While Palmer and Joao Pedro have generally carried Chelsea‘s biggest attacking threat in recent times, they have now been joined by the impressive Rogers too.
His arrival reunites him with Palmer, an ex-Manchester City team-mate and someone he described after the win at Craven Cottage as his “best friend in football”.
“He had a difficult season with injuries and stuff last year – and you could see it in his eyes in pre-season and training that he’s ready this year and ready to prove people wrong,” added Rogers when asked about Palmer’s display.
“You saw that with that performance. He was the best player on the pitch by a mile and that’s what he does. It’s good to have him on our side.”
Indeed, it was also encouraging how Rogers, whose pre-season was shortened by his involvement in England’s run to third place at the World Cup, looked so fit and powerful.
Rogers is the first Chelsea player to score on his Premier League debut since Christopher Nkunku in 2023 – and the first to create five chances in his first league appearance since records began in 2003-04.
It was also the first time Chelsea supporters sang the new Rogers chant in the away end.
Like Palmer, Joao Pedro missed out on the World Cup – as a high-profile omission from Brazil’s squad – but returned in pre-season with eight goals in seven games.
It was no surprise to see him on the scoresheet so early in the Premier League campaign, having inherited the number nine shirt from Liam Delap, who was left out of the squad on Monday, following the contract extension the Brazilian signed this weekend.
“Great combination, great quality,” Alonso told BBC Match of the Day when asked about his front three.
“We know if we reach them [Joao Pedro, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer] in good positions, they have this talent to create special things and I am very happy the three forwards have scored.
“We need to put them in the best situations. I am happy for the three of them. They played for the team.”
Bennett played the first half and led four scoring drives, two that he finished with touchdown runs in a 34-0 victory at SoFi Stadium.
Bennett, a fourth-year pro, completed 19 of 31 passes for 181 yards and showed some of the mobility that was on display when he led Georgia to consecutive national titles.
Simpson aimed to build on his performance against the Chiefs, when he completed 21 of 25 for 190 yards and two touchdowns. With the Saints dominating time of possession in the third quarter, Simpson got only three second-half series. He completed eight of 12 passes for 73 yards and led a touchdown drive.
So Bennett, by virtue of experience in the system and his performance Saturday, appears to have the edge to back up Stafford on a team that is favored to win Super Bowl LXI.
It remains to be seen how McVay handles the quarterback situation Thursday night in the preseason finale against the Chargers. Last season, Bennett was the No. 3 quarterback behind Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo. But in the preseason finale against the Cleveland Browns, Dresser Winn played the entire game.
In the days leading up to Saturday’s game against the Saints, Bennett and Simpson split second-team reps during the teams’ joint practice. Afterward, McVay talked about Bennett’s mobility and indicated that he would get more of a chance to show it on Saturday.
Rams quarterback Ty Simpson passes against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday at SoFi Stadium.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Bennett appeared far more confident than he did against the Chiefs, when the Rams went three-and-out on his first series against many defensive starters. Bennett finished his brief stint by leading a field-goal drive.
Against the Saints, a fourth-down false start penalty stunted the Rams’ first drive.
During the second series, Bennett threw arguably his best pass of the game — a deep shot that landed just out of receiver Tyler Scott’s reach. Despite penalties and a dropped pass, the Rams managed a field goal.
After Rams cornerback Al’Zillion Hamilton intercepted a pass, Bennett led a 48-yard drive that he finished with a one-yard scramble to the right pylon for a touchdown.
On his next series, Bennett scrambled eight yards for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead.
Receiver CJ Daniels catching on
Rams coach Sean McVay claps during the first half against the Saints on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
After catching only two passes against the Chiefs, Daniels had eight receptions for 68 yards against the Saints.
The sixth-round draft pick, who played at Liberty, Louisiana State and Miami, was targeted 12 times in the first half. His longest reception went for 17 yards and helped set up a field goal.
Jarquez Hunter finds the end zone
Rams running back Jarquez Hunter carries the ball against the Saints on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Hunter, a 2025 fourth-round draft pick, rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown in 12 carries.
Hunter would have amassed more yardage had two good runs not been nullified by penalties.
Wesley Bailey continues to impress
The Rams could be set at edge rusher, with star end Myles Garrett, Byron Young, Josaiah Stewart and Desjuan Johnson.
But the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Bailey, an undrafted free agent from Louisville, continues to impress. Bailey had a first-quarter sack, forced a third-quarter fumble and had four quarterback hits.
Secondary steps up
Rams safety Alex Cook, right, intercepts a pass from New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler before returning it 100 yards for a touchdown.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Hamilton intercepted a second-quarter pass by Zach Wilson that set up the Rams’ first touchdown.
In the third quarter, safety Alex Cook picked off a pass by Spencer Rattler at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.
Harrison Mevis making kicks
Mevis kicked two field goals, both from 26 yards. He has made all four of his preseason attempts.
The importance of parental support goes meta in Julia Hart’s “Don’t Say Good Luck.” The YA musical drama, which premieres Friday, pays homage to musical theater, unconditional maternal love and the family-hour TV, er, Netflix movie. In a landscape littered with teenage dysfunction, “Don’t Say Good Luck” is a moving argument for aspirational television.
And with a star whose famous father serves as producer, it‘s an admonition to the term “nepo baby.”
