Sports
Las Vegas Raiders Finally Have a Real Plan for the First Time in Years
The Las Vegas Raiders finished the season as the NFL’s worst team.
Immediately after the season, the Raiders fired head coach Pete Carroll. While the Raiders have not played a game since the first week of January, Las Vegas is already in a better position than they were last year.
Hiring Carroll never made much sense. Perhaps the Raiders viewed it as a bridge coach, as the 74-year-old Super Bowl winner could breathe some life into a zombified organization. Even if that was the rationale, it didn’t work. The Raiders were far and away the most embarrassing team in football, wasting another season of Maxx Crosby’s prime and burning up the first year of standout running back Ashton Jeanty’s rookie season.
On Sunday, the Raiders moved closer to hiring Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as their next head coach. This hire will not be allowed to become official until after the Super Bowl, as Kubiak will lead Seattle’s offense against the New England Patriots next week.
There’s no guarantee that Kubiak, 38, will be the right hire for the Raiders. But it’s a decision that signals that Las Vegas is finally ready to get serious about building their football team the right way.
As the worst team in the NFL, the Raiders will have the No. 1 overall pick. That selection is likely to be used on Indiana Hoosiers Heisman quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who just won the national championship in one of the most dominant college football seasons ever.
While Mendoza isn’t regarded as a “can’t miss” quarterback prospect like Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning or even Trevor Lawrence, ushering in a new franchise quarterback with a first-time head coach completely resets the timeline in Vegas.
There are countless examples of teams that are able to capitalize on quarterbacks on rookie contracts. That’s exactly what the Raiders need to do with Mendoza. Geno Smith was a colossal failure. Keep that project in the rearview mirror while adding protection on the offensive line and a few more playmakers to complement Brock Bowers.
In the AFC West, the Raiders will still need to compete with the Denver Broncos and Patrick Mahomes, who look to be the class of the division for a long time. Don’t forget that the Los Angeles Chargers are entering a make-or-break year with Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel in the saddle as offensive coordinator.
The Raiders just need to focus on building around Mendoza, Kubiak and Jeanty, while allowing Crosby to contend for meaningful games in the postseason during the rookie contracts of the premier young offensive talent.
Vegas’ roster has plenty of holes, but hiring Kubiak is a big step in the right direction for a team that was wandering the desert long before it ever moved out there.
Sports
LYON, Cloud9 in LCS Lock-In grand final
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
LYON knocked out Sentinels to earn a meeting on Sunday with Cloud9 in the grand final of the League Championship Series 2026 Lock-In at Los Angeles.
LYON won 3-1 on Saturday in the lower-bracket final, taking the first map in 31 minutes as Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol of South Korea posted a 7-0-1 kill-death-assist ratio. LYON won again in 37 minutes as Niship “Dhokla” Doshi, an American/Indian player, had a 7-3-6 K-D-A and Berserker a 5-0-6.
Sentinels stayed alive with a victory in 34 minutes in the third game as Ham “HamBak” Yoo-jin of South Korea recorded a 5-0-8 K-D-A.
But LYON wrapped up the match by winning the fourth game in 39 minutes on red. Berserker contributed a 6-3-7 K-D-A.
Following the eight-team Swiss stage in the League of Legends event, six teams competed in the double-elimination playoffs, with all matches best-of-five. The overall winner qualifies for the First Stand Tournament, while the second- and third-place teams will head to the Americas Cup.
Both of the latter two events will be contested in Sao Paulo.
Cloud9, which finished atop the Swiss stage standings with a 3-0 record, has moved through the playoffs by beating FlyQuest 3-0 in the upper-bracket semifinal and Sentinels 3-0 in the upper-bracket final.
LYON, who finished fifth in the Swiss stage, eliminated FlyQuest with a 3-0 victory in the lower-bracket quarterfinals, then a 3-1 triumph over Team Liquid in the bracket’s semifinal before Saturday’s victory.
2026 League Championship Series Lock-In at Los Angeles prize pool
1. TBD, qualifies for First Stand Tournament
2. TBD, qualifies for America’s Cup
3. Sentinels, qualifies for America’s Cup
4. Team Liquid
5-6. FlyQuest, Disguised
7. Dignitas
8. Shopify Rebellion
–Field Level Media
Sports
OpTic Texas moves into first place in CDL Major 2 qualifying
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. OpTic Texas defeated Los Angeles Thieves in a battle of 4-0 teams to move to the top of the standings in qualifying for the Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major on Saturday.
In other second-day action of Week 3 competition, G2 Minnesota edged Riyadh Falcons, Toronto KOI beat Miami Heretics and Carolina Royal Ravens defeated Vancouver Surge.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the second major of the season, to be held March 27-29 in Marston Green, England, as part of the DreamHack Birmingham event.
The top six teams in qualifying head straight into the Stage 2 Major playoffs, while the teams in seventh through 10th place will compete in a play-in round.
The Stage 2 Major champion will receive $150,000 and 100 Call of Duty League points, while the runner-up will get $90,000 and 75 CDL points.
After Los Angeles Thieves claimed an opening 250-238 Den Hardpoint victory, OpTic Texas won the next three to claim a 3-1 victory. A 6-2 Exposure Search and Destroy triumph was followed by a 4-2 Den Overload win before the result was clinched with a 250-173 Colossus Hardpoint triumph.
