Sports
Why Steelers’ Mike Tomlin is my favorite to win his first NFL Coach of the Year award
Cameron Heyward stared at the four-letter message projected on the screen, wondering what it all meant. As Mike Tomlin — the master of acronyms, and the most powerful force in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ universe — spoke passionately to his players about an upcoming opponent in a darkened meeting room late last month, the light began to go on in Heyward’s head.
He’s talking about ME.
The subject was Dexter Lawrence, the New York Giants’ two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle. The subtext was Heyward, a 14th-year interior lineman and three-time All-Pro, who was about to set a franchise record for a defender by playing in his 202nd regular season game.
The acronym on the screen was “WGFO.”
“I was like, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’” Heyward recalled Monday. “And it was, ‘We Gonna Find Out.’”
Specifically, Tomlin was challenging Heyward to prove he could still play at as high a level as Lawrence, who was nine years his junior. And the 18th-year coach was doing it in his own inimitable way, mixing humor with cold, hard truths about the sport he loves.
“He finds ways to motivate every guy on this team,” Heyward says of Tomlin. “It’s about having a relationship with every man that walks into that locker room. Every day in practice he’s interacting with guys, and after practice he’s walking around the locker room doing it, too. He has relationships with everyone, and there’s less room for chaos because of that.”
Though Tomlin, the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach, is one of the most successful men in his profession, he also tends to be one of the least appreciated. Since taking over as Pittsburgh’s head coach in 2007, he has never had a losing season. Think about that — in a league designed to accentuate parity, the man hasn’t had a single bad year, with nearly two decades of sample size.
That’s crazier than a beloved establishment showcasing sandwiches with French fries and coleslaw.
Yet some Steelers fans, frustrated by Tomlin’s recent lack of playoff triumphs, continually complain about his perceived shortcomings.
Such gripes are typically met with eye-rolls in NFL circles, yet there’s a case to be made that Tomlin chronically gets less praise than he deserves. The 52-year-old has won a Super Bowl, two AFC championships and 188 combined regular season and postseason games, yet he has never been honored as the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year.
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That could change come February. Though there have been some stellar coaching jobs this season — by Matt LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell, Dan Campbell, Raheem Morris, Dan Quinn and others — Tomlin’s masterful touch in guiding the Steelers to a 7-2 record has been unparalleled.
To put it in terms he’d appreciate: Midway through the 2024 campaign, he’s my COTYSF (Coach of the Year So Far).
Mike Tomlin’s 173 wins rank 12th all-time in NFL history, the most of any coach to not win a Coach of the Year title since the award’s inception. (Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Tomlin has managed a potential quarterback controversy, overseen the installation of a new offense and helped reenergize a defense with five new starters (if you include nickel back Beanie Bishop Jr., an undrafted rookie). The Steelers may boast the NFL’s most effective special teams units, and their only two defeats (consecutive losses to the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys) were by three-point margins.
They’ve prevailed in four other one-score games, including last Sunday’s stirring, 28-27 road victory over the 7-3 Washington Commanders.
Suddenly Pittsburgh, which has been one-and-done in its last four postseason appearances, appears formidable enough to compete with the AFC’s best teams.
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The Steelers will learn more about themselves Sunday when they host the 7-3 Baltimore Ravens, who trail them by half a game in the AFC North. Still, for the first time since Ben Roethlisberger retired in January 2022, they appear capable of winning big games without relying on their defense and special teams to carry them.
The biggest reason for the Steelers’ success? Well, there are two big ones. Tomlin’s got cojones. Unlike so many of his coaching contemporaries, he’s not afraid to go with his instincts, shoot his shot and live with the consequences if he misses.
He’s a risk-taker, and his players vibe on that.
Sunday’s victory over the Commanders was like a sizzle reel for Tomlin’s COTYSF candidacy. The Steelers led 7-0 when, with 5:16 left in the first quarter, they tried a fake punt on fourth-and-15 from their own 16. The play caught the Commanders by surprise but failed when one defensive back (upback Miles Killebrew) was unable to complete a pass to another (James Pierre, who couldn’t handle the throw).
