The New York Giants continue to have their doubters despite improving their record to 6-1.
But rookie pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux has a clear message for those who are still not taking the Giants seriously following their 23-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"F*** 'em, f*** all the people around the league," said Thibodeaux to NJ Advance Media.
"The only people that matter are the people in this room. The only people that are going to dictate what happens on Sunday are the people in this room. Excuse my French.
"I mean, listen, I think the greatest thing we do is we fight for respect in the locker room. When you're on that battlefield, I want you to not respect me."
The Giants came from 17-13 down to see off the Jaguars, who narrowly missed out on claiming a game-winning touchdown as wide receiver Christian Kirk was stopped a yard short of the endzone in the final seconds.
The unconvincing nature of the victory will likely do little to quiet those questioning the Giants' legitimacy. New York have trailed in all seven games this year, with this victory marking their sixth comeback of a remarkable season.
But safety Xavier McKinney echoed the sentiments of team-mate Thibodeaux.
"I really don't even care for that question anymore," McKinney said. "I'm kind of tired of answering it because it's the same thing every week.
"Obviously, we know that. I really don't care. We don't care as a team. The only thing we can do is keep focusing on what we can do and keep getting better."
Forty shooters from across the Caribbean are in Jamaica for the 2022 West Indies Full Bore Shooting Council Championships set to run from October 24 - 29 at the Twickenham Park range in St Catherine following a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The best shooters from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Canada, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago will be vying to claim the title held by Trinidad and Tobago when the tournament was last held in 2019. However, there will likely be a new champion as the twin-island republic has sent only one shooter to the tournament this year. Barbados, too, has sent a single shooter.
The six-country championship will feature shooters aiming at targets from a minimum of 300 to a maximum of a 1000 yards.
Guyanese Lennox Braithwaite, Wogarth Cup champion, is back to defend his title having had the highest score in the short-range team match last time out. However, he admitted to Sportsmax.TV that his confidence is not where it should be going into competition.
“As a sportsman we try our best to prepare ourselves but there were two years of not shooting and so the kind of preparation that we would have liked we have not been able to on the outdoors but on the indoors, we would have done some of the exercises that would keep the muscle memory,” he said, but in terms of reading the weather conditions and so on for two years we would have been off.
“I am not so confident because I would guess that all the other teams maybe going through similar or had a better position in preparing. In Guyana, we hadn’t had the use of the ranges until about a month ago, so we had some challenges there.”
Notwithstanding the challenges, Brathwaite said he plans to offer a stern defense of his title.
“I would want to defend that position but at the same time I have to realistic because there are people who want to win also.”
He pointed out the shooters from Antigua and the host country as those he has to be wary of. “Nobody wants to lose at home,” he said laughingly.
Indeed, Jamaica would not want to lose at home and as such have fielded a strong team led by Phillip Scott and that includes national champion Dwayne Forde, who has been deemed a ‘definite contender’ for the individual title.
The team also comprises Karen Anderson, Denis John Nelson, David Rickman, Denis Lee, Claude Russell, Nicola Guy, Jose Nunez and Canute CC Coley.
The Kansas City Chiefs' offense fired on all cylinders against a vaunted San Francisco 49ers defense on Sunday, and Juju Smith-Schuster had an interesting explanation for their success.
Kansas City recovered from an early 10-0 hole to prevail in Week 7, the Chiefs exploding and pulling away in the fourth quarter in a 44-23 triumph.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes shredded the Niners for 423 yards and three touchdowns, bouncing back in emphatic fashion after his interception on the Chiefs' first drive set up San Francisco's opening touchdown.
Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling both went over 100 yards receiving and tight end Travis Kelce had 98, while Mecole Hardman found the endzone three times, twice as a rusher and once as a receiver.
San Francisco entered the game as the NFL's top defense, allowing only 255.8 yards per game, and the Chiefs were coming off a Week 6 game in which they were frustrated and held to 20 points in a loss to the Buffalo Bills.
But instead of those point-scoring issues carrying into another tough matchup, the Chiefs found the explosiveness they needed, with Smith-Schuster crediting an online gaming session between Mahomes and his pass-catchers for their devastating display.
"I'm gonna tell you what got us the chemistry when we needed this game," Smith-Schuster told a press conference.
"So, I think it was Friday night. It was me, Pat, Travis and MVS. We were playing Call of Duty together, we were playing Warzone, and we played three games, and we won three games, back-to-back.
