Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said there was no discussion in leaving quarterback Jayden Daniels in the game, a prime-time blowout against the Seattle Seahawks in which Daniels suffered a gruesome left elbow injury.

With the benefit of hindsight, Quinn said, it could have played out differently.

‘The hindsight, you don’t want to think that way, where injury could take place,’ Quinn told reporters after the 38-14 loss. ‘You’re more conservative in that spot, running and handoffs and not have reads to go.’

Daniels had already missed three games due to injury – a knee ailment that kept him out Weeks 3 and 4, and a more-recent hamstring injury that caused him to miss the Commanders’ game six days prior against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Halfway through the fourth quarter and the Commanders trailing 38-7, Daniels took a shotgun snap from the Seahawks’ two-yard line. Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas wrapped him up and flung the quarterback, listed at a generous 210 pounds. Daniels’ left arm landed awkwardly and bent in a way that no arm should.

Asked if they’d handle Daniels differently in the future, Quinn mostly demurred.

‘It’s really important we get that part right,’ he said. ‘And we will.’

The play that resulted in the injury is a run-pass option, Quinn said, but not a designed run for the quarterback. If they ran the play 50 times, then 50 times it would be a handoff or a pass, Quinn predicted.

‘Just the end result, I’m bummed,’ Quinn said.

The Commanders fell to 3-6 with a hefty dose of standalone games through the second half of the season. They’ve battled the injury bug all year long. Running back Austin Ekeler ruptured his Achilles. After a training camp contract standoff, wide receiver Terry McLaurin has been unable to stay healthy. Another wideout, Luke McCaffrey, left on the first play of the game against the Seahawks.

But the ‘Sunday Night Football’ result wasn’t due to injuries, Quinn said.

‘I don’t have to ask that question. I know what happened,’ Quinn said.

He elaborated. Penalties (eight for 87 yards) on both sides of the ball. The lack of stops, as the Seahawks hung 418 net yards on the defense. Washington’s offense gained 4.7 yards per play, but Seattle’s was going at a 8.7-yard-per-play clip.

‘I’m furious,’ Quinn said of his team’s performance.

‘Just (an) unacceptable performance … we missed it by a mile,’ he added.

And gutted for his quarterback.

The reaction across the Commanders’ locker room largely mirrored that of Quinn’s.

‘It’s gut-wrenching,’ right guard Sam Cosmi told the Washington Post.

Kyle Larson, long described as one of the best wheelmen in motorsports, is now a two-time NASCAR champion.

Larson, 33, outdueled fellow title contenders Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and William Byron to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship Sunday, Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway, the same track where he captured his first title in 2021.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who started third, also finished third in the No. 5 Chevrolet behind race winner Ryan Blaney, who notched his fourth win of the 2025 season with the overtime victory following a late-race caution for Byron’s flat tire. Brad Keselowski finished second.

But Larson’s result was enough to deliver a championship in a format in which four drivers go head-to-head in the final race and the best finish wins.

Larson also joined elite company, becoming just the third Hendrick driver to win multiple championships. The others are Hall of Famers and two of the best in auto racing history: seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

After climbing out of his car, Larson immediately embraced his wife and team owner Rick Hendrick and celebrated with his children.

‘Honestly, I really can’t believe it. Like we didn’t lead a lap today and somehow still won the championship,’ a stunned and exhausted Larson said in a post-race interview with NBC. ‘Really I’m just speechless; I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best …

‘We got lucky there with that final caution. I was really hoping we were going to take two (tires) again because I felt like I learned a lot on the previous restart.’

Hamlin finished sixth, but was just three laps from winning his first championship after 20 full-time seasons in the Cup Series. The 44-year-old had the dominant car all day, leading 208 laps, and was cruising to the race win and the title when the caution flag came out as Byron crashed into the wall with a flat right front tire in Turn 4.

Larson was among a handful of drivers who took just two tires on the caution ahead of the overtime restart, while Hamlin took four. That allowed Larson to restart five spots ahead of Hamlin for the two-lap overtime sprint.

Hamlin was circumspect but clearly dejected in a post-race interview with NBC after the one item missing from his Hall-of-Fame résumé slipped away.

‘Nothing I could do different. I mean I prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend. My team gave me a fantastic car. It just didn’t work out,’ Hamlin said. ‘I was just praying for no caution, and we had one there. What can you do. It’s just not meant to be.

‘The team did a fantastic job. They prepared a championship car; it just didn’t happen.’

Briscoe 18th and Byron 33rd in what could be the final season of the one-race championship or even 10-race elimination playoff format.

While Larson celebrated his championship, Blaney also got to celebrate winning the final race of the season.

‘It’s just cool to end it on a good note. It’s just cool and obviously we had a fast car all day,’ Blaney said. ‘I’m just really proud of the whole group and cool to end it in victory lane. It’s a shame we weren’t in the Championship 4. Congrats to Kyle and that whole team.’

USA TODAY Sports had full coverage of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. Scroll below for full race recap and highlights.

NASCAR Championship Race highlights

Watch the extended highlights from the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway:

William Byron hits the wall, sends NASCAR Championship to overtime

With three laps remaining in the race, William Byron, who was running second to Denny Hamlin, suffered a flat right front tire to bring out the caution and send the race to overtime.

