Maharashtra doctors went on a 24-hour strike on Thursday to protest the government`s decision to allow the registration of homeopathic doctors, who have completed a certificate course in modern pharmacology, in the state medical council, reported news agency PTI.
Nearly 1.8 lakh allopathic Maharashtra doctors, including in private hospitals, were participating in the strike, Indian Medical Association (IMA) Maharashtra president Dr Santosh Kadam claimed.
However, all emergency and critical services were continuing.
The doctors` body has claimed the decision (registration of certified homeopaths) poses a serious threat to the safety of patients and quality of healthcare services, reported PTI.
Dr Akshay Dongardive, president of the Federation of All India Medical Associations, warned that doctors will launch a nationwide agitation, even taking to the streets to tell the public about the “risks”, if the government does not roll back its decision.
In a letter to the CM earlier, the IMA`s Maharashtra unit had argued that the decision would allow “inadequately” trained individuals to treat patients and could lead to misdiagnosis, adverse reactions, antibiotic resistance, and patient deaths, especially in rural areas.
Earlier this year, the state government directed the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) to register homoeopaths who had completed the one-year Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP), to allow them to prescribe allopathic medicines to patients in select cases.
The MMC is a government body responsible for the registration, regulation, and ethical conduct of medical practitioners within Maharashtra.
However, the notification was withdrawn after the IMA Maharashtra members, who planned a strike on July 11 but deferred it until further notice, met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and explained about the confusion among patients, reported PTI.
The government issued a fresh circular on September 5, reviving the registration process.
A fresh government resolution (GR) was issued in this regard on September 5, upsetting allopathic practitioners, who decided to go ahead with the 24-hour strike.
All the resident doctors` organisations of government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation medical colleges, the Federation of All India Medical Association, Association of State Medical Interns, and Government Medical College Association are opposing the move and are participating in the strike.
If there’s an overriding storyline through three weeks, it has been about the winners and losers of some big bets on quarterbacks.
Miami bet on Carson Beck reviving his NFL prospects after a down year at Georgia. So far, he has delivered, averaging nearly 10 yards per pass with eight total touchdowns, and the Canes are ranked in the top five.
Oklahoma wagered Brent Venables’ future on John Mateer, and the Washington State transfer has been electric, leading the Sooners past Michigan in a Week 2 showdown and earning Heisman front-runner status.
Auburn felt sure former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold still had plenty of untapped potential, and through three weeks, he has looked like the superstar he once was, getting the Tigers to 3-0.
Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon all bet on in-house QBs rather than dipping into the transfer portal, and all have been rewarded.
Week 4 offers some chances for redemption, with Lagway getting another big test against Miami, Klubnik hoping to right the ship against Syracuse and UNC‘s Gio Lopez going on the road against UCF in the Tar Heels’ first real test since a blowout loss to TCU.
Some of the nation’s most talented young players have a chance to break through, too. CJ Carr can earn win No. 1 against woeful Purdue. Michigan’s Bryce Underwood, coming off a strong performance against Central Michigan, has a much bigger test against Nebraska. Ole Miss’Austin Simmons hopes to return from injury in time to make his mark in a showdown with Tulane.
The story is just beginning to be written, so there’s plenty of time for Manning, Klubnik and other preseason darlings to find their footing. But it has been a cold September for some of the nation’s most renowned passers, and Week 4 could be another opportunity for others to grab their share of the spotlight. — David Hale
Auburn: The Tigers have to disrupt Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and make him pay for running the ball, and they have the ingredients to do so. Auburn is tied for sixth nationally in sacks per game (3.67) and tied for 12th in tackles for loss per game (8.7). Although Keldric Faulk is the headliner, Arkansas State transfer Keyron Crawford has been the team’s most disruptive pass rusher so far with three sacks and a forced fumble. The defense and run game, which ranks 16th nationally at 240 yards per game, ideally must reduce the pressure on quarterback Jackson Arnold in his highly anticipated return to Oklahoma. Arnold is completing nearly 70% of his passes, running the ball effectively and limiting mistakes, but the more Auburn’s other playmakers can take off his plate, the better the chances for a key road win. — Adam Rittenberg
Oklahoma: Arnold started nine games for the Sooners last fall. If anyone knows his weak spots, it’s Oklahoma coach Brent Venables. As Adam points out, Arnold (eight turnovers in 2024) has played efficient, mistake-free football in his first three games at Auburn. A Sooners defense that’s creating pressures on 44.6% of its snaps this season — 10th nationally, per ESPN Research — is built to change that and make Arnold uncomfortable, although Oklahoma will be without 2024 sack leader R Mason Thomas for the first half Saturday following a Week 3 targeting ejection. Mateer will have his own work cut out for him against the Tigers’ defensive front, but he should be able to find holes in a secondary that ranks 85th in yards allowed per game (220.0). The difference, ultimately, could come on the ground where a still-figuring-out Oklahoma rushing attack meets Auburn’s 10th-ranked run defense (67.0 yards per game) on Saturday. Freshman Tory Blaylock (5.4 yards per carry) has been the Sooners’ most effective running back through three games. — Eli Lederman
How do each of these quarterbacks need to perform?
Utah: Through three games a year ago, Utah had gone without a first down on nearly a quarter of its drives. This season, it has happened only three times in three games. The difference is Devon Dampier, who has looked as at ease running his brand of dual-threat football in a Power 4 backfield as he did a year ago at New Mexico. Dampier has racked up more than 800 yards of offense and accounted for eight touchdowns, and he has yet to turn the ball over. His skill set has made him particularly effective. He has already accumulated 80 yards on scramble plays, and three of his seven TD passes have come from outside the pocket. This will be his biggest test to date, but he’ll also be, by far, the biggest challenge for Texas Tech’s defense. — Hale
Texas Tech:Behren Morton hasn’t taken a snap after the third quarter across three straight 30-plus point victories to open the season. Still, Texas Tech’s senior quarterback enters Week 4 tied for No. 1 nationally in passing touchdowns (11) and ranks ninth in passing yards (923), leading the nation’s highest-scoring offense (58.0 PPG). Utah, with the nation’s 20th-ranked pass defense (134.0 yards per game), should present Morton with his toughest test yet in 2025. He’ll have to be accurate against an experienced Utes secondary, and Morton’s decision-making will be key, too, in the face of a Utah front seven that features the nation’s joint sack leader in John Henry Daley — five in three games — and blitzes on 42.6% of its snaps, the 10th-highest rate among FBS defenses, per ESPN Research. Most of all, Texas Tech will hope Morton’s experience (27 career starts) can keep its offense steady in the Red Raiders’ first visit to a notoriously hostile Rice-Eccles Stadium. — Eli Lederman
Three quarterbacks who aren’t meeting their preseason hype
Anyone can have a rough outing in a Week 1 matchup against the defending champs, and Manning looked fine a week later against San José State. So, nothing to worry about, right? Ah, not so fast. A dismal first half against UTEP ignited a full-on inferno of criticism of the preseason Heisman favorite, and for good reason. Manning is completing just 55% of his throws and has turned the ball over three times, and Texas has gone without a first down on nearly a quarter of its drives so far. Add the sideline grimace that coach Steve Sarkisian chalked up to — well, we’re not quite sure — and it would be enough reason for concern even if Manning didn’t carry a legendary name and a ton of hype. That this all comes on the heels of such high expectations means Manning will be fighting critics for the foreseeable future.
