🏈 The NFL is past the halfway point, plus big time NCAAF playoff implications and more.

Good Morning, Blitzers!

I am writing this from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The sun went down at 4:45 Eastern Standard Time. The long, dark of winter is upon us, so let this newsletter be the light! Another action packed weekend of sports is in the books. Let’s get after it!

WTF Stat: Just try wrapping your mind around this stat. Take your time. It’s a lot.

🏈 The hits keep coming for the Cowboys, in addition to losing the game, according to ESPN, both Dak Prescott (hamstring) and CeeDee Lamb (shoulder) are scheduled to get MRIs and may miss time.

🏀 Rejoice 76ers fans! Although Joel Embiid is less than enthused about your current rancor, according to Shams Charania, Paul George is scheduled to make his Sixer debut tonight against the Suns.

🏈 Rams WR Puka Nacua seems like a pretty chill dude, but he lost his cool and threw a “punch” in the LA win over Seattle earning him an ejection from the contest. No word yet about a potential suspension for Nacua, who has already missed time due to a knee injury.

NFL Week 8

What You Missed

→ Stafford stays clutch - Geno and the Seahawks forced OT and got the ball, but the Rams defense stuffed Kenneth Walker on 4th down giving the ball back to LA. That’s all Matthew Stafford needed. The veteran stormed down the field culminating with an amazing touchdown catch by Demarcus Robinson (above).

→ Saquon Barkley is not human - The Eagles running back executed a BACKWARDS HURDLE. You read that correctly. Barkley had his back to his opponent after a spin move and jumped over him. The Eagles did all they could to lose the game, but picked up the win over Jacksonville.

→ The Ravens remembered how to play football - After a shocking loss to Cleveland, the Ravens beat down the Broncos at home. Lamar Jackson had a perfect passer rating going 16/19 for 280 yards and 3 TDs. Derrick Henry eclipsed the 10 rushing TD and 1,000 yard marks for the season. And Denver thought they were trending up.

→ Allen, Bills continue to find ways to win - The Dolphins gave the AFC East leading Bills all they could handle, but man, Buffalo just wins games. At this rate, they’ll probably clinch the division in the beginning of December. Meanwhile, full panic mode for Miami.

What We Learned

→ Hard decisions ahead in Big D - The Cowboys lost for the third week in a row. Now granted, the three losses are to the Lions, Niners and Falcons, but when Super Bowl is the standard and with the Eagles, Texans, and Commanders coming up, Mike McCarthy’s seat is getting hot indeed. Oh yeah, Dak and CeeDee left the game with injuries. Tell ‘em Scoob.

→ No fun in NOLA - The Saints started the season looking like a surprise team and then followed that up with five straight losses. Derek Carr came back from injury just in time to lose to the Panthers in historic fashion. Dennis Allen is now 18-25 as head coach after taking over for Sean Payton. Sing it with me. Oh when the owner, comes marching in, oh when the owner comes marching in.

→ Well that was fun for a week - The Jameis Winston led Browns had great vibes after last week and you know who loves to ruin someone’s great vibes? Jim Harbaugh because who’s got it better than him? NO ONE. The Chargers forced three turnovers and sacked Jameis six times to pick up their 5th win of the season.

→ Flacco won’t solve the Colts’ woes - Brian Flores had Joe Flacco in fits. Three sacks, two turnovers, and seven hits. The Colts did not take a snap inside the 20-yard line. Sam Darnold wasn’t much better, but thankfully for him he has Justin Jefferson and a defense to back him up. The Vikings are back on the winning track after losing two in a row.

Surprises

→ Cardinals BEARly break a sweat - See what I did there? The Arizona Cardinals stomped the Bears at home despite Kyler Murray not showing up to play (needed to save his strength for COD). The Cardinal defense led the way with six sacks and only allowing 286 yards. Caleb Williams is in a bit of a slump, no TDs, a sub-50 completion percentage and just 174 yards passing per game against bottom-half defenses.

Standouts

→ Joey B rips-apart the Raiders - What if I told you that Joe Burrow threw for five touchdown passes and none of them were to Ja’Marr Chase? Would you believe me? Well, it happened. Mike Gesicki had himself a day with 100 yards receiving and two TDs. It’s Burrow’s second five touchdown game of the season and the Bengals are still inching their way back to .500.

