Sports

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The Week 7 NFL schedule for the 2021 season is stacked with great matchups, and we’ve got you covered with what you need to know heading into the weekend. Our NFL Nation reporters bring us the biggest keys to every game, a bold prediction for each matchup and, of course,

6:00 AM ET Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett is off to an exceptional start to the season, and he’s worked his way into the Heisman conversation while putting the Panthers in the driver’s seat in the ACC Coastal. Still, this is just a good QB having a great season, right? Perhaps not, says Clemson defensive coordinator

9:00 AM ET The Jack Eichel saga in Buffalo has been quite the soap opera. But nothing in that saga was as odious and contentious as when the Sabres announced they were stripping their franchise player of his captaincy. “From our perspective and my perspective, I feel the captain is the heartbeat of your team,”

6:11 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Atlanta Braves‘ pitching puzzle for Game 4 of the NL Championship Series was complicated further by news that righty Huascar Ynoa would be unavailable because of tightness in his right shoulder. Atlanta made the announcement as manager Brian Snitker sat down for his pregame press conference. Ynoa had

6:24 PM ET LONDON — Befitting of Patrick Vieira’s return to Arsenal, this really should have been settled in midfield. Vieira was a colossus in the Gunners’ engine room for nine years, and for long spells on Monday night, his Crystal Palace side were the better team in central areas of the pitch to an

6:51 PM ET Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Larson claimed the first of four championship-contending spots in NASCAR’s season finale with a dominating victory at Texas on Sunday to start the round of eight in the playoffs. Larson led 256 of 334 laps at the 1 1/2-mile track and got his eighth win

3:00 PM BST Eddie Jones has named four uncapped players in England’s the 34-player England squad for the November Tests but there is no place in the group for Billy and Mako Vunipola, Jamie George or George Ford. Jones has confirmed Owen Farrell will continue as England skipper as he’s named in the squad for

11:42 AM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Bob Baffert can enter horses in the Breeders’ Cup next month at Del Mar, but the event’s all-time money-leading trainer has to meet certain conditions, including stricter out-of-competition testing of his horses and greater security at his barn. The conditions are the result of a review by

8:03 PM ET Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Paula Badosa edged Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open in her debut in the Southern California desert, where the tournament returned after a 2 1/2-year absence because of the coronavirus. She joined Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and

8:25 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Rory McIlroy capped a big weekend in Las Vegas on Sunday by surging past Rickie Fowler and holding off Collin Morikawa to win the CJ Cup at Summit for his 20th PGA Tour title. McIlroy seized control with a 35-foot eagle putt from just off the green

11:59 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN In one of the biggest boxing upsets in recent memory, Spaniard Sandor Martin scored a majority-decision victory over former four-division champion Mikey Garcia on Saturday in Fresno, California. Martin (39-2, 13 KOs) had never competed on the world-level before; this was his first bout outside the U.S. He was meant

8:54 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Rickie Fowler returned to the spotlight Saturday in the foothills above Las Vegas with his best round in three years, a 9-under 63 that gave him a 2-shot lead over Rory McIlroy going into the final round of the CJ Cup at Summit. Fowler hasn’t had an

Oct 15, 2021 The UFC’s women’s featherweight division is in an interesting spot, in that one terrific performance at 145 pounds can catapult a fighter into title contention. That is the backdrop for Saturday’s main event, featuring Aspen Ladd (9-1) and Norma Dumont (6-1). Both Ladd and Dumont have competed in the UFC’s 135-pound division,

5:17 PM ET Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Nikoloz Basilashvili outlasted No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 Friday to move into the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open with the biggest win of his career. Basilashvili next plays either No. 3 Alexander Zverev or American Taylor Fritz, who met in a later

6:45 PM ET Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Cameron Norrie routed 11th-seeded Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open and extend the best season of his young career. Norrie needed just 73 minutes to dismantle Schwartzman, who finally held serve to open the second set, drawing

8:00 AM ET FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES before tipoff at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook take the court for a joint workout that Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy guides. “We’ve been tied at the hip, pretty much, since we made the acquisition,” James says of Westbrook at media day. “We’re

10:01 PM ET HENDERSON, Nev. — An emotional Derek Carr, who had forged a unique friendship with Jon Gruden over the past three-plus years, had an idea in the wake of the Las Vegas Raiders coach’s resignation after leaked emails showed he had used racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language over a seven-year period: “Open up

5:11 PM ET Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said that while some Penn State players injured in Saturday’s game had legitimate ailments, he understands why Hawkeyes fans booed when other Nittany Lions players went down. Ferentz on Tuesday noted that Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford did not return to the game after leaving early in the

8:26 PM ET ESPN News Services TAMPA, Fla. — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has only four unvaccinated players as it opens up the 2021-22 season. Bettman was in attendance for the regular-season opener between the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. “Everybody banding together

3:25 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Off the bat, nine innings into a game surprisingly devoid of action, it seemed as if an entire ballpark believed Gavin Lux had tied the score with his Los Angeles Dodgers down to their final out. “My stomach pretty much sank when he hit it,” San Francisco Giants third