This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Pot, it’s time to meet kettle. His name is Sean Payton. And his Denver Broncos absolutely stink.
After calling out former Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett for putting on one of the worst coaching jobs we’ve ever seen, Payton is promptly one-upping him.
I mean, maybe it’s too soon, so that might be a bit unfair. But, hey, man. I didn’t see any of Hackett’s Broncos teams putting up 20 points just to lose by 50. At least Hackett’s teams won a couple of games to start the season.
Let me be honest. I normally don’t like invoking karma in sports coverage. It’s kind of cliché, isn’t it? But it’s so juicy right here you just can’t help it.
It was barely two months ago that Payton was puffing out his chest at Broncos camp and calling everybody out for doing such a terrible job with the team before him. He painted himself as the golden child. The savior. He was ushering in a new era of Broncos football that was going to be absolutely perfect. He was acting like he wasn’t the same dude who left the Saints in shambles. It was completely ridiculous.
Now, look at where we are. His defense — which was pretty good under Hackett and his staff, by the way — just allowed 70 points in one game. The Broncos are winless. He can’t even get through a press conference without steam coming from his ears. The dude is cooked. The Broncos are cooked. Their season certainly looks over.
But the season isn’t actually over, Broncos fans! Maybe Denver can turn things around. The Broncos have the Bears next week for The Loser Has to Leave Town bowl. The following week, Denver has the Jets for the Nathaniel Hackett revenge game. Maybe we’re looking at two straight wins here? A 2-3 record after five weeks isn’t awful.
But the fact that we’re already here trying to cook up schedule wins isn’t a great sign of where things are headed, though.
In his own words, it looks like Payton is about to be pretty “pissed off.” Because this isn’t a playoff team. It’s not a play-in team. It might not even look like an NFL team by the time the year is done. I would say at least Caleb Williams might be in Denver’s future, but the way the team is looking he’d probably run from the grind so fast if the Broncos landed the No. 1 pick. Can’t say I’d blame him with this one.
The Broncos are cooked. Congratulations, Sean Payton. You played yourself. I bet Nathaniel Hackett is enjoying this.
So what now with Colorado?
The Cinderella story for Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes is over.
Oregon didn’t even let Colorado get back to the pumpkin carriage before all the sparkles went away with that 42-6 thrashing. Can’t say I’m shocked by that after Colorado stomped on the Ducks’ logo. Surely, the Buffs deserved a bit of trolling.
This was supposed to happen. The Ducks were a 21-point favorite for a reason. I’m just curious where we go from here.
Colorado was the most entertaining story in sports for the last few months. From Deion Sanders getting a 60 Minutes interview to every celebrity showing up at Colorado’s games, this was the center of the college football world. Now that they’ve lost, what happens to that story? I have thoughts.
People love to watch two things: Dominance and dumpster fires.
Here’s what I mean by that. It was easy to root for the Buffaloes when the team was 3-0. The team was the plucky underdog story that didn’t feel so underdog-ish. Even though it was fleeting, there was dominance there. They were winners.
Now, Colorado is the dumpster fire. Oregon destroyed the Buffaloes. People tuned in to watch that. They’ll do it again when Colorado plays against USC in a week. Regardless, people won’t stop watching. The reasons are different because the story has changed. But the eyes will remain just the same.
Things just got real for Sanders’ program for the first time, though. Let’s see how the Buffs respond.
Could be a rough week with USC coming up.
Happy trails, Megan Rapinoe!
Megan Rapinoe just called it a career and it’s been a dazzling one.
Rapinoe ended her USWNT tenure over the weekend with a 2-0 win in a friendly over South Africa. Rapinoe was honored by the team ahead of the match with a ceremony.
Megan Rapinoe is honored before her final USWNT game 🥺
Watch her farewell match live on TNT 📺 pic.twitter.com/I0xg5tpWSn
— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 24, 2023
And, of course, she closed it out by adding another assist to her resume.
This is such a fun goal and such an apt closing to the absolutely legendary USWNT career of Megan Rapinoe pic.twitter.com/V3ikqPdsWS
— Ella Brockway (@ellabrockway) September 24, 2023
After 17 years, Rapinoe has solidified herself as one of the greatest to ever touch the pitch. She’s racked up:
— 203 caps for USWNT
— 63 international goals
— 73 international assists
— The 2019 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot and Golden Ball
— The 2019 Ballon d’Or
But, more than that, she’s made an impact off the pitch, too, USA Today‘s Nancy Armour writes.
“She was integral in the USWNT’s fight for equal pay and working conditions and, as was evident at the World Cup and after, that demand for respect has carried over to players across the globe. She was one of the first high-profile athletes to come out as gay, and her unapologetic willingness to be her true self gave others in the LGBTQ community permission to do the same.”
What a career. Shoutout to Rapinoe. She’s an absolute legend.
Quick hits: The Dolphins are a wrecking ball … Travis Kelce actually DOES have game … and more
— Christian D’Andrea has more on the best of Week 3 in the NFL, including the Dolphins’ destructive offense and the Cardinal’s chaotic, well, everything.
— On the other side, Christian has the worst quarterback performances of Week 3. Zach Wilson. Looking at you, pal.
— I CANNOT BELIEVE TRAVIS KELCE’S PICKUP LINE WORKED ON TAYLOR SWIFT. Regrettably, we must admit, he has game. Meghan Hall has more.
— Robert Zeglinski is blessing you with sage advice for your fantasy football team after Week 3. Sorry, all you Justin Fields owners out there.
— Speaking of Justin Fields, DJ Moore actually had to take him out of the game himself on Sunday. This was scary. Andrew Joseph has more.
— Even Patrick Mahomes is feeling the pressure from Taylor Swift. Mary Clarke has more.
That’s all, folks. Happy Monday!
