Welcome back everyone, I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. It’s back to the work week and another edition of the “Weekend Recap.” This weekend gave us some exciting finishes from all corners of the sports world, so let’s not waste too much time and dive right into the recap.

MLB Postseason Drama

The MLB is getting the top spot this week with the postseason drama reaching a fever pitch. On the AL side of the playoffs, Cleveland defended home-field and took a 2-0 lead over Toronto. Don’t look now, but the Indians still haven’t lost a game in this postseason. Manager Terry Francona is pushing all of the right buttons right now with this Indians team.

Do I think this series is over? No, far from it actually. This series shifts back to Toronto for the next three games and you would have to imagine that the Blue Jays’ lineup comes alive in front of the home crowd. There will be a ton of pressure on Toronto to right the ship quickly though, having missed the opportunity to steal home-field advantage from Cleveland in this series. Tonight will be a must win for Toronto with Marcus Stroman taking the mound for the Jays against Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer.

On to the NLCS now, which has produced one of the moments of the entire postseason. Miguel Montero’s pinch hit grand slam in Game 1 vaulted the Cubs to a huge comeback victory. The momentum from that win was short lived though due in large part to the performance of Clayton Kershaw in Game 2.

Kershaw has been one of, if not the, most important players for the Dodgers this postseason. He is putting his previous postseason struggles behind him and it could not have come at a better time for LA. The Dodgers stole home-field advantage from the best team in baseball, just has the series heads out west for Games 3-5.

It may even be time to hit the panic button in Chicago. Something is seriously wrong with this vaunted lineup that includes two MVP candidates. One of them is in a serious slump right now and if the Cubs want to finally put an end to the World Series drought he needs to get out of this funk.

I’m talking of course about first baseman Anthony Rizzo. He was one of the pillars that the Cubs are built around and his struggles are shocking to say the least. Rizzo is currently batting .043 (1-for-23) with six strikeouts. With a slump this bad, I’m a little shocked teams are still pitching to Kris Bryant and just going after Rizzo. I doubt that Rizzo will stay quiet for much longer, but they’ll need his bat desperately to get past the Dodgers.

The Cubs will have the opportunity to get back ahead of the Dodgers in Game 3 with Jake Arrieta on the mound tomorrow night.

Alabama Dominates Tennessee, While Ohio State Escapes In OT

The #1 and #2 teams in the country both had much different experiences on the road this week. Alabama took Tennessee to the woodshed in a huge road test for the Tide, once again reminding everyone that this is the best team in the country. A 49-10 victory will do that, and honestly the game wasn’t even that close. Now the Tide still aren’t out of the woods in the SEC. Next week brings a monster showdown against #6 Texas A&M, however the Tide will be at home for this one, which is a huge difference maker there.

Ohio State got quite the battle from Wisconsin on Saturday night. The Buckeyes needed overtime to finally get past a tough Badgers team, 30-23. J.T. Barrett and company erased a ten-point halftime deficit and got a late field goal to force the overtime. From there, the better team reigned supreme. Ohio State, like Alabama, still has some major hurdles to clear before the end of the year. Games against #8 Nebraska and #3 Michigan are still down the line for the Buckeyes.

In other NCAA news from the weekend, the ACC had a very rough weekend. Clemson barely squeaked by NC State in overtime while Miami and Virginia Tech were both upset on Saturday. #4 Clemson still has the big win against #7 Louisville and the undefeated record to fall back on, but these close calls are going to catch up to the Tigers at some point. Miami lost to a pretty good North Carolina team at home, but that makes two straight losses for the Hurricanes after reaching the top-ten in the polls. Virginia Tech won’t get the same benefit of the doubt, as the road loss to Syracuse will definitely go down as a bad loss.

The ACC looked pretty safe for a playoff bid for its champion. But with the strong teams in the Big 10 and SEC plus an undefeated West Virginia in the Big 12, that bid no longer looks as good. With the first playoff rankings just a few weeks away, it will be very interesting to see how the committee is looking at this situation.

Monday Night Football Preview

Week 6 of the NFL concludes tonight in the desert with the Jets and Cardinals squaring off. This is a big game for both sides as each could desperately use a win to creep back into playoff relevance.

The big story here is the return of Carson Palmer for the Cardinals after missing last week due to a concussion. He is the key piece to this puzzle for Arizona on offense since David Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald basically carried Drew Stanton last week. The Jets front-seven does pose an interesting test here for Arizona, but Palmer should be able to attack this secondary if the line can hold up.

The struggles for the Jets got even worse before the weekend with the announcement that wide receiver Eric Decker will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. That is a massive hit to an offense that has already had its issues so far this season. Possibly at the worst time too, considering the Cardinals have one of the most talented secondaries in the league. Things are not looking good for the Jets, and I think this early season slide continues. I’ll take Arizona (-7) tonight on Monday Night Football.

I’ll be back tomorrow to recap a wild Week 6 in the NFL. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.