| | | | | | | Presented By Upside | | | | Axios Sports | | By Jeff Tracy · Oct 11, 2022 | | 👋 Good morning! Welcome back from the long weekend. In case you're wondering, Kendall will be back tomorrow. Today's word count: 1,472 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🏈 Beasts of the East |  | | | Photo: Norm Hall/Getty Images | | | | The NFC East has spent years as the NFL's punching bag, but after three more wins on Sunday its 14-6 record is the best among all divisions. - Eagles (5-0): They remain the lone undefeated team after beating Arizona, 20-17. Philly's also got a star in Jalen Hurts, whose 6 rushing TD and 8.5 yards per pass attempt both rank second in the NFL.
- Cowboys (4-1): The defense flexed again in a 22-10 win over the Rams, as Dallas has yet to allow more than 19 points in a game. Only the Bills (61) and 49ers (61) have allowed fewer points than the Cowboys (72).
- Giants (4-1): With a 27-22 comeback victory over the Packers in London, New York has already matched last season's win total. This is their best record through five games since starting 5-0 in 2009.
- Commanders (1-4): Washington at least came away with a moral victory when rookie RB Brian Robinson made his NFL debut just six weeks after being shot twice in the leg.
The big picture: This is just the fourth time since 2002 — when the NFL expanded to eight divisions — that any division has had three teams with at least four wins through Week 5. Micah Parsons (L) and Saquon Barkley. Photos: Michael Owens/Getty Images; Vincent Mignott/DeFodi Images via Getty Images More NFL: - Justin's automatic: Justin Tucker's walk-off field goal was his 61st consecutive make in the fourth quarter or OT. He's also 18-for-18 lifetime in the final minute of regulation and OT.
- Streak snapped: The Jets' 40-17 rout over the Dolphins snapped a 12-game divisional losing streak, dating back to 2019.
- Winless no more: The Texans (1-3-1) got their first win of the year, making this just the third season since the merger that every team has at least one win through five weeks.
- New protocols: The league updated its concussion protocols in the wake of the Tua Tagovailoa controversy, prohibiting players from returning if they show signs of ataxia — an abnormality of balance or stability. The first player removed under the new rules was Tua's backup, Teddy Bridgewater.
🏆 Read: NFL quarter-season awards (The Ringer) |     | | | | | | 2. ⚾️ Stat du jour: Pitchers throw gas |  Data: Statcast; Chart: Axios Visuals As the Division Series get underway today, keep an eye on the mound: never before have so many pitchers thrown so hard. By the numbers: 11 different pitchers have already thrown a 100-mph pitch during these playoffs. That's two shy of the record for most in a single postseason, and four teams have yet to even take the field. - Fastest pitch: Mariners righty Andrés Muñoz against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (102.9 mph).
The big picture: This rise in pitchers throwing gas is in keeping with what we saw in the regular season, when there were a record-shattering 3,370 pitches thrown at least 100 mph. The previous record came in 2016, with just 1,948 such pitches. | | | | | | | | 3. 🏈 AP poll: JMU is in, Illinois is back | Data: AP; Chart: Axios Visuals Georgia reclaimed the top spot after then-No. 1 Alabama was nearly upset at home by Texas A&M, but it's the poll's three newcomers who provide the most excitement this week. - No. 25 James Madison is ranked just five games into its FBS tenure, having joined the Sun Belt this season after dominating the FCS for years.
- No. 24 Illinois is ranked for the first time since 2011, ending the longest Power 5 drought for the second consecutive week (No. 19 Kansas held the distinction until last week). The longest such drought now belongs to Rutgers (2012).
- No. 22 Texas annihilated Oklahoma, 49-0, for the Longhorns' largest margin of victory ever in the Red River Rivalry.
Conference call: Despite LSU falling out of the top 25, the SEC still leads the way with six ranked teams, followed by the Big 12 (5), ACC (4), Big Ten (4) Pac-12 (4), American (1) and Sun Belt (1). | | | | | | | | A message from Upside | | How to fight inflation with your everyday spending | | |  | | | | The Upside app pays you back a little from each purchase to help offset rising costs. On average, users earn $148 annually. You can get cash back at: - Gas stations.
