Josh Allen passed for 297 yards while accounting for four touchdowns as the Buffalo Bills stamped themselves as a clear contender for the Rams’ Super Bowl crown with a 31-10 victory over Los Angeles. Von Miller had two of Buffalo’s seven sacks as the Bills opened the NFL’s 103rd season by overcoming three first-half turnovers and running away with a blowout win. Matthew Stafford passed for 240 yards with three interceptions in a bruising night for the Rams, who lost a season opener and fell below .500 for the first time in coach Sean McVay’s six seasons in charge.
Sean McVay knows that one of the prices of longevity in the NFL is that eventually he’s going to experience a lot of good and bad things as a coach. He hasn’t had too many bad experiences, but Thursday night was definitely one of them. The Rams’ 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills was the first time in six openers that McVay has been on the losing end. It’s only the fifth time the Rams have lost by at least 21 points since McVay became coach in 2017. It was also the second-worst loss by a defending Super Bowl champion, with Baltimore’s 49-27 loss at Denver in 2013 the standard.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the New York Jets face the Baltimore Ravens at 1 p.m. The New England Patriots take on the Miami Dolphin, also at 1 p.m., and the New York Giants battle the Tennessee Titans at 4:25 p.m.
WNBA
Jonquel Jones had 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Connecticut Sun overcame an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter, beating the Chicago Sky 72-63 in the decisive fifth game of the semifinal series and advancing to the WNBA Finals. Connecticut scored the final 18 points of the game to overcome a 63-54 deficit with 4:46 remaining. All the Sun starters scored in double figures and Connecticut advanced to the Finals for the third time overall and first time since 2019. Connecticut will face top-seeded Las Vegas Aces for the WNBA title. The first game of the series is Sunday in Las Vegas. Chicago was attempting to become the first team to repeat as WNBA champions since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-02. Kahleah Copper led the Sky with 22 points and added four steals.
THE U.S. OPEN
Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur will face each other in the U.S. Open women's final. Tunisia's Jabeur reached her second consecutive Grand Slam title match by beating Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-3 at Flushing Meadows on Thursday night. The No. 5-seeded Jabeur was the runner-up at Wimbledon in July. She took full advantage of a shaky performance by first-time major semifinalist Garcia. The No. 1-ranked Swiatek grabbed the last four games to eliminate No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Poland's Swiatek already owns two trophies from the French Open’s red clay but never had been past the fourth round on New York’s hard courts.
Frances Tiafoe calls his run to the U.S. Open semifinals ‘a Cinderella story.’ He is a 24-year-old from Maryland who took up tennis because his father was a janitor at a junior training center, a player who never won a match past the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament until now, who owns one career ATP title and a sub-.500 career record, and whose ranking ranged from 24 to 74 over the past two seasons. Tiafoe’s tale also is a significant step forward for American men’s tennis and could help grow the sport in the future, too. Tiafoe is the first man from the U.S. to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 16 years. And he could become the first Black man from the U.S. in a major final since MaliVai Washington was the runner-up at Wimbledon in more than a quarter-century ago.
MLB
In the National League, the NY Mets were off. Meanwhile, the Marlins beat the Phillies 6-5. In the American League, the Minnesota Twins squeaked by the NY Yankees 4-3. The Red Sox were off last night.
Major League Baseball is set to announce a pitch clock and limits on defensive shifts next season in an effort to shorten games and increase offense. The sport’s 11-man competition committee is set to adopt the rules changes Friday, mandating a clock that will count down 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners. The shift limit will require four players other than the pitcher and the catcher to be in front of the outfield grass when a pitch is thrown, including two of the four on either side of second base.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The College Football Playoff management committee gathered for 4 1/2 hours at a hotel in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. It was the conference commissioners first meeting since their bosses voted last week to expand the CFP from four to 12 teams. The goal is to sort through a myriad of issues and have a new format in place for the 2024 season. It’s unclear whether there is still time to accomplish that. First and foremost, they need to figure out where and when 11 playoff games can be played. Availability of venues and television time slots could ultimately determine whether early expansion is possible.
