Week 7 Football Recap

Browns 30, Saints 17

Who dat going to beat dem Saints? Apparently 1-5 Cleveland. In one of the two biggest wins for the Browns since their playoff season 8 years ago, Cleveland blew out the defending champs in their own house. The defense held the high powered Saints offense to only 10 points before junk time, and the special teams had a 68 yard fake punt. Colt McCoy and the offense did not have a turnover and the team only committed four penalties. It also helps when the Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees throws four picks. Strangely enough, two of the picks went to David Bowens, days after Brees welcomed in a son named Bowen. The 265 pound linebacker then rumbled, stumbled and bumbled those two picks for scores, and who doesn’t love seeing the fat guys score? The Browns better enjoy playing the spoiler role with 5-1 Patriots and 5-1 Jets coming up after a bye.

Cavaliers 48, Eagles 21

UVa finally got a victory over a D1 school albeit in ugly fashion. In the lowest attended game in 13 years, Eastern Michigan ran all over the Hoos for 290 rushing yards. At one point in the 3^rd quarter, Virginia was only up 24-21 against a 1-6 MAC team. It’s a sad statement on your defense when the scoreboard hit of the day was made by the pee wee team at halftime. While Verica rebounded with a clean game, and the Cavs scored 48 points, it was still not the best game to take your girlfriend to for the first time. The best highlight of the game came in the opening, when CavMan parachuted into the stadium. Next week Sebastian and the first place ‘Canes storm into town in a rematch of the game two years ago when UVa gave up a tying td with a minute left and lost in overtime after I got a speeding ticket and forgot my game ticket before the game. Hoping for a better day this time.

Redskins 17, Bears 14

This game set offensive football back five years. Nine combined turnovers? The 13 combined drives in the second half ended with five picks, three fumbles, three punts, a missed fg and a kneel down. Thankfully Haynesworth finally stepped up and DeAngelo Hall had a career game. Big Al had his best game as a Redskin, with a sack and stopping Cutler on a qb sneak with a scary jump over the line. Meanwhile DHall picked off four of Cutler’s ill advised passes including a sick one handed grab for a touchdown. The first player to pick off four passes in a game was also a Redskin, Slingin’ Sammy Baugh. Next week the Skins better not play down to the competition against Lions like they did against the Rams in Week 3 this year and Lions in Week 3 last year.

Week 6 Football Recap

Browns 10, Steelers 28 – The outcome and score of this game was predictable but Colts McCoy’s NFL debut was not as bad as expected. He looked poised and comfortable even though he threw two picks. I would leave him in there the rest of the season since what good is having Delhomme play for a 1-5 team do? Hillis needs to get healthy for a balanced attack in order to make the rest of the season’s games entertaining. Meanwhile the Steelers’ James Harrison should be fined for his head hunting on Cribbs and Massaquoi, especially since TJ Ward was disciplined earlier for a less violent hit. Some scary notes of the game, McCoy is the 11th QB to start for the Browns since Big Ben became the starter and the Browns next three opponents are a combined 13-4.

Cavaliers 10, Tar Heels 44 – For the third straight game, UVA got blown out, but this time to a team of equal talent level. While going into the season UNC had high expectations, seemingly half their team has been in trouble each week and the Heels had not won in Charlottesville since 1981. When the first play of the game is an 81 touchdown pass with several missed tackles, you know it is going to be a long night. It was encouraging to see Matt Snyder get the start at wideout but when your quarterbacks throw five picks, it does not really matter who they are attempting to throw to. Payne got back on track with 107 yards, but 49 of that was on one play in a drive that ended in a pick anyway. Three different quarterbacks threw picks in the redzone, which has to be some sort of record. The lone highlight of the night was the warm chili at the tailgate on a surprisingly chilly night. Next week might be the only win left on the schedule, when 1-6 Eastern Michigan comes to town with the 98th ranked scoring offense and 119th scoring defense.

