The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers played to a 40-40 tie, the NFL’s first since 2022.
Players from both teams expressed dissatisfaction with the tie, preferring a definitive winner and loser.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated he is fine with the current overtime rules and does not expect them to change.

ARLINGTON, TX – Bring back sudden death overtime?

If you’d have opened a debate of players involved in the Sunday night 40-40 marathon between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, it seems that there might have been no way the NFL would have had its first tie since 2022.

Like almost always, there would have been a winner. And a loser.

“You don’t play the game for ties,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott declared.

Until Sunday night, it had never happened for Prescott, in his 10th NFL season – and the rarity hadn’t occurred for any Cowboys team since 1969. Green Bay last tied in 2018.

“It’s kind of hard for me to wrap my head around it,” Prescott added. “I know I’d feel a lot worse if it was a loss. It’s a weird feeling.”

Prescott was hardly alone with that sentiment.

“It sucks,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said. “It doesn’t feel good. It feels pretty weird. This is my first time going through a tie. It feels weird to play a football game, then end in a tie.”

The Packers and Cowboys went at it for nearly four hours – 3 hours, 47 minutes to be exact – and still couldn’t produce a winner. In one regard, the result should have felt like a win for the Cowboys, who were heavy underdogs on their own turf.

In another sense, it had to feel like a loss, seeing that they were one second away from claiming victory. After Love’s third down pass to the end zone caromed off the back of a defender, Green Bay was left with one second left on the overtime clock, which allowed for Brandon McManus’ 34-yard, walk-off-tie field goal.

Play on?

“Yeah, just for me, personally,” Cowboys receiver George Pickens responded when asked if he would want a rule that would eliminate ties. “I know for the NFL, the organization, it’s a good look. But for me, I want to win.”

Of course, in the playoffs, they keep playing as one team needs to advance. Yet in tweaking the overtime rule for the regular season in 2017, the NFL was inspired by player safety in shortening the overtime period from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

Another modification came in 2022, when both teams were guaranteed at least one possession for postseason games while regular-season games could be decided if a team scored a touchdown on its first possession. Earlier this year, the regular-season rule was amended to align with the postseason rule.

NFL Week 4 winners and losers: Packers’ tie with Cowboys feels like a loss

Despite the potential for debate, don’t expect a sudden change of heart (or rule) from the NFL that would extend regular-season games.

“No, I think you’ve got to have a time frame,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on Sunday night. “There’s a time to have the games end; there’s a lot of reasons for that. I’m good, and as long as everybody understands that they can end in a tie, I’m good with it.”

In other words, don’t expect any momentum for the NFL to adopt any college-like overtime rule. Besides, the 40-40 outcome marked only the eighth tie game in the NFL since 2017. Jones contends that Sunday night’s result did nothing to lessen appeal.

Said Jones: “That game was a great game for the NFL, as far as a showcase for the game, the competition.”

And that’s win, lose or draw.

On Bluesky: jarrettbell.bsky.social

Video game maker Electronic Arts has announced that it has been sold for a staggering $55 billion in what is believed to be the largest leveraged buyout in history.

The company said the all-cash sale to a group that includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner’s venture capital firm ‘positions EA to accelerate innovation and growth to build the future of entertainment.’ 

EA is known for best-selling sports games such as its Madden, FIFA (now called EA FC), NBA, NHL and college football franchises – as well as other popular games such as The Sims, Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

The deal will take EA private – with the investment consortium of Saudi Arabia’s PIF, Silver Lake and Kushner’s Affinity Partners purchasing all public shares – so it will no longer be traded on a stock exchange.

Andrew Wilson will remain on board as EA’s CEO after the transaction is completed.

In a Sept. 29 memo to EA staff, Wilson said the deal is ‘in the best interests of our company and our stockholders.’

The deal – the second-most valuable gaming purchase in history behind Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023 – must still be approved by regulatory agencies and EA stockholders before it can be completed.

EA said approval is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of the 2027 fiscal year.

Note: This story has been updated with additional information.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a BYU graduate, criticized the chants and what he called ‘hours of religious slurs and bigotry.’
Colorado coach Deion Sanders stated he was unaware of the chants during the game.
University officials said the behavior does not reflect campus values and that those involved would be held accountable.

