The Houndie is an award formerly known as the Buckeye NFLer of the Week. After 2 years of existence, we searched for a catchier name, so with the help of a well placed typo and the ensuing 11W comments, the current title was created.
The NFL season has wrapped up and the playoff picture went down to the last game of the season, with Seattle becoming the first team to make the post season with a sub .500 record. Though Ohio State's season ends tonight with a victory over Arkansas, each game this weekend features a Buckeye on at least one side of the field.
We start in Seattle, where Little Animal and the Rams couldn’t pull off the miraculous turnaround from a year ago, falling to Seattle, 16-6. Laurinaitis did his job, registering 6 solo stops and 3 assists, while also snagging a fumble on Seattle’s first play of the second half. The Rams took over at Seattle’s 21, but could only muster a FG, which kept them down 6-7. For the Seahawks, Jay Richardson continued to get some PT and got himself an assist, while Larry Grant also got a tackle for St. Louis.
Staying with defense, Bobby Carpenter and the Lions won their fourth straight to close out the season, taking down Minnesota, 20-13. Carpenter followed up his Houndie Award last week with another strong outing, going for 8 total tackles, which gave him 18 over the final 2 games. For Minnesota, the player who should have won the award last week if not for editorial deadlines and the wussification of the NFL, Antoine Winfield closed out the season with a 9 total tackles in the loss.
Both the Saints and Chiefs clinched last week, but both stumble into the playoffs on the heels of home losses. Mike Vrabel chipped in with 2 solo tackles in the Chief’s 31-10 smack down from Oakland, putting up just 201 total yards and 7 sacks, playing their starters for most of the game. Down in New Orleans, Will Smith had his only tackle go for a loss and recorded a sack for the second straight week, giving him 5.5 on the season. Malcolm Jenkins was out there just long enough to get 2 solo tackles, before he hurt his knee on the first series. He had an MRI on Monday and his Twitter account has been quiet since Sunday, but PFT seems to think Jenkins will be OK for their game in Seattle on Saturday.
In New York, the Jets sat most of their starters for a majority of the game, but still managed to beat down the Bills, 38-7. For Buffalo, Donte Whitner had just 4 solo tackles, giving him 140 on the season and fifth on the tackles list for the league. According to reports, Whitner’s locker was cleaned out, including his name plate, before today’s planned team event. Whitner is a free agent this summer and we have been saying since the beginning of the season he was playing for a contract with one foot out the door. For the Jets, Santonio Holmes played long enough to catch 1 for a 17 yard TD in the second quarter and Vernon Gholston set a season high with 3 total tackles, giving him 12 on the season.
In San Fran, Beanie wrapped up his disappointing season with 5 carries for 16 yards and 1 catch for 6 yards in Arizona’s 38-7 loss to the Niners. Wells ended the season with 116 carries for 397 yards and 2 TD’s, a far cry from the near 800 he put up as a rookie. For the 49ers, Ted Ginn caught 2 balls for 41 yards, including a 37 yard TD in the first and 2 kicks for a total of 43 yards. On defense, Nate Clements finished with 4 tackles, completing the season with 82, while Thaddeus Maximus was active for the second straight game and registered a tackle, backing up the two he had in his pro debut a week ago.
Briefly for the other receivers, Michael Jenkins caught 5 for 52, as the Falcons whipped the Chris Gambleless Panthers, 31-10 and secured home field throughout. Brian Robiskie continued his chemistry with Colt McCoy, catching a TD for the third straight week and ending the day with 2 catches for 35 yards.
As you can see, it wasn’t the most stellar weeks from the Buckeyes (let’s hope all the mojo is saved for tonight), but at least one performance stood out on a team that HAD to win to punch their ticket. AJ Hawk was the talk of early trade rumors to start the season, but turned things around and played a big role in Green Bay getting back to the playoffs with their 10-3 win over Chicago. He was credited with 11 tackles Sunday, including 9 solos and half a sack, his highest tally since week 7, while Ryan Pickett also chipped in with 3 stops. Hawk finished the season with 111 tackles, the most since his rookie campaign and takes home his second Houndie on the year.