"We got off, and we were like, 'damn'. It's really hard to win a game in Warzone.
"You could just... the communication between all of us, and then the chemistry? It was like we were in the game. It kind of just led into this game, and it kind of just showed on the field."
Geno Smith believes he can play even better after leading the Seattle Seahawks to a victory that lifted them to the top of the NFC West.
Unfancied and seen as a rebuilding team after the decision to trade nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in the offseason, the Seahawks are now 4-3 after the latest success authored by Smith.
The former first-round pick of the New York Jets is penning a remarkable comeback story having beaten Drew Lock to the starting quarterback job in Seattle.
Smith went 8-8 as a rookie with the Jets in 2013 but saw his career fall apart from there as poor play, a fractious relationship with former coach Rex Ryan and a now infamous locker room fight in 2015 derailed his hopes of being the long-term answer in New York.
He spent seasons with the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers before eventually landing in Seattle as Wilson's backup in 2019, playing three games in relief of the injured starter last season.
The Seahawks won only one of those starts, and there was little to suggest he could lead them to playoff contention in 2022. However, they have now won three of their last four games, with Smith leading the NFL with a completion percentage of 73.5.
Sunday saw him complete 20 of his 27 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception as the Seahawks saw off the Chargers 37-23.
Asked by Peter King for his Football Morning in America column what surprises him most about his and Seattle's success, Smith replied: "Nothing. Nothing has surprised me. In fact, I know I can play a lot better.
"In my rookie year playing with the Jets, we went 8-8 and missed the playoffs by one game. The reality is it's hard to win the NFL with a young quarterback. That's just the reality of the NFL.
"So much goes on that you have to know in order to be successful. Quarterbacking is a skill more than just a talent. I'm just happy I've just continued to develop.
"I know I might've struggled out the gate in pro football. That's just the reality of the NFL. Sometimes they give up on you fast.
"The numbers at the beginning of my career are kind of skewed, if you ask me. If you look at Peyton Manning, if you just judge his rookie season, you'd never think Peyton Manning would've become what he became. Steve Young, too. Troy Aikman. The list goes on and on and on.
"[You have] just got to have patience with young quarterbacks. You have got to find the right young quarterbacks with the right mentality who are going to continue to work and have a great attitude about the game and the struggle.
"Over the years, not playing was heartbreaking. I’m so competitive, and I love playing so much that I really wanted to be out there every single game. But what's that cliche? 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'?
"I know I’m better for all those years. Coming into this year, I wasn't sure what would happen [after the trade of Wilson to Denver].
"When [Seahawks coach] Pete Carroll hit me up and was like, 'Hey I'm giving you opportunity to compete for the job,' I mean, that’s all you have to say to me. That was awesome. He's shown faith in me. That's just what I need.
"You ask me: what am I focused on during the week? Playing hard, doing what I'm coached to do. It's that simple. I don't think about failure.
"My thought process is I need to run on the field with my linemen and play just as hard as they're playing and do exactly what I'm coached to do and then let my talent take over after that. It's that simple in my mind.
"Our success so far starts with the trust and belief of our head coach. Not many coaches would start two rookies on the offensive line, a rookie running back, two rookie cornerbacks.
"Not many coaches would be comfortable starting a quarterback who hasn't played in many years. But Pete does it because he knows what he's looking at. He's played young guys before, lots of times. He's taken chances on players, lots of time. He knows how to coach ball. You can see that this year.
"I think we're built to last for this season and many seasons. But ultimately, it comes down to what we do, not what we say. It's about the work we put in. It's about the consistency. And our preparation and consistency and our togetherness. That's all that matters.
"As long as we continue to build together, the sky's the limit. It takes work. It takes hard work. We have got to embrace that part of it."
World champions South Africa will face New Zealand in a 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up at Twickenham in August next year, two weeks before the tournament in France kicks off.
The pair will meet at England's national rugby union stadium for just the second time as teams begin to firm up their preparations for the tournament, with the Springboks also booking a clash against Wales a week prior.
Having faltered in the semi-finals to England at Japan 2019, the All Blacks will be out to chase a first world title since 2015, when they defeated rivals Australia - with their last Twickenham meeting with South Africa coming in the last four of that tournament.
"The Springboks and All Blacks share one of the greatest rivalries in rugby, and to face them at Twickenham will be an exciting experience for the players and our fans," said Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.