Following stops where three drivers stayed out and a handful took only two tires, Kyle Larson restarts fifth, Denny Hamlin 10th and Chase Briscoe 15th. William Byron is two laps down after his crash.

NASCAR Championship Race update: Hamlin and Byron run first and second

Denny Hamlin and William Byron raced past fellow championship contenders Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson on restart to run first and second, respectively.

Joey Logano sits in third, Ryan Blaney fourth, Kyle Larson fifth and Chase Briscoe sixth.

NASCAR Championship Race update: Caution comes out with 33 laps left

JJ Yeley suffered a wheel issue entering Turn 3, to bringing out the caution flag, allowing all the field to come down pit road for fresh tires.

Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson each took only two tires to vault to the front row. Denny Hamlin and William Byron each took four tires, and run third and fourth, respectively – putting all four Championship 4 drivers at the front of the field.

Denny Hamlin takes lead on restart on NASCAR Championship Race

Denny Hamlin outdueled William Byron on a restart on Lap 267 of the 312-lap NASCAR Cup Series Championshp Race to retake the lead. Hamlin then built up a 1-second lead over Byron as each seek their first championship. Ryan Blaney runs third, followed by Josh Berry, Joey Loagno and Chase Briscoe. Kyle Larson races in 13th position.

Caution comes out for Austin Cindric with William Byron leading

Austin Cindric slammed into the outside wall after a flat tire to bring out the caution on Lap 260 of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race.

William Byron won the race off pit road after the field came in for tires and fuel. Chase Elliott came off second, Denny Hamlin third and Ryan Blaney fourth. But Elliott was penalized for speeding on pit road, moving Hamlin up to the second position.

Chase Briscoe will restart 10th and Kyle Larson 18th with roughly 50 laps remaining in the race.

NASCAR Championship Race: 60 laps remaining

William Byron passes teammate Chase Elliott for the lead with 60 laps remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. Fellow championship contender Denny Hamlin, who dominated huge swaths of the race, runs second after also passing Elliott. Chase Briscoe runs 14th, and Kyle Larson 21st.

Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe get flat tires to shake up championship

Kyle Larson got a flat right front tire while running in the eighth position, and moments later, Chase Briscoe suffered a flat right rear tire while running in second. Both drivers were able to get to pit road for service under green but fell one lap down.

A couple laps later, Carson Hocevar also suffered a flat tire and slammed into the outside wall to bring out the caution on Lap 220 of the 312-lap race.

William Byron led Ryan Blaney when the yellow flag came out.

William Byron takes lead as Stage 3 of NASCAR Championship Race begins

William Byron outdueled Ryan Blaney on the restart to take the lead to begin the final segment of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. Ross Chastain moved up to second, and Chase Briscoe, who seemed out of the race after a flat tire in Stage 2, has vaulted all the way up to third.

Denny Hamlin is up to seventh ater restarting 11th, and Kyle Larson follows behind in eighth after restarting 18th.

Denny Hamlin wins Stage 2 under caution

Ty Dillon spun and hit the outside wall with three laps remaining in Stage 2 to end the segment under caution with Denny Hamlin leading.

Hamlin has led 159 of 312 laps, and his No. 11 Toyota has been by far the fastest car even as Hamlin battles clutch issues. Ryan Blaney finished second in Stage 2, William Byron third and Kyle Larson fourth. Chase Briscoe rebounded from a flat tire earlier in Stage 2 to surge all the way back seventh after falling as far back as 32nd.

During pit stops, Hamlin’s pit crew had issues getting the jack under the left side due to a flat tire, dropping him from the lead all the way back to 11th. Larson’s pit crew also had problems with the jack, and he fell back to 18th.

Blaney led the race off pit road followed by Byron.

Caution flies on Lap 149 for AJ Allmendinger

The right front tire on AJ Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet went down, sending the Kauling Racing driver crashing hard into the outside wall to bring out a caution flag on Lap 149. Allmendinger vacated his damaged vehicle, ending his race.

The yellow flag allowed drivers to get fuel and tires under caution, and once again Denny Hamlin won the race off pit road, followed by Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and William Byron. Chase Briscoe’s pit crew vaulted the final championship contender from 21st to 13th on the stop.

NASCAR Championship Race update: Lap 145

Denny Hamlin has pulled away for another big lead with roughly 40 laps remaining in Stage 2. Ryan Blaney, the 2023 champion, just passed Kyle Larson for second and runs about 2.6 seconds behind Hamlin. Larson runs third and William Byron fourth. Chase Briscoe, the final championship contender sits in 21st position.

Championship contender Chase Briscoe gets flat tire

Chase Briscoe had to come down pit road with a flat right-rear tire on Lap 106, but he was fortunate that a caution flag had come out moments earlier when Shane van Gisbergen spun out.

Briscoe was running fifth at the time, having passed Carson Hocevar a few laps earlier. His team managed to keep him on the lead lap, but he restarted 32nd.

The other lead-lap cars came down pit road for fuel and tires under caution a few laps after Briscoe. Denny Hamlin maintained his position as the leader, with Kyle Larson second, William Byron third and Ryan Blaney fourth.

NASCAR Championship Race: Lap 100 update

Denny Hamlin surged to the front on the restart on Lap 80 and stretched his lead over Kyle Larson to 3 seconds through 40 laps in the 125-lap Stage 2.

William Byron runs third, with three of the four championship contenders in the top 3. Ryan Blaney is fourth, and Chase Briscoe, the final championship contender, has moved up to fifth.

NASCAR Championship race update: Stage 2 begins

Ryan Blaney led the race off pit road at the end of Stage 1, leapfrogging William Byron, who restarted second but lost the spot to Denny Hamlin. Kyle Larson runs fourth and Chase Briscoe gained four spots on pit road and runs sixth behind Caron Hocevar.

The caution flag came out after three laps when John Hunger Nemechek spun across the track after contact to his rear.

William Byron wins Stage 1 of NASCAR Championship race

Championship contender William Byron passed fellow competitor Denny Hamlin with eight laps remaining in the 60-lap opening segment to win Stage 1. Hamlin led the first 52 laps before also being passed by 2023 champion Ryan Blaney with two laps remaining.

Kyle Larson finished fifth and Chase Briscoe 10th.

Stage 1 Top 10 results

William Byron
Ryan Blaney
Denny Hamlin
Austin Cindric
Kyle Larson
Carson Hocevar
Alex Bowman
Joey Logano
Chris Buescher
Chase Briscoe

NASCAR Championship race: Lap 25 update

Denny Hamlin has led every lap so far in the 60-lap opening stage. William Byron contiues to run second, slighltly less than a second behind. Austin Cidric runs third, Kyle Larson fourth, Carson Hocevar fifth and Alex Bowman sixth. Chase Briscoe has jumped from the 12th starting position to 10th.

NASCAR Championship begins as green flag is waved

The green flag has waved in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Championship contenders Denny Hamlin and William Byron lead the field to open Stage 1. Kyle Larson starts third and Chase Briscoe 12th.

How to watch 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship race

Date: Sunday, Nov. 2
Track: Phoenix Raceway (Avondale, Arizona)
Time: 3 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local)
TV: NBC
Streaming: Peacock and Fubo (free trial for new subscribers)

Stream NASCAR Championship race on Fubo

Who are the 2025 NASCAR Championship 4 drivers?

Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports

Who is on the pole for NASCAR Championship Race?

Denny Hamlin won the pole for the NACAR Cup Series Championship Race during Saturday’s qualifying with two other title contenders directly behind him. William Byron starts on the front row alongside Hamlin, while Kyle Larson starts third on the second row alongside Austin Cindric. The final championship contender, Chase Briscoe, qualified 12th.

Sydney Sweeney meets drivers at NASCAR Championship Race

Actress Sydney Sweeney and WNBA star Sophie Cunningham were among the VIPs at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race drivers meeting at Phoenix Raceway today.

Sweeney also came out on stage with the checkered flag during driver introductions, pumping up the crowd and motivating the drivers. Sweeney stars as women’s boxing trailblazer Christy Martin in the film ‘Christy,’ coming to theaters on Nov. 7.

Cunningham plays for the Indiana Fever, who reached the semifinals of the 2025 WNBA playoffs, and previously played for the Phoenix Mercury.

NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race starting lineup

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford 
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford 
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
JJ Yeley, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet
Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

How many laps is the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race?

The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race is 312 laps around the one-mile track for a total of 312 miles. The race will have three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 60 laps; Stage 2: 125 laps; Stage 3: 137 laps.

What are the odds to win 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship?

Denny Hamlin is the favorite to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series title among the Championship 4 contenders based on by BetMGM as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 2:

Denny Hamlin ….. +190
Kyle Larson ….. +230
William Byron ….. +230
Chase Briscoe ….. +550

NASCAR Championship race odds

Here are the favorites to win Sunday’s race, according to BetMGM odds as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 2:

Denny Hamlin (+310)
Kyle Larson (+350)
William Byron (+350)
Ryan Blaney (+425)
Christopher Bell (+1100)
Chase Briscoe (+1200)
Joey Logano (+1400)
Chase Elliott (+2500)
Austin Cindric (+2500)

NASCAR Championship 4 driver stats

How the NASCAR Cup Series championship contenders fared in the 2025 Cup Series season:

William Byron

Car: No. 24 Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
Age: 27
DOB: Nov. 29, 1997

∎ 2025 STATISTICS

Wins: Three
Top fives: 11
Top 10s: 16
Laps led: 1,278
Poles: Three

Chase Briscoe

Car: No. 19 Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
Age: 30
DOB: Dec. 15, 1994

∎ 2025 STATISTICS

Wins: Three
Top fives: 15
Top 10s: 19
Laps led: 881
Poles: Seven

Denny Hamlin

Car: No. 11 Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
Age: 44
DOB: Nov. 18, 1980

∎ 2025 STATISTICS

Wins: Six
Top fives: 14
Top 10s: 17
Laps led: 816
Poles: Four

Kyle Larson

Car: No. 5 Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
Age: 33
DOB: July 31, 1992

∎ 2025 STATISTICS

Wins: Three
Top fives: 14
Top 10s: 21
Laps led: 1,106
Poles: One

Who won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race last year?

Joey Logano won just one race during the regular season in 2024 but stormed to three victories in the playoffs – crucially, the Championship Race in Phoenix. He captured his third Cup Series title, becoming the 10th driver in history to do so. He took the lead during the final stage and held off Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to take home the title. William Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five.

Who has won the most NASCAR Cup Series championships?

Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson have each won seven championships, most in NASCAR Cup Series history.

1T. Richard Petty ….. 7
1T. Dale Earnhardt ….. 7
1T. Jimmie Johnson ….. 7
4. Jeff Gordon ….. 4
5T. Lee Petty ….. 3
5T. David Pearson ….. 3
5T. Cale Yarborough ….. 3
5T. Darrell Waltrip ….. 3
5T. Tony Stewart ….. 3
5T. Joey Logano ….. 3

What time does the NASCAR championship race start?

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship race is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local) at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 3:34 p.m. ET (1:34 p.m. local).

What TV channel is the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race?

The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race will be broadcast on NBC. Pre-race coverage will start at 2 p.m. ET (12 p.m. local). The race can be streamed on Peacock and Fubo.

The Washington Commanders’ season is an exercise in Murphy’s Law – whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

Jayden Daniels has already been bitten by the injury bug in 2025, but it came back for seconds in Week 9. The quarterback had a tough night at the office in his return to game action, but it was cut short halfway through the fourth quarter.

The Commanders were down 38-7 at the time of Daniels’ injury, but the scene didn’t look particularly good at Northwest Stadium.

Here’s what to know about the Commanders quarterback:

Jayden Daniels injury update

Daniels suffered a left elbow injury on ‘Sunday Night Football’ in Week 9. Head coach Dan Quinn said after the game that he didn’t have a further update on the quarterback.

Considering the team was facing a 31-point deficit at the time of the injury, Quinn was asked whether there was any consideration of removing the quarterback to prevent potential injury.

‘Not at that space … you don’t want to think that way where an injury can take place,’ Quinn said.

Daniels was helped off the field with his left arm in a cast. He exited with 7:29 remaining in the fourth quarter and was seemingly in a lot of pain.

The quarterback’s arm was twisted backward, and there was immediate concern on the field. He was later helped to the locker room and taken for X-rays, according to the NBC broadcast.

Daniels was making his return on ‘Sunday Night Football’ after missing the last game with a hamstring injury. The 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year has already missed three games this season.

He previously missed Week 3 and Week 4 with a knee injury.

Marcus Mariota, who started the previous games in Daniels’ absence, came on in relief for the Commanders’ star.

Commanders QB depth chart

Jayden Daniels (injured)
Marcus Mariota
Josh Johnson

Daniels is the unquestioned starter in Washington. As he goes, the Commanders go. He is the face of the franchise and one of the league’s brightest young stars.

It’ll be difficult for Washington to continue their playoff chase without their starter under center.

Mariota figures to continue starting, while Johnson serves as the backup if Daniels is forced to miss an extended period.

Drake Maye’s MVP candidacy was tempered by two turnovers in the Patriots’ win over the Falcons.
The Patriots are now 7-2 and tied for first place in the AFC under new head coach Mike Vrabel.
Maye has recorded eight straight games with over 200 passing yards and a passer rating above 100.

FOXBOROUGH, MA – The rocket ship that is Drake Maye’s Most Valuable Player candidacy nearly took off for good Nov. 2 during the New England Patriots’ 24-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. 

Instead, an uneven second half and two turnovers overall poured some cold water on that hype. Maye once again turned in another admirable performance – and his inclusion in the midway MVP conversation was certainly warranted. Most oddmakers had him with the third-best chance of winning the award entering Week 9. But a 23-year-old on a team one year removed from a four-win season claiming the league’s highest individual honor may not be in the cards for Maye and the 2025 Patriots – even if expectations now include playing meaningful January football. 

“It’s tough in a game where you win and you can feel in that locker room that these guys know we can play better,” Maye said. “I think it’s a good feeling to have, but also at the same time it’s tough to win in this league, so you’ve got to enjoy it.” 

The Pats, with head coach Mike Vrabel completely transfiguring the organization’s wayward culture in a matter of months, are 7-2 and tied for first place in the AFC. Maye now has eight consecutive games with more than 200 passing yards and a passer rating better than 100. That’s the second-longest streak in NFL history and tied some guy named Tom Brady, who did it in 2007, as the best streak in team history.

The Falcons entered as the top-ranked pass defense in the league, surrendering 149 yards per game through the air. Maye had 172 and two touchdowns by halftime.

Maye pops up on lists that put him in the same stratosphere, statistically cherry-picking of course, as Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Brady and Patrick Mahomes. That he’s done it consistently over the first weeks of the season against a spectrum of opponents has to be one of the more encouraging aspects of Maye’s development. 

There’s a long way to go before he can take home the hardware that those other QBs have earned. Plus, voters will be hard-pressed to give him the award unless the Patriots finish atop the AFC; two more games against the New York Jets, one against the Miami Dolphins and one on ‘Monday Night Football’ against the New York Giants could go a long way in that sense, at least. Even if Maye is the best quarterback option, he might suffer from the anti-QB coalition that would give the award to a non-quarterback (Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor?) for the first time since the 2012 season (Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson).

