Good Morning from the Daily Breakroom. We had two Monday night games and while one was a battle the other sent us on an emotional roller coaster. Let’s recap, talk some injuries, and then move on to some baseball updates.

Monday Night Football

New Orleans Saints 20, Carolina Panthers 17

The New Orleans Saints are off to a 2-0 start and it’s all thanks to their defense. The Saints held rookie Bryce Young to 153 passing yards and just 239 overall yards. Young was also sacked 4 times and it wasn’t the pressure that only got to him, his receivers hardly had any space between themselves and the Saints’ defenders all game.

Derek Carr has struggled for the Saints in the first half of the week 1 and week 2 games but has been able to make adjustments for 2nd half. Carr finished with 228 yards in the air and one INT but the ground game picked up the slack for the Saints’ offense. Tony Jones Jr. scored twice for the Saints on the ground after he replaced an injured Jamaal Williams in the first half. Jones was brought up from the practice squad and is making the most of his opportunity.

Cleveland Browns 22, Pittsburgh Steelers 26

It was the defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers that truly had the most production all day. While Kenny Pickett threw a TD for the Steelers, their defense outperformed the offense in scoring.

Linebacker Alex Highsmith scored nine seconds into the game when he returned an interception for the Steelers off a Minkah Fitzpatrick deflection. When the Steelers trailed by 3 in the final quarter, Highsmith made a huge play again by stripping Deshaun Watson and T.J. Watt did a scoop and score for a 17-yard touchdown.

The Browns losing this game wasn’t the big gut punch. Star RB Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury and will be out for the entirety of the season. Chubb is a huge part of the offense and a great teammate in the Browns locker room. Deshaun Watson will have to carry the offense now and he isn’t looking like the same QB that he was in Houston.

Injury Update

• Jalen Waddle, WR for the Dolphins, is in the concussion protocol. It usually takes a week to clear the protocol and the Dolphins play the Broncos on Sunday. Expect River Cracraft to get some more targets.

• Saquon Barkley is ruled out for the next 3 weeks after suffering an ankle sprain(could’ve been way worse). Expect Matt Breida to get a majority of the touches but also don’t go out of your way to grab him on waivers because the Giants face the 49ers defense next week.

• Lions RB David Montgomery suffered a deep bruise in his thigh and is expected to miss a few weeks. Craig Reynolds is expected to be the dude in the backfield.

• Minkah Fitzpatrick suffered a chest injury last night after chasing down Jerome Ford on the sideline and making a TD-saving diving tackle.

• CJ Gardner Johnson, safety for the Lions, suffered a torn pec on Sunday and might miss the entire season.

MLB Update

We’re two weeks from the start of playoffs and the race is still on. We should have a clear playoff picture in hopefully a week or so.

American League

In the AL East the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays have clinched a playoff spot. The Rays are just 2.5 games behind the O’s so the division has yet to be clinched.

The Houston Astros are trying to hold off the Texas Rangers Rangers and Seattle Mariners in the AL West. The Rangers and Mariners are just 1.5 games behind the Astros.

The Minnesota Twins should have no problem clinching the AL Central. They finish up the season with a series against three teams who are already eliminated from the playoffs, the LA Angels, the Oakland A’s, and the Colorado Rockies.

National League

The Atlanta Braves have clinched the NL East (but you already knew that). The Phillies have the top wild card spot and the Miami Marlins are just hanging on to the edge and are currently .5 games out of the last wild card spot.

The NL Central should end up in the Milwaukee Brewers’ hands, but the Cubs and Reds are chasing down a wild card spot so anything can happen. The Brewers are up 6 games in the division but they finish up the season against the Cubs.

The NL West was clinched by the LA Dodgers but the Arizona Diamondbacks are sitting in a decent position in the 2nd wild-card spot.

What To Watch Tonight?

Looking to enjoy a night off of football but don’t want to watch Netflix? WE some two baseball games tonight.

Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves, 7:20 pm ET on TBS

Detroit Tigers @ LA Dodgers, 10:10 pm ET on ESPN+

We’ll see you tomorrow.

-The Daily Breakroom