Sports
Week 9 NFL roundtable: Anthony Richardson, Lions-Packers, coaches on hot seat
Maybe the NFL knew what it was doing when it flexed Indianapolis Colts-Minnesota Vikings into prime time.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson’s benching has been a major talking point around the league this week. Another act of Joe Flacco’s career begins against the Vikings, who were once the hottest team in the league before losing their last two. Minnesota reinforced its offensive line by trading for Jacksonville Jaguars OT Cam Robinson.
Speaking of trades, the NFL trade deadline looms Tuesday. So, there is plenty more our NFL writers Jeff Howe, Mike Sando and Zak Keefer will discuss in this roundtable previewing Sunday’s Week 9 slate.
We’ll see more of the wide receivers who have already been traded to new squads — the Buffalo Bills’ Amari Cooper and Kansas City Chiefs’ DeAndre Hopkins among them. New Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Diontae Johnson should make his debut against the Denver Broncos.
Elsewhere, we can’t seem to go a week without a big NFC North game. Also, is it time to gauge which head coaches are on the hot seat?
Read more below.
Another week, another big NFC North game. This time, it’s Lions–Packers. Green Bay has won four straight. Detroit has won five straight. What or who makes the biggest difference in this one?
Howe: The Lions are the best team in the league right now, but I think the Packers are in the neighborhood and capable of beating anyone if Jordan Love is healthy. I’ll focus on the Packers run defense, though. It’s been a top-10 unit so far, and the overall defense has been solid for the most part. The Lions are so successful on offense because they’ve been able to run it whenever they want and have kept Jared Goff on schedule. From what I’ve heard, teams want to see if Goff can play at this level if he’s forced into more of a standard drop-back game — essentially, if the Lions aren’t able to dominate on the ground and allow Ben Johnson to tap into his most creative plays. If Goff can handle such a test, the Lions will be more dangerous than anyone probably realizes. If not, it opens the door in the NFC for some of the teams at the Lions’ heels.
Keefer: I’m with Jeff — I think the Lions are the best team in football right now, even though the Chiefs are the squad with the spotless record. Love’s availability after leaving last week’s win with a groin injury remains paramount, and I wonder if he plays, how much that might limit some of his playmaking ability. But the key here, to me, is what Josh Jacobs can give the Packers offense. They’ve been leaning on him heavily. Jacobs has more carries in the first eight weeks of the season (145) of any Packers running back in the last 25 years other than Ahman Green (in 2003 and 2004). With Love likely less than 100 percent, Jacobs breaking one or two open might be the Pack’s best shot.
GO DEEPER
Lions-Packers preview: Can Green Bay slow Jared Goff and the red-hot Detroit offense?
Sando: Love’s being less than 100 percent is the key variable and swings this game toward Detroit for me. My fear from a Green Bay standpoint is that we might see the worst of Love without the best, and that he simply won’t be efficient enough to keep pace with Detroit.
The Saints (at Panthers), Jaguars (at Eagles) and Cowboys (at Falcons) are each on the road Sunday and in dire need of a win. Which head coach’s seat is hottest among the three?
Howe: All three are in serious jeopardy regardless. I guess it depends on how you quantify hotness. As with anything involving the Cowboys, every situation is always the most extreme there, and the attention on Mike McCarthy’s job with Bill Belichick potentially waiting in the shadows is an unmatched situation this season. On the other hand, Doug Pederson has been under fire the longest because of the Jaguars’ bad start, and it seems like it’ll take a monstrous turnaround for him to get another chance in 2025.
Keefer: The Saints’ collapse this season after a blistering start has been staggering. It’s hard to see Mickey Loomis and ownership backing Dennis Allen again, especially after the two disappointing seasons that preceded this year. I think Mike McCarthy’s future in Dallas at this point is a fait accompli. The Cowboys have been far too uneven, and the roster isn’t nearly as deep as it was in the past, for this team to become a serious contender later in the season. Missing the playoffs would seal the end of McCarthy’s five-year run, and possibly open the door for Belichick to join the circus.
Would Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy be fired if his team misses the playoffs in 2024? (Kelley L Cox / Imagn Images)
Sando: I expect all three places to change in the offseason. Short term, I think Dallas and New Orleans are least likely to change in-season. Those franchises take longer-range views.
