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New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders Forgot How To Lose at the Worst Time

The lone thing the New York Giants have excelled at this season is losing.

That makes it doubly startling that they just sabotaged their chances of owning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft by winning Sunday for the first time since Oct. 6.

The Giants, who entered Week 17 ranked last in the NFL in scoring offense at 14.3 points per game, somehow tripled that average with a stunning 45-33 home win over the Indianapolis Colts.

It was like Y.A. Tittle came down from the heavens to run the New York offense.

Think about it: these Giants have lost by more than 20 points on five occasions. New York also knows how to lose calls, sitting 0-5 in games decided by five or fewer points.

The Giants are so good at losing that they set a franchise record with 10 consecutive losses. So call them historic losers.

So when these guys need to lose two more games to land the No. 1 overall pick, you would think it wouldn’t be hard for these guys to tank.

Apparently, mention “tank” to these guys, and they go home and put food in the fish tank. Or they go to the museum and look at a military tank.

Who exactly expected the Giants to leave the field victorious and extinguish the playoff hopes of the Colts? New York hadn’t won a home game all season.

But just like that, the Giants went from favorites to pick first in the draft to watching the New England Patriots sit in the best position.

Congrats to the current players for not folding and delivering a stellar effort on Sunday. But yeah, your chances of landing a quarterback of the future is on life support.

Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is the best QB available in the draft, with Miami’s Cam Ward also expected to go among the first few picks.

New York could now miss out on both.

In November, the Giants correctly parted ways with Daniel Jones, which means they finally agree with the rest of the football world that using the No. 6 overall pick in 2019 on the Duke product was a major mistake.

Let’s hope that the fans of the team don’t suddenly think Drew Lock represents the future just because he matched his career high of four passing touchdowns and rushed for another against the Colts.

Lock is 10-17 as an NFL starter and the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks both decided that Lock wasn’t the right guy to lead their franchises. Lock is a long-term No. 2 guy; he’s not going to suddenly emerge like Brad Johnson did at age 28 and eventually lead a team to a Super Bowl title.

The Giants’ flop leaves the Patriots in the driver’s seat. New England has lost six straight games but nabbed its quarterback of the future by selecting Drake Maye third overall in the 2024 draft.

The Tennessee Titans—who definitely need a quarterback—and the Cleveland Browns also are in better position than the Giants. Both Tennessee and Cleveland have lost five straight games.

The Las Vegas Raiders hurt their draft positioning with back-to-back victories, another stunning occurrence. The Raiders lost 10 games in a row before beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints in consecutive weeks.

Las Vegas would be in the pole position without those wins but now could fall out of the top five. The Raiders are still trying to figure out whether or not they need a quarterback.

They know Gardner Minshew isn’t the answer, but 2023 fourth-round draft pick Aidan O’Connell has displayed signs that he could be a serviceable starter. If the answer is yes on O’Connell, the Raiders can fill a need at another position with a top-flight draft pick.

If they had their eyes on Sanders, they can close them now because he’s out of reach.

Definitely bad timing for the Raiders to post a few wins. Of course, coach Antonio Pierce badly needed those victories, or he isn’t going to be part of the future.

Either way, on draft day, fans of the Giants and Raiders will be asking, “Why did we suddenly win?”

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No. 16 Texas Tech hands No. 4 Iowa State first home loss

NCAA Basketball: Texas Tech at Iowa StateFeb 28, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders forward Donovan Atwell (12) celebrates during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Every time Iowa State began to gain any semblance of second-half momentum Saturday, Texas Tech had an answer.

Whether it was a 3-pointer on one end, a block on the other or just stingy work on the defensive backboards, the Red Raiders simply refused to buckle to what has been dubbed Hilton Magic.

The result was another significant victory against a foe ranked No. 6 or higher this season, 82-73, which also marked the Cyclones’ first home loss of the season.

Donovan Atwell scored 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, Luke Bamgboye delivered his best game since stepping in as a starter for the injured J.T. Toppin with 13 points and Christian Anderson navigated second-half foul trouble to score 12 points and dish out seven assists as No. 16 Texas Tech (22-7, 12-4 Big 12) moved into a tie for second place in the conference with Houston.

The Red Raiders are 3-0 since losing Toppin, the 2025 Big 12 Player of the Year, to a season-ending knee injury.

No. 4 Iowa State (24-5, 11-5) got 22 points from Joshua Jefferson and 20 from Milan Momcilovic, but couldn’t quite dig out of a hole that grew as deep as 45-25 late in the first half.

The Cyclones crept back within 65-59 with 7:08 to play on Tamin Lipsey’s dribble-drive bucket and the capacity home crowd was at a full-throat roar.

That rally came after Iowa State was unable to chip away at a 16-point deficit despite Anderson getting tagged with his fourth foul right before the first media timeout of the second half and heading to the bench for nearly 6 minutes.

Jaylen Petty and Tyeree Bryan stepped up with Anderson sidelined, sharing the lead guard responsibilities and scoring a combined 17 points in the second half.

More importantly, Petty helped Texas Tech regain its footing after the Cyclones made their run. He pulled up for a timely 3-pointer and moments later hit a mid-range jump shot late in the shot clock. Both buckets came after Bamgboye blocked shots at the rim.

