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Stephen Vogt has handed Foster Griffin the opening game of the American League Championship Series, four days after the left-hander struck out seven White Sox hitters in just 2⅔ innings. The problem is that Cleveland now requires considerably more than eight outs from him. Tampa Bay arrives rested, Drew Rasmussen is waiting, and the Guardians […]

Elise Mertens has spent the past week dismantling some of the WTA’s most accomplished baseline players. Daria Snigur presents a different problem: a flat, early ball-striking style that can deny the Belgian the time she usually needs to build points. The danger for Mertens is not simply Snigur’s aggression. It is the Ukrainian’s ability to […]

Matthew Stafford has no interest in crawling into a hole. Buffalo might be delighted to give him enough rope to dig one. The Rams quarterback has acknowledged execution problems, but his response is aggression rather than retreat. Monday’s opponent presents a particularly seductive opportunity: Buffalo arrives without defensive tackle Ed Oliver, while its secondary is […]

Jason Asher has finished every professional opponent placed in front of him. Greg Foster brings a different kind of advantage: experience, a respected training environment, and far more familiarity with professional adversity. Tuesday’s DWCS encounter places an undefeated finisher against a fighter who has already learned that aggression does not guarantee success. Asher enters at […]

Douglas da Lapa has six inches of height on Davi Cabral, five knockouts in six professional wins, and a middleweight frame built to keep opponents at the end of his punches. Cabral arrives undefeated, armed with four knockouts and two submissions, and facing a particularly unpleasant assignment: getting close enough to make his versatility matter. […]

Luis Francischinelli stands six feet six inches tall. Will Rentz is six feet even. Both men have finished every opponent they have beaten professionally. That makes Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series welterweight contest a particularly unforgiving examination of distance management. Francischinelli brings six knockouts in six victories, while Rentz arrives with eight stoppages in eight […]

Ilias Bulaid has the kickboxing credentials, the unbeaten MMA record, and the striking pedigree that draws attention on DWCS. Erick Visconde has something considerably less glamorous: twenty professional fights and enough finishing variety to make a kickboxing contest a costly gamble. Bulaid’s five knockout victories explain his favoritism. Visconde’s six submission wins explain why that […]

Aline Pereira brings a famous surname, a dangerous left hand and a genuine opportunity to earn a UFC contract. Smilla Sundell brings the rather inconvenient ability to turn close-range exchanges into extended punishment. Their DWCS bantamweight encounter is a contest between two accomplished strikers whose preferred fighting distances could determine everything. Pereira wants clean entries, […]

Tyler Huntley knows the Baltimore Ravens’ offense. Atlanta knows Lamar Jackson isn’t running it. That distinction threatens to turn a familiar playbook into a considerably less familiar Sunday night. Asked Friday whether a full week of preparation made his return easier, Huntley replied: “It’s just like riding a bike.” His explanation concerned repetition and comfort, […]

Bo Nix has discovered the virtues of restraint. Sean Payton has discovered he wants his play-calling job back. Now Denver gets to see whether those two developments produce a functioning offense or just a more sophisticated way to punt. Bo Nix told the Broncos on October 7: “I don’t have to be a hero on […]