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Good morning! I wonder if Paige Bueckers has started a Zillow search yet.
NFL Stock Report: Goodbye for now, Bengals
Let’s get the preamble out of the way: It’s still only Week 11 in the NFL. There is still plenty of time for any of the following teams to surge. But we’re making judgment calls, and to have takes means taking chances.
Thus we move forward. With seven weeks left, let’s eliminate — and absolve — some teams on the NFL playoff bubble after a wild slate of action yesterday:
❌ OUT: Bengals, Jets, Bears
- What a cursed year for Cincinnati, who looked like the worst team in the NFL for a half last night (then the best team for most of the next half) and melted down in the final two minutes of a thrilling 34-27 loss to the Chargers. The Bengals are 4-7 and in one of the most difficult divisions. The rest of the schedule isn’t monumental, but in my book, Cincy is just too far behind. Start planning Cabo. Sidebar: At 7-3, Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh are cooking.
- At least the Bengals aren’t the Jets, who fell to 3-8 after a 28-27 loss to Anthony Richardson and the 5-6 Colts. It’s the same story again, for a team that still has talent across the board and cannot buy a win. Our Zack Rosenblatt even wondered if Aaron Rodgers should be benched, a day after Dianna Russini reported it’s no guarantee Rodgers is back next season. Richardson looked great, though.
- The worst vibes of all reside in Chicago, where a once-promising season featuring the No. 1 overall draft pick is now a spectacular failure. Including yesterday’s 20-19 disaster against 7-3 Green Bay, a four-game losing streak has turned 4-2 into 4-6, complete with blowout losses and maddeningly narrow defeats. Matt Eberflus’ job is on the line, bar none. Caleb Williams showed progress in this one, but it was all for naught — thanks to a blocked field goal as time expired. The Bears have lost 11 straight to the Packers. Just brutal.
🤨 UNSURE: The entire NFC South
- Year after year, this division confounds, and usually because it’s so mediocre throughout. It’s much the same now, as the Saints — who have already fired their coach and endured a seven-game losing streak — have now won two straight after whipping the Browns 35-14 yesterday. They are just two games behind 6-5 Atlanta for the division lead.
- Those Falcons, once shoo-ins for the division crown, got walloped by Bo Nix and the Broncos 38-6 yesterday. Atlanta has now lost two straight. Is anyone good in this division? Who knows! Congrats to the 5-5 Buccaneers for not playing this weekend.
✅ EXTREMELY IN: Lions, Bills, Steelers
- We must give props today, too. At 9-1, Detroit is clearly the best team in the NFL right now, having pounded the 2-9 Jaguars 52-6. Jared Goff rebounded with 412 yards and four touchdowns, and Jacksonville endured the worst loss in franchise history.
- Vying for second place: the Bills (9-2) and Chiefs (9-1) after the former gave the latter their first loss of the season in yesterday’s incredible 30-21 Buffalo win. Josh Allen was awesome. I hope these two meet in the playoffs yet again.
- Trying to stop that outcome: Pittsburgh (8-2) and Baltimore (7-4) after the Steelers’ big 18-16 victory over the Ravens yesterday, solidifying Mike Tomlin’s crew as the class of the AFC North. Pittsburgh didn’t even need a touchdown to win.
Whew. We missed multiple other good games, too, which is indicative of how good the weekend slate was. Full Week 11 takeaways are here.
News to Know
Wings win Bueckers lottery
In last night’s WNBA Draft lottery, the Dallas Wings won the No. 1 pick for 2025, giving last year’s second-worst team the first shot to draft UConn star Paige Bueckers. The top college prospect — should she land in Dallas — would fit perfectly onto a roster in desperate need of a point guard. See the full draft order.
Reaves suspended
Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves will sit out the next five games for an illegal check to the head of Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse, the NHL announced yesterday. The hit drew blood from Nurse’s head and play had to be halted afterward to clean the ice. Officials ejected Reaves from the game. Read our full report on a scary story here.
More news
Things You Have to See: Imagine defending this
The word “timeless” gets thrown around a little too much in sports, but you’ll have to forgive me here, because this shot — from 38-year-old legend Marta — is the definition of timeless:
Marta is simply magical🪄
This one will be on repeat forever! #NWSLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/MZh3gJryCL
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 17, 2024
The goal, in the 82nd minute of yesterday’s NWSL semifinal, pushed Marta’s Orlando Pride past the Kansas City Current into the final against Washington next Saturday. Oh and remember that Marta wants to play two more years, too.
More of those goals, please.
Watch and Listen
📺 NFL: Texans at Cowboys
8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN
I just know league execs salivated over this matchup before the season. Two supposedly elite Texas teams with playoff stakes on the line. Two top QBs facing off. Welp! Dallas is bad, Dak Prescott is out for the year and Houston is underwhelming. What I’m looking for here: Can the Texans play like the team we thought they were?
📺 Soccer: USMNT vs. Jamaica
8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max/Peacock
The Americans can push through to the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals with a win or draw here in St. Louis. Big moment for new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Get tickets to games like these here.
🎧 “The Athletic Football Show” dove further into every Week 11 game like only those guys can. Listen here.
Pulse Picks
A monster game looms in Columbus. Chris Vannini ranked all 134 FBS teams this morning, with eyes on the matchup between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana. See the full rankings here.
Mark Lazerus has a cool story about the science behind the slap shot. Have NHL players maxed it out?
Free agency notes from the plugged-in Ken Rosenthal: why the Jays don’t make sense for Juan Soto, and how Alex Bregman could get a Manny Machado-like deal. Read that here.
Joe Gibbs Racing has never allowed its drivers to compete on dirt. Now, with a roster full of dirt enthusiasts — including Gibbs’ grandson — that policy is changing.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on “Inside the NBA” surviving at ABC/ESPN.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Stewart Mandel’s final thoughts from a frantic weekend of college football. Always a good read.
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(Top photo: Sam Greene / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
