Connect with us

Sports

Takeaways from Chargers’ preseason win over the Texans: QB2 battle is on

Published

33 minutes ago

on

The Los Angeles Chargers opened their preseason with a 27-7 victory at the Houston Texans on Thursday night.

Here are my takeaways.

1. Trey Lance had an opportunity to slam the door on a backup quarterback competition. He did not seize that opportunity.

Lance started the game for the Chargers and certainly had some bright moments, especially in the early stages. He executed a number of the timing throws that are staples in coordinator Mike McDaniel’s offensive scheme. He looked comfortable in McDaniel’s diverse play-action looks. He created in off-script situations as a runner and passer.

The issue: He did not protect the ball. Lance threw a dreadful pick at the end of the second half that took points off the board. He tried to connect with rookie receiver Brenen Thompson on an in-breaker. Lance did not see Texans safety Kamari Ramsey lurking to the inside. This was questionable vision from Lance, and it came at an inexcusable point of the game, when the Chargers were well within kicker Cameron Dicker’s field goal range.

Ramsey also almost picked off Lance earlier in the second quarter. The Chargers were backed up in their own end. Lance attempted to rip an out route to the left sideline. Ramsey jumped it and should have intercepted the pass. Although it shows up in the box score as an incompletion, it was another bad decision and dangerous throw from Lance.

Top Plays from Chargers @ Texans

Coach Jim Harbaugh said earlier this week he wanted to give a half each to Lance and DJ Uiagalelei. Lance started the second half after his first half ended with the interception. He played one series, leading the Chargers on a field goal drive.

The Chargers built a convincing lead in the second half. Uiagalelei did not receive nearly as many opportunities as Lance did in the passing game. Uiagalelei finished 6-for-9 passing for 120 yards, one touchdown and, importantly, no turnovers. He guided the Chargers to an easy win, partly thanks to an impressive second-half performance from the defense. Uiagalelei showed off his ability to throw on the run on multiple occasions, including a bootleg touchdown pass to rookie receiver Devonte Ross.

Lance backed up Justin Herbert in 2025, but Uiagalelei is pushing him for that role this season. This is officially a real competition.

2. Second-year running back Amar Johnson was the star of the game for the Chargers. He finished with 85 scrimmage yards and two rushing touchdowns. Johnson set up the Chargers’ third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter with a 55-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline. That throw came from Uiagalelei.

Johnson spent last season on the Chargers’ practice squad. He saw action in two games while the Chargers were dealing with a slew of injuries at running back.

Johnson will have a tough time earning a spot on the 53-man roster, with Omarion Hampton, Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal firmly entrenched on the depth chart, but there are three running backs fighting for 2026 practice squad spots among Johnson, Jaret Patterson and rookie Greg Desrosiers.

Johnson is leading that group after this performance. Desrosiers showed some explosion as a runner Thursday night, and he made a special teams tackle on punt coverage. Patterson averaged 5.0 yards per carry on five carries.

3. New defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary had a tremendous showing in his first NFL game as a play caller. The Chargers gave up some yardage on the ground, but their pass defense was excellent against a pretty established backup in Davis Mills. The Texans totaled just 105 passing yards. They averaged 4.8 yards per attempt.

Sound familiar? It should. This was the DNA of Jesse Minter’s Chargers defenses. Playing with fewer bodies in the box leads to some disadvantageous looks in run defense, but it allows the defense to play suffocating coverage. O’Leary’s unit executed the vision effectively in Houston.

This defense will not be exactly the same, however. We wondered through the offseason what dials O’Leary might twist one way or the other to put his own stamp on the scheme. We got an initial answer Thursday night: O’Leary turned up the heat with his blitzes.

The Chargers did not blitz frequently under Minter. Last season, they ranked 29th in blitz rate at 11.7 percent, according to TruMedia. Against the Texans, O’Leary blitzed on six of 28 defensive snaps in the first half, or over 20 percent. He blitzed less in the second half as the Chargers built their big lead, but even then, O’Leary produced one of the turning points of the game when he brought defensive back Myles Purchase on a blitz that resulted in a lost fumble from Mills.

Linebacker Lander Barton recovered. The Chargers scored five plays later to put the game away.

A more aggressive blitzing approach could be one of the key elements that differentiates O’Leary from Minter.

Davis Mills of the Houston Texans, wearing No. 10, fumbles the ball under pressure by Myles Purchase of the Los Angeles Chargers, wearing No. 41.

Myles Purchase delivered one of the game-altering plays when he came on a blitz to force a fumble. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

4. Rookie offensive lineman Jake Slaughter started Thursday’s game at center. He shifted to left guard for the start of the second quarter, when the Chargers made substitutions along the front. Slaughter stayed at left guard into the second half.

Slaughter’s move to left guard coincided with the best stretch from the Chargers offensive line in the game. Travis Burke was a left tackle, Jacob Spomer was at center, Trevor Penning was at right guard, and Branson Taylor was a right tackle. Taylor started the game at left guard.

The Chargers drove 67 yards on eight plays for a touchdown. They went the final 39 yards of the drive on six straight runs. The offensive line was creating consistent movement.

