Following a 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns, Mike McDaniel’s firing by the Miami Dolphins looks like a matter of when rather than if.
McDaniel said after the game he’s not focused on keeping his job.
At 1-6, the Dolphins could slide even further with a difficult slate ahead.

Life on the NFL hot seat surely represents an extreme test of focus. The sharks are circling. The pre-game gossip has intensified. The locker room is looking for clues.

People are asking questions – especially after the most embarrassing loss of the season.

This is where Mike McDaniel sits about now as the narrative persists – and the NFL’s pressure-cooker business cycle suggests – that it is a matter of when and not if Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross will fire his coach.

The Dolphins were blasted 31-6 at Cleveland on Sunday, losing a third consecutive game to fall to 1-6. Nearly a week since Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan became the first NFL coach dismissed this season, it’s fair to wonder whether McDaniel’s tenure is in the final days…or hours.

At least we can wonder. McDaniel won’t go there – at least not publicly.

“The way I look at this job, I find it very offensive to all parties involved, if I’m thinking about having the job,” he said during his postgame news conference. “So, for as long as I coach for the Miami Dolphins and this organization, they’ll get everything from me, and I refuse to spend my time thinking about something…you have a job, you do your job.”

Still, performances like the one his team had on Sunday only add to the heat. A week after a last-minute meltdown set up the Chargers for a game-winning field goal, and two weeks since the Dolphins blew a 17-0 lead at Carolina, it had to be the worst one yet.

Sure, the setback at Buffalo in Week 3 was rather tragic – a roughing the kicker penalty extending a Bills drive that ended with a TD, then Tua Tagovailoa threw a pick – but this was a chance to rally against an opponent that entered the game with, well, one victory on the season while starting a rookie quarterback.

Never mind. Tagovailoa threw three interceptions and was benched with his career-worst passer rating (24.1), which seems even worse when considering that the quarterback publicly ripped some of his teammates about their lack of presence or punctuality to players-only meetings. Yet Tagovailoa’s issues only begins to represent the mess.

Remember that major storm forecast to hit Cleveland during the game? Well, it wasn’t as devastating as it might have been – except for the downpour of disaster dumped on the Dolphins.

Besides Tagovailoa’s turnovers, including a pick-six to open the second half, Dee Eskridge fumbled away a kickoff return to set up a Browns touchdown. Miami was penalized 11 times for 103 yards. And there was more. Dropped passes. Missed tackles.

All in all, it was another reminder from Miami that bad teams do bad things.

“A game like this, we didn’t see coming,” McDaniel said.

Maybe not, given that they lost the previous two games by a combined total of five points. But the clues for such a collapse have been all around McDaniel, in his fourth season at the helm. I mean, how many players-only meetings have they had? How many picks did Tagovailoa throw last week? How long has the temperature been rising on the hot seat?

No, the Dolphins have been building toward the possibility of a collapse.

Hey, they aren’t alone in the bad football department. The Las Vegas Raiders, with Chip Kelly calling the shots on offense, managed all of 95 yards and three first downs, in getting shut out at Kansas City. The Giants allowed the Broncos to score 33 points for a historic comeback. The Jets (0-7) couldn’t score a touchdown (again) and benched quarterback Justin Fields. And the Titans got blown out again.

So, that’s some company these Dolphins are keeping among the NFL’s bottom feeders. And had they not topped the Jets in Week 4, they’d be in the debate for No. 32.

In any event, the loss on Sunday solidified their status as a laughingstock, bolstered by the buzz about McDaniel’s job security. Ross, who bought the team in 2009, has been there before. He’s on his fifth coach (excluding interims), including the two fired during the season. His level of patience with McDaniel, who guided two teams to the playoffs (but hasn’t won a postseason game) since taking over in 2022, is the X-factor.

Yet given the direction of his team, Ross undoubtedly realizes that an overhaul is in order.

Can the Dolphins turn around their season and make a run at the playoffs?

Nah. That’s so highly unlikely. There’s little to inspire hope that they’ll hit a hot streak. And with the Falcons, Ravens (presumably with Lamar Jackson), Bills and Commanders on tap, 1-6 can theoretically morph into 1-10 before the team gets its bye week in late November. After that, the Saints and Jets are on the docket for Weeks 13 and 14.

Yet Ross’ decision on McDaniel – and by extension, GM Chris Grier – can’t be about this lost season. It’s about the long term. And getting a jump on the inevitable coaching search.

After all, it’s a matter of when. Not if.

