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Five months ago, these were the types of races that Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay was preparing for.

A race for the NFC West crown. A race for the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the NFC. A race for another Super Bowl appearance. And the foundation of it all: an effort to get every last ounce of elite football out of his quarterback, Matthew Stafford, who McVay believed still had an MVP-level performance residing inside him.

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Back in late July, it felt like a shaky proclamation. Training camp was unfolding without Stafford, who was sidelined with unexpected back pain, triggering some early fan base consternation that the 2025 season was going sideways before it even started. McVay shrugged and brushed it off in a meeting with Yahoo Sports, framing a much bigger picture.

“It’s about what’s going to be best for us later in the season. Right now, for Matthew, being out there isn’t what we’re concerned with,” McVay told Yahoo Sports in July. “I’m thinking of December and January and hopefully if we do this right, February. If we can take care of him now — s***, man, we can roll with Jimmy [Garoppolo], who I think is still a starter in this league, for as long as we have to if it means having Matthew where we want him late in the season. What’s important is for him and us, is to be healthy and hopefully going into the postseason ready to start peaking.”

[Get more Rams news: Los Angeles team feed]

Asked to project how much elite football Stafford had left in the tank at 37 years old, McVay smiled.

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“He’s still got it all,” McVay said. “Draft Davante [Adams] and Puka [Nacua] on your fantasy football team.”

It turned out to be a prophetic declaration, with Stafford not only putting together a healthy campaign, but also on the cusp of posting arguably the greatest regular-season performance of his NFL career. With two games left and the Rams still in the race for the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed, Stafford’s league-leading 40 touchdown passes are one shy of his career high, alongside a 112.1 passer rating that also leads the NFL and would smash his previous ceiling of 106. The underpinnings of that achievement include holding the current NFL lead in passing yardage (4,179) and adjusted net yards per pass attempt (8.61), while throwing only five interceptions in 519 pass attempts.

In a word, he’s been exquisite, delivering the kind of season that should eventually help punch his Hall of Fame ticket. In two weeks, the question for Associated Press panel voters will be whether it’s good enough to lock down the first league MVP of Stafford’s career.

With that in mind, here’s an overview of how the MVP field stacks up with two games left in the season — and a bonus look at what is stacking up as one of the most hotly debated NFL Coach of the Year races.

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NFL MVP race

Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Stafford has all the aforementioned statistical edges. He also has six wins over teams that have either qualified for the postseason (the Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers) or are still in the thick of playoff races (the Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans). His toughness and leadership traits have reached platinum-level status across the league when you talk to players, coaches and executives. There aren’t many quarterbacks in the league whom McVay can’t bully with his expectations as a play caller, and Stafford is considered one of the few. Even in last week’s overtime loss to the Seahawks, Stafford played at a level that left his MVP candidacy clean in defeat.

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It will be interesting to see if Stafford is penalized by some voters for having more elite talent surrounding him than some of his peers he’s fighting for MVP honors. Interestingly, even in the Rams’ four losses, Stafford played reasonably well in three of the defeats, with his one outlier being a loss to the Panthers that saw him throw two of his five interceptions.

One twist in Stafford’s reach for a league MVP: The Rams are currently residing in third place in the NFC West, with two games remaining against the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals. In NFL history dating back to 1957, only one player has ever captured a league MVP with his team finishing in third place in the division: the Detroit Lions’ Barry Sanders in 1997. It’s extremely rare for league MVPs to fail to win their own division, and unheard of for quarterbacks to capture the award from third place. In fact, only two quarterbacks in MVP history have failed to win their division in the season they captured the honors — with the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning (in 2008) and the Tennessee Titans’ Steve McNair (in 2003) both finishing second.

The one thing Stafford has going for him that Manning and McNair didn’t? The NFC West is qualifying three teams for the playoffs and is generally accepted as the toughest division in the NFL this season.

Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Maye stacks up as an excellent candidate, but the heat for him winning an MVP showcases how warped the week-to-week measuring stick can be when it comes to betting odds.

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Two weeks ago, the odds were lamenting Maye and the Patriots suffering an ugly collapse against the Buffalo Bills after leading that game 21-0. Now this past week, Maye notched his first 300-yard passing game and his first fourth-quarter comeback win against the Baltimore Ravens, and oddsmakers suddenly felt settled in throwing out an oddly wide gap between Maye and the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen. Thankfully, MVP voters aren’t casting their ballots every single week the way odds makers are pushing wild betting swings.

All of that said, Maye has been superb in only his second season, logging 29 total touchdowns (25 passing and four rushing) while being a remarkable deep-ball passer and holding down a league-leading (and absurd) completion percentage of 70.9 percent in a scheme that isn’t just a dink-and-dunk factory.

[Get more Patriots news: New England team feed]

Maye has also done all of this with a surrounding cast that was a significant question mark heading into the season, filled with rookies or inexperienced players filling key roles and a No. 1 wideout in Stefon Diggs who has showcased a penchant for cannibalizing his quarterbacks when he’s not happy with his usage. Not to mention a new head coach in Mike Vrabel and a new offensive coordinator in Josh McDaniels who expect a lot from their starting quarterbacks.

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In the face of that, Maye has helped raise all boats over the course of the season, while showcasing remarkable pocket awareness and movement over the course of the season. The Patriots’ soft schedule will surely be factored into the final analysis, but there’s an overwhelming amount of positives on Maye’s MVP résumé — and still two weeks left to stake his claim with the AFC’s top seed in the balance.

Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

The reigning NFL MVP has 37 total touchdowns (25 passing and 12 rushing) and has once again shouldered a massive offensive load for the Bills — even with running back James Cook leading the league in rushing after 15 games. While some are squarely putting Maye ahead of Allen at this stage of the MVP race, there’s a strong argument that it’s a dead heat between the two when it comes to the next tier below Stafford.

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Both Allen and Maye lag behind Stafford in quality wins, and both have put up a few more mediocre games this season in terms of individual performances. Right now, Allen is falling in sportsbook odds in the MVP race because he’s coming off a win over the Cleveland Browns that was one of his more toothless games.

[Get more Bills news: Buffalo team feed]

Unfortunately, that’s the trouble with betting odds on MVP, which swing heavily on recency bias and don’t take into account the MVP voters who prefer to look at entire balance of work rather than just voting with their last best impression of a player. Depending on how the last two weeks shake out, Allen can still help or hurt himself when it comes to the final tally. Especially with the No. 1 seed in the AFC still hanging in the balance and matchup with the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

MVP remaining field

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has emerged in the remaining field of contenders, and it is showing in betting odds in many sportsbooks that now have him inside the top four MVP contenders. In his past four games, Lawrence has looked like the generational quarterback many believed he could be when the Jaguars made him the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Statistically, this will end up being the best season of Lawrence’s career as he heads into the final two weeks with 33 total touchdowns (26 passing and seven rushing). He also has a stack of quality wins over the course of the season.

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But all of that said, Lawrence only recently began to consistently touch his ceiling on the field — and two of the games in his impressive four-pack over the last month have come at the hands of the bottom-dwelling New York Jets and Tennessee Titans. The season isn’t over yet, so Lawrence can still make his case, but right now this late surge feels like he’s launching a campaign to be a 2026 NFL MVP frontrunner more than the guy who will walk away with the hardware after this season.

NFL Coach of the Year race

Aside from the MVP — and perhaps even surpassing the MVP conversation — this season’s Coach of The Year ballots are going to be very interesting. There’s a field of four head coaches (maybe five) that I think could win the award this year. Here’s what that group looks like:

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Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars

In his first season, Coen has transformed the Jaguars’ offense into a balanced and complementary unit that can hurt teams with the run and pass. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has also seemingly turned a significant corner in Coen’s scheme — particularly in his last four games, with the capper being Sunday’s symphonic road win over the Denver Broncos. Coming off a 4-13 season in 2024, the Jaguars are in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, have multiple wins over teams that will be in the playoffs, and have a superb coaching staff. Coen has checked more than enough boxes to give anyone a run for COY honors.

Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears

Like Coen, Johnson has also transformed the Bears’ offense into a more balanced team, while stubbornly bringing along the development of quarterback Caleb Williams. Also like Coen, he’s doing it in his first season. But Johnson has remarkably vaulted from a 5-12 basement to the top of a savage NFC North in the process, putting the Bears in contention for the NFC’s No. 1 seed along the way. Chicago’s matchup Sunday against the 49ers and fellow COY candidate Kyle Shanahan — two of the league’s elite offensive minds — is going to be very interesting, and will certainly be part of the parsing process between the two.

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Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks

There was a reason why the Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay and San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan were not thrilled when Macdonald landed in their division in 2024, and we’re seeing it now. Macdonald has transformed Seattle into one of the most balanced teams in the NFL offensively and defensively, integrated quarterback Sam Darnold into the mix, moved on successfully from DK Metcalf and rebooted a running game that is once again capable of getting the Seahawks through tough defensive battles. The one thing that will hurt Macdonald is that he’s coming off a 10-7 season in 2024 and didn’t start a reboot process this season to get where he is. There was some expectation of success this season, much like there was for Sean Payton in Denver and McVay in Los Angeles.

Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers

No coach has produced more in the face of roster adversity than Shanahan this season. Not only did the 49ers sustain a wave of veteran experience and leadership departing in the offseason, but San Francisco has juggled its way through injuries in virtually every area of the depth chart this season. That includes a long spate without starting quarterback Brock Purdy — in which backup Mac Jones performed in a manner that could revive his starting career — as well as losing defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner for the season. Not to mention the mess with wideout Brandon Aiyuk, which Shanahan somehow kept from becoming a huge distraction all season long. Shanahan carving this season out through the injuries and inside a monumentally tough NFC West may be the best coaching job of his career.

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Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots

Vrabel took over a 4-13 Patriots team that finished last and transformed it in his first year back with the franchise, putting New England in play for the AFC’s No. 1 seed. The turnaround has come with a roster that has had relatively thin depth and flat expectations, but has come together quickly defensively under Vrabel’s leadership. He also deserves a tip of the cap for turning the offense over to coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has brought along quarterback Drake Maye faster than anyone anticipated in his second season. While some will ding Vrabel for mounting the turnaround on a fairly weak schedule, it’s worth noting that he’s done it without some of the offensive wealth afforded some of the other COY candidates. He was also influential on both the free agency and draft classes, which have produced at a fairly high level on the field.

Coach of the Year remaining field

As I alluded to before, the Broncos’ Sean Payton and Rams’ Sean McVay are going to get consideration. The Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh and Texans’ DeMeco Ryans could land some votes, too. The problem with all of these names — and arguably even Macdonald — is that they are building on success in 2024, or have established veteran quarterback continuity, among other factors.

