Ja’Marr Chase might wanna be careful what he wishes for…
while MLB is loving the weekend it has lined up.
A Curious Chase
What Happened: Ja’Marr Chase may not be thrilled with how the Cincinnati Bengals have handled his contract situation, but boy does he believe in his team.
Chase called the Bengals “the team to beat in the AFC” despite the Chiefs, yanno, winning back-to-back AFC Championships (and faring well in the games after that to boot.)
With 0-1 Cincy set to take on the 1-0 Chiefs on Sunday, Chase’s proclamation begs the question: can an 0-2 team really be considered the top dog in the stacked AFC?
Why It Matters: Vegas sure as hell doesn’t think so. The Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, and Texans are all consensus favorites to win the AFC over Cincy, and some books will give shorter odds for the Jets and Dolphins as well.
Cincy’s star wideout has taken a curious stance. There’s a fine line between confidence and, let’s call it overconfidence, or maybe even foolishness.
Believing in your team after a rough start (that ruined a lot of survivor pool entries, but we won’t go there) is one thing; telling the NFL’s modern juggernaut that your team is better than it is days before going head-to-head feels like a gamble. And not the fun kind.
If the Bengals go out and take down Patrick Mahomes and the crew, Chase’s sentiment will be validated. It’s looks a lot more like he just put an unnecessary target on the team’s back.
What We’re Watching Today
Orioles at Tigers (6:40 PM ET), Red Sox at Yankees (7:05 PM ET) – What a beautiful jumble we have here. Two games currently separate the first-place Yanks from the second-place Birds, which puts Baltimore in the first AL wild card spot. Meanwhile, Detroit is the first team on the outside looking in, 3.5 games behind the Twins for the final wild card spot in the AL. Boston lurks just a game behind the Tigers. Massive implications all around in MLB this weekend, and these two series are the headliners.
No. 20 Arizona at No. 14 Kansas State (8:00 PM ET) – It ain’t Michigan vs. Ohio State, but hey, two top-20 teams works for us. These Big 12 conference mates will not be playing a conference game (it’s weird, explained here), but should still be a competitive game with some raised early season stakes.
The Look Ahead
Logan Webb STRIKEOUTS – Let’s stipulate early that Logan Webb is no strikeout machine. He ranks 32nd in MLB, which is pretty darn good. But Webb’s greatest ability is his workhorse attitude. Only Seth Lugo (193.0) has thrown more innings than Webb (189.2) this season, which gives the Giants righty plenty of chances to tack on some Ks to his stat line. Bookmakers have him down for 3.5 strikeouts against the Padres tonight; we’d take the over on that, based on volume alone.