Redskins 24, Colts 27 – Due to my 100% theory I was pulling for Washington over Indy here and was wearing my Portis jersey instead of my Manning jersey during this game to prove it. The Skins once again took a game to the wire (almost last play this time) and made it entertaining. Washington missed several opportunities including dropping interceptions and not capitalizing on the turnovers they did get. McNabb had an opportunity to win it at the end, but could not come up with the big play or drive. He is obviously an improvement over Campbell and any other quarterback in the past decade, but it’s looking like he is not the quarterback that will be able to carry a team to clutch victories every week in a playoff run. After Torain’s solid performance (110yds, 2tds), it is looking like the Portis era is done in Washington. Of course there was Haynesworth drama as the $100 million distraction missed too many practices to play, but his 335 pound frame would have been useless against the Colts fast paced offense anyway. With the Giants and Eagles winning, the Skins fall to second place at 3-3, and face 4-2 Bears next week. Meanwhile, Indy keeps pace with the Texans in the division at 4-2, and the winner of tonight’s 3-2 Jags vs 3-2 Titans game. The Colts are on a bye next week, which means I need a new qb for the week, AHHHHHHHH!

DC Sports Stars at thier Finest: TV Ads

Now that we are nearing the election, I am no longer fast forwarding through tv commercials as fast to actually notice the political ads. In the process, I’ve come across some sweet local sports celebrity ads. While typical local sports ads are for car dealerships and are poorly acted, some can be funny with high production values. I’m not talking about Peyton Manning for MasterCard or Nike, but the backup qb making some bucks on the side for the local bank. Here’s the evolution of some local DC ones through the years:

First you start off in a big group:

A catchy jungle helps:

Then you move on to singular speaking roles, albeit not in English

Now closer English (luckily never aired):

Even the fluent speakers still need their jerseys or name recognition:

Sometimes the coaches cash in as well:

And then the English improves:

Eventually you get a commercial with the main local star before even playing a game:

Finally after all the bad acting, staring into the teleprompter, you get some actually well- produced funny ads:

Week 5 Football Recap

Cavaliers 21, Yellow Jackets 33 – This was a very strange game. While UVa got pounded on the ground, the scoreboard doesn’t quite reflect it. In the first half, Georgia Tech moved the ball at will, but kept turning the ball over or settling for field goals. Meanwhile the Hoos could not capitalize with three “3 and outs” in the first half, surrounding by only one big play. Somehow the fullback Max Milien summoned his inner Maximus/Max Power/Max Payne and ripped off a 37 yard touchdown almost untouched to give Virginia hope. Two separate times the Ramblin' Wreck started to pull away, but the Cavs would respond to keep it interesting. For the second time this year, Matt Snyder made some incredible catches in mop-up duty. Maybe we should play him in the first three quarters of a game with Burd and Inman in some sort of spread offense. Luckily the Wahoos return home for the next three weeks including two more winnable games vs UNC and Eastern Michigan.

Redskins 16, Packers 13 – Thanks to Fox News, I got free tickets to the Skins game, including free drinks, food, and field level passes. After Nat gushed when Cooley walked by, I tried to get Galloway’s attention by yelling “O-H” to no avail. It was a really sunny day, even with Landry’s biceps blocking out the sun. Despite starting their first four possessions between their own 14-9 yard line, Green Bay took an early lead due to five straight punts by Washington. After two uneventful quarters, the Burgundy and Gold’s offense finally woke up tying the game late in the fourth quarter with an incredible td catch by Armstrong. The Packers won the toss and got the ball first, but the drive ended on a sack, which I recorded since FexEx Field was the loudest I had ever heard it. After the Skins punted their possession, Landry picked off Rodgers, setting up Gano’s game winning field. The Skins have now won three games against some of the NFC’s top teams, and four of the five games have come down to the last play.

Browns 10, Falcons 20 - Since I was at the Skins game, I really have no idea/commentary outside of the articles about it. I’m just a little worried Colt McCoy will have to start against Pittsburgh, New Orleans, New England, NY Jets, etc.

Colts 19, Chiefs 9 – See above.

New Defensive Rankings

Who has is the best defense in the NFL? The team with the least yards allowed? The team with the least points allowed? What about the team with the most turnovers? Sacks? In any article mentioning defensive rankings, the default is yardage, followed by points. Even in 2000, when the Ravens set a record for least points allowed and regarded as one of the best defenses of all time, the Titans were the “#1 defense” that season. Allowing the least amount of points seems like the most logical choice to help your team win. So why the disparity? I couldn’t find the grand conspiracy, so I made my own rankings.

