The Lions cannot lose, plus the A's surprising free-agent splash

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Good morning! Go against your instinct today.

While You Were Sleeping: The Lions are scary good

It’s funny to remember the Lions’ 1-1 start this year. That loss to the Buccaneers in Week 2 triggered some worry — was last year a fluke? Maybe so. Maybe this is just a pretty good team. 

Eleven games later, Detroit has won 11 straight, capped by a 34-31 win over NFC North rival Green Bay (9-4) last night. The Lions have to be the Super Bowl favorite at this point (Vegas was on top of that). Two things: 

Moral victories aren’t a thing in the NFL, but this Packers team is good, and the offense looked as good as any unit in the league last night. Just look at this throw from Jordan Love:

It didn’t matter. Jared Goff and the Lions persist like no other team. They’ve spent the season alternating between winning close games and blowing teams out. Dan Campbell’s decision to go for it on fourth down late in the game was ballsy — and correct. 

Vibes are high. Super Bowl or bust for Detroit at this point. No pressure.

Double Takes: The A’s are suddenly made of money

For the last decade, the Oakland Athletics have had a bottom-10 payroll in Major League Baseball. Their owner, John Fisher, has a sour reputation in the Bay Area as a cheapskate. The team is moving to Las Vegas, with a three-year layover at a minor-league park in Sacramento, because Fisher and the city of Oakland could not figure out a deal to keep the A’s there. 

Apparently, dropping the “Oakland” made Fisher’s pocketbook open. Consider this week’s news: 

  • Yesterday, the team agreed to a three-year, $67 million contract with free-agent pitcher Luis Severino. It’s an overpay by Tim Britton’s estimation, but nothing crazy. The wild part? The contract is the largest the franchise has ever given to any player.
  • Three years, $67 million, largest contract ever. I stared at those facts for an hour yesterday. Other teams sneeze and put that on the books. You have to go back to 2004 to find the team’s previous largest contract, a six-year, $66 million deal to re-sign Eric Chavez. The previous free-agent record: three years, $30 million for Billy Butler in 2014. The club takes a decade between “big” deals, I guess.
  • This comes after Tuesday’s news that the new stadium in Las Vegas will cost about $250 million more than originally planned, and apparently, Fisher’s ownership group is good to cover the difference. How lovely. 

The irony here: Severino’s contract — which has an opt-out after the second year — does not reach the targeted Las Vegas move date of 2028. The team’s most expensive player ever gets to play in a Triple-A stadium for his tenure. 

Maybe Juan Soto will be in green and gold by 2028 at this rate. Let’s keep moving:

News to Know

🚨 Belichick in college?
Bill Belichick — yes, maybe the best coach in NFL history — has spoken multiple times with North Carolina about its vacant head-coaching gig, sources told The Athletic yesterday, a stunning update on its face. Why would the 72-year-old man, a six-time Super Bowl winner 14 wins away from the NFL’s all-time coaching mark, take a college job? It makes a little more sense when you remember that Belichick spent time last year with his son, Washington defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, and apparently took a shine to the college gig. The full report is worth a read.

In F1, fury at a superstar
Max Verstappen, for now, is the king of F1. He’s won three straight titles and is well on his way to a fourth this season. Yet a maelstrom directed at Verstappen is brewing, as his interaction with fellow driver George Russell last weekend becomes feisty. Yesterday, Russell said that during last weekend’s race in Qatar, Verstappen said he would put Russell’s “f—king head through the wall.” Russell added that drivers have been “bullied by Max for years now.” See the full back-and-forth here.

More news

The Good Bets: Time to look inward

đź“ş CFB: No. 20 UNLV at No. 10 Boise State
8 p.m. ET on Fox
We start conference championship weekend with arguably its most important game. If the Broncos win here — they’re only favored by four points — they likely sew up an important bye in the 12-team Playoff. Boise edged the Rebels 29-24 earlier in the season, too. I expect a great game. 

đź“ş NBA: Bucks at Celtics
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
These are the two hottest teams in the Eastern Conference — and don’t forget Jaylen Brown called Giannis Antetokounmpo a “child” last month after the latter’s too-smooth handshake fake-out. Khris Middleton is making his season debut for Milwaukee, too. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

🎧 The “No Dunks” crew had David Aldridge on to discuss “The Basketball 100,” the GOAT debate and much more. Perfect combination of hosts and guests there. Listen here.

Watch, Listen and Play

đź“ş CFB: No. 20 UNLV at No. 10 Boise State
8 p.m. ET on Fox
We start conference championship weekend with arguably its most important game. If the Broncos win here — they’re only favored by four points — they likely sew up an important bye in the 12-team Playoff. Boise edged the Rebels 29-24 earlier in the season, too. I expect a great game. 

đź“ş NBA: Bucks at Celtics
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
These are the two hottest teams in the Eastern Conference — and don’t forget Jaylen Brown called Giannis Antetokounmpo a “child” last month after the latter’s too-smooth handshake fake-out. Khris Middleton is making his season debut for Milwaukee, too. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

🎧 The “No Dunks” crew had David Aldridge on to discuss “The Basketball 100,” the GOAT debate and much more. Perfect combination of hosts and guests there. Listen here.

Pulse Picks

We are still talking about the Golden At-Bat. Tyler Kepner went back in time and imagined nine historic situations in which the GAB (is this a thing yet?) could’ve been deployed. Fun Friday read. 

In the present day, Rustin Dodd and Sam Blum have a fascinating look at how MLB scouts do their jobs in the Pacific Rim. Really enjoyed that one. 

Two women were sexually assaulted by the same tennis coach, and both lived with the secret for decades. Then they found each other. Matthew Futterman wrote their story yesterday, which blew me away. 

The Bears’ season has been a disaster, but star rookie Caleb Williams sees only opportunity. 

Also clinging to hope: the 49ers, as Michael Silver writes. I would give up after their season. 

Steve Kerr is done as Team USA’s head coach. Joe Vardon broke down the incredible array of options to succeed Kerr, and why the organization has plenty of time to figure it out. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Scott Wheeler’s profile of Haoxi Simon Wang, the best-ever NHL prospect to come from China. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: Mike Sando’s excellent breakdown of the QB future for all 32 NFL teams.

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(Top photo: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)





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About The Author

Avatar of Erika Walls
Erika Walls is a journalist who loves writing about business and finance news. She's been working in the industry for over 15 years, and she's published hundreds of articles on everything from the latest IPO to the hottest new stock pick.

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