Justin Verlander has had a strong finish to the season, helping the Giants stay in the NL playoff race.
Verlander is now yielding a 2.17 ERA in his last 11 starts after seven shutout innings Wednesday.
The 42-year-old said he wants to play in 2026.

PHOENIX – Justin Verlander slowly put on his crisp white shirt, his cream-colored suit, his stylish brown shoes, turned around and faced the cameras, microphones and notebooks awaiting him, and then let everyone know what has become rather apparent since last month.

Verlander may be turning 43 years old in February and endured a 3½-month stretch that had him questioning whether his career was nearly over, but after the latest chapter of his brilliant renaissance these past two months, he made it official.

He’s coming back in 2026.

Sure, he may not achieve his lofty goal of 300 victories, and still may not pitch until he’s 45, but after seven brilliant innings in the Giants’ 5-1, 11-inning victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, he’s not about to leave the game he loves now.

Cooperstown can wait.

Verlander plans to keep pitching.

“I would hope,’’ Verlander said, “somebody would offer me a contract now.’’

There won’t only be a team offering a contract to Verlander, but there could be a downright bidding war for his services after the finishing kick to this season.

Verlander joined seven-time Cy Young and 354-game winner Roger Clemens as the only pitchers 42 or older to yield one or no runs in four consecutive starts.

Verlander is now yielding a 2.17 ERA in his last 11 starts after seven shutout innings Wednesday, and if you throw out two clunkers in August, he has a 0.68 ERA in the other nine starts.

“I get to talk about about (Verlander) and a milestone and him passing somebody – Gaylord Perry, Walter Johnson – almost every start now,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “That kind of signifies who he is as a pitcher and how he continues to pitch at such a high level.

“To be pitching this well late in the season, with this much under his belt at this point, it’s pretty remarkable.’’

Verlander, 3-10 with a 3.75 ERA, could easily have at least 10 victories this season considering he left the game seven other times with a lead, only to have the bullpen blow it. The Giants’ bullpen is yielding a 4.27 ERA and has blown nine games in Verlander’s starts.

If the bullpen isn’t blowing games, the offense has gone AWOL on the days he pitches. The Giants have scored three or fewer runs in 21 of his 27 starts this season.

The Giants not only failed to score for him Wednesday, but managed only one hit over their last 16⅓ innings before finally breaking out in the 11th inning, four innings after Verlander left.

Does Verlander ever stop to wonder how realistic his goal of reaching 300 victories would be if he caught a few breaks, instead of still needing 35 more wins with Father Time knocking on the clubhouse door?

“I mean, I’m human,’’ Verlander said. “I think we all know. Like everybody in this locker room, all of you guys (reporters), and most of baseball kind of understand where I’m at. So, it would have been nice if possible, but again it’s that point of the year where we’re not playing for induvial (numbers). We’re at that course of the season where I don’t care if I win or lose, I want to give us the best chance to win this, the best chance to sneak into the playoffs.

“So this is the time of year, and in the playoffs, where you know personal things don’t matter. You just want to try to win.’’

The Giants (76-76) still are chasing the New York Mets for the final NL wild card berth, tied with the Cincinnati Reds (76-76) and one-half game behind the Diamondbacks (77-76). But without Verlander, they would have been planning an early winter vacation months ago.

Of course, the way Verlander was pitching the first half of the season, he could have easily been planning his retirement, too.

He didn’t win his first game until July 23, and was 1-10 with a 4.55 ERA on Aug. 21, pitching five or fewer innings in 12 starts. For a former MVP, three-time Cy Young winner, nine-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, this was unacceptable.

Verlander has always taken great pride in being one of the game’s ultimate workhorses, pitching at least 200 innings in 12 seasons, and leading the league four times. Yet, for the first time in his career, he felt like he was a detriment to the staff.

Verlander, realizing that no season ever goes perfectly, went back to his relentless approach, discovered a different attack angle in a bullpen session with more deception, refusing to give up.

Here he is, finally being rewarded.

“Every day you come to the field for four months, and it’s like, what’s the way out of this?’’ Verlander said. “How do I make the adjustment? What do I need to do? What’s wrong? Because clearly something’s wrong. I just have to try to find it. I had a new thought in the bullpen, I took that into the game, and the game results have been what you see.

“So, I’m glad I didn’t give up.’’

And, oh, so are the Giants, who don’t control their own destiny, but they have life with 10 games remaining, with the next four games at Dodger Stadium.

