#lynne vs running injuries

[lynne-monstr]

a few weeks ago I finally started to feel like I was on the right track with recovering from my running issues. so of course last week I started getting pain in a completely new place in my foot that has never bothered me before. it might be tendinitis. truly, I should have known better than to be optimistic.

anyway I haven't run for a week which is fine because I was on vacation. but yesterday I bought new running shoes (honestly I probably could have kept mine for a couple hundred more miles but I had 300 miles on them already and since I'm having issues I figured replacing them was a good idea).

I took my first run with the new shoes today. and by run I mean like half a mile because I'm playing it safe back at the beginning starting slow. fingers crossed for no new issues, otherwise I am going back to the orthopedic surgeon meh.

[twins2994]

Minnesota Twins-Chicago White Sox Series Preview

9.14.23-Kenta Maeda RHP (4-7) 4.65 ERA Vs. Jose Urena RHP (0-5) 8.46 ERA

9.15.23-Bailey Ober RHP (6-6) 3.67 ERA Vs. Jesse Scholtens RHP (1-8) 4.44 ERA

9.16.23-Pablo Lopez RHP (10-7) 3.43 ERA Vs. TBA

9.17.23-Sonny Gray RHP (7-7) 2.96 ERA Vs. Dylan Cease RHP (7-7) 4.87 ERA

The Twins At A Glance- The Twins have struggled a bit after losing three of their last four games. The Indians have been losing for the most part and the Magic Number is down to nine. Nick Gordon will begin a rehab assignment on Thursday with the Saints. He is expected to finish the Saints season that ends on September 24th. Joey Gallo and Brock Stewart are also expected to start rehab assignments with the Saints. Michael Taylor should be activated sometime on this road trip. Byron Buxton was given a cortisone shot in his knee in the hopes that he can play before the end of the regular season. Jose Miranda will undergo season-ending surgery on his shoulder on Thursday. Willi Castro has been hitting .344 with two homers and four RBI since returning from the injured list. Carlos Correa is hitting .302 in September and got a scheduled day off on Wednesday. Max Kepler has driven in nine runs in September. Caleb Thielbar has a 2.12 ERA in seventeen innings after the All-Star Break. Kody Funderburk has given up just one run over six innings of work since his call-up.

The White Sox At A Glance- The White Sox are a mess again and two disappointing seasons should have the fans questioning leadership. Rick Hahn was fired as the general manager on August 22nd and Chris Getz was promoted to replace him. The Sox traded away Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Kendall Graveman, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Keynan Middleton, and Jake Burger around the trade deadline. Elvis Andrus has been on fire since the All-Star Break. He is hitting .331 with twenty-one RBI. Andrew Vaughn has smacked seven homers since the break. Tim Anderson might be playing out his final year on the South Side. He has a $14 million club option for next year and it's unsure if the team will pick it up. Garrett Crochet is working his way back from a shoulder injury on a rehab assignment. Liam Hendriks needed Tommy John surgery and will likely miss next season. The White Sox starting staff has a 4.97 ERA, which is fifth-worst in baseball. Jose Urena has been given a little audition at the end of the season. He will start the opener on Thursday. Gregory Santos is the closer with five saves and a 3.03 ERA.

What To Watch For- The Twins are (6-3) against the White Sox in 2023. They took two of three from the Sox in April at Target Field then lost two of three in Chicago in early-May. Minnesota then swept the Sox at home in July. The earliest the Twins can clinch is on Monday. The Indians play a good Rangers team in the playoff hunt, so it won't be easy. Kenta Maeda is (2-2) with a 5.58 ERA in six starts against the Sox. Jose Urena has a 6.57 ERA in four starts versus the Twins. Bailey Ober should start for the Twins on Friday. He is (2-1) with a 3.33 ERA in nine starts against Chicago. Pablo Lopez has a 2.45 ERA in 14 2/3 innings against the Sox. Sonny Gray is (5-2) with a 3.98 ERA in twelve games versus the White Sox. Dylan Cease is (4-4) with a 4.71 ERA in twelve starts against the Twins. Max Kepler has three career homers off Cease. The Twins need to clean up on an easy schedule to close out the regular season and that starts this weekend.

-Chris Kreibich-

[that-soccer-guru]

Probably a little too early to ask but what are your predictions about who Vlatko has in mind for an Olympic roster & the 2023 WC roster vs. your own personal ideal olympic & WC roster?

Okay I'm going to lump this in with this ask because I'll be addressing some wild predictions here

Vlatko has been trying a lot of things with his camps in a hell of a weird year, and it's worked out so far! Good prospects are getting senior call ups, the experienced players are also getting to guide the newbies, and he's developing some interesting strategies that separate him from the Jill Ellis era.

I'm not going to speculate too much on the WC roster because we don't know what players will be retiring from international duty/from the sport in general. I can think of a few whose replacements are reaching their peak so, it depends on how that ends up working out.

The Olympics though are around the corner and do leave me with a bit more speculation room so let's see. Don’t forget the problem with the Olympic roster is that teams are only allowed 18 players instead of the WC and other tournament’s 23. So, here we go (look for the bold if you want to skip my reasoning):

Goalkeepers (2): Naeher is definitely the undisputed number 1 but it does come down to who's going to be the alternate. AD's injury couldn't have come at a better time because well, nothing of note happened in 2020. I do think, and don't yell at me for it, that Ashlyn Harris is done in the NT. She's just too unpredictable and with the team being used to Naeher's more classic goalkeeping, she wouldn't make a good alternate. Plus Naeher doesn't need a security blanket anymore so, yeaaaah. I definitely think, if AD gets healthy in time for Jan camp, that it'll come down to her and Bledsoe. Campbell is great for PKs but I don't know that with roster limitations she'd be my pick, she reminds me too much of Ashlyn and I don’t love that shit. So I would end with: Alyssa Naeher and Adrianna Franch. With Audrey Bledsoe competing for that number 2 and Jane Campbell on standby in case of crazy injury happenstance. 

Defenders (6): as sad as it is for me to say it, Ali Krieger also seems to be on her way out of the NT too. Experience is important but the CB position has been pretty covered by Dahlkemper and Broon. If the roster had more room I would definitely pick her, but with only 18 spots it's hard to make that choice for a player that isn't International 90min fit. IF Kelley can stay healthy I'm sure she's a shoe-in. Sonnett, despite what other people might say, is a solid choice for me. She can play up the bounds like Dunn and KO do, can switch sides if needed, and would in my opinion be a better choice for RB than Midge (again with the midfielders becoming defenders bs from this fucking team). Tierna would also be a good choice if she can stay fit, which is the problem with more than one NT player. If you had to ask for my 6 it would be: Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlhemper, Kelley O’Hara, Emily Sonnett and Crystal Dunn. If O’Hara is injured I would have Midge Purce, Tierna Davidson and Casey Short as backups in that order (with Ali Krieger being the very last choice of backup I would bring)

Midfielders (6): There are some obvious shoe-ins here, Lindsey Horan and Sam Mewis. Assuming Rose can stay healthy she would also be a surefire midfielder for me, and if she does get injured and it’s not too serious she’d be a good late miunute sub (and we can all say that’s a toss-up with how often the poor kid is out with injuries). That leaves at least 3 spots where there’s a lot of what-ifs. Andi Sullivan has been out with an injury, again luckily in a year where not much happened, but I would still pick Julie Ertz over her. Christen Press would obviously be an easy choice, again assuming that the weird injury she picked up gets managed. Finally, I think that despite being a little older than some of the prospects, Kristie Mewis will earn herself that last spot IF she can keep the momentum she has going into Jan camp. I don’t see her slowing down so that might just pan out. Catarina Macario is a big IF, assuming that FIFA waives her waiting period, so she would be the person who would take Kmew’s spot, but I still think it would be a risky thing to bring in such a young player without any caps straight to an Olympics run. That would mean my midfield picks would end up with: Lindsey Horan, Sam Mewis, Rose Lavelle, Julie Ertz, Christen Press, Kristie Mewis. Backups: Andi Sullivan (my pick to go over Kristie if she’s healthy AND can match her momentum), Catarina Macario and Jaelin Howell would stay on standby in case of injury. 