In Saturday’s first match, G2 Minnesota won the final two games to come away with a 3-2 win. Riyadh opened with a 250-229 Scar Hardpoint victory and took a 2-1 lead with a 5-0 Scar Overload win. G2 leveled it at 1 with a 6-1 Raid Search and Destroy win, tied it at 2 with a convincing 250-134 Colossus Hardpoint victory and won the deciding Colossus Search and Destroy game 6-3.
Toronto finished a sweep of Miami with 250-182 Hardpoint, 6-4 Search and Destroy and 4-2 Overload victories, all on the Den map.
Carolina also swept Vancouver for its second victory in as many days after a 1-3 start. After opening with a 250-186 Blackheart Hardpoint win and following with a 6-2 Den Search and Destroy victory, the team closed out the win with an 8-2 Exposure Overload win.
The weekend schedule:
Sunday
–Toronto KOI vs. Paris Gentle Mates
–FaZe Vegas vs. Boston Breach
–Miami Heretics vs. Cloud9 New York
–Vancouver Surge vs. OpTic Texas
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifiers standings (match record, map differential)
1. OpTic Texas, 5-0, +11
2. Los Angeles Thieves, 4-1, +8
3. Paris Gentle Mates, 3-1, +5
4. G2 Minnesota, 3-2, +1
5. Riyadh Falcons, 3-3, +2
6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 3-3, -1
7. FaZe Vegas, 2-3, 0
8. Toronto KOI, 2-3, -2
9. Miami Heretics, 1-3, -4
10.. Vancouver Surge, 1-3, -6
11. Cloud9 New York, 1-3, -7
12. Boston Breach, 1-4, -7
–Field Level Media
Sports
Golden Knights wary of slow start vs. host Penguins
Feb 27, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) skates with the puck as Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) chases during the second period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy has just one simple request for his team heading into Sunday afternoon’s game at Pittsburgh.
Start on time.
The three-week Olympic break did little to help the Golden Knights recharge and snap a season-long habit of poor starts. Vegas has been outscored 5-1 in the first two periods in its first two games of a five-game road trip coming out of the break.
The good news is that the Pacific Division leaders have earned a split of those two contests, scoring five goals in the third period to pull out a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, followed by a 3-2 setback to the Washington Capitals on Friday night.
Vegas trailed 3-0 heading into the final 20 minutes against the Capitals, managing just 13 total shots on goal during the first two periods. This despite the fact that five of its top players — center Jack Eichel, captain Mark Stone, forward Mitch Marner and defensemen Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin — had been given Wednesday’s game off to help recuperate after playing in the Olympics. Those five players combined for just one assist, by Marner.
“They had plenty of rest, to be honest,” Cassidy said after Friday’s game when asked if the five players may have been battling fatigue after the long trip back from Italy. “They’re going to need to be better Sunday. Those are our best players, our leaders, and we expect them to play like that.
“They weren’t on time,” the coach continued. “We tried to give them rest. Hopefully, it pays off on Sunday, and next week, and whatnot. Tonight, it didn’t.”
Eichel and Hanifin had spent Tuesday at the White House with the gold medal-winning U.S. team and then stayed in D.C. for a couple of days of rest while Stone, Theodore and Hanifin spent their free time in Las Vegas before flying east on Thursday to join the team.
Cassidy, who has taken some of the blame in the past for slow starts, didn’t this time.
“We weren’t ready to play,” he said. “Coach has to prepare your team to play, but this one the players weren’t ready to play. They’re professionals. They’ve got to be ready to go. And we weren’t nearly good enough.”
Vegas had several chances down the stretch to tie the game, but Washington goalie Logan Thompson stopped a Brayden McNabb short-handed breakaway and followed that up by making a grade-A stop on a close-in try by Marner.
“We’re always going to respond,” Cassidy said. “I’ve said that many times, and we did it again tonight. Good for us to play 20 minutes. That’s the thing, right? We play 20 minutes and almost win a hockey game. Imagine if we played 40 or 45?”
Pittsburgh will be playing the second game of a back-to-back that began with a 3-2 shootout loss to the host New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The Penguins, who got goals from Anthony Mantha and Ryan Shea, blew a 2-0 second-period lead and fell to 1-8 in shootouts, the worst mark in the NHL among teams who have played in four or more shootouts this season.
Vincent Trocheck scored the lone shootout goal for the Rangers, with all three Pittsburgh players failing to convert.
“We’ve continued to work on it. We’ll continue to look at it,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said of his team’s shootout woes. “It just hasn’t been good. It’s on all of us. We’ve got to keep looking at ways we can get better at it. We’ve tried some different guys, we’ve tried some different things, but the results are what they are.”
The Penguins, who are 8-1-2 since Jan. 19, remained in a tie for second place with the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division at 73 points.
“It’s a tough game, but we look (to) tomorrow, play back-to-back against Vegas, a good team, great challenge,” forward Evgeni Malkin said. “Back home. We play hard. I’m not saying anything bad tonight. We played hard.”
–Field Level Media
LYON, Cloud9 in LCS Lock-In grand final
OpTic Texas moves into first place in CDL Major 2 qualifying