Last week’s release of Topps Chrome Basketball brought plenty of excitement to collectors. It marked the first Topps Chrome Basketball product since 2009 — when Stephen Curry was a rookie.

This drop wasn’t going to happen quietly.

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Topps and Fanatics have been a marketing machine for the first Topps Chrome Basketball set in more than 15 years. They didn’t just showcase the rookie class led by Cooper Flagg and the special Gold Logoman Patch Autographed cards — they also got influencers, companies, creators, breakers and more to join in the celebration.

Nearly 100 different social media accounts updated their profile images across platforms to feature an NBA Gold Logoman on the day of the Dec. 18 release. If you followed any card or basketball accounts of note, you probably saw the update.

It was a simple charcoal background with a red, blue and gold NBA Logoman.

Those accounts collectively represent more than 96 million followers in the U.S. and another 43 million internationally.

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Some of the notable accounts to feature the NBA Gold Logoman included the NBA, NBA China, Topps, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, “Shark Tank’s” Kevin O’Leary, card shops, Topps employees and more.

The Gold Logoman is significant because redemptions for cards featuring the special patch and signature can be found in boxes of 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball.

The Gold Logoman patches come from the jerseys of major NBA award winners from last season, including MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley and Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.

The significance of game-worn patches has been capturing attention across the collectibles space, especially after the autographed Gold Logoman Shohei Ohtani card sold for $3 million last Thursday.

Washington Wizards forward Cam Whitmore is the latest NBA player to be sidelined with deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

The Wizards announced his condition on Tuesday. Whitmore was sidelined for two games with what was initially diagnosed as shoulder soreness. Further evaluation of the injury revealed his condition. Whitmore will now be sidelined indefinitely.

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Whitmore, 21, is in this third NBA season after being selected with the No. 20 pick by the Houston Rockets in the 2023 NBA Draft. He’s a rotation player for the Wizards who’s averaging 9.2 points and 2.8 rebounds off the bench.

What is deep vein thrombosis?

DVT is an increasingly recurring condition among NBA players. It’s a condition that comes with serious health risks and can have a significant impact on an athlete’s career and availability to play.

DVT occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, typically in the legs. But it can occur in other parts of the body as well and appears in this case from the Wizards’ announcement to have formed in Whitmore’s right shoulder.

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The most serious risk of the condition is that the blood clot travels from where it formed and into a lung, where it can get lodged in an artery. This condition is called a pulmonary embolism and can be life-threatening.

Managing the condition and preventing worsening outcomes becomes a top priority upon diagnosis. Blood-thinning medication is a common form of treatment. The Wizards did not announce if Whitmore would be placed on blood thinners.

Other NBA players to develop deep vein thrombosis

Whitmore joins a growing list of NBA players to experience DVT, most recently including Damian Lillard and Victor Wembanyama.

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Lillard was diagnosed with DVT in March when a blood clot formed in his right calf. He returned to play for the Milwaukee Bucks in the playoffs in late April, a surprisingly quick return to the court from his diagnosis.

He sustained a torn Achilles tendon in his left leg in a first-round playoff game against the Indiana Pacers. It’s unclear what, if any, impact Lillard’s DVT and recovery had on the Achilles tear that occurred in his opposite leg.

Wembanyama was diagnosed with DVT in his right shoulder in February. The San Antonio Spurs superstar did not play again in the 2024-25 season. He returned to the court for the start of this season and has maintained his high-level of play when not sidelined by injuries unrelated to his DVT.

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Ausar Thompson in 2024, Brandon Ingram in 2019 and Chris Bosh in 2015 are among other notable NBA players to have experienced deep vein thrombosis. Bosh cut his Hall of Fame career short at 31 years old after his blood clot traveled to his lungs.

Tennis legend Serena Williams was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism at the peak of her career in 2011 after blood clots formed in both of her lungs. She was hospitalized and said after her recovery that “I was on my death bed at one point.”

She returned to the court after recovering to win 10 of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

The NFL didn’t want to stick broadcast partners Amazon and Netflix with bad matchups for Christmas. On paper, back when the schedule was released in May, the Christmas slate looked great.

It didn’t turn out as expected.

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The first game was between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders. The Cowboys probably weren’t going to be great this season, but they’re the Cowboys and the Commanders had an exciting 2024 season with Jayden Daniels. Both teams are well out of the playoff race, and Daniels has been shut down for the year due to an elbow injury.

Last season the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings entered the regular-season finale both at 14-2 playing for a division title, a game Detroit won. This season the Lions are barely hanging on to any playoff hope while the Vikings have been eliminated. And the Vikings will be down their top two quarterbacks.

The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs were both playoff teams last season and the Chiefs are one of the NFL’s marquee draws. Instead of a fun game between division rivals, we get a 6-9 Chiefs team that just lost to the Titans and is also down to their third-string quarterback. The Broncos are the only team among the six playing on Christmas who will be in the playoffs, unless the Lions have a miraculous rally.

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Are you ready for some Christmas football?

Let’s equate the three Christmas games with the gifts you might find under the tree or in your stocking.

A pair of socks: Cowboys at Commanders

It’s not just that Jayden Daniels will miss this game. Marcus Mariota is no sure thing as he deals with quad and hand injuries that forced him out of Washington’s Week 16 loss to the Eagles. We might get Josh Johnson starting for Washington. We could see half of the teams on Christmas starting third-string quarterbacks.