Maye’s youth, inexperience still evident in standout season

On Sunday, his first-half performance included the blemish of a fumble that was the result of poor ball control in the pocket, with rookie linebacker Jalon Walker easily dislodging it and James Pearce Jr. nearly returning it for a touchdown if not for the effort of rookie left tackle Will Campbell to chase him down. 

In the third quarter, an overthrow over the middle resulted in an interception for Falcons safety Jessie Bates. Vrabel approached his 23-year-old quarterback on the sideline, and Maye appreciates that level of coaching, as Vrabel is “always challenging me to battle adversity and get the guys going.” 

“He’s hard on me, but he’s very positive, and I think he wants the best out of me,” Maye said. “Everything that he says to me, I think it’s going to be important and become true.”

Maye’s youth and inexperience is evident even when things go well. A 12-yard scramble on the first drive of the game featured him cutting back and taking a hard hit rather than sliding once he cleared the first-down marker. Perhaps he would not have fumbled at the end of the first half had his other stiff-arm-and-scramble attempts not been as successful. Managing the hero ball moments are part of his development.  

New England converted six of its first seven third-down attempts. Some were more manageable than others, like when he needed to perfectly hit tight end Hunter Henry in the hands to pick up a third-and-7 in the first half. Or in the fourth quarter, facing a third-and-12, it was no problem – there’s Stefon Diggs for 25 yards on an absolute seed between Falcons defenders 

“He puts it in places that definitely makes it – in a tough spot – easier for us,” Henry told USA TODAY Sports. 

Maye’s accuracy has been exemplary all season. He was the third overall pick for a reason, Henry said. 

“I don’t think he’s ever not had that accuracy,” Henry said. “I think he’s just continuing to develop and continuing to make strides. He’s gaining confidence, obviously, in the system.

“We just put a lot of work in and he throws an easy ball to catch, too, so it’s nice.” 

One example of the system working for him was his first touchdown pass to DeMario “Pop” Douglas in the first quarter. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels – who held the same role during the golden days of the Patriots’ dynasty with Brady as his signal-caller – schemed up the first touchdown by lining Douglas up in the backfield to create a matchup with a linebacker. The wideout ran a wheel route by a defender and Maye perfectly dropped it in the bucket for six points.

“I love this team,” said Douglas, who turned in the first 100-yard game of his career. “I can’t wait to see how far we go.” 

Much of that will depend on the arms and legs of Maye.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 28-21, marking their fifth consecutive regular-season win against them.
The loss drops the Chiefs to a 5-4 record, putting them two games behind the division-leading Denver Broncos.
The Bills’ victory keeps them in contention in the AFC East, just behind the New England Patriots.

ORCHARD PARK, NY – Round 10 is in the books.

It happened again. The Buffalo Bills topped the Kansas City Chiefs again at Highmark Stadium on Nov. 2, marking the 10th meeting between the teams since 2020 with a convincing 28-21 effort that proved, well, they can still knock off Patrick Mahomes & Co. in the regular season. That’s five in a row, by that measure.

See ya again in January? Well, maybe. Maybe not. It’s not so automatic this time that the next sequel will come in the AFC playoffs again.

If the playoffs started tomorrow, the Chiefs would be sitting at home.

Sure, that’s a strange thought. Kansas City has advanced to the AFC Championship Game in every season that Mahomes has been the starting quarterback and has won nine consecutive AFC West titles.

Yet the setback on Sunday – coupled with a Denver win at Houston – left the Chiefs (5-4) two games behind the division-leading Broncos.

Sure, it’s only midseason. There’s plenty of football left. The Chiefs have two head-to-head meetings with Denver on tap.

But there’s a whole lot less room for error. That was the prospect for whichever team lost as arguably the NFL’s most compelling rivalry resumed before the typically rabid Bills Mafia. For the first time in this heavyweight rivalry pitting Mahomes against Josh Allen, the NFL’s reigning MVP, neither team was in first place.

Unlike previous encounters, the outcome couldn’t be projected as a crucial swing factor that might determine the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

Survival was the ticket, which fueled a playoff-like atmosphere. The Bills (6-2) survived to remain a half-game behind the revitalized New England Patriots (7-2) in the AFC East. And the margin is actually bigger than that, when considering the tiebreaker edge the Patriots claimed by winning here in Week 5.

In any event, Buffalo’s survival was effectively clinched with rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston’s interception of a deep Mahomes heave with just over four minutes to play. It doused Kansas City’s hope for a huge comeback after the Chiefs put together a 66-yard TD drive early in the fourth quarter – which include Mahomes converting on a fourth-and-17 pass that was the longest fourth-down conversion of his career – that was capped by Travis Kelce’s grab of a two-point conversion.

Yet the Bills defense, despite a manpower shortage that included the absence of star D-tackle Ed Oliver (torn biceps) and a secondary that has had tremendous challenges all season, didn’t wilt in crunch time.

Throughout the game, it kept heat on Mahomes, who entered the contest with a streak of three consecutive games with three TDs. He left the game with zero TD throws, his lowest passer rating of the season (57.2), and for the first time in his career didn’t complete 50% of his passes (15-of-34).

