🏈 College Football Playoff Set, Soto Signs, NFL Weekend Recap, and More!

Good Morning, Blitzers!

Hope you had a great weekend! There’s a lot to cover today, so let’s dive right in!

WTF Stat: Tua Tagovailoa has silenced the critics since returning from his concussion. Many had called for his retirement, but he’s proven them wrong (for now, at least – as long as he avoids another concussion…)

🏈 College Football bracket is set, SMU fills the final spot leaving Alabama, Miami and others out of the playoff. See more analysis below.

• First round (Dec. 20-21)

  • Friday, Dec. 20: No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN

  • Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State | 12 p.m. | TNT/MAX

  • Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas | 4 p.m. | TNT/MAX

  • Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN

⚾️ A few big baseball deals went down over the weekend, with the biggest name signing last night:

Juan Soto has agreed to a historic 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, the largest deal in professional sports history. The deal, which includes no deferred money and can escalate above $800 million with performance incentives, surpasses previous sports contracts. Soto, a four-time All-Star and World Series champion, had an outstanding 2024 season with the Yankees, hitting a career-high 41 home runs, Soto is only 26-years-old.

Willy Adames has agreed to a seven-year, $182 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, marking the largest deal in the franchise's history. The 29-year-old shortstop, who had a standout 2024 season setting career highs with 32 home runs, 112 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases.

Tyler O'Neill has signed a three-year, $49.5 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles, filling the gap left by free agent Anthony Santander. O'Neill, 29, had a strong bounce-back season with the Boston Red Sox, hitting .241/.336/.511 with 31 home runs and 61 RBIs.

🏀 Missouri defeated No. 1 Kansas 76-67, handing the Jayhawks their second consecutive loss. Tamar Bates led Missouri with 29 points and five steals, while Mark Mitchell added 17 points. Missouri built a strong 57-33 lead early in the second half, and although Kansas mounted a late comeback, Missouri held on for the win. This victory marked Missouri's first win over Kansas since 2012.

NFL Week 14

What You Missed

→ Rams statement win against the Bills - After a dominating game in the snow on Monday night, it seemed like no one was going to stop the Bills. The Rams had other plans as they put up 457 yards of offense and outlasted the Bills in a 44-42 shootout. The win puts the Rams at 7-6 and 2nd in the division behind the Seahawks (who are 8-5). QB Matthew Stafford (23/30, 320 yards, 2 TD) and WR Puka Nacua (12 receptions, 162 yards, 1 TD) were unstoppable in this one. Rams are getting hot at the right time. Tough one for the Bills who had to travel across country after a late MNF game. Their defense has been strong all year, and should bounce back after a let down game.

→ Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs win on last second field goal… again - This is not a copy and paste, although I should probably just do that moving forward and save some time. But Mahomes and company, trailing late in the 4th quarter, went on a 14-play, 4-minute drive that ended in a field goal. No surprises here as the Chiefs pull off another close win and seal the AFC West division. The only surprise is the field goal was almost missed, but it’s the Chiefs, so even when a field goal hits the uprights, it still goes in:

→ No revenge for QB Kirk Cousins against the Vikings -The Vikings move to 11-2 in their 42-21 stomping of the Falcons. Cousins had 322 yards passing in his return to Minnesota but he also threw two interceptions (could have been a lot more), and the Falcons just gave things away in the 4th quarter. The real story was QB Sam Darold (347 yards, 5 TDs, 0 Interceptions), WRs Jordan Addison (133 yards, 3 TDs) and Justin Jefferson (132 yards, 2 TD).

→ Eagles survive scare - Eagles were 14 point favorites at home against the Panthers, but this was not the blowout many projected. QB Bryce Young and the Panthers hung around all game, but did not have enough to finish their last drive (the drop shown above hurt), as the Eagles won 22-16, their 9th win in a row. RB Saquon Barkley had his typical MVP type game (20 carries 124 yards), and passed LeSean McCoy’s single season Eagle rushing record (1,607 yards). With four games remaining he’ll need to average ~95 yards a game to eclipse 2,000 yards.

→ Jets and Dolphins game was pretty entertaining - The Dolphins playoff hopes are still intact. The Dolphins were able to squeak out the win thanks to a 52-yard field goal to send them to overtime and a great TD drive to win it all 32-26. The Jets showed a lot of life for a team already eliminated from the playoffs. QB Aaron Rodgers passed for over 300 yards for the first time in nearly three years, while WRs Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams looked like their old selves. The back up RBs (with Breece Hall being out) looked solid as well. But it wasn’t enough to get them the W.

→ Couple of close ‘Draft Position’ games - I don’t think anyone watched the Jaguars beat the Titans 10-6 or the Saints beat the Giants 14-11, unless you had a lot of money on the games or are worried about the draft position for next year. Unfortunately, it looks like QB Derek Carr will be out for some time.

What We Learned

→ We won’t know how good the Buccaneers are until next week - The Bucs seem to play up or down to their competition each week. Although they were able to beat the Raiders 28-13, and are now 7-6 and in first place in the NFC South, it’s hard to trust them. The game against the Raiders was much closer than the final score indicates. They’re on a three game win streak but that has been against the Raiders, Panthers, and Giants… Not exactly top teams in the NFL. The only challenging game remaining on their schedule is next week at the Chargers. That will be the real test to see what we should expect for the Buccaneers in the playoffs.

→ Maybe the Bears are just bad - New coach same results. Bears got steamrolled by the 49ers 38-13. Caleb Williams was sacked 7 times, he leads the NFL with 56 sacks taken (15 more than the next QB, C.J. Stroud). The 49ers sit in 4th in their division at 6-7 but still have a small chance (14%) of making the playoffs after the win. QB Brock Purdy looked like his efficient self going 20/25, 325 yards, 2 TDs in the win.