At least the Cowboys are fun to watch on offense. Dak Prescott has had a good season throwing to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Dallas is a bad team overall, due to a poor defense, but at least fantasy players with any Cowboys in your championship game will be interested. There’s not much other reason to be fired up for this one, but like when you unwrap those ugly socks, we’ll politely smile and put them on.

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Re-gifted bread maker: Lions at Vikings

That bread maker might be unexciting, but at least you might use it once or twice. That’s how Lions at Vikings feels. The Lions have some interest, though their 7% chance of making the playoffs (via NFL.com) is not the easiest sell. At least there are some exciting players like Jahmyr Gibbs on that side.

The Vikings have a superstar too in Justin Jefferson, but he has been a non-factor most of the season due to a miserable Vikings quarterback situation. The QB situation will be even worse on Christmas since J.J. McCarthy will be out due to a hairline fracture in his right throwing hand. That will give undrafted rookie Max Brosmer another start. Brosmer threw four interceptions and had a 32.8 passer rating in his only other NFL start.

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There are a few disappointing teams in the NFL this season, but these two are near the top of the list. And, incredibly, because the two teams are hovering around .500, it’s the best matchup of the three Christmas games.

Coal in the stocking: Broncos at Chiefs

At least the NFL saved the worst for last. The Chiefs are on prime time a lot, and love them or hate them, they usually put on a good show. That was before Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL. Gardner Minshew II didn’t even last a half in his first start last week replacing Mahomes before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Next man up is presumably Chris Oladokun, a 2022 seventh-round pick who before Minshew’s injury last Sunday had only taken a few snaps in the NFL. While it’s a great opportunity for a player who has spent most of his career on practice squads, it’s hard to see him keeping the Chiefs competitive against a very good Broncos defense. The Chiefs are a 13-point underdog, the largest spread they’ve faced since 1977. You don’t even have to feign enthusiasm for this one.

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Of the six teams playing on Christmas, the Broncos are the one that actually has a realistic postseason goal in front of it. The Broncos can still get the No. 1 seed in the AFC despite last week’s loss to the Jaguars. They still are in a race for the AFC West title with the Chargers. This game initially looked like it could be a huge one, with the Chiefs trying to extend their streak of nine straight AFC West titles against a very strong competitor. It didn’t play out as expected. None of the Christmas matchups did.

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Happy Holidays from The Dunker Spot!

Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones previewed this year’s Christmas slate.

We have Cavaliers vs. Knicks, Spurs vs. Thunder, Rockets vs. Lakers, Mavericks vs Warriors and Timberwolves vs. Nuggets as the nightcap. Steve and Nekias are examining the key matchups, mini-battles and potential swing factors in each game.

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Also, shout out to Wilt Chamberlain.

If you ever have NBA or WNBA questions, email us at dunkerspot@yahoo.com.

(1:17) — Cavs-Knicks

(15:23) — Spurs-Thunder

(30:32) — Mavs-Warriors

(42:22) — Rockets-Lakers

(54:16) — Wolves-Nuggets

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

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

The San Francisco 49ers reportedly received relatively good news Tuesday ahead of the critical stretch run of their season.

Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, All-Pro tight end George Kittle avoided a high ankle sprain in Monday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts. Kittle is dealing with a “mid-to-low ankle sprain,” per the report, which still leaves his status in doubt ahead of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.

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But he’s reportedly avoided the high ankle sprain diagnosis that frequently comes with multi-week absences.

When healthy this season, Kittle has been at his peak form and among the best tight ends in the NFL. He was in the midst of one of his best games of the season when he left late in the third quarter Monday night with an ankle injury.

The precise nature of the injury was not clear in the aftermath of San Francisco’s 48-27 win. Kittle tallied a game-high 7 catches for 115 yards and 1 touchdown prior to his exit.

Despite missing five games with injury, Kittle has remained on of the NFL’s most productive tight ends. In 10 games, he has 52 catches for 599 yards and 7 touchdowns. The effort earned Kittle his seventh career Pro Bowl nod and fifth straight earlier Tuesday.

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The 49ers improved to 11-4 with Monday’s win and now control their path to the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. If they beat the Bears on Sunday and the Seahawks in their Week 18 season finale, they’ll overtake Seattle for the top spot in the conference.

Kittle is key to San Francisco’s offensive success and its hopes of securing that No. 1 seed.

One of LIV Golf’s most high-profile names has left the tour. Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka announced Tuesday that he will no longer play for LIV Golf or captain Smash GC, his now former LIV Golf team.

“Brooks Koepka will be stepping away from LIV Golf,” Koepka’s representatives said in a statement. “He is deeply grateful to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Scott O’Neil, and the LIV Golf leadership team, his teammates, and the fans. Family has always guided Brooks’s decisions, and he feels this is the right moment to spend more time at home. Brooks will continue to be a huge supporter of LIV Golf and wishes the league and its players continued success. Brooks remains passionate about the game of golf and will keep fans updated on what’s ahead.”

Koepka, along with Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, was among LIV Golf’s most notable signees. He joined the breakaway tour in June 2022 and a year later became the first LIV player to win a major when he captured the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill — his third PGA Championship victory to go along with two U.S. Opens.

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Now Koepka, 35, is the first of those to jump ship.

“We have amicably and mutually agreed that Brooks Koepka will no longer compete in the LIV Golf League, following the 2025 season,” LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement. “Brooks is prioritizing the needs of his family and staying closer to home. We appreciate the significant impact he has had on the game and wish him continued success, both on and off the course.”

The big question now is: Does Koepka want to try to rejoin the PGA Tour?

The PGA Tour has indicated that a pathway back from LIV would require a player to sit out at least a year after playing in a non-sanctioned event. LIV’s final event ended on Aug. 25, 2025; a year’s delay would make Koepka ineligible to play until at least the PGA Tour’s fall events. He could potentially play on the DP World Tour.

As of this week, Koepka is ranked 244th in the world in the Official World Golf Rankings, the pathway players can use to gain entry into the majors. However, Koepka is already eligible to play in all four majors for the next few seasons — the PGA Tour does not control any of the four majors — by virtue of his 2023 PGA Championship victory.

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Shortly after Koepka’s team released its statement, the Tour offered up a statement of its own:

“Brooks Koepka is a highly accomplished professional, and we wish him and his family continued success. The PGA Tour continues to offer the best professional golfers the most competitive, challenging and lucrative environment in which to pursue greatness.”

At some point over the past three years, as he realized his physical prime was being wasted on a hit-and-giggle tour only an army of internet trolls and bots could love, it had to have burned Brooks Koepka that golf’s most authentic athlete was being reduced to a what-if.

Still just 35 years old, it was obvious to anyone paying attention that he long considered his jump to LIV Golf a mistake — not for any moral reason, but for the most Koepka reason possible. As Scottie Scheffler ascended to all-time greatness, Rory McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam and the PGA Tour effectively won the war for golf relevance, the five-time major champion caught a case of FOMO that could not be cured by the Saudi dollars rolling into his bank account.

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Koepka and LIV announced Tuesday he is leaving the tour. Framed in statements as an opportunity to “spend more time at home,” it took only a few minutes for the PGA Tour to release its own take on Koepka’s latest career development:

“Brooks Koepka is a highly accomplished professional, and we wish him and his family continued success. The PGA Tour continues to offer the best professional golfers the most competitive, challenging and lucrative environment in which to pursue greatness.”

Translation: Game, set, welcome back.

One caveat, however. If the contractual tea leaves are being interpreted correctly, Koepka would not be eligible to return to the PGA Tour until late August — one year after his last tournament with LIV. He’ll have exemptions into all four majors and eligibility on the DP World Tour, but he probably won’t be a full-time PGA Tour member again until the 2027 season.

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It can’t come a moment too soon.

When Koepka left the PGA Tour for LIV in 2022 for a contract worth more than $100 million, according to multiple reports, along with Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau among others, the golf world fractured.

For a period after it launched, LIV seemed like an unstoppable force backed by unlimited dollars. The PGA Tour was reeling, unable to deliver as many stars as its sponsors and fans wanted on a regular basis and scrambling to reorganize its prize money structure to prevent more players from jumping ship.

Over time, though, LIV ran into one major problem: Nobody cared.

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Sure, there were certain underserved golf markets, like Australia where LIV would play a tournament, fans would show up by the thousands and it looked like one big Gen Z-style party with dance music thumping in the background.

The reality, though, is that LIV has not caught on as a viable television product and too many players who took the guaranteed money have seen their games atrophy in a barely competitive environment.

Yes, Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship and DeChambeau has been a regular force in the majors. But Johnson hasn’t been a relevant golfer in ages, Rahm hasn’t been as sharp under pressure and Cam Smith’s game seems to be wasting away. Mito Pereira, who would have won the PGA Championship in 2022 if he didn’t drive it into the creek on the 72nd hole, has been so bad since going to LIV that he announced his retirement this week at age 30.

And since that 2023 PGA win? Koepka hasn’t made a top-10 in any of the last 10 majors and missed the cut in three of them last year.

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For the guy who forged his game and reputation on showing up in the biggest events, that was never sustainable.

The seeds of Koepka returning to the PGA Tour had been planted long before Tuesday. All the way back at the 2023 Masters, when he finished tied for second, Koepka was asked about being unable to compete against the likes of McIlroy and Scheffler on a week-in, week-out basis.

“That’s the one thing I do miss,” he said. “That’s what makes the majors so cool.”

He continued: “It is what it is. It’s the situation we’ve got right now, so I can’t do anything about it. I just go play.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of what LIV’s Saudi overlords had put together.

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The LIV framing of Koepka’s departure was hilarious. A “Thank You” graphic on social media was paired with a press release on its website with the headline: “Statements on Talor Gooch taking over as Smash GC captain.”

It’s all but an admission that LIV’s relevance as a serious golfing entity is over and it’s only a matter of time before the players with good years ahead and long-term ambitions to win major titles play out their contracts and ultimately return to the best, most competitive tour in the world.

When all this went down 3½ years ago, Koepka was in a different place. He was struggling with injuries and his career was trending downward. If you watched the Netflix documentary series “Full Swing,” he seemed authentically worried that his best days might be behind him.

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So he took the money. It seemed right at the time.

But Koepka is a special player, an all-time great, because he’s the rare golfer whose game elevates when it’s hard. He’s wired like an elite athlete, motivated by the biggest prizes and the head-to-head competition with the players he respects the most.

He quickly discovered LIV wasn’t the place where that was going to happen, and his eventual return to the PGA Tour will bring fans a step closer to a world where the best players are competing against each other on a week-in, week-out basis.

In the meantime, for all the doom and gloom when LIV began in 2022, the PGA Tour has survived, evolved and ultimately thrived. With Scheffler and McIlroy staying loyal and other young stars rising through the ranks, it proved it didn’t need Koepka — or DeChambeau or Rahm — to deliver a good product.

