Anthony Joshua expects first-round KO of Jake Paul; Dolphins bench Tua Tagovailoa in favor of Quinn Ewers

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Good morning and Happy Thursday, sports fans! It’s Austin Nivison greeting you as the Rams and Seahawks get set to kick off Week 16 in the NFL this weekend. Before we get there, Anthony Joshua has a lot to say about his upcoming fight against Jake Paul, the Dolphins have made a quarterback change and the Bulls are sinking in our NBA Power Rankings.

I don’t want to take up anymore of your valuable time, so let’s get right to it.

🏈 Five things to know Thursday

1. Anthony Joshua made a bold statement about his upcoming fight with Jake Paul. On Friday night, Joshua will enter the ring as a heavy favorite against Paul. Therefore, simply beating the younger Paul brother won’t be enough for him. Joshua said he’ll consider the bout a “failure” if he doesn’t knock out Paul by the time the bell sounds to end the first round.
2. The Dolphins have benched Tua Tagovailoa in favor of Quinn Ewers. It’s been a long season for Tagovailoa. He lost star receiver Tyreek Hill in Week 4, and he’s made a habit of throwing the ball to the other team. After throwing his league-leading 15th interception in Monday night’s loss to the Steelers, Tagovailoa has been benched by Mike McDaniel. Ewers will get the start in Tagovailoa’s place, and Zach Wilson will serve as the backup. Tagovailoa will be the emergency third-string quarterback. (We’ve got more on Miami’s tricky QB situation below.)
3. Fenway Sports Group is selling the Penguins to a Chicago-based family for $1.7 billion. For the second time in five years, the Penguins’ ownership situation is in flux. FSG, which bought the Penguins in 2021, is selling the franchise to the Hoffmann family for $1.7 billion. Considering FSG bought the Penguins for $900 million, that’s quite the return in such a short time frame. Will FSG now reinvest that money into the Red Sox? I guess we’ll find out soon.
4. Ohio fired coach Brian Smith for “serious professional misconduct” ahead of its bowl game. Earlier this month, Ohio placed Smith on indefinite leave, but now the school has terminated his employment. In a statement provided to CBS Sports, Smith’s attorney said his client “vigorously disputes the grounds for his termination.” In his lone season as the full-time coach of the Bobcats, Smith went 8-4. Interim coach John Hauser will lead Ohio against UNLV in the Frisco Bowl on Dec. 23.
5. Are the Bears expanding their search for a new stadium … to Indiana?!? For several years now, the Bears have eyed Arlington Heights, the upscale Chicago suburb, as their preferred spot for a new stadium, even purchasing land there in 2023. However, that project has now stalled and team president Kevin Warren said Illinois officials have not made the new stadium a “priority” for 2026. As a result, Warren has threatened to expand the search for a new home to northwest Indiana. That sounds a little sacrilegious to me, but maybe all is fair when negotiating a new multi-billion dollar stadium.

🐬 Do not miss this: Can Miami afford to move on from Tua?

With the Dolphins benching Tua Tagovailoa, it seems like his time with the franchise is nearing its end, but it may not be quite that simple. Miami might not be able to absorb the financial penalty that comes with cutting ties with Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa is in the midst of his worst season since at least 2021. Not only is he turning the ball over on a regular basis, but his efficiency has been poor too. Tagovailoa is averaging just 6.9 yards per attempt and just 190 yards per game. Even if he isn’t the quarterback of the future in Miami, Tagovailoa and his large cap hit may be on the roster into next season, as Jared Dubin explains.

• Dubin: “Carrying a $99.2 million dead cap hit would come close to preventing the Dolphins from building out a roster for the 2026 season. A $67.4 million dead cap hit would perhaps do the same. Cutting him outright would seemingly be a near-impossibility, unless the Dolphins are willing to totally gut their roster and declare the 2026 season a full reset year.”

Stepping in to replace Tagovailoa will be rookie Quinn Ewers. After spending three seasons as the starter at Texas, Ewers was a seventh-round pick by the Dolphins in the 2025 NFL Draft. If you want more info on the new starting quarterback in Miami, check out our pre-draft scouting report on Ewers.

📉 NBA Power Rankings: Bulls bottom out

Just a few weeks ago, it was a Bull market in Chicago. Since then, that market has crashed as the Bulls have bottomed out.

Going into last night’s games, the Bulls had won just one of their last nine games. After their win over the Cavaliers on Wednesday, you can make it two wins in the last nine games. As Brad Botkin points out in his updated NBA Power Rankings, it’s not just the losses, but it’s the fact that they’ve piled up against lesser competition.

• Botkin: “The fact that the Bulls have lost eight of their last nine games sounds bad enough. But it gets worse when you look at the opponents. Only one of those losses came against a team with a winning record (Orlando). The other seven came against the Pelicans (twice), Pacers (twice), Nets, Warriors and Hornets.”

Chicago has earned its spot at No. 30 in the rankings, and so have the teams occupying the basement alongside them.

26. Pelicans (+3)
27. Wizards (+3)
28. Pacers (-6)
29. Kings (-4)
30. Bulls (-5)

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

🏀 No. 3 South Carolina at USF (W), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏒 Flyers at Sabres, 7:30 p.m. on Hulu
🏀 Clippers at Thunder, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏈 Rams at Seahawks, 8:15 p.m. on Prime Video
🏈 XBox Bowl: Missouri State at Arkansas State, 9 p.m. on ESPN2