The Indianapolis Colts (4-4) will battle the Minnesota Vikings (5-2) on ‘Sunday Night Football’ in Week 9.

The Vikings began the season with five consecutive wins but have dropped their last two entering this primetime matchup. Minnesota lost to the Rams 30-20 on ‘Thursday Night Football’ in Week 8 but come into tonight’s matchup on extra rest.

Indianapolis is .500 on the season, and head coach Shane Steichen decided that a change at quarterback was necessary heading into this clash. The Colts benched Anthony Richardson in favor of veteran Joe Flacco. The Colts offense will have its hands full against the number-one-ranked team, according to FTN, in defensive DVOA.

Vikings vs. Colts start time 

Date: Sunday, November 3, 2024 
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET 

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

The Vikings and Colts game will conclude Sunday, Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season with ‘Sunday Night Football’ at 8:15 p.m. ET. 

Vikings vs. Colts TV Channel 

Cable TV: NBC 
Streaming: Peacock | Fubo 

Stream all’Sunday Night Football’games with a Peacock subscription

Vikings vs. Colts picks, predictions 

Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports staff feels the Week 9 ‘SNF’ matchup between the Colts and Vikings will shape up: 

Lorenzo Reyes: Vikings 27, Colts 20 

Tyler Dragon: Vikings 28, Colts 20 

Richard Morin: Vikings 24, Colts 18 

Jordan Mendoza: Vikings 29, Colts 23 

Vikings vs. Colts odds, moneyline, over/under 

The Vikings are favorites to defeat the Colts, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Looking to wager? Check out the best mobile sports betting apps offering NFL betting promos in 2024, including the ESPN BET app and Fanatics Sportsbook promo code. 

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Spread: Vikings (-5.5) 
Moneyline: Vikings (-250); Colts (+195) 
Over/under: 46.5 

Not interested in this game? Our guide to NFL betting odds, picks, and spreads has you covered with Thursday Night Football odds and Monday Night Football odds. 

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FEELING LUCKY? Here are the best parlay bets and odds for NFL games this week 

Who are the highest-paid NFL players at each position?  

We have a complete list at every position:  

Quarterbacks 
Running backs 
Wide receivers 
Tight ends 
Offensive tackles 
Offensive guards 
Centers 
Edge rushers 
Interior defensive linemen 
Linebackers 
Cornerbacks 
Safeties 
Kickers 
Punters 

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Who is the highest-paid NFL player?  

The NFL’s top 18 players in average annual salary are all quarterbacks, according to OverTheCap.com. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott became the league’s highest-paid player on Sunday morning, agreeing to a four-year, $240 million deal. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is the first non-quarterback on the highest-paid list after striking a four-year, $140 million contract extension this offseason.  

Complete list of the league’s highest-paid players 

Vikings vs. Colts history

These interconference opponents have met 27 times in NFL history, including one playoff matchup. The Colts lead the matchup all-time with an 18-8-1 record.  

The most recent meeting between these teams was in December 2022 when the Vikings won in overtime. In the win, Minnesota completed the biggest comeback in NFL history, erasing a 33-point deficit by beating the Colts 39-36 in the game. 

Vikings vs. Colts weather update

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave is out of the Week 9 game against the Carolina Panthers.

Olave needed to be carted off the field during the first quarter after he made a catch and then took a brutal hit sandwiched between two defenders. Four officials flagged Panthers safety Xavier Woods for unnecessary roughness on the play.

The wideout remained down on the field for a long time after the hit and was taken off on a stretcher while wearing a neck brace. The receiver appeared to be conscious and moving while on the cart to the locker room.

Olave has suffered three documented concussions since entering the NFL, including one in Week 6 that kept him out for an additional game. He also suffered an additional concussion while in college at Ohio State.

All things Saints: Latest New Orleans Saints news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Chris Olave injury update

Olave took a massive hit from two Panthers defenders in the first quarter of the Saints’ Week 9 game. The receiver had to be carted off of the field on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace, though it initially appeared he was conscious and able to move his arms.

CBS Sports’ Amanda Balionis reported that the Saints’ wideout was quickly ruled out of the game with a concussion and went to the hospital. She also reported that Olave had feeling in all four extremities.

