Leonard Fournette, Tom Brady and the Winning Bucs
Leonard Fournette has officially entered the chat. After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back had his first rushing touchdown of the season in Week 5, Fournette rushed for 81 yards, caught six passes for 46 yards and had two touchdown runs, as the Bucs (5-1) beat the Philadelphia Eagles (2-4), 28-22, at Lincoln Financial Field Thursday night. Bucs quarterback Tom Brady was 34-of-42 for 297 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception.
However, it was not all good news for the defending Super Bowl champs, as they continue to get bitten by the injury bug in the secondary. Cornerback Richard Sherman suffered a hamstring pull in the first quarter and said on Twitter Friday that he would “bounce back soon.” The Bucs are already playing without CBs Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting and safety Antoine Winfield.
Meanwhile, Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts struggled, as he finished the night 12-of-26 for 115 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was also sacked twice. After the game, Hurts said, “…I’m not doing enough to win. I’m not doing enough to start fast. I will be better.”
Next up for the Eagles are the Las Vegas Raiders, while the Buccaneers will take on the Chicago Bears in Week 7.
Mookie, Cody and the Dodgers Earn NLCS Meeting with the Braves
It was the series baseball wanted, as the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants took the NLDS to five games, with the defending World Series Champion Dodgers earning a trip to meet the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
Mookie Betts was 4-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored. Cody Bellinger hit the game-winning RBI and Max Scherzer came out of the bullpen to close the game. Basically, it was this Fangirl’s dream scenario. There was also the controversial check-swing that ended the game. The Dodgers win arguably the biggest game in this storied rivalry’s history and they are on to Atlanta.
Max Fried will start Game 1 for the Braves in the 2020 NLCS rematch, while the Dodgers have yet to announce their starter for the series opener. Presumably it would have been Scherzer, but since he was the closer on Thursday, it’s a little up in the air.
First pitch is Saturday at 8:07 p.m. ET/5:07 p.m. PT from Truist Park.
American League Championship Series
And over in the American League, the LCS starts Friday night with the Boston Red Sox traveling to Houston to take on the – don’t say it, don’t say it – cheating Astros (I’m sorry. I had to say it once).
The Red Sox beat the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays to advance, while the Astros took care of business and knocked out the Chicago White Sox. Houston will be without ace pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who left Game 4 of the division series with forearm tightness, for the series. That is a big blow to this Astros team.
First pitch is at 8:07 p.m. ET/5:07 p.m. PT from Minute Maid Park, with the probable pitchers being southpaws Chris Sale for Boston and Framber Valdez for Houston.
Russell Wilson Going to IR and More NFL Injury News
The Seattle Seahawks are putting QB Russell Wilson on injured reserve following surgery on his finger last week. This means Wilson will miss at least three games, making Week 10 in Green Bay the earliest he could be back. The Seahawks have also ruled out running back Chris Carson (neck) for Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
More NFL injury news below:
- The Carolina Panthers will be without running back Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) for the third straight game, when they host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
- The Baltimore Ravens will host the Los Angeles Chargers without WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring), meaning we will most likely see the debut of rookie WR Rashon Bateman.
- Cleveland Browns’ running back Nick Chubb (calf) will not play against the Cardinals.
- New York Giants QB Daniel Jones has cleared the concussion protocol, meaning he will most likely be available to start against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 6.
Zach Ertz is going to the Arizona Cardinals
After Thursday night’s aforementioned loss, the Philadelphia Eagles were up bright and early making moves, sending three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz to Arizona in exchange for cornerback Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round pick.
Ertz, who had four receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown in last night’s loss to the Bucs, gets a real glow up as he goes from the 2-4 Eagles to a 5-0 Arizona team. He is not eligible to play in the Cardinals Sunday match-up with the Cleveland Browns. Ertz has 18 receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns thus far on the season.
The Cardinals lost tight end Maxx Williams to a knee injury this week, and he is out for the season.
