I’ve recently learned that I, as most people are, am often wrong. Say that the Big 10 East looks tough and all but two of the teams instantly start losing games. Pick the Eagles to lose a tough Thursday Night Football game on the road and they pull one out in dramatic fashion.
Bench Aaron Rodgers in fantasy football and he goes off for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Life has a way of knocking you down when you get cocky.
Eagles
The return of Alshon Jeffrey is here and he made an immediate impact. The numbers weren’t amazing, three catches for 38 yards and a touchdown, but it was felt in other ways. Having another somewhat-reliable receiver alongside Nelson Agholor meant the Packers couldn’t play to stop the run and play man defense on Agholor and Zach Ertz.
That freed up room for the running game, as Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard combined for 159 yards on 26 carries, with Howard punching in a pair of touchdowns. Even better still, the whole team held onto the ball (pass drops notwithstanding), with no fumbles by the offense.
That looked like a Super-Bowl-caliber team. Extra time to rest/prepare and a potential confidence-building matchup with the Jets on Sunday bode well for the tough stretch that comes after.
Up next: 10/6 vs. Jets, 1:00 p.m./CBS
I think Sean Clifford read my criticism of him from a couple weeks ago and got angry because he exploded on Friday night. The sophomore absolutely torched Maryland’s defense to the tune of 398 yards and three touchdowns through the air and another 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The defense had their way as well, exposing what had looked like a top offense in the country. They picked off quarterback Josh Jackson twice, recovered a fumble and held the Terrapins offense to 128 total yards.
This team looks more real every week, but they have big games with Iowa and Michigan coming up.
Up next: 10/5 vs. Purdue, 12:00 p.m./ESPN
Temple hammered Georgia Tech 24-2 on Saturday, taking out some anger from their letdown loss at Buffalo a couple weeks ago. The nerds – I mean the Yellow Jackets – are changing from the triple option to a system that has actually worked since the 1890’s, however, so that might not mean a whole lot.
The Owls open American Athletic Conference play on Thursday at East Carolina before a brutal stretch against Memphis, #24 Southern Methodist and #18 Central Florida.
I apologize for the Georgia Tech hate, my Georgia bias doesn’t come out often but this week I couldn’t help myself, it was just too easy of a target.
Up next: 10/3 @ East Carolina, 8:00 p.m./ESPN
The Phillies “spent stupid” in the offseason and in turn won… one more game than in 2018. It was their first non-losing season since 2011 so maybe that’s a positive? Expect some staff turnover in the coming weeks.
Apparently Ben Simmons fell in love with basketball again this summer… does anyone know what that means, though? Yeah, me neither.
In other news first round pick Matisse Thybulle rolled his ankle last week, meaning the rookie curse may have struck again. The good news is that’s not likely to be as crippling as whatever happened to Markelle Fultz (*knocks on wood*).
Three Highlights
For anyone who has seen the movie “Little Giants” (which is a quality kids sports movie), the Green Wave busted out “The Annexation of Puerto Rico” play from the movie last Thursday.
They faked a kneel down with 18 seconds left, breaking off a 17-yard gain to set up the game-winning touchdown against Houston.
Apparently Hollywood can write this stuff.
The man; the myth; the legend. When Nick Foles broke his collarbone in week one it looked like their season was over before it began. Their quarterback was out possibly for the year, their defense in tatters after being shredded by Kansas City and the fan base, NFL experts and franchise cornerbacks alike had given up on the season.
Except somebody forget to tell Gardner Flint Minshew II.
He also was apparently never informed that rookie sixth round picks don’t just step in at quarterback and win two out of their next three games (getting within an ill-advised two point conversion try of winning all three). Even the “G.O.A.T.” himself, Tom Brady, had to wait a year behind Drew Bledsoe before his legendary 2001 Super Bowl run.
On Sept. 1, the Brewers had a six percent chance to make the playoffs, according to BaseballReference.com. On Sept. 11 they lost reigning MVP Christian Yelich for the season with a broken kneecap.
Then they went 20-7 for the month of September to steal the second National League wildcard spot away from the Cubs.
They play at Washington on Tuesday night with an NLDS date with the Dodgers on the line.