Forwards (6): Alright we all know that, unless there’s a major catastrophe, an intervention from your Deity of choice, a career ending injury or a unplanned pregnancy (an impossibility for one of these 3), Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe will be on this roster. Tobin is also a pretty solid shoe-in for this roster, again barring something outside of everyone’s control. That leaves 2 spots. One of those is likely going to Lynn Williams, because as long as she can provide assists the way she’s been doing (If I’m not wrong she had the highest rate of assists this year), she’ll have a spot on this roster because speed and pass ability is high even if her individual opportunity success is NOT. The final spot is a bit up in the air for me, so bear with my reasoning for a second: Mal Pugh’s injury record sours her for me here. Unless she can come back super healthy and keep up with the team, I don’t see her in this roster. Assuming a spot is left open, and Vlatko can quit it with the defender shit, Midge Purce would fit really well here. She’s a great winger, she can play in the midfield, and kid has great stamina. That would also leave Sophia Smith as my final choice, with the same reasoning I had with Macario except for the waiting period thing. She’s really young, didn’t start on the right foot due to an injury, but would definitely benefit from international experience, and seems to be on the right path to healthy. My forward picks would end up in: Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, Lynn Williams, Midge Purce (assuming Mal is still injured AND she’s not picked for the defense). That would leave: Mal Pugh and Sophia Smith on standby for injuries (with maybe someone like Ashley Hatch or Bethany Balcer in case Mal AND Sophia get injured, or Midge is picked for defense and more backups are needed). 

Now, don’t anyone get angry at me. That’s just the way I see things panning out and the way I think it might work out. Again this is barring injuries, things outside everyone’s control, retirements (which I don’t think will be announced unless there’s a career ending injury), how players are recovering from their injuries, and FIFA rulings on Macario’s waiting period. 

I HOPE THAT WAS THOROUGH ENOUGH ANON! PLEASE HIT ME WITH ANY DISAGREEMENTS (THOUGH NOT TOO HARD) OR COMMENTS ON THIS!

[harristops]

Did you watch the first Group stages for the Olympics? Thoughts? Do you think the US could have done better if Ash/Ali were there?

Not surprised by any of the stage results so far, tbh. Let's break it down team by team and go from there with my hot takes lmao:

GBR vs. CHI

Chile, while they have a GOAT in Endler, just doesn't have anything else to win, so they're never going to get passed the group stage, or if they do, it will be on a miracle. Like we've seen, good GKs can only keep your team in the game, whether or not they can stay in it is up to them. England has a strong squad and had a great start, and I think they'll hold up just fine in their group even against Canada or Japan for that top seed. They have enough gelling for them to work.

JPN vs. CAN

Two words: Steph Labbé. This is the Ashlyn Harris/Alyssa Naeher combo we all wish we could have. The heart she had to commit the PK, and then save it? A legendary move and I honestly felt for her that she had to be subbed out. Kailen, though, she's still so young and this is a great experience for her and knowing her, she's only going to continue to drive to improve and be better next game (even though that goal was a really tough one to save and came off some poor defending) - the CANWNT run into the same problems as the Pride sometimes; they're not out there to go and score a whole bunch of times, rather they score once and then defend the rest of the match. I need to see more attack from someone other than Sincy (congrats on her 300th cap and 187th goal, btw, absolute lengend) or Prince. Get some more attacking power in there because Japan isn't a team that will go down quietly, just likely they showed today.

BRA vs. CHN

Marta magic baby! The link up between Marta and Debinha, and just everyone on this team is so inspirational to watch. I honestly would LOVE to see them pull through and win this whole thing because no one deserves an Olympic Gold than Marta and Formiga. Their retirement is going to be the most emotional moment in women's football, even more than when Abby and Christie retired, tbh. China has some moments, but again, Brazil brings so much experience. I don't know how deep they can run into this tournament given how old their best players are, but they'll give it everything, no doubt. I want them to make it to the final rounds, or at least for the Bronze medal match, because the OGs deserve to go out with a medal.

ZAM vs. NED

Boy, this was an absolutely thrashing. I mean, there was absolutely no mercy by the Netherlands, but major kudos to the Zambia team for fighting hard to make that GD 7 instead of 10. They managed to score on a very good keeper and cut through a solid defense, even if they got blown out of the water. The drive was unreal and massive props to them for fighting to the last second. The Netherlands proved in this match why they were the 2019 finalists, and honestly, I'd be surprised if they're not back in the finals again this year. They're strong, meticulous, lethal on the attack, and defend very well. Not to mention they have a great blend of youth and experience for depth.

AUS vs. NZL

I mean, I hate to say it, but I don't see either of these teams going too far in this tournament. They both are big bodied, rough and tumble teams, but I honestly think it's a bit of a disadvantage than an advantage. NZL has never been particularly good, but kudos to them for clawing back and not getting shut out. On paper, the Matildas should have a great chance of going far, but I don't know if they can given who else is in their group. Maybe they can be in the top third? I still don't see it as likely, but no way is NZL going anywhere further.

SWE vs. USA

The match of the hour, huh! I mean, are any of use actually surprised at this result? The USWNT have been playing lower tiered teams and NOT blowing them out for the past year. Vlakto has made decisions to bring on older veteran players and barely healthy players like Jill did in 2016, except with a slightly weaker/disjointed defense. Look, I won't hide my inner glee at the karma inflicted by the soccer gods on this "the Olympics should be easy" USWNT team, but I'm gleeful. The revenge story fell flat and they showed themselves to be unable to make changes on a dime or adjust to the context. The ball to the face from Tobin's own kick was an accurate summation of the match. Now look, the USWNT will most likely bounce back and they'll probably at least make it to the semi-finals if not the finals. But, given the performance of Sweden, the Netherlands, and even Brazil, I'm not sure how they can withstand the firepower and strength of these teams when they've not played higher-calibre teams in a long time. Sweden put on a clinic with how organized, level-headed, and clean they were with their efficiency. The absolute dedication to pushing and attacking and defending and knowing their roles was outstanding and an absolute joy to watch. I felt happy for them and I believe that the USWNT are going to need a lot more than a redemption arc to get far in this tournament, but still, I think they should be okay so long as they don't rack up injuries or get gassed. Alyssa Naeher is the only reason they didn't get blown out, tbh. She is a star on the USWNT even if she's subpar in her club performance. She thrives at the international level and is so, so good and clutch.

Now, to answer your question about Ash/AK, no I don't think them being on the roster would change anything. Ash would never see a start even if she's a better club player than Alyssa, and tbh, she wouldn't make a difference here. Alyssa did a really great job and she definitely still is the #1 USWNT keeper even with the three goals conceded this match. Ash is great in clutch moments, but she has no big tournament experience so it's hard to tell if she could thrive under the pressure (I think she'd be fine, but there's no real evidence to back that claim since she has never played in a big tournament). AK might have added some leadership/consistency to the backline, but again, she didn't have a great performance in her last camp and her club performances have been rather inconsistent, even if they're still good. I don't think she should've made the cut or been on the roster.

The only person that should've been on the roster, in my opinion, but wasn't is Midge. She has proven time and time again she can play at any position and is versatile, strong, tough, and fast. She should've been the alternate over either Kruger or Lynn any day of the week. It will be interesting going forward how Vlatko rotates his players or if he will play the same Starting XI against a weaker NZL team. If everyone starts and subs, I worry about depth and conditioning especially for the older vets like Pinoe, Becky, and Llyod.

[squaredcirclesirens]

RESULTS: SHIMMER Volumes 109 & 110

SHIMMER Women Athletes held Volume 109 and Volume 110 at the Berwyn Eagles Club in Berwyn, Illinois last night live on FITE TV. Here are the results:

SHIMMER Volume 109:

Dark Match: Session Moth Martina and Rok-C defeated Phoebe and Jenna Lynn via code red.

Sierra defeated Thunderkitty via Superkick.

Shazza McKenzie defeated Alisha Edwards via submission with the Shazzmission. After the match, McKenzie said she wants a shot at the SHIMMER Title which brought out Allysin Kay. She said that she didn’t deserve a title shot and they had unfinished business.

Indi Hartwell came out with Steph De Lander. She said Tessa Blanchard couldn’t be there so she’s having her other best friend De Lander in her corner.

Indi Hartwell defeated Allie Kat via springboard dropkick after Steph De Lander interfered.

Shotzi Blackheart defeated Keira Hogan, AQA, Miranda Alize, Penelope Ford, and Hyan in a six way match after a diving senton.

DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto defeated The Blue Nation (Charli Evans and Jessica Troy) via Frog Splash from DASH.

