Happy Monday, all. Another weekend has ended, but we have two more NFL games tonight to wrap up what's already been a wild Week 2! Here's The Football Five to get you caught up:
The Football Five 🏈
- With Dak Prescott out following thumb surgery, the Cowboys shocked the world -- and the Bengals -- with a 20-17 win thanks to Brett Maher's 50-yard walk-off field goal. Cooper Rush played well with 235 passing yards, one touchdown and no turnovers, and the Dallas defense was terrific, allowing just 254 yards. Plus, the Cowboys are saying Prescott could be back next week. Cincinnati, meanwhile, is just the third team since 2000 to start a season 0-2 immediately after a Super Bowl appearance.
- The 49ers have lost Trey Lance for the season after he broke his ankle in the first quarter of an eventual 27-7 win over the Seahawks. Jimmy Garoppolo threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and the Niners defense forced three turnovers.
- Jacksonville continues to be a house of horrors for the Colts. The Jaguars throttled Indianapolis 24-0, with Trevor Lawrence throwing for two touchdowns (both to Christian Kirk) and Matt Ryan throwing three interceptions. The Colts have lost eight straight in Jacksonville, and over the last three years, the Jaguars have more wins over the Colts (three) than the rest of the NFL combined (two).
- Tom Brady may have destroyed a tablet, but he finally beat the Saints as a member of the Buccaneers. As for the other quarterback, Jameis Winston threw three interceptions while playing through four fractures in his back. Oh yeah, and there was a huge fight that led to multiple ejections.
- The Packers beat the Bears 27-10, with Aaron Jones racking up 170 yards from scrimmage and two scores. Green Bay has won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the two teams.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
TUA TAGOVAILOA AND THE MIAMI DOLPHINS...
When the Miami Dolphins added Tyreek Hill and bolstered their offensive line this offseason, the only piece of the puzzle left was the play of Tua Tagovailoa. It's starting to look like the puzzle has been solved.
Tagovailoa tossed six touchdowns -- tied for the most in Dolphins history -- as Miami pulled off a historic comeback, beating the Ravens, 42-38.
- The Dolphins became the fifth team since 1950 to win on the road after trailing 21-plus points entering the fourth quarter, and the first since 2003. It's also the largest fourth-quarter deficit the Dolphins have ever overcome.
- Tagovailoa became the first player to throw for four touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a road game since Joe Montana in 1989.
- Hill and Jaylen Waddle became the first pair of teammates in NFL history with 10 receptions, 150 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the same game.
- The Dolphins won despite Lamar Jackson's ridiculous day: 318 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, 119 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
Tagovailoa now has four career completions on throws at least 40 yards downfield. Two of them came Sunday -- to Hill -- in the fourth quarter. Both went for touchdowns. The Dolphins won't always plan to fall way behind, have their defense struggle, throw 50 passes and run the ball just 18 times. But a win is a win.
... AND ALSO A GOOD MORNING TO KYLER MURRAY AND THE ARIZONA CARDINALS
If Tagovailoa showed what he can do with a terrific supporting cast, Murray showed what he can do all by himself. The Cardinals star sparked a magnificent comeback, and his defense finished things off in a miraculous 29-23 overtime win over the Raiders.
- Murray led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives. He ran in an incredible two-point conversion on the first one and later ran for a 3-yard touchdown as time expired to get Arizona within 23-21. He then threw a perfect pass to A.J. Green to convert the two-point conversion.
- In overtime, after Arizona turned it over on downs, Byron Murphy scooped up a Hunter Renfrow fumble and ran it back 62 yards for a touchdown.
- The 20-point blown lead is the largest in Raiders history.
Remember, this is a Cardinals team missing DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore, among others, and James Conner left with an ankle injury. Murray is one of the few players who can absolutely take over with both his arm and his legs, and when the Cardinals needed it most, he did just that.
Honorable mentions
- Max Homa won the Fortinet Championship while Cameron Smith won LIV Golf Chicago.
- Spain won EuroBasket 2022.
