South Africa 162 (Hamza 62, Yadav 3-40, Jadeja 2-19) and 132 for 8 (De Bruyn 30, Shami 3-10, Yadav 2-35) trail India 497 for 9 dec by 203 runs

India need two wickets to complete a whitewash over South Africa but they will have to wait until Tuesday morning to do it. The visitors might have one more night in India, awaiting a fate that was writ from the second innings in Visakhapatnam, when Mohammed Shami ripped through their middle order and showed how much of a role seam bowlers would play in this series.

Though R Ashwin remains on top the wicket charts, it was Shami and Umesh Yadav who exposed a weakness South Africa would not have dreamed they had, especially not in the subcontinent.

South Africa have been surprised by short balls, beaten by pace and caught off guard by bowlers who attack the stumps, the very same thing they have seen their own attack do, season after season. But this is the season of change and India have spent the series showing how much they have evolved. No longer a team that relies on conditions loaded in the spinners' favour, they are now an outfit that wins away and that is not only happy to compete on fair-minded surfaces, but can dominate on them.

Sixteen South African wickets fell on day three as they were made to follow-on in consecutive Tests for the first time since 2002, and seven of their players were dismissed twice on the same day. A concussion substitute was required for the third time in Test history after Dean Elgar ducked into a Yadav short ball and was struck just above the ear. Theunis de Bruyn replaced him and was the top-scorer in the second innings, scant consolation after being dropped and watching his replacement make a strong enough case to stay in the No.3 spot for the foreseeable future.

If there's positive South Africa could take, it was Zubayr Hamza's first-innings effort. After watching his captain Faf du Plessis get beaten and bowled by a Yadav beauty that swerved away from him in the first over of the day, Hamza played a sprightly knock. He was confident on the front foot, energetic in his approach and was the perfect foil for Temba Bavuma, who was circumspect but promised so much. Hamza and Bavuma put on a fourth-wicket stand of 91, but once Hamza was dismissed, the procession began.

Ravindra Jadeja had Hamza caught on the back foot, when the batsman was shaping for a flick, but was beaten in the end. This, immediately after an unsuccessful review from India. In the next over, Bavuma came down the track to defend against debutant Shahbaz Nadeem but the ball turned away from him and into Wriddhiman Saha's gloves. Bavuma was stumped for 32, a score which only added to his failure to covert starts. The tail wagged a little in the form of George Linde but India were all over South Africa. The visitors lost 7 for 55, getting dismissed for their lowest total of the series.

With weather threatening to reduce the time left in the match, and South Africa so far behind, both in terms of runs and in their states of mind, Virat Kohli had no second thoughts about enforcing the follow-on. And within ten overs it was obvious he had made the right decision.

South Africa were reduced to 26 for 4 when the blow to Elgar resulted in early tea. By then, Quinton de Kock had played down the wrong line to Yadav, Hamza was late on a ball that straightened from Shami, du Plessis took an unnecessary review when he was given out lbw off Shami, and Bavuma was out for a duck.

Shami showed South Africa how it's done once again. Hit the deck hard. Use the short ball aggressively. Keep the lines tight. The only thing he didn't do was finish South Africa off. Not even Ashwin managed that. The South African tail has routinely frustrated India and this time Anrich Nortje hung on with de Bruyn till stumps. However, it's only a matter of time before India complete the formalities.

United Arab Emirates 118 for 2 (Rameez 54, Suri 44*, Christie 2-24) beat Hong Kong 116 for 7 (Nizakat 31, Kinchit 30, Mustafa 2-17, Waheed 2-23) by eight wickets

Despite a solid platform of 93 for 2 in the 16th over, Hong Kong suffered a middle-order collapse at the back-end of their first innings to finish with only 116 for 7 in their 20 overs against United Arab Emirates. In response, UAE made swift work of the target, chasing it down with 29 balls to spare and eight wickets in hand. The margin of victory lifted UAE to the top of Group B, although that may just be temporary.

UAE's chase was spearheaded by the 93-run second-wicket stand between opener Chirag Suri and No. 3 Rameez Shahzad. After their captain Rohan Mustafa fell in the fourth over, the duo combined to strike nine fours and four sixes in their 67-ball stand to sniff out any hope of victory that Hong Kong may have had. Shahzad's 37-ball 54 was his highest T20I score, while Suri's 43-ball 44 brought the opener back into form, something UAE were missing from him at the start of the tournament. Hong Kong pacer Kyle Christie took both UAE wickets, but his dismissal of Shahzad in the 15th over was a mere formality. Three deliveries after the dismissal, Suri found the boundary to seal their second win in three games.

That UAE had to chase only 117 was thanks to their varied bowling attack. Junaid Siddique set the tone with the new ball in the first innings, conceding only nine runs in his two overs. With the run-rate hovering below six, openers Ahmad Abbasi and Nizakat Khan perished to left-arm spinner Ahmed Raza and medium-pacer Waheed Ahmed respectively inside 12 overs. A brief recovery then followed, with Kinchit Shah (30) and the captain Aizaz Khan (19) upping the scoring rate, but with both set batsmen falling in the death overs, their new batsmen failed to generate the momentum needed to put a total that would appear challenging. Mustafa's spell of 2 for 17, including two wickets for only two runs in the 20th over, made him the game's most economical bowler.

The result meant that Hong Kong's chances of qualifying for the semi-finals took a big blow while UAE's win has only strengthened their shout for a final-four spot.

Every NFL Sunday has a few weird, unexpected moments or performances pop up amid the slate. From what I saw, Week 7 had more than the usual bunch. There were fullback option pitches and game plans rendered irrelevant by weather. The Dolphins nearly won. The Chargers found a new way to lose a close game. Both of those occurrences seem pretty strange.

So, after noticing weird tidbits and stories I wanted to write about throughout Sunday afternoon, I'm devoting today's column to hitting the surprises and weird moments from Sunday's action. These are in no particular order, but I'm going to start with an epic performance from a quarterback who didn't expect to have much help on Sunday:

Jump to a wacky event from Week 7:
Russ' pick-six | Rodgers goes off
Jones' four TDs | Edmonds' career day
Goff jukes a LB | Cousins is on fire
LAC loses late | The Dolphins lead!
All of SF-WSH | Successful onside kicks

Without Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers has arguably the best game of his career

For a minute there, it seemed like Rodgers was going to have the worst receiving corps of his career to face the Raiders. Green Bay was almost running out Jake Kumerow, Allen Lazard and Darrius Shepherd as Rodgers's top three wideouts. Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Geronimo Allison were eventually deemed able to play after combining for one practice all week, but with both receivers limited and star Adams out, it looked plausible that the Packers would focus on the run at home against the Raiders.

Instead, Rodgers delivered a game for the ages. In blowing out the Raiders, Rodgers went 25-of-31 for 429 yards and five touchdowns. It was his first full game with a perfect passer rating, and the future Hall of Famer set career highs in average yards per attempt (13.8) and average adjusted yards per attempt (17.1). Rodgers added a 3-yard rushing score after what would have been his sixth touchdown pass was ruled narrowly short of the end zone, while Lazard dropped a perfect pass for what should have been a 23-yard completion before halftime.

Rodgers hit everyone. He completed at least two passes to eight different receivers. Five receivers scored touchdowns, and Allison would have made it six if he hadn't come up just short of the end zone. Rodgers picked on every single member of the Raiders' secondary, even completing a pair of passes in which defensive end Benson Mayowa was nominally the closest defender in coverage.

Was Rodgers untouchably great in the way he seemed at times in years past? Honestly, no. He didn't need to be. The phrase I would use is "in command." He got rid of one pass to fullback Danny Vitale in 0.68 seconds, which is almost impossible to do for anything beyond a touch pass. He appeared to know where he was going before the ball was even snapped, play after play, and then delivered those passes in stride.

There were great throws, of course, although Rodgers' best throw of the day might have been the pass Lazard dropped. The Packers went back to the same RB seam concept Aaron Jones dropped last week and hit the halfback for a 21-yard touchdown. Just before halftime, Rodgers took advantage of a coverage misstep to hit Kumerow for a 37-yard score. You might even argue that Rodgers slightly underthrew his longest completion of the day, the 59-yard completion to Valdes-Scantling, although he threw it in a place in which Valdes-Scantling was able to make an easy catch. Tony Romo joked that Rodgers had done this same thing with Jordy Nelson a thousand times before, and he's not wrong.

The Raiders certainly helped. The secondary was terrible tackling at and around the line of scrimmage in this game, with Gareon Conley and Lamarcus Joyner as notably guilty parties. Rodgers had no trouble manipulating them with his eyes, which is how Erik Harris jumped an underneath crossing route to free up the Kumerow touchdown before halftime. Conley was the primary corner in coverage on the Valdes-Scantling bomb and actually had safety help in Karl Joseph, but Joseph fell for Valdes-Scantling selling the corner route before Rodgers threw the ball toward the other sideline. The Raiders actually did get some pressure, but Rodgers just didn't have much trouble either knowing where to go with the football quickly or escaping it to make a play, one first-quarter sack aside.

By the second half, Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was getting desperate. Rodgers made him pay twice. On a first-and-10 inside Raiders territory, Guenther showed Rodgers a single-high safety look before the snap and crowded the line of scrimmage. After the snap, Gunther sent five men at Rodgers and rotated cornerback Daryl Worley (20) back to safety as part of a two-deep coverage while playing four intermediate zones underneath. This would probably give an inexperienced quarterback some pause. It didn't bother Rodgers, who had his receivers running four verts and hit Lazard to set up another touchdown on the subsequent pass:

His final pass of the game, meanwhile, came when Guenther went all the way in the opposite direction. On a third-and-4, Guenther showed a single-high safety, but at the last second, he sent the house and played Cover Zero (no deep safety) with man coverage across the board. Rodgers had the ball out after 1.8 seconds, rendering the blitz totally useless, and hit Valdes-Scantling in the slot. Conley stumbled briefly coming out of his break and missed the tackle attempt on Valdes-Scantling, who turned upfield and ran in a straight line for a 74-yard score.

