Tide for the first time since 2007. Michael Cohen: AlabamaThere are plenty of bones worth picking with Kalen DeBoer, but his record against AP Top 25 teams on the road isn’t one of them. The Crimson Tide get it done amid the Cowbells. Ben Portnoy: Mississippi StateMississippi State fans have been waiting a decade for another moment like this. Kamario Taylor is the best player this program has seen this side of Dak Prescott, and the cowbells will be out in full force on Saturday. As good as quarterback Keelon Russell has been, Alabama’s defense continues to give me pause. Also, my Mississippi State grad wife will give me hell if I don’t pick the Bulldogs. When: Saturday, noon ET (FOX)Where: Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MinnesotaLine: Michigan -5.5 Young: MinnesotaP.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers look like they’re rounding into a Big Ten title contender after a win against Washington last weekend. Litman: MinnesotaP.J. Fleck literally wiped the blood off linebacker Maverick Baranowski’s mouth and smeared it on his face after beating Washington last week. The Golden Gophers’ only loss so far is to a hot Mississippi State team, and they can catch Michigan while they’re down at home. Cohen: MinnesotaEven though Michigan has a 3-1 overall record, it feels like there is an undercurrent of dysfunction for the Wolverines. Expect the Gophers to score a second consecutive upset. Portnoy: MichiganI’m about as down on Michigan as can be, but quarterback Bryce Underwood showed something passing the ball last week against Iowa. The Wolverines didn’t score the points to show for it, but I think the offense is getting more comfortable. I’ll take Kyle Wittingham’s bunch to win the Little Brown Jug. When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IowaLine: Ohio State -14 Young: Ohio StateThe Buckeyes’ offense will prove too much for Iowa’s otherwise stifling defense. Litman: Ohio StateIowa leads the country in scoring defense — giving up just eight points per game, but it’s not smart to pick against Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith at this point. Cohen: Ohio StateWe’ve seen this game before: A highly ranked Ohio State team against a surging Iowa squad. And the result is almost always a blowout in favor of the Buckeyes. Portnoy: Ohio StateWeird things happen at Kinnick Stadium, but I think the Buckeyes’ offense is too much to overcome here. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from the Hawkeyes and quarterback Hank Brown. I just don’t think Iowa has the firepower to keep up in this one. When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)Where: Memorial Stadium, Columbia, MissouriLine: Florida -5.5 Young: FloridaFlorida has scored at least 40 points in every game it’s played this season, and Buster Faulkner looks like the best offensive coordinator in the country. Litman: FloridaGoing with the Gators, who are a hot, unbeaten, top-10 team under coach Jon Sumrall. Not to mention, they have a scary backfield tandem of Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark, who combined to rush for 268 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s emphatic win over Ole Miss. Cohen: FloridaJon Sumrall is an early contender for Coach of the Year given what he’s done with the Gators thus far. They’re a high-scoring machine right now, and that’s enough to stave off Mizzou. Portnoy: FloridaJon Sumrall is absolutely steamrolling his way through SEC play so far this year. The Gators are about as fun to watch offensively as any, and I don’t think Missouri’s defense has the tools to slow down one of the nation’s best rushing attacks. When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)Where: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TennesseeLine: Tennessee -7 Young: TennesseeI think the Vols bounce back from being bloodied by Texas at Neyland Stadium. Litman: AuburnThe Tigers take advantage of a hobbled Tennessee team and get the program’s first win at Neyland Stadium since 2013. Cohen: Tennessee It wouldn’t be a shock if the difficult loss to Texas compounded into another defeat for the Volunteers. But at the end of the day, Tennessee has too much talent for a rebuilding Auburn. Portnoy: TennesseeVols quarterback Faizon Brandon looked the part of a freshman signal-caller against Texas, but his upside is still there. I’m skeptical of what I’ve seen from Auburn so far, and I think they’re more Paper Tiger (sorry for the pun) than an actual SEC contender. When: Saturday, 4:15 p.m. ET (SEC Network)Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South CarolinaLine: South Carolina -2.5 Young: KentuckyLike Mississippi State, Kentucky is edging toward one of the best seasons it’s ever had after a brilliant start. Litman: KentuckyThe Wildcats keep riding this momentum they’ve built under first-year head coach Will Stein and break a four-game losing streak vs. the Gamecocks, who are struggling right now. Cohen: KentuckyWill Shane Beamer be the first Power Four coach to get fired this season? With that question hanging over the Gamecocks, this one is ripe for Kentucky to take. Portnoy: South CarolinaThe Gamecocks have been a mess this year and Shane Beamer is squarely on the hot seat. So what better time than now for an upset? Say what you will about Beamer, but his squads have been known to pull off a win or two you didn’t expect. This feels like the time for it. When: Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)Where: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TexasLine: BYU -6.5 Young: BYUThe Horned Frogs will have a tough time stopping the Cougars and their vaunted rushing attack. Litman: BYULed by standout quarterback Bear Bachmeier, the