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

Perhaps it’s folly to read too much into one Sunday, but the apparent problems of the Eagles and Chiefs don’t seem so major anymore.
Two prominent coaches got payback against their former teams Sunday.
Is Drake Maye making Patriots fans forget about Tom Brady? Probably not, but …

The 32 things we learned from Week 7 of the 2025 NFL season:

0. Still the number of wins for the New York Jets, who dropped to 0-7 after another pathetic offensive performance against the Carolina Panthers.

0. Apparently, also the number of QB1s the NYJ now have after Justin Fields was yanked for Tyrod Taylor on Sunday. Coach Aaron Glenn hasn’t committed to a starter for Week 8.

1. Could the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles become the first teams in NFL history to cross paths in the Super Bowl three times in a four-season span? Yes, the answer is yes – that is most definitely within the realm of possibility as of Oct. 19, 2025. But Sunday afternoon suggests the likelihood is suddenly much better with both teams, who met in both Super Bowls 57 and 59, seemingly curing some of their recent ills amid encouraging victories.

2. Coming off a massive fail at the end of its three-peat quest in February, K.C. very much seems to be recapturing its dynastic form – winning for the fourth time in the past five weeks after whitewashing the Las Vegas Raiders 31-0. Patrick Mahomes was back in MVP form, pulled for the fourth quarter after passing for 286 yards and three TD – two to WR Rashee Rice, playing in his first game in more than a year after undergoing knee surgery 12 months ago before serving a six-game suspension to start this season.

3. Meanwhile, think Eagles QB Jalen Hurts can’t throw effectively? He compiled a perfect passer rating (158.3 in the NFL) Sunday in a 28-22 defeat of the Minnesota Vikings, all three of his TDs and nearly every one of his 326 yards divided between WRs A.J. Brown (121 yards, 2 TDs) and DeVonta Smith (183 yards, TD). And, y’all, he did this against the Vikings, one of the nastiest, most pressurized defenses in the league.

4. Nitpick the perennial league powers of the roaring 2020’s all you want … just realize you may once again be doing it all the way to Super Bowl 60 next February in Santa Clara, Calif.

4a. If you were historically curious, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys are currently the only teams to meet on Super Sunday three times – though that occurred over the course of 21 seasons (1975, 1978, 1995).

5. The number of touchdown passes thrown Sunday in London by Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford, a single-game record for an International Series game. The barrage matched Stafford’s career best – he’d done it four other times – but the first time he’s fired five for the Rams, his most recent occurrence a decade ago with the Detroit Lions.

5a. The number of players who have played in multiple international games in the same season but for different teams. Recently acquired Jacksonville Jaguars CB Greg Newsome II joined the list Sunday, two weeks after he played in London for the Cleveland Browns.

6. If Stafford hadn’t previously joined the unofficial race to be the league’s 2025 MVP, he’s most certainly in a field with Mahomes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield, the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and others now.

7. Don’t know what a “Siuuu” celebration is? (Raises hand.) For those of you – I mean us – who don’t really give a rip about European soccer, it’s what Portuguese star Ronaldo does after scoring a goal … on a pitch … in a match … maybe a friendly … perhaps off a set piece. Whatever. The Rams gave him a few nods on Sunday.

8. Speaking of soccer, seems there’s some synergistic growth between the Rams and London-based Arsenal of the Premier League. Both are owned by Stan Kroenke. Rams coach Sean McVay and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also have a blooming mutual admiration club.

9. The number of consecutive regular-season games in which Rams OLB Byron Young has recorded at least half a sack. No word as to whether any of the quarterbacks he bagged took a dive in a bid to draw a yellow card. Oops, wrong bullet point.

10. One more shoutout to the Rams and their social media team, who wrapped up about a day and a half’s worth of work in the U.K. with a nod to the Beatles and their “Abbey Road” album cover.

11. The number of consecutive games during which the Browns had scored 17 points or fewer. That ended Sunday when they dunked the drowning Miami Dolphins 31-6.

12. Cleveland QB Dillon Gabriel isn’t posting crazy numbers, but he’s certainly taking care of the ball. Fellow rookie Quinshon Judkins did the heavy offensive lifting Sunday with a season-best three TD runs, the first time he’d scored multiple times in an NFL game.

13. The number of penalties (for 119 yards) incurred by the Jags in Sunday’s London loss.

14. The number of sacks Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence has absorbed in the past two games, seven apiece. Prior to that, he’d never been sacked more than fives times in a single contest during his five-year career.