If the Packers can get this sort of passing attack going every week, the league is in a lot of trouble. They won't get these sort of results every week because defenses will tackle better, get more pressure and won't make as many mental mistakes, but it's hardly out of the question to think Rodgers can play at this level.

After looking like he was battling Matt LaFleur's offense at times to start the season, Rodgers looked on Sunday like he had been in this scheme for 10 years. That's bad news for the Patrick Mahomes-less Chiefs, who will have to try to stop Rodgers next Sunday at Arrowhead.

The Chargers lose in dramatic fashion

Weird might be the wrong word to describe this, of course, because the Chargers make a habit of disasters. Even by their standards, though, they did not have a normal one. Trailing 23-13 to the Titans with 6:39 to go, Philip Rivers drove his offense 75 yards in four plays and hit Austin Ekeler for a 41-yard score to make it 23-20. After Mike Vrabel's Titans failed to convert on a fourth-and-1 sneak from Ryan Tannehill, Rivers got back to work and hit Ekeler for a lead-taking touchdown, only for the halfback to be ruled down at the 1-yard line on replay.

Things got very weird from there. After the ball was re-spotted, Vrabel called a timeout, presumably thinking the Chargers would score and that he would try to get the ball back with as much time as possible. Guard Dan Feeney responded to the threat of a possible Chargers victory by committing a false start. The Titans, in kind, gave the Chargers their missing five yards back when Malcolm Butler committed pass interference on a fade to Mike Williams in the end zone.

On first down, Melvin Gordon tried to plow through the pile and was given Los Angeles' second touchdown of the drive. Again, this was overturned on a review in which it appeared Gordon might have fumbled as he crossed the plane. On the next play, Gordon was stuffed and again appeared to fumble; this time, the review confirmed the fumble and gave the Titans an unlikely victory.

The (official) fumble was Gordon's second of the game, and while the Chargers recovered the earlier one, this was another dismal stop on his comeback tour. The top Chargers back carried the ball 16 times for 32 yards and just two first downs, adding two catches for minus-3 yards. He caught a touchdown pass when left wide-open in the flat, but only after being stuffed on two carries inside the 5-yard line.

Since returning in Week 5, he has carried the ball 36 times for 81 yards. Among 47 qualifying backs, he ranks 46th in yards per carry (2.3), tied for 46th in first-down rate (5.6%), and tied for sixth in fumbles (two). He has turned nine catches on 14 targets into a total of just 34 yards, an average of less than 4 yards per reception. It's difficult to be less productive than Gordon with this many touches.

His role has come at the expense of Ekeler, which hasn't benefited this team. The Chargers' offense stalled for most of this game until Ekeler took over as the team's every-down back for the final two drives. He was on the field for each of the four snaps on the touchdown drive and the first six plays of the final drive. Ekeler alone made three catches for 76 yards on those drives, producing as many first downs as Gordon did over the entirety of the game.

The Chargers have run some snaps with Ekeler and Gordon on the field together, but the evidence suggests they're better with Ekeler on the field and Gordon spotting him. Their running game has been a mess with any combination of backs on the field, but Rivers is averaging a full yard more per attempt and posting a passer rating nearly 20 points higher with Ekeler on the field as opposed to Gordon. The Chargers aren't going to bench Gordon altogether, and Ekeler actually played 36 snaps to Gordon's 31 on Sunday, but Gordon out-touched Ekeler 16 to 9 before those two desperate drives. Anthony Lynn's offense might be more successful if they reversed that ratio.

Russell Wilson's pick-six to Marcus Peters

The current favorite in the MVP race didn't have a terrible game Sunday, but a Ravens pass defense that had been porous at times stifled him. Don Martindale's defense allowed Wilson to complete just 48.8% of his passes, and while he has been grossly exceeding his expected completion percentage per NFL Next Gen Stats throughout the season, his expected completion percentage Sunday was only 50.9%. That's the fourth-lowest expected completion percentage for any quarterback over the past two seasons.

Wilson's worst moment of the game -- if not the season -- was an uncharacteristically ill-advised attempt to the sideline, which new Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters took to the house for a pick-six. For whatever foibles Peters has as a corner, he has always had the ability to come off his man to make a play on a pass thrown late to the sideline; he couldn't have asked for a better introduction to his new teammates. The Ravens didn't have many qualms about inserting their new addition into the lineup either, as he played 61 of 68 defensive snaps in Baltimore's 30-16 victory in Seattle.

Wilson, on the other hand, doesn't make these sort of mistakes often. This was just his fourth pick-six since entering the league in 2012 despite throwing nearly 3,500 passes. To put that in context, he is now tied in pick-sixes with the likes of Josh Rosen (502 attempts) and Christian Ponder (who last played in the NFL five years ago) and still well behind the likes of Geno Smith and Matt Cassel over that time frame. For a quarterback who improvises and throws late in plays, Wilson's ability to avoid big mistakes on those throws is rare.

This was Wilson's first interception of any kind this season. He hasn't thrown two interceptions in a game since Week 1 of 2018, a streak that has now stretched to 23 games when you factor in the postseason, a league high. Sunday wasn't his day, but Wilson is still the MVP favorite heading into the halfway mark.

Chase Edmonds' career day

If you started David Johnson in fantasy football with the Cardinals facing the Giants this week, you have my condolences. Johnson was active despite ankle and back injuries, but after playing on the first two offensive snaps of the game, he took one just one snap later on the drive before spending the rest of the day on the bench. Kliff Kingsbury said after the game that the Cardinals were only going to use Johnson in a "need-based" situation, which is strange given that Johnson was on the field for two of the first three offensive snaps of the day. It's more likely that Johnson gave it a go and then realized he wasn't able to play.

Instead, his backup, Edmonds, had his best game as a pro. The Fordham product caught two passes for 24 yards and carried the ball 27 times for 126 yards, six first downs and three touchdowns. Each of the three scores came from 20 or more yards out, which matches Johnson's career total of rushing touchdowns from 20-plus yards out. The Giants aren't great on defense, but they did rank 13th in rush defense DVOA before Sunday, so this blowup is certainly a little surprising.

Then again, maybe we shouldn't have been surprised. While the perception before the season was that the Cardinals were going to be a fast-tempo, pass-happy attack in the Air Raid under Kingsbury, they rank fourth in the league in rush offense DVOA. Over the past three games, they rank second in rushing yards (524), tied for fourth in first downs (25) and second in expected points added (7.5) on the ground.

What makes Arizona so interesting, of course, is that it has built a dominant rushing attack in an offense whose most common offensive grouping through the first month of the year was 10 personnel, with one back, no tight end and four wideouts. In part because the Cardinals haven't been trailing so frequently while also owing to injuries at wide receiver, they have gone to more 11 personnel and moved a tight end onto the field. Arizona ran four or more wideouts onto the field 64.2% of the time through the first four weeks of the season; over the past three games, that number is down to 16.4%.

The combination of Kingsbury and Cardinals offensive line coach Sean Kugler have also pieced together a versatile running game, playing off quarterback Kyler Murray's unique talents. We saw glimpses of that running game over the first month of the season, as the Cardinals showed option looks and brought back the bash concept the Eagles periodically ran under Chip Kelly with a far more qualified quarterback in Murray.

In recent weeks, the running game has coalesced and grown more consistent. Murray has been effective both on designed runs and as a scrambler, where he has racked up 93 yards and five first downs over the past three weeks. Edmonds, too, has clearly carved out a bigger role for himself. Even before Sunday, he had run the ball 19 times for 132 yards and a touchdown over Arizona's three prior games. Johnson's numbers throughout the season haven't been particularly impressive; even once he's healthy, the Cardinals need to make Edmonds a more consistent part of their surprisingly impressive running game.

The Bears recover an onside kick!

The one bright spot for the Bears in a 36-25 thrashing at the hands of the Saints was special teams. Cordarrelle Patterson returned a kick 102 yards for a touchdown in the best use of the spider camera in NFL history. Later in the game, the Bears became the first team in the league to recover an onside kick this season. NFL teams were previously 0-for-16 on onside kick attempts, and the Bears nearly recovered a second, only to step out of bounds before recovering the ball.

Of course, the recovery did little more than help embattled Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky pad his stats. Through the first three quarters of Sunday's game, the returning Trubisky was 14-of-27 for just 84 yards and four first downs. With the Bears mostly trailing by three possessions in the fourth quarter, Trubisky took advantage of a disinterested Saints defense by going 20-of-27 for 167 yards with two touchdowns, although those scores required one would-be interception to be knocked out of a defender's hands by Patterson and a second to be caught out of bounds.

The hope was that the return of Trubisky and Chicago's bye week might help spur some life into a missing Bears offense. It didn't happen. Matt Nagy either wasn't confident in his running game or simply ignored it from the jump, as the Bears ran the ball a mere seven times. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Bears didn't face a loaded box with eight or more defenders even once during the game, so it doesn't appear that the Saints were selling out to stop the run and daring Trubisky to win the game. With the Bears averaging just over 3.1 yards per pass before the fourth quarter, it's hardly as if they were succeeding in the air.

