Category: Sport

Chris Gotterup opened 2026 with a win.

Gotterup overtook Davis Riley and ran away with the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday, claiming the first tournament of the new PGA Tour season. Gotterup posted a 6-under 64 in the final round at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, which got him to 16-under on the week. That gave him a two-shot win over the field, and secured a $1.638 million payday.

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Riley entered Sunday with the lead, and he made two birdies in his first five holes of the day to keep that going. But he fell apart just before making the turn. Riley went 4-over in a three-hole stretch, which included a rough double bogey after he landed in a drainage ditch with his drive on the par-4 eighth. That opened the door for Gotterup, who posted a 3-under 32 on his front nine and broke open a three-shot lead on the back nine despite starting the day two shots behind Riley.

Gotterup then stuck his tee shot pin-high and sank a nearly 12-footer at the par-3 17th to push his lead back to three shots, good enough to eventually secure his win.

Ryan Gerard, who birdied the final hole himself, finished alone in second at 14-under for the week. Patrick Rodgers finished in third at 13-under.

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Gotterup has now won three times in his career on Tour, once in each of the past three seasons. He had four top-10 finishes on Tour last season, and entered this week at No. 28 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

The Tour started with the Sony Open this season after The Sentry, which normally kicks off each campaign, was canceled due to a recent drought on Maui. With the Hawaii leg of the season cut in half, the Tour will now head to Southern California for The American Express next weekend.

Here’s a look at how much Gotterup and the rest of the field earned this week in Hawaii.

2026 Sony Open in Hawaii payouts

1. Chris Gotterup — $1.638 million
2. Ryan Gerard — $991,900
3. Patrick Rodgers — $627,900
T4. Rob MacIntyre, Jacob Bridgeman — $409,500
T6. Daniel Berger, Taylor Pendrith, Lee Hodges, Davis Riley, Harry Hall — $287,105
T11. Jake Knapp, Si Woo Kim — $220,675
T13. Pierceson Coody, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Hideki Matsuyama, S.H. Kim, Nick Taylor, Kevin Roy — $163,042
T19. Dan Brown, Ben Griffin, Chandler Phillips, Russell Henley, John Parry — $111,839
T24. Maverick McNealy, Patton Kizzire, Kensei Hirata, Bud Cauley, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Jordan Spieth, Corey Conners — $72,475
T31. Seamus Power, Michael Kim, Brice Garnett, Ren Yonezawa, Sahith Theegala, Takumi Kenaya, Dylan Wu, Sam Stevens, Ricky Castillo — $49,898
T40. J.J. Spaun, Denny McCarthy, Tom Hoge, Mac Meissner, Vince Whaley, Kurt Kitayama, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Alex Smalley, Adam Svensson — $31,522
T50. Aaron Rai, Emilio Gonzalez, David Ford, Zac Blair, Rico Hoey — $22,404
T55. Matthieu Pavon, Zecheng Dou, Webb Simpson, Doug Ghim, Haotong Li, Matt McCarty — $20,930
T61. Zach Johnson, Nick Dunlap, Brian Harman, Tom Kim, Johnny Keefer — $19,929
T66. Keith Mitchell, Jordan Smith, Joe Highsmith, Mark Hubbard — $19,110
70. Zach Bauchou — $18,655
T71. Chad Ramey, William Mouw — $18,382
73. Kota Kaneko — $18,109
74. Billy Horschel — $17,927

The NFL offseason has begun, and Yahoo Sports is previewing the coming months for all 32 teams, from free agency through the draft and more.

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

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2025 season record: 11-6 (o 8.5 wins), first in NFC North, lost to Rams in the divisional round, 16th in DVOA

Overview

This was everything the Bears could have hoped for when they hired Ben Johnson to be their head coach. The offense looked like a unit that could be among the best in the league, even with some ups and downs along the way. Caleb Williams finished 15th in EPA per play but often looked like the star quarterback he was expected to be as the first overall draft pick. Williams was incredible at avoiding sacks and learned how to turn that ability into big extended plays. On top of that, Johnson constructed a run game that finished the regular season second in success rate.

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[Get more Bears news: Chicago team feed]

Some underlying metrics would suggest the Bears might have overperformed their play during the season. They were just about average in DVOA and relied heavily on turnovers, especially in close games. But the foundation is more than established for what this team could become as the relationship between coach and quarterback grows. For the first time, the Bears have an offensive identity and a clear path forward. That’s everything this franchise needed.

