The New Orleans Saints entered their second preseason game looking for the answer to who will be their starting quarterback in Week 1 of the regular season.
It appears they have their answer.
Jameis Winston went 9-of-10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night.
Winston connected with Marquez Callaway on both of his touchdown passes. Both of those scores travelled at least 40 yards through the air.
For perspective, the Saints had just two touchdown passes with 40+ yards of air distance in the past two regular seasons combined.
So, it only makes sense that their fans would be a little more optimistic about their season outlook after that performance.
Meanwhile, Taysom Hill went 11-of-20 for 138 yards and a touchdown. It was a decent outing for Hill, but he didn’t look nearly as good as Winston and bettors were quick to react.
When last night’s game kicked off, Winston was -190 to take the first snap of the regular season for New Orleans. As of this morning, Winston’s odds to take the first snap have shifted all the way to -350.
Here is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021.
Saints futures
While Winston stole the spotlight, it was a disappointing ending for anybody who bet the Saints and the under.
After holding the Jaguars to three points through three quarters, New Orleans was outscored 18-0 in the fourth as Jacksonville covered as a 4.5-point underdog and pushed the total over 40.
That’s a bad beat.
For Jaguars’ fans, there wasn’t much to get excited about unless you bet on Jacksonville or the over.
After all, it was third-string quarterback C.J. Beathard who led the fourth-quarter rally with 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Trevor Lawrence went 14-of-23 for 113 yards. Lawrence was pressured on 41.7 per cent of his dropbacks, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
Michael Thomas is hurt. Emmanuel Sanders and Jared Cook left New Orleans in the off-season.
Their defence also took a hit, with Trey Hendrickson, Malcolm Brown, Janoris Jenkins, Kwon Alexander and Alex Anzalone all leaving in the off-season.
Even with the move to a 17-game season, the Saints’ win total for 2021 is set at 9.0.
The good news is that they appear to have their starting quarterback.
Jameis Winston is a 27 year old Heisman winning, former #1 overall pick. He’s one of only 8 quarterbacks in NFL *history* to throw for 5,000 yards in a season.
However, with Thomas sidelined, New Orleans will need Callaway and Tre’Quan Smith to step up early on this season.
The Saints are currently 30-1 to win the Super Bowl, which leaves them just outside of the top-10 choices.
That’s a fair number for a team that returns a lot of talent but still has too many question marks to trust them to contend.
Yankees extend win streak to 10
Giancarlo Stanton hit his 21st home run of the season and finished with three RBI as the New York Yankees (-110) beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 to extend their win streak to 10 in a row.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Yankees are on pace to win over 80 per cent of their games in August for just the second time in franchise history (1932).
They’ll try to extend baseball’s longest active win streak as a small underdog tonight in Atlanta with Andrew Heaney scheduled to start opposite Charlie Morton.
Meanwhile, the longest active losing streak in baseball will be on the line when the Baltimore Orioles host the Los Angeles Angels.
The Orioles have lost 18 in a row. Another loss would match the 2005 Kansas City Royals for the longest losing streak in the Wild Card era (1994).
Dylan Bundy will get the nod for the Angels against his former team. Baltimore will turn to Spencer Watkins, who hasn’t allowed fewer than four earned runs in any of his previous five starts.
The Angels are currently in the -130 range to win tonight.
Finau wins the Northern Trust
Tony Finau beat Cameron Smith in a playoff to win the Northern Trust.
It’s his first PGA Tour victory since 2016.
A hurricane and Monday finish couldn’t stop Tony Finau this week. ????
Finau, who was 50-1 to win the tournament, ended a winless drought that included eight runner-up finishes, including three playoff losses.
Next up, the BMW Championship from the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owing Mills, Md.
Jon Rahm, who had a two-shot lead at the turn on Monday before letting his lead slip away late, is the betting favourite to win the BMW Championship at +600.
Finau beating Rahm today and then signing a hat for his son is a hell of a flex. pic.twitter.com/kgR0ikOXxU
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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