The flair of the moment spoke for itself. This is what the Vikings envisioned when they paired Murray, their big offseason signing, with Jefferson.

Shared joy. Energy reciprocated. Joint plays that contribute to winning.

Until Sunday’s 23-13 triumph, the Vikings’ victories this season had come largely without this bond between quarterback and receiver. Defensive dominance and special teams superiority fueled the team’s 4-0 start. Until Sunday, perhaps the most stimulating offensive scenes were Will Reichard field goals.

But Minnesota entered its matchup with New Orleans believing that the offense was on the ascent. Murray had stacked a flurry of completions into the fourth quarter of last week’s win at home against the Miami Dolphins. Early on at the Caesars Superdome, he validated the optimism by peppering pass catchers with quick throws in a similarly accurate way.

An 11-for-11 start didn’t produce a first-half touchdown, but this third-down scramble and flip to Jefferson set the stage for the early offensive highlight of the season. On a subsequent third down, Murray lofted a pass toward Jefferson in the back left of the end zone. Jefferson snatched the ball in the middle of Saints cornerback Quincy Riley, safety Jonas Sanker and safety Justin Reid.

Saints supporters in black and gold questioned whether Jefferson had secured the pass while getting both feet down in the end zone. They were questioning greatness born just 20 miles away.

“When it went up, I was, like, ‘Well, they’ve got three guys there … but it is Justin,’” safety Harrison Smith said. “So, no surprise there.”

CLEVELAND — The loudest moment of Gavin Williams’ night happened over his head. 

They call it the bat swing or the swing room. It’s the small storage room under the dugout where Williams goes between innings of every start, whether it’s the middle of May or the middle of the fourth inning in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the American League Division Series. Williams sits in a blue plastic chair in the middle of the room while the Guardians are batting to slow his heart rate, alone with his thoughts and the hum of the building, as he focuses on the sound of his own breathing. 

There are Keurigs in there, a private restroom off the back, and some shelves that house athletic tape, water and Gatorade. It’s a nondescript space for a nondescript franchise that stays quiet all year until October. 

He was there, in that chair, when José Ramírez swung at a pitch not even nine inches off the ground, and the whole place came apart above him. Williams heard it the way you hear thunder from inside the house. Something huge, somewhere else, happening to other people.

Williams stuck his head out to see Ramírez circling the bases, then immediately retreated to his little blue chair. 

Gavin Williams and José Ramírez are two pillars of this organization that baseball has tried hard to extinguish over the years. The starting pitcher who can work deep into postseason games and the hometown slugger who refused to leave. Stars rarely stay with one organization these days, and never with the small-market club. Ramírez stayed. Took less to do it. In this era, that’s its own kind of complete game. 

Williams took the 2-0 lead Ramírez’s home run provided, and he handled much of the rest. The Guardians are moving on to the American League Championship Series against Tampa Bay because Williams finished off the Chicago White Sox in Game 4 by getting the final three outs, then returned in Game 5 with 5 2/3 absolutely dominant innings. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning on Saturday, and 12 of his 17 outs were strikeouts, tying the franchise record for most in a postseason game. He is the sixth pitcher in baseball history to pitch at least five innings, allow one or fewer hits, and strike out at least 11. 

Baseball has spent a decade eliminating the possibility of nights like this.

Nobody planned it. There was no secret meeting where an intern with an Ivy League degree proposed removing the romance from the sport. It happened the way most losses happen, slowly, one sensible decision at a time.

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Somebody figured out that hitters do better the third time through a lineup. Then somebody else figured out that a fresh reliever throwing 99 in the sixth inning beats a tired starter throwing 96. Arms are expensive and fragile, and every pitch carries a level of risk. All of those statements are true, and they’re all reasonable arguments that led us here. 

If anyone would want to take down Texas and lead the Oklahoma band in a celebratory rendition of “Boomer Sooner” after a Red River Rivalry victory, it’s redshirt sophomore receiver Parker Livingstone.

The former Longhorns receiver and roommate of Texas quarterback Arch Manning knew what winning this game felt like, adorned in burnt orange last year.

So he knew how much it stung, now that he repped the Sooners, after Oklahoma’s 27-24 comeback victory over No. 1 Texas on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl, when a 47-yard field goal from senior kicker Tate Sandell split the uprights as time expired. Livingstone didn’t register a catch, but he used his hands to direct the band in celebration after a thrilling finish to one of college football’s biggest rivalries.