BOULDER, Colo. – The University of Colorado has issued a statement condemning anti-Mormon chants from the stands at a football game Saturday night between Colorado and BYU.

Some fans at Folsom Field chanted “(Expletive) BYU” and “(Expletive) the Mormons” at the game, which BYU won, 24-21. The chants caught the attention of Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a BYU graduate.

“I’m not sure why, but “F the Mormons” chants have become far too common at BYU’s away games,” Lee wrote from his personal account on social media site X. “Funny thing — the host schools generally don’t seem to be the least bit concerned about it, even though all of them have many Latter-day Saints enrolled as students. And in the case of last night’s game at the University of Colorado, it was so much more — meaning much worse — than a chant. It was hours upon hours of religious slurs and bigotry.”

BYU is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Coach Deion Sanders said he was unaware of chants

A Utah reporter asked Colorado coach Deion Sanders about the chants from fans after the game, but Sanders said he wasn’t aware of it and was focused on his team’s performance.

‘I don’t know anything about no chants,’ Sanders said.

Colorado chancellor Justin Schwartz and athletic director Rick George issued a statement late Sunday.

“The University of Colorado Boulder strongly condemns the use of expletives and religious slurs by individuals in the stands during the recent football game against BYU,” the statement said. “Such behavior is deeply disappointing and does not reflect the values of respect, inclusion and integrity we expect of our campus community.”

The statement also said “those found to have engaged in conduct that is not consistent with our values are held accountable.”

“We thank the majority of our fans who continue to support our teams with enthusiasm and respect,” the statement said. ‘Together, we can ensure that CU Boulder events remain a source of pride and unity for our community and that visitors to our campus have a positive experience.”

Both schools are now members of the Big 12 Conference but hadn’t played each other in Boulder since 1981.

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

The Phoenix Mercury did the improbable and ousted the WNBA’s No. 1 seed from the tournament, beating a diminished Minnesota Lynx team that was without MVP Napheesa Collier and coach Cheryl Reeve, who was suspended by the league for her comments regarding officiating.

The Mercury won the best-of-five series with two double-digit comebacks and will return to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021. Phoenix awaits the winner of the Indiana Fever-Las Vegas Aces series, which culminates with Game 5 on Tuesday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

If the Fever advance, there is at least a little beef between the two sides. Forward DeWanna Bonner started her season with the Fever, following coach Stephanie White from the Connecticut Sun. Bonner, 37, signed a one-year contract with Indiana, but she lost her starting job and fell out of the team’s rotation. She missed two weeks in June for ‘personal reasons’ and was released on June 25 when the Fever couldn’t find a trade partner.

Bonner landed in Phoenix, where she played the first 10 years of her career. Bonner made her return to Indiana on July 30 and was booed relentlessly during the Fever’s 107-101 win over Phoenix, with some fans also talking trash to the WNBA player and yelling ‘quitter,’ according to the Indianapolis Star.

Bonner had 13 points for the Mercury in Game 4 on Sunday, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Heading into Sunday, Bonner had averaged 2.6 points in the first three semifinal games against the Lynx.

How to watch the WNBA Finals

The 2025 WNBA Finals will air on ABC and ESPN.

Fans can stream it on ESPN Unlimited and Fubo.

Watch the WNBA Finals with Fubo

2025 WNBA Finals schedule

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The outlook for the Baltimore Ravens’ battered defense didn’t get any better on Monday.

A day after the team’s 37-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs dropped the Ravens to 1-3, head coach John Harbaugh announced that Pro Bowl defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike’s neck injury will cause him to miss the rest of the season. Madubuike, a third-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2020 who had not played since Week 2, finishes the season with seven tackles and two sacks. He is currently in the second season of a four-year, $98 million contract extension.

Harbaugh has been cryptic about the nature of Madubuike’s injury, a pattern that continued Monday.

‘I really can’t speak for him, wouldn’t want to,’ said Harbaugh. ‘Those are questions that would be best answered by him going forward, and he may be still getting some information on that as well. (I’ll) leave that for him to answer.’

