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Gap between Chiefs and Ravens is bigger than toe that decided game

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Gap between Chiefs and Ravens is bigger than toe that decided game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Yeah … a toenail separated the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens as the final second ticked off the game clock in Thursday’s 2024 NFL regular-season opener.

Ravens quarterback and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson directed an impressive 77-yard drive, and for a few moments, seemed to have tied the game as he delivered a pass that only tight end Isaiah Likely could catch in the back of the end zone. And Likely did seem to get both feet down to complete the would-be scoring play, prompting officials to signal “touchdown.”

But film review revealed a smidgen of Likely’s right toe landed on the white of the back boundary line of the end zone, meaning he was out of bounds. No catch. Game over. Chiefs win 27-20. Waves of relief and jubilance washed over the Kansas City faithful. Heartbreak suffocated Baltimore’s flock.

A toenail? That’s it? Yes and no.

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The majority of the first 59 minutes and 59 seconds of the game reflected a far greater margin of discrepancy and the reality that even in a flawed performance, the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Chiefs remain the toast of the league. It also showed that the Ravens — one of the AFC’s elite teams, who also fell to Kansas City in gut-wrenching fashion in the conference championship game last January — have a ways to go if they expect to overtake the champs. So do the NFL’s 30 other teams.

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There were plenty of disjointed moments as the Chiefs kicked off their quest for an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat. Three first-half drops in scoring position and an interception by Patrick Mahomes on a tipped pass prevented the Chiefs from taking a lopsided halftime lead. If not for defensive shortcomings that allowed Baltimore to score on a 49-yard catch and run by Likely to cut the score to 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs would have won comfortably.

But also on display:

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• The unmatched adaptability and creativity that serve as the hallmarks of Andy Reid’s offense.

• A near flawless performance from Mahomes, who aside from the interception to Baltimore’s All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith off a tip by Trenton Simpson, completed 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown.

• The development of second-year wide receiver Rashee Rice, who recorded seven catches for 103 yards.

• The heroics of another new weapon in rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who had a 21-yard rushing touchdown and a 35-yard touchdown catch.

• The continued dominance of defensive lineman Chris Jones, who recorded a second-quarter strip-sack to position Kansas City to take its first lead of the game.

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The list goes on.

This is the last thing the rest of the NFL wants to hear, but this Chiefs team is better than last season’s iteration. That was clear Thursday night.

Aside from the fact that Kansas City has the best quarterback of this generation and that Reid and Mahomes share a brain, the Chiefs appear poised to maintain their place atop the heap because Reid and general manager Brett Veach have built a juggernaut. They do so in a way that remains far from stagnant. There are core pieces, yes. But the evolution remains constant.

Year after year, whether it be draft picks or journeyman free agents, the coach and GM have excelled at finding talent capable of plugging holes and filling key roles — some for the short term, some for the long term.

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It’s a player like 2021 fifth-round tight end Noah Gray, who has developed into the perfect complement to Travis Kelce. Or 2022 seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco, who has grown into a workhorse. Or first-rounders turned defensive cornerstones Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis, or Rice, a second-round pick in 2023. The latest difference-making puzzle piece is Worthy, a Texas product, who boasts a 4.21-second 40-yard dash time and started opposite Rice on Thursday night.

Successful drafts and free-agent acquisitions have enabled Kansas City to keep rolling despite the departures of key players like Tyreek Hill, one of the best wide receivers in the game. Kansas City’s brass simply looks for another piece and figures out how to capitalize on the replacement player’s strengths.

The principles of Reid’s offense remain the same, as they have for more than a decade in Kansas City. But the Chiefs’ ways of attacking remain ever-changing. Part of this stems from the creative freedoms the coach affords Mahomes and Kelce. But that future Hall of Fame duo’s leadership and influence on their teammates also breeds cohesion and versatility.

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“Everybody accepts everybody in this offense,” Mahomes said. “They learn so much from (Kelce) and they pick his brain and listen to him talking to me, and we build all throughout the year. You can see (Rice) picked up right where he left off, and (Worthy) made some big plays. … We’re going to continue building and building and we’re looking forward to getting Hollywood (Brown) back and see how good this offense can be.”

