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The 5 NFL units with best chances to improve in Week 2: Steelers run game, Jets offense and more

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The 5 NFL units with best chances to improve in Week 2: Steelers run game, Jets offense and more

After a victorious debut as the Los Angeles Chargers’ head coach, Jim Harbaugh, who knows a thing or two about team building, told his squad: “You won’t make as much progress in the entire season as you will from Week 1 to Week 2, I’m telling you this.”

Of course, this applies more to the teams with a good coaching staff and the tools to make the necessary fixes after learning exactly where they need to improve. For teams that don’t have the resources to fix multiple issues, learning about themselves won’t matter. Sixteen teams lost in Week 1, but they don’t all have to panic. Here are five units that underperformed but have the means to greatly improve.

The Ravens went into one of the league’s loudest stadiums against the champion Kansas City Chiefs — who were led by their defense last season — and were a toenail away from scoring 26 points and possibly winning on a 2-point attempt. Issues Baltimore will have to figure out were certainly exposed, but no one should panic about this offense.

This is Lamar Jackson’s second year in coordinator Todd Monken’s system, Zay Flowers is in his second NFL season, and Isaiah Likely has developed into a consistent weapon. Not to mention, they have Derrick Henry. Henry’s Ravens debut wasn’t great — 13 carries for 46 yards (3.5 yards per carry) — but he didn’t have much of an opportunity to get to the open field. Henry has always been a back who needs space to build up speed. He can be stopped for short gain after short gain and suddenly hit a 50-yard run. He didn’t have the chance in Week 1 because the Ravens fell behind.

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The concern is the right side of the offensive line. Guard Daniel Faalele switched from tackle, and coach John Harbaugh has raved about his athleticism, but it will be a process. I trust the Ravens’ ability to evaluate and fix issues. They’ll have to improve quickly, however, because the Las Vegas Raiders have an elite defensive line. When Jackson had time, Flowers was getting open against an elite secondary, but the Ravens threw a ton of screens because they didn’t trust the line to hold up.

Tight end Mark Andrews has been a stalwart, but his two-catch performance against the Chiefs has some concerned he might not be fully recovered from a season-ending ankle injury and car accident in August. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo made taking away Andrews a focal point. According to Pro Football Focus, Andrews was double covered at a higher rate than in any of his games from 2021 to 2023. He saw a combination of true bracket coverage and multiple defenders crowding him in the zone.

Jackson led the team in carries and took several hits against the Chiefs; he had to rest Tuesday because of soreness. That can’t continue, but it was the first week, against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs; they were emptying their chamber. Barring a major injury, the Ravens will be a top-10 offense this season.

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Jets fans are panicking. A team seen as a playoff contender was pummeled by the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers on the road. I get it. The final numbers aren’t great. The starting offense scored just 13 points, Breece Hall had 16 rushes for 54 yards, and Aaron Rodgers passed for only 167 yards.

The Jets are an outside zone team and tried to attack the 49ers outside. San Francisco was vulnerable on the outside last season but has worked on shoring up that weakness in the offseason and looked great chasing down perimeter runs. Also, the Jets’ offensive line hasn’t played together, so testing their communication and chemistry against an attacking front like the 49ers’ is difficult. The Jets have the talent to improve and open running lanes for Hall if they can stay healthy.

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Rodgers doesn’t look fully recovered from the Achilles injury that took him out for the season. His mobility is compromised. He didn’t scramble and tried to break the pocket only once, but his arm looked great. He was throwing with zip and made a few signature throws, including a one-step fade to Allen Lazard down the sideline that was perfect. On that same drive, he got the defense to jump, got a free play and threw a dime for a touchdown to Lazard.

First quarter, 7:34 remaining, third-and-7

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On third-and-7, the Jets lined up in empty. Rodgers saw two deep safeties and signaled to the weak side with Garrett Wilson lined up in the slot to presumably change the route combo into a “drive” concept, which is good against Cover 2.

The underneath defender bit on the shallow route, leaving Wilson open behind him. Rodgers started his throwing motion before Wilson got inside.

The throw was perfect and allowed Wilson to run after the catch.

Rodgers was stellar on money downs. He was 4-of-7 on third and fourth downs with two drops that had enough yardage to convert. His fourth-down throw to Wilson was behind him but catchable.

Rodgers should gain some mobility as the season progresses, but even confined to the pocket, he’s better than any Jets quarterback in a long time. The offense needs to run the ball better to support Rodgers, but he’s still a high-level quarterback in the pocket. This might not be one of the league’s top offenses, but the Jets have won games on the backs of their defense. They just need the offense to be middle of the pack, and Rodgers has shown enough to make me believe he could make them a little better than that.

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One of the major questions for the Rams heading into the season was how their defense would look without future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald. They were gashed on the ground in Week 1 by the Detroit Lions, who rushed for 163 yards with the league’s highest rushing success rate (73.3 percent) on designed runs. But it took Detroit overtime to score 26 points on the young Rams defense.

