Can the Astros kill the Phillies' immaculate vibes? Plus, Tom Brady, Buccaneers hit new lows

Getty Images

Good morning to everyone but especially to...

THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES AND THE HOUSTON ASTROS

Welcome to the Fall Classic! The 118th World Series begins tonight in Houston with the Phillies taking on the Astros.

Our experts have made their picks, and while most of them acknowledge Houston is the better team, the Phillies have the "vibes" advantage, as our Mike Axisa explains.

Axisa: "I think the Astros are the better team, but if this postseason has shown us anything, it's that the better team doesn't always win a short series. The Phillies have two studs atop the rotation, a lineup that is deeper and more well-rounded than it gets credit for, and immaculate vibes. ... PICK: Phillies in seven; World Series MVP: Kyle Schwarber."

Mike mentioned two studs atop the rotation, and those two -- Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler -- will start Games 1 and 2, respectively. The Astros, of course, will counter with a terrific rotation of its own, led by likely AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. Verlander vs. NLCS MVP Bryce Harper is one of the five matchups we're most excited to see, R.J. Anderson writes.

Anderson: "Combined, they already have three Most Valuable Player Awards, two Cy Young Awards, and 16 career All-Star Game appearances. It doesn't get much better than this. ... Verlander relies heavily on elevating his mid-90s fastballs. Harper, for his part, batted .313/.436/.375 on four-seamers thrown in the upper half of the zone during the regular season."

As for everything else...

Honorable mentions

Luka Doncic had a triple-double to lead Dallas over Brooklyn.
Stephen Curry also had a huge game.
Jake Paul boxes Anderson Silva this weekend. Here's why it's a win-win for Paul.
The NWSL Championship between the Thorns and Current is also this weekend. Here are picks and predictions.
CB Cormani McClain, the No. 4 recruit in the 2023 class, is headed to Miami.

And not such a good morning for...

Atlanta Falcons v Cincinnati Bengals — Getty Images

Ja'MARR CHASE AND THE CINCINNATI BENGALS

It seemed like just another midseason NFL Thursday until this news came in, seemingly out of nowhere: Bengals star Ja'Marr Chase is out this week and could be out up to six weeks with a nagging hip injury he originally suffered in Week 6 but played through in Week 7.

Chase, 22, ranks sixth in the NFL with 605 receiving yards is tied for second with six receiving touchdowns. He won AP Offensive Rookie of the Year last season.
With his 130-yard, two-touchdown game last week, Chase reached 2,000 career receiving yards in just his 24th game. Only Odell Beckham Jr. reached the milestone faster.
Chase and Joe Burrow were just starting to get on track after a bit of a lull. In Weeks 6 and 7, Chase became the first Bengal with 130 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in consecutive games since Chad Johnson in 2006.
Here's what his injury means for Fantasy.

Not so honorable mentions

Damian Lillard will miss time with a calf strain.

Ravens beat Bucs as Brady reaches personal worsts 🏈

If the Ravens (5-3) wanted to send a message that they can deal with adversity, they did so in emphatic fashion. After giving up an opening-drive touchdown and losing All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews and starting wide receiver Rashod Bateman to first-half injuries, Baltimore ground down the Buccaneers (3-5) en route to a 27-22 victory at Tampa Bay.

Lamar Jackson threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 43 yards as well. After seven turnovers in his team's first six games, Jackson has zero turnovers in each of his last two games.
Isaiah Likely was outstanding in Andrews' place. The rookie out of Coastal Carolina had six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, all career highs. Fittingly, Likely also recovered the onside kick to ice the game.
Overall, the Ravens ran for 231 yards on 33 carries, good for 7 yards per carry. It's the most rushing yards the Buccaneers have allowed in a game since Dec. 16, 2018... also against a Jackson-led Ravens team.
Baltimore held a nearly 17-minute advantage in the time of possession battle. Going against an exhausted Buccaneers defense on a short week, the Ravens scored 24 points on their final four possessions (not counting kneel downs).

On the other side, these are struggles we haven't seen from Tom Brady in a long time. Brady's surface-level stats -- 325 passing yards and a touchdown with no interceptions -- aren't bad, but the Tampa Bay offense looked out of sync and the defense struggled in the second half. Making matters worse, star pass rusher Shaq Barrett is feared to have torn his Achilles.

That means historic woes for Brady:

First time being two games under .500 ever
First time losing five of six games ever
First three-game losing streak since 2002
Became the most-sacked quarterback in NFL history

Brady tried to send a message to his team in his postgame comments.

