Category: News

On Monday, the Carolina Panthers waived former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield after less than a season in Charlotte. While his brief tour of duty with Carolina was over, Mayfield was quickly claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday and, in a wild turn of events, he was in uniform for a game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday evening.

In the opening moments of the matchup, it appeared as if Mayfield may not actually play, as John Wolford technically got the start for Los Angeles. Then, Mayfield trotted onto the field for the second series of the night and played the rest of the game. The Rams trailed for the vast majority of the evening but, with less than two minutes remaining, Mayfield executed a wildly unlikely, 98-yard touchdown drive to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat by a final score of 17-16.

The Rams scored only three points in the first three quarters, then Los Angeles put together a marathon, 17-play drive to climb back within striking distance. Still, Los Angeles had only 3:19 on the clock and, with Las Vegas getting the ball back, everything had to be perfect. On cue, the Raiders went three-and-out, but punted beautifully to the Rams’ two-yard line, putting Mayfield in a very, very difficult position with no timeouts and 98 yards to go.

Early in the drive, Mayfield actually uncorked an interception, but it was (rightfully) overturned on a pass interference penalty. During the same drive, the Raiders were also called for unsportsmanlike conduct, negating a sack and giving the Rams 15 yards that were desperately needed. Then, though, Mayfield really did spring into heroic action, first completing a deep ball to Ben Skowronek that made things quite interesting.

After two shorter completions and a spike to stop the clock, the Rams were at the 23-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. That isn’t an impossible position, but it certainly isn’t likely to score a touchdown with no timeouts. Mayfield had other ideas, tossing a touchdown pass to Van Jefferson in amazing fashion.

Matt Gay then connected on the extra point and, with the Raiders immediately throwing an interception in desperation mode, the come-from-behind result was sealed. Needless to say, Mayfield was fired up.

In all honesty, Mayfield’s performance was impressive, largely because he had less than two days to learn an entirely new system with the Rams. It seems likely that he was operating with less than the entire playbook given the quick turnaround, but the Rams were also facing persistent offensive line issues and the absence of Cooper Kupp on the outside. Mayfield didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet, averaging 6.6 yards per attempt, but the fourth quarter was genuinely notable.

It has to be said that this is a very ugly look for the Raiders, as Las Vegas was seemingly in total control. This also comes on the heels of the Raiders losing to Jeff Saturday and the Colts in his first game on the sideline, and Las Vegas had a fringe chance at the playoffs basically evaporate over the course of only a few minutes down the stretch.

Overall, it was a wild scene in Los Angeles, namely in that a very famous quarterback was suddenly playing for a third team in a standalone spot just hours after being claimed off waivers. The overall magnitude of the victory isn’t enormous for the Rams or anything, but it was still memorable and quite stunning to see.

The Game Awards 2022 has been completed and it was a successful show as always. Game developers across the world gathered to celebrate the achievement of both their work and video games. While God of War: Ragnarok definitely collected the most awards, it was Elden Ring that managed to come out with the Game of The Year.

After the devs of Elden Ring accepted their award, they walked on stage and gave their acceptance speech speaking with great pride about the game they had created. It was a very wholesome moment, and then as they began to walk off stage something very weird happened. A random person walked up to the mic, clearly not a member of the development team, and said into the mic “I’d like to dedicate this award to my reformed orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton.” The Elden Ring devs looked extremely confused as the show changed the camera to get the stage rusher off the screen as quickly as possible.

If you watched it live and were just as confused as the rest of us, it’s safe to say that no he was not supposed to be on stage. Not only because you can see in the video above that he rushes up behind everyone to get on stage with them, but Geoff Keighley said after the show that they were arrested.

While this is definitely a bummer for the devs of Elden Ring to have their moment arguably ruined by this random person, this is also an extremely memorable moment that everyone is going to be talking about for a long time.

A couple weeks ago, Cardi B asked her fans if anyone was watching Netflix’s drama series, The Crown, which details the history of the British royal family. Now, it seems the Bronx rap star has reached season five of the show — the most recent version. The show reaches the ’90s and details the triangle between Prince Charles, Princess Diana (and their separation), and Camilla Parker-Bowles. Just like before, Cardi has a LOT of thoughts about the way these royals handle their romantic relationships.

“Why would Charles want Diana to hang out with Camila? THE NERVE the f*ck !” she wrote, misspelling her name. “Camila think she slick sending congrats notes to Diana ….I wish a b*tch would.”

“One thing I notice is that Camila treat Charles like sh*t ….Sooo ladies if you want a man to chase you act like THE CHASE don’t do the CHASING!” Cardi added.

Cardi chalked the show up to one key statement point back in November, as all the royals have guy issues in each decade. “Watching The Crown just shows you that you can be the queen of England or you can be the girl next door, we all got the same problems with men…stay safe,” she posted.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Houston Rockets are just 7-17 this season but, after a very slow start, Houston entered Thursday with a 5-5 record in the last ten games. Though the Rockets remain in the midst of an extended rebuilding process, Houston does have considerable talent and an appealing aesthetic, including the intriguing frontcourt talent of Alperen Sengun. In the third quarter of a matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, Sengun decided to take matters into his own hands, dribbling coast to coast and exploding for a poster dunk over Spurs big man Zach Collins.

Sengun was called for an offensive foul and, despite a coach’s challenge from Stephen Silas, the call was upheld. That ignores the “way too cool for an offensive foul” corollary, and this was a tremendous dunk. Unfortunately, Collins seemed to hit his head on the floor and went to the locker room, presumably for further evaluation, but did happily return to start the fourth quarter.

Like many young players on the Rockets, Sengun has defensive challenges, but he began the night shooting almost 56 percent from the floor and averaging 14.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. He isn’t necessarily known for highlight-reel dunks, but this one was definitely memorable, and his immediate (and defiant) reaction to seek a review of the charging call added to the fun.

Drake is no stranger to racking up hits, so it is no shocker that the Recording Industry Association of America has crowned him the highest-selling singles artist in its history, eclipsing Eminem.

On Thursday, the “Rich Flex” rapper earned 10 new plaques from the RIAA, bringing his total to a staggering 184 million. The Toronto rapper is in rarified company. This past March, Eminem was awarded the distinction after selling nearly 166 million singles.

Drake has grown into a commercial juggernaut throughout his career, earning at least five diamond singles, including “Hotline Bling,” “One Dance,” “SICKO MODE” with Travis Scott, and “Life Is Good” with Future.

It doesn’t stop there. The “Way 2 Sexy” rapper is on his way to having the highest certified RIAA song with 2018’s “God’s Plan,” which jumped to 15x-platinum status on December 8, making it the biggest-selling single in his catalog.

The record is currently jointly held by Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” which are both 17x-platinum.

Drake is also in competition with Jay-Z for having the most No. 1s atop the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, thanks to his latest project with 21 Savage, Her Loss. Drake and the Brooklyn rapper are neck and neck with 14 chart-topping records.

When a new game from Hideo Kojima drops, everyone pays attention. The legendary video game developer has made a name for himself on not being afraid to get weird with his video games or throw in some political commentary. The Metal Gear Solid franchise made him a beloved figure in gaming and his style is extremely appealing to fans.

Perhaps no games define how Kojima is willing to break the tradition of video games more than Death Stranding. The controversial game from 2019 was not focused on combat or highly intense action, but instead focused on traversing a difficult environment and working with other players to have an easier time getting from point A to point B. The results? Depending on who you ask it’s either great or terrible, and based on the trailer for Death Stranding 2 that Kojima dropped at The Game Awards, it doesn’t look like he’s changed course for the next game.

As weird as the first game is, it is inspiring to see a video game developer who is not afraid to make what he wants to make in a game and doesn’t cave to the expected norms of games. If he wants to make a sequel what some described as a “walking simulator” then he is completely within his right to do it! And who knows, maybe this one changes everything and really blows us away.

One of the best games of the last five years has to be the roguelike, Hades. Its addictive gameplay, incredible art style, and engaging characters captured fans’ hearts and became quickly beloved back in 2020. With a game as successful as Hades, we knew a sequel had to be on the way it was only a matter of when, not if, and during The Game Awards on Thursday we finally saw it.

To a clearly extremely excited crowd, Hades 2 was announced and we even got to see some gameplay. It’s pulling no punches, taking some clear inspiration from the first game, but since this is a sequel we can only assume that there is going to be plenty in Hades 2 to make it feel fresh and new.

This was one of the most no-brainer sequels ever. People adore the first Hades game to the point where even those who don’t play that many video games fell in love with everything about it. For a lot of people this is the first roguelike they’ve ever played, or the first one they ever truly fell in love with, and it’s always fun to find new ways to enter unfamiliar genres.

Possibly the best part? Hades 2 will be hitting early access and we’ll learn more about it in 2023, so we don’t have to wait too long for more details.

Week 14 of the NFL season includes the final slate of byes, with six (!) teams out of action this week. That limits the volume of opportunities on the board, but the stretch run of the campaign continues. In short, Week 13 was not fantastic in this space, with the Jets out-gaining the Vikings by nearly 200 yards, only to fall just short, and the Ravens not quite getting there with Lamar Jackson on the shelf.

That downturn had a negative impact on the season-long progress and, before flipping to five picks for Week 14, let’s take stock.

• Week 13: 1-4
• 2022 Season: 32-32-1

Come get these winners.

Houston Texans (+17.5) over Dallas Cowboys

This is so gross, but I have to do it. Houston is going to start Davis Mills, who appears to be an upgrade on Kyle Allen, and this is an enormous number. The Texans are horrifying, but this should probably be a couple points lower. Houston has only one loss by 18 or more points this year. Hold your nose.

Detroit Lions (-1.5) over Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota has the worst DVOA of any 10-2 team in NFL history. Absolutely no one believes the Vikings are actually a 10-2 team in terms of quality, but this is still a wild line, at least in the minds of some. Detroit is favored? Against a 10-2 team? Yep, lay it.

TEASER: Baltimore Ravens (+8) over Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals (+8) over New England Patriots

There are other legs I’d consider, but these are my favorites of the week. Yes, Baltimore let us down a week ago, and Tyler Huntley is the quarterback. I still love the Ravens getting eight with a game where the total is in the 30’s. Arizona getting eight at home against the Patriots is also quite juicy, and as always, we’re going through key numbers.

Carolina Panthers (+4) over Seattle Seahawks

With all due respect to Geno Smith, I’m a seller on Seattle at this number. The Seahawks have significant running back injuries, a porous defense, and an opponent that I think is undervalued in the market. Carolina hasn’t exactly been thrilling to watch this season, but they’ve played better in recent weeks and can keep this tight.

Los Angeles Chargers (+3.5) over Miami Dolphins

I’m breaking a rule by taking the Chargers at home, but snagging the 3.5 is appetizing. Los Angeles may have to get us in the backdoor to make it happen, but Miami has injury questions at key spots (left tackle, wide receiver), and it’s a buy-low on the Chargers after three losses in the last four games.

Al Pacino is largely regarded as one of the best actors of his era. His roles in movies like The Godfather and Scarface were not only memorable, but have made him an icon among film buffs everywhere. So it would make sense if you were having an awards show to have him reward someone for being one of the best actors of the year.

That said, even he seemed surprised to be the one opening up The Game Awards tonight. Before announcing the award for best performance of the year, Pacino was tasked with giving a speech about how far video games have come and while he gave a valiant effort he didn’t sound very confident in his words or why he was the one delivering this award on his own.

The video is a sight to behold and we strongly recommend watching not only his entire spiel — including doing curls with the award — but the following one by the winner Christopher Judge for his role as Kratos in God of War, who was understandably extremely excited to meet Pacino and gave him a big hug.

Well, if anything we at least all got to hear that Pacino still works out every day and used the trophy to get his daily reps in. Also, Judge seemed giddy that he got to meet Pacino so the oddness aside I’d call this a huge success for everyone involved!

Moneybagg Yo taps into his sensual side with his new music video for his latest single, “Quickie.”

Cast under a cool blue light, the Memphis rapper recalls sharing some x-rated moments with a past lover while trekking through the pitfalls of love and relationships. Throughout this titillating video, which is set in a strip club, Moneybagg Yo invites us into his world, complete with an unending cash flow, beautiful women, luxury cars, and nice jewelry.

“That lil’ p*ssy got some power, I can’t lie, it got me weak, oh/Fresh up out the shower, she look good enough to eat,” he raps. “That lil’ p*ssy got some tricks, grip my d*ck when it squeeze/Ooh, them quickies, be the best, got my Amiris to my knees.”

He continues: “Came from different planets, then, one day, we intertwined/ We relate on different levels, we got compatible signs.”

Before this, the rapper appeared on the CMG compilation Gangsta Art. One of his songs from the project, “Big League,” a basketball-inspired track featuring Yo Gotti, Mozzy, and Lil Poppa, was chosen as the official song of the 2022 NBA Finals. Gotti made the announcement via Twitter this past June.

You can check out the video “Quickie” above.