Atwell sank his final 3 with 4:47 remaining, and Bryan finished a 10-0 run with a driving layup to push the lead to 75-59, leaving Iowa State unable to recover.

Atwell’s big day from beyond the arc helped the Red Raiders finish 14 of 29 from deep against one of the Big 12’s best defenses.

Conversely, the Cyclones struggled to make shots from anywhere most of the game and finished at 39% overall (23 of 59), including 8 of 24 from 3-point territory. Jefferson and Momcilovic combined to connect on 13 of 28 field-goal attempts.

Iowa State clawed back into the game by cranking up its defense, especially on Anderson, in the second half. The Cyclones forced 10 turnovers in the second half, which led to 12 points the other way. Iowa State scored 17 points off turnovers in all.

Sparked by Atwell’s 15 points, Texas Tech held a comfortable 45-29 lead at halftime. The Red Raiders made five of their final eight 3-pointers after a 3 of 10 start and knocked down 10 of 11 shots from inside the arc with 11 assists on 18 made field goals.

Jefferson and Momcilovic each notched 13 points to help the Cyclones outscore Texas Tech 44-37 in the second half, but the Red Raiders had enough in the tank to hold on for another huge NCAA Tournament resume-boosting triumph.

–Field Level Media

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Sharks beat Oilers to halt five-game slide

NHL: Edmonton Oilers at San Jose SharksFeb 28, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Edmonton Oilers left wing Zach Hyman (18) scores a goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

Shakir Mukhamadullin scored the game-winner on a slap shot midway through the third period as the San Jose Sharks defeated the visiting Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Saturday.

Michael Misa had a goal and an assist, and 12 different players recorded points for the Sharks, who ended a five-game losing streak, their second longest of the season.

Connor McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, led Edmonton with three assists, while Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists.

Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring 8:34 into the first period for San Jose. Oilers goaltender Connor Ingam, who made 28 saves, lost his stick on the previous sequence. He thought the puck had been cleared far enough away from his zone to retrieve it, but the Sharks’ Will Smith retrieved it and sent it over to Celebrini for his team-leading 29th of the season.

Misa and Barclay Goodrow also scored in the first period as the Sharks recorded three goals in the opening 20 minutes for the second straight time against Edmonton this season.

Last time, on Jan. 29th, the Oilers would score four unanswered goals, including an equalizer with 59 seconds left by Bouchard and the winner with 1:06 remaining in overtime by Zach Hyman.

Leon Draisaitl scored off an assist from McDavid on the Oilers’ league-leading power play in the first as Edmonton trailed by two goals heading into the second period.

Bouchard tallied his 17th goal of the season to get Edmonton within one in the second period, scoring off assists from McDavid and Mattias Ekholm.

The goal gave Bouchard 20 points in his last 10 games. The last defenseman to do that for the Oilers was legendary Paul Coffey in 1986.

Trent Frederic evened the game at 3 at 2:54 into the third on a wrister from Matt Savoie, who drove the puck all the way up the ice past Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov before feeding the former Boston Bruin for the easy finish.

Askarov made 20 saves for San Jose.

The teams then traded goals, with San Jose first retaking the lead as Alexander Wennberg scored on a wrister less than three minutes after Frederic’s equalizer, with Jake Walman evening the game again for the Oilers less than two minutes after that.

The scoring frenzy concluded with Mukhamadullin’s winner at the 9:27 mark of the third period, after William Eklund found him at the point for the powerful slap shot.

The Oilers have scored 17 goals in three games since coming back from the Olympics but have now lost two of those contests.

–Field Level Media

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Minnesota United holds off FC Cincinnati in historically cold matchup

MLS: Minnesota United at Austin FCFeb 21, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; Minnesota United forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) stops during the first half against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Kelvin Yeboah scored in the 66th minute and Drake Callender made four saves as Minnesota United presented Cameron Knowles his first victory as head coach with a 1-0 shutout of FC Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.

Roman Celentano finished with four saves for FC Cincinnati (1-1-0, 3 points).

Yeboah, who scored the tying goal in the 90th minute in Minnesota’s season opening 2-2 draw at Austin FC, headed in a rebound of a Tomas Chancalay free kick from the top left edge of the box for the game-winner. Chancalay’s shot caromed off the far right post into the middle of the box where Yeboah drilled in a hard header.

The score was set up when a free kick was awarded after Cincinnati’s Gerardo Valenzuela tripped Joaquin Pereyra just inches outside the penalty box.

Cincinnati, which opened the season with a 2-0 victory over Atlanta United, nearly tied it five minutes later on a curling left-footed shot from the middle of the box by Obinna Nwobodo that was heading for the right corner of the goal, but Callender made a diving one-arm save to knock it wide of the post.

Chancalay had a chance to extend the lead in the 83rd minute when he went in on a breakaway, but Celentano made a leaping two-hand deflection of his left-footed shot from the left side of the box that was ticketed for the top right corner of the goal.

Minnesota United (1-1-0, 4 points) moved into first place in the Western Conference with the win. Star striker James Rodriguez, who won the Golden Boot playing for Colombia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, dressed but did not make his debut for the Loons.

The temperature at kickoff was 20 degrees with a wind-chill of 11 making it the coldest game played in team history for Cincinnati.

–Field Level Media

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