Weekend In Review – Upset Specials In NFL, College Football, NASCAR Playoffs, And More

The old saying in the NFL is: “On any given Sunday …” That means any team can win. Over any other team. No matter the odds. Just look at...

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The old saying in the NFL is: “On any given Sunday …”

That means any team can win. Over any other team. No matter the odds.

Just look at Sunday’s Week 10 results.

The Cleveland Browns, who had lost four straight, held off the Buffalo Bills 19-16. The Atlanta Falcons, who had lost six straight, upset the New Orleans Saints, who had won six straight, 26-9. The Miami Dolphins, the team most likely to tank, won their second straight, beating the Indianapolis Colts 16-12. All of those victories by the unlikely suspects occurred on the road.

Also notable: The Baltimore Ravens won their fifth consecutive game, pounding the winless Cincinnati Bengals 49-13. Lamar Jackson became only the second quarterback to post two games with a perfect passer rating (158.3) in the same season (Ben Roethlisberger was the other). He played only three quarters and hit on 15 of 17 passes for 223 yards and added a career-long touchdown run of 47 yards.

College football:
LSU secured its grip on the top spot in the Associated Press football poll after its 46-41 victory on the road Saturday over Alabama. Bama dropped from second to fourth. Ohio State moved up second from third, Clemson jumped from third to second and Georgia moved up a notch to fifth. The big leap came from Minnesota, which stuffed Penn State to remain unbeaten and climb from 13th to seventh. Penn State dropped from fifth to ninth. The meaningful rankings from the College Football Playoff committee are released on Tuesday night.

NASCAR:
Denny Hamlin qualified for the Championship 4 on Sunday with a win at Phoenix in the Bluegreen Vacations 500. Hamlin joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch, Sunday’s runner-up, in the Nov. 17 race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The three JGR drivers will be joined by Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing in the race for the championship.

Elsewhere:
The Seattle Sounders beat Toronto FC 3-1 to win their second Major League Soccer title.

The Miami Heat suspended guard Dion Waiters for 10 games after an incident on the team’s charter flight on Thursday. It’s his second suspension of the young season. The slow-starting Portland Trail Blazers got their first home win on Sunday, beating the Atlanta Hawks 124-113 in overtime.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman