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Good morning! Get some sleep today. Coming up:
😴 49ers blast snoozy Rams
🎾 Rybakina, Sabalenka set for showdown
🙏 Remembering 9/11
Zzzzzz: 49ers, traditional travel zap super team dreams
There was once an NFL team with an embarrassment of talent amassed on its roster. It was the easy, trendy pick to win a Super Bowl. Its backup quarterback was a former NFL Rookie of the Year and two-time Pro Bowler. This was a super team, or as that QB, Vince Young, called it, a “dream team.”
These were the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles, who looked up Dec. 1 and saw their record read 4-8. They finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. By all accounts, it was a disaster.
The talk around the 2026 Rams has echoed that feeling. The super team with a magical offseason. A Super Bowl favorite. The guys who supposedly figured out how to travel across the ocean better than any NFL team before them.
It’s just one game, but this super team started its supposed Super Bowl run worse than anyone could’ve imagined.
The division rival 49ers, who adopted a more traditional travel strategy, walloped the Rams in Australia, 27-7. It was never particularly close. San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy looked awesome, and its defense looked even better. It’s a good time to remind everyone that this team went 12-5 last year despite suffering huge injuries.
Expect the NFC West to be the league’s best division again this year. And as our team wrote in the initial recap of last night’s game, many suspect this is a one-off aberration for the mighty Rams. For now, at least.
It all happened in front of a staggering 100,021 fans. Read more from the scene here. And, on the Netflix broadcast, Luke Kuechly was impressive in his TV debut.
Let’s keep moving:
News to Know
Matthew Stockman / Getty Images
Rybakina, Sabalenka set for final
Elena Rybakina will face Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open women’s final tomorrow in what will be a true heavyweight matchup. Rybakina, the incoming world No. 1, came back to beat Coco Gauff yesterday despite adversity in the match itself and via a hostile crowd. Her reward: Sabalenka, the back-to-back U.S. Open champ who breezed past Jessica Pegula yesterday. It’s going to be fun.
More news:
The Justice Department is now investigating the Clippers’ alleged salary-cap circumvention with Kawhi Leonard. See our full report.
Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown could miss multiple games with a high-ankle sprain, a source told The Athletic. Meanwhile, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold avoided serious injury in Wednesday’s win.
Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury in practice, casting doubt on whether he’ll play in Week 1. Cooper Rush might be up. It’s … bleak in Atlanta.
Dwight Howard’s playing days aren’t over just yet. He will play professionally in the country of Georgia next season. Read more here.
Former LSU women’s basketball center Kate Koval received a waiver from the NCAA to become immediately eligible. Koval, a Ukrainian, left the school after coach Kim Mulkey recruited a Russian.
NHL expansion in Texas is “not a done deal,” per a deputy commissioner. Welp.
Amanda and Phil Kessel, hockey sibling royalty, will enter the United States Hockey Hall of Fame together. Nice.
USMNT’s Sergiño Dest scored in his Champions League opener yesterday. See the goal.
Monitoring 👀: Never forget
Julian Leshay Guadalupe / NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
This is normally where we get cheeky, but today I’d like to start our monitoring with a solemn remembrance. It’s a big day:
It’s been 25 years. Today marks a quarter century since the 9/11 attacks, which had an immense impact on everyone in this country, sports very much included. Games were canceled, tearful tributes were made and things were solemn for a long time. But for some sports figures, the remembrance didn’t stop there.
As Tyler Kepner wrote this week, members of the 2001 Mets have kept a promise made after the attacks: They visit FDNY’s Ladder Co. 25 every year, supporting a house that lost seven firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001. The Mets have not forgotten.
Also make time for Ian O’Connor’s remembrance, with insights from families of 9/11 victims. Ian is a longtime New Yorker with a special perspective on this day. Read that here.
Speaking of the Mets. The team traded for Brewers ace Freddy Peralta in the offseason and named him Opening Day starter. He proceeded to have a disastrous year, not unlike many of his Mets teammates. New York traded Peralta to Tampa Bay at the deadline, giving up early.
And, what do you know, Peralta looks incredible again. In his last three starts, Peralta has given up just two runs in 18 innings. Turns out a few tweaked mechanics — and a heady pitch strategy — make a huge difference. Read how here.
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Put one in the swear jar. NASCAR has been on a roller coaster, narratively, regarding words you’d bleep on TV. At its inception, NASCAR was a league that embraced the brash, unfiltered talk. Then, with growth came restraint. A curse word cost actual competition points at one juncture.
Now, as NASCAR tries to return to its vintage roots, swearing is being encouraged — with a financial incentive for fans. Guess the right cuss word, maybe win some money. I love this.
Sleep is so hot right now. As we discussed above, sleep became a huge topic in the NFL this week. But in college, at Memphis, Tigers coach Charles Huff hacked it before the Rams claimed to do so.
Before Memphis’ Week 1 win at UNLV — played at 9 p.m. local time for the Tigers — Huff hired Dr. Cheri Mah, a renowned sleep scientist, to help his team in that Week 1 matchup and throughout the season. He says it’s the best $20,000 the program has spent.
Bill Ackman, tennis’ billionaire backer. The Athletic’s Matthew Futterman wrote a fascinating story on Ackman, who’s become a very public billionaire in both politics and now tennis. He is financially involved in nearly every aspect of the court and, despite being 60, even attempted to play in a professional tournament last year.
His cash infusion into tennis has become so prolific that it worries some in the sport. It was interesting enough to warrant Matthew making an appearance on “Pablo Torre Finds Out.” Read that story (video inside, too) here.
Thank you for monitoring once again. Almost done:
Watch Guide
📺 U.S. Open: Men’s semifinals
3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev faces unseeded Karen Khachanov in the early match, with the all-American semifinal of Ben Shelton-Frances Tiafoe earning the night slot. If anything, tune in for the late match.
📺 CFB: No. 23 Missouri at Kansas
8 p.m. ET on Fox
This is the Border War, a rivalry that dates back to the actual Civil War, and, as Justin Williams wrote last year, the embodiment of what we love about college football. This game features true animosity, which makes it a must-watch.
Pulse Picks
Does an MLB manager need experience playing professional baseball to succeed? We asked 99 players this spring, and the spread on their answers might surprise you.
It’s high time for an NBA check-in, which comes in the form of a roundtable about one specific question: Can anyone in the West beat San Antonio or Oklahoma City?
If you need any help finding the college football team under the most pressure this weekend, look no further than Austin, Texas. It’s why, even after a good season, the Longhorns overhauled nearly everything.
I loved Jourdan Rodrigue’s story on the Texans and their defense, which is taking extreme steps to be perfect this year. Make time for this.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Andrew Marchand’s review of Mike Tomlin’s NBC debut.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The Ackman story.