"The match will take place shortly before we kick off our World Cup campaign, and both this encounter and the Test against Wales will be vital for us to measure ourselves before the competition and to put the final building in blocks in place so that we can enter the showpiece in the desired form."
South Africa will compete in Pool B alongside Ireland, Scotland, Tonga and Romania at next year's tournament, while New Zealand will fight it out in Pool A with hosts France alongside Italy, Uruguay and Namibia.
Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson hailed Bryce Harper's big-game mentality after he took the team to their first World Series since 2009.
2021 National League MVP Harper smashed a game-winning home run to left-field as the Phillies overcame the San Diego Padres 4-3 in Game 5 of the NLCS on Sunday, clinching a 4-1 series victory.
Harper's homer, which came at a crucial point of the contest after Padres pitcher Yu Darvish helped the visitors back into contention, means the Phillies will contest their eighth World Series, having previously won it all in 1980 and 2008.
Thomson compared Harper to New York Yankees legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter after the win, describing the 30-year-old as a "superstar".
"The superstar came and he played and that's why he's the MVP," Thomson said. "Incredible. A lot of times you don't see that. The stars just don't hit. But he hit.
"He's physically and mentally tough and he wants to win. When the moment hits, he doesn't get caught up in it. He just goes out and does his job.
"I saw it a lot in my years with Jeter doing the same thing. Their heart doesn't speed up as much as the guy who's throwing to them. They're even-keeled. They stay in the zone."
Harper, meanwhile, was simply relieved to have avoided another trip to San Diego as he dedicated his series-clinching hit to Philadelphia's fans.
"I just looked at my dugout," Harper said. "It's for all of them. It's for this whole team. It's for this whole organisation. We haven't been here for a long time. It's for every single fan that's here.
"I said it to K-Long [hitting coach Kevin Long], 'let's give them something to remember'. It could have been anybody. I don't care. I just wanted the moment for everybody.
"I was not getting on that flight back. I was not getting on that flight to San Diego. Five and a half hours. No chance."
Philadelphia will face the Houston Astros in the World Series, who are bidding to win it all for the second time after completing a 4-0 series sweep of the Yankees on Sunday.
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone says being subjected to a clean sweep by the Houston Astros "stings" after they suffered an "awful ending" to their season.
The Astros will face the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series after beating the Yankees 6-5 to win the American League on Sunday.
Houston remain unbeaten in the MLB postseason, having seen off the Yankees 4-0 to pile the pressure on Boone.
The Yankees were missing DJ LeMahieu due to a toe injury and Andrew Benintendi, who is recovering from wrist surgery.
Boone reflected on a painful conclusion to the campaign and was left to rue the absence of key men.
"It's an awful day, just an awful ending. It stings. It hurts," Boone said. "Obviously we had some key contributors missing that I think would have been difference-makers for us potentially."
Aaron Judge may have played his last game for the Yankees, having turned down a seven-year contract to stay eligible for free agency.
Judge failed to deliver in the postseason, but Boone defended the outfielder.
He said: "It's baseball, man. I mean, it happens all the time where the greatest of greats go through a struggle. It's a game of failure. You’re going to have some ups and downs."
The Astros and the Phillies start the World Series at Minute Maid Park on Friday.
Chris Paul felt "privileged" to have played with some of the NBA's best shooters in his career after becoming just the third player to reach 11,000 assists in the league on Sunday.
Devin Booker's 35-point haul helped the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-95, with Paul bringing up the landmark against his former team by teeing up Deandre Ayton to dunk.
In doing so, Paul joined John Stockton and Jason Kidd in an exclusive club of players with 11,000 NBA assists, also becoming the first man to amass that many assists as well as 20,000 points in NBA history.
Speaking after the Suns' win, Paul credited the quality of his teammates and said he was unaware of his achievement until after the game.
"I've been fortunate to play for a while now with a lot of great shooters, great players in general,'' he said. "I'm privileged.
"There's been a lot of firsts here at the Staples Center, well, Crypto Arena. I honestly didn't have a clue until I checked out of the game."
Suns coach Monty Williams added: "It's amazing. I look at him and I'm like, 'holy smokes, I get to coach Chris Paul'.''
Paul, who also has the most assists for the Clippers in the franchise's history, finished with seven points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
The 12-time NBA All-Star has some way to go to top the league's assist charts, however, with his tally of 11,009 some way short of Stockton's record of 15,806.
Aaron Rodgers is "not worried" about the Green Bay Packers' slump after they were consigned to a 23-21 defeat by the Washington Commanders.