“His delivery is more sound,’’ Melvin said. “He knows where everything’s going. He uses all of his pitches. He’s got three breaking balls now. A changeup. He pitches with a lot of confidence, knowing that we need him.

“He’s been huge for us. He’s all-in on the team. He’s all-in on helping whoever he can. What he does out there on the mound shows everybody what can be accomplished, his determination and competitiveness, more than anything else.’’

Verlander, one victory shy of tying Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey for 34th-place on the all-time list, certainly has his teammates in awe. He never gave up. He never showed a lack of confidence. He never criticized his teammates for costing him victories on his road to 300.

No matter what his individual record may bear this season, he’s the ultimate winner.

“What he’s been doing, it’s kind of been inhuman,’’ said rookie center fielder Drew Gilbert, who made a spectacular running catch in the fifth inning to save a run and received a high-five from Verlander, who was waiting for him in front of the dugout. “So, if we’re not playing our hardest behind him, I don’t know what we’re doing. …

“It’s kind of our duty to make plays for him. He’s 42 years old, giving everything he’s got, all you can ask is for guys to care like he does, and be a great teammate like he is.’’

Besides, Gilbert has a unique kinship with Verlander. A former first-round draft pick, Gilbert was traded for Verlander in 2023 when the Houston Astros re-acquired Verlander from the Mets. Now, here they are, actual teammates, meeting for the first time last month.

“I’ve obviously grown up watching him my whole life,’’ Gilbert told USA TODAY Sports, “and now to be in the same locker room as one of the greatest pitchers of all-time, is pretty cool. I think we can all say that.’’

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CHICAGO – Every year, the plumbers’ union dyes it green. The Dave Matthews Band once infamously dumped 800 pounds of poop into it. And at least one section became known for the bubbles produced by toxic sludge on its floor.

The Chicago River has had a choppy history amid the city’s rise into a metropolis. But for the first time in nearly a century, city officials are inviting swimmers back in for the inaugural Chicago River Swim, a race on Sept. 21 aimed at raising money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, research. ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, who OK’d the swim in August, praised the upcoming event in a statement.

‘The return of the Chicago River Swim marks a major victory for our city ‒ a testament to decades of hard work revitalizing our river,’ Johnson said. ‘This event is a celebration of Chicago’s progress and a brighter, more inclusive future.’

According to race organizers, A Long Swim, the swim is the first of its kind in 98 years. Around 400 swimmers, including Olympians, will compete in either 1- or 2-mile races that will pass architectural icons from Marina City, a set of midcentury corncob-shaped apartment buildings from the 1960s, to Merchandise Mart, a massive Art Deco building that was the largest in the world when it opened in 1930. Swimmers will also pass beneath several of Chicago’s emblematic bridges. 

The race is organized by A Long Swim, a charity that raises money for ALS research by staging open water swims throughout the United States, including between Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and between the islands of Molokai and Oahu in Hawaii. Chicago-area native Doug McConnell founded the organization in 2011. The 67-year-old lost both his father and sister to the neurodegenerative disease. His organization has raised $2.5 million for ALS research.

McConnell said the Chicago River swim is inspired by a similar ALS swim in the canals of Amsterdam that has been running since 2011 and which raised around $2 million in the 2025 swim alone. He hopes the Chicago swim becomes a similar marquee event.

‘Chicago does big events really well, and we just want to be on that list,’ said McConnell, naming other big charity races, including the Amsterdam swim and the Boston and Chicago marathons. ‘We think it’s a path to a cure for that horrible disease.’

The race comes after decades of efforts to clean up the river, which served for generations as the industrial powerhouse’s open sewer. 

In launching the race, Chicago becomes the latest major city to reopen its waters. Other cities that have done so in recent years include Paris, which opened the Seine for the Olympics and then kept it open for recreational swimmers; Cincinnati, which has been holding the Great Ohio River Swim since 2007; and Portland, Oregon, with the 11-mile Bridge Swim. A Long Swim also held a 29-mile race around Manhattan Island in 2014.

Among the swimmers competing in the Chicago swim are American Olympians Olivia Smoliga, a gold medalist at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, and Natalie Hinds, a bronze medalist at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Winners get trophies. Proceeds from the race also go toward teaching Chicago-area children to swim, according to organizers.

Determinations about whether the water is considered safe or not are based on readings of the concentrations of pollutants, including E. coli and fecal matter. 

Race organizers said that they are conducting testing at eight different points along the race course. So far, all tests have come at between 200 and 600 CCE, a measure of bacteria levels, organizers said. 

Below 1,000 CCE is considered safe, 1,000 to 10,000 CCE is considered risky for immunocompromised swimmers, and above 10,000 CCE is considered unsafe.

An open sewer

The Chicago River’s arrival at a point where it’s considered safe enough to swim marks a complete transformation ‒ or so city leaders hope ‒ from its industrial past. 

As Chicago rose from being a trapping village on Lake Michigan into the ‘hog butcher of the world,’ as local poet Carl Sandburg put it in a 1914 poem, the river was essential to local industry. 

But it also became a dumping ground. Upton Sinclair described a section known as Bubbly Creek in ‘The Jungle’ as a ‘great open sewer.’

‘The grease and chemicals that are poured into it undergo all sorts of strange transformations,’ Sinclair writes. ‘It is constantly in motion, as if huge fish were feeding in it, or great leviathans disporting themselves in its depths.’

According to race organizers, the river only briefly served the sporting purpose they hope it will again. 

The Illinois Athletic Association hosted swim races in the river starting in 1908 that drew as many as 100,000 spectators, according to race organizers. But by the late 1920s, industrial and human runoff accumulated in the river to the point that it was no longer considered safe for swimming and the races were called off.

River becomes a playground

Environmental experts largely credit the Clean Water Act of 1972 for restoring the river from what it had become by the middle of the 20th century. 

The act signed under President Richard Nixon prevented businesses from dumping in waterways. 

Large-scale pollutants in the water became so infrequent that they became news.

In 2004, the Dave Matthews Band made headlines after its tour bus dumped 800 pounds of poop on people on a tour boat under the Kinzie Street Bridge. The band agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit in response to the incident. 

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced in May that his office had reached a $4.8 million settlement with Trump International Hotel & Tower over violations of Prairie State water protection laws. The settlement was reached in response to a lawsuit over tower operators ignoring regulations around minimizing the impact of building cooling systems on aquatic life. The tower sits on the river and draws in 20 million gallons of water daily for its cooling systems, according to the attorney general’s office.

Today, instead, the river has become something of a playground. Tour boats and luxury yachts are constantly cruising beneath the city’s bridges. Groups of neon green kayaks hang near the riverbanks. The walking path along the river is host to bars and eateries. Flowers bloom in riverbank gardens near where fishers angle to hook one of the over 70 species of fish in the water, up from less than 10 before the passage of the Clean Water Act.

On St. Patrick’s Day, the Chicago Plumbers Union dyes the river green. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has analyzed the dye and concluded it is safe, according to the Sierra Club.  

The river will still become polluted after heavy rainfalls due to runoff from the streets and flushing of city sewage systems. Race organizers said they are prepared to call off the race if water analyses find high concentrations of pollutants. 

Chicago-area Olympic swimmer ‘stoked’

Smoliga, a native of the Chicago area, told USA TODAY that she was unfazed about water quality concerns. 

‘I’m super stoked about it because I’ve swum in the lake my whole life,’ said Smoliga, who grew up going to Gilson Beach north of Chicago. ‘I see any body of water and I want to swim in it.’ 

Smoliga won a gold medal in 2016 and a bronze medal in 2020. The 30-year-old also holds the record for most gold medals won in a single FINA World Swimming Championships after winning eight golds at the 2018 World Championships. She said she is training for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

But the Olympian admitted she was ‘a bit nervous’ about the upcoming swim. She specializes in 50- to 100-meter races and will be swimming a mile. The river swim will also be her second open water race.

‘It’s a totally different beast for me,’ Smoliga said. She added that whatever fears of boredom she expects with long open water swims, she doesn’t expect in the Chicago race. ‘It’s going to be crazy on the river, so many people, the views of downtown, I’ll definitely be mentally entertained.’

How swimming helps ALS

As fun as organizers say it will be to watch Olympic swimmers race in the shadows of Chicago’s iconic architecture, medical researchers say the charity swim also proves vital to developing treatments.

Money raised by the swims goes to fund 46 medical research labs, according to Hande Özdinler, A Long Swim’s director of scientific research and the head of a Northwestern University lab focused on upper motor neurons. 

Özdinler, an associate professor of neurology at the Chicago-area university, said she focuses on finding experimental labs developing treatments that are too early in the research process for government funding.

