Inter Milan forward Romelu Lukaku has said he, Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez were the regular scapegoats during his time at Manchester United.

The Belgium international spent two seasons at Old Trafford, before leaving to sign for Antonio Conte at Inter this summer, while Pogba's long-term future is unclear having recently said it was time for a "new challenge," and sources have told ESPN FC the Nerazzurri are also keen to sign Sanchez.

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And Lukaku said the trio were the targets for blame during a difficult 2018-19 campaign for United.

"They have to find somebody [to blame]," Lukaku said on the LightHearted podcast. "Either it's Pogba, me or Alexis.

"It's always the three of us. So, for me, I just see it in many ways: a lot of people don't think I should be part of that system, that's my feeling. The conversations that I have, I just know. What makes me laugh is: how is s--- going bad with my team but, with my national team it's good?"

Lukaku, 26, also said one of the main reasons behind his exit from United was he felt a lack of protection.

"A lot of stuff was said: 'Rom's going to go there, the coach doesn't need him anymore, they want to sell him,'" he added. "That was about for a good three or four weeks.

"I'm waiting for somebody to come out and shut it down. It didn't happen, and then I had my conversation and I told him what I said. I told him it's better to go our separate ways, because if you guys don't want to protect somebody but you guys say you want to keep him, if all the rumours come out -- I just wanted a bit of protection.

"It never happened. All I heard was: 'He's got to go, he doesn't deserve to be there blah blah blah.' If it's like that so be it, I want to go now."

At Inter, Lukaku will play under Conte, who he recently described as "the best manager in the world," and said the Italian has tried to sign him on several occasions over the past six years.

"Antonio Conte wanted me bad -- he even wanted me when was at Juventus in 2013," he said. "We have a really good relationship, we have the same agent.

"His playing style, for his team, he needed me."

Anderlecht player-manager Vincent Kompany is giving up some match-day duties after a winless start in the Belgian Pro League.

Assistant coach Simon Davies has said he will now take responsibility for tactical changes and substitutions, while Kompany will step up on the field as captain.

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Kompany has overseen two draws and two defeats, including a second-half slump at Kortrijk last weekend in a 4-2 loss. Anderlecht sit 13th in the 16-team league.

Davies said the new system starts at defending champion Genk on Friday.

The coach, who followed Kompany from Manchester City in the summer, said "we need some stability" and added that his boss is "really going to concentrate on being the player on match day."

This decision comes following criticism in Belgium after Kompany was accused of taking on too big of a role.

Kompany will not be able to oversee his coaching duties while he is with the Belgium national side, following his recent call up, while the four-time Premier League winner also has his Manchester City testimonial on Sept. 11.

Anderlecht signed Samir Nasri and Kemar Roofe this summer, while former City teammate Craig Bellamy joined his coaching staff.

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND -- Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United and the oldest field for professional football in the world, is far from a palace. It's not a temple, either. It's not a cathedral or a theater or another gleaming monument to the modern corporate game. Since ground was first broken here for sport in 1855 -- and local hearts for many of the bleak years after -- it has remained what it always has been: a factory.

Freshly promoted to the Premier League, United had to pour £5 million into their ancient ground to meet the requirements of their posher new peers, accustomed to glass houses: new floodlights, new press room, new TV studios. "We've tidied it up a bit," Chris Wilder, United's plain-spoken manager, said with a smile before the first top-flight match at Bramall Lane, or anywhere else in Sheffield, since 2007.

But the home of the Blades is still sheathed with brick and corrugated steel, protected from the rain by willpower and coats of red paint. It still sits among terraced houses and working-class merchants, Star Electrical Supplies and R. Mortimer & Son, French Polishers. It is still named for a family of metal tool manufacturers.

Bramall Lane is still glassless. It reflects nothing but defiance.

Crystal Palace, the first of United's better class of visitors, arrived last Sunday afternoon in their polished black coach. By the stoic standards of South Yorkshire, the welcome was festive. Hawkers sold commemorative scarves and T-shirts that read Pride of Sheffield and Back in the Big Leagues. Banners flapped from the lampposts: We Are Premier League.

Even the sun was shining. Manchester City and the other United; Liverpool and Arsenal; Chelsea and Spurs -- they are all on their way. The Blades are among the giants. That means Sheffield, the city, can stand with them, too. That was Sunday's easy, feel-good narrative: Together, club and city have risen and returned, end of story.

Of course, Chris Wilder knows better. He was born in Sheffield in 1967 and grew up to play for his boyhood side during challenging times. "I don't really want to talk about all that stuff," he said. "Every football club has dark days." Wilder thrilled in his restoration of better feelings since he became manager in 2016, in his lifting the Blades from League One to the Premier League in only three seasons. The euphoria ended even more quickly. By close to unanimous consent, Wilder's club isn't predicted just to be relegated this season. They're doomed to finish dead last.

"Modern-day football isn't emotional, is it?" Wilder said. "I do believe when standards rise, your standards rise. We're realists as well. We understand what's coming and what might happen. How do we overcome that? Of course, it's a bear pit. It's brutal."

He paused, as though for the first time he wondered how he could ever account for the coming costs of his success, the balance he will have to find between a reverence for the past and the ruthlessness demanded by the future. He shrugged.

"But it's the place to be," he said.

In some ways, Bramall Lane is the last remnant of an otherwise vanished civilization. Like so many northern towns, Sheffield has been forced by time and the world to change what it is and how it sees itself.

The onetime global supplier of guns and bells and knives endured twin miseries in the 1970s and '80s: Both of its defining industries, steel and coal, went into steep, unstoppable decline. In the midst of violent strikes and closures, tens of thousands of Sheffield's proud residents were forced to flee. If rust had a kingdom, the Steel City had become its capital.

Sheffield's pair of former football powers, Wednesday and United, decayed with it. They no longer offered escape; they became grim reminders of how things fall apart. Wednesday, older and more storied than United, haven't played in the top flight for 19 seasons. The Blades -- named for the cutlery that Sheffield no longer produces -- have been mostly absent since 1976. Their last stay 12 years ago was measured in months. Bramall Lane has remained a factory, but it has made misery more than anything else.

This city nonetheless maintains a strange pride in the agents that betrayed it. United's motto, "Forged in Steel," could seem almost ironic during its losing years. To a visitor, Sheffield's continued celebration of industry is like watching a friend never get over the lover who left, but there is also a palpable, opposing desire for reinvention. A hub for higher education, today's Sheffield has a reputation for molding young minds instead of metal. Its former steelworks and warehouses have become offices and lofts; the last of its monstrous Bessemer converters has been turned into a magnificent museum piece. It has new pedestrian malls and public art. Now it also has top-flight football, and with it comes Chris Wilder's conundrum. It's a version of his city's own dilemmas, the questions asked of everyone who needs or wants to be better.

