Happy Monday everyone! It’s Zach Pereles back and ready to go. With the college football season underway, the NFL preseason over (meaning your Fantasy Draft will likely be coming soon – be sure to sign up for our Fantasy Football Today newsletter), and the MLB season entering the home stretch , it’s full speed ahead.
Let’s cut to the chase.
Hello everyone, but especially to…
RORY McILROY
Tour Championship final group brought us world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler trying to hang on for another huge win to cap off a historic season that has been full of it and Rory McIlroy – the superstar who is arguably the most important voice in golf – trying to track him down.
In other words, it was just what the PGA Tour needed to end a tumultuous season.
In the end, it was McIlroy who put a magnificent bow on an otherwise oh so close season, beating Scheffler and Sungjae Im with one shot to win his record-breaking third FedEx Cup and, of course, the lucrative $18 million first-place payout.
- Scheffler led McIlroy by six strokes early in the final round, but that lead was gone after seven holes. However, Scheffler birdied on the eighth hole to regain the solo lead, which he held until…
- The pivotal moment on the 15th hole, when McIlroy fired a superb birdie putt from 31 feet. Then, on the 16th, McIlroy miraculously saved par while Scheffler bogeyed.
- Scheffler missed a very good birdie glimpse on the 17th and misplayed a bunker shot on the 18th. McIlroy flirted with it but eventually stayed out of trouble and held on.
- This is McIlroy’s record third FedEx Cup title (also in 2016 and 2019) and his 22nd career PGA Tour win.
In addition to winning the last event of the season, he also won his first event of the season — the CJ Cup at the Summit in October — as well as the RBC Canadian Open in June. But the season also featured plenty of close calls, including: The Open Championship, where the putter dropped him losing a late lead, and the Masters Tournament, where he finished second to Scheffler.
It’s appropriate than McIlroy, who became PGA Tour’s biggest supporter as he battles it out with LIV Golf, won the tour titlewrites golf expert Kyle Porter.
- Carry: “Perhaps more surprising that McIlroy plays great golf is that someone who has a generational talent at this game would also be able to project such a strong vision while leading the game into the future with so much grace and conviction. McIlroy was clearly the right man to meet this moment.”
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for…
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
It’s a new year for Nebraskabut just because the season changes doesn’t mean the results change. North West rallied for a 31-28 win in Dublin Saturday to highlight college football action from Week 0.
- Ryan Hilinksi threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats and running backs Evan Hull and Cam Porter combined for 213 rushing yards and two scores.
- Leading 28-17 in the third quarter, the Nebraska head coach Scott Frost made the “interesting” choice (the nicest word I could think of) to try an ingame kick. It failed. After the game, Frost said, “If I was done with it, I wouldn’t be making the call.”
- Northwestern scored a touchdown on the ensuing possession and scored another later to complete the comeback.
Listen, first and foremost, credit Northwestern. Heck, it’s my alma mater. If I don’t credit them, no one will! Hilinski looked sharp dishing out capable weapons, the backfield is a major strength and the defense made plays. When these two teams met last season, Nebraska won 56-7. It was also the last time Nebraska won a game, period. The Cornhuskers have lost seven straight. They went 0-8 in one-score games last year and are now 0-1 in one-score games this year.
Now in its fifth season, Frost is 15-30 in Nebraska. There are many seasons to go there. Nebraska can have a successful campaign, but not until they resolve the issues that plagued Frost’s tenure at Lincoln.
As for the other week 0 takeaways…
Not so honorable mentions
RB Commanders Brian Robinson Jr. were shot and have non-life-threatening injuries
Commanders reverse rookie Brian Robinson Jr. has been shot several times as a victim of a potential attempted robbery or carjacking Sunday evening. He is in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, including multiple gunshot wounds to his lower limbs.
- Robinson Jr., 23, was Alabama’s third-round pick. He won two national titles with the Crimson Tide.
- He had a strong training camp and preseason and was in line to immediately be an important part of Washington’s backfield.
- Robinson Jr. — like most of Washington’s anticipated key starters and contributors — did not play in Saturday night’s preseason finale against Baltimore.
The timeline for Robinson Jr.’s return to the field is unclear. For now, the Commanders’ Race Room will include Antonio Gibson and JD McKissic.
Bills cut punter Matt Araiza over rape accusation
(WARNING: The following contains topics that readers may find disturbing.)
The Invoices freed rookie punter Matt Araiza the saturday after a civil lawsuit was filed in California last week alleging that he and two of his former San Diego State his teammates gang-raped a 17-year-old girl at a party last year. buffalo general manager Brandon Beane said the decision to cut Araiza was “more important than playing football”.
- Beane said the team first learned of this situation in late July.
- Araiza was with the team but did not play in Friday night’s preseason finale at Carolina and did not practice on Saturday before being released.
- The lawsuit also named Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko, both of which are no longer on the San Diego State list. More details of the trial are available here.
- Araiza said the details of the trial are inaccurate, and Araiza’s lawyer, Kerry Armstrongsaid the trial is “a shakedown because [Araiza]is now with the Buffalo Bills.”
Araiza, a sixth-round pick, won the Bills’ punting job a week ago. Substitute quarterback Matt Barley kicked against the Panthers, and the Bills currently have no punters on their roster.
Takeaway from week 3 of the preseason: Steelers QBs play well 🏈
With less than two weeks until the NFL season, 31 NFL teams have decided on their starting quarterback. The only one left seems to be quite close.
- Mitchell Trubisky completed 15 of 19 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown while playing with the Steelers starters in Sunday’s pre-season final against the the Lions.
- While the rookie in the first round Kenny Pickett also played well, our Steelers expert Bryan DeArdo thinks it’s Trubisky’s job (and our NFL reporter Cody Benjamin named Trubisky one of its winners of the week).
While the last week of pre-season is mostly for players fighting for a roster spot, we could see lots of rookie quarterbacks in actionand Cody best rookie quarterback of the week may surprise you. Unfortunately, with the pre-season over, it’s time for list cutsand you can keep track of all of them here. Teams must drop to 53 players by tomorrow afternoon.
A cheat sheet for your fantasy football project 🏆
I have been looking forward to the fantasy football season since the end of last season. Admittedly, my team’s season ended earlier than I would have liked.
But this year we’re going to be back and better than ever, and you can be too, thanks to all the amazing work of our fantasy football team. You can find just about anything you’ve ever wanted in our guide project here. This includes…
- Checklist
- Rankings and levels of players
- Sleepers, escapes and busts
- Team-by-team previews
- How to write from any choice #1-12
- Dummy drafts
And for a little insight, here are the top 10 from our fantasy expert Chris Towers (sign up for Chris’ Fantasy Football Today newsletter here):
- 1. Christian McCaffrey
- 2. Cooper Kupp
- 3.Jonathan Taylor
- 4.Austin Ekeler
- 5. Justin Jefferson
- 6. Dalvin Cook
- 7. Najee Harris
- 8. Travis Kelce
- 9. Alvin Kamara
- 10. Davante Adams
For n°11-200 (yes, 200!), Click here. And good writing!
What we’re watching on Monday 📺
🎾 Serena Williams vs. Danka Kovinic, US Open (first round)7 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Angel Yankees9:45 p.m. on MLB Network