Overall, Slaughter looked comfortable at left guard. We’ll need to dig into the film for a more comprehensive look at his performance.

Of note, Penning played only at right guard in this game, further evidence he has fallen out of the starting left guard battle. Kayode Awosika started the game at right guard and played there for the first two series.

5. The Chargers have five interior defensive linemen who are locks to make the 53-man: Teair Tart, Dalvin Tomlinson, Jamaree Caldwell, Justin Eboigbe and rookie Nick Barrett. Fitting a sixth into the roster will be difficult. But TeRah Edwards, who spent last season on the Chargers practice squad, is making a case.

Edwards blew up a fourth-down sneak from Texans quarterback Graham Mertz late in the second quarter for one of two turnovers on downs for the Chargers. Edwards led all defensive linemen with four tackles in run defense.

6. An important attribute to look for in young cornerbacks is how they respond to down moments. Failure is inevitable at the position. Resolve is essential to be successful at this level. Rookie cornerback Avery Smith passed that test Thursday night.

Smith got beat in a one-on-one situation for the game’s opening touchdown. On the next series, Smith came back with a third-down pass breakup. In the fourth quarter, Smith shot through a gap and stuffed a fourth-down run for a turnover on downs. Smith played the best of the young corners fighting for that fifth corner spot on the depth chart behind Donte Jackson, Cam Hart, Tarheeb Still and Deane Leonard.

>

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Sports

Weird & Wild: Trades, ejections, new rules, and the Strange But True Red Sox

Published

7 minutes ago

on

August 14, 2026

By

A manager got ejected during a rain “delay.” … A hitter, catcher and umpire all “challenged” the same pitch. (Or did they?) … Two batting champs went 0-for-6 for the same team, in the same game. … And the Red Sox seemed determined to fill up about 17 Weird and Wild columns every time they took the field.

So here comes our latest, greatest recap of Weirdness and Wildness, starting with a screening of the …

Deadline Poets Society

You might think the trade deadline doesn’t fit the usual Weird and Wild motif. If you do, you’re just not paying enough attention.

The Angels … traded for two prospects named (what else) Angel. That would be Angel Arredondo and Angel Rivero. And here you thought Mike Trout was Mr. Angel.

The Padres … already employed one of the two big leaguers in the modern era named France (Ty). They then gobbled up the other (J.P.) after the Astros jettisoned him. Vive la France!

The Phillies … already had one multi-time batting champ in their lineup (Trea Turner). They then traded for another (Luis Arraez).

That puts them in the esteemed company as only two other teams in the free-agent era (1976-present) have made a trade like that in midseason: The 1986 Reds had Dave Parker and traded for their next player-manager, Pete Rose. … And the 1979 Pirates also had Parker on the premises, then traded for Bill Madlock.

Andrew Friedman on how the Tarik Skubal trade came together

Jayson Stark

The Dodgers … already had one two-time Cy Young Award winner on the payroll (Blake Snell). It’s possible you heard that they just traded for another (Tarik Skubal). They, too, are in rare territory, and it would be rarer if it wasn’t for … um, themselves.

Only two previous teams in the free-agent era had ever dealt for a multi-time Cy Young winner in midseason when they already had one in stock.

One was the 2023 Rangers. They had Jacob deGrom drawing a paycheck, then traded for Max Scherzer. … But speaking of Scherzer, now all these worlds are about to collide.

In 2021, these same Dodgers were the pioneers of this load-up-on-Cys strategy. They were already the happy home of Clayton Kershaw, but they decided that it might be tough to eke by with just one multi-time Cy Young winner. So they traded for … everyone’s favorite hired gun, Scherzer. And that’s it for this list, except for one little …

Asterisk alert! The 1986 White Sox had Tom Seaver on their roster, then added Steve Carlton to their collection of Cy Youngs. But the Phillies had just released Carlton, so no trades were necessary. Is that the same thing as Skubal/Snell, deGrom/Scherzer or Scherzer/Kershaw? Sorry. That’s a definite no!

The Rays … always seem to enjoy confusing the outside world with the challenge of trying to identify their mysterious players. So one more time at this deadline, they set out to do that yet again.

They already had a Taylor Walls on the roster and a Tyler Wall running their clubhouse operations. So (of course) they then made a strategic trade with the Orioles for reliever Tyler Wells. But that left one momentous question: How did they let Taylor Ward get away? (Hat tip: the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin.)

The “Red” Sox … have officially become one of the most colorful teams in sports. They already had Sonny “Gray” on the premises, then traded for Eli “White.” But they forgot to call up pitching prospect Dylan “Brown” for their series against the “Blue” Jays. And that’s just plain color-blind.

The Astros … must have seen Daulton Varsho hanging out in their ballpark when the Blue Jays were in town on deadline day — so they traded for him. Varsho then walked across the field to join his new team, and got $1,750 in moving expenses to hike approximately 200 yards. (The collective bargaining agreement says: We don’t care where you were when you got dealt. Pay up!)

By my calculations, that works out to about $15,000 per mile. Which is great expense money if you can get it. (All right, all right. I’ll concede that in real life, he does have to move his stuff from Toronto to Houston, which he probably won’t do by asking a couple of buddies to help him pack up his place and cram everything into the back seat of their 2011 Buick.)