Who were you? Who are you? And who will you choose to be?

Last year, United's usual captain was local hero Billy Sharp. At 33, he had waited a very long time for his first significant taste of the Premier League -- often lost in the lower leagues despite his touch for goal -- and he was a principal reason the Blades would now have it. Headed to their opening match, away against Bournemouth on Aug. 18, there was speculation whether he would start. United had signed 10 new players over the summer, including Callum Robinson and Oli McBurnie, spending a combined £45 million and breaking the club record for a single transfer fee four times. There was only so much room on the pitch.

Wilder said what a man in his position is expected to say. He insisted that there was no place for sentiment in his decisions. Nostalgia never conquers new ground. United needed the points. He would go with his best 11 men.

Still, nobody really believed that he wouldn't start Billy Sharp.

He did not start Billy Sharp. His former captain came on as a substitute. Angered and perhaps inspired by the snub, he scored in the 88th minute to earn a 1-1 draw against the Cherries. The ecstatic celebration in the away end -- "absolute carnage," Wilder called it -- soon gave way to dressing-room glares and an awkward, stony silence.

Is this who you're choosing to be?

It's the best football in the world, but it's still a game with heart at its center. For every Billy Sharp left on the bench, there is an Ollie Norwood brought into the brightest, warmest light, a hard-luck case finally come through.

Norwood, a small, shyly spoken midfielder, was a long-term product of Manchester United's academy. In 2012, when Sir Alex Ferguson told him that there would never be a spot for him at Old Trafford, his farewell ended with an encouraging word: Norwood would no doubt play with the best for another club. He was 21.

He came close twice before this season. First he helped Brighton to promotion, but he was loaned out to make room for new signings. The same happened the next year with Fulham: Norwood was up, and then he was out.

Despite becoming a stalwart at Sheffield United last season, he spent his summer worried whether again he would be found not quite good enough. Wilder had told Norwood during the promotion celebrations that he need not worry. "I didn't know if he meant it," Norwood said, "because we were drunk at the time."

Wilder did mean it. In the first week at Bournemouth, Norwood, now 28, put on the captain's armband before he ran onto the pitch as though on air.

"It's taken a bit longer than I would have liked," he said after. "But it was a dream come true."

Dreaming might be the most mysterious thing we do to ourselves, a gift and a curse. Dreams come from within us, so they are ours and ours alone, but they happen to us. We don't always invite their presence, and yet there they are, delivered by one part of our minds to another. Some of them are magical. In them, we can perform feats of strength that we never could in reality. In dreams, we can fly. We can be young again. The dead can come back to life. Dreams can also become nightmares. Sometimes dreams wound us. Some dreams scar.

Sharp didn't start at home against Crystal Palace. He didn't play a single minute of the game of his life. Robinson did. So did McBurnie and Norwood. In front of more than 30,000 of the loudest supporters on earth, United played a nearly perfect old-school game. They held close the simple beliefs that have been instilled in them since they were children. Hard passes. Harder tackles. Pressure. Don't wait for the ball. First to it. Effort beats talent. Desire overcomes privilege.

Normally these are the lies we tell ourselves before we're supposed to lose. This time heart really did win. John Lundstram scored a sitter in the 47th minute, and then ran to a corner of the pitch, where he soon found himself at the bottom of a pile of his ecstatic teammates, Norwood on top, shaking both of his fists at the mad, frothing crowd. The Blades hung on for what felt like forever, seven minutes of added time especially, for the 1-0 victory.

At game's end, it was announced to the departing faithful that Sheffield United sat eighth in all of England, albeit after two games. Not long ago, that would have seemed an impossible height. "Can you imagine what would happen if we finished in the top 10?" one United staffer dared to wonder aloud.

"Don't be silly," another shot back.

Some dreams are private. Some dreams are infectious. Some dreams disappear as soon as they are realized. Some dreams feel so real they become memories.

There is a striking collection of poems, cast in metal, mounted on the sides of tall buildings across Sheffield. One, by Andrew Motion, greets visitors after they step out of the train station. It welcomes them to "a priming-place which lifts you off" and "the city where dreams are re-paid." Another, by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, graces the side of a student dormitory named, predictably, The Forge. It implores its residents not to use the city and leave but to become part of it and stay:

Within these walls the future may be being forged
Or maybe Jez is getting trashed on cider
But when you melt you become the shape of your surroundings:
Your horizons become wider.

It's pretty to think and too simplistic to trust that Sheffield's problems -- and United's -- have been solved. Undeniable progress has been made. But the city center still gets sinister at night; sides like Blackpool and Huddersfield Town never stay up for long. The challenges of modern economies, football's included, are limitless. There are only so many ways to overcome them, and those counters aren't available to everyone.

Nobody knows what will become of this old city or its football clubs. Nobody knows for what they will one day be known. It would have taken some considerable talents for future reading to have forecast this mixed present. The mighty blast furnaces have gone cold. In exchange, there are clearer skies.

After their win against Palace, the Blades of Bramall Lane clocked out to end their shift. They exited from the back of the stands and entered the arms of their happy supporters and the last of a golden light. The We Are Premier League banners flapped over their heads for another day. Those days are possibly numbered. This one definitely felt blessed.

The bigger clubs live their lives like pearls, hidden inside shells; Arsenal stay in a hotel the night before even matches at home. Not Sheffield United. They walked outside, many with wives and small children in tow, and felt the clapping hands of strangers on their backs. Billy Sharp and his family folded their stroller into their SUV and slowly slipped away. Ollie Norwood and Callum Robinson made instead for the hotel on the corner, where the crowd in the lobby bar greeted them with cheers and raised glasses.

Their only fear was the future. Their best armor looked to be love.

Luke Wood, the left-arm seamer, has agreed a three-year contract with Lancashire. He will leave Nottinghamshire at the end of the current season after rejecting a new contract offer.

Wood, 24, came through the Nottinghamshire academy, but had struggled to command a regular place in the side, going out on loan spells with Worcestershire and Northamptonshire. He was a squad member for Notts white-ball double in 2017, and gained another Vitality Blast winners medal with Worcestershire last year.

"It's disappointing to lose Luke, who we were very keen to keep at this club," Nottinghamshire director of cricket, Mick Newell, said. "We offered a contract that was reflective of our desire for him to stay, but there was also interest from Lancashire and he's decided to go and play there.

