comeback

PHILADELPHIA — It’s rarely sunny in Philadelphia for Sean McVay and the Rams.

Before Sunday’s game against the Eagles, McVay was 1-6 against them, 1-4 at Lincoln Financial Field and 0-4 against Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.

The last time the Rams visited here, the Eagles blocked a field-goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown on the final play.

And for much of the game Sunday, gloom once again engulfed McVay and a team that opened the season as a heavy Super Bowl favorite.

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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 24-20 comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

But it finally lifted midway through the fourth quarter, with quarterback Matthew Stafford leading two touchdown drives that gave the Rams a come-from-behind, 24-20 victory.

“A lot of gutsy efforts,” McVay said, “and I have a headache from hell right now.”

No doubt stress-induced.

While McVay enjoyed watching Kyren Williams rush for two touchdowns and receiver Puka Nacua rush for another, the Rams had to overcome turnovers, penalties and special teams miscues to improve to 2-2.

After sitting out two games because of a hip injury, Nacua caught nine passes for 125 yards, several during the final two scoring drives.

“I’m excited to get on this plane and get up out of here,” Nacua said. “Hopefully, they have some Philly cheesesteaks for us.”

The Rams had mostly had their fill of Philadelphia after losing an NFC divisional game here in 2024 and last year’s debacle that ended with the blocked field goal and touchdown.

“We obviously haven’t found a way to get it done here,” McVay said, “and our guys found a way today.”

Rams players celebrate with Kyren Williams following one of his two fourth-quarter touchdowns against the Eagles on Sunday.

(Chris Szagola / Associated Press)

The Rams can thank their defense.

The Eagles were without receiver DeVonta Smith and left tackle Lane Johnson, and star running back Saquon Barkley left the game in the first quarter after suffering a hamstring injury.

The Eagles were 0 for 12 on third downs. They converted only one of four fourth downs and managed just 172 yards.

“When it was the time for us to make a play, the defense stepped up,” said edge rusher Byron Young, who had 2½ of the Rams’ four sacks, “and we had to do what we do.”

Despite their elation over Sunday’s victory, the Rams have plenty to fix.

Stafford was great down the stretch but otherwise did not look like the reigning NFL most valuable player. He completed 32 of 51 passes for 317 yards with two interceptions.

The Rams, historically one of the league’s least-penalized teams under McVay, had 13 penalties for 91 yards in last Sunday’s 30-26 defeat by the Denver Broncos. On Sunday, they were flagged eight times for 100 yards.

“Any way you could shoot yourself in the foot — we were doing it on the offensive side of the ball,” Stafford said.

Special teams also continued to be an issue. The Rams gave up a long punt return that set up a touchdown, and usually reliable kicker Harrison Mevis missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt.

But the defense kept the Rams within striking distance.

“You’d like to see [us] play as a team where you go and score, and then hold ‘em, score and hold ‘em and score,” receiver Davante Adams said. “But sometimes that’s not how it plays out.

“[The defense] did their thing to put us in a position to win it, and we went down there and finished the job.”

The Rams trailed, 20-10, at halftime, as the Eagles turned two interceptions into 10 points, and Jalen Hurts tossed two touchdown passes to receiver Darius Cooper.

After Mevis missed, it got uglier.

Near the end of the third quarter, it finally looked like the Rams’ defense would be rewarded for a good play: It stopped Hurts on a fourth-down tush push, giving the offense a first down at the Eagles’ 38-yard line.

But Nacua’s penalty for an illegal block stymied the possession, and Stafford’s fourth-down pass for tight end Tyler Higbee fell incomplete.

McVay rallied the offense on the sideline.

“He said, ‘Make things go. Wipe it. Get to the next play,’” Higbee said.

Stafford said McVay was “trying to put some belief” in the team.

“I think we had it,” Stafford said, “but it was great to hear from him.”

The defense came up big again, stopping the Eagles on downs at the Rams’ two-yard line.