The Packers suffered a third consecutive defeat on Sunday and are 3-4 after the loss at FedEx Field.
Quarterback Rodgers was defiant after Green Bay fell short in the capital and believes they can stop the rot when they face the Buffalo Bills next weekend.
Asked if making the playoffs still seemed possible, he replied: "You're god damn right it does.
"I'm not worried about this squad. In fact, this might be the best thing for us. This week, nobody is going to give us a chance, going to Buffalo on Sunday Night Football, with a chance to get exposed. Shoot, this might be the best thing for us."
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is backing his team to arrest their slide.
"I don't think anybody thought we'd be in this spot that we're in right now," said LaFleur. "We're going to find out what we're made of in terms of just how we attack Monday, how we attack Tuesday, Wednesday and every day in practice.
"I do believe that we've got the right kind of guys that will continue to battle."
LaFleur says it is not only down to Rodgers to step up and get Green Bay back on track.
He said: "I think it takes everybody. It takes everybody around him. You've got to have the protection in front of you to be able to hold up.
"You've got to have the guys making plays, too. I feel like we had a ton of drops. We had a lot of penalties that put us back behind the sticks."
Christian McCaffrey was disappointed to suffer defeat on his San Francisco 49ers debut after a "weird week", but wants to focus on what he can control.
McCaffrey only joined the 49ers at the end of last week in a trade from the Carolina Panthers, and was thrown straight into the action against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
The Chiefs ran out 44-23 winners at Levi's Stadium, with McCaffrey only involved in 21 snaps, making 38 yards from eight carries.
The 26-year-old All-Pro was clearly still getting used to the idea of swapping Carolina for San Francisco, but said after the game he wants to get up to speed quickly.
"This was a weird week for me and for [the team]," he told reporters. "I didn't know what to expect. I know I had a certain list of plays that were up.
"For me, mentally, this was just 'focus on everything I can control and get rolling'. Obviously losing's frustrating, but I'm still getting to know these guys, I gotta do my job, I gotta make a few more plays here and just learn the offense as quick as possible.
"I'm just trying to control what I can control right now and get going."
The Niners are 3-4, having lost their last two games, and tight end George Kittle warned that McCaffrey cannot be expected to "be the saviour".
"He's not going to be the saviour, but he's definitely going to help us out," Kittle said. "I think these next two weeks are going to be huge for Christian to understand our offense and be comfortable out there not to think at all, just go out and run because that's what he's really good at.
"Like I said, penalties, turnovers, giving up big plays on defense, we've got to be better than that. We weren't today. That's how you lose football games."
The New York Jets fear rookie running back Breece Hall could miss the remainder of the season after he suffered a suspected torn ACL on Sunday.
Hall was taken off in the second quarter of the Jets' 16-9 win over the Denver Broncos, and coach Robert Saleh said: "The initial diagnosis is not good," before confirming it was likely to be an ACL injury.
It puts a dampener on an excellent start to the season for the 5-2 Jets and for Hall, who has totalled 681 scrimmage yards and scored five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving) in seven games.
That included a 62-yard TD run in the first quarter against Denver, making the 21-year-old the first Jets player since 2009 to have a rushing touchdown in four straight games.
However, just two carries later he was tackled near the sideline and appeared to land awkwardly, before being carted off the field for the remainder of the contest.
"He's a heck of a football player," Saleh said. "When you lose great football players, it's not good."
There were further injury concerns for Saleh as right tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker (elbow) and wide receiver Corey Davis (knee) were also unable to finish the game, with quarterback Zach Wilson saying afterwards: "I didn't even know what was going on, but I'm just in the huddle like, 'Where they at?'
"It's tough because all of those guys are great players. They're all balling. But unfortunately, it's part of the NFL, right?"
Zion Williamson left the New Orleans Pelicans' 122-121 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday with a posterior hip contusion after a nasty fall and did not return in an injury worry.
The 2019 NBA Draft top overall pick fell hard on the court after Jordan Clarkson blocked his transition dunk attempt with 8:06 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Williamson writhed on the ground in pain after the heavy fall, checking out shortly after the incident and not re-entering the game.
The 22-year-old power forward did not seek medical treatment on the bench but was not used during overtime.
The Pelicans confirmed after the game that Williamson had "sustained a posterior hip contusion" but head coach Willie Green had no further update on the severity.
"I don’t know as of right now," Green told reporters. "We finished the game, I went right in the locker room and spoke to the team.