Captured on video, Livingstone couldn’t help but let his eyes and sly smirk wander around the Cotton Bowl. “Can you see me now?” they seemed to ask.

Livingstone had 29 catches for 516 yards and six touchdowns for the Longhorns as a redshirt freshman last season, but Texas’ pursuit of the No. 1 receiver in the transfer portal, Cam Coleman, made his spot on the depth chart tenuous.

BOSTON — As a big part of their recent past sat on the opposite bench, the Boston Celtics debuted their new star wing duo Saturday night.

Before leading the Celtics to a 144-106 preseason victory against the Philadelphia 76ers, Jayson Tatum and Paul George said they had never played together as teammates. In practice, they had been on opposite teams, iron sharpening iron.

“Today was literally our first time being on the same side,” George said.

“All summer, in training camp, we’ve always been on different teams,” Tatum echoed. “So that was cool, for all of us to just kind of be on the same team today.”

Though Boston opened the preseason Thursday with a 124-113 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, most of the team’s expected regulars rested during that game, including Tatum and George. The two combined for 36 points Saturday in what was essentially the Celtics’ first dress rehearsal. After starting slowly over the opening minutes, Boston found a rhythm to control the extremely shorthanded 76ers over the final 3 1/2 quarters. Philadelphia rested several of its key players, including LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid.

The level of competition didn’t seem to matter to Tatum (23 points) and George, who seized the opportunity to begin building chemistry. After competing against each other on the practice court, they were excited to operate as teammates for the first time. Tatum, who modeled some of his game after George, said he has always been a big fan.

“It was great because we’ve been teammates for a few months now, but it was like my first time sharing the floor with him and being on the same team,” Tatum said. “Somebody that I’ve obviously admired for a very, very long time, and when I was in high school and college and competing against him and now to be on the same team and to see some of the special things that he brings to the team.”

Since arriving in Boston, George has emphasized he wants to do whatever he can do to help Tatum succeed.

“My job is to try to make this as easy as possible for him,” George said. “He’s going to be special. You know what I mean? He’s going to be special. He knows how to make plays. He knows how to get his own shot. But if my aggression takes the pressure off him, and if I can find ways to steal extra possessions defensively or get him some easy baskets, that’s what I’m on that floor to do.”

Jayden Bogle was preparing for the second half of last month’s 4-1 win over Newcastle United when he heard the news.

Referee Michael Salisbury approached Bogle and told him he was being credited with a first-half goal after the slightest glance of the ball. His first reaction? Asking the referee not to tell Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

“At the time, I had no idea what happened,” says Bogle. “JJ (James Justin) put in a great ball, and I thought, ‘Yeah, this is me’. You’ve seen Dom’s jump before. He just towers over everyone, and I was just on the floor. I didn’t really know what happened.

“I just heard the crowd and knew we had scored. The referee said to me, at half-time, it’s gone down as my goal because it’s come off my shoulder or something.

“And I was like, ‘Don’t tell Dom, whatever you do. He’s on a yellow card. Don’t tell him because he’s going to get head-loss’. Then he went and told him anyway."

The Washington Wizards’ preseason opener at Madison Square Garden illustrated how Bilal Coulibaly now must navigate a brand new world.

Coulibaly started all 115 games he played the last two regular seasons for Washington, but Thursday night, in the Wizards’ 111-109 exhibition victory over the New York Knicks, coach Brian Keefe started Kyshawn George and rookie AJ Dybantsa at the wing spots ahead of Coulibaly. The issue is not that Coulibaly has done anything wrong. The issue is that Washington has improved its overall talent level, making Dybantsa the No. 1 pick in June’s draft, and will employ lineups featuring two bigs instead of three wings.

Coulibaly indeed has reached a potential inflection point to his career. A 2023 first-round draft choice entering the final season of his rookie-scale contract, he is now eligible for an extension. Should he and the Wizards not reach an agreement by Oct. 19, he would be on track to become a restricted free agent during the 2027 offseason.

