Category: Sport

The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics have reached their final day, and these Games will end on a high note for Team USA with a gold medal in men’s hockey, ending a 46-year drought.

The U.S. takes home its most gold medals ever at a single Winter Games, beating its previous high of 10.

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Here are the top stories we’re watching:

Team USA ends gold medal drought in men’s hockey

Team USA is golden! The U.S. men’s hockey team has won the gold medal for the first time since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team that upset the Soviet Union. In an incredible game that saw Canada dominate the scoring chances, U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck was a brick wall. And when the game went to overtime, Jack Hughes was the hero just over 90 seconds later.

Eileen Gu adds another gold to her collection

The freestyle skiing halfpipe final was postponed due to a snowstorm, but that didn’t stop Eileen Gu, the American-born freeskier who competes for China, from winning her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the women’s halfpipe. After pulling out on her first run, Gu bounced back with a 94.00 in Run 2 and a 94.75 in Run 3.

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Both were good enough for gold.

Sweden takes gold over Switzerland in final curling showdown

After the U.S. women fell to Canada in the curling bronze medal game, Switzerland and Sweden faced off for gold on Sunday morning, with the latter coming out victorious 6-5. Sweden also took gold in mixed doubles curling earlier in these Olympics.

Closing Ceremony (2:30 p.m. ET)

The Closing Ceremonies will take place in Verona, east of Milan, at the historic Verona Arena. Women’s hockey gold medalist Hilary Knight and ice dance silver medalist Evan Bates will be the United States flag bearers for the ceremony.

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How many medals has Team USA won so far? Check in with our medal tracker for the full breakdown.

Dates: Feb. 6 – Feb. 22
TV channel: NBC
Streaming: Peacock

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for all the news, events and medals from the Milan Cortina Olympics:

Live401 updates

• Sun, February 22, 2026 at 8:12 AM PST

  

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 8:06 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  MILAN — This wasn’t a miracle. It was a moment of magic.

  Forty-six years to the day after a bunch of unheralded amateurs stunned the heavily favored Soviet Union en route to winning Olympic gold, the U.S. men’s hockey team engineered another epic victory. The Americans won a battle of the sport’s superpowers on Sunday, toppling longtime nemesis Canada 2-1 in overtime to win their country’s first Olympic gold in men’s hockey since the famed 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”

  Jack Hughes scored the decisive goal, ripping a shot past Jordan Binnington less than three minutes into 3-versus-3 overtime.

  Read more from Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee on the scene.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 8:04 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Jack Hughes created the winning scoring opportunity with a poke check in the USA end and Zach Werenski skated hard up the ice to get the puck.

  Retrieving it in toward the left corner, he finds a wide-open Hughes with a centering pass. Hughes then whistled it past Jordan Bennington for Team USA’s first men’s ice hockey gold in 46 years.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 7:56 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Jack Hughes wins the gold medal for Team USA, 1:40 into overtime. Hughes took a centering pass from Zach Werenski and slaps it past Jordan Binnington for the game-winner.

  The U.S, wins gold for the first time since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 7:33 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Why not overtime for the men’s hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics? The U.S. and Canada will go to an extra period tied at 2-2 after three.

  Under Olympic rules, the two teams will play 3-on-3 to decide the winner.

  The Milan Cortina Games will last just a bit longer!

  Follow along here.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 6:57 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Cale Makar’s goal tied the score for Canada at 1-1 shortly before the second period ended. Prior to that, Team USA did strong work defensively in denying scoring chances, even killing a 5-on-3 Canada power play.

  As the period ended, Canada’s Brad Marchand and USA’s Matt Boldy tussled in front of the U.S. bench. USA’s Charlie McAvoy and Vincent Trocheck tussled with Canada’s Drew Doughty and Sam Bennett as well, but no penalties ensued.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 6:18 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  The U.S. and Canada each have eight shots on goal as the first period ends. At one point, Canada had a 7-2 advantage, so Team USA really increased the pressure late in the period, helped by a power play opportunity.
• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 5:59 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Sweden defeated Switzerland, 6-5, in 10 ends to win the gold medal in women’s curling.

  Anna Hasselborg scored the final point to give Sweden its fourth consecutive gold for the Swedish team, joining the championships won in Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing.

