Edition 10

A quick rundown of the biggest stories in sports—without assuming you know every player, rule, or stat. Whether you’re at happy hour, in the office, watching with friends, or on a date with a sports fanatic, you’ll have something to contribute to the conversation.

Two weeks into the NFL season and college football is already in full chaos mode.

The Panthers went from allowing 59 points to allowing THREE, Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford went about as well as Ole Miss fans hoped it would, and somehow we're already talking playoffs in baseball and the WNBA.

Sports are busy right now.

Lets catch up.

After allowing 59 points to Chicago last week, Carolina apparently took my concerns about the defense personally.

The Panthers went to Atlanta and absolutely handled the Falcons 34–3.

Bryce Young threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns, Darren Waller caught two of them, and Carolina’s defense even got in on the fun with a pick-six.

Last week: 59 points allowed.
This week: 3.

Why should you care? Because suddenly the Panthers are 1–1 and we have reason to believe again.

Which feels dangerous, but here we are.

Remember how we spent last week talking about how messy Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford was going to be?

Yeah.

It delivered.

Ole Miss jumped out to a 17–0 lead against Kiffin and LSU and eventually pulled off the 32–24 win.

And because college football loves a storyline, Ole Miss has now jumped all the way to No. 4 in the country, while LSU fell to No. 10.

Lane came back to Oxford.

Oxford sent him home with an L.

Why should you care? This wasn't just another ranked win. After everything surrounding Kiffin’s departure, this one felt personal.

Dak Prescott officially became the Cowboys’ all-time leader in touchdown passes, passing Tony Romo’s franchise record.

And he didn't exactly sneak past it.

Dak threw four touchdowns as Dallas beat Washington 37–20, bringing his career total past Romo’s 248.

Why should you care? Whatever your feelings about the Cowboys — and people have MANY — becoming the franchise leader for one of the NFL's most recognizable teams is a pretty big deal.

The WNBA regular season wraps up Thursday, which means we are officially heading into playoff mode.

Eight teams are in: Atlanta, Dallas, Golden State, Indiana, Las Vegas, Minnesota, New York and Washington.

The first round starts Sunday, Sept. 27, and unlike the NBA playoffs, the opening round is only best-of-three.

Translation: there isn't much room for a bad game.

Why should you care? If you haven't watched much WNBA this season, this weekend is a very easy place to jump in.

🏈 Falcons @ Packers (Thursday, September 24 - 8:15 PM ET)
The Falcons are coming ogg that very rough 34-3 loss to Carolina, and now they have to head to Green Bay on a short week.

🏈 No. 1 Texas @ No. 14 Tennessee (Saturday, September 26)
College GameDay is heading to Knoxville, and Texas is brining that shiny No. 1 ranking with them.

🏈 Panthers @ Browns (Sunday, September 27 - 1:00 PM ET)
Okay, Carolina. Was last Sunday the beginning of something… or were you just giving us false hope? We find out in Cleveland.

🏈 Rams @ Broncos (Sunday, September, 27 - 8:20PM ET)
Sunday Night Football heads to Denver with the Rams coming to town.

🏀 WNBA Playoffs (Sunday, September 27)
The postseason officially begins Sunday, so if your NFL game starts getting ugly, you officially have a back-up plan.

🏈 Eagles @ Bears (Monday, September, 28 - 8:15PM ET)
The Eagles head to Chicago to close out the week against a Bears team that has already been… a little unpredictable this season.

And with Caleb Williams’ injury status now something to watch, this matchup just got even more interesting.

🏎️ NASCAR Turned Into Fight Club. After contact on the track, Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney took things to pit road and started throwing punches.

Apparently the race wasn't chaotic enough.

🐻 Caleb Williams Goes Down. Bears QB left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury and is considered week-to-week.

And yes, Chicago plays on Monday Night Football this week.

😬 Jayden Daniels Injured… Again. Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow against Dallas — the same elbow he injured last season. Initial X-rays showed no fracture, but he's undergoing more testing.

💦 Ty Gibson Chose Chaos. During the NASCAR fight, Ty Gibbs threw a water bottle into the middle of It. Was he involved in the fight? No. Did he contribute anyway? Absolutely.

Okay, stay with me because we have an NFL × F1 × Alix Earle crossover.

Alix Earle’s ex, NFL player Braxton Berrios, was recently spotted with Magui Corceiro — who happens to be the ex of F1 driver Lando Norris.

Why is that interesting?

Because just weeks earlier, Alix herself had been linked to Lando. 👀

So to recap:

Alix dated Braxton.
Magui dated Lando.
Alix was linked to Lando.
And now Braxton has been spotted with Magui.

Everyone following?

Because I need a whiteboard.

Nothing has been officially confirmed between Braxton and Magui, so for now, it's just speculation based on them being spotted together.

But the sports dating universe is apparently very, very small.

The tea: Your ex potentially dating the ex of the guy you were rumored to be dating?

Yeah. That's going in the group chat. ☕️

After watching the Panthers give up 59 points last week, I was prepared for anything Sunday.

What I was not prepared for was a 34–3 Panthers win.

Apparently all I needed to do was publicly question the defense in Fi's Playbook and they would immediately fix everything.

You're welcome, Charlotte.

I am now taking requests for what else I should complain about.

Ever wonder how long NFL players have actually been required to wear helmets?

Not as long as you'd think.

Helmets didn't become mandatory in the NFL until 1943.

And even then, they looked nothing like the giant protective helmets players wear today.

So whenever someone says football players used to be tougher…

Sure.

They were also making some questionable safety decisions.

“Ole Miss beat Lane Kiffin in his first game back in Oxford and then jumped to No. 4 in the country.”

You now know enough to enter basically any college football conversation this week.

Bonus points if you add:

“You know that one had to feel personal.”

Football season is officially in full swing, and I think we can all agree on one thing: absolutely nothing is predictable.

The Panthers went from giving up 59 points to only THREE, Lane Kiffin’s Oxford reunion got exactly as messy as expected, NASCAR apparently added fighting to the schedule, and the sports dating web now requires a diagram.

And somehow…we’re only a few weeks in.

My biggest takeaway? Never get too comfortable with a sports take. It will probably age badly by next Sunday.

See you next week.

Now you know. 💚