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There was a strange moment during the Detroit Lions’ 24-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday in which officials initially ruled Cade Otton picked up a first down only for them to change their mind with a “second look.”Â

NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth explained to a pool reporter after the game that “an enhanced view on the broadcast camera” is why the call was changed.

“We did look at the spot,” he said. “We were trying to mirror angles together. Later in the process we received an enhanced view from broadcast that showed that when the knee was down, the ball was short of the line to gain. We were having issues with the referee’s O2O (official-to-official communication system), which is why he was brought back to the monitor.”

It was a key moment in the fourth quarter considering it was a fourth-down attempt for Tampa Bay facing a 21-9 deficit.

Had it been ruled a first down, Baker Mayfield and Co. would have been near midfield with a chance to cut the lead to a single score. However, the Lions parlayed the short field after the fourth–down stop into a field goal to extend the lead to 15.

Those were the final points of the game.

It was a frustrating moment in a frustrating game for the Buccaneers. Not only did they lose, but the offense failed to establish a rhythm throughout the contest in front of a raucous Detroit crowd.

What’s more, star wide receiver Mike Evans also suffered a broken collarbone, which head coach Todd Bowles told reporters will sideline him for the majority of the season.

Mayfield was also upset with the officiating.

“Third-down defensive holding call that wasn’t called, also still pretty damn confused about the double review,” he told reporters. “A lot of things in that game that were a little questionable. Lot of frustration at the end of that, might be displaced onto John Hussey in the moment. I work my ass off and put a lot into this game, so when things that I don’t see (as) fair, I’m going to let somebody know.”

Tampa Bay is still 5-2 on the season and in a solid position to make the playoffs, but Monday’s contest was a costly one.

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Amid a 1-5 start to the season, the Baltimore Ravens appear to be headed for another disappointing finish after entering the year with Super Bowl aspirations.

While Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson is one of the best players in the league, his struggles in the playoffs are no secret, and some around the NFL are starting to question whether he has what it takes to win the big one.

“They won the whole f–king thing with (Joe) Flacco,” an executive from another team told The Athletic’s Mike Sando, referring to Baltimore’s last Super Bowl win in 2012. “The guy (John Harbaugh) knows how to do it. You give him a guy (Jackson) that can’t win the whole thing because he can’t pass accurately enough in the playoffs to have the four-game magical carpet ride that Flacco took them on, so they are a championship game contender and out, a divisional game contender and out.”

Jackson has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, but Harbaugh said the team is hopeful to have him back after returning from a Week 7 bye next Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Baltimore scored a combined 13 points in the two games he missed.

Meanwhile, Flacco showed that he can still sling it at 40 years old, leading the Cincinnati Bengals to a 33-31 upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football to snap a four-game losing streak.

The book on Jackson is far from reaching the final chapter, so he still has a lot of time left to write his own story and silence his doubters. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that he will get the chance to shut down his critics this year while the Ravens try to climb out of their early-season hole.

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Sep 23, 2025, 04:39 PM ET

METAIRIE, La. — Zion Williamson expects Joe Dumars to be tough on him.

He wants that. And perhaps, he needs that.

“I like Joe; what you see is what you get,” Williamson said Tuesday, on the eve of his seventh training camp with the New Orleans Pelicans.

“He’s going to hold me accountable, and as he holds me accountable, he’s going to give me a lot of responsibility as well, which I’m excited for,” the 25-year-old Williamson added. “I know he’s going to hold me to a really high standard, and if I slip up or anything, I know he’s going to be right there to make sure I get right back on the path.”

When the Pelicans hired Dumars as executive vice president of basketball operations last April, it wasn’t entirely clear whether he and his general manager, Troy Weaver, saw Williamson as the centerpiece of the franchise’s future.

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The past six seasons had been largely disappointing for the Pelicans and the charismatic, 6-foot-6, 284-pound power forward they drafted No. 1 out of Duke in 2019.

Williamson’s career average of 24.7 points per game, and his slew of explosive, above-the-rim highlights, have been tarnished by a series of injuries that have caused him to miss more games (268) than he’s played (214) since turning pro.

Williamson has yet to appear in a single postseason game. And although the Pelicans have twice advanced to the NBA playoffs while Williamson was injured, they lost in the first round both times.

Williamson said he, Dumars and Weaver “sat down and we had some man-to-man conversations.”