  Hasselborg is the second Swedish skip to win two gold medals, joining Anette Norberg. Altogether, five Swedish curlers have earned two Olympic golds, including Sara McManus, Agnes Knochenhauer and Sofia Scharback.

  Overall, Sweden has medaled in seven of the eight Winter Olympics since women’s curling was added to competition in 1998. The Swedes have earned four golds, one silver and two bronze.

  Switzerland gets its third silver medal in women’s curling, joining those won in Salt Lake City and Turin.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 4:29 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby will not play against the U.S. in Sunday’s gold medal men’s ice hockey final.

  Crosby, 38, suffered a right leg injury during Canada’s quarterfinal matchup versus Czechia and did not play in the semifinals against Finland. The hope was that Crosby would recover in time for Sunday’s final, but the decision was made before gametime.

  Follow Yahoo Sports’ live blog for the USA-Canada final here.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 4:22 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Germany did not sweep the medal podium in 4-man bobsled. However, the Germans took the first two spots with the team piloted by Johannes Lochner taking gold and Francesco Friedrich’s team getting silver.

  Lochner’s gold joins the silver his team won in Beijing. He and George Fleischhauer also took gold in two-man bobsled at the Milan Cortina Games.

  Switzerland, piloted by Michael Vogt. made a late surge to get a spot on the podium.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 4:04 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Eileen Gu saved her best for last, scoring a 94.75 on her final run and reaching 4.0 meters on her highest jump to win her second consecutive gold medal in women’s freeski halfpipe.
• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 3:10 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Eileen Gu has won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the women’s freeski halfpipe. After pulling out on her first run and scoring a 30.00, she bounced back significantly with a 94.00 and 94.75.

  China took the first two spots on the podium with Gu’s teammate Li Fanghui earning silver with a 93.00 on her third run.

  Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin was on top after her first run, but couldn’t recover from missing a landing on her second. She scored a 92.50 on her third run to finish behind Gu and Fanghui.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 3:02 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Eileen Gu earns a 94.75 on her third run in the women’s freeski halfpipe final, improving on the 94.00 she scored on her second run. She landed all of her tricks and got strong amplitude, reaching 4.0 meters on her jump.

  

  Zoe Atkin will be the final skier in this third run with a chance to overtake Gu for gold.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 2:47 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  After three runs, Germany holds the top three spots in the 4-man bobsled competition. The team of Francesco Friedrich, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub are in first place.

  Team USA has the ninth and 10th spots with the team of Frankie Del Duca, Boone Niederhofer, Bryan Sosoo and Joshua Williamson the closest.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 2:37 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Li Fanghui puts China in the first two spots after scoring a 91.50 on her second run. She and Eileen Gu are one and two.

  Zoe Atkin followed and hit the edge of the pipe as she tried to land an alley-oop, causing her to lose both skis as she landed. She gets a “DNI” for her second run, though did reach 5.4 meters on one of her jumps.

  

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 2:31 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Shaking off her first run, Eileen Gu rebounded with a strong second run. She landed the alley-oop that she missed the first time, though didn’t get quite as high with her jumps as Zoe Atkin did on her first run.

  Gu scores a 94.00 to move into first with Atkin still to go.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 2:08 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  After finishing first in qualifying, Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin stays in top form on her first run in the women’s freeski halfpipe final.

  She got great amplitude, reaching 4.5 metres on her highest jump.

  Eileen Gu earned a 30.00 on her first run and is eighth going into the second run.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 2:03 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  Eileen Gu’s first run in the women’s freeski halfpipe final will be a throwaway. She earned a 30.00 after pulling out on the run after a shaky landing on her first trick.

  Canada’s Kate Fraser scored an 85.00 on her first run and is currently in first. USA’s Kate Gray placed seventh with a 44.50.

• 

  Sun, February 22, 2026 at 1:33 AM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  We have some extra Winter Olympics action on this final day with the women’s halfpipe final, which was delayed yesterday due to snow.

  Representing China, this is Eileen Gu’s last chance to leave the Milan Cortina Games with a gold medal after she won silver in Slopestyle and Big Air. She is defending the gold she won in Beijing.

  

  Americans Kate Gray and Svea Irving will compete in the event for Team USA. But Zoe Atkin — American, but competing for Great Britain — might be Gu’s top challenger today. Atkin finished first in qualifying, while Gu placed fifth.

