It may only be Week 1, but it may be getting late early for the New York Giants in 2025.

Fresh off a blowout loss to the Washington Commanders – a third straight season opening defeat – the questions surrounding a quarterback change have already begun. Head coach Brian Daboll certainly didn’t help put out that fire after the game, sidestepping questions about Russell Wilson’s spot as the starting quarterback.

On Monday, he revealed that Wilson will be the team’s starter in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys.

‘Yes,’ Daboll said when asked if the intention was to start Wilson. ‘And after a game, it’s an emotional game. Tough game. Didn’t play particularly well, I would say collectively. …

‘I like to do it (make coaching decisions) with a clear head and watch the tape,’ Daboll continued. ‘Like I said yesterday, that game just doesn’t fall on Russell Wilson.’

Wilson was 17-of-37 passing for 168 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in his Giants debut. He also added eight carries for 44 rushing yards.

On Sunday, Daboll wouldn’t commit to starting Wilson going forward, which became a bigger story in the New York area after it was revealed that rookie Jaxson Dart is QB2 on the depth chart.

‘We’re talking about after every game. … I’ve got confidence in Russ,’ Daboll told reporters after the game. ‘We’ll go back, evaluate the tape. This game isn’t on Russell Wilson. It’s not on Russell Wilson. Let me make that clear. I have confidence in Russ. We have to do a better job all the way around.’

The Giants have been outscored 89-12 in their last three season openers, continuing their downward spiral in recent years.

Dart’s preseason performance gave Giants fans a reason to be optimistic about the future. Based on what they saw Sunday, those calls for the future to become the present will only grow louder.

The wind is hardly ever blowing in the Chicago Bears direction.

Founded in 1920, there has been plenty of losing in the Windy City – a franchise that has delivered only one Super Bowl in its history. And for a team that’s calling card has always been defense – see: 1985 Bears – it only makes sense that the offense is left behind.

As passing attacks light up the skies across the NFL landscape, only the Bears have continued to fall short in one category – passing yards.

They remain the one team in NFL history without a 4,000 yard passer to caller their own. The hope is that new head coach Ben Johnson is going to change that with Caleb Williams running the show on offense.

With just one playoff win since 2010, a better passing offense isn’t the only thing on fan’s wish list, but it’s a start. Here’s what to know about the Bears’ single season passing yards leaders.

Have the Bears ever had a 4,000 yard passer?

The Bears are the only team in the NFL to not have a 4,000 yard passer in franchise history.

Erik Kramer came the closest of any signal caller in Bears’ history, throwing for 3,838 yards in 1995. Jay Cutler posted three seasons with north of 3,500 passing yards, but also failed to hit that elusive number.

Williams is hoping to buck that trend in 2025 after throwing for 3,541 yards in his rookie season. Given the ineptitude of the Bears in 2024, the new-look coaching staff figures to put the young quarterback in a much better spot this time around – and for good reason.

Johnson’s offenses have shined in recent years as Jared Goff emerged in a way that few saw coming. With the new Bears’ head coach calling plays for the Lions over the last three seasons, Goff averaged over 4,547 yards in that span.

His offenses were built off strong offensive line play, a dominant rushing attack and the play action that follows. It’s nothing fancy but it’s certainly effective.

Williams only needs to average 235.2 passing yards per game to hit that mark for the first time in Bears history. With all the weapons at his disposal, it stands to reason that the second-year Bears quarterback is in prime position to deliver in 2025.

Bears most passing yards in a season

Kramer and Cutler headline the list of quarterbacks with the most passing yards in a season for the Bears. Williams etched his name onto the list in 2024, but hopes to headline it with a successful sophomore season in the Windy City:

Erik Kramer, 1995: 3,838
Jay Cutler, 2014: 3,812
Jay Cutler, 2009: 3,666
Jay Cutler, 2015: 3,659
Caleb Williams, 2024: 3,541

The Buffalo Bills overcame a 15-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 41-40.
A crucial fumble by Ravens running back Derrick Henry in the fourth quarter helped set up the Bills’ comeback.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen passed for 394 yards and two touchdowns, leading the game-winning drive.

ORCHARD PARK, NY – Instant classic.

That’s what happened at Highmark Stadium on Sunday night. It was one of those games that if you didn’t see it you would not believe it.

The Buffalo Bills trailed by 15 points with less than five minutes to play – and still won the darned thing. And boy did they ever.

