Dak Prescott has just one playoff victory in his first six NFL seasons, but he has every intention of making this a memorable year for himself and the Dallas Cowboys. 

"It will be the golden birthday," said Prescott, who turns 29 on Friday. "I plan for this to be the golden year."

Both Prescott and Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy received plenty of criticism after a disappointing 23-17 wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers last season. That game ended when Prescott ran downfield with six seconds left on the clock and was unable to spike the ball for one last play.  

That defeat left Prescott with a 1-3 career postseason record and kept Dallas without a Super Bowl title since 1995. 

Prescott has been unable to do what Hall-of-Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman did – lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title.  

"I mean obviously knowing the quarterbacks that played specifically for this team, and knowing their legacy, and the ones that we hold at the highest standard are the ones that have Super Bowl rings." Prescott said.

"It starts there for me, trying to fill the shoes of those guys that have come before me and do something for this organisation that hasn’t been done in a long time."

While playoff success has eluded Prescott, he did throw a franchise-record 37 touchdown passes last season and threw for 4,449 yards – the fourth-highest single-season total of any Cowboys quarterback. 

"When you don’t win games, it goes on our shoulders sometimes and that’s okay,' Prescott said. "I’m a guy that will take it whenever.

"Take the good with the bad and just continue to help my team, help all 53 who will participate in the game, but as coach says, it takes more than that.

"It takes the whole unit, the whole organisation. I don’t really worry about where the criticism or blame or any of that goes."

The Cowboys open their season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 11. 

The Philadelphia Phillies rode a strong starting pitching performance from Zack Wheeler to an 8-4 road victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.

All nine Phillies batters finished with at least one hit – racking up 15 total hits as a team – and it got started in the first inning as Darick Hall made it a 2-0 game with his two-run triple. Nick Castellanos then drove in Hall with a base hit to make it 3-0 in the opening frame.

Wheeler never gave the Pirates a chance to fight back into the contest, holding the home side scoreless until late in the seventh inning. He finished with two earned runs from three hits and three walks, striking out eight.

After Alec Bohm's base hit to make it 4-0 in the second inning, there was a lull in the action until Kyle Schwarber made his presence known in the sixth frame.

With two runners on base, Schwarber connected on his 32nd home run of the season, trailing only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

The Pirates rallied hard in the last inning, scoring five runs from four hits off Jeurys Familia, but there was not much to cheer about up until that point, except for an exciting showing from rookie Cal Mitchell.

Mitchell delivered the only runs for his side in the first eight innings with his towering 414-foot, two-run homer to center-field off Wheeler. He finished three-for-four at the plate, also adding a pair of singles.

Judge does it again for the Yankees

Aaron Judge won the New York Yankees another game off his bat as he blasted the game-winning, walk-off home run to defeat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 at home.

Both sides pitched beautifully, with Royals starter Brady Singer giving up just one hit while striking out 10 in seven innings, while Yankees starter Jameson Taillon struck out eight batters in six scoreless frames.

The home run was Judge's league-leading 39th of the season – seven more than any other player.

Angels blow another Ohtani gem

The Los Angeles Angels wasted another terrific starting pitching performance from two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani, going down 2-0 at home to the Texas Rangers.

Ohtani struck out 11 batters in six innings, giving up two runs from eight hits in his 10th quality start (meaning at least six innings pitched and three or fewer earned runs) of the season. He now has 145 strikeouts for the season – the sixth most in the majors, and the five players ahead of him have all started at least two more contests.

Only Atlanta Braves rookie Spencer Strider (13.4) has a higher strikeouts-per-nine-innings stat than Ohtani's 13.1.

The top seeds were all victorious in Thursday's action at the Atlanta Open, with John Isner prevailing 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) in an all-American showdown against Ben Shelton to close the day's play.

Isner, 37, relied as he usually does on his trusty serve to get the job done in tiebreakers, winning the match despite not breaking Shelton's serve a single time.

The second seed won 85 per cent (60-of-71) of his successful first serves, while Shelton was similarly stout, converting 83 per cent (50-of-60).

Isner will meet fellow American Jenson Brooksby in the quarter-finals after he came back from an early break to defeat Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-4.

The biggest differentiating factor between the two players was Brooksby's effectiveness off his second serve, winning 61 per cent (14-of-23) of those opportunities compared to just 22 per cent (four-of-18) from McDonald.

Fourth seed Alex de Minaur defeated fellow Australian James Duckworth 6-4 6-4 in a competitive match, but De Minaur simply created more chances for himself, with five break point opportunities while Duckworth had two.

De Minaur will play France's Adrian Mannarino after he defeated American Andres Martin 7-5 6-3.

Mannarino's main advantage was with his return game, securing four breaks of serve while dropping his own serve only once.

The Seattle Seahawks have locked up standout wide receiver DK Metcalf with a three-year, $72million contract extension. 