Solo Darling (with Willow Nightingale on a stick) defeated Zoe Lucas via submission with the SharpStinger.

Hudson Envy defeated Aerial Monroe, Kimber Lee, and Kris Wolf in a Four Corners Match. Post-match Hudson Envy says that while she’s back from injury, Lufisto is not but that’s okay because she has a plan and is putting everyone on notice.

Dust with Rosemary defeated Leva Bates to retain the Heart of SHIMMER Championship via rollup.

SHIMMER Tag Team Champions Mercedes Martinez and Cheerleader Melissa defeated The Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) via diving curbstomp from Martinez to retain the belts.

SHIMMER Champion Nicole Savoy defeated Britt Baker via submission to retain the SHIMMER Championship. After the match Hudson Envy attacked her.

SHIMMER Volume 110:

Charli Evans defeated Cherry via Cradle DDT.

Hyan defeated Aerial Monroe via arm trapped sitout facebuster.

Jessicka Havok defeated Sonya Strong via submission with a Boston Crab.

Steph De Lander with Indi Hartwell defeated Brittany Blake, Veda Scott, and Nevaeh in a Four Corners Match after a boot to the face to Neveah after Indi Hartwell interfered. Jessicka Havok came out and her and Neveah went face to face with Hartwell and De Lander. Hartwell bailed out of the ring and forced De Lander to go with her to the back.

Su Yung defeated Shotzi Blackheart via Panic Switch.

Heart of SHIMMER Champion Dust with Rosemary defeated Solo Darling via rollup after a distraction from Rosemary to retain the title.

DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto defeated The Twisted Sisterz (Thunder Rosa and Holidead) via Rock Drop from Matsumoto on Thunder Rosa.

Allysin Kay defeated Shazza McKenzie via rope assisted pin.

Rosemary with Dust defeated Samantha Heights via Spear. Dust and Rosemary attacked Heights after the match but Brittany Blake made the save, running them off with a steel chair. Lexie Fyfe came out and said management was sick of how they kept cheating to win and set up a tag team match for tomorrow with Rosemary and Dust vs. Heights and Blake. If Heights and Blake win, Heights will get a Heart of SHIMMER championship match against Dust.

Charlie Morgan defeated Mercedes Martinez with the Ace’s Over DDT.

SHIMMER Champion Nicole Savoy defeated Hudson Envy via submission to retain the SHIMMER title.

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[pleaserelaxfc]

NWSL Challenge Cup Thoughts: Week 3, Central

Current Standings:

Kansas City Current: 4 pts

Chicago Red Stars: 3 pts (+1 GD)

Houston Dash: 3 pts (-1 GD)

Racing Louisville: 1 pt

Two come-from-behind results in the Central division last week have given Kansas City the lead here, although every team is still very much in it. The Red Stars and the Current, now in the top two spots in the table, have both announced season-ending injuries to some of their top players this week (Lynn Williams for the Current and Tierna Davidson for the Red Stars) so they may both need to reorganize themselves to adjust to those losses.

Last Week's Games:

Racing vs. Dash, 2-3:

Racing came out surprisingly strong here, with two really skillful goals from Kristen Davis and Jess McDonald in the first half. However, the Dash made some positional changes at half-time and came back the stronger side, ultimately scoring three goals to give the Dash their first win of the Cup.

For Racing, Kirsten Davis seems to have found her footing - after looking a little shaky in her first start, she was very strong in last week's game. Jaelin Howell is probably on her way there, but doesn't seem to have settled in quite as well yet - she seemed a bit hesitant to run at Dash players in general (although at some point she did get into some amusing shenanigans with Shea Groom). Addisyn Merrick continues to be very solid at center back, and looks like she could be a good long-term partner for Gemma Bonner there. Also, Julia Lester had to come in late in the first half after Emily Fox came out under concussion protocols, and seemed to slip into the team nicely given that she had only been with them for less than a week - that will be an important piece to shore up the shallow back line in Louisville.

The Dash didn't seem to be at their best in the first half - in particular, María Sánchez wasn't getting on the ball as much as she did against the Red Stars. However, at half time they brought Julia Ashley and Makamae Gomera-Stevens on in place of Shea Groom and Kelcie Hedge, and moved Sophie Schmidt into the midfield with Ashley replacing her in the back line. This seemed to open up more opportunities to get Sánchez onto the ball, and she was crucial in creating goals for the Dash. Ashley also seemed to hold up pretty well as a center back - there had been some gaps in the defensive line before halftime, and notably, a miscommunication between goalkeeper Jane Campbell and center backs Schmidt and Katie Naughton allowed Davis her goal. Allysha Chapman is still going strong at left back, but she also got very, very lucky not to be sent off with a second yellow card (a couple of times). The Dash have called Ally Prisock back from her loan to France, and I'm interested to see whether that is to address some questions at outside back or if it's to shore up the center back depth so that Schmidt can move back into the midfield permanently.

Red Stars vs. Current, 1-2:

The Red Stars got on the board in the first half with a goal from Vanessa DiBernardo that took such a deflection that AD Franch couldn't get anywhere near it, and they looked the slightly more dominant team for most of the game. In the second half, though, Hailie Mace scored an absolute banger, and then followed it up with an assist off of a weird bounce to allow Kristen Hamilton to score the winning goal in the eighty-sixth minute.

The Red Stars continued to work on their three-back system, this time with Kayla Sharples in for Tierna Davidson, and for a long stretch of the game it seemed to work. Mal Pugh is still doing insane things on the ball, and there were a lot of moments where she came very close to scoring or creating another goal for the Red Stars. With Tierna Davidson now out with an ACL injury for the rest of the season, and the defense already down several of their mainstays, Chicago will need to rely heavily on Pugh's ability to create goals (and to defend in the attacking half), and on several defenders with little or no experience in the league.

The Current were already playing without Lynn Williams, and with Sam Mewis limited only to one half, so it isn't terribly surprising that they struggled to create much in the way of goalscoring opportunities, but their rookie center backs held up admirably and kept the Red Stars to one goal going into halftime. Mace, one of the Current's first acquisitions demonstrated how important she was to the team throughout, and although Hamilton seemed to be struggling to make an impact for a while, she ultimately did well to keep herself onside and then convert on the opportunity that Mace opened up for her. Elyse Bennett also impressed after coming on for about twenty minutes - hopefully she is able to keep that up with Williams out long-term and the forward ranks pretty shallow for the Current.

This Week's Games:

Red Stars vs. Racing (7:30, 3/30):

I'm leaning towards a 2-2 draw here - both teams have shown that they can score, but also have some weaknesses in defense, and I'm not sure that either will outshine the other tonight.

Dash vs. Current (8:30, 3/30):

Risky wager (or it would be, if I were actually wagering anything), but I'm going to lean towards the Current again here, with another 2-1 scoreline. I think the win last week against the Red Stars probably did a lot of good for their confidence, especially since they got both goals without Mewis or Williams on the field.

[calicache]

The Belle of Football

Week 8 kicked off with a one sided TNF upset for Giants’ fans everywhere. Kudos to the RB Barkley 229 yards, first of his kind for the Giants, who looked disastrous otherwise….

Looking forward to Sunday’s match-up between the Chargers and the Browns? Me Too! Last week the Browns actually showed up to play, and WON! LOL, Jk, not really... Seriously, it was an exciting game. I mean let’s face it, the Browns have been terrible for a while. This is the first year they’ve shown up in any conversation, without being the butt of someone’s funny pun. I actually feel like it’s not just talk anymore. They’re producing on both sides of the ball, and with the Rookie Mayfield firing up his offense, this becomes a watchable game. This week they’re hosting the “Hollywood Chargers!” coming off of a home blowout vs. the Raiders, Chargers should be taking Electric Avenue all the way to Cleveland. All jokes aside I think this a real test for the Cleveland Browns. Can they host and beat a team outside of their division that’s consider to have an elite offense like the Chargers? Philip Rivers and Head Coach Anthony Lynn have already expressed how much of an improvement Browns have made on the Defensive side of the ball, and with the compliments of the offense, this 2-2-1 team is definitely on the rise. Meanwhile, RB combo Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler are putting up record setting numbers, on their way to having the 2nd most scrimmage yards by a duo EVER!  

