This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Goooood morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us this morning here at FTW. We so greatly appreciate you.
Can we talk about the Atlanta Falcons really quickly? No, we actually need to talk about the Atlanta Falcons. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team embarrass itself like this over a mediocre quarterback.
OK. Maybe that’s a bit harsh. Kirk Cousins is better than mediocre. Probably. We’ll see how this goes after the torn Achilles. Like I said earlier this week, I’m rooting for the guy.
But enough is enough with this Kirko Frost foolishness, man.
If you haven’t seen, the Falcons have posted about their new quarterback on socials all week. You’d think maybe they could just sent tweets about his stats or something with, like, QB1 as the caption. That’s what normal teams do.
Instead, the Falcons have tweeted embarrassing things like this.
Kirk Chainz ⛓️ pic.twitter.com/rvLRaVAshB
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) March 14, 2024
Oh, and they also brought this back.
Woke up drippin’ pic.twitter.com/wrA2oiDbib
Look, man. Maybe this was funny the first time back in Minnesota. Perhaps you could even get away with just one of those tweets above. Maybe calling him “Kirko” every once in a while would be cool.
But, unfortunately, we’ve fully crossed over into cringe territory. You flew a little too close to the sun, Atlanta. The good, fun thing is now over𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁. Fans are pushing back against it and rightfully so.
I love it when culture is shared. It’s a cool thing. It was fun When the Vikings players put their chains on Cousins last season. You know why? Because it was the players doing it. It was an organic thing. Was it a little weird? I mean, yeah. Cousins was out here looking like B-Rad from the Bu.
But what the Falcons are doing right now? Nah, man. That’s different. This ain’t players going this. It’s a team social account leaning into a bit that’s played out. They’re turning this into a brand for the guy and that’s just not him. It never has been.
Enough. Please. Thank you.
Da Bears are buildin’
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
I know it’s been easy to talk badly about the Bears for a while now. The franchise has had historic quarterback woes for decades at this point.
But whoever plays QB in Chicago next year is going to have a pretty solid roster around him. Chicago picked up Keenan Allen in a salary dump trade from the Chargers on Thursday and it only cost them a 4th-round pick.
READ MORE: Trade grades for the deal between the Chargers and Bears
This move should give Chicago one of the best wide receiver tandems in the league. Our Robert Zeglinski (the Bearsiest of Bears fans) gave his take here:
“Allen will now pair up with D.J. Moore and inarguably form one of the finer 1-2 receiver duos in the NFL. Both are so good, so consistent, and so proficient that there probably won’t be a clear hierarchy. Chicago hasn’t had this great of a receiver duo since Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, and Moore and Allen together are probably better. To have not one but two walking matchup problems on the outside is a dream come true for a potential rookie quarterback. There might have been a healthier and stronger situation for a No. 1 overall selection in the past, but I doubt it.”
So you’ve got two amazing receivers, a Pro-Bowl caliber left tackle in Darnell Wright, a solid back in D’Andre Swift, and two top 10 draft picks coming up on the table in April, including No. 1 overall.
I’m not saying the Bears will be good again next year. But, man. They’d better be.
The 76ers are play-in bound
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
Two months ago, if you’d told me the 76ers would be a play-in team, I probably wouldn’t have believed you considering how good the team was playing.
Yet, here we are. The 76ers woke up this morning as the 7th seed in the East after losing a tough one to the Bucks on Thursday.
Philly has lost three of its last 10 games overall and 17 of its last 24 games since Joel Embiid scored 70 points against the Spurs in January. Embiid has missed a ton of games during that time with his torn meniscus. Obviously, you knew the Sixers wouldn’t be as good. But this bad? Yikes, man.
The 76ers big man is reportedly on track to return soon during the first couple of weeks in April, according to NBC Philly’s John Clark. Let’s just hope it’s not too late by then.
Photo Friday: Minding their bees-ness
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Bees completely taking over the skycam at the Indian Wells open. This swarm got so lively that they had to temporarily suspend play to get rid of them.
READ MORE: Bees took over the Indian Wells Open
Quick hits: The Big Dance is almost here … The biggest steals of free agency … and more
— We’ve got a running list of teams that have punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament on both the men’s side and the women’s side. Check it out.
— Here’s Robert Zeglinski with 7 underrated signings from NFL free agency that could be the biggest steals of the year.
— Mary Clarke has more on this awesome ball-and-strike challenge system that was used at an MLB prospect game.
— Here’s Prince Grimes on the billion dollars Americans are expected to bet on March Madness this year. Sheesh, people.
— Shohei Ohtani revealed who his wife is before the Dodgers’ trip to South Korea and fans were thrilled about it. Andrew Joseph has more.
— This is a physics-defying dunk in all the wrong ways. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you. Let’s do it all again on Monday. Until then! Peace. We out.
-Sykes ✌️
