smith Page 22 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

It's not just football fans who are tired of bad officiating
Poor officiating during a Week 18 game between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks has NFL referees under scrutiny....

NFL Playoffs: The 2 NFC teams on upset alert are overshadowing the 1 that’s not
There’s been a ton of chatter this week about who’s on upset alert, and most of that talk has surrounded two NFC teams prone to losing in the most extravagant ways possible when it comes to the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings are 2.5- and 3-point favorites, respectively, in ma...

Here are the 11 best possible Super Bowl LVII matchups
The NFL postseason is upon us, and as usual, anything can happen when it’s, win or go home. This year’s AFC field feels like a three-team race, while the NFC looks pretty open. Some teams don’t have a great shot, but it’s always fun to play matchmaker and look at the most exciting potential Super Bo...

Black coaches should boycott the Houston Texans so they can’t fill their Rooney Rule quota
When the Houston Texans fired Lovie Smith on Monday after only a year on the job, the sorriest franchise in the NFL was following the same script from last year when they fired David Culley after one season. The last three men to have the title of “coach” within that organization have all been Black...

'Stephen A. Shaq' debuted on the NBA on TNT
Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant NBA players to step on the hardwood. A four-time champion, three-time Finals MVP, and regular season MVP, Shaq is in many people’s top 10 all-time. The big Shaqtus is also known for being a total goofball. O’Neal was in quite the joking mood Tuesday night...

Larry Johnson should be jettisoned into the abyss for Damar Hamlin take
It’s difficult to out-blowhard Skip Bayless. The internet troll come to life had a searing Damar Hamlin take the night of the young Buffalo Bills’ cardiac arrest, but as is the case in the online age, it didn’t take long for someone to hand Bayless their beer to hold. Enter Larry Johnson, the former...

Baltimore Ravens disrespect Lamar Jackson with Roquan Smith deal
Whatever happens with Lamar Jackson’s contract, don’t blame it on him not having an agent, especially after Roquan Smith’s new deal....

Yes, the Chicago Bears should upgrade… the coaching staff
The Chicago Bears have an opportunity to make the king of all shrewd football decisions this offseason, and I’m not talking about replacing Justin Fields. No, no, no. What I’m offering is much more… drastic. Chicago is as well positioned as any rebuilding team, and there’s one coach who’s basically ...

Week 18 NFL Powerless Ranking: The bottom of the barrel
The 2022 NFL season has ended, and it was a wild one full of triumphs and disappointment. Now, let’s look at the final powerless ranking of this NFL season....

Black Monday: Kliff Kingsbury, Lovie Smith out
Two franchises in complete disarray, the Arizona Cardinals and the Houston Texans fired their head coaches on Monday. The two coaches, Kliff Kingsbury and Lovie Smith, step down at completely different stages of their careers. ...

What the internet is mad about today: Davis Mills, Lovie Smith changed the trajectory of the offseason
Nobody could have seen Davis Mills’ throw for the ages coming. But we should have known the Texans would put up a fight in their regular season finale. Lovie Smith’s team tickled all the right keys in the final weeks of the regular season. In Week 14, Houston nearly upset the Dallas Cowboys. In Week...

Mike Tomlin is a certified Hall of Famer deserving of a statue in Pittsburgh
When the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 28-14 at home on Sunday, it capped a season in which they won their last four games despite starting 2-6. And while Pittsburgh just missed out on making the postseason for what would have been the 11th time in Tomlin’s 16 seasons on the side...

NFL Week 18 Takeaways: The Chiefs, Bills, Eagles, and 49ers looked good, but they're all still flawed
The NFL regular season is over. No need for RedZone, or multiple televisions set up in the den to properly enjoy football. There is a single matchup remaining on the college football calendar, and the NFL will play out one game at a time over the next five weeks — along with a flag football and a sk...

Patrick Mahomes’ MVP season defied logic, now he has to elude history
Patrick Mahomes capped off what was likely his second MVP campaign with a humiliation of the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday. And yet, few expected him to be in this position four months ago. The AFC West was getting too crowded to be a monopoly, Justin Herbert was the NFL’s most gifted pocket passer,...
![Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 2 [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/e08bdbb97c11892cea1c15abaa73e766.jpg)
Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 2 [Updated]
We’ve already brought you the first 13 figures on this list. Check out the rest below....
![Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 1 [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/6cf68cc114d6fc425405878c9d90ecc7.jpg)
Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 1 [Updated]
One year ago, who would have thought that Julián Álvarez would be the breakout star of the World Cup instead of Gio Reyna, or that TCU backup Max Duggan would lead the Horned Frogs to a national championship game on the 1-yard line of 2022’s closing? Trying to predict which figures will rise to the ...

God forbid ESPN shows highlights of, y’know, sports
On Tuesday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 55 points. He was 20-of-33 from the field, 15-16 from the stripe, and threw in 10 rebounds and seven assists for good measure. It was the kind of performance that people want to see, and will search out on social media, SportsCenter, or an...

Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Clark stepped up when the sports world needed them most
Scott Van Pelt knows how to advertise himself after developing a loyal fan base after more than two decades on ESPN’s airwaves. The Marylander’s Twitter bio says it best, he anchors the network’s flagship show, SportsCenter, starting at midnight on the East Coast. Or after the game you’re watching e...

Shannon Sharpe seems to finally be fed up with Skip Bayless — he isn’t innocent in this, though
Shannon Sharpe returned to FS1’s Undisputed on Wednesday morning after missing Tuesday’s show due to the way he was affected by what happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football — and Skip Bayless’ insensitive tweet about it....

Don’t forget about the Bengals' Tee Higgins through all of this
Last night, we witnessed one of the scariest moments in NFL history. The image of Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin getting up from a hit just to fall down unconscious moments later will be ingrained in my mind for a very long time. As players, coaches, and medical staff from both teams circled aro...