The Rams and Giants were disastrous in Week 6. While a handful of teams will want to flush Sunday from their memory and move on, none are reeling as badly as Los Angeles and New York. It was just over a month ago that we were nearly ready to crown the Rams as Super Bowl champions before a single game was even played, but now? They're off to the worst start of any team in their division. The biggest upset of the year -- a last-second loss to the Cardinals -- emphasized glaring issues on a massively disappointing team. On the other side of the country, desperate times called for desperate measures when the Giants benched Jameis Winston in favor of J.J. McCarthy. It didn't help their cause in a loss to the slumping Saints that they demoted Cam Skattebo to the sideline. Their NFC East lead feels tenuous.
The Valkyries took an early lead in the WNBA Finals. Just two years into their existence, the Valkyries are already on the board with a win in the finals. Their defense led them to a Game 1 win over Angel Reese and the Dream, as they limited Atlanta to a meager eight points in the fourth quarter to complete the 68-64 victory. It was domination on that end of the floor, and it needed to be, because Golden State shot just 32.1% from the field. That is quite the statement to make to begin the series. Game 2 tips off tonight at 8.
Ben Simmons' torn Achilles is bad news for both him and the Kings. This was supposed to be a comeback year for Simmons after he missed all of last season to address back and leg injuries. Instead, he will not play a single minute for the team that signed him last month on a one-year deal. Sacramento was not expected to be anything more than a Western Conference bottom-dweller even with (and partially because of) Simmons in the lineup, so his absence will test the depth of an already underwhelming squad. The Kings might not make it to 20 wins, and in turn, we have them picking first in our final preseason 2027 NBA Mock Draft.
☑️ Do not miss this: Preseason NBA awards picks
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The 2026-27 NBA season is just one day away. It is so close that lineup decisions are already locked in -- like the Spurscommitting to Dylan Harper as a starter and the Knicksusing their final roster spot on James Wiseman. This is our last chance to lock in preseason predictions, so with all the information available to us at the end of the offseason, we locked in our picks for all of the biggest league awards.
While Victor Wembanyama is the popular pick for MVP, we found better value in a superstar a little bit further down the odds board. Wembanyama is not the best bet for Defensive Player of the Year, either, because of his implied 77% chance of winning. So why not take a shot on Bam Adebayo, whose odds are much longer at +4000 but who is a bona fide rim protector on a top-five defense? Our Sam Quinn explained why Adebayo is the smarter pick.
Quinn: "Adebayo has spent years complaining about how he doesn't have one of these awards yet. Well, this is his best chance. Miami has one of the best defensive lineups in the NBA. Giannis Antetokounmpo has won this award, but he has declined just enough not to compete with Adebayo for this year's. Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins are legitimate plus starters, and Erik Spoelstra might be the NBA's most creative defensive coach. Adebayo doesn't post gaudy block or steal numbers, and the all-in-ones usually nudge him below the top handful of defensive bigs, but the eye test is obviously favorable and there will be a sense that he's due if he comes close."
Check out the rest of the picks to see our selections for Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player.
📝 NFL Week 6 takeaways
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Overreactions:It is no stretch to sayC.J. Stroud has earned himself big money. He was fantastic, again, outside of a late interception in the Texans' 34-31 win over the Jaguars in London. That was only Stroud's first pick of the year, and he passed for 312 yards and a season-high three touchdowns. Plus, he now has another weapon in Marvin Harrison Jr., who had his best game of the year in his Texans debut following last week's trade.
Injuries: The biggest injury news of the week came just in advance of game day when the Eagles placed Jalen Hurtson injured reserve due to a blood clot. We also learned ahead of kickoff that Tyler Shough is playing through broken bones in his non-throwing hand. And then in the course of game action on Sunday, the Eagles lost another starter when Nolan Smith suffered a concussion and the Ramslost their newly signed kicker just minutes into his debut.
Highlights and lowlights: When you don't have time to get a throw off, why not toss a backhanded pass into the end zone for a touchdown instead of taking a sack? That was Josh Allen's mentality when he made one of the most unbelievable plays of his career. You know what else was unbelievable in the Bills' win over the Raiders? The boneheaded decision C.J. Gardner-Johnson made to spit at Brock Bowers, which resulted in his second career ejection. And Cowboys' offense didn't get on the scoreboard in the first half for the first time in five years thanks to that Packers defense.
Milestones: There is a new name among the top 10 reception leaders in NFL history. Keenan Allen climbed all the way to No. 9 and passed a Hall of Famer in the process, and he has room to surge even further before he calls it a career.
Talty:"The play-calling isn't good enough. The quarterback play isn't good enough. The much-ballyhooed roster construction isn't good enough. For one of the most expensive rosters in the sport led by one of the highest-paid coaches, that is completely unacceptable. Sarkisian was given the keys to a Lamborghini this season, and he drove it into a ditch."
⚽ Cagliari at Monza, 12:30 p.m. on Paramount+ ⚽ Coventry City at Tottenham Hotspur, 3 p.m. on USA Network ⚾ Game 6: Guardians at Rays, 8 p.m. on TBS 🏀 Game 2: Dream at Valkyries, 8 p.m. on USA Network and Peacock 🤼 WWE Raw, 8 p.m. on Netflix 🏈 Commanders at 49ers, 8:15 p.m. on ABC
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