Nagy's game management also was a mess. The Bears took over at their 17 with 1:14 left in the second quarter trailing 12-10, and the Saints were out of timeouts. They could have kneeled to get the ball to halftime. Chicago instead got stuck between two minds. It threw an incomplete pass on first down and then completed a pass for 5 yards on second down. With the clock moving, it moseyed up to the line in an attempt to seemingly run the clock down, only to snap the ball with 16 seconds left on the play clock and 38 seconds left in the half. Trubisky then seemed to look downfield before throwing the ball away when simply giving himself up would have ended the half. The Saints returned the ensuing unnecessary punt for a touchdown, although it was called back for a holding penalty.

Both Nagy and Trubisky were to blame for the breakdown at the end of the half, and while Nagy doesn't seem to have answers for what plagues this offense, his quarterback simply isn't playing well. Trubisky missed a number of easy throws in this game, and while some of that comes down to rust and playing through an injured non-throwing shoulder, he was struggling before the injury too. His accuracy on anything remotely down the field while the game was a contest was sporadic at best, and his average completion before the fourth quarter traveled just 3.4 yards in the air, which ranked 22nd among 23 quarterbacks. Trubisky also didn't run once during the game, which has been missing from his repertoire all season and dramatically lowers both his floor and his ceiling.

Of course, it's worth noting that Trubisky was playing stiff competition. As much credit as Sean Payton has received for winning five straight without Drew Brees -- and as cool as that fullback option the Saints ran with Taysom Hill was -- the defense has driven this winning streak.

Since Week 3, the Saints' defense ranks third in win probability added, behind only the Patriots and 49ers. (They're ninth in the same stat on offense.) Late, meaningless touchdowns like the ones Trubisky threw Sunday have inflated their statistics; through the first three quarters of games over the past five weeks, the Saints have allowed opposing teams to score just 1.1 points per drive, which is third in the NFL behind those same two defensive juggernauts.

When I wrote about the possibility of a Drew Brees decline before the season, I suggested that the Saints would likely be able to weather any drop-off from their quarterback with what might be a top-five defense. Going from Brees' 2018 season to Teddy Bridgewater has been a step backward, but the Saints have thrived. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's first run as a head coach didn't go well, but he was also taking over a Raiders team that basically tanked its way out of a brutal cap hell for most of his tenure. On this form, Allen is going to get another chance soon.

The Bills return an onside kick for a touchdown

Sunday was a great day for weird moments in onside kicks. While the Bears recovered one, the Bills took things all the way in the opposite direction and returned Miami's last-ditch effort to create a possession. Micah Hyde fielded the onside kick attempt with 1:38 left and took it straight to the house for a 45-yard touchdown, sealing a 31-21 Bills win.

The onside kick touchdown is pretty rare. As far as I can tell, this is just the sixth time a team has returned an onside kick for a score over the past 20 years, and the first time since Tyjuan Hagler did it under virtually identical circumstances for the Colts in 2010. Listen to the clip I linked and you'll hear Indy's radio announcers say, "You won't see that very often!" Indeed, you didn't see it in the NFL for nearly nine years.

Marvin Jones scores four touchdowns

Three receivers in the Super Bowl era have caught four or more touchdowns in multiple games. One is Jerry Rice. The second is Sterling Sharpe. One Hall of Famer and a guy who would be in the Hall of Fame if it weren't for a career-ending neck injury. You can probably guess who the third is: Jones, who scored four touchdowns in a 49-9 Bengals win over the Jets in 2013 and then repeated the feat during Sunday's 42-30 loss to the Vikings.

As you might suspect, receivers don't typically score four touchdowns in games their teams lose. Previously, receivers were a combined 34-3 in those four-plus touchdown games. Jones also became the first player in league history to score four receiving touchdowns in a game in which he didn't rack up at least 100 receiving yards, as he caught 10 of his 13 targets for 93 yards. His scores came from 2, 3, 10 and 16 yards out.

The Vikings have pretty good cornerbacks, and Jones beat them all at different points Sunday. Mike Zimmer either didn't have enough confidence in those corners to press Jones at the line or thought they would eventually get better, but Jones was repeatedly able to use his release to create throwing lanes for Matthew Stafford. On the third touchdown of the first half, he was able to shake Mike Hughes with his first step and establish inside leverage for what needed to be an instant throw with six seconds left on the clock.

The most flamboyant score of the day was against Trae Waynes, whom Jones beat with a spin move before turning upfield for the first touchdown. His two touchdowns against top corner Xavier Rhodes, meanwhile, were almost identical throws from Stafford on the near-hashmark. The first was a quick out, while the second and final touchdown of the day was a back-shoulder throw. Both throws rely on Stafford's velocity and require him to place the ball in a spot where only Jones can catch it.

Sunday was a rough day for the Lions, as they lost the game to the Vikings while Kerryon Johnson, Damon Harrison and Darius Slay all left the game with injuries. Johnson and Slay were unable to return.

Detroit is on a three-game losing streak, but that has included a last-second loss to the Chiefs, a controversial 23-22 loss to the Packers and Sunday's shootout loss to the Vikings. Matt Patricia's team probably deserved to win at least one of those games. Instead, it is 2-3-1 and way back in the NFC North behind the 6-1 Packers. With the Giants, Raiders and Bears coming up, the Lions probably need to go on a winning streak to get back into playoff contention.

Kirk Cousins carries his team to victory

Three weeks ago, the knives were out for Cousins and his massive contract after a dismal performance in a 16-6 loss to the Bears. Adam Thielen complained about the offense. Stefon Diggs skipped practice. It seemed like the annual infighting about the run/pass ratio of the Vikings offense had begun.

Since then, Cousins has posted video-game numbers. The former Washington starter is completing more than 75% of his passes, averaging 10.8 yards per attempt, and has thrown 10 touchdowns against one pick, a pass that Diggs dropped. His passer rating over that time is a whopping 142.6, more than 27 points better than that of any other quarterback over the same time frame.

The Vikings typically want to win by playing great defense and running the football. They didn't get much of the former Sunday, with Stafford throwing for 364 yards and four touchdowns. Dalvin Cook and the running game took the ball 37 times for 166 yards, but the passing offense drove this victory for the Vikings, and Cousins did it without having Thielen for most of the contest after his star wideout injured a hamstring on Cousins' first touchdown of the day.

Cousins eventually finished 24-of-34 for 337 yards with four touchdowns and no picks. Beyond Thielen, the touchdown passes went to Kyle Rudolph, Bisi Johnson and C.J. Ham. Rudolph and Irv Smith Jr. became the first pair of tight ends to top 50 receiving yards in a game all season in a game where the Vikings were successful on 65% of their offensive plays out of 12 personnel, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

The best moment of the day for Cousins, though, wasn't a touchdown pass. After a failed Lions two-point conversion left the game delicately poised at 35-30 with three minutes to go, the Vikings took over. Any fatalistic Vikings fan could figure how this was about to go. The Vikings would run the ball three times and punt the ball back to a white-hot Stafford, who would march down the field and hit Jones or Kenny Golladay for a touchdown to take the lead.

Instead, the Vikings trusted their star quarterback. After a first-down run and a Lions timeout, they went with play-action on second down and sent Diggs out on a deep post as the only receiver on the play. With Justin Coleman matched up in man coverage without safety help, Cousins lofted up a well-placed pass to Diggs, who turned back upfield for what eventually became a 66-yard gain. Cook scored two plays later to establish a two-score lead.

Play-action has been at the core of this Cousins run. Over the past three weeks, he leads the league in play-action attempts (41), passing yards (530) and passer rating (156.8), and is second in yards per attempt (12.9) behind Stafford. On Thursday, he gets a revenge game against a Washington defense that ranks 29th in the league in QBR allowed. Thielen might not be ready on a short week, but it probably won't matter if we get this version of Cousins.

The Dolphins lead for more than 26 minutes

Across their first five losses, the Dolphins led for a grand total of three minutes and 47 seconds, all of which came against the Chargers in Week 4. As 17-point underdogs against the Bills in Buffalo, it's fair to say that expectations were low for Brian Flores' team. Even after first-round pick Christian Wilkins was ejected from the game, though, the Dolphins seemed close to pulling one of the biggest upsets of the year. They led for a total of 26 minutes and 34 seconds Sunday, including at halftime and for the entirety of the third quarter.

The Dolphins might very well have won this game if it weren't for the efforts of superstar Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White. With a 14-9 lead, the Dolphins drove to the Buffalo 2-yard line after a successful fake field goal and appeared on the verge of going up by more than one possession for the first time all season. On first-and-goal, the Dolphins simply failed to block nose tackle Jordan Phillips, who destroyed Ryan Fitzpatrick for a loss of 10 yards. (This isn't new for the Dolphins.)

On the next play, Fitzpatrick tried to squeeze an out to Isaiah Ford, only to leave it narrowly inside; White picked it off. The Bills drove 98 yards to take back the lead, and after the two teams traded punts, White punched the ball out of Preston Williams' hands to give the Bills' offense a short field. The Bills scored three plays later to establish a 10-point lead.

This wasn't a great performance from the Bills' offense, which was booed off after failing to score a touchdown during the first half. Josh Allen was just 6-of-15 for 90 yards during that half, although the offense did string together that one long drive and took advantage of the short field after halftime. Allen was let down by drops from Dawson Knox and Cole Beasley on either side of the half, but the Dolphins showed some signs of life on defense, with Taco Charlton getting his third sack in four games since joining the team.