‘ALS is a very complex disease, and you can’t solve complex problems with very linear solutions,’ Özdinler told USA TODAY. ‘We need to bring different expertise together, and that’s what I’m doing, using this money to expedite collaborative efforts.’

Among the most notable of the partnerships where she’s directed support is the development of a new drug NU-9 developed at Northwestern by Richard Silverman that has been found to improve neuron health and is believed it could help treat neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and Alzheimer’s. 

The National Institute on Aging awarded $7.3 million to the lab behind the drug for further research.

A Long Swim’s efforts have been crucial to the development of the new drug and other treatments, said Özdinler, adding she hopes the Chicago River Swim will turn into a major marquee event like the swim in Amsterdam.

‘I hope that this will be the beginning of great things to come and generate momentum,’ Özdinler said. ‘It’s extremely important that we move the field forward, that we see an ALS patient survive.’

The Minnesota Lynx are headed back to the semifinals.

The No. 1 seed Lynx clawed their way back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Golden State Valkyries, 75-74, on Wednesday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

‘It was (a) tough game, closeout games are always so hard, especially in an environment like this,’ Lynx MVP candidate Napheesa Collier said postgame.

The Lynx will wait for their opponent. The Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday joined the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever in forcing Game 3s by thoroughly dismantling the defending champion New York Liberty, 86-60, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

It was the Mercury’s first playoff win since the 2021 WNBA Finals. It was the largest loss by the Liberty at home in their playoff history and the Mercury’s largest road win when facing playoff elimination.

Game 3 will be Friday in Phoenix at the PHX Center (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The Liberty know they have to make changes if they want to advance to the semifinals and continue their title defense.

‘We can’t go out and play the same way we did and expect a different result,’ Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu said. ‘We have to go out and make the adjustments and play like our season is on the line, because it is.’

Winners

Phoenix Mercury’s Big 3

The Mercury didn’t panic after their disappointing Game 1 loss to the Liberty. Instead, Phoenix geared up for a battle in New York. ‘The mindset is … go to New York and get it,” Kahleah Copper said on Sunday. That’s exactly what the Mercury did. Phoenix not only staved off elimination, it dominated the defending champs.

The Mercury’s Big 3 of Alyssa Thomas (15 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds), Satou Sabally (15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) and Copper (14 points, 2 rebounds) took charge. The trio of stars set the tone early and got all their teammates involved. The Mercury are 14-0 this season when their Big 3 scores 10 or more points each. There may have been questions about Phoenix’s future after the end of the Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner era, but the new lineup has the Mercury one win away from their first semifinal appearance since 2021.

Phoenix Mercury unicorn Satou Sabally

Mercury forward Satou Sabally turned in her worst shooting performance of the season in a Game 1 loss to the Liberty on Sunday, going 2-of-17 from the field and 1-of-10 from 3 at home. Sabally said she watched the film and took good shot attempts, despite the end result. “I’m a great player and I know that. That game was not who I am,” she said. Sabally came out aggressive and shot 5-for-11 and 2-for-4 from 3 on Wednesday, finishing with 15 points in the win. ‘We’re not done yet,” Sabally declared after the victory.

Resilient Minnesota Lynx

The Lynx are the first and only team to advance to the semifinals in two games after every other first-round playoff series went to Game 3. It wasn’t an easy feat as the Lynx found themselves down 17 points in a rowdy road environment. Minnesota could have easily thrown in the towel and looked forward to Game 3 at home, but the Lynx leaned into their experience in the comeback win. ‘I asked them not to quit,’ Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve said. The Lynx now have three days rest before their semifinal series against the Mercury or Liberty, which begins on Sunday.

Golden State Valkyries’ first season

After the Valkyries suffered a one-point loss to the Lynx on Wednesday, and Golden State’s Cinderella season came to an end, the sold-out crowd at SAP Center in San Jose stood on their feet and emphatically chanted ‘GSV.’ It was a stunning display of support and highlights the expansion team’s wildly successful inaugural season, despite a quick playoff exit. WNBA Coach of the Year Natalie Nakase led the Valkyries to a playoff bid, becoming the first expansion team to make the postseason in its inaugural season. The Valkyries took the No. 1 seed down to the wire in Game 2 and were one jump shot away from notching their first playoff win.

Golden State also sold out each of their 22 regular-season games at Chase Center and set an all-time WNBA attendance record, welcoming 397,408 total fans and an average attendance of 18,064 this season. This is just the beginning for the Valkyries.

