Tag: Fox Sport News

Snap share stock report time! This is where I examine snap share data from every single team and highlight some players that may have seen a notable spike or dip in playing time and/or usage.

Emeka Egbuka, Bucs – STOCK UP

• Ebuka played just 64% of the offensive snaps, a season low excluding his Week 6 game where he hurt his hamstring mid-game.

• Generally, when a player plays significantly less like we saw from Egbuka this past week, I’ll mark him down as a “stock down” guy, but in this case with the return of Mike Evans, Egbuka was able to move around the formation more, playing more out of the slot and off the line. This helped create better matchups for the rookie and as a result, his efficiency skyrocketed.

• His 9.1 yards/target was his highest since his Week 5 apex, a game where he went ham sandwich (7/7/163/TD). Egbuka’s 57.1% catch rate was also his highest since that aforementioned Week 5 game.

• It’s the rare instance where I’ll gladly trade snap share for increased efficiency and touchdown exposure as the offense looked like it was back on track.

Advertisement

Omarion Hampton, Chargers – STOCK DOWN

• If you look at just the box score, you see that Hampton outpaced Kimani Vidal in carries (15 to 12) but what stuck out to me was the fact that Hampton only played 37% of the snaps with Vidal taking home 63%.

• Hampton did ramp up his workload ever so slightly, going from 31% to 37% this week but the heavy Vidal usage is a clear indicator that the team won’t just cast Vidal to the side. I’m expecting at best a 50-50 split for Hampton over the next couple weeks.

Tyrone Tracy Jr., Giants – STOCK UP

• This was a massive coming out party for Tracy who the last time we saw him was being carted off the field in Week 13! His hip injury was obviously minor and the bye week did him extremely well as he came roaring back with 107 scrimmage yards and two total touchdowns.

• The fact that he did this while taking home a massive, season-high 76% of the offensive snaps should get you fired up. It’s a tough matchup this week against Minnesota but with that level of work, you can’t sit him.

LeQuint Allen Jr., Jaguars – STOCK UP

• Bhayshul Tuten just had surgery to repair a broken finger and is expected to miss multiple weeks. Allen was already splitting time with Tuten but now could be looking at the B-side of a 60-40 split with Travis Etienne Sr. Not bad for a running back attached to an offense that is reaching new heights with Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas Jr. making plays.

Kyren Williams, Rams – STOCK DOWN

• Blake Corum continues to eat into Williams’ workload. After enjoying a 77% snap share over his first six games, he’s averaged just 60% over his last six and has been below 55% in two straight games. Corum meanwhile played a season high 46% of the snaps this past week.

• The Rams take on a Seattle team this week that has allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points to running backs this year.

Michael Carter, Cardinals – STOCK UP

• With Bam Knight hurt in Week 15 (ankle) and done for the season, Carter played a season high 79% of the offensive snaps. I would expect Emari Demercado gets worked in more (11% snaps) but at the very worst Carter should play at least 50% of the snaps next week.

• Arizona takes on the Falcons next, a team that has generally struggled against the run this year, landing Carter firmly in the sleeper mix for semi-final matchups. Then the generous Bengals D comes calling in Week 17.

Jawhar Jordan, Texans – STOCK UP

• With Woody Marks (ankle) getting banged up and with the Texans leading the Cardinals 30-7 deep into the third quarter, the team leaned on a practice squad call up in Jordan. His 44.4% snap share led the HOU backfield.

• A second-year player out of Louisville, this is what I wrote about Jordan last year: “He’s 5-foot-10, 193 pounds and ran a 4.56 forty. Collegiate highlights here. Plays a lot bigger than his 193 frame. Plays faster than his 4.56 forty. Decisive runner. Solid vision. Can run between the tackles but looks much more comfortable hitting outside run lanes and is a natural pass catcher …” He showed A LOT of these traits on his big 50-yard run.