Cap/cuts outlook

Chicago has -$5 million in effective salary cap space entering the 2026 offseason. That’s the ninth-worst figure in the league. If the Bears move on from linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, it would open up $15 million in cap space. Edmunds missed some time with an injury and was 70th among linebackers in yards allowed per coverage snap this season. Cole Kmet could be another cut, which would free up $8.4 million in space. DJ Moore isn’t going to be released due to his contract, but with the emergence of Luther Burden III, Moore could be a trade candidate, which could free up $16.5 million.

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Key pending free agents

S Jaquan Brisker
S Kevin Byard III
CB Nahshon Wright
LB D’Marco Jackson

Brisker and Byard have made a solid safety duo for Chicago. Byard was a first-team All-Pro for the third time in his 10-year career. Brisker became a versatile piece, moving around the defense. He played more snaps around the line of scrimmage and was a heavier blitzer, especially without Kyler Gordon in the lineup. Wright had some big plays on the outside, but he was an example of the boom-or-bust nature of a defense that relied on turnovers. He ranked 67th among corners in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap. Jackson was a pleasant surprise when he filled in at linebacker while the Bears went through injuries at the position. He was first in yards per coverage snap and added a sack and an interception.

Positional needs

Edge
Defensive back
Linebacker

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Montez Sweat accounted for 28.3% of the Bears’ pressures, which was 13th in the league. There wasn’t a consistent pass rusher opposite him, which is why Chicago ranked 29th in pressure rate. There were some nice reps from Austin Booker, but a true No. 2 pass rusher is needed. Which position the Bears need to fill in the secondary will be determined by free agency. If one or both of Brisker and Byard leave, safety becomes a big hole. That would be especially true if the Bears lose the versatility from Brisker. An upgrade on outside corner is a need either way. Even with a league-leading 22 interceptions, the Bears ranked 19th in EPA per play against the pass. With Tremaine Edmunds a likely cut, Chicago’s linebacking depth will be bare. The Bears were 25th in DVOA against throws to the short middle of the field.

2026 NFL Draft picks

1st round, 25th pick
2nd round, 57th pick
3rd round, 89th pick
4th round (LAR)
5th round
7th round (PHI)
7th round

What could move the fantasy needle in 2026?

Continue to grow

The Bears have a rookie at tight end, running back and wide receiver playing significant roles in the offense late in the season. Their second-year quarterback and wideout barely got any usable NFL experience in their first seasons. Anyone with even a mildly objective point of view can admit that all of those first- or second-year offensive players were not consistent players from wire-to-wire this NFL season. Each of them had their share of forgettable moments in the playoffs.

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However, all of them showed at different points of the year when they were fully healthy that they have the talent to be high-quality starters for a good offense. In other words, exactly what you’d expect from a young but inexperienced group of skill-position players learning a complicated offense under the watch of a demanding coaching staff. Even if some of the late-game heroics and defensive turnovers that fueled this run aren’t sustainable, the fact that they came away with those wins is a testament to the culture Ben Johnson is building and the grit of these players. That will matter going forward.

The biggest variable in fighting off that regression is indeed the youth of the offense. Progress isn’t guaranteed for young players, but if all or multiple of Williams, Luther Burden III, Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland improve in their second year under Johnson, the passing game has a shot to be one of the most dynamic in the league in 2026. — Matt Harmon

Good draft fit

Matayo Uiagalelei, edge, Oregon

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Uiagalelei is the type of well-built 4-3 defensive end Dennis Allen could use to great effect. He can rush the passer and set the edge against the run, and with more development he could become much more than just the No. 2 pass rusher the Bears need.

Betting nugget

The Bears exceeded all expectations this season from oddsmakers, not only easily surpassing their win total of 8.5, but winning the NFC North at +450 preseason odds. — Ben Fawkes

Getting the top seed in each conference is a big edge.

In the 14-team format, only one team from each conference gets wild-card weekend off. The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks both held serve at home in the divisional round, and having both played Saturday, they also get one more day of rest than their opponents for the conference championship games. In the Seahawks’ case, they face a Rams team that went to overtime in the freezing cold Sunday night to beat the Bears and advance.