Oh, and one more thing … The voice of Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, Jason Benetti, had another important question: Who’s paying for Varsho’s hotel room?

Good question. Varsho did travel to Houston with the Blue Jays, who booked his hotel. And we’re pretty sure he didn’t change rooms after switching teams. So who’s on the hook for those last two nights? Hmmm.

I asked a longtime traveling secretary that question. He guessed the Jays would probably suck that one up, since the whole stay is direct-billed. But it was also possible they’d bill the Astros for those extra nights, he said, even though “I wouldn’t have.”

So does the mystery of that hotel tab hover over the aftermath of this trading deadline just as heavily as Freddy Peralta’s ERA? Maybe not at MLB Trade Rumors — but it does in the Weird and Wild column!

Necessity is the mother of ejection

Since you’re probably reading this column on your phone, while navigating your way through cyberspace and scrolling your Instagram feed, this might not be the perfect time to complain about technology.

But do you really think that would stop us?

So what are we grumbling about today? We miss ejections. That’s all.

Baseball was so much fun when Lou Piniella was punting bases into the outfield and Earl Weaver was stomping around, screaming at umpires with his cap flipped backwards. Then technology — and those darned robot umps — had to come along and ruin everything.

According to our friends at closecallsports.com, ejections are down, from 122 (through Aug. 11 of last year) to 91 (through the same date this year). But mostly, it’s ball/strike ejections that have been devoured by those Automated Ball-Strike system gizmos.

BALL/STRIKE EJECTIONS*

2025 — 77
2026 — 10

(*through Aug. 11)

Wow. So all of that would make us very sad … except for one recent development:

The good old-fashioned innovative ejection has made a triumphant comeback lately. Here are our three favorite ejections this month:

Third prize: The Closeout Sale — It seems hard for a pitcher to get himself ejected from a game he isn’t even pitching in — before either team throws a pitch. But Chris Sale is creative like that.

On Sunday, the Braves’ ace was still frazzled over getting called for an over-the-top run-scoring balk the day before, in a game in which he actually was pitching. So before the action began the next day, he expressed some pregame thoughts. His favorite umpires didn’t enjoy those thoughts. And one wave of the thumb later, he had a lovely afternoon ahead of him in the delightfully air-conditioned clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.

Second prize: Rain Man — Bet you can’t name the major-league leader in ejections. No, it’s not Aaron Boone. No, not Ollie Marmol, either. No, not even David Bell. (Yeah, he’s still busy not managing. Just checking to make sure you’re paying attention.) It’s … percussion roll, please … Pirates manager Don Kelly, with six — and that’s two more than anyone else in MLB.

In his first full season as the Pirates’ fearless leader, Kelly has fought for truth, justice and french fries jammed into the middle of sandwiches. And apparently, he has fought extra doggedly lately because he has fired up three big ejections just in the last two weeks, to pull away from the pack.

Kelly’s totals include three ejections disputing checked swings, one on a replay review that went wrong and one on an unrecognized ABS challenge you’ll hear about later. But his most creative ejection of the year happened Aug. 2 in Cincinnati, when he got tossed during a rain delay. Or, at least, a rain intermission.

Technically, we can’t use the word, delay, because the game was never officially stopped. But why was the grounds crew allowed to spend 25 minutes “fixing” the waterlogged infield while rain kept falling and the tarp never budged? That’s what the manager who got ejected wanted to know!

First prize: From The Mountains to the Prairies … to the Clubhouse — You have to admire a man who is so respectful of the dulcet strains of “God Bless America” that he interrupts his ejection tirade to let the music play. So here’s to Rangers manager Skip Schumaker.

His trouble started in an Aug. 2 game in Houston when the Rangers burned their two ABS challenges early. But the Weird and Wildness really picked up when plate ump Todd Tichenor called a dubious inning-ending third strike on Nick Allen in the top of the seventh. And don’t you hate when that happens to a team with no challenges?

So between innings, Schumaker’s little what-the-heck, Todd chat with the ump was just heating up when … they heard That Song — and hit the pause button to salute our fair country.

They then picked up where they left off — and you know how that went. The good news was: The flag kept waving. The bad news was: Schumaker did not keep managing … because that’s how it works when the manager gets gonged. He still got fined, but America will never forget him.

“I’m a true patriot,” Schumaker told our Weird and Wild ejection inquisitors.

They said there would be no math

We’re going to do you a favor. We are not going to use up valuable space in this column to explain how the Blue Jays and Red Sox spent 17 minutes of their evening Monday trying to figure out what the Fourth Out Rule was.

This site has been there, done that and even attempted to explain that.

But when you’re writing a Weird and Wild World column, how could you not love a rule based on a thing that is literally not possible?

Quick quiz: How many outs are there in an inning?

Quick answer: Three – in every darned one of them.

Your honor, your witness!

So if there’s somehow going to continue to be a Fourth Out Rule, here are some other rules the Weird and Wild column would like to see:

The five-run homer rule. … The quadruple-play rule. … The 1-2-3-4 strikes-you’re-out rule. … The 60-feet, 7-inches rule. … The three-bases-for-the-price-of-two Amazon Prime special extra-base hit rule.

