NFL

• Broncos fire head coach Nathaniel Hackett
  • This move had to be made at some point, and it was wise of the Broncos to do it now. Hackett has an offensive background, but that didn’t mean much of anything for Denver’s offense, which is arguably the league’s worst. The Broncos’ next head man’s job will certainly be to fix Russell Wilson and get the team’s offense back on track, but that’ll be a tall task, as Seattle owns Denver’s 2023 first-round pick, which should land in the top-five. I doubt this will be a super attractive job for prospective candidates.
    Grade: A
• Chargers 20, Colts 3
  • The spread for this contest (Chargers -3.5) seemed a bit low, so it wasn’t too surprising to see Los Angeles prevail so easily. The Chargers, despite a bit of an uneven year, should be a tough out in January. Justin Herbert hasn’t been great over the last couple of weeks, and he’ll need to improve, but the team’s stop unit played well last night, registering seven sacks.
  • The Jeff Saturday hire hasn’t gone well in terms of Indianapolis turning its season around, but it sure has helped the team bottom out and improve its draft position. Clearly, there was a reason the Colts took so long to turn to Nick Foles at quarterback, as the 33-year-old was picked off three times in this game. The Colts have plenty of decisions ahead of them, and the most important is finding a quarterback of the future, something that has eluded the club since Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement.

NCAAF

• New Mexico State 24, Bowling Green 19
  • What a year for the Aggies. After going just 8-30 from 2018-2021, New Mexico State leaped to seven wins this season. Senior defenders Chris Ojoh and Lazarus Williams were big reasons why, as the seniors combined for 12.5 sacks in 2022.
  • Losing Matt McDonald to injury early in this game definitely hurt the Falcons, who dug themselves a deep hole until the the fourth quarter. Regardless, Bowling Green also made a nice leap in 2022, improving from 4-8 to 6-7.