What’s wrong with Clemson‘s offense? The answers are everywhere, but none appear bigger than Klubnik, who has at times looked lost, frustrated or intimidated in the pocket. His 37.5 QBR through three games ranks 121st out of 136 FBS passers, and his miserable first-half performances — no passing touchdowns, two turnovers — have put Clemson in some early holes. Klubnik is completing less than 60% of his throws on the year, but the bigger issue is the number of open receivers he hasn’t even targeted in key moments. He has been sacked just three times this year, but he has gotten moved off his position too often, and abandoned ship even more frequently. So, what’s wrong with the Tigers? The better question is what’s wrong with the Tigers’ QB?
After last year’s hot finish, the assumption was that Lagway would take the next step in 2025 to becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Through three weeks, he’s nowhere close. Not only is Florida off to a 1-2 start, Lagway has been the primary culprit. He’s completing 71% of his throws, but nearly one-third of his throws are behind the line of scrimmage. He has done nothing to extend the field, attempting just seven throws of 20 yards or more. On those throws, he has one completion and two picks. Lagway’s six interceptions overall are tied for the second most nationally through three games. If Florida wants to turn things around amid a brutal schedule, it has to start with Lagway looking more like the player he appeared to be down the stretch in 2024. — Hale
Five early breakout players
Rueben Bain Jr., DL, Miami: The 6-foot-3, 275-pound pass rusher is performing at an All-America level so far this season with 15 stops, 11 pressures, 2.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble through three games. Bain was a top-100 recruit and a Freshman All-American in 2023, so there’s nothing shocking about his rise, but he’s making the leap as a junior and proving he’s a no-doubt NFL draft first-round pick. As ESPN draft expert Jordan Reid put it, no other draft-eligible player in the sport is having a greater down-to-down impact than Bain.
Taylen Green, QB, Arkansas: Green is off to an incredible start to his second season under OC Bobby Petrino, leading the country in total offense with 866 passing yards, 307 rushing yards (most among all FBS QBs) and 13 total touchdowns. Last week against Ole Miss, he became the first QB in program history to surpass 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a single game. The Razorbacks came up short in their SEC opener but have seven more top-25 opponents on the schedule, which should give Green every opportunity to play his way into Heisman contention.
Mario Craver, WR, Texas A&M: The Aggies faced Craver last year during his freshman season at Mississippi State and knew he could be a dangerous playmaker. He has been an absolute game changer for Marcel Reed and Texas A&M’s passing game with an FBS-leading 443 receiving yards and four TDs on just 20 receptions. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound wideout isn’t flying under the national radar anymore after burning Notre Dame’s secondary for a career-best 207 yards on seven catches, and his 279 yards after catch are nearly 100 more than any other pass catcher in the country.
Ahmad Hardy, RB, Missouri: Hardy had a prolific freshman season at UL Monroe and hasn’t slowed down one bit since making his move to the SEC. He’s now the second-leading rusher in the FBS with 462 yards and five TDs after a ridiculous 250-yard day against Louisiana last week. The sophomore has played in only 15 career games, yet he already has three 200-yard performances on his résumé, and he leads all FBS backs with 29 forced missed tackles, according to ESPN Research.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, QB, Cal: The true freshman from Hawaii was a late riser in the recruiting rankings as a high school senior, and we’re quickly learning why he became so coveted. Sagapolutele signed with Oregon but flipped back to Cal in early January, believing he’d have a chance to start right away for the Golden Bears. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound lefty has flashed big-time arm talent and exciting potential with 780 passing yards and seven total TDs while leading a 3-0 start. He’s becoming must-see TV on a Cal squad that looks poised to exceed expectations. — Max Olson
Quotes of the Week
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on speculation about his job security: “Hey, listen, if Clemson’s tired of winning, they can send me on my way. But I’m gonna go somewhere else and coach. I ain’t going to the beach. Hell, I’m 55. I’ve got a long way to go. Y’all are gonna have to deal with me for a while.”
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian on quarterback Arch Manning: “Here’s a guy who’s had an awesome life, the way he’s grown up, the people he’s been surrounded by. I think you learn a lot about yourself through adversity and overcoming adversity. … When he gets on the other side of it, I think all of this is going to serve well not only for him, but for us as a team.”
LSU coach Brian Kelly: “LSU won the football game, won the game. I don’t know what you want from me. What do you want? You want us to win 70-0 against Florida to keep you happy?”
Michigan fill-in coach Biff Poggi on Bryce Underwood: “He might actually be Batman. We need to do a DNA test on him.”
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key addressing his team after beating Clemson: “Enjoy the s— out of it, man. Guess what? Next week is going to be bigger.”
WASHINGTON: The United States has imposed sanctions on three leading Palestinian NGOs, accusing them of supporting International Criminal Court efforts to prosecute Israeli nationals.
The move is the latest in Washington’s effort to hobble the ICC, which has sought arrest warrants for Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The court has also pursued cases against Hamas leaders.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday designated Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights under an executive order targeting entities that assist ICC investigations into Israel.
“These entities have directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent,” Rubio said.