Metcalf’s deal includes a $30m signing bonus – the highest ever for a wide receiver – with $58.2m guaranteed. His yearly salary of $24m ties him with Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs for the sixth-highest total among receivers.  

Metcalf has 216 receptions for 3,170 yards and 29 touchdowns in 49 career games since Seattle selected him with the 64th overall pick in 2019 out of Mississippi. He had 75 catches for 967 yards with a career-high 12 TDs last season. 

The new deal keeps Metcalf with the Seahawks through the 2025 season, with his rookie contract set to expire after this season. He doesn’t turn 25 until December and will be 28 years old when his new deal ends.  

He sat out practice at training camp this week after he missed all three days of mandatory veteran mini-camp in June with an unexcused absence.  

Metcalf and the other Seattle receivers will have a new starting quarterback this season after Russell Wilson was traded to Denver in March. Geno Smith and Drew Lock currently are competing for the starting job.  

Just days after winning the 3M Open, Tony Finau has put together a terrific eight-under 64 to earn the position of joint-leader at the Rocket Mortgage Classic after the first round of play.

Finau came from five shots back on Sunday to lift this past weekend's trophy, and he kept that momentum going with a bogey-free round, birdieing three holes on the front-nine and five down the back.

He finished with the most strokes gained on approach shots (4.20 strokes gained), and was third in strokes gained off the tee (1.65).

Speaking to the media after stepping off the 18th green, Finau acknowledged his rich run of form, and the fact that it was the first round of his career where he had hit all 18 greens in regulation.

"I was riding the high off last week," he said. "I didn’t know that fact before today, that I haven’t hit all 18 greens, so to be able to do that here today is pretty cool."

The only other player at eight under is Canada's Taylor Pendrith, who had nine birdies, and then bogeyed the 18th hole to give up the outright lead.

That pairing is two strokes clear of the chasing field, with England's Matt Wallace and the American group of Michael Thompson, Webb Simpson, Cameron Champ and Lee Hodges all posting 66s.

There is strong international representation in the logjam tied for eighth at five under, including South Korea's Kim Si-woo, Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat, England's Callum Tarren and Sweden's Henrik Norlander.

Australia's Cam Davis is one further back at four under, his compatriots Adam Scott and Jason Day are at three-under, while England's Danny Willett and strong major performer Will Zalatoris are flirting with the cut-line at two under.

Tom Brady's position at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is an advantage for recruitment, so says general manager Jason Licht.

The veteran quarterback will go around once more this term with the Bucs, after initially announcing his retirement before reversing his decision 40 days later.

And Brady is now helping Licht shape the roster for the upcoming 2022 NFL season, as new head coach Todd Bowles looks to take them to a second Super Bowl in three years following last season's divisional playoff exit.

Speaking ahead of the Bucs' preseason bow against the Miami Dolphins, Licht explained how having Brady on board makes their recruitment business easier, pointing to their acquisition of wide receiver Julio Jones as an example of their similar mindsets.

"I think any GM with an established veteran quarterback has an advantage, but when you have Tom Brady as the greatest, it's even more of an advantage," Licht said in a news conference.

"The entire locker room has the utmost respect for him. If I'm thinking about a player or we are as a staff, I'll give him a call and see if he can help us out and he's always willing to do it.

"We’re usually on the same page with that. We didn't have to kick too many weeds to find out about Julio Jones. We've known about him a while, and Kyle Rudolph was the best tight end that was available.

"But, we're usually on the same page. We have a lot of communication, so does Todd [Bowles] and Tom [Brady] and myself. We talk a lot about players."

Jones is one of the Bucs' key offseason recruits, with the 33-year-old signing on Wednesday after his release from the Tennessee Titans earlier this year, and Brady helped swing the deal.

"It's a scenario we had talked about for a while," Licht added. "I talked periodically to his agent and I know that Tom and Julio had talked.

"It just kind of came to fruition here these last couple of days. We're really excited to have him [and] I know he's super excited to be here. What a mature guy, tough guy, competitive guy, he's just excited to have the chance to win a championship."

Bowles is starting to put the pieces together as he prepares for his first season at the helm following Bruce Arians' departure, though the latter's presence as a consultant has remained invaluable to the team.

"It's great to have him," Licht said of Arians. "He and I obviously have a great relationship. I lean on him for a lot of things. I know Todd does as well and all of our coaches. He's just great to have around."

Carlos Alcaraz got his Croatia Open title defence off to a strong start with a straight-sets victory over Norbert Gombos on Thursday.

The Spaniard, who this week became the second-youngest player to break into the top five of the ATP rankings this century, behind only compatriot Rafael Nadal, saw off Gombos 6-2 6-3 in Umag.

Alcaraz, handed a first-round bye, will now face Facundo Bagnis in the last eight after the Argentinian beat Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-1.