[Browns defense on the year: 15 take a way’s, 8 interceptions, 7 fumble recoveries, 14 sacks (most in the league), and their Pass Rush is on fire! Notable Defensive Players: LB James Collins Sr., SS Jabrill Peppers, DL Myles Garret, and CB Denzel Ward (leads in the league with 3 INT).]

Sunday Night features the Kansas City Chiefs vs. The New England Patriots. For so many reasons this is a highly anticipated game for all football fans. Whether you love/hate the Patriots or you’re riding with “Showtime Mahomes”, the “WOW” factor, in these two giants, is entertainment enough. While the Patriots have struggled so far this year, on the offensive side of the ball, last week’s addition of WR Julian “Juelz” Edleman, more touches for Rookie RB Sony Michel and WR Josh Gordon showed great promise. Finally, Pats fans have an offense to rally behind, right!? Of course! We knew at some point they’d figure out the offense, but, is it enough to outscore “Patomic Bomb Mahomes” and his monster offense? IBM’s Watson gives the Patriots a 58% likelihood to dominate the Chiefs. Much of it may be based on Chiefs lackluster defense, which is basically last in most areas. Chief’s defense has given up 400+ passing yards in 3 out of 5 games this year. Although, some would consider their Pass Rush as the best quality the defense brings, it’s No Bueno! Brady is the best in the pocket, so for the chief’s, rushing “The G.O.A.T” before he gets the ball out, is going to take more effort than they have.

This game definitely comes down to the wire, and will be a dog fight between Pats’ Defense and Chiefs’ offense. Questions looming around this game will be: Can Pats D’ keep Mahomes inside the pocket and put pressure on him? Will they get some incomplete passes, fumble recoveries, or even an INT? Whatever their game plan is, they are going to have to disrupt Patrick Mahomes enough to throw off their offense. Having said this, I don’t have a lot of faith that is possible. Kansas City Chiefs’ offense is young, skilled, and healthy, dominating even the Jags defense, which is something even #12 couldn’t handle. Kansas City’s offense is dominating in the passing and running game, with all receivers. RB Kareem Hunt has over 350+ rushing yards, followed by WR Tyreek Hill and TE Travis Kelce combining for almost 900 receiving yards on the year. Belichick and his defense have their hands full this week, hopefully they took advantage of the extra time off! Let’s get Reeaadyyy to rumble!!! Ding Ding!

A notable trade this week was Jamaal Wallace. From Denver to Jacksonville, Wallace is in Florida to give a boost to Jags running game; which is helpful considering Leonard Fournette is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury.

A few sleepers for Fantasy RB Week 6

Phillip Lindsay vs Rams, he’s definitely beating the rookie Royce Freeman out of the RB position.

Nyheim Hines vs. N.Y. Jets, is on the rise in Indianapolis, even with Marlon Mack making a return, he still gets a pretty decent workload good for 10 or more fantasy points.

Aaron Jones vs. 49ers’, if Mike McCarthy gets out of his own way, Jones is in for an explosive game.

[lynne-monstr]

just got back from a morning run! (which of course involves at least ten minutes of bathing in sunscreen, since I prefer to run outside even during a heat advisory).

it was a good run! I'm up to a cumulative mile in intervals, which is still so little mileage but I am determined to ramp up excruciatingly slowly to not irritate my plantar fasciitis. last time I increased too quickly was a disaster. it's especially frustrating because I know I'm capable of a three mile run but until I get my feet back in working order, it will have to wait.

anyway, trying to be grateful for whatever progress I can squeeze out, even if it's slow. now I'm gonna to finish my breakfast smoothie, shower, and maybe take the ferry to a cool lunch spot I've been wanting to try. (cold soba noodles yum!)

[twins2994]

Chicago White Sox-Minnesota Twins Series Preview

9.27.22-Lance Lynn RHP (7-6) 4.02 ERA Vs. Bailey Ober RHP (1-3) 3.71 ERA 

9.28.22-Johnny Cueto RHP (7-9) 3.15 ERA Vs. Josh Winder RHP (4-5) 4.20 ERA

9.29.22-Lucas Giolito RHP (10-9) 5.05 ERA Vs. Louie Varland RHP (0-2) 5.06 ERA

The White Sox At A Glance- The White Sox were in the hunt for the American League Central until this past six-game losing streak to the Indians and Tigers at home. Chicago was outscored 38-17 in the homestand and Cleveland clinched the division on Sunday. The team announced that Tony La Russa will not manage for the rest of the season. He has been out since late-August with a heart ailment. Miguel Cairo has been the acting manager in his absence. Injuries were to blame for some part of the White Sox misfortune in 2022, but I think Tony had the team playing to tight and worrying about their playing time. The Sox need a young manager, who will let the hispanic players be themselves. Rick Renteria should have stuck around as manager in my opinion. Elvis Andrus has found some new life since heading to Chicago. He is hitting .292 with six homers and twenty-two RBI in 34 games for the Sox. Tim Anderson might return this week from a hand injury that has kept him out almost two months. Luis Robert won’t play the rest of the year with a wrist injury. Josh Harrison is hitting .316 this month. Eloy Jimenez has seven homers and twenty-two RBI in September. The pitching hasn’t been bad outside the last homestand in September for the Sox. They have a 3.13 team ERA in that stretch. The Twins will miss Dylan Cease, who is having a Cy Young year. Liam Hendriks has allowed one run over his past 7 2/3 innings. Kendall Graveman has a 7.88 ERA this month. 

The Twins At A Glance- The Twins were in the American League Central race until September hit. They are (7-17) and just lost two out of three games to the Angels. They have their last three home games this week against the White Sox. The Twins are scoring just three runs per game over their past seven games and can’t get a big hit with men in scoring position, which has been the story in the second half. Carlos Correa has been on fire in September with a .366 average, six homers, and sixteen RBI’s. Nick Gordon has knocked in thirteen runs in September. Gary Sanchez has twelve RBI’s in September even though he’s hitting just .178 during that stretch. Gio Urshela is hitting .299 this month. Ryan Jeffers continues to rehab with the Saints, but it’s unclear if he’ll be activated before the season ends. Trevor Larnach, Jorge Polanco, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Kyle Garlick, Tyler Mahle, and Sonny Gray have either been ruled out for the season and should be done for the year. Caleb Thielbar has allowed one run over 9 1/3 innings in September. Michael Fulmer and Griffin Jax have 2.08 ERA’s this month. Jhoan Duran has given up two runs over his past sixteen innings of work. 

What To Watch For- The Twins are (7-6) against the White Sox in 2022, but won the first five match-ups. The Sox are (6-2) in the past eight head-to-head meetings. These two teams will play each other is six of the last nine games to close out the season. Lance Lynn is (2-1) with a 4.15 ERA in seven starts against the Twins. Bailey Ober has a 4.23 ERA in six starts versus the Sox. Andrew Vaughn has two career homers off Ober. Johnny Cueto is (4-0) with a 1.41 ERA in five starts against the Twins and almost signed with them this year, but they went with Chris Archer. Josh Winder went five innings and allowed two runs in his only starts against the Sox on July 5th. Lucas Giolito is (7-8) with a 4.30 ERA in eighteen starts against the Twins. I would have never believed you if you said the White Sox and the Twins wouldn’t win the division at the beginning of the year. Injuries and bad performance have hampered both teams seasons and the Indians hit more than expected. 

-Chris Kreibich-

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Yankees (22-18) at Rangers (18-24)

Monday – 8:05pm on YES: Gerrit Cole (5-1, 1.37 ERA) vs Jordan Lyles (1-3, 6.63 ERA) Tuesday – 8:05pm on YES and ESPN: Jameson Taillon (1-3, 5.40 ERA) vs Mike Foltynewicz (1-3, 4.60 ERA)

Wednesday – 8:05pm on YES: Corey Kluber (3-2, 3.48 ERA) vsTBD

Thursday – 2:05pm on YES and MLBN: Domingo German (3-2, 3.62 ERA) vs Dane Dunning (2-3, 3.42 ERA)

A Brief Section on Globe Life Field

This is the first time the Yankees will be playing at the new Rangers stadium, and it plays pretty differently than the previous park.

Now obviously Globe Life Field held the NL postseason and the World Series last year, but this is the first season where the Rangers have gotten to play in front of fans there. GLF’s dimensions are all honoring important Rangers players and moments:

Left Field Pole is 329 feet in honor of Adrian Beltre

Left Field inside the line is 334 feet in honor of Nolan Ryan

Left Field power alley is 372 feet as the Rangers first played in Texas in 1972

Deepest dimension is 410 feet in honor of Michael Young

Straightaway centerfield is 407 feet in honor of Pudge Rodriguez

Right Field power alley is 374 feet in honor of the 1974 Rangers having the first winning season ever

Right Field Pole is 326 feet in honor of Johnny Oates

42 feet from the plate to the backstop in honor of Jackie Robinson

Compared to the previous Rangers ballpark, the new Globe Life Field is a pitcher’s paradise: at the old Ballpark in Arlington, there were 19% more runs than average, 12% more home runs than average, and wOBA was 9% higher as well. It consistently ranked as one of the best hitter’s parks outside of Coors. In comparison, the new stadium is really tough for hitters: it was 11% worse than average in homers allowed last year (although its back to league average so far this year), 4% worse than average in runs allowed, and 2% worse than average in wOBA.

Rangers Injury Report

UTL Brock Holt: on the 10 Day IL with a strained hamstring, no timetable to return

SP Kohei Arihara: on the 10 Day IL with a finger contusion, no timetable to return

Rangers Pitching

The Rangers rotation is kinda like the Island of Misfit Toys—it’s been high profile guys who have gotten dumped after poor performances or guys that have been passed around, but the Rangers are trying to take fliers on guys with some track record of success and then trade them for prospects. The big issue with that for Texas is when they have guys that DO actually perform well, they hold onto them for far too long and get limited returns instead (see: Lance Lynn and Mike Minor.) Rangers pitching as a whole has a 93 ERA+, which is really quite bad. While they are in the top 10 in walks allowed (3.02) they have allowed the most hits in baseball (362) and second most homers (54) and are below average in strikeouts. The bullpen is 17th in baseball with a 3.94 ERA as well, although the bullpen does have a couple nice bright spots in it.

Starting game one is right handed pitcher Jordan Lyles. Lyles is a four pitch pitcher—he’ll use his four seamer and curveball against righties and lefties, and mixes in a slider for righties and a change for lefties. His fastball, to be completely fair and honest, is garbage—it’s a 93mph fastball with okay movement, but it’s -9 run value makes it the second worst pitch in baseball this season (last year it was only the fourth worst pitch in all of baseball, so maybe there’s room for improvement?) He throws the fastball nearly 50% of the time, and opposing hitters are slugging .705 against it, which is just awful. It has a 64.7% hard hit rate. He’s allowed nearly as many extra base hits (10) as strikeouts (11) with it.

That’s Lyles’ pitch percentages by zone for a fastball—notice 8.4% of those are meatballs and then another 25% of those are up and in against righties/up and away against lefties.

Yeah, allowing over .600 batting averages on a third of your fastballs is a good way to end your Major League career.

Game two starter is Mike Foltynewicz, who in 2018 was an All Star for the Braves and got Cy Young votes for them as a 26 year old. Unfortunately for Folty, 2019 was a bad year and 2020 was a disaster- he lost 5mph off his fastball, lost a lot of weight, and was promptly DFA’d during the season. 2021 has been a bit better so far for him- his fastball is back up to 94mph, still slower than it was in his prime, but better than the high 80’s fastball he was rocking last year. His slider looks to be back in rhythm as well—opponents are hitting just .196 off his slider this year and he has 22 strikeouts in 46 at bats finishing guys off with it. Where Folty’s problems come from however are his awful platoon splits: righties are slashing .257/.292/.475 with five homers and 26 strikeouts in 101 at bats. Lefties are slashing .315/.386/.658 with six homers and 13 strikeouts in 73 at bats. His change up and curveball, both lefty only options, are getting destroyed.

Folty has always been a stuff guy and more of a thrower than a pitcher, but when your stuff isn’t blowing guys away, you’re not really that valuable on the mound.

Lastly I wanted to give a shoutout to former Yankee prospect Ian Kennedy for putting up his best season in a decade as the Rangers closing pitcher. Kennedy was originally traded to the Diamondbacks as part of the Curtis Granderson trade in 2009, but he’s still alive and kicking out of the pen in Texas now. Ian’s basically gone from throwing four pitches as a starter to throwing his 4 seamer 80% of the time, which is probably a great decision: it’s only 94mph, but it has elite movement—an extra 2.1 inches of drop and an extra 2.6 inches of horizontal movement.

He’s just going to pound the strike zone with heaters and hope that you don’t rip him apart, but so far this season it’s been working really well.

Rangers Hitters

Texas’ lineup is starting to get back on track a bit after a brutal 2020 season. As a team they have a 100 wrc+, which is 10th in baseball, and are 8th in homers hit. They do have, in typical Rangers fashion, the fifth most strikeouts, but also in typical Rangers fashion they’re aggressive on the base paths—third in stolen bases (28) and 11th in extra base taken % (42%.)

While former Yankee prospect Nick Solak is doing really well, and the star of the team is the always fun Joey Gallo, the breakout star of the Rangers so far has been Adolis Garcia:

Garcia has come from virtually nowhere to play an elite outfield and has just been crushing balls all over the park, but he does have an unsustainable .352 BABIP and 16% barrel rate. Is he going to stay good? My guess is yes, but I don’t think he’ll be a near MVP candidate the rest of the season.

[boloorsportsmania]

#559 Liverpool continue their dream run in Champions league, to face Real Madrid in finals who are 1 win away from hatrick champions league titles; Nadal JUST-CAN’T-BE-BEATEN-IN-CLAY in 2018; RCB finally found a bowling unit who can defend a target; Southee and Siraj star in win vs MI; Pant keeps DD hopes alive; Rashid Khan keeps winning games for SRH; Dhoni and Watson continue to excel for CSK; Surya,Rohit and Bumrah keep MI hopes alive with brilliant win over Punjab XI and more..:-)

In Champions league 2nd leg SF, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich scored in 3rd minute itself to take aggregate to 2-2. But Real Madrid bounced with goals by Benzema to take aggregate to 4-2 by half time. Bayern Munich played their heart out in 2nd half. Real Madrid were made to sweat by each move by Bayern Munich. Rodrigues reduced aggregate gap to 4-3.  But that was where it ended. Real Madrid thanks to their brilliant defense reached their consecutive finals of Champions league. They would face Liverpool in finals who beat Roma 7-6 in aggregate. Liverpool tool 2-1 lead by half time to take aggregate to 7-3. Roma scored thrice in 2nd half to give Liverpool some tense moments. But Liverpool managed to reach finals for the first time since 2007.

Nadal continued his dream run in Barcelona open. He beat Goffin 6-4 6-0 (thereby winning 400th match in clay !!) in SF and thrashed Tsitsipas 6-2 6-1 in finals to grab his 11th Barcelona open.  He has won 46 sets and 19 matches in a row in clay. This is staggering stat. He became first player to win 400 matches min in both clay and hard court. Legend in his own right.

CSK faced MI in Mumbai. CSk just managed 169-6 in 20 overs. Raina starred with 75 from 47 balls but it like CSK were 20 runs short. Once Surya and Lewis had 69 run opening stand, it was clear MI would win with ease. Rohit hit his 2nd IPL 2018 fifty to give Mi 8 wicket win. RR hosted SRH in Jaipur. SRH were cruising at 109-1 in 14th over thanks to great hitting by Hales and Williamson. But they had collapse post that and just managed 151. RR were cruising at 72-1 in 10th over. But Samson got out, RR fell apart. Stokes batting form has been poor in this year’s IPL. Rashid and Siddarth then put the plug on RR scoring. RR won the match by 11 runs in the end. SRH have defended their 3rd successive low score. Its massive achievement considering they don’t even have Bhuvi in lineup due to injury.

RCB hosted KKR and struggled without ABD. De Kock and Mccullum had a 67 run opening stand. But post that they struggled with run rate. Kohli did some big hitting towards the end to take RCB score to 176. Once KKR dropped Narine in first over and Lynn in 3rd over, it was clear that RCB would fall short. RCB took some quick wickets to put KKr under pressure. KKR needed 43 from 4 overs. Their death bowling again fell short of expectations. KKR won with 5 balls to spare. RCB have not got their act together in any game so far. They have won 2 games solely due to ABD heroics.

