Kansas City's return to dominance, plus the Yankees' disappearing act

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Good morning! Take that interception out of the end zone today.

Stakes were high across multiple sports last night, with elite teams fighting for their professional survival; two, quite literally, and one, figuratively.

Lets start with the winner first: In the NFL , the Chiefs are 5-0 after a 26-13 win over the Saints where they finally looked like the dynastic team we know.

The two-time defending champs had skated through this years schedule with guile and luck, leaving many to wonder if they deserved the merit of an undefeated record.

Losing Rashee Rice didnt help, either.

Last night, there was no doubt about this team.

Do not let the box score fool you: Kansas City, thanks to its defense, was in control of this game throughout.

If not for one of the most impressive plays youll ever see from a defensive lineman, this wouldve been a blowout: Khalen Saunders with his first career INT to stop the Chiefs from scoring! The Saints DT is brothers with Kameron Saunders, one of Taylor Swifts backup dancers.

@NFL pic.twitter.com/bP3S8nuDqx The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 8, 2024 Thats New Orleans defensive tackle Khalen Saunders catching a tip-drill interception and absolutely hoofing it almost 35 yards the other way.

Saunders is listed at 324 pounds and topped out at nearly 16 miles per hour on the run.

Saunders is also a former Chief and his brother, Kameron, is a backup dancer for Taylor Swift, who was in the building last night.

A tiny world, indeed.

Now, to the (literal!) losers: Incredibly, all four MLB divisional series are tied at 1-1 for the first time in history.

Moving on: House settlement moves forward The House vs.

NCAA settlement, which would pave the way for a new revenue model in college sports, got preliminary approval from a judge yesterday, which means the new model could be in place by next year.

This comes after another judge raised issues last month with parts of the settlement and asked the parties involved to amend provisions.

More details here .

Advertisement Poch already plotting departure? In an interview, new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino said he would be open to coaching the Argentinian national team in the future if the opportunity presents itself.

Its understandable, as Pochettino is from Argentina, and the country has the best soccer team in the world right now.

The timing is just ...

funny.

See his full comments here .

Peppers arrested Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers was arrested over the weekend on charges of assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation, and possession of a Class B substance, which is believed to be cocaine.

His alleged victim is a woman.

Read our full report here .

More news The sports world is busy right now, which means, on a grander scale, the start of the NHL season snuck up on us.

And tonights slate contains one of the more interesting hockey games of the last decade.

The Utah Hockey Club nickname still pending plays its first NHL regular-season game tonight, becoming the 53rd team to ever do so.

The road here for Utah was jarring.

This morning, Mark Lazerus published a great piece with all those details, but I want to highlight a few layers: Heres the thing that gets me: Utah should be good this year .

Historically, we havent seen new franchises be competitive in the early years, but hockey has done well with this, particularly in Las Vegas and Seattle.

And as Mark detailed, there is palpable hype in Utah.

Players are hyped, too.

The first-ever UHC puck drop happens tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks , one of the oldest franchises in the league, at 10 p.m.

ET on ESPN.

Until then, read Marks full story , which has incredible details about a most harried and impressive six months.

WNBA : Sun at Lynx 8 p.m.

ET on ESPN The winner goes to the WNBA Finals.

Enough said.

MLB : Dodgers at Padres 9 p.m.

ET on FS1 Both this and Phillies-Mets should be great today, but Im going with this one after an extremely feisty Game 2 .

Imagine if the Dodgers lose this one.

Stream games like these here and get tickets here .

The Scoop City gang asks a pertinent question: What will it take for the Browns to drop Deshaun Watson? Listen here .

Try todays Connections: Sports Edition beta .

No mistakes for me.

Jalen Brunson , MVP? I can support that.

Read more, along with a host of bold NBA predictions for the season, here .

Mike Sandos Pick Six column is a must-read every week, and I thought his analysis of Buffalo s bad loss and the need for someone like Davante Adams was enlightening.

College football Bubble Watch is back this week with a look at how everything and nothing changed last weekend .

Two NHL games in one day? Broadcaster Ray Ferraro is doing it tonight.

Richard Deitsch has the full scoop .

Game 2 of Phillies-Mets deserved more shine.

Jayson Stark obliged, and listed the most memorable moments from one of the best games of this postseason.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday : Our NFL Week 5 takeaways file .

Most-read on the website yesterday : Jason Lloyds column about how the Browns can save their season by benching Deshaun Watson.

Worth a read .

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(Top photo: Denny Medley / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.