Yahoo Sports AM: The NFL returns
👋 Good morning! The NFL is back, baby.
— Kendall Baker (email), Jeff Tracy (email)
Let's sports...
HEADLINES
🏈 Tucker suspended: Mel Tucker has been suspended and is likely done at Michigan State amid reports that he sexually harassed rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy, who was working with the Spartans.
🇺🇸 No medal: Team USA failed to medal at the FIBA World Cup, losing to Canada in the bronze-medal game. Undefeated Germany took gold and Serbia took silver.
⚾️ Name to know: Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a no-hitter on Saturday in Japan with several MLB executives watching. The 25-year-old has a 1.86 career ERA and is expected to arrive in MLB next season.
⚽️ Arena resigns: Bruce Arena, the winningest coach in MLS history and former USMNT manager, has resigned as New England's head coach amid allegations of "insensitive and inappropriate remarks."
🥊 Huge upset: Sean Strickland stunned Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in Australia to capture the middleweight title. Adesanya closed as a -675 favorite, making this one of the biggest upsets in UFC title history.
See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.
THE FIRST OF MANY SUNDAYS
And just like that, we're back. One NFL Sunday down, 17 more to go...
Cowboys 40, Giants 0: The Giants got flat-out embarrassed at home on Sunday night. The Jets may have to burn some sage at MetLife Stadium ahead of tonight's game.
Dolphins 36, Chargers 34: Tua Tagovailoa had 466 pass yards, the fourth-most ever in a season opener. 215 of those yards (and two of Tua's three TDs) went to Tyreek Hill.
Eagles 25, Patriots 20: Tom Brady's return to Foxborough didn't go according to plan. New England is now sub-.500 (25-26) since he left.
Buccaneers 20, Vikings 17: Minnesota was the better team, but Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay did just enough to pull off the upset.
Commanders 20, Cardinals 16: It wasn't pretty but Washington began the post-Snyder era with a win in front of a sold-out crowd at FedEx Field.
Ravens 25, Texans 9: Scorigami! This was the 1,076th unique final score in NFL history.
Raiders 17, Broncos 16: Sean Payton's first Broncos game began with an onside kick — and ended with a loss.
Saints 16, Titans 15: That's eight straight losses for Tennessee, dating back to last November.
Jaguars 31, Colts 21: Indianapolis hasn't won a season opener since 2013, when we were still on the iPhone 5.
Rams 30, Seahawks 13: Puka Nacua, a fifth-rounder out of BYU, had 10 catches for 119 yards in his historic NFL debut.
Packers 38, Bears 20: Aaron Rodgers is gone, but it appears the Packers still own the Bears.
Falcons 24, Panthers 10: Tyler Allgeier (75 rush yards, 2 TD) was the surprise fantasy star, but my game ball goes to the person in this Freddie Falcon suit.
Browns 24, Bengals 3: Joe Burrow had a brutal day in the rain (82 pass yards, just six first downs) as Cleveland cruised to victory in the 100th Battle of Ohio.
49ers 30, Steelers 7: San Francisco entered the season as a Super Bowl favorite and looked like it on Sunday, dominating Pittsburgh in every facet.
Quick links: Winners and losers ... Fantasy booms and busts ... Yahoo Fantasy Football Show (Podcast)
US OPEN: NOVAK, COCO WIN TITLES
Novak Djokovic beat Daniil Medvedev, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, on Sunday to win his 24th major title, breaking a tie with Serena Williams for most in the Open Era."
The GOAT debate: Djokovic (24 majors), Nadal (22) and Federer (20) have won 66 of the past 80 grand slams and all three have a case as the "greatest of all time." But it's becoming almost impossible to argue against Djokovic.
"To me, it's similar to when Tom Brady won his fourth Super Bowl and there was still that debate about him and Joe Montana [as the GOAT]," said ESPN's James Blake, the former world No. 4.
"And then Brady goes and wins his fifth, and then his sixth, and, well, the debate is over, and then it just became him adding to his legend … That's sort of the situation we're in with Novak right now."
As for the women… Coco Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday to win her first major. You get the sense that many more could be on the way for the 19-year-old.
ICYMI: Gauff shared an awesome moment with her family after the win. "Today was the first time I've ever seen my dad cry," she said.
Fun fact: This is the fourth time in five years that a teen has won the US Open, with Gauff joining Bianca Andreescu (19 in 2019), Emma Raducanu (18 in 2021) and Carlos Alcaraz (19 in 2022).
More champions:
Men's doubles: Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (Great Britain) became the first pair in 109 years to win three straight US Open doubles titles.
Girls' singles: Gauff wasn't the only American teenager to get a trophy. San Diego native Katherine Hui, 18, won the girls' title as an unseeded wildcard.
Women's wheelchair: Diede de Groot of the Netherlands continued her dominance, winning a 12th straight grand slam.
*Of note: Margaret Court also won 24 majors, but 13 came before professionals were part of grand slam tournaments.
THE SEC'S SLOW START
One of the biggest stories through the first two weeks of the college football season? The SEC doesn't look like the SEC.
