Thursday’s 6-pack
NFL leaders in passing yardage:
817— Derek Carr, LV
689— Kyler Murray, Ariz
680— Patrick Mahomes, KC
675— Justin Herbert, LAC
655— Tom Brady, TB
640— Dak Prescott, Dal
Quote of the Day
“Belichick wanted him out the door, and last year he threw 56 touchdowns. I think that’s a pretty good year.”
Tom Brady Sr, talking about his son’s leaving New England
Thursday’s quiz
Who played QB for the Carolina Panthers in their two Super Bowls?
Wednesday’s quiz
Terry Francona managed the Red Sox when they won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
Tuesday’s quiz
When baseball split into divisions in 1969, Atlanta Braves won the National League West that year; they lost to the Mets in the NLCS.
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Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..
13) Tampa Bay Rays clinched their third straight playoff spot Wednesday; they’re 94-59 this year, are jogging to the AL East title. Kevin Cash has done a hell of a job managing them; too bad they don’t draw very well. Have a feeling that when baseball expands in a couple years, the Rays could wind up north of the border, in Montreal maybe?
12) Since 1990, NFL teams that started a season 0-2 made the playoffs only 11.6% of the time; those odds will go up, since the season is now 17 games instead of 16, but still, 0-2 ain’t good.
11) Since 2000, these NFL teams have started the most different QB’s:
29— Cleveland
26— Chicago (Justin Fields will be #26 this week)
24— Washington
23— Miami
10) Jeff Driskel is the backup QB for Houston tonight; technically he is their #4 QB, but Tyros Taylor is hurt and Deshaun Watson has other issues, so rookie Davis Mills and Driskel are it for the Texans this week.
Hopefully Driskel writes a book someday; he played four years for the Florida Gators, then played his last year of college at Louisiana Tech. 49ers drafted him in the 6th round of the 2016 draft, but he never played for them. Here is Driskel’s resume:
2018: Bengals 1-4 as starter, 1,003 PY, 6 TD’s, 2 INT
2019: Lions 0-3 as starter, 685 PY, 4 TD’s, 4 INT
2020: Broncos 0-1 as starter, 432 PY, 3 TD’s, 2 INT
Four years, four teams. Quite an experience.
9) Kyle Schwarber has nine home runs in 10 games against the Mets this year.
8) Speaking of the Mets, Taijuan Walker gave up six runs in 2+ IP in Boston Wednesday; Walker was 7-3, 2.06 at the All-Star break this year, made the All-Star team, but in 13 starts since then, Walker is 0-8, 8.03 in 13 starts. A disturbing reversal of fortune.
7) Cardinals 10, Brewers 2— St Louis won its 11th straight game, have a 4.5 game lead over the Reds/Phillies for the second Wild Card spot.
6) Giants 8, Padres 6— Buster Posey had four hits, scored three runs; Giants have a 2-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West.
5) NFL QB changes:
— Davis Mills gets his first NFL start for Houston tonight.
— Jacoby Brissett starts for Miami this week when they visit Las Vegas.
— Justin Fields gets his first NFL when the Bears visit Cleveland.
4) Minnesota Timberwolves fired President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas; weird time to do it, so close to the start of training camp.
Timberwolves will switch ownership to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore in 2023; you wonder if they wanted Rosas out, and let current owner Glen Taylor do the dirty work for them.
3) Braves’ OF Eddie Rosario hit for the cycle the other night; in the four at-bats where he got his hits, he saw a total of five pitches, which has to be some kind of a record.
2) Raiders’ kicker Daniel Carlson admitted his 14-point performance in Pittsburgh LW led to his losing a fantasy football game where he was playing against himself.
1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Giants. Wild Card: St Louis @ Los Angeles
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: New York @ Boston
NFL leaders in passing yardage:
817— Derek Carr, LV
689— Kyler Murray, Ariz
680— Patrick Mahomes, KC
675— Justin Herbert, LAC
655— Tom Brady, TB
640— Dak Prescott, Dal
Quote of the Day
“Belichick wanted him out the door, and last year he threw 56 touchdowns. I think that’s a pretty good year.”
Tom Brady Sr, talking about his son’s leaving New England
Thursday’s quiz
Who played QB for the Carolina Panthers in their two Super Bowls?
Wednesday’s quiz
Terry Francona managed the Red Sox when they won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
Tuesday’s quiz
When baseball split into divisions in 1969, Atlanta Braves won the National League West that year; they lost to the Mets in the NLCS.
****************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..
13) Tampa Bay Rays clinched their third straight playoff spot Wednesday; they’re 94-59 this year, are jogging to the AL East title. Kevin Cash has done a hell of a job managing them; too bad they don’t draw very well. Have a feeling that when baseball expands in a couple years, the Rays could wind up north of the border, in Montreal maybe?
12) Since 1990, NFL teams that started a season 0-2 made the playoffs only 11.6% of the time; those odds will go up, since the season is now 17 games instead of 16, but still, 0-2 ain’t good.
11) Since 2000, these NFL teams have started the most different QB’s:
29— Cleveland
26— Chicago (Justin Fields will be #26 this week)
24— Washington
23— Miami
10) Jeff Driskel is the backup QB for Houston tonight; technically he is their #4 QB, but Tyros Taylor is hurt and Deshaun Watson has other issues, so rookie Davis Mills and Driskel are it for the Texans this week.
Hopefully Driskel writes a book someday; he played four years for the Florida Gators, then played his last year of college at Louisiana Tech. 49ers drafted him in the 6th round of the 2016 draft, but he never played for them. Here is Driskel’s resume:
2018: Bengals 1-4 as starter, 1,003 PY, 6 TD’s, 2 INT
2019: Lions 0-3 as starter, 685 PY, 4 TD’s, 4 INT
2020: Broncos 0-1 as starter, 432 PY, 3 TD’s, 2 INT
Four years, four teams. Quite an experience.
9) Kyle Schwarber has nine home runs in 10 games against the Mets this year.
8) Speaking of the Mets, Taijuan Walker gave up six runs in 2+ IP in Boston Wednesday; Walker was 7-3, 2.06 at the All-Star break this year, made the All-Star team, but in 13 starts since then, Walker is 0-8, 8.03 in 13 starts. A disturbing reversal of fortune.
7) Cardinals 10, Brewers 2— St Louis won its 11th straight game, have a 4.5 game lead over the Reds/Phillies for the second Wild Card spot.
6) Giants 8, Padres 6— Buster Posey had four hits, scored three runs; Giants have a 2-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West.
5) NFL QB changes:
— Davis Mills gets his first NFL start for Houston tonight.
— Jacoby Brissett starts for Miami this week when they visit Las Vegas.
— Justin Fields gets his first NFL when the Bears visit Cleveland.
4) Minnesota Timberwolves fired President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas; weird time to do it, so close to the start of training camp.
Timberwolves will switch ownership to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore in 2023; you wonder if they wanted Rosas out, and let current owner Glen Taylor do the dirty work for them.
3) Braves’ OF Eddie Rosario hit for the cycle the other night; in the four at-bats where he got his hits, he saw a total of five pitches, which has to be some kind of a record.
2) Raiders’ kicker Daniel Carlson admitted his 14-point performance in Pittsburgh LW led to his losing a fantasy football game where he was playing against himself.
1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Giants. Wild Card: St Louis @ Los Angeles
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: New York @ Boston