⚾️🏀🏈 Yankees Advanced to the ALCS, 49ers Roll on TNF, Thrilling WBNA Finals Game 1 + College Football & NFL Weekend Preview

Happy Friday, Blitzers!

Another great Friday and another great weekend ahead! More loser-goes-home elimination baseball games starting tonight. We have quite possibly the best college football weekend this Saturday. Then a full slate of NFL games on Sunday and the start of the NLCS. Oh, and we have WNBA Finals. What better way to kick off Feel Good Friday than to jump into the Morning Blitz? Let’s get it!

WTF Stat: The Seahawks were 20-0 against the spread at home after a 2-game losing streak. Hopefully you didn’t know about this impressive streak and bet on them, because they are now 20-1 after losing and not covering the spread (+3.5) last night.

🏀 In Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, the Minnesota Lynx staged a dramatic comeback to defeat the New York Liberty 95-93 in overtime. Napheesa Collier scored the game-winning basket with 8.8 seconds remaining. The Liberty built an 18-point lead in the first half before the Lynx rallied. Side note - the WNBA announced that the Finals will expand to a best-of-seven series next season.

🏈 Brock Purdy led the San Francisco 49ers to a 36-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, throwing for 255 yards and three touchdowns. The win improved the 49ers’ record to 3-3, tying them with the Seahawks for first place in the NFC West.

• 49ers Takeaways: You had to like the look of this team if you’re a 49ers fan. They simply played bully-ball last night, winning in both trenches. They were able to run and pass at will, they caused 3 turnovers, and just made the plays that needed to be made.

• Seahawks Takeaways: These last three games nothing has seemed to go right for the Seahawks. When they need a big stop or big play they don’t deliver or have a penalty called or have a field goal blocked (still funny). The bigger problem is that Geno is now averaging 42 passes a game after attempting 52 passes last night. The last two games they haven’t established any sort of run game (outside of Geno scrambling). Geno has proven he can sling the rock and produce yards, but they’ve also proven that is not a formula for winning games.

🏈 Steelers wide receiver George Pickens addressed the controversy surrounding his eye black, which displayed an explicit message during a recent game. He claimed he was unaware that it violated NFL uniform policies, stating, "It's just eye black," and expressed surprise at the potential for a fine.

• 🔥 Take: The ol’ George Costanza defense: ‘Was that wrong?’ Honestly, all I can do is respect this. Why would having a swear painted on your face on national TV be an issue? This is the same league that has fined players for even minor, benign uniform infraction. Get ready for that fine in the mail George.

MLB Playoffs

Guardians 5, Tigers 4: We will have two elimination games this weekend, as the series is now tied 2-2. David Fry was the hero of this one, hitting a two-run homer in the seventh inning and later executing a squeeze bunt to score an insurance run in the ninth. There is something about a well executed squeeze bunt that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Yankees 3, Royals 1: Gerrit Cole delivered a much needed stellar performance for the Yankees, pitching 7 innings and allowing only one run. The win secured the Yankees a spot in the AL Championship Series, marking their fourth appearance in eight years. Cole scattered six hits and struck out four, while the Yankees' bullpen extended their scoreless streak to 15 2/3 innings this postseason. Good to see the slumping Aaron Judge contribute as he got on base three times and scored a run.

Weekend Games

Top College Football Games This Weekend

#1 Texas (5-0) at #18 Oklahoma (4-1) - Sat. 3:30 PM (ABC)

What’s At Stake: The Red River Shootout! A Top 5 rivalry game every season and no matter the strengths and weaknesses of each team, the game never disappoints. Just add that the Longhorns are the #1 team in the country and you’ve got the makings for a doozy. QB Quinn Ewers will make his return after dealing with an abdomen injury for the past few weeks (sorry Manning stans) and he will try to break up this slide by the Longhorns who have lost 5 of the last 6 shootouts against Oklahoma. The last time either team was ranked #1 entering the game…they lost (2008, #1 Oklahoma 35 - Texas 45)...and while I don’t see that happening again, I also don’t see this game being decided by two touchdowns.

The Pick: Oklahoma +14.5

#4 Penn State (5-0) at USC (3-2) - Sat. 3:30 PM (CBS)

What’s At Stake: Fun fact: in this new world order of the Big 10, teams that had to cross multiple time zones are 1-8, the lone exception being Indiana stomping UCLA. What does that mean for our wallets on a day like Saturday? Take USC. The Trojans have the advantage of being at home and they have an offense that can move the ball against a Penn State offense that hasn’t had to play from behind all year.

The Pick: USC +3.5

Florida (3-2) at #8 Tennessee (4-1) - Sat. 7:00 PM (ESPN)

What’s At Stake: Tennessee squandered a golden opportunity to be the #1 team in the country by losing 19-14 to Arkansas in the wake of Bama’s loss to Vandy. Now they welcome rival Florida to Knoxville. The Gators have won two in a row, but very similar to Ole Miss last week at South Carolina, a talented Volunteer squad will be hungry to prove that they aren’t a fluke. Expect this game to be ugly.

The Pick: Tennessee -15

#2 Ohio State (5-0) at #3 Oregon (5-0) - Sat. 7:30 PM (NBC)

What’s At Stake: Despite some stumbles, both of these teams come into the game undefeated and in the Top 3, just how we wrote it up in our brains before the season. The Ducks QB Dillon Gabriel has more experience playing in big games, but hasn’t dazzled with Oregon so far, and he’ll need to be on his A-game against one of the best defenses in the country. The key for Ohio State is to put QB Will Howard in low-pressure situations by effectively running the football. I said this from Day 1, I don’t think these PAC teams can handle the B1G at their best. OSU rolls, but if they lose and this time zone curse is real…betting just got easier.