Giants trade 2021 first-rounder Kadarius Toney to Chiefs for picks 🏈

Kadarius Toney's strange and short-lived time with the Giants is over. The 20th overall pick in 2021 is headed to Kansas City in a trade for 2023 third- and sixth-round draft picks.

Toney, 23, has played in just two games this season and dealt with injuries to both hamstrings.
As a rookie last year, Toney played in just 12 games due to an oblique injury and multiple spells on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
However, Toney has shown flashes of brilliance, including a 10-catch, 189-yard performance against the Cowboys in Week 5 of 2021. Of course, Toney also got ejected from that game for throwing a punch.

For every exciting "up," there have been far too many head-scratching "downs." He even missed some of last year's rookie minicamp because his cleats didn't fit. There are plenty of reasons the Giants moved on. But there are also plenty of reasons they drafted him so high in the first place, and why the Chiefs were willing to pay a considerable price.

Toney blazed a 4.39 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and put up over 1,000 yards from scrimmage as a senior at Florida. No one knows how to take advantage of that better than Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, writes our Doug Clawson.

Clawson: "Year after year the Chiefs trot out one of the most innovative offenses in the NFL, full of screens, play fakes, shovel passes, jet sweeps and all the motion (and commotion) your heart could desire. ... Toney ranked third in the FBS in scrimmage yards (220) when he was the player in motion in his final college season at Florida in 2020. Add it all up and imagine what the Chiefs can do with a gadget player like Toney."

Here's the Fantasy fallout from the move.

NFL Week 8 picks: Who wins only game between teams with winning records? 👀

This weekend's NFL action features several intriguing battles. Only one, though, features two teams with winning records: Giants at Seahawks, just like everyone predicted. Here's who our NFL scribe John Breech likes:

Breech: "The interesting thing about this game is that both of these teams can run the ball, but neither of them can stop the run (They've surrendered the fourth- and fifth-most rushing yards per game this year). This might be the most underrated game of Week 8 and I think it's going to be a shootout that ends with Geno getting revenge on his old team. The pick: Seahawks 34-27 over Giants."

Take note, though: The Giants have been underdogs in five games this year, and they've won all five.

Sunday night features a game many people thought before the season could be a Super Bowl preview: Packers at Bills. Only Buffalo has held up its end of the bargain. Aaron Rodgers is a double-digit underdog for the first time in his career, and our NFL senior writer Pete Prisco thinks the current line still isn't big enough.

Prisco: "The Bills are coming off a bye and have looked great on offense this season. I don't think the Packers have any chance to keep up. ... Pick: Bills 37, Packers 20"

Here are all of our experts' picks:

Pete Prisco | John Breech | Will Brinson | Tyler Sullivan

Top 100 and 1 college basketball teams for 2022-23 🏀

You've heard of the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll and maybe even our very own Gary Parrish's Top 25 And 1. But how about Matt Norlander's Top 100 and 1 entering the 2022-23 season?

Well, it has arrived, and it is glorious. And just like the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, North Carolina is No. 1.

Norlander: "Armando Bacot figures to be one of the best players in the sport. But let me toss this out to you: What if he's not the best player on this team? What if he's really, really good ... but Caleb Love winds up even better? To me, not unthinkable. Love and RJ Davis are back as starting guards, and Leaky Black's pterodactyl wingspan and elite defense will again be a factor. UNC has the talent, experience, camaraderie and depth to go win the whole damn thing."

Here's the rest of the top five.

2. Kentucky
3. Gonzaga
4. Houston
5. Arkansas

You can see all 101 teams -- from UNC to UNLV -- and all of Matt's conference title picks here.

What we're watching this weekend 📺

⚽ We're watching Serie A all weekend long on Paramount+.

Friday

🏀 Pacers at Wizards, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 World Series Game 1: Phillies at Astros, 8:03 p.m. on FOX
🏀 Pelicans at Suns, 10 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday

🏈 No. 2 Ohio State at No. 13 Penn State, Noon on FOX
🏈 Florida at No. 1 Georgia, 3:30 p.m. on CBS
🏈 No. 19 Kentucky at No. 3 Tennessee, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 Michigan State at No. 4 Michigan, 7:30 p.m. on ABC
⚽ NWSL Championship: Thorns vs. Current, 9 p.m. on CBS
🏀 76ers at Bulls, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏈 World Series Game 2: Phillies at Astros, 8:03 p.m. on FOX

Sunday

🏈 Here's the Week 8 NFL schedule.
⚽ LAFC vs. Austin FC, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Timberwolves at Spurs, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
⚽ Union vs. NYCFC, 8 p.m. on FS1