And I could easily keep going. But my Starkville co-host, longtime creative thinker Doug Glanville, says I’m missing the two greatest rule changes that the Fourth Out Rule could possibly inspire:

The Triple ABS Challenge Rule

“In the event that the pitcher, the batter and the catcher all challenge the same pitch,” Glanville proposed, “the umpire chooses the infielder of his choice to decide whether to challenge or not.”

The Shohei Ohtani is Two People Rule

“Shohei is a pitcher. Shohei is also a batter,” Glanville explained, in that observant way of his. “As it pertains to collective bargaining, he will receive two per diems, two hotel rooms and two free lattes at the lobby Starbucks.”

Make it happen, MLB. Those all are just as logical as the Fourth Out Rule.

Cashing in your miles

You know where maturity is clearly overrated? In Washington, of course. Oh, wait. I don’t mean that how you might think. I’m just talking about the Nationals — who have had only one man over the age of 30 (or even 29) make it into the batter’s box with a bat all season.

And shockingly, it’s this guy.

That was the artist formerly known as Miles Mikolas, pitcher turned emergency extra-inning pinch hitter, in a very wild (and very weird) 11-inning game in Philadelphia on Aug. 5.

He laid down a squeeze bunt, drove in a run, made it to first base and later came around to score. Unfortunately, that didn’t keep him from getting lopped off the Nationals’ roster a week later. But if you didn’t think that orbit of the bases was going to make it into Weird and Wild, you must have stumbled into this column thinking you were clicking on Wirecutter.

Did you know that … since the designated hitter rule rocked our world 54 seasons ago, Mikolas was only the third “true”* relief pitcher who has figured out a way to rack up both an RBI and a run scored in a game played with a DH? That’s a true fact (which are still the best kind of facts).

(*true = not a two-way player)

Here’s the whole group:

Miles Mikolas, Nats — Aug. 5 (11th-inning squeeze bunt vs. Phillies)

Ryne Nelson, D-Backs — March 30, 2025 (RBI pinch single in ninth vs. Cubs)

John Wetteland, Rangers* — Aug. 16, 1997 (RBI double in 10th vs. Yankees)

Mike Jeffcoat, Rangers* — Aug. 20, 1991 (RBI double in ninth vs. Brewers)

(*did this in a game he pitched in)
(Source: Baseball Reference/Stathead)

Great moments in ABS-ing

The robot ump era is now nearly 9,000 challenges old. Have you stopped paying attention yet? Good news. The Weird and Wild column hasn’t. So check out these three classic slices of ABS challenge history.

Third prize: Did William Contreras challenge a strike by his own pitcher? This Aug. 4 tap of the head from the Brewers catcher created quite the brouhaha — and even led to the ejection of Pirates manager/ejection king Don Kelly, who was pretty sure he saw what he saw. Yes, there was a late-breaking strike call that got everyone confused. But why would that stop it from making our list?

Second prize: The old triple challenge? Did the hitter, catcher and umpire all challenge this pitch, in this Aug. 3 Padres-Diamondbacks game? Either that or their heads all itched.

First prize: Tap, tap and drive home safely? Aug. 3 was kind of a busy day in this sport. So amid the trade deadline frenzy, you might have missed this. But you know who didn’t? Our eagle-eyed friend and Athletic colleague, Tyler Kepner.

First, he watched a Phillies-Nationals game end on a Garrett Stubbs challenge that turned into strike three. A few minutes later, a Pirates-Brewers game ended exactly the same way, thanks to a cagy Henry Davis challenge.

And about 12 seconds after that, this text from Tyler shook my phone: Have we ever had a day when two games ended on an ABS challenge? The correct answer, courtesy of Statcast king Jason Bernard is … no, we had not — but we have now!

Stuff I can’t believe happened

Did all of this really unfold on a baseball diamond near you? Not sure how … but it did!

The Cardinals blew a six-run lead — and still won by six! That actually happened in their wild 13-7 win at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 3. Does it seem hard to blow a six-run lead and win that same game by six runs (or more), especially in the Bronx? It should. According to Baseball Reference’s Katie Sharp, the Cardinals became the first team to do that in any version of Yankee Stadium.

Kyle Harrison struck out eight in a row — and then hit the exit ramp! Want to guess how the Brewers’ “other” whiff machine made history in this Aug. 5 start against the Pirates? He became the first pitcher to strike out eight hitters in a row — and then get taken out of the game (with cramping).

All the other pitchers in history who finished their day’s work by punching out that many hitters in a row left for a different reason — because the game was conveniently over.

Lazaro Estrada hit the win/loss/save trifecta! Here’s how the Blue Jays reliever’s visit to Philadelphia went last weekend:

Friday — first career win … Saturday — first career save … Sunday — first career loss.

I thought to myself: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. So I ran that question past my friends from STATS Perform. Turns out it was the 20th instance of a pitcher hitting that W/L/SV trifecta in a three-game series. It’s a fun list that swoops in names ranging from Sparky Lyle to Jesse Orosco to Curt Schilling.

But how many other pitchers collected the first win, loss and save of their careers in the same three-game series? Once again, zero is a stupendous guess.

A five-inning save … in a shutout? Here’s one more thing I was pretty sure I’d never seen: A five-inning save … to finish off a shutout? Germán Márquez performed that magic trick in the Padres’ 7-0 blanking of the Giants on July 31. The Padres went with an opener, so that five-inning save was in order!

Turns out that had happened … in one other shutout since the dawn of the modern save rule in 1969. And it was way back in … 2025? The five-inning save artist that day was Alan Rangel, in a 13-0 Phillies win in Atlanta that got all scrambled by a two-hour rain delay. Love those five-inning “saves”!

Brayden Taylor played for and against the Marlins “on the same day?” Until last week, Taylor was an infield prospect in the Rays’ system. Then he got traded to the Marlins in the Liam Hicks deal. We’re glad he did because …

On Aug. 4, he played in a Triple-A game for the Marlins’ affiliate in Jacksonville. But also that day, he showed up in the box score of a suspended July game playing against the Marlins’ Double-A team in Pensacola, Fla. Suspended baseball animation. It’s the best.

Matt Olson chased the ghost of Gehrig in the Bronx? On Sunday, Braves first baseman Matt Olson stretched his iron man streak to an incredible 900 games in a row. I don’t know how you celebrate stuff like that, but he marked the moment with a home-run trot.

It was a mere 95 years earlier that Lou Gehrig entered that 900 Club in a game at the original Yankee Stadium. For the record, he waited until Game 901 to make his next trot.

Hey Siri, stop it! There I was last week, doing important “work” on my iPad when Jose Siri hit a home run for the Angels — and judging from the way it lit up, my iPad was definitely more excited about that development than I was.

Time to remind you: Baseball makes no sense

Every once in a while, I need to refresh your memory on my favorite thing about baseball: It … makes … no … sense. And what do I mean by that? Here’s what:

• The “unbeatable” Dodgers traded for the reigning two-time AL Cy Young winner (Mr. Skubal), then forgot to win a game for a week.

• The starting rotation of the “selling” Tigers ran up 26 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings — even though they traded away the reigning Cy Young in the middle of it.

• Oh, and you know what else? Those “selling” Tigers also shipped off the reigning Cy Young and promptly (what else) … swept the first full series they played without him. Want to guess how many teams had ever done that? Zero is a cool guess, as always. (Hat tip: STATS Perform.)

• Trea Turner has won two batting titles. That Phillies team he plays for just traded for a guy who has won three batting titles (Luis Arraez). But if you checked that box score Sunday, you might have noticed something not-sensible: They both went 0-for-6!

Katie Sharp found only three other games in the Baseball Reference database, back to 1898, in which any team got a pair of 0-for-6’s (or worse) from two former batting champs: Joe DiMaggio/Snuffy Stirnweiss (1946 Yankees), Al Kaline/Norm Cash (1968 Tigers) and Charlie Blackmon/DJ LeMahieu (2018 Rockies). Not pictured among any of those three pairs: two multi-time batting champs.

Dave Dombrowski on Phillies’ position shifts for Arraez trade

Jayson Stark

• Rays shortstop Taylor Walls had made it through this whole season (96 games) without hitting any homers. So what did he do Tuesday? He broke that streak by not just going deep, but going deep from both sides of the plate in the same game.

Did he set the record for most consecutive games played in a season before switch-hitting bombs in the same game? Of course he did, according to STATS. He knocked UL Washington (94 games, in 1979) off the top of that list.

• For the first time all season, a hitter thumped four extra-base hits in one game. And no, it wasn’t Shohei Ohtani, Yordan Alvarez or Junior Caminero. It was the Royals’ Jac Caglianone, who slugged .295 last season.

• Speaking of extra bases, I’ve seen a lot of home runs. But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an “outside-the-park” homer that made less sense than this Aug. 6 ping-pong shot from Braves masher Ronald Acuña Jr. Was this one deflected by every Marlins outfielder except Juan Pierre? You decide.

• But you know what might make less sense than any of this? It’s the exploits of our newly anointed …

Strange But True Team of the Year

I don’t think there has ever been a Baseball Makes No Sense team of the year before. But it’s time to invent it! We need to do that just to honor the incomprehensible season of those Boston Red Sox.

Remember when they were 11 games under .500 — in July? Starting the very next day, they ripped off winning streaks of 15 and nine … just in their next 30 games. And how many teams have ever done that in any 30-game stretch? None, obviously, according to STATS.

OK, what if we take out the “30-games” part? That’ll help. So when was the last time we saw a team that was 11 under (or worse) then string together a winning streak of 15 games (or more) and later have another of nine games (or more) over any span of games in the same season? Don’t answer zero!

Yes, it’s not as if no team had ever done that. STATS tell us it happened as recently as 110 years ago, when Pol Perritt’s 1916 Giants started 2-13, then won 17 in a row (in May) and 26 in a row (in September).

Those Red Sox won 16 in a row just against teams in first place? Sure. Why the heck not. They were 14 games under .500 when the then-first-place Yankees stopped by to visit Fenway on June 25. The Sox then swept the series against the Yankees, White Sox, Rays, Dodgers and White Sox (again). So how many teams in the modern era have had a streak like that? According to one of our favorite nugget finders, Jessica Brand, that would be (yup) zero.

And then the A’s showed up? How long could our planet keep spinning backwards? Not forever, apparently. So last weekend, after winning nine series in a row, the Sox played the reeling A’s, a team that had lost 12 series in a row. If baseball made sense, we know how that would have turned out. But who actually won that series? The A’s, because of course they did.

So how many other times since 1898 had anything remotely like that happened? Zero! The old “record,” according to Baseball Reference wizard Kenny Jackelen, involved Slammin’ Sammy Khalifa’s 1985 Pirates (losers of eight in a row) winning a series against Howard Johnson’s ’85 Mets (winners of six in a row).

And lastly … that Red Sox team that had won 16 straight games against first-place teams went out last week and lost five straight games to two clubs that were very not-in-first-place teams: the A’s (who had the worst record in baseball since June 1) and Blue Jays (who had the worst record in the AL East entering that series).

I don’t know how we can possibly explain how these things happen. Oh, wait. I think I have a theory. Maybe because it’s …

Baseball!

>

Continue Reading

Sports

Arsenal are interested in Jarrel Quansah – what would he bring to Mikel Arteta’s side?

Published

12 minutes ago

on

August 14, 2026

By

When Jarell Quansah left the Premier League champions in July 2025, he could hardly have imagined their successors would be knocking on his door just 13 months later.

The decision to exit Liverpool on the back of a title under Arne Slot was difficult for the centre-half, according to those with knowledge of the situation, who, like all of those spoken to for this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships. He had been at the club since he was a young boy and progressed rapidly in Jurgen Klopp’s final year in charge before losing momentum under Slot. The Dutchman used him largely as cover when other favoured centre-backs were unavailable or needed a rest.

A move to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany was appealing because it represented a new challenge, in a different environment and at a club renowned for giving young players a platform.

Quansah hoped a season in the Bundesliga would reignite his career, perhaps even putting him in a position where Liverpool might activate their €70million (£59m; $80m) buy-back clause. His former club may not have rated him highly enough to keep him around, but if they had written off Quansah entirely, there would have been little reason to include the clause.

Attracting interest from the 2025-26 title winners, Arsenal, would not have been in his immediate thoughts, though. Not so soon, anyway.

Granted, he will know why they are calling. Cover is needed for the injured William Saliba, but it will still feel like a big deal as the Champions League finalists look to go a step further next season and, according to manager Mikel Arteta, “attack every trophy” with vigour.

William Saliba goes down injured against Spain at the World Cup (Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)

Perhaps a move for Quansah should come as no surprise, given that the 23-year-old’s development story is varied and unique. He had spent the back end of the 2022-23 season on loan at League One side Bristol Rovers before impressing during the following pre-season at Liverpool and then breaking into the first team.

He was the captain of the under-18s, a side that made it to the FA Youth Cup final in 2021, but rarely was he identified as a standout star among the academy kids. Some of those that The Athletic spoke to even privately questioned whether he’d ever represent Liverpool at senior level, so his subsequent success is a story of inspiration.

Quansah played alongside Virgil van Dijk (and occasionally covered for him) for Liverpool and didn’t look out of place. He was a threat from attacking set pieces and learned the importance of patience in build-up play, as well as developing his line-breaking passes to creative players.

How does Bruno Guimaraes fit in at Arsenal?

JJ Bull

When he needed a right-back, England head coach Thomas Tuchel turned to Quansah on three occasions during the World Cup. Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold was left out of the squad.

His calm and composed style would have appealed to Tuchel, who clearly felt confident enough to trust the defender in high-pressure games and during testing moments.

Playing out from the back is a key strength, as he can pick out progressive passes or keep it simple. He rarely looks flustered or agitated during games but does have an aggressive edge that he turns to while largely remaining in control. The sending-off in England’s 3-2 victory over Mexico in the World Cup was a blot on his card, but it was a rash, out-of-character challenge. It was far from the norm.

Calm and measured on the pitch, Quansah is also relatively quiet off the pitch. The Athletic has been told by sources that, in his younger years, coaches within the England setup began to wonder why he didn’t show much emotion either after a victory or in defeat.

He’s taken on more responsibility in recent years and has come out of his shell, especially since leaving Liverpool to start a new adventure in Germany. Last season at Bayer Leverkusen, he played mainly as a right-sided centre-back across a three-man defence (illustrated below) and performed well.

To understand where he makes the most impact on the pitch, take a look at where he won most of his ball recoveries last season and how he’s comfortable winning possession higher up the pitch.

His versatility also appeals to Arsenal. The champions need reinforcements to cover for Saliba, who finally succumbed to a long-term back problem during the World Cup, and Quansah fits the bill.

Whether he’s as defensively sound as the other target for the right-sided defender role, Ezri Konsa, is questionable. Also an England international, Konsa has been a consistent and reliable performer for Aston Villa during their recent journey to the higher reaches of the Premier League. The 28-year-old reads the game well, has brilliant recovery pace and is also a threat at set pieces.

Sources say Villa value him at around £60million ($81m). People with knowledge of Arsenal’s position say they are hesitant to pay that much for a defender with little resale value, considering Quansah as a younger alternative.

With experience of playing for a Premier League team where the expectation is to win every week, Quansah will be well prepared. There’s a lot to like about his profile, and the potential to get even better is the biggest pull.

If Arsenal’s plan is to continue building the tallest team in history, then it’s no surprise the 6ft 3in (190cm) defender is on their radar.

>

Continue Reading

Sports

Malik Willis, Romeo Doubs among top post-120 ADP targets for fantasy football 2026

Published

19 minutes ago

on

August 14, 2026

By

Every year, it’s the same thing. In a display of unadulterated home-league madness, your faithful narrator attempts the impossible — to win a championship after trading my first 10 picks for the overall 1.01. Do I possess an irrational love for Jahmyr Gibbs? Am I slightly off my rocker? Perhaps an eclectic combination of both? The answer to this question, along with many more like it, is a resounding, “Yes!” So, using all my fantasy prowess, along with whatever enlightenment I can find in the deep recesses of my spreadsheets, comes my All-120+ ADP team for fantasy football 2026. Sounds cooler than sleepers, right?

QB: Malik Willis, MIA — ADP 158

Forever fascinated with market machinations and shifts in player pricing, sometimes it’s the moves that don’t happen that interest me most. Enter Willis, Miami’s newest shot caller. Recently receiving a pretty heavy bag from the Dolphins (three years, $67.5 million), he’s still getting treated as if there’s some sort of QB competition or elevated bench risk. There isn’t.

In years past, there’s no telling how high a supremely talented, dual-threat QB like Willis could rise. Don’t believe me? Look no further than Justin Fields’ or Anthony Richardson’s ADP rises in the recent past as proof. If I’m not mistaken, each has gone in the top-50 overall at some point in the past few years. And how different is Malik Willis archetypally? Not much, if at all.

I’d argue the way Willis differentiates is in a positive manner, only adding to my confusion surrounding the price. What do I mean? I actually trust him to throw for a first down on a drive or over 200 yards in a game! Granted, while the environment is different and the sample is small, I’d contend all of that and more is baked into the low, low price. During a two-week stretch as a starter last year in Green Bay, Willis ranked as the QB6 … and it wasn’t on the back of running alone. Again, the data set is tiny, but it’s all we have. That also doesn’t take away from the fact that Willis finished top 3 in expected points added (EPA) per attempt (+0.85), completion rate (84.4%), yards per attempt (12.8), off-target rate (3.4%) and first down rate (53.1%). Not too shabby.

Maybe it’s the surrounding contextual environment in Miami, the departure of Mike McDaniel, or the perception of QB positional depth (none of which are untrue); I still can’t wrap my mind around the price. I can’t remember another time in my fantasy career that we’re being afforded such a clear shot at a repeatable top-eight weekly finish from the QB21. Twenty quarterbacks are better?!? No way. Give me Willis’ rushing upside with some maturity baked in for my favorite fantasy shot caller of the double-digit rounds.

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 21, 2025

RB: Chris Rodriguez, JAX — ADP 136

Thank goodness I already swung a deal for Jahmyr Gibbs, since it’s borderline impossible to build a viable fantasy squad without a running back in the top-120 picks. I’d go so far as to argue it’s never been tougher without an RB in the first four rounds, but that’s another story for a different day. Nevertheless, once pickings get slim, I shift sole focus to high-value touches. Again, in this exercise there’s no waiting for handcuffs or injury-related opportunities — we need production right out of the box.

There’s been lots of back-and-forth this summer in analytical circles trying to hash out Jacksonville’s backfield situation. My answer’s been consistent and simple. Why not both? If you’re buying the Liam Coen uberkind hype (like I am) and believe there’s a huge step forward coming for an already exciting offense (like I do), it’s easy as pie. Rodriguez could and should have standalone value right out of the gate, with potential to hang a David Montgomery-esque RB2 finish even as a complement in his own backfield.

The Jaguars’ acquisition of Rodriguez was no happenstance — he played under Liam Coen at the University of Kentucky in what was incidentally his best season at any level (225 rushes, 1,379 yards, 9 touchdowns). At 6-foot-0, 217 lbs, Rodriguez archetypes perfectly as a short-yardage runner, with well above-average career metrics for the role, especially when considering he faced heavy boxes in three-quarters of snaps (4.6 yards/attempt, +0.04 EPA/carry, 50% success, 12.6% ≤0 yd rush rate). If you’re bullish on the Jags’ offense in 2026, Rodriguez is holding down the pole position for a lion’s share of goal-to-go carries.

Fantasy Football Draft Assistant

Want a quick reference for your draft evaluations? Use our new Draft Assistant to compare up to five players side-by-side to see fantasy scouting reports, rankings and point projections before or during your draft.