15. Jaguars rookie WR/CB Travis Hunter posted his best statline of the season (8 catches, 101 yards, TD, pass defensed). But the impact still isn’t there – Hunter’s first NFL score, a 34-yarder, doing little more than averting a Rams shutout.

16. And this is why the Green Bay Packers traded for DE Micah Parsons, who racked up a career-best three sacks in Sunday’s narrow 27-23 escape from the Arizona Cardinals. His 29 pressures pace the league.

16a.Hope the flight home was nice, fellas.

17. Congrats to the Panthers, winners of three in a row for the first time in four years. The question now is whether QB Bryce Young will be healthy enough to go for four in a row after injuring an ankle.

18.QB Jayden Daniels’ hamstring injury, depending on its severity, could cast a serious pall over the prospects of the Washington Commanders, who have lost three of four and nearly dropped into the NFC East basement Sunday. Fortunately for the Commanders, the Denver Broncos bowed up on the weekend when they honored their Super Bowl 50 champions and put the late, great WR Demaryius Thomas into their Ring of Fame. (More on Denver later.)

19. With a 61-yard field goal Sunday, Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey has now hit from 60+ five times in his three-year career, already an NFL record.

20. Prescott didn’t set a record Sunday, but he continues to play exceptionally well for a team that relies heavily on him − becoming the third player in NFL history to throw at least three touchdown passes and compile a passer rating of at least 120.0 in four straight games.

21. San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey may not be the so-called best player in the league, but he led his decimated team to another win Sunday night while outgaining Atlanta Falcons counterpart Bijan Robinson by 109 yards in Sunday night’s victory.

22. Drake Maye and the first-place New England Patriots are quickly making their fans forget about Tom Brady. (Just checking that those of you who have read this far are still paying close attention.) But Maye did eclipse one of TB12’s team records Sunday, connecting on 21 of 23 passes for a 91.3% completion rate, best in team history.

23. Maye is also part of a Patriots squad that’s won three road games in three weeks, another franchise first. We’d already learned this year that former New England coach Bill Belichick and his eight Super Bowl rings are overrated. But Brady was wicked average, too, apparently.24. A 31-13 rout of the aimless Titans had to feel good to current Pats coach Mike Vrabel, who was dismissed by Tennessee after the 2023 season for philosophical reasons despite the success he’d had in Nashville.

25. New England has five wins this season.

25a. Tennessee has four wins since Vrabel left.

26. Kudos to another exiled former HC, current Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. His current charges embarrassed the New Orleans Saints, who fired Allen midway through the 2024 campaign. The Bears racked up at least three takeaways for the fourth straight game while sacking Saints QB Spencer Rattler four times.

27. And just maybe the Monsters of the Midway are back, too, under rookie coach Ben Johnson, who’s led the Bears to their first four-game winning streak in seven years.

28. Per OptaSTATS, the number of venues Rams WR Davante Adams has scored a touchdown in after finding the end zone three times Sunday at London’s Wembley Stadium. Only Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (33) and Randy Moss (32) have scored in more buildings.

29. The number of regular-season wins (and losses) Miami coach Mike McDaniel has after the Fins were blown out in windy Cleveland on Sunday … and sure feels like those figures could remain permanent at any point.

30. Sure doesn’t help when your quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa in this case, throws three INTs in successive games while bemoaning team chemistry and focus in between.

31. The Indianapolis Colts became the first team to six wins this season, maintaining their position atop the AFC, with a dominant victory in LA.

32. Of course, the Colts should beat the Savannah Bananas convincingly.

32a. From a fashion perspective, the Bolts are almost always on point. But this was no way to honor the Air Coryell teams … who never sported such abominations in the first place.

33. Yes, this weekly column is about 32 things that happen in a given NFL week. But when a team scores 33 points in the fourth quarter, the most ever for a club that was shut out for the first three periods, we’ll go the extra mile for the Broncos.

TORONTO — Game 7 never gets old. Nor does it ever fail to humble even the greatest players to grace the October stage.

Max Scherzer is about to embark on his 11th winner-take-all game in his storied major league career, and in the moments after his Toronto Blue Jays kept their season alive with a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, his mental record book was whirring, taking him back to his playoff debut as a 26-year-old all the way through the two World Series championships he’s netted in the past six years.

“God, another one,” says Scherzer, stomping a bit and shaking his head, as is his wont. “I’m just walking around, going through all my Game 7s, my Game 5s, elimination games, last day, all these moments and you remember all of them.