CSK hosted DD in Pune. Watson was dropped early on. Post that it was all CSK. They scored a massive 211-4 in 20 overs. Watson scored a brilliant 78 and Dhoni hit 51 of 22 balls. DD were reduced to 76-4 before Pant and Shankar showed some fight but it was too steep a climb and lost eventually by 13 runs. Pant’s 79 of 45 was a brilliant knock though. RCb hosted MI in Bengaluru. Manan Vohra and McCullum again wasted good start without going for big score. RCB got 167 which looked 15 short. But RCB got this 167 mainly due to 2 blunders by MI. They bowled 2 waist high full toss which went for six. Free hit of both balls also went for six. So 26 runs came of Just 2 balls.  Mclenghan gave away 24 runs in last over which also proved costly for MI. Southee gave RCB dream start by castling Ishan for golden duck. Umesh dismissed Yadav and Rohit of consecutive deliveries. MI struggled post that. Pandya brothers gave hope to RCB. 35 was needed of last 3 overs. RCB held their nerves this time by bowling mix of Yorkers and slow deliveries. RCB badly needed a win and bowlers finally won them a game. RCB won by 14 runs. T was match where RCB as a unit performed well. MI now need to win all their remaining 6 matches to reach play offs.

2nd contest between RR and DD also was reduced by rain to 18 overs a side. DD made 196-6 thanks to fifties by Pant and Shreyas. Due to another rain interruption, target as reduced to 151 in 12 overs. That was a tough ask. Butler and Short gave RR a dream start by reaching 82 in 7th over. But RR collapsed from 82-1 to 100-3. They needed 51 of last 3 overs but fell short by 4 runs.  DD grab their 3rd win in IPL 2018. KKR hosted CSK. Watson and Du Plessis raced to 48-0 in 5 overs. Post that Chawla South African star. Watson and Raina took CSk to 91-1 in 10 obvers. Pos that CSK struggled to guile and variation of Narine-Kuldeep-Chawla. They just managed 177. They reached that due to another 25 ball 43 by Dhoni. Jadeja dropped Narine of 2 consecutive deliveries in 2nd over of the match. It was clear it was not CSK day. They reduced to KKR to 40-2 and 97-4. But Shubman and Dinesh Karthik had other ideas. They kept creaming balls to boundaries to take pressure off KKR. They eventually won the match with 14 balls to spare. Shubhman scored his first IPL 50 in the process. But combined effort of 32 and 2-20 by Narine was the key for KKR victory.

MI had to win all remaining 6 games. It started with facing Punjab at home.Gayle and Rahul gave Punjab a brilliant start with a 54 run stand. Punjab lost way post Rahul got out. They sent Yuvi ahead of Mayank and he took time and didn’t get any timing. Gayle got out aftera  40 ball 50. Yuvi was runout soon after. Punjab did 2nnd blunder by sending Axar ahead of Mayank and Stoinis. That backfired too. Some hitting by Stoinis, Nair and Mayank gave Punjab a score of 174. Axar and Yuvi faced 26 balls between them and just scored 27 runs. That was the difference between a 190+ score and 174. Bumrah was star for Mi with 1-19. Surya gave MI a perfect start with yet another fifty. MI were reduced to 80-1 to 120-4. They needed 50 runs of last 4 overs. Rohit and Krunal finished it off in style with some lusty hitting. MI won by 6 wickets with 1 over to spare.  

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RR vs MI Live Score: Rajasthan face Mumbai in must-win encounter | Cricket News

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RR vs MI Live Score: Rajasthan face Mumbai in must-win encounter | Cricket News

LIVE BLOG Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of the IPL 2020 match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. PREVIEW: Skipper Rohit Sharma‘s fitness would be a concern for defending champions Mumbai Indians as they aim to continue their dominant run, while a depleted Rajasthan Royals would hope to stay afloat when the two teams clash in an IPL match. Mumbai roared back to form by crushing Chennai Super Kings by 10 wickets on Friday after their Super Over loss to the Kings XI Punjab. RR, on the other hand, lost to the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in their last game. Table-toppers MI are on course to make it to the play-offs but the game is crucial for Rajasthan, who are languishing at seventh place and a loss would mean a step closer to elimination. Questions remain on whether Rohit, who suffered a hamstring injury and missed the game against CSK, will be available on Sunday for MI. But Rohit’s absence was hardly felt on Friday as the young Ishan Kishan (261 runs) launched into CSK bowlers with gusto. So did Quinton De Kock (368 runs), continuing his sublime run. In the event of Rohit missing out on Sunday as well, the two will open again. Mumbai’s middle-order has also been among runs — be it Suryakumar Yadav (243 runs), Hardik Pandya (164 runs), swashbuckling West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard (208 runs) or Krunal Pandya (82 runs). With their big-hitting ability, the Pandya brothers and Pollard are a threat to any opposition. MI bowlers are also wreaking havoc, especially New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah, who are lethal upfront and in the death. The two have accounted for 33 wickets, while Australian Nathan Coulter-Nile (2 wickets) has supported the duo. Spinners Krunal (5 wickets) and Rahul Chahar (13 wickets) are equally aggressive in the middle overs. For Rajasthan, the biggest worry is the form of skipper Steve Smith, who has made 265 runs from 11 matches and a mis-firing top-order. In the course of the season, Rajasthan have made constant changes at the top and that has hurt them badly. The team does possess quality players like Ben Strokes (110 runs), Sanju Samson (272 runs) and Jos Buttler (271 runs), but the trio has failed to deliver collectively. With two crucial points at stake, the management would be hoping that the three click on Sunday, something which has not happened this season. All-rounder Rahul Tewatia (224 runs and 7 wickets) has been a revelation with both the bat and ball, but too much is being left for him to achieve. On the bowling front too, RR lack consistency. Only Jofra Archer (15 wickets) has been effective with his pace but has failed to get support from fellow pacers Karthik Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat and Ankit Rajpoot, who have 12 wickets combined. Spinner Shreyas Gopal has leaked 343 runs from 11 games. Stokes, as a bowler, has also been unimpressive and has failed to get a single wicket so far. RR head coach Andrew McDonald said the team has not been able to be at its best and it chances of making the play-offs are fading. “Our destiny is probably in other teams’ hands now and as for us we need to keep believing, our challenge is seven wins and we’ll try to give our best to achieve that,” he conceded. Teams (From): Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Digvijay Deshmukh, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Pattison, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Prince Balwant Rai, Quinton De Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult. Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Andrew Tye, Kartik Tyagi, Steven Smith (c), Ankit Rajpoot, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Akash Singh, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Shashank Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Robin Uthappa, Aniruddha Joshi, Jofra Archer.

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NFL power rankings: Seahawks, Bills, Steelers get closer to top; Eagles, Vikings in a free fall for Week 3

Week 2 in the NFL meant every team that played at home in Week 1 had to go on the road, and vice versa. After only two games, or through one-eighth of the 2020 season, there’s a already a better indication of what teams are headed somewhere vs. nowhere.

A few teams on either the best or the worst side of performed exactly how one expects. But this is in the NFL, where surprises and disappointments are par for the course, even in the sprint stage before the marathon.

After some more predictable results, here’s how all 32 teams stack up against each other going into Week 3 in Sporting News’ latest look at the league hierarchy:

MORE: Who are the NFL contenders or pretenders after Week 2?

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NFL power rankings

1. Kansas City Chiefs 2-0 (last week’s ranking: 1)

The run defense continues to have problems and their passing offense isn’t always automatic. But they still have Patrick Mahomes to save the day, and all he needs is a chance late. That escape from Los Angeles keeps the dream of 16-0 alive, but the No. 2 team here is next on the schedule.

2. Baltimore Ravens 2-0 (2)

The Ravens have flown to similar heights with Lamar Jackson doing his efficient passing and running MVP thing again. They’ve enjoyed a couple of walkovers against the Browns and the Texans, but they finally get their rematch with the Chiefs to prove just whether they can be the AFC’s best again.

3. Seattle Seahawks 2-0 (4)

They have Russell Wilson and a strong running game and that has helped them get through some major run and pass defense issues early. But Wilson did outduel two former MVPs, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton. The elite QB fun continues against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.

MORE: Russell Wilson locked in, trying to prove he’s NFL’s best QB

4. Buffalo Bills 2-0 (5)

Josh Allen is trying to get himself in the same fun-and-gun company as Mahomes and Jackson. The Bills haven’t made it look all that easy at times against the Jets and the Dolphins, but the solid results are there. The Rams will be a good tougher test.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers 2-0 (7)

Ben Roethlsiberger is back for sure and the running game keeps on pounding out the hits. Their defense may be trying to catch up, perhaps knowing there is less of a burden on them to sack, intercept and strip to save the day. They should keep rolling on the Texans.

