Buckeye NFLer of the Week: 16
Holmes was a lone bright spot for Pittsburgh.(John Russell: AP)
As the temperatures dropped across the land over the weekend, so did the outstanding performances for the former Buckeyes.
Gonzo started the week off Thursday night with 4 catches for 38 yards, 2 of which went for first downs, in Indy’s 31-24 win at Jacksonville. In the Colts 8th straight win, AG upped his season totals to 56 catches for 652 yards and 4 TD’s, with 38 of his grabs going for first downs.
Not to be outdone, Ted Ginn took the opening play 31 yards for a touchdown in Miami’s 38-31 thrilling victory at Kansas City. On the day, Teddy added 4 receptions for 44 yards and didn’t return any kicks.
Perhaps the best story in the NFL is the Atlanta Falcons, who clinched a playoff spot with a 24-17 win in Minnesota. While Roddy White has been a much improved #1, Michael Jenkins has filled the #2 role pretty admirably, going for 50+ receiving yards in 9 of his last 10 games. Sunday was no different, as Jenkins lead Atlanta with 4 catches for 61 yards.
On the defensive side. Antoine turned in the most tackles, with 8 against Atlanta, while Shawn Springs made 5 and defended a pass in Washington’s 10-3 win against Philadelphia. Nate Clements only made 3 stops in San Francisco’s 17-16 win and Gamble recorded 6 stops in Carolina’s 34-28 overtime loss at NY Giants.
The best game of the day may have belong to Jay Richardson, who registered 4 tackles and a sack in Oakland’s 27-16 rare win over Houston. Although Donte Whitner was right there with 3 tackles and a forced fumble in Buffalo’s 30-23 road triumph in Denver.
But the best stats and winner of his second Buckeye NFLer in the last three weeks is Santonio Holmes. I know the Steelers lost 31-14 to the Titans, but Holmes’ 31 yard diving touchdown grab was a thing of beauty and lead to his 5 catches for 91 yards. Santonio also recovered a Hines Ward fumble late in the first half, preserving a field goal attempt.
Holmes has equaled his career high with 52 catches set a year ago, but has 152 less yards this season and only 5 TD’s, as compared to 8 in 2007. The Steelers gave up 323 total yards, marking the first time Buckeye great Dick LeBeau’s defense has given up more than 300 yards in a game.
Ryan Pickett almost won the game for GB (and the FFL season for my wife) when he stopped Forte on that 4th down play. They got the 1st by a nose, though, and Forte went on to score to tie the game.
The Steelers game stunk. Ugh. Pretty catch, though.
Great write-up.
Nice to see the Dolphins finding a way to use Ginn that suits his talents. Not quite a wide receiver, not quite a kick returner, not quite a running back… just find a way to put the ball in his hands and let him run.
Uranked Wisconsin is up by a point on 9th ranked Texas with less than 3 minutes left. B11 apparently has some sort of voodoo over the Longhorns this year, M-State beat them for crying out loud.
And as I type, Texas regains the lead. Hope the competitive nature of these two games bleed over to the gridiron come january.
Shitnuggets. Texas escapes, barring a miracle.
M*ch*g*n Boy is walking around the office in a daze, having lost Shavodrick Beaver to Tulsa. TULSA.
Anyone think we have a chance at landing Boyd?
I think we’re front runners for Boyd, but really I don’t see a QB of that caliber signing with us with Pryor starting for the next 2 (hopefully 3) years.