0-1 teams

Three of the four teams facing elimination in the first round of the WNBA playoffs forced a decisive Game 3. The Indiana Fever kicked things off with a 77-60 dismantling of the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, followed by the Seattle Storm snapping the Las Vegas Aces’ 17-game win streak in an 86-83 comeback win. The Phoenix Mercury continued the trend on Wednesday with an 86-60 rout of the defending champion Liberty. The Golden State Valkyries nearly forced a Game 3 against the league-leading Minnesota Lynx, but ultimately suffered a one-point loss. 

Heading into the 2025 WNBA postseason, there were three total first-round Game 3s in over four years of this format. Now, WNBA fans will be treated to three Game 3s across Thursday and Friday alone.

Losers

Everything about the New York Liberty

The defending champion New York Liberty looked … well, beatable. The Liberty were held to 60 points, their second lowest total of the season, in Wednesday’s loss. After making 10 field goals in the first quarter, the Liberty had nine the rest of the game. New York shot a season-low 30.2% from the field, 23.1% from the 3-point line and 16-of-25 from the free throw line. 

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello had seen enough by the fourth quarter and pulled a majority of her starters, essentially waving the white flag. None of New York’s starters scored in double-digits. The Liberty squandered their chance to close out the Mercury on their home court. New York not only has to travel cross-country to Phoenix (again), it has given its opponent lots of confidence heading into Game 3. To make matters worse, the Minnesota Lynx closed out the Valkyries and will be rested for the winner of this series.

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu

Ionescu was not a factor in Game 2. She was 3-of-13 from the field and 1-of-8 from the 3-point line. To add insult to injury, Ionescu was 2-of-6 from the free throw line. Entering Wednesday, Ionescu had not missed more than two free throws in a single game in her career. Ionescu is shooting 93.3% from the free throw line this season and 91.3% in her entire career.

‘We can’t go out and play the same way we did and expect a different result,’ Ionescu said. ‘We have to go out and make the adjustments and play like our season is on the line, because it is.’

Barclays Center

The Barclays Center caught several strays in the Mercury’s postgame on Wednesday. Following the Mercury’s win over the Liberty, Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally both mentioned how quiet it was in the Liberty’s arena. “I didn’t think it was loud to start. I was shocked. I was expecting us to have to deal with the crowd and courtside people, but it was quiet,” Copper said. Sabally added that PHX Arena will be “louder than” New York as the series shifts back to Phoenix for a decisive Game 3. To be fair, the Liberty didn’t give their fans much to cheer for, but it remains to be seen if these comments will serve as bulletin board material. Sorry, Spike Lee.

Breanna Stewart’s knee

Breanna Stewart opted to play through an MCL sprain her left knee, but the New York Liberty forward looked like a shell of herself. She was held to six points in 20 minutes, shooting 2-of-6 from the field and 0-of-1 from the 3-point line. It’s an unfortunate development for Stewart, who previously missed 13 regular season games with a bone bruise in her right knee. There’s questions surrounding Stewart’s health and the Liberty’s ability to challenge the Mercury without her at full strength.

1-0 teams

Aside from the Minnesota Lynx, three teams failed the close out their opponent in the first-round.

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The Miami Dolphins have started their 2025 season with an 0-2 record, increasing pressure on the team’s leadership.
Upcoming nationally televised games against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets will intensify scrutiny on the team’s performance.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s late-game interception and offensive miscues contributed to the Week 2 loss against the Patriots.

MIAMI GARDENS, FL — The Miami Dolphins are one of the teams to start 0-2 in 2025, but the booming noise around their abysmal start will only get louder with nationally televised matchups in the next two weeks.

The Dolphins will visit Josh Allen and the big, bad Buffalo Bills (especially against them) on ‘Thursday Night Football’ to begin Week 3, where a 0-3 start almost feels like a certainty. Miami will be in prime time again 11 days later hosting the New York Jets on ‘Monday Night Football’ in Week 4 on Sept. 29.

Whether or not it’s enough time for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross to make wholesale changes, the hot seat will only get hotter for coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier, while shortcomings from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and embattle receiver Tyreek Hill will be amplified if their struggles continue.

Some Dolphins fans voiced their displeasure by flying a banner that read “Fire Grier. Fire McDaniel” above Hard Rock Stadium before the team succumbed to a 33-27 loss to the New England Patriots at home on Sunday, Sept. 15.