“To get another one? My gosh. These are just so special, so hard to get to, that to get another crack at it – this is what you live for.”

Scherzer kept private what he plans to impart to his mates, but it will be experience borne of seven Division Series Game 5s, one wild card game, an ALCS Game 7 and of course, Game 7 of the 2019 World Series, when Scherzer started the clincher for the Washington Nationals two days after getting scratched from a start due to a debilitating neck malady.

And that’s exactly the sort of sacrifice the Mariners and Blue Jays expect up and down the roster in what should be a titillating evening of baseball at Rogers Centre.

Let’s take a peek inside the latest installment of baseball’s ultimate win-or-go-home drama:

Who’s available? Everybody

In the hours between the Blue Jays’ crushing Game 5 loss to Seattle and their Game 6 revival, closer Jeff Hoffman was chatting with his wife about what might be expected of him the next two nights.

“We were talking about the potential of me throwing multiple innings today, or maybe tomorrow, or maybe both. Who knows what it will call for?” says Hoffman, who in fact threw two near-perfect innings in Game 6, striking out four of the seven batters he faced.

“She asked me, ‘Are you good to do that?’ And it’s like, there’s no choice. You’re good to do it. If that’s what the team needs you to do, you go out and do it and worry about tomorrow the next day.”

With that in mind, both clubs are in decent shape. The Blue Jays did burn Hoffman for two innings and set-up man Louis Varland for four outs, but stayed away from fireballing Seranthony Dominguez, who should be available for an extended stint in Game 7.

The Mariners used top set-up man Matt Brash for an inning and Eduard Bazardo for two. But lefty Gabe Speier got a needed night off and closer Andres Muñoz did not pitch. He will almost certainly be called upon for multiple innings if the Mariners hold a late lead or – egad! – the game goes extra innings.

In short: Relievers are already built to pitch until their arms come off – and both units are in good shape.

All hands on deck

There’s nothing that makes the heart jump in an elimination game than a starter warming up in the bullpen. And both Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber and Mariners counterpart George Kirby will have a troika of veterans behind them.

Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo and Luis Castillo will all be available behind Kirby, who gave up eight runs in his Game 3 start.

As for the Blue Jays, Scherzer, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt are all available to provide length if Bieber hits the wall early. Or, to put out a fire as needed.  

“If you like postseason baseball, this is what it’s all about,” says Gausman. “You might see Max Scherzer in the fifth inning. You might see me later in the game. This is kind of what it is.

“As a player, this is what we want. We’ve all been grinding since Feb. 1st, even before then, so now we win one game, we’re going to the World Series.”

Managerial mindsets

Game 6 was a balm for Blue Jays manager John Schneider, whose decision to deploy inconsistent lefty Brendon Little in Game 5 blew up and put his club in a win-or-go-home stance.

Now, the mental edge may have shifted, what with the Blue Jays having already stared down their mortality.

Heck, Schneider himself sounds like a dude who just got a stay of execution.

“It’s pretty frickin’ cool that we are where we are. I’m not going to lie,” he said after Game 6. “You got to keep your foot on the gas and get ready for tomorrow.

This is what we sign up for. Whenever you can play for Game 7 to go to the World Series, it sounds kind of cool to say it, you know. But this is why we sacrifice everything. It’s why players sacrifice everything.

“This team, this group of men, are special. You never know where the journey’s going lead. It leads to a Game 7 in the ALCS and that’s frickin’ awesome.

“Again, man, when spring training starts, and you say, hey, you got one game to win to go to the World Series, you take that every single time.”

For the record, that’s two “frickins” and one “cool” and “awesome” apiece.

How about you, Seattle manager Dan Wilson?

“So we’ll make our adjustments offensively tomorrow, and we’ll be ready to go Game 7,” he said after a night the club grounded into double plays in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

“I mean, this is the time to make those adjustments and baseball’s a game of adjustments, and they will be able to do that tomorrow night and ready to go.”

Vibe check? Advantage, Blue Jays.

Heavy history

Both clubs were born in 1977. Yet the Mariners have never played in a Game 7.

Toronto has a more storied history, with consecutive World Series titles in 1992 and ’93. Yet it’s been 40 years since they’ve played a Game 7, when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Kansas City Royals in the 1985 ALCS.

The ALCS has been an unkind hurdle to both clubs the past quarter-century. Toronto lost in six games to Kansas City in 2015 and five games to Cleveland in 2016, while Seattle succumbed to the New York Yankees in 2000 and 2001.

