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I went 7-8 in NFL picks during Week 6 to drop my record to 46-47 on the season. Fortunately, that is still good enough for second place in the prestigious ChabDog Sports Talk group. On the other hand, it is just one bad pick away from fourth place. Look at that logjam between myself, Eric, and Frank! Meanwhile, Abe is still a savant and poor Doggie is bringing up the rear.

I got off to a hot start last week with the Giants winning outright and the Jets covering in an ugly loss. It got bad after that, but I still could have finished above .500 for the week if Washington had just held onto the ball and kicked a field goal to go ahead by five instead of botching the handoff and costing me by survivor pool pick as well. The only good thing to come out of that game was Jayden Daniels scrapping together enough fantasy points to win a matchup for me. Shout out to the Chicago defense for forgetting Luke McCaffrey exists on that one play.

Anyway, time to move on to Week 7 and try to make a dent in Abe’s lead.

Steelers -5.5 at Bengals

Cincinnati traded for Joe Flacco last week, and while he wasn’t very impressive in the team’s loss to Green Bay, he did enough to cover the massive two-touchdown spread. The Bengals still stink, so I am fading them with the spread inside of a touchdown.

Rams -2.5 vs. Jaguars

I have read Jacksonville well in the last two weeks since they blew up my 49ers pick. This week, I foresee more pain for the Jags against another NFC West opponent. The Rams might be missing Puka Nacua in this London game, but that just means more balls for Davante Adams.

Saints +5.5 at Bears

This will be a letdown for Chicago after its big win over Washington. New Orleans has been bad on the road this year, but Spencer Rattler is looking more and more like a competent quarterback. The Bears could easily blow another coverage like they did with McCaffrey and allow a backdoor cover.

Dolphins +2.5 at Browns

Miami has an embarrassing 1-5 record, but it has not played embarrassing football since being blow out by Indianapolis in the opener. In Week 6, the Dolphins lost to the Chargers despite scoring a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute. In Week 5, they lost on a late touchdown to a Carolina team that is looking increasingly respectable. In Week 7, it’s time to get a dub. The weather is expected to be extremely windy, so stacking the box and letting Dillon Gabriel do something stupid will be key.

Patriots at Titans +7.5

Last week I said that the Raiders shouldn’t be favored by four and a half points against anyone and they beat Tennessee by 10. I am giving the Titans another chance even though their only win this season was the flukiest win I’ve ever seen. Fading them seems too square. I really hate this pick.

Raiders +12.5 at Chiefs

The Raiders lost to the Chiefs twice last year and it was only by a combined nine points.

Eagles at Vikings +1.5

Carson Wentz revenge game? This line is so sketchy that I had to pick Minnesota. Maybe the Birds are broken.

Panthers -1.5 at Jets

Carolina has won three out of four and might be good. It might not have come against the best competition, but this team has shown it can pound the rock with Rico Dowdle.

Giants +7.5 at Broncos

Homer pick! I will be very surprised if the Giants can pull off a repeat performance of last week on the road against a good defense. On the other hand, Denver’s offense has not been consistent, so staying within seven points is doable.

Colts at Chargers -1.5

The Chargers have underperformed for the last three weeks, and they could have lost three in a row if not for their last-minute comeback at Miami. That’s why I love this pick. All the squares will be picking the darling of the league plus the points.

Commanders at Cowboys +1.5

Cowboys score unlimited points at home and Dak Prescott’s connection with George Pickens continues to grow stronger.

Packers at Cardinals +6.5

Arizona’s offense looked pretty good with Jacoby Brissett leading the charge and Green Bay has been pretty awful since it’s 2-0 start that made everyone hand them the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Falcons at 49ers -1.5

Give Atlanta credit. It has bounced back and won two straight since being shut out by Carolina. The Falcons will be very tough if they can continue to get great performances from Bijan Robinson and Drake London, both of whom looked unstoppable against Buffalo. Why am I picking San Francisco? I don’t trust Atlanta on the road yet and the Falcons will be a square pick after the big win on the national stage.

Buccaneers at Lions -5.5

I don’t know why this spread is more than three points and that scares me.

Texans +3.5 at Seahawks

Houston has won two straight over two very down bad teams. Are the Texans any good? This game will be a good measuring stick.

It’s hard to lose in the MLB Postseason when you get back-to-back starting pitching performances like the ones that the Dodgers got from Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 1 and Game 2 of the NLCS in Milwaukee. On Monday night, Snell allowed just one hit in eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and the Dodgers almost blew the game because Dave Roberts decided to let his bullpen handle the ninth inning. After Los Angeles hung on to win 2-1, Yamamoto took the mound on Tuesday night and allowed a leadoff home run to Jackson Chourio. However, the Brewers would reach base just four more times after that as Yamamoto used 111 pitches to throw a complete game in a 5-1 Dodgers victory.

YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO FINISHES OFF A COMPLETE GAME ON PITCH NO. 111!#NLCS pic.twitter.com/swcxV67ouu

— MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2025

Los Angeles quickly countered Chourio’s solo shot with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning on a Teoscar Hernandez home run and an RBI double by Andy Pages. The Dodgers tacked on a run each in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, including a solo shot by Max Muncy that made him the franchise’s Postseason home run leader with 14. That’s one more than both Corey Seager and Justin Turner and three more than Duke Snider.

Yamamoto got stronger as the game wore on and retired the last 14 batters he faced. He and Snell became the first pair of teammates to last at least eight innings in back-to-back starts of a single Postseason series since Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum did it in the 2010 World Series. If you only include Dodgers history, you have to go back to Orel Hershiser and Tim Belcher in the 1988 NLCS against my Mets.

The Dodgers get to head home with a chance to put away the underdog Brewers and move even closer to their dreams of a repeat World Series championship. The Mariners also have a chance to finish their series at home, but that chance took a big blow on Wednesday night when the Blue Jays posted a 13-4 win in Game 3.