Tagovailoa had an overthrow, endured a false start and a sack, and tossed an interception on the final drive – after running back De’Von Achane stepped out of bounds on a potential game-winning touchdown.

“We had the opportunity to win the game, and we robbed it from ourselves,” McDaniel said as his job security was questioned two games into his fourth season, following a 33-8 drubbing to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1.

Whether they scored and won or not, any chance for the Dolphins to relish or celebrate their first win of the season would have dissipated quickly before their next opponent.

Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP, is 13-2 against the Dolphins since he was drafted by the Bills in 2018.

Simply put, Allen and the Bills have become the AFC East nightmare for the Dolphins like Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots were for the previous 20 years.

This is the big picture reason why the Dolphins have the longest playoff win drought in the NFL – their last in a 2000 AFC wildcard game, the first season when quarterback Jay Fielder and coach Dave Wannstedt took over for a retired Dan Marino and former coach Jimmy Johnson.

Coach Mike Vrabel’s sideline sprint highlights milestone win for him, Patriots

The Dolphins have reached the postseason twice under McDaniel – falling in the wildcard round to the Bills in 2022 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023. They failed to make the playoffs with an 8-9 record last season.

While Grier acknowledged Miami has reset its roster following the departures of standouts like Jalen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith, Calais Campbell and Terron Armstead, Miami’s 0-2 start lingers with baggage from 25 years of gloom, heightened with every regular-season loss that weighs heavily on this current cast of Dolphins – unfairly or not.

“I’ve seen a team that is trying to do everything they can to win, and coming up short, and pressing forward and trying to change that result,” McDaniel said to begin the week.

“Pressure is opportunity … Obviously, we don’t want to be 0-2. We look at it as fuel to the fire,” added Hill, who had 109 yards against the Patriots, including a 47-yarder which snapped a personal streak of 371 days without a catch longer than 30 yards.

The Dolphins have been unable to weaponize Hill offensively like they did in 2023, when the former Chiefs star led the NFL in touchdown catches and receiving yards in his first season in Miami.

Tagovailoa – who was 26 of 32 for 315 yards with two touchdowns – cited procedural issues offensively on the final drive, which resulted in his fourth turnover and the first 0-2 start of his six-year NFL career.

“Anyone who knows football and anyone who doesn’t know football just knows that was not clean and that was not right, what we were doing at the end of the game,” Tagovailoa said. “We’ll get that fixed, communicate that to those guys, and we’ll move forward from there.’

Added McDaniel: “With the game on the line, our communication and our substitution was not up to par, and ultimately, I hold all responsibility for all things. I will make sure that things that should already be ironed out moving forward. We will not fall victim to the same thing again.”

The Dolphins defense has allowed a field goal or touchdown on 13 of 15 drives excluding kneel downs through two games. They allowed the Colts to score on every drive, and saw the Patriots punt just twice – the first on a drive with three New England penalties, and the second after a poor snap led to a 3rd and 26.

While Miami’s Malik Washington returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown, the Patriots answered with Antonio Gibson’s 90-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kick – the turning point before Tagovailoa’s end-game miscues.

“It’s a short week. You get this one out your head, learn from it, grow from it, and we got another divisional opponent we’ve had fits with in the past,” Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb said.

Pressure is mounting for McDaniel, Tagovailoa, Grier and the Dolphins.

Their glaring miscues have led to a disappointing start in McDaniel’s fourth season, and will only be amplified in prime time in the next two weeks.

“If I worry about my job security, then I’m not doing my job,” McDaniel said.

Added Tagovailoa: “It’s one of those deals where you can never get too high in this league. You can never be too low. You’ve just got to continue to stick to your process, stay even keel, trust the guys, continue to bring those guys along.”

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Dabo Swinney dared Clemson to kick him to the curb. That won’t happen, but we can boot Clemson from playoff projections.
Notre Dame has losses to Miami and Texas A&M. So, Irish out, and Hurricanes and Aggies in.
Could we have the first 9-3 playoff qualifier? Texas might fit the bill.

Dabo Swinney begged the media to say that Clemson “sucked” after its season-opening loss to LSU. Two weeks later, he dared the university to fire him.

So, how’s Dabo’s prediction of a 16-0 Clemson season coming along? Not great!

Clemson isn’t going to fire Swinney. He knows this. He’s too accomplished, and he’s way too expensive to boot. But, I’m booting Clemson (and a few other preseason front-runners) from my College Football Playoff predictions.

