Shohei Ohtani becomes founding member of 50-50 club; Aaron Rodgers shines in Jets rout

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⚾ Good morning to all, but especially to ...

SHOHEI OHTANI, THE ONE AND ONLY

We already knew Shohei Ohtani was unlike anyone else -- a singular talent, a dynamic force, a do-it-all wizard in a sport where it's supposed to be impossible to do it all.

Now, he has yet another club all to himself: Ohtani hit three home runs and stole two bases to become the founding member of the 50-home run, 50-stolen bases club. He's up to 51 homers and 51 steals on the year.

It came on a historic night, because of course it did: Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three homers, two doubles, two stolen bases and 10 RBI. He is, unsurprisingly, the first player ever to put up that stat line in a single game. But to emphasize how far ahead of everyone else he is, he's the first player to "merely" hit three home runs and steal two bases in a game.

Ohtani had already authored unprecedented seasons as a two-way player, but without pitching this year, he put up an all-time offensive season. The numbers, of course, are staggering, but what's more is the feeling Ohtani inspires. I think we can agree the MLB season can turn into a slog. It's long and injury-filled, with games that can feel meaningless.

But Ohtani has changed that. I got goosebumps when he hit home run No. 50. I can't tell you the last time I got goosebumps from a regular-season baseball game, much less a single play. And what's better, we'll finally get to see him in the postseason: The Dodgers officially clinched a spot with their 20-4 win over the Marlins.

Here's more on the game ... and the season:

Ohtani's 10 most memorable games
Playoff Ohtani coming soon
How Ohtani became an elite base stealer
Skip Schumaker shot down intentionally walking Ohtani.
The fan who caught the ball is keeping it ... for now.

The Guardians also clinched a playoff berth with a 10-inning 3-2 win over the Twins thanks to Andrés Giménez's walk-off single. Sorry that your special day was overshadowed, Cleveland. I hope you'll understand.

👍 Honorable mentions

Here are the NBA's top 10 players 35 or older and also its top 10 wings.
The Nets will retire Vince Carter's jersey in January.
Bob Uecker had a ... uhhhh ... unique celebration for the Brewers' NL Central title.
Here are Mauricio Pochettino's 2026 World Cup goals for the USMNT.
Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois is a huge opportunity for both boxers.

Not so honorable mentions

Bryce Young was surprised to be benched.
Jason Kelce is unhappy with the 76ers' stadium plans.

🏈 Jets top Patriots, plus NFL Week 3 picks and why offense is down

It's safe to say Aaron Rodgers' Jets home debut this season went a whole lot better than last season's. Playing at MetLife Stadium for the first time since a devastating Achilles tear to open last year, Rodgers threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns -- and got serenaded by "Aaron Rodgers" chants -- as the Jets beat the Patriots, 24-3.

The Jets are over .500 through three weeks for the first time since 2015.

More important than Rodgers' numbers, though, was how he got them. Rodgers looked comfortable moving in and out of the pocket and even scrambling.

Just about the only downside of the win was Morgan Moses leaving with a knee injury. As for New England, Drake Maye made his NFL debut in garbage time.

All right, onto this weekend's action. The headliner is the Ravens visiting the Cowboys. Baltimore is 0-2. Dallas is 1-1 but coming off a 44-19 loss to the Saints. It's safe to say both of these teams need bounce backs. Only one will get it. In his picks, Pete Prisco says ...

Prisco: "Both teams have issues, but the biggest is the Ravens offensive line. After watching what the Saints did to the Dallas defense, they will overcome that and run Derrick Henry. The Ravens will get their first victory on the road against the Cowboys. Pick: Ravens 27, Cowboys 24"

As for two 2-0 teams, the Vikings face the Texans in a really fun matchup. In his best bets, Will Brinson says ...

Brinson: "Texans/Vikings over 46.5 -- I don't want to call the Vikings offense an unstoppable force with Sam Darnold, but as long as Justin Jefferson is out there he is going to produce big numbers. Just kidding -- he actually played great football without Jefferson out there. ... This season, C.J. Stroud is 15 for 19 for 151 yards, one touchdown and no picks against the blitz. The Texans offensive line can hold up and Nico Collins/Tank Dell are lethal deep/explosive play weapons in those situations."

That'd be a welcome departure from what's been an underwhelming scoring start to the season around the league. Jared Dubin has a great look at why offenses are struggling and how they can fix it.

Here are our experts' picks:

Pete Prisco | Will Brinson | John Breech | Jordan Dajani | Tyler Sullivan

🏈 College football Week 4 picks, previews for loaded slate

There are a season-high four ranked-vs.-ranked games this week in college football, and if that's not enough reason for intrigue, the top team in the nation has a new quarterback. Arch Manning will make his first career start with Quinn Ewers nursing an abdominal injury as No. 1 Texas takes on ULM. Here's what to expect from Manning, and as a baseline, Clint Brewster says he's the best NFL quarterback prospect currently.