Buffalo needed some crazy stuff to happen to rally back against a Baltimore Ravens outfit, hell-bent on revenge as their AFC divisional playoff setback on these grounds in January, seemed poised to run the home team out of its own building.

And crazy stuff happened to define the first 41-40 score in the NFL’s 106-year history.

Either crazy or divine intervention.

“Glory to God,” Bills coach Sean McDermott, a spiritual man – and maybe even more so now – surmised during his postgame revival, er, news conference. When it ended, McDermott could be seen pointing through the night sky to the heavens.

The Big Guy is a member of Bills Mafia? Who knew?

Then again, the way it all went down leaves us all wondering.

Derrick Henry bulldozed the Bills defense for 169 yards and two touchdowns, but fumbled – take a bow, Ed Oliver, for punching the football out – in crunch time to set up the Buffalo touchdown that made it a two-point game.

It’s no wonder that Henry apologized to his teammates after the game.

“I feel like I put the loss on me,” Henry explained in a somber visitor’s locker room.

Yes, classic games always come with heroes and clutch performers, and with usual safe bets having mishaps at the worst time. And they often come with some serious luck.

Before Henry’s fumble, Keon Coleman caught a 10-yard touchdown pass for the Bills on fourth down that deflected off tight end Dawson Knox, who reached for the pass while running a route in front of Coleman, who caught the pass as he slid across the back of the end zone.

It was that kind of drama.

“It ranks up there,” said Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy, pondering the wildest games he’s participated in during his 12-year NFL career. “But it sucks being on the opposite side.”

One man’s misery is another man’s glory.

“You’ve got to play the game for 60 minutes,” summed up Josh Allen, Buffalo’s MVP quarterback, who passed for 394 yards and two touchdowns – and nailed 32-and 25-yard completions on the final drive to set up Matt Prater’s 32-yard field goal as time expired.

Sixty minutes. Easy for Allen to say, true as it is.

Of course, the NFL loves it. The first Sunday night showcase game was filled with fireworks, highlights, suspense – and hey, postgame buzz that had nothing to do with anybody spitting on an opponent.

If you weren’t buying the 60-minute theme and turned off the TV as the game went deep into the night, you sure missed out. But you can’t be blamed. The Ravens seemed to have the game in the bag. After all, they didn’t punt until 6:25 remained in the third quarter.

And Lamar Jackson was in a special kind of zone himself. Jackson passed for 210 yards, ran for 70 and created three TDs. Jackson and Henry demonstrated just how lethal of a 1-2 punch they are during two sequences worth noting. Early in the second quarter, they combined for 48 yards and a TD with back-to-back long-distance jaunts. Then early in the fourth quarter they topped that, combining for 64 yards on alternating runs as Jackson scrambled for 19 yards to set up a 46-yard TD blast from Henry.

Classic stuff. Then a classic comeback to set off the farewell season at Highmark Stadium, with the Bills’ new digs under construction across the street.

For the fans who left in the fourth quarter, shame on them. The place was maybe a third-empty midway through the fourth quarter. You know it happens. Fans want to get an early jump on the traffic as the home team seems destined for a big L.

Those fans left without getting their money’s worth. Tsk. Tsk.

The game goes down as one for the ages. No, the stakes weren’t as high as they were the time when Frank Reich, subbing for an injured Jim Kelly, led the Bills to a 32-point comeback against the Houston Oilers to win an AFC wild-card playoff in January 1993 that is the largest postseason comeback in NFL history.

Yet that playoff magic came at the same place – called Rich Stadium at the time – and I’m guessing that for the Bills fans who experienced it, it had to feel something similar to what went down on Sunday night.

In other words, it was so special. So classic.

Prater, signed late last week as an emergency replacement for injured kicker Tyler Bass, kicked three field goals in his Bills debut. In his 19th NFL season, he’s had his share of game-winning kicks that beat the clock.

But now there’s this fresh classic to welcome him to Buffalo.

After it was over, after the new teammates that he’s barely met lifted him in a mob celebration on the field, it didn’t matter that he’s a seasoned veteran who has been around the NFL block a few times.

Prater said, “I’m still on Cloud Nine.”

Which was one way to sum up a classic.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell

On Bluesky: jarrettbell.bsky.social

Numerous NFL teams broke in new starting quarterbacks during Week 1 of the 2025 season. Many of them enjoyed success in their new digs.

That included Daniel Jones, who surprised many by thriving in his first start with the Indianapolis Colts. He made history by leading the Colts to points on all seven of their possessions during the game and also guided the team to its first Week 1 win since 2013.

Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields also performed well in their ‘trading places’ game. Rodgers became the first Pittsburgh quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger in 2020 to record four passing touchdowns in a single game. Meanwhile, Fields showed off the dual-threat ability that made him a top target of the Jets’ new leadership team of coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey.

Can Fields, Jones and Rodgers continue to perform well? And what about players who didn’t thrive with their new clubs, like Russell Wilson? Those questions will be burning in the minds of football fans as they react to the first NFL action of 2025.

Here are some of the most notable overreactions from Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season:

Daniel Jones has found a perfect fit with the Colts

Few gave Jones a chance to win the Colts’ starting job when he signed a one-year deal with the team during the 2025 NFL offseason. The 28-year-old rewarded Indianapolis’ faith in him with a stellar showing in Indianapolis’ 33-8 blowout win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.

Jones thrived as a passer during the contest, demonstrating great accuracy throughout it. He completed 22 of 29 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown while adding 26 yards and two scores on the ground.

Nobody will mistake Jones for Jalen Hurts, but the 2019 first-round pick certainly looked comfortable in Shane Steichen’s offense. The system suits Jones’ short-to-intermediate accuracy while the chemistry he showed with veteran receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and rookie tight end Tyler Warren should make it easier for him to stay in rhythm from week to week.

Still, NFL fans should be careful not to read too much into Jones’ strong showing. After all, it came against the Dolphins, who have minimal talent at cornerback could end up being one of the NFL’s worst teams. Fans should reserve judgment until they see what Jones can do in Week 2 against a much stronger Denver Broncos defense.

The Jets have fixed Justin Fields

Like Jones, Fields enjoyed an excellent debut for his new team. Fields completed 16 of 22 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown while adding 48 yards and two scores on the ground in the New York Jets’ 34-32 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

More encouragingly, Fields looked very comfortable in Tanner Engstrand’s offense. The 26-year-old eliminated some of the bad habits he showed in his previous stops in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Notably, Fields showed a willingness to keep his eyes downfield while on the move. He didn’t default to scrambling when pressured, which allowed him to make explosive throws on the run.

That Fields thrived against a Steelers defense many expect to be a good overall unit should encourage the Jets and their fans. So too should New York scoring 32 points, which matched the team’s season-high point total from 2024.

But like Jones, the Jets will want to see if Fields can build on his momentum in Week 2 before anointing the 26-year-old the team’s savior. And it will be important for him to eventually get in the winner’s column as well.

Aaron Rodgers is set for an MVP-caliber swan song

Rodgers recorded just one, four-touchdown game during his two years with the Jets. It took him just one game to achieve that feat with the Steelers.

Rodgers looked like his old self in his first game with the Steelers. Sure, the 41-year-old was significantly less mobile than he was at his peak, which led to him being sacked four times. Still, he was accurate throughout the game and managed to keep Pittsburgh’s offense on-schedule while completing 22 of 30 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns.

Can Rodgers continue to play like this? That will be the big test for the veteran. Nonetheless, his high-qualify performance came against what many expect to be a solid Jets defense, and Rodgers seems to be meshing well with his new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith.

That could be enough to help Rodgers once again emerge as an MVP candidate, especially if he can catapult the Steelers into NFC North contention. His lack of mobility will make it hard for him to catch the likes of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes in such a race, but the Steelers will settle for having an above-average quarterback after years of mediocrity at the position.

The Giants should bench Russell Wilson for Jaxson Dart

The Giants’ Russell Wilson era began the way many expected it would. The Giants sputtered to just six total points in a 21-6 loss to the Washington Commanders.

Wilson was a big part of New York’s offensive struggles. The veteran was victimized by a few drops but still completed just 17 of 37 passes for 168 yards. He didn’t see the field particularly well and couldn’t help the Giants consistently move the chains, as they generated 15 or fewer yards on five of their nine drives during the game.

The Giants may not bench Wilson after just one start. Brian Daboll didn’t strongly commit to him during his postgame news conference but did say he has ‘confidence’ in Wilson.

‘This game isn’t on Russell Wilson,’ Daboll said. ‘It’s not on Russell Wilson. Let me make that clear. I have confidence in Russ. We gotta do a better job all the way around.’

How might the Giants look to support Wilson and make his job easier? It may start with trying to get more out of the team’s running backs, who generated just 30 rushing yards on 15 carries against Washington. By comparison, Wilson led the team with 44 yards on eight scrambles.

