NFL Opening Weekend, CFB Week 2, US Open, and more

Good Morning, Blitzers!

Parlays? Busted. Fantasy teams? Frustrating. Oh, how sweet it is to be in love with football! Hope everyone had a fulfilling weekend…or at the very least…a better weekend than Kirk Cousins, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s go!

WTF Stat: In the last 30 years, there is just one quarterback to have 25+ passing attempts, throw for under 100 passing yards, have their yards per attempt under 3.2 yards, zero touchdowns, and win the game: congratulations Caleb Williams, you have a list unto yourself in your first game.

🏈 The Rams and Lions capped off the first NFL Sunday of the season with an overtime thriller. David Montgomery powered Detroit like a muscle car of old down the field and smashed into the end zone. This is the second win in a row for the Lions against their former signal-caller Matthew Stafford. Of note, Rams WR Puka Nacua left the game in the first half with a leg injury and did not return. Nacua was battling a knee injury during training camp.

• 🔥Take: The NFL script writers are on fire for the primetime games so far this season. The Dan Campbell hype train is full steam ahead!

🏈 Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love went down with a knee injury late in Friday’s loss to Philadelphia in Brazil. According to Ian Rapoport, he has a Grade 1/2 MCL sprain and is expected to miss 3-6 weeks. Recently acquired, Malik Willis took snaps when Love went down and will try to keep the Pack above water while Love heals up.

• 🔥Take: Big ouch for a fan base that entered the season with sky-high expectations. While 3-6 weeks isn’t a complete catastrophe, it isn’t the start cheeseheads wanted to see.

🎾 Two Americans entered the singles finals in the U.S. Open and both lost in straight sets. Number one seed Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the men’s final. In the women’s final, Aryna Sabalenka avenged her 2023 U.S. Open loss by beating Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5.

• 🔥 Take: As an American, you never like to see your fellow countrymen/women lose in a final. Having said that, redemption stories are a nice consolation prize and what sports is all about. Overall, a pretty fun tournament, even if the finals weren’t instant classics.

🏈 Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill was put in handcuffs near the Hard Rock Stadium before his game against the Jaguars. Hill was stopped due to speeding, put in handcuffs and put on the ground just hours prior to game time. Miami-Dade Police released a statement that they have launched an investigation into the incident and one of the arresting officers was put on “administrative duties.” Hill still played in the game, reeling in an 80-yard TD grab and celebrated accordingly.

🏈 Bills QB Josh Allen banged up his left hand on his game-winning touchdown run vs. Arizona. According to ESPN, the Bills are in “wait and see mode.” They don’t have long to wait as the Bills are scheduled to play the Dolphins on Thursday.

NFL Scoreboard

Friday

Eagles 34 - Packers 29

Sunday

Patriots 16 - Bengals 10

Steelers 18 - Falcons 10

Cardinals 28 - Bills 34

Titans 17 - Bears 24

Texans 29 - Colts 27

Jaguars 17 - Dolphins 20

Panthers 10 - Saints 47

Vikings 28 - Giants 6

Raiders 10 - Chargers 22

Broncos 20 - Seahawks 26

Cowboys 33 - Browns 17

Commanders 20 - Buccaneers 37

Rams 20 - Lions 26

Fantasy Heroes

QB

• Josh Allen - 31.18

• Baker Mayfield - 29.66

• Jayden Daniels - 28.16

HB

• Saquon Barkley - 33.2

• Joe Mixon - 26.8

• De’Von Achane - 23

WR/TE

• Jayden Reed - 33.1

• Cooper Kupp - 32

• Isaiah Likely - 26.1

Fantasy Zeroes

QB

• Kirk Cousins - 6.2

• Will Levis - 6.68

• Joe Burrow - 8.06

HB

• Chuba Hubbard - 1.6

• Javonte Williams - 3.3

• Zamir White - 4.6

WR/TE

• Terry McLaurin - 2.70

• Amari Cooper - 2.80

• Amon-Ra St. Brown - 2.80

College Football Roundup

The Shocker

Northern Illinois 16 - #5 Notre Dame 14: After going into Kyle Field and beating Texas A&M, the Irish let the Huskies of Northern Illinois come into their house and push them around (obscure Rudy reference). Haters say this loss disqualifies the Irish from the playoffs, but I mean, come on, do you know how much money the Irish are worth? Enough to grease those committee wheels, but clearly not enough to buy a quarterback.

Statement Games

#3 Texas 31 - #10 Michigan 12: Domination from start to finish, the Longhorns manhandled the Wolverines in the Big House.

