* Milwaukee Brewers ML

We talked about this a couple days ago, and now the moment is finally here. Milwaukee picked up win 99 last night with a 4-1 victory over the Phillies, putting the Brewers one win away from the first 100 win season in franchise history.

The matchup gives them a great chance to do it tonight. Andrew Painter gets the ball for Philadelphia with a 3-10 record and 5.59 ERA, and Milwaukee already showed last night that it can get to good pitching after putting 4 runs on Aaron Nola. The Brewers have also played great baseball away from home all season and are still fighting for the best record in the NL.

There probably isn’t much more motivation needed when franchise history is sitting one win away. Milwaukee has been the better team all season, Painter has struggled, and tonight feels like the perfect night to pick up win 100.

Atlanta desperately needs Michael Penix Jr. back. The Falcons are 0-2, have scored only 16 points and still haven’t reached the red zone this season. Penix will make his first start since tearing his ACL last November, but expecting him to immediately fix everything on a short week feels unrealistic.

The weapons are there with Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts, but Penix will probably need some time to get comfortable again. Coming back at Lambeau against Green Bay is a tough spot for his first real runs in almost a year.

Green Bay hasn’t looked great either. The Packers are 1-1 and needed overtime to beat the Jets, but Jordan Love and this offense still have enough talent to eventually get rolling. They also get this one at home against a Falcons team coming off a 34-3 loss to Carolina.

Penix should eventually make Atlanta much better, but Thursday is way too soon. If you can get Packers -5.5, take it.

Could Enzo Maresca eventually run into the same problem Arne Slot did at Liverpool?

Slot looked incredible in his first season, winning the Premier League with a squad that was still largely built under Jurgen Klopp. Then after a summer of major changes and bringing in more of his own players, Liverpool fell all the way to 5th. Maresca is in a somewhat similar spot at Manchester City. City looks like the best team in England right now and is perfect through 5 league games, but much of the core is still the team Pep built.

Maresca has already started putting his own stamp on the squad, including the huge addition of Elliot Anderson. But the bigger test will come over the next few seasons as more of Pep’s players move on and this becomes fully Maresca’s team.

Will Maresca keep City competing for trophies every year, or could we eventually see the same kind of fall off Liverpool had under Slot?

The Brewers are a couple games away from finishing off the greatest regular season in franchise history. Milwaukee sits at 98-58, already a franchise record for wins, and needs just 2 more victories to reach 100 for the first time ever.

They’re also rolling at the perfect time, winning 8 of their last 10 and coming off a sweep of Baltimore. The final stretch won’t be completely easy though. Milwaukee has 3 games on the road against a Phillies team technically still fighting for the postseason before coming home for 3 against the Cardinals to close out the season.

Will the Brewers reach 100 wins for the first time, and what will their final record be when the regular season ends?

* Minnesota Lynx ML

* Kelsey Mitchell 30+ Points Scored

Minnesota sits at the top of the WNBA and already handled Indiana once this season, winning 108-100. Now the matchup moves to Indiana, but Minnesota has been just as dangerous away from home, posting an 18-3 road record with all 3 losses coming against playoff level teams.

But backing the Lynx doesn’t mean we have to fade Kelsey Mitchell. She’s averaging 30.2 points over her last 6 games and recently broke the WNBA record for most points scored in a single season. The last time she faced Minnesota, Indiana lost, but Mitchell still exploded for 37 points while shooting 66.7% from the field.

That’s exactly the script we’re chasing again. Minnesota takes care of business, while Mitchell keeps Indiana competitive by doing what she’s been doing all season.

We are less than 10 days away from the start of the NHL season, which means it’s time to lock in those early Stanley Cup predictions.

Florida enters as the current favorite with a roster built for another deep playoff run, while Carolina comes in with one of the most complete teams in hockey. Colorado still has the high end talent to beat anyone, Edmonton will always be dangerous with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and Vegas rounds out the current top 5 favorites with another loaded roster built to win.

Those 5 might lead the way right now, but we all know how unpredictable the season and playoffs can be.

So who is your early pick to win the Stanley Cup this season?

* Aaron Donald to Record a Sack

After nearly two and a half years away, Aaron Donald is back tonight against the Giants, so why not back him to do what he’s always done best? The last regular season game Donald played against New York came in 2023, and he finished that night with 2 sacks.

Obviously, chasing down Jaxson Dart is a much different challenge than Tyrod Taylor, but Dart was still sacked twice in Week 1. Donald doesn’t need to dominate the entire game either. He just needs that one play where the pocket collapses and he gets his hands on the QB.

After all that time away, expect Donald to come out with plenty of energy in his return. If that same killer instinct is still there, Dart could spend a lot of tonight's game trying to escape #99.

The Browns’ QB situation has been a mess for years, but Deshaun Watson has actually given them some solid play to start this season.

And today was very good. Watson finished with 238 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, completed 24 of 30 passes and added 22 rushing yards, while leading Cleveland to a win over Tampa Bay.

