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Colorado’s Deion Sanders compares portal strategy to Noah and the Ark

Colorado coach Deion Sanders chuckled a bit Tuesday after being asked about navigating the transfer portal and other college football coaches who complain about it.

Take Penn State coach James Franklin, for example. His backup quarterback entered the portal and left the team before Penn State’s playoff game Saturday against SMU, leading Franklin to say he hated the timing of the portal being open from Dec. 9-28.

“We got problems in college football,” Franklin said Monday.

But Sanders sees it differently. He said player defections through the transfer portal should be “no surprise” for the most part.

“I don’t think it’s difficult to navigate around the portal,” Sanders said Tuesday. “I just think the portal is surprising some these coaches that didn’t understand what it was. I understood what it was Day 1, don’t you think?”

Sanders said this even though he’s had a few portal defections of his own before his team plays BYU in the Alamo Bowl Dec. 28, including starting linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green. Sanders spoke about this and other topics Tuesday at a news conference in Boulder, including Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy win Saturday in New York.

`We’re in the Ark now’

Sanders’ rise as a college coach coincided with the loosening of NCAA transfer rules in 2021, which allowed athletes to move more freely between teams. As an outsider who was new to the college recruiting game, he saw it as an opportunity to acquire talent in a way that was quite different than the traditional way of accumulating high school players.

Last year, he brought in an unprecedented number of scholarship transfer players during his first season at Colorado. Then he flipped his roster again with 39 new scholarship transfer players from other four-year colleges in 2024. This year, his team is 9-3 and includes Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, a transfer from Jackson State.

On Tuesday, he likened it to the Biblical story of Noah building his Ark for the coming flood.

“I was willing to look like a fool for a period of time,” Sanders said. “I listened to y’all (in the news media). I watched it, and we understood it. But Noah looked like a fool too when he kept saying it was gonna rain, right?… The rain is coming now for everybody right?

“Yeah, we good,” Sanders said. “We’re in the Ark now.”

Sanders noted he’s been doing it this way for years. Even coaching youth football in Texas, Sanders joked how “we had to get everybody out of the portal for 5-year-old kids to 12-year-old kids. That means from other teams.”

Colorado might even be in the market for a transfer quarterback, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Tuesday. The Buffaloes recently signed Julian Lewis as their QB of the future but might have room for a transfer with a year of eligibility left, Shurmur said.

Reflecting on Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy?

Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter brought the Heisman Trophy back with him from New York, giving Colorado two Heisman’s since 1994. Asked Tuesday about when he knew Hunter was capable of winning the Heisman, Sanders didn’t flinch.

“When I saw him practice his first day at Jackson State: That’s when,” Sanders said. “When he went out there at receiver and did his thing, then went from playing receiver to defensive back and shut it down. I knew right then. I knew right then it was something special.”

“You know when you see something that’s abnormal,’ he said.

Hunter transferred to Colorado last year, following Sanders from Jackson State to Boulder.  In Hunter’s case, Sanders also took an unconventional approach, much like he did with the transfer portal. He allowed him to play both offense and defense with seldom any breaks.

“Most coaches in college football won’t allow it… because they can’t fathom it,” Sanders said.

But Sanders had done it himself as a player to a lesser degree. So he didn’t get in Hunter’s way.

“I allowed him to be unapologetically who he is,” Sanders said.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Lawmakers eye ‘low hanging fruit’ for government efficiency after first DOGE Caucus meeting

Some lawmakers in the new Congressional DOGE Caucus are eyeing a crackdown on federal agencies work-from-home policies when Republicans take over the levers of power in Washington DC next year.

The group’s name is an acronym for Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency, coinciding with the Department of Government Efficiency – also DOGE for short – a new advisory panel commissioned by President-elect Trump and led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The caucus held its first meeting on Tuesday, which lawmakers described to Fox News Digital as largely ‘organizational.’

DOGE Caucus co-chair Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital the room was full of interested lawmakers.

‘We had 29 sign up to come, so we met in a small conference room. But it was packed – we had over 60 members attend,’ Bean said.

That included three Democrats – Reps. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., Val Hoyle, D-Ore., and the first Democrat to join the DOGE Caucus, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.

Documents given to attendees and shared with Fox News Digital encouraged lawmakers to think of what kind of DOGE goals would be ‘worthwhile lifts,’ ‘quick wins,’ ‘lower priority,’ and ‘low-hanging fruit’ and other ways to organize and prioritize initiatives.

Asked about what some ‘low-hanging fruit’ for the panel would be, Bean said, ‘People going back to work.’

‘We have a problem,’ Bean said. ‘[Federal workers] do a large amount of work from home. Which, that’s a debate – whether or not they’re productive working from home. But if they are working from home, we have between a 6 and 15% occupancy of billions of square foot of commercial buildings that we are spending billions on to upkeep and whatnot. Do we still need that much space if people aren’t using their offices?’

That was echoed by Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, who also attended the meeting.

‘You know, when you take out security, you’ve got one percent of the federal government workers who are going in to work on a regular basis, and we’re paying for 100% of them all to have office space,’ Van Duyne said. ‘There’s lots of low hanging fruit. I just hope we can identify what those are.’