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But Koepka’s presence alone will make the PGA Tour more compelling the minute he’s eligible to play. If there’s anything left of the old Koepka, who showed up at every major as the most feared competitor on the planet, it won’t come a moment too soon.

Welcome back, Brooks.

Happy holidays! This edition of the Four Verts column is feeling the spirit of the season. Do you root for an NFL team that needs a quarterback? You’re in luck. What about a team that’s always injured? We’ve got a present there too! We’ll even give one team a prized asset back. That’s just how good we’re feeling.

QB-Needy Teams: Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore both declare

There are a lot of teams that potentially need a quarterback, and it appears the 2026 draft class, like most seasons, will be thin at the top with quarterback talent. Right now, the only player who appears to have long-term potential that is confirmed to be in the draft is Indiana’s Heisman-winning field general Fernando Mendoza.

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Mendoza will be a top-five pick at worst, and Oregon’s Dante Moore could join him if he decides to declare. Moore is a first-year starter who is only 20 years old, but he has all the tools to be a high-upside passer as he develops his game. For Christmas, we are generating a world where both of these guys are in the class for QB-needy teams.

A handful of teams need to make an investment here. The Browns (sorry, Shedeur stans, you have to know this isn’t NFL-caliber play) and Raiders feel destined to at least be rumored to take one of these guys if they both declare, but there are some wild-card teams that could make a move as well. The Giants currently own the first overall pick in the draft and find themselves in a precarious situation coming off of Jaxson Dart’s 13-net-passing-yard performance against the Vikings this weekend. Taking a quarterback makes a whole lot of sense if they want to do that, especially since the rookie contract for a late first-round pick is not really all that taxing.

The Saints, Dolphins, Jets and Rams (using the Falcons’ pick) should be seen as threats to make a play for a quarterback too. That becomes a lot harder if this draft is like last year’s and there’s only one top quarterback. So we will use the magic powers of the North Pole to make Dante Moore enter the draft and provide another option for the host of teams that could be looking at a quarterback.

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Chargers-49ers: A Madden-style injuries slider

Coming off of big wins this weekend that clinched playoff berths for both teams, the Chargers and 49ers are set to hit the playoffs in a season where that looked like a dubious proposition at times. For some reason, these two teams have just been plagued by injuries in recent history, and this season was no different.

Since the serious holes exposed by those injuries will probably lead to both the Chargers’ and 49ers’ demise in the playoffs, for this year Santa is bringing both teams an injury slider to get those guys back in for the playoffs. (For those who don’t play Madden, the games let you tweak the default settings to change the likelihood of certain elements — like injuries.)

It’s hard to decide who is in worse shape for this playoffs run, but let’s start with the 49ers who just let a Colts offense led by Old Man Rivers score 27 points with a borderline non-existent pass rush. That game certainly would have gone differently if they had Nick Bosa, Mykel Williams and Fred Warner, all of whom suffered season-ending injuries, and it’s time to see if the 49ers can actually go on another run without their best defenders. Their pass rush just doesn’t give them a great chance to sustain successful defense in the postseason, and they haven’t had a great run on that side of the ball recently outside of a game against the hazardous Cleveland Browns offense. It will be fun to see how that offense plays in the playoffs when they’re pressed for points, because Kyle Shanahan can still call an offense that will dice any defense up.

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The Chargers are on here because they have a superhero at quarterback. Justin Herbert has stood tall through an onslaught of offensive line injuries, helping the team clinch a playoff berth with an incredible display of talent and firepower against the Dallas Cowboys this weekend. It’s just tough to see this team being able to go on a run with so many injuries up front, particularly to Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, their proposed elite bookend tackle duo now out for the season. Last year’s wild-card round didn’t go so well when an injured Chargers offensive line ran into the rabid Texans defense, and they face the potential of having the same gruesome fate this postseason.

Check your stockings, 49ers and Chargers, the magic of Christmas has brought something that can change the complexity of the entire world — a groundbreaking, in-real-life,  injury setting like in Madden that is only being used on football, and not for any of the other ailments that plague people in society. (Don’t have time for all that.)

Steelers: The desire to make a proper move for a quarterback

Mike Tomlin! You’re still really good at this! Another year, another winning season for the Steelers, and it feels like they might actually have a shot to win a game in the postseason this year coming off an impressive win against the Lions this weekend. The Steelers have figured out how to get past some of their midseason ruts and are rounding into strong form heading into the postseason, but they still need something for the future: another real boy at quarterback. They’ve been cycling through the bottom of the barrel since Ben Roethlisberger retired, finally stumbling on a solid option this season with Aaron Rodgers.

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Rodgers has actually fared well, but Pittsburgh still needs to find a long-term option for the future. For Christmas, Santa’s elves have created a device that will convince Tomlin and the Steelers it’s time to really reach into that bag of assets to make the move we’ve been waiting on forever. The floor on this team doesn’t seem to be falling out any time soon, and they can blow the roof out with legitimate quarterback talent. Make the move!

Figuring out who that player would be is a tougher question, but it’s clear the Steelers shouldn’t fire Tomlin and they need a reset at the most important position in the game. Life doesn’t have to be this strenuous! Make the move, Mike. You’ve been gifted an opportunity by Big Red to find the next long-term Steelers quarterback.

Being able to compete with the rest of the division is already tough enough, and most years the Steelers are handicapping themselves with poor quarterback play. All of that can change this holiday season.

