When the ‘Monday Night Football’ game between the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals finishes on Nov. 3, it will mark the end of Week 9 and the conclusion of the first half of the regular season.

Through half a season of games, the true postseason contenders will have mostly separated themselves from the rest of the field. The NFL playoff picture will take on a clearer shape. Races for all eight division titles will hit a second gear. Battles for the 14 total playoff spots will come into focus.

If the season ended before Week 9, a couple of surprise teams – the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers – would be enjoying a first-round bye.

But there are still 10 full weeks of action to go, and plenty can still change in that time.

Will the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Commanders and Minnesota Vikings bounce back with their starting quarterbacks getting healthy? Can the Cincinnati Bengals stay on the postseason bubble until quarterback Joe Burrow returns? And will the teams currently leading their divisions hold on?

Only time will tell, but for now, here’s what the NFL playoff picture looks like:

NFL playoff picture

AFC playoff picture

Indianapolis Colts (7-1, AFC South leaders)
New England Patriots (6-2, AFC East leaders)
Denver Broncos (6-2, AFC West leaders)
Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3, AFC North leaders)
Buffalo Bills (5-2, wild card No. 1)
Los Angeles Chargers (5-3, wild card No. 2)
Kansas City Chiefs (5-3, wild card No. 3)

In the hunt: Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3), Houston Texans (3-4), Cincinnati Bengals (3-5), Las Vegas Raiders (2-5), Baltimore Ravens (2-5), Cleveland Browns (2-6), Miami Dolphins (2-6), New York Jets (1-7), Tennessee Titans (1-7).

NFC playoff picture

Green Bay Packers (5-1-1, NFC North leaders)
Philadelphia Eagles (6-2, NFC East leaders)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2, NFC South leaders)
Seattle Seahawks (5-2, NFC West leaders)
Detroit Lions (5-2, wild card No. 1)
Los Angeles Rams (5-2, wild card No. 2)
San Francisco 49ers (5-3, wild card No. 3)

In the hunt: Chicago Bears (4-3), Carolina Panthers (4-4), Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1), Atlanta Falcons (3-4), Minnesota Vikings (3-4), Washington Commanders (3-5), Arizona Cardinals (2-5), New York Giants (2-6), New Orleans Saints (1-7).

Projected NFL playoff matchups entering Week 9

AFC playoff bracket

No. 1 seed Indianapolis Colts (5-1), BYE
No. 2 seed New England Patriots (6-2) vs. No. 7 seed Kansas City Chiefs (5-3)
No. 3 seed Denver Broncos (6-2) vs. No. 6 seed Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3)
No. 4 seed Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) vs. No. 5 seed Buffalo Bills (5-2)

NFC playoff bracket

No. 1 seed Green Bay Packers (5-1-1), BYE
No. 2 seed Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) vs. No. 7 seed San Francisco 49ers (5-3)
No. 3 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2) vs. No. 6 seed Los Angeles Rams (5-2)
No. 4 seed Seattle Seahawks (5-2) vs. No. 5 seed Detroit Lions (5-2)

Deion Sanders has been staying at the team facility since Colorado’s 53-7 loss to Utah.
The Buffaloes are 3-5 and need three wins in their final four games to become bowl-eligible.
Sanders did not announce any changes to his coaching staff or quarterback lineup following the loss.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders says he never went back to his house in Colorado after suffering the worst loss of his college coaching career Saturday at Utah.

The Buffaloes got beat 53-7 in Week 9, leading to questions about why and who was responsible for it as his team gets ready to play Saturday night at home against Arizona.

“I feel the worst,” Sanders said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “I haven’t been home yet. I’ve been here every night since. I haven’t been home yet. So that’s how much I care. That’s how much I love it. That’s how much I embody this university, the school, what they’ve done for us.”

So what will he do about what happened?

Sanders didn’t announce any changes to his coaching staff or quarterback lineup. He instead ascribed his team’s performance against Utah to being “one of those days that it just didn’t work.”

“Now guess what?” Sanders said. “Let’s flush the darn toilet, and let’s move on. And that’s what we’ve done. We’ve flushed the toilet and moved on.”

Deion Sanders says ‘don’t say we weren’t prepared’

The Buffaloes are 3-5 and need three wins in their final four regular-season games to become eligible for a postseason bowl game. Arizona is a 4½-point favorite over Colorado, according to BetMGM. And it doesn’t look to be an easy bounce-back game for the Buffs.

