The Playbook

Real Madrid won 3-0 at ten-man Valencia at Mestalla on Saturday, with Federico Valverde opening the scoring and Kylian Mbappé on the scoresheet again, per The Guardian, which reports that José Mourinho's side largely dominated. The win took Madrid provisionally level on points with Barcelona, but Barcelona's 2-1 win at Atlético Madrid on Sunday restored the three-point gap, so Madrid go into the international break second on 30 points from 12 games, with Barcelona on 33 and Atlético third on 28. It was Madrid's third straight win since beating Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou on 25 October, after a 3-0 win at Racing Santander and a 3-2 win at AEK Athens in the Champions League. Their next match is at home to Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday 21 November at 3:00 PM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Real Madrid's league scoring leans heavily on Kylian Mbappé. He has 13 of the team's 31 league goals, and no other Madrid player is among the five leading scorers in La Liga, a list headed by Barcelona's Raphinha on 15 with Mbappé second.

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Juventus drew 2-2 at Fiorentina on Sunday, and the result leaves them seventh in Serie A on 18 points, six behind fourth-placed Milan on 24, with Como and Frosinone in between. In date order the last five results were a 2-0 win at Lecce on 25 October, a 2-0 defeat at Genoa on 28 October, a 2-0 home win over Napoli on 1 November, a 2-1 Europa League win at AZ Alkmaar on 5 November and the draw in Florence. Fiorentina are 15th, with two league wins all season, which is why a point there reads as ground lost rather than gained. The next fixture is at home to 19th-placed Venezia at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday 22 November, kickoff 6:30 AM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Juventus are stuck in seventh because they do not score enough. They have 15 goals in 11 Serie A games, fewer than all six sides above them and fewer than Bologna on 16 and Napoli on 18 below them. At the other end they have conceded 12, the fourth-fewest in the league behind Lazio on 9 and Roma and Como on 10. The defence is top-four standard; the attack is not.

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Barcelona came from behind to win 2-1 at Atlético Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Sunday and go into the international break top of La Liga. Giuliano Simeone gave Atlético the lead before Fermín López scored twice, either side of half-time, per The Guardian. The win leaves Barcelona on 33 points from 12 games, three ahead of Real Madrid on 30 and five clear of Atlético in third on 28, and it is their third win in a row after October defeats at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and at home to Real Madrid. The league now pauses for internationals, so Barcelona's next match is not until Sunday 22 November, when Villarreal visit Spotify Camp Nou at 8:00 AM ET in La Liga, 14 days after the Metropolitano.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Barcelona's lead over 12 league games is an attacking lead, not a defensive one. Their 48 league goals are 17 more than second-placed Real Madrid's 31, and their goal difference of plus 35 is 14 better than Madrid's plus 21. At the other end Barcelona have conceded 13, only the fifth-best record in La Liga: Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Celta Vigo have each conceded 10, and Athletic Club 11 in one game fewer.

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Chelsea's identity problem now shows in the results as well as the headlines, and Sunday 8 November added to it. Sunderland won 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on a penalty by Le Fée, the Guardian reports, lifting themselves off the bottom of the table, and Sky Sports called Chelsea's display tepid. The defeat follows a 2-0 home win over Manchester United on Saturday 31 October, so Xabi Alonso's side have won, lost, won and lost across their last four league games. They remain fifth on 16 points from 10 games, with four defeats among them. Leeds United visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday 21 November, kick-off 10:00 AM ET, and the BBC's gossip column also has Aston Villa's Boubacar Kamara on Chelsea's watchlist.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Chelsea's attack is top-four class and their defence is not. They have scored 19 league goals, the third-most in the division behind only Brighton's 26 and Manchester City's 21, and still sit fifth because they have conceded 16, more than any of the four clubs above them. Arsenal have conceded five, Brighton seven, Liverpool 10 and Manchester City 13, so the one column in which Chelsea trail the top four is the one that decides whether they join it.

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Manchester City won their first seven Premier League games and have now lost three in a row, and their manager has named the cause himself. Defeats at Aston Villa on Saturday 24 October and at home to Brighton on Saturday 31 October came before a 3-2 win at RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday 4 November. On Saturday 7 November Nottingham Forest won 3-1 at the City Ground, Liam Delap scoring twice, BBC Sport reports, after Jair Cunha dispossessed Josko Gvardiol to score the opener, according to the Guardian. 'You need desire and intensity ... we didn't match them,' Enzo Maresca said, the Guardian reports. City are third on 21 points. Fulham visit the Etihad on Saturday 21 November, kick-off 7:30 AM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

The problem is at the back, not in front of goal. Manchester City have scored 21 league goals, second only to Brighton's 26, yet their 13 conceded is more than double Arsenal's five and only joint tenth-fewest in the division, level with Nottingham Forest. Brighton's seven against is the other benchmark. A side with an attack of that class and a defence in the middle of the table is a side whose ceiling is set by the second column.

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Nine wins from 10 league games carry Arsenal into the international break at the top, and Saturday 7 November showed how hard one more can be to prise out of a patient opponent. Martin Ødegaard's goal with about 20 minutes left beat a dogged Hull 1-0 at the Emirates, the Guardian reports, and former assistant referee Darren Cann told BBC Sport that Arsenal should also have had a penalty for a foul on Kai Havertz. The win lifts the champions to 27 points, five clear of second-placed Brighton. Before it came a 1-0 win at Liverpool on Sunday 1 November and a 2-1 win at Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Wednesday 4 November. Sky Sports also highlights Noni Madueke's late one-on-one miss against Hull. Next is Newcastle at St James' Park on Saturday 21 November, kick-off 12:30 PM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Arsenal's title lead is a defensive one. Their 15 league goals are joint sixth in the division, level with Ipswich and behind Brighton on 26, Manchester City on 21, Chelsea on 19 and both Bournemouth and Brentford on 16, while their five conceded are the fewest anywhere. A lead built at one end of the pitch invites the question of how long it can hold, and the table's answer so far is 10 games.