In response, the three NGOS condemned the sanctions, saying in a joint statement that the United States had “chosen to safeguard and entrench Israel’s Zionist settler-colonial apartheid regime and its unlawful occupation.”
They said the move was part of a “decades-long campaign by Israel and its allies to erase the Palestinian people and systematically deny their collective right to self-determination and return.”
The United States, Russia and Israel are among the nations that reject the ICC.
“We oppose the ICC’s politicized agenda, overreach, and disregard for the sovereignty of the United States and that of our allies,” Rubio said in a statement.
Last month, the United States imposed sanctions on two ICC judges and two prosecutors, including ones from allies France and Canada. In June, Rubio sanctioned four judges from the court.
“The United States will continue to respond with significant and tangible consequences to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s disregard for sovereignty,” Rubio warned.
– ‘Completely unacceptable’ –
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called the latest US move “completely unacceptable.”
“For decades now, these NGOs have been performing vital human rights work, particularly on accountability for human rights violations,” Turk said in a statement.
“The sanctions will have a chilling effect not only on civil society in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel, but potentially globally,” he added.
Amnesty International also condemned the new sanctions as a “deeply troubling and shameful assault on human rights and the global pursuit of justice.”
“These organizations carry out vital and courageous work, meticulously documenting human rights violations under the most horrifying conditions,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, a senior director at Amnesty.
She accused the Trump administration of seeking to “dismantle the very foundation of international justice and shield Israel from accountability for its crimes.”
The ICC’s prosecution alleges Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, including by intentionally targeting civilians and using starvation as a method of war.
Israel launched the massive offensive in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, in which mostly civilians were killed.
The ICC has also sought the arrest of former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who has since been confirmed killed by Israel.
Steve Bannon believes a wider conspiracy lies behind Kirk’s death.Credit: AP
It later emerged that one of the bullets was engraved with the phrase: “Hey fascist! Catch” and “Bella ciao”, a reference to a World War II Italian antifascist song.
Bannon went on to suggest that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may have been involved in the incident by allegedly funding Antifa.
He doubled down on the comments on Wednesday, telling Politico: “The biggest thing is to broaden the assassination investigation from a single murder to the broader conspiracy. If we are going to go to war, let’s go to war.”
‘You shot a man in cold blood in front of the world … I think your parents may talk about that before they say ‘Oh, by the way, did you bring the rifle back?’ ’
Steve Bannon
Bannon also told his podcast listeners he was highly sceptical about a text exchange prosecutors said took place between Robinson and his transgender lover.
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According to the messages, released by Utah authorities yesterday, Robinson worried about his father’s reaction if he failed to return with his grandfather’s rifle, which he allegedly used to shoot Kirk last week.
“You shot a man in cold blood in front of the world … I think your parents may talk about that first before they say, ‘Oh, by the way, did you bring the rifle back?’” Bannon said. “I am absolutely not buying this”.
Echoing sceptics on social media who claimed the messages setting out details of the alleged crime were too convenient, he added: “Why are you explaining everything?
“I’m particularly not buying those text messages, it just seems too stilted, too much like a script – actually, like a bad script.”
Matt Walsh, a MAGA-aligned commentator with the Daily Wiresuggested the text exchange had been planned to protect Robinson’s lover from prosecution.
“The most plausible and sensible theory isn’t that the FBI made up text messages and released them, but that the killer and his boyfriend constructed this highly scripted text conversation as an alibi for the boyfriend,” he said.
Bannon went on to urge investigators to probe connections to the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, shot at Trump as he addressed a campaign rally in June 2024, grazing his ear with a bullet. Authorities have not commented on his motive, and the shooting has spawned a number of conspiracy theories on the right.
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Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff and a long-time aide to Trump, claimed a “vast domestic terror network” was responsible for Kirk’s death.
Violence is being fomented by “organised doxing campaigns, the organised riots, the organised street violence … and the actual organised cells”, he claimed on an episode of Kirk’s podcast on Monday, hosted by Vice President JD Vance.
“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have … to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again,” he vowed.
‘A larger terrorist network’
Sean Davis, founder of conservative magazine The Federalist, wrote on social media: “It’s obvious now that Charlie Kirk’s assassin was not working alone.
“He was clearly operating within a larger terrorist network focused on grooming, recruiting and training terrorists for the purpose of planning and executing terrorist attacks.”
Tyler Robinson, primary suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Patel, the FBI director, was repeatedly pressed by Republicans about whether Robinson had allegedly acted alone when he testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for several hours on Tuesday.
A number of people who communicated with the 22-year-old student on Discord, the gaming chat room, are being “investigated and interrogated” by the FBI, he told senators. Asked if others could have been involved in Kirk’s death, he answered: “Yes.”
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At one point, Missouri senator Josh Hawley urged Patel to investigate Kirk’s murder as part of a wider wave of “anti-religion, anti-Christian violence”.
Dan Bongino, Patel’s deputy, has also said the bureau is looking into whether Robinson acted as part of a “larger effort”.
“If there was any aiding and abetting, whether it be financial or someone who knew the specifics of it and failed to report that, we’re looking into that,” Bongino told Fox News on Monday, and declared: “There’s not going to be a stone left unturned.”
Trump this week said he thought the 22-year-old had been radicalised on the internet and “went bad very quickly”.
Next month, the chief executives of Discord, Reddit, Twitch, and other forums popular with young men are invited to testify in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the radicalisation of users.
James Comer, the committee’s chairman, said: “The politically motivated assassination of Charlie Kirk claimed the life of a husband, father, and American patriot. In the wake of this tragedy, and amid other acts of politically motivated violence, Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence.”
The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued notices to the seven persons acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on an appeal filed by the family members of the victims, reported news agency PTI.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad also issued notices to the prosecution — National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Maharashtra government — and posted the appeal for hearing after six weeks.
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by the family members of the six persons who lost their lives in the blast against the acquittal judgment.
The appeal challenged a special court judgment acquitting the seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, reported PTI.
The appeal filed last week claimed that a faulty investigation or some defects in the probe cannot be the grounds for acquitting the accused. It also contended that the conspiracy (of the blast) was hatched in secrecy and hence, there cannot be direct evidence of it.
The petitioners claimed the order passed by the special NIA court on July 31, acquitting the seven accused, was wrong and bad in law and hence deserved to be quashed.