Fourth quarter, 9:15 remaining, second-and-8

Here, the Rams played Cover 8 against the Lions’ two-by-two formation with the back offset to the right. Cover 8 means they are playing Cover 2 zone to the strong side (three-receiver side) and Cover 4 to the weak side (two-receiver side).

The underneath defenders converged on the underneath routes Jared Goff looked to first and forced him to get to his next read, which was Amon-Ra St. Brown on a dig. Playing Cover 4 to the weak side creates the possibility that the weakside safety could help on crossers coming from the strong side, which is exactly what happened here.

Goff didn’t see safety John Johnson III come from the weak side to help on St. Brown, and Goff threw the ball right to him.

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The defensive line pressured Goff on 55.6 percent of third-down dropbacks. First-round pick Jared Verse had six pressures and a quality sack against left tackle Taylor Decker. A coverage bust led to a big play, but overall, the secondary looked good passing off routes and communicating. Corner Tre’Davious White, coming back from an Achilles tear, looked slow, but the hope is he improves as the season progresses.

The defense doesn’t have to be a top-10 unit when the Rams offense is healthy, but the offense might be one of the most injured units in the league right now. The defense had an encouraging debut, and it’ll need to make a Week 2 leap to keep the team afloat while it gets healthy.

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The run game will be the Steelers’ catalyst no matter who plays quarterback. Pittsburgh is switching to offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s outside zone scheme. It takes time for an offensive line to jell in that scheme. It’s a relatively simple one in terms of play volume but requires a lot of communication to execute properly, and the running backs have to get adept at consistently making the right reads and cuts.

Against the Atlanta Falcons, who finished second in defensive rushing success rate last season, the Steelers had 106 yards but averaged only 2.9 yards and had a 38.9 percent rushing success rate on designed rushes (QB scrambles not included). Watching the tape, they were close to breaking some runs but couldn’t because of a missed assignment, a bad read by the running back or a block wasn’t held long enough.

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Running back Najee Harris also looked a bit indecisive in this new scheme. Jaylen Warren is coming back from injury and his snaps were limited, but he might be a better fit in this offense than Harris. I’d expect the running game to look better with more carries for Warren. Also, it appears the total option package for Justin Fields hasn’t been installed yet. Smith’s QB run game was much more expansive when he was the Falcons’ head coach.

Second quarter, 8:36 remaining, second-and-2

Here, the Steelers are running a variant of outside zone called Zorro. Tight end Pat Freiermuth was responsible for blocking the safety in the alley.

However, Freiermuth blocked the inside linebacker, whom the play-side guard and tackle were responsible for, leaving safety Jessie Bates III unblocked.

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Harris looked to have the opportunity to cut vertically and bang inside for 4 or more yards or cut all the way back and try to run through the backside pursuit player. He instead kept pressing outside, right into Bates, for a gain of only 2.

Cleaning up these issues will take some time, but they are correctable. The run game should also be bolstered when All-Pro guard Isaac Seumalo returns from a pectoral injury he suffered in camp. This run game has a chance to be one of the better ones in the league with the threat of Fields keeping the ball.

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Whichever side you were on in the great Anthony Richardson debate, last Sunday didn’t sway you either way. Richardson had a few spectacular throws, including maybe one of the best passes of all time, but also was off-target on 15.8 percent of his passes. However, there were several instances when receivers slipped on the freshly installed turf in Lucas Oil Stadium. Tight end Kylen Granson slipped while running a crosser on Richardson’s lone interception. And Adonai Mitchell appeared to improvise a deep route on one play, which caught Richardson by surprise.

What is important is Richardson is making the correct read, and his process is relatively clean, considering he’s still extremely green. His Week 2 matchup with the Green Bay Packers will be his 18th start since high school. He’ll have his misses, but it’s mostly due to footwork, which is correctable.

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Mitchell looks like the legitimate deep threat this offense needs, and slot receiver Josh Downs, who was having a great camp before injuring his ankle, will return soon. Even with the misses, the young Colts played well against the Houston Texans, who will have one of the better defenses in the league. They’ll have a juicy matchup with a weak Packers run defense. Green Bay will likely load the box with the corners playing soft and force Richardson to beat them underneath.

(Top photo of Najee Harris: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)

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Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit

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Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit

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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue. 

Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June. 

Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male. 

 

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Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports. 

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling. 

“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.

Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case. 

(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

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“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital. 

“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13. 

Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters. 

With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.

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Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college. 

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice. 

Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”

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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)

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SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.

“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said. 

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Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush

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Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush

Myles Garrett is in a hurry to become the greatest pass rusher in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end set the single-season sack record in 2025 and has cracked the top 20 career leaders after only nine seasons.

“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.

Off the field, however, his urgency to get from point A to B is a problem. He’s accumulating speeding tickets at an alarming rate.

On Feb. 21, Garrett was handed his ninth speeding ticket since his NFL career began in 2017. He was cited for driving 94 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.

