Month: September 2024

Falcons 26, Saints 24
Younghoe Koo kicked 58-yard FG with 0:07 left for the win.
Falcons didn’t score an offensive TD; Koo kicked four FG’s.
Atlanta’s two TD’s were a pick-6 and a fumble recovery on special teams.
Falcons are 10-38 on third down this year.

Saints’ first two drives: 20 plays, 118 yards, 14 points.
New Orleans was 7-13 on third down, Falcons 4-11.
Saints scored 47-44 points in wins, 12-24 in losses.
Saints are 16-5-1 ATS last 22 games as a road underdog.

Texans 24, Jaguars 20
Texans drove 64 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:18 left.
Houston in first half: 36 plays, 261 yards, 17 points.
Houston in second half: 33 plays, 174 yards, 7 points.
Texans won 11 of last 13 games with Jacksonville. 

Jacksonville led 20-17 after three quarters.
Jaguars lost first four games, scoring six TD’s on 39 drives.
In four games, Jaguars are 11-44 on third down. 
Jacksonville has been outscored 32-3 in last 2:00 of each half.

Broncos 10, Jets 9
Denver was outgained 248-186, gained only 2.4 yards/pass attempt.
Broncos kicked 47-yard FG with 8:59 left for the win.
Denver held last three opponents to 251/223/248 yards. 
Denver is 3-0 ATS as a road dog TY; visitor is 4-0 ATS in their games.

Jets’ first four drives: 12 plays, 6 yards, no first downs.
Jets averaged only 3.9 yards/pass attempt.
Jets last three opponents were 10-37 on third down.
Under Saleh, Jets are 12-16 ATS at home.

Vikings 31, Packers 29
Vikings led 28-0 with 2:00 left in first half.
Vikings have outscored opponents 69-17 in first half.
Minnesota had short TD drives of 4-46 yards.
Darnold was 20-28/275 passing, with three TD’s.

QB Love returned, was 32-54/389 passing, with 4 TD’s, 3 INT’s.
Packers ran ball for only 86 yards (204 yards/game Weeks 1-3).
Packers’ first four drives: two INT’s, two missed FG’s.
Green Bay’s last five drives: three TD’s, two more turnovers.

Buccaneers 33, Eagles 16
Tampa Bay outgained the Eagles, 445-227.
Buccaneers led 24-7 at halftime.
Philly averaged only 3.2 yards/pass attempt.
Under Sirianni, Eagles are 7-11-1 ATS as a road favorite.

Bucs’ first five drives: 36 plays, 255 yards, 24 points.
Mayfield threw for 347 yards, two TD’s.
WR Evans caught eight passes for 94 yards and a TD.
Tampa Bay is 11-8-2 in last 21 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Bengals 34, Panthers 24
Bengals’ first five drives: 33 plays, 247 yards, 28 points.
Bengals scored 25-33-34 points in last three games.
Cincinnati averaged 7.5 yards/pass attempt.
Bengals are 8-2-2 ATS last 12 games vs NFC opponents.

Carolina scored 36-24 points last two games, after scoring 10-3 points in weeks 1-2.
Panthers gained 437-375 yards in two games with Dalton at QB (over 2-0).
Last 3+ years, Carolina is 6-12 ATS vs AFC opponents.
On their first drive, Panthers were stopped on downs on the 2-yard line. 

Colts 27, Steelers 24
39-year old QB Flacco came off bench, threw for 168 yards, two TD’s.
Colts’ first three drives: 26 plays, 181 yards, 17 points.
Indy converted 8-15 third down plays.
Under Steichen, Colts are 10-5 ATS in games with spread of 3 or less points.

Steelers were minus-2 in turnovers; they were +4 in first three games.
QB Fields threw for 312 yards, ran for 55 more.
Pittsburgh had three TD’s in this game; they had total of three in Weeks 1-3.
Steelers trailed 17-3 at halftime; they had ball with chance to win at the end.

Bears 24, Rams 18
Bears in first half: 27 plays, 97 yards, 10 points.
Bears 1st two drives of 2nd half: 17 plays, 149 yards, 14 points.
RB Swift had 93 rushing yards, 72 receiving yards.
Chicago’s first TD drive was only 16 yards, after a turnover.

Rams have been outscored 58-19 in first half of games.
LA is 4-9-2 ATS in its last 15 games as a road dog.
Rams are 2-6-2 ATS in last 10 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Last three games, first drive of 2nd half, LA foes had TD drives of 70-91-74 yards. 

Famous birthdays, September 30th:
Angie Dickinson, 93
Fran Drescher, 67
Eric Stoltz, 63

Dave Magadan, 62
Eric Piatkowski, 53
Jamal Anderson, 52

Kenley Jansen, 37
Equanimeous St. Brown, 28
Jesus Luzardo, 27

Commanders 42, Cardinals 14
First two drives, Washington ran 22 plays for 163 yards, 14 points.
In second half, Washington ran 34 plays for 257 yards, 25 points.
Last three games, Commanders scored 10 TD’s, kicked 10 FG’s on 22 drives.
Washington converted 21 of last 35 third down plays (9-12 this game).

Washington OC Kingsbury was Cardinals’ head coach from 2019-22.
Last time Commanders scored 38+ points in consecutive games? 1991.
Last two games, Arizona converted 5-20 on third down.
QB Murray is 29-40-1 SU as an NFL starter.

49ers 30, Patriots 13
49ers’ first five drives: 37 plays, 257 yards, 20 points.
Patriots turned ball over on two of first three drives.
Down 6-0 in 2nd quarter, Brissett threw pick-6 that broke game open.
San Francisco is 12-6 ATS last 18 games as a home favorite.

49ers outgained New England, 431-216.
Patriots have scored only four TD’s on their first 40 drives.
NE has averaged 4.8/4.2/1.8/3.8 yards/pass attempt.
Patriots are 30-42 since Tom Brady left town.

Raiders 20, Browns 16
Browns’ first two drives: 21 plays, 87 yards, 10 points.
Browns rest of game: 36 plays, 154 yards, no points.
Cleveland scored defensive TD to get within 20-16, then missed PAT.
Browns are 11-53 on 3rd down this year, 3-10 in this game. 

Raiders ran for 152 yards (averaged only 51 yards/game Weeks 1-3).
Last 2+ years, Raiders are 10-4 ATS as a home favorite.
Las Vegas is 11-6-1 ATS in their last 18 home games.
Las Vegas won both games where they were even in turnovers.

Chiefs 17, Chargers 10
Chiefs’ first five drives: 20 plays, 65 yards, 2 turnovers, no points.
Last three games, Chiefs were down 16-10/14-13/10-7 at half.
Chiefs won their first four games, by 7-1-5-7 points.
Kansas City is 4-0 despite being minus-6 in turnovers.

Chargers ran ball 24 times for only 55 yards.
Chiefs outgained Bolts, 329-224.
Last two games, Chargers were outscored 23-0 in second half.
Chiefs won 18 of their last 21 games against the Chargers.

Ravens 35, Bills 10
RB Henry ran 87 yards for a TD on Baltimore’s first play.
Ravens’ first three drives: 20 plays, 238 yards, 21 points.
Baltimore ran ball for 271 yards (8.0 yards/carry).
Ravens are 18-4 ATS in last 22 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Baltimore outgained the Bills, 427-236.
Ravens were 5-9 on third down, Buffalo 3-13.
Over/under in Week 4 games so far: over 8-6
Over/under team totals in Week 4 games so far: over 15-13

— In baseball, Mets-Braves-Arizona are all tied for the last two NL Wild Cards; Mets-Braves are playing a doubleheader in Atlanta Monday, a makeup from last week.

If either team sweeps, that team and Arizona both make the playoffs.
If Mets/Braves split, they both get in and Diamondbacks are out of luck. 

In the American League:
Tigers-Astros is a first round matchup; winner plays Cleveland.
Royals-Orioles is a first round matchup; winner plays New York. 

— Alabama 41, Georgia 34
Alabama led this game 30-7 at halftime.

Georgia threw 67-yard TD pass with 2:31 left to take 34-33 lead.
Alabama threw 75-yard TD pass on first play of next drive, for the win.

Alabama outgained Georgia 547-519.
Dawgs turned ball over four times (minus-3).

— Service academies are doing well this year:
Army 42, Temple 14- Cadets have won eight games in a row, are 4-0 this year.

Navy 41, UAB 18
Middies are 3-0 in ACC for first time since 2017.
Navy’s QB threw for 225 yards, ran for 84 more yards.

There is a pretty good chance that this year’s Army-Navy game will feature two unbeaten teams.

— Kentucky 20, Ole Miss 17
Kentucky scored game-winning TD with 2:25 left.
Wildcats were 4-16 on third down, Ole Miss 1-10.
Rebels missed a 48-yard field goal wide left in last minute.

— Oklahoma 27, Auburn 21
Auburn led 21-10 with 9:00 left in the game.
Sooners took 24-21 lead on 63-yard pick-6 with 4:06 left.
Auburn lost despite outgaining Oklahoma, 481-292.

— UNLV 59, Fresno State 14
UNLV players made a statement here, winning big after their QB quit team.
The new #1 QB threw for 182 yards, ran for 119 more.
Rebels had lost their last six games with Fresno State.
UNLV was +4 in turnovers, averaged 11.6 yards/pass attempt.