Miami has certainly looked more competitive after the bye, although much of that last week revolved around the fact that it was playing Washington. It now has an 18.5% shot of finishing 0-16 per ESPN's Football Power Index, which isn't far off from its chances of failing to come away with the top pick in the 2020 draft, which stand at 24.3%.

Fitzpatrick nearly led the Dolphins to a comeback win against Washington and was a clear upgrade on Josh Rosen on Sunday, going 23-of-35 for 282 yards with a touchdown and that pick. He continued to show little regard for his own body by lowering his shoulder to take a goal-line hit on a 11-yard touchdown that brought the Dolphins within three before that onside kick, but this was generally a good game from the former Bills starter. It's fair to wonder whether a team with hopes of contending will trade for Fitz as a backup or injury fill-in.

Jared Goff jukes Deion Jones in the open field

On a first-and-goal run from the 3-yard line with the Rams up 20-3 in the third quarter against the Falcons, it appeared that Todd Gurley crossed the plane. In lieu of challenging the call, the Rams chose to sneak Goff on second down. It appeared that he crossed the plane. The refs ruled him short. On third down, in lieu of taking another shot with the quarterback whom he would later describe as the worst sneaker in the history of football, Sean McVay asked Goff to roll out on third down. This happened:

No. 45 is Jones, whom the Falcons signed to a four-year, $57 million contract this offseason. He is a good player, but it's a sign of just how badly the rot has set in on this Falcons defense when Goff can shake him in the open field for a 1-yard score. This is the same defense that once shut down the Rams in Los Angeles during the 2017 playoffs.

Goff was certainly better after last Sunday's disaster against the 49ers, going 22-of-37 for 268 yards with two touchdowns. Things were aided by a Falcons pass rush that failed to sack him and pressured him on just 10.8% of his dropbacks. It was Atlanta's fourth consecutive game without a sack, which is only the sixth time a team has pulled that off since the sack became an official statistic. It has been more than a decade since the last instance.

No team has gone five games without a sack in the recorded history of the stat. Next week, the Falcons face Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. Mercedes-Benz Stadium didn't look particularly full on Sunday, and this upcoming home game could feature Matt Schaub at quarterback in lieu of the injured Matt Ryan, who reportedly has a high ankle sprain. Normally, especially given what just happened to Patrick Mahomes, it would be logical for a 1-6 team to sit its star quarterback for a week in advance of its bye to rest his ankle. With Dan Quinn possibly coaching for his job next Sunday, I don't think the Falcons will feel the same way.

All of the San Francisco-Washington game

Speaking of half-empty stadiums: if you sat in a driving rainstorm for three hours watching a 1-5 Washington team get shut out by the 49ers on Sunday, you're a true fan. I'm not sure I'd read much at all into the statistics from Sunday, which was played on inches of standing water on the famously decrepit Washington field. Richard Sherman was on the field for the famously awful turf that took out both Chris Clemons and Robert Griffin in the 2012 playoff game between the Seahawks and Washington. Sherman likened Sunday's field to "playing in a sand pit."

There's not too much to take away from a game in which the field was this bad. No player had any confidence in their footing, with good reason. Just two players topped a max speed of 20 mph. Contrast that to last week, when 11 players in the 49ers-Rams game went over that 20 mph mark. This was one of those games that sounds fun during the offseason and isn't actually any fun when there are other football options at the same time.

The one thing that did stand out as significant to me: I would have hoped to see a 49ers rushing attack that wants to be regarded as dominant blow up against a Washington defense that ranked 20th in rush defense DVOA heading into the week, but the Niners ran the ball 39 times for just 137 yards and seven first downs. They could muster only three field goals across four trips inside the red zone. It's worth noting that the San Francisco running game has collapsed over the past two weeks with fullback Kyle Juszczyk and starting tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey all out injured, with the Niners running the ball 41 times for just 99 yards and eight first downs last week.

The Panthers are next on the docket for the now 6-0 Niners, and while Carolina's pass defense has been impressive, its run defense is 29th in rush defense DVOA. If the running game doesn't get going at home next week, the 49ers will have something to be concerned about, even at 6-0.

The Cardinals shut down a tight end

To say the Cardinals have had their issues covering tight ends this season would be generous. Through six games, they had allowed opposing tight ends to rack up a total of 102 fantasy points. To put that in context, the Buccaneers were the second-worst team in the league in terms of allowing fantasy points heading into Week 7, and they had allowed 68 fantasy points. The league average through six weeks was 41.6 points. Outside of one subpar game from Tyler Eifert, starting tight ends have ripped apart the Cardinals:

With Giants tight end Evan Engram returning to the lineup after missing the short week against the Patriots with a knee injury, it looked like the Cardinals were set to be victimized by again. Instead, Engram went 1-of-5 for just 6 yards. One of those five targets came on the final play of the game, when the Giants were facing a fourth-and-29 from their own 5-yard line and wasn't particularly close. The Cardinals won 27-21. What happened?

For one, the Cardinals did give up a touchdown to a Giants tight end, but it wasn't Engram; the Giants ran four verticals for Daniel Jones' only touchdown pass of the day, a well-placed 28-yard throw to Rhett Ellison. Engram also dropped two of his five targets, including a pass that would have produced a 25-yard completion on his only downfield target of the day. He deserves some of the blame. The returning Patrick Peterson helped jar the ball out on that long would-be completion, and his presence certainly made it easier for the Cardinals in coverage, but it's not as if Peterson was often directly covering Engram.

The Cardinals were able to control this game with pass pressure, with at least one snap I saw in which Jones was looking toward Engram but wasn't able to get the ball out while under duress. Arizona ranked 15th in pressure rate heading into Week 7, but on Sunday, it led the league by pressuring Jones on 42.6% of his dropbacks. Arizona sacked Jones eight times and knocked him down on 12 of his 39 pass plays, with Chandler Jones' four sacks leading the way. The Giants' offensive line also committed four holding penalties.

Some of those pressures are on the offensive line. Others are on Jones. While the rookie's coolness in the pocket can be a boon to his chances of finding receivers downfield, there have also been too many moments in which Jones' internal clock fails him and he waits too long in the pocket. ESPN's pass block win rate statistic tracks whether a team's offensive line holds its blocks for 2.5 seconds, which is typically long enough for a quarterback to throw the ball. The Giants were at 61.5% Sunday; not great, but just ahead of the Colts, who only allowed one sack on 40 dropbacks. That's just one example, but the line wasn't the sole problem Sunday.

It has gone unnoticed or excused, but Jones has been dreadful since his dramatic victory over the Buccaneers. Over the past four games, he has completed an even 60% of his passes while averaging just 5.9 yards per attempt, with four touchdowns against seven interceptions. His interception Sunday was a horrific decision on a pass late into double coverage. He ranks 31st in passer rating over the past four weeks at 64.8, ahead of only Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen.

Two ugly interceptions in a win over Washington in a 24-3 win were mostly ignored. Bad games against the Vikings and Patriots were chalked up to tough defenses and missing weapons. On Sunday, though, Jones was playing the league's 30th-ranked defense by DVOA with Engram and Saquon Barkley returning to the lineup. This was supposed to be the game in which he reminded us of what he could do. Instead, he really wasn't any better than Eli Manning short mobility. It's way too early to draw any significant, long-term conclusions from Jones' ugly month of football, but the honeymoon period afforded New York's first-round pick is officially over.

Two instances of bullying

Just 24 hours after 5-foot-6 Astros infielder Jose Altuve hit a home run to send Houston back to the World Series, the NFL was big brothering its running backs on Sunday.

First was the climax of the sudden fight between the Falcons and Rams in the third quarter. Devonta Freeman was understandably cranky amid a lost season, but things went about as poorly for him as possible. Not only was he ejected after throwing a punch, but the Falcons back was lifted off the ground and manhandled by Aaron Donald to end the altercation.

In the afternoon block, a similarly frustrated back found similarly frustrating results. With the Saints blowing out the Bears, Tarik Cohen was chirped at by Saints coach Sean Payton. The Saints' defensive backs then pantomimed about the 5-foot-6 Cohen's height as Cohen steamed on his way back to the huddle. Running backs have it hard these days. They deserve our support, regardless of size.

It is a sporting event so wonderful it requires two names: The World Series. The Fall Classic.

The Houston Astros got here in dramatic fashion on Jose Altuve's walk-off home run to knock out the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The Washington Nationals have had some high drama of their own, with late rallies in the wild-card game against the Brewers and in Game 5 of the division series against the Dodgers, before they crushed the Cardinals in a four-game sweep in the NLCS.

If we're lucky, we'll get seven games of thrills over nine days, seven games of heroes and tragedy and breathtaking moments. One thing is for sure: We have the potential for some epic pitching performances. In the year of the home run, at a time when relievers pitch more innings than ever, starting pitching will be at the forefront of this World Series. Consider the following nuggets from ESPN Stats & Information:

-- For the first time in World Series history, five of the top 10 pitchers in strikeouts in the regular season are in the World Series. Gerrit Cole (326) and Justin Verlander (300) ranked 1-2, and Stephen Strasburg (251), Max Scherzer (243) and Patrick Corbin (238) were also in the top 10.

-- For the first time since 1945, six of the top 20 pitchers in ERA are in the World Series. Cole, Verlander, Scherzer, Zack Greinke, Corbin and Strasburg all ranked in the top 16.

-- Astros starters struck out 28.9% of the batters they faced in the regular season, the highest rate in MLB history. (Cole had the highest rate ever by a starting pitcher, at 39.9%.) Nationals starters have struck out 36.1% of the batters they've faced in the postseason.

-- The starters on these two teams have held their opponents to a combined batting average of .183 in the postseason.

