⚾️ Baseball Clinches, WNBA Playoff Sweeps + A Message for NFL GMs

Blitzers,

Happy hump day! Can you believe we’re halfway through the week? Lots of sports drama this week with MLB playoffs races coming to a close, WNBA playoffs, and only one day away from another NFL game. Let’s go!

WTF Stat: Can you believe what the Detroit Tigers are doing right now? If you missed it, their chances of making the playoffs went from virtually impossible to now probable:

🏀 Sabrina Ionescu scored a franchise-playoff-record 36 points, leading the New York Liberty to a 91-82 victory over the Atlanta Dream, completing a series sweep and advancing to the WNBA semifinals.

Elsewhere, The Las Vegas Aces defeated the Seattle Storm 83-76, completing a sweep in their WNBA playoff series and securing their sixth consecutive semifinal appearance. A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum led the team with 24 and 29 points, respectively. The Aces will face the top-seeded New York in a rematch of the 2023 Finals, aiming for their third consecutive title.

• 🔥 Take: Well, no surprises as the #1 and #4 seeded teams advanced. Hoping for some closer games in the semifinals (which are best-of-five series). Tonight the Fever take on the Sun on ESPN at 7:30 EST, followed by the Lynx vs. Mercury @ 9:30 EST.

🏈 CeeDee Lamb expressed regret over his performance and attitude during the Dallas Cowboys' Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, where he lost a fumble and dropped a pass. He admitted that his sideline behavior, including a spat with quarterback Dak Prescott, was not helpful and acknowledged he played a significant role in the defeat.

• 🔥 Take: Is it bad that I’m so used to WRs creating drama at this point that this didn’t even register as an issue for me? I remember briefly seeing this on Sunday, but didn’t think anything of it. After watching the Receiver documentary on Netflix, you realize to be an elite WR/TE in the NFL you have to be not only be incredibly athletic/hard working, but also a little bit crazy. The sideline 'argument' was pretty innocuous, and Lamb getting out in front of it by apologizing was a nice gesture. With that being said I’ll be taking the over on Lamb receiving yards next week, squeaky wheel gets the grease.

🏈 After QB Jayden Daniels impressive win on MNF, coach Dan Quinn gushed about his QB, "I don't want to compare him to anybody… I can't wait to see who he's becoming. He had a remarkable game, and I was really, really proud of him." He also added, "I definitely understand our fan base has been waiting for the franchise QB, but I also don't want Jayden feeling any ghosts," Quinn said, "making sure he understands there's only one name on the back of that jersey and that's for him."

• 🔥 Take: In other words, ‘no pressure on Jayden, but our fans have been waiting for a franchise QB for a long, long time. It’s really all up to you. Just a reminder, in case you forgot, many past Washington QBs have failed horribly. There are literally going to be ghosts haunting you in the stadium. So, whatever you do don’t worry about being the franchise savior or about the others that have failed before you.’ This is 3 games into his rookie season, mind you. Good pep talk!

Free Forum Wednesdays

Free Forum Wednesdays continue - we'll be writing a bit more outside-the-box, fun sports content, hope you enjoy it!

Today’s Topic: Fixing NFL Roster Building

This rant has been simmering beneath the surface for nearly a decade as I've watched the quality of play in the NFL plummet. Do I blame the refs? No. Do I blame Goodell? No. I blame spineless GMs and owners who bend to every whim of the masses. The purveyors of false hope. The need to sell jerseys and billboards at the expense of good roster sense. 

When are we, as a football society, going to realize that a top 10 quarterback isn't a franchise savior? This isn't the NBA. Football is the ultimate team game, which is why it is the greatest game in the United States. We are seeing example after example of highly drafted quarterbacks who are thrust into early action that fail. That draft day shine turns drab by Week 2 of the season. If you have a bad team, a quarterback is not the answer. 

The problem is that we do see some success of rookie QBs, like CJ Stroud and Jayden Daniels (so far), which will encourage bad teams to continue this insane trend. It’s like getting a 16 in blackjack and hitting. You're far more likely to bust than to find that 5. It’s rare for a QB to come in right away and succeed.

