Sports Brief: Bills Smash Dolphins in AFC Showdown; Early Rivalry Games in College Football Week 3; Baseball Wildcard Races Head to the Wire

Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins hikes the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first quarter in the game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Sept. 12, 2024. Megan Briggs/Getty Images

Welcome to The Epoch Times Sports Brief for Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we’ve got some very exciting stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening in the world of sports.

A pair of NFL division foes duke it out in a Thursday night showdown, college football’s week three ignites with a couple of bitter rivalries, and a mad scramble for baseball’s few remaining wildcard spots screams right down to the wire.

Also, the fastest playoffs in America roar into high gear, and get ready to tailgate, as we bring you the latest ranking of our highly scientific picks for the very best teams in the NFL.

We’ll scope out each one of these very intriguing stories, but we begin in South Florida, with a shocking Thursday night beatdown that left the home team bruised and battered.

Bills Smash Dolphins in AFC Showdown

The Buffalo Bills charged into Miami last night and simply knocked the Dolphins right out of the water. The visitors won by a score of 31–10, and the contest really wasn’t that close.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen was efficient, and running back James Cook scored three touchdowns—all in the first half—including a 49-yard scamper that started right up the middle of the Dolphin D.

The real story of the game, however, was on the defensive side of the ball, where an excellent pass rush bothered Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa all night long.

The harried Tagovailoa tossed three interceptions, including a pick-six in the third quarter by Bills defensive back Ja’Marcus Ingram that all but iced the game for the Bills.

Later in the quarter, with his team trailing by three scores, the Dolphins quarterback was knocked out of the game following a tough fourth-down scramble.

The wobbly QB limped off the field and was quickly diagnosed with a concussion, the third of his short career. It’s a very disturbing development for the team, which recently signed its leader to a very lucrative contract extension, hoping Tagovailoa’s history of head injuries was far behind them.

The Bills have recently dominated their former AFL rivals, winning 12 out of the last 13 games they’ve played against each other.

With their leader on the sidelines and no return in sight, head coach Mike McDaniel and his pod have their work cut out for them if they want to stay in contention in the very competitive AFC East.

We turn our attention now to the Pacific Northwest, where some huge college football rivalry games are kicking off much earlier than usual, and here’s what you need to know.

Early Rivalry Games in College Football Week 3

The Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars meet tomorrow in Seattle. They’ll be facing off against each other for the 116th time, and the winner takes home the coveted Apple Cup.

You may recall, the Huskies made it all the way to the finals of the college football playoffs last season. However, most of the key contributors from that high-scoring team are long gone, including respected head coach Kalen DeBoer, who’s now in Alabama replacing the legendary Nick Saban.

Jedd Fisch has been hired away from a rising Arizona team to retool the program, and the new coach started off the season by handing the quarterback reins to Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers.

On the other sideline, redshirt sophomore quarterback John Mateer looks spectacular for the Cougars, lighting it up in the air and rushing for a school record 197 yards last week against Texas Tech.

A few hundred miles to the south, the Oregon Ducks head to Corvallis to take on their arch rivals, the Oregon State Beavers, for the 128th time.

The highly ranked Ducks lead the series, but so far this year they’ve looked kind of sluggish, barely squeaking past Boise State last week on a field goal as time expired.

Head coach Dan Lanning’s team features quarterback Dillon Gabriel, a veteran starter who transferred in after stops at Oklahoma and Central Florida.

Rookie head coach Trent Bray and his Beavers have been more impressive, and just last week they shut out San Diego State. Quarterback Gevani McCoy is the starter after winning the job as a transfer from Idaho, and three solid running backs provide a very strong ground game.

The last time both teams were undefeated heading into the matchup was 117 years ago, all the way back in 1907. This year’s winner goes home with the very strange-looking but well-regarded Platypus Trophy.

Moving along, from the gridiron to the diamond, where some very surprising teams remain in the thick of the playoff hunt, and it’s still too close to call.

Baseball Wildcard Races Head to the Wire

The very long Major League Baseball season ends in a couple of weeks, and several unexpected teams are running neck-and-neck in some extremely tight playoff races.

In the American League, the Yankees, the Guardians, and the Astros are all out in front in their respective divisions, and they all appear to be locks to make the end of the season tournament.

The ascending Baltimore Orioles trail the powerful Yankees by a razor-thin two games. The young birds are going to make the postseason no matter what, but they’re determined to win the division and snag one of the all-important first-round byes, which go to the top two teams in each league.

