Football Week 3 Recap/Week 4 Preview

A combined 2-5 this weekend? Ugh.

Browns 17, Ravens 24 – Cleveland actually showed up against a far more talented team in Baltimore and held a lead in the fourth quarter for the third straight game. Peyton Hillis manned up and ran for the most yards the Ravens have ever allowed to a Brown. I doubt injured Jerome Harrison sniffs the field anytime soon. Senace Wallace was efficient with the ball with a 100+ rating and Cleveland didn’t have a turnover. However, like the other two weeks, the Browns found a way to lose the game. Cornerback Eric Wright had a terrible game covering Anquan Boldin, allowing three TD’s. Why did we bother to draft Joe Haden if we aren’t going to play him? The game clinching play this time was an offsides penalty on a third and short with no timeouts left. Next week the 2-1 Bengals come to town.

Cavaliers 48, VMI 7 – UVa took care of business and routed the Keydets in a sweltering hot day. Even though the win doesn’t count towards bowl eligibility it was still good to iron out the kinks and get healthy. The star of the game was cornerback Chase Minnifield, son of Cleveland Brown cornerback Frank Minnifield, which was one of my starting lineup figures growing up. He had two picks, including an amazing one where he tipped it up and recovered to catch it before going out of bounds. Hopefully he doesn’t return punts anymore, since he muffed one. Senior Ras-I Dowling is the attention grabber, projected first round rd draft pick, but junior Minnifield has been making all the plays this season so far. Strangely enough, over 1,500 VMI cadets showed up for the game in their all white uniforms, while the UVa student section and players were wearing Navy on a sunny 90 degree day. Maybe they were trying to get rid of extra Gatorades at the stadium or something. Saturday 3-1 Florida State comes to C’Ville in a prepared “white-out” promotion. The last time the Seminoles were in Scott Stadium, we were charging the field as they were exiting as the #4 team in defeat. And who doesn’t enjoy watching the ’95 version either?

Redskins 16, Rams 30 – Wow, that was a dud. Washington obviously took St. Louis for granted, stumbling out to a 14-0 hole. After rallying, the vaunted defense failed again, while the offense only scored three points in the second half. Portis is becoming a non-factor and may lose his job after taking a slide like a qb. Nine penalties, two turnovers, and 1-10 on third down isn’t going to get it done against any team, regardless of the record. All the playoff and division talk will be shelved due to the Cowboys’s win and Vick’s resurgence with the Eagles. If next week’s trip to 2-1 Phily wasn’t enough drama already, it was McNabb’s idea to bring Vick to the Eagles in the first place. Hopefully it will be a “sunny” trip to Philadelphia for the Skins.

Colts 27, Broncos 13 – Another week, another 300 yards, three tds, zero picks, and win for Peyton. However, only rushing for 40 yards, while allowing 519, and seeing shots of Freeney going in and out of the locker room are concerning though. The Colts better not overlook the struggling Jags next week in Jacksonville, since Jones-Drew has torn them up in the past and you can never count out a divisional foe.

Due to popular demand, I shortened my fantasy recaps, which is especially timely this week since I got spanked in all three leagues and am now 2-1 across the board.