— Upsets of the Week:
Kentucky (+16) 20, Ole Miss 17
Colorado (+14) 48, Central Florida 21
Sam Houston State (+10) 40, Texas State 39
Old Dominion (+10) 30, Bowling Green 27

Arizona (+9.5) 23, Utah 10
UL-Monroe (+6.5) 13, Troy State 9
Charlotte (+5.5) 21, Rice 20

— USC 38, Wisconsin 21
Badgers led 21-10 at halftime.
USC gets its first-ever Big 18 conference win.
Trojans were 11-17 on 3rd down, outgained Wisconsin 469-286.
USC covered spread on a 55-yard pick-6 with 5:10 left.

— Charlotte 21, Rice 20
Rice led 10-0 at halftime.
Charlotte drove 77 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:47 left.
Owls outgained Charlotte, 463-304.

— Central Michigan 22, San Diego State 21
San Diego State led 21-10 with 2:00 left in 2nd quarter.
Chippewas kicked a 46-yard FG with 0:05 left for the win.
Aztecs lost despite averaging 10.7 yards/pass attempt. 

— Sam Houston State 40, Texas State 39
Favored Bobcats led 22-0 in first quarter.
Bobcats led 39-21 with 5:00 left in third quarter.
Sam Houston kicked a 24-yard FG with 0:06 left for the win.

— Famous birthdays, September 29th:
Steve Busby, 75
Tim Flannery, 67
Hersey Hawkins, 58

Erika Eleniak, 45
Zachary Levi, 44
Calvin Johnson, 39

Kevin Durant. 36
Luis Campusano, 26
Lucas Havrisik, 25

— Duke 21, North Carolina 20
Tar Heels led 20-0 with 7:00 left in third quarter.
Duke scored game-winning TD on a 20-yard run with 5:42 left.
Duke is 5-0; they had lost six games in a row to Carolina.

— Indiana 42, Maryland 28
Hoosiers are 5-0 for first time since 1967.
Kurtis Rourke threw for 359 yards, three TD’s.
Indiana coach Cignetti was 33-5 at James Madison; he’s a keeper.

— Boston College 21, Western Kentucky 20
Hilltoppers led 20-7 after the third quarter.
BC scored game-winning TD on an 8-yard pass with 3:33 left.
WKU converted 5-16 third down plays, 4-6 on fourth down.
Boston College QB Castellanos didn’t play (undisclosed injury)

— Texas Tech 44, Cincinnati 41
Tech is 2-0 in Big X for first time since 2013.
RB Brooks ran for 172 yards, two TD’s.
Game was 24-24 at halftime.
Cincinnati missed a 51-yard FG on last play of the game.

— SMU 42, Florida State 16
Mustangs had an 82-yard pick-6, outgained Florida State 458-285.
SMU wins its first-ever ACC game.
Seminoles are 1-4; they completed only 12-34 passes.

Baseball stuff…….
— Braves 2, Royals 1- Travis d’Arnaud hit a walk-off home run.
— Brewers 6, Mets 0- New York had only two hits.
— Padres 5, Diamondbacks 0- San Diego scored five runs in last inning.

Atlanta leads Mets/Diamondbacks by a game for the #2 Wild Card slot.
Mets/Arizona are tied for the last Wild Card slot.

Mets/Atlanta have a Monday doubleheader to play, if necessary. 

— Tigers 4, White Sox 2
Detroit clinched its first playoff spot since 2014.
Tigers are 34-17 in their last 51 games.
44,435 fans celebrated Detroit’s making the playoffs. 

Tigers actually dumped four veterans at the trade deadline in July

Detroit manager AJ Hinch was the Astros’ skipper when they won the World Series in 2017, and lost the World Series in 2019. He’s a really good manager.

— White Sox lost their 121st game, the most any team has lost since 1900.

— Orioles 7, Twins 2
Cade Povich tossed 5.2 scoreless IP.
Baltimore wraps up the #1 Wild Card in the AL.
Minnesota is eliminated- they’re 4-10 in their last 14 games.
Twins’ loss puts Kansas City in the playoffs.

Royals are in playoffs for first time since 2015- they were 56-106 last year.

— Braves 3, Royals 0
Max Fried allowed three hits in 8.2 scoreless IP.
Royals were shut out for third time in their last six games.

— Brewers 8, Mets 4
Rhys Hoskins hit a first inning grand slam.

— Padres 5, Diamondbacks 3
Luis Arraez had two doubles and a triple for San Diego.
Padres clinch the #1 Wild Card in the National League.

Braves/Mets/Arizona are now all tied for the last two NL Wild Cards.

Braves/Mets are scheduled to play a doubleheader in Atlanta Monday. 

— Cubs 1, Reds 0
Jameson Taillon threw seven shutout IP.
Tough-luck loser Nick Martinez was 4-1, 0.83 in five September starts.

— Last four World Series champs finished in the top 4 in home runs during the regular season.

Top 5 teams in home runs this season:
235- New York (A)
228- Baltimore
227- Los Angeles
208- Atlanta
207- Arizona

— Famous birthdays, September 28th:
Steve Largent, 70
Todd Worrell, 65
Irving Fryar, 62

Johnny Dawkins, 61
Mira Sorvino, 57
José Calderón, 43

Emeka Okafor, 42
Ryan Zimmerman, 40
Riley Greene, 24

— Miami 38, Virginia Tech 34
Miami drove 57 yards, scored game-winning TD with 1:57 left.
Hokies led 24-17 at halftime.
Tech was 9-14 on third down, Miami 10-15
Miami is 5-0; they gained 508 yards, survived three turnovers.

— Rutgers 21, Washington 18
Huskies outgained Rutgers, 521-299.
Rutgers was 7-15 on third down, Washington 2-12

Washington missed a 55-yard FG with 0:03 left.
These schools are in same league, despite being 2,854 miles apart.

— Interesting article on the Interweb about how the Denver Broncos spent this week in West Virginia, after playing in Tampa last week- they play the Jets in New Jersey Sunday.

Broncos stayed at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia this week. Back in 2012, when he was suspended for Bountygate, Denver coach Sean Payton caddied in a PGA golf tournament at Greenbrier. Saints later had three training camps there.

Trip is costing the Broncos around $2M.

Weather was cruddy Friday and the Greenbrier doesn’t have an indoor practice facility; the Broncos practiced on indoor tennis courts.

Denver is traveling with 36,000 pounds of gear.

Apparently the Broncos get honey from beehives behind their indoor practice facility in Colorado; they brought some of that honey with them to West Virginia.

— Dallas Cowboys hosted the Ravens last week, September 22; they have only one home game between then and November 10th.

Week 4- won 20-15 @ Giants
Week 5- @ Pittsburgh
Week 6- home vs Detroit
Week 7- bye week
Week 8- @ San Francisco
Week 9- @ Atlanta
Week 10- home vs Philadelphia

— Auburn is changing QB’s again this week for their game with Oklahoma; Payton Thorne is back as Auburn’s starter- he got benched after they lost 21-14 to the Cal Bears three weeks ago.

— Big trade in the NBA:
Knicks are acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota.

In return, Timberwolves get:
Julius Randle
Donte DiVincenzo
Detroit Pistons’ 2025 first round pick

Towns will reunite with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, whom he played for in Minnesota from 2016-19. 

— Cowboys 20, Giants 15
Dallas won eight in row, 14 of last 15 series games.
Cowboys held Giants to 26 rushing yards on 24 attempts.
Dallas overcame 11 penalties for 89 yards.
CeeDee Lamb caught seven passes for 98 yards and a TD.

On their first six drives, Giants kicked five field goals.
On their last two drives, Giants ran 11 plays for 15 yards.
QB Jones is 24-40-1 as an NFL starter.
Rookie WR Nabers caught 12 passes for 115 yards, but left with a concussion.

— Army 42, Temple 14
Army  is 4-0, with I-A wins by 17-23-28 points.
Black Knights outgained Temple, 489-219
Army ran the ball 57 times for 417 yards.
Under Drayton, Temple is 10-15 ATS as an underdog.

— A’s 3, Rangers 2
Crowd of 46,889 watched the A’s last-ever game in Oakland.
JT Ginn got 16 outs and his first major league win.
Mason Miller got the last four outs and his 28th save.

— White Sox 7, Angels 0
39-120 White Sox won for the third day in a row.

Angels are paying:
Anthony Rendon $38,571,429
Mike Trout $37,116,667……..that adds up to

$75,688,096……..for two guys.

Oakland’s ENTIRE TEAM makes $63,136,720;  the A’s are six games ahead of the Angels.

— Dodgers 7, Padres 2
LA trailed 2-0 after six innings; they scored five runs in 7th inning.
Dodgers win NL West for 11th time in last 12 years.
Dodgers drew over 3,941,000 fans to their home games this season.

— New York 10, Orioles 1
Aaron Judge hit his 58th home run.
New York clinched the AL East.

— Tigers 4, Rays 3
Detroit has won five games in a row.
Tigers’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is one.

— Famous birthdays, September 27th:
Mike Schmidt, 75
Monte Towe, 71
Steve Kerr, 59
Rob Moore, 56

Gwyneth Paltrow, 52
Anthony Morrow, 39
Christian Wood, 29
Mitchell Parker, 25

Some notes on how NFL teams do on their first drive of a half:
— Arizona’s first drive of each game:
70 yards, TD
60 yards, TD
70 yards, TD

— Green Bay, on first drive of 3rd quarter:
70 yards, TD
23 yards, field goal
36 yards, TD

— Colts on first drive of each half:
offense- 22 plays, 51 yards, no points.
defense- 48 plays, 223 yards, five field goals.

