— Vikings 27, Bears 24
Vikings’ first nine drives: 30 plays, 122 yards, 6 points (and a pick-6)
Vikings’ last four drives: 21 plays, 183 yards, 21 points
Vikings are 15-11-4 ATS in last 30 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Under O’Connell, Vikings are 27-9 SU in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Chicago led 17-6 when they got a pick-6 early in third quarter.
Bears in second half: 33 plays, 145 yards, 7 points
Vikings won nine of last ten series games.
Minnesota is 6-0 SU/5-0-1 ATS in last six visits to Chicago.
— Biggest questions for teams who draft a QB; when do you start him?
Titans. Giants. Saints. Browns.
Tennessee’s Cam Ward is the only one of the four who started this week; all four of these teams lost in Week 1. It is a fascinating decision as to when the rookie QB becomes a starter.
— A quick look back:
Patrick Mahomes started one game (the last game) as a rookie
Jared Goff didn’t start until the 10th game his rookie year.
Jalen Hurts started four games as a rookie.
Justin Herbert started in Week 2 his rookie year.
Josh Allen started in Week 2 his rookie year.
Caleb Williams started every game last year.
Trevor Lawrence, Kyler Murray started every game when they were rookies.
— Week 1 of the NFL:
Home teams were 8-7 ATS
Favorites were 9-7 ATS
Under was 13-3.
— In college football so far:
AAC teams are 8-8 ATS out of conference; 5-1 as road dogs, 1-4 at home.
ACC 8-12 ATS; 3-7 as home favorite, 3-1 as road favorite, 2-4 as an underdog.
Big 18 11-15 ATS; 9-10 as a home favorite.
Big X 8-11 ATS; 3-5 as a home favorite, 1-4 as an underdog.
C-USA 7-4 ATS; 6-3 as a road underdog.
MAC 11-9 ATS; 9-6 as a road underdog.
Mountain West 12-5 ATS; 9-3 as an underdog.
SEC 11-10 ATS; 5-8 as home favorite, 3-1 as underdog.
Sun Belt 8-10 ATS; 2-4 at home.
— Since 2000, Cleveland Browns have started 20 different QB’s; Washington Commanders have started 17 QB’s.
— Russell Wilson is the ninth QB to start for the Giants in the last 5+ seasons.
Sunday vs Washington, Giants ran seven plays inside the 3-yard line; they had a net minus-1 yard on those seven plays.
— Famous birthdays, September 9th:
Dick LeBeau, 88
Joe Theismann, 76
Hugh Grant, 65
Jack Trudeau, 63
Todd Zeile, 60
Adam Sandler, 59
Eric Stonestreet, 54
Mike Hampton, 53
Edwin Jackson, 42
Otto Kemp, 26
— Phillies put SS Trea Turner (hamstring), 3B Alec Bohm (shoulder) on the IL; playoffs start in three weeks, Phillies need Turner healthy by then.
— Phillies 1, Mets 0
Aaron Nola allowed only 5 baserunners in six IP.
Nick Castellanos knocked in only run with a 2nd inning single.
Phillies lead Mets by 8 games in NL East; their magic number is 11.
— Nationals 15, Marlins 7
Josh Bell went 4-6 with six RBI; he homered from both sides of plate.
— Giants 11, Diamondbacks 5
San Francisco hit five home runs; game was 4-4 after five innings.
Giants are within three games of Mets for NL’s last Wild Card slot.
— Mariners 4, Cardinals 2
Seattle was down 2-0, scored four runs in bottom of 6th.
Bryan Woo improved to 13-7, 3.02 with the win.
Mariners lead Texas by 1.5 games for AL’s last Wild Card spot.
— Padres 4, Reds 3 (10)
Cincinnati led 3-0 in sixth inning.
Fernando Tatis had the walk-off sacrifice fly.
Reds are 5-12 in their last 17 games.
— Dodgers 3, Rockies 1
Dodgers lost a no-hitter in 9th inning for second time in three nights.
Tyler Glasnow struck out 11, didn’t allow a hit in his 7 IP.
Ryan Ritter had Colorado’s only hit.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Mariners
