NFL preseason Week 1 winners & losers | Islam Makhachev sets UFC win streak record

Good morning, everyone! It's Carter Bahns with you on the heels of the first full weekend of NFL action since January. If you liked what you saw, then get ready for 31 more preseason games over the next two weeks. There is a lot to digest from the Week 1 slate. I'll give you the highlights and fill you in on some other major NFL news.

Once the football wrapped up Saturday night, we got to witness Islam Makhachev make history at UFC 330. And then on Sunday, Scottie Scheffler opened the PGA Tour postseason in style.

Let's discuss all that and more.

1. Week 1 of the NFL preseason is in the books. Maybe the 2026 rookie quarterback class isn't so bad after all. Multiple young signal-callers including Fernando Mendoza, Ty Simpson and Drew Allar shined in their first professional games, and that was after Carson Beck dazzled in last week's Hall of Fame Game. They are among the biggest winners from the first batch of preseason contests. Things did not go quite as well for Shedeur Sanders, though, in his quest to win the Browns' starting job. And the Cardinals held their breaths when Jeremiyah Love sustained a high ankle sprain, but the good news is the No. 3 overall pick could be healthy by the regular-season opener. Speaking of injuries, Jaxson Dart is getting tired of his constant trips into the medical tent.
2. Islam Makhachev holds the longest win streak in UFC history. With his unanimous decision victory over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330, Makhachev not only retained his welterweight title but also secured his 17th consecutive win. That streak dates back to 2016 and is the most in a row by a single UFC fighter. It was not the easiest triumph for Makhachev, as Garry made him work and exposed some of his vulnerabilities. But the contender could not pull off the upset due to what Dana White called a lack of "killer instinct." Who will be the next to challenge the champion? Carlos Prates or Michael Morales could earn a bout with Makhachev. And on the topic of future matchups, the UFC 333 fight card is set.
3. Scottie Scheffler opened the FedEx Cup Playoffs with a runaway victory. Scheffler notched his first win since February when he finished eight shots clear of second-place Si Woo Kim at the St. Jude Championship. It was a spectacular second round that distanced the World No. 1 from the pack, as he tied the course record with a 61 en route to the landslide win. Scheffler is guaranteed to hold onto first place in the FedEx Cup standings through at least next week, when he will earn bonus money in addition to the $3.6 million payout from the St. Jude Championship.
4. The NFL levied four suspensions, including an eight-game ban for James Pearce Jr. The Falcons' edge rusher faces the heftiest suspension, which stems from a February arrest for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, fleeing and eluding police and resisting an officer with violence to his or her person. While the charges were eventually dismissed, the NFL determined that he violated its personal conduct policy. Commanders edge rusher Dorance Armstrong Jr. received a one-game suspension for a personal conduct policy violation , Bills defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis must sit three games for violating the league's substance abuse policy and Titans cornerback Nazeeh Johnson is out six games due to a positive test for a performance-enhancing drug. Johnson explained that he unknowingly took the substance.
5. The baseball community remembers Tommy John following his death at 83. John's name has become seemingly ubiquitous in baseball due to the then-experimental surgery he underwent on his elbow in 1974. The successful procedure helped John continue a stellar career in which he finished top eight in Cy Young Award voting in four consecutive years, made three straight All-Star teams and reached the World Series with both the Dodgers and Yankees. In addition to the marks he made in the record books, John made a lasting impression on baseball and other sports for his willingness to undergo a historic operation.

Last week, our Blake Brockermeyer unveiled his annual preseason ranking of the top 150 players in college football. Not everyone agreed with the order in which he placed the sport's biggest stars. In order to determine which players ranked too high and too low, our reporters touched base with personnel executives and got their opinions on those inside the top 10.

Numerous experts came to the same conclusion: Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker does not belong in the most elite tier. Eight of the 10 sources our reporters polled said he is too high at No. 9.

• Big Ten general manager: "I'm not sure I'd put (Drew) above (Jayden) Maiava or (Julian) Sayin in terms of pure talent. I don't think you can put him above (John) Mateer, either. That's crazy now that I think about it. No way. He's the second-best quarterback in that state."

At the same time, the executives are higher on a few players than Brockermeyer. These four players received votes as "underrated":

5. Leonard Moore, CB, Notre Dame
6. Colin Simmons, DE, Texas
7. Jordan Seaton, OT, LSU
8. Kewan Lacy, RB, Ole Miss

There is only one American League team in the top five of our weekly MLB Power Rankings. There are only three in the top 10 and four in the top 13. The AL West leader checks in at a measly No. 14.

We are in the midst of an abysmal year for the AL. Teams on that side of the majors have had a rough go of it all season, and it just simply has not gotten better. Even the best team in the league, the Rays, are scuffling. They've dropped five of their last six games at home and lost the first three games of their four-game set against the Orioles.

Does nobody want to reach the World Series? Should we just crown the Brewers as world champions and move on to next year? That's, of course, not how any of this works. But it kind of feels like a foregone conclusion that whichever team emerges as National League champions will end up hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy.

Here are the five best teams in the AL and where they stand in this week's power rankings:

2. Rays (--)
6. Yankees (--)
9. White Sox (↑2)
11. Red Sox (↓4)
14. Astros (↓2)

• The Fever's playoff outlook got a whole lot brighter with Caitlin Clark leading them to an overtime win over Angel Reese and the Dream.
• Joshua Báez made MLB history with a home run in each of his first three career at-bats. That easily ranks among the greatest major league debuts ever.
• Von Miller agreed to terms with the Cowboys on a one-year deal.
• The Preseason AP Top 25 poll comes out today. Here are our predictions for the first college football rankings of 2026.
• The Seahawks made Devon Witherspoon the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. The next question is how much Christian Gonzalez will make with the Patriots.
• Paul Skenes had his next start delayed, but the Pirates say it has nothing to do with injury. Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani's timeline to return to the mound is getting clearer, and Cody Bellinger could be back in the Yankees' lineup by next weekend.
• Could an Aaron Donald signing be imminent? The retired defensive tackle held another workout with the Rams.
• We graded the Dennis Schröder trade, which sends the point guard from the Cavaliers to the Hornets. Also, the Clippers re-signed Bradley Beal despite still waiting on a Kawhi Leonard ruling.
• CM Punk and Kevin Owens exchanged verbal barbs ahead of next week's undisputed WWE championship match. Trick Williams might also have his sights set on a bout with Punk.
• Here's what we know about the quarterback competitions at Alabama, Tennessee and Vanderbilt after last week's scrimmages.
• MLB announced the site for the 2028 All-Star Game and determined the fate of the Field of Dreams Game in 2027.
• Lingering concussion issues led Satou Sabally to step away from the Liberty.
• Arsenal crushed Manchester City to win the FA Community Shield. What can we learn from it?

⚽ Coppa Italia, first round: Cesena at Sassuolo, 12:30 p.m. on Paramount+
⚾ Cardinals at Reds, 1:40 p.m. on ESPN Unlimited
⚽ Coppa Italia, first round: Lecce at Palermo, 3:15 p.m. on Paramount+
⚾ Tigers at Pirates, 7:05 p.m. on ESPN
🤼 WWE Raw, 8 p.m. on Netflix
🏀 Wings at Valkyries, 10 p.m. on NBC Sports Network