SPORTS LINE
The Brewers
The 2026 Milwaukee Brewers stand alone as the best regular season team in franchise history. On Sunday, the Brewers set themselves apart as they won their 98th game of the season and set a new franchise record for wins in a campaign in the process. The 2026 Brewers are special. A lot of this team has been in Milwaukee for a while. A good chunk of the roster set the franchise wins record a year ago in 2025 and has now just broken the mark again.
But there’s something about this club that arguably makes them even more dangerous than last year’s club. They eclipsed their previous standard of 97 wins set just one year ago by putting ace Jacob Misiorowski on ice after three innings, trotting out seven pitchers and still shutting out the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 on Sunday, Sept. 20 at Camden Yards. It helps to have the likely NL Cy Young Award winner in Jacob Misiorowski, who has put together the best season for a starter in Milwaukee history.
On Sunday, he took the mound and tossed three shutout innings in a shortened outing. This season, he has a league-best 1.86 ERA in 29 starts with 247 strikeouts to his name. Last year he was good. This year he has been otherworldly. That certainly helps. There’s also a different vibe around Milwaukee. The Brewers are National League Central champions for the fourth consecutive season, the arrow ticking up from 92 to 93 to 97 wins to however many more they can corral this week.
Packers.
The Green Bay Packers pulled off a 20-17 overtime win over the New York Jets on Sunday, improving to 1-1 on the season. The victory wasn’t pretty by any means, but it snapped a six-game losing streak dating back to last year and gave quarterback Jordan Love a chance to demonstrate the kind of resilience Green Bay has lacked in close games. Green Bay ground out a comeback win, down 17-7 in the fourth quarter. The game felt especially out of reach in the third, when the injuries and mental mistakes simply would not stop coming.
We should give the players credit for finding a way to win that game. Green Bay also dealt with injuries to wide receiver Jayden Reed and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele early in the game, adding another layer of difficulty to an already challenging afternoon. Reed was taken from MetLife Stadium to a nearby hospital and did not travel home with the team after its 20-17 overtime win. He was injured on the Packers’ second play from scrimmage after he caught a 4-yard pass in the left flat. New York’s Demario Davis turned Reed sideways with a tackle attempt, and then fellow Jets defender Kingsley Enagbare caught Reed in the back/neck area with a glancing blow.
The game was delayed for several minutes while medical personnel from both teams attended to Reed. He was eventually placed on a backboard and had a strap over his helmet to stabilize his head and neck before he was placed on the cart and driven off the field. The Packers announced during the game that Reed had a neck injury, and then after the game, coach Matt LaFleur said the receiver was able to move all of his extremities. Love finished the game 16-of-29 for 145 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 91.9 passer rating. The stat line won’t jump off the page, and the weather in New York played a factor.
But what mattered most was how the Packers responded after falling behind 17-7, scoring 13 unanswered points and kicking a field goal in overtime to seal it. Love took care of the football on Sunday, and his demeanor after the game reflected a quarterback who understands the weight of his position without letting it consume him. The offensive performance wasn’t spectacular, but the Packers avoided a 0-2 start and showed they can finish a game on the right side of the scoreboard when things get difficult.