→ Lions bring the pain in the rain - Detroit’s defense stifled the Packers in Lambeau highlighted by the above pick-6. More importantly, the stifling happened in the red zone. The Packers were only 1-4 on scoring opportunities inside the 20. The Lions have the best record in the NFC and have three straight games against the AFC South coming up.

🏈 Tonight

The Bucs @ Chiefs @ 8:15 EST on ABC.

College Football Roundup

The Shockers - This weekend was crazy

South Carolina 44 - #10 Texas A&M 20: Welp, Aggie fans, your time on top of the SEC was short lived. The Gamecocks have been knocking on the door of an upset all season long and it finally came to fruition in Columbia on Saturday. I think everyone in America thought that when A&M tied the game up before halftime, the Aggies would escape and then USC scored 24 unanswered points in the 2nd half. A signature win for Shane Beamer that likely saved his job for another season.

Texas Tech 23 - #11 Iowa State 22: Down goes another undefeated! Tahj Brooks scampered into the end zone with just 20 seconds left and the late-game luck ran out for the Cyclones. This leaves BYU as the lone undefeated in the Big 12 (who saw that one coming?) and a potential massive log jam for 2nd place. Chaos will ensue.

Louisville 33 - #11 Clemson 21: The Tigers have been cruuuuuising after losing to Georgia until Louisville brought them crashing back to earth in Death Valley. Clemson just couldn’t get anything going against the Cardinals until the hole was too deep to dig out of. Huge win for Louisville to stay relevant in the ACC race. Now Clemson needs help or could find themselves on the outside looking in at the ACC championship and the playoff.

Statement Games

#4 Ohio State 20 - #3 Penn State 13: The Buckeyes overcame Will Howard throwing a pick-6 and losing a fumble through the end zone to defeat undefeated Penn State on the road. PSU’s lack of offensive spark finally cost them a win in a huge moment.

#5 Miami 53 - Duke 31: Down at halftime against an upset-minded opponent, Cam Ward went to work. The Miami QB threw for 400 yards and five TDs, three of which coming in the second half when the Hurricanes blew the doors of the Dukies.

#13 Indiana 47 - Michigan State 10: The upset bug was in the air and Sparty launched out to a 10-0 1st quarter lead. The only time IU has seen a double-digit deficit all season long (we live in a simulation). The Hoosiers took that personally in the form of 47 unanswered points and secured the first 9-0 start in program history.

#20 SMU 48 - #18 Pitt 25: Pitt had a chance to prove that being undefeated wasn’t a fluke and then went into Dallas and got smoked by ACC newcomer SMU. The Mustangs are undefeated in ACC play and have a golden opportunity to face-off against Miami in the title game with just BC, at Virginia, and Cal left on the schedule.

#19 Ole Miss 63 - Arkansas 31: Just in case you forgot…Ole Miss is explosive. Jaxson Dart threw for over 500 yards and 6 TDs (both school records), 5 of those touchdowns were to Jordan Watkins. After stumbling against LSU and Kentucky, the Rebels have a chance to make some real noise next week when they host Georgia.

#1 Oregon 38 - Michigan 17: The Ducks went into Ann Arbor and asserted their dominance over the Wolverines maintaining the number one spot in the Big 10 and the country. Oregon has passed every test so far with flying colors and barring a meltdown in the final three regular season games will waltz comfortably into the Big Ten title game.

That Was Embarrassing

Houston 24 - #17 Kansas State 19: Kansas State was positioned to be a contender for the Big 12 title game…not anymore. The Wildcats could only manage 3 points in the second half and gave up 14 4th quarter points to a 3-win Houston team. Ouch.

