Get Rory Smith’s weekly newsletter on world soccer in your inbox every Friday. It’s free! Sign up here at nytimes.com/rory. My favorite soccer-related study of all time, by some distance, came from the Brazilian magazine Mundo Estranho a few weeks before the start of the 2014 World Cup. For the first time, it said, it […] More
The Patriots are trying to improve to 10-1 with the Cowboys in their way; the Seahawks are seeking an important road win at Philadelphia; and the Falcons — yes, the Falcons — are trying to stay red hot. These games make for solid appetizers, but the real meal will take place near San Francisco, where […] More
McCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. — The town was buzzing. It was the first round of Nebraska’s six-man high school football playoffs. The McCool Junction Mustangs (9-0) were undefeated and seeded fourth in Class D6. And while the Crawford Rams were 5-4, no one was taking them lightly. The Rams were tall and intimidating. “They are ranchers,” […] More
Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson hit DeAndre Hopkins for two touchdowns on Thursday to lead the Texans to a 20-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in a battle for the N.F.L.’s A.F.C. South division lead. The Texans, coming off an embarrassing 41-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, improved to 7-4, breaking out of a […] More
The head coach of the Yale women’s soccer team left the university this week after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced from when he coached at a nearby college in Connecticut a decade ago. It was the second time in a year that the team’s head coach had left because of a scandal. The previous job holder […] More
LONDON — For Andrea Pirlo, it was the satisfaction of a free kick, sweetly struck, sweeping “a couple of centimeters over” a defender’s head, beyond the goalkeeper’s despairing reach, whistling into the corner of the goal. There could be, he wrote in his autobiography, “no greater feeling in life.” Dennis Bergkamp felt the same way […] More
N.F.L. appeals officers on Thursday upheld the indefinite suspension for Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett for hitting Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in the head with a helmet during a game last week. The appeals officers also reduced a related suspension to two games from three for Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, who kicked and […] More
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers paused. “I’ll try and say this nicely,” he said. Staring out into the Packers’ locker room, Rodgers let the words dangle. After an off-season of change and criticism, of different coaches expecting him to adapt and former teammates sniping at his leadership style, he is ever more attuned to […] More