The citation from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says Garrett was driving his green 2024 Porsche at 1:35 a.m., returning home after attending a Miami of Ohio basketball game in Oxford.

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Body cam footage shows the officer telling Garrett that she kept the charge under 100 mph so that a court appearance wouldn’t be mandatory. Garrett reportedly still holds a Texas driver’s license — he attended Texas A&M — and told the officer that he did not have an Ohio license.

Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett wears a jacket displaying his girlfriend Chloe Kim before the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy.

(Lindsey Wasson / AP)

The officer wrote that the famously affable Garrett was “kind and cooperative,” and that drugs and alcohol were not a factor.

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Garrett’s need for speed flies in the face of his persona. He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.

His girlfriend is two-time gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, for whom he wrote a poem he shared on social media: “You enrapture fools to kings, and exist without a peer, put on this Earth for many things, but our love is why you’re here.”

Verse hasn’t slowed his roll. On Aug. 9 he was cited for ticket No. 8, clocked at 100 mph in a 60-mph zone in a Cleveland suburb a day after the Browns returned home from a preseason game at Carolina.

Garrett’s seventh ticket followed a frightening crash in 2022. He flipped his gray 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S off State Road in Sharon Township and he and a female passenger were injured. He was cited for failing to control his vehicle due to unsafe speeds on what had been a slick roadway.

A witness told a responding police officer that Garrett’s vehicle went airborne, took out a fire hydrant and rolled three times. Garrett sustained shoulder and biceps sprains and was sidelined for the Browns’ game that week against the Atlanta Falcons. His companion was not seriously injured.

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Cleveland television station WKYC reported that in September 2021 Garrett was stopped twice in a 24-hour period — for driving 120 and 105 mph. The infractions occurred on Interstate 71 in Medina County, where the speed limit is 70 mph, and he paid fines of $267 and $287.

A year earlier, Garrett was cited for driving 100 mph in a 65-mph zone of Interstate 77 — again while driving a Porsche — and paid a $308 fine. He accumulated his first batch of speeding tickets in 2017 and 2018, and the police reports recite similar circumstances: Garrett driving well over the speed limit, cited without incident, paid a nominal fine.

The piddly fines certainly aren’t a deterrent. Garrett, 30, and the Browns agreed to a four-year contract extension in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The deal pays the seven-time All-Pro more than $40 million a season and includes more than $123 million in guaranteed money.

He set the NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 last season, surpassing the 22.5 accumulated by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Garrett has 125.5 career sacks, averaging 14 a season, a pace that would enable him to break Bruce Smith’s career record of 200 in five years.

“That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get,” Garrett said. “That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”

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Garrett has declined to discuss his driving habits.

“I’d honestly prefer to talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off the field other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” he told reporters after ticket No. 8 in August, referring to a charity appearance.

“I try to keep my personal life personal. And I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”

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Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death

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Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death

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Former ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called late legendary college football coach Lou Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead. 

“Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights. 

Olbermann received scathing criticism in response to his post on X.

 

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“You’re a scumbag that needs mental help,” one X user wrote to Olbermann. 

One user echoed that sentiment, writing to Olbermann, “You’re the real scumbag here. Lou Holtz had more class, integrity, and genuine decency in his pinky finger than you’ll ever show in your lifetime.”

Another user wrote, “You’re a grumpy, lonely, Godless man. All the things Lou Holtz was not.”

Keith Olbermann speaks onstage during the Olbermann panel at the ESPN portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel July 24, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif.  (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash.

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After the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win, Olbermann heavily criticized the team for accepting an invitation from President Trump to the State of the Union address. Olbermann wrote on X that any members of the men’s team who attended the event were “declaring their indelible stupidity and misogyny,” while praising the women’s team for declining the invitation.

In January, Olbermann attacked former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler for celebrating a women’s rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for two cases focused on the legality of biological male trans athletes in women’s sports.

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz listens before being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec, 3, 2020.  (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It’s still about you trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to succeed in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post. 

In 2025, Olbermann faced significant backlash after posting (and later deleting) a message on X aimed at CNN contributor Scott Jennings, that said, “You’re next motherf—–,” shortly after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. 

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Holtz was a stern supporter of President Donald Trump, even saying in February 2024 that Trump needed to “coach America back to greatness!”

Near the end of Trump’s first term, shortly after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, Trump awarded Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States. 

After Holtz’s death was announced Wednesday, several top GOP figures paid tribute to the coach on social media. 

Those GOP lawmakers included senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; representatives Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Steve Womack, R-Ark.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Indiana Gov. Mike Braun; U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon; and Rudy Giuliani.

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Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, addresses the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis July 26, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

At the time of publication, prominent Democrat leaders have appeared silent on Holtz’s passing, including prominent Democrats with a football background. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who worked as an assistant high school football coach; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was a recruiting target for Holtz in 1986 as a college prospect; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who played in the NFL; and Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Ill., who played football for the University of Illinois, have not posted acknowledging Holtz’s death. 

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