Professional Sports Update

Professional+Sports+Update

The world of professional sports always keeps fans on the edge of their seats. From the NFL to MLB, there have been many important events taking place during these seasons. Read below to find out what your favorite teams are up to.

 

NFL

The 2019-2020 NFL season is just underway with week six approaching. Some of the top teams may be shockers while others were expected. As of week five, the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, and the Kansas City Chiefs are the top 5 ranked in the league. Only the Patriots, and the 49ers remain undefeated this season. However, the Washington Redskins, Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, and the New York Jets are still looking for their first win. 

So far, this season has been brutal for top quarterbacks. Ben Rothlesburger from the Pittsburgh Steelers injured his right elbow in week 2 and will be out for the rest of the season. Drew Brees from the New Orleans Saints, suffered from a tear in his thumb on his throwing hand. Brees has just started getting back and doing some drills with the team after undergoing surgery. Cam Newton from the Carolina Panthers is out for now with a lisfranc foot injury that happened during the preseason. 

Locally, The New York Jets, and Giants are having some unexpected pop ups within their seasons. Both teams currently rank third in their divisions(Giants are in the NFC East, and the Jets are in the AFC East).

The Jets have been off to a rough start with a record of 0-4. They lost to the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Quarterback Sam Darnold was diagnosed with mononucleosis shortly after week one. However, now going into week six, Darnold has been officially cleared to start playing. This should help some of the offensive struggles that the team has been having. The offense has been utilizing running back Le’veon Bell who they acquired during the off season. Bell has received most of their plays. The Jets have not been able to capitalize on any big offensive play, which leaves the team without a chance to score. Defensively, the team is doing a decent job stopping plays. In week one defensive star CJ Mosley was taken out of the 4th quarter with a groin injury, and has not been back since. With most possessions ending in a three and out for the Jets, the defense stays on the field for most of the game and they start to get tired during the last quarter of the game.

Other than the Jets, the Giants have a few wins on their record of 2-3. Veteran quarterback, Eli Manning, was benched after staring off the Giants’ season 0-2 losing to the Dallas Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills. Rookie QB, Daneil Jones took the start in week three. The rookie put on a show for the fans as he brought the Giants to 2-2, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Washington Redskins. Week five wasn’t Jones’ best day as the Giants’ offense was shut down in the lost against the Minnesota Vikings. Running Back star, Saquon Barkley was injured with a high ankle sprain in week three during the Buccaneers game. Barkley has started to practice a little bit in the last week and fans are hopeful he will return soon. 

 

MLB

A very eventful season has just concluded and the post season is underway. The American League’s wild card game was between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics. The Rays dominated and won 5-1 and moved on in the playoffs to face off against the Houston Astros. On the National League side of the playoffs, the Washington Nationals faced off against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Nationals trailed during the majority of the game but came back to win 4-3 after scoring 3 runs in the eighth. 

The division series has been a rough for most of the teams. Three out of the four match ups went the full five games. 

In the National League, the LA Dodgers, with an impressive regular season record, fell short to the Nationals in five games. The Dodgers were one of the teams that were expected to make it all the way to the World Series, but the Nationals fought to prove that they should be the team to move on. The other National League game was between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves. Five games later, the Cardinals are the team who will be moving on. The Astros faced off against the Rays for one of the American League division rounds. It took five games before Huston eventually won. Though the Rays put up a fight it wasn’t enough to defeat the Astros on their home turf. 

The New York Yankees were the only team to have a divisional round series that went less than five games. With home field advantage due to an impressive regular season, the Yanks swept the Minnesota Twins. James Paxton took the start for game one and went four innings before the bullpen took over. The Twins were defeated 10-4 in game one. Masahiro Tanaka has the start for game two of the series. Tanka went for five innings only giving up one run and three hits in the Yankees’ victory 8-2. Game three was held in Minnesota, as Luis Severino started on the mound. The Yanks sealed their spot in the next round of the playoffs in their 5-1 win, with Severino going 4 innings. These wins can be created for great bullpen support as well as great hitting by the offense. 

For the championship series of the playoffs, the Huston Astros will be facing the New York Yankees(American League). The Washington Nationals will be taking on the St. Louis Cardinals(National League)

 

USWNT

This past summer the US Women’s National Soccer Team won their second World Cup title in a row in France. The team was welcomed home with a ticker tape parade in New York City. Since then the team has been playing games around the country for their Victory tour. It was said in late July that head coach Jill Ellis will not be returning after their tour. She is moving onto an ambassadorial job. Ellis was the first coach in FIFA history to win back to back world championships as a head coach. She coached for a record of 132 international games with 106-7-19. As of now, the coaching search is still taking place to fill the pretty big shoes of Jill Ellis.