Three plays later, Austin Ekeler’s 1-yard touchdown run tied the game. Tomlin didn’t trip, saying afterward, “That is me. I own that, but I’d do it again.”
The Steelers fought back from a 24-14 deficit and won on a late touchdown when Russell Wilson, on third-and-9 from the Washington 32, completed a high-arc deep ball to Mike Williams, who’d been acquired in a trade five days earlier and had never practiced the route.
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On paper, it was somewhat preposterous. In real life, it was glorious. And it would never have happened without Tomlin’s conviction.
Beginning last spring, Tomlin’s faith in Wilson has been perplexing to many people inside and outside of the organization, in light of the way the former Seattle Seahawks star had seemingly regressed in recent years.
Wilson, 35, struggled mightily after being traded to the Denver Broncos after the 2021 season. He seemed to have lost a step — at least a step — and to possess far less field awareness than in previous seasons.
Last December, Broncos coach Sean Payton benched Wilson — with his team still technically in playoff contention — to avoid the financial ramifications of a possible injury. Given Payton’s reputation as an offensive guru, it was perceived by many of his peers as an irrevocable indictment of Wilson’s abilities.
Tomlin saw it differently. When Wilson, released by the Broncos, became a free agent in March, the Steelers quickly signed him as the successor to Kenny Pickett, a failed 2022 first-round draft pick.
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Days later, they swung a trade with the Chicago Bears to acquire Justin Fields, the 11th pick in the 2021 draft. From that moment, skepticism swirled. Many NFL coaches and talent evaluators speculated that Wilson wouldn’t win the starting job, even as Tomlin insisted he’d go into training camp No. 1 on the depth chart.
When a calf injury essentially derailed Wilson’s preseason — and lingered into October — Fields seized his opening. His speed and mobility helped new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith conceive an attack that created favorable matchups for Pittsburgh’s running game. By the time Wilson was fully healthy, the Steelers were 4-2 and coming off a 32-13 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Virtually no one thought Tomlin should make a change. Roethlisberger, on his “Footbahlin” podcast, said after that victory, “All in all, I would absolutely not even think about taking (Fields) out of the game right now.” That was the prevailing sentiment inside the Steelers’ organization, too.
Tomlin decided otherwise, intent in his belief that Wilson — who won one Super Bowl and came within a yard of winning a second — still possessed the elite qualities that could potentially help the Steelers elevate in the postseason. “I’m not trying to win games,” Tomlin told Fox’s Jay Glazer. “I’m trying to win a world title here. I gotta see what I’ve got in both.”
Mike Tomlin went out on a limb to insert Russell Wilson into the starting lineup. The decision has paid dividends so far. (Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
Because of that, Tomlin told Glazer, he “went Lone Ranger” and made the move.
One big difference: The Lone Ranger wore a mask. Tomlin laid bare his intentions and mindset to all parties concerned.
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Inside the locker room, there was no grumbling or second-guessing. Tomlin, who has habitually gotten the most out of strong (and sometimes prickly) personalities — former stars Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and current receiver George Pickens are some obvious examples — sold the move in a manner that some of his mealy-mouthed peers would be wise to emulate.
“All three guys — Justin, Russ and Mike — handled it with complete class,” Heyward said. “(Tomlin) said, ‘We’re gonna see what happens, but we will not be forgetting what Justin did, nor will we think Justin’s just gonna be someone who gets lost in the shuffle. It’s a long season and we will see what happens.’”
Here’s what has happened so far: The Steelers are 3-0 with Wilson at quarterback. He has thrown six touchdown passes and one interception, and Pittsburgh has averaged 30.7 points per game in those starts. The Lone Ranger is riding high.
Then again, the schedule gets tougher now, with two games against the Ravens and clashes with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs among the tests awaiting Tomlin’s team.