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The playoff format sets Inter Miami's next fortnight. Round One is a best-of-three series, and the higher seed hosts Games One and Three. Miami finished second in the Eastern Conference on 60 points, from 16 wins, 12 draws and six losses, so they open at home against seventh-placed Columbus Crew at Nu Stadium on Saturday 21 November at 6:00 PM ET. A level game goes straight to penalties, with no extra time. Miami arrive after a 3-3 home draw with Charlotte FC on Decision Day, Saturday 7 November, the last day of the regular season. That draw followed a 2-1 win at New England on 1 November. Columbus finished 13 points behind Miami in the table, and two wins end the series.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Miami's defence is the risk in the Eastern Conference bracket. They conceded 59 goals in 34 games, the most of the seven highest finishers in the East. Nashville, the top seed, conceded 25. The spread from first to seventh is 34 goals. The seven in order were Nashville with 25, New England with 47, Charlotte with 51, Philadelphia with 52, Columbus with 52, Chicago with 54 and Miami with 59.

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Hull go into the international break 13th on 11 points with a habit that has kept them out of trouble without yet winning them anything: they have no win in their last five league games. A 1-1 draw at home to Brentford on Sunday 25 October and a 2-2 draw at home to Ipswich on Saturday 31 October came before Saturday 7 November's 1-0 defeat by leaders Arsenal at the Emirates. Two wins, five draws and three defeats make up a record that sits three points above 18th place. Next is second-placed Brighton at the MKM Stadium on Sunday 22 November, kick-off 9:00 AM ET, a fixture that will show whether Hull's drawing habit can hold against the league's highest-scoring side, with 26 goals in 10 games.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

By its numbers Hull are a mid-table side. Eleven goals scored and eleven conceded after 10 league games leave a goal difference of nil, with the scoring total 13th among the 20 clubs and the goals-against total level with Brentford and Tottenham. Neither column is far from the middle of the division, and the two cancel out. Nine clubs have a better goal difference and the other 10 a worse one, which is about as central as a record can be.

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THE ANALYST’S DESK

Liverpool's distance from the leaders does not come from scoring. They have 14 league goals to Arsenal's 15, one fewer, while they have conceded 10 to Arsenal's five and won five games to Arsenal's nine. Eighteen points against 27 is a nine-point gap, and the win column is where it was built.

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Leeds United's table position has been built on not losing, and Saturday 7 November finally added a win to it. Noah Okafor scored the only goal in an intense battle with Tottenham at Elland Road, the Guardian reports, while Jayden Bogle did well to escape a red card. It is Leeds's only win in their last five league games: the run began with a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday 10 October, then came a 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Sunday 18 October, a goalless draw at Sunderland on Sunday 25 October and a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday 31 October. The win lifts Leeds to ninth on 14 points, level with Brentford and two behind sixth-placed Everton. Chelsea are next, at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 21 November, kick-off 10:00 AM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Leeds's 14 points come from not losing. They have won three league games, drawn five and lost two, and a goal difference of two rests on the third-fewest goals against in the division: eight, behind only Arsenal's five and Brighton's seven. The scoring column is the weaker one, because 10 goals in 10 games puts Leeds level with Palace, Coventry, Tottenham and Fulham, and only Sunderland on eight and Nottingham Forest on nine have scored fewer.

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Inter beat Como 2-0 at San Siro on Sunday and stay second in Serie A on 28 points, one behind Lazio on 29, in a table where Roma on 27 are also within two. In date order the last five results were a 2-1 home win over Fiorentina on 25 October, a 2-0 win at Venezia on 28 October, a 3-1 defeat at Milan in the derby on 31 October, a 3-0 Champions League win at Feyenoord on 3 November and Sunday's win over Como. The derby is the only league defeat on Inter's record, which stands at 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss from 11 games. The next fixture is away to Atalanta at the New Balance Arena on Sunday 22 November, kickoff 2:45 PM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Inter's defence is the weak end of a title-contending side. They have conceded 13 goals in 11 Serie A games, against 9 for Lazio and 10 for Roma, and only five clubs in the league have conceded fewer: the two they are chasing, Como on 10, Juventus on 12, and nobody else, with Milan level on 13. Their 28 goals scored are the second-most in Serie A, behind Roma's 31, and they are what keep Inter second.

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Paris Saint-Germain beat Troyes 1-0 at the Parc des Princes on Saturday and stay top of Ligue 1 on 23 points, two clear of Lille on 21. It was the fifth win in the five results listed across Ligue 1 and the Champions League, which in date order were 4-2 over Barcelona on 20 October, 2-0 over Lyon on 26 October, 5-1 at Le Havre on 30 October, 6-0 at Villarreal on 3 November and then Troyes. BBC Sport described the Villarreal rout as PSG's impressive Champions League start continuing. The league record after ten games is seven wins, two draws and one defeat. Next is a trip to Nice, sixth on 17 points, at the Allianz Riviera on Saturday 21 November, kickoff 11:15 AM ET, the first time the lead goes back on the line.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Paris Saint-Germain's scoring does not run through one player. Across Ligue 1 and the Champions League, Ferran Torres leads the list with 7 goals and 1 assist in 14 appearances, Ousmane Dembélé has 4 goals and 5 assists in 8 appearances, Fabián Ruiz and Désiré Doué have 4 goals each, and Achraf Hakimi, a defender, has 3. Three forwards, a midfielder and a full-back make up the five, and only four goals separate first from fifth.