WR: Romeo Doubs, NE — ADP 122

What if I told you that after pick 120 there’s an every-down wide receiver available on a top-10 scoring offense from 2025, with the highest EPA/dropback and yards per pass attempt? That’s precisely the case with brand new Patriot Doubs, coming off a productive season with Green Bay as the WR36. For reference, he’s currently being drafted as the WR48. Why? Beats me. Keep in mind, all that output happened on just 410 routes amidst a massive target logjam. Now he’s off to New England to serve as the Pats’ clear-cut WR2, running intermediate routes underneath A.J. Brown, who’s getting the majority of any defense’s attention. Sounds good.

For starters, even in somewhat of a shared role, Doubs posted strong efficiency stats in 2025 (20.7% target/route, 1.77 yards/route, 10.0 routes/1st Down). Admittedly, the odds for a WR1 breakout are slim to none, but that’s all figured into draft cost. Doubs can do a little bit of everything — succeed against man or zone coverage, plus earn deep looks as well as represent a legitimate end zone threat. And as I mentioned before, it’s not like he’s headed to a bad situation either. I’m struggling to wrap my mind around the current price tag, but I’m also not letting that stop me from drafting Doubs aggressively.

WR: Matthew Golden, GB — ADP 135

Another player set to benefit from the aforementioned Doubs signing is Green Bay’s 2025 first-round selection, Golden. Maybe it was the zero regular season TDs scored, but I’m frankly unsure if there’s another player whose narrative represents such disparity from the spreadsheets. Obviously, last year’s output isn’t what drafters signed up for, but we’ve jumped the ADP shark on a projected every-down player in a good situation.

The Packers’ 23rd overall pick in 2025 played most frequently in the first seven weeks of the season before Christian Watson returned, posting decent rookie WR efficiency numbers (16.0% target/route, 1.73 yards/route). It’s especially encouraging given the steep NFL learning curve, plus five different wideouts simultaneously earning double-digit route participation rates. Green Bay has been vocal this offseason about consolidating their offensive scheme, which could, of course, be a lie. However, there’s only honesty found in roster moves, and the runway is clearing 30 routes a game for one of the league’s fastest players.

WR: Jayden Higgins, HOU — ADP 140

The further we get from Pick 120, the more faith-based our arguments get. Sticking with the running theme of post-hype rookie WRs, few players generated more positive camp buzz this summer than Higgins. The 34th overall pick in last year’s draft logged a full, healthy season for the Texans, which might be the nicest thing I have to say based purely on the data. Hold on, it gets better.

It’s no secret that Houston’s offense completely cratered in 2025 due to injuries and mismanagement of the offensive line, something presumedly addressed by signing Ed Ingram and Wyatt Teller in free agency. The Texans weren’t done making moves there, further bolstering the trenches with a first-round pick out of Georgia Tech, Keylan Rutledge. Ten pundits will give you 11 different answers on their O-line predictions because no one really knows, but I’m remaining optimistic on the rebuild. Adding an actual NFL-quality running back in David Montgomery won’t hurt either.

Not to zoom in too close on a small sample, but if you’re doing that, make sure it’s impactful. And nothing’s more high leverage than the NFL playoffs, where Houston turned to Higgins when they needed him most. During those two games, Higgins averaged 32 routes per contest, with healthy underlying efficiency metrics (21.9% target/route, 1.53 yards/route) and strong splits against man or zone. All we need is that small step forward from Houston as a whole to shoot Higgins into the backend WR3 conversation. Get that from the WR55, and you’re cooking with fantasy Crisco.

TE: Colby Parkinson, LAR — ADP 190

Tempted as I was to chase those chronically online narratives surrounding Terrance Ferguson’s ascent into the Rams’ primary slot receiver role, this squad needs bankable production now. And while I’m absolutely lending credence to valuing the Rams’ use of multiple tight end sets, the far safer profit for my money rests with Parkinson. Off to a slow start in 2025 due to injury, Parkinson’s numbers after Week 9 stand out against the field so starkly, it’s truly hard to imagine he’s going off the board as the TE31.

Don’t take my word for it — the numbers don’t lie. The longer I look at this stuff, the less I understand why Parkinson’s not going closer to T.J. Hockenson, somewhere in the 140s. Pretend exercise or not, Parkinson should be a must-circle type target, especially if you waited on the position. Los Angeles just led the league in scoring, offensive yards and passing touchdowns — honestly, I don’t get it.

Of 35 TEs with +25 targets after Week 9 (not some cherry-picked sample, mind you), Colby Parkinson ranked …

Metric Numbers Rank

Total PPR Points

119

6

PPR Per Game

11.9

7

PPR Points Per Target

0.59

2

PPR Points Per Route

2.58

1

Targets Per Route

23.90%

6

Yards Per Route

1.74

13

Yards After Catch Per Reception

6.7

5

Routes Per First Down

9.6

5

+20-yard TD

2

T-1

Red Zone Targets

17

2

Honorable Mentions — Best of the rest

QB: Tyler Shough, NO — ADP 147

RB: Dylan Sampson, CLE — ADP 158

WR: De’Zhaun Stribling, SF — ADP 140

WR: Adonai Mitchell, NYJ — ADP 165

TE: Terrance Ferguson, LAR — ADP 179

>

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2017 Zox News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by WordPress.