Daulton Varsho makes it a 5-run inning for the @BlueJays! pic.twitter.com/lbrDBbr4ei

— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2025

It looked like we were getting more of the same from Seattle and Toronto when Julio Rodriguez took Shane Bieber deep for a two-run home run in the first inning, but Bieber would settle down while the Blue Jays rallied for 12 runs between the third and sixth innings. Andres Gimenez got Canada up and running with a two-run shot off of George Kirby and Dalton Varsho followed with a two-RBI double later in the inning. The Blue Jays kept pouring on the offense with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. going 4-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored, and a home run. George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Addison Barger also went deep for the visitors.

Toronto will have a shot at tying up the series on Thursday night, but they’ll have to do so with Max Scherzer on the mound. He is making his first start of this Postseason after posting a 10.20 ERA in four September starts. The Blue Jays are hoping that he can channel the Scherzer of six years ago, because Seattle is sending Luis Castillo to the hill, and he allowed just one hit in six innings against Detroit in the ALDS.

Back in the National League, Tyler Glasnow will try to keep the elite starting pitching going for Los Angeles. He is coming off six shutout innings in the series-clinching victory against Philadelphia last week. The Brewers haven’t announced a starter for a must-win Game 3, but Jose Quintana is expected to play a big role after throwing three scoreless innings against the Cubs in NLDS Game 3.

Neither Quintana nor [Milwaukee manager Pat] Murphy have revealed whether the left-hander will start or — more likely — work behind an opener (or behind multiple relievers, as he did in NLDS Game 3). The Dodgers will have left-handed hitters Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman lurking in the top half of their lineup, as they usually do, but manager Dave Roberts will intersperse them with potent right-handed hitters Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Teoscar Hernández.

With the Blue Jays winning tonight, we are guaranteed two straight days of Championship Series doubleheaders. It will be fun to see if Toronto and Milwaukee can battle back on the road with their disadvantages in the pitching department.

How does this keep happening?! It was disappointing when the Rangers were shut out on opening night at MSG by the lowly Penguins. It was strange when they didn’t score again in a loss to the Capitals on Sunday night. Then, on Tuesday night the Rangers lost 2-0 at home to the Oilers and it is starting to feel like a sick joke or a curse or both. How do you not have a home goal in 180 minutes?! The worst part is that scoring on Edmonton is supposed to be the easy part. New York let in just one goal against Connor McDavid and company before the net was emptied, and yet the Blueshirts still came up short. They even had back-to-back power plays (only a few seconds of five-on-three) followed by a breakaway for Sam Carrick, but nothing went in the net.

Raise the banner #nyr https://t.co/8QJtJLuH0K

— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) October 15, 2025

At least the Rangers have 10 goals in two road games, albeit against two lousy squads in Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Another silver lining is that New York outshot the defending Western Conference champions 30-22, but it’s painful to get shut out by Stuart Skinner, who had just six career shutouts in 168 career starts before Tuesday.

We saw two upsets on Monday Night Football with Buffalo falling in Atlanta 24-14 for a second straight loss and Washington losing at home to Chicago 25-24 in heartbreaking fashion. The Bills had a lot of trouble defending the Falcons’ star players with Drake London catching 10 passes for 158 yards and a score and Bijan Robinson gaining 170 yards on the ground and another 68 in the passing game. Robinson’s night was highlighted by an 81-yard touchdown run in which he ran over Buffalo safety Cole Bishop along the sideline without stepping out of bounds.

BIJAN ROBINSON 81-YARD TD!

BUFvsATL on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/Nfb1IdvNK8

— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2025

That is pure savagery. The Bills appeared to get back in the game when they strolled down the field on their first possession of the third quarter and scored on a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Ray Davis. That brought Buffalo back within seven points, but the offense would go to bed for the rest of the game. The Falcons did a great job pressuring Allen with blitzes, which seems like a good strategy when Buffalo lacks a superstar receiver who can burn one-on-one coverage. Sure enough, Allen was held to 15-for-26 passing and just 180 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns. No Buffalo receiver caught more than three passes, and Joshua Palmer led the team in receiving with 60 yards despite catching a 45-yard bomb on the Bills’ first play from scrimmage.

Despite the disappointing offensive performance, the Bills hung tight throughout the second half, and the game might have come out differently if not for a botched third down play early in the fourth quarter. With Buffalo facing 3rd and 1 from around midfield, Allen tried to hand off to Elijah Moore on a misdirection end around play, but the ball came loose, resulting in a four-yard loss. If the Bills had tried just about anything else, they probably get the necessary yard on either third or fourth down, but instead they punted and only saw the ball one more time before Atlanta’s clock-killing drive that it used to kick a field goal and go up by 10 points with less than two minutes remaining.

FUMBLE! BEARS BALL!

CHIvsWAS on ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/l6Ps1NW7Kj

— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2025

Just like Buffalo, the Commanders were felled by a botched handoff at the worst time. Washington was in great shape with 3rd and 1 on the Chicago 40-yard line. With another first down, it would get to run more time off the clock and move into field goal range, where the team could have run the clock out completely or kicked a field goal to put Chicago in a deeper hole. Instead, Jayden Daniels had the ball slip out of his hand as he attempted to give it to Jacory Croskey-Merritt, and Chicago’s Nashon Wright fell on it to set up his team with a game-winning field goal drive.

It was Washington’s first turnover since the first quarter, when Daniels threw an interception and Croskey-Merritt lost a fumble while the Bears built a 13-0 lead. Daniels and the Commanders took control of the game after that, though, and went on a 24-3 run that culminated with a touchdown pass to Zach Ertz early in the fourth quarter. Chicago answered on the next possession when D’Andre Swift turned a four-yard out route into a 55-yard touchdown reception by running past two Washington defenders. The Bears missed the two-point try and trailed 24-22 until the handoff snafu set up Jake Moody’s field goal with no time remaining.

