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BALTIMORE — Logan Webb was a teenage pitching prospect, just a couple months removed from his high school graduation, when he received his unofficial welcome to professional baseball.

It was not a gracious welcome.

And Matt Chapman delivered it.

Webb was pitching for the Giants’ instructional league team in Arizona in the fall of 2014. It was a scrimmage against the A’s at old Indian School Park on the practice field that featured the same dimensions as the Giants’ waterfront ballpark in San Francisco — complete with the deepest expanse of Triples Alley in right-center field that measured 421 feet at the time.

“We used to have this rule where if you got 0-2, you had to throw a fastball outside,” Webb said. “That was the rule, don’t know why. And so I throw the pitch and Matt Chapman hits it off the 421-foot sign. I was like, ‘All right, this is professional baseball.’ I’d never had someone hit a ball like that off me. So yeah, Chappy actually gave me my first ‘welcome to professional baseball’ moment.

“And since that moment I was like, ‘I want to play with that guy.’”

Webb got the chance this season. And he’ll continue to have the chance for the better part of the decade. The Giants have plenty of unanswered questions about their direction, their roster construction and the future of their top decision-makers in baseball operations. But Webb, who turns 28 in November, is secured through 2028 after signing a five-year, $90 million extension last season. And now Chapman, 31, is locked in through 2030 after he and the Giants came to terms on a six-year, $151 million extension that includes a full no-trade clause.

The Giants have their unquestioned leaders in place: one on the pitching side, one to represent the position players. And the duo couldn’t be happier about the partnership that they are beginning to form — one that they believe will resonate far beyond the on-field symbiosis that results when you pair a three-time Gold Glove third baseman with a pitcher who routinely ranks among the league leaders in groundball rate.

In separate interviews, Webb and Chapman spoke about their mutual admiration, about the clubhouse culture and team identity that they plan to instill, and even about the personal life changes — a lack of sleep being among them — that they are about to experience together. Chapman and his wife, Taylor, became first-time parents when they welcomed a baby girl on Thursday. Webb and his wife, Sharidan, are expecting their first child to arrive in the first week of October.

“I can’t wait to be a dad,” Chapman said in an interview last week. “The timing is almost perfect, coming right at the end of the season. It’s a dream come true, honestly. I’ve always wanted long-term security just to know where I’m going to play and be able to set some roots somewhere. Now that we’re starting a family, it couldn’t be more perfect. We live in Arizona so spring training is right down the road as well. It’s a perfect setup. I get to play somewhere I really want to be.”

Chapman received waves of well wishes on Sept. 4, when news of his extension trickled through the clubhouse and he was a late scratch from the lineup so he could take his physical. Webb was among the players to offer congratulations. But there was more he wanted to express. It was something a little too personal to share in front of everyone else.

“So I texted him later that night,” Webb said. “And I told him, ‘The coolest part for me is our kids get to grow up together now.’ That’s awesome. We live five minutes away from each other in the offseason. I couldn’t be more excited for him, for his family, and selfishly, for myself. It’s going to be great.

“He and I have talked about it a lot. He brings a positive change to a lot of things. He and I are excited to keep trying to lead this team. We’re all in the same boat and we’ve got to right the ship. The San Francisco Giants organization is better than this. We see that. I know he sees that. We’ve got to keep pushing forward and signing Chappy is the best start we could have possibly had.”

No matter how the rest of the roster takes shape, or who is doing the shaping, the Giants know that they will have continuity in their clubhouse leadership for the foreseeable future: two players who not only have the emotional intelligence to read a room and the vocal skills to send the right message, but who also lead by example on the field in the simplest and most direct way.

By showing up.

Chapman, prior to going on the paternity list and missing this past week’s series at Baltimore, had played 95 percent of the Giants’ defensive innings at third base. And although Webb was unhappy with his performance in a five-inning start Thursday, he walked off the mound at Camden Yards as the major-league innings leader with 198 2/3. Even in a season that hasn’t been up to his standards, Webb has delivered 14 starts in which he’s completed at least seven innings while allowing no more than two earned runs. No other major-league pitcher has posted more than 12 of those starts.

“I didn’t realize what kind of competitor he was,” Chapman said of Webb. “Obviously, I knew of his success and that he’s talented, that he knows how to pitch and throw pitches for strikes and keep guys off-balance. But getting to play with him every single day, when he gets on the mound, he’s got that fire in him. I liked when I saw that. It’s everything you want to see in your ace.

“And watching him pitch every five days, I am more and more impressed with his ability to navigate a game and pitch deep into a game no matter what. He could give up runs early or not have his best stuff or he could get hit a little more than he anticipates. But he finds a way to get us deep in the game and have a chance. It’s kind of a lost art, that old-school way of pitching, and it’s been great to watch.”

What has Webb learned to appreciate about Chapman?

“That he’s been everything I heard about and more,” Webb said. “Great leader, gives it his all every single day, one of the best teammates. For me, it’s just exciting to know there’s a like-minded guy for what we want this to look like and he’s here with me for at least the next four years. It’s important you get guys like that. Coming up, I was lucky to be around really great Giants and I think he fits that mold to a T. Everyone saw what Buster (Posey) said about him. That’s the truth.

“(The front office) has a tough job to do. I don’t know everything that goes on. But from the get-go, BoMel (manager Bob Melvin) and some of the people here pinpointed a guy like Chappy and said, ‘I think that’s something we need here.’ And he’s been exactly that.

“He does all the right things. He runs every ball out. He makes every play. He understands every situation. He’s a brilliant baseball player, which is, I think, the most important thing. I’m just super excited to have a guy like that next to me and be able to share the same feelings and thoughts of what we want this to look like while we’re here.

“That’s a great face of the franchise to have.”

Chapman’s elite defense at third base has been a perfect match for a groundball specialist like Webb. (Andy Kuno / San Francisco Giants / Getty Images)

A shepherd is nothing without a flock to guide and the Giants were deficient in too many areas this season while plunging from contention. They will miss the postseason for the eighth time in 10 seasons since their last World Series championship in 2014. Aside from Webb, there are just a handful of players who remain from the 2021 team that won a franchise-record 107 regular-season games before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a tense and tight NL Division Series. The Giants might have players who expect to win, but they do not have players who are accustomed to winning.

As important as leadership and clubhouse continuity might be, this is a roster that will require a significant infusion of talent — both from free agency and player development — to have consistent designs on October baseball again.

Chapman and Webb are already strategizing how they can help on that front, too.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but (Chapman) is saying hi to everyone who gets to third base,” Webb said. “Every player is going out of their way to say something to him. Maybe that’s a small thing. But I think that’s important for us in future offseasons. It’s been tough sledding (with free agents). I’ve been part of the conversations and it’s hard when you put effort into a guy and he goes somewhere else. So having Chappy will help for sure. It won’t just be a right-handed sinkerball pitcher trying to get a position player to come hit here, right? I can’t tell them what it’s going to be like.

“We’re still going to miss on guys. There are 29 teams who won’t sign (a free agent). But he’s very respected around baseball and they see how hard he plays every day and they want to be like that. It’s the same thing you saw with the Brandons and Buster and Longo (Evan Longoria). People around baseball wanted to play with those guys.”