• Shockingly, Jordan’s 101 rushing yards gave Houston its FIRST 100-yard rusher of the season. That being said, despite the performance, Jordan was sent back to the practice squad Monday before being elevated to the active roster on Tuesday. Head coach Demeco Ryans was noncommittal about his role moving forward.

Breece Hall, Jets – STOCK DOWN

• Hall missed practice on Wednesday last week, but was ultimately without an injury designation come Sunday. That being said, he was obviously trying to play through a knee injury, so no huge surprise to see Isaiah Davis play 38% of the snaps this past week, his highest percentage since Week 8.

• With the Jets playing for absolutely nothing and with Hall entering a contract year, it’s fair to wonder how much we’ll see him for the rest of the year. Maybe he’s determined to hit the 1K mark as he’s exactly 100 rush yards away but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him shut it down either.

• The insurance back to the insurance back would be Khalil Herbert.

Rashid Shaheed, Seahawks – STOCK UP

• His 68% snap share was his highest since joining the team and was the first time he’s cracked 57% as a Seahawk.

• In Week 13 he posted a solid 5/4/67 slash line and then followed it up with an even more impressive 7/5/74 line this past week.

• He enters sleeper territory this week as the Rams, while a good defense overall, have given up big-time production to outside wide receivers. And because of the trade, this is actually Shaheed’s third time facing the Rams. Let’s see if that familiarity helps him a bit.

Isaiah Williams, Jets – STOCK UP

• Here is Williams’ snap share from the past four weeks: 27%, 39%, 57%, 60%. Not only has his snap share gone up , he set career highs in targets, receptions and yards last week (7/6/53).

• Whatever I just said about Hall above, apply to Garrett Wilson. I wouldn’t be shocked in the slightest if he sits out the rest of the year. For you deep-league managers out there, this could open up serious opportunity for Williams to close out the fantasy playoffs.

OTHER SNAP SHARE NOTES

Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots – TreVeyon Henderson got all the headlines, and rightfully so, but very quietly Stevenson played 67% of the snaps against Henderson’s 49%. This is a backfield that reminds me of Detroit from a couple years back where there is very clearly a more explosive runner but the bigger, steadier RB still gets plenty of work. I think both guys are playable against Baltimore in Week 16.

Advertisement

Jayden Reed, Packers – his season-high 65% snap share was obviously a result of the Christian Watson injury but it’s notable in that it doesn’t appear Matthew Golden is ready for a full-time role and Dontayvion Wicks isn’t a clear upgrade in the run-blocking department. Despite going to a Denver-area hospital for examination, Watson reportedly avoided a major injury and he could still suit up for Saturday’s tilt against the Bears. But if he misses time, Reed will be one of my favorite sleeper plays.

Olamide Zaccheaus, Bears – Rome Odunze aggravated his foot injury and Luther Burden III hurt his ankle and is considered day-to-day. As a result, OZ played 82% of the snaps, his most since Week 6. But while he’ll see increased targets, the matchup is pretty brutal against Green Bay in Week 16. The Packers have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points per game to receivers in the slot.

Tre’ Harris, Chargers – Quentin Johnston was a surprise scratch on Sunday after picking up a late-week groin injury. As a result, the rookie played a season-high 85% of the snaps. If Johnston misses time again, Harris is an interesting deep sleeper against the Cowboys’ lowly secondary this week.

Rico Dowdle, Panthers – The team told you it was going with a hot-hand approach and they meant it. Dowdle led the backfield in snap share in Week 12, Chuba led in Week 13 but it was again Rico leading the way in Week 15. Good luck trying to figure this one out.

Advertisement

Audric Estimé, Saints – Once Devin Neal went down with a hamstring injury, Estimé and Evan Hull split the backfield carries but notably, Estimé ran more routes (14 to 8) and had a solid receiving line (3/3/39). Hull didn’t record a target. Hull is the more interesting athlete with 4.47 speed as opposed to Estimé’s 4.58 pro day time (he ran a horrific 4.71 at the combine). Both should get work now that Neal has been ruled out of Week 16.

