3 biggest winners and losers of Thursday Night Football: Dak Prescott rescues Cowboys like MVP

Thursday night was Dak Prescott’s signature MVP game.

Hoo boy, what a game on Thursday night! Who knew back-and-forth epic shootouts were allowed on this platform notorious for awful (read: atrocious) NFL matchups? We certainly didn’t!

In an instant classic, the Dallas Cowboys overcame the Seattle Seahawks 41-35. We had terrific quarterback play. We saw a coach trying to ice a pass. We had a certain star receiver taunting Dallas fans with sign language. We even saw Amazon inadvertently troll the New England Patriots with an unfortunate promotional graphic. This game had everything, and I’m almost sad it ended in regulation.

Let’s dive into the winners and losers of an epic nail-biter from Thursday night in Dallas. There’s a lot to unpack from this one.

Winners and losers from Auburn’s embarrassing loss to New Mexico State

It is safe to say that Saturday’s game is one that Auburn players, coaches, and fans would like to forget.

It is safe to say that the performance of the Auburn Tigers on Saturday afternoon against the New Mexico State Aggies is one that they would like to immediately forget.

The Aggies controlled the entire game and left town with a 31-10 win over the home-standing Tigers. Head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] told the media after the game that he could not find a single positive in Saturday’s performance.

“You’re not going to execute if you don’t give great effort. That goes hand-in-hand. I thought our receivers ran routes in slow-motion tonight… We didn’t protect well. There’s nothing positive I can say about tonight.”

Despite the loss, there were few positives and even more negatives to talk about. Here’s a look at the best and worst of Auburn’s loss to New Mexico State on Saturday.

3 biggest winners and losers of Thursday Night Football: Bengals face Joe Burrow injury disaster (again)

The Bengals are done if Joe Burrow’s wrist injury is serious.

Well, we were supposed to see an epic clash of contending teams on Thursday Night Football. Instead, largely thanks to Joe Burrow’s wrist injury, we got a 34-20 clunker in favor of the Baltimore Ravens, who are cementing themselves as a top-tier AFC team.

It’s mid-November now, so that means playoff chases will soon start to heat up in earnest. That also means it’s time to start taking stock of what the Cincinnati Bengals can still accomplish (with or without Burrow) and where the Ravens might be headed in the coming weeks, in January, and perhaps even February.

Let’s unpack the winners and losers from a weird and dramatic night in Baltimore.

Winners and losers from Auburn’s win over Arkansas

There were plenty of good things, and even some bad, to remember when thinking of Auburn’s win over Arkansas.

The Plains are buzzing following Auburn’s 48-10 thrashing of the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday.

Auburn outgained Arkansas, 517-255, and recorded eight tackles for loss in the game.

Another exciting takeaway from the game is that Auburn is now eligible for a bowl game in year one under [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]. Freeze said after the game that his team is now starting to piece everything together at the right time.

“They remember what you do in November. I think Frank Broyles said that. I want our kids to compete and they have. Now we find ourself bowl eligible, which I think is a step that was important to me and for our team and our program in our rebuild. I think we’re getting better and looking forward to the next two games.”

There were plenty of good and even several bad, things that happened during Saturday’s game. Here is the best and worst of Auburn’s victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks.

3 biggest winners and losers of Thursday Night Football: Woeful Bears help 2024 draft pick

The Bears’ TNF win officially opens the door to drafting a new QB.

No one expected a show of fireworks between the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers on Thursday night. In fact, we knew this was a patently garbage game on paper and would probably not morph into an instant classic.

In a 16-13 win for Chicago, the Bears and Panthers predictably delivered boredom amid an unrepentant snoozefest. As someone who literally (and regrettably) watched all 60 minutes, I’m not sure I remember more than a handful of select plays. And even then, this game is already fading from my memory because I’m probably trying to repress its ugliness.

But it wasn’t all bad! Chicago’s victory carries some serious ramifications for the organization’s future. Meanwhile, Bryce Young’s failure to outduel a former Division II quarterback doesn’t spell out good things for his future.

Let’s dive into the winners and losers from TNF in Chicago.

College Football Week 10 Winners and Losers: Folks, Alabama may be doing it again

Reports of Alabama’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

With three weeks remaining in the regular season, we have a clear picture in practically every conference race.

We saw Florida State punch its ticket to the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2014 with a win over Pittsburgh, and several other teams essentially clinched spots in conference title games.