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Manchester United enter the international break in the bottom three, and a point rescued at the death does not change the condition that put them there: one league win in 10 games. After Tuesday 3 November's 3-2 Champions League win over Roma, United came from two goals down twice at Old Trafford on Sunday 8 November to draw 4-4 with Aston Villa, Patrick Dorgu's 96th-minute equaliser going in off his head, the Guardian reports. The point leaves them 18th on eight points, and the Guardian notes that their only league win came against Ipswich in August. Asked about talk over his position, head coach Michael Carrick denied he was at risk and said he expected to move forward, according to the Guardian. The next league match is Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday 22 November, kick-off 11:30 AM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

United's league trouble sits at the back, not up front. Their 14 league goals through 10 games match Liverpool's total, and Liverpool are fourth in the table, so an attack level with a top-four side's is not what has left United 18th. The goals-against column tells the other story: 19 conceded is joint third-highest in the division with Coventry, behind only Crystal Palace on 24 and Ipswich on 20.

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Bayern Munich won 2-1 at Mainz on Saturday and stay top of the Bundesliga on goal difference, level with Borussia Dortmund on 21 points after nine games, with neither side beaten. Bayern's 29 league goals against 9 conceded give them the tiebreak over Dortmund's 16 and 7, and Freiburg are third on 19, two points behind the pair. The win at Mainz followed a 2-0 victory at Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, and on Thursday Harry Kane signed a new contract with the club that runs until 2029, according to BBC Sport. The next league game is at home to Cologne, 15th on 9 points, at the Allianz Arena on Friday 20 November, kickoff 2:30 PM ET, where Bayern will be expected to keep the top spot.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Bayern's attack leans on two men. Across the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the DFB-Pokal, Michael Olise has 11 goals and 5 assists and Harry Kane has 10 goals and 11 assists, both in 14 appearances. The next name on the list is Luis Díaz with 5 goals in 10 appearances, and Alphonso Davies, a defender, and Ismael Saibari, a midfielder, have 3 each, so Olise and Kane have nearly twice as many goals as the next three combined.

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AC Milan won 2-1 at Genoa on Sunday and stay fourth in Serie A on 24 points, five behind leaders Lazio on 29 and a point ahead of Como in fifth. The win followed a 2-0 home defeat to Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday 5 November, and in date order the five results listed read a 2-0 win at Udinese on 25 October, a 4-2 home defeat to Bologna on 28 October, a 3-1 home win over Inter in the derby on 31 October, the Ferencvaros defeat and the win at Genoa. In the league Milan have seven wins, three draws and one defeat from 11 games, and the Bologna loss is the only one. The next fixture is at home to Frosinone, sixth on 20 points, at San Siro on Sunday 22 November, kickoff 12:00 PM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Milan's season rests on not losing rather than on scoring. They have one defeat in 11 Serie A games, with seven wins and three draws, and they have conceded 13 league goals, fewer than every club below them except Como on 10 and Juventus on 12. Their 23 goals scored are only fifth in the division, behind Roma on 31, Inter on 28, Lazio on 25 and Frosinone on 24, so the fourth-placed side does not have a top-four attack.

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Toronto FC's 2026 season ended on Saturday 7 November, Decision Day, the last day of the MLS regular season. Philadelphia Union won 4-1 at Subaru Park. A 3-1 defeat at Atlanta United came a week earlier, after a 2-1 home win over D.C. United on 28 October. Toronto finish 12th of 15 in the Eastern Conference with 39 points, from nine wins, 12 draws and 13 losses. Nine East teams reach the playoffs, and FC Cincinnati took the last place on 46 points. Toronto were seven points short. No match is left this year. The next game belongs to the 2027 season, and no date or venue is confirmed. The last two games, away at Atlanta and away at Philadelphia, both ended in defeat.

Bayer Leverkusen won the Rhine derby 2-1 at Cologne on Sunday, and it stops a bad week from becoming a worse one. In date order the last five results were a 3-0 league defeat at Hoffenheim on 25 October, a 5-2 DFB-Pokal win over Nürnberg on 28 October, a 4-2 home defeat to Stuttgart on 31 October, a 1-0 Europa League home defeat to Marseille on 5 November and the win at Cologne. The victory leaves Leverkusen fifth in the Bundesliga on 16 points, two behind RB Leipzig in fourth on 18, with Patrik Schick on 11 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances across all competitions. The next fixture is at home to Paderborn at the BayArena on Saturday 21 November, kickoff 9:30 AM ET, a game that will show whether the win at Cologne was a turn.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Leverkusen's defence, not their attack, is what keeps them out of the top four. They have scored 20 goals in nine Bundesliga games, joint third-best in the division with Freiburg and Augsburg and behind only Bayern's 29 and Leipzig's 27. They have conceded 17, the most of any side in the top six, and their goal difference of plus 3 is the smallest in the top five by a distance: Leipzig, directly above them, are on plus 14.