Bean also dismissed accusations from critics of Musk and Ramamswamy’s DOGE push that it was a way for Republicans to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits

‘That is not the intent,’ Bean emphasized. ‘It is not the intent [to be] cutting benefits, of either health or [veterans] or Social Security. But those benefits…have limited shelf life, unless we make reductions elsewhere. So the purpose is not to cut those things, but to safeguard them.’

Other lawmakers who attended said they came away enthusiastic about the group’s cost-cutting and efficiency goals.

‘It was a good introductory meeting of the caucus, kind of challenging us all to think about our expectations and how we can help, you know, take ideas and move them in to bill form and work through the normal committee process to do that,’ Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., said.

‘I’ve even gotten a lot of ideas from constituents…I think this is a really great grassroots effort.’

House GOP Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore, R-Utah, another DOGE Caucus co-chair alongside Bean and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said ‘there’s a billion and a half ideas, and we need to make it so it’s actually actionable for Vivek and Elon.’

Both Bean and Moore indicated that the next steps for the caucus would be to split up into working groups targeting various aspects of DOGE’s mission.

The next caucus meeting is expected in January, Bean said.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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Business

CrowdStrike moves to dismiss Delta Air Lines suit, citing contract terms

CrowdStrike moved Monday evening to dismiss Delta Air Lines’ lawsuit around the July cybersecurity outage that led to canceled flights and stranded passengers, arguing that the airline’s litigation was an attempt to circumvent the contract between the two companies.

The agreement between CrowdStrike and Delta includes a clause limiting CrowdStrike’s liability and a cap on damages, which the cybersecurity provider says Delta is now trying to skirt. CrowdStrike also argued in its filing that Georgia law prevents Delta from converting a breach of contract into tort claims.

“As an initial matter, Georgia’s economic loss rule specifically precludes Delta’s efforts to recover through tort claims the economic damages it claims to have suffered,” CrowdStrike wrote.

Delta said the July cybersecurity outage cost the company more than $500 million in canceled flights, refunds and passenger accommodations. It is seeking to recoup those costs from CrowdStrike through the suit. But the damage done to Delta’s reputation as a premium carrier can’t yet be quantified, nor has the impact of a Department of Transportation investigation into Delta over the outage.

Delta continues to rely on CrowdStrike services following the outage, likely because it is extremely difficult to change cybersecurity providers in systems as large and complicated as Delta’s. 

Still, CrowdStrike said it moved quickly to try and help Delta — offers the cybersecurity company says were rebuffed. “We are good for now,” one message from a Delta executive cited by CrowdStrike read. The cybersecurity company said its executives were in close contact on the day of the outage.

“Delta repeatedly rebuffed any assistance from CrowdStrike or its partners,” CrowdStrike wrote.

CrowdStrike further argues that Delta’s own practices and systems led to the widespread delays and cancellations, unlike other industry peers who recovered much more quickly from the outage.

“Delta was an outlier. Although Delta acknowledges that it took just hours—not days—for Delta employees to” remediate the outage, CrowdStrike wrote in its filing, “cancellations far exceeded the flight disruptions its peer airlines experienced.”

The cybersecurity company’s stock took a sharp hit after the outage, plunging 44%. It’s since largely recovered from those losses, posting strong quarterly results even after lowering its guidance due to the incident. CrowdStrike has been helped by the relative stickiness of its products, especially at large enterprises.

A Delta spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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Walmart employees are now wearing body cameras in some U.S. stores

Walmart has started giving store-level associates body cameras to wear as part of a pilot program at some of its U.S. locations, CNBC has learned. 

It’s not clear how many of Walmart’s stores have the recording devices, but some locations now have signs at entry points warning shoppers that it has “body-worn cameras in-use,” according to witnesses and photos posted online. 

In at least one store in Denton, Texas — about 40 miles north of Dallas — an associate checking receipts was seen wearing a yellow-and-black body camera earlier this month, according to a shopper who shared a photo with CNBC. 

“While we don’t talk about the specifics of our security measures, we are always looking at new and innovative technology used across the retail industry,” a Walmart spokesperson told CNBC. “This is a pilot we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions.”

Walmart, the largest nongovernmental employer in the U.S., is testing the technology after smaller retailers started trying body cameras at their own stores as a way to deter theft. Body cameras and the footage they gather are commonly advertised as a way to prevent shoplifting, but Walmart intends to use the tech for worker safety — not as a loss prevention tool, according to a person familiar with the program.

In a document titled “Providing great customer service while creating a safer environment,” staff are instructed on how to use the devices, according to a photo of the document posted on an online forum for Walmart employees and customers. It instructs employees to “record an event if an interaction with a customer is escalating” and to not wear the devices in employee break areas and bathrooms. After an incident occurs, staffers are told, they are to discuss it with another team member, who can help them log the event in the “ethics and compliance app,” according to the document. 

The body cameras at Walmart come during the thick of the holiday shopping season, when retail employees work long hours and face tough interactions with customers that can be more tense and hostile than usual. 

“There’s too much harassment that goes on throughout the year, but especially during the holiday season … it’s even worse,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. “Everyone is stressed out. If they can’t find the item they’re looking for, they get upset and whom do they blame? They blame the shop worker.” 