Chapman said his ability to be an effective recruiter was among the reasons that a no-trade provision was a requirement to agreeing to terms. Chapman would have received no-trade protection after the 2028 season anyway once he achieved 10 years of service including five years with his current club. But the blanket security upfront was just as important, especially given the Giants’ recent pattern of transactions under Farhan Zaidi, who traded players like Mitch Haniger and Jorge Soler during or after the first season of a three-year contract.

Once Posey personally offered the no-trade protection while pushing the negotiations forward, the process wrapped up swiftly.

“It was the most important thing because if I’m going to be able to lead these guys in the clubhouse, I want them to know that I’m staying here,” Chapman said. “If I’m going to tell guys to sign here as free agents, why would they listen to me if I’m not going to be here or they think I might get traded? Being able to have control over that is huge, not just for the baseball side but for my life and for my family, knowing where I’m going to be. When you play long enough, that’s the situation you hope for.”

Webb, when asked in the past about taking a more vocal leadership role in the clubhouse, has expressed reservations because his job is to pitch every five days. He said he respects the everyday effort of position players too much to believe that he’s the right person when someone needs to be called out for a lack of focus or effort.

“He’s not wrong about that,” Chapman said. “I think position players have a bigger responsibility when it comes to leading because you’re in there every single day. Every team I’ve been on, position players have been the driving force, checking in with the guys, making sure we’re bringing it every day. But we can all pull from the same end of the rope. We all have the same goals. So this is exciting for me.

“I’ve never gotten a chance to set my roots somewhere. I knew Toronto was probably temporary and Oakland was temporary even though I gave everything I had every year there in both places. But knowing I get to really sink in here and will be here for the long haul, to be able to earn these guys’ respect and build that winning atmosphere, that’s the goal.

“And I think we bounce off each other well, Logan and myself. He’s got that laid-back personality, which I envy sometimes. I’m the one who’ll sometimes get fired up. It’ll be a good blend, I think.”

It might come with an official designation. The Giants haven’t had a captain since Jack Clark in 1984 — unless you count Brandon Belt’s unofficial declaration of his captaincy three seasons ago. It’s a mostly bygone tradition these days. But Melvin hasn’t ruled out making Chapman the team’s official captain next season.

The timing wasn’t right to consider anything along those lines this year. Not when Chapman was playing his first season in San Francisco. And certainly not when he arrived in mid-March following a lengthy contract stalemate.

But it’s clear that visibility and presentation are important to Melvin, whose first policy changes this past spring included the request that all players and coaches stand on the field for the national anthem — not as a show of patriotism but to demonstrate to their opponent that they were a united front and prepared to play.

There couldn’t be a more visible way to demonstrate Chapman’s leadership than to stitch a tackle twill “C” on his chest.

“I would love that,” Webb said. “I mean, do we do that here? If a guy like Buster wasn’t a captain, I don’t know how that would work. But if there’s a guy we’d change it for, I think it’d be Chappy. I don’t know who makes that decision, but if they ask my opinion on it, I’d love to have him as the captain.”

Whether he’s the captain or not, maybe Chapman can help lead in other areas, too. Now that he has a couple weeks’ head start on fatherhood, perhaps he can offer Webb pointers on how to change a diaper.

“They don’t know if they’re having a boy or girl,” Chapman said, smiling. “That’s crazy to me. The suspense would be killing me.”

(Top photo of Webb (left) and Chapman: Suzanna Mitchell / San Francisco Giants / Getty Images)

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One of the biggest critiques F1 Academy faces from new fans is that the cars are, to their eyes, fairly slow.

Some fans have likened it to a tractor. Even Max Verstappen has questioned the speed, saying in part to De Limburger, “The cars they drive are way too slow. If you ever want to get them into Formula One, it really has to go to a higher level.” But when you ask F1 Academy, it is the right car for the right level.

F1 Academy, the all-women racing series launched in 2023, is part of the F1 pyramid and aligns with the F1 calendar for seven race weekends a year — Saudi Arabia, Miami, Barcelona, Zandvoort, Singapore, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Some tracks, like Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia, are straighter than others – like the banked corners at Zandvoort. This can give the impression that F1 Academy is slow, F1 Academy competition manager Delphine Biscaye said, particularly compared to the high speeds of the F1 cars.

F1 Academy’s cars are similar to Formula Four, an equal competition level, but with a noticeable tweak that aligns F1 Academy more with F1. It’s the right choice for this series because it helps prepare the young drivers for higher competition and growth.

A general view of the F1 Academy paddock during previews ahead of F1 Academy Round 5 at Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 19, 2024, in Singapore. (Pauline Ballet/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

All about perspective

The car’s speed isn’t because of a lack of talent from the drivers. It’s the nature of an F4 car and the track configurations. More often than not, fans watch F1 Academy after tuning into one of the higher series driving on the same track now that the all-women category aligns with the F1 schedule.

“If you see us and then (F1) straight after, you think we’re really slow,” Biscaye said. She pointed out that at a track like Jeddah, these young drivers, some of which are in their teens, dart between walls at 200 kph. That kind of driving, she says, is “already a huge challenge for those young drivers. Men or a woman is the same. But with the age and the experience they have, it’s actually not that slow.

“If we were challenging someone to do the same, they would see what slow is.”

However, this needs to be weighed against the advantages that the F4 car provides. This level allows drivers to train, adapt and secure crucial track time, gaining experience at F1 circuits. Biscaye added, “The fact that we are on F1 tracks makes it look slow, but it’s got massive advantage for the drivers because it’s really prepared them for the next step.”

Tatuus CEO Giovanni Delfino echoed similar points. He describes the car as “easy to drive” and one that uses the safety specs of higher categories, giving a safe environment for drivers to learn how to navigate single-seaters.

“The power of the car is enough to have the performance we desire, but it’s not that much to make the car undriveable,” he said. “All the specs of the car are exactly what you find in (Formula) Regional and then in an F3 car. But what is changing from the higher category is the power weight ratio.”

F1 Academy may not be an FIA championship, but it does follow the regulations, like the power-weight ratio that the governing body dictates for each level. The most significant step is jumping from karting into a single seater, but from there, each step as a driver climbs the motorsport ladder is about the same difference. Delfino said drivers typically stay in F4 for one or two years, adding that “after two years of Formula Four, it’s easy to go (into) a regional car.”

“So in reality, this kind of car is helping you to get used to the dimension of a single-seater car, ​​to get used to the way to drive a single-seater car, to get used to the racing mode of a single-seater car.”

The nuts and bolts

The car is relatively similar to a Formula Four car, Biscaye said. For example, the chassis, designed by Tatuus Automobili, is the same as British, Italian and Spanish F4s. Biscaye said, “It’s only the aerodynamics that make a change.”

Delfino said the front and rear wings have been changed compared to an F4 car, which was a request from Liberty Media and F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff. From start to finish, the process took around three months, from identifying the best shape and creating the first prototype to testing. The production, though, takes another month to six weeks, Delfino said.

“We found that as a good compromise between what we can do and what we cannot do on a Formula Four because the rear wing is not homologated,” Delfino said. “So you can do more or less what you want in terms of homologation, even if it’s not recognized as a Formula Four wing. In (the) case of the front wing, then we had to keep some of the design of the Formula Four because it’s linked to the noses.

