🏈⚾️ Weekend Recap: NFL Week 6, Big College Football Saturday, MLB Championship Series + More!

Good Morning, Blitzers!

To those that have today off, must be nice, to those of us that are working today, this newsletter is especially for you. Another great weekend in sports! We’ve got a little bit of everything today, so let’s get right on into it!

WTF Stat: QB Daniel Jones tied a rookie record with 5 TD passes against Washington in a 41-35 OT win in 2019. He also had two games during his rookie season where he threw 4 TD passes. In his 64 games starting, he has never in his career had a game where he threw exactly 3 TD passes and has not thrown more than 2 TD passes in a game since his rookie season.

⚾️ Dodgers 9, Mets 0: Make it 33 consecutive scoreless innings by the Dodgers pitching. Starter Jack Flaherty led the way allowing just two hits over seven innings and retiring the first nine batters he faced. Mookie Betts highlighted the game with a three-run double, while Shohei Ohtani contributed with two hits, a walk, and two runs scored. The Dodgers built an early six-run lead, capitalizing on a rough outing from Mets pitcher Kodai Senga, who was pulled after just 1⅓ innings.

⚾️ Tonight

🏀 In Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 80-66, evening the series at 1-1. Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and a Finals-record 7 steals, while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton contributed 20 points.

🏃‍♀️ Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya shattered the world record at the Chicago Marathon, finishing in 2:09:56—almost two minutes faster than the previous record of 2:11:53 set by Tigist Assefa. This victory marks Chepngetich as the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10. She has previously won the Chicago Marathon in 2021 and 2022 and was the runner-up last year.

NFL Week 6

What You Missed

→ The Lions are the most fun team to watch in the NFL (and the Cowboys may be washed) - The Lions got up early in this game and then it basically turned into backyard football with them drawing up trick plays left and right, and just messing around pretty much the whole second half of the game. The only negative in the 47-9 shellacking of the Cowboys was that potential DPOY DE Aidan Hutchinson was carted off the field with what is being reported as a broken tibia.

→ The Commanders vs. Ravens game lived up to the hype - I wish this game was on national TV, but luckily we have the greatest television program ever invented, aka RedZone, to let us catch most of the Ravens 30-23 win. (Also, NFL’s YouTube channel does long recaps if you ever wanted to basically see a sped version of the game). The biggest difference in this one was the Ravens were simply able to outlast the Commanders. They kept pounding the ball with RB Derrick Henry (24 carries, 132 yards, 2 TDs), while the Commanders could not get their run game going (18 carries, 52 yards as a team). The Ravens controlled the clock (36:08 time-of-possession), and despite QB Jayden Daniels continuing to play like a veteran the Commanders were not able to pull this one out.

→ Steelers and Chargers win playing their style of football - The Steelers beat up on the Raiders 32-13 and the Chargers held on to beat the Broncos 23-16. The Chargers have the top points-per-game defense (13.2 PPG), while the Steelers have the #2 ranked defense (14.3 PPG). Both teams relied heavily on the run game yesterday with Steelers RB Najee Harris rushing for only his 4th 100-yard game in the last 3 seasons, while Chargers J.K. Dobbins ran for 96 yards and a TD.

What We Learned

→ The NFC North is by far the best division in the NFL - The Packers who dominated the Cardinals 34-13 behind QB Jordan Love’s 4 TD passes, moved to 4-2 on the season. They are in last place in the NFC North. The NFC North has 4 of the top 10 teams in all the NFL but unfortunately only 2 or 3 will make it into the playoffs. It’s going to be a very competitive division to watch the rest of the season.

→ The Titans may not win another game this season - The Colts came into this game as underdogs against the 1-3 Titans. Not too surprising as the 2-3 Colts were starting their backup QB and RB in a road game. This was the Titans game to win. But despite RB Tony Pollard (93 yards, 5.5 YPC, 1 TD) and the Titans rushing attack looking good, they still lost 20-17. Doesn’t help when your starting QB (Will Levis 16/27, 95 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), can’t throw over 100 yards and your top WRs are starting to complain.