→ The Steelers can win a shootout and a slugfest - Last week it was a 44-38 shootout against the Bengals, this week its a sloppy 27-14 win against the Browns. Nothing about this game was pretty, the Steelers only managed 147 yards through the air, and averaged 3.4 YPC on the ground, but they forced 3 turnovers, had 3 sacks, and 7 tackles for loss and won their style of game.

Standouts

→ RB Zach Charbonnet - Charbonnet had an unreal game, filling in for the injured Kenneth Walker III. He rushed for 134 yards and 2 TDs, adding 7 receptions for 59 yards in the Seahawks dominate 30-18 win over the Cardinals.

🏈 Tonight

The Bengals @ Cowboys @ 8:15 EST on ABC.

College Football Recap - Rivalry Week

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

The P4

#15 Arizona State 45 - #16 Iowa State 19: RB Cam Skattebo for Heisman! He finished the game with 170 yards rushing and four total touchdowns. He finished the season with over 1,500 yards rushing, over 500 yards receiving, and 22 total TDs. He deserves to be in the running. The game itself was pretty close through halftime and then ASU laid the hammer down in the second half. ASU went from being projected to finish last to raising the Big 12 trophy. It is their program’s first ever outright conference championship. Great story out of Tempe.

#5 Georgia 20 - #2 Texas 16 (OT): The first ever SEC Championship to go into OT was a defensive slugfest. The Longhorns had a chance to really put the Dawgs away in the first half, but could not capitalize once they got inside the Georgia 30. Georgia QB Carson Beck got injured right before halftime and back-up QB Gunner Stockton (aside from his god awful pick) handled his business and the Dawgs beat the Longhorns for the second time this season and earned themselves a bye.

#17 Clemson 34 - #8 SMU 31: Nolan Hauser buried a 56 yard field goal as time expired to win the ACC Championship for Clemson and propel them into the playoffs. The Tigers jumped all over the Mustangs, launching out to a 24-7 lead, but SMU would not go quietly into that good night. Kevin Jennings and Brashard Smith put the team on their back and tied the game at 31 with 13-seconds left. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, that was too much time for Clemson. Heck of a game.

#1 Oregon 45 - #3 Penn State 37: I did not think that Penn State could hang with Oregon if the game turned into a shootout, and I was wrong. The Nittany Lions hung in there, but too many penalties and too many bonehead throws by Drew Allar doomed PSU and Oregon, in its first season in the Big Ten, reigned supreme. A lot of speed and talent for the Ducks, made PSU’s top-tier defense look pedestrian.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

Knee Jerk Reaction: There are going to be some sour faces south of the Mason-Dixon in the SEC. Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina left out of the playoff in favor of the ACC runner-up SMU Mustangs. Do I think SMU is deserving of being in the playoff, and not penalized for losing in a championship game? Yes. Do I think the three aforementioned teams are better than SMU and the playoff would be better with them in it? Also yes. I guess the easiest argument to make against Bama and Ole Miss, DON’T LOSE TO OKLAHOMA AND FLORIDA.

This is the first year of the playoff, and there are definitely some kinks to iron out. First off, we need more transparency from this stupid committee. Tell em, Mike Leach. Secondly, there needs to be re-seeding in the second round. Oregon went undefeated during the regular season, won the Big Ten Championship, and they get rewarded by playing the winner of Ohio State and Tennessee.

Complaining aside, I am amped to see how this plays out.

Top NBA Games

Magic 115, Suns 110: Jalen Suggs scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to help the Magic defeat the Suns 115-110. Despite missing key players Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, the Magic remained unbeaten at home this season.

Heat 122, Cavaliers 113: Tyler Herro scored 34 points and Duncan Robinson added 23 to lead the Heat to a 122-113 victory. The Heat extended their winning streak to three games and have won four straight at home.

Nuggets 141, Hawks 111: Nikola Jokic scored 48 points, had 14 rebounds and 8 assists, while Michael Porter Jr. matched his season high with 26 points. The Nuggets shot 62.9% from the field and set season highs with 43 assists and 56 field goals made.

Full NBA scoreboard here, and standings here.

Top NHL Games

Kraken 7, Rangers1: Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice and added two assists to lead Seattle to a 7-5 victory. Eeli Tolvanen also contributed with a goal and two assists, helping the Kraken rally from a 3-1 deficit early in the second period.

Lightning 4, Canucks 2: Brayden Point led the way with two goals and two assists. Nikita Kucherov also contributed a goal and two assists, while Jake Guentzel added a late power-play goal. Kucherov’s return from injury bolstered the Lightning's power play, which scored twice on four opportunities.

Blue Jackets 4, Jets 1: Kent Johnson scored twice in the third period to propel Columbus to a 4-1 win over Winnipeg, ending a three-game losing streak. Johnson's goals came just over two minutes apart, including a rebound off a Sean Monahan shot and a one-timer, as the Blue Jackets held off Winnipeg despite taking four penalties.

Full NHL scoreboard here, and standings here.

On this day in 1984, LA Ram Eric Dickerson rushes for 215 yards, finishing the season with a record 2,105 yards. He broke O.J. Simpson's 1973 NFL season record of 2,003 yards. The NFL expanded the regular season from 14 to 16 games in 1978, Dickerson had the benefit of playing in two additional games. No one has since rushed for more yards in a single NFL season.

Friday’s Trivia Time Answer

Which NFL Team has the least amount of punts this season?

B) 49ers - The 49ers were the least voted for answer. The 49ers punted 2 times yesterday and have only punted 33 times this year, by comparison the Lions have punted 39 times, the Browns have punted 69 times.

Check back on Tuesday for today’s trivia answer and more info!