Chargers frustrate Steelers to keep pace in AFC West; Two Guardians indicted

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Hello everyone. It’s Shanna McCarriston back with your Monday morning newsletter. This weekend I went to my fourth wedding in four weeks, making the journey to Cape May, New Jersey, to celebrate some good friends. But now I’m trading in my dancing shoes for my laptop so I can bring you all the news from across an exciting weekend in sports.

Let’s dive in.

🏈 Five things to know Monday

1. The Chargers keep pace with the Broncos as Chiefs’ path to playoffs becomes more perilous. There’s still a lot of football to be played, but a Los Angeles victory over Pittsburgh Sunday night created a two-game lead over idle Kansas City. The Chargers improved to 7-3 with a solid 25-10 win over the Steelers, who dropped to 5-4 and now only have a one-game edge on the 4-5 Ravens in the AFC North. In the victory, Keenan Allen passed Antonio Gates for the most receptions in Chargers history with 956. Los Angeles won all three phases of the game thanks to a safety, a muffed punt recovery, two Aaron Rodgers interceptions and well-balanced offensive attack. 
2. The sports world mourns the deaths of two giants. Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue died at 84 and NBA great Lenny Wilkens died at 88 on Sunday. Tagliabue, the commissioner who preceded Roger Goodell, served from 1989 to 2006. His 17-year tenure was marked by his overseeing of a dramatic expansion of the game, an increase in coaching opportunities for minorities, and no labor stoppages. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020. Wilkens was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame three times. As a player, he was a nine-time All-Star. As a coach, he led the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA title in 1979 and he was once held the record for most all-time wins in the sport. His third Springfield nod came when the 1992 “Dream Team” was recognized. He was an assistant coach on that squad and held the top job when Team USA won another Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games. 
3. Two Guardians pitchers were indicted for allegedly rigging pitches. The United States Department of Justice charged Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase and Luis L. Ortiz for allegedly rigging pitches in a betting scheme. Clase’s actions are said to date back to 2023, while Ortiz’s began in 2025. Both men were placed on administrative leave during the season. They face a litany of conspiracy charges that carry a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison if convicted of all crimes. 
4. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is back as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner. Mendoza became the clear betting favorite to win the award after leading Indiana on a game-winning drive in Saturday’s 27-24 win at Penn State. Trailing by four points with 1:51 to go in regulation, Mendoza led No. 2 Indiana (10-0) on an 80-yard drive that ended with an unbelievable catch by Omar Cooper Jr. in the back of the end zone. Mendoza’s odds to win the Heisman now stand at +150, ahead of two other quarterbacks, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin (+200) and Alabama’s Ty Simpson (+470).
5. North Carolina standout guard Seth Trimble is out with a broken arm. The Tar Heels senior broke a bone in his left forearm during the team’s workout on Sunday. He will undergo surgery this week, and a timeline for his return will be determined after the procedure. UNC’s team captain has spent his entire four-year career with the program, appearing in 104 games. 

🏈 Do not miss this: Breaking down the weekend that was in the NFL

While Week 10 has one more game to go, it has been full of big moments already. On the team side we saw it all: blowouts, close games, stunning upsets — even a scorigami! And in terms of individual achievements, we saw a number of MVP candidates bolster their cases.

The biggest upset of the week came in Miami, where the Bills were somehow picked off by the Dolphins, 30-13. Miami (3-7) had just two wins entering this divisional matchup, while Buffalo (6-3) had six. The Dolphins have been a mess this season, with many calling for coach Mike McDaniel to be fired, but despite their struggles in 2025 they managed to shutout the Bills through three quarters.

The Bills loss, paired with the Patriots‘ win over the Buccaneers, gave New England a larger lead in the AFC East. The Bills have won the division the last five years, but with their seventh-straight victory, the Patriots are looking like they could take it. Drake Maye, who is continuing his MVP-candidate campaign, threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns against one interception in the 28-23 win.

