The Sparks will open the 2025 WNBA season on Friday, May 16, in San Francisco against the expansion Golden State Valkyries at the Chase Center, the league announced on Monday. After a historic 2024 season in which the WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 24 years while drawing the most spectators in two decades, the league is expanding its schedule again – this time to 44 games. WNBA teams played 40 games each of the last two seasons and 36 before then. The Sparks and new head coach Lynne Roberts will play their home opener on Sunday, May 18, against the 2024 WNBA runner-up Minnesota Lynx. The Sparks face the defending champion New York Liberty at home on Aug. 12 and in Brooklyn on July 3 and July 26. “We look forward to tipping off the WNBA’s 29th season in May of 2025 and continuing to build on the success of last season, when the WNBA delivered its most-watched draft and All-Star Game and set records for viewership, attendance, digital consumption and merchandise sales,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “We look forward to the expansion Golden State Valkyries taking the court for the first time.” The Valkyries, who join the league as its 13th team and will be coached by former Marina High and UCLA star Natalie Nakase , have their expansion draft on Friday (3:30 p.m. PT). Golden State will pick fifth in the 2025 WNBA Draft in April. The Sparks, who finished last in the league in 2024 and have missed the postseason for four consecutive years, have the No. 2 selection in the April draft . The New York Liberty will celebrate their first title with a ring and banner ceremony on May 17 when they host the Las Vegas Aces, who they met in the 2023 WNBA Finals. The Liberty, who beat Minnesota in five games in last season’s Finals in October, will face the Lynx four times in 2025: in Minneapolis on July 30 and Aug. 16, and in New York on Aug. 10 and Aug. 19. The Indiana Fever and 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark visit Los Angeles to take on the Sparks on Aug. 5 and Aug. 29 at Crypto.com Arena. The All-Star Game will be held in Indianapolis for the first time on July 19. The games designated for the Commissioner’s Cup standings will be played from June 1-17. Each team plays the others in its conference – five games for the six Eastern Conference teams and six for the seven Western Conference teams. The top teams in each conference meet in the Cup title game on July 1, hosted by team with the best winning percentage in Cup play. The regular season ends on Sept. 11 with the expanded playoffs to take place after that. The WNBA Finals have been expanded to a best-of-seven series this year and the best-of-three opening round of the playoffs will switch to a 1-1-1 format, guaranteeing each team gets at least one home game. In the past, the team with the better seed would host the first two games. The semifinals remain best-of-five. The league will hold its draft on April 14 with Connecticut star Paige Bueckers expected to go first to the Dallas Wings. Free agency precedes that. Teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Jan. 21, and can start signing players on Feb. 1. The television and streaming broadcast schedule will be announced in 2025, likely in March. SPARKS’ 2025 SCHEDULE (all times are PT) May 16 – at Golden State, 7 p.m. May 18 – vs. Minnesota, 3 p.m. May 21 – at Las Vegas, 7 p.m. May 23 – vs. Golden State, 7 p.m. May 25 – vs. Chicago, 3 p.m. May 27 – vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m. May 30 – at Las Vegas, 7 p.m. June 1 – vs. Phoenix, 3 p.m. June 6 – vs. Dallas, 6:30 p.m. June 9 – vs. Golden State, 7 p.m. June 11 – at Las Vegas, 7 p.m. June 14 – at Minnesota, 10 a.m. June 17 – vs. Seattle, 7 p.m. June 21 – at Minnesota, 5 p.m. June 24 – at Chicago, 5 p.m. June 26 – at Indiana, 4 p.m. June 29 – vs. Chicago, 3 p.m. July 3 – at New York, 4 p.m. July 5 – at Indiana, 4 p.m. July 10 – vs. Minnesota, noon July 13 – vs. Connecticut, 3 p.m. July 15 – vs. Washington, 7 p.m. July 22 – at Washington, 4:30 p.m. July 24 – at Connecticut, 4 p.m. July 26 – at New York, 4 p.m. July 29 – vs. Las Vegas, 7 p.m. Aug. 1 – at Seattle, 7 p.m. Aug. 5 – vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. Aug. 7 – vs. Connecticut, 7 p.m. Aug. 9 – at Golden State, noon Aug. 10 – vs. Seattle, 3 p.m. Aug. 12 – vs. New York, 7 p.m. Aug. 15 – at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. Aug. 17 – at Washington, Noon Aug. 20 – vs. Dallas, 7 p.m. Aug. 26 – Phoenix, 7 p.m. Aug. 29 – vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. Aug. 31 – vs. Washington, 5 p.m. Sept. 1 – at Seattle, 7 p.m. Sept. 3 – at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 5 – at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 7 – vs. Dallas, 3 p.m. Sept. 9 – at Atlanta, 7 p.m. Sept. 11 – vs. Las Vegas, 7 p.m.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey will not need surgery on his injured right knee but he will miss the rest of the regular season. Coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that McCaffrey will be out at least six weeks after injuring his posterior cruciate ligament in a loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night . McCaffrey will be placed on injured reserve for the second time this season after previously missing the first eight games with Achilles tendinitis. “I just feel for him,” Shanahan said. “It was a real frustrating year for him. He worked his ass off to get back to this point and I think he was really feeling good and about to take off and just had that real unfortunate injury last night. I know he’s as crushed as anyone, but he’ll get through this. He’s a hell of a player, a hell of a person and an unbelievable 49er. He’ll be back stronger than ever next year to help us.” San Francisco (5-7) sits alone in last place in the NFC West standings, two wins behind division-leading Seattle, and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs a year after losing to Kansas City in the Super Bowl. The 49ers also lost McCaffrey's backup to an injury with Jordan Mason also set to go on injured reserve after suffering a high ankle sprain in the game against the Bills. It has been a frustrating season for McCaffrey, who won the 2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year then signed a lucrative contract extension in the offseason. McCaffrey injured his Achilles tendon early in training camp and missed the first eight games of the season. He rushed for just 149 yards on 43 carries in his first three games back as he struggled to get back to form. He looked much better early Sunday night with seven carries for 53 yards, including a 19-yarder that was his longest of the season. He appeared to hurt his knee on an 18-yard run in the second quarter. He then went down immediately on his next carry on a sweep to the left on a snow-slicked field for a 5-yard loss. Mason had played well as McCaffrey's replacement, rushing for 789 yards and averaging 5.2 yards per carry this season. San Francisco will now turn to rookie Isaac Guerendo and promote Patrick Taylor from the practice squad. Shanahan said the team will also look to add another running back to the mix. In other injury news from the game, defensive lineman Kevin Givens tore his pectoral muscle and will be out for the rest of the season. Shanahan said cornerback Deommodore Lenoir should be back at practice Wednesday after missing the game with a knee injury and that stars Nick Bosa (hip, oblique) and Trent Williams (ankle) will be evaluated as the week goes on. Bosa and Williams have both missed the last two games. Williams has also been dealing with family tragedy as his wife announced on Instagram that she gave birth to stillborn Trenton O’Brien Williams Jr. on Nov. 24. Sondra Williams also wrote that she was initially pregnant with twins and lost the other child earlier in the pregnancy. Shanahan said Williams spent time with his family last week but is trying to get back to play. “He was there at the hospital with her and got to meet him and say bye,” Shanahan said. “Then he had to cremate him on Friday. So he’s been dealing with that and he’s working through it. We’re all just trying to be there for him through it all.” NOTES: OL Aaron Banks and DT Jordan Elliott remain in the concussion protocol. ... LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (knee) is day to day. ... LB Dre Greenlaw will get more work this week after his practice window was opened last week for the first time since he tore his Achilles in the Super Bowl. ... S Talanoa Hufanga (wrist) will have his IR practice window opened this week.