“So there’s also a crash homologation test that we have to perform before the current homologation, but the shape of the lateral parts of the front wing were free to be moved as Liberty Media wanted.”

Homologation is the approval process where the car is checked against technical regulations and the specification is frozen for the cycle defined in the rules, according to the FIA. This change to the wings allows the F1 Academy car to resemble the F1 cars and optimizes the aerodynamics, according to Biscaye. “The better aerodynamics allow us to have more overtaking, which was also something we wanted to create a more active racing.”

F1 Academy technically is not a FIA championship. However, certain parts of the car (like the chassis, engine, and gearbox) are homologated by the FIA. Aside from the percentages, the homologation process is nearly the same for Tatuus as for F1. Delfino said, “We have to homologate the car with 100 percent of the test, 100 percent of the loads. In Formula One, you can stop 80 percent.”

According to Delfino, the changes to the wings had “zero” impact on car performance “because they are not affecting the downforce of the car or the aero kit and the aero balance of the car.”

Right car, right series

Biscaye said the car largely remained unchanged heading into the 2024 season, aside from adding an onboard camera. There aren’t big changes planned for next year, either. It’s not that they won’t ever change the car; rather, the car right now is serving its purpose.

“Our goal is really to prepare the drivers physically, mentally, and giving them all the skills and the track time they need to progress,” Biscaye said, pointing out that the cars are safe and reliable. The reliability factor is crucial because this impacts the amount of track time the drivers have. As a support series on an F1 weekend, the teams only have a practice session or two before jumping into qualifying and the two races.

Biscaye said, “If you’ve got reliability issues, that prevents the drivers from running during the free practice; they actually lose a very important track time, and very important time to get to know the track and check the conditions and some tracks we can’t test before.”

Miami and Singapore are two tracks where the drivers can’t test beforehand as both are temporary circuits. So far, from a reliability standpoint, F1 Academy has had very few issues — close to none in 2024, Biscaye said. And it’s reasonably easy to maintain, which helps keep down costs for the teams. There are also limited track operational personnel who can work on the cars. Biscaye said, “So if you go with a more complicated car, then you would need more people. So you will increase the cost not just of the car, but the overall cost of operations of the team.”

This series is more straightforward than F1, allowing teams to focus on suspension and wing set-up changes and only a single tire compound. The goal is to focus on driver preparation and training, such as learning how to manage their brakes, clutch and tires.

F1 Academy cars wait in the pit lane during F1 Academy Round 4, Race 2 at Circuit Zandvoort on August 25. (Joe Portlock/Getty Images)

“We don’t realize, but when you are in karting and go to (single seater) cars, you discover the clutch,” Biscaye said. “If you’re just 16 and you’ve never driven another car, like that your parents get, you have no driving lessons in real life. So that’s the first time you will have a clutch and have to make a real start, and that’s already a huge step.”

Mental and physical training are also major learning moments at this level. Biscaye recalled a conversation with Courtney Crone, the wild card entry in Miami, during testing at Zandvoort earlier this year. She has good experience in single-seaters, but it was her first time in a F4 car. Zandvoort is a trickier track because of the banking, which Biscaye described as “very stiff and requires a lot of strength.”

“Courtney came out of the car and told me, ‘I was not prepared for this. It’s actually very demanding compared to some of the tracks and cars I’ve driven,’” Biscaye recalled. “So if you put all of this together, or if you take Jeddah where it’s more the mental and the focus (is higher) because of the walls and it’s technical, after three days of testing, the drivers are actually tired.

“I think that also shows the F4 car is the good step. If you want to make it safe and at the same time interesting enough to really train them and to allow them to really step from go-karts to maybe Formula Regional or Euro Cup or F3, you need this in-between. F1 Academy is giving them a huge training on track but also off track with all the support they have from the F1 team or from their F1 Academy team as well.

“They’re getting this, and that’s really the package that they need to be able to progress after.”

 Top photo: Joe Portlock/Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton/The Athletic

It is the training drill that helped transform Raheem Sterling from a zippy winger who narrowly reached double figures each season into a back-post assassin who was among the most lethal goalscoring wingers in Europe.

The change happened in the 2017-18 season, Pep Guardiola’s second in charge of Manchester City, the club Sterling returns to face this Sunday as an Arsenal player.

It is Sterling’s current manager, Mikel Arteta, Guardiola’s assistant from 2016 until 2019 when he left for the Emirates, who played a key role in extracting that staggering efficiency in front of goal.

Guardiola had assistants more senior than Arteta, who was in his first coaching role, so he had the bandwidth to focus on specialisms and learn from as many departments as he could.

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He kept finding himself gravitating to analysis, with his inquisitiveness leading down many a rabbit hole. His thirst to understand specific moments in the game on a granular level helped focus the work of Arteta and the analyst team but it also saw their research become part of the first-team decision-making process.

There were several projects they worked on which produced dramatic improvements: goalkeeper penalty tactics, the diagonal full-back-to-winger pass that Ben White and Bukayo Saka have perfected, and quantifying what made a penalty-box predator.

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Arteta started looking at wingers around the world, searching for the sweet spot with the use of data. He and the analyst team broke it down into which area these wingers scored most often from, how many touches they took and how quickly a shot had to be taken.

The higher the level, the less time and space players have to shoot. There were also zones identified where most goals are assisted and scored.

From that, a drill was deduced in the academy which Arteta modified and introduced into the first-team environment for Sterling to work on.

Arteta modified a training drill at City to help improve Sterling as a winger (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Guardiola’s fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura is credited with ensuring City train the way they play by making sessions game-realistic. Again, the club’s research informed their thinking as they found fast breaks required far longer sprints than would usually be associated with counter-attack training, so Buenaventura implemented a 60-yard sprint at the start of the exercise.

Sterling then had to shoot inside a marked square under pressure from defenders but the sprint meant that, by the time they got there, they had a lack of oxygen in the brain, which makes decision-making more difficult.

Arteta carried a stopwatch during the drill and if the shot was not taken in the allotted time, he called it dead and they would start over. The emphasis was on the need to act decisively, not to overcomplicate, which is what those privy to Sterling’s evolution at City believe was the key lesson he learned.

With little time to train due to the relentless schedule, these sessions after training were important in hammering home the message. Video work helped, too, with clips of wingers such as Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, whom Guardiola worked with at Bayern Munich, used in combination with the 16 cameras at the training ground to show exactly what they were looking for.

Clips of Ribery and Robben, who were at Bayern with Guardiola, helped explain what they wanted from Sterling (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)

Sterling arrived in 2015 as a 20-year-old who had electrified Anfield with his dribbling as part of the Brendan Rodgers team that came agonisingly close to winning the Premier League in 2013-14. Manuel Pellegrini was the manager but when Guardiola arrived a year later there had to be a change to his game or he would not fit into his system.

As the change to Jack Grealish’s game since moving from Aston Villa in 2021 has shown, Guardiola asks his wide players to be more subservient to the team structure than some other managers.

One of the principles Guardiola introduced at City was the need to always look for the free man in possession. To do that, a player had to understand when he was in a clear one-v-one situation. If that was the case, they were encouraged to be aggressive and take on their man, but if they were doubled up on, logic dictated a team-mate must be free elsewhere.