However, it’s unclear whether body cameras actually help to deescalate conflict. Appelbaum, whose union does not represent Walmart employees but includes staff from retailers such as Macy’s and H&M, said the RWDSU is concerned that body cameras are more about surveillance and deterring theft than making employees safer.  

“Workers need training on deescalation. Workers need training on what to do during a hostile situation at work. The body camera doesn’t do that. The body camera doesn’t intervene,” said Appelbaum. “We need safe staffing and we need panic buttons.” 

Bianca Agustin, the co-executive director of United for Respect, a workers organization for Walmart and Amazon staffers, said the group has asked Walmart to provide more training for its employees but that the company hasn’t met those demands. She said body cameras could be part of the solution but cameras alone are “no substitute” for proper training.

“There’s a claim that the body cams are going to promote deescalation just organically. We don’t think that’s true,” said Agustin. “You see a lot of violence against workers already at the self-checkout kiosks when they even are attempting to [deter theft] … there’s a potential that this might hurt that [deterrence] … it also could provoke people.” 

Plus, “there’s already cameras in stores,” said Agustin. 

David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations for the National Retail Federation, the retail industry’s lobbying arm, provided a different perspective. He said the retailers he works with have said body cameras have helped to reduce conflict because people act differently when they know they’re being recorded, especially when those cameras are directly in front of a person. 

“Many of these body-worn cameras have reverse view monitors on them so … there’s a little video screen that you actually see yourself on camera. That in itself can be a very big deterrent,” said Johnston. “The moment that you see yourself is probably [when] you’re going to change your behavior, and that’s what I think the use of a body-worn camera can do.” 

As customers complain about merchandise being locked up in cases, body cameras are another technique retailers are trying out as they look to deter theft and make stores safer, said Johnston. 

“Walmart’s got tremendous exposure,” said Mark Cohen, former CEO of Sears Canada and former director of retail studies at Columbia Business School. “Walmart’s probably got a sales force that is very unhappy about what they’re exposed to … [and] feel like the store is not doing enough to protect the store and themselves. And this is a test to see whether it has any beneficial effects, both on deterring criminals and salving the anxiety and the irritation of their associates.”

Still, it’s not clear whether associates will feel better wearing body cameras. One longtime retail employee, who spent around a decade working at Hot Topic and has since left the industry, told CNBC that being threatened with violence was a regular part of the job, and they’re not sure body cameras would have stopped it.

“With these people, when they’re in our faces and they’re acting like they’re going to hit us or they’re making threats to meet us in the parking lot, they’re not thinking rationally,” said the former mall employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Even with a camera facing them, I don’t think they would care in the moment.”

The former employee said a body camera wouldn’t have made them feel safer in those interactions, either, but having a police presence nearby would have helped.

Last year, the NRF’s annual security survey found that 35% of retailers who responded said they were researching body cameras for retail employees or loss prevention staff. While no respondents said body cameras were fully operational, 11% said the retailers were either piloting or testing the solution. 

TJX Companies is one of them. 

Earlier this year, the off-price giant said it had started using body cameras in its stores, which include its TJ Maxx, Marshall’s and HomeGoods banners. On a call with analysts after the company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings in May, finance chief John Joseph Klinger said the devices had been effective in reducing shrink, or lost inventory.

“One of the things that we’ve added — we started to do last year, late towards the year, wear body cameras on our [loss prevention] associates,” said Klinger. “And when somebody comes in, it’s sort of — it’s almost like a deescalation where people are less likely to do something when they’re being videotaped. So we definitely feel that that’s playing a role also.”

In a statement, a TJX spokesperson said the loss prevention associates who have body cameras have gone through “thorough training on how to use the cameras effectively in their roles.”

“Video footage is only shared upon request by law enforcement or in response to a subpoena. Body cameras are just one of the many ways that we work to support a safe store environment. This includes a variety of policies, trainings, and procedures,” the spokesperson said. “We hope that these body cameras will help us de-escalate incidents, deter crime, and demonstrate to our Associates and customers that we take safety in our stores seriously.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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Ryan Day, Ohio State facing disaster or finest hour in College Football Playoff

The challenge facing Ohio State is unmistakable. Ryan Day speeds toward either a whimpering end to a disastrous season, or a spectacular recovery.
Playoff will reveal whether Michigan simply beat Ohio State or stamped out the Buckeyes’ soul.
Ohio State will face a Tennessee defense that profiles as being every bit as good as Michigan’s unit that handcuffed the Buckeyes.

As I considered Ohio State’s rugged draw within the College Football Playoff bracket, I reflected on an iconic scene in the movie “Apollo 13.”

When NASA flight director Gene Kranz, played by Ed Harris, hears a co-worker saying that this would become the worst disaster in the space organization’s history, Kranz responds, “With all due respect, sir, I believe this is going to be our finest hour.”

It’s hyperbolic to compare the College Football Playoff to a space mission, but a stark dichotomy faces Ryan Day’s Buckeyes.

Ohio State underachieved this season with its reported $20 million roster, and the resulting No. 8 seed paints it into a corner. The Buckeyes must navigate No. 9 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, potentially No. 5 Texas in the semifinals and maybe No. 2 Georgia in the national championship game.