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Falcons: Their first-round pick back

The Falcons walked into this season as their “all in” year. All their cap space and a future first-round pick was tied into this season … where they were eliminated from the playoffs incredibly early in arguably the worst iteration of the NFC South that existed since the division was formed in 2002. That’s a massive failure, and a sign the Falcons greatly overestimated how good this team was. So for Christmas, the Falcons get the mulligan of all mulligans and are gifted back their first-round pick that they traded away for James Pearce Jr. in last April’s NFL Draft.

Pearce has been solid for a rookie. He’s been a productive sub-package player for the Falcons, but ultimately spending two first-round picks on a player who is playing 53% of the snaps is not exactly how you completely fix your defense. Any team who is slated to pick in the top 10 could use that pick back, no matter how promising fans find Pearce’s future. Ultimately, this is a team that’s in store for a brutal 2026 season unless they can find some cheaper ways to add serious talent, because they’re going to be tight on cash again (relative to the talent on this team).

There’s a very real chance the Falcons could be worse next year since they don’t have the most robust set of assets to improve the team, which is their own fault. The team might even need a quarterback given the long and continued injury history of second-year QB Michael Penix Jr. It’s just tough to imagine a world where he can be at the peak of his powers coming off of his third torn ACL. He will be playing at some point next season and his performance will ultimately decide the future of the Falcons. Dubious.

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Hubris will come for us all, and no one has displayed that in a more egregious manner than the Falcons. They thought they had a winning team, which is pretty funny looking back. However, in this alternate universe, Santa has come to save the day by bringing their 2026 first-round pick down the chimney.

Jared Goff is tied with MVP frontrunner, Pro Bowler and intertwined trade counterpart Matthew Stafford for the lowest interception rate in the league this season. Goff has thrown only five interceptions while amassing the second-most passing touchdowns (32) of any quarterback in the league during the 2025 campaign.

Through 15 games, he also ranks third in passing yards (4,036), fifth in completion percentage (68.6%), second in passer rating (109.4) and, according to Next Gen Stats, tied for fifth in EPA per dropback (+0.15).

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Goff has done all of that while playing behind a Detroit Lions offensive line that has taken a step back, and particularly struggled on the interior, this season. Yet, he might miss out on the playoffs.

He’s on the outside looking in of the 2026 Pro Bowl rosters, too.

So is division rival Jordan Love, who is tied with Stafford for first in EPA per dropback (+0.20), according to NGS. Like Goff, Love has suffered some heartbreaking losses this season. But, in that advanced metric, both are ahead of two of the NFC’s Pro Bowl quarterbacks: the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and the Seattle Seahawks’ Sam Darnold, who are tied for seventh (+0.12) and tied for 10th (+0.08) in EPA per dropback, respectively.

If the rudimentary QB wins stat was a factor, then it’s fair to ask why Prescott got the nod over Goff and Love, given that the six-win Cowboys have already been eliminated from playoff contention.

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As for Darnold, as great of a story as he continues to be, his 24 passing touchdowns are only one more than Love’s 23. Plus, Darnold has thrown 13 interceptions, whereas Love has tossed just six picks.

Darnold’s interception rate (3.1%) is more than double Love’s (1.4%). Love notably completed a franchise record-tying 20 straight passes in a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8, and his 66.3% completion percentage is the second best of his career.

Goff and Love each have a convincing case for this year’s Pro Bowl Games. They’re among the biggest snubs.

[Read: 2026 Pro Bowl rosters announced]

The Pro Bowl Games include a skills competition and a 7-on-7 flag football game that’s scheduled for Feb. 3 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, which will host Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8.

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Long gone are the days of a “real” Pro Bowl, but the exhibition unraveled into glorified two-hand touch over the years anyway. Nevertheless, a Pro Bowl nod is still meaningful in the league.

That said, it’s not a foolproof measuring stick for player excellence. The Pro Bowl Games rosters are determined by a combination of votes from coaches, players and fans. Each group accounts for a third of the consensus vote.

An accomplished player with just an OK season can occasionally receive the All-Star tag line because of name recognition or lifetime achievement. It’s an imperfect system.

Here are the rest of the snubs…

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Indianapolis Colts TE Tyler Warren

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers earned a spot on the AFC roster despite making a mere eight starts and averaging 13.5 fewer receiving yards per game than he did during his head-turning rookie campaign. Bowers is a stud, but Warren’s body of work this year is more impressive. He’s caught 66 passes for 748 yards and four touchdowns. He’s second among all tight ends this season in yards after the catch (467), behind only Arizona Cardinals star Trey McBride (520), per NGS. Oh, and he’s rushed for a score and, according to Pro Football Focus, lined up three snaps at QB.

New Orleans Saints WR Chris Olave

It’s hard to argue with the NFC’s Pro Bowl receivers this season. But there’s definitely an argument to be made for Chris Olave, who has enjoyed a bounce-back season while starring in an offense that’s turned from Spencer Rattler to Tyler Shough under center. Olave has dipped back into the 1,000-yard receiving pool, and he’s got as many contested catches (16) as Cincinnati Bengals standouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, per PFF.

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Miami Dolphins C Aaron Brewer

Brewer was at the heart of a Dolphins offensive line that paved the way for Pro Bowl running back De’Von Achane. Among all NFL centers with at least 500 offensive snaps this season, Brewer ranks second in PFF run blocking grade, one spot behind the Kansas City Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey and three spots ahead of the Baltimore Ravens’ Tyler Linderbaum, both of whom made the AFC roster. Also, Brewer has allowed just one sack this season, per PFF.