Speaking of MVP candidates, you cannot have a conversation without talking about Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. He ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns in their 31-25 overtime win over the Falcons in Berlin. He is 861 yards away from becoming the 10th back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. Back in the States, Matthew Stafford became the first quarterback in NFL history to log three straight four-touchdown, no-interception games in leading the visiting Rams to a 42-26 win over the depleted 49ers.

One of the most exciting endings this week came from the Texans–Jaguars game. Houston entered the game as underdogs, but rallied back from a 20-3 deficit to take a 30-29 lead with 31 seconds left. Then with seven seconds left, Houston’s defense came up big, strip-sacking Trevor Lawrence. Sheldon Rankins recovered the ball and returned it for the score, leading to the 36-29 win for the Texans and giving us the latest scorigami, the 1,094 unique final score in NFL history. 

Other underdog wins included the Jets defeating the Browns, 27-20, and the Saints beating the Panthers, 17-10. Here’s a look at some Week 10 winners and losers from our own Cody Benjamin:

Winners:

• Jonathan Taylor’s MVP case
• Patriots coach Mike Vrabel
• Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald

Losers:

• Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson
• Panthers quarterback Bryce Young
• 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh

🏈 College football rankings, overreactions

Week 12 of the 2025 college football season was free of major upsets. Two teams that stood out this year — No. 1 Ohio State and No. 3 Texas A&M — as CBS Sports’ Will Backus put it, are “blazing a path to the College Football Playoff National Championship.”

No. 2 Indiana represents the last of the majors to be riding undefeated seasons along with the Buckeyes and Aggies — although it almost buckled against a Penn State team that said goodbye to James Franklin a month ago.

Meanwhile, the ACC is struggling to make a strong argument for a College Football Playoff bid. No. 13 Virginia lost to Wake Forest and No. 15 Louisville lost to Cal this weekend. 

The SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in the latest AP Top 25 poll and five Big Ten teams are ranked inside the top 20. Here’s a look at the AP Top 10, with first place votes in parenthesis:

1. Ohio State (54)
2. Indiana (11)
3. Texas A&M (1)
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Ole Miss
7. Oregon
8. Texas Tech
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas

Here are some of Will Backus’ overreactions from the weekend:

• Pump the breaks on Fernando Mendoza. Indiana’s quarterback is having a great year and is probably playing his way into the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, but people are speaking too quickly in calling him the Heisman winner.
• Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez should be a Heisman finalist. Rodriguez is the heartbeat to one of the best defenses in the nation and is a big part of a team that seems destined to make Big 12 Championship and College Football Playoff appearances. 
• Connecticut’s Joe Fagnano is the best player you’ve never heard of. UConn’s quarterback has four 300-yard passing performances in his last five games and five straight games with at least three passing touchdowns. This weekend, he threw his 383rd consecutive pass without an interception, the second-longest such streak in FBS history.

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Monday

🏀 Celtics at Magic, 6 p.m.
🏀 Columbia at No. 4 UConn (M), 6:30 p.m. on FS1
🏒 Hurricanes at Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. on ESPN+
🏒 Mammoth at Senators, 7 p.m. on ESPN+
🏒 Kraken at Stars, 7 p.m. on ESPN+
🏀 Furman at No. 19 Vanderbilt (W), 7 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 Pistons at 76ers, 7:30 p.m.
🏒 Flames at Wild, 8 p.m. on ESPN+
🏀 Mississippi State vs. No. 16 Iowa State (M), 8 p.m. on ESPNU
🏀 Louisiana at No. 4 Texas (W), 8 p.m. on SECN+
🏈 Eagles at Packers, 8:15 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏒 Avalanche at Canucks, 10 p.m. on ESPN+
🏀 West Georgia at No. 12 UCLA (M), 10 p.m. on B1G+
🏀 No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 UCLA (W), 10:30 p.m. on FS1