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Seattle beat Arizona 17-3 at Lumen Field on Sunday 8 November and is 5-4, but the afternoon left the Seahawks short at quarterback again. Drew Lock, who was filling in for Sam Darnold, suffered an oblique injury, and CBS Sports reports his Week 10 status is up in the air and that Seattle could have to start Jalen Milroe. Darnold, who has a quadriceps injury, may also miss the game at Las Vegas. Coach Mike Macdonald said after the win that Lock sustained the injury during the game, and nothing has been settled about who plays in the week ahead. The Raiders host Seattle on Sunday 15 November at 4:05 PM ET at Allegiant Stadium, and the quarterback decision will shape everything else about that trip.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Seattle's defence is good enough to win without a settled quarterback, at home at least. Kansas City scored 3 at Lumen Field on 25 October and Arizona scored 3 there on Sunday, and over nine games the Seahawks have allowed 162 points against 202 scored in a 5-4 season. The totals describe a team that is 40 points to the good and one game over .500, so the defence is the steadier of the two units.

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Next: Atlanta Falcons vs Kansas City Chiefs  |  2026-11-15  |  NFL

The metrics that define this season

The Playbook

Dallas rallied late to win 27-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday 8 November, and The Guardian's roundup headlined it as the Cowboys stunning the Colts with a late comeback, which moves them to 4-5. The win left damage behind. Tight end Jake Ferguson hurt his knee during the game, P.J. Locke suffered a concussion, and receiver George Pickens, who has a hamstring injury, was inactive. Before that, Dallas had lost 30-33 at home to Arizona on 1 November. The Cowboys now return to AT&T Stadium, where San Francisco visit on Sunday 15 November at 4:25 PM ET, and the first job this week is finding out how many of the injured can play, since the reports give no timetable for any of them.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Dallas's passing game is concentrated on two receivers, and that is the season-long question the Pickens injury now puts in front of it. CeeDee Lamb has 709 receiving yards and George Pickens 533, which between them comes to 1,242 against Dak Prescott's 2,046 passing yards over nine games. Javonte Williams has 528 rushing yards, so the ground game is a real second option, but the yardage through the air sits with two players in a way that makes one absence count.

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Jacksonville went to Baltimore on Thursday 5 November and won 33-10 at M&T Bank Stadium, four days after beating Indianapolis 42-7 at EverBank Stadium, and the Jaguars are 6-2. The Guardian called the Ravens rudderless, with their top two quarterbacks injured, and reported that Trevor Lawrence threw for 242 yards and a touchdown. The week was not free of loss: on Tuesday 3 November the Jaguars placed safety Eric Murray, who has an elbow injury, on injured reserve. Next comes a trip to Tennessee on Sunday 15 November, with a 1:00 PM ET kickoff at Nissan Stadium in week 10. Two comfortable wins in a row have given Jacksonville a settled look going into that game, and the safety spot is the question to watch.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Jacksonville's points margin is the clearest case that this is a serious team: 229 points scored against 121 allowed over eight games, a difference of 108, in a 6-2 season. A margin that size does not come from one hot weekend, and it holds up when the last five results are laid out in date order: 22-17 at Cincinnati, 19-17 over Philadelphia at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 31-34 against Houston at Wembley Stadium, 42-7 over Indianapolis and 33-10 at Baltimore. Only the Houston game is a loss among them, and two of the five were played in London. The tight ones were the Houston loss by three points and the Philadelphia win by two, so the margin is carried by the Indianapolis and Baltimore games as much as by anything earlier.

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Philadelphia lost a seventh straight game, 19-11 to the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday 8 November, and fell to 2-7 in week 9. DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks, the team's two leading receivers, were inactive again, and linebacker Zack Baun (back) was questionable to return during the game. Joe Milton threw 34 passes against New York, completing 18 for 169 yards, and the offense scored 11, its only touchdown a Saquon Barkley run. The run of defeats includes a 17-19 loss at Jacksonville in London on 11 October and a 21-38 home loss to Dallas on 26 October. Next on the schedule is Pittsburgh at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday 22 November, with kickoff at 4:25 p.m. ET, which gives the Eagles 13 days before they play again. The open question is how this offense scores with its top two receivers out.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Is Philadelphia's problem scoring or stopping people? The verdict is scoring first. The Eagles have scored 148 points and allowed 221 over nine games, a differential of minus 73, and in the last five losses the offense reached 21 only once. The defense has been beaten too, giving up 38 to Dallas and 27 at Washington, but it also held Jacksonville and the Giants to 19, which is the kind of total a functioning offense overcomes. A team that gives up 19 twice and still loses both times has a scoring problem first. The offense scored 17 in the first of those and 11 in the second, and neither total was enough on its day.

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THE ANALYST’S DESK

The offence, not the defence, is Miami's season-long problem. The Dolphins have scored 126 points in eight games and allowed 200, a 1-7 record with a deficit of 74 points, and the scoring side is where the shortfall begins. In the last five results Miami scored more than 24 only once, in the 28-25 win at the Jets on 25 October, which was also the only win.

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Green Bay won 45-27 at Gillette Stadium on Sunday 8 November to improve to 6-3, but the win cost the Packers a running back. CBS Sports reports that Josh Jacobs broke a finger during the game and asks whether Green Bay could trade for a running back before Tuesday's deadline. The injury list was already long: edge rusher Micah Parsons was ruled out with a knee injury before the game, MarShawn Lloyd was inactive with a knee injury, and wide receiver Bo Melton left the game and is being evaluated for a concussion. Minnesota visit Lambeau Field on Sunday 15 November at 1:00 PM ET, so the backfield question has a short clock attached, with the trade deadline arriving first.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Green Bay's offence runs through the air this season, and the numbers behind that are plain. Jordan Love has 2,246 passing yards, and two receivers have passed 600 yards each: Christian Watson with 708 and Matthew Golden with 619. No running back on the rushing list has reached 150 yards, so the passing game has carried the yardage, and CBS Sports headlined its Week 9 roundup with the Packers wideouts going ballistic.