Here’s my latest projection of what I think the bracket will look like come selection Sunday, Dec. 7. Subject to change, of course. As a reminder, teams do not need to be a conference champion to receive a first-round bye, after a change to straight seeding.

1. Ohio State

Most of the attention for Ohio State’s season opener against Texas featured on the Longhorns’ five-star quarterback with the famous last name. But, Ohio State unveiled a five-star of its own, and Julian Sayin is playing much better than Texas’ Arch Manning. The run game is gaining steam, and the defense is nails. A few tricky games remain on Ohio State’s schedule, starting with a Sept. 27 trip to Washington.

2. Miami

Call Carson Beck Coca-Cola, because he’s a blue-chipper who’s paying out sweet, sweet dividends after Miami’s offseason investment in the transfer from Georgia. You could say Beck has regained his 2023 form, when he was one of the nation’s best quarterbacks, but he’s actually been even better than that. It helps having receivers as good as Miami’s. A durable Hurricanes defense gives Miami the balance it lacked last season.

3. Georgia

Georgia is the only team that’s beaten Tennessee at Neyland Stadium since the start of the 2022 season. The Bulldogs needed overtime to pull it off last weekend, rallying past an early 14-point deficit. Kirby Smart’s team remains resilient. Gunner Stockton is slinging it well, and Georgia has better wide receivers than last season. The less said, the better, about how Georgia’s defense looked against Tennessee. That’s a work in progress.

4. Penn State

Here I am yucking Penn State’s yum, but not even Kentucky could have drawn up a non-conference schedule more accommodating than Penn State’s pathetic assembly of cupcakes. The Nittany Lions won’t face a real test until a Sept. 27 game against Oregon. In the meantime, Penn State is playing stingy defense, but where’s this quarterback I keep hearing could be a first-round NFL draft pick? Drew Allar needs to step it up when the real competition arrives.

5. Oregon

The Big Ten schedule breaks quite nicely for the Ducks. They’ll play at Penn State, but they avoid Ohio State, Illinois and Michigan. It’s a recipe designed for 11-plus wins, especially considering how well Dante Moore is playing as Dillon Gabriel’s heir. Coach Dan Lanning once ran Smart’s defense at Georgia, but his Oregon teams are synonymous with good quarterback play.

6. LSU

7. Oklahoma

It’s difficult to locate a team playing more balanced ball than Oklahoma. This is the type of menacing defense Oklahoma must have expected when it hired Brent Venables. The Sooners have allowed just 19 points through three games, and they haven’t even forced a turnover yet. This is pure stinginess. Transfer quarterback John Mateer is playing like a guy who’s planning on being in New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

8. Florida State

Once we took a breath and stopped firing arrows at Alabama for getting whipped at Florida State, we realized that maybe the Seminoles are pretty darn good. Coach Mike Norvell lives and dies with the transfer portal, and this looks like one of those years when he hit more than he missed. To borrow a phrase that was supposed to apply to Alabama, the Seminoles are playing with a “hard edge.”

9. Texas Tech

No wonder so many other schools tried to entice Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton to transfer. He’s a baller, tied for the nation’s lead in touchdown passes. Texas Tech assembled the best roster a billionaire booster’s money could buy. The Big 12 championship race remains more unpredictable than any conference, but Texas Tech could plant its flag at the head of the competition by beating Utah this week.

10. Texas

11. Texas A&M

Up is down and down is up when the Aggies’ defense is struggling, but their offense is firing on all cylinders. It’s also a twist to see Texas A&M pull out a difficult road game like it did at Notre Dame. Receivers Mario Craver and KC Concepcion have been great gets out of the transfer portal, helping quarterback Marcel Reed to elevate his game. The win against the Irish will be a long-term résumé booster.

12. Tulane

South Florida earned a lot of fanfare for its upset of Florida at The Swamp, but American Conference peer Tulane owns not one but two wins against Power Four opponents. The Green Wave will try for a third against Mississippi, but that game amounts to a free swing. A loss wouldn’t hamstring Tulane’s playoff pursuit. Tulane and South Florida won’t meet in the regular season. A potential conference championship clash between those teams could decide the Group of Five bid.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

Lionel Messi is Inter Miami’s all-time leader in goals scored.
A clause in Lionel Messi’s contract extension has Messi joining Jorge Mas, Jose Mas and Sir David Beckham as co-owners of Inter Miami upon retirement.
Lionel Messi has not committed to playing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup for defending champion Argentina.