— Jaguars on first drive of game:
offense- 11 plays, 2 yards, no points.
defense- 33 plays, 192 yards, 14 points.

— Rams on first drive of each half:
offense- 20 plays, 42 yards, no points.
defense- 39 plays, 294 yards, 28 points.

— Chiefs on their first drive of each half:
68 plays, 429 yards, 27 points.

— Raiders on their first drive of each half:
22 plays, 67 yards, no points.

— Saints on first drive of each half:
55 plays, 355 yards, 31 points.

— Ravens’ first drive of each half: 41 plays, 331 yards, 31 points.

— Chargers’ opponents on first drive of games:
nine plays, 20 yards, three punts. 

— New England on first drive of each half:
20 plays, 38 yards, no points.

— Jets on first drive of game:
16 plays, 38 yards, no points.

Jets on first drive of second half:
19 plays, 153 yards, 14 points. 

— Last week of baseball’s regular season, teams jockeying for position, but hideous weather in Atlanta caused MLB to postpone Wednesday/Thursday Mets-Braves games to a Monday doubleheader. Mets go to Milwaukee this weekend; the Braves host Kansas City. 

The tropical storm pounding Georgia could bring 6-12 inches of rain, with lot of flooding; it figures to cost the Braves a bunch of $$$- the doubleheader Monday won’t be played unless it impacts the Wild Card race. 

Whoever gets the Wild Card spot has to play Game 1 of the Wild Card round Tuesday, probably in San Diego, making it even more of a logistical mess. 

— Braves’ P Chris Sale splits this season:
Home: 10-0, 2.28 in 14 starts
Away: 8-3, 2.48 in 15 starts

Will the Braves use Sale this weekend, or wait until Monday’s doubleheader?

— 50 years ago, Dodger pitcher Tommy John had this innovative surgery on his left elbow: he was 31 years old, had just gone 16-7/13-3 the previous two years, helping the Dodgers win the NL in 1974 (they lost the World Series to the A’s)

Tommy John didn’t pitch in 1975 because of the surgery, but he came back in 1976, and then he pitched for another 14 years!!! They named the surgery “Tommy John surgery” and since then, 1,247 major leaguers have had that surgery.

Second person to have Tommy John Surgery was Brent Strom, currently pitching coach for Arizona Diamondbacks.

— Pirates’ 1B Rowdy Tellez had a contract with performance incentives; as we speak, Tellez has 421 plate appearances. If he got to 425 PA’s, another $200,000 in his contract would’ve kicked in, but Pittsburgh cut him this week, saving the extra $200,000 expense.

Tellez only hit .243 this year, but he hit .310 from June 1st on; it is a bad look for a team that has had six straight losing seasons, hasn’t made the playoffs since 2015.

— Major League Baseball doesn’t market its sport very well; they’re arrogant people who assume that baseball is still our national pastime (it isn’t). For years, MLB relied on movies to promote the sport; it is time for them to do it themselves.

I have some ideas that would help MLB show people, especially young people, that baseball is a great game, because it is. Sometimes I wonder if Commissioner Manfred believes that

1) MLB needs a Hard Knocks-type show, let people take a look behind the curtain at how teams are run. It would be fascinating:

Spring training
Cutting rosters

Home Run Derby/All-Star game
Hall of Fame inductions

Trade deadline stuff would be exceptional
Take a hard look at how the cheap teams do business.

Lot of opportunities for great TV and excellent exposure for the sport. 

2) End TV blackouts; I spend a decent chunk of change every year on the MLB package on YouTube TV, but I can’t watch the New York teams live— have to wait until 90 minutes after the games end. It is nonsensical.

Why is this a good idea? Expose the game to as many people as possible. 

3) ESPN or FS1 should run a big-money fantasy baseball league, with famous people owning some of the teams, fantasy experts owning some of the others. The draft would be tremendous; this would create a lot of interest during spring— have the draft early in a week, on two nights when the NCAA basketball tournament isn’t being played. 

Imagine Kevin Costner owning a team? Joan Jett? Ludacris? Alex Rodriguez?

It would be very popular.

— Famous birthdays, September 26th:
Kent McCord, 82
Dave Duncan, 79
Lucius Allen, 77

John Roche, 75
Craig Heyward, 58
Jim Caviezel, 56

Serena Williams, 43
Sean Doolittle, 38
Matt Waldron, 28

— Obscure trivia: There was a guy named Mel McGaha, who managed the Kansas City A’s in 1964-65; he was the A’s manager when I became a fan at age 5. The A’s were terrible back then, and he got fired fairly quickly.

McGaha never played in the major leagues, but he did play 51 basketball games for the Knicks in 1949, in the old BAA, a predecessor to the NBA.

— Diamondbacks 8, Giants 2
Zac Gallen struck out 11 guys, allowed one run in 6 IP.
Pavin Smith hit a 3-run homer.
Arizona/Mets are tied for last Wild Card slot, a game ahead of Atlanta. 

— Dodgers 4, Padres 3
Dodgers leas NL West by three games, with four left to play.
Shohei Ohtani knocked in the winning run, in the 6th inning.
Padres magic number for clinching NL’s #1 Wild Card slot is at 2.

— Royals 3, Nationals 0
Kansas City gets off the mat by tossing consecutive shutouts.
Royals have scored total of five runs in their last five games.
Royals/Tigers are tied for last two AL playoff slots.

— Tigers 7, Rays 1
Detroit is 29-11 in its last 40 games.
Six Detroit pitchers combined to win this game.

— Phillies 9, Cubs 6
Phillies clinched a first-round bye in playoffs.
Nick Castellanos had three hits, scored three runs.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they start next week):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards- Padres-Mets-Arizona
AL: New York, Guardians, Astros. Wild Cards- Orioles-Royals-Tigers

— Padres 4, Dodgers 2
LA had runners on 1st/2nd, no one out in 9th inning.
San Diego turned a triple play to end game, clinch a playoff spot. 

It was just the 28th game-ending triple play in MLB history, 3rd in last 16 years.

Padres are 4th team EVER to turn a triple play, clinch playoff spot on same day. 

San Diego is in the playoffs for third time in last five years. 

— One of the spring football leagues in the last few years had a great rule to replace onside kicks:

Let’s say Team A scores a TD with 1:00 left, they trail 27-24; instead of an onside kick, they get the ball on their own 30, but it is 4th-and-15, and you play it out from there. 

Much more interesting rule than what exists now. NFL needs to fix this.

— There is an NFL survivor contest at the Circa Casino in Las Vegas.

You pick one team a week.
If that team wins, you move on.
You can only pick the same team once a season.
Last person standing gets all the $$$$.

$1,000 to enter
14,266 people entered, so the prize pool is $14,266,000. 

After three weeks (THREE!!!!!) only 642 people are left. 95.5% of people got eliminated in only three weeks.

Week 1- Bengals (-8) lost
Week 2- Ravens (-9) lost
Week 3- Bengals (-7.5) lost

First time since 2001 that biggest favorite of the week lost three weeks in a row. Only the 4th time since 1970 that it happened.

— In the last 58 years, there had been 26 NFL teams who:
Scored 4+ TD’s in a game
Didn’t punt
Didn’t turn the ball over

Those teams were 26-0, until the Bengals did it and lost Monday night.

— A reminder with the A’s leaving Oakland after this week; a long time ago, in the early 70’s, a kid named Tom Hanks was a vendor at the Coliseum, selling hot dogs/peanuts.

— In 1974, A’s had a player named Herb Washington, who did nothing but pinch-run; he appeared in 92 games, never batted or played the field. Washington stole 29 bases in 45 tries, scored 29 runs; he was a track star at Michigan State who wasn’t actually a baseball player, but he got a World Series ring when the A’s won their third straight World Series that year.

A’s had previously used Allan Lewis as a pinch-runner; he scored 47 runs, stole 44 bases in his six-year career, but he also batted 31 times.

— Famous birthdays, September 25
Michael Douglas, 80
Bob McAdoo, 73
Glenn Hubbard, 67
Heather Locklear, 62

Scottie Pippen, 59
Geno Petralli, 59
Will Smith, 56
Catherine Zeta-Jones, 55

Chauncey Billups, 48
Rocco Baldelli, 43
Alec Ogletree, 33
Brandin Cooks, 31

— Washington beat the Bengals 38-33 Monday night; it was the first NFL game since 1940 with no punts and no turnovers by either team.

Commanders’ rookie QB Jayden Daniels is putting on a show:
Washington’s last two games:
Week 2: 7 drives, kicked 7 field goals.
Week 3: 6 drives, 5 TD’s and a field goal

— Utah State bolted to the Pac-12, fueling speculation that UNLV/Air Force will be right behind them in jumping leagues, but that part of it isn’t official.

— Random trivia: Cubs have drawn 18 bases loaded walks this year, most of any team in the majors.

— The last major leaguer to hit without a batting helmet; Bob Montgomery in 1979- he was a backup catcher for the Red Sox, later became one of their TV analysts.

