Ravens set more records in rout; Cowboys stars hurt in defeat; happy college basketball season!

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🏈 The Football Five

1. The Ravens crushed the Broncos, 41-10, with Baltimore’s two biggest stars making more history. Lamar Jackson had his fourth career game with a perfect passer rating, passing Ben Roethlisberger for most all-time, and Derrick Henry scored his 100th career touchdown rushing.
2. The Eagles held on for a 28-23 win over the Jaguars, Philadelphia’s fourth straight win. Saquon Barkley had 199 yards from scrimmage, two touchdowns and one ridiculous backwards hurdle that I cannot believe is humanly possible. Nakobe Dean had the game-clinching interception.
3. Game of the day belongs to the Rams‘ 26-20 overtime win over the Seahawks that included some truly incredible throws — good and bad — from Matthew Stafford and Geno Smith. DeMarcus Robinson snagged a one-handed game-winner, and he was only in position to do so because Puka Nacua got ejected for throwing a punch. This game had everything, including a 103-yard pick six by L.A.’s Kamren Kinchens. Los Angeles earned a “B+” in John Breech’s Week 9 grades.
4. Dolphins-Bills was a very close second for game of the day, with Tyler Bass nailing a 61-yard field goal late to give Buffalo a 30-27 victory. Josh Allen was terrific, and Miami’s shorthanded defense was not, landing it in the “losers” category of Cody Benjamin’s Week 9 winners and losers.
5. The Vikings got back on track with a 21-13 win over the Colts.

🏈 Good morning to all, but especially to …

THE DETROIT LIONS

Come rain, come shine, come any opponent, it’s all coming up Lions. Detroit improved to 7-1 and maintained its NFC North lead with a 24-14 win at the Packers.

This was the Lions’ first game outside this season, but they didn’t seem bothered, and Jared Goff let all the doubters know. After all, why would you doubt this?

• Goff completed 18 of 22 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. His 140.1 passer rating over the last six games is the best over any six-game stretch in NFL history.
• David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 138 yards rushing and a score.
• Kerby Joseph had a pick-six (his six interceptions are tied for the league lead), and Green Bay scored just one touchdown on four red zone trips.
• Brian Branch‘s ejection was a low point for Detroit, but otherwise, everything was good in the bad weather.

I love everything about this team, from how they deploy their playmakers to how aggressive their defense is to how they’re coached and how they approach the game. Jeff Kerr says the Lions are the best team in the NFL.

👍 Honorable mentions

🤬 And not such a good morning for …

THE DALLAS COWBOYS

“We f—ing suck.”

That’s what Dak Prescott appeared to say while sidelined by a hamstring injury, and it’s hard to argue. Dallas has lost three straight and is 3-5 this season after a 27-21 loss to the Falcons that featured, in addition to Prescott’s comment and injury, CeeDee Lamb hurting his shoulder and Mike McCarthy slamming a tablet in frustration. Prescott and Lamb will get MRIs. (There’s no update on the tablet.)

This is plainly a bad football team, and we’ve mentioned the issues up and down the roster. In “Sorting The Sunday Pile,” Will Brinson says Jerry Jones is responsible for the collapse.

• Brinson: “Any other general manager who rolled out this roster, with these variant contract situations, well, they’d be fired. … The same guy who waited to sign Dak. The same guy who waited to sign Lamb. The same guy who said Derrick Henry was too expensive (because he waited, even though Henry wasn’t). The same guy who didn’t add anything other than Ezekiel Elliott — who was inactive Sunday and didn’t travel to Atlanta because of disciplinary reasons — to the running back room this offseason. The same guy who said the team was ‘all in’ on 2024. The same guy who thought the defense would be fine.”

Jones says Dallas “has some things in the mix” regarding trades, but like many of his decisions, it might be too late already.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 College football recap: Ohio State holds off Penn State, two other undefeateds fall

Ohio State isn’t the dominant outfit one might have expected leading up to the season, but it’s still getting the job done … and still beating Penn State. The Buckeyes got a goal-line stand with just over five minutes left and then ran out the clock for a 20-13 win, their eighth straight triumph over the Nittany Lions.