Still, it’s worth wondering whether Wilson can provide the Giants with the spark they need. If Brian Daboll and Co. conclude he can’t, that would position Dart to see the field sooner rather than later.

The Lions are in trouble without Ben Johnson

The Lions entered the 2025 NFL season with new offensive and defensive coordinators after Johnson and Glenn took head coaching jobs during the offseason. The upheaval in Detroit was apparent in their season-opening 27-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, particularly on offense.

The Lions’ offense looked lost without Johnson’s leadership. Jared Goff seemed to prefer passing horizontally instead of finding his weapons downfield. He was sacked four times and threw an interception while looking far less confident than usual behind his strong offensive line.

Goff’s overall numbers weren’t too bad – he completed 31 of 39 passes for 225 yards, one touchdown and one interception – but it’s worth noting the score only came in the game’s final minute, when Green Bay was leading by three scores.

Meanwhile, Detroit’s running game also wasn’t nearly as strong as usual against Green Bay. The Lions racked up just 46 rushing yards during Sunday’s game. Granted, they had to abandon the run a bit while trailing, but they only averaged 2.1 yards per carry on their 22 totes behind the team’s Frank Ragnow-less offensive line.

Could the Lions’ poor offensive performance simply be a bad day at the office? Surely. But Sunday will nonetheless put Detroit fans – and Dan Campbell, for that matter – on edge as the Lions look to bounce back against the Chicago Bears in Week 2.

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After a shockingly deep run in the MLB playoffs a year ago, the Detroit Tigers proved it was no fluke, dominating the American League in 2025, to the tune of the best divisional odds in MLB.

With just 18 games left in the regular season, the Tigers have a 99.7% chance of winning their division and a 90.8% chance of earning a first-round bye, according to FanGraphs, the highest odds for any team in MLB in either category.

The team’s 82-62 record is just a half game back of the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League. However, the Tigers don’t have an easy road to the postseason. Their remaining schedule consists of 12 games against teams over .500, meaning if they are not careful, they could see that first-round bye slip from their clutches.

Here’s what the Tigers need to do to ensure the best possible outcome for the upcoming playoffs:

Tigers’ magic number to clinch playoff berth

As play begins on Monday, Sept. 8, the Tigers have an 8½-game lead on the Kansas City Royals, who are currently just outside the playoff bubble, sitting two games back of the Seattle Mariners for the final spot.

Currently, it is more likely for Detroit to reach the playoffs via clinching the division than it would be for them to reach the tournament as a wild card. For Detroit (62 losses) to clinch a playoff spot, the number of Tigers wins plus Royals’ losses (70) must be equal or greater than 11. Similarly, their magic number to clinch a playoff spot as a wild card team would also be 11.

What is a magic number?

A team’s ‘magic number’ is the combination of wins, plus losses by the team’s closest competitor to achieve a certain goal — such as clinching a playoff berth or a division title. The exact formula is: Games remaining +1 – (Losses by second place team – losses by first place team).

Every time a team wins or its closest rival loses, that team’s magic number decreases by one, meaning it can decrease by as much as two in a single day if both teams play that day.

Tigers’ remaining schedule

The Tigers have 18 games remaining in the regular season, which break down into six more series. The opponents:

Sept. 9-11: at New York Yankees (3)
Sept. 12-14: at Miami (3)
Sept. 16-18: vs. Cleveland (3)
Sept. 19-21: vs. Atlanta (3)
Sept. 23-25: at Cleveland (3)
Sept. 26-28: at Boston (3)

As play begins on Monday, Sept. 8, the Brewers have a 7½-game lead on the Cubs, who hold the top NL wild-card spot.
The Brewers have 18 games remaining in the regular season, which break down into six more series.
A team’s ‘magic number’ is the combination of wins, plus losses by the team’s closest competitor to achieve a certain goal.

One way or another, these Milwaukee Brewers always seem to find a way to defy the odds and claim a spot in the postseason. This year’s Brewers squad has battled injuries, slumps and unexpected hurdles, and yet … with three weeks to go in the regular season, look who has the best overall record in the major leagues.

With 18 games remaining in the regular season, the Brewers have an 89-55 record and a 7½-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. According to FanGraphs, they have a 99.3% chance of winning the division title and clinching a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Brewers’ magic number to clinch playoff berth

As play begins on Monday, Sept. 8, the Brewers have a 7½-game lead on the Cubs, who hold the top NL wild-card spot. The Cubs are three games ahead of the San Diego Padres and five games ahead of the New York Mets, who hold the third and final NL wild-card spot.