-- The Nationals' big three of Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin earned $77.8 million this season, the highest total in baseball for a team's top three starters. The Astros' big three of Verlander, Cole and Greinke earned $73 million, the second-highest total. Yes, scoring has been down in the postseason. Maybe it's because the ball hasn't been flying like it did in the regular season. But maybe these pitchers are part of the reason as well. If you detest nine-man playoff bullpens and quick hooks after two times through the order -- don't even mention bullpen games -- this World Series is a potential love letter to another style of October baseball in which starting pitchers rule the headlines.

Here's the rest of our viewers' guide to the 2019 World Series:

What the Astros have on the line: With three consecutive 100-win seasons, including 107 victories this season, the Astros will secure a legacy as one of the greatest teams of all time with a second World Series title in three years. If they don't win, they will -- at least for the time being -- be grouped alongside other historically dominant teams, such as the 1969-71 Orioles or 1990s Braves, who would get credit as being among the best ever if they had won more than one World Series.

What the Nationals have on the line: The Nationals have a chance to bring the nation's capital its first World Series title since Walter Johnson led the Senators to the 1924 championship. Since their first playoff appearance in 2012, the Nationals have been one of the most star-laden franchises in the sport, but they had failed to win a playoff series until this season. They got over that hump, and with a title, they would avoid the fate of star-driven teams such as the 1960s Giants, 1990s Indians, 1990s Mariners and the current-era Dodgers: great teams that fell short in the postseason.

The favorites: The Astros -- in a big way, at least according to the oddsmakers in Las Vegas. Caesars Sportsbook installed the Astros as -235 favorites on Sunday, making them the largest favorites since the Red Sox were -240 to beat the Rockies in 2007. Those odds are a little surprising, given the strength of the Nationals' rotation and how well the Nationals have played since an awful 19-31 start dropped their World Series odds to 50-1 in late May.

The Astros, however, are more than the dominant 1-2 punch of Cole and Verlander. They have one of the best offenses of all time. According to the metric weighted runs created plus (wRC+), which adjusts for park and era, the 2019 Astros had the second-best offense ever, behind only that of the famed '27 Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. With all that in mind, perhaps it's worth noting: The Red Sox swept the Rockies in 2007.

What everyone is talking about: Obviously, the starting pitchers -- big names, big stars, guys who had dominant seasons. It's probably the best and most famous group of starting pitchers in a World Series since the 2001 matchup between the Yankees and Diamondbacks that featured Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte. That's two Hall of Famers in Johnson and Mussina, two guys who might get there in Schilling and Pettitte, and one guy who might be the greatest pitcher of all time.

This year's group includes three potential or likely Hall of Famers in Verlander, Greinke and Scherzer, one guy who was arguably the best starter in the game this season (and has won 19 consecutive decisions) in Cole, two former No. 1 overall picks in Cole and Strasburg (Verlander was second overall), a guy who could end up winning 200 games in Strasburg, a guy who has been one of the best starters in the game the past two seasons in Corbin and a former ERA champ in Anibal Sanchez, who nearly pitched a no-hitter in the NLCS.

What else everyone is talking about: The ball. After a record-setting season of home runs, the ball seems to be a little different in the postseason. Rob Arthur's analysis at Baseball Prospectus indicated that there has been more drag on the ball, so balls with exit velocities and launch angles similar to what was seen in the regular season aren't flying as far. But then the ball might have changed back to the regular-season ball. Or it didn't. Did we mention that there are some very excellent starting pitchers in this postseason? For what it's worth, in the regular season, there was a home run every 24.59 at-bats. In the postseason, there has been one every 27.36 at-bats. Runs per game are down from 4.83 to 3.92, and though scoring usually goes down in the postseason, that's a larger than normal drop. Keep close tabs on fly balls hit to the warning track.

Player with the most on the line: How about Scherzer? He's a potential future Hall of Famer and the owner of three Cy Young Awards, and he's still going strong at age 35. He was part of excellent teams and excellent rotations in Detroit -- Verlander was his teammate -- and now in Washington, but he doesn't have a World Series ring. His postseason career has been good but not great, with a 6-5 record and 3.35 ERA, though his last two starts against the Dodgers and Cardinals were outstanding.

Scherzer can cement his legacy as not just one of the best starting pitchers of his generation but also one of the best ever in terms of peak value. He's likely to get matched up twice against Cole, setting the stage for what could be two memorable battles. If he comes up big -- something Clayton Kershaw has failed to do -- he might surpass Kershaw in the eyes of many as the best pitcher of the decade (or perhaps be second behind Verlander).

Most exciting player: You can't pick just one. With these star-studded rosters, that's like picking between Mozart and Beethoven. Here are three players who have a history of October excellence:

Jose Altuve: The diminutive second baseman has five home runs this postseason -- and only four strikeouts! -- and 13 homers in 174 career postseason at-bats. His career line in 43 playoff games: .287/.354/.552. As teammate George Springer said after Altuve's walk-off homer against the Yankees: "There's nothing that guy does anymore that surprises me. He's so good. He's so talented. He never lets the moment get too big. That's why he's our captain."

Stephen Strasburg: It isn't a huge sample, but Strasburg has yet to have a poor outing in his postseason career. He's 4-2 with a 1.10 ERA in 41 innings, with just two home runs allowed. He's 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA this postseason and a 33-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 22 innings. It will be fascinating to see how the Astros attack him, given his command and his changeup/curveball combo. Like the great postseason pitchers, he seems able to raise his game in October. "He doesn't try to do anything different," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said during the NLCS. "What I love about these guys is everybody sees them every fifth day. I get to watch them every day and what they do behind the scenes. All our starters, they work harder than anybody to get ready for that fifth day, and I think that's a testament to how good they are and what they want to do and what it means to them to win a championship."

George Springer: Speaking of Springer, he dominated the 2017 World Series for the Astros, winning MVP honors as he hit .379 with five home runs and three doubles. His career postseason numbers are almost identical to Altuve's: .267/.348/.545 with 13 home runs in 176 at-bats. He's hitting just .152/.235/.283 this postseason, however. Which might mean he's due.

Feel-good storyline to watch: Ryan Zimmerman was the Nationals' first draft pick back in 2005, and he reached the majors later that season. He was once a terrific defensive third baseman and all-around player, but shoulder issues eventually forced him to move to first base, and he has battled injuries for several years now. He was an underrated star in those bad early Nationals seasons and is now the wily old veteran. He's "Mr. National," and with his contract expiring, these are probably the final games of his career.

The biggest question for the Astros: Rookie Yordan Alvarez had the third-highest OPS in the majors this season among players with at least 300 plate appearances, trailing only that of Christian Yelich and Mike Trout. His first taste of the postseason has been a huge struggle, as he's hitting .171/.227/.244 with no home runs, one RBI and 19 strikeouts in 11 games. The Astros reached the World Series despite hitting just .208/.287/.358 so far in the postseason. They need the big rook to get untracked.

The biggest question for the Nationals: The bullpen. The Nationals had the worst bullpen ERA by a playoff team since World War II. Other than one Corbin blowup against the Dodgers, however, the pen has been pretty solid this postseason. Still, Martinez can comfortably rely upon just three relievers: closer Daniel Hudson, lefty Sean Doolittle and Tanner Rainey, who throws 100 and has pitched his way into a setup role. Those three have combined to allow four runs and 10 hits with 15 strikeouts in 17 innings in the playoffs.

Whom to root for if you're neutral: If you like to see greatness rewarded, you're rooting for the Astros to win that second title and earn rightful recognition as one of the best teams ever. Or maybe you like to see different fan bases rewarded and thus want to see the Nationals win their first title. Or maybe the Astros rub you the wrong way, with Alex Bregman's cockiness, the charges of sign stealing against them the past couple of postseasons, closer Roberto Osuna's arrest for domestic violence when he played for the Blue Jays or that air of "we're smarter than everyone else" that they exude. Maybe you're an old fan of the Montreal Expos, and a small piece of your heart for some reason remains with the franchise. Or maybe you love Bregman's cockiness and Cole's dominance and Greinke's off-speed stuff and Trea Turner's speed and Anthony Rendon's artistry with the bat and Juan Soto's prowess at such a young age and Scherzer's intensity -- and all you want is seven more games.

The pick: Astros in six. I had Astros over Nationals back in March. Not about to change it now.

Katie Boulter says she has made a complete recovery from a stress fracture of the back, and now feels "no pain whatsoever".

Boulter was Britain's number two when she was injured playing for her country against Kazakhstan in a Fed Cup tie in April.

The 23-year-old has not played since.

But now, six months on, she is preparing to return to the tour in either France or Thailand in the week of 4 November.

"I have no pain whatsoever - which is amazing," Boulter told BBC Sport.

"I don't feel anything at all on any shot, so I'm in a very good place at the moment. I don't think there's going to be any problem with it whatsoever going forward."

Boulter had started the year strongly by reaching the second round of the Australian Open, where she impressed her opponent, 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka.

She then won five of the six singles rubbers she played as Britain returned to the Fed Cup World Group for the first time in 26 years.

Boulter thinks watching on as her friends played Wimbledon was the lowest point.

She also missed the US Open and the French Open, and says she has "absolutely no regrets" about travelling to Roland Garros to pull out on site.

That entitled her to half of the first-round prize money of 46,000 euros.

"I had every intention to play," she said.

'No resentment towards Fed Cup'

After winning all four of her matches in Bath in February, as Britain won their Europe/Africa zonal event, Boulter secured the winning point in the World Group play-off with Kazakhstan.