"When you lose a player, especially one that's come through your system, you hope it's for sound cricketing reasons, and I've no doubt that's the case with Luke.

"Although he's earned his position in our first team - and has been a starter for us more often than not with the red and white ball in recent weeks - sometimes a player feels they'll benefit from the challenge of moving to a new club.

"We all wish Luke the best of luck for the future. He remains very much part of the squad until the end of the season."

Wood went on loan to Northamptonshire earlier this season but came back to feature in the Blast and Championship. He claimed 5 for 67 earlier this week in Nottinghamshire's defeat at Scarborough, taking his tally of first-class wickets to 96 at 33.41. Handy with the bat, he made a 95-ball century batting at No. 9 in 2015.

"I am delighted to have signed for Lancashire, Wood said. "I've thoroughly enjoyed my time at Trent Bridge and would like to thank everyone at the club for their fantastic support, but the chance to join Lancashire is one that I couldn't turn down.

"The conversations I've had with both Paul Allott and Glen Chapple about the vision and plans moving forward are so exciting. The ambition of the club is something that really attracted me to Lancashire and it's something I want to be part of.

"Emirates Old Trafford is a great place to play cricket and I look forward to calling it home for at least the next three years. I can't wait to join up with the squad at the end of the season and get stuck in next year."

A former England Under-19 who bowls skiddy seam and swing, Wood played 35 first-class matches for Nottinghamshire over a five-year period, but was limited to just four List A games and 13 T20s.

Lancashire's director of cricket, Paul Allott, said: "Luke is an extremely talented cricketer so we are delighted he has chosen to sign for Lancashire as there were a number of other counties interested in him. We've admired him for a while, particularly as a swing bowler so he will add further quality to our pace bowling attack.

"He comes with great potential, is a proven winner and will add plenty to our side in all formats of the game with both bat and ball. We saw exactly what he can for Notts Outlaws against us in the Vitality Blast just a couple of weeks ago and I think he's going to be an outstanding signing for the Club.

"I would like to welcome Luke to Emirates Old Trafford and we are looking forward to working with him from next season onwards."

Hampshire have signed Tabraiz Shamsi, the South African left-arm wristspinner, for the final four games of the Vitality Blast group stage.

After a successful run thanks to the dual spin of Liam Dawson and Mason Crane, Hampshire's Blast campaign has been derailed by injuries to Crane and back-up spinner Brad Taylor, leaving them sixth in the South Group, and the signing of Shamsi means they will have the opportunity to resume their plan to prepare turning pitches.

"After losing both Mason and Brad to injuries, Shamsi bolsters the squad and offers an excellent spin option with international experience for the final four fixtures of our Vitality Blast campaign," said Giles White, Hampshire's director of cricket. "We're looking forward to having him with us."

Shamsi, who has developed a reputation as a bubbly character thanks to his wide array of wicket celebrations, will go straight into the squad to play Middlesex at Lord's on Thursday night.

This will be his second stint in county cricket, after five games for Northants in 2017. He also has experience in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the Caribbean for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, and has taken 10 wickets in his 14 T20Is.

He joins Chris Morris, Hampshire's other official overseas player, as well as other compatriots Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw in the squad.

Somerset are hoping to complete the signing of Murali Vijay for the final few weeks of the county season.

Somerset are chasing the first Championship title in their history. They are currently second in the Division One table, just two points behind Essex, with the teams scheduled to meet in the final game of the season.

The deal is expected to have been agreed between the club and the player, with Vijay awaiting approval from his state association, Tamil Nadu, before it can be confirmed. If it is, it is anticipated he will be available for the final three Championship matches of the season.

Vijay played three Championship matches for Essex at the end of the 2018 season. He made three 50s and one hundred in his five innings and averaged 64.59.

He started the same summer as India's first-choice opener, but averaged just 6.50 in the two Tests he played and was soon left out. He won his place back for the tour of Australia last winter, but was dropped after the Perth Test and has not been picked since, missing out on selection for the ongoing tour of the West Indies.

Somerset's previous overseas players, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam, have been recalled to Pakistan in September.

Northamptonshire are also hoping to strengthen their promotion hopes with a late-season signing. Currently third in Division Two - the top three are promoted - they are aiming to bring in West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach for the final few games of the campaign.

That could mean he plays against his West Indies new-ball colleague, Shannon Gabriel, in the last week of the season.

Gloucestershire, who are currently second in Division Two, host Northants in the final match of their campaign.

Toss West Indies chose to bowl v India

West Indies captain Jason Holder elected to bowl after the toss was delayed by half an hour due to rain and wet outfield in North Sound. The resulting damp conditions would not have affected India's plans, captain Virat Kohli implied, when he said he would have batted first anyway. Only 15 minutes of play was lost.

West Indies stuck to their preferred combination of four fast bowlers, with Miguel Cummins coming back into the XI to accompany Holder, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel. Right-hand batsman Shamarh Brooks was handed an international debut. Brooks had made two fifties in two matches against India A last month. He replaced Shane Dowrich, with Shai Hope taking over as designated wicketkeeper for the third time in his career.

India went in with four frontline bowlers, choosing Ravindra Jadeja as their spinner ahead of R Ashwin who was Man of the Series on India's last Caribbean tour. Rishabh Pant retained his place ahead of Wriddhiman Saha as the wicketkeeper, while Hanuma Vihari, who offers a fifth-bowling option, was picked ahead of Rohit Sharma. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal were picked to open.

West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 John Campbell, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Shamarh Brooks, 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Miguel Cummins, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Shannon Gabriel

India: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt.), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Hanuma Vihari, 7 Rishabh Pant (wk), 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Sam Billings has labelled the scheduling of a round of County Championship games halfway through the Vitality Blast season "completely brainless" after his Kent side was bowled out for 40 in their defeat against Essex.

"It's shocking, isn't it really?" he said. "For both sides. It doesn't help the quality of first-class cricket in England any which way. Twenty20 and first-class cricket are completely different games."

Billings made 0 and 1 in the defeat to Essex, in which 26 wickets fell on the third day after two rain-interrupted days, and said his comments were not intended as an excuse.

"It's the same for both sides and that's not an excuse at all, but for the good of the county game it's not right. It's completely brainless in my opinion. How you can expect people to transform their game just like that? It's not right. I'll probably get told off for saying that, but it's the right thing to say.

"Just put the white-ball cricket in a block and it makes it far easier for the players. Every single player you talk to will say the same thing. For the good of spectators coming to Canterbury Cricket Week, that's the least they could do."