On came Stafford, who ranks fourth all time in fourth-quarter comebacks.

“We call it the Mamba period,” said Williams, who rushed for 80 yards in 15 carries and had 10 receptions for 67 yards. “We knew we had to get things done. … Matthew, man, he got us all together. He said ‘Let’s freakin’ do it’ and we did the dang thing.”

Stafford engineered a nine-play, 98-yard drive that Williams finished with a one-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 20-17 with less than four minutes left.

Stafford got the ball back with 2:55 left at the Rams’ 21-yard line. He connected with Nacua three times and Higbee once before Williams scored on a seven-yard run with 1:10 remaining.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford slides after running the ball against the Eagles on Sunday.

(Matt Slocum / Associated Press)

The play included Williams’ trademark second and third efforts.

“I wasn’t looking at any defender,” Williams said. “I wasn’t looking at any blocks. I was just having that smell, that nose for the end zone.”

Next up: Josh Allen and the 3-1 Buffalo Bills, a 29-26 loser Sunday against the New England Patriots.

The Rams will go into the game a .500 team riding the high of a comeback victory rather than trying to get out of a 1-3 hole.

At some point, the Rams will welcome back edge rusher Myles Garrett, defensive lineman Aaron Donald, who sat out because of a sore back, and tight end Terrance Ferguson, who like Garrett is on injured reserve. They are still more than capable of becoming the team that was hyped throughout the offseason.

So Sunday’s victory — rather than another loss in Philadelphia — could pay dividends.

“Hopefully,” Stafford said, “it was really important come later in the year.”

The knives were already out. The boos were already ringing.

At the end of an already brutal week at USC, during which the nation was ready to dance on the graves of the Trojans and their coach, it seemed for much of Saturday that any last shreds of faith in coach Lincoln Riley might melt away in the beating Southern California sun. Not only had the aftermath of their Oregon loss gone as poorly as possible, but now the Trojans were tripping over themselves again, trailing Washington, a middling Big Ten team down to its fourth-string running back, and a chant began to rise above the fray, from the USC student section.

“FIRE LINCOLN!” they roared.

That refrain had only been heard in hushed tones until this past week. But Saturday, before the No. 18 Trojans pulled away with a 25-21 victory, it felt as if their embattled coach stood at the edge of a certain Rubicon, one he may not return from with one wrong step.

That tension still hung thick over the Coliseum until late in the third quarter, when linebacker Elijah Newby came roaring around the edge toward Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. He swatted the ball out of his right hand, and defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart scooped it up. He sprinted 48 yards on a sore foot for a go-ahead score — and joked afterward that he hit 22 mph on his scoring scamper.

Just two minutes earlier, the Trojans had been down 21-10, and it wasn’t hard to envision how their season could continue spiraling from there. One mistake, one missed opportunity, one penalty after another brought them to this point, despite the fact that the Huskies actually struggled to move the ball on USC’s defense throughout.

It looked, for most of Saturday, like that unit took a step forward after the past two weeks, when both Rutgers and Oregon marched on them. Through one half, USC held Washington to just 44 passing yards. Through three quarters, Washington was averaging fewer than six yards per play.

“The bounce back was huge for us,” freshman defensive end Luke Wafle said.

Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr., left, tries to fend off USC linebacker Elijah Newby during the second quarter Saturday at the Coliseum.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

USC’s defense nearly came apart in the fourth quarter, though, at the worst possible time. Washington hadn’t converted a single third down until its final drive, when Williams converted a third-and-11 pass, then hit a fourth-and-two bomb for 43 yards. The Huskies got as close as the USC 12-yard line, before the Trojans finally shut the door.

“We had to dig deep for this one,” Riley said. “Especially as sloppy as we played.”

USC (5-1, 2-1) did try something a little different on defense, with defensive coordinator Gary Patterson calling the game from the press box instead of the sideline. Riley said the decision was akin to “trying to just move the chess pieces to get everyone in the right position.” He also added that Patterson’s former staff at Texas Christian had a lot more familiarity with Patterson’s scheme, and thus he handled things differently with that staff.