For Milwaukee (55 losses) to clinch a playoff spot (the third NL wild card), the number of Brewers wins plus Mets losses (67) over the final 18 games would have to equal … seven.

Brewers’ magic number for NL Central division title

As we look ahead to some champagne-spraying (or more appropriately, beer-spraying) in the Brewers clubhouse, the magic moment will take place when they officially eliminate the Cubs from overtaking them in the NL Central.

For Milwaukee (55 losses) to clinch the division title, the number of Brewers wins plus Cubs losses (62) over the final 18 games would have to equal … 12.

What is a magic number?

A team’s ‘magic number’ is the combination of wins, plus losses by the team’s closest competitor to achieve a certain goal — such as clinching a playoff berth or a division title. The exact formula is: Games remaining +1 – (Losses by second place team – losses by first place team).

Every time a team wins or its closest rival loses, its magic number decreases by one. 

Brewers’ remaining schedule

The Brewers have 18 games remaining in the regular season, which break down into six more series. The opponents:

Sept. 8-10: at Texas (3)
Sept. 11: off
Sept. 12-14: vs. St. Louis (3)
Sept. 15: off
Sept. 16-18: vs. L.A. Angels (3)
Sept. 19-21: at St. Louis (3)
Sept. 22-24: at San Diego (3)
Sept. 25 off
Sept. 26-28: vs. Cincinnati (3)

ORCHARD PARK, NY — As if beating the Buffalo Bills wasn’t tough enough, Lamar Jackson also tangled with an unruly fan at Highmark Stadium who apparently crossed the line.

After the unidentified fan struck Jackson and teammate DeAndre Hopkins as they celebrated a third-quarter touchdown near the stands on Sunday night, the Baltimore Ravens’ star quarterback retaliated with a two-handed shove that could draw attention from the NFL.

“He slapped me,” Jackson said during his postgame news conference following a stunning 41-40 defeat. “He was steadily talking. So, I forgot where I was.”

Although the fan was ejected from the game, Jackson seemed to regret his response.

“You’ve got to think in those situations,” he said. “You’ve got security out there. Let security handle it. But I just let my emotion get the best of me. Hopefully, it’ll never happen again.”

In the locker room afterward, Jackson indicated that he didn’t recall exactly what the fan said as the players headed from the end zone to the Ravens’ bench, celebrating close to the stands after Hopkins scored on a 29-yard touchdown reception.

“If I remembered, I would have told y’all,” Jackson told USA TODAY Sports. “He probably had a couple of beers.”

All told, it was one more episode from what turned into a disastrous night for the Ravens.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell

On Bluesky: jarrettbell.bsky.social

The defending World Series hampion Dodgers are 23-31 since July 4.
The Dodgers face plenty of questions with MLB playoffs approaching.
Los Angeles lost five of six against last-place Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Losers of six games in a row and seven of eight, and coming off one of the most dispiriting regular season losses in franchise history, they witnessed two thunderclaps off the bat of Shohei Ohtani in the first three innings against Baltimore, a pair of towering solo home runs that pushed Ohtani’s season total to 48, his second consecutive 50-homer campaign in sight.

Betrayed all year, and especially of late, by a big-bucks bullpen badly failing to live up to its track records, the Dodgers instead enjoyed the stylings of imminent Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and a trio of minimum wage relievers, as Kershaw dazzled by taking a shutout into the sixth inning and striking out eight off an assortment of beguiling sliders and curveballs, and even a couple punchouts looking at his 90 mph fastball.

It was a direly needed 5-2 victory Sept. 7, ensuring the Dodgers did not go 0-6 on a tour of last-place Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and preserved their one-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West.

“We’re too good,” says Kershaw, the 37-year-old again once again pitching like an ace, “for it not to turn around.”  

Yet one win could not camouflage all that ails the defending World Series champions, who are running out of time to address their woes before the games take on outsized importance.

For a ballclub aiming to repeat their championship feat, that will expend more than half a billion dollars on payrolls and luxury tax, mediocrity can feel like misery.

Check the vibes

And mediocre might be generous: The Dodgers are 23-31 since July 4, a period marked by their share of health woes but also breakdowns in all phases of their roster, most notably that embattled bullpen and a lineup with misfiring and wounded pieces.

After the Dodgers were shut out for 25 of their past 27 innings entering their Sept. 6 game, the hitters huddled pregame and listened to manager Dave Roberts’ counsel, that they needed “the freedom to fail, to go be themselves.”