Can the Steelers meet the challenge — and win a playoff game (or more than one) for the first time in eight seasons?
As Tomlin would say, WGFO.
(Top photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
All your favorite characters are competing for the same NBA award once again.
Nikola Jokić is the MVP favorite. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander follows him up. Two-time winner Giannis Antetokounmpo is on their tails, as are Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić. Those five made up First Team All-NBA last season. Now, they make up the quintet atop the 2024-25 MVP race.
Christmas isn’t just Santa’s day. It’s also the marker of when NBA talk reaches the public sphere, which means it’s time to discuss the battles for the league’s most prestigious awards.
For MVP, the fight isn’t so bloody. Jokić is the obvious No. 1 today. He’s three-tenths of an assist away from averaging a triple-double; the advanced metrics (which have always painted him as a higher being) are greater than ever; and the shooting splits are out of a video game. On top of it all, he’s nailing a league-leading 51 percent of his 3-pointers.
If the season ended today, a fourth Jokić MVP would be on the way. Of course, there are still more than four months to go.
It’s difficult to infuse a team’s record into any reasonable candidate’s argument right now. Jokić’s Denver Nuggets provide the perfect example.
Denver is 16-11, fifth in the Western Conference. It is only two back of second place in the loss column. Yet, it’s only two up of ninth place in the loss column.
One bad week, and the Nuggets are in the bottom half of the Play-In Tournament, which would bump Jokić down a slot or two. It’s difficult to dub someone MVP if his team isn’t in the playoffs, even if Jokić somehow breaks mathematics as we know them and starts shooting 107 percent from the field.
Gilgeous-Alexander could become the favorite to win his first MVP in that case. His Oklahoma City Thunder are atop the Western Conference, and he’s the leading reason. Or maybe the Milwaukee Bucks go on a run, which inspires a third trophy for Antetokounmpo. Neither Tatum nor Dončić is out of the race, either.
As of today, my ballot would include those five. Let’s go with:
- Nikola Jokić
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Jayson Tatum
- Luka Dončić
But the MVP race is not done — nor are others.
The NBA is littered with interesting awards races so far this season. Here are four more of them:
Who finishes second and third in Defensive Player of the Year?
Just look at how the Philadelphia 76ers ended the first quarter Monday night.
All they wanted to do was get up a shot, any shot, before the buzzer sounded. Their only strategy was to pray. That was not enough.
Kyle Lowry rose for a fadeaway jumper with seemingly no one around him, but the San Antonio Spurs employ one man whose arms appear twice the width of the court. That man swatted Lowry, then trailed Caleb Martin, who recovered the loose ball, and knocked Martin’s shot out of bounds at the buzzer.
We don’t need to call any award race over yet, especially because players must participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for most of them, but there is an obvious leader in Defensive Player of the Year. If Victor Wembanyama is on the court, you don’t score on the Spurs. He has 18 blocks over his past two games alone. He’s pacing to become the first player to average four rejections a game since Dikembe Mutombo in 1995-96 — and keep in mind, it was far easier to block shots then, considering how many more were inside the 3-point arc. The Spurs defense is more than 10 points per 100 possessions better when Wembanyama is on the court.
He is the world’s greatest defender right now. But who could follow him on the ballot?
Could there be an all-French top two? Rudy Gobert, the four-time winner of this award, has still helped the Minnesota Timberwolves to sixth in points allowed per possession, despite holes elsewhere on the roster. Opponents stop attacking the paint whenever Gobert is around. His team allows 8.3 percent fewer shots at the rim when he’s on the court, the largest differential for any player in the NBA, according to Cleaning the Glass. Almost all of those layups turn into midrange jumpers, not 3s.
Could it be Bam Adebayo, who has a similar effect on the Miami Heat’s opponent shot profile? Could Jaren Jackson Jr. contend for a second Defensive Player of the Year? Could Evan Mobley re-enter the conversation he was in a couple of years ago, when he finished second? The Cleveland Cavaliers own the best record in the league, and opponents are shooting 9.3 percentage points worse at the rim when Mobley is on the court, by far the largest differential in the NBA.