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The stadiums in Denver and Seattle will be rocking for what projects as two great matchups with spots in Super Bowl LX on the line.

AFC championship game

(2) New England Patriots at (1) Denver Broncos (3 p.m. ET, CBS)

Why the Patriots can win

The Patriots don’t have a glaring weakness. Perhaps they don’t have great pass-catchers, but quarterback Drake Maye has covered that up. New England finished eighth in yards allowed and third in yards gained. In the playoffs, the Patriots’ defense has gotten even better, shutting down the Chargers in the wild-card round and flustering C.J. Stroud and the Texans’ offense into five turnovers in a divisional round win. Mike Vrabel is the favorite to win NFL Coach of the Year, which would be the second time he has won that award. The Patriots went 14-3 and it wasn’t due to just the schedule, which was admittedly easy. They have a quarterback in the MVP conversation, a fantastic coach and upgraded the talent on both sides of the ball with a great offseason. The Patriots have won 14 of their last 15 games, counting the playoffs. Even if New England wasn’t expected to arrive as one of the NFL’s best teams this season already, they’re in the final four for a reason.

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Why the Broncos can win

The lead-up to the AFC championship game will be all about Jarrett Stidham taking over for Bo Nix, who broke a bone in his ankle late in Denver’s divisional round win and is done for the rest of the season. But while Nix had a good season, this isn’t a team that revolves around the quarterback. The Broncos’ defense, which forced five turnovers against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round, is the focal point. The Broncos rush the quarterback at an elite level. They led the NFL with 68 sacks in the regular season. They also are deep at cornerback. They can keep the game low-scoring and perhaps create a few big plays off turnovers to help the offense. The Broncos will have to play differently than they have all season. They will need to run the ball well, which hasn’t been easy for them this season. They had just 70 rushing yards on 22 attempts against the Bills. If the run game is effective and the defense plays at the level it was at most of the season, the Broncos will be in the game at the end. That’s all they can ask for.

Who has the juice going in

It’s hard to say it’s the team that found out its quarterback was done for the season not long after winning in the divisional round. Sean Payton is a good head coach, and while there will be an immediate emotional letdown over losing Bo Nix to ankle surgery, by Sunday he’ll have the Broncos ready to rally around Stidham and be thinking about pulling off an upset. Still, they will know the odds are against them. It’s hard to come up with a much more lopsided quarterback comparison in a playoff game than Stidham, who has four career starts and hasn’t thrown a pass the last two regular seasons, against Drake Maye, who has a great case to be the NFL’s MVP this season. The Patriots couldn’t have expected to catch the break of facing a backup quarterback when the divisional round started, but it made the road to the Super Bowl undeniably easier. Suddenly, the Patriots should feel very confident about making their first Super Bowl since Tom Brady was their quarterback.

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NFC championship game

(5) Los Angeles Rams at (1) Seattle Seahawks (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox)

Why the Rams can win

The Rams were a miraculous comeback by Seattle in Week 16, highlighted by a controversial 2-point conversion, from sweeping the Seahawks in the regular season. In the first meeting, they forced Sam Darnold into his worst game of the season, with four interceptions (he didn’t throw more than two in any other game), and in the rematch they were hassling Darnold again until a Rashid Shaheed punt return got the Seahawks going and Darnold made big plays down the stretch. In that Week 16 game, Matthew Stafford threw for 457 yards and three touchdowns, one of the few huge performances against the Seahawks’ defense all season. The Rams survived a tight game against the Bears in the divisional round, pulling it out in overtime, and now they face a team they beat once and came within a historic comeback from beating a second time. No argument needs to be made for why the Rams can win; they already beat Seattle once and outplayed them in the second meeting only to be crushed by one of the greatest rallies in Seahawks history.

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Why the Seahawks can win

Seattle was a good team all season, but it also seems like the Seahawks have reached another level recently. Since a ridiculous comeback in Week 16 to beat the Rams, they dominated the Panthers in a 27-10 win, then beat the 49ers 13-3 in Week 18 and 41-6 in the divisional round. That’s four straight wins over playoff teams. In the last three games, a dominant defense has given up 139, 173 and 236 yards. If the defense is going to be that good, it doesn’t matter quite as much that Sam Darnold isn’t 100%. Darnold is dealing with an oblique injury, but he played pretty well through it Saturday night. He also wasn’t asked to do much, with 124 yards on just 17 attempts. The running game was also very good, with 175 yards on 5.3 yards per attempt. The Seahawks will face a tougher challenge in the NFC championship game, especially considering how well the Rams moved the ball against them late in the season, and Darnold will need to play well. The Seahawks will very likely need him to throw more than 17 times in the NFC title game. How Darnold plays will be a big question.

