WE are nearing the end of October, which normally means there is a vast array of sporting disciplines on offer, just enough to keep every sporting fan’s head on a swivel, and JustBet’s sportsbook offerings at its seasonal swell. European football is providing top-flight entertainment, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) final series is nicely poised, the National Football League (NFL) is offering unparalleled action week after week, the National Basketball Association (NBA) season tipped off earlier this week with three exciting encounters and, the Major League Baseball (MLB) “World Series” starts this evening, between two teams who have never won the trophy, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers, who were last in the championship series in 1982.

In the NBA, the league deviated from tradition, where the defending champion played the first game, and started the season on Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, with a contest between the Eastern Conference’s top two seeds from last year, the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. The game, with an unusual midday start time, was an exciting encounter where, despite 38 points from Paul George (12-of-21 shooting, 7-of-12 from the arc, and five steals) in his first game for Boston, the Pistons emerged 121-113 winners, after erasing a 22-point third-quarter deficit, which included a 23-0 run.

The defending champion New York Knicks went through the pomp and pageantry of raising the championship banner and passing out championship rings, before the start of the season’s second game, but they failed to open the season with a win, falling to the new-look Philadelphia 76ers, 100-106. The successful debut of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown for Philadelphia created a fruitful situation for Tyrese Maxey, who finished with a game-high 28 points, on 9-of-19. Neither team shot well, but it was a good look at what to expect between these two teams this season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs closed the opening day with a rematch of the Western Conference Finals, with the Thunder displaying their off-season preparations for Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama, who was held to 1-of-13 from the field, in the 104-116 loss. Of course, Wemby was effective at the other end of the court and his 13 rebounds plus six blocks kept the score line respectable. Two-time and reigning Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, finished with 32 points, after a slow start, and was instrumental in the Thunders’ 22-3 first-half run, leading to a 65-44 half-time lead, that was not relinquished at any point in the second half.

In the NFL, Week 6 saw four teams blow double-digit leads (10 points or more) to lose their games last weekend, including the Baltimore Ravens, who let a 10-0 lead slip before losing to the Cleveland Browns 10-13, and the New York Giants, who jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, before allowing 34 unanswered points to fall 27-34 to the New Orleans Saints. The result for the Giants set an unenviable mark for any division ever in the NFL. The National Football Conference (NFC) East, which has the Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, after last weekend, became the first division in NFL history with consecutive winless weeks, with four-plus games played. The division’s four teams have combined for a 0-6-2 record since Week 5 and somehow, despite their failings, the Cowboys are still the JustBet favourite to win the division, signaling the combined weakness of the group.

That said, the most intriguing NFL matchup this weekend sees the Cowboys (2-4) travelling to Philadelphia on Monday night, to try and shoot down the Eagles (2-4), whose starting quarterback (Jalen Hurts) has been reportedly ruled out for the rest of the season due to concerning blood clots. Without Hurts, this will not be the classic NFC East rivalry game that fans have come to expect, especially with Tanner McKee under center for Philadelphia, with one start to his name. However, it will still be the Cowboys vs. Eagles, in a division that is up for grabs, and filled with its fair share of intriguing storylines.

This rivalry has been played 134 times (including four postseason games), with Philadelphia winning 59 and Dallas winning 75. However, Dallas enters this weekend as heavy JustBet favourites, not because of the historic record, but due to Philadelphia’s quarterback situation. In Week 5, the Cowboys lost 24-16 at home on “Thursday Night Football” to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Jalon Daniels, an undrafted rookie quarterback, making his second career start. In Week 6, their offense looked flat in a 23-13 road loss at Lambeau Field to the Green Bay Packers on “Sunday Night Football”. They enter this weekend with the NFL’s 30th-ranked total defense (382.5 yards allowed per game), last-place run defence (149.8 yards allowed per game), and last-place third-down defence (54.7 per cent third-down conversion rate allowed). They have not stopped anyone all season and that is where Philadelphia has a chance in this Week 7 match-up on Monday.

The two-time defending NFC East division champion Eagles have had better performances than the Cowboys over the last two weeks, but lost nonetheless, against opponents with winning records: A 19-17 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars despite kicking a go-ahead field goal with eight seconds left, and a 25-14 home defeat to the Carolina Panthers. The home team is still in with a chance if McKee can play well enough and minimise turnovers, while Saquon Barkley navigates his way through a defence that has already allowed 899 rushing yards this season, and has the worst third-down defence in the league. It may not turn out to be a classic divisional matchup but that is the same reason why the encounter is so intriguing.

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