Los Angeles Rams RG Kevin Dotson

The Rams’ run game is in some desperate need of Pro Bowl representation. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum have formed quite the one-two punch in L.A. They’ve been running behind one of the best offensive lines in football this season. Dotson is a force to be reckoned with at the point of attack. He can carry his power to the second level as well. There’s no reason why Dotson couldn’t have joined Atlanta Falcons right guard Chris Lindstrom and Chicago Bears left guard Joe Thuney on the NFC roster.

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Baltimore Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley

Joe Alt is awesome. He’s played in only six games for the Los Angeles Chargers this season, though. His spot should be occupied by someone else, like Stanley. While the Ravens have had trouble at guard this season, their tackles have been solid. Stanley has conceded the sixth-fewest pressures (23) of any AFC tackle with 700-plus offensive snaps this season, per PFF.

Philadelphia Eagles DT Jordan Davis

The voters selected the wrong Eagles defensive tackle. Jalen Carter is a game-wrecker, but his linemate, Jordan Davis, has simply had a better season. Davis blocked a potential game-winning Rams field goal in Week 3 and then returned it for a walk-off touchdown. He batted down three passes in a Week 11 victory over the Lions. He dropped weight before the season, and his trimmed-down physique has invited a rare Year 4 leap. Davis’ 65 total tackles, 9 TFLs and 4.5 sacks are all career highs.

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Pittsburgh Steelers DT Cameron Heyward

In the AFC, Heyward should have been in over Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones. At 36 years old, Heyward has followed up his fourth first-team All-Pro campaign with another age-defying run. This time, he’s piled up 66 total tackles, 8 TFLs, 6 passes defended and 3.5 sacks. For reference, the 31-year-old Jones is responsible for 24 total tackles, 9 TFLs, 2 passes defended and 4 sacks. Jones has generated five more pressures (53) than Heyward (48) this season, per PFF, but Heyward has proven superior in run defense.

Jacksonville Jaguars OLB Josh Hines-Allen

It’s time the Jaguars are given their flowers. Their only Pro Bowler this season is long snapper Ross Matiscik. That’s not reflective of an 11-4 Jacksonville team that’s playoff-bound with a shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Trevor Lawrence has been a prolific dual threat of late, but the Jags’ defense needs more love. Hines-Allen has seven sacks to his name, and, maybe more importantly, four turnovers caused by pressure, per NGS. His pressure rate (15%) is significantly higher than Pro Bowler T.J. Watt’s (9.8%).

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Jacksonville Jaguars LB Devin Lloyd

Staying in Jacksonville, Lloyd can’t be ignored, either. He’s picked off five passes. Four of those interceptions arrived over the first five games of the season. One of them was a 99-yard pick 6 in a Week 5 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. That went down as the longest defensive touchdown in Jags history. Lloyd has made a handful of critical plays in run defense, too. To top it off, he’s logged 22 pressures on 84 pass rushes, resulting in a pressure rate of 26.2%, per NGS.

Miami Dolphins LB Jordyn Brooks

The AFC’s linebackers are Azeez Al-Shaair of the Houston Texans and Roquan Smith of the Baltimore Ravens. Brooks should have gotten the edge over both of them. For one, he leads the NFL with 169 total tackles and 93 solo tackles. But he’s more than just a tackle vacuum. Those tackles mean something, especially against the run. Of the linebackers with 100 or more run defense snaps this season, Brooks is tied for fifth in run-play stop percentage (9.7%), according to PFF.

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Chicago Bears CB Nahshon Wright

Wright’s coverage stats don’t jump off the page — PFF has him down for seven touchdowns allowed, after all — however, it’s hard to discount the special season he’s having for an opportunistic Bears defense. Wright has intercepted five passes, including one that he took 74 yards to the house in Week 1 versus the Minnesota Vikings, and forced a pair of fumbles. Speaking of fumbles, he’s recovered three of them.

Houston Texans S Jalen Pitre

Yes, Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. is on the AFC roster. It still feels like the Texans’ secondary deserves more of a Pro Bowl presence. The unit has had a Texas-sized hand in Houston giving up the fourth-fewest passing yards per game (176.1) this season. Corner Kamari Lassiter and safety Calen Bullock warranted consideration. Fellow safety Jalen Pitre was due for selection. He’s been dynamite in the slot and in the box. He hasn’t allowed a touchdown in coverage this season, according to PFF, and he’s picked off four passes, defended a total of 11, and combined for 66 tackles.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers S Tykee Smith

Whatever could go wrong has gone wrong for the Arizona Cardinals, and that’s made it hard to measure Budda Baker’s effectiveness in a truly porous defense out there in the desert. Perhaps another safety could have taken his place on the NFC’s roster. Either that or Antoine Winfield Jr. could have been passed up by his teammate, Tykee Smith. Smith has been electric in 2025, with 13 passes defended, a pair of sacks and 94 total tackles.

Seattle Seahawks P Michael Dickson

Washington Commanders punter Tress Way made his third Pro Bowl. Dickson would have been a better pick for the NFC. Although Way has dropped more punts inside the 20-yard line (27) than Dickson (20) this season, Dickson’s hang time (4.56 seconds), the best among NFC punters per PFF, is much longer than Way’s (4.22). That’s played a role in only 38.8% of Dickson’s punts being returned, according to PFF.