— Word of the Day: Chicanery- clever, dishonest talk or behavior that is used to deceive people. 

— Royals 1, Nationals 0 (10)
Kansas City snaps a 7-game losing streak.
Royals snapped a 27-inning scoreless streak; the game’s only run scored on a throwing error.
Royals/Tigers are tied for the last two AL Wild Cards, 2 games ahead of Minnesota.

— Orioles 5, New York 3
Baltimore is in the playoffs for second year in a row.
Three years ago, they were 52-110.

— Astros 4, Mariners 3
Houston clinches AL West for the 4th year in a row.
Astros are in the playoffs for the 8th year in a row.
This year, on June 18th, they were 10 games behind Seattle.

— Braves 5, Mets 1
Michael Harris was 3-4, scored twice, had two RBI
P Schwellenbach allowed one run in 7 IP.
Ominous weather is expected in Atlanta soon, which could screw things up as far as finding out who the playoff teams will be.

— Giants 11, Diamondbacks 0
Giants hit five home runs, won their fifth straight game.
Logan Webb tossed six scoreless IP.
Arizona leads Atlanta by half-game for the last playoff spot.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they start next week):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards- Padres-Mets-Arizona
AL: New York, Guardians, Astros. Wild Cards- Orioles-Royals-Tigers

— My dad was from New York City; when his parents drove three hours north to visit us here in suburban Albany, they always brought me a big box of baseball cards, and I would spend hours going through those cards. Lot of hours.

Was going thru those cards one day, and for whatever reason I decided that I was going to root for the Kansas City A’s. This was 1965; I was an odd 5-year old, but because some guy on one of the cards didn’t have any minor league stats on the back of his baseball card, I became an A’s fan. (That guy became a Hall of Famer, Catfish Hunter)

Three years later the A’s moved to Oakland, and they became a great team, won three straight World Series (1972-74) and made my teenage self very happy.

Then free agency happened, and things were never quite the same; I stayed an avid fan, even to this day, but Oakland is/was a small market, and these days the owner is a cheap bastard who should sell the team. They made a movie about the A’s, so they all got to meet Brad Pitt, but the team is basically a piñata now.

Why own a team if
a) You don’t care about winning?
b) You’re not trying to turn a quick profit (please SELL the team!!!)

Anyway, this week the A’s play their last three games ever in Oakland; they’ll play the next three years in Sacramento, then (hopefully) they’ll start playing in Las Vegas in 2028. 

It is a sad end to  an era that was largely successful, just not recently.

— Bills 47, Jaguars 10
Buffalo in first half: 39 plays, 308 yards, 5 TD’s.
Game was 34-3 at halftime.
Bills are 25-18-2 ATS in last 45 games coming off a win 
Bills won their first three games, scoring 34-31-47 points.

Jaguars were 2-13 on third down, Buffalo 6-11.
In three games, Jaguars are 7-32 on third down. 
Jaguars lost first three games, scoring four TD’s on 30 drives.
QB Lawrence is 21-34 as an NFL starter.

— Commanders 38, Bengals 33
Washington had six drives: scored five TD’s and a field goal.
Last week, they had seven drives, kicked seven field goals.
Daniels threw for 248 yards (9.9 yards/attempt).
Commanders are 7-3 ATS last ten games as a road underdog.

This was first NFL game since 1940 with no punts, no turnovers.
Bengals had seven drives: 4 TD’s, 2 FG’s and they lost.
WR Chase caught six passes for 118 yards, two TD’s.
Bengals lost first three games by total of 12 points.

— Not sure why they have Monday night NFL doubleheaders this week and next, but they do.

— How NFL divisions are doing against the spread, outside the division:
NFC East: 0-4 ATS at home, 5-1 on road outside the division.
NFC North: 10-2 ATS outside the division
NFC South: 1-5 ATS at home, 4-0 on road outside the division.
NFC West: 3-4-1 ATS outside the division.

AFC East: 3-4-1 ATS outside the division.
AFC North: 1-5 ATS at home, 5-1 on road outside the division.
AFC South: 2-8 ATS outside the division.
AFC West: 1-3 ATS at home, 5-1 on road outside the division.

— UFL’s Memphis Showboats named former Cardinals’ coach Ken Whisenhunt their new coach; he was 52-73 coaching Arizona, winning the 2008 NFC title but losing the Super Bowl 27-23 to the Steelers. He later coached the Titans for a couple years.

— Random trivia: In the movie For Love of the Game, Kevin Costner’s character pitches a perfect game in the last start of his 19-year Hall of Fame career.

The last out of the perfect game was a pinch-hitter played by Carmine Giovinazzo, who a few years later became a regular on CSI: New York.

Famous birthdays, September 24th:
Gordon Clapp, 76
Eddie George, 61
Rafael Palmeiro, 60

Bernard Gilkey, 58
Kevin Millar, 53
Keith Null, 39

— Gambling is hard: if you wagered on Baylor (+2) at Colorado Saturday night, you learned this the hard way. Baylor suffered a very bad beat.

Baylor led 24-10 with 1:00 to go in the first half.
Colorado threw 58-yard TD pass with 0:50 left in the half.

Baylor led 31-24 with a minute to go in regulation.
Colorado threw 43-yard TD pass as time expired, to force OT.

Colorado scored a TD in overtime.
Baylor then fumbled on the half-yard line; a TD would’ve tied the game.

Just a really, really bad beat.

— The great actor Samuel L Jackson went to college at Morehouse College in Atlanta; he also worked as a vendor at Falcons’ games at Fulton County Stadium. To this day, he is a big fan of the Falcons.

Sunday night, he was at the Chiefs-Falcons game, and introduced Atlanta’s owner, Arthur Blank, as he was inducted into the Falcons’ Ring of Fame.

— Alabama is a home underdog to Georgia this week, the first time since 2007 they’ve been a home dog. It is the first time they’ve been an underdog in any regular season game since 2015, when they visited Georgia.

— In the last 100 years, only two baseball players have had 13+ game hitting streaks for six different teams; Gary Sheffield and Jose Iglesias.

— The least valuable NFL franchise (Bengals) is worth nearly $1B more than the most valuable NHL franchise (Maple Leafs).

— 76ers’ star Joel Embiid signed a 3-year deal worth $192.9M, which works out to $64.3M a year, which works out to $784,146 per game.

Lot of cabbage; 76ers are 34-33 in playoff games since Embiid has been on the team- they haven’t made the conference finals with Embiid.

— Cincinnati Reds fired manager David Bell Sunday; Reds were over .500 in three of six years under Bell, but only made the playoffs once, losing a series 2-0 to Atlanta in 2020, the COVID year. Reds play in a small ballpark; hard to develop pitching playing in a small park.

— Phillies clinched NL East Monday night, their first division title since 2011; they’re in playoffs for the third year in a row. 

Check out Jimmy Fallon’s TV show Monday night at 11:30; friend of mine’s daughter is going to be on, in a segment they call “Instant Song Writer”.

Her name is Jules Olson; very talented young lady, a singer/song writer.
__________________________________________

Rams 27, 49ers 24
Rams’ first TD drive was 87 yards, fueled by a successful fake punt.
Rams’ last four drives: 24 plays, 174 yards, 20 points.
LA kicked a 37-yard field goal at the gun for the comeback win.
Kyren Williams ran ball for 89 yards, two TD’s. 

49ers’ first two drives: 21 plays, 123 yards, 14 points.
Jennings caught 11 passes for 175 yards, three TD’s.
San Francisco outgained the Rams 425-296.
Opponents’ team total: over 2-0-1

Eagles 15, Saints 12
Saints led this game 3-0 after the third quarter. 
Eagles’ first six drives: 49 plays, 284 yards, 2 turnovers, blocked punt.
Eagles’ last three drives: 16 plays, 180 yards, 15 points.
Saquon Barkley ran ball 17 times for 147 yards, two TD’s.

Saints scored only TD with 2:10 left to take a 12-7 lead.
Eagles drove 64 yards, scored game-winning TD with 1:02 left.
First two games, NO had 11 touchdowns on 20 drives. 
First two games, Saints averaged 8.3/14.2 yards/pass (5.0 in this game)

Colts 21, Bears 16
Colts led this game 7-0 at halftime.
Bears ran 84 plays for 385 yards, Colts 54 plays for 306 yards.
Indy is 18-13-1 ATS in last 32 games coming off a loss.
Under Steichen, Colts are 8-5 ATS in games with spread of 3 or less points.

Williams threw for 363 yards, with 2 TD’s, 2 INT’s.
Bears were 3-12 on third down, Colts 9-21.
Bears have been outscored 40-13 in first half of their games.
Chicago is 10-16-1 ATS in last 27 games as road underdogs.

Giants 21, Browns 15
Giants lost a fumble on the opening kickoff.
Browns threw a 24-yard TD pass on first play after the fumble.
On Browns’ next 30 plays, they gained a total of 25 yards.
Giants outscored Cleveland 14-0 in last 2:00 of first half. 

Cleveland scored 17-18-15 points in its 1-2 start (5 TD’s on 34 drives).
Browns are 8-43 on 3rd down so far, 7-11 on 4th down.
Amari Cooper caught seven passes for 86 yards and a TD.
Cleveland is 9-16-1 ATS in last 26 games coming off a win.