The scheduling of the county game has come in for criticism for many years, but coaches and players have regularly found themselves bemoaning a lack of weekend and bank holiday games this year in particular, as well as the demands of switching between formats.

Worcestershire, for example, have had to content with three breaks in their Blast season due to first-class games, with first-team coach Alex Gidman admitting that his team's recent scheduling had been "very, very tough".

"This year was never going to be straightforward, particularly with the scheduling we've had," he said last week after their win against Durham.

"By this time next week we would have played three red-ball games in the campaign since the Blast started whereas everyone, apart from Gloucestershire, would only have played one which makes it very hard. The lads have admittedly struggled to find a playing rhythm."

Success is relative. A handful of NFL teams would be disappointed by anything short of a Super Bowl LIV win, like the Chiefs, Patriots, Rams and Saints. The second tier of teams would set their minimum at making the playoffs. A third tier might simply want to compete for a playoff berth.

There's a fourth tier of teams that might set their sights even lower. While they likely harbor dreams of playing competitive football in January, their realistic goals for the upcoming season have more to do with developing young talent or finding a solution at a key point of weakness on their roster. Let's run through the teams that probably don't have playoff football looming in 2019 and get a sense of what would help make their seasons feel more productive by the end of the year.

To figure out which teams are least likely to make the postseason, I used ESPN's Football Power Index's projections of the 2019 season and went with the 10 teams with less than a 20% chance to make the playoffs. Of course, there's still a chance that these organizations will buck the odds; their combined playoff odds top 100%, suggesting that one of these 10 will make it to the playoffs. Last season, FPI gave the Bears just an 18.3% chance of making it to the playoffs, but after trading for Khalil Mack and drastically improving their interception rate, they rode the league's best defense to a 12-4 record and a comfortable division title.

We'll start with the team that has the best (relative) playoff odds, which requires a trip one mile high:

Jump to a team:
DEN | DET | BUF | OAK | WSH
NYG | TB | CIN | MIA | ARI

Denver Broncos

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 17.2%

Clear signs of development from their young receivers. John Elway has sought to rebuild his team's receiving corps over the past two drafts, drafting wideouts Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton in 2018 before trading down and taking tight end Noah Fant in the first round in April. The refresh is overdue; Elway traded away Demaryius Thomas last season and has 32-year-old Emmanuel Sanders entering the final year of his contract in 2019, while prior draft picks like Cody Latimer, Carlos Henderson, Jeff Heuerman and Jake Butt have failed to turn into useful pass-catchers.

The Broncos need at least one of these guys to look like a starting receiver and an offensive building block by the end of 2019. Fant has the loftiest draft pedigree as a first-rounder, but the list of rookie tight ends who delivered an immediate impact isn't long, as just four tight ends since the 1970 merger have topped 700 receiving yards during their debut campaigns. He also left Monday's preseason game against the 49ers with an ankle injury. Even beyond what appears to be a minor ankle issue, it might be more realistic to expect Fant to harness his potentially devastating athleticism in 2020.

First-time offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello might instead hope for one of his wideouts to make a second-year leap alongside Sanders, who made his return to the field on Monday night as part of rehabbing his torn Achilles. Sutton's role in the offense grew when Thomas was traded and was expected to rise further after Sanders went down, but during those final four games without either veteran, Sutton was third on the team in targets (25) and receiving yards (146), trailing both Tim Patrick and Hamilton. The latter's versatility led to 38 targets over four games, although Hamilton averaged just 7.3 yards across his 25 receptions during that stretch.

The problem for Hamilton, in a way, might be Scangarello. The Broncos imported their new coordinator from San Francisco, where Scangarello had worked under Kyle Shanahan. The former 49ers and Falcons offensive coordinator loves to use a fullback and runs plenty of plays with two or more tight ends on the field, and when the Broncos use either of those options, it will likely be at Hamilton's expense. The late addition of Theo Riddick also seems more likely to eat into Hamilton's targets than those of any of the other wideouts. Sutton didn't impress over the final month of the season, but he has the best chance of breaking out in 2019.

A turnaround from Garett Bolles. Teams that draft over-aged players take significant risk. The time frame for developing players who are older than typical rookies is shortened by their advancing age, and while the hope is obviously to find a more mature player who can step in immediately, that hasn't often worked out. Over the past 20 years, there have been eight first-rounders drafted as they entered their age-25 season or older. One -- Cowboys corner Terence Newman -- made a Pro Bowl. The likes of David Terrell, Danny Watkins, Peria Jerry and Brandon Weeden all failed to impress.

It's too early to give up on Ravens 2018 first-rounder Hayden Hurst, but the Broncos are on the precipice with their 2017 first-round pick. Having turned 27 in May, Bolles is one week older than the team's right tackle, Ja'Wuan James, who just signed a massive deal after completing his fifth pro campaign. Bolles just finished his second season and has a serious problem: penalties. Since entering the league, he has drawn 29 flags and a staggering 21 offensive holding calls. No other lineman in the league has topped 13 over that same two-year span.

Enter one of the league's most important offseason additions. No, not James; it's former Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak, who helped develop young linemen like David DeCastro and Alejandro Villanueva during his time in Pittsburgh. Munchak's most important project in 2019 is Bolles, who committed another holding penalty on one of his 33 snaps during Monday's loss to the 49ers. Camp reports have suggested that the Broncos are pleased with Bolles, but new coach Vic Fangio has also singled out utility lineman Elijah Wilkinson for praise, too. With Bolles' fifth-year option decision looming after the season, the Broncos need to figure out whether he's a building block.

Detroit Lions

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 16.9%

A 16th-place finish in pass defense DVOA. When the Lions fired former Colts coach Jim Caldwell, it was no surprise to see them opt for a defensive-minded coach in former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Year 1 didn't go great on or off the field, with Patricia's area of expertise the team's biggest problem. The Lions dropped from 19th to 27th in defensive DVOA, including a 31st-ranked finish in pass defense DVOA. They were the league's worst pass defense against No. 1 wideouts, sixth-worst against No. 2 wideouts, worst against third wideouts and seventh-worst against tight ends. There's room for improvement.

The Lions made major defensive investments this offseason, though general manager Bob Quinn did spend his first-round pick on tight end T.J. Hockenson. Detroit essentially swapped Ezekiel Ansah for Trey Flowers, which should be an upgrade in terms of sheer availability before even getting to how the two edge rushers play. The team then imported defensive tackle Mike Daniels after he was surprisingly cut by the Packers over the summer. The names are certainly impressive, and while the Lions finished fifth in adjusted sack rate last season, they were 29th in pressure rate. They weren't going to turn a league-high 30.5% of their pressures into sacks again, so adding Flowers and Daniels should increase the pressure figures for Patricia's defense.

