Category: Sports

The Colts became mistake-prone. The Packers wasted opportunities. The Lions got pushed around. The Chiefs fell out of a playoff spot.

Both conference leaders looked ordinary Sunday and other top teams had rough games.

The NFL looks more wide open every week.

Even some winning teams struggled along the way to victory.

The Chargers let the lowly Titans hang around in a one-score game. The Jaguars needed to stop a 2-point conversion to secure an overtime victory over the Raiders. The Broncos had to rally to beat the Texans, who lost C.J. Stroud to a concussion in the first half. The Patriots held off the Falcons because of a missed extra point. The Bears blew a 14-point lead in the final two minutes against the Bengals but came back thanks to a woeful defense.

Week 9 demonstrated again why there are no dominant teams in the NFL this season. The better teams have shown flaws. The bad teams are awful. There’s plenty of parity overall.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills had the best week, beating Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City 28-21. Buffalo’s defense held Mahomes to a career-worst 44.1% completion rate. Allen continued his mastery of the Chiefs in the regular season with his fifth straight win against them. But the Bills have lost to Kansas City in the playoffs four times in five years. Both teams may have to go the wild-card route to meet again in January.

The Bills (6-2) trail surprising New England (7-2) in the AFC East, already lost to the Patriots and have difficult games in the second half.

The Chiefs (5-4) are third in the AFC West and also have a tough schedule coming up.

The key to success for Indianapolis (7-2) this season has been ball security. The Colts had four turnovers in the first eight games before six giveaways in a 27-20 loss at Pittsburgh. Daniel Jones threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles, exposing some flaws for the first time this season.

The Steelers (5-3) snapped a two-game losing streak and extended their lead over Baltimore in the AFC North to two games.

Green Bay (5-2-1) may have been looking ahead to a playoff rematch against the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (6-2) next Monday night because the offense didn’t show up to face Carolina, a 13-point underdog.

After dicing up Pittsburgh’s secondary last week, Jordan Love only led the Packers into the end zone once in a 16-13 loss at Lambeau Field. Green Bay’s first three trips inside the red zone resulted in one field goal.

Outside of a convincing win against Detroit in Week 1 and last week in Pittsburgh, the Packers haven’t been impressive. They lost to the Browns in Week 3, tied Dallas and needed to rally to beat Arizona.

The Lions (5-3) were 8 1/2-point favorites at home against Minnesota but the Vikings dominated the line of scrimmage in a 27-24 victory. Detroit has already lost more games than all of last season.

In Tennessee, the Chargers (6-3) kept the Titans (1-8) in the game. They trailed 14-7 after one quarter, led 20-17 from halftime into the fourth and finished with a 27-20 win. It was a costly game for Los Angeles because left tackle Joe Alt was carted off the field with an ankle injury. The Chargers already lost two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater for the season due to a knee injury. They need to protect Justin Herbert to have a shot at making a deep playoff run.

AFC West-leading Denver (7-2) needed another fourth-quarter comeback to beat Houston 18-15. Facing the league’s stingiest defense, Bo Nix tossed a touchdown pass and connected for a 2-point conversion to tie it before leading the winning drive that ended with Wil Lutz hitting a 34-yard field goal as time expired.

The Broncos have won six straight games, coming back from a fourth-quarter deficit in four of those. It’s hard to sustain long-term success winning that way.

The Patriots also extended their winning streak to six games. They had a 10-point lead against Atlanta in the fourth quarter and came away with a 24-23 victory after John Parker Romo missed an extra point with 4:40 left in the game.

New England has a real chance to end Buffalo’s run of dominance in the division. Only two of the Patriots’ final eight games are against teams that currently have a winning record, including this week at Tampa Bay (6-2).

Six of the NFL’s eight divisions are jumbled with no lead more than 1 1/2 games. Seventeen teams have winning records.

There’s a lot of competition just like the NFL wants it.

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As LSU interim athletic director Verge Ausberry sat between two members of the LSU Board of Supervisors who’d been appointed by Gov. Jeff Landry, he sought to assure Tigers fans that the abrupt departure of previous athletic director Scott Woodward was not a sign of dysfunction.

“We have championship coaches here. This place is not broken,” Ausberry said Friday in a meeting room inside 102,000-seat Tiger Stadium. “The athletic department is not broken. We win.”

A night earlier, one of those championship coaches, women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, declined to attend a press conference after an exhibition game because she was “heartbroken” over Woodward’s departure, said assistant coach Bob Starkey, who spoke in her place.

Woodward stepped down on Thursday night, four days after football coach Brian Kelly had been fired, one day after Landry asserted that Woodward would not select Kelly’s successor, and four years before Woodward’s contract as athletic director — worth close to $2 million annually — was due to expire.