Still, Mahomes, who once stung the Bills in the playoffs by leading a field goal drive in 13 seconds, had a last-gasp chance at a miracle, but two final heaves to the end zone were batted down by Cole Bishop and Hairston, respectively.

Tough defense was just part of the formula. James Cook rushed for 114 yards on 27 carries – the first running back to top 100 against the Chiefs defense since Christmas 2023 – a week after shredding Carolina for 216 rushing yards.

Allen threw 26 passes and had just three incompletions, with a TD pass and 123.2 rating. He also rushed for 2 TDs. Dalton Kincaid, the mobile tight end, was the receiving tight end with 101 yards on six receptions.

And Bills coach Sean McDermott made some shrewd decisions that paid off.

See them again in January. History suggests that the Chiefs lose to Buffalo in the regular season and break the Bills hearts in January, which has happened with four consecutive playoff wins.

We’ll see. As it stands now, history guarantees nothing at the this point.

And the Bills will surely will take that.

It’s at this point where everyone falls in line, where 10 weeks of varying college football polls suddenly — almost magically, really — become oddly similar.  

Now it’s up to the College Football Playoff selection committee to figure it all out. And they were given the ‘tools’ to do just that.

In theory, anyway.

“This team just won’t go away,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said after his team beat Florida late, and now hopes a resume of come-from-behind wins will plant it somewhere near the top four of the first CFP poll of the season.

Or exactly where Georgia is in both the US LBM Coaches and Associated Press polls. Those two polls played a game of footsie for two months, before falling into the comfortably numbing annual regurgitation of mirroring.

That mirroring and slotting by wins is what the commissioners of the Big Ten and SEC ― you know, conferences who run the sport ― spent all offseason talking about. They floated ideas to change the CFP selection committee, eliminate it, and give it stronger metrics. They settled on new metrics.

New metrics, you say? Well, it’s complicated.

The selection committee is now supposed to consider good wins and bad losses, and bad wins and good losses. Basically, just analyze the schedule and not simply slot teams based on wins.

The committee’s first chance to embrace that concept is Tuesday night, with its first poll of the season. But if history tells us anything, the CFP selection committee poll will closely resemble the media polls until the final poll of the season ― when the eye test supersedes all.

Until then, get ready for the copycat show.    

The first 10 teams of the two media polls are identical, and the final two — it’s a 12-team CFP format — are swapped. Virginia is No. 11 in the coaches poll, and No. 12 in the AP poll, and Oklahoma is its opposite. 

Anyone who believes Virginia is one of the top 12 teams in college football hasn’t been watching Virginia. But that’s another Indiana story (circa, 2024) for another time. 

A look at the projected CFP poll, with the real deal set to arrive shortly. Remember, these are the 12 best teams (we’ll figure out the five automatic qualifiers after the fact).

Projected CFP bracket rankings

1. Indiana: If we’re being intellectual honest, it’s Indiana and a long way to No. 2. No one else has been so impressive. Next: at Penn State.   

2. Texas A&M: Aggies coach Mike Elko continues to pound the drum of ignoring the past. This isn’t your grandaddy’s Texas A&M — or Jimbo Fisher’s. Next: at Missouri.

3. Ohio State: For those harping on Ohio State’s strength of schedule, the combined record of FBS opponents is 35-24. Better than some in the Top 12, worse than others. Next: at Purdue. 

4. Alabama: The bye week arrived perfectly after a run of four straight games against ranked teams, and an SEC road game. It’s essentially a one-game schedule (Oklahoma, Nov. 15) on the way to the SEC championship game. Next: vs. LSU.

5. Oregon: Ducks return from the bye with a difficult November, including two difficult road environments (Iowa, Washington). Next: at Iowa. 

6. Georgia: How much longer can Georgia continue to rely on fourth quarter (or overtime) comebacks? Better not get behind this week, on the road, against a team that’s beginning to believe. Next: at Mississippi State. 

8. Texas Tech: Don’t underestimate going on the road and beating surging K-State. All eight wins have been by at least 23 points. Next: BYU.

9. Texas: For three quarters, Texas played its best game of the season against a hot team (Vanderbilt). Then almost blew it. Not buying it just yet. Next: Bye. 

10. Notre Dame: Lost both difficult games on the schedule (Miami, Texas A&M), but had chances to win both. A cakewalk November to 10 wins. Next: Navy.

11. Oklahoma: Sooners in their own personal playoff in November. Win out, and they’re in (at Alabama, Missouri, LSU). Lose once, and it’s going to be difficult to make the CFP. Next: Bye. 

12. Vanderbilt: The classic potential 10-win team that might be left out. The problem: all anyone will remember is the ugly loss to Texas — no matter what the final score says. Next: Auburn.

CFP updated bracket projection

Five automatic qualifiers

Indiana (projected Big Ten champion), Alabama (SEC), Texas Tech (Big 12), Louisville (ACC), South Florida (Group of 6).

First round byes

Indiana, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Alabama.

The first round

(12) South Florida at (5) Oregon
(11) Louisville at (6) Georgia
(10) Notre Dame at (7) Ole Miss
(9) Texas at (8) Texas Tech

When will first 2025 CFP rankings be released?