On September 29, 2008, an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon town, located about 200 km from Mumbai in Maharashtra`s Nashik district, killing six persons and injuring 101 others, reported PTI.
The appeal said the trial court judge should not act as a “postman or mute spectator” in a criminal trial. When the prosecution failed to elicit facts, the trial court can ask questions and/or summon witnesses, it added, reported PTI.
“The trial court has unfortunately acted as a mere post office and allowed a deficient prosecution to benefit the accused,” the appeal said, reported PTI.
It also raised concerns over the manner in which the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted the probe and trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and sought the accused to be convicted.
The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), by arresting the seven persons, unearthed a large conspiracy, and since then, there has been no blast in areas populated by the minority community, the appeal said, reported PTI.
It claimed the NIA, after taking over the 2008 Malegaon blast case, diluted the allegations against the accused persons.
The special court had, in its judgment, said mere suspicion cannot replace real proof and there was no cogent or reliable evidence to warrant a conviction.
Special judge A K Lahoti, presiding over the NIA court, had said there was no “reliable and cogent evidence” against the accused that proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt, reported PTI.
The prosecution`s case was that the blast was carried out by right-wing extremists with the intention to terrorise the Muslim community in the communally sensitive Malegaon town.
The NIA court, in its judgment, had flagged several loopholes in the prosecution`s case and the investigation carried out, and said the accused persons deserved the benefit of doubt.
Besides Thakur and Purohit, the accused included Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.
Marcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A fight between two Miami Dolphins players during a sweltering August joint practice session with the Chicago Bears might have looked like a team tearing itself apart. But for people within the organization, it was one of the first positive signs that an important change had taken hold among the team.
During team drills, linebacker Jordyn Brooks took exception with teammate and fellow linebacker Tyrel Dodson for not, in Brooks’ view, being physical enough with a Bears offensive player during a particular rep. Ultimately, both players had to be separated as tempers flared.
Afterward, Brooks and Dodson apologized to Dolphins teammates and coach Mike McDaniel for the scuffle. They later gave a joint interview in the locker room after the teams’ preseason game that weekend, downplaying the incident as an argument between brothers, but the clash was seen within the team as a resounding example of players taking pride in a new standard of accountability the franchise had tried to instill this offseason.
“Honestly in Chicago, with [Brooks and Dodson] — [it was] players holding players accountable,” linebacker Bradley Chubb told ESPN. “We were in the heat of battle, so it got a little bit more heated than it should have. … Just guys getting in each other’s face, but at the end of the day, knowing it’s all love and this is about pushing each other to be the best.
“It was probably the biggest turning point for our defense this offseason because we saw two alphas going at it and pushing each other to be better.”
Since their disappointing 2024 season ended, the Dolphins — according to multiple current and former players, coaches and team officials — have sought to improve the culture inside their building. The team has reinforced the importance of accountability and jettisoned players who decision-makers in the organization believed weren’t conducive to the team’s success, while bringing in those they thought would buy in and put team over self. Included in those moves was trading away one of its best players in Jalen Ramsey this summer. Among other measures taken to turn the culture around were offseason three-a-day workouts, voluntary wind sprints at practice and an early-season players-only meeting.
Throughout the offseason, players and coaches spoke to their new standard being upheld and the re-emphasized importance team leaders — including player captains, coach McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier — have placed on relationship building. This, they hoped, would help the franchise contend for a Super Bowl a year after missing the playoffs for the first time in McDaniel’s three seasons in charge.
But two weeks into the 2025 season, and after back-to-back losses to the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, the resolve Miami believes it has instilled is being tested as it enters a critical game against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
The Dolphins’ defense, which was scrutinized this summer after replacing its entire secondary from a season ago, allowed opponents to score on 13 of their first 15 drives to start the season. In their season opener, the Dolphins’ offense recorded just 211 yards — their fewest under McDaniel in a game when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa starts.
The Dolphins are 8-11 since the start of the 2024 season, despite having some of the league’s highest-paid skill position players, and injuries have plagued a pass rush in which Miami has invested multiple first-round picks. Some fans have made clear their desire for both McDaniel and Grier to be fired, even taking to the skies before Sunday’s game.
Players and coaches believe the Dolphins’ culture has changed — or at least, has matured. But Grier acknowledged that words have little value without action behind them, and Miami’s 0-2 start leaves it at a crossroads: Down one path, the improved culture within the building catches on and the team rebounds to a successful season. Down the other, the Dolphins’ 25-year drought without a playoff win will extend and force team owner Stephen Ross into difficult decisions about who is running his franchise.
“We can say all the stuff has changed, and words and everything,” Grier said in August. “It doesn’t really matter; we have to go do it on the field and win games. It’s just the simple way of saying we can say how good we feel, and everything is going, but until we win games and do it on the field it doesn’t matter.”
IN THEIR FINAL team meeting of the 2024 season, shortly after a season-ending loss on Jan. 5 to the New York Jets, McDaniel issued a challenge to his players.
According to multiple players and team staff, the Dolphins coach stressed the importance of player-driven accountability and said that anyone who wasn’t on board could say so, and the team would either trade or release them.
Players repackaged his message to local media later that day during locker room cleanout. Defensive tackle Zach Sieler, a team captain and team leader, told reporters that players needed to hold themselves to a higher standard.
“Absolutely, yep, I think so,” Sieler said in January. “And I think what McDaniel does a great job of is preaching the player locker room and I think it needs to come from us as players and leaders and captains as well as the staff and get everyone here and get everyone working together from Day 1 in OTAs and camp and get things taken care of from Day 1, and take care of business to start fast next year.”
Multiple sources in and around the team said tardiness was an issue throughout this past season. McDaniel told reporters in his end-of-season news conference that fining players “didn’t particularly move the needle,” and said “bringing it up as a team and continuing to fine guys wasn’t enough.”
One current Dolphins player said he believed some captains this past season took advantage of the role. Ramsey and wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who were two of the eight players voted captains in 2024, were among repeat offenders who received numerous fines throughout the season.
Players were often late to practice and meetings, with multiple team sources suggesting it reflected a lack of respect for the first-time coach McDaniel — who was hesitant to publicly admonish players outside of posting fines.
However, one former Dolphins player who played for McDaniel in Miami said that behavior wasn’t exclusive to the 2024 season and issues only arose when the team stopped winning games.