Kendrick Bourne, 49ers – If Ricky Pearsall ends up missing time after aggravating his knee injury (from yet another uncalled clear and obvious hip-drop tackle), look for Bourne to potentially find his identity against a soft Colts secondary. Bourne logged the third-highest snap share among SF wideouts at 44% this past week.

The Arizona Cardinals have lost 11 of their past 12 games, including six straight. They’ve gone from consistently suffering last-second heartbreak to digging themselves into multiscore holes and allowing 40-plus points in four games during their current skid.

Just as Arizona‘s season has unraveled, so has its defense. The Cardinals have the worst Pro Football Focus tackling grade in the NFL at the moment, as the third year of the Jonathan Gannon rebuild nears its end.

Advertisement

Gannon isn’t quick to expound on many topics in his news conferences, but he had plenty to say about the league’s rules regarding tackling in practice when asked about them Wednesday.

“How the rules are set up, it’s hard to get better as a tackler being in the NFL,” Gannon said.

Teams are allowed just 14 padded practices, according to the NFL’s 2020 collective bargaining agreement, but 11 of them have to occur during the first 11 weeks of the season, as reported by ESPN.

During the offseason, contact is prohibited. That includes OTAs and minicamp.

“That’s one of the top skills of any defensive player,” Gannon said of tackling. “There’s no drill you can do that can mimic a game. There’s not. It’s too chaotic of an environment to drill it.

Advertisement

“So a lot of ways that you can try to do it, but you just got to keep harping on the fundamentals, the details of it. We try to obviously have language that we use that keeps it simple in their head, but I always think you got to tackle better. But it’s hard.”

A reporter chimed in, asking if Gannon would like to see the rules changed.

“The rules are the rules,” he said.

The reporter followed up, suggesting that Gannon could lobby for them to be changed.

“Yeah, I’m not going to lobby for anything. I just play by the rules,” he said.

But before another question could be asked, Gannon sprinkled in some more of his thoughts.

Advertisement

“It’d be like, ‘Hey, Scottie Scheffler, it’s your offseason, don’t hit a wedge,’” Gannon said.

“You know what I mean? But like I said, it’s set up how it’s set up, that’s fine. But to get better at a skill, you have to practice the skill. You practice the skill. … You can scale the tempo, you can scale how you do it, but to practice a skill, you need to practice the skill. And so it’s a conundrum I think all defensive guys face, and there’s risk-reward to trying to practice it with however you set things up. But you definitely have to be a good tackling defense to play good defense.”

No NFL player has forced more missed tackles on the ground this season than Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. He’s made defenders miss 70 times in 14 games, according to PFF.

Robinson should be licking his chops because he’s about to face the Cardinals’ reeling and injury-riddled defense that was just gashed by the Houston Texans.

“Yeah, he’s special,” Gannon said of Robinson on Wednesday.

Advertisement

“You’re watching games, and it seems like it’s a highlight reel. … He’s one of the best ones out there. I don’t compare players, but this would be one of the better ones we face in the run and pass game.”

Arizona committed to beefing up its run defense this past offseason. The Cardinals drafted defensive tackle Walter Nolen III with the No. 16 overall pick. They signed veterans Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell to bolster the interior, and they brought aboard standout edge Josh Sweat, who was coming off a head-turning Super Bowl performance with the Philadelphia Eagles.

They also drafted defensive end Jordan Burch in the third round and had defensive tackle Darius Robinson, whom they picked No. 27 overall in 2024, ready to go for a healthier Year 2.

But the injury bug came back around for some of those players as well as for others on a defense that’s fallen far short of expectations in a competitive NFC West that features three conference contenders. Constant turnover across the unit and disconnected play have partly led to Arizona actually ranking slightly worse against the run this season (21st with 124.5 rushing yards allowed per game) than it did last season (20th with 126.4 rushing yards allowed per game).

