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The Atlanta Falcons will have to forfeit the first three days of next years organized team activities for violating NFL-NFLPA rules prohibiting excessive contact during offseason workouts.The league announced the penalties Thursday. The violation stemmed from a session in May during which the Falcons allowed players to engage in excessive contact prohibited under the collective bargaining agreement.We take player safety very seriously and work hard to ensure that we are in compliance with league rules, the Falcons said in a statement. Although we are disappointed in the penalty, we respect the leagues decision and will make the necessary adjustments moving forward.Falcons coach Dan Quinn said he did not address the team about the violations and subsequent penalties and doesnt plan to anytime soon.When asked whether the NFLs ruling could be a distraction as the 3-1 Falcons prepare for Sundays showdown against the 4-0 Denver Broncos, Quinn made clear he doesnt view it as such.Not a distraction on our end, Quinn said. We recognize it happens, and we know well deal with that coming the spring. But as far as the focus for the game and where were at right now, no distraction for us.Quinn said there was no one contact incident specified by the league that resulted in the penalty.In general, just more contact than they would have liked to have been seen, Quinn said. Its a great topic. Its certainly one that Ill visit with them through the offseason, not just with our own players but with the league, too. I want to make sure Im teaching the guidelines exactly as the league set forth. We love the competitive environment that we do promote, and we have been safe with the guys. But if there was a violation there, then we owned up to that and want to make sure it doesnt happen again.Quinn has been tied to such violations in the past. He was the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks during the 2014 season when Seattle was found to have violated access contact rules.The Seahawks violated those rules at least three times and received a hefty penalty in September as a repeat violator. The team will forfeit its 2017 fifth-round pick and was fined $400,000. Head coach Pete Carroll was also fined $200,000. In addition, the Seahawks will forfeit their first week of OTAs, covering three days, in 2017.Seahawks players will be paid for the canceled sessions, as will Falcons players.Travis Konecny Flyers Jersey . 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LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide the showdown Tuesday night between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page.How we got hereThe Cubs won 103 games, the Indians won 94. The Cubs have gone 7-3 in the postseason, the Indians have gone 7-1. The Cubs have hit .222/.277/.395 in the playoffs and allowed 3.0 runs per game while the Indians have hit .208/.256/.380 and allowed 1.9 runs per game. Based on what has happened so far, you would expect a low-scoring World Series. Oh, and the team that has hit more home runs has won each playoff series so far, plus both wild-card games. -- David SchoenfieldInside the pitching matchupWhen Cubs starter?Jon Lester is on the mound: With three sterling playoff starts -- two runs over 21 innings -- its time to mention Lester right up there with Madison Bumgarner, who is generally considered?the supreme postseason pitcher of this generation. Lester is 8-6 in his postseason career, but with a 2.50 ERA over 119 innings, averaging 6.8 innings per start. He has pitched in each of the past four postseasons and has never walked more than two batters in a game and has allowed just seven home runs over 77 innings.This should be a tougher matchup than his previous opponents this postseason, however, as the Giants offense had hit the skids in the second half of the season and the Dodgers were the worst-hitting team against lefties in the majors. Because of those weaknesses, Lester simply pounded the strike zone with fastballs. His two highest rates of fastballs in a game this season came in the two playoff starts versus the Dodgers (both above 74 percent) and he also was above his season rate against the Giants.Lester has thrown his fastball more than ever this season -- 60 percent of the time, locating to both sides of the plate while working the bottom half of the zone much more than the upper half. He has cut down on his cutter usage, although its still an effective pitch as batters hit just .212 against it.His curveball has become a two-strikeout wipeout pitch, with a K rate above 50 percent. He doesnt throw it a lot -- about 10 per game -- but batters hit just .096 against it. Lesters inability to hold runners will be an issue against the Indians, who led the AL in steals. However, Lester is quick to the plate, so while he allowed 28 steals, he also had 13 caught stealing, and baserunners have to be aware of the back pick from catcher David Ross.When Indians starter?Corey Kluber is on the mound: The Cleveland ace has pitched like one so far, allowing just two runs and 13 hits in 18? postseason innings. After starting Game 4 of the ALCS on three days rest, hell be starting here on six days rest. Given the depleted state of the Indians rotation, manager Terry Francona may also look to start Kluber in Game 4 (and Game 7, if the Series goes that far).Eno Sarris wrote for ESPN Insider about?Klubers breaking pitch, which batters have a tough time seeing -- some call it a curveball, others a slider. Klubers breaking ball has the most horizontal movement of any pitch in baseball. Yes, more than Sergio Romos Frisbee-like slider, and more than the sliders thrown by Yu Darvish and Adam Ottavino, Eno points out.Its one of the most effective pitches in baseball. Including the playoffs, he throws it about 20 percent of the time, although he has increased the rate to 30 percent in the postseason (in part because the Blue Jays had so many right-handed batters). Right-handed batters have hit .079 against it with three extra-base hits in 128 plate appearances ending with the pitch. Lefties were marginally more successfully, hitting .161 with five extra-base hits in 96 plate appearances.That means the Cubs will want to attack Klubers fastball -- right-handers posted an .872 OPS against it and lefties a .761 OPS. Its not as easy as just sitting on fastballs, however; Kluber throws his fastball about 56 percent of the time on first pitches, but that means he throws the curveball or cutter 44 percent of the time. And the Cubs like to work deep counts, so this looks like the ultimate chess match of a great pitcher versus a great lineup. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightRajai Davis. The Indians hit just .168 in the ALCS so theyll need offense from somebody other than Francisco Lindor. Davis is guaranteed to start only the Lester games as hes normally platooned, but if he can get on, hes the guy to run on Lester after stealing an AL-leading 43 bases. -- SchoenfieldDid you know ...Lester could become the 11th pitcher in MLB history to start and win two Game 1s in the World Series, and hed be the second to do it for two teams (Jack Morris, Tigers and Twins).dddddddddddd?-- John Fisher,?ESPN Stats & InformationWhat will decide the game Tuesday nightLesters pitch selection: Lester has been great this postseason by mixing things up, throwing 73 percent fastballs (compared to 60 percent in the regular season). That has accomplished two things:-- By throwing it more in two-strike counts (61 percent vs. 49 percent in the regular season), he has gotten 10 of his 14 strikeouts (71 percent) with his fastball (he got 42 percent of his strikeouts with his fastball in the regular season).-- It has kept hitters off his other pitches, going 2-for-23 in at-bats ending with his cutter, curveball and changeup?-- ESPN Stats & InfoFrancisco Lindor looking away:?Lindor has been the Indians best hitter this postseason, and hes doing all his damage on pitches on the outer half.The man in blueLarry Vanover has umpired for 24 years, but this will be his first game behind the plate in a World Series. Vanover calls strikes at a less frequent rate than almost all of his peers. He will present a challenge to both batteries.Relative to other umps, Vanover doesnt often call high strikes (which Indians catcher?Roberto Perez excels at getting) for right-handed pitchers. He also doesnt often call outside-corner strikes on righty hitters when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound (Cubs catcher Ross excels at getting the outside corner for Lester). Lester gave up five runs in three innings in one start with Vanover as plate umpire this season (against the Pirates on July 9). But Lester allowed only three runs in 19 innings in three regular-season starts with Vanover prior to that. Kluber has a 4.50 ERA in two starts with Vanover umping, the last coming in 2015. -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & InfoWorld Series betting guideCleveland Indians (+180) vs. Chicago Cubs (-210)Game 1 PickCenter: 51 percent picking CubsJoe Peta: In every sports column across the country youll see references to either first time in 108 years or first time in 68 years representing, of course, the World Series-winning droughts for the Cubs and Indians, respectively. But on these pages, its the chase for a once-in-a-512 year occurrence that were focused on; thats the odds of randomly picking the winner of all nine MLB postseason series. And like a pitcher taking the mound with one inning left to complete a perfect game, Im eight-ninths of the way there.Of course, the results of all of the 2016 series werent coin flips -- not with the Cubs laying in excess of -200 in both the National League Division Series and NLCS. However, all three of the American League series following the wild-card round featured underdog winners, and if you take the midpoint of each series line played this year, the odds of getting this far without a miss are nearly 1-in-170. So its not quite the 1-in-256 chance of randomly getting the first eight series correct in 2016, but its still a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence for a handicapper. Click here for moreChoosing sides: Who will win?? Not only has Lester been outstanding in every meaningful game since the All-Star break, but this biggest of stages wont daze him one bit. Not his first rodeo. Yeah, the Indians will be aggressive on the basepaths if they can, but few teams have been able to string enough hits together for those tactics to matter. The Cubs will jump out to a good start to nullify the leverage of the Shaw-Otero-Miller-Allen closing crew and win Game 1 -- Bradford Doolittle? The Cubs may win the series but lose Game 1. The Indians arent nearly as vulnerable to left-handed pitching as the Cubs two previous opponents were -- Cleveland was 31-20 against lefty starters during the regular season and ranked sixth in baseball against them. Plus, the Indians running game is in play against Lester. But the Cubs win a close game.?-- Jesse Rogers?The Indians will take Game 1 as Kluber will pitch a strong six innings before handing off to Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, who will finish off the win. -- Andrew MarchandWhere the series standsBecause?Trevor Bauer, with his injured finger, is slated to start Game 2 -- and given the unknown that presents -- this feels more like a must-win game for the Indians than for the Cubs. Plus, you hate to start with a loss at home and lose that home-field advantage card in the first game. -- Schoenfield ' ' '