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Buffalo take a 6-1 record to Minnesota tonight for Monday Night Football, and the news before kickoff is on their own offensive line. Tackles Dion Dawkins (ribs) and Alec Anderson (ankle) are both questionable, and receiver Joshua Palmer (hamstring) has been ruled out. The Bills arrive off a 36-10 win over Baltimore at Highmark Stadium on Sunday 1 November, in week 8, when Josh Allen threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing score. Their one loss came on 4 October, 26-29 at home to New England. Allen carries no injury designation into the game, and neither do receivers DJ Moore and Keon Coleman, who both have shoulder notes. Kickoff at U.S. Bank Stadium is 8:15 p.m. ET. Protection is the open question for Buffalo, with two tackles in doubt at once.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

The record rests on the offense, not the defense. Buffalo have scored 233 points and allowed 181 over seven games, a differential of 52. Three of their last five opponents reached 29 or more: the Patriots with 29, the Rams with 34 and the Raiders with 30. Buffalo won two of those three, which says the offense has been covering for the defense.

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The metrics that define this season

The Playbook

San Francisco moved to 7-1 with a 38-17 win over Las Vegas at Levi's Stadium on Sunday 8 November, in week 9, and the win carried a cost. Cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir (foot) and Renardo Green (back) were both hurt in the game and are now questionable. Nate Hobbs, another cornerback, was not activated from injured reserve on Saturday. That is three players from one position group in doubt or sidelined. Next is the road trip to Dallas on Sunday 15 November, with kickoff at AT&T Stadium at 4:25 p.m. ET. Receiver Mike Evans (Achilles) sat out against the Raiders and appears questionable at best for the Cowboys. The record says contender. The injury list says the back end is the week's real work.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

What has San Francisco's 7-1 been built on? The verdict is balance with a defensive base. The 49ers have scored 235 points and allowed 156 over eight games, a differential of 79. The lone loss was 20-29 at Atlanta, and the defense's two worst games of the last five both ended with 29 allowed: that loss and the 32-29 win at Seattle.

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Baltimore lost 33-10 to Jacksonville at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday 5 November, its fourth straight defeat, and the Ravens are 4-5. The quarterback room is the reason the slide is hard to stop: Lamar Jackson is on injured reserve and is scheduled for surgery on his right thumb, and Tyler Huntley is on injured reserve with a toe injury. Baltimore's answer is Jacoby Brissett, acquired from Arizona after The Guardian reported on 4 November that the trade was near. Safety Kyle Hamilton, who has a hip injury, was ruled out of the Jacksonville game before it ended. The Ravens host the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday 16 November at 8:15 PM ET at M&T Bank Stadium, with a new quarterback to introduce.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Baltimore's season comes in two halves, and the defensive half is the one a new quarterback cannot fix. The Ravens have scored 189 points and allowed 236 over nine games in a 4-5 season. The last five games account for 73 of those points scored and 140 allowed, with one win, which leaves the first four games at 116 scored, 96 allowed and a 3-1 record. Both sides of the ledger turned, but only one of them has an obvious explanation in the injury list.

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Minnesota host Buffalo tonight at 6-1 without their starting quarterback. Head coach Kevin O'Connell said Kyler Murray (hamstring) has been ruled out, and Carson Wentz is set to start, with Max Brosmer as his backup. Receiver Jauan Jennings (calf) and running back Demond Claiborne (knee) are also out. There is one addition to the receiver room: Odell Beckham Jr. is set to make his Vikings debut after signing to the 53-man roster, CBS Sports reported. The Vikings' only loss came on Sunday 1 November, 19-15 at Detroit's Ford Field, the first defeat of their season. Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (chest) carries no designation for the game, and tackle Christian Darrisaw (shoulder) was a full practice participant on Friday. Kickoff at U.S. Bank Stadium is 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday Night Football, and the Vikings go into it with their backup quarterback and a new receiver.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Minnesota's 6-1 is a defense-first record, and the verdict is that the defense is good enough for a contender. The Vikings have allowed 93 points in seven games and scored 140, a differential of 47. None of their last five opponents reached 20: Tampa Bay scored 16, Miami 10, New Orleans 13, Indianapolis 10 and Detroit 19.

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The Mets' season ended at 74-88 without a postseason place, and the last series was a loss in Washington: 6-7 on Friday 25 September, 7-1 on Saturday 26 September and 4-6 on Sunday 27 September, so New York lost two of three to close the year. The winter began with the death of Jerry Koosman at 83, according to CBS Sports. Koosman pitched on the 1969 World Series winner; the Mets inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1989 and retired his No. 36 in 2021. On the roster side, Mets president David Stearns expects Tylor Megill, who had an elbow injury, to be at 100 percent for the start of spring training, and Reed Garrett to be a full participant. There is no game on the calendar; the next one comes in the spring, with no date set. The first sample worth reading is how healthy the pitching staff is when camp opens.

The Dodgers' 2026 ended in the National League Championship Series, where Milwaukee swept them 4-0 after a 100-62 regular season. The series, in order: a 1-2 loss in Milwaukee on Sunday 11 October, a 4-7 loss there on Monday 12 October, then a 2-6 loss at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday 14 October and a 4-6 loss at home on Thursday 15 October that closed the year. Los Angeles had beaten Atlanta 3-1 in the division series to get there. The first big rumour of the winter, according to CBS Sports in its hot-stove roundup of Sunday 8 November, is that the Dodgers could be Tarik Skubal or bust. There is no game on the calendar; the next one comes in the spring. The first sample worth reading is whether the front office pursues a frontline starter or a bat.