• Sat, February 21, 2026 at 8:55 PM PST

After defeating Canada, 2-1, in overtime to win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the U.S. men’s ice hockey team honored late teammate Johnny Gaudreau with players holding up his No. 13 jersey as they skated around the ice.

As the full team posed on the ice for a photo, Gaudreau’s two children joined the squad while their father’s jersey was displayed.

This story will be updated.

The Atlanta Hawks had a chance at the end on Monday despite an atrocious shooting start from beyond the 3-point arc.

But a late rally against the Bucks fell short as Milwaukee held on for a 112-110 win in a Martin Luther King Jr. matinee in Atlanta.

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It was remarkable that the Hawks were in the game at all after their cold shooting in the first half. The Hawks missed their first 21 attempts from 3 and almost went into halftime without a make from beyond the arc.

A 3-pointer late in the second quarter by C.J. McCollum ensured that they’d enter the break shooting 1 of 22 from long distance. The Hawks managed just 38 first-half points due to the poor shooting and trailed 54-38 at the break.

Hawks catch fire from 3 after halftime, but rally falls short

Thanks largely to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the Hawks found their stroke from 3 after halftime and finished the game shooting 12 for 42 from long distance, including an 11-of-20 clip in the second half. After missing all seven of his attempts from 3 in the first half, Alexander-Walker finished 7 of 16 for the game en route to a game-high 32 points.

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The Hawks rallied to take a 105-104 lead on a Jalen Johnson 3 with 1:10 remaining. They then had a chance at a game-winning or game-tying shot with the ball and a 112-110 deficit in the final 12 seconds. But McCollum lost control of his dribble as the clock ticked down and forced up a contested heave from the elbow that didn’t have a chance.

In the end, Atlanta’s poor start from 3 dug too big of a hole to overcome.

While woeful, Atlanta’s poor shooting start didn’t make NBA history. The 2012-13 Denver Nuggets went an entire game without making a 3 in an 0-for-22 effort.

The Houston Rockets, meanwhile, missed 27 consecutive attempts from 3 in a historic Game 7 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference finals.

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So the Hawks escaped ignominious history. But that probably doesn’t make them feel much better about Monday’s game.

The Kansas City Chiefs have reached an agreement to reunite with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, NFL Network reports.

Per NFL Network, the Chiefs put in a request to interview Bieniemy on Monday, and head coach Andy Reid wants Bieniemy back on his staff. Bieniemy was previously the running backs coach for the Chicago Bears. Bieniemy and the Chiefs reportedly agreed to a new deal on Wednesday.

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[Get more Chiefs news: Kansas City team feed]

Bieniemy will replace offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, whose contract has expired. Nagy has interviewed for other positions across the league.

Bieniemy previously spent five seasons as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator from 20018-22. He was in that role for Patrick Mahomes’ first five seasons as Kansas City’s starting quarterback and oversaw the offense as the Chiefs went to three Super Bowls and won two.

Bieniemy was frequently mentioned as a head-coaching candidate during his tenure with the Chiefs, but never landed a head job. He left the Chiefs in 2023 to become the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders.

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Under new ownership, the Commanders fired head coach Ron Rivera and his staff that included Bieniemy after the 2023 season. Bieniemy spent 2024 in college as the offensive coordinator at UCLA and returned to the NFL this season for his role with the Bears.

Can Bieniemy fix ailing Chiefs offense?

Bieniemy would return to a Chiefs team that missed the playoffs in 2025 for the first time in 11 seasons after playing in seven consecutive AFC championship games and three consecutive Super Bowls. Mahomes finished the season on injured reserve with a torn ACL, but the Chiefs were trending toward missing the postseason even before his injury.

Mahomes hopes to be back for Week 1 of the 2016 season, which would be the most optimistic timeline for his prognosis. Regardless of when he returns, the Chiefs will be seeking an offensive spark after a stagnant 2025 campaign in which they finished 20th in the league in total yards and 21st with 21.3 points per game.

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Improving on offense will require more than installing Bieniemy as offensive coordinator. Kansas City’s struggles this past season were due in large part to a lack of playmakers around Mahomes. Kansas City’s front office will be tasked with upgrading the roster around Mahomes as the Chiefs look to get back to Super Bowl contention with Mahomes still in his prime.