We're used to seeing the SEC dominate in September, but that hasn't been the case this year. Through two weeks, the league is just 3-6 against Power 5 opponents.
The most high-profile loss came on Saturday when Texas stunned Alabama, 34-24, to hand Nick Saban his first double-digit home loss since 2003.
Meanwhile, in the Pac-12… The league's farewell campaign saw its teams start 18-0, the best start by any conference since the 1978 FBS/FCS split. The Pac-12 is 6-3 against Power 5 teams, and Deion Sanders' Colorado is the talk of college football.
Field notes:
AP poll: Texas jumped seven spots to No. 4, while Alabama fell seven spots to No. 10. Meanwhile, Washington State and UCLA debuted, giving the Pac-12 an impressive eight ranked teams.
Pac-12 legal fight: Washington State and Oregon State filed a legal complaint against the Pac-12, seeking control over what's left of the conference.
Football and politics collide: Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the frontrunners in the Republican primary, attended Saturday's Iowa-Iowa State game.
Full Week 2 recap: Winners and losers
TIMELINE: RUBIALES FINALLY RESIGNS
Luis Rubiales resigned as president of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) on Sunday, three weeks after he kissed team captain Jenni Hermoso on the lips, igniting a scandal that engulfed the nation, Jeff writes.
How it started: On Aug. 20, Spain beat England, 1-0, to win its first Women's World Cup. During the trophy celebration, Rubiales kissed Hermoso. She said it was not consensual, but he claimed otherwise.
Aug. 21: Rubiales apologized for his actions amid calls for his resignation.
Aug. 23: Hermoso announced that she and her players' union would be taking action against Rubiales.
Aug. 25: 81 players signed a letter refusing to play as long as Rubiales remained president.
Aug. 26: FIFA suspended Rubiales, and a majority of the women's coaching staff resigned.
Aug. 28: Rubiales' mother locked herself in a church and went on a hunger strike to protest her son's treatment.
Sep. 4: The Spanish men's team denounced Rubiales' "unacceptable behavior."
Sep. 5: The RFEF fired head coach Jorge Vilda. The same day, Hermoso filed an official criminal complaint.
Sep. 8: Spanish prosecutors opened a sexual assault case against Rubiales. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison.
Sep. 10: Rubiales resigned in an interview with Piers Morgan.
Zoom out: Spanish women's soccer players have been displeased with their federation for a while; this scandal was merely the latest issue to bubble to the surface.
Last fall, 15 players resigned from the national team, complaining of a lack of professionalism and a "dictatorial" environment.
During the World Cup, superstar Alexia Putellas snubbed Vilda after being subbed out, as pre-tournament frustrations were clearly not forgotten.
Developing story: Players in Liga F, the top tier of women's soccer in Spain, have gone on strike for the first two games of the season as they fight for better pay and conditions.
WNBA STANDINGS
The WNBA's first 40-game regular season concluded on Sunday, with the top eight teams advancing to the playoffs.
Final standings:
Aces (34-6)
Liberty (32-8)
Sun (27-13)
Wings (22-18)
Dream (19-21)
Lynx (19-21)
Mystics (19-21)
Sky (18-22)
Sparks (17-23)
Fever (13–27)
Storm (11-29)
Mercury (9-31)
Looking ahead: Playoff preview
SEPT. 11, 2001: NEVER FORGET
22 years ago today, the world changed forever.
How sports helped us heal: In the weeks after the attacks, sports brought the nation together. Mike Piazza's chill-inducing go-ahead homer and other moments were chronicled in a 2018 exhibit at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum called "Comeback Season: Sports After 9/11."
⚾️ 1985: Pete Rose recorded his 4,192nd hit, passing Ty Cobb for most all-time. Rose remains MLB’s hits leader with 4,256 but is banned from baseball for betting on games.
🎾 1999: 17-year-old Serena Williams won the US Open for her first of 23 grand slams, the last American teenager to do so until Coco Gauff, 19, won on Sunday.
💔 Worth a watch… Every year on 9/11, I watch "The Man in the Red Bandana,” a tribute to former Boston College lacrosse player and volunteer firefighter Welles Crowther, who died after saving nearly 20 lives that day.
WATCHLIST: JETS VS. BILLS
The Jets (+1.5) host the Bills tonight (8:15pm ET) as the Aaron Rodgers era officially begins in New York.
Game notes: Gang Green has gone eight straight games against Buffalo without scoring more than 20 points (2-6 record). … Josh Allen is the first Bills QB to start five straight season openers since Jim Kelly started 11 straight from 1986-96.
Three ways to watch:
ABC
ESPN
ESPN2 (ManningCast)
Pregame reading: Rodgers isn't afraid to talk about a Jets Super Bowl
TV TRIVIA
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will embark on their 22nd season together when "Monday Night Football" kicks off tonight, becoming the longest-running broadcast duo in NFL history.
Question: Which duo will they surpass?
Hint: They worked together from 1981-2001.
Answer at the bottom.
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Trivia answer: Pat Summerall and John Madden.
Thanks for reading today's edition! Email me with questions or comments. Subscribe for free here.
