Sports

Eckel’s NFL Notes: Drake Maye in rarified air with Patriots

Published

3 months ago

October 30, 2025

Austin Reed

Drake Maye, head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels have the Patriots on top of the AFC East

It might be time to get rid of the word young when describing New England quarterback Drake Maye.

Oh, the Patriots QB is still just 23 years old. It’s just that he’s no longer a good, young quarterback — he’s just a good quarterback, a real good quarterback.

Maye, head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels have the Patriots on top of the AFC East and just a game back of the equally surprising Indianapolis Colts for the AFC’s top seed.

The second-year quarterback out of North Carolina has had an MVP-type first half. Through eight games, Maye has completed 75.2 percent of his passes, which if he keeps at that pace would set an NFL record. The current mark is 74.4 set by New Orleans’ Drew Brees in 2018.

Maye’s league-best quarterback rating is 118.7. How good is that? It would be the best in Patriots history. Yes, Patriots history. Tom Brady’s best rating ever was 117.2 in 2007.

Going into Sunday’s game against Atlanta, and the league’s top-ranked pass defense, Maye has thrown for 200 yards and has had a passer rating of at least 100 in seven straight games. Only three quarterbacks have had longer streaks — Aaron Rodgers with 12 in 2011 and eight in 2020, Brady with eight in 2007 and Peyton Manning with eight in 2004.

Rodgers, Brady, and Manning — that’s a pretty good neighborhood for Maye to occupy.

MVP Talk

If Maye isn’t the early leader for MVP, then maybe it’s Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.

A non-quarterback as MVP hasn’t happened since Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson won the award in 2012. And if Saquon Barkley didn’t win it last year, then Taylor has a tough road to the award.

Still, Taylor in eight games has rushed for 850 yards and 12 touchdowns. Add in his 256 receiving yards and two more touchdowns, and he’s making a tough case for himself.

Two-Way Travis

Here’s how Jacksonville’s Travis Hunter has split his time on both offense and defense so far this year for the Jaguars.

Through seven games, as the Jags travel to Las Vegas Sunday, Hunter has played in 459 of the team’s 885 plays, or 52 percent.

He’s played 305 snaps on offense as a wide receiver (67 percent of the team’s snaps) and 154 on defense (36 percent) as a cornerback.

As far as production, Hunter has caught 28 passes for 298 yards with a touchdown (8-101-1 came last week). Defensively, he’s made 15 tackles and has three pass breakups.

Caught in the Draft

Just about halfway through the season, here’s how the top 10 picks of the 2026 NFL Draft would look:

Jets, 2. Saints, 3. Titans, 4. Browns, 5. Dolphins, 6. Giants, 7. Cardinals, 8. Raiders, 9. Ravens, 10. Commanders.

NFC North Battle

Minnesota visits Detroit Sunday, where the Vikings are 0-4 the past four years. The Lions have also beaten the Vikings five straight times, which is their longest winning streak against their division rival since the first five times they played them (1961-63).

Lions quarterback Jared Goff has all five of the wins, and in those five wins, he has averaged 31.2 points, completed 76.3 percent of his passes, thrown nine touchdowns to just two interceptions, and has a QB rating of 113.5.

D vs. D

One of the best games of this week will be the Houston Texans hosting the Denver Broncos — especially if you like defense.

Houston, despite a 3-4 record, leads the league in both points allowed per game and yards allowed per game. Denver ranks fifth in both categories. The Broncos lead the league in sacks, while the Texans are third in turnovers.

So yeah, with all that said, the score will probably be 37-34.

And No D

Then there’s the Cincinnati Bengals defense, which ranks last in the league in points allowed per game, yards allowed per game, rushing yards allowed per game, and are 30th in passing yards allowed per game.

Also, according to Next Gen Stats, the Bengals lead the league with 94 missed tackles.

Game of the Week

Buffalo will host Kansas City in a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship Game Sunday in the national 4:25 game.

The Bills have beaten the Chiefs the last four times the two have met in the regular season. However, the Chiefs have won the last four times the two have met in the playoffs.

Happy Birthday and Maybe More

Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love will celebrate his 27th birthday Sunday when the Packers host Carolina.

If you’re into this kind of numbers thing, Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers all won the NFL Championship for the Packers the year they turned 27.