Indiana is going for its first national championship in school history while Miami is trying to snap a streak without a championship that dates back to 2001.

If the Hoosiers win, not only will they cap one of the best seasons in modern college football history, they’ll extend a Big Ten title streak to three seasons after Michigan’s win in 2023 and Ohio State’s victory a season ago. Miami, meanwhile, would complete an improbable run to the title after the Hurricanes were the final team in the 12-team field thanks to the College Football Playoff committee’s decision to jump Miami over Notre Dame in the final set of rankings.

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Here’s everything you need to know for Monday night’s game.

National championship game: No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 10 Miami

Indiana (15-0): The Hoosiers have been a playoff steamroller. No team has done what Indiana has done over its first two games of this postseason. Not only is Indiana the only team to win a game after getting a first-round bye in the 12-team playoff format, the Hoosiers have dominated. Indiana has outscored Alabama and Oregon 94-25 after a 38-3 win over the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl and a 56-22 victory over the Ducks in the Peach Bowl.

Over the whole season, Indiana has outscored opponents by 31.5 points per game. Only North Texas scores more points per game. Only Ohio State gives up fewer points per game.

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Miami (13-2): The Hurricanes have won seven consecutive games after their 26-20 overtime loss at SMU. Just two of those wins have been by one possession — and both of those came in the College Football Playoff. The Hurricanes won 10-3 in the first round at No. 7 Texas A&M before beating No. 6 Ole Miss 31-27 in the Fiesta Bowl. In between, Miami took down Ohio State 24-14 with the help of a pick-6 from Keionte Scott that flipped the game in the first half.

How the QBs stack up

Carson Beck needs to be more like the QB he was against Ole Miss for the Hurricanes to have a chance.

Beck was 23-of-37 passing for 268 yards with two passing touchdowns and an interception against the Rebels. Oh, he also rushed for the game-winning score with 18 seconds left.

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His yardage total in the Fiesta Bowl was more than he had thrown for in the first two playoff games … combined. Over the course of the first-round game against Texas A&M and the Cotton Bowl against the Buckeyes, Beck was 33 of 46 for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

Miami is 12-0 in games where Beck has thrown one or fewer interceptions and 1-2 when he has multiple picks. That only win came against USF, when he threw for 340 yards and three scores while having two interceptions and five incompletions.

Against Louisville, Beck threw four interceptions in the Hurricanes’ 24-21 loss. Two games later, Beck had two interceptions — including on Miami’s OT possession — in that loss to the Mustangs.

Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza has thrown 41 TDs and six interceptions. Those six picks have been spread across six games.

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Mendoza’s season has been historic — and not just because he won the Heisman. He’s 31-of-36 passing for 369 yards and eight touchdowns over Indiana’s two playoff wins. Yes, he’s thrown five incompletions and eight touchdowns. In both the Rose Bowl and the Peach Bowl, Mendoza had more TD passes than incompletions.

He’s now done that five times this season and has another game with four touchdowns and four incompletions. Nearly every quarterback has more incompletions than touchdown passes on a weekly basis. That’s only happened 60% of the time for Mendoza this season.

Players to watch

Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr.: The junior has had a relatively quiet postseason. Cooper is Indiana’s leading receiver with 64 catches for 866 yards and 13 scores but hasn’t added much to those stats over the past three games.

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After injuring his ankle in the Big Ten title game against Ohio State and going without a catch, Cooper has six catches for 62 yards and two scores in the College Football Playoff. To be fair, the Hoosiers haven’t really needed him. Indiana has rushed for 400 yards and four scores in those games.

So far, Cooper’s biggest moment of the season has been his game-winning catch against Penn State. That catch will live on for a long time in highlight reels whether or not the Hoosiers ultimately win the national championship. And we have a feeling that Cooper is in line for a big game against the Hurricanes on Monday night.

Miami WR Keelan Marion: The BYU transfer picked a heck of a time for his second 100-yard game of the season in the Fiesta Bowl.

Marion had seven catches for 116 yards and a score in Miami’s win. Before the Fiesta Bowl, Marion’s only other 100-yard game came in a blowout win against a depleted Syracuse squad. And that’s the only other game in which Marion has scored a TD.