Despite the straightforward nature of his victory over Gombos, the top seed was regularly tested on his own serve.

"It was a really tough match," said Alcaraz, whose triumph in Umag last year marked his first ATP Tour-level title.

"It wasn't as easy as the result seems. Norbert played a really good game and the first round of every tournament is never easy. 

"I had to get used to the conditions. It was tough for me, but at the end I found a way to play better and get the win."

Franco Agamenone also advanced to his first ATP Tour quarter-final with a 3-6 6-1 7-5 comeback over Sebastian Baez, while Marco Cecchinato upset Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-3.

At the Austrian Open, Dominic Thiem was eliminated in the quarter-finals of his home tournament by Yannick Hanfmann, the former world number three going down 6-4 3-6 6-4 in a rain-affected contest.

Roberto Bautista Agut prevailed 4-6 7-5 7-5 against Jiri Lehecka in a match lasting nearly three hours. A meeting with fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who defeated Pedro Martinez 6-4 6-2, is his reward.

Chile intend to launch an appeal against FIFA's decision to dismiss their previous complaint regarding Ecuador's participation at the World Cup.

Nine-time tournament finalists Chile asked FIFA to investigate allegations that Ecuador used ineligible right-back Byron Castillo in their successful qualifying campaign.

The Federacion de Futbol de Chile (ANPF) said it had proof that Castillo was born in Colombia and not Ecuador, as stated on his official documents.

Castillo appeared eight times in qualifying, including in a goalless draw with Chile in September and a 2-0 victory in November.

La Roja finished seventh, meaning they just missed out on a play-off spot, but felt Ecuador should be expelled from the World Cup at their expense.

However, after looking into the claims made by ANPF, world football's governing body FIFA rejected the appeal last month and confirmed Ecuador will keep their place in Qatar.

Chile are continuing to push their case, though, with their general secretary Jorge Yunge confirming on Thursday that a fresh appeal will be lodged.

"We are completely sure about the conclusions of our investigations," Yunge said in a statement.

"It's absolutely clear the player uses an adulterated Ecuadorean document. What is at stake here is not just a place in the 2022 World Cup, but the entire principle of fair play."

Ecuador have been drawn in Group A at the World Cup, which begins in November, alongside Senegal, the Netherlands and hosts Qatar.

Phil Foden can see similarities between Erling Haaland and Manchester City great Sergio Aguero when it comes to his new team-mate's "scary" finishing ability.

Haaland joined City in a £64.2million (€75m) deal earlier this transfer window on the back of scoring 86 goals in 89 appearances in all competitions for Borussia Dortmund.

Across his two-and-a-half years with Dortmund, only Robert Lewandowski (122) and Kylian Mbappe (89) scored more times among players from Europe's top five leagues.

Indeed, Lewandowski (1.81) – who recently left Bayern Munich for Barcelona – is the only player to boast a better goals-per-game ratio than Haaland (1.07) during that period.

A year on from Aguero's exit for Barca, where the Argentine managed just five appearances before a heart issue forced him to retire, Haaland has big boots to fill at the Etihad Stadium.

Aguero scored 257 goals in 384 appearances for City, but Foden believes the reigning Premier League champions are in good hands with Haaland.

"In front of goal he's scary," the England international told Sky Sports. "Everyone knows his goal record, how many he scores.

"But he's coming into a completely different league, much faster football so it might take him time to get used to, but I'm sure when he's in his flow he's going to be unstoppable.

"Aguero is very similar. Haaland has got all different types of finishes as well. 

"He's scary in front of goal and if we can get him the ball in the right areas he's going to be really important for us this year."

Haaland was restricted to 30 games in all competitions for Dortmund last season, yet he still managed 29 goals at a rate of one 1.14 per 90 minutes.

Of those 29 strikes, which came from an expected goals (xG) return of 25.84, five were scored with his head, three with his right foot and 21 with his stronger left.

The Norway international scored the winner on his first outing for City in last week's friendly against Bayern Munich, and the field is not the only place he is making an impact.

"He's a top guy off the pitch, a great character, a great addition to the team," Foden explained.

"He makes everyone laugh and he's dead humble, which is important when you come into a team. He's hungry to achieve things with us, so it can only mean good things."

Haaland is set to make his domestic bow for City when Pep Guardiola's side take on FA Cup winners and Premier League rivals Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday.

Rilee Rossouw smashed his way to a career-best T20 International score as South Africa pushed on from a blistering start to beat England by 58 runs and level their three-match series.

The Somerset top-order batsman posted an unbeaten 96 not out off 55 balls after arriving at 39-1 to steer the tourists to a first innings total of 207-3 at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

That proved to be more than enough to see off the hosts, who slumped to a middle-order collapse in response for 149 all out despite a defiant sixth-wicket stand between Jonny Bairstow (30) and Liam Livingstone (18).

