DeMarvion Overshown: Healthy offseason is a blessing, sets me up to b…

Leer más

To borrow from the old holiday jingle: All I want for Christmas is the two top teams ... Look at any NFL power rankings these days, and you'll see the defending champion Seattle Seahawks and their division rival, the Los Angeles Rams, as probably two of the top three teams, if not the exact top two teams in the league. And you get to see them face off on Christmas Day on FOX and the FOX One app (8:15 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), in what could be both an NFC Championship Game rematch and preview. The cool thing about having two of the NFL's top teams in the same division — in fairness, the San Francisco 49ers are usually in the top eight or so — is that between the Seahawks and Rams, only one of them gets to win the division and start the playoffs on their home field. So, a Christmas showdown in Seattle should have huge ramifications for which team gets that major advantage. Here are five storylines to watch, looking ahead seven months to one of the biggest games of the entire season: The Rams' biggest offseason upgrade was to their defensive secondary, sending their first-round pick and three other selections to the Kansas City Chiefs for corner Trent McDuffie, who promptly got a massive $31 million per year extension. Los Angeles also signed McDuffie's former Kansas City teammate, cornerback Jaylen Watson, for $17 million a year, hoping those two could bring their Super Bowl experience to help the Rams get back to the big game. Los Angeles had the NFL's No. 19 passing defense last year, and there aren't many categories where it ranked that low. So, these are moves designed to improve a relative weakness, at considerable expense. Watson brings more size than what the Rams had in Cobie Durant and Emmanuel Forbes last year, and McDuffie has the versatility to play inside at nickel or outside, depending what package they're in. No defense ran more dime looks with six defensive backs on the field than the Rams did last year. Right after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak left to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, and Mike Macdonald chose a relative unknown to take over Seattle's offense in Fleury. He spent the last seven seasons as an assistant with the 49ers, so he knows the division well and is well accustomed to lining up against the Rams' defense twice a year. Fleury's a first-time play-caller, no easy task for any team, let alone one with expectations as high as a potential repeat as NFL champs. He'll also have to do it without Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, who was not re-signed and landed with the Chiefs in free agency. Last year's No. 2, Zach Charbonnet, should be fully recovered from his late-season ACL tear by Christmas, and first-round rookie Jadarian Price is an intriguing prospect who never started once in college, playing behind Jeremiyah Love at Notre Dame the last three years. Nick Emmanwori took second in the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, even though he missed three games and didn't step into an every-down role until Week 6. His ability to play nearly anywhere on the field — safety, nickel, occasional edge rusher — makes him invaluable, and Seattle losing key defensive starters in free agency means Emmanwori will be asked to do even more in his second season. Emmanwori set a career high with 11 tackles in the regular-season game against the Rams in Seattle, and the Seahawks will need his versatility to try to contain Stafford's passing game. You can't expect to give up 457 passing yards and three scores and win, and Emmanwori can help Seattle improve another glaring weakness, having a minus-3 turnover margin in the regular season last year. Both offensive coordinators last year became NFL head coaches, with former Seahawks offensive coordinator Kubiak becoming the Raiders head coach and ex-Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur taking over with the Cardinals. Could the same two teams yield two more head coaches for 2027? If Seattle's defense is a force again, defensive coordinator Aden Durde — born in London — should be a top candidate for the next wave of hirings, and new Rams offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, still only 35, might be at the top of the list as a coveted young offensive mind. Don't forget the Rams' Kliff Kingsbury and Chris Shula or the Seahawks' Jay Harbaugh as potential candidates after another deep playoff run. Here's a cool one: There were five games in the entire NFL last season where a quarterback threw for at least 374 yards, three touchdown passes and had zero interceptions — and four of the five were from Rams star and NFL MVP Matthew Stafford. And two of those four came in losses to the Seahawks in Seattle. Both Rams-Seahawks showdowns in Seattle last year were amazing games. The first, a week before Christmas, saw Seattle rally from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit, give up a touchdown in overtime, then rally to win on a touchdown and two-point conversion by Sam Darnold. The rematch, with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line, had the quarterbacks duel with similar three-touchdown gems, the Seahawks prevailing after their defense got three stops at the 6-yard line with five minutes left. So the bar is set high after three great games last year, but it's reasonable to think that the team that wins on Christmas might be the one that gets to host any rematch in the playoffs.

