Texans throttle hapless Cowboys; what to expect from tonight’s CFP Rankings; Paul Skenes wins NL ROY

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🏈 Good morning to everyone, but especially to…

THE HOUSTON TEXANS

The Texan struck down the listless Cowboys, 34-10, a much-needed win after losing three of their last four.

• Joe Mixon He did most of his damage on the ground, setting franchise records with 109 yards and three touchdowns.
• Off-season signing at the marquee Danielle Hunter had two sacks and Derek Barnett Put the game to bed with a strip sack Cooper Rush and a fumble return touchdown after that Jalen Pitre forced another fumble …on…the…same…play.
• While CJ Stroud It went up and down again, which was a good sign Nico Collins return; In his first game in over a month, he had four catches for 54 yards.

Stroud's struggles – especially given his wonderful rookie season – are concerning, as is the scrappy offensive line. But at 7-4, the Texans have a firm grip on the AFC South and will be in position to make some noise in the playoffs.

👍Honorable Mentions

• Kristaps Porzingis Was assigned The Celtics' G League team while recovering from an ankle injury.
• The Lakers plan one Pat Riley statue.
• The USMNT cruised past Jamaica, 4-2, (5-2 overall) to advance to the semifinals of the Concacaf Nations League. Christian Pulisic opened the scoring, the Americans conceded an own goal and Ricardo Pepi made it 3-0 before halftime. Tim Weah scored the hosts' last goal of the evening with a half-volley.
• Juan Soto Is Meeting with The Dodgers. Yes, really.
• No. 18 Army revealed his uniforms for the annual game against the navy.
• Here's men's college basketball AP Top 25 And Coach survey and the women AP Top 25.
• Here are some Orioles Off-season goals.
• Jack Maloneyis the first 2025 WNBA Mock Draft is out.
• Here is the one USWNT Roster for a few friendly games in a few weeks.
• Alex Ovechkin has scored five goals in two days in his pursuit Wayne Gretzkys Mark career goals.

🏈 And not such a good morning for…

THE DALLAS COWBOYS

Last week I promised to stop mentioning the Cowboys prominently in this newsletter. But last night there was only one game, the Cowboys lost badly – again – and a Before the game, part of the stadium roof fell onto the field. Jerry Jones said there was “No risk at all.” After the game, The Texans trolled the Cowboys.

Much like this sheet metal, Dallas' season is in complete free fall.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

• Can Bryce Underwood save Brian Kelly's job at LSU?
• The Bears Say that packer committed a penalty on her game-saving blocked field goal.
• The RaysThe deal for a new stadium is on thin ice. Is moving coming next?
• Florida Atlantic fired Tom Hermann.
• See you then, Minute Maid Park. The Astros' Home has one new name.

🏈 What will the College Football Playoff rankings look like tonight?

After another weekend of madness – and with just two weeks left in the regular season – another crucial College Football Playoff rankings and bracket will be released tonight. Brad Crawford predicted what things will look like On the next selection day he has a new No. 1: Ohio State.

The Buckeyes still have a lot of work to do to get there, starting with beating an undefeated team Indiana team this weekend. But This game could mean even more for the Hoosierswrites Brad.

• Crawford: “It is imperative that Indiana – as the Hoosiers have not beaten a ranked team this season and will not have an advantageous depth – play well against the Buckeyes. A significant loss would probably be enough for the selection committee to take second place…” I'm putting the 11-1 record in favor of another SEC pick right now Tennessee as the odd team in the bubble, but rest assured that Volunteers fans are looking forward to a bloodbath with a win at Ohio State on Saturday.”

We also have updated versions of it CBS Sports 134 And Brandon Marcello's power rankings.

Brad has only fielded one Big 12 team – Coloradoas the No. 12 seed – in his predictions, but I loved that Dennis Dodd wrote about another Big 12 contender – Arizona State –WHO could be an even better story.

