That Was An Ass-Whoopin’

Kind of like what they did earlier in the season to the Dallas Cowboys, the Cleveland Browns did the same thing to the Tennessee Titans in the first half. The Browns had a 38-7 halftime lead. Yes, you read that right. Now they only managed to add a field goal in the second half and allowed the Titans to make the game look respectable in the end. Tennessee scored 28 points in the second half while two of those scores occurred with less than 1:30 left in the game. That is quite concerning for the Browns defense to hold a lead. Especially if it is a small lead which could be the case come playoff time. This victory ensures the Browns will finish above .500 for the season and sets them up nicely for a Monday night clash with Baltimore to solidify their chances to play in January. If QB Baker Mayfield continues to play like he did against the Titans this bodes well for his case as a top tier quarterback.

This Is A Good Thing

Normally I would be saying that a loss like this is the worst thing that could happen to a team. I made that case about the Seattle Seahawks losing to the New York Giants.

However, in the case of the Pittsburgh Steelers this is actually a good thing. If used to their advantage this will restart the team, specifically the offense. I know that their best running back James Conner wasn’t available, but the Steelers didn’t even try to establish the run. Normally when a team has an early 14-point lead they try to keep it and sometimes it helps to run the ball. To put it simply the play-calling was atrocious for Pittsburgh. QB Ben Roethlisberger is having another quality season, but this offense in the last month doesn’t say to me that they can beat the Kansas City Chiefs. There’s no way they can keep up with that kind of scoring output. The only reason the Steelers were undefeated for this long was because of their defense. They kept them afloat for most of the game against the Redskins, but QB Alex Smith kept moving the chains at critical moments. The Steelers losing a game now should have them refocus their efforts on offense and head towards clinching that number one seed.

Worst Play-Call Ever

If you’ve ever heard of Gregg Williams in NFL circles, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it that he had one head coaching job in the league. He has mostly been a defensive coordinator or that he was at the center of Bounty Gate. Well, another thing that will come to mind for me and it will be at the top of my list is he made the worst defensive play-call that I have ever seen in a NFL game. I understand that the New York Jets are winless and there are a lot of problems with this franchise from top to bottom, but what the hell was Gregg Williams thinking? The Las Vegas Raiders were losing 28-24. They have to score a touchdown no matter what. They’re now at the Jets 46-yard line with 10 seconds left. With all the problems the Jets defense has, specifically in the secondary, Williams calls an all-out blitz leaving a rookie cornerback alone with the Raiders fastest receiver, Henry Ruggs. The result is an easy toss and catch to Ruggs in stride for the game winning score. I could understand calling an all-out blitz when the Raiders are in their own territory, but what the hell happened here? Call a prevent defense or have your guys defend the endzone, something other than an all-out blitz. Williams was fired the next day and rightfully so. Maybe this boneheaded play-call will be the final straw to say he shouldn’t be anywhere near a sideline again.