Having lost dramatically to Yulia Putintseva on the opening day in London, she recovered from a set and a break down to beat Zarina Diyas.

Boulter's back was an issue all weekend, and on the Sunday she frequently put a hot water bottle down the back of her skirt to ease the pain at change of ends.

Reform of the Fed Cup meant the tie was always likely to be academic, but Boulter harbours no ill-feelings.

"No, absolutely not," she replied.

"I think what we did that weekend was an achievement in itself. And that weekend is something I am going to have in my memory bank for the rest of my life.

"It was my choice to go and play that match. So I think it was just a coincidence that it happened to be a Fed Cup match that I got injured."

The long and slow road back

Boulter initially thought she may be out for just a couple of weeks. Then five, then 10... and then 20.

"It's been extremely difficult," she said.

"I'm a tennis player. I want to be on the court, I want to be competing. Yes, it's been difficult, but I think it's going to make me stronger, and a better person and player next year.

"I think one of the lowest moments for me would have been watching everyone play at Wimbledon. It's something that's pretty close to the heart."

But if every cloud has a silver lining, then for Boulter it was the chance to work on her physique.

She often spent five hours a day in the gym, attempting to strengthen her body for the years ahead.

"One of my biggest goals has always been to gain weight and get stronger, and be able to compete for longer," she continued.

"That's always been an issue for me. I have spent a lot of time quite sick, so to actually be feeling strong and like I can get through weeks of training makes it a lot easier for me."

In 2015, Boulter contracted a virus which left her feeling extremely tired, and for much of the last few years has not been able to train flat out.

Another benefit of this enforced break was the chance to have her tonsils removed. It might have been "really painful", but the hope is she will be less prone to infection in future.

'No regrets' about French Open withdrawal

Soon after Boulter's stress fracture was diagnosed, sources indicated she would have to miss the entire clay-court season.

So it came as a big surprise when her name appeared in the draw for the French Open.

The following morning Boulter travelled to Roland Garros, and later in the day it was announced she had withdrawn because of injury.

By pulling out on site, she was able to share the first-round prize money of 46,000 euros (£40,640) with the player who replaced her in the main draw. The rule was introduced to encourage those who are not quite sure of their fitness to make way for a player with no such doubts.

"I gave myself the maximum amount of time that I could to play the tournament," Boulter explained.

"I work all year round to be in the massive tournaments, so I was going to do everything in my power to do it. So I don't have any regrets."

Did she think she had a chance of competing when she boarded the train to Paris?

"I think it's difficult, you know. I was advised by the medical staff in the LTA, and I was also advised by the medical staff with the WTA when I got there.

"So I had every intention to play, and I did everything in my power that I could possibly do to be on the court."

Looking to the future

Boulter's first tournament back will be at an ITF World Tennis Tour event with just $25,000 (£19,362) of prize money.

"I'm actually quite excited because I'm a competitor," she said.

"I love grafting. It's kind of who I am. I've got to do it all over again and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it, I think, just being back on court and healthy again.

"I'm itching to travel again. My normal schedule is 30 weeks of the year away, and I've had six months at home."

The 23-year-old hopes to play a few events before the year is out, and is then targeting a return to Grand Slam tennis at January's Australian Open. Boulter will be able to enter under a protected ranking of 85 - if players are out for more than six months, they are able to use the ranking they had when they got injured.

In February she hopes to compete for her country once again as Great Britain travel to Slovakia in the Fed Cup. The tie will determine which country qualifies for April's inaugural 12-team Finals in Budapest.

"I'm going to be pretty smart with what I do from now on," she said in conclusion.

"I've learnt a lot from that weekend, on and off the court, so I'm definitely looking forward to putting that vest on again, and getting out there and playing for my country."

Andy Murray said he would reassess his goals after a "surprise" win at the European Open, and joked that he needed to get back on tour to stop his family growing too large.

The Scot, 32, had hip surgery in January and won his first title in two years in Antwerp on Sunday.

He is now likely to take a break until next month's Davis Cup finals while he waits for the birth of his third child.

"I need to now start talking more about my future," he said.

"I am certainly a lot more optimistic."

The three-time Grand Slam champion beat Stan Wawrinka 3-6 6-4 6-4 to win his 46th career singles title in only his seventh singles tournament since returning from a hip resurfacing operation.

He joked: "I'll have three kids under four years old. When I've been off the tour my family has got bigger so I need to get back on the road so we don't get out of control!

"I'm excited for the third kid. My wife's been a huge support for getting me back on the court and making me fight to keep playing."

Victory in Antwerp saw Murray's ranking climb 116 places to 127.

After breaking down in tears following the win, he added: "I don't know why you get emotional about certain things or the reason for why it comes. Everyone is different.

"It was because the past few years have been hard for me, and tennis is something that I love doing and today was unexpected and yeah, there's lots of reasons for me to be emotional today.

"My hip is fine. There's no pain there anymore, which is amazing. I guess there shouldn't be because it's metal - there's no pain receptors or anything in the metal.

"It allows me to compete like that and enjoy what it is that I'm doing."

Andy Murray will represent Great Britain for the first time since 2016 after being named in the squad for next month's inaugural Davis Cup finals.

Captain Leon Smith has named Dan Evans, plus doubles pair Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski, in his initial team with a fifth player still to be decided.

Kyle Edmund, who has lost his past seven tour matches, is not included.

Britain, who won the Davis Cup in 2015, face the Netherlands and Kazakhstan in the group stage on 20 and 21 November.

Former British number one Edmund, who has dropped to 75th in the ATP rankings, looks likely to battle with Cameron Norrie for the fifth place in the team.

"We are in a good position with improved strength and depth in our team and will be naming the fifth player in the next couple of weeks," Smith said.

"Dan is playing some of the best tennis of his career and firmly deserves his place back inside the world's top 50.

"It's been absolutely fantastic to see Andy back competing again, headlined by his incredible win in Antwerp.

"Jamie and Neal have been gaining much momentum as a team with impressive semi-final runs at Cincinnati, US Open, Beijing and Shanghai."

Britain were given a wildcard for the revamped event, which sees 18 nations compete across six groups in Madrid.

The group winners - as well as the two second-placed teams with the best records - progress to the quarter-finals, with the semi-finals and final taking place on 23 and 24 November.

Matches will consist of two singles and one doubles rubber, all played over three sets on a hard court at the Caja Magica.

The 25-year, £2.15bn revamp of the Davis Cup is funded by an investment group led by Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique's Kosmos company.

Analysis

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent

So the door remains open for Kyle Edmund, who has been the British number one for most of Andy Murray's absence from the tour.

Leon Smith still has plenty of time before deciding upon his fifth and final member of the squad.

Edmund's confidence is as low as his ranking, but he does at least have an opportunity in Vienna this week, and then Paris next week, to remind the captain of his many talents.

Cameron Norrie - currently 17 places higher than Edmund - is another handy option.

What does seem certain is that Murray will be in the team as a singles player: a sign of just how far he has come in such a short period of time.

It has been seven years since Gabriel Landeskog was named captain of the Colorado Avalanche. He was 19 years, 286 days old, which made him the league's youngest captain at the time. Since then, the Swedish-born left wing has done a lot of growing, and he has seen a lot of change: three head coaches, two general managers and more teammates than he can count.

When those changes happen, it's on the captain to smooth the transition and figure out the formula for the right chemistry. That was true when Landeskog first wore the "C," and it was true this summer, when the Avalanche added Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and others in a depth-building offseason.

"You want to make them feel comfortable as fast as possible. You send a couple of text messages. Let them know where the good restaurants are," he said. "The new guys are awesome. We really enjoy them."

What's not to enjoy? Colorado is off to a 7-0-1 start. The Avalanche have the league's top offense, at 4.38 goals per game. They've defeated Stanley Cup contenders such as the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning. After making the playoffs in two straight seasons under head coach Jared Bednar and advancing to the second round last postseason, the Avalanche were viewed as a team on a championship path, to the point that they had the third-best odds to win the Cup this preseason, according to Caesars sportsbook.

So far, Colorado has met the hype. Can the Avs keep it up? We spoke with Landeskog about how they can, his incredible line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, and other hockey topics. But first, we leave the ice for the greens:

ESPN: As one of the team's golf aficionados, please tell us the best and worst golfers on the Avalanche.

Gabriel Landeskog: I mean, even though he's taken a lot of lessons, I'd have to give it to Nate [MacKinnon]. If you had asked me five years ago, I wouldn't have said Nate. But he's a real good golfer. He's got a beautiful swing and some really good putts around the greens as well. He's been a lot of fun to play with and to see him become a constant mid-70s golfer.

ESPN: And the worst?

Landeskog: You could pick one of the Russian guys probably. [Nikita] Zadorov doesn't play a lot of golf, but he likes to get out and have fun with it. So I'd have to pick him.

ESPN: You mentioned MacKinnon taking lessons. I've seen you throw shade at him a bit for this. Does it break some kind of hockey player golfer code?

Landeskog: [laughs] Once you have a swing coach and you see your swing coach once a week ... you know, we play golf as a hobby. We don't play it as a "job." So I don't know: If I was to take lessons, I'd probably keep it on the down low and not let people know. But it's all good. To be honest, I'm just jealous of his swing.

ESPN: From 2011 to 2017, you appeared in seven playoff games. Given where the team is now, does that feel like a century ago?

Landeskog: Yeah. Now, after making the playoffs, getting a taste of it, I can't imagine not making them again. You don't realize what you've been missing out on until you've been there. We did get there in 2013-14, lost to Minnesota in Game 7 at home. And then you always expect you're going to be there and get a kick at the can every time, but you realize pretty fast that it's not like that, that it's pretty hard making it. It's not a guarantee. You gotta earn it. And that's what you're trying to do.

