📰🏟️ Case closed
Plus: MLB kicks off Wild Card action...
Good afternoon. Welcome back to another week full of top sports stories. Let’s get right to it.
—Kyle
1) Bears stomp Eagles with 3rd-string QB
With Bears QBs Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent dealing with injury, 38-year-old Case Keenum led Chicago to a 27-7 rout of previously unbeaten Philadelphia on Monday Night Football.
- Keenum finished 24/34 for 247 YDs and 2 passing TDs and added a 1-yd rushing TD, as Chicago improved to 2-1.
- Keenum is the latest NFL backup QB to see success: Teams starting their non-Week 1 quarterback are 6-0 this season, marking the most such wins (and best record) through 3 weeks since the 1970 merger.
📣 FULL-COURT PRESS
Headlines across the sports world
- 🏒 NHL regular season begins tonight with 5 games, including a tripleheader on ESPN; check out the strengths, weaknesses, and X-factors for all 32 teams heading into 2026-27.
- ⚽ Manchester City found guilty of “sham payments” to reduce costs and artificially inflate their revenue by $1.2B+ between 2008-18, including 100+ breaches of Premier League rules, the league confirmed this morning.
- 🏈 NY Giants trade 5th-round draft pick to Minnesota Vikings for QB J.J. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in 2024, though Giants coach John Harbaugh says Jameis Winston remains NY’s starting QB.
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2) MLB Wild Card Round begins today
Major League Baseball’s postseason begins today, with 4 best-of-3 Wild Card series kicking off across an 8-hour stretch.
- The Phillies start by visiting the Braves (1 pm CT), followed by the White Sox at Astros (4 pm CT), Red Sox at Yankees (7 pm CT), and Cubs closing out the night at the Padres (9 pm CT).
- The biggest pregame news comes from New York, where superstar Aaron Judge was reportedly left off the Yankees’ Wild Card roster while recovering from a right calf strain—while Giancarlo Stanton, who hasn’t played since April, made the cut.
Who wins each Wild Card series?
🌐 WEB GEMS
Interesting things to click
🏈 Tuesday morning QB: Week 4 NFL power rankings, plus every team’s fantasy surprise.
🏒 Hockey stick chart: NHL team valuations are skyrocketing—who leads the way?
🏆 A bad time to be an SEC hater: Projecting the 14-team College Football Playoff, including a record-tying 5 SEC schools.
3) Senate approves Protect College Sports Act
The Senate voted 77-22 in favor of the Protect College Sports Act yesterday, sending the biggest proposed federal rewrite of college athletics rules in history to the House.
- The bipartisan bill would give the NCAA limited antitrust protection to enforce national rules on athlete compensation, eligibility, and transfers, while capping agent fees and adding health-insurance and scholarship protections.
- It would also codify the House v. NCAA settlement and its revenue-sharing system into law.
- The bill’s prospects in the House are uncertain, with the chamber currently recessed until after the Nov. 3 midterms.
Washington weighs in on college sports
Seed disclaimers: *Source: The athlete’s guide to probiotics. **Source: SPINS, Combined Amazon + Target Sales data, Last 24 weeks ending in January 2026.