You can excuse me for thinking that the Brewers are a team of destiny after they turned a double play on a ball drilled by Max Muncy off of center fielder Sal Frelick’s glove and the center field wall. There was some confusion over whether the ball was caught on the fly or not, and that made Teoscar Hernandez hesitate enough for the Brewers to force him out at home on a relay from Frelick to Joey Ortiz to catcher Williams Contreras. If that wasn’t amazing enough, Will Smith stayed put at second base, allowing Contreras to job down to third base to force him out as well.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?! #NLCS pic.twitter.com/x7BbmJ6hzX

— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2025

That is horrible base running from the Dodgers and also a good job by the umpires to get the play right without assistance from instant replay. How could Los Angeles survive such a horrible twist of fate? Well, it turns out Blake Snell was doing a fine Sandy Koufax impression on the mound. He struck out 10 batters in eight innings and the only batter that reached base against him was Caleb Durbin on a leadoff single in the third inning. Durbin ended up getting picked off, so Snell faced just the minimum 24 batters during his masterclass performance.

Poor Dave Roberts couldn’t resist making this game exciting even though he had a beautiful pitching performance in front of him. The Dodgers manager took Snell out of the game with a 2-0 lead so that Roki Sasaki could try to finish the game in the ninth. Sasaki has been a reliable closer for Los Angeles in the Postseason, but after retiring Durbin on a pop-up, he walked Isaac Collins and allowed Jake Bauers to smash a ground-rule double to center field. Jackson Chourio also hit the ball hard to center, but this one was run down by Andy Pages for a sac fly that scored one run and moved the tying run to third base. It would stay there, but only after Blake Treinen came on and struck out Brice Turang with the winning run in scoring position.

What do these big league managers think will happen if they leave in their starting pitchers past 100 pitches? Snell was only at 103 when he was pulled, and the Dodgers almost blew the game as a result. It’s not as though Snell had been through a stressful inning, either. The babying of pitches was frustrating in the regular season, but it is unbelievable now that it is still happening in Game 1 of the NLCS.

Earlier in the evening, the Mariners smashed the Blue Jays 10-3 to take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS as it heads to the United States. This one looked like it would be tight when Toronto answered Julio Rodriguez’s three-run home run in the first inning with a pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the frame and one more in the second inning to tie the game. However, Jorge Polanco put Seattle back in front in the fifth with a three-run blast off of Toronto reliever Louis Varland. Polanco has been a Canada killer with a pair of RBI singles in Game 1 followed by the go-ahead knock in this one.

The Mariners kept pouring on runs in the sixth and the seventh with two driven in by J.P. Crawford and two more on a home run by Josh Naylor. Meanwhile, the Seattle bullpen let up just one hit after Logan Gilbert left the game at the start of the fourth inning. The Seattle crowd should be wild in Game 3 with the franchise two wins away from claiming its first American League pennant.

College football made me miserable on Saturday, so it was nice for the New York Rangers show up and blast the Penguins 6-1 on the road to avenge the 3-0 loss that Pittsburgh handed us on opening night. The Rangers got a nice variety of goals with Mike Zibanejad getting the scoring started with a shorthanded tally and Adam Fox adding an even-strength score after Ben Kindel evened the game up for the Pens. Then, Will Cuylle scored a power play goal on a great feed from Conor Sheary to make the score 3-1 midway through the second period.

Carrick with the feed + Mika does his thing for the shorty. pic.twitter.com/SA0lI0pvd0

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 11, 2025

The Rangers added a second power play goal with Fox’s second score of the night to take a three-goal lead into the third period. Adam Edstrom helped New York pour on another goal by shooting the puck past Pittsburgh goalie Arturs Silovs after Sam Carrick set him up with an aggressive drive to the net. However, the goal was credited to Matt Rempe because the puck bounced off of him after he was checked into the crease by Ryan Shea. Eight minutes later, Taylor Raddysh wrapped up the scoring by taking advantage of a brilliant backhanded feed from rookie forward Noah Laba.

Unfortunately, the good vibes for the Rangers did not last long because they were back in action on Sunday night against Washington and they suffered their second straight shutout defeat at home. That means that New York has still not scored a goal at Madison Square Garden despite being on the ice for 120 minutes. The Rangers put 35 shots on net and had plenty of great opportunities, but Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren stopped all of them and Anthony Beauvillier’s second period goal stood up as the only score of the game.

In baseball, the Brewers hit three solo home runs to defeat the Cubs in Game 5 of the NLDS and move on to the Championship Series. William Contreras went deep off of Drew Pomeranz in the bottom of the first, but that was answered by Seiya Suzuki hitting a solo shot of his own off of Jacob Misiorowski in the top of the second. Chicago wouldn’t get a lot of offense after that, though. After Andrew Vaughn hit a home run to give Milwaukee the lead in the fourth, the Cubs’ best chance came in the sixth when Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner reached base with no outs, but Aaron Ashby recovered by striking out Kyle Tucker and then Chad Patrick came on to retire Suzuki and Ian Happ to end the threat.

The Cubs would not get another hit for the rest of the game and the Brewers won 3-1 with Abner Uribe recording the final six outs. Milwaukee gets to stay at home and take on the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS on Monday night.

CAL RALEIGH CONNECTS! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/obubngM6fq

— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2025

In the American League, Seattle survived a leadoff home run by George Springer and won Game 1 of the ALCS in Toronto by the score of 3-1. Mariners starter Bryce Miller pitched six innings and allowed only one more hit after Springer’s blast. One run was almost enough to win the game for the Blue Jays, but Seattle scored twice in the sixth despite Kevin Gausman retiring the first two batters of the inning. Cal Raleigh evened the score with a solo shot before Julio Rodriguez walked to get Gausman out of the game. Rodriguez then stole second off of reliever Brendon Little and scored on Jorge Polanco’s single. Polanco hit another RBI single in the eighth, but the Mariners didn’t need it since their bullpen finished the game with three perfect innings on just 24 pitches.