ESPN: How did you keep the faith during that time and through all of those changes with the organization: coaches, GMs, the whole thing?

Landeskog: That's just kind of in my nature. I try to see the positives in everything. But I also try to do my part, stay in my lane and help the team any way I can. Focus on my job, first and foremost, and hope that other people are going to take care of theirs. But for me, I'm a positive guy. That's how I'm going to live my life.

ESPN: Is it good or bad to have everyone hyping you to the moon at the start of the season?

Landeskog: To be honest with you, I don't think we put much effort into thinking about if it's good or bad. We've been told that we wouldn't make the playoffs in the past, and it didn't change our outlook or our goals for the season. Now just because people have us being a team up at the top, it doesn't make a difference for our expectations. We block out the noise from the outside. We focus on our thing, which is to get better throughout the season and win that last game of the year. But I guess it's good. It's fun.

ESPN: As you've gotten older, what part of your game do you think has improved the most?

Landeskog: I wasn't as strong on the puck coming into the league as I am now -- or as I'd like to be, as I still have a lot of work left. It was a lot of one-and-done scoring chances when I first entered the league. I wasn't able to control the puck in the offensive zone. I feel like I've gotten better at it and everything. When you start feeling like you're the player you want to be and stop developing, you're going to start declining. You have to constantly work on it.

ESPN: MacKinnon can't give you "strong on the puck" lessons?

Landeskog: [laughs] He's a step above a lot of guys. You can take a lot of inspiration from a guy like that, but once I start trying to stick handle like he does, I think I'm in trouble.

ESPN: Lines are a funny thing in the NHL. They get hot for a little bit, and then they fade, and then they aren't a line anymore. Are you shocked by how long and how well you, Nathan and Mikko have played together?

Landeskog: I think we were put together on Nov. 1, 2017. So we're coming up on two full years. We've played a lot of hockey together. Some guys you play with, you have that chemistry, right from the get-go. Other guys, you have to develop it. We had it right away, and once you start finding that success, you realize what you gotta do to produce offense in this league and be reliable defensively.

We're three guys that each bring something different to the table, but we all work hard. They're two guys I really enjoy playing with.

ESPN: Have you guys become closer away from the rink during that time?

Landeskog: I'd say so. We're all close to the same age. A lot of common interests. When we were put together, it was Mikko's second year. That's a guy that's come out of his shell. He's an awesome guy to be around. Nate and I knew each other for years and played together quite a bit. Finding success on the ice helps those relationships off the ice.

ESPN: Off-ice question: What was the last show you binged on the road?

Landeskog: I'm into "Billions" right now. It's really good. Just started Season 3. I was late to the party on that one, but it's an awesome show, and that's what I'm crushing right now.

ESPN: Are you Team Bobby Axelrod, or are you Team Chuck Rhodes?

Landeskog: Team Axe, all the way. Maybe there's a point where I should be Team Chuck, but I'm not there yet. I'll keep you posted.

ESPN: We spoke to Mika Zibanejad recently on our podcast, and he talked about his support of the Swedish women's national team and their battle for equality. This was a campaign you supported in the summer. What does that mean to you?

Landeskog: It's common sense, right? For me, it's important that they get the same foundation to stand on to be successful. They're not asking for much. They're asking to be respected and to be taken care of. We're proud of our women's team, and we're proud of our hockey federation. It's an easy one to stand behind, for sure.

ESPN: This is part of a larger trend with you, in the sense that you've been active with local charities in the NHL. You're a star player. You've got some influence. How important is it for you to use that for charities and other efforts?

Landeskog: I've always seen it as a duty to give back when you're a public figure and you've got the platform that we have. It's a privilege to be in the position that we're in. I was able to bring an anti-bullying campaign [called "Friends Colorado"] from Sweden to Denver. I've been doing some work with local hockey teams and talking with players and coaches and parents about how to treat one another. That's important now, with social media and all the cyberbullying going on. You have to be educated.

My wife, Melissa, has worked with [local charity] A Precious Child and has helped them out with leveling the playing field for families in need. I dive into all kinds of different things. The Kroenke family set the standard for giving back to the community, and the players have a duty to do our part.

On Thursday night in Montreal, Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek blocked a shot from Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber on the penalty kill. Ek hobbled a bit, but stayed on the ice. He then blocked another shot by Weber. Again, Ek was rattled. He stayed on the ice. And then Ek blocked his third consecutive shot by Weber -- all in one shift. Ek finally was able to limp off, getting a big embrace from teammate Matt Dumba on the bench.

Michael Russo of The Athletic reported that the 22-year-old Ek left the arena in a boot; he'll be out for a week or two.

Five nights earlier, in Colorado, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson blocked a shot from Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson. Hjalmarsson, one of the Yotes' best blueliners, broke his fibula and is expected to miss about three months; this is a major blow for a team that led the league in man games lost last season with a freakish number of injuries.

After the Hjalmarsson news, I saw this tweet from former NHL goaltender Corey Hirsch, which got me thinking.

So many broken bones are a result of the new sticks and shot blocking. Everyone shoots hard now. Years ago, there used to only be a few guys on each team with wooden or aluminum sticks that had bombs for shots, now it's everybody. It's actually getting really dangerous. https://t.co/vM9PXzH2bW

— Corey Hirsch (@CoreyHirsch) October 14, 2019

So this week, I decided to ask guys about it.

"Obviously sticks are a lot better," Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner said. "When I got into the league a while ago [in 2010], you always had that group of guys on the team that had good shots. Then you had a group of guys on the team that didn't have good shots. These days everyone shoots well. There's no more divide."

Lehner also mentioned the speed of the game as a contributing factor. "Ten years ago, you could always get into decent blocking position where you could be as protected as possible," Lehner said. "But now, it's hard to time it right. You only have like a half-second, and the shots that are coming are much harder."

Said Hjalmarsson's teammate, Nick Schmaltz: "It's scary to think how fast that puck is coming at you, whether there's going to be more injuries or whatnot. There's always a risk of injury in our game, and hopefully it's not increased that much. You see these young kids and everyone who comes up they all can shoot the puck so hard and you wonder if that's going to keep getting harder and harder."

Since StatsPass began tracking blocked shots in 2006-07, there has been an increase from 13.5 shots blocked per game to 14.3. Yes, it's just one more blocked shot per game, but over the course of the season, it's an extra 3,000-plus blocked shots (taking into account that the league has added an extra team in that span, too). And this isn't just a thing for, say, a John Tortorella-coached team. Across the league, every single NHL team blocked at least 1,000 shots in each of the past two seasons (2017-18 to 2018-19). It's a crucial part of the game.

"I mean in the sport, everything is getting better," Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom said. "Skates are getting lighter, sticks have way more technology and people are learning to shoot harder. I don't really have a good solution because it happens all the time, it's part of the game. People are wearing shot blockers because it's too painful to take a shot on the foot."

Klefbom has tried shot blockers, and said "sometimes it helps, but honestly it doesn't really matter because slapshots are so hard."

"I think people's priorities are to be very mobile and feel very light on the ice instead of having more pads," Klefbom said. "The shot blockers feel heavier and make it a little harder to turn. I think as players we would rather risk getting injured because we want to be as light as possible, and as mobile as we can on the ice. We know in this game, you're going to get hurt once in a while."

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews wanted to add a little more nuance to the discussion. "I think there's less time than ever to wind up and take a full-on slapshot," Toews said. "I think you see D-men take wrist shots pretty much. Brent Burns gets 10 shots a game, but all he does is take wrist shots."

Toews also mentioned that while sticks are better, the league now has an abundance of smaller players. "They can really whip it because of the [newer] shafts," Toews said. "It takes less effort to get the puck off, but it doesn't necessarily mean the shots are harder."

Jump ahead:
Emptying the notebook | What we liked this week
Three stars of the week | Biggest games coming up

Emptying the notebook

Even without Hjalmarsson, the Coyotes seem to be finding their stride. One player Arizona was happy to welcome back this season was Nick Schmaltz, who has eight points in seven games. He's on a very productive line alongside Christian Dvorak -- the two reunited after being linemates as teenagers for the Chicago Mission, which is pretty cool. Schmaltz had surgery on his meniscus in January, and said he felt it took him a few games this October to get back into a groove. "It was tough to jump right back into game situations and get back to speed," Schmaltz said. "Just the timing and making those plays I'm used to making, little passes or reading the play and knowing where to be. But once I got my confidence back, I was making more plays and felt much more comfortable with the puck."

There wasn't one specific incident that led to Schmaltz's knee injury. It was a gradual thing that got "worse and worse" every game since he was traded from the Blackhawks to the Coyotes. Then, in the final game he played last season, Schmaltz found himself unable to push off his injured leg, and that's when he knew he needed to get it addressed. He figured it was better to get the surgery over with, so he could have a full summer of recovery. The Coyotes had so much faith in Schmaltz, they signed the 23-year-old to a seven-year, $40.95 million extension -- despite his playing only 17 games with the club. After the surgery, Schmaltz spent six weeks in Philadelphia rehabbing before returning to Arizona. "It was tough for the trainers. They had guys that were playing to deal with, so I knew it would be tough to get one-on-one time with them," Schmaltz said. "So it was best for me to get away, focus on the day-by-day of getting better. It was tough mentally to be away from the team, but looking back it helped me with my recovery."