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Overall, Marion is Miami’s second-leading receiver behind Malachi Toney with 56 catches for 740 yards, but he’s scored just two touchdowns all season. Toney will be a focus of Indiana’s defense — just like he’s been a focal point for every other Miami opponent — and Miami is going to need another receiver to step up. Will it be Marion or CJ Daniels? TE Elija Lofton is set to miss the game after he was injured in the Fiesta Bowl.

Keys to the game

Can Miami’s defensive line continue to be a dominant playoff force? The Hurricanes have been able to beat up opposing offensive lines so far, but this Indiana offensive line is better than any line that Miami has faced in its three playoff games. Indiana has been able to push both Indiana and Oregon around, even as Mendoza has been sacked four times over those two games.

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Against Alabama, Indiana RBs Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby combined to rush 33 times for 188 yards and two scores. In the Fiesta Bowl, their totals were muted — they rushed 29 times for 116 yards — but Black still scored twice.

If Indiana can run against Miami like it did the Crimson Tide, the Hurricanes could be in trouble. Miami’s biggest deficit of the playoff came in the Fiesta Bowl when the Hurricanes trailed by four early in the first quarter. What happens if Indiana gets out to a two-score lead?

Miami’s chances of an upset also hinge largely on Toney breaking a big play. After tallying just 51 total offensive yards in the first two playoff games, he had five catches for 81 yards and a score and two carries for 11 yards in the Fiesta Bowl. Miami isn’t winning if Toney’s stats resemble those first two playoff games.

A Miami win would also be the biggest title game upset since the Hurricanes lost as 11-point favorites in January of 2003. But we’re not bullish on that happening. Even if Miami can get pressure on Mendoza, he’s the quarterback best-equipped to beat that pressure with the way that he can diagnose defenses. We’re taking Indiana to be the first team at the top level in college football to go 16-0 in over 125 years.

Atlanta Hawks center Kristaps Porzingis and forward Zaccharie Risacher will both miss another week on the court while recovering from injuries.

Porzingis missed his sixth consecutive game on Monday when the Hawks faced the Milwaukee Bucks in Atlanta. The Bucks held on for the win down the stretch, 112-110. This was Atlanta’s fourth loss in a row. Porzingis has been sidelined with tendinitis in his left Achilles in yet another injury-riddled season.

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Once referred to affectionately as “The Unicorn,” Porzingis has been plagued by injuries throughout most of his NBA career. He played in 72 games during his rookie campaign of 2015-16 with the New York Knicks and was named to the NBA All-Rookie team. Since that first year, Porzingis hasn’t played in more than 66 games in a season. Porzingis did that in his second season and wouldn’t come close again until the 2022-23 season in Washington.

Second-year player Risacher missed his sixth straight game on Monday because of a bone contusion in his left knee. Risacher was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting last year. This season, he’s appeared in 36 games, averaging 11.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Both players will be re-evaluated sometime next week. Porzingis has suited up for just 17 games for Atlanta this season after being acquired from the Boston Celtics during the offseason. When Porzingis has been on the court this season, he’s been productive, averaging 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 36% from 3-point range.

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The Hawks are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with a 20-25 record, clinging to the final play-in tournament slot.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams is sidelined yet again.

Williams will miss at least “a couple of weeks” due to a right hamstring strain, the franchise announced on Monday. He first went down in the second quarter of their loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday, and was spotted grabbing his right hamstring as he limped off the court.

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The team initially said he had right thigh soreness, but confirmed Monday that it was his hamstring.

If Williams is just out for two weeks, he could return in early February and miss only seven games — including Monday’s 136-104 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I always feel bad for guys,” Thunder coach Mark Diagneault said on Monday, via The Oklahoman’s Justin Martinez. “This is their life, and they put so much work into it. In his case, he put so much work into getting back to the court. … It sucks, but you’ve got to play the ball where it is. That’s what he’s going to do. He’s going to put one foot in front of the other and attack the return to play, as he’s always done.”

Williams, who earned All-Star honors last season while helping the Thunder to their NBA Finals win, has averaged 16.8 points, 5.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game this season. He missed the first month of the season while recovering from wrist surgery he underwent during the offseason.

The Thunder now hold a 36-8 record after Monday’s contest at Rocket Arena, which they led nearly the entire way before outscoring the Cavaliers by 20 points in the fourth quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 30 points, and the team shot 56% from the field. They’ve now won six of their last seven games, and hold the best record in the league.