→ Patriots QB Drake Maye looked good, but the Texans are just a way better team - This game was never really close (Texans won 41-21 against the Patriots). The Texans won in every aspect, they forced 4 turnovers, had 2 runs of over 50+ yards and QB CJ Stroud looked comfortable in the pocket all day. In QB Drake Maye’s first start he showed some promise, throwing for 243 yards, 3 TDs, 2 Interceptions and helped the Pats score over 20 points for the first time all season.

Surprises

→ Eagles kept things close against the Browns - The Eagles won 20-16, and I know a win is a win, but I was expecting a little more from the Eagles. They were back to full strength with WRs AJ Brown and Devonta Smith in the lineup, and at home facing a struggling Browns team, but still weren’t able to find their rhythm on offense. Since their week 1 win against the Packers, they haven’t put up more than 21 points in a game. Also, not a good look when your head coach is yelling at your own fans after you win…

→ The Bengals defense showed up on Sunday Night Football - The last four games the Bengals defense has let the team down, so on SNF we were expecting another high scoring affair. But the defense stood tall only allowing 7 points (they did let up three 4th down conversions, but were stout overall). It wasn’t a fun game for the Bengals offense by any means which saw QB Joe Burrow take 7 QB hits and 4 sacks, and look roughed up a few points in the game.

→ The Jacksonville Jaguars situation may be worse than we thought - After last weeks win against the Colts, it looked like the Jaguars may be turning the corner. Instead, they went to London and quit (their words not mine), losing 35-16 to the Bears. It was a tea party for the Bears, as rookie QB Caleb Williams threw 4 TDs in the win. The Jaguars will play in London again next week against the Patriots, and I want to apologize ahead of time to the London fans for this game.

Standouts

→ Buccaneer RBs Sean Tucker & Bucky Irving - The Buccaneers won in a wild game 51-27 against the Saints. The game included a 58-yard fumble recovery for a TD, and a 55 yard TD on a swing pass. But what stood out the most was back-up RBs Sean Tucker (14 carries, 136 yards, 1 TD, 56 yards receiving) & Bucky Irving (14 carries, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 deadly stiff-arm) coming in and running strong.

→ Falcons RBs Bijan Robinson & Tyler Allgeier - The one issue with the Falcons this season was that they haven’t really been able to establish the run. In their 38-20 win against the Panthers, that certainly was not the case. We all know the type of talent Bijan Robinson (15 carries, 95 yards, 2 TDs), but what is more surprising is the emergence of Tyler Allgeier (18 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD). Allgeier was awesome his rookie season in 2022, but took a back seat to Robinson last season. But now they are establishing a two-headed monster in the backfield and if the Falcons can beat you on the ground and through the air, they’re going to be a scary team the rest of the league.

🏈 Tonight

The Bills @ Jets tonight kicks off at 8:15 EST on ESPN.

College Football Roundup

The Shocker

Alabama 27 - South Carolina 25: Holy smokes! #7 Alabama almost followed up its historic loss to Vanderbilt with a loss at home to South Carolina. If you watched the end of this game, the Tide should have lost this game. The Gamecocks missed a field goal down the stretch, then nearly tied it, then recovered an onside kick, but couldn’t convert. These two games were supposed to be a bit of a rest, now the Tide go to Tennessee next week, host Missouri the following and then end the stretch at Death Valley.

Statement Games

Texas 34 - Oklahoma 3: Once QB Quinn Ewers shook off the rust, this rivalry was barely a ballgame. The Longhorns scored 34 unanswered points, and unlike their predecessors at the #1 spot, proved that they deserve to be ranked at the top of the heap. Georgia may have something to say about that next week when the Dawgs travel to Austin.

Oregon 32 - Ohio State 31: Everyone not a Ducks fan did their best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression to QB Will Howard: “GET DOWN.” Love a game that lives up to the hype, a beautiful back-and-forth ballgame by two great teams. Ohio State will try to pick up the pieces against Nebraska and Oregon.