When Detroit didn't get pressure, it ranked 30th in both passer rating and Total QBR allowed. Although the Lions have a Pro Bowl cornerback in Darius Slay, they need to do better in the secondary. Quinn's other major offseason investment was to sign Justin Coleman to a four-year, $36 million pact to take over as Detroit's slot corner. There are red flags in making this sort of deal for a player who was bouncing around the waiver wire in years past and just spent two years in service of Pete Carroll in Seattle, but even adequacy would be an upgrade for Detroit.

Detroit will pit disappointing 2017 second-rounder Teez Tabor against veteran Rashaan Melvin for the other starting spot, and there has been little evidence of Tabor playing well as a pro. His speed has been a notable problem, which shouldn't really be a surprise for a player whose 40-yard dash time was in the 11th percentile coming out of college. Melvin is coming off a messy year in Oakland but has impressed in the past as a man-to-man corner, which is how the Lions typically like to cover under Patricia. No team likes to give up on a second-round pick after two years, but unless Tabor suddenly morphs into a different player, the Lions might not have a choice.

The young player the Lions might need to come along quickest, though, could be safety Tracy Walker. They took Walker in the third round of the 2018 draft -- two rounds before Walker himself believed he would come off of the board -- and parted ways with veteran Glover Quin to create a starting job for Walker this offseason. The now-retired Quin had slipped after years of impressive play, and the Lions improved by 13.6 points of passer rating and 9.3 points of Total QBR with Walker on the field a year ago. They are deep with safety options in Quandre Diggs, Tavon Wilson and third-round pick Will Harris, but Walker is the most promising. If he has a breakout year, it will be that much easier for Patricia's defense to jump from 31st to league-average in 2019.

Get the Lions to a league-average pass defense, and Damon Harrison should take care of the rest. Detroit hasn't posted a top-15 defense by DVOA since 2014; that was also the last time the Lions topped nine wins.

Buffalo Bills

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 13.8%

Significant signs of growth from Josh Allen. This one's simple, right? The Bills finished second in the league last season in defensive DVOA. Combine that with a competent offense and they're probably a playoff team. They instead finished 31st in offensive DVOA and pass offense DVOA. Allen finished his rookie season with a 71 passer rating index, the third-worst mark for a first-round pick with 300 or more pass attempts in his rookie season since the merger. Allen was excellent as a scrambler, but he was far worse as a passer than predecessor Tyrod Taylor.

The natural argument from Bills fans was that Allen didn't have any talent around him. I agree that Allen had a subpar supporting cast and offensive line, but it's not as if his season was totally tanked by the other 10 guys on offense. Allen's receivers dropped 4.1% of his passes, which was above the league average of 3.5%, but Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes, Philip Rivers and Andrew Luck all had a higher percentage of their passes dropped, and they still managed to piece together pretty good numbers.

The NFL's Next Gen Stats also have a say here. Allen threw deep more frequently than any other passer in the league, throwing an even 20% of his passes 20 or more yards in the air. Nobody else topped 14.7%. Even after you adjust for his target depth, though, Allen struggled. Given where Allen's receivers were relative to the defense when his passes were thrown, the league's model would have expected Allen to complete 59.6% of his throws. Allen instead completed 52.8%. The 6.8% difference between those two figures was the second-highest among passers with 300 attempts or more, topped only by Blake Bortles at 6.9%.

The good news, of course, is that Allen still has plenty of time to develop. He should work with a much more talented offensive core this season after the Bills acquired four new starting offensive linemen and the likes of John Brown, Cole Beasley, Tyler Kroft and Frank Gore in free agency, although Kroft is recovering from a broken foot and expensive new center Mitch Morse suffered what was at least his fourth documented concussion. There are no obvious superstars in the bunch, but general manager Brandon Beane replaced several replacement-level starters with players who are likely to contribute at or around the league average.

I wonder if the best sign of progress for Allen might be seeing his rushing numbers take a dramatic decline. The Bills ran a few designed runs for Allen in 2018, but it's not as if he was the focal point of a rushing attack a la Lamar Jackson. Allen was running because he wasn't comfortable in the pocket and saw openings. It's difficult to see him keeping up his prior level of success on scrambles over the long term, so if Buffalo can use its new weapons to keep Allen making plays in and around the pocket, it'll be to his benefit in the long run.

I don't think there's a specific number we can throw out there as a lone measure of Allen's growth, in part because his usage rate was so unique. If he continues to throw one of every five passes as a bomb and scrambles effectively, Allen can be productive and valuable with a sub-60% completion rate. If the Bills ask Allen to make intermediate throws more frequently and ask him to work through his progressions at the expense of scrambles, though, Allen could top 60% and still be well below league-average as a quarterback in a league in which passers completed 65.5% of their passes a year ago.

A step forward from Dion Dawkins. One of the players who was expected to serve as a valuable building block for the Bills' offense after that unexpected playoff run in 2017 was Dawkins, who stepped in as a rookie in 2017 and played effectively at left tackle in Cordy Glenn's absence. The Bills were enthused enough to ship Glenn off to Cincinnati last season and turn Allen's blind side over to Dawkins in the hopes that they had found their new left tackle of the future.

Dawkins struggled badly, committing 15 penalties, which was second in the league behind Morgan Moses. Those numbers included five holding calls and three unnecessary roughness penalties. The former second-round pick also allowed eight sacks, per Stats LLC. The Bills responded by signing veteran Ty Nsekhe from Washington, who filled in as a left tackle for Trent Williams, though it's clear that their long-term goal is still to keep Dawkins on the left side.

There are worse things to have around than a useful guard or tackle, and if Dawkins continues to struggle on the left side in 2019, it wouldn't be shocking if Buffalo moved him down the offensive line spectrum and went after a new left tackle. Dawkins' numbers also suffered by virtue of playing in front of Allen, who wasn't an easy quarterback in terms of pass protection. If Dawkins does show more of the form we saw in 2017, though, the Bills will have an answer at one of the league's most important -- and expensive -- positions.