Advertisement

Then there are the tackling issues that have affected the Cardinals, both in their defense of the ground and the air.

They’ve been more noticeable when Arizona has been trying to limit opposing run games. After all, the Cardinals are giving up the fifth-most yards after contact per rushing attempt (3.31) in the NFL this season, per Next Gen Stats.

Gannon said the league’s tackling rules come up every year among head coaches and defensive coaches.

“A lot of people think you can’t practice it, [and that] you better just acquire people that can tackle because you ain’t going to help ’em at all,” Gannon said. “That’s a thought process, too.

Advertisement

“To each their own. But it’s a challenge.”

Subscribe to The Big Number

Tom Haberstroh and Dan Devine break down the New York Knicks’ first NBA Cup championship run. Following the departure of Tom Thibodeau, has the Knickerbockers’ offensive scheme unlocked a new level? With the defense maintaining its integrity as the offense continues to explode, are the Knicks now a real championship threat? Then, the pair discusses and shares their thoughts on the Knicks’ decision not to celebrate their NBA Cup championship with a banner.

Advertisement

Later, they respond to commissioner Adam Silver’s comments regarding the NBA injury crisis and propose solutions to end the prolonged absence of star power for the league.

(1:14) The Big Number: $530,933 – Knicks player earnings from NBA Cup

(11:20) Knicks refuse to hang NBA Cup Banner

(19:32) The Little Number: +21.5 – Knicks net rating with Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart on the floor

(22:36) The Little Number: 7.9 minutes per game – time Jalen Brunson has possession of the ball this season

(26:40) The Little Number: 11th – Knicks defensive efficiency ranking

(32:07) Injury crisis update

🖥️ 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

David Cariello has never seen anything quite like this.

Since Tulane advanced to the College Football Playoff, merchandise has flown off his store’s shelves at such a rate that he’s had to order thousands of additional apparel.

Advertisement

This time of year, his New Orleans sports shop, Campus Connection, normally receives orders in the single or double digits. Last weekend, he had nearly 1,000 new orders in a span of about 36-48 hours.

Now, a few days before No. 11 seed Tulane’s first-round playoff game at No. 6 Ole Miss, he’s placed nearly 3,000 orders alone for sweatshirts and T-shirts monogrammed with the Green Wave’s new motto, popularized by coach Jon Sumrall himself: RMFW.

The acronym stands for “Roll Mother F****** Wave.”

“I kind of had a minor panic attack with all of the calls for orders,” Cariello said. “I didn’t know if I could handle it.”

Advertisement

The outpouring in New Orleans shows the power of an expanded playoff on non-power league programs — the underdogs of the Football Bowl Subdivision who often operate with limited budgets, smaller stadiums and far less historical accomplishments than their peers in the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. The same goes for James Madison, the playoff’s No. 12 seed, which sold its allotment of 3,500 tickets despite the cross-country journey to Oregon.

While Tulane’s and JMU’s inclusion brings about the feel-good stories that often make college athletics different from the pros — for instance, the Cinderellas in the NCAA tournament — this particular year has introduced an unusual situation that the creators of the playoff probably never imagined: There are two, not just one, non-power programs in a postseason field of 12.

Well, it may be the last time it happens.

In news that’s 18 months old but has gone mostly overshadowed, next year’s playoff will specifically designate that the champions of the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten receive a berth into the postseason field, plus the highest-ranked non-power league conference champion. That’s according to the now-infamous memorandum of understanding the parties signed in Spring 2024.

This is different from the current format, which designates the five automatic berths to the highest-ranked conference champions and not to specific leagues.

Advertisement

For instance, this year’s playoff bracket, if using next year’s concepts, would look very different.

For one, Duke, despite its 8-5 record, would have automatically advanced into the field as the ACC champion, bumping out JMU, the second-highest-ranked non-power league champion.

But there’s something else.