Sterling got 10 goals and 15 assists in all competitions in 2016-17. It was a healthy return for a young player. He had got 11 and nine in 2014-15, and 11 and eight in 2015-16.

But it was not elite level and neither was Leroy Sane’s total of nine goals and five assists in his debut season after joining from Schalke. Once Arteta started working with the forwards more in that second season, it unlocked numbers that had hitherto been out of reach for players who thrilled but often flattered to deceive.

Success reinforces the habits, though, and that is why Sterling was so receptive to diluting some of his natural game in pursuit of being the difference-maker.

It almost became comical how many of his goals were scored from the same location. But this was not coincidence, it was design by Guardiola.

The most potent assist zone was identified as the byline area inside the penalty box. City worked tirelessly on finding their wingers in that position, and if one was there then the other should be on the opposite side ready for the cutback or to tap home the square ball across goal.

In 2017-18, Sterling got 23 goals and 14 assists. His shot conversion rate almost doubled from 10.9 per cent to 20.7 per cent as City won the league with 100 points — a total no other team has reached.

The next season, he got 25 goals and 14 assists, with Arteta’s final season at City (he left for Arsenal in December 2019) seeing Sterling record his highest goals tally of 31.

His numbers dipped slightly the next two seasons, albeit still scoring in double figures, before moving to Chelsea. His struggles there are no surprise when you consider the stability and structure of Guardiola’s football.

It had been the perfect platform, whereas Chelsea have adopted so many different identities and such an aggressive recruitment strategy that continuity and consistency were hard to find.

After being bombed out of the Chelsea squad this summer, with manager Enzo Maresca backtracking on previous comments about his importance, Sterling still had tens of millions he could have collected.

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When Arsenal’s sporting director Edu Gaspar presented the opportunity to reunite Arteta with his former winger, understandably, he had questions. Sterling is 29 now and has achieved almost everything there is to achieve.

“The first call I had with him, I knew in the first 10 seconds we have to bring him,” said Arteta earlier this month.

“That was my only question mark: what stage is he at in his career? After 10 seconds I knew already, before the next questions, that we needed him here.

“He looks great. He’s got a lot of energy, a smile on his face and he’s at it. He wants to prove a point and when someone’s got that in his belly, you sense it straight away. Obviously, I don’t need to know anything else about his quality and what he can bring to the team.”

The timing of Sterling’s arrival could not have been better. He had two weeks during the international break with only a handful of senior players to refresh his muscle memory on Arteta’s methods and the principles that took his game to a different level.

It has been five years since they last worked together, in which time both have evolved. Sterling has leant into fatherhood and his religion, while Arteta is a different beast to the coach he worked with one-on-one, having seen how he commands an entire squad. They will hope that shared maturity can make a difference on Sunday against City.

Sterling has performed well individually against his former club, scoring in both of Chelsea’s meetings against them last season. He has proven he knows how to hurt them and gave Kyle Walker a very difficult evening in the 4-4 draw last November.

Arteta has found a way to access Sterling’s untapped reserves before. He will be hoping he can do it again.

(Top photo: Arteta and Sterling at City in 2019; Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

This article is part of The Next Generation series. As the greats, such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal become the past, and Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek handle the present, The Athletic explores the next generation: the rising stars who will be tasked with securing tennis’ future.

Over the last seven years the ATP Next Gen Finals has established itself on the tennis calendar. There was a lot of excitement when it began in 2017 in Milan, as a way of showcasing the eight best players aged 21 and under from the season just gone, while trialling different rules and innovations that might then graduate to the main ATP Tour.

The tournament was the first to use electronic line calling and a video review system, while the scoring system is unique — five sets of first to four games, with a tiebreak at 3-3 in each set. The idea is to have fewer games with less at stake, and more games at the “business end” of sets.

The rules have been slightly tweaked for 2024, with the age cut-off now 20 instead of 21, in recognition of the fact that players like Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune have made their breakthroughs earlier than was typical at the tournament’s inception. When the Finals started in 2017, with the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic still so dominant, it was rarer for players to make their mark when aged 21 or under.

This year’s event also has a different time slot, moving from early December last year to December 18-22 — meaning it will act almost as a pre-season event for 2025 (with the first events of next year’s season starting on December 27 and December 30). As with last year, the tournament will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

For now, the eight qualifiers remain unknown, but several players are already in a strong position. More broadly, the ATP Next Gen Finals is approaching an inflection point. In the slow absence of the Big Three, whether through retirement or the loosening of their grip on the sport’s biggest prizes, how the event will evolve — and the nature of its role within the tennis ecosystem — are both up for debate. And outside of men’s tennis, how likely is an equivalent event on the women’s side, and where might that happen?

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Starting with the question around who will qualify, the man comfortably leading the race to Jeddah is the hugely talented Frenchman, Arthur Fils. The 20-year-old has perhaps not exploded quite as quickly as some expected, but it’s still been a year that has seen him reach the Wimbledon fourth round, and win his first 500-level ATP event — beating Alexander Zverev in the German’s home country in a tense Hamburg final two months ago.

Arthur Fils serving at Wimbledon. (Glyn Kirk / AFP via Getty Images)

Next in the race is America’s Alex Michelsen, who was beaten by Jannik Sinner in the U.S. Open second round last month. The 20-year-old Californian is up to a career-high ranking of No. 47 after a hugely promising summer in which he reached the finals in both Newport, Rhode Island, and Winston-Salem, N.C., as well as the quarters at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

Coming up behind them are Shang Juncheng (19, from China), Jakub Mensik (19, from the Czech Republic) and Luca Van Assche (20, from France). All three of those players have reached Grand Slam third rounds this year. Shang, known as Jerry, and Mensik are ranked inside the world’s top 70 and are pretty safe bets to make Jeddah, while Van Assche is just outside the world’s top 100.

Below him come the three players currently in the qualification spots, separated by just 79 points. They are Joao Fonseca of Brazil (18), the American, Learner Tien (18), and Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas (19). Fonseca and Tien have each garnered plenty of attention in 2024 for eye-catching results in Rio and Winston-Salem respectively. Earlier in the year, Tien put together a 28-match winning streak between May and July, earning a wildcard for the U.S. Open in the process.

Joao Fonseca celebrating during a Davis Cup victory this month. (Emmanuele Ciancaglini / Getty Images for ITF)

The players closest to pinching one of the last qualification spots are Portugal’s Henrique Rocha and Coleman Wong of Hong Kong (both 20). They are only 21 and 31 points respectively behind Gaubas.

Had 21-year-olds still been eligible then another exciting Frenchman, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and Luca Nardi, who beat Novak Djokovic in Indian Wells earlier this year, would be in the qualification spots. As would America’s Zachary Svajda.

Even if those 21-years-olds were eligible, it still wouldn’t be a stellar lineup compared to the first edition, say, which in 2017 included Andrey Rublev, Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev and Borna Coric — all youngsters who had quite a bit of buzz around them. Likewise the two alternates Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe.

In general, it’s been an event that has been a good indicator of future success. The winners of the Next Gen Finals have been Chung Hyeon, Tsitsipas, Sinner, Alcaraz, Brandon Nakashima and Hamad Medjedovic. Of those first four, two are multiple Grand Slam winners and future world No. 1s, one is a two-time major finalist, and even Chung has an Australian Open semifinal to his name despite a horrific run of injuries since his Next Gen title. Earlier this month a video from the 2019 event did the rounds, with Sinner alongside Tiafoe and Alex de Minaur, ahead of all three of them competing in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. Tiafoe made the semis; Sinner won the whole thing.