But the communication issues of past weeks appeared less of a problem on defense. The real concerns Saturday actually came on offense, where the Trojans uncharacteristically sputtered. Jayden Maiava was 21 of 34 for 245 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

Still, judging by the box score alone, you’d be hard-pressed to understand how USC could have nearly squandered a game in which they piled up far more yards (360 to 319) and had the ball for far longer (34:58 to 25:02) and dominated on third down.

“We’re gonna fix it,” Stewart said. “No team comes out perfect. It takes time.”

After a disappointing few weeks on the defensive end, USC actually opened the game by forcing Washington (3-2, 0-2) into back-to-back three and outs.

But the Trojans managed a measly three points from those stops. Their first drive, stalled in the red zone. The next one backed up USC to the one-yard line after wideout Terrell Anderson muffed a punt.

Washington took advantage of the field position on its next drive. Faced with a fourth and seven in USC territory, Williams slipped past pressure and scampered to a first down. It was the first sign of life from the Huskies’ offense, which found its way into the end zone four plays later.

Then, USC gave the ball right back. On the run, Maiava launched a pass off his back foot under heavy pressure. It fell well short of its target and was picked off.

USC’s defense held strong, forcing a third three and out in the Huskies’ first four drives. And its offense finally held up its end of the bargain, with Waymond Jordan punching in an eight-yard touchdown.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava scrambles during the first half against Washington at the Coliseum on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

Washington continued to struggle moving the ball, but mistakes from USC helped its cause. An illegal formation penalty wiped away a deep Trojan touchdown pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. Then on the ensuing possession, Wafle grabbed Williams’ face mask as he pulled him down for a sack.

USC had more penalty yards (50) than Washington had passing yards (44) in the first half. And those penalties gave the Huskies life at the end of the half, as they drove the length of the field and scored again.

“We felt like we were outplaying them,” Riley said. “We just couldn’t get out of our own way a little bit. That’s probably going to be a defining thing for this team going forward, how much we can do that.”

With a chance to regroup, the Trojans tripped over themselves out of the half too. An unsportsmanlike penalty killed their opening drive. Then, Washington tight end Decker DeGraaf caught a pass and took off down the sideline, running through two feeble-arm tackles on the way to an inexplicable 42-yard touchdown.

After that, the Riley chants rang out from the student section. But the Trojans’ offense mounted a 13-play scoring drive in response. Tanook Hines tore the ball away from a Washington defender in the end zone.

USC coach Lincoln Riley walks back to the sideline after speaking with his players during a timeout in the first half Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

Less than two minutes later, Stewart scooped up the fumble and took off. His 48-yard return completed a 12-point swing for the Trojans.

“To overcome all that and still win shows me some of the guts and toughness and culture in this room right here,” Riley said. “We could’ve folded.”

Still, USC couldn’t put Washington away. Down to their last drive, the Huskies converted a third and 11 and two fourth downs to drive deep into Trojan territory late.

But Kameryn Crawford pulled Williams down for a sack — the Trojans’ fifth of the game — and the defense held. And USC, at the end of a long, brutal week, breathed a sigh of relief.

The 39-year-old will step back onto the court for a competitive match on Wednesday for the first time since the US Open.

Novak Djokovic says he is encouraged by the way his body has responded before the ⁠China Open as ⁠the 24-time tennis Grand Slam champion looks to regain momentum at a happy hunting ground after recent fitness concerns.

“Yeah, feeling good so far,” Djokovic, a six-time China Open champion, said on Monday.

Djokovic will return to action for the ⁠first time since his shock opening-round defeat by Mariano Navone at the US Open on August 30 when the 39-year-old struggled with shoulder and back problems and ⁠vomited midway through the match.

The world number 11 will look to put those problems behind him when he takes on Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the first round in Beijing this week.

“Obviously it’s completely different when you’re playing an official match compared to practice sets or practice sessions,” he said before his opening game on Wednesday.