But back to those ranked games. We have ...

No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma (preview)
No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan on CBS (preview)
No. 12 Utah at No. 14 Oklahoma State (preview)
No. 24 Illinois at No. 22 Nebraska (preview)

Tom Fornelli has best bets for several of those games -- and plenty more -- in The Six Pack.

Dennis Dodd, meanwhile, details the throwback offense-vs.-defense battle that is Tennessee at Oklahoma.

Dodd: "Offensively, Tennessee may have the most weapons in the game. Nico Iamaleava has completed more than 70% of his passes. ... Do not underestimate Brent Venables' defense in this clash, however. His ability to scheme up solutions against SEC opponents is basically why he was hired away from his defensive coordinator post at Clemson. Oklahoma's coach is 7-1 against SEC opponents going back to 2018."

Will Backus details the full-circle moment of former co-workers Venables and Josh Heupel facing one another.

Here's more:

SEC picks | Big Ten picks | Jerry Palm's best bets
Dennis has covered college football for six decades. Travis Hunter is one of the best players he's ever seen.
Meet BYU's Jewish quarterback.
UNLV football is a thing!
Group of Five Power Rankings

🏀 Dream earn No. 8 seed spot, WNBA playoffs set

The Dream took all the drama out of a three-way race for the eighth playoff spot on the final night of the regular season, clinching their spot with a 78-67 win over the Liberty. Atlanta simply needed to win and get in, and they took care of business against a New York squad that had nothing to play for and pulled its starters early.

The Dream added some flair to their win with Tina Charles surpassing Sylvia Fowles for the all-time rebounding record and the all-time double-doubles record.

The Mystics and Sky were eliminated with Atlanta's win.

That means the playoff bracket is set. Here are the first-round matchups and the schedule:

No. 1 Liberty vs. No. 8 Dream
No. 2 Lynx vs. No. 7 Mercury
No. 3 Sun vs. No. 6 Fever
No. 4 Aces vs. No. 5 Storm

Meanwhile, here's why the Wings have the inside track on winning the top spot in the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery.

⚽ UEFA Champions League Power Rankings after upset-filled Thursday

Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League came to a close Thursday, and in a change of pace from the first two days, we got some surprises. Barcelona fell to AS Monaco, 2-1, despite an absolute stunner from Lamine Yamal, and Arsenal needed a spectacular double save from David Raya to rescue a scoreless draw against Atalanta.

Raya earned a spot on James Benge's Team of the Week for his efforts.

With every team having played a game, we got plenty of answers but also left with plenty of questions, Pardeep Cattry writes.

Cattry: "Do we know who the best team in Europe is? -- Not yet. In theory, it's a silly question to ask after Matchday 1 but before a ball was kicked, it felt like a foregone conclusion that either Manchester City or Real Madrid might win the whole thing. That feels like less of a certainty now that the first round of games is in the books ... The optimist take on Matchday 1, though, is that no clear favorite has emerged just yet in the Champions League, adding a layer of unpredictability that makes every competitor better."

Here's the top five of Chuck Booth's Power Rankings:

Bayern Munich (previous: 2)
Real Madrid (4)
Manchester City (1)
PSG (6)
Liverpool (8)

📺 What we're watching this weekend

Friday

🏈 Stanford at Syracuse, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 No. 24 Illinois at No. 23 Nebraska, 8 p.m. on Fox

Saturday

🏈 NC State at No. 21 Clemson, noon on ABC
🏈 Marshall at No. 3 Ohio State, noon on Fox
🏈 No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan, 3:30 p.m. on CBS
🏈 No. 12 Utah at No. 14 Oklahoma State, 4 p.m. on Fox
🏈 No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma, 7:30 p.m. on ABC
🏈 Baylor at Colorado, 8 p.m. on Fox
🏈 No. 13 Kansas State at BYU, 10:30 p.m. on ESPN

Sunday

🏈 Texans at Vikings, 1 p.m. on CBS
🏈 Chargers at Steelers, 1 p.m. on CBS
🏈 Eagles at Saints, 1 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Game 1: Dream at Liberty, 1 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Game 1: Fever at Sun, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏈 Dolphins at Seahawks, 4:05 p.m. on CBS
🏈 Ravens at Cowboys, 4:25 p.m. on Fox
🏈 Lions at Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Game 1: Mercury at Lynx, 5 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Phillies at Mets, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 Chiefs at Falcons, 8:20 p.m. on NBC
🏀 Game 1: Storm at Aces, 10 p.m. on ESPN