In 2024, Miami rebounded from a 2-6 start to finish the season 8-9.
“Everyone was fine with cutting meetings, cutting practice when they’re winning, but once you’re losing, it’s like now you can’t get mad at that,” the player said. “You were just enjoying it when you were winning.”
As losses mounted this past season, players were called out for tardiness or absence — which the former player said added to some players’ frustrations. That frustration boiled over when Hill removed himself from the team’s season finale loss to the Jets.
After that Jets game, McDaniel told reporters he was informed Hill was not available and that his absence wasn’t injury related. In the locker room, Hill, who was in the first season of a three-year, $90 million extension he signed in August, hinted at a potential exit from Miami.
“I just have to do what’s best for me and my family — if that’s here or wherever the case may be,” he said in January. “I’m about to open up that door for myself. … I’m out, bruh. It was great playing here but at the end of the day, I have to do what’s best for my career.
“I’m too much of a competitor to just be out there.”
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Schefter to McAfee: Dolphins not in conversations to trade Tyreek Hill
Adam Schefter tells Pat McAfee the Dolphins were not in conversations to trade Tyreek Hill as of last week.
Former Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert said during an appearance on the “Stugotz and Company” podcast earlier this month that he understood why Hill pulled himself from the game amid one of the worst statistical seasons of his career, although it’s something Mostert himself said he would never do.
Hill apologized publicly in February to both the team and Tagovailoa — who did not play in the Week 18 game — and ultimately conveyed to the team he still wanted to be a part of it after the season, although Tagovailoa said in July that their relationship required repair.
When asked last week, Hill told ESPN that he doesn’t believe he received preferential treatment and insisted on his high-caliber work ethic — but did not deny missing meetings or arriving late to meetings and practice.
Hill told ESPN he has not missed any meetings this season, dating back to the offseason, and has been on time to “everything.”
Ramsey’s behavior, meanwhile, became a drain on team morale, according to multiple sources, including current and former players, who said his actions varied from being late to team activities to outright leaving practice.
Grier spoke publicly in April, saying the team and Ramsey mutually agreed to seek a trade — but a source within the organization said the decision was team driven.
Miami eventually traded him and tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick in June. Ramsey and his agent, David Mulugheta, did not respond to multiple attempts to obtain a comment.
Miami also refrained from making high-capital additions this offseason, bringing in players on modest deals while signing Sieler to a three-year, $63 million extension.
Grier said in August the Dolphins’ roster moves this offseason — like allowing homegrown safety Jevon Holland to leave in free agency and releasing veterans such as Mostert, Kendall Fuller and Durham Smythe — were an effort to financially reset, but also hinted at needing to move forward with “the right guys” on the roster.
“When you bring in so many new players that have been stars that played other places and you kind of work through it, you have your expectations, but you’re winning,” Grier said. “But you look at it and you’re like, ‘Hey, I don’t know if we’re winning the right way.’ You know what I mean? That’s kind of what it was. We had a lot of good guys in that locker room, as you know, some of the guys that are leaders were here before as well. They were held accountable, but at times guys, it didn’t matter to them.
“Moving on from those people with the right guys here and focusing on that, because when you have a year like we did last year, we had gone to the playoffs the two previous years, and at some point you say, ‘OK. All right, enough is enough.’”
THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER, Dolphins players stressed the importance of establishing their new standard — which included one-upping each other in offseason workouts away from the facility.
“Since the season ended last year, I’ve spent a lot of time with [left tackle] Pat [Paul]. So our grind, his mentality, his work, doing two-a-days, three-a-days, stuff like that, it’s different,” Dolphins center Aaron Brewer said.
“He’s doing it, so I’m trying to do the same thing to keep each other on the same level. Hold each other accountable.”
On the field, players were seen running wind sprints during and after practice.
“It’s something we as the players decided,” Dolphins tackle Austin Jackson said. “If we have pre-snap penalties, we’re going to punish ourselves for that. Things that are in our controllables — that’s what we call that. Pre-snap penalties, we can control that, so if you make the mistake in practice, we’re going to self-correct ourselves with a little disciplinary action.”
Player-driven leadership has always been emphasized under McDaniel, who began his Miami tenure 20-14 with two playoff appearances. His style, as one current player described it, is laid back without being hands off.
The former Dolphins player who played for McDaniel said the coach was always “open and vulnerable” with his players, which he thinks players misconstrued as being “soft.”
“Some people like having someone that’s going to keep them accountable,” he said. “Some people like having that hard-nosed guy as a head coach — but Mike was always open with the guys, always vulnerable. … I personally take it as being a person, you’re being human. … But some people just don’t respect that and that’s on them.
“I personally don’t think that you need your coach to rile you up, to be hovering over you for you to do your job — because we’re not in high school anymore. We’ve got to take care of our own business. I don’t care if Tyreek gets special treatment or not, because that doesn’t affect me. What affects me is what I do, what I go out there and do.”
McDaniel said Tuesday he hasn’t issued any fines for lateness or attendance since the end of this past season, outside of an “alarm clock issue in Week 2 of training camp.” He said, “be on time” is the third team rule, behind “protect the team” and “no excuses” and players have adhered to it this season.
“You acknowledge and attack a problem for a solution and all you can ask for is that this team hasn’t been a victim of that,” he said.
McDaniel hasn’t changed his leadership style this year — although the team source told ESPN that he has been more willing to call out players, starting with the team’s captains.
After the Dolphins’ 33-8 Week 1 loss to the Colts, McDaniel told the media that Tagovailoa’s play “left something to be desired.” Tagovailoa completed 14-of-23 passes in the loss for 114 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His 2.7 QBR was the worst of any career start that he did not leave with an injury, and the worst performance among all quarterbacks that week.
McDaniel also mentioned Sieler as a player who abandoned his assignment, which led to an explosive play for the Colts.
Dolphins players met Sept. 9 following the Indianapolis loss to make sure the result didn’t snowball, although the players-only meeting didn’t prevent a 33-27 loss to New England in Week 2.
Brooks said McDaniel relies on the team’s captains to keep a handle on locker room morale.
“I mean, it’s player-led, but he’s still the head coach,” Brooks said. “So, it’s not so much the players are just running the team and setting things. I think he kind of relies on us for moments like this. We go out there and get whooped, like ‘Oh, we got to gather the troops.’