Lifting that burden, Roberts said, would go a long way toward results.

“Giving them the freedom to play freely,” says Roberts. “With that, the hope is you’re going to see more smiles, some more sunflower seeds, and then with the (improved) energy.”

The sunflower seeds were a scarcely-veiled reference to struggling slugger Teoscar Hernández, usually the energy guy who splashes home run heroes with the salted projectiles upon their return to the dugout.

Yet lugging a .244 batting average, a .281 OBP and league-average production can take the salt out of anybody. With Hernández just 3 for 18 on this road trip, Roberts gave him and center fielder Andy Pages the day off in the series finale at Camden Yards.

The whole squad might have needed a blow after the events of Sept. 6, when ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto came within one out of a no-hitter, only to give up a two-out ninth-inning homer to Jackson Holliday, and watch helplessly as reliever Blake Treinen allowed four baserunners to reach and lefty Tanner Scott gave up his second walk-off hit in as many nights.

Grim stuff. But the next morning, right fielder Mookie Betts insisted, “the vibes were high.”

It doesn’t hurt when Ohtani sends the second pitch of the game 411 feet for an instant 1-0 lead. Or when Ohtani and Betts go back-to-back in the third inning, for a 5-2 lead.

Or when the trio of Scott (four years, $72 million), Kirby Yates (one year, $13 million) and Treinen (two years, $22 million) are idled for the late innings, and minimum-salaried rookies Edgardo Henriquez, Justin Wrobleski and Jack Dreyer pick up for Kershaw, recording the final 10 outs, seven by strikeout.

Wrobleski fanned five in two dominant innings, perhaps the prelude to a bullpen reordering Roberts hinted at before the game.

For a 79-64 club on an 89-win pace with just 18 games left, the Dodgers have no shortage of questions to clear up.

What’s the bullpen pecking order? Will Ohtani continue to stretch out as a starter or own the ninth inning, a concept Roberts did not shoot down when asked?

Can they hit enough? Will the sunflower seeds fly again?

“We’ve got one game on the Padres,” says Kershaw. “We just have to win games and go from there.”

And there will be internal reinforcements.

‘Put on your big boy pants’

In winning their first full-season championship since 1988, the Dodgers earned the privilege of experiencing one of the game’s more unpleasant sidelights: How difficult it is to repeat.

Nobody’s done it since 2000, and the Dodgers will almost certainly have to do it without the pleasure of a first-round bye. While Roberts reflexively mentioned building a bullpen to win 11 postseason games, reality – they are four games behind Philadelphia in the chase for the second-best division record and a first-round bye – suggests they’ll need to win 13.

Such is life on the repeat grind.

“When you’re the Dodgers, everybody kind of wants to give you the best,” says infielder Miguel Rojas. “We’ve been seeing that. They all want to beat you. But at the end of the day, that’s what we all signed up for.”

The lineup will get what should be a significant boost Sept. 7, when third baseman Max Muncy is activated after his second significant injured list stint this season. The burly 35-year-old is hardly a superstar but with an .880 OPS and an ability to put up one of the toughest plate appearances in the big leagues, he’s an elixir for the Dodgers lineup.

For whatever reason, they are 54-35 when Muncy is in the lineup. And 25-29 without him.

Utilityman Tommy Edman is also set to return in the next week, the club coming together in a season in which they needed all nine starting pitchers to survive the onslaught of injuries.

“It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact that we haven’t been together for a long period of time,” says Rojas. “It’s been hurting us. But I’m pretty positive that in mid-September, we’re going to have the team that we’re supposed to have, to go chase this pennant and go for the World Series.”

In this, the year of the flawed contender, the Dodgers fit right in. They just look a little funny with their Hall of Fame-laden roster stacked up with the mere mortal Mets and Padres and Cubs and Tigers.

It wasn’t supposed to be like that this year. Nor has there been a season in their soon-to-be 13-year playoff run where the Dodgers either won more than 100 games or the division, and often both.

Then again, nobody expected Kershaw to shake off injury and age to emerge as their best pitcher since Aug. 1, a span in which he’s 6-0 with a 2.10 ERA.

“We don’t lose a whole lot around here,” says Kershaw. “It’s not something to get used to, but when it does happen, baseball’s not as much fun. You’ve got to come to the field ready to work, ready to get going. You can’t dwell on it.

“It’s the greatest thing about baseball and the hardest thing about baseball: You play every day. You gotta put on your big boy pants and play.”