And not such a good morning for...
THE CLEVELAND BROWNS
Entering Sunday, NFL teams had won 2,229 consecutive games when leading by at least 13 points in the final two minutes.
Two-thousand, two-hundred and twenty-nine.
That streak is no more, thanks to the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland gave up 13 points in the final 1:21 as the Jets came storming back for a shocking 31-30 victory.
Our NFL expert John Breech broke down a jaw-dropping six mistakes Cleveland made over the final two minutes:
- With 1:55 left, Nick Chubb could have gone down or out of bounds before the goal-line, and Cleveland could have kneeled things out. Instead, he scored to put Cleveland up 30-17.
- Cade York missed the extra point.
- The Browns completely blew coverage on a 66-yard touchdown from Joe Flacco to Corey Davis. The extra point made it 30-24.
- Cleveland botched its onside kick duties and Justin Hardee recovered.
- On 3rd-and-10, Garrett Wilson scored the game-tying touchdown, and the extra point put New York ahead.
- Jacoby Brissett threw a game-sealing interception.
The Browns "earned" a D for their efforts in John's Week 2 grades. That might be a little generous.
Aces win WNBA Championship over Sun 🏀
Commissioner's Cup? Check. Regular-season MVP? Check. WNBA champions? Check.
The Aces capped off a dominant season with the franchise's first WNBA title after beating the Sun, 78-71, in Game 4.
- Chelsea Gray had 20 points, six assists and five rebounds and won Finals MVP.
- Regular-season MVP A'ja Wilson had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
- Las Vegas finished the game on an 8-0 run.
- Alyssa Thomas had the second triple-double in WNBA Finals history -- the first was hers in Game 3 -- but it wasn't enough for Connecticut.
For all of our WNBA expert Jack Maloney's takeaways, click here.
Aaron Judge crushes 58th, 59th home runs, pulls within reach of Triple Crown ⚾
The saying goes, "You can't stop him. You can only hope to contain him." With Aaron Judge, you can't even do that
The Yankees star hit two more home runs on Sunday to bring his season total to 59 in a 12-8 win over the Brewers.
- Judge is now two home runs shy of tying Roger Maris' 61 in 1961 for most in a season in AL history.
- Judge's 11 multi-home run games is tied for most in a season (Hank Greenberg in 1938, Sammy Sosa in 1998).
- Judge is now on pace to hit 65 home runs this season, which would be tied for fourth-most all-time.
It's hard to overstate just how incredible Judge has been, but his home runs have overshadowed something arguably more impressive: He's right in the AL Triple Crown race, too.
- .316 average: only behind Luis Arraez (.317) and Xander Bogaerts (.316) for the league lead.
- 59 home runs: 22 more than Yordan Alvarez.
- 127 RBI: 15 more than Jose Ramírez.
College football roundup: Another top team falls; Herm Edwards out at ASU 😲
There's never a dull week in college football. We'll start on the field, where the most notable result was No. 24 Texas A&M beating No. 13 Miami, 17-9. The Aggies were coming off a home loss to Appalachian State, but behind a stout defense and a new starting quarterback in Max Johnson, they got back on track. Miami received an F in college football reporter Barrett Sallee's grades.
Elsewhere...
- Speaking of Appalachian State, they beat Troy on a must-watch Hail Mary. They're moving up Jerry Palm's bowl projections.
- For a team going in the opposite direction, Nebraska lost 49-14 to No. 6 Oklahoma, a game that truly showed just how bad things are for the Cornhuskers, writes college football insider Dennis Dodd.
- Nebraska isn't alone in the early-season coaching turmoil: On Sunday, Arizona State parted ways with Herm Edwards after the Sun Devils lost to Eastern Michigan. Here's a list of possible replacements in Tempe.
- Here are the winners, losers and overreactions of Week 3.
- Here's the new AP Poll, and here's the new Coaches Poll.
What we're watching Monday 📺
🏈 Titans at Bills, 7:15 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN 2
🏈 Vikings at Eagles, 8:30 p.m. on ABC