We’ll get a chance to see more of Amari Cooper (Bills vs. Dolphins on Sunday) and DeAndre Hopkins (Chiefs vs. Bucs on Monday). Diontae Johnson’s Ravens debut could come this week against the Broncos. Which of these three wide receiver trades are you most confident in moving forward?
Howe: I want to say Cooper because he’s already been through a midseason trade, and that experience should pay off when it comes to learning a new playbook. But with that said, I can’t overthink it. Hopkins has had the best career of the three, and he’s joining the best offensive situation. Plus, Hopkins may only need to catch three or four passes per game to be effective.
Keefer: Jeff’s right. Something tells me Hopkins is going to make a critical catch late in a playoff win for Kansas City in the next few months. He’s one of the best of his generation at not needing to be even remotely open and still finding a way to catch the ball. But I loved what the Bills did in adding Cooper to their young receiving unit; this team is going to need every bit of firepower against Baltimore or Kansas City in the playoffs. He’ll help Keon Coleman continue to develop as well.
Sando: Hopkins, with Cooper close behind him, and then Johnson. Hopkins seems like a good match for Mahones in the scramble drill. I think he can complement Travis Kelce in those situations and expect that to show in critical moments.
Considering a choppy NFC West race this year, should the Rams (at Seahawks) hang on to Cooper Kupp?
Howe: The only reason to trade Kupp, short of receiving a significant return, would be if the Rams believed Matthew Stafford was set to retire this offseason — or Kupp for that matter. I certainly understand other points such as an aging receiver who’s dealt with more injuries of late, but the Rams are still in play in the NFC. Executives and coaches around the league still view Sean McVay in the highest regard, so they’ve got a chance to hang with anyone if they can get into the playoffs. Are they a realistic Super Bowl threat? Probably not. But why remove Kupp from the equation if they think he’s still got some years left?
Keefer: This division is wide open at the moment, with the Rams just a half-game back. And if they beat the Seahawks on Sunday, there’s no way I’m trading Cooper Kupp. McVay will get the offense right with Kupp healthy again — and if that offensive line holds up. First-year coordinator Chris Shula has the defense playing much better than in the first month of the season. With Seattle and San Francisco both looking vulnerable and Arizona as unpredictable as it’s been, it wouldn’t stun me if the Rams made a late-season run with Kupp as a centerpiece.
Sando: I’d support the Rams getting value for Kupp because of his durability concerns and because of his contract. Those are also the reasons I’m not expecting teams to be lining up to acquire him. I’d think he stays with the Rams.
The Los Angeles Rams have shot down Cooper Kupp (10) trade rumors with Tuesday’s deadline approaching. (Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
Colts–Vikings is the focus Sunday night. Is Anthony Richardson’s benching justified?
Howe: There’s no arguing Richardson’s performance has dropped off this season, but that’s a small piece of a much larger puzzle. Richardson isn’t going to improve from the bench. He needs experience. If he doesn’t play another snap this season, he’ll enter 2025 with 23 NFL and college starts over a five-season span. It’s like the Trey Lance conversation all over again. If you don’t give a raw, young QB a chance to gain the experience he so desperately needs, you’ll likely never get the return on investment.
GO DEEPER
‘It’s so shortsighted’: NFL execs debate Colts benching Anthony Richardson
Keefer: That very question is still raging here in Indianapolis. I think it was. The Colts made it clear they aren’t giving up on Richardson, so what this is is a reset: This team wants him to earn back the starting job. His prodigious athletic talents were enough to get him where he is — the fourth pick in the draft after just 13 college starts and a dismal completion percentage at Florida — but they’re not enough for him to keep this job. He needs to catch up in every other area: preparation, leadership, performance. I wrote earlier this season that Richardson needed to become more than a highlight. So far, he hasn’t. And this benching, humbling as it might seem at this moment, will reveal if Richardson truly is the Colts’ QB moving forward.
Sando: Yeah, it’s clear Richardson is not ready to play and he’s not progressing. The tap-out showed a complete lack of understanding for his role on the team. Here is where my mind went: Think how many other ways this lack of understanding has surely manifested itself behind the scenes. The decision to bench him tells me the situation was untenable for the coaching staff.
(Top photo of Anthony Richardson: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
Sports
Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
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.
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)
“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.
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.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
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)
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.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
Sports
Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
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.
“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.
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.
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.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
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.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Wisconsin4 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Maryland4 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Florida4 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Massachusetts2 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Oregon6 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling