PHILADELPHIA — To begin: The Philadelphia Eagles were unable to avoid the first round of booing from their fans to start the 2023 season, even on a night when they had complete control of the game they were playing at home. It is quite unlikely that they will be the final ones. But since Jalen Hurts and company converted Philadelphia back into a winning machine, there hasn’t been much reason for criticism in the City of Brotherly Love. This has been the case ever since.

The Eagles’ offense appeared slow at times during the first “Thursday Night Football” game of the season, which they won by a score of 34-28 against the Minnesota Vikings. This performance was similar to the one they turned in the previous week in their game against the New England Patriots, which they won by a score of 25-20. Despite this, the Vikings did not have an answer for the defensive front of the Eagles because Minnesota’s starting center Garrett Bradbury (lower back) and left tackle Christian Darrisaw (ankle) were both unable to play due to injury on the short week.

D’Andre Swift, a native of Philadelphia who was making his home debut, led the offense on the ground by rushing for a career-high 175 yards with 28 carries. Swift had three carries of the ball and one reception in the previous week.

The offensive line was in charge of driving the ball down the field during a drive that lasted 7 minutes and 55 seconds in the second quarter. The drive consisted of 13 run plays as opposed to three pass plays. Jalen Hurts, the team’s quarterback, used a play called the “Philly Push” to score two touchdowns by running the ball near the goal line. And receiver DeVonta Smith wriggled loose and showcased his ability to make catches on his way to recording four receptions for 143 yards, including a touchdown reception of 63 yards.

Hurts completed 18 of 23 passes for 193 yards and had one interception throughout the game. Additionally, he ran the ball 12 times for a total of 35 yards. The most recent NFL scores, schedules, odds, data, and more can be found here at NFL Data Center.

The fact that the Vikings turned the ball over four times demonstrates that they did not make things simple for themselves. Brandon Powell, a punt returner, lost control of the ball on his first return of the game in the first quarter, which resulted in a field position that may have been considered ideal. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson had another great stat line (11 receptions, 159 yards), but he also made the mistake of the game when he fumbled the ball while trying to advance it over the goal line after a spectacular completion. As a result of a review of the replay, it was found that the ball had flown over the deadline; as a result, the touchback rule was applied, which radically changed the momentum before halftime. Jake Elliott kicked a field goal from 61 yards out with 34 seconds left before halftime, which brought the score to 13-7 and tied a career-high for him.

Running back Alexander Mattison and quarterback Kirk Cousins each lost possession of the ball, with Cousins’ fumble occurring as a result of a strip sack by Josh Sweat, which allowed the Eagles to take over inside the Vikings’ 10-yard line and give them great field position.

Even though they led by 20 points at one point, the Eagles weren’t able to blow away the Vikings as they did in Week 2 of the 2017 season, which was also a “Monday Night Football” game. With 7:41 left on the clock, Kirk Cousins completed a pass to an open K.J. Osborn in the back corner of the end zone to bring the game within a possession of being tied. After that, Cousins connected with youngster Jordan Addison for a touchdown pass of 62 yards, which was an answer to Smith’s long touchdown.

In the fourth quarter of the game, the Eagles went on a drive that lasted around nine minutes, consisted of fifteen plays, covered 44 yards, and did not result in any points.

During the Eagles’ subsequent drive, Swift made a break through the line for a gain of 43 yards, bringing the team closer to the end zone by just four yards. In an only fitting move, Swift punched it in for his first touchdown with the Eagles, giving Philadelphia a lead of 34-21.

When Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson, who finished the game with seven receptions for 66 yards, scored his second touchdown of the game on a short pass with 70 seconds left on the clock, the lead stayed unchanged at six points.

NEW JERSEY, EAST RUTHERFORD — It is not out of the usual for the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants to kick off their respective seasons on “Sunday Night Football” at the prime time slot.

At such times, neither the Cowboys nor the Giants are being manhandled by the other team.

Dallas was victorious by a score of 40-0 after marching into the MetLife Stadium and allowing New York to lose the game by beating themselves multiple times. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the stadium was filled with chanting of “Let’s Go Cowboys!” even though the rain and the play of the home team had driven away the majority of the audience.

It was the eighth time since 2007 that the two clubs had competed against one another in Week 1 of “Sunday Night Football.” At this point, Dallas has triumphed in four of those contests. The Cowboys have won the season opener for 11 out of the last 12 times that these two teams have faced off to begin the season. Dallas is undefeated against its NFC East opponent New York, having won five straight games and 12 of the last 13 meetings between the two teams.

On Sunday, the Giants simply could not get out of their way, and the Cowboys were delighted that the Giants were unable to do so because it helped them win.

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Dak Prescott, quarterback of the Cowboys, has thrown more touchdown passes versus the Giants (23) than he has against any other team in the league. However, he did not need to add to that total in the blowout victory because the Cowboys won by such a large margin. That was made possible by contributions and scores scored by the defense and special teams, in addition to a pair of short-yardage touchdowns scored by running back Tony Pollard (14 rushes for 70 yards). In addition, Kavontae Turpin scored a touchdown on the ground in the fourth quarter, bringing the final tally of points scored in this thrashing to forty.

The 143 passing yards that came from Prescott’s 13 completions out of 24 attempts came on a connection with CeeDee Lamb in the first quarter that helped set up a field goal.

Jones and Saquon Barkley, the Giants’ running back, both moved the chains with their legs during the Giants’ first drive of the game, which resulted in a downfield industry for the Giants. Inside the red zone, rookie center John Michael Schmitz made a poor snap, and Jones was able to recover the ball by falling on it. Graham Gano moved into position to attempt a field goal from 45 yards away, but Juanyeh Thomas broke through the line of scrimmage and blocked the kick. Noah Igbinoghene, who was acquired by the Cowboys during the offseason, dove for the lost ball and returned it 58 yards for the Cowboys’ first touchdown of 2023.

After two more drives, Trevon Diggs finally had his first turnover of the game after making contact with Saquon Barkley when the latter was receiving a short throw. It was already 16-0 when cornerback Daron Bland managed to get the ball into the end zone after it had fallen into his hands. Later on, Diggs was successful in causing a fumble on a reception by Isaiah Hodgins, which was the Giants’ most extended play from scrimmage; nonetheless, Dallas was able to recover the ball and take possession of it once more.

The Giants were never able to recover from the Cowboy’s pass pressure, which completely controlled their offensive line and forced Jones to spend the whole game chasing down passes. He finished the game with a completion percentage of 32.4, 134 passing yards, and 43 running yards on 13 attempts. Jones was sacked a total of seven times by the Cowboys, with Osa Odighizuwa and Dorance Armstrong each recording two of those sacks.

Since their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round of the postseason in 2022, the Giants have been defeated by a combined score of 71-7 in their most recent pair of contests. Since the 8th of September in 1996, they hadn’t been held scoreless by the Cowboys.

Gauff, at age 19, became the youngest American player to reach the final in New York since Serena Williams in 2001 after a protracted delay caused by protesters in the spectators.

These days, kids mature rapidly, and Coco Gauff is no exception.

In early July, she was a tentative tennis youngster probably heading into the sport’s wilderness, unable to explain why she was still waiting for her big moment despite having seemed so precocious and destined for greatness.

In September, she will be the focus of the media as a finalist at the U.S. Open, the country’s premier tennis competition.

On a sweltering Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Gauff, a 19-year-old prodigy from sultry South Florida, defeated Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 7-5. Muchova’s all-court game and the oddest of atmospheres put her to the test like never before, but the night went her way in front of an audience that repeatedly erupted for her.

She added in her on-court interview, “Some of those points were so loud I don’t know if my ears are going to be OK.”

In the second set, with Gauff in command, a climate protest delayed play for nearly 50 minutes as the NYPD and security personnel struggled to remove protesters, one of whom had used an adhesive to glue his feet to the concrete in one of the upper levels of the stadium.

Gauff was up 6-4, 1-0, and playing excellently as the match was interrupted. Muchova, who was playing with a black compression sleeve covering her right arm from the biceps to the wrist and, she said, tape beneath the sleeve, appeared to be playing with a tight right arm.

While waiting for the game to start, Gauff and Muchova went to the locker room and the warm-up area to loosen up. Muchova relaxed with a massage and did some light jogging in the corridor outside the changing area. Gauff, who was acting erratically, walked up to a USTA employee and leaned over to look at photos of the demonstrators being shared online. She later revealed that when she woke up on Thursday, the thought of a climate protest breaking out immediately flooded her mind, as it had at the French Open in 2022 and at Wimbledon this year.

It’s possible you had a premonition. Maybe it was the work of a player who is known for always being well-prepared. She spent her entire high school career competing professionally, but she still managed to graduate on time in the spring of last year. They had a party in the City of Lights. She went on to win six matches at the French Open until losing in the final to the world’s number-one player, Iga Swiatek.

A year after witnessing Serena Williams’s final match, which marked the end of an era for American tennis, a capacity crowd of over 24,000 supporters arrived on Thursday ready to honor a new American tennis queen.

Gauff, who made her debut at Wimbledon when she was 15 and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open last year, has emerged as the frontrunner to fill the hole over the past four years. Since then, though, her development appeared to halt, especially on the biggest stages; she had not yet advanced past the U.S. Open quarterfinals, the tournament where the spotlight was brightest on her.

This run and a championship that is just one match away didn’t seem realistic two months ago, but Gauff showed Thursday night that there is every reason why there should be. She’s always possessed a lethal serve, a tough backhand, and the best court coverage in women’s tennis because of her lightning-fast feet and explosive athleticism.

She has spent the past five weeks mastering the usage of this equipment, and her once-unsteady forehand is now a formidable weapon. Against Muchova, she utilized both hammering and looping forehands, as well as slicing and hammering serves. She slashed with backhands and sprinted toward the net. She seized the initiative and battled with Muchova for points until the Czech star squandered them. Her feathery drop shot resulted in the first of her match points.

Gauff faltered in the middle of the opening set, dropping three games in a row after leading 5-1 as Muchova began to hit out and force Gauff backward. When serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, she once again dropped her service.

It took three more games, one more break of Muchova’s serve, five more match points, an almost unending, lung-busting, 40-shot rally, strokes made within inches of the net, and moon balls that floated 10 feet above it before Muchova finally won. Then, she resisted Muchova’s final stinging serve and held on until her opponent’s final backhand volley went wide.

Since her first match in the tournament, New York has been hers; tonight, the finals berth was hers as well.

Gary Neville has indicated that Manchester United’s decision to scrap their plan to bring Mason Greenwood back to the club was the right one, but that the club’s handling of the situation leading up to the decision was “pretty horrible” and lacked leadership.

After United CEO Richard Arnold reportedly met with the club’s executive leadership in the first week of August to inform them that Greenwood would be returning, the club came under increasing scrutiny after The Athletic published the meeting last Wednesday.

Sky Sports quoted Neville, a former United captain, and defender turned commentator, as saying, “Yes, they have (made the right decision). They arrived there at last.

His future with Manchester United was doomed from the start.

Getting there has been a hell of a ride. Significant and challenging events like this call for leadership with a strong authoritative presence. And that has to do with the leadership. They don’t have that at Manchester United.

Thirdly, there must be autonomy when addressing sensitive topics like domestic violence and assault against women.

Not Manchester United, but the game as a whole, should be judged and jury over such a major matter.

Manchester United’s fame has gotten a lot of attention, but this is still the Premier League. In this case, I believe that a panel of impartial experts should be tasked with resolving an issue of this magnitude.

Reason being: “Because it’s been clear that Manchester United have not had the skill and ability to deal with this situation properly – it’s been well above their grade of experience and ability.”

Since February, when the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped charges of attempted rape, violence, and coercive control against Greenwood, United has been conducting an internal investigation into his conduct.

The CPS concluded that there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction” after several crucial witnesses stopped helping the case. Greenwood disputed every single charge against him.

A group of female United supporters protested Greenwood’s possible return outside Old Trafford before the Wolves game on August 14. They asked the club to “demonstrate a zero-tolerance approach” towards violence against women.

The group Women Against Greenwood’s Return released a lengthy statement saying that the striker’s return would send the message that “as women, we don’t matter.”

Although Greenwood is under contract with Old Trafford until 2025, the club has decided to make him available for transfer or loan. He is still being paid in full, but he will not be participating in United’s training again.

Neville said that United should not have been in charge of an issue in which they had the necessary expertise, and he advocated for the establishment of an impartial panel to prevent such a scenario in the future.

He argued that autonomy was necessary to address issues like domestic violence and sexual assault.

Manchester United should not be the arbiter of such a weighty matter. For the sake of both oneself and the team. Despite Manchester United’s fame, this is still the Premier League.

In my opinion, matters of such gravity and significance require the impartial attention of a panel.

It’s abundantly evident that Manchester United lacks the competence to handle this problem. It’s been above their level of expertise and experience.

Manchester United, as sports attorney Chris Farnell put it to BBC News, “are damned if they did, and damned if they don’t.”

They would have been advised that their superficial analysis needed to be more thorough if they had done so. It has “taken too long” because of the extensive nature of the work.

“I think the important thing is you have to look into the conclusions Manchester United has to come to and the reasons behind it.”