Oof.

Such a draw threatens to set up Ohio State for an early playoff exit to bookend a season Buckeyes fans would deem disastrous.

Alternatively, if Day spurs Ohio State to the national championship game, it would rank as his finest hour in a six-year tenure that includes an impressive win-loss record stained by repeated disappointments against Michigan and within the postseason.

NEW BOSSES: Where does Bill Belichick rank among the coaching hires?

Ohio State must shake off Michigan to solve Tennessee defense

If not for the installation of 12-team playoff, Ohio State would be cast into some also-ran bowl game. This expanded postseason rescued a squad that boasts as much talent as any playoff qualifier, but the Buckeyes can’t shake the narrative that Day can’t win the big one.

Now, he faces four big ones.

An early playoff exit would crank up the heat on Day to such a temperature it would threaten to set the mercury to boil.

“We’re still breathing. We’re still alive,’ Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said last week on 97.1-FM, a Columbus radio station. ‘The season’s not over. The book is not closed, right?”

Sounds encouraging, yeah? No, not really. Generally, when I hear a phrase like, ‘we’re still breathing,’ that doesn’t evoke optimistic thoughts.

This playoff will test how much Michigan crippled the Buckeyes.

Did Michigan simply beat Ohio State in the regular-season finale, or did the Wolverines suck the soul out of this team? Ohio State’s first-round game against Tennessee will shed light on that.

The Volunteers defense rates better than Michigan’s unit that limited Ohio State to 10 points and 252 yards. The Buckeyes remain without two starting offensive linemen due to injuries.

History tells us a talented team can recover from a late-season loss. Three years ago, Georgia lost to Alabama in the SEC championship game, then won a rematch against the Crimson Tide a month later, as Kirby Smart captured the first of his two national championships in his sixth season. Year 6, hmm.

Perhaps a better comparison would be the 2017 season. Auburn beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl, preventing the Tide from reaching the SEC championship game. Well-rested Alabama slipped into the playoff as the No. 4 seed, then crushed Clemson in a semifinal and outlasted Georgia in the national championship.

Unlike those teams, though, Ohio State must survive four playoff games, not two, and it’s impossible to overstate the indelible torment that comes from losing to Michigan.

Is Ryan Day nearing a whimpering finish or his finest hour?

Day, before this year’s rivalry flop, said past losses to Michigan rank among the worst moments of his 45 years on earth.

“Other than losing my father and a few other things, like it’s quite honestly, for my family, the worst thing that’s happened,” Day told WBNS, a Columbus TV station.

Days later, he lost to Michigan for a fourth consecutive time.

Buckeye seniors like defensive stars Jack Sawyer, Cody Simon, Lathan Ransom and several others remember every one of those haunting defeats.

Those losses to Michigan kept Ohio State from reaching the Big Ten championship game in every season since winning the conference title in 2020.

Because the Buckeyes didn’t reach the Big Ten title game, Day says they can’t complain about their seed, even though they beat No. 6 seed Penn State on the road last month.

A fifth or sixth seed would have provided the Buckeyes with a cleaner path into the semifinals. Ohio State joins Oregon and No. 2 Georgia as the only teams in this field to beat multiple playoff qualifiers, but the committee showed deference to teams that reached their conference championship game.

“It’s our responsibility to win the conference,” Day said. “… When you don’t do that, you put yourself at risk.”

The challenge facing Ohio State is unmistakable. Day speeds toward either a whimpering end to a disastrous sixth season, or a spectacular recovery as he claims his finest hour.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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NFL MVP rankings: 5 TDs isn’t enough for Jackson, Goff to top list

You’d think NFL MVP candidates Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff would be the talk of the league after each throwing five touchdown passes last Sunday.

But the NFL has its eyes set on someone else who should be MVP this season after Week 15.

It’s a shame for Jackson, who is still in the mix for his second consecutive MVP and what would be his third overall this season for the Ravens. The same can be said for Goff, who is having the best season of his career for the NFC-leading Detroit Lions.

Meanwhile, another star has emerged with two of the biggest wins in the NFL this season.

These are the USA TODAY Sports’ NFL MVP rankings after Week 15:

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

5. Eagles RB Saquon Barkley, stock even

Let’s just reserve this place for a Philadelphia Eagle.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts made a statement, after barely throwing for 100 yards in his previous two games, tossing two touchdowns and rushing for another in Philadelphia’s 27-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. But the Eagles’ real MVP candidate continues to be Saquon Barkley, despite the running back gaining just 74 total yards in the win.

Barkley continues to lead the NFL by a wide margin with 1,964 yards – nearly 400 yards more than the next player, Derrick Henry (1,599). Six players have more than Barkley’s 13 touchdowns this year, including Hurts who has tush pushed his way to 14 touchdowns with Barkley’s help, adding to the standout tailback’s MVP case.

4. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, stock even

Mahomes accounted for three touchdowns (two passing and a handoff) during the Chiefs’ 21-7 win over the Cleveland Browns last week.

Kansas City may have the NFL’s best record at 13-1, but the win was just its fourth this season by more than one score. The nine other one-score wins have carried the light conversation for his MVP case this season.