The Wildcats are 4-3 this season after suffering two close losses in the last two weeks against No. 10 Brigham Young (8-0) and No. 22 Houston (7-1).

After the Utah game, Sanders said he wanted to know why his team failed in so many areas. Asked on Tuesday about what he learned about those ‘whys,’ Sanders said, “I don’t want to share those.”

Colorado was coming off a bye week and previously played its best game of the season Oct. 11 – a 24-17 win against Iowa State. He insisted his team was prepared to play Utah.

“We’re better than this,” Sanders said. “We really are. There’s no way we could play like that (against Iowa State), the last time you saw us play at home, and then go play like that (at Utah). That don’t add up. So don’t say we weren’t prepared. We were prepared. We just got our butts kicked.

Deion Sanders addresses all the fired coaches

Sanders was asked about all the coaches who have been fired in college football recently, often at the cost of high-priced buyouts. Sanders is 16-17 in three seasons at Colorado and just agreed to a new five-year contract in March that will pay him more than $10 million annually.

“Everyone wants the quick fix, the quick things,” Sanders said. You got mail-order brides, too, right? You get married, you know, right away. You can get a BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift). You could come in here flat, flat as I don’t know what and leave thick as a snicker. … It is a different country that we live in, man. Ain’t nobody got no patience no more. I understand that. And I don’t, either.”

His players seem to know that.

“Even though the season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, as long as we stay together, you know, we continue to be a brotherhood, I believe no one can stop us,” Colorado defensive back Preston Hodge said Tuesday.

Sanders also noted again Tuesday said his team is “a different team at night.”

Colorado is 6-12 in games starting at 7:30 ET or later, including 1-7 on the road in Sanders’ three seasons as head coach.

Kickoff on Saturday is set for 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

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

Two days after allowing Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love to complete 20 straight passes, the Pittsburgh Steelers are acquiring some help in their defensive secondary via the trade market.

The Steelers are trading a sixth-round pick to the New England Patriots for safety Kyle Dugger and a seventh-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Pittsburgh was leading the NFL in passing yards allowed per game (273.3) through eight weeks in its first season without three-time All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick since 2018. The Steelers also rank in the bottom half of the NFL in EPA (0.167 – 23rd) and success rate (49.2% – 21st) allowed to opponents.

Dugger was a second-round pick for the Patriots in the 2020 NFL Draft and had started in every game he played for New England over the last three seasons.

This year, his first under new head coach Mike Vrabel, the sixth-year veteran has played a career-low 44% of the Patriots’ defensive snaps – though he played 100% of snaps in his last two games healthy in Weeks 6 and 7. Dugger missed New England’s Week 8 win over the Cleveland Browns with a knee injury.

A move to acquire another safety had started to come into focus earlier in the day on Oct. 28. Head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters that the Steelers were working out former Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell that day.

Moving Dugger was the second trade the Patriots completed on Oct. 28, coming hours after they sent edge rusher Keion White to the San Francisco 49ers.

Kyle Dugger trade details: Steelers acquire Patriots safety

Steelers receive: Safety Kyle Dugger, seventh-round pick
Patriots receive: Sixth-round pick

New England’s second trade on Oct. 28 sends Dugger to the Steelers one week before the NFL trade deadline, according to multiple reports. The Patriots had sent White, an edge rusher, to the 49ers earlier in the day.

To make room on their roster, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Steelers moved safety DeShon Elliott to injured reserve with a knee injury he suffered in Week 8.

Dugger is the second former Patriots safety to join Pittsburgh’s secondary in 2025. Jabrill Peppers, who played his last three seasons in New England, hit free agency and signed with the Steelers in the offseason.

Kyle Dugger stats

Here are Dugger’s numbers through eight weeks of the 2025 season:

Games: 7 (4 starts)
Tackles: 17 (7 solo)
Passes defensed: 0
Interceptions: 0
Forced fumbles: 0

In his first season under Vrabel, the Patriots’ new, defensive-minded head coach, Dugger has taken a backseat to Jaylinn Hawkins. Hawkins was originally a fourth-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2020 NFL Draft, 97 picks after Dugger.

Dugger could slide into Elliott’s strong safety spot with the Steelers after the latter’s knee injury landed him on injured reserve.

With the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) set to expire on Oct. 31, the WNBA has reportedly offered the Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association (WNBPA) an extension to continue negotiations.

