The 3 plays in sports everybody will be talking about today
Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about on Monday:
The Chicago Cubs are still alive thanks to Aroldis Chapman. The Cubs' dream season nearly came to an end on Sunday. With the Cubs trailing the Cleveland Indians 3-1 in the World Series and and up by one in the seventh inning of Game 5, Joe Maddon turned to Aroldis Chapman for an 8-out save. Chapman escaped the seventh, leaving the tying run on base. Then, in the eighth inning, the Indians again got the tying run into scoring position but failed to score when Chapman struck out Francisco Lindor.
Earl Thomas got flagged for hugging an official. Here we go again. The Seahawks jumped out to an early 7-0 lead over the New Orleans Saints when Thomas grabbed a fumble out of mid-air and returned it for a touchdown. Then, perhaps in a move to mock the NFL's celebration crack-down, Thomas hugged and danced with an official who immediately threw a flag. Seems silly, but we all knew a flag was coming also.
Cam Newton took a low hit and no flag was thrown. In the third quarter of the Carolina Panthers' 30-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Newton threw a pass and was then hit in the lower leg by Calais Campbell. After the game, Newton went off on the NFL and the officials saying he "doesn't feel safe" and that the lack of calls is taking the fun out of the game (read more here; video via ESPN).
The Brady-Gronk Bonus. The New England Patriots are still rolling, improving to 7-1 with a 41-25 win on the road against the Buffalo Bills. Rob Gronkowski scored his 69th career touchdown, setting the Patriots franchise record and he did it on a 53-yard strike from Brady. Thanks to some early-season injuries, Gronk has just 22 catches on the season. But a whopping 10 of those have gone for at least 20 yards.