“What an exciting day here today at LSU,” John Carmouche, who chairs the board’s athletics committee, said Friday morning as he formally introduced Ausberry as interim AD. “It is important to me and many others that LSU and our state restore balance so we can reclaim the future we built in athletics as an institution and as a state.”

Board chairman Scott Ballard portrayed Woodward’s departure not so much as performance-based, but rather as “a mutual agreement after conversations” between Woodward and the LSU board.

“Nothing’s off the table of why Scott and LSU had a mutual agreement that after those conversations that they mutually agreed that it was a good idea,” Ballard said. “Scott is a great human being. Scott was a good, Baton Rouge, LSU Tiger. It had nothing to do with any of that. … They mutually agreed that it was time. It wasn’t an LSU thing. It wasn’t a Scott thing.”

Woodward, who grew up in Baton Rouge and attended LSU, returned to his alma mater as athletic director in April 2019 after serving in the same post at Texas A&M, and before that, at Washington. The NCAA national championships LSU won during Woodward’s tenure included baseball (twice), football, women’s basketball, men’s outdoor track and field, and gymnastics.

The board members said a financial settlement with Woodward had yet to be worked out, but that not public money would be used to pay it.

“It does not come from state dollars that are allocated towards other things like education,” Ballard said. “It’ll come from self-generated athletic funds and or private donations.” Carmouche said Ausberry “is the ideal person to lead this department through this change, and I want to be very clear he has full authority to do so. That includes leading the search for our next head coach and hiring our next head coach.”

Ausberry said the search committee for the next football coach would be comprised of himself, Carmouche, Ballard, former player and booster Ben Bordelon, EJ Kuiper (the CEO of a Baton Rouge-based, regional health system) and a person yet to be named.

“My phone is still ringing,” Ausberry said. “A lot of people kind of still want to come to LSU. … It is the best job in the country at this time.”

“We are not going to let this (football) program fail,” Ausberry said. “LSU has to be in the (College Football Playoff) every year in football. … This big building here has to be successful if we’re going to be successful as an athletic department. It’s the measuring stick that we have here.”

Kelly was fired Sunday, a day after LSU lost 49-25 to Texas A&M for the Tigers’ third loss in four games. The coach was in the fourth year of a 10-year, $100 million contract, the buyout for which at this time is about $53 million.

On Wednesday, Landry said the next contract for a football coach should feature more performance-based incentives and fewer long-term guarantees, which can lead to large buyouts if a coach is fired.

But Ausberry said the board’s instructions to him are to “get the best football coach there is and don’t worry about that at all.”

Ausberry, a former LSU football player who has worked in LSU athletics administration since 1991, says he walked on the field during the third quarter of that game, looked around Tiger Stadium and was struck by the sight of empty seats and empty suites.

Former Ohio State coach “Woody Hayes always said the worst word in the dictionary is apathy,” Ausberry said. “This program cannot have apathy.”

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LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward resigned on Thursday night, four days after the firing of football coach Brian Kelly and a day after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said Woodward would not hire Kelly’s replacement.

Woodward, a Baton Rouge native and LSU graduate, was hired as athletic director at his alma mater in April 2019. Since then, LSU has won national championships in football, baseball (twice), women’s basketball and gymnastics.

“We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Scott Ballard said. “He had a lot of success at LSU.

“Our focus now is on moving the athletic department forward and best positioning LSU to achieve its full potential.”

Verge Ausberry, LSU’s executive deputy athletic director, will replace Woodward on an interim basis and lead the search for a football coach, the university announced.

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ESPN and Athletes Unlimited announced a three-year rights extension Wednesday that makes ESPN the official broadcast partner for the women’s professional sports company’s softball, basketball and volleyball leagues.

ESPN platforms will broadcast more than 50 exclusive Athletes Unlimited Softball League games each year during the deal. ABC will broadcast at least one AUSL championship series game in 2026. It will be the first time women’s pro softball will be shown on network television in the United States.

ESPN also will show all 24 games of Athletes Unlimited’s basketball and volleyball leagues on ESPNU and ESPN+.

Rosalyn Durant, ESPN’s executive vice president for programming and acquisitions, said increased interest in women’s sports led to the deal.

“The growth we’ve seen across Athletes Unlimited’s leagues speaks to the power and appeal of women’s sports,” Durant said in a statement. “We’re excited to deepen our partnership and bring even more of these moments and athletes to fans everywhere.”

The investment in pro softball follows record numbers for the college game. The 2025 Women’s College World Series finals between Texas and Texas Tech averaged 2.2 million viewers across ESPN’s networks — the most-watched finals of all time. It averaged 1.3 million viewers across 15 World Series games, also the most watched.

“This renewed and expanded partnership affirms the strength of our properties and reflects the growing enthusiasm for women’s professional sports,” Cheri Kempf, chief broadcast officer for Athletes Unlimited, said in a statement. “We are excited to continue collaborating with ESPN’s outstanding team to elevate the AUSL, AU Pro Basketball and the AU Pro Volleyball Championship even further and deliver exceptional experiences for fans and brands alike.”