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Sports

USMNT Watch: Wright, Agyemang & Weah shine in Europe with crucial goals

Published

15 minutes ago

January 20, 2026

Austin Reed

Marseille’s US forward #22 Timothy Weah celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between SCO Angers and Olympique de Marseille (OM) at the Stade Raymond-Kopa in Angers, central Framce, on January 17, 2026. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP)

The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) players continued to impress across Europe this weekend, finding the scoresheet in some of the continent’s most competitive leagues.

Goals from France’s Ligue 1, England’s Championship, and the German Bundesliga highlighted another strong round of performances abroad.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup fast approaching and set to be hosted on home soil, this surge in form couldn’t come at a better time as American players better prepared and more competitive than ever before.

Sports Talk ranks the best performers who found the scoresheet across Europe.

Patrick Agyemang

The former Charlotte forward scored a crucial goal in the English Championship to power Derby County to a 1-0 win against Preston North End.

The 25-year-old who has been in fine form since he moved to England last July, broke the deadlock for the Rams with his header in the 82nd minute.

The effort was Agyemang’s seventh Championship goal of the season on his 23rd outing.

Haji Wright

Wright was the second American to light up the Championship over the weekend…

He came off the bench to grab the match-winning goal for Coventry City that ended his goal drought since October in their 2-1 defeat of Leicester City.

Introduced by Frank Lampard in the 67th minute, the 27-year-old continue with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s cross to secure three points for Coventry in the 85th minute.

His last goal was against Sheffield Wednesday on October 4 and he has now bagged nine goals in 23 league games this term.

Haji Wright of Coventry City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Coventry City at The Den on October 01, 2025 in London, England.

Timothy Weah

The versatile winger was among the goals as Olympique Marseille ran rampant in the French Ligue 1 with a 5-2 triumph against Angers.

Weah finished off a brilliant team movement with his header in the 40th minute to give Marseille a 4-0 lead at halftime.

The Juventus loanee has been a key figure in De Zerbi’s defensive set-up this season and his versatility on the flanks has seen him score two goals and provide an assist in 15 Ligue 1 matches this season.

James Sands

The New York City loanee opened his Bundesliga goal account in St. Pauli’s 3-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund.

With St. Pauli trailing 2-0, Sands tried to inspire a comeback with his goal in the 62nd minute but it was not enough as Dortmund grabbed a late winner in the stoppage time.

The American defender played from start to finish in the game that was his 16th appearance in the German top division this season.

Brenden Aaronson & Antonee Robinson

Aaronson and Robinson faced off in the Premier League as Leeds United hosted Fulham at Elland Road.

The game ended in favour in Aaronson as Leeds secured a hard-fought 1-0 for thier first league win of the new year.

Aaronson and Robinson played the entire 90 minutes but the former was replaced in stoppage time.

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Sports

Saudi Arabia Darts Masters – Quarter-final line up, predictions for tournament

Published

18 hours ago

January 19, 2026

Austin Reed

Michael van Gerwen (AP)

The 2026 World Series of Darts continues this week with the inaugural staging of the Saudi Arabia Masters. As with all events in the series, the format sees eight of the best players from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) take on eight regional representatives in the last-16.

The winner of each international event earns £30,000 from a £100,000 prize fund, while the World Series of Darts Grand Final carries a total prize fund of £450,000, with £100,000 awarded to the champion.

Last week, Luke Littler was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Gerwyn Price, while Michael van Gerwen rediscovered his best form to overcome fellow Dutchman and rising star Gian van Veen 8–6 in a high-quality final.

This week, seven of the eight PDC representatives came through their last-16 matches against the invited regional opponents, though Man Lok Leung produced the shock of the round by defeating 2022 UK Open winner Danny Noppert, who is ranked tenth in the world.

First PDC event in Saudi Arabia event promises watchful eyes

As with all World Series events, the Saudi Darts Masters will see the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all played tomorrow in one action-packed day.

There will be added eyes on this event, as it is the first PDC-sanctioned darts event held in Saudi Arabia, a country many feel is piling money into multiple sports in an attempt to distract attention from a poor human rights record, often referred to as “sportswashing”.

Quarter-finals: Match ups and predictions

Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price

‘Mighty Mike’ is top seed this week after his victory in Bahrain, where he defeated Bunting 6-4 in the quarter-finals. Their last ten matches have went 7-3 in favour of MvG. It must be said that Bunting, who was a controversial choice for this years Premier League given his poor showing in the 2025 event, does not look in great form.

If van Gerwen continues where he left off this week, he will have too much for the Englishman.