The Blue Jays' 79-83 finish rested on a narrow offensive sample: the lineup scored 4.0 runs a game across the season, and one bat carried the home run total. Toronto closed at home by taking two of three from Cincinnati, winning 6-5 on Friday 25 September, losing 1-5 on Saturday and finishing with a 5-1 win on Sunday 27 September, and missed the postseason. The winter opens with a long injury list. Addison Barger, a right fielder, is expected to be out about six months after surgery to repair his right elbow ligament, Jose Berrios has moved to the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury, and Anthony Santander, also a right fielder, is out with a shoulder injury. There is no game on the calendar; the next one comes in the spring. The first sample worth reading is how the lineup is rebuilt around Kazuma Okamoto.

The Nationals finished 77-85 and missed the postseason, closing with a 6-4 home win over the Mets on Sunday 27 September that took the final series 2-1. The series, in order: a 7-6 win on Friday 25 September, a 1-7 loss on Saturday 26 September and the 6-4 win on Sunday. The record sits next to a different picture in the run totals: Washington outscored its opponents over the season, a margin that does not usually go with a record eight games under .500. The winter opens with a medical item, as catcher Drew Millas is set for surgery on a fractured left index finger. There is no game on the calendar; the next one comes in the spring, with no date. The first sample worth reading is how the lineup behind CJ Abrams, who hit 33 home runs, is built when camp opens.

Toronto finished a four-game road trip 2-2 with a 121-107 win in Milwaukee on Friday, and the Raptors, now 5-4, host Memphis at Scotiabank Arena tonight at 7:30 PM ET with their two leading creators in doubt. The trip, in order: a 125-131 loss at the Lakers on Sunday 1 November, a 125-118 win at the Clippers on Monday 2 November, a 109-128 loss at Denver on Wednesday 4 November and the Friday win over the Bucks. Scottie Barnes, with an adductor problem, and Immanuel Quickley, with a hamstring problem, were limited participants in Sunday's practice and are listed as questionable. Nate Bittle is out with a foot injury, and Kawhi Leonard remains out after completing treatment to reduce swelling in his left knee, with a re-evaluation due in a week. Toronto cannot say yet who takes the floor against the Grizzlies.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Jamal Shead leads Toronto in assists, and that matters if Immanuel Quickley is held out. Shead's 6.6 assists a game lead the team, ahead of Quickley's 5.8 and Scottie Barnes' 5.1, so the playmaking is shared across three players rather than parked in one. A Quickley absence shifts the burden toward Shead more than it leaves a hole.

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Next: New York Knicks vs Milwaukee Bucks  |  Tue 10 Nov 2026  |  NBA

The metrics that define this season

The Playbook

The Warriors beat Orlando 126-119 at Chase Center on Saturday for a seventh straight win and sit 7-3, and they host New Orleans tonight at 10:00 PM ET without Kristaps Porzingis and Will Richard. Porzingis announced on Friday that he is stepping away from basketball over an undisclosed health issue, per The Guardian, and CBS Sports reports he has been away from the team since late September. Richard is out with a torn ligament in his left thumb, and Gui Santos is listed as probable with a knee injury. The winning run was built while Porzingis was already away, and Saturday's margin was seven points. Stephen Curry, averaging 31.2 points, and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, at 21.2, have carried the scoring through the streak. The Pelicans arrive 4-6, and the question for tonight is whether the run holds with two more rotation players missing.

Colorado beat Detroit 4-0 at home on Saturday, ending a slide that began with a 2-7 loss at Columbus on 3 November and carried through a 2-3 overtime loss to Nashville on Thursday. The Avalanche are 10-6-2 in the Central Division, with 22 points from 18 games. Defenceman Josh Manson is out with an ankle injury and is expected to miss eight weeks, and Zachary L'Heureux is on long-term injured reserve. Next comes a trip to Scotiabank Arena, where Colorado play Toronto on Tuesday 10 November at 7:00 PM ET. Artturi Lehkonen leads the five top scorers with 12 goals, while Nathan MacKinnon has 10 goals and 20 assists, Martin Necas has 9 goals and 14 assists, and Cale Makar has 5 goals and 16 assists.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Colorado are a different team away from home, and the ten-game window shows it. The Avalanche are 4-0-1 in their last five home games and 1-4 in their last five road games, and Tuesday's game in Toronto is a road game. Their goal difference is plus 12 across the five at home and minus 8 across the five on the road.

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Boston beat Florida 4-1 at TD Garden on Sunday for a fourth straight win, with Montreal due at TD Garden on Thursday 12 November at 7:00 PM ET. The Bruins are 13-4-1, with 27 points from 18 games. David Pastrnak leads the way with 8 goals and 16 assists, Elias Lindholm has 7 goals and 8 assists, and Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie and JJ Peterka each have 5 goals and 9 assists. Centre James Hagens is on injured reserve with a back injury, and head coach Marco Sturm announced that he is expected to miss multiple weeks. The wins before Sunday came 6-2 at Pittsburgh on Thursday, 3-2 in a shootout against Vegas on 2 November and 5-4 in overtime against Chicago on 31 October.

Vancouver lost 2-4 at Edmonton on Saturday for a fifth straight defeat, and the Canucks are 3-15-1 with 7 points from 19 games. Before Edmonton they lost 2-6 at Winnipeg on Thursday and 4-5 at home to Anaheim on Tuesday 3 November. Philadelphia visit Rogers Arena on Monday night, a 9:30 PM ET start, 6:30 PM in Vancouver. Goaltender Thatcher Demko and centre Filip Chytil are on injured reserve, and defenceman Tom Willander is day-to-day. Elias Pettersson leads the club with 15 assists and 4 goals, Brock Boeser has 7 goals, Jonathan Lekkerimäki has 6 goals, Filip Hronek has 12 assists, and Jake DeBrusk has 5 goals. The only win in the last ten games came in overtime at Anaheim on 27 October.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Vancouver's season is a goals-against problem more than a scoring problem. In the last ten games the Canucks have a goal difference of minus 19 and a record of 1-9. They conceded 46 goals in that stretch, a total that a scoring group led by Brock Boeser's 7 goals in 19 games has not been able to outrun.