“They embraced me and I just told them, ‘I’m not going to let y’all down,'” Williamson said. “It helped a lot that they really believed in me.”

Dumars and coach Willie Green said they have been encouraged by the regularity of Williamson’s presence at team headquarters this offseason.

“I saw his work this summer, his attention to his body, his conditioning,” Green said. “He wants to be available for his teammates.”

Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III said Williamson “looks good — slimmer than I’ve ever seen him during the summer time, which is always a good sign. And I feel like he’s in a really good place mentally.”

Williamson’s workouts have included elements of boxing and drills run on football fields that also are used by the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. Like the Pelicans, the Saints are owned by Gayle Benson and practice on the same campus.

“I really felt a shift in my body,” Williamson said, crediting Pelicans Director of Performance Daniel Bove. “It feels good to feel good.”

Dumars said he’s spoken to Williamson about how much more than talent the pursuit of greatness entails. They’ve discussed work ethic, commitment, discipline, leadership, responsibility and accountability.

Dumars noted that he wants Williamson “to be first one to step to the media” after a game and speak for the team after games that didn’t go well.

“Face questions, be respectful,” Dumars said.

The Pelicans went 21-61 last season, when Williamson missed 52 games, mostly because of hamstring and back injuries. New Orleans went 11-41 without its star power forward, but was also missing several other injured starters, including Murphy and Herb Jones, who are both back from shoulder injuries, and guard Dejounte Murray, who is still recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.

Meanwhile, Dumars’ offseason moves included the acquisitions of Kevin Looney and Jordan Poole, who both were part of the Golden State Warriors’ 2022 championship team.

“They went through the journey, they went through the playoffs, they felt the energy and they lived it,” Williamson said. “So, that type of experience, you just can’t get anywhere.”

Williamson said he’s well aware of Dumars’ accolades as a player – his 1989 NBA Finals MVP honors with the Detroit Pistons, a brash and tenacious title-winning team known as the “Bad Boys.”

Dumars also won a title as president of basketball operations for the Pistons in 2004.

Now Williamson sounds eager to put Dumars’ advice into practice.

“Greatness is every day,” Williamson said. “Greatness is when you don’t want to do it … you (still) show up every day and you make it happen.”

“Whatever my team needs,” Williamson added. “That’s what I’ll do.”

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Despite some early-season handwringing yet again about the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing game, Jalen Hurts still finds ways to help his team do enough to win games after a 20-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

As one rival executive told The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, Hurts’ “toughness and makeup are so underrated.”

Hurts has become a lightning rod in terms of quarterback evaluation. His passing stats have rarely been eye-popping, even in the 2022 season when he finished second in MVP voting (3,701 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, 66.5 completion percentage).

In his quarterback rankings on The Ringer, Steven Ruiz has Hurts at No. 13 and labeled him “an elite role player on an elite team.” He is absolutely a player who benefits from a friendly environment, including playing with arguably the best running back and offensive line in the NFL.

The main drawbacks of Hurts’ game come when he’s asked to be a high-volume thrower over an extended period of time. His worst season came during the 2023 season when the Eagles’ defense fell apart down the stretch and he threw a career-high 538 passes (3,858 yards, 23 touchdowns 15 interceptions).

It’s hard to know how much of the blame for Hurts’ struggles in 2023 was on him and how much was on everything falling apart for the Eagles.

Hurts rebounded last season, but most of the credit for Philadelphia’s offensive success was attributed to Saquon Barkley and the offensive line. He elevated his stock by playing his best game in the 40-22 win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl 59.

In fact, Hurts’ two best games in the NFL have been his two Super Bowl appearances. He has thrown for 525 yards, three touchdowns and completed 73.3 percent of his attempts. The Eagles have scored 75 points in those two games.

Yet seven months after being named Super Bowl MVP, Hurts is once again leaving people wanting more when he has to throw the ball. He has just 253 passing yards and no passing touchdowns through two games, though he does have three rushing touchdowns.

The Eagles are 2-0 with victories over a divisional opponent (Dallas Cowboys) and the reigning AFC champs on the road (Chiefs).

Hurts may not belong in the very top-tier of quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, but there’s ample evidence throughout his career that he can step up his game under the brightest spotlight.

Sometimes that’s enough for a team to be successful, as the Eagles have proven with one Super Bowl victory in two appearances over the previous three seasons.

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