Who has the juice going in

What’s better for momentum, securing a blowout in your playoff opener or surviving two intense games, winning one in the final minute and the other in overtime? The Seahawks blasted the 49ers in the divisional round, running away with a 41-6 win after Shaheed’s kickoff return touchdown to start the game. Given how well the Seahawks have played all season, and especially the past three weeks, they’ll be extremely confident. Home-field advantage only adds to that. The Rams have come close to being eliminated twice but scored in the final minute to beat the Panthers and then overcoming Caleb Williams’ heroics to pull off an overtime win in the divisional round. Each team has plenty of juice coming into the NFC championship game even if they’ve come by it in different ways. This is the showdown, between two teams that practically everyone has agreed were the best in the NFL this season, that everyone has been anticipating.

Only five players are now ahead of Kevin Durant on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

The 18-year veteran scorer passed Dirk Nowitzki for the sixth-highest total in NBA history in the Houston Rockets’ 119-110 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night. Durant moved ahead of Nowitzki when he hit a free throw with 15.2 seconds remaining in the game.

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A free throw may not be exciting, but Durant tied Nowitzki with a typically smooth fadeaway from the foul line with 1:05 left to boost the Rockets’ lead to 116-102. He finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.

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Durant now has 31,562 career points in 1,161 games. He reached that total in 362 fewer games than Nowitzki.

The Hall of Famer (Class of 2023) congratulated Durant for passing him with a recorded message.

“Not super happy about him passing me,” Nowitzki joked. “No, seriously, to me, he is one of the purest, smoothest scorers the game has ever seen. A 7-footer, basically, which he says he’s not. I think he’s a 7-footer with really a two-guard’s game. The shot-making, the off-the-dribble stuff, the off-balance stuff.”

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“It’s been incredible to watch his career,” he added. “Congrats, KD! Keep it going. Move up a couple more spots and keep it up. Good luck.”

Up next on the NBA’s all-time scoring list is Michael Jordan with 32,292 points. If Durant plays to his career averages and plays 65 or more games this season, he should get the 730 points he needs to reach fifth place on that list.

From there, going from fourth to first, are Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James.

Durant is under contract for two more seasons, including a player option for 2027-28, after signing an extension before this season. Presuming he stays healthy and plays out his contract, he should pass Bryant and could challenge Malone among the NBA’s all-time leading scorers.

Good luck to NFL officials trying to explain both of these calls.

On Saturday, NFL officials deemed that Bills receiver Brandin Cooks didn’t make a football move after a would-be catch. And despite Cooks’ knee touching the ground with the ball clearly in his possession, Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian was awarded an interception for stripping the ball away after the two tumbled to the ground.

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The call of an interception swung the outcome of Denver’s 33-30 playoff win over Buffalo in the Broncos’ favor.

Why was Davante Adams awarded with a catch?

On Sunday, during another critical juncture in a divisional playoff game, Rams receiver Davante Adams was involved in a similar play. Except in this instance, officials awarded Adams a catch.

The catch set up the Rams for a go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown en route to a 20-17 overtime win.

On the play in question, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford looked to Adams in traffic over the middle on second-and-10. Adams secured the ball between two defenders.

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Before taking a step, Adams was dragged to the ground. Before and as his knee touched the ground, Bears defensive back Tyrique Stevenson had his hand on the ball and was wrestling for control. Stevenson stripped the ball from Adams’ grasp before Adams fell to the turf and took possession of it.

So what made that a catch? Here’s referee Shawn Hochuli’s explanation on the field:

“The ruling on the field is the runner down by contact,” Hochuli said. “It’s first down, offense.”

Terry McAulay agrees with both calls

The Bears didn’t challenge the call, and the Rams scored a touchdown five plays later for a 17-10 lead. After the catch, NBC cut to former NFL official and rules analyst Terry McAulay for his thoughts. He agreed with his former colleagues that the play was “clearly” a legal catch.