He remains a young player — he turned 22 in July — but he has a weakness that threatens to diminish the dollar figures of his next contract. Although he already projects as an above-average defender (most likely, he’s the Wizards’ best perimeter defender), he has yet to prove he brings enough on offense to be considered a two-way player. Although he closed last season well, shooting 39 percent from deep in his final 18 games, he had a rough offensive night Thursday, scoring 2 points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field.

George and Dybantsa dazzled at times. George finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Dybantsa added 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and four steals.

Today’s NBA values two-way ability more than ever. In the age of the first and second aprons, teams tend to be leery of allocating large salaries to specialists who can get played off the floor during the playoffs. Tim Hardaway Jr., Duncan Robinson and Corey Kispert, whose best skill is their perimeter shooting and floor spacing, are hindrances on defense in the half court. Defensive specialists whom opposing defenses can ignore, as Coulibaly could become, are liabilities to their teams in half-court offensive situations.

For Coulibaly, it will be crucial to show that he has developed enough offensive skill, such as 3-point shooting, an effective pull-up jumper or playmaking in pick-and-rolls. Without growth on offense, will he ever average 25 minutes per game on a good team or be a significant rotation player during the postseason? He will have the opportunity to answer those questions in the season ahead.

It must be hard to call a football game on national television when a team’s starting quarterback allegedly had the pesky issue of keeping his penis from brushing up against massage therapists. No matter how veteran the broadcaster might be, even if he’s worked the booth for eons and owns neckties older than most of the players on the field, lines like that don’t easily roll off the tongue.

It’s second-and-4, the Browns are backed up on their own 15, Deshaun Watson — who you remember, ya know, kinda had that whole thing a while back with some ladies, and had to resolve 27 civil lawsuits — throws incomplete. Third down.

Working in a player’s sordid past isn’t poetry. It sure isn’t X’s and O’s, and not even close to being the kind of narration fit for the gridiron. If any team does make the mistake of signing Tyreek Hill, a player who has faced multiple allegations of domestic violence, don’t expect an announcer to repeat his ex-wife’s allegations that he once tried to punch her pregnant belly, as he’s decimating the zone coverage.

It’s just not an easy topic to discuss. The job of an NFL television broadcaster is to provide football analysis, not legal commentary. No one tunes into these primetime programs to gain moral clarity. So, when is it a good time to mention the messy? Or should sportscasters just stick to what they do best?

It seems some NFL booths still can’t figure out the solution. Nevertheless, this shouldn’t excuse a broadcast for clumsily handling players’ legal troubles. Especially legal troubles as troubling as those of Watson.

During Cleveland’s 27-24 win against Pittsburgh on Oct. 1, Prime’s “Thursday Night Football” crew downplayed Watson’s history in which he had been accused of sexually harassing or assaulting more than two dozen women during massage appointments. Play-by-play announcer Al Michaels assured viewers that “we don’t have to go through the whole Deshaun Watson thing.” The 81-year-old broadcaster then continued on about those “issues” and how “we all know what they were.”

Michaels worked through this particular part of the broadcast briskly. His words were intentionally vague. As were those of analyst Tony Gonzalez when he appeared on the postgame set and danced around the “adversity … on the field and off the field” and “stuff that (Watson’s) gone through.”

Gonzalez could’ve been lumping in Watson’s return to form after his season-ending shoulder injury in 2023, and his Achilles ruptures that cost him nearly the next two seasons, along with the “stuff” from 2022. However, Gonzalez never came close to clarifying what that “stuff” was. He was ambiguous just like Michaels, leaving room for interpretation, as well as easy criticism.

It’s a rivalry game!

It’s also a game with a five-touchdown point spread.

Either way, No. 3 Notre Dame hosts struggling Stanford on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC), the end of a six-game on-ramp to a more difficult part of the schedule that includes BYU, Miami and SMU over the horizon. You’ve got questions about Notre Dame’s readiness for what’s to come, in the regular season and beyond.

Let’s get started with this week’s Notre Dame mailbag, including a prediction.

How did Mylan Graham go from “Most Likely to Break Out” to DNP at North Carolina and no touchdowns so far? Injury? Lack of chemistry with CJ Carr? Something else? — Tae K.

For what it’s worth, coach Marcus Freeman says there’s nothing wrong with how Graham is practicing; it’s just a matter of the staff’s wanting to lean more into the starting receivers. And it’s true that in bad-weather games, when Notre Dame plays more two-tight-end sets, the slot receiver subs out, which means Jaden Greathouse’s reps go down. Graham is the No. 2 slot behind him.