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Quarterback Drew Brees and receiver Larry Fitzgerald advanced to the next stage of consideration for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class in their first year of eligibility.

Six other players in their first year of eligibility advanced from the original list of 128 modern-era nominees for this year’s class to the 52 that will be considered by the full selection committee.

The other players in their first year of eligibility who advanced in voting by a screening committee are quarterback Philip Rivers; tight ends Greg Olsen and Jason Witten; running backs Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy; and offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey.

The full 50-member selection committee will reduce the list to 25 and then 15 finalists, who will be voted on before the Super Bowl in February.

Four players have already guaranteed themselves spots in the final 15 after making it down to the final seven players in the 2025 class, with Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri taking those spots.

The other returning finalists are Eli Manning, Fred Taylor, Steve Smith Sr., Reggie Wayne, Jahri Evans, Marshall Yanda, Terrell Suggs and Darren Woodson.

In addition to the 15 modern-era finalists, the selection committee will consider three seniors, one coach and one contributor for the class of 2026. Between four and eight new members will be elected in the second year of this current format.

Only four people got in last year for the smallest class in 20 years.

Brees and Fitzgerald are the top new candidates this year.

Brees is second all time to Tom Brady with 80,358 yards passing and 571 touchdown passes. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the San Diego Chargers before signing as a free agent with the Saints in 2006, where his career took off as he helped lift a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

Brees delivered to New Orleans its first Super Bowl title following the 2009 season, when he won MVP of the game after beating Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Brees made the Pro Bowl 13 times in his career, won AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011, was an All-Pro in 2006 and was a second-team All-Pro four times.

Fitzgerald spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals after being drafted third overall in 2004. His 1,432 catches and 17.492 yards receiving in 17 seasons rank second all time to Jerry Rice.

Fitzgerald topped 1,000 yards receiving nine times — tied for the fourth most ever — and helped the Cardinals reach their only Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Fitzgerald set single-season records that postseason with 546 yards receiving and seven TD catches, including a go-ahead 64-yard score with 2:37 to play in the Super Bowl before Pittsburgh rallied for a 27-23 win over Arizona.

Kuechly’s career was brief but impactful. The first-round pick by Carolina in 2012 was an All-Pro five times, with seven Pro Bowl nods and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

Over his eight-year career, Kuechly led all linebackers in the NFL in tackles (1,090), takeaways (26), interceptions (18) and passes defensed (66).

Vinatieri was one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, making the game-winning field goals in the first two Super Bowl victories during New England’s dynasty.

He helped launch the run with one of the game’s greatest kicks — a 45-yarder in the snow to force overtime in the “Tuck Rule” game against the Raiders in the 2001 divisional round. He made the game-winning kick in OT to win that game and then hit a 48-yarder on the final play of a 20-17 win in the Super Bowl against the Rams.

Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points (2,673) and made field goals (599) over a 24-year career with New England and Indianapolis. He also leads all players with 56 field goals and 238 points in the postseason.

Holt was a key part of the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf,” helping the team win the Super Bowl in his rookie season in 1999 and getting back there two years later. Holt led the NFL in yards receiving in 2000 and in catches and yards in 2003 when he made his only All-Pro team.

Holt finished his career with 920 catches for 13,382 yards and 74 TDs.

Anderson was considered one of the top right tackles in his era after being a first-round pick by Cincinnati in 1996. He spent nearly his entire career with the Bengals and made three straight All-Pro teams from 2004-06.

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DALLAS (AP) — Ryan Niblett returned a punt 75 yards for a decisive touchdown in the fourth quarter and Texas got a much-needed 23-6 win over sixth-ranked Oklahoma in the annual Red River Rivalry game on Saturday.

Arch Manning completed 21 of 27 passes for 166 yards and the go-ahead 12-yard TD to DeAndre Moore Jr. on the opening drive of the second half for the Longhorns (4-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), who were coming off a loss at Florida that knocked the preseason No. 1 team out of the AP Top 25.

“We learned how to fight today,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We saw the true character of the men in that locker room.”

Texas retained the Golden Hat trophy and should get back into the next poll on Sunday. More importantly, the Longhorns avoided a loss that likely would have ended any realistic chance of getting into the College Football Playoff for the third year in a row.

John Mateer was 20-of-38 passing with three interceptions in his return to the lineup for Oklahoma (5-1, 1-1) only 17 days after surgery on his throwing (right) hand. He said his hand was fine.

“I just didn’t play good enough,” Mateer said.

Niblett worked up the sideline in front of the Texas bench, and after making a cut inside near midfield bounced off teammate Marshall Landwehr and continued his sprint to the end zone for a 20-6 lead with 9:59 left.

“I feel like he really helped me,” Niblett said. “Because I feel like if I would have went inside, I probably would have gotten tackled. So just him being able to hit me back outside, just display my speed, just felt great.”

When the Sooners gained 38 yards on three plays to the Texas 27 on the ensuing drive, Mateer had an incompletion before being sacked on consecutive plays and then had another incompletion on fourth-and-22. They finished with only 258 total yards.

“Today was a bad day but we still have a good football team,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said. “Couldn’t get any rhythm in the second half. They flipped the script. … This one hurts for all the reasons we had opportunities.”

Getting their kicks

Mason Shipley kicked field goals of 22, 48 and 39 yards for the Longhorns. He had two long misses, the first a 55-yard attempt that ricocheted off the right upright, and was later short on a 56-yard attempt.

Tate Sandell kicked a 42-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive for the Sooners. He made it 6-0 with a 41-yarder in the second quarter, but they didn’t score again.

Big picks

Malik Muhammad had two of the interceptions for the Longhorns, including one in the end zone at the end of the first half that Sarkisian called “a momentum-changing play” since it kept Oklahoma from having another chance to score and knowing Texas had the ball first after the break.

The takeaway

Oklahoma: The Sooners have now lost back-to-back games against their biggest rival for the first time since 2008 and 2009. Before a 34-3 loss last year in the game at the State Fair of Texas, they had won five of six against Texas, including the 2018 Big 12 championship game.

Texas: Quintrevion Wisner was a workhorse for the Longhorns, running 22 times for 94 yards and catching five passes for 34 yards. Texas gained only 20 yards on 14 plays its first three possessions of the game, but opened the second half with scoring drives of 75 and 65 yards. Those included seven consecutive third-down conversions, one from their own 8 when Manning was scrambling sideways on the goal line before throwing a 21-yard pass to Parker Livingstone along the sideline.

Up next

Oklahoma plays next Saturday at South Carolina, which won 35-9 in Norman last season in their first meeting.

Texas plays at Kentucky for the first time next Saturday. The only two previous meetings were wins by the Longhorns at home.

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The NFL has initiated a review of the concussion protocol used in the evaluation of New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart in the second half of the team’s game against Philadelphia.

The league announced Friday the review will be conducted jointly with the NFL Players Association.

Cameras caught coach Brian Daboll poking his head into the blue injury tent on the sideline when Dart was being checked for a concussion on Thursday night. Dart grabbed his head after taking a hit while being sacked by Patrick Johnson and falling into another Eagles linebacker, Azeez Ojulari, late in the third quarter.

Daboll was impatient about the time it was taking to clear Dart, saying he just wanted him out there “if he was OK.” Former starter Russell Wilson, who was benched four games into the season, entered the game and threw incomplete on his only pass attempt.

“I apologized directly to our team physician,” Daboll said, acknowledging he was in the wrong. “We were getting ready to go for it on a potential fourth down. I would have burned a timeout if he could have come out there. I was asking how long was it going to take. You want your guy out there, not at risk of anything else.”

Daboll on a video call with reporters Friday again tried to explain he was wondering how long it would take and said the Giants would “abide by all those rules” for concussion evaluation. He pointed out owner John Mara is on the NFL’s Competition Committee and that health and safety is important to the organization from the top down.

“I just stuck my head in to see how our quarterback was doing,” Daboll said. “In no way would I want a player to come back out there that wasn’t ready to play. I have great respect for that process.”

Mara said he spoke to Daboll about approaching the medical tent and added the Giants will cooperate fully with the league’s review.

“While I firmly believe, as he has stated, that he was not trying to influence the process in any way, he understands the appearance of going to the tent is inappropriate,” Mara said in a statement. “We have protocols in place to ensure player safety, and we need to allow our medical staff to execute those protocols without interference.”

The league’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, told reporters attending a pregame tour of MetLife Stadium medical facilities that there were specific rules about who could be in the tent during a concussion evaluation — namely, the player, a team physician, an independent specialist and potentially a team athletic trainer.

“Never more than those people,” Sills said. “Never any coaches in here, never any other players in here, never anybody else in here.”

Giants rookie Cam Skattebo also poked his head into the tent, joking he was “making sure that Jaxson wasn’t hurting anybody in the injury tent.”

“I knew going over there I needed to calm down a little bit because I knew he was going to be on fire,” Skattebo said. “When I was in there, he was a little fired up, but we know we have to go through protocol and do all that stuff to make sure we can get back on the field. I went in there and kind of, ‘We’re good, man, we’ve got you,’ and that’s it.”

It’s at least the third time, counting preseason, that Dart has missed some amount of time during a game because of a concussion evaluation and he said he’s tired of the interruptions.

“It felt so long,” Dart said. “A few guys popped in. I was just trying to get back there on the field. I understand they have protocol and whatnot. I was just trying to get out there fast.”

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