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“He clearly completed the catch on this one,” McAulay said. “He has it long enough to perform an act common to the game, and then he goes to the ground, and his knee goes down prior to him losing control.”

Contrast that with McAulay’s explanation on social media Saturday as to why Cooks didn’t catch the ball:

“A player going to the ground to catch a pass must maintain control during and after contact with the ground. That’s the rule. Apply accordingly.”

So what’s the difference? Here’s the contested Broncos-Bills play:

McAulay saw an “act common to the game” from Adams that he did not see from Cooks. Adams didn’t take a step. He didn’t turn upfield. He did land upright with both feet on the ground, where as Cooks’ feet touched the ground, but he fell to the turf as he caught — errr, didn’t catch the ball.

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That was enough for McAulay to agree with the calls on Adams’ catch — and Cooks’ non-catch.

‘Simultaneous possession’ explanation

CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore was on the call for the Cooks-McMillian play. He also agreed with the call on the field. He wasn’t convinced that Cooks ever had possession of the ball to warrant simultaneous possession, even though Cooks had it firmly and clearly in his grasp as he hit the ground.

“I’m not sure Cooks has possession coming to the ground there, to say that it would be simultaneous” Steratore said. “It feels to me like Cooks didn’t have firm possession of the football when they’re down by contact there.”

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Meanwhile, here’s NFL rulebook language that dictates that the ball belongs to the offense in the case of simultaneous possession between a receiver and a defender:

“If a pass is caught simultaneously by two eligible opponents, and both players retain it, the ball belongs to the passers.

“It is not a simultaneous catch if a player gains control first and an opponent subsequently gains joint control.”

Cooks had control of the ball before McMillian stripped it away — rather than the two gaining possession at the same time — which appears to be enough to rule out “simultaneous possession” by the letter of the law.

The explanations aren’t likely going to be enough to satisfy those who disagree with either call or both — especially those who see an inconsistency in how the two were called. That the calls were attached to such high stakes on back-to-back nights raises the temperature that much higher.

Nate Tice, Matt Harmon & Charles McDonald join forces to give their instant takeaways from the NFL Divisional Round. The trio deep dive on all four playoff games from the weekend, starting with the Los Angeles Rams squeaking by a resilient Chicago Bears team in overtime. Next, the three hosts deep dive on the New England Patriots taking care of business against a sloppy Houston Texans team in a game that featured the most turnovers (8) in a playoff game since 2015.

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Nate, Matt and Charles move on to Saturday’s games, where the Seattle Seahawks dominated the San Francisco 49ers featuring a defense/run game combo that looks impossible to beat, and the Buffalo Bills got beat by a Denver Broncos team that has to head to New England with Jarrett Stidham as their starting quarterback.

The trio wrap up with their reactions to the Atlanta Falcons hiring new head coach Kevin Stefanski.

(2:30) – Rams beat Bears

(19:15) – Patriots beat Texans

(41:00) – Seahawks beat 49ers

(55:25) – Broncos beat Bills

(1:20:10) – Falcons hire Kevin Stefanski

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

There wasn’t much time. And with the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive line collapsing the pocket, there was even less space. Now Caleb Williams was sprinting backward with the football, committing a cardinal sin for NFL quarterbacks. Never exit the pocket by drifting — or worse yet, running — backward. There’s nothing but bad things waiting for a QB.

Yet, there the Chicago Bears quarterback went. With the ball shotgun-snapped at the Rams’ 14-yard line, Williams sprinted backward. Past the 25 … 30 … 35. Finally, at the 40, he planted his feet and unloaded a desperate spiral in the face of two pass rushers, while fading backward and falling to the Soldier Field grass.

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When Rams head coach Sean McVay speaks about the football gods going against you, what happened next is what he’s describing: Watching Williams throw an impossible, mythical — maybe extraterrestrial — pass that traveled 51.2 air yards, according to Next Gen Stats, and tucked into the arms of tight end Cole Kmet in the back of the end zone. A touchdown pass on fourth-and-4 with 18 seconds left that would erase a 17-10 Rams lead and push Los Angeles to the brink in Sunday’s divisional playoff game.

When the cameras cut to McVay, he looked like he needed a game official to administer a standing 8-count and ask him if he was OK to continue.

“Can you guys believe they made that play right there?” McVay asked reporters later.