What coaches are on the hot seat heading into Week 6?

Chris Vannini

It’s also possible Graham isn’t what Notre Dame thought he was when it signed him. He played just 176 snaps at Ohio State over two seasons and made six catches for 40 yards. When the Buckeyes played without Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate in November in a blowout of Rutgers, Graham didn’t figure into the offense (Quincy Porter didn’t, either).

The sentiment around Graham at Ohio State was he was talented and the Buckeyes wanted to keep him, but he had to mature. If Graham had a drop in practice, he would struggle to lock back in. One whisper coming out of Notre Dame’s training camp was drops were an issue after a very impressive spring practice.

With the benefit of hindsight, maybe we should have seen something like this coming. It’s remarkable to look back at Notre Dame’s seven transfer portal pickups and compare their production at Notre Dame with their snaps played at their previous stops.

Cornerback DJ McKinney had the most experience, followed by a group including defensive tackles Francis Brewu and Tionne Gray and corner Jayden Sanders. Then there’s a gap, with defensive end Keon Keeley and receivers Graham and Porter bringing up the rear.

Sure, the Keeley-Graham-Porter group had the highest recruiting rankings out of high school. But they’ve done little at Notre Dame after doing little at Alabama and Ohio State. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by how this is all playing out?

BOSTON — David Pastrňák, by Natural Stat Trick’s count, was expected to score 0.16 goals on Thursday against the Utah Mammoth. In actuality, the Boston Bruins captain scored twice, both on the power play, in his team’s 6-1 win.

It speaks to Pastrňák’s natural scoring talent, which has put him in a tie with Brad Marchand for fourth place in franchise history (422 goals). The best of the best know how to find the back of the net, even when chance quality and quantity are against them.

Pastrňák’s knack of net-finding, then, makes it even more mysterious that he went the first four games of 2026-27 without scoring once. All of it was weighing on him: his lack of goals, the team’s 2-2-0 start, the pressure of the first-year captaincy.

“He was not happy,” coach Marco Sturm said. “He showed it today as soon as the one went in. After that, all of a sudden he was loose and happy. He had that flow, that rhythm in his game. That’s just how the brain works sometimes, especially in sports and in hockey. You only need one, just like on the power play. You get one goal and all of a sudden you feel it.

“I’m happy for him. He’s excited. He’s very honored. But there’s also a little bit of pressure to have that ‘C’ on your jersey. It’s a little different. I’m glad that’s over.”

In the first period, after Lawson Crouse was called for interference, Pastrňák took a seam pass from Frédéric Brunet at the right circle. Pastrňák promptly loaded up his stick for a snap shot. By using MacKenzie Weegar as a screen, the right wing whistled the puck past Sebastian Cossa for his first goal. It broke the Bruins’ 0-for-10 start on the power play.

Vulnerable to fall

I intend to be reasonable about movement within these tiers. Meteoric rises are to be avoided, and so are cliff dives. For these players, the concerns are obvious enough that their standing bears watching.

Stephen Curry (2A) is the standard for small-guard supremacy over the last 50 years. But availability is becoming increasingly difficult to separate from his performance. He has a troublesome right knee that cost him significant time last season and will be 39 before the end of the regular season.

Kevin Durant (2A) hasn’t shown much evidence of decline, and his job should be easier with the Houston Rockets having veteran guards at their disposal. But Durant’s teams have had late-game struggles and postseason struggles for years, and Durant is 38. Will the ballhandling support help snap a seven-game playoff losing streak for Durant and help him win his first playoff series in four years?

The Spurs don’t get past the Thunder in the West finals without De’Aaron Fox (2D), who was playing on a bad ankle. But Fox’s struggles in the NBA Finals would be worth monitoring even if he didn’t play the same position as two other top-five picks on rookie contracts: Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. Internally and externally, Fox has some unique circumstances that could change both his role and how he’s evaluated.

James Harden (2D) has made the playoffs in all 17 of his NBA seasons. Having more turnovers than buckets in playoff games once he gets there is something everyone looks out for with Harden, and he had seven such games in the 2026 postseason. Harden is 37, and the challenge is increasingly about workload. How does he balance carrying his team during the regular season while preserving optimal decision-making in the postseason?