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don't worry, we're here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn't have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: For the first time since 2022, the Chicago White Sox have a winning record in May. Furthermore, in the wake of their 6-2 win at home over the Kansas City Royals, which finished off a three-game sweep of their American League Central rival, the White Sox have won five consecutive games and are the No. 2 AL wild-card seed at 22-21. As for its latest win, Chicago got a two-run home run from left fielder Randal Grichuk in the bottom of the first inning, a two-run single from Grichuk in the bottom of the third, an RBI single from second baseman Chase Meidroth in the fourth and an RBI single from outfielder Derek Hill in the eighth; Grichuk and Meidroth each finished with two hits. Grichuk has played just eight games for the White Sox, totaling three home runs, seven RBIs and batting .313; Meidroth has logged a team-high 43 hits, while batting .281; Hill sports a .787 OPS; elsewhere, rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami has totaled 15 home runs and 29 RBIs, while boasting a .227/.371/.533 slash line; shortstop Colson Montgomery has totaled 11 home runs and 29 RBIs, while owning a .230/.331/.500 slash line. The White Sox are fifth in MLB with 56 home runs. On the hill, Chicago got six innings from starter Anthony Kay, who surrendered just two runs, which was followed by a scoreless inning of relief from right-hander Tyler Davis and two scoreless innings from left-hander Sean Newcomb. As for its starting rotation as a whole, Chicago's staff ranks 12th in MLB in ERA (3.98) and opponent batting average (.237). Most notably, ace Davis Martin owns a 1.62 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, a 265 ERA+ and 2.6 wins above replacement over 50.0 innings pitched (eight starts). The White Sox, who have lost 100-plus games in each of the last three seasons, have won three series against 2025 playoff teams: the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. Ryan O'Hearn gave the Pittsburgh Pirates all the additional runs they would need with one swing. One at-bat after outfielder Bryan Reynolds drove in a run on a single in the bottom of the first, O'Hearn launched a two-run home run to center field. O'Hearn would go on to have two more hits, finishing with a game-high three hits in a 7-2 Pittsburgh victory over the Colorado Rockies, which gave the Pirates a series win. Pittsburgh also got multi-hit games from infielders Konnor Griffin and Jared Triolo and catcher Endy Rodriguez, while its pitching staff held Colorado to just five hits, highlighted by Carmen Mlodzinski surrendering only two runs over five innings. O'Hearn has posted seven home runs, 29 RBIs and a 138 OPS+ this season, while boasting a .299/.375/.474 slash line. It was a pitchers' duel through seven innings. And then Kyle Schwarber happened. Following a leadoff single from Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner in the top of the eighth, Schwarber unloaded on a cutter from Boston Red Sox reliever Tyler Samaniego, sending it into the right-field seats for a two-run home run to break a scoreless tie. Later in the inning, infielder Bryson Stott singled in a run, and while right fielder Wilyer Abreu singled in a run for Boston in the bottom half of the eighth, Philadelphia would hold on to win, 3-1. As for the pitchers on the mound, the Phillies got six shutout innings from left-hander Jesús Luzardo, while the Red Sox got 5 ⅓ shutout innings from former Philadelphia southpaw Ranger Suárez. Schwarber leads MLB with 18 home runs and is seventh with a .610 slugging percentage. Philadelphia took the three-game set in Boston, with the losing team scoring one run in each of those contests and the Phillies averaging just two runs per game in the series. The Washington Nationals won the first two games of a three-game series on the road against the Cincinnati Reds, but the home team made sure the visiting team left Cincinnati with a souvenir — or a lot of them, for that matter. Cincinnati commenced a 15-1 shellacking of Washington in the bottom of the second, when infielder Matt McClain hit a two-run home run. The Reds added four runs in the fourth on a two-run single from catcher Jose Trevino and a two-run double from third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes. Designated hitter JJ Bleday then blew the game open with a three-run homer in the fifth and later hit a two-run homer in the seventh. The Nationals had outfielder Joey Wiemer pitch the eighth inning, and the Reds scored four runs off him, which came on a three-run homer from center fielder Dane Myers and an RBI single from Bleday. McClain, Hayes, Bleday — who had a game-high six RBIs — and infielders Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz each had multiple hits for Cincinnati. Washington, whose one run came on a wild pitch, was held to three hits. Cincinnati right-hander Chase Burns pitched six shutout innings, posting seven strikeouts and surrendering just four baserunners (two hits and two walks). Through nine starts, Burns has recorded a 1.87 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, a 232 ERA+ and an NL-best 2.6 wins above replacement across 53.0 innings pitched. The San Francisco Giants took Games 1 and 2 of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, but the defending, back-to-back World Series champions managed to salvage a series split. After beating the Giants on Wednesday, 4-0, the Dodgers got another win on Thursday to escape the four-game set even-steven. Los Angeles immediately got on the board in the bottom of the first, as catcher Will Smith, who was the team's designated hitter, hit a leadoff home run. Second baseman Hyeseong Kim got the Dodgers another run on an RBI single in the second. San Francisco leveled up the score at 2-all in the top of the fifth, but Los Angeles scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles from outfielder Alex Call, which drove in two runs, and shortstop Miguel Rojas, who plated one run and gave the