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be announced between 8-8:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 4 on ESPN, which will drop all the CFP rankings.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

Keep up with the latest news and analysis from college football’s top two conferences: Check out our Big Ten Hub and our SEC Hub to get school-by-school coverage from across the USA TODAY Network.

Denny Hamlin could see the finish line; only three laps remained from finally, FINALLY realizing his championship dreams.

And then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.

After 20 full-time seasons and 60 race wins, Hamlin was moments away from his first title, holding nearly a 3-second lead over his closest pursuer in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. And then a caution flag flew.

Fellow championship contender William Byron slammed into the Turn 4 wall when his right front tire went down, bringing out the yellow and sending nearly every car to pit road for fresh tires with Hamlin leading the field.

Hamlin’s crew changed all four tires on his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but fellow Championship 4 driver Kyle Larson took just two tires on his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and that made all the difference. Because of the faster pit stop, Larson restarted fifth and Hamlin 10th.

With just a two-lap overtime shootout facing the drivers, those positions mattered a lot. So did the Championship Race format, where a title could be secured without winning the race, just finishing better than the other three final four drivers.

In the end, Larson didn’t win the race – that honor went to 2023 NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney – but he did enough to hold off Hamlin, who had the dominant car throughout the 319-lap season finale.

It was a crushing blow to Hamlin, a future Hall of Famer, who remains the ‘Best Driver to Never Win a Championship.’

“Just numb,” Hamlin said after the race. “I feel like there’s still some racing left. I can’t believe it’s over but there’s nothing I can do. Suck it up and it’s just another year.”

But this year may have been the 44-year-old’s best opportunity of his long, illustrious career. His 60 career wins rank 10th on NASCAR’s all-time list. He led the Cup Series with sixth wins 2025. He started on the pole Sunday. He had the fastest car all day – not just among the Championship 4 drivers but the entire field.

“Nothing I can do different. Prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend,” a clearly disappointed Hamlin said. “My team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out. I was just praying that no caution. Had one there. What can you do? Just not meant to be.

“We took four tires. I thought that definitely was the right call. Just so many cars took two there. Obviously put us back. Team did a fantastic job. They prepared a championship car. Just didn’t happen.”

Hamlin entered the championship race as the sentimental favorite, despite occasionally leaning into a “villain” role as he embraced the boos from some fans throughout the season. The boos could be heard during driver introductions Sunday but so could the cheers as the fans at the Avondale, Arizona, racetrack understood that Hamlin could finally capture the one item missing from his distinguished résumé.

And now Hamlin, his team, and NASCAR fans will be left to ponder if Hamlin will get another chance to win a championship.

“I’ll try,” Hamlin said when he asked if he could do this again. “I got a couple more shots at it. Man, if you can’t win that one, I don’t know which one you can win.”

DE Trey Hendrickson had an NFL-high 35 sacks between the 2023 and ’24 seasons.
Cincinnati fell to 3-6 after another awful home loss Sunday to Chicago.
The Bengals defense has been terrible in recent years despite Hendrickson’s exploits.

The Cincinnati Bengals have shown progress in recent years, insomuch as they don’t completely resemble a franchise operating as if the Reagan administration was still in effect – though the franchise’s heyday did coincide with Ronnie’s political peak.

But if the Stripes’ (needed) evolution is going to take a quantum leap, they need to face reality and deal defensive end Trey Hendrickson ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline, which expires at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Cincinnati miraculously lost 47-42 at home to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, dropping its record to 3-6 after surrendering 30 points in the second half. Injured quarterback Joe Burrow is nowhere in sight, and neither is a postseason berth for the Bengals – and they didn’t manage to qualify for the playoffs last season, when Burrow and Hendrickson were fully healthy. Yet after pouring hundreds of millions into the roster this year, basically to keep last year’s failed 9-8 edition intact, it’s high time to look to the future.

Burrow suffered a toe injury in Week 2 and hasn’t played since. He may or may not return next month. Hendrickson, who held out of the team’s offseason program and the early part of training camp before extracting a deserved raise for the 2025 season, has been dealing with a hip issue and has missed most of the past three games – inactive in Week 7 and again on Sunday. He’s scheduled to reach free agency in March.

Rather than let him do that – and likely get no more (eventually) than a third-round compensatory pick in return – Bengals owner Mike Brown should break with organizational form and induce a bidding war for the man who is, by far, his best defender. Hendrickson should spark quite a market considering the valuable position he plays, his historical level of production – his 17½ sacks last season topped the NFL, and his 35 spanning the 2023 and ’24 campaigns were also the most league-wide – and, given the fact he’s still only 30 years old, an acquiring team might be willing to offer a little more to get him, then take the opportunity to extend his contract.

It was pretty clear after their summer standoff that Hendrickson and the Bengals wouldn’t be renewing their vows, even if Brown – and he still seems to think NFL contracts should be ironclad commitments – correctly caved to bring the four-time Pro Bowler’s compensation appreciably nearer to peers like Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Maxx Crosby and others, that trio set to earn more than double (based on average annual value) the $16 million Hendrickson was initially due. After doling out nine-figure, multi-year extensions to wideouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in March – at the urging of Burrow – Brown begrudgingly agreed at the end of August to pay Hendrickson $29 million in sum for 2025.

