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 14 game here.

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The New York Giants accumulated 512 yards of offense. They won the time of possession battle (34:46 to 25:14). They scored 38 points. And they lost. The thing that killed them was turnovers - 4 fumbles. One was returned for a touchdown.

The Philadelphia Eagles won a wild one in New Jersey last night with a 45-38 win over the Giants. During the high-scoring game, Eagles’ wide receiver DeSean Jackson tied an NFL record. He had a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown, and also a 60-yard reception for a score. The two scores brought him to 8 touchdowns of 50+ yards this season.

The Eagles are now 9-4 and in first place in the NFC East. Meanwhile, the Giants are 7-6, barely holding on to their playoff hopes after a 5-0 start followed by a 2-6 stretch. Their remaining games are against Washington (4-9), Carolina (5-8), and Minnesota (11-2).
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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 7 game here.

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Could the Houston Texans be headed for a wild card berth?

The Texans jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead Sunday against the 49ers. San Francisco pulled back into the game in the second half. But in the end, Houston prevailed with a 24-21 win. They are now 4-3 and in 2nd place in the AFC South.

Looking at their first seven games, two of their wins came against pathetic teams (Oakland & Tennessee) and two came against good teams (San Fran & surprisingly Cincinnati). Of their three losses, two of those games were only lost by one score. Only one had a lopsided final score (24-7 against the Jets in week 1). Not great. But not bad either.

Over their last nine games, they have three tough games (New England and Indianapolis twice) and three that look like they should be easy games (Buffalo, Tennessee, St. Louis). If they lose the tough games and win the easy games, that will make their record 7-6. Their other three games are against Jacksonville, Seattle, and Miami, which have a combined record of 7-11. Could Houston win 2 or 3 of those games. Perhaps. It will be interesting to see if they can continue or if they fizzle out at the end.

The big surprise to me, and many I believe, has been the play of quarterback Matt Schaub. This week against the 49ers he threw for 264 yards on 20 for 30 passing (66.7%) with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Through seven games he’s passing for 65.5% for almost 300 yards per game with 16 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions.
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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 2 game here.

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We had a wild one in Nashville.

The Tennessee Titans, hosting the Houston Texans, were looking to rebound at home against a supposedly inferior team after a loss last week to the Steelers. But the Texans played tough and stayed right with them all game.

This game was physical. Then it got intense. Then it got ugly. Jason Jones of the Titans was ejected for his part in a brawl on the sidelines in the 4th quarter. Watching this game, you knew something like that was going to happen. These teams kept getting closer and closer to a fight. It’s a good thing Albert Haynesworth doesn’t play for the Titans anymore, or else someone might have gotten some cleats across their face.

Finally, with less than 3 minutes to go, Houston pulled ahead on a field goal. On the next possession, Kerry Collins fumbled the ball back to the Texans who ran out the clock.

I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m living in southern Kentucky just north of Nashville where most of the people claim the Titans as their team. But I really enjoy watching them lose. That may be awful of me, but it’s the truth.

Oh, and Houston QB Matt Schaub through for 357 yards and 4 touchdowns. What in the world?!
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