“So far so good. I was looking forward to coming to China, as I always have. My record speaks for itself on Chinese soil. Knowing that, it also brings this dimension of confidence that I really need.

“Overall, it’s been really good so far with the body, the way ⁠I’m feeling and playing.”

‘Beijing was on the priority list’

The former world number one is a ⁠massive draw in Beijing, where he won the title in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 and holds a 29-0 win-loss record at the ATP 500 tournament.

The pursuit of a record-extending 25th Grand ⁠Slam title remains one of the few major targets left for Djokovic, who has become increasingly selective about his tournament ⁠schedule in recent years.

“At this stage of my career, it’s really also about the tournaments where I enjoy to play, where I’ve had the success in the past, where I feel like I’m also welcomed by the fans in a positive light, in a ‌positive way,” Djokovic said.

“The history of my results on Chinese soil has been incredible. I haven’t played here in 11 years. I was trying to make it work in ‌the ‌past years with the schedule, but it worked in such a way where I played only Shanghai.

“This year, Beijing was on the priority list.”

Watch highlights from the final day of the Presidents Cup as the United States complete a thrilling comeback to beat the Internationals and win their 11th successive title.

READ MORE: US complete thrilling comeback to retain Presidents Cup

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The United States completed a thrilling comeback on the final day to beat the Internationals and win an 11th successive Presidents Cup.

The hosts, containing eight of the world’s 11 top-ranked players, trailed by three points going into Sunday and were looking to avoid just a second defeat since the biennial competition began 32 years ago.

They dominated the singles, winning nine of the 12 matches, to seal a 17-13 win at Medinah – the scene of Team Europe’s famous Ryder Cup comeback win in 2012.

Jacob Bridgeman secured the decisive point by holing a four-foot par putt at the 18th to seal a one-up win over Australia’s Min Woo Lee.

There were also wins for Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Chris Gotterup, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Jackson Koivun.

“I told the guys last night that funny stuff happens here. Medinah’s got a history of funny things happening,” said US captain Brandt Snedeker, who was a member of the team beaten by Europe in 2012.

“All these guys fought for each other, fought for this country, fought for this team.”

International captain Geoff Ogilvy said: “The US team came out firing, we knew they would.

“It was on a knife edge all day. If some of those one downs we had out there had flipped to one up, the numbers looked really good and who knows what momentum that could give.”

US President Donald Trump was in attendance in his role as honorary chairman, greeting the players and making a speech before the matches got under way.

João Klauss and Justin Haak scored following a second-half own goal by Colorado’s Reggie Cannon and the Galaxy rallied to beat the Rapids 3-2 on Saturday night.

Rookie Donavan Phillip scored his second goal four minutes into his fourth start to give Colorado (11-13-3) the lead. Phillip got assists from Josh Atencio and Jackson Travis in making his eighth appearance.

Paxten Aaronson came through with his career-high seventh goal for a 2-0 lead in the 39th minute with assists from Rob Holding and Loïc Williams.

The Galaxy (9-10-9) cut it to 2-1 in the 53rd minute on Cannon’s miscue, and Klauss scored his sixth goal — unassisted in the 66th to tie it.

Haak scored for the first time this season to give the Galaxy the lead in the 74th minute. It was his third career goal after scoring twice in 81 appearances with New York City FC from 2019-2025.

JT Marcinkowski finished with two saves for the Galaxy, which went 3-1-1 this month.

Nico Hansen saved four shots for Colorado in a 1-2-2 September.

The Galaxy improve to 5-4-5 at home after starting play eighth in the Western Conference.

The Rapids entered in seventh place before falling to 2-10-2 on the road.

Up next for the Galaxy: at St. Louis City on Oct 11.

Lamine Yamal goal opens the scoring, but Spain made to comeback in Nations League win as Harry Kane misses penalty.

World champions Spain came from behind to beat England 3-2 in an entertaining Nations League encounter at Wembley on Saturday, denying the hosts a cathartic win after their painful World Cup exit.