Mahomes’ stats aren’t gaudy: He’s in the Top 10 with 22 touchdown passes (ninth) and 3,348 passing yards (10th), but his 64.6 QBR dropped a spot to 11th this week.

But the Chiefs have bigger concerns after the Browns game: Mahomes must navigate a high ankle sprain through the final three weeks of the regular season.

3. Lions QB Jared Goff, stock down

Goff also threw five touchdown passes last week, trying to get the Lions back into the mix against the Bills, but Detroit suffered its second loss of the season.

Goff drops back into the No. 3 slot after the loss, a week after he rose up to No. 2 with three touchdown passes to help Detroit hold off the Green Bay Packers.

Goff has the second-best passer rating (110.4) and completion percentage (71.4) in the NFL, while his 30 touchdown passes rank fourth among quarterbacks.

The Lions still own the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff race, but their slew of injuries — including the loss of running back David Montgomery (MCL) — will force Goff to elevate his game and potential MVP case down the stretch.

2. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, stock up

Jackson retakes the No. 2 spot after his five touchdowns against the Giants.

Jackson and the Ravens dismantled our No. 1 for MVP earlier this season, but Baltimore’s losses to the Chiefs, Raiders, Browns, Steelers and Eagles have hurt his MVP case.

Jackson leads the NFL with a 120.7 passer rating, is second behind Joe Burrow (36) with 34 touchdown passes, and second with a 76.0 QBR behind the No. 1 player on our list.

Baltimore is 9-5, and Jackson has a chance to help his team reclaim the AFC North this week in a big-time matchup against the division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers.

1. Bills QB Josh Allen, stock even

Allen had two rushing touchdowns, then two passing touchdowns in Buffalo’s 48-42 clash with the Lions last week.

The Bills have scored 90 points in the last two weeks with Allen accounting for 10 total touchdowns in the stretch. He became the first player in league history to score three rushing touchdown and three passing touchdowns in a game last week.

Allen has the best QBR in the league at 79.3, is sixth with 25 touchdown passes, along with 12 rushing touchdowns. He has three more games, including two against the Patriots, to solidify his MVP case further.

The Bills have taken down the Lions, the NFC’s best team all season, and the Chiefs, who hold the best record in the league — aiding Allen’s case for his first NFL MVP award.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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NFL playoff picture: What Chiefs must do to clinch bye, home field

Every week for the duration of the 2024 NFL regular season, USA TODAY Sports will provide timely updates to the league’s ever-evolving playoff picture − typically starting after Sunday afternoon’s late games and then moving forward for the remainder of the week (through Monday’s and Thursday’s games or Saturday’s, if applicable).

What just happened? What does it mean? What are the pertinent factors (and, perhaps, tiebreakers) prominently in play as each conference’s seven-team bracket begins to crystallize? All will be explained and analyzed up to the point when the postseason field is finalized on Sunday, Jan. 5.

Here’s where things stand with Week 15 of the 2024 season complete:

NFC playoff picture

x – 1. Detroit Lions (12-2), NFC North leaders: After getting stomped by Buffalo on Sunday, they’re in a three-way tie atop the conference and deadlocked for the division lead following the Vikings’ win Monday night. A Week 7 win over Minnesota and conference record (8-1) that’s one game better than Philly are the tiebreakers currently serving the Lions, who may still need to win out to keep their divisional throne. Remaining schedule: at Bears, at 49ers, vs. Vikings

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

x – 2. Philadelphia Eagles (12-2), NFC East leaders: Winners of 10 straight, they could not clinch the division Sunday following Washington’s victory in New Orleans but can do so by ousting the Commanders in Week 16. Still, the Iggles did pull even with Detroit, but they’ll need another Lions slip-up to move into the conference’s top spot. Remaining schedule: at Commanders, vs. Cowboys, vs. Giants

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-6), NFC South leaders: They embarrassed the Chargers on Sunday, which means – regardless of Atlanta’s triumph Monday night – the Bucs remain atop the division for at least another week. Seattle’s loss pushed them up a spot, Tampa Bay with a better record (6-3) in conference games than the Rams (5-5). Remaining schedule: at Cowboys, vs. Panthers, vs. Saints

4. Los Angeles Rams (8-6), NFC West leaders: Win out, and they are division champs. LA overtook the Seahawks on Sunday night by virtue of their Week 9 victory at Seattle. Remaining schedule: at Jets, vs. Cardinals, vs. Seahawks

x – 5. Minnesota Vikings (12-2), wild card No. 1: They clinched a spot Sunday night thanks to Seattle’s loss. Monday’s victory over Chicago means the Vikes control their own fate in the NFC North – win out, and the division is theirs. Remaining schedule: at Seahawks, vs. Packers, at Lions

6. Green Bay Packers (10-4), wild card No. 2: Getting swept by Detroit pretty much relegates the Pack to wild-card status, but they’ll have to wait to clinch despite handling the Seahawks on Sunday night. Remaining schedule: vs. Saints, at Vikings, vs. Bears

7. Washington Commanders (9-5), wild card No. 3: They barely survived the Saints, but it was enough to keep them alive one more week in the division with the NFC East still technically up for grabs. Remaining schedule: vs. Eagles, vs. Falcons, at Cowboys

