Did NFL offseason change list of contenders? Plus Wimbledon upsets continue

Sports

add

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning! Hang onto your best players today.

Football: New NFL contenders, same as old?

NFL training camps open this very month, with most teams reporting in full around July 22. Every NFL offseason is a spectacle, and this one felt especially dramatic, at least to us at Pulse HQ.

The Shedeur Sanders draft plummet happened. The QB carousel spun almost literally to no end, thanks to Aaron Rodgers. Stefon Diggs signed a big deal in New England and then took a nice ride on a boat. There was an exceedingly rare trade not only of veteran players for one another, but two All-Pros, Jalen Ramsey and Minkah Fitzpatrick.

The NFL (and we in the sports media, too) loves the circus. But on the verge of camp, has it struck anyone else just how little this offseason seemed to change the league’s pecking order? The five teams with by far the best Super Bowl odds, per BetMGM, are the Eagles, Ravens, Bills, Chiefs and Lions. Four of those were also in the top five at this time last year. The only difference is the Bills more or less swapping places with the 49ers (second-best odds last year, now sixth).

• The Eagles won a Super Bowl, then lost some serious contributors (Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Darius Slay, Mekhi Becton). But their core remains intact.
• The Ravens lost a versatile offensive lineman in Patrick Mekari, but did that so they could keep left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Some cornerback depth issues, maybe, but the roster looks good, and Lamar Jackson is talking about vengeance.
• The Bills have a James Cook contract issue to deal with, but that’s a smallish problem.
• The Chiefs remain the Chiefs, stubbornly.
• The Lions lost cornerstone center Frank Ragnow to retirement, but they are reasonably well-equipped to deal with it. Aidan Hutchinson is healthy, and that’ll make life easy on a secondary that lost cornerback Carlton Davis to New England in free agency.
• The 49ers are not going 6-11 with a healthy Christian McCaffrey (and, hopefully before too many games have gone by, a healthy Brandon Aiyuk). They could be back.

Not that the Bengals or Commanders couldn’t crash the party, but it sure feels like not a lot has changed. Am I too dismissive? I asked some The Athletic football writers if I’m missing anything.

Scoop City (subscribe for free to the NFL newsletter) author Jacob Robinson:

💬 After Denver improved in nearly every facet this offseason, expect the Broncos to look like legitimate Super Bowl contenders. They’ll get a chance to prove it in Week 5, when they visit the Eagles.

Senior writer Jourdan Rodrigue:

💬 I don’t think people are loud enough about ranking the Buccaneers in the contenders category. They have a quarterback in Baker Mayfield who is playing the best football of his career (though can be erratic), one of the best offensive lines, one of the best (and deepest) receiving corps and an emerging run game. The injury-luck pendulum may swing back in favor of their defense this season and give that group an overall lift. This team is well-built and will score points, with plenty of attitude. Don’t overlook them!

Yo-ho, yo-ho.

News to Know

PSG, Real Madrid advance in CWC

In yesterday’s Club World Cup quarterfinal action, PSG prevailed over Bayern Munich in a chaotic affair — unfortunately dampened by a horrific injury — while Real Madrid escaped a late flurry from Borussia Dortmund thanks to an incredible goal from Kylian Mbappe.

Despite all the controversy surrounding the tournament, the product on the field has been legitimately good. So, are American fans flocking to watch the best teams in the world in action? Nope. Tickets for the Club World Cup’s first semifinal dropped to $13.40 yesterday after having been priced at $473.90 (!) less than 72 hours earlier. That’s less than a beer inside MetLife Stadium.

Former champs out of Wimbledon

Defending champion Barbora Krejčíková was bounced by American Emma Navarro in yesterday’s Wimbledon action shortly after 2022 winner Elena Rybakina met a similar fate — the latest in a string of surprising results in the women’s draw. The favorites on the men’s side cruised yesterday, as Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner both played near-perfect tennis. Plenty more updates from the All England Club in our Day 6 recap here.

More news:

Watch Guide

📺 Pirates at Mariners 

4:10 p.m. ET on MLB.TV (free)

Paul Skenes pitches for Pittsburgh, George Kirby for Seattle. Cal Raleigh continues to have a real chance at the best offensive season ever by a catcher.

📺 Gold Cup Final: United States vs. Mexico 

7 p.m. ET on Fox 

The USMNT’s roster for this tournament has only had small overlap with the likely squad for next year’s World Cup, but this is still a big deal for the program’s development. Mexico is defending its 2023 title; the Americans won the previous tournament in 2021.

Pulse Picks

Fluto Shinzawa’s smart story on the principles of being a “24-hour athlete” and how they can give a prospect an edge.

Haim’s new album “I quit” (sic) — the queens of summer songs are back and deliver on that reputation. Happy bopping. — Alex Iniguez

Ojai, Ca. The whole town is my Pulse Pick. If you’re anywhere in Southern California and haven’t been, I consider it one of the most relaxing places around. — Alex Kirshner.

Panini attempted to sell its latest WNBA release for as much as $30,000 per two-card box. Annemarie Farrell penned a searing column on why that has left long-time collectors feeling disappointed.

This rendition of the Norwegian national anthem at the Women’s Euros was ethereal. One of the most incredible voices you will ever hear. — Sam Settleman

Public playgrounds designed with toddlers, specifically, in mind. Bonus points if mine likes it enough to forget he’s wearing our holy grail sun hat. — Torrey Hart

So far, my testing on limited-edition Frosty swirls and fusions has the simple strawberry swirl as the leader. I’d keep it around. — Chris Sprow

🎥 Zach Harper has a great video breakdown about the NBA’s biggest moves of the offseason so far in the latest edition of his newsletter. Watch it here.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The increasing likelihood of the Kevin Durant trade becoming a seven-team deal.

Most-read on the website yesterday: “Arsenal’s stance over Thomas Partey feels morally indefensible,” by Sarah Shephard.

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top photo: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

White Sox look to extend Rockies’ home misery with series sweep

Sports

Next

trending_flat

Real-Star gedenkt Jota! – Mbappé mit großem Tor und noch größerer Geste

Borussia Dortmund