Oakland Raiders

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 10.6%

A pass-rusher. Any pass-rusher. Khalil Mack is a sunk cost. He's gone and not coming back. The Raiders don't need a pass-rusher to help justify trading away Mack; they need one to keep their defense afloat. Oakland recorded sacks on just 2.6% of opposing dropbacks and pressures on 22.8% of those plays last season, both of which ranked last in the NFL. Asking the Raiders to come up with the next Mack is setting the bar unrealistically high. If they can find a defender who can approach eight sacks or 20 quarterback hits, that would be a victory.

The most obvious candidate on the roster could be fourth overall pick Clelin Ferrell, who is expected to start at defensive end. Ferrell is a promising two-way player, but I might lean toward 2018 third-rounder Arden Key, who racked up 11 knockdowns as a rookie. The added depth after signing Ferrell could push Key into more of a situational role, and while that might reduce his week-to-week snap count, it should keep the LSU product fresher when he does get to go after the quarterback.

Development in the secondary. The Raiders have four highly drafted players who could figure into their future at defensive back, including three first-rounders in cornerback Gareon Conley (2017) and safeties Karl Joseph (2016) and Johnathan Abram (2019). Rookie second-round cornerback Trayvon Mullen is the fourth.

Daryl Worley and free-agent import Lamarcus Joyner, who appears likely to move from his free safety role with the Rams back into the slot as a cornerback, will get reps. The Raiders will otherwise want their four young defensive backs to grow into meaningful roles. The most important of the four is Conley, who went through a wasted rookie season and was benched early in 2018 before improving during the second half of the season. His coming-out game, ironically, was an excellent performance against now-teammate Antonio Brown.

If Conley continues to blossom and develops into a No. 1 corner, Jon Gruden & Co. will be delighted. Anything they can get out of Joseph in the final year of his rookie deal might be a bonus, but Oakland will hope that Abram can turn into its version of Landon Collins.

Kolton Miller locking down the left tackle spot. When the Raiders signed Trent Brown to a four-year, $66 million deal this offseason, it seemed likely they would be installing the 6-foot-8 behemoth at left tackle. Given that left tackles make far more on average than right tackles and how Brown had impressed during his debut season at left tackle in 2018 with the Patriots, the tea leaves pointed toward Brown taking over Derek Carr's blind side and Miller moving to right tackle.

Instead, the Raiders have decided to opt for stability. They've kept Miller at left tackle after an uneven rookie season and will move Brown back to the right side, where he played the first three seasons of his career with the 49ers. Stats LLC suggests that Miller allowed a staggering 13 sacks last season, but he has the frame to play on the left side at 6-foot-8, and moving him to right tackle would force him to rebuild his footwork anew. It's too early to give up on Miller as a left tackle, and I can't fault the Raiders for keeping things the way they were in what's likely to be a trying season. If he doesn't improve in Year 2, though, the Raiders will have to give serious thought to swapping their tackles in 2020.

Washington

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 9.9%

Building an effective infrastructure around Dwayne Haskins. It's an inevitability that Washington will eventually turn things over to its first-round quarterback. While the presence of Colt McCoy might have put a second temporary roadblock alongside Case Keenum ahead of Haskins, it's unclear whether McCoy will even be healthy enough to play this season as he recovers from several surgeries on his fibula. It would be a surprise if Haskins isn't the starter by Oct. 1 and a shock if the former Ohio State star is still on the bench come Halloween.

If we assume Washington doesn't have the horses to compete for a playoff spot this season, the next-best thing would be the team developing some sustainability around Haskins as it works toward 2020 and beyond. Finding a reliable wide receiver would be a start, though getting much out of Josh Doctson or Paul Richardson would be a surprise given their past performance. If rookie third-rounder Terry McLaurin or slot receiver Trey Quinn impresses, it would be a pleasant surprise for Jay Gruden's offense.

Naturally, figuring out the left tackle conundrum would also help solidify things for Haskins. Trent Williams continues to hold out over what has alternately been described as financial and medical concerns, and while the organization has publicly suggested it has no intention of trading the star left tackle, there has been no sign of him softening his stance on not returning to the team. Whether the organization simply waits out Williams or hands him a new deal to return, this is a much better offense with the seven-time Pro Bowler in the fold.

If Washington does decide to trade him, I wonder if it would consider moving star guard Brandon Scherff back to left tackle, where the Iowa star excelled in 2014 while winning the Outland Trophy. The current short-term solution at left tackle appears to be Donald Penn, as the organization doesn't want to push former Giants disappointment Ereck Flowers from his new role at guard back to tackle. A pending free agent, Scherff is probably best at guard at this level, but Washington might want to get creative in the long term to put its best player at the most important position on the line.

New York Giants

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 9.9%

Get ownership away from the quarterback position. One of the reasons the Giants have become a laughingstock over the past two seasons is how ownership has meddled publicly and privately in the team's quarterback decision-making. Owner John Mara insisted that the Giants weren't tanking when they benched Eli Manning for Geno Smith in 2017, only for ownership to see the fan base's visceral reaction to the Manning move and reverse it the following week, firing coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese in the process.

Now, with the Giants drafting Daniel Jones in the top 10, Mara is back in the news by publicly suggesting how Manning would start all 16 games "in a perfect world" for the Giants in 2019. Coach Pat Shurmur then publicly agreed with Mara in a news conference.

Here are two things I know. One is that organizations say they're going to sit their rookie quarterbacks for as long as possible before the season, only to invariably stick them into the lineup at the first sign of their veteran incumbent slipping. The other is that nothing good ever comes from ownership getting involved in personnel decisions for nostalgia's sake. If Shurmur wants to sit Jones all season and play Manning for 16 games, that should be his decision without any interference or public quotes from Mara.

Find a pass-rusher. While general manager Dave Gettleman has attempted to rebuild the Giants around the sort of running game and physicality the team enjoyed during the Bill Parcells era, he has curiously neglected to find the sorts of pass-rushers the Giants have been built around for decades. Gettleman used Olivier Vernon as a trade chip to acquire another offensive lineman this offseason in Cleveland's Kevin Zeitler, and while the Giants used a first-round pick on nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, their other key moves to address the edge were signing former Cardinals standout Markus Golden and using a third-round pick on Oshane Ximines.

Golden has the best pedigree of the three, given that the former second-rounder racked up 12.5 sacks in his sophomore campaign with the Cardinals, but injuries limited him to 2.5 sacks over the ensuing 15 games. He is signed to only a one-year deal, so New York probably would prefer 2018 third-round pick Lorenzo Carter to make the leap after generating four sacks and 10 knockdowns as a rookie, given that the Giants have him under contract through 2021. They need one of these guys to break through before making a bigger addition at the position (Jadeveon Clowney?) next offseason.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 9.1%

Come to a conclusion on Jameis Winston. With a coach who turns 67 in October, the Bucs can't afford to let the Winston saga leak into 2020 without making a long-term decision. Tampa obviously hopes that its former first overall pick rounds into form and delivers a full season of the promise he has shown in bursts over the past few years, but it would be better for Winston to crater and the Bucs to subsequently pursue a new path at quarterback in 2020 than it would be for Winston to play just well enough to justify a franchise tag or prove-it deal.

