The Cincinnati Bengals had their backs against the wall on Monday night.

They couldn’t afford to fall to 0-3, especially after losing back-to-back divisional games to start the season.

That’s why star QB Joe Burrow wanted to give it a go and take the field, regardless of his condition and despite having re-aggravated his calf injury in Week 2’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Following the win, Burrow admitted that there was a risk of further injury, but the risk of falling to 0-3 was even bigger, so he wanted to be out there and do whatever his team needed him to do to get the job done, per Ian Rapoport.

#Bengals QB Joe Burrow: “There is risk to go out there and potentially re-injure it, but there's also a risk to go out there and be 0-3…”

No setbacks for Burrow. More from last night: https://t.co/OPnNo7nomp

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 26, 2023

That says a lot about the kind of leader and competitor he is, and fortunately, there were no setbacks.

Nonetheless, he’s still far from 100%, and people are concerned that it could be just a matter of time before he suffers a way more serious injury if he doesn’t take some time off to heal and restore his body.

The Bengals caught a break, with the Ravens losing to the Indianapolis Colts.

They’re now 1-2, while the rest of their division is 2-1.

They now have a date with the Tennessee Titans on deck, and they should end up on top of that matchup, even with Burrow at less than 100%.

The Bengals also started last season 0-2 before winning 12 of their last 14 matchups, so they obviously have plenty of confidence in their ability to do it again this season.

For that, however, they’ll need their quarterback to be healthy.

The post Joe Burrow Sends Confident Message After First Win Of The Season appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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Week 3 was a ho-hum victory for the Kansas City Chiefs as they blew out the Chicago Bears to move to 2-1 during the 2023 NFL season.

The Chiefs were in firm control of the game from the start as they bottled up Justin Fields and the offense did its thing with Patrick Mahomes finding soft spots in the Bears defense.

One player who had a big day was Travis Kelce, as the tight end looked much more like himself since injuring his knee prior to Week 1.

Kelce was a thorn in Chicago’s side all afternoon as he routinely got open and gave Mahomes an easy target to throw to.

However, the All-Pro tight end was also highly motivated as he had Taylor Swift up in a box suite watching the game with his family.

The highly-publicized couple made waves on social media and players like Micah Parsons couldn’t help but poke fun at the situation via his Twitter account.

My brothers!! One women can change your life!!! Start shooting!! https://t.co/U5BT794BN7

— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) September 25, 2023

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Parsons’ reaction is hilarious as it seems that Kelce inherited a lot of Swift’s fans over the weekend.

Kelce has previously talked about how he went to go see Swift in concert, but was unable to meet her in person.

However, he apparently was undeterred and the two eventually linked up at some point given her presence at the Chiefs game.

While the Kelce-Swift rumors have all but been confirmed, Kansas City has more important things to worry about over the course of the season.

For example, they’ll be busy preparing for another game this weekend against the New York Jets.

The post Micah Parsons Has Perfect Reaction To Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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For months, San Diego Padres left-hander Blake Snell has been competing with Justin Steele, Spencer Strider, Zac Gallen, Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb and others to see who wins the NL Cy Young award this season.

Snell, however, has been able to use his phenomenal bat-missing ability to really set himself apart in the Cy Young race.

On Monday, he probably sealed the deal with another brilliant, scoreless outing.

“Did Blake Snell cement the 2023 NL Cy Young award tonight? 6 IP | 0 R | 4 H | 2 BB | 7 K | 2.25 ERA,” MLB on FOX tweeted.

Did Blake Snell cement the 2023 NL Cy Young award tonight?

6 IP | 0 R | 4 H | 2 BB | 7 K | 2.25 ERA pic.twitter.com/g3SaQh36PG

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 26, 2023

The answer to that question is probably “yes” at this point.

Even if the Padres won’t go to the postseason, Snell has been a monster for them.

On Monday, he held the San Francisco Giants off the scoreboard for six frames in which he conceded just four hits and a couple of walks, with seven strikeouts.

His Padres lost because Webb was equally dominant for longer, but barring a huge surprise, Snell probably locked up his second Cy Young with the outing.

Over the course of the long 2023 season, he has a 2.25 ERA in 180 frames, with 14 wins and 234 strikeouts (a career-high).

The ERA is his best since he had a 1.89 mark in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays.

He won his first Cy Young award that year and is close to joining a group formed by Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer.

Those are the only pitchers in history to win the Cy Young award in both leagues.

The post Blake Snell Had Another Must-See Start Monday appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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