6. Green Bay Packers 2-0 (6)

The Packers have done whatever they want with Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Jones, throwing back to their most explosive offensive days. The Lions and Vikings were pushovers, however, and they draw the stronger Saints on the road in prime time.

7. Los Angeles Rams 2-0 (10)

The Rams can run the ball with anyone again and keep taking pressure of Jared Goff with a friendlier passing game. They also have seen their defensive scheming shakeup work really well to complement their superstars, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.

8. Arizona Cardinals 2-0 (9)

The Cardinals have seen Kyler Murray give opponents the run-around with a big assist from DeAndre Hopkins. They also have to be pleased how their defense is rising behind Chandler Jones and in front of Budda Baker. Kliff Kingsbury is an early coach of the year candidate.

MORE: Kyler Murray for MVP? Don’t sleep on it

9. New Orleans Saints 1-1 (3)

The Saints didn’t make it perfect to stay ahead of the Buccaneers with a loss at the Raiders. They got caught looking ahead the Packers, as they need to navigate better not having Michael Thomas.

10. New England Patriots 1-1 (8)

File Kingsbury under Bill Belichick, who waited a long time to find Cam Newton to replace Tom Brady. They got Newton for almost nothing and now he’s playing like a healthy all-around MVP again. Unreal.

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11. San Francisco 49ers 1-1 (11)

The 49ers keep getting decimated by injuries, indicating that they are not immune to post-Super Bowl attrition. They have to survive with what they have offensively and defensively without Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Bosa. One wonders how long they can hang on. They do return to New York to face the weak Giants, however, as another break in Week 3.

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1-1 (12)

The Bucs righted the pirate ship at home, finding their strong running game with Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette to support Brady in his downfield-throwing efforts. The schedule continues to open a bit where they will stay on the Saints’ heels.

13. Dallas Cowboys 1-1 (15)

The Cowboys need to pay Prescott long-term, stat, after that latest miracle he pulled against the Falcons. He does whatever’s needed passing and running to cover all their other issues include a lack of discipline and consistent defense. 

MORE: Why Cowboys are “America’s Most Exciting Team”

14. Tennessee Titans 2-0 (19)

The Titans did make it to the AFC championship with a similar offensive formula, Ryan Tannehill making efficient big plays working off the power running threat of Derrick Henry. But their defense hasn’t looked all that good against two limited offenses. Luckily, their schedule gives them the struggling Vikings next.

15. Las Vegas Raiders 2-0 (18)

The Raiders took advantage of their Panthers matchup and got more confident with a big upset win in Las Vegas over the Saints. They follow by facing the Patriots on a short week, another good litmus test.

15. Chicago Bears 2-0 (20)

The Bears have danced past the Lions and Washington Football Team in a very nice opening schedule, rediscovering their running game and defense foundation. They will need Mitchell Trubisky to pass a lot better with the Falcons up next.

16. Los Angeles Chargers 1-1 (13)

Justin Herbert may not have the starting gig for good, Anthony Lynn says? What the? Going back to Tyrod Taylor, even if healthy, would not make any sense. Plus, it’s the Panthers in Week 3, a great game for Herbert to keep building confidence. The rookie leaning so well on running game, defense and good receivers had to be inspiring, right?

MORE: Breaking down Justin Herbert’s NFL debut vs. Chiefs

18. Washington Football Team 1-1 (16)

Washington had a wake-up call against the Cardinals as it couldn’t stop Murray and Dwayne Haskins can’t do too much with limited help around him. Ron Rivera’s team overachieved against the Eagles, but it might take a while for another win with the Browns next on the road.

19. Cleveland Browns 1-1 (24)

The Browns found their run-heavy successful formula in Week 2, taking the major pressure off Baker Mayfield. They get another break to get above .500 with Washington back in Cleveland.

20. Indianapolis Colts 1-1 (26)

The Colts are a hard team to read. Their offense and defense tend to be roller-coaster rides where everything starts with running the ball well and stopping the run. But what they get out of Philip Rivers in the passing game, plus their pass rush and pass coverage, are real wild cards that might keep them out of contention.

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21. Jacksonville Jaguars 1-1 (21)

The Jaguars can’t think about drafting Gardner Minshew’s replacement now, can they? He’s lifted them to a surprise victory and they aren’t that far from being 2-0 because of him. Amazing what giving him top skill support does.

22. Houston Texans 0-2 (22)

Deshaun Watson is short on skill support as he misses Hopkins at wide receiver. The defense is worse, putting more on him to win games with his arm and legs. Without Watson, this may be the worst team in the league.

23. Philadelphia Eagles 0-2 (17)

The Eagles are getting shoddy play from Carson Wentz when he was such a big factor in lifting them last season. The offensive line and wide receiver issues have been bigger than expected. But that defense is also getting pounded more than expected, too.

24. Minnesota Vikings 0-2 (14)

Kirk Cousins has had a rough start because they are more dependent on him. The defense is the most disastrous it has ever been under Mike Zimmer. Miinnesota needs to take down Tennessee at home in Week 3 to save the season.

25. Atlanta Falcons 0-2 (25)

The Falcons keep having issues everywhere defensively that bring down all their great offensive firepower around Ryan, now led by red-hot Calvin Ridley. Dan Quinn needs his team to beat the Bears to save his job for now.

26. Denver Broncos 0-2 (23)

Von Miller isn’t playing.  Drew Lock isn’t playing. Phillip Lindsay isn’t playing. Courltand Sutton may need to miss more time. This has been a Mile High nightmare of injuries, worse than John Elway could have expected. Tampa Bay up next doesn’t help.

27. Cincinnati Bengals 0-2 (28)

The Bengals go up a notch because of only Joe Burrow this week. Everything else about their team not involving him remains a mess.

28. New York Giants 0-2 (27)

The Giants had a lot of promise for Daniel Jones, and despite two valiant efforts, they are winless. The defense is improved, but now the offense has been greatly worsened by Saquon Barkley going down.

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29. Carolina Panthers 0-2 (29)

The Panthers’ defense is pretty bad and their shining light on offense, Christian McCaffrey will likely be out a while. Oh boy.

30. Miami Dolphins 0-2 (31)

When will it be Tua Tagovailoa time? Not Thursday night against the Jaguars but soon.

31. Detroit Lions 0-2 (30)

The Lions are really crumbling around Matthew Stafford as no Kenny Golladay has hurt and their defense is about to doom Matt Patricia.

32. New York Jets 0-2 (32)

Adam Gase is asking for his team to dismiss him with his bad personnel moves and offense that looks more like debacle than genius.

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[junker-town]

4 big storylines for the NWSL playoffs

Sam Kerr and Vlatko Andonovski have their swan songs, the Thorns try to right the ship and the Courage are just extremely good.

The NWSL semifinals take place on Sunday, and oh god the Courage already scored oh no they scored another one, this is gonna get ugly.

Sorry, now that I’ve got a joke off, both games should be very entertaining. The Reign, coached by presumed next USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski, are finally healthy and should give the reigning champs a stiff test. The other match, between the red hot Chicago Red Stars and ice cold Portland Thorns, also has a clear favorite but plenty of reasons for the underdog side to believe.

These are the four big storylines you should get caught up on before the games.

Enjoy your last chance to see Sam Kerr in NWSL

Sam Kerr is only able to make close to the amount of money she’s worth playing in the salary-capped NWSL because she splits time between the Chicago Red Stars and Australian W-League’s Perth Glory. She makes a lot more in Australia than she does in the United States. But this week, the FFA admitted that Kerr is unlikely to play in W-League this season. That’s bad news for Red Stars fans.

While Kerr hasn’t announced her plans yet, it’s pretty easy to piece together the puzzle. It would be stunning if she played exclusively for the Red Stars for $46,000 per season. Kerr is almost certainly heading abroad, which means you’ll probably see her suit up for one of Europe’s biggest names soon.

Kerr is arguably the best player in NWSL history. She’s the league’s all-time leading scorer, capturing her third consecutive golden boot this year. The league will undoubtedly be worse off without her.

But she’s got some work left to do before she leaves. The Red Stars, despite consistently having one of the league’s most talented rosters, have never won a playoff game. They’re favorites at home against the Portland Thorns, who have made the last two championship games, but are currently out of form.

