Sports
Week 4 MNF: Titans-Dolphins Preview, Props, Prediction
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) looks to pass against the Miami Dolphins during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla., Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. Miami will have its third different quarterback in four games under center when the Dolphins play host to the winless Tennessee Titans in the first of Monday night’s doubleheader to close out Week 4 of the NFL regular season.
The Dolphins (1-2) have yet to lead in a game this season — they won on a last-second field goal in Week 1 — but enter Monday night only 1 1/2 games back in the AFC East. They’ll turn to Tyler Huntley, signed off Baltimore’s practice squad, at quarterback with Tua Tagovailoa and Skylar Thompson injured.
The Titans (0-3) are one of only two winless teams in the NFL, with the other being division rival Jacksonville. Monday night provides an opportunity for Tennessee to take advantage of an injury-riddled opponent to stay within two games of Houston in the division.
ODDS AND TRENDS
Despite their quarterback carousel, the Dolphins are consensus 2.5-point favorites at home. That includes at BetMGM, where Miami has been backed by 56 percent of the spread-line bets and 68 percent of the money since opening at 1.5.
The Dolphins’ -140 moneyline has also been a popular play, drawing 66 percent of all money wagered.
The public is expecting a low-scoring game, with the Under supported by 66 percent of the bets and 55 percent of the money at 37.0 total points.
PROP PICKS
–Tyler Huntley Under 32.5 Rushing Yards (-115 at BetMGM): The fifth-year veteran has averaged 24.5 rushing yards in 20 regular-season appearances. However, he’s not considered a true dual-threat quarterback, rushing only 15 times for 55 yards in five appearance for the Ravens last year. And it’s unlikely that Miami coach Mike McDaniel will take many risks getting another quarterback injured and having to turn back to journeyman Tim Boyle.
–DeVon Achane Anytime TD Scorer (+100 at DraftKings): With Raheem Mostert not expected to play, the bulk of the backfield work again falls to Achane. He was held out of the end zone last week at Seattle but scored in each of Miami’s first two games and should here. Tennessee enters Week 4 allowing an average of 124.3 rushing yards per game.
THE NEWS
Tennessee scored 15 points in 51 seconds last December to turn a 14-point deficit into a stunning 28-27 victory over the Dolphins. Titans quarterback Will Levis, then a rookie, passed for a career-high 327 yards.
“It was a lot of fun,” Levis said of the comeback win. “But different team, different season for both of us. Any time you play on Monday night, the whole world is watching, and it gives a little bit of extra excitement, so we’ve got that. That was a good win for us, and we’re just hoping to go get another win down there at a point of the season where we really need one.”
The Titans haven’t looked too stout this season while being outscored 78-48.
The Dolphins have different issues after Tagovailoa sustained a concussion in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills. He is on injured reserve and the earliest he can return is Oct. 27 against the Arizona Cardinals.
Thompson started last week’s 24-3 loss at Seattle and completed 13 of 19 passes for 107 yards and was sacked five times before exiting with a rib injury in the third quarter. Boyle was 7 of 13 for 79 yards and sacked once as Miami finished with just 205 yards of total offense.
Tyler “Snoop” Huntley will start against the Titans with Boyle serving as the backup. The Dolphins acquired Huntley from Baltimore’s practice squad on Sept. 17.
“We targeted him for a reason,” McDaniel said Thursday of Huntley, who made 10 starts (including the playoffs) in four seasons with the Ravens. “And it’s a player that we’re very familiar with from the opponent’s standpoint.”
Miami ranks last in the NFL with a scoring average of 11 points per game. It hasn’t scored a touchdown in its past seven quarters and has been outscored 55-13 during its two-game skid. Star wideout Tyreek Hill has just six catches for 64 yards and no scores in the two setbacks. He didn’t practice on Friday, but the Dolphins cited rest as the reason.
The Titans are 28th in scoring (16.0) and 29th in total offense (260.3 yards per game). Levis shares the NFL lead with eight individual turnovers (five interceptions, three lost fumbles). He has thrown four touchdown passes.
Veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins believes Levis will work through turnover issues.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else out there on the field the way he prepares and goes about his day,” Hopkins said. “I think he’s going to learn from his mistakes. He hasn’t even played a full season. It’s going to come with time.”
Levis is 3-9 as a starter entering Monday’s contest.
INJURY REPORT
Tennessee will be without cornerback Chidobe Awuzie (groin) for at least four games after he was placed on injured reserve on Friday. Standout defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (elbow) missed practice Friday for the second straight day and was officially listed as doubtful on the final injury report. Cornerback L’Jarious Sneed (hamstring) and safety Amari Hooker (face) are questionable.
For Miami, McDaniel said that left tackle Terron Armstead and cornerback Kendall Fuller both remain in concussion protocol. Linebacker David Long and cornerback Siran Neal missed Thursday’s practice with hamstring injuries but Siran returned on a limited basis on Friday.
THEY SAID IT
“Very confident. We have a heck of a coaching staff who’s able to put together a crazy gameplan. It’s going to be a crazy game Monday night.” — Hill on the Dolphins’ ability to overcome injuries at the quarterback position.
PREDICTION
This is a critical early season game for a pair of struggling teams who don’t want to fall too far back in the AFC pack before the calendar turns to October. The Dolphins are on their third quarterback in as many weeks and while Huntley is an experienced veteran, it’s a tall task after being signed just last week. The Titans are coming off two poor performances after blowing their winnable opener against Chicago, and finally get in the win column heading into their bye week. — Titans 23, Dolphins 20
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks and Nuggets Blow Big Leads: What Went Wrong in Game 2?