Cougars move to 4-0 and continue to show why they are one of the best teams in the Big 12. Cohen: BYUThe Cougars have the ninth-best rushing attack in the country at nearly 263 yards per game. Good luck to the Horned Frogs in trying to stop it. Portnoy: BYUSpeaking of hot seats, Sonny Dykes would do himself wonders to win a game like this one. Problem is, I don’t think it’s going to happen. BYU looks like the class of the Big 12 early this year, and they should roll in this one. When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)Where: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, South CarolinaLine: Miami -16.5 Young: The Hurricanes look like the program Clemson used to be in the 2010s and Clemson looks unrecognizable next to those teams. Litman: Clemson may be Miami’s first Power Four opponent of the season, but the Hurricanes shouldn’t have any problems — they look like one of the most complete teams in the country right now. Cohen: Far too much talent on a Miami team that has embraced modern roster building in ways Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney couldn’t even imagine. Portnoy: I’ll be in Clemson for this one, but I’m heading to the Upstate more for Darian Mensah than anything the Tigers are putting on the field right now. The Hurricanes look unstoppable offensively and Mensah should be atop just about every Heisman straw poll after this one. When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CaliforniaLine: USC -9.5 Young: USCNo one needs a resounding victory more than Lincoln Riley right now. Litman: USCAfter an emotionally charged loss to Oregon last week, all the headlines surrounding the Trojans are about how coach Lincoln Riley still can’t get it right. Riley’s team will come through for him against Washington, but the defensive performance will still look shaky against Huskies’ quarterback Demond Williams Jr. Cohen: USCMan, this one is tough. Two teams that were dealt crushing defeats last week. Two defiant head coaches. But the Trojans are in a better position to salvage their season — for now. Portnoy: USCThe noise is growing louder around Lincoln Riley, but I do think USC is just a flat out more talented team than Washington right now. Nothing is coming easily to the Huskies offensively at the moment. This feels like a bit of a get-right game for the Trojans after last week’s prime-time loss. When: 10:30 p.m. ETWhere: Mountain America Stadium, Tempe, ArizonaLine: Arizona State -4.5 Young: Arizona StateThe Sun Devils are settled at quarterback while the Bears continue to wait for DJ Lagway to settle in. Litman: BaylorBears’ quarterback DJ Lagway improves off last week’s uneven outing and leads Baylor to a big road win for Dave Aranda’s program. Cohen: Arizona StateKenny Dillingham seems to be working his quarterback magic again with Cutter Boley, the Kentucky transfer. Portnoy: BaylorThe Bears are basically an inch away from being undefeated right now. DJ Lagway has been up and down, but I like what he brings to the Baylor offense. Give me Dave Aranda as he continues to cool his scorching seat.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Before the College Football Playoff, there are conference championship games to be played. Will Georgia go back-to-back in the SEC? Can Oregon march its way back into the Big Ten title game for the first time since 2024? In this week’s edition of “The Joel Klatt Show,” FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt made his October projections for conference championships. Here are Klatt’s projected conference championship matchups and winners for the Power Four. Big Ten Championship Game Klatt’s thoughts: “Here’s how I see it right now. With the injuries that Indiana is having – and now kind of a resurgent Oregon team with all that talent – we hope QB Dante Moore comes back, but they’re plenty serviceable with their backup [Dylan] Raiola. I think Oregon makes the Big Ten Championship. Obviously, they have some tough games ahead, in particular that game in Columbus. But I like Oregon to make it to Indianapolis. I like Ohio State. Their schedule is not going to be easy.  But they’ve got wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, and they’ve got QB Julian Sayin.” Winner: Ohio State SEC Championship Game Klatt’s thoughts: “Georgia and Alabama. I think Georgia is the best team in the SEC. I know Texas is technically the No. 1 team in the country. But if you look at their schedule and the way that they’ve played outside of those 18 minutes against Ohio State, I think that they’re going to be susceptible to getting beat. Because of that, I think Alabama actually passes them, wins the tiebreaker and goes to the SEC Championship game.” Winner: Georgia Big 12 Championship Game Klatt’s thoughts: “This one is going to be an interesting one. Here are two games I want you to pay attention to. I think the participants in the Big 12 championship game are going to be the winners of these games. The winner of BYU vs. Utah game in Salt Lake, and the Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State game in Stillwater. I think it’s tough to win on the road. I’m taking both home teams, and I think it’s Utah vs. Oklahoma State Big 12 championship game in Dallas.” Winner: Utah Klatt’s thoughts: “In the ACC, we know Miami is going to be there, I think we all understand that. With Louisville’s loss a week ago, I got a little more gun-shy. But when you actually look at their schedule and the fact that I don’t see any other team running the table, I certainly believe that Louisville is going to get themselves back into a position to play Miami for the ACC Championship game.” Winner: Miami​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports