Starting last Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin referred to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as “Mr. Jackson.” It was a sign of respect from a Super Bowl-winning coach to a two-time NFL MVP. 

But Tomlin and the Steelers continued to perplex Jackson Sunday as Pittsburgh kicked six field goals and hung on late to defeat the Ravens 18-16 and create further separation atop the AFC North. Jackson is now 1-4 lifetime against the Steelers, his team’s most ardent rival. 

“I can’t call it. I can’t call it,” Jackson said in response to why the Steelers have his number. “It felt like we were taking strides in the right direction, and something happens.” 

Jackson completed 16 of 33 passes for 207 yards with one touchdown and one interception. With 1:06 remaining and a chance to tie the game on a two-point conversion, Jackson desperately flung the ball skyward as he ran out of room near the sideline and a contingent of Steelers defenders between himself and the goal line.  

“They just stopped it,” Jackson said. “They did a good job.” 

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Jackson has thrown eight interceptions in five career games against Pittsburgh compared to five touchdown passes. 

In classic Tomlin fashion, his team won a game in which it averaged two yards less per play than the opponent (6.1 to 4.1). But a plus-three turnover margin and a time of possession advantage (36:23) negated the lack of explosivity. Russell Wilson moved to 4-0 as the Steelers’ starter and was 23-for-36 with 205 yards and an interception. 

“It’s the (team) who has more possession of the ball and keeping it safe,” Jackson said of what Steelers-Ravens games come down to. “And we didn’t do a good job of that.” 

Baltimore leads the league in penalties (92) and committed 12 against Pittsburgh for 80 yards. 

The Steelers were flagged seven times for 45 yards. 

“We can’t control when the refs make their calls – that’s their job, to make those calls – we just got do a better job at not having penalties,” Jackson said. 

He added: “Being smart.” 

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said it felt like his team found itself in first- or second-and-long all afternoon. 

“We got to cut down on the penalties,” Harbaugh said. 

Harbaugh noted the Ravens, who entered as the league’s top scoring offense, have kept the penalties in check during explosive performances this season.

“Today, that was a big problem,” he said.

Steelers kicker Chris Boswell made six field goals in a win for the second time this season, while future Hall of Famer Justin Tucker’s struggles persisted for Baltimore. Tucker missed two field goals in the first quarter, but made a 54-yard kick in the third. 

“Tuck needs to make kicks. He knows that,” Harbaugh said. “That’s important. He makes them in practice. He made the long one later. 

“He’s very capable. Just kick them straight and we’ll be good.”

Beyoncé, the 32-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, will perform during halftime of the Baltimore Ravens vs, Houston Texans game at NRG Stadium on Christmas Day, the Texans announced Sunday night.

The Ravens-Texans Week 17 game — the second of two that will be broadcast on the Netflix streaming service — will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET, with the Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers set for 1 p.m. ET on Christmas Day.

The performance brings Beyoncé back to her hometown of Houston, and the Christmas Day halftime show will be the first live performance of songs from her ‘Cowboy Carter’ album.

Beyoncé, the most-decorated Grammy artist in history, also performed during the halftime show for Super Bowl 50, which was headlined by Coldplay.

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The winner of the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes has been determined.

The Dallas Wings were named the winners of the WNBA draft lottery, earning the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft and paving the way for the team to draft the UConn star.

Dallas had the second best chance to win the lottery − the Los Angeles Sparks were first − but the Wings had their odds boosted because they had the right to swap their own first-round pick with the Chicago Sky’s own first-round pick. The pick swap boosted Dallas’ chances to get the first pick, and it paved the way to securing the top selection.

Much like how Caitlin Clark was undoubtedly going to be the No. 1 pick in last year’s WNBA draft, this year’s edition is expected to have a clear-choice at the top with Bueckers. The Huskies guard was the top high school prospect in her recruiting class prior to college and she has lived up to the expectations in Storrs, Connecticut. Bueckers was named the AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year in 2021 after a breakout freshmen season, but injuries limited her next two seasons.

Now, Bueckers is in her senior season with the Huskies and is expected to continue to be one of the top players in the sport. She’s averaging 19.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 88 career games at UConn. Bueckers does still have one season of eligibility left after this current campaign, but she is expected to turn pro after this season.

Dallas has yet to hire a new head coach since it parted ways with Latricia Trammell after this past season, but whoever takes over will get the top pick to start their tenure.

2025 WNBA draft order

Dallas Wings
Los Angeles Sparks
Chicago Sky
Washington Mystics
Golden State Valkyries
Washington Mystics from Atlanta Dream via Dallas Wings
Phoenix Mercury*
Indiana Fever
Seattle Storm
Chicago Sky from Connecticut Sun
Minnesota Lynx
New York Liberty*

*New York has the right to swap its own first-round pick for Phoenix’s own first-round pick.