The ATP has been pleased with how the event has given young players exposure, with solid attendances in Milan when it was hosted there between 2017 and 2022. Unsurprisingly, Jeddah was more of a challenge last year.

The idea of a Next Gen has become a well-established concept in men’s tennis, and having an annual event is a way of solidifying that. The different scoring system, singles-only court, and innovations like headsets for the players to talk with their coaches give the finals a distinctive feel. The impressive list of former winners (and runners up like Rublev, De Minaur and Sebastian Korda) gives it credibility. And as long as players are progressing from the Next Gen Finals to the top echelons of the sport, and not leaping straight past the event to that stratosphere, the ATP considers it to have a worthwhile spot in the calendar.

There have been discussions about having such an event on the WTA Tour in Saudi Arabia, The Athletic has been told by well-placed sources who wish to remain anonymous to protect relationships, but nothing has been confirmed (and there certainly won’t be an event this year). In November, the WTA Finals will be hosted in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for the first of three editions there.

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Should a Next Gen-type event happen, the WTA would have to make a decision on what the age cutoff should be. Typically WTA players have broken through quicker than ATP ones in part because generally women mature physically before men. As it stands though, there are currently only 11 players who are aged 21 and under in the top 100 (nine on the men’s side) and six players under 20 (four on the men’s side).

So an event for either age group would work fine without having to make it too young an age bracket which might feel like too much pressure too soon. That said, Coco Gauff would obviously skip a Next Gen-style event as she would qualify for the main WTA Finals.

The WTA does also have some history with putting on this kind of event. Between 2014 and 2018, there were five editions of the Future Stars event, which showcased some of the best young talent in the game. These though were done by region and by invitation. In 2015, ahead of the WTA finals in Singapore, there were four 23-or-under players selected to take part. The parameters were that two of the players had to be from Asia-Pacific and the others had to be from the rest of the world. Nine years on, the selection has aged extremely well, with the quartet made up of Naomi Osaka, Zhu Lin, Caroline Garcia and Ons Jabeur. Osaka, who had just turned 18, won the event.

Naomi Osaka went on to win four major titles by the age of 23. (Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

A modern-day equivalent would likely generate plenty of excitement, as it has done intermittently for the men’s event. Especially when genuine future stars like Alcaraz have been involved.

The Next Generation series is part of a partnership with CHANEL.

The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top photo: Fiona Goodall / Getty Images)

Andre De Grasse is enjoying the high of being a gold medallist once again.

The 29-year-old from Markham, Ont., capped off an adversity-filled Olympics in August by anchoring Canada’s men’s 4×100-metre relay team to gold, a first for Canada since 1996. De Grasse has been in Toronto the last couple of weeks for the Toronto International Film Festival and several other commitments.

“Just feeling the love,” he said. “Enjoying the ride, enjoying the highs and just having fun in the process. It’s a surreal moment.”

The Paris relay medal was De Grasse’s seventh, tying him with swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canada’s most decorated summer Olympians.

The City of Markham is honouring him, along with other Olympians and Paralympians who call the city home, with a parade on Sunday. Mayor Frank Scarpitti also proclaimed Aug. 9 to be Andre De Grasse Day.

Picking up medal No. 7, and a second gold, is something De Grasse feels has helped cement his legacy.

“A lot of people, when I came home, weren’t even talking about (all the adversity I faced),” De Grasse said. “They were just talking about how, ‘we were watching you on TV, it was just incredible how you brought it home for Canada.’ We made history.

“Just to get that reception from people, and what was the last thing that crossed their minds and just me being now tied for most decorated in Canada with my good friend Penny. It was just a surreal feeling.

“Now the city that I grew up in is throwing me a parade. I’m just looking forward to that reception. Hopefully I don’t get too emotional compared to last time (in 2016).”

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De Grasse missed an Olympic final for the first time in his career, failing to make it in both the 100 and 200 in Paris. After missing the 200 final, he revealed that he had re-aggravated a hamstring injury he suffered a month out from the Olympics.

The showing built some skepticism about whether De Grasse may be over the hill. But De Grasse says he looks ahead to making the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“As long as I have sponsors backing me and believing in me financially and I’m able to keep going, I’m going to go,” he said. “I ran my fastest time this year in over three years and I still felt like I wasn’t 100 per cent.

“I know if I can get back to that 100 per cent, and not have no nick-nacks, I do everything right, I can still compete at a high level. One of the medallists (American Fred Kerley) in the 100 metres, he’s my age, … so it’s not like I feel like I’m old and can’t keep going. I feel like my body’s still good, I just have to make sure that I do the right things taking care of it.”

His coach, Rana Reider, also had his accreditation revoked by the Canadian Olympic Committee a day before the 200 semifinal in Paris.

British media outlets had reported the decision was tied to concerns over the “safeguarding” of athletes and allegations of sexual and emotional abuse, and court documents filed in Broward County, Fla., show three women have filed suit against Reider related to alleged sexual and emotional abuse.

Reider has not been charged with any crime and the allegations have not been proven in court.

De Grasse said he found out about the situation with Reider at the same time the public did, and it was tough to deal with. He also said he would re-evaluate things, including his coaching situation, once he returns to his home base in Florida in a few weeks time.

Despite it all, with the support of his team, he pulled Canada from third to first in the relay with an 8.89-second anchor leg to avoid leaving an Olympics without a medal for the first time.

“It’s tough,” he said. “My last two Games, I’ve had so much success winning six Olympic medals and now at the biggest stage of my career — of course I’ve faced adversity along the way in between the Olympics but now going into the Games facing adversity from not being 100 per cent and not having the full mental confidence in myself as well now because of the situation (with my coach).”

“That’s probably one of the best medals I’ve ever won, outside of my gold in the 200 (in Tokyo),” De Grasse added. “It’s got to be in the top two now for sure because, just (for) what it took mentally to get there.”

&copy 2024 The Canadian Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers took the field on Thursday night and the crowd at MetLife Stadium roared, their conquering hero arriving at his coliseum. It didn’t go so well last time, but there wasn’t a hint of “here we go again,” no reintroduction to the Same Old Jets.

Think about what this fan base has been through over the years, long before Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into his Jets debut, when all hope was lost. The feeling last September — disappointment — wasn’t foreign to this fanbase, even if losing Rodgers so early hurt more than usual. Hope has been in short supply around here over the last few decades.

The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010. Some years, most fans would stop showing up for home games around November, if not earlier, and it was hard to blame them. By December last year, tickets cost less than $10. On a Thursday night late in 2022, the Jets offense had become so hard to watch that when a practice-squad quarterback (Chris Streveler) underthrew a wide-open receiver for what should’ve been a long touchdown, fans cheered the missed opportunity like the team just won the Super Bowl, simply because he completed a pass. Play-calling was boring. The offensive line struggled to protect. And the quarterbacks have been, mostly, inadequate.

Rodgers gave the Jets hope leading up to the season last year, and then it died on the MetLife turf minutes after the season began. But this is not that — not anymore.