Syracuse 31 - #23 Georgia Tech 28: Ohio State transfer QB Kyle McCord has the Orange at 2-0 in a wide open ACC.

#25 Clemson 66 - Appalachian State 20: QB Cade Klubnik accounted for 7 TDs before the halftime whistle in a game that said, “we’re still very good, we’re just not Georgia good.”

#13 Tennessee 51 - #24 NC State 10: After waxing Chattanooga, the Volunteers went on the road and stomped ranked NC State…Vols may have the juice this year.

Iowa State 20 - #21 Iowa 19: El Assico was a barn-burner! Cyclone kicker Kyle Konrardy buried a 54-yard field goal to give Iowa State the win and free corn-dogs for life*

*not really a thing, but he should

That Could Have Been Embarrassing

#8 Penn State 34 - Bowling Green 27: The mighty Nittany Lions spent most of this game trailing the Falcons, a 41-yard scamper by Nicholas Singleton saved the day.

#7 Oregon 37 - Boise State 34: Get the Ducks away from the state of Idaho! Oregon needed a last second field goal to beat the Broncos and it’s been an auspicious start to Dillon Gabriel’s Duck experience.

#15 Oklahoma 16 - Houston 12 : Gross. Houston gave up 27 points to UNLV in week 1 and the Sooners only managed two touchdowns? Ugly. They better watch themselves against Tulane next week.

Video Game Stats

QB Cade Klubnik (Clemson) - 24/26 378 yds, 7 total TDs

RB Kyle Monangai (Rutgers) - 27 car, 208 yds, 3 TDs

RB Henry Parrish Jr. (Ole Miss) - 14 car, 165 yds, 4 TDs

WR Mac Dalena (Fresno State) - 7 rec, 235 yds, 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. Georgia - W vs. Tenn. Tech, 48-3 ➡️ 

2. Texas - W vs. #10 Michigan, 31-12 ⬆️ 

3. Ohio State - W vs. Western Michigan, 56-0 ⬆️ 

4. Alabama - W vs. USF, 42-16 ⬇️ 

5. Ole Miss - W vs. Mid. Tenn., 52-3 ➡️ 

6. Tennessee - W vs. #23 NC State, 51-10 ⬆️ 

7. USC - W vs. Utah State, 48-0 ⬆️ 

8. Penn State - W vs. West Virginia, 34-12 ⬇️ 

9. Oregon - W vs. Idaho, 24-14 ⬇️ 

10. Miami - W vs. Florida, 41-17 ➡️ 

MLB - Top Games

• Diamondbacks 12, Astros 6: Have a day, Pavin Smith! The utility-man launched 3 HRs, driving in 8 runs to keep Arizona ahead of Atlanta and the Mets in the Wild Card.

• Royals 2, Twins 0: Michael Wacha spun a gem on the mound and the Royals completed the sweep over its division rivals. They are now 2.5 games up on the Twins in the Wild Card.

• White Sox 7, Red Sox 2: With the Twins getting swept, the Red Sox had an opportunity to chip away at the Wild Card…and then they give up 5 runs in the 9th and lose to literally the worst team ever.

• Braves 4, Blue Jays 3: A walk-off fielder’s choice gave the Braves the win over the Jays and evened them back up with the Mets for the last Wild Card spot.

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

WNBA - Scores

Fever 104 - Dream 100: Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark both notch double-doubles and the Fever continue their recent streak of great play.

Sky 92 - Wings 77: The Sky may have lost Angel Reese for the season, but they are hanging on by a single game to save the team’s season.

Liberty 75 - Aces 71: A defensive battle between two of the favorites to win the title. Superstar A’ja Wilson did not play in the game and is dealing with an ankle injury.

Lynx 78 - Mystics 71: Napheesa Collier led the way keeping the Lynx hopes alive to snag the overall 1-seed for the playoffs.

Sun 79 - Sparks 67: Connecticut outscored LA 24-9 in the 4th quarter.

2018 US Open Women's Tennis: Naomi Osaka first Japanese female to win a Grand Slam singles final; beats Serena Williams in controversial match 6-2, 6-4

Friday’s Trivia Time Answer

Since 2002, only one quarterback who was drafted 1st overall won his debut game in Week 1 of the NFL. Who was it?

C. David Carr - The elder brother of Derek defeated the Dallas Cowboys in his and the Houston Texans franchise’s debut, 19-10. Carr went 10/22 for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bonus fact! Kyler Murray didn’t win his debut game, but he didn’t lose either, he actually tied the Detroit Lions, 27-27.

Check back in tomorrow for today’s trivia answer and more info!