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🏈 Football Five
- What a confrontation on Sunday evening! The Lions forced overtime with a late field goal, then went 70 yards on eight plays (seven runs), capped by a David Montgomery touchdown, to beat the Rams26-20. Jameson Williams exploded for 121 yards and a touchdown for Detroit, easily his best game as a pro. Puka Nacua (knee) left and didn’t return for Los Angeles.
- Josh Allen And C.J. Stroud made their first statements for MVP. Allen threw for two touchdowns and ran twice more as the Bills stormed back to defeat the Cardinals34-28, although Buffalo runs tests on Allen’s hand. Stroud, meanwhile, had two touchdowns against a new teammate Stefon Diggs and threw a punch at Nico Collins to seal a 29-27 victory over the Foals.
- No Russell Wilson And no touchdowns? No problem. Led by TJ Watt (one sack, one fumble, two tackles for loss), interceptions by Donte Jackson And DeShon Elliott and six Chris Boswell field goals, the Steelers defeated the Falcons, 18-10. Justin Fields achieved victory on his team debut with Wilson (calf) hurt. It’s Pittsburgh’s first win without scoring a touchdown since 2008.
- New year, same problems Deion Sanders‘ Colorado. Nebraska rolled past the Buffaloes, 28-10, as Colorados problems in the trenches reared their ugly heads. What makes matters worse, Shilo Sanders was left with an arm injury.
- CyHawk madness!!! The state of Iowa sparked an incredible rally to the top Iowa20-19, with quarterback Rocco Becht and kicker Kyle Konrardy (54-yard game winner) leads the charge. Matt Campbell stock is rise again.
💰 Good morning to everyone, but especially to…
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DAK PRESCOTT AND THE DALLAS COWBOYS
After an anxious and at times downright counterproductive offseason, the Cowboys got their act together just in time… and showed that when it all comes together, they can be pretty good. Hours later signing a four-year deal worth $240 million that makes him the highest paid quarterback in NFL history on an annual basis, Dak Prescott threw an early touchdown and Dallas defeated Cleveland 33-17.
Dallas dominated in all three phases:
- Veterans Ezekiel Elliott And Brandin cooks found the end zone.
- The defense recorded six sacks and two interceptions (Trevon Diggs And Eric Kendricks) and limited Cleveland to an abysmal 3.3 yards per play. New defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer earned a place among our “winners”. Week 1 winners and losers.
- KaVontae Turpin returned a punt for a touchdown.
If there is a phase where the owners choose a quarterback, the Cowboys have won that one too. Prescott and Jerry Jones didn’t exactly have the most harmonious off-seasonbut when the deal finally closed on Sunday, Jones said: “I hope Dak is our quarterback for the rest of my time.” Even though it’s a lot of money, it’s the right decision.
It took too long to get the CeeDee Lam and Prescott contracts sorted out, but at least they’re done.
The Deshaun Watson The situation has now become an absolute disaster and will remain so the worst trade in NFL historywrites Garrett Podell. Watson went 0 for 10 on throws at least 50 feet down the field, and the six sacks are nothing new either.
It’s simply unsustainable for a team that has a win-now defense and some strong offensive pieces. There is no solution in sight.
😊 Honorable mentions
- DeeJay Dallas had the first kickoff return touchdown under the new rules.
- Here are Matt Snyder’s MLB Power Rankings.
- Jamal Murray and the Gold nuggets agreed to one four-year, $208 million extension.
- World No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated No. 12 Taylor Fritz6-3, 6-4, 7-5, to winning the men’s singles US Open. It’s Sinner’s second major of the year, and he made it Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes And Taylor Swift watching.
- On the women’s side, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka beat No. 6 Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5. Like Sinner, Sabalenka won both the Australian Open and the US Open this year.
- Thanks for the memories, Alex Morgan. She retired from the NWSL – the competition she helped build — Sunday.
- Alijah Boston had one career-high 30 points in the Fever‘s comeback victory in overtime.
- Joey Logano won the Quaker State 400.
😣 And not such a good morning for…
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THE CINCINNATI BENGAL
One of these years, the Bengal will make a good start. This year it just won’t happen, and this year may be the most frustrating yet because a lot of it is self-inflicted. Cincinnati, a 7.5-point favorite, fell 17-10 to the Patriotsmarking the NFL’s biggest Week 1 upset since 2018.
- Ja’Marr Chasestill without a new contract, playedbut with Tee Higgins (hamstring) out and Chase on a pitch count, Joe Burrow managed just 164 yards passing and 5.7 yards per attempt.
- Burrow falls to 1-4 in season openers.
- Among Cincinnati’s missed opportunities were several missed opportunities Tanner Hudson fumble on the 2-yard line, a fourth-and-2 comes up a yard short and Charlie Jones a punt return fumbled.
- Defensively, Cincinnati allowed 170 yards on the ground and recorded no turnovers and just one sack against one of the league’s worst offenses.
We will give it a lot of credit Jerod Mayo — the the Patriots rookie coach’s first victory in his debut since 1991 – his excellent defense and his hard attack, admirably led by Jacoby Brissett And Rhamundre Stevenson.
But my goodness, this was ugly for Cincinnati. The Chase contract situation is no longer just fair a problemit is now one that the Bengals pay on the fieldwrites Will Brinson. The defense did not make much of an impression. The special teams didn’t help. Joe Mixon took one subtle recording with his former team. That leads to the Bengals earning an “F.” John Breech’s week 1 numbers.
😬 Not so honorable mentions
😲 Tyreek Hill held and then delivers big performance in Dolphins win
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Last year, Tyreek Hill led one roller coaster ride party after a touchdown. On Sunday, Hill experienced a rollercoaster like we’ve never seen before. The Dolphins star was arrested by the police after being pulled over on his way to the game before playing – and playing a major role in – Miami’s 20-17 comeback win over the Jaguars.
🏈 College football recap: Northern Illinois shocks Notre Dame; Texas crushes Michigan
USATSI
Wake me up when Notre Dame is actually as good as the early season polls say. The Fighting Irish, previously ranked No. 5 in the country, dropped a stunner at home Northern Illinois, 16-14of Cannon Woodill scoring a 35-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining.
MAC teams were 0-51 vs. throughout. AP top-five teams. Make that 1-51.
It’s a brutal performance after a season-opening win at Texas A&Mone that leaves Notre Dame out Jerry Palm’s expected playoff and not only offsets Texas A&M’s win, but raises big questions about Marcus Vrijmanwrites Brandon Marcello.
The week 2 headliner, meanwhile, quickly turned into a laughing stock. Texas went to Michigan and crushed the reigning national champions, 31-12. We could concentrate Quinn Ewersexcellence (like Tom Fornelli did) or the Wolverines’ quarterback questions (like Chris Hummer did), but what about? Texas takes it to one of the most physical teams in the country? Dennis Dodd writes from Ann Arbor.
- Dodd: “These types of brawls are what will benefit Texas most in its SEC transition. … Ultimately, the Michigan program, which perfected the modern bully ball to win a national championship, had to step aside like a matador to avoid an attack. bull(y). Is Texas back? Come on. “Horns were blown past that train station to put them in the national championship area.”
The only thing that went wrong was the linebacker David Gbenda trying (and failing) to plant a Longhorns flag at midfield.
Here’s more:
📺 What we’ll be watching on Monday
⚾ Angels at Twins7:40 PM on FS1
🏈 Jets at 49ers8:15 PM on ABC and ESPN