• Dodd: “The mess Mr Edwards What remains should not be underestimated. At that time, there were only 47 returning scholarship players on the roster Kenny Dillingham took over. Seven of them were former walk-ons. The scandal itself was like a lead weight that dragged the program down for years. … Dillingham told CBS Sports he expected the minimum point this season to be four or five wins. It's better to over-deliver than under-deliver. Dillingham also destroyed ASU's reputation as the ultimate sleeping giant that couldn't wake up.

😬 Giants bench Daniel Jones; What now?

The Giants on a bench Daniel Jones on Monday after returning from the bye week, relegating their 2019 first-round pick to the third line behind the new starter Tommy DeVito and backup Drew Lock. It's the end of an era — a mistake, actually — for a team that is 2-8 this season and 24-44-1 overall when Jones starts, the worst record of any quarterback with at least 50 starts since 2019.

The move comes less than two years after Jones was signed Four-year, $160 million extension after a 9-6-1 record and a playoff berth (and win) in the 2022 season.

But given the results so far, the decision made sense, even if the Giants said it was purely a football decision.

• Jones was almost certainly coming off his last loss for the franchise, which couldn't risk a $23 million injury guarantee for next season.
• Playtime Incentives in Lock's contract also made the decision for DeVito more financially sensible.
• Jones will do it certainly end up somewhere after being cut this coming offseason, and Matt Ryan says there is still hope.

The 2025 NFL draft class seems immature with franchise quarterbackssays Chris Trapasso, who gets involved possible options for the G-Men if they go this route. But even if it were, GM could Joe Schoen and trainer Brian Daboll land on the right land and build around it? Cody Benjamin says Jones' failure is Schoen and Daboll's failureto.

• Benjamin: “The Giants are still 17-26-1 under [Daboll’s] However, keep in mind that this record does not come about by chance or without some deeper dysfunction when it comes to situational play, offensive strategy, etc. As with any team facing massive changes at quarterback (or higher), there are many hands to blame, and while Daboll was vocal about possible Jones replacements leading up to the 2024 NFL draft, he also kept Schoen on the sidelines as such proposed confirming Jones as her future after the fact.

Giants-Cowboys on Thanksgiving will be known as “Zach’s nap after dinner.”

⚾ Paul Skenes and Luis Gil win rookie of the year; The 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has arrived

For the first time since 1981, both NL and AL Rookie of the Year awards were presented went to the starting pitchers. Pirates As Paul Skenes claimed the honor of the NL and Yankees outstanding Luis Gil Grabbed the ALs.

Skenes was impressed by the hardware Jackson Merrill And Jackson Chourioand Matt Snyder explained why he voted for Skenes.

• Snyder: “Skenes went 11-3 this season for an underperforming Pirates team. They were 15-8 when he started and 61-78 when he didn't start. In his 133 innings, he struck out 170 and walked only 32. He had an ERA of 1.96 and a WHIP of 0.95. On a ratings basis, this is an absolutely outrageous season. Even though his workload was limited by the Pirates' front office, Skenes still amassed more WAR than any NL pitcher except Chris Sale And Zack Wheeler. Only four pitchers had a higher win probability added.

Meanwhile, Mike Axisa looked at each other potential 2025 Rookie of the Year candidates.

From the stars of the present and future to those of the past 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Vote was released on Monday, and here are some of the biggest names appearing on the ballot for the first time:

• Ichiro Suzuki
• CC Sabathia
• Dustin Pedroia
• Carlos González
• Hanley Ramirez
• Felix Hernandez

They join returnees such as: Alex Rodríguez (fourth election year), Billy Wagner (10.) and Carlos Beltran (third). Players need at least 75% of the vote to get into the Hall and are eligible to play for a maximum of 10 years. That means it's now or never for Wagner after he narrowly missed last time out.

Matt sketches eight major storylines for this cycle as well FAQs.

📺 What we're watching on Tuesday

🏀 Cavaliers at Celtics7 p.m. on TNT
🏈 Northern Illinois in Miami (OH)8 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Thunder at Spurs9:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 No. 6 Purdue and No. 15 Marquette (M)9 p.m. on FS1