Discover at least one (and preferably two) starters at cornerback. Like the Raiders, Tampa is loaded with high draft picks in the secondary. In addition to 2016 first-rounder Vernon Hargreaves, the Bucs can call on 2018 second-rounders Carlton Davis and M.J. Stewart, 2019 second-rounder Sean Murphy-Bunting and 2019 third-rounder Jamel Dean. All five will make the roster, but can the Bucs finally find some building blocks in an oft-leaky secondary?

Even given the receiver depth in the NFC South, Tampa wouldn't have invested quite as much as it has at cornerback if Hargreaves had lived up to expectations as the 11th overall pick. Coaches and teammates have raved about the former Florida standout in camp, with our Jenna Laine naming Hargreaves as Tampa's camp MVP. If Hargreaves delivers on his potential, the Bucs would still have him under contract for 2020 on a fifth-year option at just under $10 million.

Davis and Stewart appear likely to start alongside Hargreaves, but given what we know about Todd Bowles' preferred style of defense, it's likely that we'll see the Bucs rotate plenty of defensive backs through the lineup as both cover men and blitzers. Every Bucs defensive back seems to be raving about how the new, aggressive scheme fits them in a way that the zone scheme preferred by Mike Smith did not, but that's par for the course in a training camp with a new defensive coordinator. We won't know whether the shoe actually fits until we see Davis & Co. on the field in the new season.

Find a plan at running back. Tampa has been rumored as a possible destination for plenty of free-agent backs over each of the past two offseasons, but the only veteran runner the Bucs have imported since then is Andre Ellington, Bruce Arians' former charge in Arizona. Peyton Barber retained the job by default last season when second-round pick Ronald Jones lost the coaching staff's confidence and struggled to stay healthy. The Bucs have generally kept Jones out of the lineup so far this preseason, which might be a positive sign pending what happens in their third practice game.

While the Bucs have given reps to Dare Ogunbowale this preseason, it's likely that their 2020 starter at running back is either Jones or a back not currently on the roster. They should be one of the more aggressive teams in the league when teams make cuts at running back this offseason, although they also shouldn't be in position to devote serious draft capital to acquiring a back. They should be giving serious consideration to pursuing backs like LeSean McCoy, Jerick McKinnon and Corey Clement if they're cut by their current teams.

Get through one season with competent kicking. This might be too much to ask.

Cincinnati Bengals

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 7.9%

Develop a third pass-rusher behind Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins. With the jewels of Cincinnati's 2010 class now on the wrong side of 30, the Bengals have to start preparing for a future without their two star defensive linemen. Atkins and Dunlap combined for 18 sacks and 40 quarterback knockdowns last season, and the only other Bengals player to top 2.5 sacks was Sam Hubbard, who managed six on just nine knockdowns. Defensive linemen typically turn about 45% of their knockdowns into sacks, so it's unlikely that he will be able to keep that ratio going in 2019.

Hubbard is promising and still the most likely candidate to step up into the 15-knockdown range this season, but the Bengals have another option in line with Carl Lawson, who had 8.5 sacks and 21 knockdowns as a rookie in 2017 before going down with a torn ACL a year ago. If the Bengals can get continued growth from Hubbard and a return to form from Lawson, they'll be blessed with one of the deeper pass-rush rotations in the AFC.

Find a young guard. The best-laid plans for the Cincinnati offensive line went down in tatters this offseason when longtime starting guard Clint Boling retired and first-round pick Jonah Williams underwent season-ending surgery on his labrum. Backup guard Christian Westerman, who was one of the options in line to replace Boling, also appears to be retiring. Cordy Glenn, who moved back to left tackle after Williams went down, is out with a concussion. This is all before the season has even begun.

The 2020 line is going to include Williams at left tackle and 2018 first-rounder Billy Price at center. That's settled. The Bengals signed guard John Miller and tackle Bobby Hart to three-year deals this offseason, but neither deal would preclude Cincy from moving on after 2019. Trey Hopkins, who has served as a utility lineman for the team, is on a one-year deal.

The Bengals are likely to start Miller and former Giants lineman John Jerry on the interior to start the season, but the player who could figure into the lineup by the end of the year is rookie fourth-round pick Michael Jordan. As the first true freshman to start regularly at Ohio State since Orlando Pace, Jordan has been on NFL radars for a while, but the 6-foot-6 lineman still needs some refinement. If the Bengals can help mold Jordan into a viable starter by the end of the season, it would allow them to focus their efforts elsewhere next season.

Come to a conclusion on Andy Dalton. The Bengals finally made up their mind and moved on from longtime coach Marvin Lewis this offseason after 16 years of moderate accomplishment. Dalton will be entering only his ninth season as Cincinnati's starting quarterback, but the TCU product has been slightly above or below league-average in seven of his eight completed campaigns, with one down-ballot MVP season in 2015 as the exception.

That was a season in which Dalton had arguably the best offensive line in football and a deep, healthy group of receivers, and given that the Bengals are already down Williams and will likely start the season without A.J. Green, he won't have that same sort of support in 2019. It might seem unfair to slate Dalton for how he might struggle without his starting left tackle or his top wide receiver, but we have yet to see him transcend his teammates for any stretch of time. It would have been tough to move on from Dalton when the Bengals were producing winning seasons, but after starting 50-26 through that 2015 campaign, he has gone 18-24-1 as a starter over the past three seasons.

He has two years and $33 million left on the extension he signed in August of 2014. There's no reason the Bengals should enter 2020 with Dalton as their lame-duck option at quarterback. If Dalton proceeds to piece together another 2015 season, the team should extend his contract. If the 31-year-old delivers another adequate campaign, it should be time to move on, either in free agency or through the draft.

Miami Dolphins

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 4.8%

Signs of life from Josh Rosen and his pass protection. The Dolphins were smart to take a flier on the 2018 first-round pick after the Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray No. 1 overall in April, but the same issues that haunted Rosen in Arizona are likely to follow him. Rosen played behind a disastrously bad offensive line, with the Cardinals down to street free agents and practice-squad guys by the end of the season. The Dolphins have one standout in left tackle Laremy Tunsil, but they might have the worst line in the league between left guard and right tackle.