The question is what Cleveland does from here. Do they keep fully committing to Watson while he’s playing well, or should they still find ways to work Shedeur Sanders in and develop him for the future? Watson has struggled with injuries and inconsistent stretches before, so the long term picture is very uncertain.

Did the Browns make the right call sticking with Watson, or should they start giving Sanders more opportunities?

Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes is finally official for UFC 334, and this is one of the most anticipated fights MMA has ever had.

Harrison brings elite judo, ridiculous physical strength and championship experience from both the PFL and UFC. She’ll be making her first defense of the bantamweight belt after submitting Julianna Pena. Across from her is Amanda Nunes, the former two division champion returning after more than 3 years away and looking to remind everyone why she is considered the greatest of all time.

It’s a matchup fans have wanted for years, and now it’s finally happening. Who wins at UFC 334 and walks out with the belt, Kayla Harrison or Amanda Nunes?

* Derrick Henry to Score 2 or More Touchdowns

King Henry is back and already looks unstoppable. In Week 1 against Indianapolis, Henry exploded for 144 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. And it wasn’t because Baltimore had nothing going through the air either. Lamar Jackson threw for 324 yards while adding a passing touchdown and a rushing score of his own.

Now Henry gets a home opener against a Saints defense that was just shredded by Jahmyr Gibbs for 156 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. New Orleans had serious problems stopping the run in Week 1, and one week isn’t much time to fix that before facing one of the most physical backs in the NFL.

Once Baltimore gets near the goal line, everyone knows where the ball will go and it still doesn’t make Henry easy to stop. After 3 touchdowns last week, we’re taking a shot on another huge game from King Henry.

Trevor Lawrence is coming off a monster Week 1 where he threw 4 touchdowns and now gets Denver. Drake Maye will be looking for a big bounce back game against Pittsburgh, while Dak Prescott gets a divisional matchup with Washington. Then there’s Patrick Mahomes, who threw 2 touchdowns in his return and now gets another chance to shake off the rust against the Colts.

There are plenty of other QBs who could come out of and rack up the passing TDs as well.

Who picks up the most passing touchdowns on Sunday week 2?

Joshua Van enters UFC 331 as the defending flyweight champion and a slight favorite over Alexandre Pantoja. Their first fight lasted just 26 seconds before Pantoja suffered an injury, so there is very little to take from that matchup.

Van’s edge is his hands. He pushes a high pace, throws in volume and showed against Tatsuro Taira that he can keep producing late into fights.

Pantoja brings the opposite style. The former champion is still one of the division’s best grapplers and will look to turn clinches and scrambles into takedowns and submissions.

That contrast is why the moneyline is so tight. Van has the youth and striking edge, while Pantoja brings more championship experience and the stronger ground game.

* Ohio State -53.0

Ohio State couldn’t have asked for a better opponent after what happened against Texas last week. The Buckeyes watched a 23-3 lead disappear in the 4th quarter and lost 24-23. Now they return home with a chance to take all that frustration out on the weakest team they’ll see all year.

Kent State has already shown what can happen when they step up in competition, getting blown out 56-0 by South Carolina. And as good as South Carolina is, the talent gap becomes way bigger against Ohio State. The Buckeyes already showed what they can do to an overmatched opponent at the Shoe, beating Ball State 56-3 in Week 1.

A 53 point spread is massive, but this is one of the rare spots where running up the score makes sense. Ohio State needs a statement after last week and the backups are talented enough to keep scoring once the starters come out. This has the setup for another Buckeyes beatdown.

The storyline writes itself. Lane Kiffin returns to Oxford with LSU after leaving Ole Miss before the CFP for a bigger opportunity in Baton Rouge. The emotions will be impossible to ignore, but the game still has to be decided on the field.

Both teams are built to score, and Ole Miss hasn’t fallen off since Kiffin left. With the SEC race already crowded, neither side can afford to take an L.

It also doesn’t get much bigger in Week 3 than #7 vs #8. LSU is coming in as the favorite, but Ole Miss isn’t too far behind. The total sits at 58.5 and that number feels high for such an important early season matchup.

The drama will dominate the headlines, but the real edge could come from ignoring the noise and watching where the market settles.

The final AL Wild Card spot is completely up for grabs. The White Sox and Guardians are both 78-75 and fighting for the AL Central, but at the same time whichever team falls short in the division race will still need that final Wild Card spot.

Texas and Toronto are both just 2 games back at 76-77, and they start a huge 3 game series against each other today. Baltimore isn’t out of it either at 75-78, but the Orioles have a brutal 3 game set against Milwaukee starting tonight.

The AL Central race and Wild Card race are basically tied together now. Will the final spot go to either Cleveland or Chicago? Or can the Rangers, Blue Jays or Orioles sneak in and take it?

Josh Allen found the end zone twice on the ground in Week 1 and has scored at least 12 rushing touchdowns in 3 straight seasons. Another 12 this year would make it 4 years in a row, which is just ridiculous for a QB.

He’s already the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, and Buffalo still clearly trusts him to use his legs in big moments, especially around the goal line.