But now? Brown can literally cut his losses while benefiting from what is shaping up as a sellers’ market.

Though limited recently by his hip, Hendrickson has remained his typically productive self when on the field, collecting four sacks and, per PFF, 23 pressures this season despite playing for a defense on which he’s pretty much the lone threat opposing offensive coordinators fret about while devising their game plans. And given, much like last year, that the Bengals don’t have a snowball’s chance unless they score at least 30 points, what’s the point? Cincinnati wisely obtained veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to fill in for Burrow when it became clear previous understudy Jake Browning wasn’t up to the task. But after a 33-31 upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7, the Bengals lost to the previously winless New York Jets 39-38 before Flacco futilely passed for 470 yards and four TDs in Sunday’s defeat.

Now? It’s over for this team.

On the other side of a Week 10 bye await the Steelers, Patriots, Bills and revitalized Ravens (twice). On the other side of 2025 awaits the task of overhauling a double agent defense, a task Cincy has kicked down the road even while placating Burrow with the offensive firepower he’s demanded – for all the good it’s done since the team reached Super Bowl 56 at the end of the 2021 season and then the 2022 AFC championship game. The Bengals D hasn’t ranked better than 25th overall since the start of the 2023 season.

And while Brown has been historically reluctant to hand out top-of the-market contracts – though he’s made progress there with Burrow and Chase – it’s time for him to get comfortable with significant midseason deals and (gasp!) eating some dead cap money ($15.7 million in Hendrickson’s case) … though he wouldn’t have to pay the remainder of his $16 million base salary for 2025. What he might add is something in the neighborhood of a second-round pick or at least a package with an equivalent value to fortify a defense that’s put so much inordinate pressure on Burrow and, now, Flacco. And, according to various reports Sunday morning (including one by FOX NFL insider Jay Glazer), the Bengals might finally be open to taking calls on Hendrickson given their increasingly apparent predicament.

It’s an easier concept to grasp than Reaganomics and might eventually help Burrow and Co. get a long-awaited Lombardi Trophy, the quarterback once boasting Cincinnati’s championship window was open as long as he was active. So far, the Burrow-era Bengals haven’t delivered the 57-year-old organization’s first title. But maybe by dealing Hendrickson – plus, perhaps, corner Cam Taylor-Britt and others – while embracing the way NFL business is conducted in the 21st century, they might finally get to the promised land.

Trey Hendrickson landing spots?

New England Patriots: With more than $51 million in available cap space, per Over The Cap, plus a surplus of 2026 draft picks boosted by deals consummated just last week, they have the money and draft capital to make Cincinnati a compelling offer while potentially providing Hendrickson a home he can thrive in to finish out his career.

Dallas Cowboys: Only the Patriots have a bigger cap overage than Jerry Jones’ $30 million. And his depleted defense certainly could use capable reinforcements given how it’s failed to recover from the summer trade of DE Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. Parsons’ departure did line Jones’ draft coffers, though it’s hard to see him parting with one of his extra first-rounders for Hendrickson.

Detroit Lions: They just gave DE Aidan Hutchinson a four-year, $180 million extension. But there’s money left over for a team that’s also Super Bowl-caliber – and could certainly use another relentless QB hunter opposite its newly minted star.

Eight players earned their first career Gold Glove award while New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried, Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan and Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ each won their fourth career Gold Gloves when this season’s winners were announced Sunday night.

Fried becomes the fourth Yankee pitcher to win a Gold Glove, the first since Mike Mussina in 2008. He won three consecutive Gold Gloves with the Atlanta Braves between 2020-22.

Kwan’s streak of four straight Gold Gloves in as many major league seasons is the third-longest streak to begin a career in history, trailing only Ichiro Suzuki and Nolan Arenado, who each began their careers with 10 consecutive Gold Gloves.

Happ also won his fourth consecutive award after leading all National League players with +9 defensive runs saved.

The list of first-time winners included Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler, Twins/Blue Jays first baseman Ty France, Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia, Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, St. Louis shortstop Masyn Wynn, Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, Giants pitcher Logan Webb and Marlins utility player Javier Sanoja.

The Platinum Glove awards, given out to the best defensive player in each league, will be announced Nov. 7.

Here are the 2025 Gold Glove Award winners:

American League

Pitcher: Max Fried, Yankees (4th)

Catcher: Dillon Dingler, Tigers (1st)

First base: Ty France, Twins/Blue Jays (1st)

Second base: Marcus Semien, Rangers (2nd)

Third base: Maikel Garcia, Royals (1st)

Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals (2nd)

Left field: Steven Kwan, Guardians (4th)

Center field: Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox (1st)

Right field: Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox (2nd)

Utility: Mauricio Dubon, Astros (2nd)

National League

Pitcher: Logan Webb, Giants (1st)

Catcher: Patrick Bailey, Giants (2nd)

First base: Matt Olson, Braves (3rd)

Second base: Nico Hoerner, Cubs (2nd)

Third base: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pirates/Reds (2nd)

Shortstop: Masyn Wynn, Cardinals (1st)

Left field: Ian Happ, Cubs (4th)

Center field: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (1st)

Right field: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres (2nd)

Utility: Javier Sanoja, Marlins (1st)