As part of the memorandum signed last spring, the conferences agreed to grant Notre Dame a guarantee for the future: If the Irish are ranked inside the top 12 of a 12-team playoff, they automatically advance into the field.

That means, in this year’s playoff, Notre Dame, ranked No. 11, would be in the field in place of the last at-large bid: Miami.

Advertisement

These two concepts — now coming into a brighter light publicly — have caught the attention of those in college athletics. In fact, the guarantee for Notre Dame, negotiated by Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua and agreed to by the 10 FBS conferences, caused quite the stir last week from a gathering of athletic administrators from Las Vegas.

“Why did we agree to give Notre Dame that?” said one power league athletic director, steaming over the deal.

But there’s plenty more to this story.

In fact, those in the non-power league ranks are asking why the Mountain West, American, C-USA, MAC, Pac-12 and Sun Belt agreed to alternate language that in future years prevents them from the possibility of receiving two automatic spots — just like they did this year.

Advertisement

The answer is quite simple. Last spring, during intense and, at times, heated negotiations over the future of the College Football Playoff, leaders of the Big Ten and SEC threatened to create their own postseason system if they were not granted a majority of CFP revenue (they now have a combined 58% of it) and full authority over the playoff format (they have that, too). The non-power conferences only had a finite amount of time to opt into the deal.

In the end, all 11 parties — the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame — inked three separate memorandum of understanding documents: one among the 11; one between the 11 and ESPN; and a third, separate agreement over revenue with the Pac-12’s two displaced members, Washington State and Oregon State.

However, the MOUs covers a playoff of only up to 14 teams. The fact that commissioners are exploring expansion to 16 or more begs the question: How much do these guarantees change if a new MOU is negotiated?

It depends on who you ask.

Advertisement

“The main tenets of the guarantees wouldn’t change,” says one college leader.

But another official suggests that Notre Dame’s guarantee would, in fact, be impacted by any renegotiation if the playoff expands beyond 14.

Either way, as the playoffs begin this week, the results of the games are certain to impact future expansion and format discussions. In the 12-team playoff era — just one year in — programs outside of the SEC and Big Ten are 0-4. The non-power leagues and the ACC and Big 12 have three more chances this weekend (Miami, JMU and Tulane) and at least one more shot in the quarterfinals (Texas Tech).

Advertisement

But, win or lose, the FBS underdogs are reveling in this current postseason structure. The playoff berth alone is delivering to JMU and Tulane early Christmas tidings. In fact, from mid-November to mid- December, Tulane’s donor contributions rose 373% compared to that stretch last year.

Meanwhile, Cariello is still selling those “RMFW” shirts, even to the likes of college sports leaders. American commissioner Tim Pernetti purchased one of the sweatshirts, Pernetti says, and he’ll be wearing it Saturday on the sideline in Oxford.

Roll Mother F***** Wave?

Dillon Brooks has some regrets about his latest interaction with LeBron James and the ejection that followed.

The Phoenix Suns’ forward said Wednesday that he was “out of character a little bit, out of my body a little but” in his team’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. The Suns rallied from a 20-point deficit late in that contest, and Brooks drilled a 3-pointer to put the Suns in the lead with about 10 seconds left.

Advertisement

While James clearly bumped Brooks on the follow-through, which could have been called for a foul, officials didn’t blow their whistles. The league’s Last Two Minute Report deemed that a correct non-call. But Brooks, who has a long history with James, got up and immediately confronted him. Brooks was eventually assessed a technical foul, which was his second of the game and led to his ejection.

“[I need to learn] how to stay in the game and be able to affect the game when I’m in the game,” Brooks said Wednesday, via The Athletic. “That’s my problem through my whole career, is I let those things happen, and then I’m off the floor. Then at the end of the day, how much people hate on me and say I’m not a good player and all that, but when I’m on the floor, it changes the whole game.”

