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Orlando Magic players (from left) Mohamed Bomba, Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Terrence Ross ham it up for the cameras during a photo shoot promoting the team's upcoming season. (Associated Press) By Mark Blumenthal After posting records of 20-62, 23-59, 25-57, 35-47, 29-53 and 25-57 from 2012-18, finally, the Orlando Magic made a significant turnaround in the 2018-19 season. Now, it's about going to the next level. And to hear Magic head coach Steve Clifford describe it, there's a positive nature into what should happen next. "As I studied the team this summer, and I looked back at my notes after post-practice and post-game, the one common thing that I came back to constantly was we have a team that wants to win," Clifford said. "Professional athletes are just like you and I – they're not machines. The better players get themselves in the right place every year. We had a bunch of guys who had career years and we'll need a similar mind...

Another week of the NFL season is in the book and normally, you'd see plenty of movement up and down the rankings in the early part of the season. You won't see it here this week. The Top 5 teams in the rankings all won and the Bills (No. 6), Saints (No. 7) and 49ers (No. 8) all moved up a spot after they won. Detroit is 2-0-1 … yeah, those Detroit Lions! Coach Matt Patricia doing a terrific job thus far. And the Baltimore Ravens slipped from No. 6 to No. 10 after giving Kansas City everything they had. Here's the rundown of my personal Top 10 NFL rankings: 1. (1 last week) New England (3-0): Joe Willie Namath, Richard Todd and Ken O'Brien were all available on Sunday, too, but it didn't matter who the Jets put out there at quarterback. Tom Brady threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns. I doubt any of those ex-Jets quarterbacks could play defense. 2. (2): Green Bay (3-0): The Denver Broncos threw their best punches at Aaron Rodgers and Co. on Sunday. Th...

By Mark Blumenthal Do the math. As a matter of fact, I'll do it for you. Daniel Snyder has been Washington's owner since May 1999. In his time as the owner of one of the NFL's flagship franchises, the team has won two (2) playoff games, one of those wins against a team that has never made it to the Super Bowl, the Detroit Lions, under Norv Turner in 1999, the other under the greatest coach in franchise history, Joe Gibbs, in 2005 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team coached then by the brother of the man who currently coaches Washington, Jay Gruden. Since purchasing the team 20 years ago, the franchise has gone 139-183 under Snyder, a .432 winning percentage under eight different head coaches. Norv Turner? Too offensive-minded as a head coach. Terry Robiskie? Holding the fort down for three games until the next guy comes in. Marty Schottenheimer? Was 8-8 and fired. Still inexplicable, but we know why it happened? Make way for the Ol' Ball Coach, Steve Spu...

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver D.J. Chark hauls in a touchdown pass behind Tennessee Titans cornerback Malcolm Butler in the first half of Thursday's 20-7 victory at T.I.A.A. Bank Field. It was the Jaguars' first win of the season. By Mark Blumenthal For one night, Sacksonville returned to T.I.A.A. Bank Field. The Jacksonville Jaguars defense imposed its will on Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans on a rainy Thursday night in front of a national audience and brought back memories of 2017 and being one quarter away from playing in Super Bowl LII. The Jaguars sacked Mariota nine times and Gardner Minshew II threw a pair of touchdown passes in a 20-7 victory over the Titans to claim their first victory of the season and save their season from sinking further into the sunset.   “ This is a division game at home. We were 0-1 in the division and 0-2 on the season,” said veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who claimed his first three sacks of the se...

NFL POWER RANKINGS (AFTER WEEK 2): So nothing changes at the top as the Top 3 teams in the rankings -- the Patriots, the Packers and the Chiefs -- all won their games and are 2-0. Then it gets interesting. With the Rams beating the Saints, Los Angeles moves up four places to No. 5, while New Orleans slips from No. 4 to No. 8, the lone 1-1 team in the Top 10. Dallas and Baltimore move up a spot and three teams enter the Top 10 this week, all with 2-0 records -- Buffalo at No. 7, San Francisco at No. 9 and Seattle at No. 10. 1. (1 last week) New England (2-0): Stomped all over the woeful Miami Dolphins, 43-0, and have outscored its two opponents, 76-3. Not the Patriots' fault these two teams have come up on their schedule. 2. (2) Greeen Bay (2-0): Two impressive wins against two divisional rivals. First, the Bears, then this past week, the Vikings, 21-16. Keep Aaron Rodgers' uniform clean and boy, what a year thse Packers can have. 3. (3) Kansas City (2-0): The Chiefs ...

Houston quarterback DeShawn Watson looks to gain yardage against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. (AP Photo) By Mark Blumenthal One foot short. The Jacksonville Jaguars came that close to winning their first game of the season on Sunday. Instead of going for the tying extra-point kick with 30 seconds left to go after quarterback Gardner Minshew III found D.J. Chark in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown pass, Jaguars coach Doug Marrone kept Minshew and the offense out on the field to try and win the game. However, running back Leonard Fournette came up one foot short of the end zone, stopped by Houston's Justin Reid on the two-point conversion run, saving the Texans' 13-12 victory over the Jaguars in an AFC South tussle between two winless teams. After being stymied by the Texans' defense throughout the day, the Jaguars put together a 14-play, 63-yard drive, the big play being a Minshew 18-yard scramble on fourth and 10 with the game on ...

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles can only watch his team Sunday after breaking his clavicle in the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP photo) By Mark Blumenthal A new year. A new optimism. A new hope. And then Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones hit quarterback Nick Foles and sent him to the turf … hard, no less. When Foles got up, he realized he had thrown his first touchdown pass as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also realized he suffered the same crippling injury from five years ago that kept him sidelined again – a broken left clavicle. While Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were having their way with the Jaguars at T.I.A.A. Bank Stadium Sunday, 40-26, the Jaguars came to the sudden thought they were going to be without the Super Bowl LII Most Valuable Player for quite a while. “I knew right when I hit the ground something was wrong. I felt it,” said Foles, who suffered the same injury as the Philadelphia Eagles ...