We’ll see if the Blue Jays can bounce back in Game 2 on Monday evening or if the Mariners can take another step towards their first ever World Series appearance.

I really wanted to believe that Penn State hit rock bottom when it lost to 0-4 UCLA last Saturday, but now I see that the abyss goes deeper than I could have imagined. That’s because Penn State lost for the second straight week as a favorite of more than 20 points. This time the unthinkable defeat came at home against Northwestern, 22-21.

After a muffed punt by Penn State led to a Northwestern field goal and a 16-14 lead for the Wildcats, the Nittany Lions appeared to regain control of the game early in the fourth quarter when Devonte Ross turned a shallow cross into more than 50 yards after the catch for a 67-yard gain. Kaytron Allen followed with an 18-yard run to set up Drew Allar’s one-yard end zone plunge that gave Penn State a 21-16 advantage. Now all we needed was for the defense to do what it had done for most of the second half and keep the Wildcats out of the end zone.

DEFENSE GETS OFF THE FIELD 🔥 pic.twitter.com/eVeJThHcYP

— Northwestern Football (@NUFBFamily) October 11, 2025

Of course, that did not happen. Northwestern quarterback Preston Stone found Griffin Wilde for three key first down completions to move the Wildcats down the field and Caleb Komolafe finished the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run to put his team back in front. Penn State stopped the two-point try and had plenty of chance to respond, but Allar was injured while trying to scramble on 3rd and 4. On the next play, Ethan Grunkemeyer also tried to scramble for the first down, but he was stuffed to end Penn State’s hope of a comeback.

After the game, we learned that Drew Allar will miss the rest of the season due to the injury he suffered on that final drive. It’s probably best for the program that Grunkemeyer gets an extended look with the College Football Playoff out of reach, but who knows what the roster will look like next year with James Franklin’s job status in doubt? He deserves to be fired because of his team underperforming drastically when expectations were at their highest. However, due to Franklin’s buyout that costs almost $50 million, letting him go at this point is a huge financial undertaking.

If Penn State changes coaches, it will be tough to put a roster together without the transfer portal, and without $50 million, it’s hard to attract players in the transfer portal. It’s not a great situation.

The one thing that drove me craziest while doom scrolling after the loss was fans treating Drew Allar like he was let down by Penn State. I feel bad for Allar because of how his college career is ending and because he is injured, but acting like he didn’t have his destiny in his own hands is ridiculous. Allar played with an incredible tight end in Tyler Warren last year and two great tailbacks. He had the ball in his hands in the national semifinal with a chance to drive his team to victory, and he threw a horrible interception. Allar is just as much of a disappointment as anyone else involved with the Penn State program. The program didn’t fail him. He failed alongside the program.

Enough with the “he deserved better, PSU failed him” BS. National semifinal. Lead in the fourth quarter. Had the ball with a chance to win. Threw an interception. He failed along with everyone else in the program. https://t.co/B0VTPWklrX

— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) October 12, 2025

This year, Penn State went into the transfer portal and dug up three talented wide receivers for Allar to throw to. He had the ball in his hands with a chance to complete an epic comeback victory against Oregon, and he threw another awful interception. It sucks, but he’s just not that good. Penn State will try to end its three-game losing streak and earn its first Big Ten win of the season at Iowa next week.

So how about that ALDS marathon on Friday night between the Tigers and Mariners? Seattle is headed to its first ALCS in 24 years where it will battle for its first ever American League pennant thanks to Jorge Polanco’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 15th off of Tommy Kahnle. It was a classic game, but it was also a game affected by the babying of pitchers that has become too normal in today’s game.

JORGE POLANCO WINS IT IN THE 15TH INNING!

THE @MARINERS ARE HEADING TO THE ALCS!!! pic.twitter.com/IEb6DLrHaY

— MLB (@MLB) October 11, 2025

First, Seattle skipper Dan Wilson took George Kirby out of the game after five shutout innings and 66 pitches because he allowed a leadoff double in the sixth to Javier Baez. The next batter, Kerry Carpenter has five career home runs off of Kirby, with the fifth coming in Game 1 of this series. Maybe an aggressive pull like that is okay when the batter is so dominant against the starting pitcher, but in this case it wasn’t because Carpenter ended up hitting a home run anyway off of reliever Gabe Speier.

KERRY CARPENTER GIVES THE @TIGERS THE LEAD! #ALDS pic.twitter.com/5RTVcgF2NA

— MLB (@MLB) October 11, 2025

With Tarik Skubal being his usual excellent self on the mound for Detroit, Carpenter’s dinger could have lifted the team to victory, but AJ Hinch decided to lift Skubal even after his one-two-three shutdown inning in the bottom of the sixth that ended with a strikeout of AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh. You see, Skubal was at 99 pitches, and he’s not used to throwing more than 105 or so. In the first inning without Skubal on the bump, Seattle tied the game with a pinch-hit single from Leo Rivas and Detroit won’t score again until next season. This is why you don’t baby pitchers in the regular season. They need to be prepared to dig deep in games like this one that decide destinies.

Can one game change the trajectory of a franchise? Giants fans like myself are hoping that last night’s 34-17 walloping of the Philadelphia Eagles was a turning point that will bring us back into the realm of Super Bowl contenders after spending years wandering in the wilderness of pro football. It’s not as though the Giants haven’t made the playoffs since Eli Manning retired after the 2019 season. The 2022 campaign had magical moments that provided hope for the future with Daniel Jones looking like he could be a long-term fixture at quarterback and Saquon Barkley rushing for over 1,300 yards. We even won a playoff game! The issue with 2022 was that the Giants went 0-5 against Philadelphia and Dallas, including being embarrassed by the Eagles 38-7 in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs.