During the fourth quarter, the Saints announced that Olave had been discharged from the hospital. The team said he will also travel back home to New Orleans with the team after the game.

Saints WR depth chart

After Olave’s injury, the Saints have just four healthy receivers left on their roster. Here’s how the New Orleans depth chart looks in Week 9:

Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Cedrick Wilson Jr.
Mason Tipton
Jermaine Jackson

This story has been updated with new information.

Drake London got the Falcons on the scoreboard Sunday with a sweet 9-yard touchdown grab that capped a 78-yard drive in the first quarter.

But the electric receiver would not make any more big plays against the Dallas Cowboys. London suffered a hip injury and was later ruled out after being initially listed as questionable to return to the Falcons’ eventual 27-21 win.

London appeared to suffer the setback on the touchdown catch in the short corner of the left end zone, as he twisted as fell hard to the turf in snagging the pass from Kirk Cousins. He also grabbed an 18-yard reception on a crossing route earlier in the drive, when he leaped to grab a high pass over the middle.

London rode a stationary bike on the sideline as he tried to test the injury in a possible attempt to return, but his day was officially cut short.

London entered the game leading the team in receptions (48), receiving yards (525) and TD catches (5). With his top target out, Cousins was held to 222 yards, his lowest total since his Week 1 outing against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

All things Falcons: Latest Atlanta Falcons news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

This story has been updated with new information.

The CFP committee gained a greenlight Saturday to load the playoff with Big Ten, SEC teams.
If BYU wins Big 12 and Miami wins ACC, those conferences could be left with one bid apiece.
Carson Beck’s play remains a concern for Georgia.

The Big Ten and SEC became Saturday’s big winners.

Losses by Clemson and Pittsburgh in the ACC and Iowa State and Kansas State in the Big 12 increased the chance that those two leagues will be reduced to one playoff bid apiece and widened the path for the ‘Super Two’ conferences to claim four playoff bids apiece.

The College Football Playoff committee will open a window into their thinking when the first playoff rankings are released Tuesday night.

How the committee operates is shrouded in mystery. Here’s how the committee describes its rankings process on the CFP’s website: The selection committee chooses the 12 teams for the playoff based on strength of schedule, head-to-head results against common opponents, championships won and other factors.

Well, that single sentence clears it up, doesn’t it?

The committee’s lack of transparency is sure to heighten the controversy over its playoff picks. The public is not even privy to the strength of schedule metric, which SportSource Analytics provides to the committee.

Basically, the committee can make up whatever rationale it wants to justify its playoff field.

‘Record matters,’ CFP executive director Rich Clark said Wednesday, ‘but we’re not trying to pick the most deserving teams. We’re trying to pick the best teams. This committee has got to look at (a team’s) entire body of work.’

Here’s my prediction of what the top 12 of the rankings could look like come Tuesday night:

12. Boise State (7-1): A close loss to Oregon counts as a quality line on the Broncos’ résumé. They’re positioned for the Group of Five’s playoff bid, but they must win the Mountain West to snag it.

Here’s what else caught my eye in this view from the “Topp Rope”:

What’s wrong with Georgia’s Carson Beck?

I didn’t expect quarterback Carson Beck to be a factor holding Georgia back, but Beck has gone from team strength to liability at warp speed.

He threw three interceptions in Georgia’s sloppy 34-20 victory over Florida, giving him 11 interceptions in his past five games. He repeatedly forced passes into coverage. On his second interception, he needlessly threw a pass into triple coverage on first down.

Beck doesn’t look like the same quarterback without Brock Bowers serving as a security blanket.

Are we sure Beck gives Georgia a better shot than blue-chip backup Gunner Stockton? This wouldn’t be the first time Kirby Smart parked his best quarterback on the bench.

It took multiple JT Daniels injuries for Smart to elevate Stetson Bennett IV to the starting spot in 2021. Bennett went on to lead Georgia to back-to-back national championships, but what would have happened if Daniels didn’t get hurt?

Knowing Smart’s history – in 2018, he kept rolling with Jake Fromm over Justin Fields – he’ll probably stick with Beck. Without seeing more of Stockton, it’s hard to know whether that’s the right call, but it’s also tough to envision Georgia winning a national championship with Beck playing like he has lately.

“I don’t think anything’s wrong with him,” Smart said before the Florida game.

And I think Smart is the only one who feels that way.

Three and out

1. Hugh Freeze’s record dropped to 9-13 in two seasons at Auburn after the Tigers’ 17-7 loss to Vanderbilt, Auburn’s first-ever home loss to the Commodores. Bryan Harsin was 9-12 when Auburn fired him in Year 2.

Freeze’s recruiting class, ranked No. 5 in the 247Sports Composite, is the only argument for giving him a third season. That argument might be strong enough to retain Freeze, but he’d enter 2025 on a piping-hot seat, much like Billy Napier did at Florida this year.

2. Quarterback DJ Lagway’s injury gave Florida an excuse for blowing a lead in a 34-20 loss to Georgia, but let’s be honest, the Gators would have found a way to lose anyway. Finding ways to lose winnable games remains their speciality under Billy Napier. I’m now going to list the reasons why Florida should bring Napier back for a fourth season: … .

Actually, I can’t think of any.

3. My latest ‘Topp Rope’ playoff projection: Georgia (SEC), Oregon (Big Ten), Miami (ACC), BYU (Big 12), Boise State (Group of Five), plus at-large selections Tennessee, Texas, LSU, Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, Notre Dame. Next up: SMU, Alabama, Iowa State, Texas A&M, Army.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. The ‘Topp Rope’ is his football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

(This story was updated to change a video).

NEW YORK – With clear skies and a slight chill in the air with temperatures in the mid-40s, the TCS New York City marathon’s 53rd edition got underway at 8 a.m., with the blaring of Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ in the background, along with 50,000 runners ready to break across the starting line.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, took the men’s professional title in 2:07:39, outlasting the 2022 champion Evans Chebet of Kenya by six seconds with a final push during the last quarter mile of the race.

Albert Korir, the 2021 winner, finished in third.

Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia, the defending champion in setting the course record and marathon gold medalist in Paris, finished off the podium in fourth.

Connor Mantz and Clayton Young, who train together in Utah, finished sixth and seventh, respectively. CJ Albertson was the third American in the top 10, completing his race in 2:10.57 in 10th.

In the women’s professional race, a trio of Kenyan women stayed close with two miles left, but Sheila Chepkirui had the final kick as they came into Central Park, crossing the finish line first in 2:24:35, beating defending champion Hellen Obiri by 14 seconds.

Vivian Cheruiyot came in third. It’s the sixth consecutive time, not including the 2020 race, which was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic, that Kenya has won the women’s professional race.

Sara Vaughn was the top American woman finisher, coming in seventh in 2:26:56. Jessica McClain (2:27:19) was eighth, and Kellyn Taylor (2:27:59) finished in 10th.

Nageeye and Chepkirui collected a $100,000 prize for their victories.

Americans sweep the wheelchair races; Daniel Romanchuk upsets six-time champion Marcel Hug

Last year, Switzerland took home the crown in the wheelchair events. This year, the United States did the sweeping, the first in the race’s history that Americans won both the men’s and women’s events.

A four-man pack of Hug, Romanchuk, Tomoki Suzuki, and David Weir stayed within a minute of each other through the first half of the race. But Hug, nicknamed the ‘Silver Bullet,’ who has won this race three consecutive years, is the reigning Paralympic champion and had won 16 consecutive marathons, shockingly fell back after it appeared that he and Weir clipped each other’s wheels and finished fourth.

With less than a mile from the finish, Romanchuk, Suzuki, and Weir were within a millisecond of each other, but Romanchuk went into high gear to win his third NYC marathon, and first since 2019, in 1:36:31. The 45-year-old Weir came in second, five seconds behind and Suzuki finished third, eight seconds off the pace.

Susannah Scaroni, the 2022 champion, raced out to a 26-second lead after three miles in the women’s wheelchair race, increased the lead to more than two minutes after six, and blitzed the rest of the field, including passing some of the men’s wheelchair competitors, to win her second NYC marathon in 1:48:05, the fourth-largest winning margin in history. Four-time winner Tatyana McFadden (2010, 2013, 2014, and 2015) finished second, 10 minutes and 42 seconds behind Scaroni. Manuela Schar of Switzerland, a three-time NYC marathon winner (2017, 2018, and 2019), finished third.