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The Thunder entered Monday’s contest at Rocket Arena with a 35-8 record, which is the best in the league. Their loss to the Heat snapped a five-game win streak, too.

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: 7-10 (u 7.5 wins), third in AFC East, missed playoffs, 24th in DVOA

Overview

Early in the season it looked like the 2025 Dolphins would be an absolute disaster. They started 2-7 with the fifth-worst point differential to that mark. While Miami didn’t completely bottom out, the season was beyond saving. After having a top-five offense whenever Tua Tagovailoa was on the field the past few years, the quarterback imploded and couldn’t stop making mistakes. Tagovailoa led the league in interceptions and was benched after Week 15.

That decision shapes the entire offseason for the Dolphins. Miami will move on from Tagovailoa in the offseason after giving him a contract extension worth over $200 million. On a related note, general manager Chris Grier was fired before the end of the season.

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[Get more Dolphins news: Miami team feed]

The Dolphins will start completely fresh with a new regime as the team fired Mike McDaniel and hired a new head coach in former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who will pair with new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan (he also comes from Green Bay). The Dolphins appeared to kickstart their rebuild one week after the Super Bowl after reportedly cutting ties with eight-time Pro Bowler Tyreek Hill, along with edge rusher Bradley Chubb, wideout Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and guard James Daniels.

Miami now has a chance to pivot from McDaniel’s Tua-centric style of offense, but due to the significant investment in that approach, it might not be a quick or easy path out.

Cap/cuts outlook

Miami entered the week after the Super Bowl -$24 million in effective salary cap space, per Over The Cap. That was the fourth-lowest figure in the league and could get more complicated given what the Dolphins do with Tua Tagovailoa. The most realistic option is a post-June 1 cut, which would still be a net negative on Miami’s cap for 2026 with over $40 million pushed into 2027. Cutting wide receiver Tyreek Hill will save $22.8 million on the cap. Releasing pass rusher Bradley Chubb saves an additional $7.2 million. A restructure for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick would save another $10 million.

Key pending free agents

CB Jack Jones
CB Kader Kohou
CB Rasul Douglas
OL Cole Strange
OL Larry Borom

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Jones was excellent for the Dolphins after being cut from the Raiders in April. He was 25th among cornerbacks with at least 100 coverage snaps in adjusted yards per coverage snap on the season. Douglas was 19th. Both played a role in a second-half improvement for the Miami defense. Kohou was expected to be a part of the secondary, but suffered a partially torn ACL in July that forced him to miss the season.

Positional needs

Quarterback
Offensive line
Secondary

With the Tagovailoa fallout, quarterback jumps to Miami’s top need. After Tagovailoa was benched, the Dolphins turned to seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers, who struggled — as would expected from a seventh-round rookie. Ewers had just one game of positive EPA during his four appearances, but that also came with his lowest success rate.

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The offensive line was an issue throughout the McDaniel era, partly due to the resource allocation to the skill position players. Miami got center Aaron Brewer at a discount in free agency last offseason and received an All-Pro caliber season in return, and the inside run game developed throughout the season. But given the resources available, the Dolphins might have to hit on some Brewer-like lottery tickets again — though the potential of having a more traditional offense could benefit some linemen.

Despite some improvement during the second half of the season, the Dolphins ranked 28th in DVOA against the pass. Two of the bright spots, Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas, are set to be free agents. With one or both back, Miami would still need depth to fill out the secondary. Youth would also help a defense that was 10th-oldest in snap-weighted age.

2026 NFL Draft picks

1st Round, pick No. 11
2nd Round, pick No. 43
3rd Round, pick No. 75
3rd Round (PHI), pick No. 87
3rd Round (HOU), pick No. 90
4th Round
4th Round
7th Round

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Good draft fit

Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU

Delane has good size and speed, and can play man and zone coverage due to his twitchiness and awareness, respectively. He’d be a great piece to start the Dolphins’ secondary rebuild with all their pending free agents in that group.

What could move the fantasy needle in 2026?