Flash forward to 2025 and there is another promising young quarterback and exciting young running back in place. The Giants are still a longshot for the Playoffs with a brutal schedule ahead, so why should we feel hopeful now when we know that everything fell apart after 2022? There are two reasons. The first is that we just beat the defending Super Bowl champs by 17 points. The second is that Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo are absolute animals.

Cam Skattebo's highlights from a 98-yard, 3 TD night 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6ZfaQiRp07

— NFL (@NFL) October 10, 2025

This is going to sound like sour grapes, but I’ve been saying this since Barkley’s college days. He is an unbelievable athlete, but he doesn’t have the physicality I prefer to see in a lead back. He’s a boom-or-bust guy who tries to turn every play into a home run and he doesn’t embrace contact like the battering ram that is Skattebo. Barkley can change a game with one big play, but when that big play doesn’t come, he’s pretty ordinary. Last year, Barkley was hitting a home run once a game. This year, his longest run is 18 yards and that came in the first quarter of last night’s game.

Skattebo reminds me of guys that the Giants have won with. He’s Otis Anderson, Brandon Jacobs, and Ahmad Bradshaw. He just loves mauling dudes and you could tell on Thursday that the Eagles did not want to tackle him. His style might not lend itself to longevity, but he can be a major factor in a game that is played 10 yards at a time. Skattebo is also an intensity machine who will not let his team take a week off.

Now let’s get to Dart. He still holds the ball too long and puts himself in danger of taking damaging sacks that can put the offense behind schedule. However, we also saw some precision from him that was very encouraging. Even when the first read wasn’t there, Dart quickly went through his progressions and found the open man.

Jaxson Dart stood tall in the pocket and delivered to Theo Johnson in the face of pressure.

Poise results in 22 yards for the #Giants offense pic.twitter.com/RBiuRVMRfW

— Nick Falato (@nickfalato) October 10, 2025

Just look at where he puts this ball to Theo Johnson with the pocket collapsing and nowhere to escape to. From the sideline angle, I thought he was throwing a reckless ball, but it couldn’t have been placed better. This accuracy and poise combined with Dart’s ability to improvise and scramble like he did on the Wan’Dale Robinson touchdown are why everyone is so excited about him. Plus, there are Dart’s intangibles, which we were already aware of from training camp. How Brian Daboll and Skattebo reacted to him going into the injury tent shows how important Dart is to the Giants already.

Speaking of the injury tent, something needs to be done about Russell Wilson. Until Dart learns how to slide, he is going to miss a few plays per game at least. We can’t have Wilson coming into a big situation and spiking the ball like he did last night. If Wilson is not going to be ready to play, the Giants have to move on from him early and make Jameis Winston the backup.

Big Blue’s defense left a lot to be desired. It’s hard to complain about zero points allowed in the second half, but I will try. It was great to see Brian Burns get to Jalen Hurts twice, but the pass rush was dominated by Philly’s offensive line on other occasions. We also could not figure out Dallas Goedert for the entire game. He caught nine of his 11 targets for 110 yards and a score. The good news is that the Giants handled Hurts’ other targets pretty well (although let’s not forget Hurts missing DeVonta Smith for what could have been a very long touchdown pass) and came up big on third down. They also found the biggest play of the game when it looked like the Eagles were mounting a fourth quarter comeback.

FLOTTTT PICK OMG!!!!!

📺: PRIME VIDEO pic.twitter.com/tRd2dYq5Hr

— New York Giants (@Giants) October 10, 2025

Cor’Dale Flott’s interception and 68-yard return were a major momentum swing, and the Giants might not have emerged victorious without it. Even better was that New York didn’t settle for a field goal that would have kept Philly within two scores. Instead, Dart through a perfect ball to Jalin Hyatt to draw a pass interference flag. Skattebo plowed into the end zone for his third touchdown of the night on the next play to put the Giants ahead by 17.

What a win for the New York Football Giants. We owed Philadelphia a beatdown, and the debt is still not repaid. There is still a lot of work to do if this team is to get into the playoff hunt. Let’s see if they can pull of their first road win of the season a week from Sunday in Denver.

Thursday night was also exciting for baseball fans with the Phillies and Dodgers dueling from daylight to nightfall in Los Angeles. Christopher Sanchez and Tyler Glasnow were both excellent, and no one scored until the seventh inning when Nick Castellanos doubled down the left field line off of Emmet Sheehan to score Max Kepler from second base. Sheehan has now allowed at least one run in all three of his Postseason appearances after being as reliable as they come during the regular season.

Castellanos’ clutch moment gave Philly fans hope of sending the series back to Citizens Bank Park, but the Dodgers struck back in the bottom of the seventh starting with a walk to Alex Call that followed a controversial ball three call on a 2-2 count. Instead of striking out, Call reached first base and the Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs. Then they found the equalizer when Mookie Betts was walked by Jhoan Duran. Duran struck out Teoscar Hernandez to leave the game tied, and not another batter reached base for either side until the top of the 11th when Bryce Harper was walked by Alex Vesia and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Vesia escaped by striking out Harrison Bader to set the stage for the Dodgers to win the game in the bottom of the inning.

After Max Muncy hit a two-out single to move Tommy Edman to third base, the Phillies brought in Orion Kerkering to replace Jesus Luzardo and deal with Kike Hernandez. Kerkering walked Hernandez to bring Andy Pages to the plate, and he could only muster a comebacker that was knocked down by Kerkering, but then chaos ensued.

