Excellent play by Jared Goff, as well as mentions of Pete Rose and Dikembe Mutombo

I can only assume that Jared Goff read yesterday’s bulletin, full of complimentary words about Sam Darnold, and got angry. Last night, in the Lions’ thrilling 42-29 victory over the Seahawks 3-1, Goff finished the game 18 of 18 for 292 yards and two touchdowns. And he had a receiving touchdown.

It was truly a perfect night. Goff is the first quarterback in league history to complete 100 percent on more than 10 attempts… and somehow he didn’t get the match ball. Two takeaways from the game:

• After several shaky performances to start the season, the Lions reminded everyone of their status as an NFC contender. They are 3-1 and have perhaps the best offense in the conference, making one of the best defenses in the league, Seattle coach Mike Macdonald, look like an amateur.
• Possible concern: Detroit’s defensewhich Geno Smith and the Seahawks crushed for most of the evening. Seattle finished with 516 yards rushing. Was it a good Seahawks offense or a bad Lions defense? Probably a bit of both, but I’m leaning towards the former. It was just a great match between two really good teams.

I mean, just look at this play by Seattle’s Kenneth Walker III:

I’m obsessed with this 😂

📺: #SEAvsDET on ABC
📱: Keep streaming #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/bGPRWmbUSr

— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2024

Elsewhere: The Titans picked up their first win of the year after an ugly game against the Dolphins, who look like the worst NFL team since Tua Tagovailoa left. Tennessee backup Mason Rudolph looked sharp after Will Levis left with an injury.

The whole concept of last night’s doubleheader was kind of ridiculous before the pitch was thrown. After two games? This might have been the funniest day of the season. Quick:

• The first game was the most important as the winner secured a playoff spot and could rest the players for the second game without penalty. Both teams quickly scored a total of 12 runs in the last two innings. Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer in the ninth sealed New York’s victory and the wild card. It was an instant classic. Reward: game tonight at 5:30 p.m. ET in Milwaukee.
• Many thought Atlanta would start ace Chris Sale in Game 2, but he was a late starter due to back spasms. A loss for the Braves meant elimination, while a win secured the final wild card spot. Yet Atlanta persisted , just as they’ve done all season despite injuries, adversity, and one hell of a hurricane: a 3-0 win clinched the final spot in the MLB playoffs, and they’ll head to San Diego tonight to play.

This creates a strange image of players from rival teams celebrating together on the same pitch. Strange, but appropriate for this day

See the full MLB playoff bracket here. We go further:

Weird Visuals: Weird, weird, weird

Jerome Miron/Getty Images

Yesterday, the NBA media days began, which are largely just an opportunity for us to see players from new teams in new uniforms. As you can see above, Dallas has the most shocking image of the day: Klay Thompson in a Mavericks jersey.

I’ll add this to my coffee table book idea, which is simply to print out photos of legendary athletes wearing jerseys we don’t usually associate them with. Emmitt Smith, Arizona Cardinal?

In all seriousness, Thompson is actually helping a Dallas team that believes a good scorer can clinch the title this season.

---

Watch, listen and play

📺 MLB: Tigers at Astros
2:30 p.m. EST on ABC
We have full board playoff games tonight, but I’d rather watch presumptive AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal make their postseason debut in a difficult atmosphere.

📺 WNBA: Aces in the Wild
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN 2
It’s unfair to the Sun-Lynx series, but a rematch of last year’s finals between the league’s biggest stars is too attractive here.

Stream games like this Here and get tickets Here.

🎧 Enabled “Winding Up”, our crew – Jayson Stark, Doug Glanville and Ken Rosenthal – made their World Series picks. Listen here.

Try today Connections: Beta version of the sports version. No errors for me. I turned on the connection.

Selecting your heart rate

What Damon Sayles said made me feel happy and old at the same time: Tony Hawk’s professional skateboarder The video game celebrated its 25th anniversary this weekend. Damon caught up with the skating legend talk about his surprising legacy.

I was thinking about Zach Harper’s analysis What Cities of Charles Anthony must do winning in New York was great. I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around this trade.

We missed it yesterday, but I think our coverage of the Madrid derby in between Real Madrid AND Atletico Madrid worth reading today. Absolute chaos everywhere.

Chad Graff says what we’re all thinking: It’s time for Patriots start Drake Maye.

The Chicago heaven are in a dangerous situation after the firing of a popular head coach that includes one of the league’s new young stars, Angel Reese. Sabreena Merchant he wonders if they can attract the best coach they need.

Most clicked yesterday in the newsletter: : Tom Brady’s response to Baker Mayfield.

Most read yesterday on the website: Chris Vannini ranking of all 134 FBS teams after week 5

📫 Do you love Pulse? Also check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.