When is the 2025 WNBA draft?

The 2025 WNBA draft will be held on Monday, April 14, 2025, just more than a week after the women’s college basketball national championship game.

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The top 10 once again looks a little different in the new US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 12. The shuffling, however, didn’t reach the apex of the rankings.

Oregon remains the unanimous No. 1 choice on all 55 ballots, though the Ducks had a narrow escape at Wisconsin. Ohio State holds at No. 2 after having a much easier time with Northwestern, and Texas remains at No. 3 after outlasting Arkansas. Penn State is back up to No. 4, and unbeaten Indiana achieves a new high watermark in the history of the program, cracking the top five on the eve of its huge showdown with the Buckeyes in Columbus.

Notre Dame will be ranked sixth when it meets unbeaten and 17th-ranked Army next week. Alabama climbs two positions to No. 7, finishing just ahead of Georgia after the Bulldogs’ takedown of Tennessee. The Volunteers tumble seven spots to No. 11, as Mississippi and Miami (Fla.) round out the top 10. Brigham Young falls seven places to No. 15 on the heels of its first loss of the season to unranked Kansas.

TOP 25: Complete US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 12

UP AND DOWN: Florida, Colorado lead Week 12 winners and losers

There were a lot more changes toward the back end of the poll. No. 20 Tulane and No. 22 Arizona State head the group of four teams moving into the Top 25. No. 23 UNLV and No. 24 Memphis also return. Kansas State narrowly hangs on to the No. 25 spot after its loss to Arizona State.

Washington State, Missouri, LSU and Louisville exit the rankings.

(This story was updated to add a gallery and change a video.)

For the second consecutive week, an NFL power blocked a last-second field goal to cling to victory against a rival.

The Green Bay Packers on Sunday secured a 20-19 win over the Chicago Bears when defensive lineman Karl Brooks tipped Cairo Santos’ 46-yard field goal attempt. The Packers extended their winning streak over the Bears to 11 games.

The finish comes one week after the Kansas City Chiefs won in similar fashion against the Denver Broncos, as linebacker Leo Chanal broke through the line to get his hands on Wil Lutz’s 35 yard-field goal attempt. The 16-14 win kept the two-time defending champions undefeated.

“I kinda knew, like, I’m gonna block this,” Brooks said. “I said that to myself. I heard the call. I saw Lukas (Van Ness) was next to me and I told him, ‘Hey, just do this, this for me.’ He did it, and I got a hand on it.”

After firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron last week and replacing him with Thomas Brown, the Bears outgained the Packers 391-366. Chicago led for much of the second half after running back D’Andre Swift raced for a 39-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Green Bay, however, reclaimed the lead with 2:59 left in the fourth after a 60-yard connection to Christian Watson was followed two plays later by quarterback Jordan Love powering into the end zone from 1 yard out.

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Bears quarterback Caleb Williams responded by helping Chicago gain 42 yards to set up what would have been the game-winning kick. But Brooks managed to make contact with the ball, and Green Bay moved to 7-3.

The Packers are set to host the Bears in the rematch in Week 18.

This story was updated with new information and a new video.

The Jacksonville Jaguars entered the 2024 NFL season with high expectations, as set by 74-year-old owner Shad Khan.

The Jaguars have not lived up to those expectations, and in Week 11, they suffered one of their most embarrassing defeats yet.

The Detroit Lions thrashed the Jaguars 52-6 in a blowout that was over by halftime. Detroit scored on each of its four possessions and outgained the Jaguars by 475 yards during the contest. That is the largest disparity in an NFL game since 1979, per ProFootballTalk’s Michael David Smith.

As a result of that defeat, the Jaguars are heading into their bye week with a 2-9 record. That makes them the worst team in the NFL this season, a half-game worse than the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns, who are also two-win teams competing for the ignominious honor. The Jags are in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft after Week 11.

Could that lead the Jaguars to part ways with Doug Pederson? It’s looking increasingly likely that the Super Bowl-winning coach won’t retain his post beyond the 2024 NFL season.

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Will the Jaguars fire Doug Pederson?

The Jaguars seem likely to move on from Doug Pederson soon. It’s just a matter of when that might happen.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday, Nov. 17, that ‘change is likely coming’ for the Jaguars. The team is on bye in Week 12, so they could begin making changes during that off-week.

‘An ugly loss piled on top of everything that is going on in Jacksonville could spark the beginning of the end,’ Rapoport said on NFL GameDay. ‘As one source told me, ‘It is everyone’s fault. Everyone plays a part in it.”