Steelers 20, Chargers 10
QB Herbert (ankle) left game with 6:20 left in 3rd quarter, game tied 10-10. Chargers in second half: 15 plays, minus-5 yards, no points.
Pittsburgh outgained the Chargers, 346-168.
Since 2019, Chargers are 8-26-7 ATS in games with spread of 3 or less points

Steelers won first three games, allowing two TD’s on 27 drives. 
Steelers’ offense has only three TD’s on 30 drives (10 field goals).
Pittsburgh is 14-6-1 ATS in last 21 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Steelers outrushed first two opponents, 392-214.

Vikings 34, Texans 7
Houston ran ball only 14 times for 38 yards.
Since 2016, Texans are 2-9-2 ATS as road favorites.
Houston is 4-9 ATS in last 13 games coming off a win.
Stefon Diggs caught 7 passes for 94 yards in his return to Minnesota.

Minnesota won first three games, giving up three TD’s on 31 drives.
Vikings outscored first three opponents 41-10 in first half.
Minnesota’s 4 TD drives were short: 56-21-44-53 yards.
Vikings are 7-1-1 ATS in last nine games coming off a win.

Famous birthdays, September 23:
Julio Iglesias, 81
Bruce Springsteen, 75
Jason Alexander, 65
Larry Krystkowiak, 60

Cuonzo Martin, 53
Ricky Davis, 45
Matt Kemp, 40
Brandon Jennings, 35

Broncos 26 Buccaneers 7
First NFL win for rookie QB Nix, who threw for 216 yards.
Broncos’ first four drives: 26 plays, 145 yards, 17 points (led 20-7 at half).
Lutz kicked four field goals for Denver.
Under is 16-10 in their last 26 road games.

Tampa Bay hasn’t been 3-0 since 2005. 
Bucs were outgained 352-233, averaged 3.3 yards/pass attempt.
Last two games, Tampa Bay was outgained 815-449.
QB Mayfield is 44-49 as an NFL starter, 12-10 with Buccaneers.

Packers 30, Titans 14
Titans traded QB Willis to Green Bay August 26.
Willis threw for 202 yards, ran for 73 more.
Green Bay is 21-9 ATS in last 30 games as an underdog.
First three games, opponents are 9-32 on third down.

On its first drive, Tennessee drove 65 yards for a TD
Next drive, down 10-7, QB Levis (3-9 as a starter) threw a pick-6
Titans have been outscored 48-17 in second half of games.
Packers outrushed Tennessee, 188-33.

Panthers 36, Raiders 22
Veteran QB Dalton made his first ’24 start, threw for 319 yards, 3 TD’s.
Carolina averaged 7.8 yards/pass attempt (3.9/2.5 first two games)
Carolina scored four TD’s on 11 drives; they had one TD on first 23 drives.
Hubbard ran ball for 114 yards, Johnson had 122 receiving yards.

Las Vegas was outgained 437-331, ran ball for only 55 yards.
First three games, Raiders gave up 176/151/131 rushing yards.
Raiders have converted only 12-37 third down plays this year. 
QB Minshew is 16-24 as an NFL starter; Raiders are his 4th team.

Lions 20, Cardinals 13
Lions in first half: 35 plays, 240 yards, led 20-10 at half.
Detroit in 2nd half: 34 plays, 133 yards, no points.
Lions are 19-38 on third down, opponents 8-31.
Goff is 28-25-1 as Detroit’s QB (was 44-30 with Rams)

Arizona was 1-9 on third down, Lions were 6-12.
On their first drive, Cardinals drove 75 yards on 8 plays for a TD.
Rest of game, Arizona ran 45 plays for 202 yards, six points..
QB Murray is 29-39-1 SU as an NFL starter.

Ravens 28, Cowboys 25
RB Henry ran ball for 151 yards and two TD’s.
Baltimore led 28-6 after three quarters. 
Ravens are 17-4 ATS in last 21 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Only nine of Ravens’ 60 plays came on third down (4-9)

First five drives, Dallas ran 30 plays for 132 yards, 3 points.
Last six drives, Dallas ran 40 plays for 280 yards, 22 points.
Last two games, Cowboys allowed 10 TD’s on 18 drives.
Over is 33-17 in last 50 Dallas home games.

— Tennessee 25, Oklahoma 15
Vols outgained Oklahoma, 345-222.
Tennessee led 19-3 at halftime. 

Tennessee has three I-A wins:
51-10 vs NC State
71-0 over Kent State
25-15 at Oklahoma

— James Madison 70, North Carolina 50
Sun Belt’s Dukes led 53-21…….at halftime.
Alonza Barrett threw for 388 yards, 5 TD’s, ran for two more.
Tar Heels outgained JMU 616-611, but turned ball over five times. 

— Washington State 54, San Jose State 52 OT
Fun game to watch Friday night; this one ended at 2:35 Saturday morning.
San Jose led 38-24 after three quarters.
Coogs forced OT with a 52-yard FG at gun in 4th quarter.

— Missouri 30, Vanderbilt 27 OT
Mizzou’s kicker missed three FG’s, two in 4th quarter.
Mizzou ran ball for 216 yards, outgained Vandy, 442-324.
Tigers were ranked #7 in country, which seems a bit high.

— Colorado 38, Baylor 31 OT
Down 24-10, Colorado threw a 58-yard TD pass in last minute of first half. Colorado tied game on a 43-yard Hail Mary on last play of regulation.
Baylor fumbled on half-yard line while trying to tie game in OT.

— Upsets of the Week:
Buffalo (+13.5) 23, Northern Illinois 20 OT
James Madison (+10.5) 70, North Carolina 50
Navy (+9.5) 56, Memphis 44
Stanford (+9.5) 26, Syracuse 24

Illinois (+9.5) 31, Nebraska 24 OT
South Alabama (+8.5) 48, Appalachian State 14
Temple (+7) 45, Utah State 29
Monmouth 45, Florida International 42- It is bad to lose to a I-AA team.

— Buffalo 23, Northern Illinois 20 OT
NIU led 14-3 at halftime.
Huskies outgained Buffalo, 359-184.
NIU was 9-22 on third down, Buffalo 2-15.
Huskies upset Notre Dame, so this score hurts Notre Dame’s resume.

— Central Michigan 37, Ball State 34
Chippewas drove 75 yards in five plays in last minute, scored winning TD with 0:16 left.
Ball State had taken the lead on a TD with 0:53 left.
Chippewas ran ball for 335 yards, 10.2 yards/attempt.

— Stanford 26, Syracuse 24
These schools are both in the ACC; they’re 2,826 miles apart.
Cardinal kicked a 39-yard FG at the gun for the road win.
Stanford ran for 173 yards (5.4 yards/carry).

— Penn State 56, Kent State 0
Chris Andrews, who runs the sportsbook at South Point Casino in Las Vegas, said that Kent State is the lowest-rated I-A football team in the last 30 years- they lost 71-0 last week.

— Famous birthdays, September 22nd:
Harold Carmichael, 75
Debby Boone, 68
Joan Jett, 66
Scott Baio, 64

Vince Coleman, 63
Mike Matheny, 54
Carlos Correa, 30
Jeremy Pena, 27

— Random stat: UNLV didn’t play this week, but Rebels are 13-4 ATS in their last 17 games.

— Army 37, Rice 14
Cadets are off to a 3-0 start.
Army even threw for 120 yards in this game- they were 9-15 on 3rd down.

Navy 56, Memphis 44
Middies scored 38-56 points in their two I-A wins.
Memphis gained 659 yards and lost by two TD’s.
Navy ran ball for 361 yards (9.3 yards/attempt)
Memphis won at Florida State last week, then this…….

— Florida State 14, California 9
Seminoles finally get a win after their 0-3 start.
Florida State sacked Cal QB’s seven times.
Cal outgained the Seminoles, 410-284.

— Florida 45, Mississippi State 28
Win ends Gators’ 7-game losing skid against I-A teams.
Florida completed 26-28 passes, averaged 9.9 yards/attempt.
Miss State QB Shapen hurt his shoulder, is out for the year.

— West Virginia 32, Kansas 28
Jayhawks led this game 28-17 with 4:00 left to play.
WVU had TD drives of 75-67 yards in last 3:27 to pull out the comeback.
Greene threw a 15-yard TD pass with 0:26 left for the win.

— Michigan 27, USC 24
Michigan scored game-winning TD with 0:37 left.
Michigan ran ball for 290 yards, passed for only 32.
Wolverines led 14-3 at halftime.
This was USC’s first game in the Big 18 Conference. 

Quick note on all 30 NFL teams that haven’t played yet this week:

NFC teams
— Cardinals
Offense is doing well so far: 8 TD’s, 4 field goals on 17 drives.

— Falcons
Converted only 4 of 18 third down plays.

— Panthers
Outscored 50-3 in first half, converted 2-22 on third down.
Curious to see how they’ll play with Andy Dalton at QB this week.

— Bears
Outscored opponents 24-3 in second half. Only 8-30 on third down

— Cowboys
Opponents have been in red zone seven times, scored 44 points.

— Lions
Have been in red zone 11 times, scored only 35 points.

— Packers
Have run ball for 424 yards in two games; they’re +4 in turnovers.

— Rams
Have been outscored 34-6 in first half; they’re 7-23 on 3rd down, opponents 13-24.

