This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Thanks for giving us a bit of your time this morning. We appreciate you.
Now, look. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest Brock Purdy fan in the world.
When he first got his chance to start for the 49ers after the team ran through every quarterback it possibly could, it felt like a nice story. Mr. Irrelevant! The last pick in the draft! He’s doing things! That’s a pretty cool thing, yeah?
Somewhere along the way, though, it just felt like things went a little too far. Folks were acting like the 49ers’ success came because of Purdy as if the team wasn’t stacked with All-Pro talent already.
It felt like everyone clapping for the kid at the playground who just learned how to ride a bike with training wheels, but everyone was also just pretending like the training wheels weren’t there and that the bike was a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle.
Weird analogy, I know. But I don’t know how else to explain it. Purdy just doesn’t have to do too much. I mean, even in the 49ers’ 30-12 win against the Giants, Purdy threw 11 passes behind or near the line of scrimmage and racked up over 100 yards passing off them.
He had his longest completion by air against New York and it was only 27 yards. That’s wild. It speaks to the talent the 49ers have at their skill positions. It also shows us that, yes, Kyle Shanahan’s system is just that good.
But still, I feel like I just have to give him some credit here. Yes, folks. This is me coming around.
How could I not? The dude is putting up numbers we haven’t seen since Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson burst onto the scene. No matter how he’s getting it done, that’s good. Really good. I don’t think Sam Darnold could do that. The 49ers clearly didn’t think Trey Lance could do that. Here Purdy is, though. Doing it.
I’m still not quite the believer here. I’m still a skeptic. But the 49ers are the best team in the NFL and Brock Purdy deserves some love for that.
There, I said it.
I guess LOL Mets is a thing again
There’s a Mets contingent here at FTW and I feel so, so, so, so bad for them.
The highlight of their season was probably just having a mascot that people think is hot. Yes, that’s extremely weird.
A bad year just got a bit worse, though. With New York’s loss 5-4 loss to the Phillies on Thursday, the team has officially had its sixth losing season in 10 years. That’s honestly not that terrible. Bad! But not terrible.
Where this one stings, though, is that the Mets are just the fourth team in MLB history to have a losing record following a 100-win season, according to the MLB Network.
The Mets are the 4th team in MLB history to follow a 100-win season with a losing record, per @MLBNetwork
— Brandon Wile (@Brandon_N_Wile) September 22, 2023
Y’all. Do you know how long baseball has been around? And the Mets are just the fourth team to ever do this? Massive payroll and expectations aside, that’s just wild.
Here’s to next year, Mets. I hope it’s a good one.
Travis Kelce has no game
I’d never be in a situation where I’m trying to get a date with Taylor Swift. But if I were? I promise you I’d come with a better pick-up line than Travis Kelce did.
He hit the Pat McAfee show on Thursday and was asked about the rumored relationship between the two. What his response was could not have been more corny. Our Meghan Hall has more here.
“I told her that I’ve seen her rock a stage in Arrowhead and she might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead and see which one is a little more lit.”
Sir. Excuse me? What does that even mean? Clearly, he doesn’t deserve her attention. Not if this is the best he could come up with. Meghan put it perfectly here:
“Travis, please. All that swag you have on game days, and this is the best you could come up with? It’s you. Hi. You’re the problem. It’s you.
Honestly, corny-as-hell pickup lines deserve corny-as-hell analysis. Swift should respond, saying, “I knew you were trouble when you walked in.”
OK, that was probably too much, but my point is proven.”
Clearly, Kelce was not ready for it. Just going to have to shake this one off. See what I did there? Don’t worry — I’ll see myself out now.
Quick hits: The Bears might be cooked … Captain Andrew Luck is real … and more
— Robert Zeglinski put together a timeline of all the Bears’ chaos this season and, yeah, things look bad.
— Egad! I hope my eyes do not deceive me. Yes, indeed. It is Captain Andrew Luck, who has returned to the battlefield — albeit as just a spectator, but still. I’ll have to write dearest mother and deliver the good news. The prodigal son has returned. Charles Curtis has more.
— Christian D’Andrea has you covered on NFL prop bets for Week 3. Keep an eye on those rookies — especially Bijan Robinson.
— Stephen A. Smith’s first pitch at the Yankees game was totally embarrassing, but also tremendous content.
— Buddy Hield is on the trading block! Bryan Kalrbosky has you covered on the eight best destinations for him.
— Here’s where ESPN’s College Gameday is popping up for Week 4 of CFB season.
That’s all, folks! Have a fantastic weekend!