NFL

Eagles fly past Dolphins and improve to 6-1; Grand slam powers Rangers to Game 7 vs. Astros

by
SaC Bot
October 23, 2023

Mitchell Leff /

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🏈 Football Five

Want to know why I’ve been so high on the Ravens? Sunday is why. Baltimore dominated on both sides in a 38-6 demolition of the Lions. Lamar Jackson was stupendous with 357 yards and three touchdowns passing as well as a touchdown rushing. The Ravens sacked Jared Goff five times, and Geno Stone picked him off. The Ravens got a well-deserved “A+” in our weekly NFL grades.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 424 yards and four touchdowns, Travis Kelce caught 12 passes for 179 yards and a score — making for a very happy Taylor Swift — and the Chiefs trounced the Chargers, 31-17. Oh yeah, Swift hung out with Bernie Kosar. The crossover we never knew we needed!
Game of the day belonged to the Browns‘ 39-38 triumph over the Colts. The game featured nine lead changes, the last coming on Kareem Hunt‘s 1-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left. The Browns again had to turn to PJ Walker; Deshaun Watson left early and did not return.
In college football, Utah took down USC, 34-32. Brock Barnes led a game-winning drive to set up Cole Becker‘s 38-yard field goal as time expired. Shehan Jeyarajah says the Trojans — all but eliminated from College Football Playoff contention — have wasted Caleb Williams once again.
Virginia got its first road win over an AP top-10 team, upsetting North Carolina, 31-27. The Cavaliers entered 1-5; the Tar Heels were undefeated.

🦅 Good morning to everyone but especially …

THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Welcome back to the Eagles as we know them: overwhelming talent on offense, a defensive line that causes nightmares and another tally in the win column. In a showdown between two 5-1 squads, the Eagles reminded us just how good they can be, shutting down the high-flying Dolphins, 31-17.

Sure, 31 looks like a lot, but the defense deserves first mention: The Dolphins had -7 yards rushing at halftime. Yes, NEGATIVE seven, the fewest by any team in a first half in over a decade. The Dolphins entered the week with an NFL-best 182 yards rushing per game. They finished with 45.
The Eagles had four sacks, and Darius Slay picked off Tua Tagovailoa, whose 216 yards passing were a season low.
That Philadelphia offense was pretty good, too: A.J. Brown had 10 receptions for 137 yards and a score. His five straight games with at least 125 yards receiving are tied with Calvin Johnson and Pat Studstill for the longest streak in NFL history.

Was it a perfect game? No. Jalen Hurts accounted for three touchdowns but also two turnovers. But listen, the Eagles are 6-1. They just stonewalled the best offense in the league (though Miami was down three starting offensive linemen). This is a really good football team — and there’s room for improvement. The Eagles are flying once again.

👍 Honorable mentions

🦬 And not such a good morning for …

USATSI

THE BUFFALO BILLS

The Patriots entered this weekend in free fall with two blowout losses and then another loss to a bunch of former Patriots. There were questions about Bill Belichick, questions about Mac Jones, questions about … pretty much everything. Now, we have major questions about the team the Patriots just beat, too. New England stunned the Bills, 29-25, with huge performances from both Belichick and Jones.

That’s all well and good for New England, but this is a section about the Bills, and that last line is particularly concerning. In the last few weeks, the Bills’ defense has lost …

Two All-Pro talents — linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Tre’Davious White — for the season
Starting tackles DaQuan Jones and Ed Oliver — for the short term

The Bills have great depth, but no amount of depth can overcome losing multiple stars and multiple starters.

That’s just the defense. The offense is going through stops and starts. There’s nothing wrong with 25 points against a Belichick-coached defense, but the Bills had 3 points in the first half and needed more superhero ball from Josh Allen to get back into the game. This one week after they managed an ugly (and, frankly, lucky) 14-9 win over the lowly Giants.

This team has had some strange stretches before. Go back to any recent season, and you’ll see at least one lull. But the Bills are 4-3 this season, their worst record through seven games since Allen’s 2018 rookie campaign. Time will tell if this is a lull or a bigger issue. For now, I’m leaning towards the latter.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

⚾ Rangers force Game 7 against Astros

Revenge is a dish best served with game-busting home runs. One game after getting ejected following getting hit by a pitch, Adolis García launched a ninth-inning grand slam to give the Rangers all the breathing room they needed and then some in a 9-2 Game 6 win over the Astros. There’s a spot in the World Series on the line tonight.

García’s big fly wasn’t even close to the biggest heroics for Texas. In the eighth inning, José Leclerc inherited a two-on, one-out scenario and immediately walked Kyle Tucker to load the bases. But Leclerc responded by getting Mauricio Dubón to line out and striking out Jon Singleton.
This after Leclerc gave up Jose Altuve‘s game-winning home run in the ninth inning of Game 5.
The Rangers’ shaky bullpen held on this time, though, making Nathan Eovaldi a winner yet again. He allowed just two runs across 6 1/3 innings. He’s now 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA across four starts this postseason.

That means the two best words in sports: Game Seven. Here’s our preview.

The Phillies can also punch their ticket tonight in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Diamondbacks. Here’s our preview for that one.

🏈 College football recap: Ohio State beats Penn State, Alabama roars back

If rivalries are supposed to feature equally matched teams, Ohio State-Penn State hasn’t been much of a rivalry lately. The Buckeyes rode a ferocious defense and the incredible talents of Marvin Harrison Jr. to a 20-12 win, their seventh straight over the Nittany Lions. Harrison had 11 receptions for 162 yards and the Buckeyes’ lone score through the air. Penn State’s Drew Allar managed just 191 yards passing and completed only 18 of 42 throws. The Nittany Lions had a putrid 49 yards rushing on 26 attempts. Ohio State earned a very solid B+ in Barrett Sallee’s weekly grades.

Sallee: “Ohio State’s offense was a little shaky, and that’s OK. Why? Because its defense was lights out. … It wasn’t a complete game. Far from it. But it was impressive because this game was played in the exact way Penn State wanted to play it, and Ohio State did it better.”

Down in the SEC, Alabama overcame a 20-7 halftime deficit with both offense and defense coming alive in a 34-20 win over Tennessee. Jalen Milroe threw a pair of touchdown passes, and Jihaad Campbell had a scoop and score in the second half. David Cobb says “the version of Alabama we saw in the second half against Tennessee can beat anyone, including Georgia.”

In general, it was a tough weekend for top teams.

Elsewhere …