Roughly 5,000 feet of elevation separate Denver and New York City.
Still, gravity works the same regardless of where one stands. Just ask the NBA teams in both towns.
“You get too high, and you get, I don’t want to say cocky, but feeling yourself,” Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
That sensation went south on either side of the country Monday night.
After squandering sizable leads that would have cemented commanding 2-0 advantages in their respective first-round playoff series, the Nuggets and Knicks now find themselves bracing for a fight.
Should their opponents ultimately have their number, Denver and New York will look back with disdain on 19 and 14. Those were the Game 2 cushions the teams coughed up as the No. 3 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”
Be that as it may, the Knicks did just that against the Atlanta Hawks. They controlled the outcome for much of the night and took a 12-point edge into the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 14.
Then New York shot 5-for-22 from the floor in the final 12 minutes compared to 10-for-15 for Atlanta. Fighting through vulgar chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful, Hawks star CJ McCullom scored six straight points down the stretch during one key sequence on the way to a game-high 32.
“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls, and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”
New York’s melted at the same time. How many late possessions saw the Knicks pass or hold the ball around the perimeter before settling for subpar looks from 3-point range? The Knicks went 3-for-11 from deep as part of their flop.
Denver led the Minnesota Timberwolves by 19 points early in the second quarter before crumbling. The Nuggets still were ahead by three points to start the fourth quarter but a combined 2-for-12 shooting effort from pillars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the final 12 minutes took a toll.
“I feel like we had the game in hand, and then we just didn’t make our shots,” Murray said.
As with the Knicks and Hawks, the reversal of fortunes stemmed both from the hosts’ miscues and an outstanding effort from a visiting player, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards had 30 points.
“Great leadership, positive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that.”
The Knicks and Nuggets no doubt sensed the need to amp up their own urgency as things started slipping away Monday.
That neither could act upon it didn’t signal the end for either New York or Denver, of course. But now there’s unnecessary added weight for the climb back to the top.
Sports
Pistons seek return to identity vs. Magic after Game 1 shocker
Apr 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) is defended by Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) in the second half during the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images After an exceptional regular season, this wasn’t the start to the NBA playoffs that the Detroit Pistons envisioned.
Reeling from a stunning Game 1 loss in which only two players reached double figures, the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Game 2 Wednesday against the visiting Orlando Magic facing early pressure to reset the best-of-seven series.
The eighth-seeded Magic controlled the opener from the start, never trailing and leaning on a balanced offensive attack. Paolo Banchero led the way with 23 points while Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to help close out the 112-101 win.
For Detroit, the issue wasn’t just the loss — it was how it happened. The Pistons never established their defensive identity and struggled to find consistent offense beyond star guard Cade Cunningham, two areas that will be central entering Game 2.
“It starts, always, with us defensively,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “When you go back and watch the film of that (game), we weren’t ourselves defensively. The telling tale is typically when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton.
“… We went 38 (times) but they went 19. So that means we weren’t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being handsy, being aggressive. That kind of sets the tone for us.”
Offensively, the Pistons leaned on Cunningham, who scored 39 points, but got little other support — scoring their fewest points in nearly three months, since a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29. Detroit will need more help from All-Star center Jalen Duren, who was held to just eight points and seven rebounds in Game 1.
“They came out ready from the jump,” Duren said. “We didn’t really meet their intensity. They’ve been playing with their backs against the walls the last few weeks, so they were already kind of already rolling. I think we just got to do a better job meeting that intensity.”
Duren said the Pistons remain confident despite the loss, which extended their home playoff losing streak to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.
“We know the type of team we are,” Duren said. “We feel like we’re the better team. We know that we’ve just got to make adjustments and come out smarter, come out playing harder.”
Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said he has talked to his team about not becoming too overconfident coming off Sunday’s win.
“It’s one game at a time,” Mosley said of his message to the team. “It’s the reality that, yeah, you did get the Game 1 win, but now you have to go and figure out how to get a Game 2 (win). There’s going to be, obviously, the positive talk about what you’ve done, and thinking there’s reasons to celebrate, but at the end of the day, it’s one game, and that’s the most important piece that we’ve talked about: just taking it one game at a time.”
Banchero said the team has received the message, and he believes the key for the Magic is to play defense like they did in the opener.
“I thought we were on a string, just communicating, talking out coverages,” Banchero said. “I think it’s just going to continue to take that, being aggressive, being the aggressors on defense and just not trying to give them much. Obviously they’re going to make shots, but just not trying to give them any free looks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx star Napheesa Collier (ankle) targets June for on-court work
Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Unrivaled Co-founder Napheesa Collier at Barclay’s Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Minnesota Lynx said Tuesday that star forward Napheesa Collier’s rehab from left ankle surgery is “progressing as expected,” and she could resume on-court activities in early June.
The team plans to release updates on Collier’s progress when available.
The timeline means Collier will miss, at minimum, the first month of the WNBA season, which begins May 10 for the Lynx.
Collier underwent surgery on her ankle on March 24 after sustaining a severe injury during the 2025 playoffs. Per reports at the time, she sustained a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in the ankle and a muscle in her left shin on a collision during Game 3 of the playoff semifinal series vs. Phoenix.
Collier, 29, averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 40.3% from 3-point range to go with 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last year. The back-to-back WNBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, Collier is a five-time All-Star and earned MVP honors in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup final and the 2025 All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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