Cousins' Arrival in Atlanta Gives Falcons Edge in NFC South

In today’s newsletter…

• Leading Off: Formula 1 gets dramatic

• MLB: Pitching around Aaron Judge

• NFC South: Falcons (-130) favored in improved division

• More MLB: Tobias Myers pitching long for Brewers

• News: Potential NFL training camp holdouts

If you didn’t watch yesterday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, you missed more Formula 1 drama than there is in most Drive to Survive episodes. McLaren was dominant, and it was clear early on that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri would finish 1-2 for the team from Woking. But new to dealing with the pressure of leading races, McLaren bungled its pit stop strategy. The mistake didn’t cost them the race, but it resulted in Norris getting ahead of Piastri, who had been leading from Lap 1.

Though it’s probably not obvious to those who don’t follow F1, it’s a team sport — and McLaren decided that Piastri should get the win since he was ahead before the team’s error. McLaren told Norris to let his teammate pass, but Norris replied that Piastri should catch him. With less than 10 laps to go and no end to the standoff in sight, most sportsbooks had Norris as the betting favorite, but just barely. As Norris built up a six-second lead and his team was pleading with him to let his teammate pass but getting no answer, FanDuel dropped Piastri to +115. I jumped at that movement.

On Lap 68 of 70, Norris dramatically slowed down and let the 23-year-old Piastri pass to get his first F1 win. Moral of the story: F1 is a team sport and drivers are going to listen to their bosses (well, except Max Verstappen).

In today’s newsletter, Chris has our final pre-NFL preseason coverage with a look at the NFC South. Craig is tracking low-scoring games in Cleveland and Arlington. And Jack is looking for Blake Snell to continue his great form for the Giants.

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