Displaced Cleveland Fan

Another game. Another loss. This has gotten ridiculous.

The Browns lost again to fall to 1-10. The loss came against the Bengals who are now 8-3 and have a 2-game lead in the division.

Brady Quinn didn’t pass the ball exceptionally well - 15 for 34 (44%) for 100 yards. Then again, he didn’t really get a whole lot of time to throw the ball. Cincinnati’s defense was putting pressure on him at will, particularly from the right side of the line. Not many quarterbacks would put up good numbers under those conditions.

Cleveland’s one score came on a Brady Quinn 9-yard touchdown run. That drive included a trick play where Josh Cribbs took a direct snap, Quinn rolled out to the left, and Cribbs completed an 18-yard pass to the QB. I don’t know if that means they ought to run more trick plays with Quinn catching the ball, or if Cribbs should play more quarterback.
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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 11 game here.

After deciding late in the off-season to return to football, Brett Favre joined the Vikings. No one knew if he could perform like he used to when he was with the Packers. The Vikings may have been a better team than the Jets. But Favre was also a year older. After ten games, we have seen what Favre can still do. The 40-year old quarterback has led his new team to a 9-1 record.

It’s not just the record. Favre is putting up MVP-type numbers. He came into this week averaging over 250 passing yards per game, a 68% completion rate, 17 touchdowns, and just 3 interceptions.

Yesterday against Seattle, he recorded the best completion percentage of his career - 88% on 22 for 25 passing. He threw for 213 yards and 4 touchdowns before being taken out of the game with a big lead. The Vikings beat the Seahawks 35-9.

The Vikings could have the division title wrapped up in a week or two. Then Favre will be in the playoffs trying to win another Super Bowl, this time with the Packers’ division rival.
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Arguably the two worst teams in the NFL faced off in Detroit. The Browns and Lions battled for the chance to pay a ridiculous sum of money to a #1 draft pick.

With the clock reading 0:00 at the end of the 4th quarter, the Browns were on top 37-31.

And yet the Browns still lost.

I guess losing week after week has been getting boring. This team has decided to be more creative in their futility.

So what happened?
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The Buckeyes rolled into Ann Arbor having already guaranteed their spot in the Rose Bowl after defeating Iowa last week. This one was just about beating Michigan for the sixth straight year.

On the other side of the rivalry, the Wolverines were looking to end their five game losing streak to the Buckeyes. At 5-6, they were needing a win to become bowl eligible. They were losers of six out of their last seven. Michigan needed to win this game.

Fortunately, the Buckeyes weren’t going to let them have it.
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Just when you thought this season couldn’t get any worse…

Down by 16 points on the final play of the game, the Browns’ lone playmaker, Josh Cribbs, goes down and has to be carted off the field and taken away in an ambulance. Obviously we all hope he will be ok. But really, why run a play like this and put the players at risk when a win is hopeless? It just doesn’t make any sense.

Aside from Cribbs’ injury, there were a couple big questions going into this game:
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These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting.

In a much anticipated game that lived up to all the hype, the Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots in the final seconds, 35-34. With the win, the Colts improve to 9-0 and are two games ahead of the next closest team in the AFC in the race for home field advantage in the playoffs.

It looked like the Patriots were going to hand the Colts their first loss of the season. Early in the 4th quarter they scored a touchdown to go up 31-14. Peyton Manning led the Colts back and cut the lead to six points after a touchdown with 2:23 remaining. The Patriots next possession defies all logic.

The Colts, by holding the Patriots offense and using their time outs, left New England with a 4th and 2 on the Colts’ 28 yard line with 2:08 to play. Common sense says you punt in this situation. Inexplicably, Patriots coach Bill Belichick decides to go for it. On the 4th down play, Tom Brady completed the pass, but his receiver was tackled just short of the first down line. This gave the Colts the ball inside the 30 yard line. It took Manning just four plays to get into the end zone, connecting with Reggie Wayne for the winning score with 13 seconds left.

For as much of a football genius Belichick is supposed to be, he sure made a bonehead call here that cost New England the game.
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The Buckeyes are still the best in the Big Ten. They proved that today and punched their ticket to Pasadena.

Playing Iowa in a de facto Big Ten championship game, Ohio State pulled out a victory in overtime off the leg of former professional soccer player, Devin Barclay.

I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed last week when the Hawkeyes’ starting QB Ricky Stanzi went down and wouldn’t be available for this game. Sure, having freshman James Vandenberg under center should have favored the Buckeyes, but I wanted Ohio State to win against the best team possible.

As it turns out, Vandenberg did a more than adequate job filling in for Stanzi. He rallied his team to a comeback against a tough Ohio State defense and force overtime. He was 20 for 33 passing (60.6%) for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did have 3 interceptions, but one was a tipped ball and another was on a desperation 40+ yard pass to the end zone in overtime. Overall, a good game for the freshman. (Though I got very tired of commentator Matt Millen saying he looked like a 5th year senior out there.)
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