Could a perimeter player vault to the spot behind Wembanyama? Defensive Player of the Year is usually reserved for big men, but Dyson Daniels might have something to say about that. Daniels is getting steals on 4.4 percent of his possessions, the highest steal rate for any player since Tony Allen in 2010-11. He has 72 more deflections than De’Aaron Fox, who is second in the league. For reference, that’s the same difference as the one between Fox and 147th place. Daniels isn’t just a gambler. He’s a pest on the ball. Dribblers can’t jolt past him. As long as he keeps performing like this, he’s a lock for All-Defense, but he has two main knocks against him.
First, a perimeter player can’t affect team defense like a big man can. And second (which may just be further proof of the previous point), the Hawks are actually better defensively with Daniels off the court. And that’s not just because Daniels plays many of his minutes alongside the defensively challenged Trae Young. When Daniels is on the court and Young is off, the Hawks defense is a sieve.
If not Daniels, does OG Anunoby, an off-ball maestro who can cut off an entire side of the court, have a case to slide onto the ballot? How about Amen Thompson, who comes off the bench in Houston but still inspires fury among opposing starters like few others? The Rockets may be the NBA’s most-physical team defending the perimeter. No one there is better in that aspect than Thompson.
Ballot, as of today:
1. Victor Wembanyama
2. Dyson Daniels
3. Evan Mobley
What is a most improved player?
Franz Wagner was the obvious choice here, but an oblique injury will likely make him ineligible to win. And because of that, debating who is the most improved will say more about the debaters than it will about the candidates.
Is a vast improvement in shot-making the way to determine the victor? If so, the LA Clippers’ Norman Powell is the current favorite, but it’s still early enough and Powell’s scoring numbers (24.1 points per game and 47 percent 3-point shooting on 8.1 attempts a night) are so through the roof that there must be some regression on the way — though it’s not like Powell is putting up empty numbers. The Clippers are winning more than anyone could have expected, and their offense is more than 10 points per 100 possessions better with Powell on the court, according to Cleaning the Glass.
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Payton Pritchard has a case. He’s nearly doubled his 3-point volume, is sinking a higher percentage than ever, is the planet’s sneakiest offensive rebounder and has gone from cutesie, full-court-shot specialist to Sixth Man of the Year leader.
De’Andre Hunter is another player who’s hitting jumpers like never before, though he’s developed in other ways, too. He’s getting to the line more than ever. Hunter used to avoid contact. Now he finishes through it, a big sticking point for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder.
Yet, there are other types of improvement to deliberate.
Another Hawk, Jalen Johnson, should be on the list. Atlanta has handed more opportunities to Johnson this season, who is a better facilitator than ever. He’s never created his own shot this much and has never set up teammates like this. The Hawks offense is not just the Young show anymore. And Johnson is putting up the counting stats we normally associate with winners of this award: 19.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists. He might be an All-Star this season.
RJ Barrett’s passing is worth a mention. Barrett has gone from looking for his shot first, second and third to learning how to change speeds in pick-and-rolls. He loves flinging cross-court zingers to shooters while leading the break. He had never posted a double-digit assist game coming into this season. He’s already done it five times in 2024-25. His assist rate right now is twice his career average.
Some other players who could sneak onto the list include Cade Cunningham (who is running an offense better than ever and should be an All-Star), Daniels (because of the defensive leap), Mobley (who is handling the ball more than ever in Cleveland) and Nikola Vučević (whose percentages put prime Dirk Nowitzki to shame and must be bound to come down but for now force his entry onto this list).
Ballot, as of today:
1. Jalen Johnson
2. Norman Powell
3. RJ Barrett
Who lands the final spot on the Rookie of the Year ballot?