8. Seattle Seahawks (8-6), in the hunt: Sunday night’s loss to Green Bay dropped them not only out of the NFC West lead but from the projected field entirely. And they may have to move forward without injured QB Geno Smith. Remaining schedule: vs. Vikings, at Bears, at Rams

9. Atlanta Falcons (7-7), in the hunt: Their four-game losing streak is over after they labored past the Raiders on Monday night. Catch the Bucs, whom the Dirty Birds swept, and they’re back atop the NFC South. A 6-3 mark in NFC games puts them three games ahead of Arizona as it pertains to that tiebreaker. Remaining schedule: vs. Giants, at Commanders, vs. Panthers

10. Arizona Cardinals (7-7), in the hunt: They broke a three-game skid by beating the Patriots but, at this point, need the NFC West field to come back to them. Remaining schedule: at Panthers, at Rams, vs. 49ers

11. San Francisco 49ers (6-8), in the hunt: Thursday’s loss to the Rams was a near-fatal blow to the reigning NFC champs, who have better than a 99% probability of missing postseason, per NFL.com. Remaining schedule: at Dolphins, vs. Lions, at Cardinals

12. Dallas Cowboys (6-8), in the hunt: Like the Niners, whom they lost to in Week 8, their postseason hopes are on life support despite Sunday’s win in Charlotte. Remaining schedule: vs. Buccaneers, at Eagles, vs. Commanders

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AFC playoff picture

y – 1. Kansas City Chiefs (13-1), AFC West champions: A 21-7 win in Cleveland on Sunday keeps them in driver’s seat for home-field advantage … provided QB Patrick Mahomes’ ankle injury isn’t overly serious. Two more wins will lock in home-field advantage and a first-round bye, though another Buffalo loss would ease the requirement to one win. Remaining schedule: vs. Texans, at Steelers, at Broncos

y – 2. Buffalo Bills (11-3), AFC East champions: Sunday’s win in Detroit probably does more for their collective psyche than it really does for their playoff positioning right now. Pittsburgh’s loss makes Bills’ second-place standing in the conference more comfortable … as does a very inviting closing stretch. Remaining schedule: vs. Patriots, vs. Jets, at Patriots

x – 3. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4), AFC North leaders: Decidedly mixed bag Sunday. The Colts’ loss (combined with Miami’s) clinched a postseason berth for the Steelers. However they’re backing up to the Ravens, this week’s opponent, in the division and probably now out of the running for the No. 1 seed. Still, beat Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, and the Steelers put a bow on the division. Remaining schedule: at Ravens, vs. Chiefs, vs. Bengals

y – 4. Houston Texans (9-5), AFC South champions: Sunday’s win combined with Indianapolis’ loss assured they’ll rule a weak division for the second straight year. Remaining schedule: at Chiefs, vs. Ravens, at Titans

5. Baltimore Ravens (9-5), wild card No. 1: They cruised past the sleepwalking Giants and picked up a game on Pittsburgh, the Ravens’ opponent in Week 16. Maybe the AFC North throne isn’t out of sight, though Baltimore can’t resume the top spot Saturday even by defeating the Steelers. One more win secures a wild card, at minimum. Remaining schedule: vs. Steelers, at Texans, vs. Browns

6. Denver Broncos (9-5), wild card No. 2: It’s a near certainty they’ll make their first postseason trip since winning Super Bowl 50 nine years ago. But they’ll drop back down to the seventh seed if they get swept by Bolts on Thursday night. Another win secures a berth. Remaining schedule: at Chargers, at Bengals, vs. Chiefs

7. Los Angeles Chargers (8-6), wild card No. 3: Are they suddenly ‘Charger-ing’? Three losses in the past four weeks have slipped them into the final wild-card spot … though it appears their pursuers are bolting with even more speed. Remaining schedule: vs. Broncos, at Patriots, at Raiders

8. Indianapolis Colts (6-8), in the hunt: After Sunday’s loss at Denver, it’s basically over. Remaining schedule: vs. Titans, at Giants, vs. Jaguars

9. Miami Dolphins (6-8), in the hunt: After Sunday’s loss at Houston, it’s basically over. Remaining schedule: vs. 49ers, at Browns, at Jets

10. Cincinnati Bengals (6-8), in the hunt: They won in Nashville on Sunday, meaning there’s still a faint pulse. A 3-6 conference mark keeps them buried behind Fins and Colts. Remaining schedule: vs. Browns, vs. Broncos, at Steelers

NFL playoff clinching scenarios for Week 16

Kansas City clinches AFC’s No. 1 seed with:

Win + Buffalo loss or tie
Tie + Buffalo loss

Pittsburgh clinches AFC North with:

Win

Baltimore clinches playoff berth with:

Win or tie
Miami loss or tie + Indianapolis loss or tie

Denver clinches playoff berth with:

Win or tie
Miami loss or tie + Cincinnati loss or tie + Indianapolis loss or tie

Los Angeles Chargers clinch playoff berth with:

Win + Miami loss or tie + Indianapolis loss or tie
Tie + Miami loss + Indianapolis loss + Cincinnati loss or tie

Philadelphia clinches NFC East with:

Win or tie

Green Bay clinches playoff berth with:

Win or tie
Atlanta loss or tie + LA Rams loss or tie
Atlanta loss or tie + Seattle loss or tie

Washington clinches playoff berth with:

Win + Atlanta loss or tie + LA Rams loss or tie
Win + Atlanta loss or tie + Seattle loss or tie
Tie + Atlanta loss + Arizona loss or tie + LA Rams loss or tie + Seattle loss or tie (as long as Rams and Seahawks both don’t tie)

NFL teams eliminated from playoff contention in 2024

x – clinched playoff berth

y – clinched division

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis

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NFL power rankings: Who rises to No. 1 following Lions’ loss?