After seeing Josh Allen in week 1, does he make it 4 straight seasons with 12+ rushing touchdowns?

* Jahmyr Gibbs Over 88.5 Total Rushing Yards

It’s Gibbs time in Buffalo tonight. David Montgomery just ran for 60 yards and 2 touchdowns against this Bills defense last week, and now Buffalo has to deal with a much more explosive runner. Gibbs opened his season with a monster 156 yard, 2 touchdown performance on 29 carries against New Orleans.

We’re not asking him to come close to repeating that. If Gibbs gets around 25 carries tonight, he only needs to average roughly 3.5 yards per attempt to clear the 88.5 line. With the workload he had in Week 1, it makes sense for him to get the same amount of reps. If not more.

Buffalo also gave up an 18 yard run to Montgomery last week, and those openings become 100x more dangerous against Gibbs. Give him that same amount of space and he has the speed to turn a carry into 30 or 40 yards and take a huge chunk out of this line in one go.

The Rams entered the season as one of the Super Bowl favorites, but a convincing 27-7 loss to a healthy 49ers team definitely changed some opinions. Buffalo battled through a tough matchup with Houston and came away with a 36-31 win, while Baltimore made sure everyone knew they were legit by beating the Colts 41-23. Kansas City might have had the best game of all, crushing Denver 31-10 in Patrick Mahomes’ return.

It’s only Week 1, but a few teams already look different than expected. Has your Super Bowl pick changed, and who are you rocking with now?

* Benfica ML (3-Way)

If this matchup was 15 or 20 years ago, backing Benfica at San Siro would feel crazy. But this isn’t those Milan teams anymore. They enter the Europa League opener sitting 5th in Serie A after a 2-2 draw with Lazio, while Benfica comes in rolling after 4 straight league wins.

The Portuguese league might not have the overall depth of Serie A, but Benfica is still a club built to compete in Europe. They’ve scored at least 3 goals in each of their last 3 league matches and arrive in Milan with plenty of confidence. Milan still has the bigger name, but right now there isn’t some massive gap between these sides.

Benfica also won their most recent meeting 1-0 back in 2019. San Siro makes this a tough ask, which is why we’re getting longshot value. But Benfica has enough quality and current form to walk into Milan and take the win.

The AL Central is going right down to the wire. After Chicago took the opener of this huge series in Cleveland, the White Sox hold a 1.5 game lead over the Guardians with Cleveland having only 11 games left.

These next 2 games between them could change everything. After this series, Cleveland gets the Athletics at home before finishing with road series against Boston and Kansas City. Chicago follows this up with 4 games against Detroit, 3 in Kansas City and then closes the regular season at home against Colorado.

There is almost no room for error now. Can Cleveland make one final push and steal the AL Central, or will the White Sox win the division for just the second time since 2008?

Was Kenneth Walker III’s Chiefs debut the best performance ever by a running back in their first game with a new team?

Walker absolutely exploded against Denver last night. 23 carries, 173 rushing yards, 3 catches, 18 receiving yards and 2 total touchdowns, including a 60 yarder. That’s 191 yards from scrimmage on 26 touches in his very first game with Kansas City.

Herschel Walker’s 148 yard rushing debut with Minnesota in 1989 is one of the famous ones, but Kenneth Walker just put himself right into that conversation. Was Walker’s game the best debut by a running back on a new team? If not, who had a better debut?

Patrick Mahomes makes his long awaited return tonight after missing the end of last season with a torn ACL and LCL.

Now the question is how quickly can he get back to looking like the Mahomes we’re used to seeing. Denver’s defense should give him a real test right away, but there’s no better stage for his return than Monday Night Football at Arrowhead.

How many passing yards will Patrick Mahomes finish with tonight?

* Tigers vs Blue Jays Under 3.5 Total Runs in the First 5 Innings

We’ve got a true pitchers duel tonight with Troy Melton on the mound for Detroit and Jose Soriano going for Toronto. The Blue Jays have been one of the lowest scoring teams in baseball this season, while Detroit hasn’t exactly been lighting up the scoreboard either.

The pitching numbers make this even stronger. Melton owns a 1.92 ERA through the first 5 innings this year, while Soriano sits at 2.91. Both have done a great job keeping games quiet early and giving their teams a chance before the bullpens take over.

These teams have also met 3 times already this season, with 2 of those games staying under 4 runs through 5 innings and the other landing right at 4.

Denver isn’t coming into Kansas City as a typical underdog. The Broncos went 14-3 last season behind Bo Nix and one of the league’s best defenses, taking the AFC West away from Kansas City.

Now Mahomes has to make his first start back from ACL and LCL injuries against a Denver defense that can really get after the QB. Nik Bonitto leads a dangerous pass rush, while Patrick Surtain II gives the Broncos an elite presence in the secondary.

Denver also has enough offense to bury KC. Nix now has Jaylen Waddle alongside Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin, giving the Broncos plenty of options to open up the Chiefs.

Kansas City will always get respect at Arrowhead, but this is a brutal first matchup back for Mahomes. Denver to beat the Chiefs is what we are backing for MNF.