Anyone in their right mind and decades of watching NFL football would say no — except for the fact that Williams had completed one of the most improbable fourth-and-8 plays in playoff history against the Green Bay Packers just one week earlier. And somehow, this one was more difficult. It was also a byproduct of some of McVay’s own doing, after he conservatively ran the ball four times into the teeth of the Bears’ defense and then punted, giving Williams one more possession late in the fourth quarter.

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[Get more Rams news: Los Angeles team feed]

Most everyone who has made that mistake against these Bears has ultimately lost. And McVay’s Rams likely would have, too, if it wasn’t for a defense that stole the game back in overtime and helped Los Angeles grind to a 20-17 win in freezing temperatures. The prize? A road trip to next week’s NFC championship game, where the Rams will play the Seattle Seahawks for the third time this season.

Afterward, McVay paced in his locker room and applauded his team’s resiliency, telling them: “There were so many things that went on in that game that you could have said, ‘Oh, man, maybe tonight’s not our night.’ But you didn’t f***kin’ believe it.”

Of course, it wasn’t pretty. The snow and cold weather appeared to have an impact on Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who finished 20-for-42 passing, taking four sacks in the process and missing some uncharacteristically easy throws. Along the way, McVay struggled to get the Rams into rhythm, going into a running shell in the fourth quarter that took the ball out of Stafford’s hands. Then, in overtime, with the Rams getting the ball to begin the extra session, McVay called a halfback toss to Blake Corum on third-and-1, resulting in a 2-yard loss that blew up the Los Angeles drive and pushed all the momentum into Chicago’s favor.

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“No excuse for that [call],” McVay said later.

“Offensively, man, I did not do a very good job for our group tonight. But I thought our guys were able to overcome it. I thought we were able to be at our best in the most important moments, able to string together some drives.”

In a sign that should be encouraging heading into the third tilt with the Seahawks, McVay’s defense would bail him out multiple times. From forcing a turnover on downs when Chicago had a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line, to stopping the Bears on 3 of 5 fourth-down plays in regulation, to intercepting Williams three times over the course of the night — the Rams’ defense made critical plays at the most important moments for much of the night. Even the miraculous Williams touchdown was executed well by the front end of the Rams pass rush, only to be undone by a misplayed ball in the end zone by cornerback Cobie Durant, who lost Kmet on the play.

“I thought that was a great play by our defense, [but] just a better play by Caleb [and Kmet] — just a better play by those two guys,” Stafford said. “That happens in football.”

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And the defense made amends when it had to. Durant picked off Williams twice on the night, and with Chicago driving past midfield in overtime, safety Kam Curl laid out for an interception of Williams that changed the game. On the ensuing drive, McVay put the ball into the hands of Stafford, who completed critical passes to Davante Adams and Puka Nacua that eventually set up the game-winning field goal.

“That’s what it takes to win in the playoffs,” Stafford said “Sometimes offense can go out and have a great day and find a way to win it. Sometimes defense is going to go out there and have a day like they did today and keep us in it for as long as they did, and then make a play at the end to get the ball back.”

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Now the Rams will head to Seattle to face a Seahawks team that split the season series with Los Angeles — including a 21-19 home Rams win on Nov. 16 and then a wild 38-37 overtime victory for Seattle in Week 16. The latter of which led McVay to fire special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn following a series of miscues over the course of the season.

The 12-team College Football Playoff has come down to its final game, as top-seeded Indiana crushed Oregon 56-22 and Miami held on for a thrilling 31-27 win over Ole Miss in the semifinals.

The Hurricanes already won a game as a big underdog against Ohio State earlier in the CFP, and they’ll need to do it again if they want to bring home their first college football title since 2001. On the other side, coach Curt Cignetti has led one of the more improbable turnarounds in college football and sports history, as it still feels odd to say that the Indiana Hoosiers are playing for a national championship.

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Can Miami pull off the big upset? Will the Hurricanes at least cover the 8.5-point spread?

Our college football handicapping team of Ed Feng and Matt Russell provide a best bet on Monday’s CFP title game.

Odds courtesy of BetMGM. This file will be updated.

Russell: The Hoosiers can win the national title without proving to be a historically great champion, but they can’t cover an 8.5-point spread without reaching that level. That’s how high Indiana’s rating in the betting market has gotten.