They’d never been one game away from a World Series in their history, until Eugenio Suárez’s grand slam won them Game 5. They’re still waiting, and now must contend with what could be an evenly-matched and excruciating Game 7 for both squads.

Prediction: Blue Jays 6, Mariners 4

The NBA season is nearly underway, and the Oklahoma City Thunder look poised to become the first team since the Golden State Warriors in 2018 to win back-to-back titles. Of course, there are 29 other teams looking to ensure that does not happen.

Players are returning from injury. Big moves during the offseason could lead to new, unforeseen rises from contenders. All it takes is one slip-up or injury to derail an entire campaign. Of course, that is unpredictable. All we can look at is each team’s potential and weigh it against its risk.

That’s essentially what preseason odds are, in a sense. Assessing each team’s potential and weighing it against reality. With the season starting Tuesday, Oct. 21, here is every team in the league ranked by its championship odds. All odds via BetMGM:

NBA power rankings by championship odds

The favorites

1) Oklahoma City Thunder (+240)

2) Denver Nuggets (+550)

3) Cleveland Cavaliers (+750)

4) New York Knicks (+900)

5) Minnesota Timberwolves (+1300)

6) Houston Rockets (+1400)

7) Los Angeles Lakers (+1600)

T-8) Orlando Magic (+1800)

T-8) Los Angeles Clippers (+1800)

Among this group, the Cleveland Cavaliers have the clearest path to an NBA championship. If not for a magical run by the Indiana Pacers a year ago, we may have watched the Thunder duke it out with the Cavaliers in the Finals. Now, with Indiana’s best player, Tyrese Haliburton, out for the season, Cleveland has an opportunity.

Meanwhile, the West is full of strong contenders, and while Oklahoma City stands above the rest, there is a lot of competition, meaning less room for error. Furthermore, the Thunder have targets on their backs now.

The dark horses

10) Golden State Warriors (+2500)

11) Detroit Pistons (+3300)

T-12) Atlanta Hawks (+4000)

T-12) Philadelphia 76ers (+4000)

T-12) Dallas Mavericks (+4000)

People seem to forget that the Golden State Warriors were 23-7 with Jimmy Butler last season. That’s a .767 win percentage, which would have been the best record in the Western Conference. Given that Butler, Curry, and Draymond Green are all a year older now, there’s reason to believe the team will regress. However, given their odds are substantially lower than the top-nine teams in the league, they could be worthy of a flier.

The underdogs

15) Milwaukee Bucks (+5500)

T-16) Boston Celtics (+6600)

T-16) San Antonio Spurs (+6600)

T-18) Indiana Pacers (+10000)

T-18) Toronto Raptors (+10000)

20) Memphis Grizzlies (+12500)

21) Miami Heat (+20000)

22) New Orleans Pelicans (+30000)

The San Antonio Spurs have hit on virtually every draft pick they’ve had in recent memory, and while we don’t quite know what to expect from Victor Wembanyama after he missed a good chunk of time a season ago, we can still assume he’ll be one of the most dominant defensive forces in the NBA, making everyone else’s job on that team that much easier.

While the loss of Chris Paul could certainly come back to haunt the Spurs — every team seems to be better with Paul and worse without him — the extension the team granted to De’Aaron Fox has solidified the team’s young core for the foreseeable future. This could be the first year the Spurs make a massive jump in the standings if everyone stays healthy.

The long shots

T-23) Chicago Bulls (+50000)

T-23) Phoenix Suns (+50000)

T-23) Portland Trail Blazers (+50000)

T-23) Sacramento Kings (+50000)

T-27) Brooklyn Nets (+100000)

T-27) Charlotte Hornets (+100000)

T-27) Washington Wizards (+100000)

T-27) Utah Jazz (+100000)

There isn’t much to like with any of these squads, but if you had to bet on one team exceeding expectations this year, the Sacramento Kings could be a slight sleeper pick. The team won 40 games a season ago with a positive point differential. The Kings have more talent than most people realize and just upgraded at point guard with the addition of Dennis Schroder. Don’t be shocked if this team finishes over .500 and makes a push for a spot in the playoffs.

When does the NBA season start?

The NBA season tips off with a doubleheader on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The first game will be a showdown in Oklahoma City as the defending champion Thunder raise their banner in a matchup against the Houston Rockets. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

The second game of the night will see the Golden State Warriors travel south to take on the Los Angeles Lakers (although LeBron James has been ruled out for the game against Steph Curry and Co.). The game will start at 10 p.m. ET.