The Steelers and the Chargers are tops in points and yards allowed, but what about the other factors? I ranked the top defenses in points allowed, yards allowed, 3rd down conversion %, penalty yardage, sacks, and turnovers. I even threw in subtracted a point for each TD scored by the defense, the most direct contribution to team victories. Here is the chart showing the combined rankings (click on the picture to actually be able to read it):

San Diego tops the list due in part to being the top 11 in each of the categories. #2 Pittsburgh also is in all top 11, including top’s in turnovers as well, coming in second overall. The #3 Cowboys were #1 in both 3rd down conversion and penalty yardage, but only caused three turnovers in their three games, contributing to their 1-2 start. #3 Titans lead the sacks with two other teams and are in the top 14 in four other categories. Some of the outliers are that #16 Baltimore is #2 in yards and #5 in points, but gave up the most penalty yardage in the league and only have two turnovers. Meanwhile Buffalo has committed the least amount of penalties, but is dead last on this list since they are 27th or worse in the other five categories. If you look at the conditional formatting colors, you can see the correlation between the categories, and the standings on the left. This is only based off a quarter of the season, curious to see what it looks like at the end.

Week 4 Football Recap

Browns 23, Bengals 20 – VICTORY! After blowing fourth quarter leads in each of the previous three games, Cleveland finally held on for the victory. I may be getting a Peyton jersey again, Hillis that is, after the runningback’s consecutive solid performance. Unlike the previous games, there was no killer turnover or penalty leading to the Brown’s demise. While Senaca Wallace’s numbers were down, Cleveland only had one turnover and 44 yards of penalties. While it was encouraging to see Ward’s physical play in crushing Shipley in the endzone, penalty and all, Eric Wright got torched again while TO had a career day on my fantasy benches. It’s really good that Cleveland got off the schnide now, with 3-1 Atlanta, 3-1 Pittsburgh, 3-1 New Orleans, 2-1 New England, and 3-1 NY Jets coming up. Yikes!

Cavs 14, Seminoles 31 – Apparently Florida State isn’t a D-2 school. The Nole’s turned the “white out” T-shirts into flags of surrender. Half the crowd was gone after thirty minutes after UVa’s embarrassing first half performance. Verica was inaccurate, took too many sacks, and threw a pick in the end zone, ending the faint hopes of a comeback in the third quarter. Nine penalties and missed tackles causing long touchdown runs also contributed to the embarrassment. The only thing that went right was that the Cavman video/team entrance was synched together for once. A quick glance at the schedule shows only possibly 3-4 wins out there this season, (UNC, E Mich, @ Duke, MD). Hopefully there’s at least nice weather for tailgates at these games.

Redskins 17, Eagles 12 – The Vick/McNabb drama fizzled fast after the Hokie on Hokie violence injured the Eagles QB’s ribs early in the game. Washington’s last ranked defense stepped up and made Andy Reid look like he was making the right decision starting Vick in over hapless Kolb. The running game looked dominate, McNabb looked sharp at times, and Haynesworth actually showed up. I’m going to petition the NFL to start tracking “holding calls drawn”, since Orakpo would be leading the league. The Skins should have put them away, and definitely should not have come down to another Hail Mary attempt. Now Washington is in a three way tie for first in the division, with idle Dallas in last. While the Burgandy and Gold won’t face another divisional foe until 11/15, the next three games will be brutal, Green Bay, Indy, and Chicago, a combined 8-4.

Colts 28, Jags 31 – I knew the divisional matchup would be tough, despite the recent play of both teams. Jacksonville played a turnover free game after losing two straight while Indy committed two turnovers after coming in off of two losses. But still, a 59 yard game winning field goal? Come on. The Colts still need more balance since they ran for only 58 yards compared to 348 passing. Addai should only receive touchdowns since Peyton only had 350+ yards, two tds and a pick that bounced off his receiver’s hands. Next week, Indy will try to knock off the last undefeated team, Kansas City (really?), which is a role reversal for the annually 10-0 Colts.