Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs fall to 0-2; Joe Burrow sidelined with turf toe; Terence Crawford beats Canelo Alvarez

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Hello sports fans, it’s Shanna McCarriston, back with your Monday newsletter. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and got to see some wins for your teams, whether that’s in baseball, basketball, football, soccer or something else from the last three days.

That said, it’s been a rough go for the Kansas City Chiefs, who came up short in their Super Bowl rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles. It marks the first time in Patrick Mahomes’ pro career that he lost three straight games, and he hadn’t started a season 0-2 in quite a while either. (Keep reading to find out the last time that happened.)

We also have the Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez fight to break down, another round of MLB Power Rankings, college football grades and the WNBA playoffs are underway, so let’s not delay matters any further. 

🏈 Five things to know Monday

1. Joe Burrow will be out for at least a few weeks. And that would be the good news, for if the Bengals quarterback needs surgery to after his turf toe injury, he could face a three-month absence. In the meantime Jake Browning figures to take over for Burrow, but fantasy owners will need to look elsewhere.
2. Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy met for the first time since the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship. Penix lost the national title, but he got a small measure of revenge as his Falcons won, 22-6, and roughed up McCarthy (two interceptions, six sacks, three fumbles, one lost) in his first home start for the Vikings.
3. Brandon Aubrey boots tying, then winning field goals, both as time expires. The Cowboys defeated the Giants, 40-37, in an exciting back-and-forth game. Aubrey’s 64-yard field goal was the longest kick to ever send a game into overtime, and then he nailed a 46-yard kick to win the game as time expired.
4. The Phillies became the second MLB team to clinch a playoff spot. Despite losing to the Royals on Sunday, Philadelphia still holds the No. 2 seed and goes into an important series with the Dodgers with the second-best record in the NL, 4½ games in front of Los Angeles. (See below for this week’s Power Rankings.)
5. The WNBA playoffs began on Sunday with the top three seeds opening with wins. The No. 1 Lynx, No. 2 Aces and No. 3 Dream were all victorious, while the No. 5 Liberty beat the No. 4 Mercury, 76-69, in a game that saw Breanna Stewart, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, leave with an apparent knee injury. Here are our Game 1 recaps.

🏈 Do not miss this: College football grades

It was Week 3 of the college football season and as always, CBS Sports has grades.

Miami was among those which scored an “A” this week, after an impressive 49-12 win against South Florida, where the Hurricanes finished with 576 yards.

Texas didn’t fare as well on the old report card, getting an “F” after their ugly 27-10 win over UTEP. David Cobb says it’s “officially time to hit the panic button on Arch Manning and the Texas offense.” At one point during the game, Manning racked up 10 straight incompletions.

Ohio State remains at the top of the coaches poll with 62 votes and got a “C+” for their 37-9 victory over Ohio, due to turnovers, red zone struggles and the defense breaking down. 

Penn State is second in the coaches poll with four votes and their 52-6 over Villanova earned them a “C” because they have “sleepwalked through an uninspiring three-game opening salvo against overmatched competition.”

For the full report card and analysis of each team, click here.

🏈 Patrick Mahomes loses three in a row for the first time

Patrick Mahomes lost three games in a row, going back to the Chiefs Super Bowl loss against the Eagles to end the 2024 season, for the first time in his career. The Super Bowl LIX rematch did not enable Kansas City to exorcise its demons as, once again, Philadelphia came out on top with of 20-17 victory at Arrowhead Stadium.

Coupled with Week’s 1 27-21 loss to the Chargers, the Chiefs begin the season 0-2 for the first time since 2014 and for the first time in the Mahomes era. The last six times the Chiefs started 0-2 they missed the playoffs. To find the last time Mahomes started 0-2 you have to go all the way back to his sophomore year of high school.

The difference maker in the Week 2 loss came from a turnover. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was unable to bring in the catch and his bobbled ball ended up in the hands of Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba, setting up a Jalen Hurts touchdown. Bryan DeArdo details the Chiefs’ problem.

• DeArdo: “While Mahomes outplayed Hurts from a statistical standpoint, he doesn’t have nearly enough help. That is the biggest reason for Kansas City’s 0-2 start … because of their lack of playmakers, the Chiefs need to play an almost perfect game if they are going to win. That wasn’t the case Sunday.”

But all is not lost. Even though Week 2 will end with the Chiefs as the lone cellar-dweller in the AFC West. The winner of Monday night’s Chargers-Raiders game will be in first place, and the loser sits at 1-1 with the Broncos.

⚾ Brewers, Phillies remain 1-2 in MLB Power Rankings

As CBS Sports’ Matt Snyder perfectly put it, the 2025 MLB season has been “the season of the tailspin.” The contenders, with the exception of the Brewers, have gone through their struggle moments and lows, with fans of playoff teams not having the confidence those from previous seasons.

• Snyder: “I wondered to myself if there is any fan base confident heading into the playoffs. My best guess was maybe the Phillies? But I’m sure there are plenty of people in Philly worried about the injuries to Zack Wheeler and Trea Turner and thinking of doom-and-gloom scenarios after last season’s quick exit. Even the Brewers are just 14-14 since Aug. 16.”

To sum it up, there’s going to be some shocking games and while every team’s fan base may be waiting for them to fail somehow, someone has to win these upcoming games. Let’s see how the power rankings are shaking up this week, along with how the team fared in the rankings last week.

1. Brewers (1)
2. Phillies (2)
3. Blue Jays (4)
4. Cubs (6)
5. Dodgers (7)

🥊 Crawford defeats Canelo, becomes super middleweight champion

In his methodical takedown of the favored Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford collected one of the most impressive wins in his career and captured the undisputed super middleweight championship Crawford became the first male fighter in the history of the sport to become an undisputed champion in three different divisions. The feat, which only happened because he moved up two weight classes, gives Crawford a serious case to being the best fighter of his generation, says our Brian Campbell.

• Campbell: “As the rounds ticked by, Crawford’s shots began to show on Alvarez’s face. Alvarez tried to stalk and trap Crawford, but nothing Alvarez brought seemed to bother Crawford. Instead, Crawford seemed to be the sharper and more effective boxer, connecting with clean punches as Alvarez was chasing him around the ring.”

This was reportedly one of the richest fight purses in boxing history. While the exact payouts will probably not be revealed, it was previously reported that Alvarez’s payout would be somewhere between $100 million and $150 million and Crawford said he took the fight for only $10 million. 

🏆 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Monday

⚾ Cubs at Pirates, 6:40 p.m. on MLB Network
🏈 Buccaneers at Texans, 7 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏈 Chargers at Raiders, 10 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Phillies at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. on MLB Network