In slightly better news, Harbaugh said D-lineman Broderick Washington Jr., who injured an ankle in the team’s loss to the Detroit Lions last week, will come off injured reserve at some point later this season.

Long known for playing a punishing and effective brand of defense, the Ravens are currently allowing 33.3 points per game, worst in the league, and 406.8 yards per game, second worst overall and last in the AFC.

The Ravens will host the Houston Texans, another 2024 division winner off to a 1-3 start, this Sunday.

How long is Nnamdi Madubuike out?

The Ravens placed him on injured reserve Saturday ahead of the Kansas City game. Harbaugh confirmed Monday that Madubuike will not be recalled from IR for the duration of the 2025 season.

Ravens DL depth chart

DE Nnamdi Madubuike (IR)

Broderick Washington Jr. (IR, eligible to be recalled after four weeks)

Travis Jones

John Jenkins

Aeneas Peebles

C.J. Okoye (practice squad)

Josh Tupou (practice squad)

Brent Urban (practice squad)

Taven Bryan (practice squad)

Nikola Jokic stated his plan is to remain with the Denver Nuggets for his entire career.
The three-time MVP is delaying contract extension talks until 2026 for financial reasons.
Jokic’s decision comes after significant offseason changes to the Nuggets’ roster and front office.

(USA TODAY has full coverage of NBA media day. Click here for all the latest news.)

The three-time NBA MVP met with reporters Monday, Sept. 29 for the first time since reportedly informing Nuggets officials he would wait to hold contract extension discussions with the team until 2026, after becoming eligible to sign a three-year, $212 million extension starting in July.

But the delay isn’t a sign that Jokic’s loyalty to Denver is wavering, despite speculation this offseason after significant front office, coaching and roster changes made by the Nuggets in the wake of last season’s playoff exit in the Western Conference semifinals. Jokic made that clear to reporters when asked about the situation during the team’s media day ahead of the start to training camp.

‘My plan is to be with Nuggets forever, so that’s my answer,’ Jokic said.

There is an important financial incentive to not signing until 2026. Jokic would be eligible to earn a four-year, $293-million extension next summer. He has three years left on his current max contract, which includes a player option for the 2027-28 season.

Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke said in July the team was ‘definitely’ going to offer Jokic the option to sign a max extension this past offseason but acknowledged he didn’t expect the 30-year-old would accept the offer. Kroenke also brought up the nightmare scenario of potentially trading Jokic given the constraints of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, which helped ignite the offseason conversation about his star.

The Nuggets retooled their roster around Jokic and point guard Jamal Murray ahead of this season by trading Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson, bringing back veteran role player Bruce Brown from the team’s 2023 NBA championship run, and adding veteran Jonas Valanciunas as Jokic’s backup.

One day after a disastrous 56-13 loss to Notre Dame, Arkansas fired coach Sam Pittman five games into his sixth season at the school, with his team sitting at 2-3.

That game against the Fighting Irish did more than cost Pittman his job. It knocked one of the Razorbacks’ top pass-catchers out for the rest of the season.

Arkansas wide receiver Jalen Brown will miss the remainder of the 2025 college football season after breaking his tibia and fibula in the loss to Notre Dame.

Prior to the injury, Brown had 12 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns this season. The sophomore from Miami is in his first season with the program, having transferred over from Florida State in the spring.

Here’s the latest on Brown’s injury:

Jalen Brown injury update

Brown suffered his injury in the third quarter of the Razorbacks’ loss to Notre Dame, when he tried to haul in what would have been a touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone.

Brown rose up to try to make the catch, but was unable to bring it in and as he came to the turf, his left leg bent awkwardly, putting his lower leg perpendicular to his thigh.

His teammates immediately signaled to the sideline for medical attention. A cart came out to take Brown off the field, and he was sent to Arkansas Children’s Hospital Northwest in Springdale, Arkansas, for X-rays and further evaluation.

X-rays revealed a broken tibia and fibula, with no timetable for a return.

Prior to his injury, Brown had one catch for 11 yards against the Fighting Irish. He had a touchdown in each of Arkansas’ first two games, against Alabama A&M and Arkansas State.