Panic among spectators at soccer game kills at least 56 in the West African nation of GuineaNone
Larimer County Clerk says 2024 election is certified
Russia shares lower at close of trade; MOEX Russia Index down 1.94%Ukraine must be placed in the “strongest possible position for negotiations” to end the war with Russia, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Prime Minister insisted the UK will back Ukraine “for as long as it takes” as he made a speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, but for the first time acknowledged the conflict could move towards a negotiated end. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has in recent weeks suggested he is open to a possible ceasefire with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Kyiv and its European allies meanwhile fear the advent of Donald Trump’s return to the White House could result in American aid being halted. President-elect Trump has said he would prefer to move towards a peace deal, and has claimed he could end the conflict on “day one” of his time in power. As he attempts to strike up a good relationship with the incoming president, Sir Keir revealed he had told Mr Trump the UK “will invest more deeply than ever in this transatlantic bond with our American friends in the years to come”. In his speech at London’s Guildhall, the Prime Minister said there is “no question it is right we support Ukraine”, as the UK’s aid to Kyiv is “deeply in our self-interest”. Allowing Russia to win the war would mean “other autocrats would believe they can follow Putin’s example,” he warned. Sir Keir added: “So we must continue to back Ukraine and do what it takes to support their self-defence for as long as it takes. “To put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence, and right to choose their own future.” Mr Zelensky told Sky News over the weekend he would be open to speaking with Mr Putin, but branded the Russian president a “terrorist”. He also suggested Ukrainian territory under his control should be taken under the “Nato umbrella” to try to stop the “hot stage” of the war with Russia. In a banquet speech focused on foreign affairs, the Prime Minister said it was “plain wrong” to suggest the UK must choose between its allies, adding: “I reject it utterly. “(Clement) Attlee did not choose between allies. (Winston) Churchill did not choose. “The national interest demands that we work with both.” Sir Keir said the UK and the US were “intertwined” when it came to commerce, technology and security. The Prime Minister added: “That’s why, when President Trump graciously hosted me for dinner in Trump Tower, I told him that we will invest more deeply than ever in this transatlantic bond with our American friends in the years to come.” He also repeated his commitment to “rebuild our ties with Europe” and insisted he was right to try to build closer links with China. “It is remarkable that until I met President Xi last month there had been no face-to-face meeting between British and Chinese leaders for six years,” the Prime Minister said. “We can’t simply look the other way. We need to engage. To co-operate, to compete and to challenge on growth, on security concerns, on climate as well as addressing our differences in a full and frank way on issues like Hong Kong, human rights, and sanctions on our parliamentarians,” he added. The Prime Minister said he wants Britain’s role in the world to be that of “a constant and responsible actor in turbulent times”. He added: “To be the soundest ally and to be determined, always, in everything we do. “Every exchange we have with other nations, every agreement we enter into to deliver for the British people and show, beyond doubt, that Britain is back.” Ahead of Sir Keir’s speech, Lord Mayor Alastair King urged the Prime Minister and his Government to loosen regulations on the City of London to help it maintain its competitive edge. In an echo of Sir Keir’s commitment to drive the UK’s economic growth, the Lord Mayor said: “The idealist will dream of growth, but the pragmatist understands that our most effective machinery to drive growth is here in the City, in the hands of some of the brightest and most committed people that you will find anywhere in the world.”GameStop’s stock jumps on surprise third-quarter profit
Optex Systems Announces $2.0 Million Order for Laser Filter Units and Window AssembliesEuropean Union plans for a new renewable energy goal hit early resistance this week from pro-nuclear governments, who indicated they would not back a goal that excludes atomic energy. The EU's 27 member countries have opposing views on nuclear power, and political disputes over the energy source have delayed recent EU measures to address high energy prices and drive Europe's transition to low-carbon energy sources. While nuclear power stations do not emit carbon dioxide, they generate toxic waste that some governments and campaigners say means atomic energy should not be classed as green. Plans to set an EU renewable energy target for 2040 have stirred tensions again, after the European Commission this month made the goal a surprise addition to the brief of new EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen. French energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said ministers had expressed concern to Jorgensen that the target excluded nuclear energy, at a meeting in Brussels of 15 countries, 12 of them part of a pro-nuclear alliance. "Is it more important to have a specific target for renewables ... where you can tamper with statistics, for example, by closing down nuclear power plants? Or is the main target fossil-free and clean energy production in Europe?" said Sweden's energy minister Ebba Busch, who also attended the pro-nuclear meeting. A senior official from one EU country said governments with enough votes to block the EU from passing the target had indicated they wouldn't back a goal that excludes nuclear. "I think there's enough, in terms of a blocking minority," the official said. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen held firm. Renewables and nuclear will both play a role in Europe's energy policy, but they should not be mixed into one target, Jorgensen said. "I don't think that would be a wise way to do it, I think we need to maintain the definitions that we already have in our renewable target," he told a news conference. Countries including Austria and Germany have opposed nuclear's inclusion in previous EU renewable energy goals, raising concerns about nuclear safety and emphasising the lower costs of wind and solar power. Austria is firmly opposed to the technology, while Germany phased out its nuclear reactors. Meanwhile, France, which gets most of its power from nuclear reactors, and eastern European countries planning to expand their reactors, are strong proponents of low-carbon atomic energy as a way to cut emissions.