Mahomes on Thursday passed for nearly 300 yards and spread the ball around to seven pass catchers NOT named Kelce. The All-Pro tight end had a very pedestrian three catches for 34 yards, but that’s because the ever-increasing comfort and effectiveness of Rice, Gray (three catches, 37 yards) and Pacheco (two catches, 33 yards) means Mahomes doesn’t have to force-feed Kelce just to get the offense rolling.

The versatility extends to the backfield. One third-quarter sequence perfectly reflected this. Pacheco (15 carries for 45 yards) came out of the game after a 3-yard carry. Free-agent addition Samaje Perine replaced him, caught a pass out of the backfield and gained 10 yards. On the next play, rookie Carson Steele entered and rushed for 5 yards. The machine just keeps rolling because every contributor clearly understands his role, and the coaches have a firm grasp on how to use them.

Contrast that with the lack of consistency in options and production for Baltimore’s offense, and the gap between contender franchises feels far more significant.

The Ravens have an all-world quarterback of their own in Jackson. And this offseason, they signed running back Derrick Henry in hopes that the longtime Tennessee Titans workhorse could help ensure balance and ease pressure on Jackson.

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But Baltimore’s offense encountered the same problems Thursday night that it has throughout Jackson’s six seasons as the starting quarterback. Unless Jackson does it all, there is next to no spark. Outside of Jackson, who may go down as the greatest dual-threat quarterback the game has seen, versatility is scarce.

The Ravens are counting on second-year wideout Zay Flowers to continue to ascend. But Thursday, he was used in a similar fashion to his rookie season, when he primarily snagged quick hitters and tried to use his speed and elusiveness to break those short throws for big gains. Likely did rack up nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown, but the Ravens struggled to get No. 1 tight end Mark Andrews involved (he finished with only two catches for 14 yards).

The struggles of a revamped offensive line left Jackson either scrambling to elude defenders or quickly dumping the ball off before plays could develop downfield. (If anyone could use a burner like Worthy, it’s the Ravens, who until hitting on Flowers’ draft selection last season have annually swung and missed at wide receiver prospects.)

It was one game, but Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken will have to go back to the drawing board because his offense looked a lot like it did last year. Unless the Ravens have the lead, they struggle to establish a run game.

As time started to wane, you could sense Jackson’s frustration growing as his line afforded him little time to operate from the pocket. So he donned the cape once again and started calling his own number.

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Jackson willed the Ravens back into the game, delivering 273 passing yards and a touchdown and 122 rushing yards on 16 carries. But although he’s capable, 122 rushing yards from Jackson is not the recipe for sustained success.

Henry, meanwhile, finished with 46 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. But he’s traditionally at his best in the second half of games, where after pounding away at defenders in the first half, his bruising runs begin to take their toll on the opposition and turn into big gains. But because the Ravens trailed for the majority of the game, they couldn’t afford a methodical, run-heavy approach.

Jackson and the Ravens said they drew encouragement from their game-ending drive, even if it did come up short by the centimeters of Likely’s cleat.

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Self-inflicted wounds from penalties, missed connections on open passes (two in the end zone before the last play), blown pass coverages on defense — and not the Chiefs — cost them the game, Jackson and his teammates insisted.

“They’re not my kryptonite,” Jackson said when asked about his history of struggles against Kansas City. “They’re not my kryptonite. … The whole game gives me encouragement because guys fought. We have to clean up penalties, clean up incompletions and work on scramble drills, make those throws and catch those. … It’s very frustrating, but we were busting our behinds out there. We’re trying to win a game out there, and it felt like every time we had a big play there was a flag and we can’t be having that.”

It’s a long season, the Ravens understand. But they missed an opportunity to make a statement against the Chiefs. They believe another opportunity will present itself. And when it comes, they expect to deliver.

“That’s the worst game we’re going to play all year,” Likely said, vowing that he and his teammates will improve as the season progresses, “and if this was the best they’ve got, then good luck.”

You have to like the mindset, but who wants to break it to him?

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That certainly wasn’t Kansas City’s best. And while the Ravens did manage to hang with the champs thanks to some late-game heroics, they’ll need much more growth to overtake them.

(Photo of Marcus Williams and Patrick Mahomes: David Eulitt / 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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