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Take back control of your budget and download the free Upside app. | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Photo: Thomas Skrlj/MLB Photos via Getty Images | | | | ⚾️ Historic comeback: The Mariners completed the second-largest comeback in MLB postseason history on Saturday, erasing a seven-run deficit against the Blue Jays to advance to the ALDS. 🏈 One coach out: The Panthers fired head coach Matt Rhule on Monday after a 1-4 start and 11-27 record overall since taking over in 2020. Carolina still owes Rhule over $40 million. ⚾️ One coach in: The Phillies gave interim manager Rob Thomson a two-year contract on the eve of their NLDS appearance, removing "interim" from his title four months after he took over for Joe Girardi. 🎓 Nike NIL deals: Bronny James was among five basketball players to sign NIL deals with Nike on Monday. Others include Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Stanford's Haley Jones, both first-team All-Americans last season. ⛳️ DJ's big payday: Dustin Johnson clinched LIV's inaugural points title in Bangkok on Sunday for an $18 million bonus. Add that to his winnings through six of eight events ($12.8 million), and he's already earned over $30 million — that's plus his $125 million signing bonus. | | | | | | | | 5. 💵 Mbappé: World's highest-paid soccer player |  | | | Photo: Aurelien Meunier - PSG/PSG via Getty Images | | | | Kylian Mbappé will earn $128 million this season, making him the world's highest-paid soccer player, per Forbes. Why it matters: PSG's 23-year-old superstar supplants both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who'd held the top two spots on this list every year since 2014. By the numbers: The top 10 will cumulatively earn a record $652 million, up 11% from last year's $585 million. They play for seven clubs and have a combined 1.3 billion Instagram followers. - Mbappé, PSG: $128 million ($110 million on-field; $18 million off-field)
- Messi, PSG: $120 million ($65 million; $55 million)
- Ronaldo, Manchester United: $100 million ($40 million; $60 million)
- Neymar, PSG: $87 million ($55 million; $32 million)
- Mohamed Salah, Liverpool: $53 million ($35 million; $18 million)
- Erling Haaland, Manchester City: $39 million ($35 million; $4 million)
- Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona: $35 million ($27 million; $8 million)
- Eden Hazard, Real Madrid: $31 million ($27 million; $4 million)
- Andrés Iniesta, Vissel Kobe: $30 million ($25 million; $5 million)
- Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City: $29 million ($25 million; $4 million)
| | | | | | | | 6. 🇺🇸 Photos across America | | Photo: Jason Hanna/Getty Images KANSAS CITY, Mo.— Travis Kelce scored a "Monday Night Football" record 4 TD as the Chiefs — down 17-0 early — came back to beat the Raiders, 30-29. - 🏈 Wild stat: The Raiders are 1-4, but their scoring differential is just -5, with their four losses coming by 14 points combined.
Photo: Chris Gardner/Getty Images SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake's Justin Meram celebrates with his son on Sunday after clinching their playoff spot with a final-day victory for the second consecutive season. - 🏆 The big picture: Salt Lake is one of just three teams in the playoffs who've won the MLS Cup before (NYC FC, LA Galaxy).
Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images CHICAGO — Sunday's marathon saw two women accomplish incredible feats: Emily Sisson demolished the American record by 43 seconds and Susannah Scaroni won the wheelchair race for her third top-three finish in the past three weeks. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images CONCORD, N.C. — Christopher Bell celebrates his victory as the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field is narrowed to eight drivers with four races left. | | | | | | | | 7. 🌎 Photos around the world | | Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images SUZUKA, Japan — Max Verstappen clinched his second straight F1 championship with Sunday's win, his 12th of the season. He didn't score on this header, but look at that leap! Photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images MANCHESTER, England — Erling Haaland on Saturday scored his 15th Premier League goal in just his ninth game, obliterating the previous record for fastest to 15 EPL goals (15 games). - ⚽️ By the numbers: He has nearly twice as many goals this season as second place (Harry Kane, 8).
Nino Niederreiter celebrates a goal. Photo: Jari Pestelacci/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images PRAGUE — The Predators are off to an early 2-0 start, sweeping the Sharks in their season-opening Global Series matchup over the weekend. England's Lauren Hemp scores in the 10th minute. Photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images LONDON — The USWNT fell to England on Friday, 2-1, in front of 76,893 fans at Wembley, the largest crowd to ever watch a USWNT friendly. | | | | | | | | 8. 📺 Watchlist: Eight teams left |  | | | Graphic: Axios Visuals | | | | All four Division Series begin today, and three of them take the name literally as they're being fought between divisional foes. - 1pm ET, Fox: Phillies at Braves ... Ranger Suárez (10-7, 3.65 ERA) vs. Max Fried (14-7, 2.48). ATL won the season series, 11-8.
- 3:30pm, TBS: Mariners at Astros ... Logan Gilbert (13-6, 3.20) vs. Justin Verlander (18-4, 1.75). HOU, 12-7.
- 7:30pm, TBS: Guardians at Yankees ... Cal Quantrill (15-5, 3.38) vs. Gerrit Cole (13-8, 3.50). NYY, 5-1.
- 9:30pm, FS1: Padres at Dodgers ... Mike Clevinger (7-7, 4.33) vs. Julio Urías (17-7, 2.16). LAD, 14-5.
More to watch: | | | | | | | | 9. ⚾️ MLB trivia |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | Can you name last year's four Division Series matchups? - Hint: Two were between divisional foes.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 🍿 Top plays: Weekend edition | | Source: Giphy - 🏈 Mooney!
- 🏀 NBL poster
- 🏓 Ping pong is electric
- 🏐 Never give up
- ⛳️ Ace!
- 🏈 Marvin. Harrison. Jr.
- ⚾️ Game-saving play
- 🏀 Obi!
- 🏈 Geno dime
- ⚽️ Beautiful equalizer
Watch all 10. | | | | | | | | A message from Upside | | This app is helping users treat themselves | | |  | | | | Upside is on a mission to make sure that, even during expensive times, people still have a little extra money for a rainy day fund. The free app gets users cash back on: - Gas.
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On average, users earn $148 annually. Download the free Upside app to start earning. | | | | Talk tomorrow, Jeff "SpongeBob" Tracy Trivia answer: Red Sox over Rays; Astros over White Sox; Braves over Brewers; Dodgers over Giants 🙏 Have a great day! Follow us for more (@kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy). Friends can sign up here. Thanks to Bryan McBournie for copy edits. |  | | Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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