New details about life, background of Luigi Mangione, UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect
By ALEXANDRA OLSON and CATHY BUSSEWITZ NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart’s sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at U.S. companies that are revaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programs to bolster historically underrepresented groups in business. The changes announced by the world’s biggest retailer followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programs aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. The risk associated with some of programs crystalized with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs a priority. Trump’s incoming deputy chief of policy will be his former adviser Stephen Miller , who leads a group called America First Legal that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies. “There has been a lot of reassessment of risk looking at programs that could be deemed to constitute reverse discrimination,” said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher the Human Capital Center at the Conference Board. “This is another domino to fall and it is a rather large domino,” he added. Among other changes, Walmart said it will no longer give priority treatment to suppliers owned by women or minorities. The company also will not renew a five-year commitment for a racial equity center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And it pulled out of a prominent gay rights index . Schweyer said the biggest trigger for companies making such changes is simply a reassessment of their legal risk exposure, which began after U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023 that ended affirmative action in college admissions. Since then, conservative groups using similar arguments have secured court victories against various diversity programs, especially those that steer contracts to minority or women-owned businesses. Most recently, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty won a victory in a case against the U.S. Department of Transportation over its use of a program that gives priority to minority-owned businesses when it awards contracts. Companies are seeing a big legal risk in continuing with DEI efforts, said Dan Lennington, a deputy counsel at the institute. His organization says it has identified more than 60 programs in the federal government that it considers discriminatory, he said. “We have a legal landscape within the entire federal government, all three branches — the U.S. Supreme Court, the Congress and the President — are all now firmly pointed in the direction towards equality of individuals and individualized treatment of all Americans, instead of diversity, equity and inclusion treating people as members of racial groups,” Lennington said. The Trump administration is also likely to take direct aim at DEI initiatives through executive orders and other policies that affect private companies, especially federal contractors. “The impact of the election on DEI policies is huge. It can’t be overstated,” said Jason Schwartz, co-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group at law firm Gibson Dunn. With Miller returning to the White House, rolling back DEI initiatives is likely to be a priority, Schwartz said. “Companies are trying to strike the right balance to make clear they’ve got an inclusive workplace where everyone is welcome, and they want to get the best talent, while at the same time trying not to alienate various parts of their employees and customer base who might feel one way or the other. It’s a virtually impossible dilemma,” Schwartz said. A recent survey by Pew Research Center showed that workers are divided on the merits of DEI policies. While still broadly popular, the share of workers who said focusing on workplace diversity was mostly a good thing fell to 52% in the November survey, compared to 56% in a similar survey in February 2023. Rachel Minkin, a research associated at Pew called it a small but significant shift in short amount of time. There will be more companies pulling back from their DEI policies, but it likely won’t be a retreat across the board, said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University. “There are vastly more companies that are sticking with DEI,” Glasgow said. “The only reason you don’t hear about it is most of them are doing it by stealth. They’re putting their heads down and doing DEI work and hoping not to attract attention.” Glasgow advises organizations to stick to their own core values, because attitudes toward the topic can change quickly in the span of four years. “It’s going to leave them looking a little bit weak if there’s a kind of flip-flopping, depending on whichever direction the political winds are blowing,” he said. One reason DEI programs exist is because without those programs, companies may be vulnerable to lawsuits for traditional discrimination. “Really think carefully about the risks in all directions on this topic,” Glasgow said. Walmart confirmed will no longer consider race and gender as a litmus test to improve diversity when it offers supplier contracts. Last fiscal year, Walmart said it spent more than $13 billion on minority, women or veteran-owned good and service suppliers. It was unclear how its relationships with such business would change going forward. Organizations that that have partnered with Walmart on its diversity initiatives offered a cautious response. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, a non-profit that last year named Walmart one of America’s top corporation for women-owned enterprises, said it was still evaluating the impact of Walmart’s announcement. Pamela Prince-Eason, the president and CEO of the organization, said she hoped Walmart’s need to cater to its diverse customer base will continue to drive contracts to women-owned suppliers even if the company no longer has explicit dollar goals. “I suspect Walmart will continue to have one of the most inclusive supply chains in the World,” Prince-Eason wrote. “Any retailer’s ability to serve the communities they operate in will continue to value understanding their customers, (many of which are women), in order to better provide products and services desired and no one understands customers better than Walmart.” Related Articles National News | Ex-FBI informant accused of lying about the Bidens is indicted on federal tax charges National News | Bird flu virus was found in raw milk. What to know about the risks National News | Ransomware attack on software supplier disrupts operations for Starbucks and other retailers National News | Man found guilty of holding down teen while he was raped at a youth center in 1998 National News | What Black Friday’s history tells us about holiday shopping in 2024 Walmart’s announcement came after the company spoke directly with conservative political commentator and activist Robby Starbuck, who has been going after corporate DEI policies, calling out individual companies on the social media platform X. Several of those companies have subsequently announced that they are pulling back their initiatives, including Ford , Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s and Tractor Supply . Walmart confirmed to The Associated Press that it will better monitor its third-party marketplace items to make sure they don’t feature sexual and transgender products aimed at minors. The company also will stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees. A Walmart spokesperson added that some of the changes were already in progress and not as a result of conversations that it had with Starbuck. RaShawn “Shawnie” Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program, said companies that “abandon” their commitments workplace inclusion policies “are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders.” She said the buying power of LGBTQ customers is powerful and noted that the index will have record participation of more than 1,400 companies in 2025.NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel Penny chose not to testify and defense lawyers rested their case Friday at his trial in the death of an agitated man he choked on a subway train. Closing arguments are expected after Thanksgiving in the closely watched manslaughter case about the death of Jordan Neely , 30. The encounter between Penny, a white Marine veteran, and Neely, a homeless Black man with mental health and drug problems, has been drawn into U.S. political divides over race, public safety and cities’ ability to handle mental illness and social ills. Penny, 26, has pleaded not guilty. Many criminal defendants don't take the stand, and juries are routinely instructed that they cannot hold defendants' silence — a constitutional right — against them. One of Penny’s lawyers, Daniel Kenniff, noted after court that jurors did hear from Penny, in the form of his recorded statements to police minutes and hours after he put Neely in a chokehold. “Virtually everything he said then is consistent with credible testimony of his fellow passengers," Kenniff said. Penny told police that he wrapped his arm around Neely's neck, took him to the floor and “put him out” because he was angrily throwing things and making threatening comments. Penny said on police video that he hadn't wanted to injure Neely but rather to keep him from hurting anyone else. A number of other passengers testified that they were scared of Neely and relieved that Penny grabbed hold of him. A man who later stepped in and held down Neely's arms, however, told jurors that he urged Penny to let go but that the veteran kept choking Neely for a time. Prosecutors say Penny meant to protect people but recklessly used too much force, overlooking Neely's humanity and making no effort to spare his life. City medical examiners ruled that the chokehold killed Neely. A pathologist hired by Penny's defense disputed that finding . Prosecutors, defense lawyers and the judge are set to meet Monday to hash out jury instructions.Air Products Files Investor Presentation Highlighting Successful Two-Pillar Strategy to Deliver Superior Shareholder Value
A team of Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) scientists has identified a new method for producing a therapeutic product that has the potential to improve the treatment of cancer. The work by Associate Professor Leszek Lisowski and his Translational Vectorology Research Unit is published in the journal Molecular Therapy . Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, also known as CAR T therapies, are a relatively new form of treatment showing very exciting results for several types of cancer. While initially validated for the treatment of B cell malignancies, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the technology has also shown promise for other cancer types, including solid tumors. In most cases, CAR T cells are made by modifying the patients' own T cells so they produce a specifically designed chimeric antigen receptor , enabling them to seek and kill cancer cells. To convert T cells into CAR T cells, the patients' cells are modified using a viral vector encoding the CAR component. Currently, there are six US Food and Drug Administration-approved CAR T products, all of which use viral vectors as a delivery system. To improve CAR T products, researchers are investigating how the viral vectors affect CAR T cells, especially their specificity and long-term efficacy. In recent years, advances