We’re in the midst of the second full week of preseason football. With three weeks remaining before the regular-season opener, expect more starters and names you know to be playing this week.
On Friday, the meeting between the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals was a college reunion, with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes taking on his college coach at Texas Tech, Kliff Kingsbury. But neither Mahomes nor Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray showed much in a quarter of work, and Mahomes was intercepted on his final pass.
Going into Saturday’s game, one could have argued the Bills’ defensive line was their most improved group this offseason. After their blowout win over the Bears, however, that honor might go to the quarterback room. Mitchell Trubisky torched his former team, leading four straight touchdown drives to start the game while completing 20 of 28 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown in the first half. If Josh Allen should ever miss time this season, the Bills’ offense appears to be in good hands. — Marcel Louis-Jacques
Next game: vs. Packers (1 p.m. ET, Aug. 28)
There is no reason to overreact in the preseason, but veteran Andy Dalton failed to silence fans screaming for Chicago to start rookie quarterback Justin Fields when the regular season opens. After the offense went three-and-out in both of Dalton’s series last week, the offense looked even worse on Saturday against Buffalo until Dalton connected with Rodney Adams for a 73-yard touchdown late in the second quarter. Dalton’s numbers were OK (11-of-17 for 146 yards, one touchdown, one interception), but outside of that one exciting TD pass, the Bears’ offense was unproductive and out of sorts virtually the entire first half. Dalton’s interception at the end of the second quarter — when the intended target clearly slipped on his route — further infuriated a fan base already calling for Fields to take over. With starters unlikely to play in the preseason finale, the Bears’ offense will open the regular season without having accomplished much of anything during preseason games. — Jeff Dickerson
Chris Jones continues to look like he’s primed for a big season. Jones had a sack against the Cardinals, giving him two in roughly three quarters of preseason play, and also deflected a pass and forced a fumble. The Chiefs need not worry about his position change to defensive end, particularly because his replacement at defensive tackle, Jarran Reed, also had a sack. — Adam Teicher
Next game: vs. Vikings (8 p.m. ET, Aug. 27)
It’s easy to say “it’s the preseason, it doesn’t count,” but there were a couple of specific plays Friday night that could be of some concern for the Cardinals. In the first half, there was some sort of miscommunication between quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver Rondale Moore on one play and A.J. Green on another. Maybe it was just a kink that needs to be ironed out, but to be experiencing those types of mistakes this close to the regular season isn’t something to dismiss. The Cardinals’ first-team offense struggled. Murray completed just 1 of 4 passes for 2 yards and had one run for 8 yards. It might not matter, but it wasn’t pretty. — Josh Weinfuss
Bengals rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase will chalk the past 72 hours up as a learning experience. Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie got the better of the 2021 fifth overall pick during Wednesday’s practice. On Friday night against Washington, Chase dropped three targets — with all of them coming on third downs. Chase has struggled with drops throughout training camp. However, in his breakout 2019 season at LSU, he had a mere six drops on just 124 targets, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Chase’s struggles could be attributed to getting back into football rhythm after opting out of 2020 or just a rough couple of days. Either way, it’ll be something Chase will be looking to correct before the start of the regular season. — Ben Baby
Next game: vs. Dolphins (4 p.m. ET, Aug. 29)
Washington’s offense should be better this season, but it did not have a consistent showing against the Bengals. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 96 yards but completed only 7 of 13 passes. The passing game lacked rhythm, though he did make a nice throw to Dyami Brown for 29 yards. The run game was inconsistent with Antonio Gibson; He’s a big back but is still learning to run using all of his power to be more effective in short-yardage situations. The back who stood out: undrafted rookie Jaret Patterson. He got some work with starters and also returned one kickoff for 37 yards. If Washington keeps four running backs, he’ll have to show he can help on special teams. But he continues to show he can run with patience and also some power, and he catches the ball well out of the backfield. They might have found a gem. — John Keim
Next game: at Ravens (6 p.m. ET, Aug. 28)
Thursday’s game
Standout performer: Patriots QB Cam Newton: 8-of-9 passing for 103 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Cam Newton made his most decisive statement yet that he isn’t giving up the starting quarterback job, finishing 8-of-9 for 103 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions over three drives. Newton looked as comfortable as he’s been as a Patriot, albeit against the Eagles’ second-string defense, with his 28-yard TD to receiver Jakobi Meyers coming after Meyers gave him a hand signal before the snap to declare his intentions. That reflects a QB and WR operating at peak efficiency from a pre-snap communication standpoint. Meanwhile, Mac Jones had some notable highlights in relief, with his first drive covering 91 yards in 17 plays and chewing up 9:04 of the clock. Jones finished 13-of-19 for 146 yards over four drives. — Mike Reiss
Next game: at Giants (6 p.m. ET, Aug. 29)
Rookie receiver DeVonta Smith made his preseason debut and finished with two catches for 19 yards on four targets in one half of work. Much more important than the stat line was the fact that Smith moved well and didn’t appear to be held back by the left MCL sprain that kept him out of practice for two weeks. On his second catch of the night, he started inside, hit the brakes, and cut back out to beat cornerback Michael Jackson for a 10-yard reception, showing shades of his Heisman Trophy-winning form. It took some time to knock the rust off, as Smith’s night started with a couple drops on a pair of imperfect passes from Joe Flacco (who started for an ill Jalen Hurts) but Smith smoothed out as the game progressed and sprang open pretty consistently. All in all, it was a successful warm-up for the regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 12. — Tim McManus
Allar missed the second half of last week’s win over Wisconsin after suffering a left knee injury, but he was not listed on the injury report for the No. 3 Nittany Lions on Saturday morning.
Penn State coach James Franklin said earlier this week that Allar could be a game-time decision and that backup Beau Pribula would take snaps with Allar in practice.
Allar ranks 10th nationally with a QBR of 83.6. He has completed 71.3% of his passes for 1,640 yards and totaled 15 touchdowns with four interceptions.
Penn State starting defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton will be a game-time decision, a source told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Dennis-Sutton, who is listed as questionable, is expected to warm up and try to play.
Information from ESPN’s Jake Trotter was used in this report.
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army star quarterback Bryson Daily will miss Saturday’s game against Air Force with an undisclosed injury/illness, Army officials told ESPN.
Daily leads the country with 19 rushing touchdowns and leads all FBS quarterbacks with 909 rushing yards. He was unable to practice this week. The No. 21 Black Knights had a bye last weekend after beating East Carolina 45-28 on Oct. 19 to win their seventh straight game this season.
In the win over ECU, Daily carried the ball 31 times for a career-high 171 yards and accounted for six touchdowns, five rushing and one passing. The 6-foot, 221-pound senior has already set Army single-season records for touchdowns responsible for (26) and rushing touchdowns (19) in seven games.
With Daily sidelined, junior Dewayne Coleman will fill in at quarterback and make his first career start. Daily, one of four team captains, has been Army’s starting quarterback over the past two seasons and the main cog in a Black Knights offense that has eclipsed 400 yards of total offense in all seven games this season.
Army (7-0, 6-0) travels to North Texas next week for an AAC contest. They get a bye week on Nov. 16 and then face Notre Dame on Nov. 23 at Yankee Stadium.
There’s no timetable at this point on how long Daily might be out of the lineup, but Army officials don’t think it’s a season-ending setback.
Army, off to its best start in nearly 30 years, will be one of the top contenders for the Group of 5’s spot in the College Football Playoff if the Black Knights can win the American Athletic Conference championship.
The 2024 World Series ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the championship in a stunning comeback in Game 5, with Walker Buehler the unlikely pitcher to close out the 7-6 win over the New York Yankees. First baseman Freddie Freeman was handed the World Series MVP award for his record-tying 12-RBI performance.
But that doesn’t tell the full story of everyone who played a starring role in October — a postseason that featured a record six grand slams, among other wildness. So, to honor the best of the entire postseason, we’ve created our first MLB All-October Team.
From wild-card-round sensations to World Series standouts, here are the players our ESPN MLB panel of experts voted as the best of the best at every position along with some award hardware for the brightest stars of October.
Why he’s here: To be honest, it wasn’t a great playoffs for catchers — they hit just .184/.254/.310. Higashioka is the one catcher who did hit, belting three home runs and driving in five runs in the seven games the Padres played.
Honorable mention: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
1B: Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
Why he’s here: Freeman didn’t have an extra-base hit and drove in just one run in the first two rounds of the playoffs as he tried to play through the severely sprained ankle he suffered at the end of the regular season. He didn’t even play in two games of the NLCS and required hours of physical therapy before each game just to get on the field. But the five days off before the World Series clearly helped, and he homered in the first four games, including his dramatic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 that will go down as not only the signature World Series moment of 2024 — but a World Series moment for the ages.
Why he’s here: Torres had a solid October as he heads into free agency, although he had little competition here. Indeed, second basemen collectively hit just .219 with three home runs the entire playoffs — two of those from Torres — and drove in 24 runs, with Torres driving in eight himself. He had three multihit games and scored five runs in five games in the ALCS, while also taking walks to help set the table for Juan Soto.
Why he’s here: Max Muncy set a record when he reached base 17 times in the NLCS, including a single-postseason-record 12 times in a row, but he went hitless in the World Series. Vientos, meanwhile, had a stellar first trip to the postseason, hitting .327/.362/.636 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 13 games. That followed a breakout regular season in which he posted an .837 OPS with 27 home runs in just 111 games. He looks like he’ll be a fixture in the middle of the Mets’ lineup for years to come.
Why he’s here: Edman was an under-the-radar pickup at the trade deadline, in part because he was still injured and hadn’t yet played for the St. Louis Cardinals. Most of Edman’s starts came at shortstop, especially after Miguel Rojas was injured in the NLDS, but his bat got him here. Edman was the NLCS MVP after hitting .407 with a record-tying 11 RBIs in the series. He had started at cleanup just twice in his career but was slotted there twice against the Mets, driving in seven runs in those two games. Then he went 2-for-4 in each of the first two games of the World Series, including a home run in Game 2, and finished the Fall Classic hitting .294/.400/.588 with six runs.
Why they’re here: Betts entered this postseason in a 3-for-38 postseason slump going back to the end of the 2021 NLCS — and it initially looked like it would be more of the same when he went 0-for-6 the first two games of the NLDS, including being robbed of a home run courtesy of Jurickson Profar. Everything turned in Game 3 when Profar almost robbed him of another home run — but didn’t. After that, Betts was in the middle of most of the Dodgers’ big rallies, hitting .321/.394/.625 with four home runs and 16 RBIs over the Dodgers’ final 14 playoff games.
Soto’s at-bats spoke for themselves: He never seemed to have a bad one. His big at-bat was the three-run home run in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series. Getting intentionally walked twice while batting in front of Aaron Judge speaks to Judge’s struggles, yes — but also to how locked in Soto was all postseason. He finished the postseason slashing .327/.469/.633 with 4 home runs, 9 RBIs and 14 walks in 14 games.
Hernandez actually began October on the bench, but we’ve seen him perform big in the postseason before, and he stepped up when Rojas was injured in the NLDS. Hernandez homered in the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory to close out the Padres in the NLDS, had a big two-run home run against the Mets in Game 3 of the NLCS and got the series-turning five-run rally against the Yankees in Game 5 started with a leadoff single in the fifth as well as the series-winning rally in the eighth with another leadoff base hit. Overall, he hit .294/.357/.451 with 11 runs and six RBIs.
Why he’s here: The Yankees were often a two-man show in the postseason, just like they were in the regular season — except it was Soto and Stanton, not Soto and Judge. Stanton blasted seven home runs in the playoffs, including in the final three games of the ALCS (earning MVP honors) and in Games 1 and 5 of the World Series. He finished the playoffs hitting .273/.339/.709, and those seven homers are the most in a single postseason in Yankees history.
Why they’re here: Certainly, it seems as if the status of the starting pitcher in the postseason continues to decline — although, that doesn’t mean they’re not important. There were certainly some stellar individual outings along the way: Corbin Burnes allowed one run in eight innings (but lost 1-0) for the Baltimore Orioles; Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings (but that would be his only start); and the Padres’ Michael King fanned 12 to beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. Skubal had two scoreless starts against the Houston Astros in the wild-card series and Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, confirming his status as one of the best in the game — or maybe the best, as his soon-to-be AL Cy Young Award will attest.
Cole was really the one consistent starter throughout the postseason, making five starts with a 2.17 ERA. Unfortunately, that ERA doesn’t register the five unearned runs from the final game of the World Series when the Yankees’ defense turned into a comedy of errors — including Cole himself opening up the floodgates by failing to cover first base to get what would have been the inning-ending out.
Why they’re here: It also wasn’t the best of postseasons for closers — not even great ones. The Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase allowed five earned runs all regular season — and then eight in the playoffs. Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams blew that wild-card game against the Mets. All-Star Jeff Hoffman lost two games for the Phillies. Weaver, however, was the one consistent late-game performer and was great while often pitching more than one inning. He posted a 1.76 ERA across 15⅓ innings. Who knows how the World Series ends if Yankees manager Aaron Boone keeps Weaver in the game in the 10th inning of Game 1. (Weaver had thrown just 19 pitches.)
Treinen, meanwhile, capped his comeback season — he had missed almost all of 2022 and then all of 2023 — with a 2.19 ERA across 12⅓ innings, winning two games and saving three others. In the World Series clincher, he recorded seven outs and got out of a two-on, no-out jam in the eighth inning to preserve the Dodgers’ 7-6 lead before handing the ball to Buehler to close out the ninth.