Both Brooks and James picked up early technical fouls in the contest, and James had to be restrained briefly after he thought Brooks tossed a ball in his direction on purpose.

Brooks wasn’t sure why James appeared to get upset with him earlier in the game, but he said he thinks James is tracking him and his comments on social media. He also called James a “social media junkie.”

Advertisement

James, to Brooks’ point, posted about watching a YouTube golf episode on Wednesday.

“He be all over the socials, so he be seeing I guess what I’m saying,” Brooks said.

“Like I’ve [said] he thinks that people should think a way about him or not say nothing about him or play a certain way, and I’m not going to play that way. He gets in his moods or in his modes or whatever it is. I’m all for that.”

Brooks is averaging a career-high 21.6 points with 3 rebounds and 1.8 assists so far this season, his first with the Suns. The 29-year-old, who was dealt to the Suns from the Houston Rockets this past summer, is in the third year of a four-year, $86 million deal signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.

While Brooks has certainly earned himself a reputation both with James and throughout the league so far in his career — his listed nickname on Basketball Reference is “Dillon the Villain” — he doesn’t think it’s intentional. The play that led to his ejection on Sunday, he said, was just him “being aggressive.”

“I guess it was a timeout, and then it goes back to the rule I never heard of, is that when there’s bumping and stuff — like every single game there is — [the officials] pick and choose whether it’s a technical foul or not,” Brooks said. “You can go to every single game when there’s timeouts, guys are bumping each other. It’s pick and choose.

Subscribe to Hoops 360

Hoops 360 hosts Caroline Fenton and Cassandra Negley sit down with Toronto Tempo’s inaugural franchise head coach, Sandy Brondello, to discuss what it takes to build a brand-new franchise from the ground up. Brondello shares insight into the challenges—and the rewards—of leading a first-year expansion team.

Advertisement

Plus, Caroline and Cass react to Caitlin Clark’s comments on the ongoing WNBA CBA negotiations and break down where the top teams in women’s college basketball truly stand so far this season.

Got questions or topics for Hoops 360? Email us at hoops360@yahoosports.com and you could hear them on the show!

26:18 – Welcome to Hoops 360!

01:15 – Sandy Brondello joins hoops 360

21:29 – Biggest takeaway from Sandy Brondello conversation

24:02 – What to make of Caitlin Clark’s comments on the WNBA CBA

35:35 – Has the tone of WNBA CBA negotiations changed?

40:26 – Are these teams what their records say they are?: LSU, UConn, South Carolina, Texas, USC, Duke

Advertisement

52:23 – Which of these top teams do you trust the least?: LSU, UConn, South Carolina, Texas

01:00:25 – Upcoming games to watch

🖥️ 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 Chicago Bears are thinking outside of the box — er, state — for their next stadium.

Bears president Kevin Warren released a letter to season-ticket holders Wednesday with an update on the franchise’s yearslong search for a new home after decades at Soldier Field. In recent years, the campaign has focused on a site in the suburb of Arlington Heights that the Bears purchased in 2023, with Warren saying in September that the team needs to finalize plans this year.

Advertisement

However, Warren said in his letter Wednesday that Illinois state leaders have directly told the Bears the project will not be a priority in 2026 and that the team will now expand its search for a stadium in the greater Chicago area. That includes the region of Northwest Indiana.

From the letter:

Stable timelines are critical, as are predictable processes and elected leaders, who share a sense of urgency and appreciation for public partnership that projects with this level of impact require. We have not received that sense of urgency or appreciation to date. We have been told directly by State leadership, our project will not be a priority in 2026, despite the benefits it will bring to Illinois.

Consequently, in addition to Arlington Park, we need to expand our search and critically evaluate opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including Northwest Indiana. This is not about leverage. We spent years trying to build a new home in Cook County. We invested significant time and resources evaluating multiple sites and rationally decided on Arlington Heights. Our fans deserve a world-class stadium. Our players and coaches deserve a venue that matches the championship standard they strive for every day. With that in mind, our organization must keep every credible pathway open to deliver that future.

