Sports

Coming off a 34-7 loss in Week 1 of the preseason to the Las Vegas Raiders, Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers will be taking on his father’s old team in Week 2 with a quarterback controversy looming.

Despite the Sean Payton era in Denver officially underway, the Broncos are hoping to see a little more from their offense as they head to California coming off a last second 18-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

This is a duel between two teams with clear flaws, yet major playoff, if not Super Bowl, aspirations, and even in the preseason the outcome could carry some serious weight given the importance of depth when making a push in December.

Find out where my best bets lie in our NFL preseason picks and predictions for Broncos vs. 49ers on Satu…

It’s taken 10 games, but bettors are finally bullish on the Bears. Chicago enters tonight’s contest against the reeling Carolina Panthers as 3.5-point home favorites. It’s an unfamiliar position for Matt Eberflus & Co., who have lost seven of their first nine outings and are sporting a dreary -54 point differential. The main reason for optimism in the Windy City is that the 1-7 Panthers have been even worse. Carolina is winless on the road and gave up 42 points in each of its last two games away from the friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium.

While there are a number of different subscription-based TV channels and streaming services available to watch this game… did you know that you can also live stream Panthers vs. Bears directly from legal sports bet…

The Baltimore Ravens will host the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship on Sunday, with Zay Flowers and the Baltimore offense poised to give the Chiefs serious problems at home this weekend.

Flowers emerged as the leading target for quarterback Lamar Jackson this season, as the rookie wide receiver out of Boston College added another weapon to an already potent attack. The Ravens are a small favorite in the NFL odds this weekend, and Baltimore will likely need to balance its offense as much as possible to punch its ticket in the Super Bowl odds.

We’ll look at what that game plan might look like in my NFL picks for Zay Flowers’ odds. 

Make sure to also check out our Chiefs vs. Ravens betting preview, AFC Championship props, and spotlight…

The Detroit Lions host the Seattle Seahawks tonight at Ford Field.

Seattle has gone a perfect 3-0 to begin the year but my Seahawks vs. Lions predictions expect that unbeaten streak to end in Week 4. Here are my best free NFL picks for Monday Night Football on September 30. 

Seahawks vs Lions MNF prediction

My best betLions -3.5 (-115 at FanDuel)

My analysis

When it comes right down to it, the Seattle Seahawks aren’t as good as their 3-0 record would suggest. Likewise, the Detroit Lions aren’t as bad as they’ve looked at times this year, and they’re still 2-1. 

The Seahawks certainly aren’t as dominant on defense as the stats indicate. They’ve benefitted from playing against a trio of terrible quarterb…

Leather is popping, grunts from a mound are being emitted, and GMs are already coming up with lame excuses in the sun — it must be spring training! Pitchers and catchers have reported in Florida and Arizona, and very soon there will be actual games played. They won’t count, of course, and will be accompanied by a lot of “best shape of his life!” stories while a lot of guys wearing No. 75 finish out the last few innings. But what they will be is our first look at MLB’s rules changes, in the hopes that all the kinks get worked out before they turn the lights on for real. So let’s get to know them and…well, maybe not love them. They’re rules after all. No one loves rules. That’s not what we do here. But just know them. Pitch clock This is the one that should have the mo…

Eighth-tier Marine defeated the League Two side Colchester on penalties on a day of multiple upsets in the FA Cup first round, where non-league sides Darlington, Stockport, King’s Lynn, Dagenham & Redbridge and Boreham Wood all beat EFL clubs.

Michael Howard was the hero for Merseyside-based Marine, a side in the Northern Premier League North/West Division, scoring the winning spot-kick to secure a 5-4 shootout win after Joshua Bohui had put his effort wide.

Anthony Miley had put the underdogs ahead midway through the first half but Harry Pell levelled after 64 minutes and, because there are no replays this season to ease fixture congestion, the tie went straight to extra time.

Manchester United edge Everto…

It doesn’t take much for a media storm to brew. Take something traditional, ditch it without giving any notice and stand back to assess the damage. Removing the classified football results from the BBC Sports Report programme at 5pm on a Saturday was always going to set teeth gnashing up and down the country.

I know I’m possibly a dinosaur who should let go of things such as this, but I’m still trying to get over the loss of Teletext so cut me some slack. Yes, we all have access to football results at our fingertips now. Personally I love the fact that checking the latest scores when out and about has progressed since the 1980s. But there is surely still a space for something as cherished as the classified football results.

The lost…

The proposed regulator for English football will have the power to strip bad owners of their right to run a club and to force them to sell up their ­holdings, as the scope of its abilities – and limitations – came into focus at the start of a long-awaited legislative process.

On Tuesday the government published the football governance bill that has taken two years of consultation to achieve and provoked internecine dispute between football’s ­stakeholder groups. Although there is now clarity around the regulator’s mission and its proposed approach, much of the detail is still to be decided and potentially amended by MPs.

The cultural division of football fans only serves those who wish to exploit it | Jonathan LiewRead more