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Carolina beat Chicago 9-2 at home on Saturday, two days after a 5-3 win at the Islanders on Thursday 5 November. The Hurricanes have 14 wins, three regulation losses and two overtime or shootout losses, 30 points from 19 games, and have won two straight. The one recent loss was 1-4 at Nashville on 3 November. Next comes Seattle at Veikkaus Arena on Thursday 12 November at noon ET. The venue is a neutral site and Seattle are the designated home team. Centre Jordan Staal is on injured reserve and winger William Carrier is day-to-day. Sebastian Aho has 10 goals and 16 assists. Logan Stankoven leads the team in goals with 11. Andrei Svechnikov has 9 goals, Jackson Blake has 14 assists, and Nikolaj Ehlers has 11 assists.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

The Islanders are a .531 points-percentage team, 17 points from 16 games, and overtime has shaped that figure. Five of their last ten games went past regulation, and they split them two wins and three losses, which is a coin-flip return from a large share of their schedule.

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Edmonton host the Rangers on Monday night at Rogers Place, with puck drop at 8:00 PM ET. The Oilers beat Vancouver 4-2 at home on Saturday. The win ended a two-game slide: a 4-3 shootout loss at New Jersey on 3 November, then a 5-4 home loss to Anaheim on 5 November. The record stands at 12-3-3, 27 points from 18 games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a centre, is day-to-day after taking a puck to the side of the head on Saturday. Colton Dach, also a centre, is day-to-day too. Goalie Frederik Andersen remains on injured reserve with a knee injury. Edmonton already beat these Rangers 4-1 in New York on 1 November. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are not on the injury list.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

McDavid creates most of Edmonton's offence. He has 37 assists in 18 games, two fewer than Draisaitl's 18 and Bouchard's 21 added together, and he also has 10 goals. Draisaitl is the finisher, with a team-high 16 goals. Bouchard has 10 goals and 21 assists from the blue line. After those three, the next scorer is Vasily Podkolzin with 9 goals, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 11 points.

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San Jose host the Islanders on Monday night at SAP Center, with puck drop at 10:00 PM ET, on a five-game losing streak. The Sharks finished a three-game road trip without a win. They lost 7-2 at Los Angeles on 4 November, 4-1 at Minnesota on 6 November and 4-3 at Dallas on Saturday. Before the trip they lost 5-1 to Ottawa at home on 31 October and 2-1 to Calgary at home on 2 November. They have seven wins, 11 regulation losses and one overtime loss, 15 points from 19 games. Centre Alexander Wennberg and winger Igor Chernyshov are on injured reserve. Macklin Celebrini leads the team with 21 points, 7 goals and 14 assists, and Will Smith also has 7 goals. The Sharks have not won since 29 October, when they beat Vancouver 3-2 at home.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

San Jose's weak half is scoring at home. The last four home games ended 0-2 to Buffalo on 27 October, 3-2 over Vancouver on 29 October, 1-5 to Ottawa on 31 October and 1-2 to Calgary on 2 November. That is one win and three losses. Only the Vancouver game saw the Sharks score more than once.

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The Toronto Tempo's WNBA season is over: the club finished 11-33 and missed the playoffs after eight straight defeats. The last of them was an 81-95 loss at Connecticut on Thursday 24 September, the Tempo's final game. The losing run began with a 78-88 home loss to Las Vegas on Sunday 23 August, and its last three games, in order, were 69-106 at home to New York on Sunday 20 September, 85-97 at Chicago on Tuesday 22 September and the Connecticut loss. The first item of the offseason is Nyara Sabally's arthroscopic surgery on her left knee, from which she is expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2027 season. There is no game on the schedule until the next season, and the roster's health is the story that continues.

Lando Norris won the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday 8 November from pole, his third win of 2026, in mixed conditions, holding off Max Verstappen, Autosport reported. Oscar Piastri finished sixth. The win came on the weekend McLaren introduced an upgrade package built around a front-wing concept for 2027, with a new rear wing, beam wing and floor changes. Team principal Andrea Stella told Motorsport that the front wing has improved the car's driveability and predictability. Norris had also topped first practice on Friday, Motorsport reported, so the pace was there before the race. McLaren are fourth in the constructors' standings, behind Red Bull. The next race is the Las Vegas Grand Prix, round 21 of 23, on Saturday night 21 November at 11:00 PM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

McLaren's second car cannot carry a fight for third place in the constructors' championship on this autumn's evidence. McLaren are fourth, behind Red Bull. Red Bull are 17 points clear, on 415 to McLaren's 398. Oscar Piastri has no wins this season, and his best finish in the last five races is fifth.