A move to Indiana would be an astonishing outcome for the Bears, even if the Indiana border is less than 15 miles from their current location of Soldier Field. A stadium in Hammond or Gary, Northwest Indiana’s largest cities, would take some getting used to.

As for what the Indianapolis Colts, the state’s current inhabitant, have to think about it, they released a short statement wishing the Bears well, via Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr:

“We wish the Bears all the best with their stadium initiative.”

The NFL has never seemed to mind the location of its stadium not matching up with the name of the team. The New York Jets and New York Giants both play in the neighboring state of New Jersey. The Washington Commanders play in Landover, Maryland, but are in the process of moving back to D.C. Plenty of teams play in external suburbs.

Advertisement

This wouldn’t even be the most shocking move Warren has been a part of, as he was a central figure in adding USC and UCLA to the Big Ten when he was commissioner of the conference.

Warren’s letter notes the Bears are not asking for state taxpayer dollars to build the Arlington Park stadium, but concedes they are asking for a commitment to infrastructure upgrades such as roads and utilities.

Aside from Arlington Park, state leaders were cold on a project floated last year to build a lakefront stadium near Soldier Field that would have run Illinois taxpayers $2 billion. There have also been past efforts to further renovate Soldier Field, which might be the one option Warren doesn’t sound open to in his letter. The Bears played their first games in 1926, a century ago, at Soldier Field and became full-time tenants in 1971. It remains the smallest stadium in the NFL by seating capacity.

Advertisement

And, of course, this is all being thrown out there three days before the Bears’ biggest game of the season against the Green Bay Packers, which could decide the NFC North.

Subscribe to Inside Coverage

Will Tua Tagovailoa ever start again for the Miami Dolphins? Yahoo Sports’ Andrew Siciliano, Jori Epstein and Ben Fawkes discuss the benching of the QB, with rookie Quinn Ewers set to take over for the rest of the season. They move on to debate whether the Atlanta Falcons will start the 2026 season with Kirk Cousins as signal caller, before discussing the latest cryptic comments from Joe Burrow and Zac Taylor. Andrew also sits down with Amon-Ra St. Brown to discuss the 2025 NFL season, as well as his Christmas priorities ahead of the holiday. Closing things out, the crew breaks down the enormous matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks before discussing their “One More Thing”.

Advertisement

(4:48) – Dolphins bench Tua Tagovailoa

(16:14) – Could Kirk Cousins start next season for the Falcons?

(23:58) – Amon-Ra St. Brown joins the show!

(32:56) – What changes do the Bengals have to make this offseason?

(47:28) – Puka Nacua trashes NFL referees

(1:01:41) – One More Thing

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

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

Patrick Mahomes is done for the season and so are the Kansas City Chiefs. Now the question is how much the quarterback’s torn ACL will affect the 2026 season.

Rick Burkholder, the Chiefs‘ vice president of sports medicine and performance, addressed that question with reporters on Wednesday, two days after Mahomes went under the knife for both a torn ACL and LCL. He projected optimism that Mahomes would enjoy a successful rehab, with a very loose recovery timeline of nine months:

“Every player is different. Every sport’s different. Every position is different. With him, traditionally, he’s going after it so hard and he’s so in tune with what he does, he does it a little quicker. Ballpark on this is nine months. Could be a month or two less, a month or two more. You never know what goes on and everyone’s designed biomechanically, and so you just have to go through it.

A timeline of nine months from Monday would fall on Sept. 15, five days after the NFL is scheduled to begin the 2026 season. That makes the give-or-take of two months quite consequential.

Advertisement

On the quicker end, Mahomes could be ready for Week 1 with time to spare. On the slower end, he doesn’t make his debut until November. Given how important the 30-year-old is to the future of the franchise, it has every reason to be cautious.