Video Game Stats

QB Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss): 25/31, 515 yds, 6 TD, 10 car, 47 yds

WR Jordan Watkins (Ole Miss): 8 rec, 254 yds, 5 TD

WR Eric Rivers (FIU): 11 rec, 295 yds, 3 TD

RB Trey Stewart (Jax. St): 27 car, 232 yds, 4 TD

QB Cam Ward (Miami): 25/41, 400 yds, 5 TD, INT

WR Xavier Restrepo (Miami): 8 rec, 146 yds, 3 TD

RB Jovantae Barnes (Oklahoma): 18 car, 203 yds, 3 TD

QB Jalen Kitna (UAB): 25/32, 404 yds, 6 TD

RB Omarion Hampton (UNC): 32 car, 172 yds, 4 TD

RB Cam Skattebo (AZ St): 23 car, 153 yds, TD, 4 rec, 121 yds, 2 TD

RB RJ Harvey (UCF): 22 car, 184 yds, 3 TD

QB Devon Dampier (NM): 16/31, 164 yds, TD, INT, 12 car, 207 yds, 3 TD

RB Bryson Washington (Baylor): 26 car, 196 yds, 4 TD

Top Ten Power Rankings

*Note this isn’t an AP Top 25, this is who I think are the best ten teams after this week. Come at me.

1. Texas - Idle

2. Oregon - W vs. Michigan, 38-17

3. Ohio State - W vs. PSU, 20-13

4. Georgia - W vs. UF, 34-20

5. Miami - W vs. Duke, 53-31

6. Tennessee - W vs. Kentucky, 28-18

7. Alabama - Idle

8. Notre Dame - Idle

9. Ole Miss - W vs. Ark, 63-31

10. Penn State - L vs. OSU, 13-20

Knocking on the Door: Indiana, BYU, SMU

Premier League Recap

Chuffed

1. Bournemouth - Snapped Manchester City’s 32-match unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win on Saturday.

2. Nottingham Forest - The surprise of the Premiership so far, Forest trounced West Ham, 3-0 at home to move into 3rd place in the EPL.

3. Liverpool - Thanks to Bournemouth and a 2-1 win over Brighton, the Reds find themselves two points clear at the top of the table.

Gutted

1. Aston Villa - Started strong this season, but has hit a bit of a rough patch including this weekend’s 4-1 loss to Tottenham

2. Arsenal - Lost 1-0 to a Newcastle team which hadn’t tasted victory since September 15th.

3. Ipswich Town - The new kids on the block are still in search of their first EPL win of the year after giving up a 94th minute goal to Leicester, settling for a draw.

The Mint Matches of the Week

Saturday, November 9th

Brighton v. Man City - 12:30 PM EST

Liverpool v. Aston Villa - 3:00 PM EST

Sunday, November 10th

Nottingham Forest v. Newcastle - 9:00 AM EST

Chelsea v. Arsenal - 11:30 AM EST

Top NBA Games

Mavericks 108 - Magic 85: The Magic had no answer for Luka Doncic, who scored a game-high 32 points with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Orlando is a three-game skid after losing Banchero to an ankle injury.

Pistons 106 - Nets 92: Detroit had six players score in double-figures in the dismantling of the Brooklyn Nets. Jalen Duren reeled in 17 rebounds, while Cade Cunningham led the team in scoring with 19. Cam Johnson was the lone bright spot for the Nets, scoring a game-high 26.

Hawks 126 - Pelicans 111: The Hawks took advantage of no Zion Williamson and outscored the short-handed Pelicans 68-52 in the 2nd half. Jalen Johnson almost notched a triple-double with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Top NHL Games

Wild 2 - Maple Leafs 1: First of all, those sweaters are siiiiiiiiilky. Can’t lose when you look that good. Matt Boldy lit the lamp in overtime to give the Wild the win. Minnesota is red hot to start the year.

Rangers 5 - Islanders 2: In the battle of the New Yorks, the Rangers reigned supreme. Artemi Panarin scored two goals to lead the way.

Jets 7 - Lightning 4: Speaking of red hot teams, the Jets have scored 6 or more goals in three straight games. Tonight they got seven goals from seven different goal scorers and currently have the best record in the NHL.

Click for more NHL Scores and Standings

On this day in 1987, the NBA announced a four team expansion including the Charlotte Hornets (whew dodged a bullet on the Spirit huh?), Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Heat are the only team to win an NBA championship of the four.

Trivia Time Answer

Who is the active leader in rebounds for their career?

C) LeBron James - Because of course he is. The King has nabbed 13,808 rebounds in his career, which is good for 20th all-time. He’s also 4th for all-time rebounds in the playoffs. DeAndre Jordan is second, a good 2,000 boards behind LeBron.