Dodgers a 5-2 lead, which would be the final score. All the while, Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández had a game-high three hits. Right-hander Emmet Sheehan gave up two runs over six innings for the Dodgers, who surrendered just two hits altogether. With the San Diego Padres losing to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Dodgers are back in first place in the NL West at 26-18. One of the Giants' two hits was the most dramatic one in the sport on Thursday. In the top of the fifth, right fielder Jung Hoo Lee hit a ball down the left-field line, and Hernandez wasn't able to play it off the side wall, with the ball rolling to the outfield wall and Lee rumbling around the bases for an inside-the-park, two-run home run. On the season, Lee has totaled three home runs, 16 RBIs and a 103 OPS+, while possessing a .267/.313/.394 slash line. He has also posted two defensive runs saved in right field. This was the first inside-the-park home run of Lee's MLB career (2024-present) and the fourth official inside-the-park-homer in MLB this season. This is another instance of a player shining in a loss. While in an 8-3 defeat to the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Álvarez reached base in each of his four plate appearances (three hits and one walk), most notably hitting a solo home run to center field in the bottom of the third. Álvarez, who had three of Houston's five hits on Thursday, has totaled 14 home runs, 30 RBIs and 2.0 wins above replacement this season, while owning a .321/.429/.642 slash line. He leads the AL with a 198 OPS+ and 106 total bases. Álvarez, a three-time All-Star, ranks in the 96th percentile of MLB in average exit velocity (94.0 mph), the 94th percentile in barrel percentage (17.6%) and the 90th percentile in hard-hit percentage (50.8%), according to Statcast. Better late than never. Trailing the Athletics 4-3, the St. Louis Cardinals failed to get two of the first three batters on the basepath in the top of the ninth. Then, second baseman JJ Wetherholt was hit by a pitch, and catcher Ivan Herrera hit a game-tying single on the very next pitch. And, on the very next pitch, right fielder Jordan Walker dropped a double into shallow right field, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 lead, which would be the final score. Walker had two hits and drove in two runs, his other hit being a solo home run in the sixth. Meanwhile, center fielder Victor Scott II hit a solo homer in the fifth, third baseman Nolan Gorman had an RBI single in the sixth and designated hitter Yohel Pozo registered a team-high three hits for the Cardinals. St. Louis right-hander Michael McGreevy — who now owns a 2.10 ERA, an 0.88 WHIP and a 185 ERA+ — gave up just one run over six innings before relievers Ryne Stanek and JoJo Romero gave up a combined three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Regarding the ninth-inning heroes, Walker has logged 12 home runs, 32 RBIs, a 170 OPS+ and 2.6 wins above replacement this season, while boasting a .294/.370/.575 slash line; Herrera has driven in 20 runs and sports an .805 OPS and a 135 OPS+. St. Louis stands at 25-18, two-and-a-half games behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. Speaking of the Cubs, they ended a four-game losing streak by shutting out the Atlanta Braves, 2-0. It was a team effort to get through nine innings for Chicago. First, starter Ben Brown posted seven strikeouts and surrendered just two baserunners (one hit and one walk) over four innings, which was followed by two innings from Hoby Milner and scoreless innings from Phil Maton, Jacob Webb and Daniel Palencia. In all, Chicago gave up five hits and one walk. As for the offense, which was scarce in this matchup between NL division leaders, Cubs right fielder Matt Shaw had an RBI force-out in the top of the sixth and left fielder Ian Happ blasted a solo home run to right field in the top of the eighth. Happ had two of the Cubs' six hits and was the only player on either team to record multiple hits. On the season, Happ, a four-time Gold Glover, has logged 10 home runs, 19 RBIs, a 149 OPS+ and 1.9 wins above replacement, while owning a .234/.376/.481 slash line. Right-hander Zebby Matthews got called up by the Minnesota Twins to start for them on Thursday against the Miami Marlins, and then he answered the call in emphatic fashion. In what his first start of the 2026 season at the MLB level, Matthews tossed seven shutout innings, posted five strikeouts and gave up just five baserunners (four hits and one walk) while throwing only 83 pitches. Kendry Rojas pitched the final two innings for Minnesota, which got a 9-1 win. Matthews made nine starts for the Twins in 2024 and 16 starts in 2025. The right-hander's Thursday afternoon outing was his first shutout through a seven-inning MLB start and just the third time that he pitched through the seventh inning in the big leagues. Regarding Matthews' run support, Twins outfielders Austin Martin and James Outman each drove in three runs, with designated hitter Josh Bell logging a two-run double and first baseman Victor Caratini driving in a run on a ground out. Martin is batting .333 through 38 games, while sporting a .454 on-base percentage. Minnesota has won four of its last five games. The New York Mets' offense has come to life this week. Two days after scoring 10 runs, the Mets dropped nine runs at Citi Field on Thursday to close out a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers. Seven of those runs came on home runs from outfielders A.J. Ewing — whose homer was the first of his MLB career — and Juan Soto and infielders Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Marcus Semien. Moreover, the Mets only had two strikeouts. On the hill, right-hander Nolan McLean pitched seven innings for the Mets, recording seven strikeouts and giving up three runs. The sweep of the Tigers was the Mets' first such feat this season. Ironically, Detroit actually scored first and got out to a multi-run lead in each of the three games. Of course, it was to no avail for the Tigers, who have now lost eight of their last nine games.