"I haven’t spoken to our medical staff yet. We'll get an update soon and talk to you guys from there."
When pressed on whether there was a discussion after Williamson re-entering, Green added: "The word that I got [was] that he wasn’t going back in."
Williamson missed all of last season due to a broken foot, having emerged in 2020-21 with an All-Star year averaging 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
The Pelicans also lost Brandon Ingram to a head injury, with the small forward evaluated for concussion-like symptoms after a collision with teammate Naji Marshall in the first quarter.
The Jazz won the game in overtime with Kelly Olynyk scooping in a go-ahead shot with three seconds to go.
Stephen Curry led the way as the Golden State Warriors scored a franchise-record 50 second-quarter points in Sunday's 130-125 win over the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center.
The reigning NBA champions were dominant offensively, with their third most points in any half in franchise history as they opened up an 89-71 half-time lead, with Curry scoring 28 in the first half.
The Warriors fell just short of their franchise record of 92 for any half, from 2018 against the Chicago Bulls. It was Golden State's second most points in a first half.
The second quarter was their seventh ever with 50-or-more points, equaling their third most of any period.
Curry finished the game with 33 points, recording his third straight 30-point performance, marking the second time in his career he has done that to start a season. The reigning NBA Finals MVP made seven-of-12 from three-point range, with five of those coming in the second quarter.
The Kings never gave up and cut the margin to four points with 1:04 remaining but Golden State closed it with Andrew Wiggins capping it off with 24 points.
The Warriors shot at 51.7 per cent from the field, along with 42.4 per cent from beyond the arc, making 14-of-33 attempts.
Late Lakers woes prove costly
The Los Angeles Lakers slumped to an 0-3 record after poor late execution saw them lose 106-104 to the Portland Trail Blazers, with four-time MVP LeBron James missing a two-point shot on the buzzer.
The Lakers missed four of their final five shots of the game, after Damian Lillard's triple put the Blazers ahead after trailing by seven points with 1:56 remaining. Lillard finished with a game-high 41 points.
James finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Anthony Davis added 22 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, but the Lakers' late execution and three-point shooting cost them, going at 18.2 per cent from beyond the arc as a team.
Russell Westbrook contributed 10 points on four-of-15 shooting with six rebounds and six assists but was benched with 12 seconds remaining with the game up for grabs.
CP3 joins elite assists club
Chris Paul became the third player in NBA history to reach 11,000 assists, providing 11 in the Phoenix Suns' 112-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Devin Booker top scored with 35 points with 13-of-21 shooting from the field and five-of-nine from beyond the arc as the Suns led from wire to wire.
Paul brought up his 11,000th assist with his second of the game, an alley-oop pass for Deandre Ayton, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd in the elite club.
Kawhi Leonard started on the bench again for the Clippers, playing 21 minutes for 11 points with six rebounds and two assists.
The Houston Astros advanced to their fourth World Series in six years after completing an ALCS sweep of the New York Yankees with a 6-5 victory at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.
Alex Bregman delivered the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning before Ryan Pressly closed it out for the Astros, who improved to 7-0 this postseason having already swept the Seattle Mariners.
Houston are only the third team to have swept both the Divisional and Championship Series in MLB history, following the Colorado Rockies (2007) and Kansas City Royals (2014) whom both lost in the World Series. The Astros will face the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, after they completed a 4-1 NLCS triumph earlier on Sunday.
The Astros rallied from a 3-0 deficit after two innings, with Jeremy Pena's three-run blast over left field leading their four-run third-inning rally.
The Yankees regained their lead with Harrison Bader's two-out solo homer in the sixth inning - his fifth blast of the postseason - only for Houston to rally again with a two-run seventh from Yordan Alvarez's RBI single followed by Bregman's go-ahead RBI, with a shot into right-center field to drive in Pena.
It marked the fourth time the Yankees, who had a 99-win regular season, have been swept in a best-of-seven series in franchise history.
The Astros' pitching staff were pivotal again, as they have been all postseason, with starter Lance McCullers Jr having six strikeouts across five innings, while the bullpen was stingy.
Second baseman Jose Altuve, who had not had a postseason hit until Game 3, re-discovered some touch with two hits and a walk, scoring two runs.
Astros manager Dusty Baker has the chance to end his record of most games managed without winning the World Series.
Tua Tagovailoa returned as the Miami Dolphins snapped their three-game skid with a 16-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night.
