Texans throttle hapless Cowboys; what to expect from tonight’s CFP Rankings; Paul Skenes wins NL ROY

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🏈 Good morning to all, but especially to …

THE HOUSTON TEXANS

The Texans trounced the listless Cowboys, 34-10, a much needed win after losing three of their last four.

• Joe Mixon did most of the damage on the ground, rushing for 109 yards and three touchdowns in tying the franchise record.
• Marquee offseason signing Danielle Hunter had two sacks, and Derek Barnett put the game to bed with a strip sack of Cooper Rush and a fumble return touchdown after Jalen Pitre forced another fumble … on … the … same … play.
• While C.J. Stroud was up and down again, it was a good sign to see Nico Collins return; he had four catches for 54 yards in his first game in over a month.

Stroud’s struggles — especially in light of his marvelous rookie season — are concerning, as is a scuffling offensive line. But at 7-4, the Texans have a firm grasp on the AFC South, and they’ll be in a position to make noise in the playoffs.

👍Honorable mentions

• Kristaps Porzingis was assigned to the Celtics‘ G League team as he works his way back from an ankle injury.
• The Lakers are planning a Pat Riley statue.
• The USMNT cruised past Jamaica, 4-2, (5-2 on aggregate) to advance to the Concacaf Nations League semifinals. Christian Pulisic opened the scoring, the Americans picked up an own goal, and Ricardo Pepi made it 3-0 before halftime. Tim Weah roofed a half-volley for the hosts’ final tally of the night.
• Juan Soto is meeting with the Dodgers. Yes, really.
• No. 18 Army revealed its uniforms for the annual game against Navy.
• Here’s the men’s college basketball AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll and the women’s AP Top 25.
• Here are some Orioles offseason targets.
• Jack Maloney‘s first 2025 WNBA mock draft is out.
• Here’s the USWNT roster for a pair of friendlies in a few weeks.
• Alex Ovechkin has scored five goals in two days in his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky‘s career goals mark.

🏈 And not such a good morning for …

THE DALLAS COWBOYS

Last week, I promised I wouldn’t feature the Cowboys prominently in this newsletter anymore. But there was only one game last night, the Cowboys lost badly — again — and a piece of their stadium’s roof fell onto the field pregame. Jerry Jones said there was “no risk at all.” After the game, the Texans trolled the Cowboys.

Much like that sheet of metal was, Dallas’ season is in complete free fall.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

• Can Bryce Underwood save Brian Kelly‘s job at LSU?
• The Bears say the Packers committed a penalty on their game-saving blocked field goal.
• The Rays‘ deal for a new stadium is on thin ice. Is relocation next?
• Florida Atlantic fired Tom Herman.
• So long, Minute Maid Park. The Astros‘ home has a new name.

🏈 What will tonight’s College Football Playoff Rankings, bracket look like?

After another weekend of madness — and with just two weeks left in the regular season — another crucial College Football Playoff Ranking and bracket emerges tonight. Brad Crawford predicted what things will look like come Selection Day, and he has a new No. 1: Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have a lot of work to do to get there, starting with beating an undefeated Indiana team this weekend. But this game might mean even more for the Hoosiers, Brad writes.

• Crawford: “It’s imperative that Indiana — since the Hoosiers haven’t beaten a ranked team this season and will not have an advantageous strength of schedule — play well against the Buckeyes. A blowout loss would likely be enough for the selection committee to second-guess the 11-1 record in favor of another at-large SEC selection. Right now I have Tennessee as the odd team out on the bubble, but rest assured Volunteers fans are rooting for a bloodbath of an Ohio State win on Saturday.”

We also have updated versions of the CBS Sports 134 and Brandon Marcello’s Power Rankings.

Brad put just one Big 12 team — Colorado, as the No. 12 seed — in his projections, but I loved Dennis Dodd writing on another Big 12 contender — Arizona State — who might be an even better story.