Of the 46 players who qualify as stars based on the Player Participation Policy, Joel Embiid (2E) ranks last with an average of 32 games played over the last three years.

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert has been given a suspended six-week ban by the English Football Association (FA) after its investigation into the ‘Spygate’ scandal that saw the club kicked out of the Championship play-off final in May.

Eckert has also been handed a small fine, having been charged by the governing body for bringing the game into disrepute in July. He had been at Wembley Stadium for a hearing on September 24, before the FA delivered their verdict in an announcement on Wednesday.

The FA’s investigation followed on from the English Football League (EFL) expelling the club from the play-off final after they admitted to spying on other clubs’ training sessions — with Middlesbrough, who they beat in the semi-finals, reinstated.

Southampton also admitted to spying on Oxford United and Ipswich Town, prompting an independent EFL commission to find that Eckert had been behind a “contrived and determined plan” to spy on the clubs.

As well as being kicked out of the play-off final, Southampton were handed a four-point deduction ahead of this season. Without this, they would be in the play-off spots instead of in 13th.

There’s almost too much change to track in Chicago.

The makeover of the front office and coaching staff. The selection of a potential future franchise face in Caleb Wilson. The clear pivot in direction, a pronounced embrace of a more conventional rebuild. Welcomed changes, surely, after trying to maintain a competitive facade for multiple seasons.

Chicago Bulls fans, no matter how distant the results might be, have a future to look forward to.

That all starts to unfold on the court this week.

Here are five things we’re monitoring as the Bulls tip off their preseason slate at home Wednesday against the Phoenix Sun.

HOUSTON — Uncertainty still shrouds the Houston Astros, who have no general manager and have left their embattled manager dangling in the wind. What owner Jim Crane is waiting on to decide Joe Espada’s fate is anyone’s guess, but until he does, silence will be the soundtrack of this fascinating offseason.

Navigating it will require sobering conversations with core players of a flawed club that finished 81-81. That will remain a fact regardless of who is managing the team or running its baseball operations department. Here are seven of the most pivotal players in determining the trajectory of Houston’s offseason.

“He’s on point, like he is every year,” Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs said of his quarterback. “He’s the same player since I’ve been here. Diagnosing the defense and getting the ball to the right players at the right time. He’s our leader, and we trust him with everything.”

Quietly, Goff is off to arguably his best start yet. Against the Panthers, Goff threw for 412 yards and a touchdown, extending his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown to 27 — the longest in the NFL. He dialed up the deep ball when he needed to, hitting Jameson Williams for a 49-yard gain and Isaac TeSlaa for a 57-yard reception. He completed 78.1 percent of his passes against the Jets the week prior. The week before that, Goff threw for four touchdowns.

He has been bringing it each week. So much so that it is now fair to ask: Where would the Lions be without him?

Through four games, he ranks second in passing yards (1,214), third in passing touchdowns (nine) and fifth in passer rating (108.6), and he has largely done his part to keep the Lions in every game. Per Pro Football Focus, Goff is tied for third in big-time throws (eight) and has the second-fewest turnover-worthy plays this season (one). Goff has yet to throw an interception or turn the ball over. And he has been effective even when facing pressure, doing his part to either evade it, throw the ball away, or hang in the pocket and make a play.

Already a model of consistency in his 11th season, is it possible Goff continues to improve? Because it sure feels that way.

Where Jared Goff ranks among NFL QBs

|| || |Touchdown passes|9|3rd| |Passing yards per game|303.5|2nd| |Passer rating|108.6|5th| |Completion percentage|67.7|9th| |EPA per dropback|0.26|4th| |EPA per dropback vs. pressure|-0.06|6th| |Passer rating when pressured|87.3|5th|

“He’s playing at a high level,” coach Dan Campbell said of Goff last week. “When you can do that at the quarterback position, that makes you very efficient.”

The Lions are averaging 29.8 points per game (fifth) and 389.3 yards per game (sixth), and they rank third in offensive success rate. You can see the potential of this offense. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Williams and Sam LaPorta are a pick-your-poison trio in the passing game. Gibbs can beat you on the ground or as a receiver in space. Detroit’s offensive line, when healthy, has allowed one of the lowest pressure rates in the league four games into the season.