Tagovailoa had not played since suffering a concussion in Week 4, but threw a first-quarter touchdown for Raheem Mostert as the Dolphins raced to a 13-0 lead.
The Steelers rallied with 10 second-quarter points with rookie George Pickers pulling down a spectacular catch from a Kenny Pickett TD pass to make it 16-10 at half-time.
Miami's defense held firm to thwart two fourth-quarter Steelers' drives with interceptions, firstly by Jevon Holland and then Noah Igbinoghene, the latter settling a game where no points were scored in the second half. The win improved Miami's record to 4-3, sitting third in the AFC East, while the Steelers are 2-5 and last in the AFC North.
In the Steelers' last drive, Pickett had connected with tight end Pat Freiermuth and wide receiver Diontae Johnson for major gains in the final minute, before Igbinoghene's pick.
Miami's defense had only one interception all season but notched three in this game alone from Pickett's throwing with the Steelers QB completing 32 of 44 passes for 257 yards.
Tagovailoa made it four wins from four starts, with 21-of-35 passing for 261 yards with no interceptions, running four times for 15 yards.
Jaylen Waddle had four catches for 88 yards including a brilliant flying catch, while Tyreek Hill was a regular target with seven receptions for 72 yards. Touchdown scorer Mostert had four receptions for 30 yards along with 16 carries for 79 yards.
For a second straight week, an unexpected road loss and a struggling offense has Tom Brady and Tampa Bay Buccaneers searching for answers.
The preseason NFC South favourites dropped to 3-4 following Sunday’s 21-3 defeat to a Carolina Panthers team that was starting a third-string quarterback, while being led by an interim head coach.
The Brady-led offence failed to produce a touchdown one week after not reaching the end zone until late in the fourth quarter of a 20-18 loss to the-then 1-4 Pittsburgh Steelers.
"It’s still there," said Brady of Tampa Bay’s need to self-evaluate. "We talked about execution the other day and it still comes up. I think we all just need to do our job better.
"There’s no easy way about it. They’re trying to keep us from doing our job, we’re trying to do it, and they’re doing a better job than we are. Anytime you score three points, that pretty much sums it up."
Though the Bucs still reside in a first-place tie in what’s been a weak NFC South thus far, they’ve now lost four of their past five games to place Brady in a spot he’s rarely been in during his storied 23-year career. The future Hall of Fame quarterback hasn’t been under .500 seven games into the season since the 2002 New England Patriots started 3-4, and he’s never had a losing record at any time after eight games.
"We’re not playing well," head coach Todd Bowles admitted. "We’re not playing well as individuals, we’re not playing well as a team, we’re not coaching it well. All the way around – we’re not scoring enough on offence and we’re not stopping them enough on defence.
"We have to wear this on our sleeve. They’ve got to be grown men. We’re going to see what we’re made of, (see) how many people can handle adversity, and this is about as dark as it’s going be right now."
While a defence that’s now gone three straight games without forcing a turnover and surrendered 173 rushing yards to the Panthers has played in a role in Tampa Bay’s tough stretch, much of the focus has been centred around the offence’s continued problems to consistently generate points. The Bucs were held under 20 points for the fourth time this season in Sunday’s loss; they scored fewer than 20 only three times while going 13-4 and earning the NFC’s second seed in 2021.
"We’re plenty capable of making plays, we’re just not making them consistently enough to score points," said Brady, who’s averaged a mere 6.0 yards per pass attempt during the current two-game losing streak. "We make a big play, make a bad play, make a big play, make a bad play. In football that’s just not good enough.
"You can’t play like that. You’ve got to string enough good plays together to get the ball into the red area and score points."
With a Thursday night home game against Baltimore next on the schedule, the Buccaneers will have a short time to try to find solutions to their current problems.
"We’re going to see what we have going forward," said Bowles. "See how many crumble in the dark and see how many people step up and start playing better, and start coaching better."
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham says he cannot afford to waste any time managing players' feelings after benching Russell Westbrook late as they slumped to an 0-3 start on Sunday.
The Lakers surrendered a seven-point lead with 1:56 left, losing 106-104 to the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena, following up defeats to the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors.
LeBron James had a two-point attempt rim out on the buzzer as they missed four of their final five shots in the last two minutes.
Leading 102-101, Westbrook missed a 15-foot pull-up jumper with 27.3 seconds remaining in the game and 18 seconds left on the shot clock. He was then sent to the bench after Damian Lillard drained a three-point to put the Blazers ahead.