These are the Better Days, or at least it feels that way after Thursday night. The Jets are 2-1 for the first time since 2015. Rodgers is 40, but on Thursday he was moving like he did in his 20s. He scrambled for first downs, got out of the pocket, made throws on the move and completed passes with pressure bearing down on him. The Jets jumped out to a 14-3 lead that could have — or should have — been even bigger. They eventually won 24-3 against a New England Patriots team that, before Week 18 of last year, had won 15 straight games against them.

This is a different offense, led by a great quarterback. In the third quarter, the crowd chanted: “AA-ron ROD-gers!”

“AARON RODGERS!” @Nyjets fans get the chant going 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/uljQlvE2O9

— NFL (@NFL) September 20, 2024

Better Days.

At the end of the game, Rodgers stood on the sideline, hoping for a defensive stop so he could get back onto the field for the victory formation. He didn’t get it, but it still felt good to win.

“It was a really special night,” Rodgers said. “All those chants are really meaningful.”

Rodgers was hit a few times but popped back up without issue. He scrambled three times, twice for first downs.

“I ain’t gonna lie, the first time he ran I started laughing,” running back Breece Hall said. “I was just like: He’s crazy. But 40 years old, the Achilles is good, it was good to see him run.”

Rodgers completed all five of his passes while on the move, per NextGen: 11 yards to Jeremy Ruckert in the first quarter, 27 yards to Allen Lazard in the second, four to Ruckert in the third, another 18 to Ruckert in the third and most impressively, a side-arm two-yard touchdown throw to Garrett Wilson in the third.

“It felt great. I was feeling really good out there,” Rodgers said. “I felt good pregame and I’ve been progressing. I said after Week 1 it’s going to be a process, I’ll continue to extend plays as I feel more comfortable and this was the first step in like I know I’m capable I’m playing. I felt like I was myself from quite a few years ago.”

G5 G5 G5 G5 G5 G5 G5 G5 G5 G5 G5 G5#NEvsNYJ on @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/yDB13TZbBQ

— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 20, 2024

If Rodgers is going to play at this level all season, an MVP level, the Jets can dream big again. He completed 27 of 35 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Sure, these aren’t the Patriots of old either — the Jets have more talent. But the Jets have a not-so-rich history of failing to meet the moment against inferior opponents, and an even longer track record of losing to New England.

From the beginning, it was clear that, finally, the Jets weren’t going to rest on their laurels. They came out firing on the first drive, calling six straight passing plays to start the game. Rodgers quickly got them to the Patriots’ 43-yard line after three straight completions and a five-yard scramble. On his first incompletion, intended for Mike Williams, tackle Morgan Moses was called for holding, knocking them back 10 yards. They didn’t recover on that drive — that felt familiar. The rest of the night did not.

On the next drive, Braelon Allen grinded out three first downs on running plays, Rodgers completed an 11-yard pass to Xavier Gipson and then went to the line, saw Lazard lined up one-on-one and called an audible to get him the ball. Lazard was so determined to get Rodgers his first touchdown at MetLife that he practically dragged Alex Austin with him, the cornerback hanging onto his jersey for dear life as it stretched and became a meme.

“When he threw that ball, I wasn’t going to be stopped,” Lazard said.

https://t.co/7oEsvnmQEw pic.twitter.com/og5EI2mVPB

— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 20, 2024

Lazard was emotional after the game speaking about that moment, a special one between two close friends. Rodgers once stood on the table to convince the Green Bay Packers to keep Lazard — an undrafted player cut multiple times — and then to play him more. The receiver owes his career, and the $44 million contract the Jets gave him last year, to Rodgers. Almost instantly after scoring the touchdown, Lazard — who has three touchdowns in three games — ran to find Rodgers and handed him the football.

“It was pretty emotional, just with the history that Aaron and I have,” Lazard said. “To be part of that moment was special to me, special for him and something I’ll never forget. I was able to give him my jersey after the game, I got my gloves I’m gonna take home and that’s something I’m going to show my grandkids.”

The Jets came back on their next offensive possession and closed out a 13-play, 91-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run by Hall. It was around this time that cameras caught what looked like an awkward moment between Rodgers and Jets coach Robert Saleh on the sideline. Saleh went in for a hug, and Rodgers appeared to shove him back and say something, glaring the whole time. The two insist it wasn’t an awkward moment — it was a celebration of something they’ve discussed recently, the idea of giving the Jets defense a two-score lead to work with.

“It wasn’t awkward at all,” Rodgers said. “He’s not a big hugger usually. I didn’t know he was going for the hug. He likes to do the two-hand chest push. But he talks a lot about two score leads. That’s what happened.”

It soon became clear why everyone was so excited about the two-score lead. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich uncorked a blitz-heavy defense, something he’d mostly avoided doing while calling plays for the defense since 2021. Depth issues on the defensive line, after losing defensive end Jermaine Johnson for the season and with Haason Reddick’s continued holdout, made it necessary. It worked. The Jets had seven sacks and, per TruMedia, finished with 26 total pressures and 14 QB hits.

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The Jets outgained the Patriots 400 yards to 139. They were 10 of 15 on third down; the Patriots were 2 of 11. The Jets converted 27 first downs — their most in a game since 2021 — while the Patriots only converted 11.

It was end-to-end domination, and the Jets still feel like they left points on the table. They committed eight penalties, and were forced to take two early third quarter timeouts to avoid delay of game penalties.

“Our last two games we expected to win,” Hall said. “We felt like we had the better team, better talent. I was happy we won but I still feel like our offense was shooting ourselves in the foot when we could’ve put it away earlier. It was good but it’s still stuff like that that’s irritating. You get the win but when you go back and watch the film it’s like OK, we can’t do that if we’re playing a better opponent.”

But those issues, those penalties, used to kill the Jets. Even when they’d win over the last few years, it was often in spite of the offense, in spite of the quarterback, not because of them.

But these are not those Jets, not with Rodgers driving the car. These are the Better Days.

“If the expectation is winning then we’re going to celebrate it,” Rodgers said. “But we should expect to win. The next step is expecting to dominate.”

(Top photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)

A one-of-a-kind autographed Caitlin Clark WNBA Draft card sold at auction for $84,000 on Thursday night, breaking the record for the most expensive women’s basketball card. The previous record was set in January of this year when an autographed 2022 Bowman University Caitlin Clark Superfractor (a 1/1 parallel) sold for $78,000.

The card in this latest sale is the 1/1 “Blue Viper” variation of Clark’s 2024 Panini Instant WNBA Draft card, which were printed on demand and sold for a limited time following the draft in April. It marked Clark’s first card showing her with an Indiana Fever jersey. On draft night, the Blue Viper card sold for $10,000 in a Dutch auction.

🚨Breaking News🚨 the Caitlin Clark 2024 Panini Instant WNBA Draft Blue Viper ROOKIE AUTO 1/1 CGC AUTH just sold in tonight’s Premier Auction and we couldn’t be more excited for the new owner 👀📈 #FanaticsCollect #CaitlinClark #WNBA #basketball pic.twitter.com/1iLOfdJD5L

— Fanatics Collect (@FanaticsCollect) September 20, 2024

Only one women’s sports card has ever sold for more than the $84,000 this Clark card commanded: a 2003 NetPro Serena Williams autographed patch card (featuring a piece of one of her match-worn tennis outfits in the card), which sold in 2022 for $266,400.