Victory for Luis de la Fuente’s men extends Spain’s astonishing unbeaten run to 39 matches – a record for a European team.

Thomas Tuchel’s men got off to a nightmare start when Lamine Yamal pounced on a gaffe by defender Marc Guehi, and they could easily have been three goals down as silky Spain created multiple chances.

But England, criticised for their ultra-defensive tactics in their World Cup semifinal defeat to Argentina, showed adventure of their own and got their reward in the 36th minute when Barcelona winger Anthony Gordon finished a fine team move.

Four minutes later, the home side were ahead after Kane headed home Nico O’Reilly’s cross via a Marc Cucurella deflection.

Kane had a golden chance to give England a two-goal cushion from the penalty spot 10 minutes into the second half but slipped slightly, crashing his shot against the bar.

Spain, who beat England in the Euro 2024 final, took full advantage, with substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal putting their side ahead, taking advantage of more sloppy defensive play from the home side.

England boss Thomas Tuchel was adamant ahead of the match that it did not signal a new start, but he will have been dismayed by his team’s nervy start.

Manchester City’s Guehi, with a chance to clear in the second minute, inexplicably turned back towards goalkeeper James Trafford, apparently unaware that Yamal was just behind him.

The teenager collected the ball and curled a left-footed effort off the inside of the post.

Ferran Torres was in the thick of the action, with an effort ruled out for offside and another shot saved by Trafford, in for longtime number one Jordan Pickford.

He also squandered a golden opportunity with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Yamal then set up Dani Olmo, who flashed wide as Spain rued yet another miss.

England, who had shown plenty of promise down the wings, made the visitors pay with an incisive counter-attacking goal after winning the ball back deep in their own half.

Gordon was involved early in the move and surged forward, collecting Jude Bellingham’s pass to steer the ball decisively past goalkeeper Unai Simon.

And, with the atmosphere now totally changed, England were in front when Kane rose to head home.

Tuchel’s men started the second half brightly and had a chance to extend their lead from the spot when they were awarded a penalty for a Rodri foul on Bellingham following a VAR check.

But Kane crashed his shot against the bar, and England paid the price when Baena steered home on the hour mark after O’Reilly had given the ball away to Olmo.

Worse was to come for the home side when Baena turned provider for Oyarzabal, who dinked the ball over Trafford.

MADONNA is an expensive Material Girl – flogging a square of pink fabric for £40. 

The Queen of Pop, 68, posed in a pink veil on the cover of her No1 album Confessions II and is now selling replica versions on her online store. 

The item is described as a 58-inch sheer pink veil, with a “custom Madonna graphic tag” in the corner. 

However, fans are also being charged £5.54 in shipping fees on top of the £40 cost. 

One fan joked: “Madonna really said, ‘Why buy sheer pink voile for $3.99 a yard when you can buy it from me for $45 with a tiny tag sewn on it?’” 

Another fan account for the star wrote: “That’s a lot for a piece of fabric #Madonna.” 

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The item is among a raft of new merchandise, including a £40 rhinestone drinks tumbler, £40 tote bag, £35 water bottle and £7 pencil set. 

Madonna will tomorrow release a remix of her track Danceteria featuring Charli xcx, 34, months after an online spat. 

They fell out in April when Charli gave an interview to Vogue and quoted a line from her track Rock Music, in which she sings: “The dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music”. 

But Madonna, who had just launched the campaign for her dance-inspired album Confessions II, clapped back in an Instagram post in which she wrote: “If your dance floor feels dead, maybe you’re playing the wrong music.” 

They made amends when they were photographed at Paris Fashion Week in June and then hosted a club night together. 

It is now hoped they will perform their track together for the first time at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night. 

With 11 nominations, Madonna is the frontrunner to win big at the event  

She will open the show – her first performance at the ceremony since 2003 when she famously kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on stage during a mash-up of her songs Like A Virgin and Hollywood. 

Sources in the US said she is likely to be joined by multiple guests although exact details of her set are being kept under wraps. 

Charli, who is nominated for four awards including Best Pop and Best Long Form Video, will be in the US at the same time as she is currently on a tour across North America. 

However, she played in Boston on the east coast last night (THURS) and is due to perform in Washington on Monday. 

Snoop Dogg, 54, will host the ceremony, which will be available to watch on streaming service Paramount+ and from 9pm on MTV on Monday. 

KATIE Price has made her modelling comeback as she walked the runway at London Fashion Week in a tiny waistcoat that barely contained her biggest ever boobs.

The reality star surprised fans as she made an appearance at Natasha Zinko’s London Fashion Week show X OnlyFans show in Islington, London, last night.

The 48-year-old strutted her stuff on the catwalk at Collins Music Hall as she flaunted the results of her latest boob job.

Katie was seen wearing a pair of satin shorts and a matching cropped black waistcoat that struggled to contain her assets.

The skimpy ensemble showed off her long legs and large collection of tattoos.

Katie, who is no stranger to going under the knife, underwent her latest boob job just weeks ago in Brussels.

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After being left with one boob slightly larger than the other, Katie went in for corrective surgery and ended up asking the surgeons to make them even bigger.

The former glamour model, who went by the alias Jordan during her page three days, has now made a dramatic comeback and she was loving every minute of it.

Katie recently dumped her conman husband Lee Andrews by text after discovering the crypto account he claimed had contained £37m had just £2.20 in it.

She appeared on Good Morning Britain earlier this week and confessed she’s had enough of Lee’s lies.

Jailed Lee sent a voicenote to the show in which he criticised his wife for speaking out about him and said “divorce is probably for the best”. He also said Katie wasn’t tech-savvy and had looked in the wrong account, insisting he is a multi-millionaire.

Lee is still behind bars in Dubai’s Al Awir prison as Katie prepares for what could be showbiz’s messiest divorce.

Céline Dion’s first concert in years delighted fans, with the Canadian singer crying as she made an emotional comeback to the stage.

It was Dion’s first full concert in six years after she was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome, which forced her to cancel tours.

Joyful fans spilled out of the Paris La Défense Arena on Saturday night singing and dancing to her classic hits, while some were still wiping away tears.

Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield went along and reflects on getting swept up in the Dion dalliance that French fans are calling “the biggest comeback since Charles de Gaulle”.

Sarah Leavitt, reporting from Paris for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), external, said the crowd “was left without words” by the stunning performance.

She noted that she didn’t want to cry, but “of course she cried right away.”

Dion also “endeared herself” to the crowd by saying during one song that she wanted to stop and start over.

Will Hodgkinson at the Times of London, external writes in his review, “miraculously, her art will go on,” that the performance was “overwhelming”.

She “looked suitably humbled and tearful” as she emerged, he said, going on to praise the stage direction.

“Truly, she was throwing the love at the crowd, who threw it right back at her. There was no holding back. It was quite overwhelming, actually,” he writes.

The performance was “complete with both costume, key change and air of tragic, important romance”.

“Céline Dion’s strength lies in being a diva with the common touch while being as French as they get, even if she is Canadian. She fulfilled that role with all the verve you could hope for,” writes Hodgkinson.

“The concert had a spiritual feel, with visual interludes steeped in biblical imagery alluding to a pilgrimage,” Elsa Keslassy writes for Variety., external

In video clips, Dion is seen wandering in a desert. “The set design was highly cinematic, with a monumental staircase sweeping up one side and a moon dominating the stage, while the backdrop appeared to have a stark, almost brutalist gray texture.”

The star, known for power ballads like My Heart Will Go On and Because You Loved Me, has said she will not let her diagnosis control her life.

“The way I see it, I have two choices. Either I train like an athlete and work super hard, or I switch off and it’s over,” she told French Vogue magazine, external in 2024.

“I’ve chosen to work with all my body and soul, from head to toe, with a medical team.”