“This is where the leaders come in, making sure that everybody’s locked in, making sure that your team is still committed … that’s what I think what he means player led. He’s still the head coach, you know what I mean? If he wants something to go that way, it’s going to go that way.”
One former Dolphins player, who spent the previous two seasons with the team under McDaniel, said the issues plaguing Miami don’t stem from a poor culture.
“I think it’s schematic and personnel-wise that’s more of the problem than the culture,” the player said. “They’ve had the same culture for the years they were winning as they did the one down year.”
In the loss to New England, Miami committed two pre-snap penalties on a potential winning drive before ultimately turning the ball over on downs. After the game, McDaniel and Tagovailoa each expressed frustration over the team’s level of communication, with McDaniel saying his assistant coaches “did not execute … in a very dire period of the game.”
Tagovailoa said he would take some initiative to clean up an ongoing issue for Miami; its offense was also flagged for having too many men in the huddle on a 2-point conversion attempt in Week 1.
“I’m going to go have a conversation with Mike. I’m going to go have a conversation with [quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell], with our offensive guys and talk about it because what we put out there,” Tagovailoa said. “Anyone who knows football and anyone who doesn’t know football just knows that was not clean and that was not right, what we were doing at the end of the game.
“We’ll get that fixed, communicate that to those guys, and we’ll move forward from there.”
HIGH ABOVE HARD Rock Stadium prior to the Dolphins’ loss to the Patriots on Sunday, a small aircraft flew a banner behind it with an unmistakable message:
“FIRE GRIER. FIRE MCDANIEL.”
It didn’t outwardly bother McDaniel.
“Fans want their team to win. … I don’t think it’s personal,” he said. “I think they want to win. And so do I.”
Ross issued a statement hours after the 2024 season ended, committing to McDaniel as the Dolphins’ coach and Grier as their general manager — with an important caveat.
“I believe in the value of stability,” Ross said. “However, continuity in leadership is not to be confused with an acceptance that status quo is good enough.”
A source familiar with Ross’ thinking told ESPN this offseason they don’t believe McDaniel’s and Grier’s job security is as simple as “playoffs or bust,” and reiterated that sentiment after Week 1. Grier said in January that Ross hadn’t issued any ultimatum to either of them. McDaniel said Monday that his conversations with Ross haven’t changed despite Sunday’s loss to the Patriots.
According to the aforementioned team source, Ross’ status quo comment pertained more to the process than the results — although there is a limit to his patience with the team’s results. After a winless start to the 2025 season, and prime-time games against division opponents coming, there will be increased outside attention on how far Ross’ patience will stretch.
Even as the losses continued, McDaniel said this week he isn’t worried about losing his job.
“I think if I worry about my job security, I won’t be doing my job — and I think that inherently is against all things that I believe in,” McDaniel said following the Week 2 loss to New England. “I’ve never felt entitled to this position and it’s very important for me to spend all my waking hours worrying about exactly how to do my job.
“I won’t spend one moment thinking about all the things that, whatever people want me to think about. [I’m] thinking about this team and the Buffalo Bills here, after I get done with this podium.”
In light of all their efforts to change things, the Dolphins’ players and coaches acknowledge the team is still finding its identity.
McDaniel, specifically, believes how his team responds to said adversity is what will ultimately define it.
“I feel like we have a unified locker room and a unified team; it’s one of those things that failure provides an opportunity to see that with transparency. It’s not as gray as everybody going in the same direction.
“A lot of times when you experience collective failure, you lose a game or two games, you get to see exactly what type of culture you have based upon how people respond. That’s one of the reasons I focus on response so much because to me that’s all really life is, and teams are and cultures are.”
LONDON: Among the fans of the British crime writer Agatha Christie, it’s no secret that the literary mother of such enduring fictional characters as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot loved Iraq and, for some years after the Second World War, lived in a house in Baghdad.
According to recent reports originating from Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency, that house, in the city’s Karrada Maryam district on the west bank of the Tigris, is now a near-ruin, in danger of imminent collapse.
As the story goes, it isn’t only Christie’s association with the property that makes it a heritage gem worth saving for posterity.
Known as the Beit Melek Ali, legend has it that the house once belonged to Ali bin Hussein, the former King of Hejaz who sought sanctuary in Baghdad after being deposed in 1925.
English detective novelist, Agatha Christie (1890-1976) typing at her home, Greenway House, Devon, January 1946. (Getty Images/AFP File)
But there’s a problem with this narrative, which is somewhat undermined by a mystery that Christie herself might have relished, and to which she left few clues behind.
It is clear from recently published photographs of the house in the city’s Karrada Maryam district, on the riverbank in the shadow of Al-Jumariyah bridge and close to the northerly edge of the Green Zone, that this abandoned building is indeed in an advanced state of disrepair. Most of its roof is missing and its river-facing balconies are sagging.
But did Christie ever really stay here and, if so, when, exactly?
The author first came to Baghdad in 1928, at the age of 38, in the wake of her much-publicised divorce from her first husband, Col. Archibald Christie, whom she had married in 1914.
She travelled from England in style, as far as Istanbul on board the luxurious Orient Express — a journey that inspired her 1934 novel, “Murder on the Orient Express” — and from there on to Baghdad, via another train to Damascus and from there across 880 km of desert by a specially equipped car, part of a fleet operated on the route by the Nairn Transport Company, which was run by two New Zealand brothers.
Cover of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” book.
The 48-hour journey, as Christie recalled in her autobiography, was “fascinating and rather sinister,” broken by an overnight stay at a well-guarded fort in the isolated town of Rutbah in western Iraq, midway between Damascus and Baghdad.
Christie described her first sight of Baghdad: “In the distance, on the left, we saw the golden domes of Kadhimain, then on and over another bridge of boats, over the river Tigris, and so into Baghdad — along a street full of rickety buildings, with a beautiful mosque with turquoise domes standing, it seemed to me, in the middle of the street.”
On this occasion she stayed with one of the many expat British couples based in Baghdad. The capital had been seized from Ottoman forces in 1917 and, like the rest of the country, would remain under British control until Iraq was granted independence in 1932.
