Displaced Cleveland Fan

These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 6 game here.

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In a snowy game with old school uniforms in Foxborough, the New England Patriots demolished the Tennessee Titans 59-0.

I don’t know what the bigger story is - how great the Patriots played, or how awful the Titans are.

First the Patriots (mostly Tom Brady) - They scored 35 points in the 2nd quarter to go into halftime leading 45-0. Tom Brady was 29 for 34 (85.3%) for 380 yards and 6(!) touchdowns. Even when he left the game, backup QB Brian Hoyer was 9 for 11 (81.8%) for 52 yards. Laurence Maroney rushed 16 times for 123 yards (7.7 average) and a touchdown.

For the Oilers Titans - Kerry Collins. 2 for 12 (16.7%) for -7 yards, 1 interception and a 4.9 QB rating. Seriously. They turned the ball over 5 times (3 fumbles, 2 interceptions). There were two positives though. First, they rushed for 193 yards. Not bad. Of course, that’s offset by the -7 yards passing. Second, the offensive line didn’t allow a sack. That’s good, right?
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OK. No one expected the Browns to beat the Steelers. I don’t know if anyone even thought it would be close.

But here’s the thing - Pittsburgh did not play their best game today. They made some mistakes. If the Browns had a decent team, they might have been able to capitalize on one or two, eliminate a couple of their own, and maybe pull out a win. But no. This Browns team is far from being a decent team.
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These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 5 game here.

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What team is that with those brown and yellow uniforms?

Those are the Denver Broncos. The jerseys were part of a 50th anniversary celebration of the AFL. The Patriots also turned back the clock with their uniforms (notice the helmets with the old patriot ready to snap the football). I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again - I’m really liking these throwback uniforms being brought back this season.

Aside from the uniforms, this was a pretty interesting game. The Broncos beat the Patriots 20-17 in overtime. Rookie head coach Josh McDaniels beat his former head coach, Bill Belechick. Kyle Orton threw for 330 yards, compared to just 215 for Tom Brady. Plus, Denver improved to 5-0 (who would have predicted that?).

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The Dallas Cowboys had a scare in Kansas City. At halftime, they trailed the winless Chiefs 10-3, and they needed overtime to win the game, 26-20. The winning play was a 60-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Miles Austin.

Never heard of Miles Austin? Me neither. But maybe we ought to pay attention to him. This week against Kansas City he caught 10 passes (2 for touchdowns) for 250 yards. That was the most receiving yards in a single game for the Cowboys in their history.

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In the Division:

Cincinnati and Baltimore met in an unlikely battle for first place in the AFC North. I say unlikely, not because of the Ravens, but because the Bengals came into this game tied for first place. But Cincinnati managed to win, with the help of three costly defensive penalties by the Ravens, on their final drive. That means the Cincinnati Bengals are all alone in first place. (Is this a weird season, or what?)

The Steelers traveled to Detroit and beat the Lions 28-20. Detroit has shown some more toughness the past couple weeks. They are not as easy of a win as they were last season. But Pittsburgh hung on to win, improving to 3-2 which ties them with Baltimore for second place

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Quick hits:

• After the Giants blew out the Raiders 44-7, you have to wonder - Are the Giants really this good, or are the Raiders really this bad? The answer is both. It could be worse, Browns fans. Just look at Oakland.
• Speaking of bad, the Tennessee Titans lost again, this week to the Colts 31-9. They are now 0-5 (a worse record than the Browns). Their season really is over. They might as well start planning for next year.
• Michael Vick completed his first pass of the season for the Eagles. He’s now 1 for 5 for a total of 1 yard this season. Oh yeah, Donovan McNabb returned from his broken rib injury and threw for 264 yards and 3 TD’s.

-dcf

In a thrilling shoot-out, Derek Anderson led the high-powered Browns offense over the Buffalo Bills in a game for the ages.

OK. That’s not exactly what happened. Not at all. Actually, the only part that’s right is that the Browns won.

Yes. Really. The Browns managed to beat another team in an actual game.

It’s not like they didn’t try to lose the game. Buffalo just wouldn’t take it. Then it looked like they would play for the tie, but the Bills would have none of that. A fumble on a punt return gave the Browns the ball back at Buffalo’s 16 yard line. Even Cleveland couldn’t blow this chance. They couldn’t get in the end zone. But the Browns did manage to kick a field goal for the 6-3 win.
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Looking at the final score, it looks like the Buckeyes were on top of everything this game. The offense put up 31 points. The defense held the Badgers to 13. Good solid game right?

Not exactly. The defense and special teams won this game for the Buckeyes. They had two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns and one kickoff return touchdown. Take those away, and the Buckeyes lose 13-10 on Terrelle Pryor’s unimpressive 5/13, 87 yard, 1 TD, 1 INT performance.
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The 2009 Major League Baseball postseason began with the Twins beating the Tigers in extra innings to claim first place in the AL Central. The Divisional series begin Wednesday night. These are the matchups:

AL: Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees / Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angelas Angels

NL: Colorado Rockies vs. Philadelphia Phillies / St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angelas Dodgers

If you look at the eight playoff teams, the list is dominated by big market clubs. For the 2009 season, nine teams had a payroll over $100 million. Of these nine teams, five made the playoffs (55.5%) - Yankees (#1), Red Sox (#4), Angels (#6), Phillies (#7), and Dodgers (#9).
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These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 4 game here.

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Who’s the best quarterback in the NFL? Tom Brady? Drew Brees? Eli Manning?

My pick is Peyton Manning. For the past few years, he has been the best QB in the league. Yes, I realize that many will challenge that statement. But if I were able to build a team around a quarterback, any quarterback, it’d be Peyton Manning. Hands down. No question.

This week against the Seahawks, Manning through for 353 yards on 31 of 41 passing (75.6%) and 2 touchdowns. Through four games this season, he’s completed over 70% of his passes, averaged 334 yards a game, and has 9 touchdowns.

He also reached a milestone this week with his 342nd career touchdown pass. This ties his with Fran Tarkenton at third on the NFL’s all time list of most career touchdown passes.

I’m not really a Colts fan. But I do enjoy watching their offense play with Manning under center.
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