Figure out the quarterback spot

What they do about Tua Tagovailoa’s contract is a big question, but it’s beyond over between Tagovailoa and this team. This will be a fascinating team to watch at the QB position and what it indicates for new head coach Jeff Hafley’s vision. There are star skill position players like De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle to work with for whoever is under center. — Matt Harmon

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Betting nugget

The Dolphins were around .500 in many categories for bettors, including 3-3 against the spread as a favorite and 5-6 ATS as an underdog. Miami was 4-4 ATS at home and 3-5 ATS on the road. It was not enough to save Mike McDaniel’s job. — Ben Fawkes

The 2025 NFL Playoffs are underway and while the fantasy football season is over, we can still gather intel based off performances in the playoffs for 2026. Yahoo analyst Matt Harmon shares what each team eliminated in the Divisional round has to do this offseason to improve.

Buffalo Bills: Get serious about pass-catchers

General Manager Brandon Beane put himself in the crosshairs of the Bills fanbase after berating a pair of local radio hosts who dared to question his approach to building the wide receiver room for the 2025 Bills.

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Few things have aged more poorly for an NFL decision-maker over the past few months, as it was obvious from early in the season that the pass-catcher group was a problem for Buffalo. It predictably came back to bite it in its final game of the season. As the internet raged in debate over whether Brandin Cooks did or did not catch his final target of the game, we lost sight of the fact that Josh Allen was throwing to Brandin Cooks — who wasn’t getting looks (targeted on 8.8% of his routes) for a two-win Saints team before being cut in November — in a do-or-die moment in overtime.

Even if Cooks gave the Bills some decent moments down the stretch, the fact that you needed him as desperately as you did is the ultimate sign of failure at this position. It wasn’t the only problem for the 2025 Buffalo Bills and the wide receiver room didn’t make Allen turn the ball over four times on Saturday, but a room that was set up to fail ultimately did just that.

The Bills elected to fire Sean McDermott in the wake of the Divisional Round loss. While this didn’t feel like the “correct” year to call for McDermott’s job based on what he got out of the pass defense late in the season, especially, I understand if this team feels like they need a change of voice at the top after running into the same ending season after season. However, that only really makes sense if you’re also overhauling the front office.

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Buffalo did not do that. In fact, it gave Beane a promotion.

That is … interesting.

The 2025 Bills, to me, were not a good roster on either side of the ball as some of their biggest moves ultimately didn’t work out. Perhaps there wasn’t understanding between what the coaching staff wanted and the players Beane was selecting. Yet, if we’re focused on the wide receiver position, Beane’s own insistence that Keon Coleman was an X-receiver for this team was a smoking gun in relation to how little he grasped the prospect profile of the player and what his roster needed, considering Coleman needed to play inside and their best receiver, Khalil Shakir, is a slot-only option.

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It was obvious at the time of the 2024 NFL Draft that this wasn’t going to work. It didn’t. To date, Coleman has been Beane’s only wide receiver selection in the top-100 draft picks.

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.

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.

San Francisco 49ers: Officially turn the page

Usually, playoff losses, especially as we get deeper into the postseason, inspire some long think pieces about why a team fell short and what it says about their operation. For the 49ers, no such analysis is necessary, despite the blowout nature of their Divisional Round loss. This was simply an inferior team, largely thanks to a bounty of injuries, that punched above its weight all season but finally ran out of gas against the best team in football.

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While San Francisco and Kyle Shanahan must grapple with Mike MacDonald — who has his finger on the pulse of systematically breaking down the offenses that sprout from this tree — and the Seahawks defense lurking in their division for the long-term, the 49ers aren’t going anywhere. They have their head coach and quarterback established and locked in; that’s a fantastic starting point for consistent contention.

However, it’s worth watching how the offense specifically — finally — turns the page to a new era in the offseason.

The 49ers have been slowly moving away from the model and some of the pieces that carried the offense in the early years of Shanahan’s tenure. The 2026 season will likely mark the full move into a new era with Jauan Jennings heading into free agency, George Kittle a long shot to start the season after tearing his Achilles last week, Trent Williams another year old and Brandon Aiyuk already mid-way through a messy divorce with the franchise.

In terms of established skill-position players available for Brock Purdy, the only ones locked in right now are Ricky Pearsall, who is excellent but struggled with injuries in 2025, and Christian McCaffrey. Even with CMC, this team has to be at a point where they need to consider dialing back his workload, especially as a rusher, to preserve what he brings to the table as a one-of-one receiving weapon at his position.