‘Always so special to be here in New York City,’ Scaroni said after the race. ‘I woke up feeling great today, never take it for granted. Coming up the last hill, we had a tailwind today. So I had a little more energy than I normally do at that hill.’

Scaroni and Romanchuk each took home $35,000 for their victories.

Celebrity runners

Matt James, Zac Clark, and Joe Amabile, contestants on ‘The Bachelorette’

Tayshia Adams, The Bachelorette’ 

Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, podcasters, former ‘Good Morning America’ anchors

Randall Park, actor, ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ and ‘Always Be My Maybe’

Jennifer Connelly, actress, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Claire Holt, actress, ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ ‘Aquarius’

Jacob Soboroff, NBC News correspondent

By the numbers

$1: The first entry fee of the first New York City Marathon in 1970; 127 runners started and 55 finished that year.

20 – Therapy dogs on the course

4:39:47 – Average finishing time in 2023

148 – Countries represented

$315: Entry fee for runners for non-New York Road Runners members

43,000 – Bagels served

51,453 – Finishers in the 2023 marathon

The NBA says it is reopening an investigation concerning Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes after video was posted of an incident with his ex-girlfriend.

‘As a result of the media report and video posted this morning, we are reopening our investigation,’ NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement.

Hayes is seen in the nearly six-minute video pulling Jamora out of a doorway.

Jamora can be heard in the video pleading, ‘Stop. Let go of me.’

All things Lakers: Latest Los Angeles Lakers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Hayes then says, ‘What the (expletive) is wrong with you?’

Jamora then says, ‘I’m not going to let you hit me anymore. ‘What the (expletive) do I look like, a punching bag?’

Hayes walks away from Jamora and then spits in her direction.

Hayes, who played for the New Orleans Pelicans at the time of the incident, was arrested and charged with a dozen counts as he shoved a police officer before he was tased before being booked into custody.

Hayes eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and resisting an officer and was ordered to pay restitution. He was sentenced to three years of probation, 450 hours of community service, and a year of weekly domestic violence classes.

The 24-year-old Hayes is in second season with the Lakers and is averaging 5 points and 4.2 rebounds in a reserve role this season.

There’s a new favorite for the Heisman Trophy with only four weeks left in the college football regular season.

While Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel still had a solid showing in the No. 1 Ducks’ road win over Michigan on Saturday, the oddsmakers are now favoring Miami quarterback Cam Ward, who passed for 400 yards and five touchdowns in the Hurricanes’ 53-31 comeback win over Duke on Saturday.

Another leader has also arisen in Colorado receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, who’s putting together perhaps one of the best two-way seasons in college football history. Hunter has 60 receptions for 757 yards and eight touchdowns this season, along with 20 total tackles, seven pass deflections, two interceptions and a forced fumble.

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty still figures to be in the race, as well, despite averaging only 3.9 and 4.8 yards per carry, respectively, in his last two outings, which are pedestrian averages compared to his normal production.

Here are the latest Heisman odds after Week 10 of the college football season:

Heisman Trophy odds leader

Ward and Hunter are the current odds leader for the Heisman, tied at +200.

Ward and Hunter both overtook Gabriel, who was favored for the Heisman Trophy last week but was jumped after Week 10.

Heisman Trophy candidates

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Sunday, Nov. 3

Here’s who falls in the top 10 of best odds for the Heisman Trophy:

T-1. Miami QB Cam Ward +200
T-1 Colorado WR/DB Travis Hunter +200
3. Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel +300
4. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty +500
5. Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart +2000
6. Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke +3000
T-7. Clemson QB Cade Klubnik +5000
T-7. Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders +5000
9. Alabama QB Jalen Milroe +6600
10. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier +8000

When is the Heisman Trophy awarded?

Date: Saturday, Dec. 14
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: New York City

The Heisman Trophy ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 14, in New York City. The finalists will be announced on Dec. 9, the same day that voting closes for the award.

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