As with M.I.P., one player had first place virtually locked up, and then that player (in this case, the 76ers’ Jared McCain) got hurt. Now, the race for Rookie of the Year has all the vibes of the one from 2017, when second-round pick Malcolm Brogdon won.
This season’s Brogdon is the Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells, a fellow second-rounder who is starting for a top-three team in the West and has been highly efficient in the process. The Pelicans’ Yves Missi is doing his best to make something of a lost season in New Orleans. Tune into the Pels each month and Missi, a ferocious finisher and top-flight athlete, is doing something new a bit better.
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As with M.I.P., your third-place choice might say more about you than it does about the candidates.
The Spurs’ Stephon Castle has started for a winning team and is already a feisty defender, but the shooting isn’t up to snuff yet. The Grizzlies’ Zach Edey has missed some time and isn’t playing loads of minutes but is a scoring machine already. The Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher cannot make a shot but is one of a few long defenders Atlanta has lining its wings. The Trail Blazers’ Donovan Clingan isn’t playing much but would own the NBA’s second-highest block rate (behind only Wembanyama) if he qualified for the league leaders. The Lakers’ Dalton Knecht isn’t connecting lately but has started occasionally for a winning team and is liable to catch fire at any point.
The candidates are underwhelming. But you have to choose three.
Ballot, as of today:
1. Jaylen Wells
2. Yves Missi
3. Stephon Castle
The Coach of the Year race
There isn’t a coach with a more difficult job this season than the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, who had to take over a young team that hasn’t finished above .500 in six years after Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke. Yet, as the Spurs await Popovich’s return, they are 15-14. Just about every player is performing at his capabilities.
And yet, it doesn’t matter when it comes to awards.
Toss Johnson’s résumé into the same bin that held Luke Walton’s in 2016, when the Golden State Warriors went 39-4 after Walton took over temporarily for head coach Steve Kerr, who could not patrol the sidelines during that time because of a back injury. Johnson is not officially the head coach of the Spurs and thus is not eligible for Coach of the Year.
But even without him, there are too many qualified candidates to choose from. At least six coaches could justify first-place votes.
Kenny Atkinson took over a team that underwhelmed a season ago and has helped it to the best record in the NBA. The Cavs are 26-4.
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Jamahl Mosley’s Magic have suffered injury after injury. Paolo Banchero, the team’s sole All-Star, has played five games all season. Now, both Wagners (Franz and Moe) are out. Yet, Orlando’s identity is distinct. Battle the Magic and, win or lose, you will leave the arena with a sore back, neck, shoulder, knee — you name it. Most importantly, they’re winning: 19-12, fourth in the East.
Taylor Jenkins has transformed the 20-10 Grizzlies. If you think NBA teams all play the same style nowadays, check out Memphis. Jenkins and assistant Noah LaRoche have implemented an offense based around quirky cutting, stuff few others around the league are running. The Grizzlies use an extended rotation and don’t run their guys for many minutes. No one averages more than 28. It’s working. Memphis is a contender.
After Paul George left in free agency and without Kawhi Leonard even playing a game yet, the Clippers should not be this good, sitting at 17-13 as they await the return of Leonard. They guard like maniacs. Such is the beauty of employing Ty Lue, who has somehow never won this award.
Ime Udoka has the most typical case. The Rockets are the NBA’s surprise team. Their identity could not have adjusted more from its one before Udoka arrived in town. Houston tosses hound after hound at its opponents. It plays as hard as any team in the league. It’s disciplined. No one wants to face the Rockets, who are young, yet are second in the league in points allowed per possession.
Let’s throw reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault into the mix, too. The Thunder are in the process of running away with the West despite a significant injury to rising star Chet Holmgren.
Voters could justify including the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra whenever they want. The New York Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau helped a renovated, offense-first roster to a 19-10 record. Michael Malone is navigating injuries aplenty and the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out West.
This is unquestionably the most gut-wrenching ballot to fill out right now.
Ballot, as of today:
1. Kenny Atkinson
2. Ime Udoka
3. Jamahl Mosley
(Top photo of Jaylen Wells: Justin Ford / Getty Images)
The NFL is giving fans a present on Christmas, with two high-profile matchups between AFC contenders with a lot of playoff implications.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers play at 1 p.m. ET, and the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans play at 4:30 p.m. ET, with both games streaming exclusively on Netflix.
After many had streaming issues during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in November, Netflix is under a lot of pressure to ensure their viewers don’t have any issues watching the games.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is introduced prior to a game against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Denny Medley-Imagn Images)
One Netflix subscriber even filed a lawsuit against Netflix for “breach of contract” because of constant glitches during the fight, per TMZ.
This will be the first time an NFL game has been streamed exclusively on Netflix, and no matter how the viewing experience is for fans on Wednesday, it won’t be the last game they see on the streaming service.
The NFL and Netflix announced in May that they agreed to a three-year deal where the streaming service will broadcast at least one Christmas Day game over the life of the deal.
Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports, said the company learned from what went wrong in the Tyson-Paul fight.
“The sheer tonnage of people that came to watch was incredible. And for all the testing that the engineering team had done ahead of that, and I think they’re the best in the business, the only way to test something of that magnitude is to have something of that magnitude,” Riegg said.
PATRICK MAHOMES PLAYS THROUGH ANKLE SPRAIN TO LEAD CHIEFS TO VICTORY VS. TEXANS
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson takes the field against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
“We never want to have technical issues or a disappointing experience for our members. There was a subset of people that were watching that struggled with that and we acknowledge that. The good news is they stress-tested the system to such a degree that there’s a lot of these fixes and improvements that they realized that they could make, and they’re applying all that stuff.”
Netflix’s first test will be a showdown between the Chiefs (14-1) and Steelers (10-5).
The Chiefs have already secured their ninth consecutive AFC West title and are now playing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which would grant them the all-important bye week.
If the Chiefs were to win on Wednesday, they would have the No. 1 seed locked up before Week 18, giving head coach Andy Reid a chance to rest his starters during the final week of the regular season.
The Chiefs are coming off a 27-19 win over the Texans on Saturday, where quarterback Patrick Mahomes played well. The star quarterback threw for 260 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 33 yards and a touchdown despite playing through an ankle sprain.
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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens breaks through the Bengals defense for a touchdown reception at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Dec. 1, 2024. (IMAGN)
The Steelers, on the other hand, are coming off a tough 34-17 loss against their arch-rival Ravens on Saturday.
It looked like the Steelers were going to have a chance to come back after safety Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Lamar Jackson down 24-17 in the fourth quarter.
However, Ravens’ cornerback Marlon Humphrey thwarted any chance of a Steelers’ comeback with a Pick Six off Russell Wilson on the ensuing drive, putting the Ravens up 31-17 and effectively sealing the win.
The Steelers’ defense had a tough time handling running back Derrick Henry, who ran the ball 24 times for 162 yards in the win for Baltimore.
For the Steelers, their game against the Chiefs is crucial to winning the AFC North. Pittsburgh has already clinched a playoff spot, but their loss on Saturday was a big blow to their chances of winning the division, as the Ravens are also 10-5.
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Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey returns an interception for a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)
Some good news for the Steelers is that wide receiver George Pickens has a “real chance” to play against the Chiefs, coach Mike Tomlin said on Sunday.
Pickens has missed the last three games, and he’s been sorely missed. In the three games without Pickens, the Steelers are averaging just 248.3 yards per game, almost 77 yards less than their season average of 324.9.
As big a blow as the loss was for the Steelers on Saturday, the Ravens win over Pittsburgh was just as big a boost for them.
The Ravens played well on Saturday, outgaining the Steelers 418-315 in terms of yards, with 220 of those yards coming on the ground.
Jackson threw three touchdowns in the win, and will have a chance to make his MVP case with the whole world watching on Wednesday.
