NFL - NEWS & NOTES

W O O F ! ! !

 

W O O F ! ! !

 

W O O F ! ! !

 

Well I might have missed the Rams part but here we are in week 15 and well......

 

Baker Mayfield tosses two touchdowns, defense stops Broncos on fourth down to give Browns 17-16 win...

Baker Mayfield‘s 2-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway against a depleted Broncos secondary helped lift the Cleveland Browns to a 17-16 victory in Denver on Saturday night.

Mayfield started strong and finished well around a rough stretch in the middle of the contest to get a victory that keeps the Browns on the fringes of the playoff hunt. Mayfield completed 18 of 31 passes for 188 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also lost a fumble on a strip-sack by Broncos defensive end Adam Gotsis.

The Browns were helped out by a poor strategic decision by the Broncos in the closing minutes.

Denver was down to just one truly healthy cornerback in Tramaine Brock after injuries to Brendan Langley and Bradley Roby, and an ejection for Jamar Taylor. Chris Harris Jr. (fractured fibula) and Isaac Yiadom (shoulder) were inactive due to injuries. Langley was forced out with a concussion while Roby sustained a facial laceration that sidelined him for a stretch of the second half.

Trailing 17-13 with five minutes remaining, Denver elected to kick a 29-yard field goal on fourth-and-1 at the Cleveland 6-yard line instead of trying to get the first down and/or a touchdown to take the lead. The Broncos elected that relying on their heavily depleted defense to get a stop was the chance they wanted to take.

Nick Chubb immediately broke off a 40-yard run to move into Broncos territory before making their own poor strategic call. Chubb finished with 100 yards on 20 carries for the Browns.

Cleveland elected to go for a fourth-and-1 at the Denver 10-yard line with 1:53 remaining instead of trying a field goal that would have pushed the lead to four. Chubb was stopped for a 2-yard loss, giving the ball back to the Broncos with only a field goal needed to rather than a touchdown.

The Broncos converted a fourth-and-2 to move out to midfield before spiking it to stop the clock. The three remaining downs went by without gaining another yard as Jabrill Peppers sacked Case Keenum on fourth down to seal the win for the Browns.

Cleveland grabbed the early lead on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Breshad Perriman on the Browns’ opening possession.

After a pair of three-and-out drives to begin the game, the Broncos put together successive scoring drives to take the lead early in the second quarter.

Denver got on the board with 13-play, 88-yard drive bolstered by two key penalties against the Browns. A lowering the helmet penalty on Jamie Collins and a defensive pass interference call against Terrance Mitchell accounted for 34 of the yards gained on the drive. Case Keenum escaped a tackle in the backfield and scrambled for a 1-yard touchdown to even the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter.

Keenum completed 31 of 48 passes for 257 yards with two interceptions for the Broncos.

The Broncos followed it up by marching 61 yards on 12 plays on their next possession before stalling out at the Browns’ 26-yard line. A 44-yard Brandon McManus field goal gave Denver their first lead of the night at 10-7.

After completing two of his first four passes of the game, Mayfield was far less successful the rest of the half. He completed just 7 of 18 passes for the half for 106 yards with a touchdown and interception.

Greg Joseph‘s 40-yard field goal tied the game at 10-10 with 4:53 left in the half. Each team would get another scoring opportunity only for interceptions to thwart the chances.

After reaching the Browns’ 29-yard line, Keenum was picked by Jabrill Peppers on a throw into the end zone. Cleveland would get a chance to score as well only for Mayfield to be picked by Dymonte Thomas after reaching Denver’s 30-yard line.

Gostis’ strip-sack of Mayfield set up a go-ahead score for the Broncos. A 24-yard completion from Case Keenum to Tim Patrick moved Denver into Browns’ territory and set up a 42-yard field goal by Brandon McManus to five the Broncos a 13-10 lead late in the third quarter.

Three plays after Taylor was ejected, Keenum was then intercepted by T.J. Carrie near midfield on a pass intended for DaeSean Hamilton. Six plays later, the Browns would re-take the lead against a Broncos defense playing four safeties in their secondary as Mayfield and Callaway hooked up for a 2-yard touchdown. (PFT)

 

I don't remember the bottom of the standings being this crowded in recent years. Heading into the weekend there were 13 teams with 5 wins or less.

I don't believe in tanking for a better draft pick, but I have conflicted feelings about Atlanta's game vs Arizona. A Falcons win would have them as part of the 5-win pack. But if they show as much heart as they did last week (translation: if they mail it in again), the loss would set them up for a potential top three draft pick.

There will be a lot of Falcons fans that want to see Arizona win, both for the better draft pick and to nudge the team towards firing the OC.

So throughout the state of Georgia, today's battle cry is a resounding "GO BLAZERS!", as Valdosta State won the Div II championship in a wild game yesterday. The fans will still go through the motions of cheering on the Falcons, but it's going to be half-hearted at best.