That makes this offseason a tricky one for a Kansas City team at a crossroads. After years of contending and winning, the wheels came off in 2025 and putting them back on again likely means some significant roster changes for the team. If Mahomes isn’t playing, that’s all the more reason to approach 2026 as a rebuilding year.

[Get more Chiefs news: Kansas City team feed]

Burkholder said Mahomes’ injury didn’t come with anything more concerning than the torn ligaments, and revealed the quarterback has already started rehab:

“They said that everything he had in this injury was fixable, correctable. And it was fixed on Monday night by Dr. Cooper. He had no artery damage, no nerve damage, no joint surface damage, no meniscal damage. He’s already started rehab down in Dallas. He was there first thing Tuesday morning and he’ll do that through tomorrow. Then he’ll be back here Friday.”

As Mahomes makes his way back, the Chiefs will officially end their season with games against the Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders.

Cleveland Browns defensive stalwart Myles Garrett is staring down the NFL’s single-season sack record. He’s poised to break it at some point over the final three games of his 2025 campaign. But if you ask Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, that mark will be reset in 2026: by Micah Parsons, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear during a loss to the Denver Broncos last weekend.

“Just wait till you guys see how hard he works to come back, how fast he probably comes back,” Hafley told reporters on Wednesday. “If I were a betting man, I would bet that he comes back better and probably breaks the sack record next year.

“So I’m going to put that on Micah and myself, and you guys can put it out there. And that’s the confidence I have in him.”

That kind of output would put Parsons in line for not only NFL Defensive Player of the Year but also NFL Comeback Player of the Year, considering he’ll likely miss the beginning of next season. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported earlier this week that the star pass rusher faces a recovery of at least nine months.

Advertisement

As of Wednesday morning, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Parsons still hadn’t had surgery to repair the torn left ACL he suffered Sunday. That delay is not unusual for players awaiting a reconstructive knee procedure, however.

Still, in all likelihood, the Packers will start the 2026 campaign without Parsons, meaning the type of bounce-back season Hafley is predicting would be all the more incredible.

Garrett is one sack away from tying the current sack record, which is co-owned by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. Strahan recorded 22.5 sacks with the New York Giants in 2001, and Watt matched that mark in 2021 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Even if Garrett somehow doesn’t eclipse that total this season, Parsons would need 23 sacks in less than a full season.

Advertisement

He piled up 12.5 sacks in 14 games this season, his first with Hafley and the Packers after an infamous contract standoff with the Dallas Cowboys that resulted in Jerry Jones trading Parsons for three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and a pair of first-round picks.

[Get more Packers news: Green Bay team feed]

Parsons joined the Packers on Aug. 28, just 10 days before their season opener, and inked a four-year, $188 million deal with the team, including a reported $136 million of guaranteed money, that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

“I didn’t even know him,” said Hafley, who is in his second year as Green Bay’s DC. “[I] quickly developed a really good relationship with him.

” … How hard he worked and how hard he played and how hard he does play in the run game, in the pass game, the way he strains — I just have so much respect for the guy.”

While Parsons didn’t record a sack in Week 14 or 15, he’s still first in the league in pressures this season, according to Next Gen Stats. His 20.7% pressure rate in 2025 was the third best of his career, which has included four Pro Bowl nods and three All-Pro accolades.

Advertisement

Parsons has accounted for a third of the Packers’ pressures this season, per NGS.

Just as Hafley believes in his sack artist making a triumphant return, he believes in the rest of his unit responding to Parsons’ absence with conviction.

“As far as the team goes, I told them: ‘You can’t let circumstance dictate behavior,’” Hafley said. “A week ago, we’re in here after we beat the Bears, and we’re all walking in here all upbeat and ready to roll. And I said, ‘Shame on you, if you walk in here any different today.’ … And that’s our job as leaders and as coaches to make sure that we don’t do that.

“We got really good players. We play good defense, and we’re going to continue to play good defense. And our guys understand that.”