The Pick: Ohio State -3

#9 Ole Miss (5-1) at #13 LSU (4-1) - Sat. 7:30 PM (ABC)

What’s At Stake: Ole Miss did exactly what they needed to do last week and that was win decisively on the road to make up for the stinker at home against Kentucky. LSU has done what they needed to do after losing to USC and that’s win four in a row. The Tigers have the dual advantage of playing a night game at Death Valley and they are coming off a bye week. The biggest question heading into this game is: does LSU have enough firepower to keep up with Lane Kiffen’s offense? The last two seasons they had Jayden Daniels…they don’t this year.

The Pick: Ole Miss -3.5

Other Games I’m Keeping an Eye On

Kansas State at Colorado: 10:15 PM (ESPN)

NFL Week 5 Preview

NFL’s Most Intriguing Games

Houston Texans (4-1) at New England (1-4) - 1:00 PM (CBS)

Spread: HOU -6.5

O/U: 37.5

The View: After five games of poor offensive performance, the Patriots have decided to chuck the #3 overall pick into the fire. The Drake Maye era will begin on Sunday and it is against a Texans team that, outside of the stinker against undefeated Minnesota, has looked pretty good on both sides of the ball. Unlike QB Jacoby Brissett and Mac Jones, Maye can utilize his legs to extend plays and the way the offensive line has performed thus far, he’ll need to. Even with the injuries to WR Nico Collins and RB Joe Mixon, the Texans will be too much for the Pats, but it’ll be interesting to see how Maye looks in his debut.

Pick: Texans -6.5

Tampa Bay (3-2) at New Orleans (2-3) - 1:00 PM (FOX)

Spread: TB -3.5

O/U: 41.5

The View: Another rookie QB debut this weekend, but not nearly as much hype around former top recruit QB Spencer Rattler. The difference between Rattler and Maye is that Rattler actually has some decent weapons on the offensive side of the ball, and he’s playing a Bucs defense that is banged up and got carved up by QB Kirk Cousins. The Saints will rely on its defense to put the rookie in a good position to win and win I believe they do.

Pick: Saints +3.5

Washington (4-1) at Ravens (3-2) - 1:00 PM CBS

Spread: BAL -6.5

O/U: 51.5

The View: Someone at this outlet said at the beginning of the season to look out for this Commanders team, can’t quite put a finger on it - oh, wait, that’s right, it was me. The Commanders have won 4-straight, scoring at least 34 in 3-straight. Kliff Kingsbury is having a renaissance season as offensive coordinator and rookie QB Jayden Daniels playing near perfect through five games. Here comes the big, “HOWEVER,” the Ravens are playing the best football in the NFL right now. The combination of QB Lamar Jackson and RB Derrick Henry is as advertised and the Commanders don’t have a defense to stop them. Should be a fun watch, but the Raven train keeps rolling.

Pick: Ravens -6.5

Detroit (3-1) at Dallas (3-2) - Sunday 4:25 PM (FOX)

Spread: DET -3

O/U: 52.5

The View: Dallas narrowly avoided dropping to 2-3 last week at Pittsburgh with some late game heroics by QB Dak Prescott. The Cowboys have not won at Jerry World so far this season and they have a tall task in taming the Lions. Life on defense has not been kind to the Boys in the post-Dan Quinn era. They’ll need to step it up if they want to stop Goff and company. The Lions have an elite passing game, an elite running game, and an elite offensive line. That’s a tough combo to stop when trying to figure out a new identity on defense.

Pick: Lions -3

Buffalo (3-2) at New York Jets (2-3) - Monday 8:15 PM (ABC)

Spread: BUF -2.5

O/U: 40.5

The View: Salah? Out. Hackett as play caller? Out. Five games into the season and the Jets have blown up the sideline just in time for Monday Night Football against division leader Buffalo. QB Aaron Rodgers seemed to get it going with WR Garrett Wilson last week, but where is RB Breece Hall? Where’s the running game in general? The Jets can’t be one-dimensional with an aging QB and expect to win. We’ll see if new playcaller, Todd Downing (formerly of Tennessee), makes that a priority against a vulnerable Bills run defense. Eh, the Jets are the Jets. They lose.

Pick: BUF -2.5

D-Man’s (3-2) Gambling Corner

What’s the week 6 pick? It Maye or mayn’t be the Patriots. Let’s look at all the things we know to be fact:

1) We all know the stats about 7+ point underdogs this season

2) We all know the Patriots have looked terrible

3) We all know Jacoby Brissett’s only quality is he doesn’t turn the ball over

4) We all know Nico Collins is the 2nd most important offensive player on the Texans

5) We all know the Texans haven’t beat a team by over a touchdown since Wild Card Weekend last year

If we know all this, we know we have to bet the Patriots +7.

NFL Gambling Record:

D-Man: 3-2

Jean Machine: 17-7

Full NFL Schedule click here

On this day in 1999, Pedro Martínez throws 6 hitless innings in relief against the Cleveland Indians to win and clinch the ALDS in Game 5.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

Lawrence Taylor had the most sacks in the 80's with 104, who was second on that list?

D) Dexter Manley - This was a tough one. Manley amassed 91 sacks from 1982-1989 (note sacks did not become an official stat until 1982). Reggie White was 3rd with 81 sacks but in 36 fewer games than Manley.

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