As for the Yotes ... Schmaltz knows it's a big year for the team. "We came into this year as an organization and this is one of the better teams we've had in -- I don't know how long, but a long time," he said. "So there are a little higher expectations on us. We were so close last year, and you wonder what might have happened if we didn't have all those injuries. A lot of them were the same injuries, which is crazy. Four or five guys had knee injuries. So hopefully, knock on wood, we can stay healthy. We don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves, but we do know it's important to build off last year."

This tweet from Seattle director of hockey administration Alex Mandrycky got a lot of attention:

Do you want to help build the NHL Seattle team that will take the ice in 2021? We are looking for great candidates to join our Hockey Operations department. Read more about what we're looking for and apply. ⬇

— Alexandra Mandrycky (@AlexMandrycky) October 18, 2019

Seattle hired its first round of pro scouts -- five in total -- last month. GM Ron Francis and assistant GM Ricky Olczyk will also be part of the Seattle scouting staff this season, in order to keep costs down (they've been seen in press boxes across the league, already getting to work). After the scouting hires, Francis told me the organization would likely "hire a few people in analytics soon." Those are the jobs Mandrycky posted about. After that, the majority of the hockey ops hires for the NHL's newest team will happen next summer.

As far as scouting, Francis said Seattle will be covering major events this season, including the under-17 tournament in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Swift Current, Saskatchewan; the under-20 Four Nations Cup in Helsinki; the IIHF World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic; the under-18 championships in Plymouth, Michigan; and the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland.

The Oilers have stormed off to a 7-1-0 start, and when they were in Chicago last week (following win No. 5) I asked defenseman Oscar Klefbom what feels different about the team this season. "It's still early, that's probably a more relevant question to ask me after two straight losses," the Swedish defenseman said. "We're winning, everyone is in a good mood, and all that. But I do have a really good feeling we have a really good mix of guys, a good group of guys. I have had a lot of different GMs, a lot of different coaches. And with these two -- Ken Holland and Dave Tippett -- it feels like we've got something really good going on."

I followed up and asked how important he thinks continuity will be for his group. "It's everything," Klefbom said. "If you're going to have success, you need some stability. That's probably why consistent teams in the playoffs -- Chicago, L.A., Pittsburgh, that always had the playoffs in years past -- they had that same core group, that same philosophy and they were so consistent every year, you knew they were going to make the playoffs every year. We want to bring that culture here and it's very, very important to have that chemistry and still be patient if it's not working out. Because it takes some time to just get it working."

I would be remiss to write about the Oilers and not mention Connor McDavid. The center is blazing through the early stretch -- including some holy-cow-he's-doing-this-all-by-himself goals -- with 17 points in eight games. Nearly three weeks into the season, he had outscored more than a dozen NHL teams. Leon Draisaitl, once again, is impressive as well, with 16 points. Edmonton knows if the Oilers are going to sustain this success, they'll need contributions from more than just those two. "That's one thing we've talked about since day one as a team: It's not just two players," coach Dave Tippett said in Chicago. "Those two players, they have an impact on the game, they're top, top players, but everybody has to have an impact on the game." That's why the Oilers feel great about the early offensive surge from James Neal. But there needs to be more. McDavid, Draisaitl and Neal have combined for 20 goals. The rest of the team? 10.

Mika Zibanejad is enjoying a terrific start to the season on the Rangers' revamped top line, with four goals and six assists in his first five games. The Rangers' roster is a diverse one, and Zibanejad (a native Swede) is flanked by two native Russian speakers: Artemi Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich. Zibanejad was on the ESPN on Ice podcast this week and discussed how he communicates with his linemates.

"[Panarin's] English is better than people think," Zibanejad said. "I just have to speak a little slower. It's the same thing when I play with Pavel Buchnevich, who is actually on our line as well right now. That helps a lot. If there's something [Panarin] doesn't understand, I'll just tell Buchy that, and he'll translate it to Russian. A lot of the talks we have, I feel like we are on the same page. Sometimes the communication and the ways of communication -- some of the messages that come across get mixed up a little bit. In terms of that, it's easy to write on the board, it's easy to show on the iPad or video or whatever. And it's not that bad. It's obviously easier when you have another Russian on your side that can help out."

Three Stars of the Week

John Carlson, D, Washington Capitals

Carlson is making a nice Norris Trophy case early on this season. He currently leads the league in points (18) -- which includes seven points this past week -- while holding down the fort as the Caps' No. 1 defenseman.

Carter Hutton, G, Buffalo Sabres

Who would have thought the Sabres would be leading the Atlantic Division, and who would have thought that Carter Hutton would be leading the league in goals-against average (1.39) and save percentage (.953)? A 47-save shutout against the Kings this week was a highlight.

David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

In three games this week, the Bruins winger had seven goals and two assists. That includes his four-goal outburst against the (surprisingly good) Anaheim Ducks.

What we liked this past week

By now, you must have seen this adorable video of Washington's Mite of the Nite (the courageous, but also a little shy tarantula and Ovech-a-kin enthusiast) Jackson Friedlander. Remember, this hockey column is not all about winning; it's also about having fun. So here it is again:

This might have been the greatest Mite of the Nite interview EVER. @AAAMidAtlantic pic.twitter.com/fKE8rmu7OU

— Washington ? Capitals (@Capitals) October 17, 2019

I'm a sucker for any player interaction with young fan. It was really cool of Devan Dubnyk -- on the road, no less -- to let this kid try on his helmet:

Good guy of the day: Devan Dubnyk, for letting this young Canadiens fan try on his mask. #Wild #NHL pic.twitter.com/AyIEmttGNq

— Sports Interaction (@SIASport) October 18, 2019

Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete scored his first NHL goal in a 4-0 win against the Wild. It was Mete's 127th game, the longest goal drought to start a career in Canadiens franchise history. The reaction from teammates was fantastic. As was Mete afterward. According to Sportsnet's Eric Engels, reporters asked Mete why he was cracking up on the bench when the goal was being announced.

Mete: "I think it was [Shea Weber] who said, 'Atta boy, Meat; medium-cheese, f---ing right,' because I shot it mid-net."

The video we have all been waiting for ... Cale Makar makes a kale smoothie (by the way, it's great how Makar leans into all of the Avalanche's social media asks, and seems to be having fun doing it)

A highly-anticipated game on #WednesdayNightHockey tonight means the most highly-anticipated video is here...

Cale's Corner: Making a Kale Smoothie#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/yfwzcUSSHX

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 16, 2019

After a disappointing end to last season, the Predators needed more offense, and boy are they getting it. Through Sunday, they're second in the league with 4.00 goals per game -- a big uptick from last season, when they finished near the bottom of the league, with 2.88.

It's early, but this is the leading candidate for goal of the year. It even left John Tortorella shaking his head.

Good lord Sonny Milano out here taking no prisoners pic.twitter.com/QQI9oJK3YE

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) October 17, 2019

What we didn't like this past week

I hate this for Senators fans. This rebuild must suck:

Five former Senators lead their respective teams in scoring: Silfverberg, Hoffman, Duchene, Zibanejad and Stone.

— Graeme Nichols (@6thSens) October 17, 2019

Washington defenseman Michal Kempny got his first game action on Friday night after seven months, after dealing with a hamstring injury. In his first game back, I didn't like this high hit from Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux. Caps defenseman Radko Gudas fought Lemieux as retaliation, and Kempny later scored in the game. Lemieux is a player who often toes the line, and I think he crossed it here.

Opposing players often comment that they don't exactly look forward to traveling to Winnipeg for road games -- unless they are from Manitoba -- but they do enjoy the loud atmosphere at the arena. It's a terrific place to play. This week, the Jets' 312-game home sellout streak came to an end. This column in the Winnipeg Sun blames skyrocketing ticket costs as a big factor.

We knew the Central Division was going to be a grinder this season, but it's been especially tough for two teams: the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars. The Wild's struggles are somewhat expected, and wading through this season (the first under GM Bill Guerin) might not be the worst thing if they're able to get a high draft pick and spend the summer shuffling the roster.

The Stars, however, were expected to take steps forward after making the playoffs last season. Instead, Dallas is off to the worst start in franchise history. Goaltending has regressed a bit, and for a roster with plenty of star power in the forward group, goals have been hard to come by (they're the only team in the league averaging less than two per game). They look old and slow. After a 4-2 loss to the Penguins this week, goalie Anton Khudobin vented his frustrations. "What else can you say? We just got another L, [expletive] I don't know. We just have to keep going and do something." If this keeps up, expect seismic changes in Dallas.

Games of the week

Tuesday, Oct. 22: Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins (ESPN+)

It's a matchup of the first round of last season's playoffs ... and the season before that ... and yeah, these two teams have history. The Bruins are looking like the class of the East. The Maple Leafs are trying to power through two weeks without John Tavares, who has a broken finger.

Wednesday, Oct. 23: Pittsburgh Penguins at Tampa Bay Lightning

How on earth are the Penguins pulling this off -- looking like a decent team, despite a rash of injuries, including to Evgeni Malkin? It's not all Sidney Crosby, though he has been pretty fantastic. Pittsburgh gets a strong test with the Lightning, who are still struggling to look like their 2018-19 dominant selves.

Sunday, Oct. 27: San Jose Sharks at Ottawa Senators (ESPN+)

Hey, there's probably very few weeks we'll put the Senators as a game of the week. But it's Erik Karlsson visiting his former team, so this one is worth the watch.

Quote of the week

"I feel like Kylie Jenner right now."

-- Islanders center Mathew Barzal, in an interview on an MSG telecast, with a fat lip after taking a few high sticks to the face.