"We don't have time for feelings or people being in their feelings. Like, we're trying to turn this thing around," Ham told reporters. "For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don't have any time for that."
Westbrook finished with 10 points on four-of-15 shooting, adding six rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes, with no turnovers, having given away four in their opening loss to Golden State.
Ham was critical of Westbrook's shot location rather than his decision to take on his jumper with 27.3 seconds left trying to execute a two-for-one, to ensure two offensive possessions in the final moments.
"I just wish we would've attacked the rim directly," Ham said. "That's the one shot that teams want you to take and want to give up – long twos, contested twos.
"With his ability to explode and get to the basket still being at a high level, I wish he would've did that. Especially with Nurkic standing back there with five fouls… shot selection is something we have to work on."
James would not be drawn on Westbrook, proactively calling out reporters for their line of questioning on the nine-time All-Star, who has started the season averaging 10.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game.
"I feel like this is an interview of trying to set me up to say something," James said. "I can tell that you guys are in the whole Russell Westbrook category right now. I don't like to lose. I hate to lose at anything.
"I don't care what happens throughout the course of my season or throughout the course of my career, I hate to lose. And especially the way we had this game. But give credit to Portland.
"You guys can write about Russ and all the things you want to try to talk about Russ, but I'm not up here to do that. I won't do it. I've said it over and over. That's not who I am."
James finished with 31 points on 12-of-22 field shooting, with eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks, while Anthony Davis scored 22 points with 10 rebounds, two steals and six blocks.
The Lakers' woes from beyond the arc plagued them again, shooting six-of-33 from three-point range.
Jessica Pegula will rise to third in the world rankings after defeating Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-3 in the final of the Guadalajara Open on Sunday.
It is surprisingly only the second singles title of Pegula's career on the WTA Tour, and the 28-year-old's first WTA 1000 title.
Against Sakkari, the American showcased her complete game, controlling the opening set with her serve before using her powerful returning ability to close things out.
In the first set, Pegula converted 10 of her 11 accurate first serves into points, winning 76 per cent of her total service points while facing no break opportunities. She only had two break point opportunities herself, and she took both.
Her success rate on service points dropped to 60 per cent in the second set, but she made up for it with her returns, winning 55 per cent of the points on Sakkari's serve while breaking three times to pull away.
It caps off a remarkable week for Pegula, who collected straight-sets wins over top-50 opponents Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens and Bianca Andreescu in her three matches leading to the final.
While it was the last tournament of the season, both Pegula and Sakkari finished in the top-eight for world ranking points this season and therefore have qualified for the WTA Finals, beginning on October 31.
The Kansas City Chiefs are the highest scoring team in the NFL through Week 7 after a convincing 44-23 road win against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
San Francisco were in the headlines this week after pulling the trigger on a big trade for superstar running back Christian McCaffrey, but it was Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes controlling the contest.
Mahomes threw an interception on the Chiefs' first drive, but turned things around quickly and ended up completing 25 of his 34 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns.
He tossed second-half touchdown passes to Justin Watson and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and his first touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman was the beginning of a memorable day for the speedy receiver.
After getting on the end of an eight-yard score from Mahomes in the first quarter, Hardman then took a jet-sweep 25 yards down the sideline in the second quarter for the first rushing touchdown of his career.
Not done yet, Hardman added his second rushing touchdown and third overall score for the game with a three-yard run in the fourth period. He finished with two carries for 28 yards and two rushing TDs, with four catches for 32 yards and a receiving TD.
For the 49ers, Jimmy Garropolo was not to blame for the loss as he finished 25-of-37 for 303 yards, two touchdowns and an interception – with touchdown passes to George Kittle and Ray-Ray McCloud III.
McCaffrey carried the ball eight times for 38 yards, and caught both of his targets for 24 yards through the air.
Seahawks move above .500 with upset in Los Angeles
The Seattle Seahawks rode a spectacular performance from rookie running back Kenneth Walker III to a 37-23 upset win on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Walker rushed 23 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns, capped by a 74-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game to bed.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith was solid, completing 20-of-27 passes for 210 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Marquise Goodwin as he assumed a major role following a knee injury to key wide receiver D.K. Metcalf.
Chargers star Austin Ekeler remains the top running back in fantasy football, rushing for 31 yards and a touchdown, as well as catching all 12 of his targets for 96 yards and a second score.
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