 

Another example of the league achieving "parody": it's quite possible that the NFC will have a wild card team with a losing record. The Vikings currently hold that #6 spot at 6-6-1.

 

I miss Stu. He was a class act.

 

Vikings will be 7-6-1 in about 4 hours.

 

Week 15 early inactives…

Cowboys at Colts

Cowboys: G Zack Martin, DL David Irving, TE Geoff Swaim, QB Mike White, WR Tavon Austin, LB Chris Covington, DE Taco Charlton

Colts: S Mike Mitchell, LB Skai Moore, G Mark Glowinski, C Josh Andrews, WR Daurice Fountain, DT Hassan Ridgeway, RB Jonathan Williams

Cardinals at Falcons

Cardinals: WR Chad Williams, DE Vontarrius Dora, CB Dontae Johnson, CB Quinten Rollins, LB Jonathan Anderson, OL Zack Golditch, TE Darrell Daniels

Falcons: DT Terrell McClain, K Giorgio Tavecchio, FB Ricky Ortiz, CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson, S Ryan Neal, T Matt Gono, DT Justin Zimmer,

Lions at Bills

Lions: WR Bruce Ellington, RB Kerryon Johnson, DL Da'shawn Hand, T Rick Wagner, S Charles Washington, FB Nick Bellore, CB Marcus Cooper

Bills: CB Ryan Lewis, RB LeSean McCoy, RB Chris Ivory, TE Logan Thomas, QB Derek Anderson, OL Vladimir Ducasse, S Dean Marlowe

Packers at Bears

Packers: QB Tim Boyle, CB Natrell Jamerson, T Bryan Bulaga, OL Adam Pankey, OL Nico Siragusa, LB Kendall Donnerson, DT Kenny Clark

Bears: QB Tyler Bray, WR Kevin White, FB Michael Burton, LB Kyle Fitts, OL Rashaad Coward, WR Jason Wims, DT Nick WIlliams

Raiders at Bengals

Raiders: G Kelechi Osemele, G Gabe Jackson, LB Kyle Wilber, DE Kony Ealy, WR Keon Hatcher, DB Montrel Meander, T Justin Murray.

Bengals: LB Vontaze Burfict, CB KeiVarae Russell, CB Davontae Harris, T Cedric Ogbuehi, WR Josh Malone, TE Jordan Franks, DE Kasim Edebali

Dolphins at Vikings

Dolphins: CB Xavien Howard, QB David Fales, OL Hroniss Grasu, G Isaac Asiata, T Zach Sterup, DE Jonathan Woodard, WR Isaiah Ford

Vikings: WR Chad Beebe, QB Kyle Sloter, CB Craig James, RB Mike Boone, LB Devante Downs, C Brett Jones, DE Tashawn Bower

Titans at Giants

Titans: RB David Fluellen, LB Brian Orakpo, TE Cole Wick, OL Aaron Stinnie, OL Austin Pasztor, DL Matt Dickerson, RB Jeremy McNichols

Giants: WR Odell Beckham, QB Kyle Lauletta, DB Tony Lippett, S Kamrin Moore, C Evan Brown, TE Garrett Dickerson, DT John Jenkins

Washington at Jaguars

Washington: TE Jordan Reed, QB Cole McCoy, LB Ryan Anderson, OL Tony Bergstrom, OL Kyle Fuller, RB Samaje Perine, CB Greg Stroman

Jaguars: WR D.J. Chark, T Jermey Parnell, K Josh Lambo, CB Tyler Patmon, RB Carlos Hyde, LB Martell Spaight, DT Eli Ankou OL Jeremy Parnell

Buccaneers at Ravens

Buccaneers: WR DeSean Jackson, S Justin Evans, QB Ryan Griffin, CB David Rivers, LB Adarius Taylor, DT Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, TE Tanner Hudson

Ravens: QB Robert Griffin III, WR Jordan Lasley, LB Tim Williams, G Alex Lewis, RB Ty Montgomery, DL Zach Sieler, DL/FB Patrick Ricard (PFT)

 

The infinitesimal force meets the frictionless object: Atlanta is last in the league in rushing offense, while the Cardinals are 29th in run defense.

First Atlanta run of the game was a successful QB sneak on 3rd and 1.

 

Bears looking to win the North, up, 7-0.

I might have to change my signature, dammitt!

 

Colts over Dallas, 7-0...

Vikings up, 14-0 on Dolphins...

Cards and Falcons, 7-7...

 

If the Ravens lose then Bengals vs Browns next week could be very interesting.

 

Kirk Cousins... 17 TO's, most in the NFL.

 

Miami figuring out their roster too late in the season.

 

Maybe. They are coming back a bit, although it should be a 2-score game again soon.