Newton, Panther Roll Past Dolphins on MNF
The Carolina Panthers' offense may have somehow gotten even better since trading away Kelvin Benjamin to the Buffalo Bills. Cam Newton led his team to their third straight win, as he threw four touchdown passes in a 45-21 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Newton recorded 254 yards through the air, helping his team set a franchise record with 548 total yards. Newton found Devin Funchess twice in the end zone, and Christian McCaffrey and Ed Dickson once apiece on the night. Funchess finished the night with five catches for 92 yards. Jonathan Stewart chipped in with 110 yards on the ground, which was his first 100-yard game since last December, as Carolina had 30 first downs and were 11-for-14 on third downs. The win improves Newton's personal record to 5-1 on Monday nights, as he has 15 touchdowns and four interceptions in those contests. The quarterback ran for 95 yards of his own for the Panthers, who had 294 of their yards come from the rushing attack. The Panthers remain a half game back in the NFC South behind the New Orleans Saints at 7-3, and they will hit the road next week against the New York Jets. The Dolphins fell to 4-5 and will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
Judge, Bellinger Bring Home ROY Honors
The Major League Baseball awards got off to an unsurprising start in the best way, as the Rookie of the Year awards went to exactly who everyone thought they would in both leagues. First, Aaron Judge became the first Yankee to win the award since Derek Jeter in 1996, doing so unanimously after his remarkable season. Judge led the American League with 52 home runs to lead the Yankees to the postseason, as he is also a finalist for the AL MVP award. He is looking to join Ichiro in 2001 and Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. He beat out Andrew Benintendi of the Boston Red Sox and Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles for the Rookie of the Year, and did so by breaking Mark McGuire's rookie home run record of 49 set in 1987, while also leading the AL with 128 RBIs and 127 walks. In the National League, Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers had the same unanimous result as the Rookie of the Year. The first baseman beat out Josh Bell of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Paul Dejong of the St. Louis Cardinals. Bellinger's win gives the Dodgers their baseball-record 18th rookie of the year, and second straight after Corey Seager earned the honors last season. The 21-year-old set the NL rookie record with 39 home runs this season, which was second behind only Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins. Bellinger led the Dodgers with 97 RBIs and 87 runs scored, helping his team come within a game of a World Series title against the Houston Astros. This is the first season that both Rookie of the Year winners were unanimous since 1997, when Nomar Garciapparra and Scott Rolen did so. Both Judge's and Bellinger's power and athleticism has them projected to be atop the award pictures for years to come.
LeBron, Cavs Rally Past Knicks
It was no surprise that Enes Kanter and LeBron James got into a verbal exchange during Monday night's game, as those two have traded jabs at each other for a while now. What was a bit of a surprise was the New York Knicks' 23-point lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Although, the Cavs put up 43 points in the fourth quarter to rally past the Knicks for a 104-101 victroy, bringing their record back to .500 at 7-7. James had 23 points and 12 assists, while Kyle Korver scored 19 of his 21 points in the final 12 minutes in the Cavs' chippy victory. LeBron did receive a technical foul in the first quarter during an altercation with Kanter and Frank Ntilikina. Kanter would then take a shot at James by calling him "king or queen" after the game, which the star would just laugh off. Cleveland made eight three-pointers in the fourth quarter, which was more than the Knicks' baskets in the fourth. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 28 points and 10 rebounds and Kanter added 20 points and 16 rebounds in the loss. Kristaps Porzingis was held to 20 points on 7-for-21 shooting, by far is worst performance of the season. The Cavs will look to get back above .500 with a win in Charlotte against the Hornets on Wednesday, while the Knicks play host the Utah Jazz that same night.
The Carolina Panthers' offense may have somehow gotten even better since trading away Kelvin Benjamin to the Buffalo Bills. Cam Newton led his team to their third straight win, as he threw four touchdown passes in a 45-21 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Newton recorded 254 yards through the air, helping his team set a franchise record with 548 total yards. Newton found Devin Funchess twice in the end zone, and Christian McCaffrey and Ed Dickson once apiece on the night. Funchess finished the night with five catches for 92 yards. Jonathan Stewart chipped in with 110 yards on the ground, which was his first 100-yard game since last December, as Carolina had 30 first downs and were 11-for-14 on third downs. The win improves Newton's personal record to 5-1 on Monday nights, as he has 15 touchdowns and four interceptions in those contests. The quarterback ran for 95 yards of his own for the Panthers, who had 294 of their yards come from the rushing attack. The Panthers remain a half game back in the NFC South behind the New Orleans Saints at 7-3, and they will hit the road next week against the New York Jets. The Dolphins fell to 4-5 and will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
Judge, Bellinger Bring Home ROY Honors
The Major League Baseball awards got off to an unsurprising start in the best way, as the Rookie of the Year awards went to exactly who everyone thought they would in both leagues. First, Aaron Judge became the first Yankee to win the award since Derek Jeter in 1996, doing so unanimously after his remarkable season. Judge led the American League with 52 home runs to lead the Yankees to the postseason, as he is also a finalist for the AL MVP award. He is looking to join Ichiro in 2001 and Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. He beat out Andrew Benintendi of the Boston Red Sox and Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles for the Rookie of the Year, and did so by breaking Mark McGuire's rookie home run record of 49 set in 1987, while also leading the AL with 128 RBIs and 127 walks. In the National League, Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers had the same unanimous result as the Rookie of the Year. The first baseman beat out Josh Bell of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Paul Dejong of the St. Louis Cardinals. Bellinger's win gives the Dodgers their baseball-record 18th rookie of the year, and second straight after Corey Seager earned the honors last season. The 21-year-old set the NL rookie record with 39 home runs this season, which was second behind only Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins. Bellinger led the Dodgers with 97 RBIs and 87 runs scored, helping his team come within a game of a World Series title against the Houston Astros. This is the first season that both Rookie of the Year winners were unanimous since 1997, when Nomar Garciapparra and Scott Rolen did so. Both Judge's and Bellinger's power and athleticism has them projected to be atop the award pictures for years to come.
LeBron, Cavs Rally Past Knicks
It was no surprise that Enes Kanter and LeBron James got into a verbal exchange during Monday night's game, as those two have traded jabs at each other for a while now. What was a bit of a surprise was the New York Knicks' 23-point lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Although, the Cavs put up 43 points in the fourth quarter to rally past the Knicks for a 104-101 victroy, bringing their record back to .500 at 7-7. James had 23 points and 12 assists, while Kyle Korver scored 19 of his 21 points in the final 12 minutes in the Cavs' chippy victory. LeBron did receive a technical foul in the first quarter during an altercation with Kanter and Frank Ntilikina. Kanter would then take a shot at James by calling him "king or queen" after the game, which the star would just laugh off. Cleveland made eight three-pointers in the fourth quarter, which was more than the Knicks' baskets in the fourth. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 28 points and 10 rebounds and Kanter added 20 points and 16 rebounds in the loss. Kristaps Porzingis was held to 20 points on 7-for-21 shooting, by far is worst performance of the season. The Cavs will look to get back above .500 with a win in Charlotte against the Hornets on Wednesday, while the Knicks play host the Utah Jazz that same night.