Buckeyes in the NFL, Week Six: Nugent Gives the People What They Want – a Tie

A chief complaint Americans have about soccer is how often "matches" end in ties. Enough with the soccer talk, though. How about a real sport, where the blue collar-iest, lunch pail-iest workers only use their feet?

The Bengals and Panthers entered overtime tied at 34 and, on Cincinnati's first drive, Mike Nugent hit a 42 yard field goal to put his team ahead. NFL OT rules stipulate if there is no touchdown on the opening possession, the opposition has a chance to respond with a score of their own. The Panthers did just that, with Graham Gano hitting a 36 yard field goal to tie it up again.

With 2:19 left in the overtime period, Andy Dalton drove the Bengals down inside the Carolina 20 and gave Nugent a chance to end the game. The former Buckeye kicker strolled onto the field with two seconds left ... and promptly sliced a 36 yard field goal wide right, as time expired. Nobody loses in a tie, so that means everyone wins.

Nugent has already missed six field goals this year, two more than last season. He can't afford to miss many more with the Ravens and, yes, the Browns creeping towards the top of the AFC North. Plus, more consistency out of Nugent would redirect the Twitter psychopaths' anger.

H-Town, John Simon Coming Down

As someone who played in only four games last season and spent the first five weeks of the 2014 campaign on the Ravens' practice squad, John Simon needed a lucky break to get back on an active NFL roster. 

Injuries will usually create roster movement, and the Texans were desperate for a linebacker with their team ailing – Jadeveon Clowney being the most notable injured player in that group. Add in the helpful connection to former Ohio State defensive assistant coach Mike Vrabel, who is now Houston's linebacker coach, and Simon seems like a perfect fit for what the Texans needed.

Perhaps unexpectedly, Simon made an immediate impact in his first game with Houston. He already factored heavily into the Texans' outside linebacker rotation, in addition to playing special teams. Simon stepped in for an injured Brooks Reed and even sacked Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, late in the first quarter.  

Play of the Week

As you can tell from the headline of this article, it wasn't a pretty week for Buckeyes in the NFL.

So, we might as well keep that theme going here. Malcolm Jenkins could not stop New York's Andre Williams from using the "truck stick" – although Jenkins and the Eagles secured the ultimate victory by shutting out the Giants (via @cjzero)

How They Fared in Week Six