The Weekly Assist: 11/2 to 11/8

As Ferris Bueller might say: The world of sports moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around at least once a week, you could miss it.

Here we'll review what you might have missed in the past week all in one place. Why spend hours scrolling through Twitter to catch up on the news you want? We've already done that for you, so remember to check back every Monday to get your dose of weekly sports review.


NFL

Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans outlasted rookie QB Jake Luton and the Jaguars on Sunday 27-25. Both teams entered 1-6, but the Texans' record doesn't reflect how they've been playing of late. Watson is good enough to will his team to some wins down the stretch and he has developed great chemistry with wideout Will Fuller. J.J. Watt recorded his 100th career sack in this game, and only four players have reached that mark faster than Watt.

A new competitor has entered the arena in the fight for the NFC North. Minnesota are winners of their last two games, and as the Bears continue to slide, the Vikings could ride Dalvin Cook all the way to a wild card spot in the NFC. Cook was yet again fantastic on Sunday as he amassed 252 total yards and two touchdowns in a 34-20 win over the Lions.

Josh Allen won a showdown with fellow MVP candidate Russell Wilson on Sunday, throwing for 415 yards and three touchdowns and added another touchdown on the ground. Wilson was stumped by the Buffalo defense for much of the first half, and it wasn't until the second half did the Seahawks start to get anything going offensively. A 17 point fourth quarter by the Bills kept the game out of reach and serves as a statement win for the Bills and a career defining moment for Josh Allen.

The Steelers escaped with a win against the struggling Cowboys in Week 9. Thought to be a candidate for a blow out, instead we were treated to some good football between two of the league's most historic franchises. Dallas got some better play at the quarterback position from Garrett Gilbert, but it was the Cowboys' defense that impressed as they looked significantly better in this game than any other on the year.

The dedication to getting Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard involved in the offense seemed to be effective at both keeping the chains moving and dictating the pace of play. A strategy that should have been implemented from the outset of the season. The Cowboys brought a 10 point lead into the final quarter, but that lead was erased with the Steelers eventually winning the game 24-19.

The New Orleans Saints handed Tom Brady and his Buccaneers an embarrassing loss on Sunday night. The Bucs were excited to see what the offense looked like with Antonio Brown, making his debut and Chris Godwin coming back from injury. What they got was a huge plate of disappointment with a side of eight rushing yards, eight!

This is undoubtedly not how Tampa Bay envisioned this game going, but this isn't the first time this season they hit a bump in the road. They're still uber talented, but every opponent left on their schedule either has a winning record or is trending in the right direction of late including the Vikings and Falcons twice.

NASCAR

Chase Elliott became the NASCAR Cup Series champion on Sunday night becoming the third youngest driver to accomplish the feat at just 24 years old. His father, Bill Elliott, a NASCAR Hall of Famer and 1988 NASCAR champion was there to celebrate his son's greatest achievement.

Chase grew up around race tracks and the legends of the sport were "uncles" and mentors including Dale Earnhardt Sr., Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson. Being the son of one of the most popular drivers in his era has been both an advantage and a curse as the family name brings both attention and expectations.

Just a few weeks shy of his 25th birthday, Elliott now sits atop the sport that he was born to be a part of. It's often easy for young prodigies to overlook the steps necessary to get them where they are, but that's not the case for Elliott. After his win he referred to the team of people that helped him get to this point.

"I just think about all of the people who worked so hard to get me to this point today," Elliott continued, "I think about my family, all of the crew members who built all of those race cars for me, Rick Hendrick for hiring me. Jimmie Johnson, who ran his last race tonight, and Jeff Gordon, both of whom took me under their wings as teammates and mentors. There were a lot of people that supported me. Even when there were a lot of people who didn't."

UFC

At UFC Vegas 13 this past Saturday, 41 year old Glover Teixeira defeated Thiago Santos convincingly with a third round submission to end it. Santos rocked Teixeira a couple times throughout the fight but was unable to finish him, and Glover dominated the fight on the mat which allowed him the window to apply the fight winning chokehold.

Teixeira has now won his last five fights and now owns the record for most finishes and most submissions in UFC history by a light heavyweight. Jon Jones, who is currently believed to be making a transition up to the heavyweight division has defeated both Santos and Teixeira in the lightweight division but was impressed with Teixeira's performance at UFC Vegas 13.

Although it was previously believed that Israel Adesanya would move up to take on light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, but even the champ himself had a message for Teixeira following the Santos fight.

If the Adesanya and Blachowicz super fight falls through in the immediate future, it appears that Glover Teixeira would be next in line for another title shot due to his excellent recent form. When Dana White was asked about Teixeira calling for the title shot his response was simply, "He's not wrong."

Golf

Carlos Ortiz became the first Mexican player to win on the PGA Tour in 42 years on Sunday at the Houston Open. Ortiz held off Hideki Matsuyama and top ranked player in the world Dustin Johnson to take the final tournament before the Masters. Ortiz finished at 13 under and this victory qualifies him for the Masters tournament next year.

As for Johnson, he will go into this year's Masters tournament on a hot streak. He hasn't finished outside of the top six in his last six tournaments and has earned two wins and two runner-up finishes in that timeframe. That's bad news for the rest of the field, as the world's best golfer is playing his best golf right before the most important major on the schedule.

MLS

The field is set for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Eastern Conference had 10 teams qualify for postseason play, so they will have two play-in matches to determine the final seeding. The New England Revolution (8) will play the Montreal Impact (9) and Nashville SC (7) takes on Inter Miami CF (10). The winners will either face Philadelphia (1) or Toronto FC (2) with Philadelphia getting the lower-seeded play-in winner.

The rest of the field looks like this.

Eastern Conference

(1) Philadelphia Union vs lower-seeded play-in winner

(2) Toronto FC vs higher-seeded play-in winner

(3) Columbus Crew SC vs (6) New York Red Bulls

(4) Orlando City SC vs (5) NYCFC

Western Conference

(1) Sporting Kansas City vs (8) San Jose Earthquakes

(2) Seattle Sounders vs (7) LAFC

(3) Portland Timbers vs (6) FC Dallas

(4) Minnesota United vs (5) Colorado Rapids

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