If Rosen can overcome the line woes and exhibit consistent positive traits under new offensive coordinator Chad O'Shea, the Dolphins will have acquired a player they can build around for a fraction of his typical value. That would be a huge victory. It would also be a positive if the Dolphins manage to pass protect for the duo of Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick. They could start a pair of rookie guards in third-round pick Michael Deiter and undrafted free agent Shaq Calhoun; it's on new offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo to help mold them into building blocks.

Find a pass-rusher. The Dolphins are rebuilding throughout their roster, but no position has been wiped clean like defensive end. Miami moved on this offseason from Andre Branch, William Hayes, Robert Quinn and franchise legend Cameron Wake, and while those were all reasonable decisions for a team looking toward the future, the cupboard is now thin on the edge.

The obvious hope is to get more out of 2017 first-round pick Charles Harris, who will see his role grow after playing as a reserve in each of his first two campaigns. The Missouri product has just three sacks across 847 snaps, but his 17 quarterback knockdowns over that time frame suggest he might be more productive than that sack total. After that, the next guys up are a pair of former disappointing second-rounders in Tank Carradine and Nate Orchard. Rookie first-round pick Christian Wilkins will help from the interior, but unless Harris takes a star turn, the Dolphins will likely be in the market for pass-rushing help next offseason.

Arizona Cardinals

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 4.2%

Proof the Air Raid works. The uniqueness of Kliff Kingsbury's offensive scheme is overstated in a league in which teams like the Chiefs, Patriots and Rams have been integrating Air Raid concepts for years. Nothing Kingsbury is going to run this season is something that will blow the minds of opposing defenders, especially given that so many of them have come through the high school and college ranks against Air Raid offenses. He will have the smallest playbook in the league, though, likely by a considerable margin.

Where the Cardinals can stand out is in their execution of those concepts and their ability to control games with tempo. The original concept underpinning the Air Raid was to beat teams with superior athletes and deeper playbooks by executing a thinner, faster scheme to perfection. If Kingsbury can continue to do that with his offense at the highest possible level, Arizona will be in great shape moving forward.

A successful season from Byron Murphy. Arizona's cornerback depth chart for the first six weeks of the season is in horrific shape. Patrick Peterson is suspended. Robert Alford, a mess with the Falcons in 2018, was signed to an inexplicable three-year, $22.5 million deal by the Cardinals, and now the 30-year-old will miss much of the year with a broken leg.

The cornerback depth chart consists of journeyman Tramaine Brock, special-teamer Brandon Williams, several undrafted free agents and Murphy, the 33rd pick in April's draft. Murphy was regarded during the draft process as a player who could step in quickly, but rookie cornerbacks -- even the ones who eventually turn into stars -- often struggle during their debut campaigns.

It's asking a lot of him to step in and immediately serve as Arizona's top cornerback, especially given that the Cardinals might have realistically expected to start the season with Peterson and Alford on the outside while starting Murphy off in the slot. If he can turn into the No. 2 corner Arizona has long sought across from Peterson and do so by the end of the season, it would be a revelation.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Kemba Walker scored 23 points and Myles Turner added 15 to give Team USA a 102-86 win over Australia on Thursday in a World Cup warm-up game.

The attendance at Marvel Stadium, which normally hosts soccer, cricket and Australian rules football, was 51,218, billed as the largest crowd ever to watch a basketball game in Australia. The stadium was transformed into a makeshift basketball arena for two games against the Americans before the World Cup starts this month in China.

After Australia briefly took the lead at 45-44 early in the second half, the Americans scored 13 unanswered points, including three straight 3-pointers by Turner, Harrison Barnes and Donovan Mitchell, to go up 57-45.

"The way we bounced back in the second half shows the character of this team,'' Mitchell said. "We played in front of 55,000 people -- there's going to be nerves, guys are going to be geeked up and ready to go. But once we settled down and started playing our basketball, we were in good shape.''

Patty Mills and Chris Goulding each scored 19 points for Australia.

Walker was one the keys for the second-half resurgence for the Americans, scoring 21 of his 23 points after halftime.

"I'm one of the leaders of this team, so it's important for me to set that tone,'' the Celtics guard said.

The roof of Marvel Stadium was closed for the game and a raised basketball court was dropped in the middle of the field, surrounded by hundreds of white chairs, more than 20 rows deep, for fans who paid for floor seating.

"Everyone came out tonight,'' Mills said. "Fans being able to show their full support, it's really cool, really good to see and hopefully we keep this up for years to come.''

Despite the huge crowd, Australian media reported that some fans were issued refunds because they bought tickets based on promotional materials depicting Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Neither is on the team.

Australia was also without its biggest star, Ben Simmons, who has opted not to play in the World Cup. Still, the Boomers' starting lineup included four NBA players: Mills, Aron Baynes, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova.

Both teams needed time to adapt to the unusual conditions in the cavernous stadium. Walker tossed up an air ball with the first shot of the game, while Baynes missed his first two free throws for the Boomers.

The crowd was subdued as well, producing only a smattering of applause for American baskets. However, cheers erupted when the Boomers erased the U.S. lead before halftime on back-to-back 3-pointers by Goulding and six straight points by Mills.

The win was the 78th in a row in major international exhibitions and competition for the U.S. national team, a streak that started with the bronze-medal game of the 2006 world championships. It encompasses gold-medal runs at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016, and the FIBA Americas tournament in 2007.

It also made the U.S. 2-0 under coach Gregg Popovich, after last weekend's exhibition win in California over Spain.

TIP-INS

Boston's Marcus Smart, who is still working his way back from a calf injury that popped up about two weeks ago during training camp in Las Vegas, did not play. San Antonio's Derrick White also didn't play for the U.S. until the final minutes. ... It was the first meeting between the national teams since the Americans won 98-88 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics on their way to a gold medal.

Australia: Actor Russell Crowe, who spends most of his time living in Australia, was part of the massive crowd. ... In a sight that NBA fans are used to, Dellavedova dived on the floor for loose balls three times in the game's first three minutes, including on the opening tap. ... Mills gave Popovich, his longtime coach in San Antonio, a massive hug courtside just before the game started.

INJURY SCARE

Jayson Tatum got knocked over by a defender in the third quarter and tumbled backward somewhat awkwardly, the back of his head falling into Walker's knee. Tatum was shaken up briefly but remained in the game.

UP NEXT

The teams meet again in Melbourne on Saturday.