LSU 29 - Ole Miss 26: The Rebels led for most of the game, but could not close it out. QB Garrett Nussmeier came up clutch with a late TD to tie the game and a big throw in OT to push the Tigers to 5-1.

Penn State 33 - USC 30: It’s becoming a big theme in conference realignment that teams that travel beyond two time zones have a tough time winning. The Nittany Lions overcame a sluggish start to stay undefeated, while 3-3 Lincoln Riley may have to start polishing up his resume.

Iowa State 28 - West Virginia 16: The Big 12 is a hot mess this season and while the preseason favorites are stumbling, the dark horse Cyclones are cruising at 6-0.

BYU 41 - Arizona 19: In a similar vein, the BYU Cougars are also undefeated and sit atop the Big 12 with Iowa State.

That Could Have Been Embarrassing

Pittsburgh 17 - California 15: Pitt gets into the Top 25, finally gets some respect in the polls and they almost lose to Cal at home. The Panthers are undefeated on the season, but this could have been one way ticket back to unranked.

Illinois 50 - Purdue 49: The Illini needed a miracle to avoid an embarrassing upset at home to the lowly Boilermakers, but they did what they needed to do to get to 5-1.

Video Game Stats

QB Bryson Daily: 3/7, 102 yds, TD, 12 car, 136 yds, 4 TD

QB Evan Bullock (Louisiana Tech): 18/25, 290 yds, 6 total TD

RB Tawee Walker (Wisconsin): 24 car, 198 yds, 3 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 - W vs. Oklahoma, 34-7

2. Georgia - W vs. Miss St. 41-31

3. Ohio State - L vs. Oregon, 32-31

4. Oregon - W vs. MSU 31-10

5. Alabama - W vs. South Car. 27-25

6. Miami - Bye

7. Penn State - W vs. USC, 33-30

8. Clemson - W vs. Wake, 49-14

9. LSU, W vs. Ole Miss, 29-26

10. Tennessee - L vs. Ark, 19-14

Knocking on the Door: Iowa State, Texas A&M

NHL

Winnipeg Jets 2, Minnesota Wild 1: Kyle Connor scored the game-winning power-play goal just 51 seconds into overtime, marking the Jets' third consecutive victory. Mark Scheifele, in his 800th NHL game, contributed with a goal and an assist, bringing his career total to 301 goals and extending his point streak to three games.

Dallas Stars 2, Seattle Kraken 0: Sam Steel and Wyatt Johnston scored just 14 seconds apart late in the first period, and that was all that was needed for the Stars in this one. Casey DeSmith made 25 saves in his Dallas debut, earning his 11th career shutout. This win marked the second consecutive shutout for the Stars, following Jake Oettinger’s shutout against the New York Islanders the night before.

Calgary Flames 4, Edmonton Oilers 1: The Flames remain undefeated (3-0-0) on the season, while the Oilers (0-3-0) have yet to win. Rasmus Andersson led the Flames with a goal and two assists, Goalie Dan Vladar made 24 saves to secure the win.

Vegas Golden Knights 3, Anaheim Ducks 1: The Knights close their homestead out undefeated as Brett Howden, Tomas Hertl, and Pavel Dorofeyev scored for Vegas, while Troy Terry netted the Ducks' only goal. Goalie Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves in his debut for the Knights.

On this day in 2003, Fan Steve Bartman deflects the ball away from Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou. Cubs give up eight runs in the inning and lose to the Marlins 8-3, and the Bartman incident is seen as the turning point in the series. I still feel bad for Bartman, I think Alou, the Fox broadcast and Cubs fans did him dirty. We all would have reacted in a similar fashion (look at all the people around him doing the exact same thing).

Friday’s Trivia Time Answer

QB Brock Purdy continues to lead all starting QBs in yards/attempt this season, which active player is currently first all time in yards/attempt (in the modern era)?

C) Jimmy Garoppolo - Surprisingly Garoppolo has a 8.2 yards/attempt average when playing, the best career average in the modern era.

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