smith Page 25 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

If you need something to complain about, complain about MLB relievers
Having no love for the Dodgers (I was threatened with far too many stabbings in the Dodger Stadium upper deck at an impressionable age to get over it), I certainly am gleaning at least a modicum of joy over their fans’ wailing about seeing a 111-win team eat it at the first hurdle in the postseason....

10 NBA preseason takeaways that provide insight into the regular season
The NBA will give everyone their first real look at the league’s rapidly transforming landscape and its latest rookie class when the regular season tips off on Tuesday, but the preseason is a window into what to expect from certain teams. Wins and losses are mostly meaningless, so don’t read into th...

Justin Fields and a tale of two halves
The first half of last night’s primetime game between the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears was horrendously boring. The snooze fest that was Thursday Night Football Week 5 crept over into the first half of Week 6. Three points, seven punts, and ugly play from Bears quarterback Justin Fields....

Is this why Daniel Snyder hasn’t been drop-kicked out of the NFL?
It’s still blackmail if it’s done in plain sight. Daniel Snyder’s alleged antics to uncover disparaging information about other league owners — and possibly NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell himself — were detailed in Thursday morning’s near-8,000-word ESPN expose written by Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wic...

NFL history tells us that the Carolina Panthers won’t hire coach Steve Wilks permanently
Sometimes a promotion is just an extended two-week notice....

The USWNT better hope their frontline is good enough
Having worrying autumn friendlies is apparently contagious in the US National team program....

Ron Rivera throws Carson Wentz under the bus as Washington’s pathetic sideshow rolls on
Last month, the Washington Commanders assumed their designated position on the NFL’s porcelain throne, and are henceforth known as the Washington Commodes (they are playing like ass). The stench has intensified since then. Losing to the Detroit Lions in Week 2 set off an avalanche. Now trapped under...

NFL Week 5: MVP and LVP
Who had the better four-touchdown outburst, Travis Kelce or Taysom Hill? Kelce and Hill showed that efficient production trumps volume in wins. In the red zone, Kelce has a knack for getting open, and despite only gaining 25 yards on seven receptions, he maneuvered himself open for Mahomes on nearly...

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should be upset with Kyrie Irving — but where was this energy for Jim Brown?
Kyrie Irving’s antics are infuriating. But, so were Jim Brown’s. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar seems only to be irritated by one of them. And that’s the problem....

These 10 modern-day players’ primes were squandered by inept teams
Mike Trout is the tree that falls in the forest every September. He might as well exist in the cold, vacuum of space. If there’s any evidence that sports are raw and unscripted, it’s Trout’s annual storyline. His slow fade from public consciousness as the playoffs creep closer is in stark contrast t...

Week 4 NFL Most and Least Valuable Players: Baker Mayfield watched Patrick Mahomes’ transcendent talent from the NFL cellar
Justin Jefferson’s 10 catches for 147 yards in London buoyed the Vikings’ win over New Orleans, Saquon Barkley once again took on multiple duties in the Giants’ zero-quarterback offense and Seattle’s Geno Smith earned the weekend’s highest pass-rating, but in Kansas City’s resounding win, Patrick Ma...

Are you actually going to have to put up with Red Wings fans this year?
Well yes, because they never shut up, no matter the team’s fortunes on the ice. They’re always around, screaming about the “Yzer-plan!,” and assuring you that the Red Wings dynasty will continue because in their minds whatever comes in 2025 is still connected to what happened in 2002. This is the wa...

Geno Smith is making the most of this opportunity by playing historically well
You remember Geno Smith, don’t you? The former New York Jets starting quarterback whose career was derailed in 2015 after getting sucker punched by a defensive player who hasn’t played in the NFL since that season. The guy who replaced Eli Manning for one week in 2017. The quarterback of the last-of...

NFL Week 4: Are backup QBs better than we give them credit for?
America loves an underdog story, but the betting public hates backup quarterbacks. Despite the Cowboys going 2-0 with Cooper Rush filling in for Dak Prescott, Dallas is seeing only 16.7 percent of bets placed on them to take down their division rivals, the Washington Commanders on Sunday....

Tua Tagovailoa shouldn’t suit up for the rest of the NFL season says concussion expert Chris Nowinski
After Tua Tagovailoa displayed concussion-like symptoms for a second time in a five-day span, with one confirmed concussion on Thursday after the Dolphin quarterback’s head bounced off the Cincinnati turf following a vicious second-quarter sack, Chris Nowinski, the co-founder, and CEO of the Concuss...

What has happened to Malika Andrews is proof that media and other organizations need to be more careful
Across political, cultural, and geographic lines, most people will agree that changes to this thing, which in English we call humanity, are necessary, and also likely to never happen. Our natural instinct is to judge quickly, taking into account none of our biases and prejudices, and link up with pe...

Top 5 potential landing spots for Saquon Barkley
New York Giants halfback Saquon Barkley is in the final year of his rookie contract. In that time, he’s won a Rookie of the Year Award, had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and...scored just four times in the last two-plus years due to injuries....

Things keep looking up for the New York Giants, and now their top draft pick is debuting on Monday Night Football
The New York Giants are going to look different than they have all season when they go up against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. For the first time this season, they will take the field with their top draft choice. Kayvon Thibodeaux has been cleared for action....

NFL’s Week 3 MVP and LVP: Lamar Jackson vs. Jalen Hurts and Jimmy G vs. Justin Fields
The Washington Commanders sit atop the NFL’s porcelain throne but they are also kingmakers themselves — for other offenses. Jack del Rio’s January 6 defense fared better in front of Washington fans than his 2022 defensive unit has. Jalen Hurts and Devonta Smith both feasted on the Commanders’ carcas...