Kerr will be fondly remembered as an NWSL and Red Stars legend no matter what happens this weekend, but she’d love to exit on a high.

Hey, WTF is up with the Thorns?

So, about the aforementioned Thorns. They posted an impressive 3-0 victory over the Red Stars on August 25 and have struggled mightily since, winning just one of their last six matches. Even more worrying, they scored just one goal during that run. Those six games include a shocking 6-0 defeat to the North Carolina Courage that felt like it could have been 12-0, plus a 2-0 derby defeat to Reign FC.

Why Portland’s attack has been so poor is tough to say. Christine Sinclair, Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, Caitlin Foord and Margaret Purce are all healthy. They’re actually doing a better job creating a high volume of shots than they were earlier in the season when they were scoring a ton of goals. The ball just isn’t going in the net.

They’re going to have to reverse that trend against a Chicago team that has won five games in a row, with a defense anchored by defender of the year candidate Casey Short, and World Cup winner Alyssa Naeher behind her in goal. The Thorns will not be gifted anything. They’re going to have to score from a world class move or an absolute banger.

Vlatko Andonovski’s shot at a storybook ending

Pen hasn’t hit paper yet, but all signs point to Reign FC manager Vlatko Andonovski being the next head coach of the United States women’s national team.

If you’re a casual women’s soccer fan just checking in for the playoffs, you might wonder why he’s been tabbed for the job ahead of other NWSL managers. His team has just 27 goals this season, exactly half the number scored by the Courage, the Reign’s opponents this weekend. But just getting to the playoffs at all required an outrageous coaching performance by Andonovski, and I don’t ever want to hear another coach complain about not having a talented enough roster ever again.

Reign FC lost an entire roster’s worth of players to injury and international duty this season. Their 33 players used — in a league with 20-player rosters! — is by far the most of any team in the league. Megan Rapinoe, named the best player in the world by FIFA, recorded 0 goals and 0 assists for the Reign this year. Jessica Fishlock, one of the world’s best midfielders, tore her ACL five games into the year. Andonovski got quality minutes out of assistant coach Stephanie Cox, who had been retired for two years. The team’s leading scorer, Bethany Balcer, played college soccer in NAIA.

Some key players are still out with season-ending injuries, but Andonovski finally has a large, healthy squad to pick from this weekend. Internationals Rapinoe, Allie Long, Steph Catley, Celia Jimenez Delgado, Rosie White and Jodie Taylor are all finally fit and settled in. No one expects the Reign to beat the Courage, but their squad is finally ready for the level of challenge.

Can we just take a second to appreciate the Courage? Holy crap.

Over the last four seasons, Paul Riley has coached the same core of players to seven trophies. Three NWSL shields, two NWSL championships, two International Champions Cups, and of course, they’re still in the running to win a triple. For the second season in a row.

The Courage scored 13 more goals than the second-best team, on 103 more shots. They allowed four fewer goals than the next best defense in the playoffs. I don’t need to tell you why they’re the favorites to win the title; their history and this season’s numbers speak for themselves. But the really cool thing about the Courage isn’t how good they are, but rather how they got here.

Ten players — Katelyn Rowland, Sam Mewis, Abby Erceg, McCall Zerboni, Lynn Williams, Jessica McDonald, Abby Dahlkemper, Jaelene Hinkle, Kristen Hamilton and Meredith Speck — have been with Riley for the entire ride, from the first title with the Western New York Flash through the move to North Carolina. The additions of stars like Crystal Dunn and Stephanie Labbe have certainly helped, but the players who weren’t even expected to make the playoffs in 2016 still form the backbone of arguably the best team in the history of women’s soccer four years later.

There was not one human being in 2016, including Paul Riley, who thought this was a world-beating superteam in the making. Which is why, even after all the trophies, Riley’s “nobody believes in us” bit hasn’t gotten stale with his players. It’s been four years and I still can’t quite believe they’re real.

NWSL semifinals: Sunday, October 20

North Carolina Courage vs. Reign FC: 1:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Chicago Red Stars vs. Portland Thorns FC: 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

[lynne-monstr]

blog I'm so excited. I've been dealing with very stubborn plantar fasciitis (which is not what I'm excited about lol) and my orthopedist recommended arch support inserts for my running shoes. in related news, 4 years ago my chiropractor fitted me for custom orthotics. I haven't worn them in a while because the issue he was treating me for is no longer a problem. but blog! I can use them now! so much better than an off the shelf insert!

except for the terrible news that for the past two weeks I have been frantically searching and unable to find them 😭😭😭 and I don't want to get new ones because apparently they're like $600. (I don't know what magic my chiropractor pulled with my insurance all those years ago, but I paid zero dollars for mine.)

anyway, today I found the orthotics!! success! and I also got (another) prescription for physical therapy so I really really really hope ill be running again soon.

[twins2994]

Detroit Tigers-Minnesota Twins Series Preview

7.26.21-Matt Manning RHP (2-3) 5.79 ERA Vs. Michael Pineda RHP (4-5) 3.93 ERA

7.27.21-Tyler Alexander LHP (1-1) 4.24 ERA Vs. Kenta Maeda RHP (4-4) 4.63 ERA

7.28.21-Wily Peralta RHP (3-2) 2.56 ERA Vs. JA Happ LHP (5-5) 6.14 ERA

The Tigers At A Glance- The Tigers started the second half strong with a three-game sweep of the Twins. Then they swept the Rangers and won all seven games in the homestand. This past weekend was a rough one for Detroit as Kansas City swept them in a three-game series. The Royals scored twenty runs in the three games and were able to halt the momentum of the Tigers. Jonathan Schoop is improving his trade status with a .385 average in the second half. Akil Baddoo has hit three homers and knocked in ten runs after the All-Star Break. Since we last saw the Tigers, Jake Rogers is out with right arm soreness and Isaac Paredes has a hip issue. Michael Fulmer is on a rehab assignment with Toledo. The bullpen has been great for the Tigers in the second half. Joe Jimenez has thrown five scoreless innings, Gregory Soto has four scoreless frames, and Daniel Norris has struck out six over 4 1/3 innings. The starting rotation has been good too with a 3.54 ERA after the break. 

The Twins At A Glance- The Twins had a tough weekend against the Angels at home. They lost three of four games and the lack of offense was to blame. The Twins scored just ten runs in the four games, while the pitching staff did a solid job. Max Kepler has found his swing in July. He has hit seven homers and knocked in eleven runs with a .271 average. It’s good to see that he is finally healthy and back to hitting the ball hard. Jorge Polanco has hit .353 after the All-Star Break as he is finally healthy from some ankle injuries in the past two winters. Trevor Larnach missed Sunday’s game with a sore hand after getting hit by a pitch on Saturday night. Alex Colome has thrown the ball better as the season has went on. He has a 1.86 ERA in his last 9 2/3 innings. Hansel Robles has been just the opposite with a 7.04 ERA in July. Jose Berrios might have pitched his last game for the Twins. He threw seven very good innings and allowed two unearned runs in a tough loss. It will be interesting to see what moves the Twins front office will make before the deadline on July 30th. 

What To Watch For- The Twins are (7-5) against the Tigers in 2021. The Twins swept the Tigers at home before the All-Star Break then got swept in Detroit after the break. Matt Manning threw five innings and allowed two runs in his lone start against the Twins on July 9th. Michael Pineda is (4-2) with a 3.91 ERA in nine starts against the Tigers. Miguel Cabrera is hitting 10-for-25 in his career against Pineda. Tyler Alexander has a 2.63 ERA in five games versus the Twins. Kenta Maeda is (2-2) with a 4.05 ERA in seven starts against Detroit. Miguel Cabrera is 7-for-19 against Maeda. Wily Peralta is (2-3) with a 4.28 ERA in nineteen games against the Twins. JA Happ is (4-3) with a 5.22 ERA in fifteen games versus the Tigers. Jeimer Candelario has three career homers off Happ. Both the Tigers and Twins will be open to trading guys as they look to rebuild. You never know what the Twins front office will do. They traded Jaime Garcia and Brandon Kintzler in 2017 and still got the Wild-Card. The Twins unloaded in 2018 and traded Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar, Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke, Ryan Pressly, and Lance Lynn. The Twins went all in and traded for Sam Dyson and Sergio Romo in 2019. The team didn’t make any moves in the weird 2020 season. 

-Chris Kreibich-