THE @DODGERS WALK IT OFF AND ARE #NLCS BOUND! pic.twitter.com/7GKwsscWkZ

— MLB (@MLB) October 10, 2025

Even though he didn’t field the ball cleanly, Kerkering seemed to have plenty of time to throw to first for the final out of the inning. There was no play to be had at home, even with an accurate throw. I can only guess that he forgot how many outs there were and thought he needed to cut down the winning run at the plate. After the game, Rob Thomson said that Kerkering “got caught up in the moment.”

The Dodgers still don’t know who they’ll face in the NLCS because the Cubs crushed the Brewers 6-0 to force a Game 5 on Saturday night. Just like with Game 4, the winning recipe for Chicago was a crooked number in the first inning and the magnificent bullpen. Ian Happ electrified Wrigley Field with a three-run blast in the first and Matthew Boyd allowed just two hits and three walks in four and two thirds innings.

Milwaukee had its big chance to put a dent in Chicago’s lead in the fifth when Sal Frelick led off with a double and Blake Perkins walked, but after Joey Ortiz bunted, Boyd struck out Christian Yelich on an inside fastball. Danny Palencia then came in to end the threat on a Jackson Chourio pop-up. You have to wonder what Pat Murphy was thinking with the Ortiz bunt when Milwaukee trailed by three runs. The Brewers wouldn’t put another runner in scoring position for the rest of the game.

As if the Giants beating the Eagles and watching the Phillies eliminate themselves in heartbreaking fashion wasn’t great enough, the New York Rangers also won a game last night. They shut out the Sabres 4-0 with goals from Alexis Lafreniere, Carson Soucy, J.T. Miller, and Adam Fox (empty net). The season is only a few days old, but it felt like a much-needed result after New York failed to score against Pittsburgh in the opener. Now, revenge on the Penguins could be right around the corner with the Rangers visiting the Steel City on Saturday night.

Just in case I was getting tired of winning, Penn State lost a hockey game to Clarkson despite a program-record four goals from JJ Wiebusch. The Nittany Lions went up 4-2 midway through the second period, but let up four goals in a row to fall 6-4. Gavin McKenna had a pair of assists for PSU and Adrian Misaljevic scored twice for Clarkson, including the go-ahead goal midway through the third period. Penn State will hopefully respond with a victory when the teams face off again tonight.

Make sure you hug your favorite Yankees fan today. There was a chance for all four MLB Division Series to end on Wednesday, but the only one that did featured the Pinstripes playing at home with Cam Schlittler going against Toronto’s bullpen. Schlittler wasn’t as amazing as he was in Game 3 of the Wild Card series against Boston, but he was still pretty solid with just two runs allowed in six and one third innings. He just wasn’t a sharp as the group of eight Blue Jays relief pitchers that held New York to two runs in nine innings. The first run came on a Ryan McMahon solo shot in the third inning off of Mason Fluharty that tied the score at 1-1. The Yankees didn’t score again until Aaron Judge singled off of Jeff Hoffman in the ninth to drive in Jasson Dominguez. However, the next batter Cody Bellinger struck out to end the game with Toronto on top 5-2.

Toronto got to Schlittler early when George Springer led off the game with a double and was driven in on Vladmir Guerrero Jr.’s single. The Blue Jays wasted an Addison Barger leadoff double in the fourth, but struck again in the fifth when Ernie Clement and Andre Gimenez hit back-to-back singles and Springer followed with a sac fly. Clement got Toronto’s offense started again when he singled with one out in the seventh, and then Jazz Chisholm botched a potential double play ground ball to set up a clutch two-RBI single by Nathan Lukes.

Nathan for You

Nathan Lukes delivers a clutch 2-run single in the 7th! pic.twitter.com/cIvnwP7ExS

— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2025

That made the score 4-1, and Toronto would add another in the eighth when Myles Straw drove in Alejandro Kirk following his leadoff double. The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the frame, but Austin Wells was retired on a routine fly ball to left off of Hoffman’s first pitch to him.

We were so close to having the Yankees and Phillies eliminated in the same night. It seemed like a possibility when Tommy Edman homered off of Ranger Suarez in the top of the third inning in Los Angeles, but Suarez ended up pitching five innings without allowing another run while the Philadelphia offense responded immediately and took the lead in the top of the fourth. Kyle Schwarber set the tone with a massive solo tank off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

KYLE SCHWARBER ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

This ball may not have landed yet 🤯 pic.twitter.com/xIAPc4r59W

— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2025

The Phillies went on two score two more runs in the frame thanks to singles by Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm as well as a throwing error from Andy Pages and a sac fly by Brandon Marsh. Philadelphia blew big opportunities to extend their 3-1 lead in the fifth and the seventh, but it didn’t matter because Suarez held down the fort until the visitors finally broke through for five runs in the eighth off of Clayton Kershaw, adding to the future Hall of Famer’s postseason struggles. The Phillies won 8-2 to force a Game 4 tonight at Chavez Ravine. I would encourage the Dodgers to not let this series return to the City of Brotherly Love.

Just like Philadelphia, the Cubs went down 1-0 but then rallied to force a Game 4. Pete Crow-Armstrong drove in a pair of runs during Chicago’s four-run splurge in the first. Even thought the Cubs didn’t score again for the rest of the game, they still held on for the 4-3 win thanks to another great bullpen effort. Five relievers combined to allow just one run over five innings after Jameson Taillon left the game. If the Cubs can win once more at the Friendly Confines, they’ll force a Game 5 in Milwaukee on Saturday.

Over in the American League, the Tigers won a massive Game 4 at home to ensure that Tarik Skubal gets at least one more start this season. He’ll take the bump in Game 5 at Seattle thanks to Detroit overcoming a three-run deficit and defeating the Mariners 9-3 on Wednesday. Seattle’s Bryce Miller got off to a good start on the mound and the team took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, but it could have been more since one of those runs scored when Victor Robles grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, Dillon Gingler chased Miller from the game with an RBI double before Jahmai Jones and Javier Baez notched RBI hits off of southpaw Gabe Speier.