• Dodd: “The mess Herm Edwards left behind cannot be understated. There were only 47 returning scholarship players on the roster when Kenny Dillingham took over. Seven of them were former walk-ons. The scandal itself was like a lead weight dragging down the program for years. … Dillingham told CBS Sports he thought this season’s ‘floor’ would be four or five wins. Better to overdeliver than underachieve. Dillingham has also chipped away at ASU’s reputation as the ultimate sleeping giant that couldn’t wake up.”

😬 Giants bench Daniel Jones; now what?

The Giants benched Daniel Jones on Monday after returning from the bye week, relegating their 2019 first-round pick to third string behind new starter Tommy DeVito and backup Drew Lock. It’s the end of an era — error, really — for a team that is 2-8 this season and 24-44-1 overall when Jones starts, the worst mark of any quarterback with at least 50 starts since 2019.

The move comes under two years after Jones signed a four-year, $160 million extension following a 9-6-1 record and a playoff berth (and win) in the 2022 season.

But given the results since, this decision made sense, even if the Giants said it would be a purely football one.

• Jones has almost certainly played his final down for the franchise, which couldn’t risk a $23 million injury guarantee for next season.
• Playing-time incentives in Lock’s contract made going with DeVito more financially sensible, too.
• Jones will surely land somewhere after getting cut this coming offseason, and Matt Ryan says there’s still hope.

The 2025 NFL Draft class doesn’t appear ripe with franchise quarterbacks, says Chris Trapasso, who dove into potential options for the G-Men if they go that route. But even if it were, could GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll land on the right one and build around him? Cody Benjamin says Jones’ failure is Schoen’s and Daboll’s failure, too.

• Benjamin: “The Giants are still 17-26-1 under [Daboll’s] watch, however, and that record doesn’t happen by accident, or without a deeper dysfunction when it comes to situational play-calling, offensive strategy, and so forth. Just as with any team facing massive changes at quarterback (or higher up), many hands are to blame, and while Daboll specifically advocated for potential Jones replacements in the lead-up to the 2024 NFL Draft, he also held hands with Schoen as they pretended to reaffirm Jones as their future after the fact.”

Giants-Cowboys on Thanksgiving will be known as “Zach’s post-dinner nap time.”

⚾ Paul Skenes, Luis Gil win Rookie of the Year; 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot arrives

For the first time since 1981, both the NL and AL Rookie of the Year awards went to starting pitchers. Pirates ace Paul Skenes claimed the NL’s honor, and Yankees standout Luis Gil nabbed the AL’s.

Skenes won the hardware over Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio, and Matt Snyder explained why he voted for Skenes.

• Snyder: “Skenes went 11-3 this season for a sub-par Pirates team. They were 15-8 when he started and 61-78 when he didn’t. In his 133 innings, he struck out 170 and only walked 32. He had a 1.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. On a rate basis, that’s an absolutely outrageous season. Even though his workload was limited by the Pirates’ front office, Skenes still racked up more WAR than every NL pitcher except Chris Sale and Zack Wheeler. Only four pitchers had more win probability added.”

Mike Axisa, meanwhile, looked at potential 2025 Rookie of the Year candidates.

Moving from stars of the present and future to those of the past, the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was released Monday, and here are some of the biggest names on the ballot for the first time:

• Ichiro Suzuki
• CC Sabathia
• Dustin Pedroia
• Carlos Gonzalez
• Hanley Ramirez
• Félix Hernández

They join returners such as Alex Rodriguez (fourth year on ballot), Billy Wagner (10th) and Carlos Beltrán (third). Players need at least 75% of the vote to make the Hall, and they get a maximum of 10 years of eligibility. That means it’s now or never for Wagner after he just barely missed last time around.

Matt outlined eight major storylines for this cycle as well as FAQs.

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

🏀 Cavaliers at Celtics, 7 p.m. on TNT
🏈 Northern Illinois at Miami (OH), 8 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Thunder at Spurs, 9:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 No. 6 Purdue at No. 15 Marquette (M), 9 p.m. on FS1