NFL power rankings entering Week 16 of the 2024 season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Buffalo Bills (3): They’ve scored at least 30 points in their past eight games – only the fifth team ever to manage that in a single season – while averaging 35 during that stretch. Per NFL Media, they’re also the only team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to score at least five touchdowns in three consecutive games without giving up any sacks or turnovers. The Bills play the Patriots twice and the Jets once over the final three weeks – which would suggest the AFC East champs will score a lot more points, wind up 14-3 and have a great shot at the conference’s No. 1 playoff seed – all while QB Josh Allen should produce another 12 TDs or so in the ongoing bid for his first league MVP award.

2. Philadelphia Eagles (2): After winning their club-record 10th straight game Sunday, they’re one victory shy of putting a Christmas bow on the NFC East. Now officially the league’s No. 1 defense in terms of points and yards allowed, opponents are only averaging 15.1 points during Philly’s heater. Hopefully the ‘little something’ that began bothering RB Saquon Barkley on Sunday doesn’t turn into a more serious issue that could potentially derail another season.

3. Detroit Lions (1): In an autumn full of body blows, the combo punch of losing DL Alim McNeill and RB David Montgomery is at least as cruel as DE Aidan Hutchinson’s trip to injured reserve. Maybe this prideful but depleted pride can keep winning shootouts … and maybe it won’t even get a home playoff game.

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6. Kansas City Chiefs (4): On the day QB Patrick Mahomes became the fastest player to generate 300 career TDs (282 passing, 18 rushing in 128 games), he also suffered an ankle injury … again. Some big decisions ahead for K.C., which could rest the three-time Super Bowl MVP – though the AFC West champs currently need to win two of their final three games, which are probably all against playoff teams (Houston, Pittsburgh, Denver), if they want to guarantee resting all of their players in the wild-card round.

8. Baltimore Ravens (8): However if they can finally beat the Steelers at home, they’ll at least secure a playoff berth – yet will have more work to do in order to reclaim the AFC North perch. Yet a win could also very much boost QB Lamar Jackson’s recently atrophying résumé for consecutive MVP awards … though he’ll have to overcome a 2-5 record and 66.7 career passer rating against Pittsburgh. Maybe bringing back WR Odell Beckham Jr. would help?

18. Atlanta Falcons (21): A lackluster effort against a lackluster opponent with another lackluster performance from QB Kirk Cousins. But a win in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas when you can still somehow earn a home playoff game.

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26. New Orleans Saints (25): RB Alvin Kamara has a shot to join Lydell Mitchell as the only players to lead their teams in rushing and receiving yards on more than one occasion in the Super Bowl era (since 1966).

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (30): Brian Thomas Jr. is 44 yards away from being the Jags’ first 1,000-yard rookie receiver. Now if they can only find a way to pair him with Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter …

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

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Falcons HC Raheem Morris gives non-answer to starting QB question

Will the Atlanta Falcons be making a change at starting quarterback?

That’s been the question on everyone’s minds as current starter Kirk Cousins continues to struggle. On Tuesday, it became more apparent that it’s also a question on the mind of Raheem Morris, the Falcons’ head coach.

After the Falcons’ Week 15 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night, Morris dodged a question about his willingness to promote rookie Michael Penix Jr. to the starting role.

‘Those things will always be discussed, that’s just the nature of the beast in football,’ Morris said Monday. ‘It’s just so heavily talked about at the quarterback position because there’s only one guy out there. For us, our mentality is to find a way to win the next game.’

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On Tuesday, when asked again about a potential quarterback change, Morris was similarly noncommittal.

‘We just got back (from Las Vegas),’ he said, per The Athletic’s Josh Kendall. ‘We still have to go through that process. All those things will happen over the course of the week. We didn’t play well enough at the quarterback position.’

Kendall added more context after sharing the initial quote, saying that Morris and the Falcons are behind schedule on their normal weekly process since they played on Monday night. Morris’ non-answer is partly due to that delay, so it’s possible a change isn’t on the horizon.

Still, the Falcons’ head coach reiterated his sentiments from his postgame press conference the night before.

‘We have to play better at that position (quarterback),’ he said.

It’s up to Morris and his staff to work on building Cousins’ confidence back up after weeks of poor play. Otherwise, they need to make a big decision at the quarterback position before the NFC South division title is out of reach.

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Gundy, Norvell paying NIL tax part of new athlete compensation

How to cover the growing costs in athlete compensation? Here comes a fresh idea: A loser’s tax on coaches, from Mike Gundy to Mike Norvell.
Once a runaway train, coaches’ salaries go under microscope as colleges brace for revenue-sharing with athletes.
LSU’s Brian Kelly says he must ‘put my money where my mouth’ is and contribute his own dollars to help bankroll the operation.

At Florida State, they’re calling the fundraising campaign a Vision of Excellence, but coach Mike Norvell’s $4.5 million contribution to the initiative comes off as a penalty for putridness.

The college sports pay-for-play revolution entered new terrain this month. Norvell became the third known coach who underperformed this season and now will help bankroll the operation.

It started with Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy agreeing to reduced compensation to retain his job after the Cowboys flopped their way to a 3-9 record. The cost savings will be redistributed through the school to athletes, according to multiple reports.

Next, LSU’s Brian Kelly announced a campaign to match fans’ donations to the Tigers’ NIL collective, up to $1 million. Kelly failed to make the College Football Playoff in his first three seasons at LSU while ranking among the nation’s top-paid coaches. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from making direct NIL donations, but Kelly will use a workaround by funneling his donation through the Tiger Athletic Foundation, a booster group that financially supports LSU athletics.

So, yeah, same effect.

“I needed to put my money where my mouth was and be a part of (funding a championship roster),” Kelly said.

Used to be, a coach bankrolling his roster amounted to a major NCAA rules violation. Now, a coach can declare his payments on the up and up as part of a fundraising campaign.

The optics are a bit odd, although not entirely unexpected.

It’s more evidence of scales of power and wealth shifting within a landscape in which athletes are compensated.

NEW BOSSES: Where does Bill Belichick rank among the coaching hires?

Mike Norvell, Mike Gundy pony up after losing seasons

Since 2021, athletes can collect third-party deals to profit off their fame and abilities. Donors, businesses and fans foot this NIL bill. Schools were spared from paying athletes – but not for much longer.

If a legal settlement gains final judicial approval in April, schools will begin coughing up millions annually for athletes via revenue-sharing. Although revenue-sharing won’t be required, any school wishing to compete at the highest level will feel compelled to opt into a plan that permits schools to redirect more than $20 million annually in athletics revenue to players.

How to cover these new costs?

Here comes this fresh idea: A loser’s tax on coaches.

“I presented this to our administration in an effort to boost the support of our student-athletes,” Norvell said Monday in a university release announcing his payment to Vision for Excellence as part of a restructured contract, “while recognizing that the results and expectations need to be upheld to the highest level.

‘I wanted to be proactive in my financial assistance through this time of transition as we all push forward to get back to the standard of Florida State football.”

Norvell won 13 games in 2023 and earned a raise. With a $10 million salary, he ranked among the nation’s top-paid coaches. That equated to $5 million per victory this season.

Pay-for-play revolution puts new scrutiny on coaches’ salaries

Before NCAA rules permitted player compensation, athletics revenue had to go somewhere. Some of it funded Olympic sports, while other dollars poured into facilities upgrades that would make professional organizations blush. Also, coaching salaries ballooned. Some mediocre coaches now earn salaries topping $7 million, while championship coaches like Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($13.3 million) and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($11.1 million) earn eight figures.

Some schools already have shown more caution toward facilities projects, wanting to preserve precious dollars for players. Now, we’re seeing cases of money being clawed back from a few coaches.

Nothing compels a coach to do this. Multi-year contracts protect their salaries. If an employer becomes unsatisfied with a coach’s performance, the school could fire the coach and pay the buyout.

Florida State, especially, backed itself into a corner. The Seminoles would have owed Norvell a buyout topping $63 million after this season, making a coaching change cost prohibitive. Gundy’s buyout topped $25 million.

Either could have dug in his heels. Instead, they took a personal financial hit that favors their employer. Gundy and Norvell proved themselves winners before each experienced a career-worst season this year. Their acceptance of a pay hit allows each school to recoup funds that might improve the program, without triggering a leadership change that could further set back the program.

“Many coaches would rather get paid less and have money to pay players than lose their jobs because of a lack of talent,” sports attorney Mit Winter wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) in response to Norvell’s announcement.

Not every coach coming off a bad season would agree to this, but, to Winter’s point, Gundy and Norvell are hardly the only ones who would prefer job retention at a reduced salary while reloading at another shot at winning, rather than welcome a severance check and a vacation to Buyout Beach.

In the long-term, perhaps more coaches’ salaries will be reduced and paired with additional performance bonuses for successful seasons, or buyouts could be curtailed to contain costs for firing a losing coach. However, applying more financial caution toward coaching contracts could hurt a school’s hiring or retention efforts.

At the very least, schools should show more caution before awarding senseless raises. Oklahoma gave Brent Venables a hefty raise and an extension before this season, even though Venables did not present as a flight risk after he’d gone 16-10 through two seasons. The Sooners went 6-6 this year, making the raise look especially foolish.

Just last year, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops grumbled that Wildcats fans needed to ‘pony up’ more cash for athletes if they desired a better team. Stoops’ idea to throw more money at the problem holds merit, but he overlooked himself as potential source of funding.

As the pay-for-play revolution wades into waist-deep waters, losing comes at a literal cost for coaches.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

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