We’ve been told, throughout the season, that not only is this a new era of Indiana football, but that we shouldn’t get caught up in the branding of the higher-profile teams they’ve faced like Alabama and Oregon. That has proven to be a fair assessment, but what if the betting market still gave both too much credit?

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Many were calling for the Crimson Tide to miss the playoff after their decisive loss to Georgia in the SEC title game, and close wins over Penn State and Iowa somehow earned the Oregon Ducks the coveted No. 5 seed and a route to the semis with only JMU and an unproven Texas Tech offense in their way. It’s entirely possible that neither Alabama and Oregon are the top-10 teams they were proclaimed to be. If that’s the case, as we’ve seen in the past, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see a blowout in the playoff. Recent history is littered with them.

Indiana’s 3-point win over Ohio State might be its only meeting with a team that will end up rated in the top five nationally, until now.

Miami earned its way into the playoff by beating Notre Dame in Week 1, but it also deserved its No. 10 seed because of two head-scratching losses. When it comes to assessing the Hurricanes’ capability in any given game, the former is more important than the latter, and they’ve shown their class in winning at Texas A&M, beating Ohio State in a similar fashion as Indiana and getting by an Ole Miss team at the top of its game.

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We already learned last season that seed doesn’t equal strength. Both No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State shook off head-scratching losses to make the title game. Indiana doesn’t have one of those, so their power rating in the market has done nothing but rise. Miami, and its handful of NFL first-round talent, can follow in the footsteps of the ‘24 Buckeyes, and fully recover to beat the Hoosiers outright. With a betting line of 8.5 points, though, we’ll leave some room for Indiana to finish its epic season with a championship in a closer game than the experts think, at least.

Bet: Miami +8.5

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Feng: Let’s look at how this Indiana team has gotten lucky.

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Against Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game, two key plays preserved a 3-point win:

• Ohio State had a fourth-and-1 conversion overturned by replay. If QB Julian Sayin had kept his knee up a second longer, Ohio State probably scores a TD with a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line.

• Ohio State missed a 27-yard field goal attempt.

Against Alabama in the playoff quarterfinal … never mind, there was no luck in that 38-3 beatdown.

In the playoff semifinal, Oregon gifted Indiana 28 points with a pick 6, two fumbles lost and a blocked punt that put the Indiana offense in the red zone. Oregon had a respectable 5.82 yards per play when the Ducks weren’t turning the ball over (5.71 YPP was the college football average).

[Check out all of Yahoo’s sports betting content here in our new betting hub]

It’s OK to have some luck in dominating your way to the championship game. In reality, Cignetti has done the greatest coaching job in college football history the past two seasons. Let’s look at the numbers:

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• No. 1 in my member rankings by almost 2.5 points over Ohio State.

• On offense, No. 1 in adjusted success rate, No. 2 in adjusted yards per play.

• On defense, No. 3 in adjusted success rate, No. 9 in adjusted yards per play.

Miami will need to play its best game and get some breaks to have a chance at the upset. My numbers have Indiana by 8.0, so the market seems fair.

Miami RB Mark Fletcher Jr. has been excellent since returning from an injury. Fletcher probably won’t reach the 23 carries he got against Ole Miss because Indiana has a much better run defense and the game script might demand a lot of second-half throws. However, my rushing yards model predicts Fletcher to rush for 4.53 yards per carry after opponent adjustments based on my mathematical algorithms at The Power Rank. Assuming 18 carries, this gives 81.5 rushing yards for Fletcher.

Bet: Mark Fletcher Jr. over 66.5 rushing yards

The NFL offseason has begun, and Yahoo Sports is previewing the coming months for all 32 teams, from free agency through the draft and more.

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

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2025 season record: 12-5, (o 11.5 wins), second in AFC East, lost to Broncos in divisional round, eighth in DVOA

Overview

So many things appeared to break right for the Bills. It was an AFC that featured down seasons from the Chiefs, Ravens and Bengals, all of whom missed the playoffs. Buffalo was a flawed team itself. The Bills had one of the worst run defenses in the league and a lack of juice at receiver constantly hampered Josh Allen, who was 23rd in average depth of completion. But the Bills never quite bottomed out like those other AFC contemporaries and still finished the season as a top-10 team by DVOA with an offense that was second in EPA per play.