In the next inning, Riley Greene homered off of Speier to give Detroit its first lead. The Tigers then scored three runs off of Eduard Bazardo with the last two coming on a two-run blast by Javier Baez. The four-run rally allowed Detroit to cruise to victory and Baez ended the day with four RBI.

We’ve got a wild sports night ahead of us. Not only are the Phillies and Cubs trying to stave off elimination, but the Giants are hosting the Eagles on Thursday Night Football. That’s probably good news for MLB since the Giants are quite shallow at wide receiver with Darius Slayton missing the game and Malik Nabers out for the season. The Eagles have a chance to get the sour taste of losing out of their mouths after they blew a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter against Denver on Sunday. New York is a ripe target after losing in New Orleans. Maybe that loss doesn’t happen without the Giants turning the ball over five times in a row, but there is still a talent gap to worry about. If we are going to pull of the upset, we need to protect the ball, get some big plays from Daniel Bellinger and Theo Johnson in the passing game, and force Jalen Hurts to throw the ball.

There are also 14 NHL games on the slate with the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils all in action. The Rangers are slight favorites in Buffalo after getting shut out by Pittsburgh two nights ago at Madison Square Garden. Hopefully the Penguins will be just as tough when they host the Islanders tonight. Meanwhile, New Jersey is at Carolina to face the team that ended its last two playoff runs.

And don’t forget college hockey! Gavin McKenna and Penn State get Clarkson in the home opener tonight. Anyway, here are my NFL picks for this week.

Eagles at Giants +6.5

Eagles coming off a loss should hammer the Giants. This isn’t a homer pick, it’s a sharp pick. Public will be all over Philly.

Broncos at Jets +7.5

The Jets were not feisty at home last week against Dallas, but I think they will have an easier time with Denver’s offense and stay inside the number.

Cardinals at Colts -6.5

The Colts destroy bad teams. Jonathan Gannon apologizing after he chewed out his player for inexcusably dropping the ball is very soft and a sign that the inmates are running the asylum in Arizona.

Chargers -4.5 at Dolphins

I am thinking that the Bolts will bounce back after dropping two straight to NFC East opponents.

Browns +4.5 at Steelers

The Browns showed fight in England and I am loving what I see with Quinshon Judkins. He is a horse.

Cowboys -3.5 at Panthers

The Boys easily covered for me against the Jets, so I am sticking with them to take care of business on the road again.

Seahawks -1.5 at Jaguars

Letdown spot for the Jaguars after they used a pick six to flip their fate against the Chiefs.

Rams -7.5 at Ravens

Are the Ravens really this bad? Have to fade them after they burned me last week.

Patriots at Saints +3.5

I told you the Saints are tough at home! I also picked the Giants last week, but that was mostly a homer pick.

Titans +4.5 at Raiders

Tennessee’s win in Arizona was a total fluke, but it will still raise the vibes of that team. Plus, the Raiders shouldn’t be laying points to anyone.

49ers at Buccaneers -2.5

This should be another thrilling Buccaneers game that Baker Mayfield finds a way to win at the end.

Bengals +14.5 at Packers

Too many points! Even though the Bengals lost their last three games by a combined 76 points!

Lions at Chiefs -1.5

Detroit has returned to form since its disappointing Week1 loss, but it has only played Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Arrowhead at night will be a different story.

Bills -3.5 at Falcons

This is a very square pick, but it’s going to take more than one win over Washington to wipe Atlanta’s 30-0 loss to Carolina from my mind.

Bears at Commanders -4.5

Washington has already clobbered the Giants and Raiders by double digits at home. Chicago isn’t much better.

It was fun listening to Yankees fans complain about Aaron Judge’s failures in clutch situations during October. It was hard to believe that such a dominant player could play so poorly in the Postseason, but the expectations are high when you play for the same franchise as Mr. October and Mr. November. All good things must come to an end, though, and on Tuesday night, Judge finally came through with a massive home run to save the Yankees from elimination.

AARON JUDGE OFF THE FOUL POLE!

TIE GAME!!! #ALDS pic.twitter.com/rplPnEsRoH

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2025

It was only a matter of time before Judge finally did something incredible during October, but what made his game-tying laser beam especially wild was that it came on a 100 mph 0-2 fastball that was off the plate inside. I have no idea how this man turned on this pitch and somehow kept it fair. If you look at the count, the velocity, and the location, it’s one of the craziest home runs ever hit.

This season, there have been 528 pitches on 0-2 counts, thrown out of the zone, at 99 MPH or above.

Aaron Judge tonight is the first player to hit one of those out for a home run. 🤯

🔊 @Ken_Rosenthal pic.twitter.com/UQBS2CI9wT

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 8, 2025

Judge is well on his way to living up to Derek Jeter’s legacy of the media kissing his rear end every fall. Before the heroics, the Yankees appeared done for. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run home run in the first inning to put Toronto on top, and a string of singles in the third inning plated four more runs and chased Carlos Rodon from the ballgame. The Yankees began their rise in the bottom of the frame with Judge hitting an RBI double and Giancarlo Stanton following with a sac fly. After Judge tied the game in the fourth, Jazz Chisholm hit a monster solo shot in the fifth to give New York the lead, and Austin Wells followed with an RBI single to make it three straight crooked numbers for the Yankees.

The Blue Jays might end up kicking themselves for letting the Yankees off the ropes. Cam Schlittler is back on the bump tonight for the first time since his Wild Card masterpiece. It’s no wonder why New York is a -185 favorite tonight.

The other Wild Card game on Tuesday saw another AL MVP candidate hit a home run while the Mariners cruised to victory behind a strong Logan Gilbert start and retook homefield advantage from the Tigers.