Lionel Messi is close to signing a contract extension with Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami.

Messi is set to sign for at least two more seasons through 2027, a person with direct knowledge of the contract negotiations told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because negotiations are ongoing.

MLS will need to approve the deal once Messi and Inter Miami iron out the final details. The deal is about 85 percent done, the person said.

Messi sees the idea of prolonging his career as a chance to further Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, the United States and globally, the person added.

Messi will join Jorge Mas, Jose Mas and Sir David Beckham as co-owners of Inter Miami upon retirement — a clause he agreed to in his initial deal with the club and MLS in 2023.

Inter Miami will open its new stadium project Miami Freedom Park in 2026, where Messi is expected to play with the club in the venue’s debut.

Messi, 38, will turn 39 during the 2026 World Cup, and will turn 40 during the 2027 MLS season.

Messi shed light on his pending contract extension following the last World Cup qualifying match of his career earlier this month. He shared excitement about potentially playing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup without declaring his intentions to play in next summer’s tournament.

“Because of my age, the most logical thing is that I won’t make it. But well, we’re almost there so I’m excited and motivated to play it,” Messi said after scoring twice for Argentina against Venezuela in his final World Cup qualifier in his home country on Sept. 4.

“Like I always say, I go day by day, match by match. That’s it taking it day by day, going by how I feel. Day by day, trying to feel good and above all, being honest with myself,” Messi added.

“When I feel good, I enjoy it. But when I don’t, honestly, I don’t have a good time, so I prefer not to be there if I don’t feel good. So, we’ll see. I haven’t made a decision about the World Cup.’

Messi added: ‘Match by match, I’ll finish the season, then I’ll have preseason, and there will be six months left. So, we’ll see how I feel. Hopefully I’ll have a good preseason in 2026, and finish this MLS season well, and then I’ll decide.”

Messi is Inter Miami’s all-time leader with 62 goals and 29 assists — achievements he quickly reached since the club made its MLS debut in 2020.

Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, led Inter Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup title shortly after his July 2023 arrival to Major League Soccer and the U.S.

Messi fueled Inter Miami to the best regular season in MLS history while winning MVP in 2024. However, Inter Miami was eliminated in the first round by Atlanta United in the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs.

Inter Miami has fallen short for three trophies already in 2025, losing in the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup, the Round of 16 in the FIFA Club World Cup, and most recently the 2025 Leagues Cup final.

Messi has 28 goals and 14 assists in 36 matches across all competitions this season. He is second in MLS with 20 goals, and second with 31 total goal contributions as Inter Miami has a chance to contend for the 2025 Supporters’ Shield with a push to the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Inter Miami is fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference, and return to action on Saturday, Sept. 20 against D.C. United at Chase Stadium.

USA TODAY Sports’ 48-page special edition commemorates 30 years of Major League Soccer, from its best players to key milestones and championship dynasties to what exciting steps are next with the World Cup ahead. Order your copy today!

A college football landscape that’s often described by its biggest detractors as lawless and chaotic just got a little bit more order.

The NCAA Division I Administrative Committee voted on Wednesday, Sept. 17 to eliminate the spring transfer portal window.

Though a single transfer portal window has yet to be officially determined, FBS and FCS oversight committees will consider modifications to the proposed January window, which would run from Jan. 2-11. Discussions will include the length of the window and exact dates, with a final decision expected in October.

The spring transfer window had become a point of contention for many coaches across the sport in recent years, with rosters undergoing significant changes at a relatively late stage in the college football calendar. This year, more than 1,000 FBS players transferred during the spring.

At the annual American Football Coaches Association convention in January, coaches unanimously advocated for there to be a single transfer window.

Under the existing FBS and FCS proposals, players could enter their names in the portal and be contacted by interested schools beginning Jan. 2, the day after the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Players whose teams remain in the playoff past that point would have five days beginning the day after their team’s final postseason game to enter the portal.

The Administrative Committee also voted to remove the exemption that allowed graduate transfers to enter the portal in the fall, meaning they, too, will have to wait until what’s expected to be the single portal window in January. Last year, graduate transfers were allowed to enter the portal as early as Oct. 1.

It marks the latest contraction of the transfer window for college football players. During the 2022-23 offseason, one year after the NCAA first allowed players to transfer once without the penalty of sitting out a season, the window was open for a combined 60 days. That shrunk to 45 days in 2023-24 and 30 in 2024-25.