The Ravens quarterback is having another fantastic year, as Jackson and Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen are considered the two favorites for the award.
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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)
A win for the Ravens on Christmas would go a long way in their race against the Steelers for the AFC North crown.
The Ravens (10-5) are taking on the Texans (9-6) in the second part of the NFL’s Christmas doubleheader on Netflix.
They are taking on a Texans team that just lost to the Chiefs. In addition to the loss, the Texans also lost second-year wide receiver Tank Dell for the season after he suffered a gruesome leg injury while catching a touchdown in the loss.
The Texans also lost wide receiver Stefon Diggs for the season after the star receiver tore his ACL, leaving what was once a strong wide receiving corps now thin.
A win over the Ravens on Christmas for the Texans would not only clinch them a playoff spot, but also the AFC South title and a home playoff game.
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud scrambles against Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)
The Texans-Ravens matchup will also come with a special halftime performance by Beyoncé.
All four of the teams playing on Wednesday are playing their third game in 11 days.
With so many playoff implications, and a big halftime performance, Netflix will be under a lot of pressure from NFL fans and the “BeyHive” to make sure things go off without a hitch.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Santa Anita Park is opening its 90th season Thursday filled with the kind of cautious optimism that is common in most sports. Make no mistake, this is a big — some might say make-or-break — year for the storied Arcadia track that many consider the most beautiful horse racing facility in the United States.
The track is fighting for its future, struggling to get a foothold in a national racing landscape that is supported by supplemental gaming income. But not in California, at least not now.
This opening day has something the track hasn’t had in a while — the reigning Kentucky Derby champion. running . You have to go back to 1997 when Derby winner Silver Charm ran in the Malibu Stakes after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown before finishing second in the Belmont. The difference? He was based at Santa Anita.
No doubt about it, Mystik Dan, winner of this year’s Derby, is the centerpiece for what is possibly the best day of racing during the almost six-month season. He’ll be going in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, one of six graded stakes on the 11-race card.
Getting Mystik Dan and trainer Kenny McPeek to commit to the race was a lot easier then actually getting the horse to Santa Anita.
Among racing’s many problems is that there are no dedicated air shipping companies that make moving horses around the country easy. Racing uses FedEx — yes that FedEx — which suspends horse shipping in early December so it can more easily move holiday packages.
“The logistics were complicated,” McPeek said. “The last and only plane was going out of Florida on Dec. 9 and we are based in New Orleans. We would have had to ship him to Miami and then Miami to L.A. We didn’t want to go that early and we weren’t committed to the race yet.
“I needed to get a gate workout out of him and needed to make sure he was good and in a routine.”
All of that worked out just fine, and Mystik Dan was headed to California with Santa Anita picking up the shipping costs.
Those who travel during the holidays are used to long trips, but only the hardiest would try a 1,900-mile van ride. Yet that’s how it worked out.
Assistant trainer Dermot Magner and Greg Morehead, director of operations for McPeek, took turns doing the driving for the first two days with a stopover at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.
“He got a good night’s rest and then vanned the rest of the way the next day,” McPeek said, making sure to thank officials at Zia Park for their hospitality. “He’s a good traveler. It was easy. He had plenty of room to lay down if he wanted. He could eat, we had buckets and tubs [of food] in there. There was plenty of space. It was uneventful.”
Mystik Dan settled into Barn 54 at Santa Anita last Wednesday and on Sunday the colt did a three-furlong speed workout to ready him for the race. Barn 54 also is occupied by trainer Karen Headley. Her father, the late Bruce Headley, and McPeek were longtime friends and Headley’s barn is where McPeek would stable his horses when running in California.
The Malibu Stakes is an odd choice for the Kentucky Derby winner because of the low purse amount of $300,000, the minimum required for a Grade 1 race.
McPeek is looking at the long game.