in CAR T technology have included the use of new viral vectors to deliver the functional CAR to patients' T cells to generate therapeutic CAR T products. Based on their inherent safety, AAV vectors, which are most commonly used to deliver therapeutic genes directly to patients and are currently the technology behind eight marketed gene therapy products, are the next frontier in CAR T products. In this study, Associate Professor Lisowski and his team, including author Adrian Westhaus, developed a new method to bioengineer novel bespoke AAV variants that enable more efficient targeting of patients' T cells, positioning them as the next generation of AAV vectors for CAR T product development. In a proof-of-concept study, the CMRI team has discovered two novel AAV capsids, known as AAV-T1 and AAV-T2, which can produce therapeutic CAR T cells using a five-fold lower dose of the vector. This significantly lower vector dose not only could lead to a lower cost of future CAR T products, but, more importantly, the team was also able to show that the therapeutic CAR T cells developed using these new AAVs killed cancer cells with higher efficiency, thus potentially also increasing the therapeutic potency of the new therapies. "To achieve this goal, we studied how AAV vectors influence the rate of gene editing and have used that knowledge to develop a novel AAV selection method, which allows us to rapidly bioengineer novel AAVs for gene editing applications, which is the strategy used to permanently modify T cells to make CAR T cells," A/Prof Lisowski said. "Following the selection process, we performed functional validations of the selected viral vectors. The two top performing candidates (AAV-T1 and AAV-T2) generated CAR T cells more efficiently and produced CAR Ts that were more functionally active than AAV6, which is the AAV currently used for CAR T development." More information: Adrian Westhaus et al, Tailoring capsid directed evolution technology for improved AAV-mediated CAR-T generation, Molecular Therapy (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.12.012Gaetz withdraws as Trump's pick for attorney general, averting confirmation battle in the Senate
Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouseThe last sack the Bears gave up Sunday had all the hallmarks of the problems that have plagued the franchise this season. They had six players — all five linemen plus tight end Cole Kmet — blocking only four 49ers edge rushers. They had just one receiver open: Keenan Allen, who was over the middle but could only watch as his quarterback didn’t throw the ball. The reason: left tackle Braxton Jones, who has long been susceptible to the bull rush, was being pushed into rookie Caleb Williams. When Williams was pulled to the ground by 49ers edge rusher Yetur Gross-Matos, he made history. It was the 56 th sack Williams took this season, the single-season Bears record. And he still has four games left to play. Remember Justin Fields failing to throw the ball away in 2022? He took 55 sacks in 15 games. Or the lasting image of Jay Cutler always being on the ground? He was never sacked more than 52 times, and that happened during 15 games in 2010. Williams is on the wrong side of history. Time will tell how much harm it does to his career. He could not play another snap this season and he’s still be tied for 17th in NFL history in sacks taken in one season. He’s on pace to finish with 72, which would tie him for the second-most ever. The Texans’ David Carr holds the sacks record, with 76 in 2002. The Eagles’ Randall Cunningham is second, with 72 in 1986. Carr — the first pick in 2002 and a cautionary tale for how a franchise can hamper a quarterback — also ranks third with 68 in 2005. He went 23-53 in five seasons as the Texans starter from 2002-06. He started four games for the Panthers in 2007 and none the rest of his career. Williams’ sack total is partly a function of the Bears’ eagerness to throw — he’s on pace to set the franchise record with 567 passes. The percentages are still brutal, though — he’s been sacked on 11.4% of his dropbacks, the third-most of any Bears quarterback with 300 passes in a season. Fields’ 14.8% in 2022 is the Bears’ record. This is not what the Bears envisioned when they surrounded Williams with a roster that some thought was the strongest one ever bestowed to a No. 1 overall pick. Or when they paired him with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who was fired two-and-a-half months into the season. And with head coach Matt Eberflus, who was canned three games later. Thomas Brown, who replaced Waldron and then Eberflus, was left to answer for Sunday’s performance in which the Bears gave up seven sacks —five on third down. He sounded a lot like Eberflus. Third down success starts with playing well on first and second down, he said. “To me the common theme is all of us,” Brown said Monday. “That’s probably not the response you were hunting up. But I think again, me being critical from a play calling standpoint of how I sequence plays throughout the flow of the game. Trying to figure out how to stay a step ahead of the defense. “Also, it all comes together in how we protect the quarterback, his rhythm and timing, pocket movement, when the ball is distributed – also us being able to win in the rhythm and timing so the ball can come out on time.” The ball’s not coming out fast enough. Williams isn’t being decisive enough, either. He hasn’t thrown an interception in more than two months, and it’s fair to wonder if such caution has made him hesitant. One of his two sacks that didn’t come on third down Sunday came when he looked to throw left, tried to stop his throwing motion and fumbled the ball away. “The timing was a little off,” Williams said.