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.
It hasn't been a fun couple of weeks for the Buckeye's on the football field. Not only have the current Buckeyes lost 2 straight, the former Bucks have turned in lackluster performances in the NFL. But since it's Michigan week, none of that matters.
This was the last week for byes, as the Texans, Steelers, Saints and the hapless Colts sat this one out. As we enter the final six games, there are 8 teams in the NFC that have a chance for the playoffs, while with more parody, the AFC has 12 teams that can say the same thing.
The Bengals had a chance to move into a first place tie with Pittsburgh, if they could pull off the road win at Baltimore, but the Ravens held them off, 31-24. The Bengals secondary let Torrey Smith have a big day, but they held the other receivers in check.
Nate Clements had his first pick of the season, to go along with 2 tackles and 2 other defended passes. Mike Nugent made all 3 of his XP's and hit his only FG attempt of 27 yards. Nugent is now tied for 3rd in FG percentage, hitting 18/19, including 7/8 from 40+.
Up in Cleveland, the Browns were lucky enough to get the bad Jaguar team that has showed up most of the year, earning their 4th win of the season, 14-10. Brian Roboskie, now with the Jaguars, didn't see the field.
The mystery that is the NY Jets went out to Denver and got Tebow'd on Thursday night, 17-13. The Jets and Broncos are each now 5-5 and sit one game out of the playoffs. Santonio Holmes had 9 targets, but converted just 4 of those for 39 yards.
In Green Bay, the Packers stayed undefeated, by taking down Tampa, 35-26. The Packers D gave up 455 yards, most of that through the air, but when you have Aaron Rodgers as your QB, you can spot the other team at least 24. A.J. Hawk had 6 tackles, 5 of them solo, while also getting credit for a PD. Ryan Pickett had an active game, with 5 total tackles, including one for a loss.
Up in the Motor City, the Lions fought off the Panthers, Zanesville style and captured the victory, 49-35. Chris Gamble had active day with Stafford throwing for 335 yards and 5 TD's. Gamble produced 6 tackles, 5 of which were solo stops, good for third on the team. On the other side of the field, Bobby Carpenter didn't record any stats, but Rob Sims started once again at LG and made a tackle after a Lions turnover.
In Washington, Darrion Scott made his season debut and had an assist in the Redskins 27-24 OT loss to the Cowboys.
Down in Miami, the Dolphins won thier 3rd straight, taking down the plummeting Bills, 35-8. After being held without a catch for 2 straight, Brian Hartline has made a catch in the last 2, this week it went for 19 yards. Austin Spitler saw some extended action and was credited with a career high 3 solo stops.
Minnesota lost another one, this time to the Raiders and may have lost Adrian Peterson for an extended time in the process. The Raiders created 5 Vikings TO's in winning 27-21, to take sole possesion of first in the AFC West. Michael Jenkins had 4 catches for 30 yards in 7 targets, while Antoine Winfield sat out again.
Speaking of sitting out, Chimdi Chekwa's season is over, getting sent to the IR with his hamstring injury. TP once again wasn't active for the Raiders, who won thier second straight with Carson Palmer.
Last week's Houndie winner, James Laurinaitis, had another strong game with 13 solo tackles, including one for a loss, in the 24-7 home loss to the Seahawks.
In Chicago, the Bears won their fifth straight, 31-20, but lost Jay Cutler for many weeks with a broken thumb. The Bears will now turn to Caleb Hanie, who didn't do to bad in the NFC Championship game last season. Dane Sanzenbacher returned to the box score, but it was only because Cutler looked his way once. With the Bears receiving corps at full strength, Dane hasn't caught a ball in 3 games, but still leads the team in TD's.
Na'il Diggs had another active game for the Chargers, recording 4 solo tackles.
The Eagles had to go into New York this weekend and beat the Giants if they had any chance of saving their season. Lead by Vince Young, the Eagles did just that, taking down the Giants, 17-10.
KC4 was tied for second on the team with 5 total tackles, including 2 solos, while Brian Rolle chipped in with 3 solo tackles, including one for a loss. For the Giants, Jake Ballard had 7 targets, but converted just 1 for 13 yards.
In Monday night's game, the Patriots easily handled the Chiefs, 34-7. Donald Washington saw extended action and was second on the team with 8 tackles, incuding 7 solos and a QB hit.
Our winner this week comes from the San Fransico 49ers, who can clinch at least a tie for the division this week with a road win at Baltimore on Thanksgiving night. The 49ers dominated the Cardinals, 24-7, to move to 9-1 on the season.
In that game, the Niners held Beanie to just 33 yards on 8 carries. I know the Cardinals are going to watch Beanie's carries the rest of the season, due to his knee injury, but 8 carries is too few, considering they were only down 9-0 at halftime. Unfortunately, Wells did fumble early in the game.
Also, Ted Ginn didn't catch or rush for anything, but he returned 2 kicks for 42 yards and 4 punts for 16 yards.
Our winner this week has found a new home in San Fran, after making the quickest exit in NFL history from Buffalo last season. Donte Whitner was top 5 in tackles last year, but was extremely unhappy in Buffalo and reports had his locker cleared out 10 minutes after the final whistle.
In Sunday's win, Whitner had just 3 tackles, but deflected 2 passes, recovered the Beanie fumble and picked off a pass at the 49ers 15, which he then returned 48 yards to the Cardinal's 37. Four plays later, the Niners scored and took a commanding 23-0 lead.
Whitner's tackles numbers are way down this year, where he isn't even in the top 100, but he is obviously on a better team and the Niners lead the league in total defense. This is Donte's first Houndie since week 5 of last year and we here at 11W look forward to a long playoff run by OSU-West next month, even if they are coached by a SCum Man.