The result means the two sides will head to the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Sunday for a winner-takes-all encounter, after the pair were forced to a 1-1 draw in their ODI series by rain at Headingley.

A lively opening stand between skipper-wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks sparked early fireworks before the former guided Moeen Ali to Jason Roy for 15, paving the way for Rossouw's arrival.

The left-hander, who returned from a six-year T20I exodus at Bristol on Wednesday, managed only four the night before but rolled out a masterfully modulated performance to guide his side through to the interval.

Stands of 73, 31 and 64 with Hendricks (53), Heinrich Klaasen (19) and Tristan Stubbs (15 not out) helped the Proteas to a double-century plus total, with the latter two in particular offering solid supporting performances.

England conjured an element of deja vu in their immediate response, with captain Jos Buttler holing out to Hendricks off the back of a rapid-fire 29 before Dawid Malan (5) and Jason Roy (20) fell to reduce them to 77-3.

The further dismissals of Ali (28) and Sam Curran (2) in quick succession left them at 92-5, staring down the barrel of a hefty defeat, before Bairstow and Livingstone combined for a morale-boosting 36.

But the former's dismissal through a superb catch from Lungi Ngidi off Kagiso Rabada effectively checked any momentum to leave the hosts at 128-6, and the latter's exit less than an over later sparked a tail-end collapse to tee up an intriguing finale this weekend.

Rossouw seizes second chance

Once the hottest prospect in South African cricket the better part of a decade ago, with a first-class top score of 319 posted as a teenager, Rossouw effectively seemed to end his international career in 2017 when he penned a Kolpak contract with Hampshire.

But injury to white-ball skipper Temba Bavuma has offered him an unlikely shot at Proteas redemption, and though his brief four in Wednesday's opening match was more anticlimactic, this proved a masterful display that could well give him a way back into the setup on a regular basis.

Bairstow keeps form afloat as Tests loom

Few players have showcased quite such a rich vein of form of late than Bairstow in Test cricket, and he carried that Midas touch over into the first T20I on Wednesday with a fluidly assured 90 to guide England to victory.

While the hosts fell considerably shorter a day later this time around, Bairstow once again proved their top scorer with a more modest 30, a figure that nevertheless showcases his ability to keep grinding out runs as he prepares to return to the long-form game against the tourists next month.

With his work ethic and preparation methods recently called into question, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray called an impromptu press conference on Thursday to answer his critics. 

The former Heisman Trophy winner and two-time Pro Bowl honoree bristled at the suggestion he could achieve what he has in both his college and professional career without taking his job seriously.

Murray delivered a sharp response to the recent criticism he has received after a report this week stated his new $230million contract contained a clause that mandated four hours of independent film study per week during the season.  

"To think that I can accomplish everything that I've accomplished in my career and not be a student of the game and not have that passion, not take this seriously, is almost – it's disrespectful and it's almost a joke," Murray said.

"I'm honestly flattered that you all think at my size I can go out there and not prepare for the game," the 5-foot-10, 207-pound quarterback said. "This game's too hard. To play the position that I play in this league, it's too hard. 

"I'm not 6-7, 230 [pounds]. I don't throw the ball 85 yards. I'm already behind the eight-ball and I can't afford to take any shortcuts, no pun intended."

According to NFL.com, Murray can be found to be in breach of his new deal should he not fulfil the obligations of the "independent study" addendum.

The 2019 No. 1 overall pick last week agreed to the five-year extension, which will make him the NFL's second-highest paid player in terms of average annual salary.

Murray did not directly answer questions about specific parts of the contract, though he did make a statement about his film study habits. 

"There's multiple ways to watch film," he said. "There's many different ways to process that game; there's many different ways quarterbacks learn the game and break the game down.

"Of course, I watch film by myself. That's a given. That doesn't even need to be said. But I do enjoy and love the process of watching the game with my guys, the quarterbacks, the coaches.  

"I refuse to let my work ethic, my preparation, be in question. I've put in incomprehensible amount of time and blood, sweat and tears and work into what I do.

"To those of you out there who believe that I'd be standing here today in front of you all without having a work ethic and without preparing, I'm honoured that you think that, but it doesn't exist. It's not possible.” 

Murray, a former standout baseball player at Oklahoma as well who was taken ninth overall in the 2018 MLB draft, led the Cardinals to their first playoff appearance in six years with an 11-6 finish to the 2021 season. 

The 24-year-old began last season as an MVP candidate as Arizona got off to a 7-0 start, with Murray producing a 116.8 passer rating with a 73.5 per cent completion rate and 17 touchdown passes during that stretch. 

However, his play dropped off over the season's second half. Murray's passer rating dipped to 86.5 as Arizona went 2-5 over his next seven starts, and he struggled with a no-touchdown, two-interception performance in the Cardinals' 34-11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the opening round of the playoffs.