Yet, the 49ers have never been able to resist using McCaffrey at ungodly rates when he’s been available. That’s the point here. It’s time to look to the future and make some alterations both on the margins — like getting a real complement to McCaffrey, who saw his rushing efficiency dip this season, anyway — and from a bigger picture standpoint. The wide receiver room is completely barren outside of Pearsall and they won’t have Kittle to fall back on at tight end. Even if Kittle makes it back next season, he’ll turn 33 years old this year and it usually takes much longer than one year to return to peak performance, if you ever do, for athletes coming off a torn Achilles.

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As mentioned, as long as Shanahan is the head coach and architect of the offense, this will be a good ecosystem worth investing in. The fact that they made it this far with this banged-up roster is proof. People still have big feelings about Purdy but he had some excellent moments late in the season once he got healthy and shook off the rust. That’s a great foundation combination. We can just expect the pieces orbiting the head coach and quarterback to look different as the 49ers continue to turn the page from their excellent past toward a future that they hope will feature many more contending teams.

Houston Texans: Fix C.J. Stroud

Don’t ever let anyone gaslight you or provide incorrect hindsight analysis; C.J. Stroud’s rookie year was excellent. We can acknowledge that and still flatly admit that he has not gotten better; in fact, he has regressed from the player he was in 2023 the last two seasons. Progression isn’t always linear and players don’t just steadily climb on an annual basis. However, you’re not supposed to go backward.

Stroud has undeniably done just that and the playoffs this season have been a low watermark in his career, with his performance in the Divisional Round being one of the worst in recent NFL history.

It’s easier to diagnose the symptoms of Stroud’s decline than it is the root causes. Without excusing his play, we can acknowledge that we might be watching a player withering under the weight of poor circumstances the last two seasons.

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The offensive line improved as the season went on but it’s still not a good pass protection group and Stroud plays like a quarterback with scar tissue from being under siege most of 2024. Houston also ranks 31st in rushing success rate since 2023. The next time it features a consistent ground game that keeps it in positive down and distances, it’ll be the first in the Stroud era. Nico Collins is an elite NFL receiver and was missed on Sunday but this team has failed to develop another counterpunch alongside him to replace an injured Tank Dell — emphasis on “develop,” as they drafted two rookies this season but at no point did the coaching staff ever empower either Jayden Higgins or Jaylin Noel to be full-time players.

Still, Stroud has too often made a middling situation worse, especially in big contests. The superpowers of his game as a rookie were his poise, intelligence and ball placement. Those attributes have not been present in his arsenal the last two weeks or much of the last two seasons.

It’s a full-court press to get the quarterback back on track this offseason. DeMeco Ryans and key defensive players like Will Anderson Jr. were quick to come to Stroud’s defense after the game and offer words of affirmation. Actions speak louder than words. Ryans and General Manager Nick Caserio can’t take half measures to try and get the offense back on track this coming season. That was the approach in far too many capacities last offseason. The team needs to come away with a serious solution to the running game and along the offensive line, in addition to making a serious effort to develop young players like Higgins and Noel.

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All of that might not be enough to fix Stroud but you can’t come away from this offseason without knowing you gave it your best effort.

Chicago Bears: Continue to grow

Typically, these surprise playoff teams, especially those who make their bones in one-score games and late in the fourth quarter, are prime regression candidates for the following season. The Chicago Bears certainly fit that mold, but unlike some of those teams in the past, they are an extremely young and should be an ascending team. That is especially the case on the offensive side of the ball.

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. You can argue that their veteran pass-catcher had the lowest moment of the game in overtime, as DJ Moore’s “loose” style of play with details came back to haunt the team on a risky throw from Caleb Williams:

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. That was the exact type of flow I predicted for the Bears this season — volatility to start but real tangible highs by the end — the only difference is that they won way more games than I expected. 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. The run game was already a staple for this team and should return almost all of the offensive line starters and the running back duo.

It will be interesting to see how the fantasy hivemind treats this offense going forward. There will be some too scared about the potential for a crowded target tree to get too bullish on any, although Loveland feels most likely to break through to the elite status relative to his position. For me, I’m going to be quite in on this passing game, taking the next step in Johnson’s second year with these players. All of them are talented with some correctable flaws to work out of their game.