Is The Bengals Season Over?

Well, well, well, if it isn’t Friday morning.. and if you live in the Northeast it’s a B-E-A-U-TIFUL morning. We already give you permission to leave work early and squeeze in that final round of golf before we transition into the ski season.

What do we got for you today?

🏈 TNF Recap + Is the Bengals season over?

⚾️ MVP Awards

⚽️ Premier League Financial Breach

🏀 In-Season Tournament Friday

🏈 College Football Saturday Preview

Let’s get this Friday started.

Thursday Night Football

Cincinnati Bengals _^(5-5) 20 | Baltimore Ravens _^(8-3) 34

📈 The Ravens racked up over 400 yards of total offense on a talented Bengals defense. Lamar Jackson threw for 264 yards and 2 TDs and was 16/26. The Ravens rushing attack also gained 157 yards on the ground and Gus Edwards ran in 2 TDs. The Ravens didn’t escape with some scratches

❤️‍🩹 Lamar Jackson was dealing with some type of lower body injury yesterday, he was avoiding hit and was planting too hard on his left foot it looked like. I can’t blame Lamar for giving himself up on some plays, as his injury proneness has been the major knock on him the last few years. TE Mark Andrews also suffered a “very serious” ankle injury when he was tackled in the first quarter last night and he might be out for the season.

❤️‍🩹 Bengals QB Joe Burrow injured his wrist in the 2nd quarter last night and couldn’t return. It looked like Burrow had a brace on his throwing wrist when he got off the team bus, so we’re not really sure if this was a pregame issue.

❓️ The Bengals are 5-5 and they’re at the bottom of the AFC North. Is it possible the Bengals might not be back in the playoffs after making it to the AFC Championship game the previous 2 seasons?

MLB names MVPs

🏆️ The National League MVP award was given to Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. The 25-year-old became the first player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases in a single season. He batted .337 this year and finished with 41 homers, 149 runs scored, 106 RBI, and 73 stolen bases.

🏆️ The American League MVP was awarded to none other than Shohei Ohtani. The two-way superstar received the award for the 2nd time and he became the first player to ever win 2 MVPs unanimously. The 29-year-old hit 44 home runs with 95 RBIs and had a career-high 1.066 OPS. He led the AL in homers, OBP, slugging, OPS, OPS+, and total bases AND HE MISSED most of September because of an elbow injury. On the mound, he posted a 3.14 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with 167 strikeouts across 23 starts.

A Big Red Card In The Footie Financials

The Premier League has docked Everton 10 points for breaching its profitability and sustainability rules(PSRs).

Umm, what does this even mean?

The EPL allows teams to have losses for certain periods of time and Everton FC has a loss of £124.5 million when the limit was only £105 million. They were penalized with a 10-point reduction and that means they’ll drop to 2nd to last in the standings and could face potential relegation.

So are all the EPL teams just losing money?

It seems like it. Only 7 of the teams are actually profitable and over 63% of the revenue that teams make goes to player salaries. So teams are trying to cover every other bit of overhead with 37% of the revenue. Basically, teams just spend money and hope they make it back on the next big TV deal. It doesn’t sound too sustainable, but I don’t think the EPL is going away anytime soon.

In-Season Tournament Friday

The In-Season tournament could be stirring up some storylines that aren’t “load management”. We’ve got some games tonight that could make some things interesting in November.

East Group A

• The Philadelphia 76ers are traveling to Atlanta to take on the Hawks in a game that could decide who wins the East Group A of the inaugural in-season tournament. The 76ers need to win to keep their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals alive after losing to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. A Sixers win would create a three-way tie atop the group at 3-1 with the Hawks and Pacers.

• If the Hawks beat the Sixers tonight it would set up a showdown with Indiana next Tuesday, where both teams would be 2-0 and whoever won would be the heavy favorite to win the group.

West Group A

• The Utah Jazz and LA Lakers are both looking to go to 3-0. The Jazz are hosting the Phoenix Suns tonight and the Lakers are traveling to Portland. If the Jazz and Lakers win tonight, it will set up a nice matchup between the two teams on Tuesday.

We’ve got a few other scenarios that could take place in other groups but if teams like the Nuggets, Celtics, Heat, and the Timberwolves continue to win, they’ll be certain to move on to the next round. Let’s see who can mess up the chase for the extra $500k!

College Football Preview

Saturday is upon us and I’d like to plop into my couch with a bag of chips in one hand and my phone in the other, ready to order some pizza and wings.

We’re 1 week away from the huge rivalry matchups that we see on Thanksgiving weekend, and while that usually means the meetups on the field aren’t as meaningful this weekend, we still have a few key games.

🚨 Jim Harbaugh and the University of Michigan have accepted the 3-game suspension by the Big 10 and the Big 10 is going to close the investigation into the Michigan sign-stealing scandal. Harbaugh will not be coaching from the sidelines the next two Saturdays when Michigan faces Maryland and then Ohio State. The NCAA’s investigation is ongoing.

Let’s run through Saturday’s key matchups.

#10 Louisville @ Miami

📺️ Noon ET on ABC

👀 Louisville is practically the final team holding on to hopes that they can make a CFP if some miracles happen. The only way to keep their hopes alive is if they go to Miami to play some football and leave Miami with a win. While these teams have similar offensive prowess, Louisville has a superior defense. Miami battled it out with Florida State last weekend but it might be hard for The Hurricanes to get back up after a big rivalry weekend.

💰️ Louisville is the favorite at -1 and the O/U is 46.5

#22 Utah @ #17 Arizona

📺️ 2:30 pm ET on Pac-12 Network

👀 This is one of the ranked vs. ranked matchups that doesn’t have playoff implications but if you’ve got time to spare and access to the Pac-12 network, why not turn it on?

💰️ Arizona is the favorite since their offense has been firing on all cylinders lately. Arizona is giving -1 and the O/U is 46.5

#1 Georgia @ #18 Tennessee

📺️ 3:30 pm ET on CBS

👀 Georgia is coming a massive 52-17 whooping of Ole Miss and Tennessee is looking to redeem themselves at home after a huge 36-7 loss against Mizzou. Tennesse has been really good at home, but they haven’t played very good teams. Georgia’s defense is top-notch in the run department and Tennessee’s QB has struggled a bit too. Let’s not forget the fact that Tennessee has to stop Georgia’s offense, especially with Brock Bowers back for the 2nd week.

💰️ Georiga is the favorite in this one. The Bulldogs are giving -10 points to the Volunteers and the O/U is 58.5

#5 Washington @ #11 Oregon State

📺️ 7:30 pm ET on ABC

👀 Oregon State is a helluva team and the two losses they’ve suffered came down to 3 points in each game. Beaverton is a tough place to play and Oregon State handled Utah and UCLA with ease at home. The big question is whether the Oregon State defense can slow Michael Penix Jr. down. Expect a shootout.

💰️Oregon State is currently the favorite at -1. The O/U is 62.5.

We’ll be back with you tomorrow with our NFL Sunday preview.

Enjoy your afternoon off (seriously, leave early!)

-The Daily Breakroom