Prediction: van Gerwen 6-3

Nathan Aspinall v Man Lok Lueng

Lok Lueng is a rather unknown quantity, which made his victory over World No. 10 Danny Noppert all the more surprising. Aspinall won through his first round with an impressive 100.93 three dart average. Lueng and Aspinall have never met before.

It’s hard to see anything other than an Aspinall victory here.

Prediction: Aspinall 6-1

Gian van Veen v Luke Littler

This promises to be the match of the quarter-finals, provided van Veen can put behind him his heavy defeat to ‘the Nuke’ in last month’s World Championship final.

They have only met seven times on the PDC tour, with Littler edging the head-to-head 4-3.

If ‘The Nuke’ plays like in last weeks quarter-finals, van Veen has the game to gain a quick revenge.

Prediction: van Veen 6-5

Gerwyn Price v Luke Humphries

Price and Humphries tend to bring out the best in one another, with their last ten meetings evenly split at 5–5. Price was solid last week in his victory over Littler and, when his doubling clicks, he has the ability to drag any opponent out of their comfort zone.

With Humphries not in his richest vein of form, Price should edge this one.

Prediction: Price 6-4

Semi-final and final predictions

With van Gerwen showing something close to his best form last week and Littler exiting at the quarter-final stage, this shapes up as a tough week to predict a winner.

van Gerwen has the kinder side of the draw and should make the final at the expense of likely semi-final opponent Aspinall.

The lower half of the draw, however, contains three world champions and a runner-up, making it exceptionally difficult to predict with any real conviction who will emerge to reach the final. Littler could yet respond like a poked bear and bulldoze his way to the title, but it feels more likely that a semi-final between van Veen and Price awaits, with Price edging through to the final.

Who will win the title?

If van Gerwen reaches a second successive final and comes up against Price, he should hold the edge. The Dutchman leads their last ten meetings 6–4, a run that includes a dominant 7–2 victory in the Bahrain semi-finals last week.

Winner: Michael van Gerwen to beat Gerwyn Price 8-6

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Sports

Pegasus World Cup, live action from Tampa Bay Downs

Published

19 hours ago

January 19, 2026

Austin Reed

We are back at Gulfstream Park for the Pegasus World Cup

Busy week for Let ’em Run, live at Tampa Bay Downs Wednesday and previewing Pegasus World Cup

Let ‘em Run Review of 1/17/26

Last weekend saw a Kentucky Derby Prep race at Fair Grounds turn into a coming out party for trainer Cherie Devaux as her runners took the top 2 spots in The Lecomte. Golden Tempo and Mesquite earned points for the first Saturday in May, and also snapped an interesting trend that was broken in this edition of The Lecomte. Previous winners have only come out of having a maiden win last out, just one time in the past 25 years. So there is another example in horseracing where you need to sometimes look past the trends, and find the best horse.

Late P5 Breakdown Highlight

Our best breakdown occurred in the first race we looked at in the Late P5, when we had our bulls eye on the favorite, Medoro, in The Marie G. Krantz Memorial. The pace scenario played out as expected and set up for her, and she finished the job with a strong closing kick.

John Kostin’s Lecomte Insight

John was spot on in his deep dive in the Lecomte, where he was not impressed by the winners coming out of the Gun Runner Stakes. He had his eye squarely on both of trainer Cherie DeVaux’s runners, and gave his reasons why (check out clips attached).

Special Wednesday Podcast Preview

This week we will have a special edition of our Podcast, where our traveling handicapper, John Kostin will be live at Tampa Bay Downs on Wednesday 1/21/25 at 12:30 with special guest handicapper, Wadie Kalah. He is an avid handicapper, Tampa Bay native, and will be our “boots on the ground” with live updates, with John from Tampa Bay Downs. We will be breaking down the Late P5 sequence on the card, and any spot plays on the card that catch our attention. You can catch the Podcast live on Wednesday at 12:30 on Sports Talk Media Network, as well as multiple streaming apps and social channels.

Looking Ahead to Pegasus World Cup Day

Derby prep races take a break this weekend, as there is a huge card at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, The Pegasus World Cup Day. Included on the card are the Pegasus World Cup Turf for Fillies and Mares, and The Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. These races, and all the races on the card, have big fields, and quality horses, with value to be had. So stay tuned, bet smart, cheer hard, fast horses equals serious fun and as always…Let ‘em Run.

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