The Royals and the Twins are clinging by a thread to the other pair of wildcard spots, and they’re both being chased down by the hard-charging Tigers. The team from Detroit is putting together a fabulous late-season run, and they’re only three and a half games back.

Interesting to note, all three of those teams are in the same division, the AL Central.

Over in the National League, the division-leading Phillies, Dodgers, and Brewers are each on their way to the big show.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are close behind, and they are shocking baseball fans everywhere with another strong run after making last year’s World Series. Their NL West rivals, the San Diego Padres, are also exceeding expectations, and their team batting average is at the very top of the league.

Both teams are firmly in the mix, along with the scrappy New York Mets, who have engineered a spectacular turnaround after last season’s disaster. If the season ended today, they’d be in.

But unfortunately for the Mets, the ever-formidable Atlanta Braves are lurking patiently in the wings. The veteran squad is only a single game back, and they are the team to watch.

All four of these surprising National League teams are within three games of each other, and this brutally exciting competition is charging right down to the wire.

Switching gears, another playoff race is already underway, and this fast-moving sport is about to take the checkered flag for round two.

Nascar Brings Playoffs to Watkins Glen

The Nascar Cup Series Playoff is revving up its engines in upstate New York this weekend, where the world-famous Watkins Glen race course is hosting a stock car playoff event for the very first time.

Drivers who are used to navigating short tracks and speedways are up against a very challenging circuit that features eight complicated turns, adding to the unpredictability of the nearly 221-mile race, and all without the aid of a GPS.

Some of the contenders to keep an eye on include Kyle Larson, who drives a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and has done very well on road courses in the past, and Alex Bowman, who also drives a Chevy for the same team.

Both have a legitimate chance to win the championship, but one legendary driver who does not have a chance is back on the scene after a very long absence.

Juan Pablo Montoya is returning to the sport for this race only, and he’s driving in a Nascar Cup event for the first time in over a decade. Montoya has always been a contender at the Glen, where he’s racked up a number of top 10 finishes and even won a Cup race back in 2010.

Interesting to note, the Nascar playoffs take place over the last 10 races of the season, and 16 drivers are in contention. After every three races, four teams are eliminated, until the final remaining drivers compete for all the marbles during the very last race of the year.

The NFL’s Very Best Teams

We have just enough time left for one more story, and it’s another Epoch Times ranking—and this week, we’re giving you the cream of the crop in the NFL.

• No. 12: the Miami Dolphins
• No. 11: the Los Angeles Chargers
• No. 10: the Dallas Cowboys
• No. 9: the Green Bay Packers
• No. 8: the Baltimore Ravens
• No. 7: the Los Angeles Rams
• No. 6: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• No. 5: the Buffalo Bills
• No. 4: the Philadelphia Eagles
• No. 3: the Kansas City Chiefs
• No. 2: the Detroit Lions
• And No. 1, our choice for the very best team in the NFL at this moment: the golden San Francisco 49ers. And why? Because we call ‘em like we see ‘em, and that’s good enough for us.

If you feel like one of your very favorite NFL teams has been shortchanged, bypassed, or overlooked by the writer of this program, David Q. Ross, please let us know by reaching out at [email protected].

Before we go, we want to pay homage to one of the greatest sportsmen of all time, and we do mean the greatest.

It was on this weekend, back in 1978, when legendary boxer Muhammad Ali defeated the surprising Leon Spinks to regain the heavyweight boxing championship of the world.

Earlier that year, Spinks, in only his eighth fight, shocked Ali to take the title, but on this night in New Orleans, the greatest of all time earned a unanimous decision to win back his coveted championship belt.

It was Muhammad Ali who once said, “If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize.”

Looks like we’re out of time, so we’re going to call it a wrap for this edition of The Epoch Times Sports Brief.

Thanks for checking in, and we’ll see you next time for another insightful and up-to-date look at the exciting world of sports.

If you have any thoughts about the Sports Brief program, we’d love to hear from you, and you can find us at [email protected].

For all of us here at The Epoch Times Sports Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times Sports Brief is written by the incredible champion David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and engaging daily rundown of many of the sports stories you need to know about.

Enjoy a great weekend of sports, stay safe, and please join us again next time for another edition of The Epoch Times Sports Brief.

Till then, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, have a superb day today, and remember to keep your eyes on the game. Bye for now.