“It’s the last Grade 1, 3-year-old race of the year,” McPeek said. “I think as a stallion prospect, a lot of people who breed want to see the horse be a fast sprinter. We’re pretty confident he has that kind of talent. He broke his maiden gong 5½ [furlongs] and he’s perfectly capable of sprinting. It takes a very good horse to do this. I think it’s a good opportunity to prove that he can.”
Mystik Dan hasn’t raced since the Belmont Stakes, the third Triple Crown races in five weeks. He won the Derby in a blanket finish by a nose then came back two weeks later to finish second behind Seize the Grey in the Preakness. Mystik Dan then finished eighth in the Belmont.
“He campaigned pretty steady for almost a year,” McPeek said. “Coming out of the Belmont, Brian [Hernandez Jr., jockey] didn’t think he liked Saratoga’s surface. So, we only had the Travers [at Saratoga] and Pennsylvania Derby to point to. So, I thought let’s give him a break and let him fill out. We’ll regroup and point him to later in the year.”
Mystik Dan has had nine timed workouts since returning to the track.
“I fully expect him to win,” McPeek said. “Absolutely he’s ready to run. He’s had a nice series of breezes. He’s been on a steady routine. He hasn’t missed a step. The hardest part of this trip was getting him there.”
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. gets a high-five from trainer Kenny McPeek while aboard Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle.
(Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)
Crazy as it sounds, Mystik Dan is not the most celebrated 3-year-old in McPeek’s barn. He also has Thorpedo Anna, a filly who won six of seven races this year including the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She is a lock to win the Eclipse Award for best 3-year-old filly and certainly has the résumé to win horse of the year.
Mystik Dan, if he wins the Malibu, is likely to make the final three for the Eclipse for 3-year-old male, although Fierceness is the favorite.
There is another Eclipse candidate in the McPeek barn and that is the trainer. The favorite for the award is Chad Brown, who has put up impressive numbers. But McPeek did something that hasn’t been done since 1952, winning the Kentucky Oaks for fillies and the Kentucky Derby on consecutive days.
“It would be a pleasant surprise,” McPeek said. “I certainly don’t have Chad Brown’s depth of talent and quality. What I’m most proud of is we don’t have million-dollar yearlings floating around all the time. We’ve been doing it with working-class horses. Thorpedo Anna was 40 grand and Mystik Dan was a homebred that I actually did the mating on.
“I do a lot of picking my own yearlings and I’m really proud we’ve been able to compete at the highest level.”
Bill Finley, a respected columnist for the Thoroughbred Daily News, even made the case for McPeek to win the Eclipse for top trainer. (The Times does not vote in the Eclipse Awards.)
“While he’ll never equal Brown’s numbers, McPeek had a year that was truly special, one that captivated the sport and reminded us there is more to this than raw numbers,” Finley wrote. “McPeek made every right move, many of which were ‘good for the game.’”
In a sport that retires its stars instead of running them, McPeek is very much looking forward to Mystik Dan’s 4-year-old campaign. The first possibility for Mystik Dan, providing everything works out well in the Malibu, is the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream, at $3 million the second-richest race in the U.S. behind only the Breeders’ Cup. But that’s chump change, if such a thing can be said of seven-figure purses, compared to the $20-million Saudi Cup and $12-million Dubai World Cup.
“We’re going to consider the Pegasus and the Middle East,” McPeek said. “We’ll let him tell us. He’s not run against older horses yet. We’ll wait and see.”
Mystik Dan’s racing career will end before McPeek’s training career. In fact, McPeek, 62, has a timetable.
“I’ve said all along, I’ll do this until I’m 70 or 72,” he said. “Maybe 10 more years. It’ll be 50 years of training if I do it until I’m 72.”
As for his bucket list before retirement, it’s extensive, with a strong international flavor.
“I’d like to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Dubai World Cup, the Saudi Cup, the Arc de Triomphe, the English (Epsom) Derby and the English Oaks,” he said with a chuckle.
But if he had to pick one?
“I really do want to win the English Derby. I’ll do that before I retire.”
For now, he’ll be happy with a win Thursday.
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