Brown is the fourth-leading receiver for the Razorbacks this season, behind O’Mega Blake (399 yards), Rohan Jones (220) and Raylen Sharpe (173).

With Pittman ousted, Arkansas will play the rest of the season under interim head coach Bobby Petrino, who coached the Razorbacks for four successful seasons before being fired shortly after an infamous motorcycle accident in 2012.

The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers played to a 40-40 tie, the NFL’s highest-scoring tie game since 1970.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones defended trading Micah Parsons, stating quarterback Dak Prescott was ‘indispensable’ while Parsons was not.
Parsons, now with the Packers, made a crucial overtime sack on Prescott but expressed disappointment in his new team’s defensive performance.

ARLINGTON, TX – Micah 40, Jerry 40.

The wild drama at AT&T Stadium on Sunday night would not have been complete without a few more not-so-subtle jabs from Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones.

Overtime just wasn’t enough.

So, during his traditional postgame media buffet outside the locker room, the Dallas Cowboys owner set the record straight on why he made quarterback Dak Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history with a $60 million-per-year deal and ultimately shipped Parsons to the Green Bay Packers rather than signing the premier pass-rusher to another type of record contract.

‘It’s very simple,’ Jones said. ‘Dak was indispensable in my mind … and Micah wasn’t.’

Parsons, who may have prevented the Cowboys from winning with a touchdown-saving sack of Prescott in overtime, had his own view of the business matters that juiced the plot for the primetime showcase. He still seemed a bit miffed that Jones – who at one point thought he had a ‘handshake deal’ on a contract extension for Parsons before the negotiations went sideways – never directly told him that he was traded.

‘The same way he called me into his office as a man, he couldn’t tell me as a man,’ said Parsons, who still hasn’t spoken to Jones since the trade. ‘So, to me, that emotion side was gone. It was more a respect factor at this point.’

Anybody for double overtime?

The Cowboys and Packers produced the NFL’s highest-scoring tie game since the 1970 merger in a marathon that included Dallas clawing back from an early 13-point deficit, seven lead changes, questionable game-management in crunch time from Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur and two crucial Brandon McManus field goals to force OT and end OT.

Yet clearly the Parsons saga provided the marquee value.

Prescott, by the way, was amazing. He passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns. And after his incredible, 34-yard connection to Jalen Tolbert in overtime – the receiver circled back to make a diving catch while managing to keep his feet inbounds by dragging his toes on the second foot – the Cowboys were set up at the 5-yard line with a chance for a go-ahead touchdown.

But on second-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Parsons made the defensive play of the night after Prescott scrambled from the pocket with a clear path to the end zone. He notched his only sack of the game by dropping Prescott from behind. Two plays later, the Cowboys settled for a 22-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal for a 40-37 lead that allowed the Packers the chance to win or tie with their ensuing OT possession.

It was a huge play at the perfect time, which is what the Packers were banking on when they traded two first-round picks and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas on Aug. 28. The exchange also included Green Bay signing Parsons to a four-year extension that averages $46.5 million per year to make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.

‘I’m here at the podium because I’m supposed to make that play,’ Parsons said during his postgame press conference. ‘Not because, ‘Oh my God, he made a play.’ I’m supposed to make that play. I’m supposed to help our defense. That’s the reason I was brought here.’

Still, Parsons didn’t quite get the last laugh on the Cowboys. He didn’t exactly extract in-your-face revenge against Jones. He didn’t even bag a victory that would have kept the Packers (2-1-1) in first place in the NFC North..

After all, ties are like kissing your sister – or in this case your former team.

‘I’m pissed off,’ Parsons said, reflecting on the outcome. ‘I’m very disappointed, just overall, how we performed.’

We get it. The Packers were heavily favored to steamroll the Cowboys (1-2-1), whose defense has major holes that only begin with the lack of a premier pass-rusher after dealing away Parsons in the stunning move a month earlier.

No doubt, the Dallas defense lived up to its reputation and was scorched again. Yet Parsons knew. His new defense, lit up by Prescott, George Pickens (8 catches, 134 yards, 2 TDs) and a few others, played like his old defense.