🍑 BIG DUMPER #POSTSEASON HOMER 🍑#ALDS pic.twitter.com/HUzynv9Xpf

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2025

Cal Raleigh’s home run wasn’t as clutch as Judge’s, but you know who was clutch? The guy who caught the home run after it bounced in the bullpen.

A fan wearing a Dump here shirt just caught Cal Raleigh’s home run

Dudes rock pic.twitter.com/l5r3TIVoH6

— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) October 8, 2025

Gilbert AKA Walter allowed just one run on four hits in six innings and left with a 5-1 lead thanks to Seattle scoring two runs each in the third and fourth innings off of Detroit start Jack Flaherty. The Mariners have a chance to advance to the ALCS with another win this afternoon. All four Division Series are in action today, with the Brewers, Blue Jays, and Dodgers also having a shot to move on.

I’m glad there is so much baseball on, because the start of NHL season was miserable for me. The Rangers allowed Pittsburgh’s Justin Brazeau to score late in the first period and never found an answer. The Penguins ended up winning 3-0 with a pair of late empty-net goals and Latvian goalie Arturs Silovs stopped all 25 New York shots for his first career shutout.

What is it with the Dodgers and the eighth inning in October? Los Angeles might be 4-0 in postseason play, but every eighth inning it gives the opponent a chance to come back. Twice against the Reds, the Dodgers allowed a crooked number in the eighth inning to give Cincinnati hope of overcoming a seemingly impossible deficit. In Game 1 in Philadelphia, the home team loaded the bases in the eighth and put the tying run on second base before Alex Vesia came in from the bullpen and got Edmundo Sosa to fly out.

Once again in NLDS Game 2, trouble struck the Dodgers in the eighth inning. The boys in blue were leading 4-0 thanks to a seventh inning rally that featured RBI singles from Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani, but Emmet Sheehan allowed a one-out triple down the right field line by Max Kepler to wake the Phillies up. Kepler scored on Trea Turner’s single, but Sheehan retired Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper to escape further trouble.

The real danger for the Dodgers this time around came in the ninth, and it came because Dave Roberts decided to insert Blake Treinen into the save situation rather than Roki Sasaki, who had closed out Game 2 of the Wild Card and Game 1 of the NLDS with little trouble. Treinen, on the other hand, was coming off a September in which he allowed 10 earned runs (12 total) in nine and one third innings. It was a surprise to probably no one except Roberts that Treinen started the ninth by allowing three straight hits, the last of which was a double that Nick Castellanos hooked down the left field line to score a pair of runs and put the tying run in scoring position.

A perfectly executed wheel play. 🤌 pic.twitter.com/aVRONlLEtP

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 7, 2025

Still, Roberts would not go to Sasaki. He had to risk the game with Vesia first. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Roberts was not the only lousy manager that evening. Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson asked Bryson Stott to bunt. Not only did that eliminate the chance of the winning run reaching base, but it allowed Max Muncy to field the ball on the left side of the infield and throw to Mookie Betts, who tagged out Castellanos at third. So much for the tying run being in scoring position.

The Dodgers weren’t out of the woods yet, though. The three-batter-minimum rule meant that Vesia had to stay on the mound and pitch to the right-handed Harrison Bader. He ripped a single into left field to reignite Philadelphia’s rally and put Stott into scoring position. Stott then reached third on Mex Kepler’s ground out before Sasaki finally entered the game and retired Trea Turner on a ground ball to second base to end the game. Los Angeles had to make the game as dramatic as possible, so Tommy Edman spiked the throw to first, forcing Freddie Freeman to make a remarkable pick at first in order to avoid a terrible collapse.

Jackson Chourio THREE-RUN HOMER

All seven @Brewers runs have come via home runs! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/wVJnG0qsVi

— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2025

Thanks to Roberts finally putting the correct pitcher in the game, the Phillies are down 0-2 against a Dodgers team that appears to be back in championship form. Elsewhere in Monday night Senior Circuit action, the Brewers held serve against the Cubs and pushed them into an 0-2 hole thanks to home runs by Andrew Vaughn, William Contreras, and Jackson Chourio. Chicago jumped out on top in the first when Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run shot off of Aaron Ashby, but Vaughn came back to a three-run job of his own in the bottom of the frame. The Cubs wouldn’t score again off of Milwaukee’s seven pitchers with Jacob Misiorowski doing the most work with three innings and 57 pitches. Chourio’s three-run bomb in the fourth inning put the game out of reach and the Brewers won 7-3.

Lawrence to Thomas Jr. for 33 yards!

KCvsJAX on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/v0Sj6ufjvO

— NFL (@NFL) October 7, 2025

There was also a big football game on Monday night with Jacksonville upsetting Kansas City 31-28. Trevor Lawrence ran for two scores, including the game-winner in the final minute after tripping over his own offensive lineman. With just 23 seconds left on the clock, the Chiefs were unable to respond. Perhaps the most impressive play Lawrence made on the night was his 33-yard dime to Brian Thomas Jr. to convert a 3rd and 7 on Jacksonville’s final drive. Kansas City might have come away with the win if not for a shocking pick six thrown by Patrick Mahomes to Devin Lloyd that turned a potential 21-14 Chiefs lead into a 21-14 Jaguars lead late in the third quarter.

Jacksonville looks to be a real threat in the AFC after upsetting San Francisco and Kansas City in consecutive weeks. Meanwhile, the Chiefs still have some work to do after two straight win to turn around their 0-2 start. They have to beat Detroit on Sunday in order to get back to a .500 record.

Today we get to see the Detroit Tigers play their first home Postseason game since defeating Cleveland in the Wild Card and stealing homefield advantage from Seattle. After that, the Blue Jays have a chance to send the Yankees packing and complete a three-game sweep in the Bronx. The NHL is also beginning its regular season with a tripleheader. Should be a thrilling evening.