English detective novelist, Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976), circa 1950. (ullstein bild via Getty Images)
At that time, as Christie’s biographer Laura Thompson wrote, Baghdad “was a city where the British traveller could find racing, tennis, clubs and no doubt Marmite on toast; in the pre-war years it was not at all unusual to find people of Agatha’s class in such places.”
Christie embarked on the obligatory round of social calls, during which she met the famous archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley, who in 1922 had begun excavating the ancient Sumerian royal city of Ur. Christie became friends with Woolley and his wife, Katherine, and was invited to the dig, 300 km southeast of Baghdad.
Christie returned to England, but came back to Baghdad, and to Ur, in 1930. On this trip she met her future husband, Woolley’s assistant Max Mallowan, and they were married in September that year.
‘Modern Baghdad, the City of Caliphs’, Iraq 1925. A print from Baghdad, Camera Studio Iraq, published by Hasso Bros, Rotophot AG, Berlin, 1925. (Print Collector photo/Getty Images)
From 1930 to 1939, and then again — after the Second World War — from 1949 to the late 1950s, Christie accompanied Mallowan on an estimated 15 or more archaeological digs in Iraq or Syria, frequently staying in Baghdad en route.
However, in her autobiography, begun in 1950 and completed in 1965, only once did Christie mention living in Baghdad.
“I have not yet mentioned our house in Baghdad,” she writes near the end of the book, which was published posthumously in 1977, the year after her death.
“We had an old Turkish house on the West bank of the Tigris. It was thought a very curious taste on our part to be so fond of it, and not to want one of the modern boxes, but our Turkish house was cool and delightful, with its courtyard and the palm-trees coming up to the balcony rail.”
This, possibly, was the house that now stands derelict on the Tigris. But there is evidence that after the war Christie and her husband moved into a far grander property in Baghdad.
An Agatha Christie fan site repeats the story that “Christie lived in the Beit Melek Ali with Max Mallowan for a time.” In 1949, it adds, the Iraqi-Palestinian author Jabra Ibrahim Jabra wrote of meeting the Mallowans there.
Robert Hamilton, an archaeologist who invited Jabra to meet the Mallowans, told him it was “the house of King Ali … an old Turkish house that goes back to the Ottoman period, and it is one of the most beautiful homes of old Baghdad.”
Ashar Creek leading to the Shatt al-Arab, Basra, Iraq, 1925. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
But even in its heyday, the house now decaying on the river’s edge in the Karradat Maryam neighborhood would not have fitted that description.
King Ali of the Hejaz had fled to Baghdad in 1925 because his brother Faisal had been installed as King of Iraq four years earlier. Ali died in Baghdad in 1935 and Christie, whose first trip to Baghdad was in 1928, seven years before the exiled king died, was certainly aware of the house where he lived.
She set two books in Iraq: Murder in Mesopotamia, inspired by her archaeological adventures and published in 1936, and the 1951 adventure They Came to Baghdad.
In this spy thriller a character is told to walk along the Tigris until she comes to the Beit Melek Ali. She finds “a big house built right out on to the river with a garden and balustrade. The path on the bank passed on the inside of what must be the Beit Melek Ali or the House of King Ali. She could not go along the bank any further and so turned inland.”
This description fits the only known photograph of the Beit Melek Ali, held in the archives of the US Library of Congress. Unlike the altogether less impressive house by Jumariyah bridge, this building — far grander, and clearly fit for a king — is right on the waterfront, with no path in front of it.
It seems improbable that in her autobiography Christie would have made no mention of the history of her Baghdad house had she in fact lived in the Beit Melek Ali — and, besides, there are other candidates for the title “Agatha Christie’s Baghdad house.”
This photo taken on June 5, 1957, shows an excavation site of an ancient Assyrian Fortress built more than 25 centuries ago, at Nimrud, in what is now Iraq. British Archeologist M.E. Mallowan, aided by his wife, mystery story writer Agatha Christie, supervised the excavation. (Getty Images)
Mallowan, her husband, was a member of an organization called the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, which in 1946 purchased a building in Baghdad. As a paper published in 2018 in the journal of the American Society of Overseas Research recalled, Mallowan was appointed as the school’s first director “and immediately took up residence, along with a secretary, six students and Agatha Christie.”
This, then, was Christie’s house in Baghdad during the 1940s and 1950s. There is an oblique reference to it in her obituary, published in 1976 in the British School of Archaeology’s journal Iraq, which recorded only that “in the old schoolhouse overlooking the river Tigris in Baghdad where she wrote ‘They Came to Baghdad,’ she would read and write in peace.”
But where it was, and whether it is still standing today — questions that can also be asked of the true Beit Melek Ali — remains a mystery.
The likelihood that the now-decrepit old house by Al-Jumariyah bridge was the headquarters of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, and the home for several years of Christie and Mallowan, is further undermined by two photographs, both of which purport to show Christie on the balcony of the BSAI, and neither of which appears to have been taken at the claimed Christie house in the Karrada Maryam district.
In terms of pinpointing the exact location of the BSAI house she shared with Mallowan in Baghdad, inquiries with both the organization (which in 2007 was renamed The British Institute for the Study of Iraq) and the Christie Archive Trust have so far drawn a blank.
Meanwhile, an email this week from an archaeologist who has written about the history of the BSAI has muddied the waters further.
“As far as I know, there was nothing particularly special about the (BSAI) house,” Mary Shepperson, who specializes in the urban archaeology of the Middle East at the University of Liverpool’s School of Architecture, told Arab News.
“It was chosen because it was cheap -– archaeology always operates on a shoestring. It was notoriously basic. I think it’s still standing today but in very poor shape.”
Caption
And then she added: “I don’t think either of the two photos you sent are the old BSAI house.”
Attached to the email was a photograph of yet another building in Baghdad. “This,” Shepperson declared, “is a picture of the river side of the house.”
As Christie wrote in her very first detective novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” published in 1920, “everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory — let the theory go.”
Ultimately, though, Christie, who died in 1976 at the age of 85, would probably have found the fascination with her living arrangements in Baghdad tedious.
“People,” as she once said, “should be interested in books, not their authors.”
Almost two years since Israel started its current campaign in the Gaza Strip, many governments are reluctant to call it what it is – genocide – simply because acknowledging it as such would incur legal obligations. However, they have legal obligations whether they acknowledge it as genocide or not. International law is clear: all states are obliged not only to punish genocide when it has occurred, but to prevent it from happening.