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Clark collectibles have been in high demand as she’s embarked on a record-breaking rookie season in the WNBA. The latest release of her signature Wilson basketballs sold out in less than an hour. Since Panini has yet to release its flagship WNBA trading cards sets for this season, collectors have remained focused on Clark’s college cards and print-on-demand cards, like the one from draft night. The first of those 2024 WNBA sets will release on Oct. 16, when Panini puts out WNBA Origins, which will feature Clark rookie cards.

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Required reading

(Top photo: Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images)

Nine NFL teams are still looking for their first win of the 2024 season after recording two consecutive losses to open their schedules.

Historically, starting 0-2 has meant the odds are stacked against you. The Athletic’s Austin Mock’s playoff odds reflect that. None of the current 0-2 teams have better than a 44 percent chance to make the playoffs or a 26 percent chance to win their division. Seven of the nine teams already have a less than 20 percent chance.

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But going from 0-2 to the playoffs isn’t impossible.

Nine teams over the past 10 seasons have reached the postseason after an 0-2 start, and two franchises have accomplished the feat multiple times.

Here’s a look at which teams overcame a tough start to advance to the playoffs and how they did it.

How they finished: 10-7, AFC South champions
Postseason result: Lost in divisional round

Houston started 2023 with losses to the Ravens and the Colts, but the Texans had a young roster that hadn’t hit its stride quite yet.

Once rookie QB C.J. Stroud settled in and the Texans solidified the offensive line that would protect him, they got the season back on track.

In Weeks 1 and 2, the Texans allowed Stroud to be sacked 11 times and pressured 44 times, both league highs, according to TruMedia. Houston would allow the ninth-fewest pressures (188) for the rest of the season.

One of the keys to the Texans’ improved pass protection was simply getting their best offensive linemen healthy. Of the six linemen who made the most starts in Weeks 3-18, including Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil, only Shaq Mason and George Fant started both of the first two games.

Houston, like a few teams on this list, benefited from a weaker division. No other team in the AFC South won more than nine games.

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2022 Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow and the Bengals overcame a slow start to the 2022 season to win 12 games. (Todd Olszewski / Getty Images)

How they finished: 12-4
Postseason result: Lost in conference championship

Coming off a Super Bowl appearance in 2021, the Bengals began 2022 with losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers (in overtime) and Dallas Cowboys before winning four of their next six and closing out the regular season with an eight-game win streak. (Their Week 17 matchup against the Buffalo Bills was canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field.)

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had his two worst games of the season during the 0-2 start, throwing a career-high four interceptions in Week 1 and passing for a season-low 199 yards in Week 2. As Burrow improved, so did the Bengals. In weeks 3-18, Burrow led the NFL in passer rating (105.5) and completion percentage (69.1). He also ranked second in passing touchdowns (32) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (4) during that span.

2018 Houston Texans

How they finished: 11-5
Postseason result: Lost in wild-card round

Houston opened the 2018 season 0-3 with losses to the New England Patriots, Titans and Giants, but a pair of overtime victories in Weeks 4 and 5 turned the tide after the dismal start.

Including those OT wins over the Colts and Cowboys, the Texans pieced together a nine-game win streak buoyed by their ball-hawking. From Weeks 4-13, the Texans forced 19 turnovers, the second-most in the NFL during that span, and scored 74 points off of them, the third-most in the league. After failing to force a turnover in two of those first three losses, Houston forced at least one turnover in every game the rest of the season.

How they finished: 10-6
Postseason result: Lost in wild-card round

The Seahawks struggled to get an effective rushing attack going early in the 2018 season, but after consecutive close losses to the Broncos and Chicago Bears, Seattle sorted out its ground game.

In those two matchups, the Seahawks rushed for 64 and 74 yards and turned the ball over five times. Week 3 saw Seattle finally eclipse 100 yards on the ground in a victory over the Cowboys, and then it was off to the races.

Seattle rushed for more than 100 yards in all but one game the rest of the season and from Weeks 3-17 led the NFL with 173 rushing yards per game. The Seahawks also lost only six turnovers the rest of the season.

Alvin Kamara won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2017, helping New Orleans get to the playoffs. (Harry How / Getty Images)

How they finished: 11-5
Postseason result: Lost in divisional round

After three straight 7-9 campaigns, the start of the Saints 2007 season appeared to foreshadow more of the same as New Orleans suffered losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Patriots. But stars would soon emerge during an eight-game win streak that followed.

Before the season, the Saints drafted both the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year in Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore, in addition to players like Ryan Ramczyk, Alex Anzalone and Trey Hendrickson, who’ve become starters in the NFL. The Saints also signed running back Adrian Peterson.

When New Orleans began to feature Kamara more, eventually trading Peterson, their offense, led by quarterback Drew Brees, became more explosive. In Weeks 3-17, the Saints led the NFL with 391.9 yards per game and ranked third in scoring with 26.8 offensive points per game, according to TruMedia.

Kamara led the NFL with 6.1 yards per carry and caught 81 passes for 826 yards. He was one of seven Saints named to the Pro Bowl that season.

How they finished: 10-6
Postseason result: Lost in wild-card round

The Dolphins snagged their first win of the 2016 slate in Week 3 with an overtime victory against the Cleveland Browns, but the turnaround wasn’t immediate as two more losses followed. With a 1-4 record heading into Week 6, Miami was trending down.

Then a crucial piece of the offense returned.

Jay Ajayi, a fifth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, was inactive in Week 1 and saw limited touches in Weeks 2-5. In Week 6, he carried the ball 25 times for 204 yards and two touchdowns, leading Miami to a 30-15 win against the Steelers.

He followed that up with another 200-yard game against the Bills in Week 7. Ajayi finished the season with 1,272 rushing yards and eight touchdowns as Miami won nine out of 11 to close the season and clinch a wild-card playoff berth.

2015 Houston Texans

How they finished: 9-7
Postseason result: Lost in wild-card round

The Texans dropped their first two games en route to a 1-4 start to the season. Houston was 3-5 at its Week 9 bye, but closed out the season winning six of its last eight with three straight division wins to secure an AFC South championship and a playoff berth.

Houston went 5-1 in its division that season, despite starting four different quarterbacks.

How did the Texans do it? Houston’s defense ranked third in the NFL, allowing 310.2 yards per game. The strength of that unit kept the Texans in games despite the inconsistency at QB, whether due to poor play or injuries.

Houston seemed to get just enough out of their QBs, including Brandon Weeden, who was claimed by Houston after being released by the Cowboys, and T.J. Yates, who signed with the Texans just before their bye week. Both players started and played in games for Houston after its bye and helped the team win five out of the six games either played in.

2015 Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks twice went from 0-2 to the playoffs with Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson. (Otto Greule Jr / Getty Images)

How they finished: 10-6
Postseason result: Lost in divisional round

The Seahawks opened the season 0-2 but were 4-4 by their Week 9 bye. Seattle finished the year winning six of its final eight to secure a wild-card playoff berth.