Certainly, Jacksonville’s 52-6 defeat would be categorized as ‘ugly.’ So too was the team’s collapse at the end of the 2023 NFL season, which came despite them being in the driver’s seat for a playoff berth for most of the season. And this year, the Jaguars have the NFL’s worst record and have lost five of their last six games.

But with the losses piling up and the team becoming increasingly less competitive, the writing appears to be on the wall for Pederson. The veteran coach understands that, as he explained after the game when asked if he believed he had coached his final game with the Jaguars.

‘I can’t control that,’ Pederson replied. ‘Listen, I’ve been around this league a long time. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen obviously. But at the same time, I still have a job to do. And that’s to get ready for a good division opponent here in two weeks.’

Soon enough, we’ll see if Pederson is leading the Jaguars into that matchup against the Houston Texans.

The San Francisco 49ers did a great job of limiting the Seattle Seahawks’ offense early in their Week 11 matchup.

However, once San Francisco’s star edge rusher Nick Bosa got hurt in the second half, things got a lot harder for the 49ers.

Bosa aggravated a hip injury, which he had been dealing entering Week 11. The 49ers deemed him ‘questionable’ to return, but he didn’t make it back into the game, which San Francisco ultimately lost 20-17.

Here’s what to know about Bosa’s injury and how it impacted the 49ers in their loss to the Seahawks:

All things 49ers: Latest San Francisco 49ers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Nick Bosa injury update

Bosa suffered a hip injury in the third quarter of the 49ers’ loss to the Seahawks. It appeared to occur after he sacked Geno Smith on Seattle’s first drive of the third quarter.

Bosa brought Smith to the ground but came up lame. He limped off the field after the injury and remained on the sideline after it. He was seen stretching his left hip out with the training staff, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, and was ‘clearly in pain’ while partaking in the activities.

The 49ers later announced that Bosa was ‘questionable’ to return to the game because of the hip injury. He did not return, and the Seahawks scored both of their touchdowns after Bosa exited the game.

Curiously, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Bosa’s injury wasn’t an aggravation of the prevoius hip injury. Instead, Shanahan claimed that the veteran edge rusher was dealing with a new oblique injury.

‘I think it was a different one,’ he said when asked if Bosa’s injury was the same hip malady he was nursing.

Shanahan also admitted that the defense missed Bosa after he left the game, though he wouldn’t say that the edge rusher’s absence helped spark the Seahawks’ game-winning drive.

‘I thought we had a couple of opportunities to get to [Smith],’ Shanahan said of San Francisco’s final defensive drive. ‘I think we did get a sack or two on that last drive, but him getting those two scrambles killed us.’

The 49ers dropped to 5-5 as a result of the loss. That dropped them to last place in the crowded NFC West, as San Francisco has just a 1-3 record in divisional play.

Who is Nick Bosa’s backup on 49ers depth chart?

Below is a full look at the team’s defensive end depth chart, which could prove critical if Bosa misses time because of his injuries:

Nick Bosa
Leonard Floyd
Yetur Gross-Matos
Sam Okuayinonu
Robert Beal Jr.

Nick Bosa stats

Bosa had four tackles and 1.5 sacks against the Seahawks before exiting with an injury. On the season, Bosa has 36 tackles and seven sacks in 10 games. He also has an interception and a forced fumble as well.

Bosa’s seven sacks are easily the most on the 49ers. Floyd (4.5) and Maliek Collins (4) rank second and third respectively.

The NBA fined Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball $100,000 “for making an offensive and derogatory comment in a postgame interview,” the league said Sunday in a news release.

Following the Hornets’ 115-114 victory over Milwaukee Saturday, Ball made a homophobic comment during a TV interview on the court.

Ball had 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the Hornets improved to 5-7. Ball made two free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, giving Charlotte a 115-114 edge. Bucks coach Doc Rivers was adamant that Giannis Antetokounmpo did not foul Ball on the play leading to the two free throws.

“LaMelo Ball fell,” Rivers told reporters. ‘He just fell down. Nobody was near him. He slipped on his own. We come up with the ball and the game is over. So back-to-back games now we have had a call made against us that is incorrect.”

Antetokounmpo missed an 18-foot shot with 2.2 seconds remaining.

Referee Curtis Blair, who was the crew chief for Saturday’s game, acknowledged that an incorrect call was made on Ball’s play.

“During live play we called illegal leg to leg contact,” Blair told a pool reporter following the game “During postgame review when we looked at the play there was no illegal contact on the play.”

The Bucks were out of replay challenges when the foul on Antetokounmpo was called. Had they had a challenge remaining and challenged the call, it would have been overturned, Blair said.

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