On Tuesday, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on which I was one of the commissioners, released its report on Israel’s genocide in its military operations in Gaza. The report is based on our investigations begun within days of the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. We have now issued seven reports since then.
Displaced Palestinians flee Gaza City along the coastal road towards southern Gaza on Wednesday.Credit: AP
We began with what is still the most comprehensive report on the events of October 7, which found that the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters had committed war crimes.
We have reported on the killings in Gaza, especially of children and women, the destruction of the territory’s housing, its healthcare system and its education system, sex and gender-based violence, attacks on mosques, churches, archaeological sites and museums. Based on its own extensive investigations and the findings of those seven reports, the commission has now found that Israel is responsible for genocide in Gaza.
The legal obligation for states to punish genocide is activated when it has been committed. The obligation to prevent it arises when there is a serious risk of genocide.
On January 26, 2024, about 20 months ago, the International Court of Justice put states on notice that there was an existing plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, thus triggering the obligation to prevent genocide. The alarms of genocide have been blaring since then. Nothing further from the court is required. States are obliged to act. Some have taken action. Most have not.
Deciding to take all possible action to prevent Israel’s genocide should not be complicated, especially when, as our reports have found, the majority of victims are children, women and the elderly, when children are intentionally targeted and sexual violence is weaponised to terrorise all Palestinians and undermine their right to self-determination, and when starvation is used as a weapon to destroy the group.
There are many actions Australia can take in fulfilment of its obligation to prevent genocide. It has already announced its intention to recognise the State of Palestine next week. I can list another eight actions that could and should be taken immediately:
Based in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN’s Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL.
LIVERPOOL, England — With a beaming smile, Mohamed Salah assumed his place on the Anfield advertising hoardings and soaked up the applause from his adoring public.
The 33-year-old had just put Liverpool 2-0 up in their UEFA Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid, having provided Andy Robertson with the assist for his team’s first goal only minutes earlier. On a night when British-record signing Alexander Isak made his Liverpool debut, the Reds’ Egyptian King showed he has no intention of abdicating his throne just yet, as the hosts won 3-2.
Against Atletico, Salah became the only player in Champions League history to both score and assist inside the opening six minutes of a match for an English club. It is perhaps not the most noteworthy statistic in the forward’s ever-growing catalogue, but it is one that once again underlines his enduring brilliance.
By the time the final whistle blew, it was another member of Liverpool’s old guard — captain Virgil van Dijk — who had made himself the hero, scoring the winning goal in the 92nd minute after Atletico had drawn level through two goals from Marcos Llorente. The Dutchman’s thumping header in front of the Kop continued Liverpool’s staggering trend of claiming miraculous late victories, with all five of their competitive games this season having come with game winners in the final 10 minutes.
For Isak, who watched the late celebrations from the bench after being substituted in the 58th minute, there could not have been a more fitting welcome to Anfield. All of the headlines in the buildup to the game had centered around whether the Sweden striker would be fit to feature, having been omitted from the matchday squad against Burnley on Sunday.
There was plenty of excitement, then, when the team sheets were circulated and it was confirmed Isak had been handed a start against Diego Simeone’s side. The 25-year-old didn’t manage to find the back of the net, but there were enough flashes of quality to get the crowd excited about the club’s new £125 million man before he was replaced by fellow summer signing Hugo Ekitike shortly before the hour mark.
Isak barely had time to take in his new surroundings before Liverpool scored their opener on Wednesday night, with Salah’s shot deflecting off Robertson and past Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak inside four minutes. It was a joyous moment for the Scotland captain, who had been linked with a move from Liverpool to Atletico this summer after the arrival of Hungary left back Milos Kerkez. Salah then doubled the hosts’ advantage less than two minutes later, shimmying past three defenders and slotting coolly past Oblak to hand Liverpool their earliest ever two-goal lead in a Champions League game.
Having enjoyed a stellar individual season last term — winning both the Premier League Player of the Season and PFA Player of the Year awards — Salah hasn’t quite been able to recapture his blistering form in the early weeks of the new season. The forward has sometimes been on the periphery of games and is still establishing relationships with his new teammates after an extensive summer overhaul of the squad on Merseyside.
But after scoring the winning penalty against Burnley on Sunday, Salah continued to respond to his critics with an excellent individual display that offered a reminder of his continued importance to Arne Slot’s side. The forward could have added to his tally in the second half when, with the goal at his mercy, he crashed a shot against the post.
It looked like that miss might prove costly for Liverpool when Llorente — who had halved the deficit shortly before the break — volleyed past goalkeeper Alisson Becker to draw Atletico level in the 81st minute. For any other team, that might well have proved a fatal blow. But Liverpool’s powers of recovery this season have superseded those of any other team in Europe. When Van Dijk’s header rippled the back of the Anfield net in stoppage time, it felt inevitable.
“There will be games where we are 2-0 up after six minutes and we create so many chances afterwards that we will score the first and we don’t need stoppage time to make a late game winner,” Slot said after the match. “There will probably also be games where we need a goal in the last minute and we don’t [score]. But I can assure you, even if we don’t score it, we will try to push for it. That is the mentality this team has.”
Of course, Liverpool’s detractors will argue that their trend of winning games late on cannot continue. The law of averages suggests that the Reds’ luck will run out at some point and their inability to close out games — this is the third time this season they have surrendered a 2-0 lead this season — will prove costly.
For now, though, Slot’s winning machine rumbles on. And although Liverpool fans might have to wait for Isak to prove his signing is worth its significant price tag, teammates Salah and Van Dijk continue to show they are priceless.
Auburn: The Tigers have to disrupt Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and make him pay for running the ball, and they have the ingredients to do so. Auburn is tied for sixth nationally in sacks per game (3.67) and tied for 12th in tackles for loss per game (8.7). Although 
Oklahoma: Arnold started nine games for the Sooners last fall. If anyone knows his weak spots, it’s Oklahoma coach Brent Venables. As Adam points out, Arnold (eight turnovers in 2024) has played efficient, mistake-free football in his first three games at Auburn. A Sooners defense that’s creating pressures on 44.6% of its snaps this season — 10th nationally, per ESPN Research — is built to change that and make Arnold uncomfortable, although Oklahoma will be without 2024 sack leader 
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