In each of those first four losses, the Seahawks held a fourth-quarter lead but were unable to close out the game. Once it kicked the habit of blowing leads, Seattle’s offense and staunch defense, which allowed the second-fewest yards per game that season, were able to propel the club back into the playoffs.

2014 Indianapolis Colts

How they finished: 11-5
Postseason result: Lost in conference championship

The Colts had the unfortunate luck of opening their 2014 campaign against two Super Bowl contenders. Despite hanging close in one-score games with the Broncos, who won 12 games and led the NFL in offensive points per game that season, and the Philadelphia Eagles, who finished the season with a top-five offense, Indianapolis still had to carry an 0-2 record into Week 3, when it demolished the Jacksonville Jaguars to jump-start its season.

The Colts would only lose three more times the rest of the year en route to an appearance in the AFC Championship Game.

(Photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons’ defensive players talk about Patrick Mahomes like he’s an actor, and the NFL’s leading man is coming to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday night.

“When the play breaks down and you’ve got it all covered and you’ve done it all right, there’s a second part to the play. There’s a second act,” Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “Being able to cover up not only the initial play that the great Andy Reid has drawn up falls apart, you’ve got Patrick Mahomes becoming Him.”

“Him” refers to the dominant figure in his environment, and few professional athletes have been more dominant in their environment than Mahomes.

In six seasons as Kansas City’s starting quarterback, he has never finished a season short of the AFC Championship Game. His three Super Bowl titles are tied for third among starting quarterbacks in NFL history, and everyone ahead of him on that list started for at least twice as many seasons as he has. Only Tom Brady and Joe Montana have more playoff wins than Mahomes’ 15, and he’s 29 years old. Since he joined the league in 2017, no quarterback has won more games (91) or won them at a higher rate (78.4 percent). The seven other quarterbacks drafted in 2017 have won 76 games combined.

These numbers go on and on and on, and they’re the reason Atlanta finds itself on a prime-time stage for the second straight week as the Falcons are preparing to host the Chiefs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on “Sunday Night Football.”

With all due respect to Kirk Cousins and Bijan Robinson and the new-look Falcons, the stage will belong to Mahomes.

“It’s his improv, man,” Falcons safety Richie Grant said. “He can improv every single play, turn something that you think is a no gain into a touchdown.”

Mahomes is so good he even beats the oldest of NFL cliches — that every week has to be treated exactly the same no matter the opponent. Atlanta outside linebacker Matthew Judon faced Mahomes six times as a member of the New England Patriots. Mahomes Week is different, he said.

“There are special players in this league,” Judon said. “When you’ve got a guy like Patrick Mahomes on the schedule, you watch a little more film. You pay closer attention to the details because he’s a three-time champ, and there’s something in the margins to win the game. It’s going to be something in the details. It’s probably going to come down to a few plays.”

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The Chiefs (2-0) come into Atlanta as 3.5-point favorites, having won eight straight games dating to last postseason.

“As a competitor, you always want to make a play against one of the best competitors,” Grant said. “I would question you if you don’t have that mindset.”

“It definitely stokes your competitive fire,” Elliss said. “If you take anybody lax in this league, it’ll get you, but when you get to go up a team of this quality, it does stoke your competitive fire a little bit more. I’m excited.”

Falcons coach Raheem Morris compares Mahomes not to an actor but to an extraterrestrial.

“He’s an alien,” Morris said. “He’s smart. He’s unique. He can move around. He can buy time. He can play within the framework of the system. He knows what you’re doing on defense. He’s grown up to the point of seeing everything. He’s seen every trick, every gimmick, every gamut, whatever you want to call it. He’s been able to really go out there and be at the top of his game in just about everything, and he’s just one of the best.”

DOT. @PatrickMahomes | @Chiefs pic.twitter.com/a9lV4txNu3

— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024

Atlanta offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was charting draft-eligible quarterbacks as an analyst for Pro Football Focus in 2017. He said Mahomes had all those traits even then.

“Obviously, the ability that he has with his arm to really make any throw at any time was special, and then you just saw the instincts and the vision, and right away you’re saying, ‘There’s really no way that this shouldn’t work out,’ as long as he’s committed to the game, and he loves it,” Robinson said. “Obviously, he’s proven to be a football junkie.”

Sunday night will be the second time the Falcons have faced Mahomes. The first was in December of 2020 when Morris was Atlanta’s interim head coach after the firing of Dan Quinn. The Chiefs won 17-14, but the Falcons caused Mahomes enough problems (55 percent completion percentage, 79.5 passer rating) that other NFL teams briefly hoped they had provided a blueprint for slowing him down.

He’s been to three Super Bowls since then.

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Morris got another shot at Mahomes as the defensive coordinator of the Rams in 2022. Again, Mahomes didn’t play great (85.4 passer rating). Again, Mahomes won (26-10). In two matchups against Morris’ defenses, Mahomes’ passer rating and efficiency as measured by EPA per attempt are lower than his career averages (82.4 passer rating versus 103.3 and .04 EPA per attempt versus .26), according to TruMedia.

Those numbers don’t change how Morris talks about Mahomes.

“He’s certainly a problem no matter what,” the coach said, “and he’s one of the best that we’ve seen just in whatever generation you want to talk about.”

Falcons safety Justin Simmons, who spent the first eight years of his career in Denver, also has had some success against Mahomes. He’s intercepted the quarterback five times. No other player has done it more than twice. Like Morris, Simmons is smart enough not to brag about it.

“It’s not those first three seconds of the play, it’s those next four or five seconds that really matter,” Simmons said. “You can’t get frustrated when they make a big play. It’s a next-play mentality. They take a lot of shots and you have a lot of chances to go play the ball. We’ve got to be able to make plays on the football. It’s fun playing that cat-and-mouse game. This is going to be a big one for us.”

(Photo: David Eulitt / Getty Images)

It went down to the deadline, but the National Hockey League’s Senators have an agreement to build a new arena in downtown Ottawa.

The Senators and the National Capital Commission announced an agreement at a joint press conference Friday that would see the Senators purchase a 10-acre plot at the downtown LeBreton Flats site for the development of a multi-purpose facility, including an NHL arena.

The team had entered a memorandum of understanding with the NCC to develop the downtown LeBreton Flats area, with a deadline of Friday to reach a deal.

The price tag for the agreement has not been revealed.

The Senators say they cleared a couple of hurdles by being granted the ability to purchase rather than lease the land and get more than the six acres initially offered by the NCC.

“It’s a great first step, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us here,” Senators president and chief executive officer Cyril Leeder said.

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“It allows the heavy lifting to go forward now,” he added.

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Leeder said there are a lot of next steps, including the design and costing of a new facility.

“I know it’s years, not months, before a shovel goes in the ground,” he said.

The Senators have played at the Canadian Tire Centre in the western suburb of Kanata since 1996.

The 25-kilometre drive from Ottawa’s downtown to the Kanata facility, often made longer due to traffic, has been cited as an obstacle for attracting walk-up crowds — an issue teams with downtown arenas don’t face.

“When you think about major facilities and the trends now and where they are, most arenas and stadiums are going downtown,” Leeder said. “When we came out here 30 years ago that wasn’t the case.”

A previous deal to redevelop LeBreton Flats and build an arena under former owner Eugene Melnyk collapsed in 2019 following a fallout between Melnyk and business partner John Ruddy.

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