Cardinals, Ravens continue to impress in Week 6, and here’s who could replace Ed Orgeron at LSU

Happy Monday newsletter readers! It’s Shanna McCarriston here. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I went to my sister’s homecoming this weekend and from that football game went to my first ever Boston College Eagles football game, and the next day all I did was, you guessed it, watched football!

As sports fans I imagine your weekend was similar, but now we are back to work and catching up on any game action we missed this weekend.

Today we’ll go over yesterday’s NFL games, the Chicago Sky winning the WNBA Finals, the MLB playoffs and a look at who might be on the list to replace Ed Orgeron at LSU.

Let’s get to it.

📰 What you need to know

1. Week 6 NFL recap 🏈

Week 6 of the NFL season is nearly complete, with just one game left tonight between the Bills and the Titans, but before we get to that game preview, let’s go over what we watched yesterday.

The Jaguars kicked off the day with their first win in 20 games. Taking on the Dolphins in London, the Jags finally got a check in the win column thanks to a 53-yard game-winning field goal from Matthew Wright. Maybe Jacksonville just always needs to play abroad. The Lions now have the longest losing streak in the league at 10 games.

The Patriots continue to come very close to beating good teams, but close is not good enough. Quarterback Mac Jones is taking some more risks with long plays downfield that are paying off, but he continues to make avoidable mistakes that lead to turnovers. The Patriots are definitely easier to watch than last year, but they need to start winning these close games.

Here is a look at the top stories from around the league:

• Jaguars earn an ‘A’ for their first win
• Giants, Texans and Lions all earn an ‘F’ on the day for their respective losses
• The Chiefs struggled in the first half, but ultimately defeated the Washington Football Team 31-13
• The Packers continued their dominance over their rivals, the Bears, with a 24-14 win
• The Ravens rolled over the Chargers in a tough offensive game for L.A., who lost 34-6
• The Cowboys defeated the Patriots in wild overtime game, Dak Prescott wore a walking boot after the win and will undergo further tests
• The Cardinals kept their perfect record with a convincing 37-14 win over the Browns
• The Vikings moved to 3-3 with an overtime win against the Panthers
• A reviewed clock stoppage as time expired in regulation and a TJ Watt forced fumble in OT lead to an entertaining Steelers win over the Seahawks

I am once again impressed by the Ravens, who are the one biggest threats in the AFC right now. I expect them to win their division and make a deep playoff run.

Tonight we have the other AFC top dog, the Buffalo Bills, visiting the Titans on Monday Night Football. Tennessee is hoping this game goes as well as the last time the two teams met, with Derrick Henry stiff-arming Bills cornerback Josh Norman in a highlight that still circulates on the internet.

The 4-1 Bills are coming off a win against the Chiefs, while the 3-2 Titans are coming off a win over the Jaguars.

Pete Prisco predicts the Bills will win 27-24 and I agree this game will be a close one and I don’t see Buffalo losing.

2. Sky win WNBA Finals 🏀

The Chicago Sky are WNBA champions for the first time in league history. The win came yesterday, when they overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the Phoenix Mercury 80-74 in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.

Kahleah Copper was named Finals MVP for her impressive performance throughout the series. She averaged 17 points and 5.5 rebounds in the four games. 

Here is a look at how the Sky won:

• With less than five minutes left and down 72-65, Sky rallied for the comeback to win 
  
  
• Allie Quigley scored 26 points, including clutch three pointers
• Candace Parker recorded 16 points, 13 rebounds and five assists and went on a 7-0 run

This is Parker’s first season with her hometown team, after leaving Los Angeles last year.

3. Dodgers vs. Braves: Atlanta once again wins with a walk-off ⚾

Game 2 is always a crucial one in MLB series and teams that have gone up 2-0 in best-of-seven settings have gone on to win 84 percent of those series. The Braves entered last night’s game up 1-0, so for the Dodgers this game was rather important.

The Braves went on to win 5-4 to go up 2-0 in the NLCS with a walk-off win for the second game in a row.

Dodgers’ Max Scherzer was bumped from Game 1 and was pitching for L.A. in Game 2. The Braves went with Ian Anderson.

Here is a look at how the game went down:

• Corey Seager, the second batter of the game, hit a two-run home run
• A two-run home run from Braves’ Joc Pederson tied it up in the fourth inning
• A two-run double from Chris Taylor put the Dodgers back on top in the seventh
• Austin Riley doubled allowing Albies to score and tie the game at 4-4 in the eighth
• The Braves win with a walk-off from Eddie Rosario with two outs in the ninth

Game 3 will take place at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. 

4. LSU coaching candidates 🏈

Two years ago LSU’s Ed Orgeron was the national coach of the year who led LSU to a 15-0 national championship season, but things have changed quickly in Baton Rouge. In 2020, the Tigers were 5-5 and since their championship they are just 9-8 with a 7-6 SEC record.

Their defense was a nightmare and they had talent that did not line up with their poor play. All that has led to to Orgeron’s exit from LSU at the end of the 2021 season.

The next obvious question is, who will replace him?

Here is a look at some of the coaches that could be options for the Tigers:

• Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M head coach
• James Frankin, Penn State head coach
• Luke Fickell, Cincinnati head coach
• Joe Brady, Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator
• Billy Napier, Louisiana head coach
• Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss head coach
• Bob Stoops, former Oklahoma head coach
• Bill O’Brien, Alabama offensive coordinator
• Mel Tucker, Michigan State head coach
• Dave Aranda, Baylor head coach
• Matt Rhule, Carolina Panthers  head coach

Athletic director Scott Woodward is likely looking for a big name with the replacement and not taking a risk with someone who is on the rise.

For full commentary on each coaching option, click here.

📝 Odds & Ends

• According to reports, the Raiders plan to work out a contract settlement over the remaining $40 million due to Jon Gruden
• First-year Celtics coach Ime Udoka benched player for complaining to refs, saying, ‘That’s not the team we want to be’
• Ben Simmons returned to practice with the 76ers and Doc Rivers says ‘when he’s ready, he’ll play’
• Patrick Mahomes‘ mother Randi Mahomes doesn’t think the interception off of Tyreek Hill’s hands should count against the quarterback

📺 What to watch tonight

⚾Astros vs. Red Sox, 8:08 p.m. | BOS -112 | TV: FS1

🏈 Bills vs. Titans, 8:15 p.m. | TEN +5.5 | TV: ESPN

🏅 Best thing I saw on the internet

College teams tend to spend a long time traveling, which can be exhausting for the players and those traveling with the squad. The Rhode Island football team thought they had an eight hour bus ride ahead of them to play Towson, but Patriots owner Robert Kraft had quite the surprise for them. Instead, the Rams found the Patriots team plane waiting for them. A 90-minute trip on a luxury team plane seems a little better than an eight hour bus adventure. 

2021 NFL jerseys now available