At one point in time, this award was known as the Buckeye NFLer of the Week. Thanks to a typo and the ensuing LOLsession from the commentariat, it was renamed as the Houndie. Same intent, but now with a better name.
After the current Buckeyes showed some life and gave us hope that all is not lost stemming from the Miami debacle, the former Bucks took to the field this weekend for week 3. Unfortunately, this was another week where the decision wasn't easy, as there were only a few performances that were Houndie worthy, but the good news is that they were from some guys we haven't heard from in a while and of course, my new favorite NFLer.
It didn't help that 2 of the better Buckeyes in the league right now didn't suit up. Nick Mangold missed the first game of his career and it showed in the Jets loss, while Beanie's bum hamstring was more hurt than he lead on earlier in the week.
We start in Carolina, where the Jaguars and Panthers played in a monsoon. This matchup pitted the first 2 QB's taken in last year's draft, Blaine Gabbert of the Jaguars got his first pro start, while the rains slowed down Cam Newton's unreal start to his career. The Jags only threw the ball 21 times, which could have lead to Chris Gamble collecting no tackles and only 1 pass defended in Carolina's 16-10 win. It's never been argued that Gamble is a strong tackler in the run game, but his numbers have taken a nose dive since the last half of the 2010 season, which makes you wonder if this won't be his last season in Carolina. Ben Hartstock was inactive for the Panthers as well.
In the ugliest game of the weekend, San Fransico came to Cincinnati and beat the Bungles, 13-8. Ted Ginn reverted back to his old ways by not catching a pass, but returned 2 kicks for 59 yards and 3 punts for 19. On defense, Donte Whitner recorded 2 total tackles and a PD, while Larry Grant contributed a special teams stop. For Cincy, Mike Nugent connected on both his FG attempts(22,23) and Nate Clements had 5 solo stops, including a TFL and a PD.
Up in Cleveland, the disappearance of Brian Roboskie continues. Even though they are on every week in Cbus, I haven't seen the Browns play this year, so I know one of you out there can give us an explanation as to where Robo has been. McCoy threw the ball 39 times and Roboskie was targeted just once?!?. The start is so disappointing, as word coming from training camp was this could be a great year for Brian. On the Miami side of the field, the other Brian continues to surprise all of Buckeye Nation with his solid play as a pro. He lead the team with 4 catches for 87 yards, even though he was only targeted 4 times, but his team came up just short, as Cleveland rallied in the last minute to the 17-16 win.
A shootout happened down in New Orleans, as the Saints came back to beat the Texans, 40-33. Will Smith made his season debut after sitting out the first 2 games for his Starcap incindent and made an instant impact. He was third on the team with 6 total tackles, including 4 solos and 1 for a loss, while Malcolm Jenkins had 5 tackles and broke up a huge pass to help seal the win.
The Dream Team in Philly ain't so dreamy these days, as the Giants came to town and won 29-16. Kurt Coleman continues to get the start for Philly, but he was completely absent from the box score, while Brian Rolle had 2 solo stops and a pass defended. For the Giants, the great story of Jake Ballard continues on. The Giants took some heat when they let Kevin Boss go in the offseason, but Ballard is a better run blocker and has filled in nicely thus far. Ballard is not the pass threat like Boss, but Jake still caught 1 ball for 15 yards and now has caught at least 1 pass in each game.
As I mentioned, the Jets certainly missed Nick Mangold, rushing for just a 100 yards in their 34-24 road loss at Oakland. Even though Mark Sanchez had a career day throwing the ball, connecting on 27 of 43 passes for 369 yards, only 2 of those balls were towards Santonio Holmes, who hauled in 1 of them for 19 yards. Holmes has been slowed by a sore quad muscle, but he wasn't happy about his production and I'm sure we'll see a few more balls his way next week. For the Raiders, Chimdi Chekwa continued to get more PT, as he had 4 total tackles and 2 passes defended. The Raiders look like a legit team this year and we can only hope Chekwa continues to make his mark. In other Raider news, it was announced that the NFL plans to release their decision on TP's case this week.
In St. Louis, the Rams fell to 0-3, after getting spanked by the Ravens 37-7. Little Animal had a quiet day for his standards, registering just 4 solo stops, while Jermale Hines was not active once again. Also, Gonzo was suited up again for the Colts, but didn't see anything his way. This is probably the last year for Gonzo in Indy, as it is obvious Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon have taken his spot.
Mr. Jenkins, if you're nasty.So for the third straight week, it came down to the play of 3 dudes and we start with the mainstay on the Houndie stage, Dane Sanzenbacher. The Bears fell once again to the dreaded Packers, 27-17. The Great Dane had 7 balls thrown his way and he hauled in 5 for 27 yards and another TD, a 4-yard strike to get the Bears on the board in the 2nd quarter. Through 3 games, Dane is tied for the team lead at WR with 9 catches, while sitting tied for 12th in the league for TD catches. Not crazy numbers, I know, but for an undrafted rookie on my favorite team, I'll take it. For the Packers, A.J. Hawk had 3 solo stops, while Ryan Pickett's only tackle was for a loss.
Out in San Diego, Kansas City did their best to just not suck for the week and flirted with a victory, but eventually fell to the Chargers, 20-17. For the Bolts, Na'il Diggs had 2 solo stops, seeing action for the second straight week. However, the star Buckeye of the game is a blast from the past, Donald Washington, who took advantage of extended playing time, by recording 7 tackles, including 6 solos, while also forcing a fumble. The seven tackles were a career high for Washington, who has held on to his roster spot for 3 years after leaving OSU early. In his previous 20 NFL games, he has registered 27 tackles.
Our winner this week comes from Detroit's 26-23 OT road win at Minnesota. We typically reserve this award for a player from a winning team, but since the Vikings had the lead for 55 minutes, we'll count it this week.
For the Lions, Bobby Carpenter had a special teams tackle, while Antoine Winfield had 7 total stops, including one for a loss for the Vikes. However, Michael Jenkins made his presence felt the most, as he did his best to help raise a Minnesota passing attack that has been dismal all year. Jenkins, who left Atlanta after Julio Jones was drafted has been off to a slow start, as he and McNabb try to find their chemistry. His nine catches matched his career high, previously done twice in the 2007 season, while the 88 yards were his most since October 17th of last year.
With the loss of Sydney Rice, the Vikings will need Jenkins to continue this type of production throughout the season, if they have any chance of staying away from the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. This is his first Houndie since week 13 last year.