In the SEC, Alabama and Georgia took control of their respective divisions with wins over LSU and Missouri, while we seem to be heading toward a Texas-Oklahoma State Big 12 title game as the Longhorns survived in overtime against Kansas State while the Cowboys sprung the upset over Oklahoma in the final regularly scheduled Bedlam matchup.

However, there are some crucial matchups yet to come in the Pac-12 and Big Ten, so there may be more chaos to come in the November College Football Playoff race.

For now, here are the winners and losers from Week 10.

9 biggest winners (49ers!) and losers (sigh, Bears) of the 2023 NFL trade deadline

The 49ers’ defense loading up and the confusing Bears headlined a strange trade deadline.

Well, that was kind of disappointing, wasn’t it?

Heading into Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, we expected a flurry of moves spurred by championship contenders recognizing their flaws and mediocre teams looking to the future. What we got instead was a small spattering of trades that may or may not have had any bearing on the 2023 season, with everyone turtling and mostly playing it safe. Go figure.

But it wasn’t a completely uneventful day.

A Super Bowl 58 favorite added a high-upside pass-rusher. At the same time, the league’s worst marquee team metaphorically drove circles around in the parking lot while a superstar receiver in Nevada resigned himself to an aimless future. And we can’t forget the smart, understated move from a western New York squad addressing a major defensive need.

Let’s break down For The Win’s the winners and losers of the 2023 NFL trade deadline.

College Football Week 9 Winners and Losers: Oklahoma unbeaten no more, Oregon sends a clear message

If we’re truly going to get a chaotic conclusion to the 2023 college football season, Week 9 felt like the calm before the storm.

If we’re truly going to get the chaotic conclusion to the 2023 college football season that has been teased, Week 9 felt like the calm before the storm.

It was far from the most loaded weekend slate we’ve seen since the season really kicked into gear, and most of the nation’s top teams survived relatively unscathed.

That is unless you’re Oklahoma.

The list of unbeaten teams shrunk from nine to eight as the Sooners were stunned in Lawrence by Kansas, which claimed its first victory over its border state rival since 1997 in what was the final conference matchup between the two programs.

The most high-profile matchup of the day proved to be a relative snooze as Oregon had no problems dispatching Utah, making a clear statement to the rest of the Pac-12 in the process.

October is in the books, and the season is now on its home stretch. The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday night, and Week 10 features some games that are sure to carry massive postseason implications.

In the meantime, here were the winners and losers from Week 9.

College Football Week 8 Winners and Losers: Virginia stuns North Carolina, Penn State fails yet another major test

We had some close calls in Week 8, but Virginia ultimately came through to take down a top-10 team on the road.

Week 8 came very close to delivering on a high number of blockbuster upsets, but most of those bids ultimately fell short.

The biggest game of the week — Ohio State vs. Penn State — proved to be a low-scoring affair with the Buckeyes outlasting the Nittany Lions in the defensive battle. But that proved to be far from the most compelling game on the slate.

Both Oklahoma and Texas survived scares against conference newcomers in UCF and Houston, respectively. The former staved off a late two-point attempt and an onside kick that was very nearly successful, while the latter nearly squandered a 21-0 lead against a coach on the hot seat.

Top-five teams in Florida State and Washington both overcame second-half deficits with FSU pulling away from a banged-up Duke team and the Huskies sleepwalking to a one-possession win against a bad Arizona State team.

By far the most shocking result of the weekend was previously 1-5 Virginia’s emotional win on the road against an undefeated North Carolina team that ranked No. 10.

We’re already approaching the final weekend of October, and the College Football Playoff race is becoming clear with the first rankings set to be released following Week 9. As we prepare for crunch time in the season, here are the winners and losers from Week 8.

College Football Week 6 Winners and Losers: Red River redemption for Oklahoma, Mario Cristobal’s grave error

Oklahoma’s revenge over Texas, Louisville’s signature win, Miami’s critical mistake and more in this week’s winners and losers.

And with that, most teams around college football have reached the midpoint of the regular season.

It was a fairly quiet Week 6, although we were treated to a stellar game in the headliner as Oklahoma took back the Red River Rivalry in Dallas with an upset win over No. 3 Texas. We saw another top-10 team go down as No. 10 Notre Dame suffered its second loss of the season, this time on the road against Louisville, which is now 6-0 under first-year coach Jeff Brohm.

No one else in the top 10 fell on Saturday, though No. 9 USC had quite a close call as it had to overcome an early deficit and ultimately won in triple overtime against Arizona.

Perhaps the most stunning result of the day came in Coral Gables as previously unbeaten Miami suffered its first loss of the season — but more on that later.

Here are the winners and losers from Week 6 of the college football season.