Week 9 Football Recap

Browns 34, Pats 14

While the Saints win was impressive, and the one over the Steelers last year was surprising, this beatdown of New England was especially awesome. Earlier embattled Mangenius outsmarted his former mentor and Cleveland enemy Belichick. The Pats came in with a NFL best 6-1 record, but left embarrassed by Peyton Hillis and the Browns. The stud runningback continues to impress as he rumbled for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including the game clinching drive, running on all six plays. You gotta love the fumblerooskie/ oak-e-doke for a score as well. Hillis was not the only star, as rookie Colt McCoy outplayed pretty boy Brady, who was actually pulled after rout was on. The best play of the game was McCoy’s touchdown scramble, helped by a monster block by Cribbs. Unfortunately, it does not get any easier with 6-2 Jets coming into town. In fact, when looking at the Browns schedule, it is a miracle they are 3-5. Eight of their first nine opponents are at least two games above .500. Of the eight NFL teams that have six wins, Cleveland has played six of them!

Cavaliers 48, Blue Devils 55

We did not deserve to be in this game. In what would be considered a low scoring basketball game, neither defense showed up in this shootout. The defense that held Miami scoreless for three quarters gave up seven touchdowns to a team without an ACC win yet. Once again an option quarterback offense torched the Hoos’ front seven, rendering our strong but injured secondary useless. The blame is not all on the defense though. Starting the game with three picks and seven first half penalties are tough to overcome, despite 643 total yards of offense. Even after all that, UVa still had a lead with 1:10 left and after consecutive sacks, Duke was facing a 4^th and 20. FAIL! Giving up a conversion like that is unacceptable, especially since it ruins any chance of a bowl and is the third straight loss to Duke (yes, in football). I’m not going to remember Verica setting a school record for passing yards, or Inman’s 239 receiving yards, but horrible, horrible defense on that play/drive/game.

Colts 24, Eagles 26

Despite a plethora of injuries, Indy had a chance to win a game in which Vick outplayed Manning. Without Addai, the Colts only ran the ball 19 times compared to 51 passes by Peyton, which is the imbalance that leads to most of their losses. Somehow Indy was still within striking distance on a late drive, with another key 4^th and long on the weekend. This time the Colts got a gift of a penalty allowing them to score a touchdown to bring it to within two points and setting up a later failed game winning drive. Even though helmet to helmet hits are getting all the attention, accusing the NFL of turning into flag football, a personal foul for hitting a quarterback’s head while going for a sack/fumble is way more wussified, even if it is a coddled superstar quarterback. That’s why they wear a helmet!