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Red Bull put both cars on the podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday 8 November. Max Verstappen finished second after an engine penalty sent him to the back of the grid, and Isack Hadjar was third. Lando Norris won. Team principal Laurent Mekies told Motorsport that no simulation could have predicted Verstappen's charge from 21st to second. Verstappen also gave his race helmet to front-end mechanic Ole Schack, who has been with Red Bull since the team's first season in 2005 and worked his final race for the team at Interlagos. Red Bull are third in the constructors' standings, with McLaren fourth. The next race is the Las Vegas Grand Prix, round 21 of 23, on Saturday night 21 November at 11:00 PM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Red Bull's third place in the constructors' championship has been a two-car effort this autumn. Isack Hadjar has finished in the top ten in each of the last five races, oldest first: fifth, tenth, sixth, ninth and third. His third place in Brazil was his best result of the five and the only podium among them. Red Bull have scored with both cars in every one of the five races, so the position does not rest on Max Verstappen alone. McLaren are fourth, 17 points behind on 398 to Red Bull's 415.

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Mercedes are the 2026 constructors' champions. Their Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday 8 November was enough: George Russell finished fourth and Kimi Antonelli fifth, which sealed the title with three races to spare. Lando Norris won the race. The Guardian reported that it is Mercedes' first constructors' title since 2021 and, with Antonelli already the drivers' champion, their first double since 2020. Antonelli called the team's effort an "incredible job" and paid tribute to the 2,500 people who work there. Mercedes lead the constructors' standings on 652 points with 12 wins, ahead of Ferrari in second. The next race is the Las Vegas Grand Prix, round 21 of 23, on Saturday night 21 November at 11:00 PM ET, with two more rounds to follow.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

The title was built before October. Mercedes have won 12 of the 20 races run so far, nine for Kimi Antonelli and three for George Russell, but only one of the last five went to a Mercedes driver: Antonelli's win in the United States. Max Verstappen won three of those five, in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico City, and Lando Norris won in Brazil. The car that won the championship has not been the winning car on Sundays this autumn.

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Ferrari had their weakest race of the autumn at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday 8 November. Charles Leclerc finished eighth and Lewis Hamilton ninth, a lap down, while Lando Norris won from pole. It was the first time in five races that neither Ferrari reached the podium. The trouble showed on Friday, when Hamilton and Leclerc were sixth and seventh in the second practice session, 0.45 seconds and 0.72 seconds behind Kimi Antonelli, according to Motorsport. Ferrari remain second in the constructors' standings on 510 points, 142 behind Mercedes. Hamilton told Autosport that he and Leclerc have cleared the air after their Mexico clash: "We've squashed it." The next test is the Las Vegas Grand Prix, round 21 of 23, on Saturday night 21 November at 11:00 PM ET.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

Lewis Hamilton holds the edge as Ferrari's lead driver, but the gap is small. He is fourth in the drivers' championship on 261 points, twelve points clear of Charles Leclerc, who is fifth on 249. Each Ferrari driver has one win this season, and those are the team's only two, so neither can claim the stronger record on victories. Over a full season, two drivers twelve points apart are close to level.

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The Tour is between competitive rounds today — the most recent result was TOTO Japan Classic, where Sakuma closed at -20. That result is the baseline for how the field stacks up heading into the next scheduled start.

A wider read on the stretch: Yamashita took Maybank Championship at -22. Different courses reward different profiles — bomber-friendly setups versus position-off-the-tee layouts tell you who's built for which stops.

Next up: The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican (2026-11-12). Watch the early-week commits and the practice-round groupings — they hint at who's treating this week as a marker.

The Tour is between competitive rounds today — the most recent result was World Wide Technology Championship, where Brown closed at -25. That result is the baseline for how the field stacks up heading into the next scheduled start.

A wider read on the stretch: Novak took VidantaWorld Mexico Open at -25. Different courses reward different profiles — bomber-friendly setups versus position-off-the-tee layouts tell you who's built for which stops.

Next up: Austin Championship pres. by Compliance Solutions (2026-11-12). Watch the early-week commits and the practice-round groupings — they hint at who's treating this week as a marker.

The 2026 WorldTour season is over. All 36 scheduled races have been run, and no race is on the schedule. On Saturday 10 October Paul Seixas won Il Lombardia, with Enric Mas second and Giulio Ciccone third. The final race was the Tour of Guangxi, which ran from 13 to 18 October. Jarno Widar won it, Tom Pidcock finished second and Louis Barré third. Seixas had also been second in Montréal on 13 September, so his season closed with a runner-up finish and a win. The next WorldTour race comes next season, and no start date has been set. Until then the results stand as the season's record: five different winners across the last five races, and three riders, Seixas, Mas and Ciccone, who made two podiums each.

Johnny Walker stopped Waldo Cortes Acosta in round three of Saturday's Fight Night main event on 7 November at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, a late-notice heavyweight headliner, Bloody Elbow reported. The win took Walker to 24 wins and 10 losses in a fight scheduled for five rounds, and left Cortes Acosta at 17 wins and five losses. Tatiana Suarez beat Virna Jandiroba over three rounds on the same card, and Elijah Smith beat Davey Grant in round one. The next event is UFC 334 on Saturday 14 November at Madison Square Garden, live on Paramount+, with 13 bouts on the card. Heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, with 14 wins and two losses, meets the unbeaten Josh Hokit, ten wins from ten fights, in the main event, which is scheduled for five rounds. Gane has held the title since 14 September and has not yet defended it.

THE ANALYST’S DESK

The UFC's championships are not very settled as 2026 closes. Five of the eleven listed champions won their belts this year, and none of those five has made a defence: Ciryl Gane at heavyweight on 14 September, Carlos Ulberg at light heavyweight on 11 April, Sean Strickland at middleweight on 9 May, Justin Gaethje at lightweight on 14 June and Natália Silva at women's flyweight on 3 October. Kayla Harrison, women's bantamweight champion since 7 June 2025, has also not defended, which is about seventeen months without a defence. Gane's reign is the newest among the men's divisions.

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