up Page 281 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Ranking the 12 NFL head coaches hired straight from the Power 5 college ranks since 2000
Dear NFL GMs and owners, you may want to think twice about hiring a head coach straight outta the college ranks. While there have been success stories — Jimmy Johnson going from the U to Big D being the best example — that really hasn’t been the case in this millennium. Matt Rhule is the latest flop...

The Raiders may have lost on Monday night, but going for two was the correct decision
OK I’ll say it, Josh McDaniels was right when he went for that 2-point conversion late in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs in their Week 5 Monday Night Football matchup....

The NFL doesn’t have to make sense
It was a great showcase for all the NFL can be on Monday in Kansas City. Even if you put aside the defiant and ignorant Chiefs fans doing the chop on Indigenous People’s Day — a truly lovely touch — or Troy Aikman insulting any woman who might be watching the broadcast, it was also an example of how...

Arsenal, Liverpool, and cycles
There’s always an urge, and sometimes a directive from websites and Twitter and whatever else, to attach meaning or statements to any match or result. Sometimes, two teams just play each other and the score is the score and that’s your story. It’s not an overarching comment on systems, managers, or ...

Lions need to fire Dan Campbell — because were he Black, he’d be gone already
It’s been said that the greatest trick that’s ever been pulled off is when the devil convinced people he didn’t exist. That honor should belong to the editors at HBO, because Hard Knocks had y’all fooled....

It’s the Falcons’ fault that they lost, but it’s hard to win when playing against the refs and Bucs
Going into the fourth quarter down 21-0 is not the best strategy....

After beating up the Miami Dolphins 40-17, it’s becoming tougher to dismiss Robert Saleh’s receipt checking
The Jets were keeping receipts. That’s what head coach Robert Saleh said, at least, after New York dropped its season opener, 24-9, to the Baltimore Ravens....

It hasn’t been all smiles and sunshine for the Rams, but it also wasn’t for the last back-to-back champions — the Patriots
Saying the Rams have had a rough start to the season would be an understatement. Although they are 2-2, the offense has struggled and has become one-dimensional. It’s Cooper Kupp or bust and let the defense bail ‘em out if they can. Now the Dallas Cowboys are visiting in Week 5, bringing one of the ...

Brady knows best: NFL chock full of bad football
Tom Brady is right....

Alabama’s gridiron clash with Texas A&M becomes a dud
It was dubbed the most anticipated college football game of the season. The narrative of a College Football Playoff-ready Texas A&M invading Tuscaloosa to truly see how strong its armor was against the impenetrable fortress of Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama held up its end of the bargain. The Crimson...

NFL Week 5: Saquon Barkley can't defeat Green Bay alone
It’s normal for fans to get overly excited when their team starts the season off strong. The New York Giants are 3-1 and playing their Week 5 game in London. Despite their 3-1 record, the Giants are one of the worst offensive teams in the NFL. Their rushing attack is top-tier, but they’re second-to-...

There’s a reason Mike Leach’s quarterbacks have never cost him his job
The next time a pundit says “Missing on such-and-such QB cost coach X his job” will be my next visit to the psych ward. You know why Spencer Rattler didn’t cost Lincoln Riley his job, and Paul Chryst couldn’t survive Graham Mertz? One looks at a chalkboard as a place to draw plays, and the other see...

Serious question: Was this the worst primetime football game ever?
The J-Lo and Josh Duhamel movie trailer that came on after this game ended was better than the game itself. I don’t even remember the title, but the sheer jubilation I received after I no longer had to watch that football game made that trailer all the more enjoyable. HOLY SMOKES! Both teams were al...

Jim Harbaugh and Jimbo Fisher are kindred spirits
Jim Harbaugh and Jimbo Fisher are two identical strangers on similar paths. Both were top-notch quarterback gurus who haven’t been able to find a consistent spark behind center. This season, Texas A&M is on its second quarterback while Harbaugh has been deploying a platoon system featuring J.J. McCa...

USWNT-England exhibition set as specter of NWSL abuse scandal looms
There’s no doubt about it. Friday’s far-from-friendly, friendly between the United States women’s national soccer team and the Lionesses from England is the biggest glorified exhibition in American soccer history, regardless of gender. It’s the first women’s soccer match — non-World Cup edition — to...

Thursday Night Football: The Colts and Broncos clash in a battle of underachieving teams
Week 5 of the NFL season is upon us, and the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos get us started on Thursday Night Football. Entering the season, these teams were seen as prime contenders in the AFC, especially in their respective divisions. So far, it hasn’t been that good for either squad, which ...

The 10 most proficient cheaters in the history of sports
There are many forms of cheaters in sports, and often the dumbest of them get the press because they’re as close to dumb criminals as one gets — and everybody loves a dumb criminal. The 2000 Spanish Paralympic basketball team that won gold despite only two of the 12 players actually having a mental ...

Bobby Wagner joined an elite group on Monday: The ‘athletes who have pounced on fans for invading the field’ club
Several memorable plays were made during the San Francisco 49ers’ 24-9 victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday. There was Deebo Samuel’s back shoulder catch that he turned into a 50-plus yard touchdown, as well as Jeff Wilson Jr.’s touchdown run that first gave the 49ers the lead....

Packers' QB Aaron Rodgers finally deigns to show confidence in young WRs
Sports fans can easily become spoiled when teams and players exhibit certain levels of excellence over an extended period. The Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers are excellent examples of this, and the level of expectations he’s set over the years. Rodgers is a four-time league MVP and ...