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Of course, Buffalo’s path wasn’t easy with New England taking over the division, setting the Bills up for a new rivalry that could be active for years to come on top of the expected return to form from Buffalo’s prior contemporaries in the conference. And there was the old familiar playoff loss for Buffalo, which cost head coach Sean McDermott his job despite eight playoff berths in nine years and good work on the defensive side of the ball. The Bills kept — and promoted — general manager Brandon Beane, and promoted Joe Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach.

The franchise sent a clear message with the McDermott to Brady move: We have what it takes to win a Super Bowl, and we need a head coach who can do it. Step on up, Joe Brady. No pressure.

Cap/cuts outlook

The Bills have -$11 million in effective salary cap space, the seventh-lowest figure in the league. Curtis Samuel is the safest bet for a release, which would open up $6.25 million in cap space. The Bills could also move on from Dawson Knox, which would clear $9.7 million. There’s not a ton of room for big restructures to open up space for the Bills. A max restructure for Josh Allen would open up $12 million, and doing so for Spencer Brown would be another $10 million. On the plus side, the Bills have 47 players under contract, so it’s not as if available cap space will be needed for bottom-of-the-roster depth. That space could be used for more meaningful pieces.

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Key pending free agents

OL Connor McGovern
OL David Edwards
Edge Joey Bosa
CB Tre’Davious White
LB Matt Milano
Edge A.J. Epenesa

Edwards was the best Bills offensive lineman by Sports Info Solutions’s blown block rate and he was 10th among interior linemen in ESPN’s run block win rate. McGovern ranked fifth among interior linemen in pass block win rate. Bosa gave the Bills what they needed as a veteran pass rusher off the edge, but like many Buffalo pass rushers this season, he didn’t convert as many hit opportunities into sacks as would be expected. White finished 10th among cornerbacks in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap and had an impressive bounce-back season in his return to Buffalo. Milano, recently one of the league’s top coverage linebackers, clearly lost a step on the field as a 31-year-old.

[Get more Bills news: Buffalo team feed]

Positional needs

Wide receiver
Edge
Safety

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Few NFL-related things aged worse than general manager Brandon Beane’s insistence that upgrading at wide receiver was not a need for the Bills. It was clear throughout the season how much the Bills lacked a playmaking outside threat to open up the passing game. Keon Coleman averaged just 1.05 yards per route run against man coverage and was a healthy scratch multiple times this season. Khalil Shakir was the team’s best receiver, but he had only a 3.67-yard average depth of target.

With Joey Bosa and A.J. Epenesa set to be free agents, the Bills need another pass rusher across from Greg Rousseau. This was a team that signed Matthew Judon from the practice squad late in the season to get some pass-rush juice. Buffalo was 19th in pressure rate with a four-man rush.

Cole Bishop has developed into an impressive safety, but there’s been a hole next to him. Damar Hamlin missed time with injuries and Jordan Poyer was brought back. For a team that wants to play in two-high as much as the Bills have (at least under McDermott), a second safety is a necessity.

2026 NFL Draft picks

1st round, pick No. 26
2nd round, pick No. 60
3rd round, pick No. 91
4th round
5th round
7th round (NYJ)
7th round (DAL)

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What could move the fantasy needle in 2026?

Get serious about pass-catchers

There always seems to be a temptation to cut corners and not credibly invest in pass-catchers when you have a Tier 1 player behind center. Your hope is that this player can elevate everyone around him. A fair ask of an elite quarterback but you also need to clear a minimum player-quality threshold. It’s quite apparent that the Bills have not come close to that in the last two seasons, especially in 2025. That must change in order for this team to get where it wants to go and for this to be an offensive ecosystem we want to invest in in fantasy football.

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Considering the track record, I’m skeptical that this front office can put aside its hubris and recognize what needs to be done. The best hope is that they change some of what they’re looking for at pass-catcher since the organization is already headed for a coaching staff makeover. — Matt Harmon

Good draft fit

Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State

The Bills would do well with any of the projected first-round wideouts this season, but Tyson would give them a big-play threat over the middle and in the red zone, with a full route tree and availability to adjust to the football. Plus, his injury history might push him to the back half of the first round, where the Bills will pick.

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Betting nugget

Most of the Bills’ ATS this season came with a rest disadvantage, as Buffalo went 1-4 ATS in the regular season with less rest than its opponent. Conversely, the Bills were 4-0 SU (3-1 ATS) with a rest advantage. — Ben Fawkes