— Vikings
Outscored opponents 27-10 in first half; threw ball for 8.0/8.6 yards/attempt

— Giants
Were outscored 26-9 in second half; outgained by 72/121 total yards.

— Famous birthdays, September 21st:

Doug Moe, 86
Artis Gilmore, 75
Bill Murray, 74

Sidney Moncrief, 67
Rob Morrow, 62
Cecil Fielder, 61

Faith Hill, 57
Luke Wilson, 53
Kevin Carter, 51

Bryce Drew, 50
Demarcus Robinson, 30
Yainer Diaz, 26

— Saints
Scored 11 TD’s on 26 drives, have outrushed foes, 370-126.

— Eagles
Started 15 drives 70+ yards from goal line, scored 46 points (very good)

— 49ers
Converted only 8-23 third down plays.

— Seahawks
Four trips to red zone: only one TD, three field goals.
They have four TD’s on plays of 23+ yards.

— Buccaneers
Opponents have been in red zone 10 times: only 3 TD’s, 5 field goals

— Commanders
Opponents scored seven TD’s on 15 drives.
Commanders have run ball for 353 yards in two games.

AFC teams
— Ravens
Are 0-2 for first time since 2015; outgained opponents by 99/123 yards.

— Bills
Won average starting field position by 15-10 yards.

— Bengals
Have been outrushed 319-144, are only 8-24 on third down. 

— Movie of the Day: The Hangover (2009)- Three buddies wake up from a bachelor party in Las Vegas, with no memory of the previous night and with the bachelor missing. Chaos ensues.

Funny movie that had two sequels; Hangover II (a terrible movie set in Thailand instead of Las Vegas) and Hangover III, which was pretty funny.

— Browns
Averaged only 2.7/4.8 yards/pass attempt, converted only 4-29 on third down.

— Broncos
Scored one TD, have 13 3/outs on 24 drives.

— Texans
Five trips to red zone: three TD’s, two field goals.

— Colts
Opponents are 17-31 on third down; were outscored 22-7 in first half. 

— Jaguars
Have converted only 5-19 third down plays.

— Chiefs
Have converted only 5-17 third down plays, have 5 turnovers (minus-4).

— Raiders
Have been out rushed 327-98 in two games.
Scored only one TD, three FG’s on 14 drives that started 70+ yards from goal line. 

— Chargers
Outscored opponents 22-6 in second half. 

— Dolphins
Six trips to red zone- only 2 TD’s, 2 field goals.

— Steelers
Teams have combined for 40 drives in two Steeler games; only 2 TD’s.

— Titans
Seven trips to red zone- only 2 TD’s, 2 field goals.
Turned ball over 5 times (minus-4), have had two punts blocked. 

— Jets 24, Patriots 3
New England is 30-41 since Tom Brady left town.
Patriots averaged 1.3 yards/pass attempt.
Patriots were 2-11 on third down, Jets 10-15.
New England is 10-13 ATS last 23 games as a road underdog.

Jets ran 70 plays for 400 yards; Patriots 48 plays for 139 yards.
In three games, Jets are 21-37 on third down. 
Under is 12-6 in their last 18 home games.
Rodgers is 161-86-1 as an NFL starter.

— South Alabama 48, Appalachian State 14
Jaguars ran ball for 320 yards (7.4 yards/rush)
USA was 7-11 on third down, App State 4-13.
App State was favored by 8.5 points.
Under Clark, App State is 9-16 ATS as a home favorite.

— Dodgers 20, Marlins 4
Shohei Ohtani went 6-6 in this game.
Shohei Ohtani hit three HR’s in this game.
Shohei Ohtani had two doubles in this game.
Shohei Ohtani had 10 RBI in this game.

Ohtani became first player ever with 50+ homers, 50+ stolen bases in a season.

— Guardians 3, Twins 2 (10)
Cleveland clinches a playoff spot with this win.
Andres Gimenez had the walk-off hit for the Guardians.

— Blue Jays 5, Rangers 0
Kevin Gausman tossed five no-hit IP, then left with a bad back.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit two home runs.

— Astros 3, Angels 1
Houston is 9-0 when Yusei Kikuchi starts on the mound.
Jon Singleton’s 2-run double in 8th inning was the game-winning hit.

— Washington Nationals won the World Series in 2019; Anthony Rendon led the Nationals in RBI that year, with 126. He then signed a 7-year, $245M deal with the Angels, and in the first five years of that deal, Rendon has knocked in a TOTAL of 125 runs.

— Famous birthdays, September 20:
Sophia Loren, 90
Butch Byrd, 83
Dave Twardzik, 74

Gary Cole, 68
Dante Hall, 46
Kyle Anderson, 31

— Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell recently sold his house and moved, after he and his family dealt with harassment from so-called fans late last season.

A buyer agreed to purchase Campbell’s old home within 24 hours of it being listed.

— Wednesday night in Seattle, Mariners trailed 2-1 in 10th inning, had Julio Rodriguez on third base with no outs, and Randy Arozarena at bat. 

Arozarena struck out swinging, lost the grip on his bat and the bat headed straight towards Rodriguez, who spun out of the way of the bat and then took several more steps into foul territory — farther away from third base.

The catcher threw to third base and picked him off, and Seattle lost 2-1. Not good.

— Saturday in the Bronx, Gerrit Cole was pitching for New York; he drilled Rafael Devers in the first inning, then in the 4th inning, with the bases empty and one out, leading 1-0. he walked Devers intentionally. Why?

He walked a guy on purpose with the bases empty in the 4th inning; Boston wound up scoring three runs in that inning and won 7-1. Very strange.

— Buck Showalter has managed five teams in the major leagues; he managed the Mets last year. Two of the other four teams that fired Showalter won the World Series in the first year after he left, Bronx in 1996, Arizona in 2001.

— Last week in Knoxville, Tennessee obliterated Kent State 71-0; the game was 65-0 at halftime, but it wasn’t without some drama.

Up 30-0 in the first quarter, Tennessee recovered an onside kick, which seemed excessive. Why would you do that? Kent State got a hefty paycheck for showing up, but they were obviously not competitive. Kicking a dog when they’re down produces bad karma down the road.

Kent State was offered the chance to play the second half with a running clock; they turned that down. Golden Flashes lost to a I-AA team the week before, lost 55-24 at Pitt the week before that and they visit Penn State this week. Oy.

— The fan in Miami who caught Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run declined to make a trade with a Dodgers and took the baseball home. Interesting decision; hard to believe they’ll keep the ball, which has to be worth a nice chunk of change.

Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run ball sold for $1.5M
Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball sold for $3M
Albert Pujols’ 700th home run ball sold for $360,000.

— Little bit of a strange news day; ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski quit the network, and will become the general manager of the men’s basketball program at St Bonaventure, his alma mater.

“I am retiring from a dream job at ESPN and am so incredibly grateful for my time and experiences with the Worldwide Leader.” Wojnarowski said.

General managers have become more common in college basketball in recent years, as the transfer portal has made wholesale roster turnover a bigger part of the sport. 

St Bonaventure is in Olean, NY, on the state’s southern tier, kind of in the middle of nowhere. Recruiting really good basketball players to go there ain’t easy. Bonnies have been to the NCAA tournament three times in the last 20 years, going 0-3 in those games.

— One of the best college football games this weekend is Tennessee at Oklahoma, a game filled with subplots.

In 2000, QB Josh Heupel led Oklahoma to a national title; Sooners haven’t won a national title since then. Heupel is now Tennessee’s coach.

In 2011, Heupel became Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator, and over the next four years, the Sooners averaged 475 yards per game, but they fired him after a 40-6 bowl loss to Clemson. It was a controversial dismissal; firing alums can be frowned upon. 

Saturday, Heupel will be back in Norman for the first time since they fired him; his Vols are 3-0, winning 51-10/71-0 in their two games vs I-A opponents.

As if all that isn’t enough, this is also Oklahoma’s first conference game since joining the SEC. Sooners are also 3-0, giving up a total of 34 points in the three games.

Should be interesting.

— Milwaukee Brewers are first team to clinch a playoff spot; they’ve won NL Central the last two years, will be in the playoffs for sixth time in seven years.

— You see all these TV commercials asking for money “For only $19 a month……..”

These commercials are always on TV………
— abandoned pets
— symbolically adopting an elephant
— disadvantaged kids
— American Civil Liberties Union

Whats the deal with $19 a month? Why not $29 or $34/month?
Inquiring minds want to know……..

— Under was 21-11 in NFL team totals in Week 2, after over was 16-13-3 in Week 1.

Underdogs were 8-7 SU in Week 2 NFL games, 10-4-1 ATS.

— Only two baseball teams ever have made the World Series after giving up more runs than they scored in the regular season:

1987 Minnesota Twins
2023 Arizona Diamondbacks

— Famous birthdays, September 19th
David Ray, 80
Nat Moore, 73
Dan Hampton, 67

Jim Abbott, 57
Raja Bell, 48
John Jaso, 41

George Springer, 35
CJ McCollum, 33
Dejounte Murray, 28

Today would’ve been Adam West’s 96th birthday; the star of Batman, the TV series.

— Jermaine Dye was a good ballplayer, played OF for the A’s in the Moneyball era; he had a career OPS of .826, once broke his leg fouling a pitch off his shin.

These days, Jermaine Dye’s son is a cornerback on the Kansas Jayhawks’ football team. 

