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Good morning, sports activities followers! It is Austin Nivison greeting you on this wonderful Thursday morning, and what a day it’s. The Raiders and Broncos will kick off the second half of the NFL season, and one other week of faculty soccer rolls on. Final evening, Alexander Ovechkin added one other feather in his cap as the best scorer in NHL historical past, and we even have some key NFL harm updates and midseason grades for every crew.

Let’s get proper to it.

🏒 5 issues to know Thursday

1. Alex Ovechkin is the primary member of the NHL’s 900-goal membership. Along with his second-period tally towards the Blues, Ovechkin grew to become the primary participant in league historical past to succeed in 900 objectives. Even at 40 years previous, Ovi is discovering new methods to attain, placing a spin-o-rama backhand previous Jordan Binnington. Now the query is how excessive will Ovechkin climb earlier than he retires?
2. C.J. Stroud has been dominated out for a key AFC South conflict towards the Jaguars. After exiting the Texans’ Week 9 loss to the Broncos with a concussion Stroud can be compelled to overlook Week 10 as he goes via the protocol. Which means veteran backup Davis Mills will get the beginning for Houston, and he struggled mightily after coming into the sport towards Denver.
3. The Cardinals have positioned Kyler Murray on injured reserve. After reviews emerged that Murray’s foot harm could also be extra long-term than initially thought, Arizona positioned him on IR. Now, Murray can be compelled to overlook no less than the subsequent 4 video games after sitting out the final three. Which means Jacoby Brissett will get an prolonged beginning alternative, however that is probably not the worst factor for the Cardinals offense.
4. Jazz middle Walker Kessler is out for the season with a torn labrum. The Jazz obtained some dangerous information on Wednesday when the crew introduced Kessler suffered a season-ending labrum harm. Within the wake of some high quality wins, it was disappointing information, however it would possibly profit Utah in the long term. The Jazz have a top-8 protected decide within the 2026 draft, so Kessler’s harm might assist them fall into that vary.
5. Chelsea performed to a disappointing 2-2 draw towards Qarabag within the Champions League. Regardless of leaping out to an early 1-0 lead, Chelsea misplaced management of the match and settled for a draw towards a surprisingly crappy Qarabag membership in Azerbaijan. Given the arduous 3,000-mile journey, some hiccups have been to be anticipated, however questions stay about how a lot injury Chelsea can do towards the highest golf equipment on this planet.

🏈 Don’t miss this: NFL midseason grades

Now that we’re midway via the NFL season, it is time to assess the place groups have succeeded up to now and the place they should enhance down the stretch. Tyler Sullivan broke out his rubric and handed out midseason grades for all 32 groups.

There have been quite a lot of surprises up to now, however none have been larger than the Ravens getting off to a 1-5 begin. They’ve steadied the ship with two straight victories, and that has bumped them as much as a “C” on their report card. With Lamar Jackson main the way in which on offense, Sullivan thinks huge issues could possibly be on the way in which in Baltimore, so long as the protection holds up.

• Sullivan: “Defensively, they’ve held opponents to simply 13 factors per recreation since Week 6, which is tied for second within the NFL. They’ve inched nearer to the Steelers for first place within the AFC North, and are nonetheless the betting favourite to in the end win the division. It hasn’t been an ideal begin by any stretch of the creativeness, however there is a path towards touchdown on their ft.”

This is how just a few extra notable groups fared on their report playing cards:

• Chiefs: C
• Jets: F
• Colts: A
• Lions: B

Along with midseason grades, Cody Benjamin is highlighting one factor we have discovered about every NFL crew via the primary 9 weeks.

🐯 Can Auburn nail its subsequent teaching rent?

After firing Hugh Freeze, Auburn has returned to the chaos of the teaching carousel for the third time in simply 5 years. Whereas making an attempt to be one thing it isn’t, this system has compelled a nasty match (Bryan Harsin) and ignored a laundry checklist of purple flags (Freeze).

Now, as our Brandon Marcello writes so eloquently, the Tigers should return to their roots in the event that they need to discover themselves as soon as once more. A soccer program that should be a grinder within the SEC panorama wants one other grinder cast within the fireplace of faculty soccer.

There may be one candidate who suits that description to a tee — Tulane’s Jon Sumrall — and there isn’t any cause for Auburn to overthink it.

• Marcello: “He is a grinder, a relationship-builder and — to a fault — brutally trustworthy. Dozens of Alabama highschool coaches, together with ardent Tide supporters, think about him a buddy. Extra importantly, those that know Sumrall consider he exemplifies every little thing Auburn stands for, and his fiery persona will improve what has lengthy been misplaced on the Plains. (It does not damage that his spouse, Ginny, is an Auburn alumna, too.)”

As for the person leaving The Plains, John Talty went in-depth on how Freeze’s tenure fell aside from a golf obsession to the dearth of a game-changing quarterback.

⚾ MLB offseason daring predictions

Welcome to the primary official day of MLB free company as groups flip their consideration to the 2026 World Sequence. With the offseason about to hit excessive gear, Mike Axisa has 10 daring predictions for followers to sink their enamel into.

With Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman each opting out of their contracts on the finish of the season, what if they simply … switched groups in free company? The Mets and Crimson Sox would each fill apparent wants, and there isn’t any doubt each organizations have the cash to make this occur.

• Axisa: “The Mets need assistance on the scorching nook and should enhance their infield protection. The Crimson Sox want a middle-of-the-order energy menace, ideally a righty who can launch balls over the Inexperienced Monster. Bregman to the Mets and Alonso the Crimson Sox are suits each which means.”

Opting out was an particularly dangerous transfer for Alonso, who could possibly be greeted by a cold free agent market this winter.

👍👎 The most effective (and not-so-best) of the remaining

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

⚽ Catch all of the UEFA Champions League motion on Paramount+

🏒 Capitals at Penguins, 7:30 p.m. on Hulu
🏈 UTSA at USF, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 Georgia Southern at Appalachian State, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2 
🏈 Raiders at Broncos, 8:15 p.m. on Prime Video
🏀 Clippers at Suns, 9 p.m. on NBA TV
🏒 Panthers at Kings, 10 p.m. on Hulu