With him and his team squarely in the spotlight, Ryan Day got the tough win and silenced the noise, Dennis Dodd writes. Meanwhile, James Franklin fell to 1-10 against Ohio State, had a tense postgame exchange with a fan and ultimately failed his team … again, writes Tom Fornelli.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Nittany Lions still have a 90.1% chance to make the College Football Playoff per SportsLine projections, and Matt Norlander provided some needed perspective.

So down goes Penn State for the first time this season. The Nittany Lions weren’t alone in doing so.

• Pittsburgh got thumped, 48-25, by SMU. The ACC race is wild, with everyone looking up at Miami after the Hurricanes thrashed Duke, 53-31.
• Iowa State lost to Texas Tech, 23-22, with star Tahj Brooks rushing for a touchdown with under 20 seconds left.

As for the top two teams, Oregon cruised by Michigan, and Georgia topped Florida after DJ Lagway was carted off.

Here’s more:

🏀 Men’s college basketball season preview: Championship picks, Bracketology, more

We’re soooooo back. College basketball begins tonight, and we have 68 storylines hot off the press!

Let’s start with No. 7 Duke and Cooper Flagg, who open tonight against Maine. Listen, I get it. We talk about Duke and their freshmen year after year. Flagg might just be different, though. He’s No. 1 on Cameron Salerno’s list of top freshmen — a really, really talented list — and, as such, is trying to reverse the recent trend of freshmen-led teams not winning titles.

Flagg is also the top power forward in our Top 100 And 1 players, but he’s not the top player overall. That belongs to Mark Sears, and his Alabama Crimson Tide are atop Matt Norlander’s Top 100 And 1 teams.

Will they finish there? We have expert picks for the Final Four and National Championship, with five different projected title winners among our seven experts. I like Gary Parrish’s pick:

• Parrish: “Kansas — They added two projected starters (AJ Storr from Wisconsin and Rylan Griffen from Alabama) and three other rotation pieces … Combine that with three returning starters (Dajuan Harris, KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson) and two top-50 freshmen (Flory Bidunga and Rakease Passmore), and, again, depth shouldn’t be an issue this season. Simply put, I’m of the opinion KU has the best roster-construction for winning six straight games in a single-elimination national tournament.”

And don’t look now, but Jerry Palm already has Bracketology up and running.

Oh, and for you night owls, don’t miss No. 8 Baylor at No. 6 Gonzaga tonight.

🏀 Women’s college basketball preview: Can South Carolina repeat?

Women’s college basketball also returns today, and we’re going international for this one, with No. 20 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 USC and No. 17 Louisville vs. No. 5 UCLA in Paris. JuJu Watkins is the shiniest star in The City of Lights: She’s No. 2 in Isabel Gonzalez’s top 10 players in the country, and Isabel says her Trojans are one of four teams capable of winning it all.

1. South Carolina — “Except for Kamilla Cardoso, the Gamecocks return every key player from their 38-0 season that resulted in the 2024 national title. … Joining MiLaysia Fulwiley in the backcourt are 3-point markswoman Te-Hina Paopao and Raven Johnson, who led the team in steals last season.”
2. UConn — “The Huskies are fresh off making the Final Four with just a seven-player rotation, and this year they could have a few more healthy bodies. Paige Bueckers made a comeback last season and proved to be physically stronger and a better defender.”
3. USC — “Watkins is back, along with Rayah Marshall — the team’s leader in rebounds and blocks. … They added even more talent with Oregon State‘s Talia von Oelhoffen and Stanford‘s Kiki Iriafen.”
4. Texas — “Texas has made three of the last four Elite Eights, but this is the first time in a while the team has had this much depth.”

Here’s more:

📺 What we’re watching Monday

🏀 No. 20 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 USC in Paris (W), noon on ESPN
🏀 No. 17 Louisville vs. No. 5 UCLA in Paris (W), 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Maine at No. 7 Duke (M), 7 p.m. on ACC Network
🏀 Bucks at Cavaliers, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 Michigan vs. No. 1 South Carolina (M), 7:30 p.m. on truTV/TNT
🏈 Buccaneers at Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏀 No. 19 Texas vs. Ohio State (M), 10 p.m. on truTVTBS
🏀 76ers at Suns, 10:15 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 No. 8 Baylor at No. 6 Gonzaga (M), 11:30 p.m. on ESPN2