Kansas is playing its non-conference home games in a 25,000-seat soccer stadium; their conference home games will be at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs. Jayhawks are-havng their football stadium refurbished this year.

— Billy Joe Hobert was an NFL QB for five years for three teams, starting 17 games, mostly with the Saints.

These days, Hobert’s son is a receiver for Texas State, which has a pretty good team.

— When the Giants scored a TD on their first drive at Washington Sunday, it was their first opening drive TD in their last 27 games, which was the longest brought in the NFL.

— Movie of the Day: Jerry and Marge Go Large (2022)- Based on the true story about an older married couple Jerry and Marge Selbee, who win the lottery and use the money to revive their small town. Turns out that Jerry was really smart, and figured out how to beat the lottery. 

Bryan Cranston, Annette Bening are the couple. Michael McKean is also in the movie; he was in the old TV series Laverne & Shirley— his wife’s name in this movie is Shirley. 

This was an interesting movie to watch, especially because it is a true story.

— A’s 5, Cubs 3
Oakland’s win clinched the NL Central for the Brewers.
Tyler Soderstrom homered, scored twice, had 2 RBI

— Guardians 5, Twins 4 (10)
Cleveland scored three runs in bottom of 10th.
Guardians’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 1.
Cleveland has 41 comeback wins this year, most in MLB.

— Giants 5, Orioles 3
Baltimore is 3-9 in its last 12 games; they’ve scored nine runs in last five games.

— Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 4
Corbin Carroll homered twice.
Eduardo Rodriguez struck out 11 guys in 6.1 IP.

— Bronx 2, Seattle 1 (10)
New York clinches a playoff spot.

— If the baseball playoffs starter today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Padres-Diamondbacks-Mets
AL: New York, Guardians, Houston. Wild Cards: Orioles-Royals-Twins

Mets/Arizona lead Atlanta by two games for the last two NL playoff spots.
Twins lead Detroit by half a game for the last AL playoff spot.

— Falcons 22, Eagles 21- Atlanta QB Kirk Cousins makes $45M a year; Monday night, he showed why he’s worth that much.

He drove the Falcons 70 yards in six plays, throwing the game-winning TD pass against the Eagles with 0:34 left in a 22-21 Atlanta win in Philadelphia Monday night.

Cousins was 20-29/241 passing, with two TD’s. Very clutch performance.

— Miami Dolphins put QB Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) on IR; he is out until at least Week 8- they signed QB Tyler Huntley off of Baltimore’s practice squad. 

— There are 16 games on the Week 3 NFL schedule; 10 of the 16 games are AFC-NFC matchups, which seems like a lot. NFL likes to hoard the glitzier divisional games until later in the season, or into their Amazon package. 

There are also two Monday night games this week, which is unusual; no idea why, but Jaguars-Bills, Commanders-Bengals are on the docket Monday. 

— Weeks 2-6, the Thursday night Amazon NFL game is a divisional rivalry; then in Week 7, it is Denver at New Orleans, Sean Payton’s return to Bourbon Street.

— Carolina Panthers are benching 2nd-year QB Bryce Young, will start veteran Andy Dalton this week in Las Vegas against the Raiders.

Young is 2-16 as an NFL starter; he needs to sit-watch-learn for a while. Carolina hasn’t led in the 4th quarter in any of its last 20 games, the 2nd-longest streak ever.

Dalton is 36 years old, is 83-78-2 as an NFL starter; he started once for Carolina last year. His glory days were with the Bengals, where he played for coach Marvin Lewis, who is now an assistant coach with the Raiders, Carolina’s opponent this week.

— Let’s review the 2023 trade between the Bears/Panthers:

Carolina got:
The #1 pick in the draft- they took QB Bryce Young

Chicago got:
WR DJ Moore
1st round pick in 2023 (OL Darnell Wright)
2nd round pick in 2023 (CB Tyrique Stevenson
2024 1st round pick (QB Caleb Williams)
2025 2nd round pick

Carolina Panthers are owned by hedge fund trader David Tepper, the wealthiest owner in the NFL. Tepper sent the Panthers’ GM packing last year; we’ll see how fast they can clean up the mess that guy left behind.

— Not only are the Tennessee Titans off to an 0-2 start, they’re first team since 2012 to have a punt blocked in each of their first two games. Tennessee is also minus-4 in turnovers; they’ve been outscored 38-7 in the second half of their games.

— Famous birthdays, September 18th
Frankie Avalon, 84
Billy Gambrell, 83
Billy Sims, 69

Ryne Sandberg, 65
Holly Robinson Peete, 60
Toni Kukoc, 56

Jason Sudeikis, 49
Kevin Dotson, 28
Andre Pallante, 26

— From 2005-23, Pitt Panthers trailed 72 games by 10+ points in the 4th quarter; they lost all 72 of those games. 

So far this season, Pitt trailed both Cincinnati/West Virginia by 10+ points in the 4th quarter, but won both games, behind QB Eli Holstein, whose thrown for 939 yards in three games.

— In Week 1, Cincinnati was the most popular pick in the Circa survivor pool in Las Vegas; they lost. 4,895 of the 14,206 people in the pool got KO’d when the Bengals lost

In Week 2, Baltimore was the most popular pick; they lost too. 2,304 people got knocked out when the Ravens lost. After two weeks, half the people are out of the pool already.

Handicapping the NFL is difficult; underdogs were 8-7 SU/10-4-1 ATS in Week 2.

— Packers at Tennessee game this week has an unexpected interesting subplot; QB Mailk Willis was a 3rd round pick by the Titans in the 2022 draft, out of Liberty (he had been a backup at Auburn before that). 

Willis played in 11 games for the Titans, starting three (1-2); he completed 53% of his passes, with no TD’s, 3 INT’s. He ran the ball 32 times for 144 yards and a TD. 

Last month, Willis was traded to Green Bay for a 7th round draft pick; 27 days after the trade, he is starting against his old team. Should be interesting.

— Kansas City Chiefs are bringing back RB Kareem Hunt; he spent the last five years with the Browns, after running for 1,327/824 yards in his first two NFL seasons, with the Chiefs. With Isiah Pacheco out injured for a while, Chiefs needed another RB.

— Astros 4, Padres 3
Jose Altuve fouled a ball off his toe, but the umpire called the ball fair and Altuve was out. He took his shoe/sock off to show the umpire that his toe was hurt— he got ejected.

Josh Hader got four outs for Houston; he never pitched more than an inning for San Diego.

This was San Diego’s 52nd sellout this season.

— Reds 6, Braves 5
Atlanta led 5-1 in 4th inning, 5-2 in 6th inning.
Reds used seven pitchers to get 27 outs.

— Marlins 11, Dodgers 9
Jesus Sanchez was 5-5 with three RBI.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 48th home run.
Dodgers lead in NL West is down to 3.5 games. 

— A’s 4, Cubs 3
Shea Langeliers homered twice, has 28 for the season.
A’s were 50-112 last year; they’re 66-86 this year.

— Tigers 3, Royals 1 (10)
Detroit is 24-10 in its last 34 games.
Royals were 56-106 last year; they’re 82-70 this year.

— Rockies 8, Diamondbacks 2
Ezequiel Tovar was 3-5, with two runs, 2 RBI
Arizona lost four of its last five games.

— If the baseball playoffs starter today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Padres-Diamonfbacks-Mets
AL: New York, Guardians, Houston. Wild Cards: Orioles-Royals-Twins

Mets lead Atlanta by two games for the last NL playoff spot.
Twins lead Detroit by 1.5 games for the last AL playoff spot.

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….(thru Sunday’s games)

— Arizona is 57-37 vs righty starters, 26-29 vs lefties.
Over is 20-7 in Diamondbacks’ last 27 games.

— Atlanta is 9-4 in its last 13 home games. 
Under is 13-3 in their last 16 home games.

— Cubs won 11 of their last 15 road games.
Over is 12-3 in their last 15 road games.

— Cincinnati is 9-5 in its last fourteen games.
Reds are 14-27 in one-run games.

— Colorado is 9-1 in last ten home series openers.
Under is 7-2 in Rockies’ last nine road games.

— Dodgers lost four of their last six games.
Dodgers are 33-17 against lefty starting pitchers.

— Miami lost six of its last seven games.
Marlins are 10-44 against lefty starting pitchers, 45-51 vs righties.

— Under is 7-3 in Brewers’ last ten games.
Milwaukee is 19-23 against lefty starting pitchers, 67-40 vs righties.

— Mets are 9-3 in their last 12 home games.
Mets are 11-1 in their last 12 home series openers. 

— Phillies won 11 of their last 14 games.
Phillies are 26-25 in day games, 64-34 in night games.   

— Pirates are 2-9 in last 11 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on. 
Under is 6-3 in their last nine road games.

— Cardinals are 1-11 in their last dozen home series openers.
Under is 7-1 in their last eight home games.

— San Diego is 9-1 in extra-inning games.
Padres are 8-1 in last nine road series openers. 

— San Francisco is 33-30 in day games, 39-48 in night games.
Giants are 2-8 in last 12 ten home games.

— Washington is 10-8 in its last 18 home games.
Under is 8-4 in their last 12 road games.

Famous birthdays, September 17th
Phil Jackson, 79
Junior Bridgeman, 72
Mark Brunell, 54

Dan Haren, 44
Alexander Ovechkin, 39
Marcus Semien, 34

Jose Ramirez, 32
Patrick Mahomes, 29
James Wood, 22

— Orioles are 2-7 in game after their last nine wins.
Last five Baltimore games stayed under.