26 years later, teams are still chasing picking their own special Peyton Manning resulting in a deterioration of QB play and viewer enjoyment. Teams need to start realizing there are two primary factors to QB success: 

1. Supporting Cast (offense and defense)

2. Time

The most stark example we are seeing this season is the Red Rifle Andy Dalton. In the first two weeks of the season, Carolina looked hopeless with their 2nd year savior, and former first overall pick, QB Bryce Young. Then they sub in an experienced QB and all of a sudden they're more than competitive. 

What are we doing? College offenses are not running anything that is run in the NFL, which means there is a built in learning curve that wasn't there in the past. The NFL has decreased the amount of high-impact practice time (this deserves a true case study on its own), which means these QBs have less time to get acclimated to the speed of the NFL. Why are we expecting these kids to put the success of an NFL franchise on their shoulders? It's beyond stupid. 

What's the solution? Don't listen to the chorus of public opinion. Draft lineman. Draft defense. Have the backbone to let these guys sit for a while. When you are absolutely convinced that the team is rock solid, then and only then can you take a shot on a high value college quarterback. Otherwise, you're actively participating in the ruin of promising young athletes and for that, you should be ashamed.

My message to NFL owners and GMs: swallow your pride, sign Gardner Minshew (a pro-bowler…), sign Sam Darnold, sign Joe Flacco, and stay on that 16, maybe next year you'll get a hand you're actually ready to hit on. 

Have something you want to sound off on? Shoot us an email at [email protected] with your thoughts!

• Braves 4, Mets 1: The Braves take game one of the huge series between these two rivals, and now are only 1 game out of the Wild Card race with Chris Sale on the bump tomorrow. Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach did his best Sale impression going 7 innings allowing only 1 run as the Braves won this one with ease.

• Tigers 2, Rays 1: Tarik Skubal continues his dominant season going 7 innings, striking out 7 and only allowing 2 hits. He was fired up about it too. He is not someone I would want to face in the playoffs. The Tigers are now 12-3 over their last 15 games and now 2 games up on the Twins.

• Royals 1, Nationals 0: The Royals were surefire locks for the playoffs only a couple of weeks ago but now find themselves in a bit of trouble after losing the last 7 games, luckily they were able to pull this one out (thanks to a throwing error) and some strong pitching. They still hold a 2 game lead over the Twins, but they will finish the season off in Atlanta playing what may be a very motivated Braves team.

• Orioles 5, Yankees 3: Orioles clinched their second straight playoff berth, beating division foe in style. They used 7 pitchers, and squandered 7 hits, including Aaron Judge’s 56th home run.

• Astros 4, Mariners 3: The chances of the Mariners making the playoffs are becoming less and less probable as they are now 2.5 games back in the Wild Card. Jason Heyward is fitting right in at his new home with the Astros, as he blasted a 2-run HR in the win. Not as big of a story since they’re used to it at this point, but the Astros also clinched their 4th straight AL West title.

• Guardians 6, Reds 1: The Guardians clinch first-round bye with their 91st win on the season. Tanner Bibee pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball for his 12th win of the season.

• Padres 4, Dodgers 2: Padres clinch postseason berth in dramatic fashion, by turning a triple play in the 9th! Jake ‘Cronezone’ Cronenworth drove in 3 in the victory.

See the full MLB scoreboard here and the current standings here.

On this day in 1955 Detroit outfielder Al Kaline, 20, becomes the youngest batting champ. In his third year as a pro Kaline batted .340, hit 27 HRs, 107 RBI and had a .967 OPS. He finished second in the MVP race to Yogi Berra, who objectively had a much worse statistical year than Kaline (and Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle).

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

Jerry Rice holds the record for most receiving yards and receiving TDs for the 49ers, who has second most?

A. Terrell Owens - Rice holds the record with 19,247 yards receiving and 176 TDs with the 49ers. Owens was second with 8,572 yards and 81 TDs in his 8 years with San Francisco.

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's trivia question and more info!