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, ESPN reported the WNBA proposed a 30-day extension to the current CBA to allow more time for the sides to negotiate a new agreement. If the players’ union agrees, an extension will delay a possible work stoppage, whether a lockout by the owners or a strike from the players.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert hinted at the possibility of an extension earlier this month during her annual press conference before the 2025 WNBA Finals, saying, ‘We have extended deadlines in the past.’

The league and players’ union previously agreed to a 60-day extension in 2019, three days before the last CBA was set to expire on Oct. 31, 2019. A new deal was subsequently reached on the current CBA on Jan. 14, 2020, and signed into effect three days later on Jan. 17, 2020.

‘Last time, when I was only a couple days on the job, we got to an extension and got a deal done that was progressive at the time,’ said Engelbert, who took over as WNBA commissioner in July 2019. ‘So again, I feel confident that we can get a deal done, but if not, I think we could do an extension.’

It remains to be seen if the players will agree to an extension as both sides remain gridlocked in negotiations. ESPN reported the players will only consider an extension ‘under the right circumstances,’ but noted players currently feel ‘those circumstances do not yet exist.’

Earlier Tuesday, Erin D. Drake, the senior advisor and legal counsel for the WNBPA, said she’s ‘not hopeful’ a new deal will be reached by Friday in an appearance on The Athletic’s ‘No Offseason’ podcast. “We have worked hard to be able to say on Friday, we did it. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen,” Drake said.

The main points of contention in the ongoing CBA negotiations are increased revenue sharing and pay structures. The players are seeking a revenue-sharing model that ensures their salaries grow with the league, while the WNBA has allegedly offered a fixed salary system and capped revenue-sharing plan.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning is in concussion protocol and may not play this weekend.
Backup quarterback Matthew Caldwell could start against No. 11 Vanderbilt in Manning’s place.
Caldwell has performed well in limited action, including throwing a game-winning touchdown against Mississippi State.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Arch Manning is in concussion protocol and may not play this weekend for Texas. 

Now, the reality: that may not be such a bad thing for the Longhorns. 

Whatever you think of Manning and his Ron Powlus ride as the Texas quarterback (Google it, kids), this is no time for the weak at heart. The calendar is moving to November — and the games to remember. 

So if that means Matthew Caldwell — the nobody to center stage Texas backup quarterback — has to play against No. 11 Vanderbilt, should it really be that concerning?

What if — hold onto your 10-gallon hats, everyone — Caldwell plays better than Manning has all season and the Longhorns win?

“The moment’s not too big for him,” says Texas coach Steve Sarkisian. 

Which is the opposite of what we’ve seen from Manning for a majority of his uneven first season as a starter.

To be fair to Manning, he hasn’t had much help from a leaky offensive line, and receivers aren’t exactly running free in the secondary and making tough catches. The throw game is a three-pronged, meticulous machine: protection, throwing on time and with anticipation, and receivers getting open and catching the ball. 

If any of those three steps are compromised for any reason, the play can blow up. 

So before we bury Manning for his inconsistent play in this ballyhooed framework of the preseason No. 1 ranking, the Heisman Trophy and the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft all rolled into one, cut him some slack. Like he said numerous times, he never asked for any of this. 

And that’s where we drop a pin in this story. 

Because I want a guy playing the most important position on the field who asks for it. Who wants it all, who thrives in the pressure of the moment and doesn’t back down. 

If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work — at least he went down swinging. 

It is here where we reintroduce Caldwell, and his rags to sitting behind the riches college football career. Got his start at Jacksonville State in tiny Jacksonville, Ala. (pop., 14,651), known more for its overpriced hotels on race day in Talladega than a college football power. 

When that didn’t work, he left for FCS Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C. (pop., 4,759) and spent two seasons as a backup before transferring to Troy in Troy, Ala. (pop., 17,341). Spent a season with the Trojans, and started the final five games of the season.

Then he got a call this spring from Sarkisian to spend his final season as the backup to the next big thing in college football. In the largest fishbowl in college football (pop., the heart of Texas). 

The next thing you know, he’s thrown into an overtime game against Mississippi State, after Texas had rallied from 17 down in the fourth quarter, and after Manning got hit in the head while scrambling on the first play of overtime. 

Next play: run for seven yards. 

Next play: false start, Texas ― because Caldwell is busy getting players lined up correctly for what looks like another isolation run to protect the backup quarterback, and the cadence isn’t the same, and my god, this is a mess. 

Next play, screw it, let’s chuck it in the end zone — and Caldwell tosses a perfectly thrown fade to Emmett Mosley for the game winning points. 

Piece of cake. 

‘He’s played well every time that we’ve put him in the game,” Sarkisian said. “What gives me confidence is who he’s been, so I feel very comfortable with Matt whenever he’s in the ballgame.”

Look, no team likes to lose the starting quarterback two months into the season, with or without the Manning name. This is when Texas, which has struggled all season to find any cohesive rhythm, needs to find a groove and use wins over Vanderbilt, Georgia and Texas A&M as a springboard to the College Football Playoff.

You want the story of the season? Here it is. 

And it has nothing to do with NIL deals or Heismans or national titles or the NFL draft. 

If Caldwell plays against Vanderbilt (that’s still up for debate) and plays well in an upset of the Commodores, does Sarkisian go back to Manning? There’s only one way out of this thud of a season: a November to remember. 

Could Sarkisian actually put the season in the hands of a backup quarterback by way of Jacksonville State/Gardner-Webb/Troy, who has thrown all of 11 passes in Texas uniform — and only two against Power conference teams?

To be fair to Caldwell (like we’re trying to be fair to Manning), he was inserted into two wild environments, and made two perfect throws. The touchdown against Mississippi State (that saved the season), and a beautifully-executed, second-level throw to Ryan Wingo on the last drive of the loss at Florida. 

‘He’s earned the respect of his teammates,” Sarkisian said. “They respect the fact that he’s ready.”

That may not be such a bad thing after all. 

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

The 2025-26 NHL season is underway, which means trades and other moves are taking place.

Already this season, last year’s rookie of the year, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, received a lucrative eight-year extension. The Los Angeles Kings traded for a goalie and the Vegas Golden Knights brought another one into their organization.

In the latest news, the Dallas Stars handed defenseman Thomas Harley an eight-year extension that will make him the second highest paid player on the team.

Follow this tracker for the latest moves from the 2025-26 NHL season.

Oct. 28: Stars’ Thomas Harley gets 8-year extension

Harley, 24, will average $10.587 million in the deal, which kicks in next season. That puts him behind only Mikko Rantanen ($12 million). The extension, which will make Harley the NHL’s fourth highest paid defenseman next season, is a recognition of his ascension. He had a career-best 50 points last season and joined Canada’s victorious 4 Nations Face-Off team as an injury replacement. He is off to another strong start this season with eight points in 10 games.

Harley is signed through 2034. Fellow defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell are signed through 2029 and 2030, respectively.

Oct. 25: Canucks acquire Lukas Reichel from Blackhawks

The Blackhawks get back a fourth-round 2027 pick. The Canucks had been dealing with injuries, particularly to Filip Chytil. Reichel, named to Germany’s Olympic team, had four points in five games with Chicago this season.

Oct. 16: Carter Hart joins Golden Knights roster

Goalie Carter Hart, one of five players acquitted in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, is joining the Vegas Golden Knights organization. He won’t be able to play in the NHL until Dec. 1. Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were found not guilty by a judge on July 24. Justice Maria Carroccia ruled she didn’t find the accuser’s testimony about what allegedly happened in a London, Ontario hotel room in June 2018 to be ‘credible or reliable.’ Hart hasn’t played since going on leave in January 2024 to address the charges.

Also: The Sharks claimed defenseman Vincent Iorio off waivers from the Capitals.

Oct. 15: Kings bring back Pheonix Copley in trade

Pheonix Copley is returning to the Kings organization in a trade with the Lightning, who had claimed the goalie earlier on waivers. The Kings made the move with Darcy Kuemper day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The Lightning get future considerations in the deal.

Oct. 15: Blackhawks’ Nick Foligno goes on leave

The team and their captain announced that Nick Foligno will take a brief leave of absence as his daughter ‘undergoes follow-up surgery related to her congenital heart disease.’ Milana, 12, had her first heart procedure when she was three weeks old, per NHL.com.

Oct. 13: Canadiens’ Lane Hutson gets 8-year extension

Montreal’s Lane Hutson is the latest young NHL defenseman to cash in with a major contract extension.

The Canadiens announced that Hutson, 21, will average $8.85 million in the eight-year deal. The $70.8 million contract will start next season and run through 2033-34.

Hutson won rookie of the year in 2024-25 after recording six goals and 60 assists. He tied the all-time NHL record for assists by a rookie defenseman (Larry Murphy in 1980-81), and his 66 points set a record for a Canadiens rookie defenseman.

Devils defenseman Luke Hughes reset the market with a seven-year, $63 million contract on Oct. 1. Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe matched his $9 million cap hit in an eight-year extension the following day.