— Red Sox lost eight of their last nine road games.
Boston is 58-49 vs righty starters, 17-26 vs lefties; last two years, they were 47-31 vs lefties.

— White Sox are 6-43 since the All-Star break.
Chicago is 2-17 in its last 19 series openers. 

— Guardians are 22-11 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Cleveland is 29-12 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Detroit is 7-3 in its last ten games.
Under is 14-3 in their last 17 home games.

— Houston won its last four games. 
Last two years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 21-21.

— Royals lost eight of their last eleven road games.
Royals are 69-50 vs righty starters, 13-18 vs lefties. 

— Angels lost seven of their last eight games.
They’re 2-11 in their last 13 series openers.

— Minnesota is 8-17 in its last 25 games.
Over is 6-0 in their last six games.

— New York is 7-3 in its last ten games.
Under is 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

— A’s are 9-7 in their last 16 games.
Oakland is 9-1 in its last ten series openers. 

— Mariners are 13-9 since they changed managers,
Seattle is 7-19 in last 26 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Tampa Bay is 4-7 in its last 11 games.
Under is 20-6 in their last 26 road games. 

— Texas lost five of its last six games.
Rangers are 16-22 vs lefty starting pitchers. 

— Toronto is 4-1 in its last five games.
Under is 10-3 in their last 13 road games.

Chiefs 26, Bengals 25
Butker kicked 51-yard FG with 0:03 left for a dramatic win.
Bengals led 16-10 at halftime.
Chiefs turned ball over three times (-2), were only 1-8 on third down.
Last 4+ years, KC is 15-18 ATS as a home favorite.

In two games, Bengals have only three TD’s on 17 drives.
Cincinnati is only 8-24 on third down conversions.
WR Chase (in a contract dispute), has caught 10 balls for 97 yards in 2 games.
Last 4+ years, Cincinnati is 18-10-1 ATS coming off a loss.

Steelers 13, Broncos 6
Steelers held first two opponents to 226/295 yards in two road wins.
Pittsburgh was +3 in turnovers last week, +2 this week.
First two opponents converted 4-21 third down plays.
Steelers are 18-9-1 ATS in last 28 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Rookie QB Nix does NOT look ready to play in the NFL. 
Denver was held to 231/295 TY in two games; they’re 7-30 on third down.
In this game, Broncos ran ball 19 times for only 64 yards.
Broncos are 9-18-1 ATS in last 28 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Cardinals 41, Rams 10
Arizona’s first three drives: 20 plays, 219 yards, 21 points.
Cardinals led 24-3 at halftime. 
Cardinals ran for 231 yards, outgained LA, 489-245.
Arizona averaged 11.7 yards/pass attempt. 

Arizona was 7-11 on third down, Rams were 2-11.
Last 2+ years, LA is 4-8-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Rams had won their previous nine visits to Arizona.
Rookie WR Harrison had 130 RY, all in first quarter.

Texans 19, Bears 13
In two games, Chicago has one offensive TD on 21 drives.
In two games, Bears gained 148/205 yards, on 119 plays.
Bears have converted 8-30 third down plays.
This week, the 3 rookie QB’s combined for one offensive TD on 30 drives.

Houston’s first three drives: 24 plays, 158 yards, 13 points,
Texans overcame 12 penalties for 115 yards.
2nd-year QB Stroud is 12-7 as an NFL starter.
Houston is 4-8 ATS in last 12 games coming off a win.

Vikings 23, 49ers 17
49ers had 15-play, 83-yard drive that took 9:18, but they were stopped on downs
Darnold then threw a 97-yard TD pass to Justin Jefferson.
Vikings averaged 8.6 yards/pass attempt.
Ty Chandler ran ball 10 times for 82 yards.

Minnesota was 7-12 on third down, 49ers 2-10.
RB Mason ran ball 20 times for 100 yards and a TD.
Both teams turned ball over twice.
49ers are 0-5 SU/1-4 ATS in last five visits to Minnesota.

Saints 44, Cowboys 19
Saints’ first six drives: 39 plays, 379 yards, six TD’s.
New Orleans led this game 35-16 at halftime.
RB Kamara ran for 115 yards, three TD’s.
In their two games, Saints are 12-21 on third down.

Dallas scored on five of first six drives, but only one TD, four FG’s.
Zimmer’s defense allowed 14.2 yards/pass attempt.
In their two games, Cowboys are only 10-32 on third down.
Over is 32-17 in last 49 Dallas home games.

Buccaneers 20, Lions 16
Lions ran 83 plays for 463 yards. 
Tampa Bay ran 47 plays for 216 yards.
With 0:53 left, Lions were stopped on downs on Bucs’ 6-yard line.
With 0:02 left, Lions were stopped on downs on Bucs’ 26-yard line.

Bucs were 2-10 on third down, Detroit 7-13.
Under Bowles, Tampa Bay is 8-3 ATS as a road underdog.
QB Mayfield is 44-48 as an NFL starter, 12-9 with Buccaneers.
Last 3+ years, under is 17-9 in Tampa Bay road games.

Famous birthdays, September 16th:
Mickey Rourke, 72
Lenny Clarke, 71
Wilbert Montgomery, 70

Robin Yount, 69
Eric Hipple, 67
Orel Hershiser, 66

Jennifer Tilly, 66
Tim Raines, 65
Sam Howell, 24

Chargers 26, Panthers 3
Chargers ran for 176 yards last week, 219 yards in this game.
Chargers were 9-16 on third down, Carolina 1-12.
Bolts are 2-0 for the first time since 2012.
Charger defense has allowed one TD on 23 drives this season.

Panthers lost their first two games by a combined 73-13.
Carolina was outgained 728-352 in those two games.
2nd year QB Young is 2-16 as an NFL starter.
Panthers averaged only 2.5 yards/pass attempt. 

Raiders 26, Ravens 23
Raiders outscored Baltimore 13-0 over final 9:24 of game.
Raiders’ first 7 drives: 34 plays, 113 yards, six points.
Raiders’ last 4 drives: 29 plays, 206 yards, 20 points.
Since 2019, Las Vegas is 20-12 ATS as a road underdog.

Baltimore is 0-2 for first time since 2015.
Ravens led 9-6 at halftime; five field goals.
Ravens ran for 151 yards, were only 3-11 on third down.
Since 2021, Ravens are 9-14 ATS as a home favorite.

Browns 18, Jaguars 13
Cleveland’s first three drives: 36 plays, 182 yards, 13 points.
Cleveland’s last four drives: 29 plays, 115 yards, 3 points.
In two games, Browns are 4-29 on 3rd down, 6-8 on 4th down.
QB Watson is 37-32 as an NFL starter, 8-5 with Browns.

Jaguars’ first five drives: 33 plays, 124 yards, three points.
Jaguars are now 0-7 against Deshaun Watson.
In two games, Jaguars are 5-19 on 3rd down conversions.
QB Lawrence is 21-33 as an NFL starter. 

Seahawks 23, Patriots 20 OT
Seattle kicked 38-yard FG with 0:58 left, to force OT.
Seahawks drove 51 yards, kicked walk-off 31-yard FG in OT.
Seattle scored TD’s on 2 of first 3 drives, led 17-13 at halftime.
QB Smith is 32-37 as an NFL starter, 20-18 with Seattle.

Patriots held Bengals to 224 TY in LW’s 16-10 upset win.
First two games, NE ran ball for 355 yards, threw for only 245
Last 2+ years, New England is 1-8-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Patriots QB Brissett is 19-31 as an NFL starter.

Packers 16, Colts 10
Colts in first half: 15 plays, 78 yards, zero points.
Colts gained 237 yards on last five drives, but threw 2 INTs, missed a FG.
Indy was 2-9 on third down, Packers were 10-17.
2nd-year QB Richardson is 2-4 as an NFL starter.

Packers’ first two drives: 19 plays, 124 yards, 10 points.
Green Bay’s only TD drive was 82 yards on 11 plays.
Green Bay is 20-9 ATS in last 29 games as an underdog.
Packers ran ball for 261 yards (4.9 yards/carry).

Jets 24, Titans 17
RB Allen scored game-winning TD on 20-yard run with 4:31 left.
Jets’ first three drives: 12 plays, 20 yards, three punts.
Jets rest of game: 44 plays, 245 yards, 24 points.
Rodgers is 160-86-1 as an NFL starter.

In its first two games, Tennessee was outscored 38-7 in second half.
Titans are first team since 2012 to have punt blocked in each of their first two games.
QB Levis is 3-8 as an NFL starter.
Titans slip to 13-8-1 ATS in last 22 games as a home underdog.

Commanders 21, Giants 18
Washington had seven drives, kicked seven field goals.
Commanders ran for 215 yards, outgained Giants, 425-304. 
Rookie QB Daniels threw for 226 yards, ran for 44 more.
Washington is 15-9-2 ATS in last 26 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Giants’ kicker got hurt on opening kickoff, missed rest of game.
Giants scored 3 TD’s, were 0-2 on 2-point plays, 0-1 on PAT’s.
Only eight of the Giants’ 51 plays came on third down (4-8).
QB Jones is 23-39-1 as an NFL starter.