‘Giving up 40 points … that’s just unacceptable,’ he said.

It’s no wonder that Parsons, as he described it, pulled Packers quarterback Jordan Love to the side and thanked him ‘for having our back today.’

Love, like Prescott, passed for three touchdowns. He completed 31 of 43 passes for 337 yards and engineered the drives that ended with the McManus field goals that forced overtime and sealed the tie.    

‘That’s why it’s so pivotal to play complementary football,’ Parsons said. ‘Because today, Jordan played like the player he (is) and we let him down.’

Micah Parsons tallies critical sack on former teammate Dak Prescott

Maybe even worse was that Jones – who won in another sense as a crowd of 93,353 showed up at Jerry World and well, dropped all kinds of cash – has fresh material to justify trading away a star player in his prime against a torrential rain of criticism.

See, in this situation, a tie for the Cowboys – playing without injured star receiver Cee Dee Lamb – seemed like a win. Remember, they were major underdogs against a team that is cast as a Super Bowl favorite with Parsons added to the mix.

And Jones, who hasn’t been shy in reiterating that the Cowboys never won a Super Bowl with Parsons, could take solace in the effort and bottom-line result. Parsons, who had three tackles and three quarterback hits to go with his sack, brought a decent amount of pressure but he didn’t dominate the game. Not when his unit gave up 40 points.

‘We knew he was there,’ Jones said. ‘And he made a difference. But that’s the way it goes. Whether we like it or not, I’ll take my side of it. And Green Bay can have their side of it.’

These lingering sentiments beg to be continued.

Who won the trade? Time will tell. Championship pursuits and the development of future draft picks are undoubtedly potential swing factors.

Yet the first matchup pitting Parsons against Jones could be symbolic for scoring the trade. At least for now, it looks like a draw.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell

On Bluesky: jarrettbell.bsky.social

Bob Melvin, who presided over two mediocre seasons that included a regime change in the front office, was fired as San Francisco Giants manager Sept. 29, the latest aggressive move from franchise legend and club president Buster Posey.

Melvin, 63, presided over 80-82 and 81-81 seasons in San Francisco. That period saw Posey supplant Farhan Zaidi as head of baseball operations and trade for Boston Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers, a June blockbuster that theoretically could have boosted the Giants out of the .500 morass they’d been stuck in since winning a franchise-record 107 games in 2021.

Yet a pitching staff that became further emaciated as the season went on sabotaged any semblance of consistency even as Devers and $182 million shortstop acquisition Willy Adames became more accustomed to playing in San Francisco’s pitcher-friendly park.

Now, the club faces an inflection point in its history, and the notion of a reunion with one of its icons looms.

Bruce Bochy, who led the Giants to World Series titles in 2012, 2014 and 2016, is available after his contract expired with the Texas Rangers. Bochy, 70, might consider his 2023 title won with the Rangers as his walk off into the sunset.

Yet as he proved after parting ways with the Giants after Zaidi’s first season in 2019, Bochy never really retires – and becomes an immediate candidate in San Francisco.

The Giants enter a crowded pool of teams seeking a manager, with openings in Baltimore, Washington, Colorado and now Minnesota, after the Twins fired Rocco Baldelli; the Pittsburgh Pirates filled one opening by retaining interim manager Don Kelly.

And a half-dozen other positions are in various states of flux, starting with Bochy and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker both facing expiring contracts and potential retirement. The Los Angeles Angels must decide whether they’re confident Ron Washington can return from heart surgery, while the Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals are all perennial playoff contenders who missed out on the postseason.

The Giants picked up Melvin’s 2026 option on July 2, Posey saying then that the Giants were ‘really fortunate to have such an experienced leader and one of the most well-respected managers in baseball.’

A 3-10 stretch in the middle of September abruptly ended any hopes of wild-card contention.

Melvin is a three-time Manager of the Year, winning the honor in 2007 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and 2012 and 2018 with the Oakland Athletics. He also managed the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres in a 22-year managerial career that’s produced a 1,678-1,588 record and eight playoff appearances.