Screen Shots: September 5th-11th, 2024

Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what sporting events you should watch on TV every week! Make sure you subscribe so it comes straight to your inbox! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

First things first, you should always watch my show, “Beyond The Arc with Brandon Silvers!” In this week’s episode, I detailed some of the coolest stories I found when researching the 2024 Paralympic Games. I also talked about some of the events I was looking forward to checking out.

Now, to the sports!

Thursday, September 5th, 2024

• NFL: Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs at 8:20 pm (ET) on NBC

The 1988 Permian Panthers football season was documented in Buzz Bissinger's book Friday Night Lights. While that team fell short of their goal, they rebounded the next season to finish 16-0 en route to winning the Texas 5A state football title led by a QB named Stoney Case. Fast forward to October 21, 1999. Case finds himself as the starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens during their first-ever matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. Much like the book about his high school, there was no storybook ending.

Case finished the day with fewer passing yards than interception return yards (103 vs. 108) thanks to 3 interceptions, including 1 that was returned for a touchdown. Unsurprisingly, the Ravens lost 35-8. Luckily for you, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are a little bit more skilled than our friend Stoney. Since these two entered the league, 4 of their 5 matchups have been decided by touchdown or less. One hell of a game to start the NFL season!

Friday, September 6th, 2024

• WNBA: Dallas Wings @ Atlanta Dream at 7:30 pm (ET) on ION

The Chicago Sky’s post-Olympic freefall has cracked the door for the 8th and final playoff spot, and these two teams are close enough to squeeze through. The Dream’s Tina Charles has shown there’s plenty left in her tank all season long, and the Olympic break appears to have filled it up even more. The Wings have looked better as of late thanks to the return of their star unicorn, Satou Sabally. It’s going to be a battle of paces. Can the Dream score enough to keep up with the uptempo Wings?

• NFL: Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles at 8:15 pm (ET) on Peacock

The first-ever NFL game played in South America. Also, the first-ever NFL game in South America featuring opposing starting QBs whose names make them sound like a one-hit-wonder ‘90s R&B duo. Nobody at the game will be able to tweet about it, so you kinda have to tune in.

Saturday, September 7th, 2024

• International Men’s Soccer: United States vs. Canada at 4 pm (ET) on TBS

Back when the USMNT first considered firing Gregg Berhalter after a disappointing 2022 World Cup showing, many wanted to hire Jesse Marsch as his replacement. Instead, Berhalter kept his job and led the squad to another awful international showing at the 2024 Copa America. That led to a whole host of “what could have been?” from US soccer fans who had to watch Marsch lead the Canadian men’s team to the semifinals of the very same tournament. Berhalter was mercifully dismissed, but no replacement has been officially hired yet so Mikey Varas will lead the US in this matchup of 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup hosts.

• College Football: Colorado Buffaloes @ Nebraska Cornhuskers at 7:30 pm (ET) on NBC

What a difference a year makes. In week 2 of last season, Colorado’s 36-14 win against Nebraska took all of the noise surrounding Deion Sanders’ program to the stratosphere. Both the hype and the hate were off the charts. Now, all signs are pointing to the Coach Prime honeymoon being over. The swagger Sanders displayed during the good times last season has been replaced by a brooding defiance. This is partially justified by the fact that we are all seemingly waiting for the bottom to fall out. However, how much of that was brought on by Sanders himself?

While Colorado doesn’t appear to be good, they are certainly exciting to watch. Their inability to block for star QB Shedeur Sanders adds a significant degree of difficulty to his already incredible throws. On the receiving end of those throws are often 2 of the most dynamic playmakers in the country, Jimmy Horn Jr. and Travis Hunter. They combined to catch 14 of Sanders’ 26 completions and all 4 of his TD passes last week in a close win against North Dakota St. Unfortunately, the Colorado defense does a great job of making opposing offenses look just as dominant, so expect Cornhuskers talented freshman QB Dylan Raiola to have a field day. Corn can be sweet. Can revenge be sweeter? No matter the result, stay tuned for the post-game press conference.

Sunday, September 8th, 2024

• NCAA Volleyball: Ohio State Buckeyes @ # 10 Florida Gators at 4 pm (ET) on ESPN2

Ohio State’s match against Dayton was halted due to humidity. They head to Gainesville to take on a team that should be more equipped to handle such things. Florida is led by setter Taylor Parks, who was just named SEC Freshman of the Week. If you’re learning like me, setters are the point guards and/or quarterbacks of the volleyball world.

• MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks @ Houston Astros at 7 pm (ET) on ESPN

On June 18th, the Astros were 10 games back. The grass was greener. The birds were chirping. Joy was in the air. But, as I said in the MLB preview on “At The Plate with Danny Foxworth,” this team is the Michael Myers of baseball. Comfortably in first place in the AL West, they are led by Yordan Alvarez. The 6’5” slugger has already clinched his 4th straight 30-HR season. Houston got him for essentially nothing from the Dodgers. The least they can do is beat Los Angeles’ division rival.

Monday, September 9th, 2024

• NFL: New York Jets @ San Francisco 49ers at 8:20 pm (ET) on ESPN

The Jets opened up last season on Monday Night Football too, and Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles fell off the bone like your favorite uncle’s pulled pork on his 4th snap when he was sacked by Leonard Floyd. Funnily enough, Floyd joined the 49ers in free agency, so he’ll be here too.

The 49ers bring back the major pieces from last year’s squad that made it to the Super Bowl. The Jets managed to win 7 games last year without Rodgers, so optimism heading into this season is high. However, and I cannot stress this enough, they are still the New York Jets.

Tuesday, September 10th, 2024

We could find something to watch, but let’s take it easy. On this date in 1919, Ray Caldwell no-hit the New York Yankees while pitching for a team whose name inspired this shirt worn by Bomani Jones. That was Caldwell’s 2nd most impressive athletic feat. A couple of weeks prior, on August 24th, Caldwell was on the mound against the Philadelphia Athletics. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, he was struck by lightning. This left him lying on the field with smoke rising off his lifeless body. Just as people worked up the nerve to go see exactly how dead he was, Ray popped up. He refused to leave the game and recorded the final out in his complete game effort where he surrendered just 4 hits.

Wednesday, September 11th, 2024

• WNBA: Las Vegas Aces @ Indiana Fever at 7 pm on NBA TV

A showdown between last week’s Players of the Week, Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson. Since July, Clark has looked every bit of the offensive talent we expected her to be. This year’s rookie class has been one of the most talented ones in recent history, but Clark has managed to separate herself in the Rookie of the Year race.

The Aces haven’t looked the part of back-to-back defending champs yet, but that’s no fault of Wilson. She has put together quite possibly the greatest individual season of play in WNBA history. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, she’s also brought back the white tee. Winning MVP feels like even more of a sure thing than Clark winning ROY. For the record, it should be a unanimous vote, but I haven’t put much stock in stuff like that ever since the Ken Griffey Jr. Hall of Fame ballots were released. Either way, we’re getting close to needing to discuss A’ja’s GOAT case.

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