We meet normal kid Sophie Birenbaum (Sunny Sandler) as she anxiously prepares for a day that will include auditioning for her high school’s production of “Waitress.” While her father, Ted (Max Greenfield, marvelously transformed by a beard), wrangles her rambunctious younger twin brothers, her mother, Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey), assures her that she is talented and beautiful and will do just great. These sentiments are echoed by Sophie’s best friend, Carolyn (Scarlett Estevez), who joins her at the audition where the director is the super-cool Ms. Parker (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s” Stephanie Beatriz) and even theater department queen bee Mallory (Elyse Bell), who everyone knows is going to get the lead, is pretty nice.
It’s a high school experience that’s about as far from “Euphoria” or even “Glee” as one can get while still being situated on Earth. Still, all is not perfect in Sophie’s world. When Elizabeth learns that her cancer has returned, Sophie overhears her parents’ subsequent conversation via a butt-dial from her father’s phone. Her first impulse is to flee the audition; instead her emotional turmoil fuels a powerful performance that (spoiler alert?) lands her the lead role.
Determined to downplay the seriousness of her illness, Elizabeth insists that life continue on as normal — she and Ted own a local deli, which offers some nice bagel versus wrap shade and a Jon Lovitz cameo. Though Sophie is worried, she believes her mother who says she will beat cancer again. So she throws herself into the stomach-churning rigor of being the star of the show, which includes a painful separation from her bestie, a crush on her co-star and a struggle to find the confidence to let her obvious talent shine.
“Don’t Say Good Luck” is, obviously, a showcase for Sandler, whose parents, Adam and Jackie Sandler, serve as producers (which may have had something to do with the extraordinary supporting cast, which also includes Bebe Neuwirth and Steve Buscemi as Elizabeth’s parents). Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison Productions have a long and lucrative partnership with Netflix, which recently debuted “Happy Gilmore 2” and announced “Grown Ups 3” as part of their deal. One could see this as yet another case of nepo-baby triumph — streaming is currently littered with the progeny of famous parents — or simply a living example of the film’s theme. Like the Birenbaum parents, the Sandlers want to help their daughter shine in her chosen career and that she certainly does.
Adam Sandler serves as a producer, which may have had something to do with the extraordinary supporting cast, which also includes Steve Buscemi as Sophie’s grandfather.
(Netflix)
Though Sophie is the only older daughter ever to escape the task of caring for her younger brothers (or doing any chores at all), Sandler makes her completely believable as a nice, self-conscious kid who just needs a push to trust her talent. If the tone of the film is 1970s-family-comedy aspirational (particularly in the mother-daughter scenes), that shouldn’t be construed as a low level of difficulty.
Indeed, it is almost revolutionary to see emotionally resonant teenage characters who aren’t mired in abuse, addiction or some kind of horror; leveraging dysfunction has become shorthand for “drama.” “Don’t Say Good Luck” is based on the real-life experience of co-writer Laura Hankin (collaborating here with Hart and Jordan Horowitz), and though the stakes are emotionally high, portraying a loving family doing their best to get through a devastating situation with minimal meltdowns is its own act of bravery.
It certainly helps that this family is firmly anchored by Lynskey, who proves, yet again, that she can do anything. Her Elizabeth is neither martyr nor saint, just a woman who wants to live as she’s always lived for as long as she can. Lynskey lifts what could have been a sappy (or even worse, guilt-inducing) cancer-mom tale into a quietly transcendent contemplation of motherhood. (A scene in which she flips through the calendar trying to figure out when to let the kids know what’s really going on drove the breath from this mother’s body.)
Does “Don’t Say Good Luck” skirt around the grim realities of cancer as cavalierly as it paints a Pinterest mood-board vision of high school? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean the message and the feelings (yes, you absolutely will cry) are not just as authentic. Love is the root of much pain, but it’s also what conquers it in the end.
Melanie Lynskey as Elizabeth, Max Greenfield as Ted and Jon Lovitz as Lenny in “Don’t Say Good Luck.”
Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma sets up 90-run win over Zimbabwe as India takes 2-0 lead in T20 series.
Published On 25 Jul 202625 Jul 2026
India inflicted another heavy defeat on Zimbabwe when they won the second Twenty20 international at Harare Sports Club by 90 runs to secure their three-match series.
Ishan Kishan scored 81 and Tilak Varma an unbeaten 60 as India amassed a formidable total of 219-5 after being put into bat before dismissing Zimbabwe cheaply for 129 to secure the victory on Saturday.
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Kishan, whose runs came off 44 balls, and Tilak, who took 29 balls to get to 60, accelerated the scoring in the middle overs, taking advantage of bowling that was often too full.
They put on 94 off 44 balls for the fourth wicket before Ishan was caught in the deep mistiming a slog at a wide delivery.
Zimbabwe faced a record run chase and, although opener Brian Bennett offered some early hope, they were always up against it and were dismissed in 17.5 overs.
Bennett played an array of strokes for 32 runs off 19 balls before falling to Yash Thakur, who finished with 2-30 on his T20 international debut.
Once Bennett had been dismissed, there was a steady fall of wickets, with the slow left-arm bowling of Abhishek Sharma producing the best figures of 3-17.
India won the opening match of the three-game series at the Harare Sports Club by seven wickets with 40 balls to spare.
