Is there hope for Jets after Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles tear? Plus, revealing our top 100 NBA players

rewrite this content material with complete period and stay HTML tags This is a piece of writing model of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, without equal information to each day in sports activities. You can signal as much as get it for your inbox each weekday morning right here. Please test the opt-in field to recognize that you simply want to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep a watch in your inbox. Sorry! There used to be an error processing your subscription. 😁 Good morning to everybody however particularly … Getty Images THE WNBA PLAYOFF TEAMS The WNBA playoffs are right here! The eight-team box is ready with two best-of-three first spherical collection — Aces-Sky (preview right here) and Sun- Lynx (preview right here) — tipping off this night. The protecting champions are atop Jack Maloney’s playoff Power Rankings after a robust end. Maloney: “The Aces’ late-August slump is officially behind them. They closed the season on a four-game winning streak to secure the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. That figures to be a significant edge, as they went 19-1 and boasted an astonishing plus-21.9 net rating in Vegas this summer. The Aces are favorites to win it all, and will begin their quest to become the first team to repeat since the 2001 and 2002 Sparks with what should be an easy matchup against the Sky.”Jack has Las Vegas sweeping Chicago and envisions a sweep in Sun-Lynx, too. Jack additionally published his authentic awards poll, and in a ancient MVP race, he defined his choice to vote for Breanna Stewart over A’ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas. This used to be an awesome breakdown that includes movie, stats, players’ ideas and extra. You identify it, Jack regarded as it, as any excellent voter will have to do. There’s not anything higher than postseason basketball. Buckle up. 👍 Honorable mentions 🤕 And now not this sort of excellent morning for … Getty Images AARON RODGERS AND THE NEW YORK JETS Tuesday’s MRI showed the Jets’ worst fears: Aaron Rodgers is finished for the season with an entire Achilles tendon tear suffered on simply his fourth snap together with his new workforce. It’s simply as tricky to imagine now because it used to be when the harm took place. And given their terrible quarterback historical past, it is value questioning: Are the Jets cursed? No, we aren’t kidding. Cody Benjamin tested 8 causes it could be true. Rodgers’ one cross try this season, through the way in which, would be the fewest thrown through a Week 1 beginning quarterback since a minimum of 1950. On one hand, there’s years of proof the franchise is cursed. On the opposite hand, writes Will Brinson, that is the unlucky chance of wading into the growing old famous person quarterback marketplace. Brinson: “Rodgers coming to the Jets was ~the~ storyline of this offseason. Clearly the Jets defense is capable of keeping them in any possible AFC matchup. They beat the Bills without Rodgers. … The Jets took a massive swing this offseason. It was a no-brainer, shoving all in with a Hall of Fame quarterback to try and win a Super Bowl. … But there was always a lot more risk in the trade than most people were willing to acknowledge. Unfortunately that risk is now reality.”This is a intestine punch now not simply for this yr however for Rodgers’ long term, too. It’s a few of the maximum impactful accidents in NFL historical past, writes Bryan DeArdo, and taking into account Rodgers turns 40 in December, Garrett Podell displays on Rodgers’ legacy thus far. I don’t believe that is rather the tip, however torn Achilles are devastating at any age, and much more so within the Rodgers now unearths himself. Blame it on dangers or curses or the turf — which players referred to as out, forcing the NFL to reply — or anything. The chilly fact is that it is now Zach Wilson’s workforce — Robert Saleh stated so himself — and that is the reason a near-impossible tablet to swallow, even for probably the most positive fan. For now, Jeff Kerr writes, the Jets are merely in “survival mode.”  😬 Not so honorable mentions 🏀 NBA Top 100 scores: LeBron James out of top 10 Kim O’Reilly, CBS Sports Everyone loves scores, and you’ll be able to to find them in all places. This one is the most efficient. Our NBA professionals launched their top 100 players for the approaching season. Here’s the top 5: Nikola Jokic (remaining yr: 4): “If you run into any time-travelers from the 1980s, you can tell them that the NBA’s best player is a cross between Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who makes one-legged, wrong-footed fadeaways.”Giannis Antetokounmpo (1): “The Greek Freak has lost his spot atop this list, but that can be attributed to Nikola Jokic’s brilliance and an ill-timed injury rather than any fault of his own.”Stephen Curry (2): “Curry remains at the height of his powers, and if you’re sleeping on the Warriors, go take a look at the net rating of their starters last year.”Luka Doncic (5): “At just 24 years old, Doncic already has as many first-team All-NBA selections as Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and recent Hall of Fame inductee Dirk Nowitzki.”Kevin Durant (3): “The man is basically an unstoppable offensive force while simultaneously having a significant defensive impact.”Spoiler alert: Even while you take a look at the top 10, LeBron James is not on it. James is twelfth on our listing, however Bill Reiter may not rely out James proving that flawed. Reiter: “This is a sport where success is defined by what you do on the court, and if anyone is capable of turning back time and questioning their placement on a Top 100 list, it’s LeBron James. … We have LeBron James as the 12th best player heading into this NBA season because we think his hold on the game is over. But sports — and its greatest ever — often have a way of making such proclamations seem absurdly ahead of schedule.”We even have greatest risers and fallers, and Magic enthusiasts, you’ll be able to like who is primary. 🏈 NFL Power Rankings: Who’s emerging, falling after Week 1? Kim O’Reilly, CBS Sports One week within the books manner Pete Prisco has new NFL Power Rankings … and a brand new No. 1. Prisco: “1. 49ers — The San Francisco 49ers, my pick to win it all, have moved up to the top spot after they blew out the Steelers on the road. The 49ers are the most complete team in the league, and it showed on Sunday. … The defense looked like it had 13 guys on the field against the Steelers. The offense showed up too. Brock Purdy is just fine.”(*100*) out the remainder of Prisco’s Power Rankings. The Bills and Bengals had been the most important fallers, each dropping 9 spots, whilst the Rams’ spectacular Week 1 win over the Seahawks earned them an 11-spot soar. I’m now not rather certain I’m able to have the 2021 champs that prime, but it surely used to be a perfect reminder that Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford can nonetheless make magic. You can learn up on Pete’s reasoning for all 32 squads right here. To put a bow on Week 1, we have now … ⚾ Five MLB Wild Card Series we wish to see Getty Images MLB’s rule adjustments this season had been extensively applauded. Games had been shorter and extra action-packed. Who does not like that? But with the postseason looming, I understand the league additionally hit the nail at the head remaining yr increasing from 10 playoff groups to twelve. That manner extra playoff races — we have now thrillers in each leagues — and extra playoff baseball, which is solely the most efficient. Watching a 162-game season being contracted down to 2 or 3 video games is unbelievable; each transfer is hyper-analyzed, and each win is enormous. With that during thoughts, Matt Snyder checked out 5 wild-card matchups we wish to see maximum, together with this doable AL fight: Snyder: “Astros vs. Orioles — At this point, it’s likely this Astros-Orioles series wouldn’t happen until the ALDS or, more likely, ALCS. It is still possible to happen in the Wild Card Series, though. … Orioles architect Mike Elias came from the Astros and followed a very similar blueprint in building the O’s in the Astros mold. It’s also a team with very, very little playoff experience for a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2016 taking on a team that hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2016 and who has also won four pennants and two World Series titles since.”Youthful exuberance as opposed to grizzled enjoy is at all times considered one of my favourite headlines. The Orioles have arrived early, however they may not know any higher. I’d love to look…