March 28, 2024

East Rutherford, NJ - It's not the way the New York Giants wanted to start against the lowly, winless (0-4) Cleveland Browns. After winning the coin toss, Big Blue coughs up the ball as running Ahmad Bradshaw gets hit by his own lineman Chris Snee.

Said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin of the play, "when you look at the tape, it was a little more freakish than you think."

Two plays later, Trent Richardson runs 15 yards for the touchdown. The next time Cleveland touches the ball, rookie QB Brandon Weeden finds wide receiver Josh Gordon as he runs right past Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn for the 62-yard touchdown. First, safety Stevie Brown creeps towards the line of scrimmage anticipating a run play, then the other safety Antrel Rolle was late helping out in the coverage. Blackburn could not catch up with Gordon. Before the 79,911 sold out crowd could get settled, the home team trailed 14-0.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning would cut the lead in half (14-7) after taking the team on an 11-play, 92-yard drive ending in a three-yard touchdown pass to Victor (Salsa) Cruz. Manning completed six passes for 61 yards. Cleveland also contributed to the drive with a 13-yard pass interference penalty. The Browns extended the lead (17-7) on a 32-yard Phil Dawson field goal. New York used its next long drive to put more points on the board but could only come away with a Lawrence Tynes 29-yard field goal cutting the Browns lead to seven (17-10) and Manning's last pass falling incomplete to receiver Rueben Randle.

The Giants defense had given up 156 yards in the air to Weeden and 56 yards on the ground by Richardson to start the game. Cleveland was looking to add to those stats and extend the lead as they moved down to the Giants 25 yard line. That's when the defense came up with a big play. Weeden overthrows Gordon into the hands of Brown who returns the pick 26 yards. Manning then finds Randle on a deep pass for 36 yards before Bradshaw runs it in from four yards out tying the game at 17.
New York's special team then gets into the act when they kick off next to the Browns. Will Hill forces a Joshua Cribbs fumble and that man, Brown, scoops it up on the 29-yard line. At 1:27 later, Manning finds Cruz for the second time all alone in the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown. Penalties continued to hurt Cleveland on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they committed two miscues ultimately giving the ball back to New York with .17 left in the half. After a 12-yard run by Bradshaw, Manning looks to hook up with Randle again as Browns Buster Skrine is called for pass interference. Tynes then kicks his second field goal of the day giving Big Blue a 27-17 halftime lead.

The Cruz (Salsa) show continued in the third quarter after their first possession. From the shotgun, Manning (25-37, 259 yards, 3 TDs) once again finds Cruz alone in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown pass, his third and final for the day. With the lead 34-17, Cleveland looked to make a run similar to the way they began. The Giants defense would not let that happen.

Big Blue allowed a Dawson 41-yard field goal reducing the lead to 14 (34-20) with a little more than a minute to go in the third. Manning would then throw his only pick of the day as the pass intended for Cruz gets popped in the air by Sheldon Brown. Usama Young comes up with the ball. Weedon gets the Browns down to the Giants 5 yard line looking to close the gap to seven when his next pass is intercepted by Blackburn in the end zone. On the play before, Weedon's pass attempt gets batted right back to him by Justin Tuck. Weedon finds tight end Jordan Cameron which would have been a 13-yard touchdown pass bringing the score to 31-27. The score was nullified for an illegal forward pass. Six plays later, Giants rookie David Wilson puts the game with a 44-yard touchdown run for the 41-27 final score.

It was a record-setting day for Bradshaw, as he finished the day with 200 yards on 30 carries. Cruz salsa'd his way to three touchdown catches for a meager 50 yards. Big Blue got major contributions from back-ups on sides ball. Offensively, Little used wide receiver Rueben Randle pitched in with six catches for 82 yards, while Brown shook off his early miscue to come up with big plays on the defensive side.

They will need all of those components when they travel cross-country to face the San Francisco 49ers the team they beat last year on their way the winning the Super Bowl.

Upon Further Review: Derrelle Revis out, but Jets offense and defense awful

East Rutherford, NJ - So this is what the New York Jets defense looked like with the best cornerback in football Darrelle Revis out with a torn ACL in his left knee. The San Francisco 49ers spent the week in Ohio rather than travel back home after getting beat by the Minnesota Vikings last week.

After losing 34-0 to the 49ers at MetLife Stadium, it's not only the defense the Jets have to worry about. It's the 11 players on offense that head coach Rex Ryan should be concerned with. Ryan was clearly steamed afterward using some language he had to apologize for. Parents may want to shield their kids from the following quote.

"I apologize for my language," he began his postgame press conference. "Because I was going to say we got our butt kicked. But really, we got our ass kicked. There's no two ways ins or outs about it."

He then dissected how the ass whipping took place.

"We go in and it should be 7-3 at halftime. It's 10-0 because of the mistakes we make. Then we come out, turn the ball over four times. Here's the recipe for getting our ass kicked: 2 for 13 on third down that 15%, four turnovers, a blocked punt when they rush one guy and give up 245 rushing. How's that for a recipe."

Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, and Atlanta Falcons Still Undefeated

Things won't get any easier for Gang Green as they host one of the three teams that remain undefeated in the Houston Texans. They stayed perfect by rolling over the Tennessee Titans 38-14...The other two teams that are without a loss, Arizona, and Atlanta, had to work hard to come away with victories.

The Cardinals needed overtime to beat the Miami Dolphins (24-21) as QB Kevin Kolb threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns. Miami wasted a great performance by their QB Ryan Tannehill as he threw for 421 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Brian Hartline entered the Dolphins record book by hauling in 12 catches for 253 yards...The Falcons needed to go 90 yards with a little over one minute left to eke out a 30-28 win over the Panthers. Matt (Matty Ice) Ryan finds Roddy White for a 59-yard pass completion and then watches Matt Bryant kick the game-winning 40-yard field goal. Ryan finished his day throwing for 369 yards as White caught eight passes for 169 yards...

Washington, Rams, Vikings, Patriots, Chargers, and Broncos Among the Winners

Redskins wonder QB RGIII passes for 323 yards in its 24-22 win over Tampa. Another nail-biter as Washington's Billy Cundiff nails a 41-yard field goal with three seconds left...Seattle was brought back to reality after its gift win Monday night against Green Bay as the Rams turned them back 19-13. Rams field goal kicker Greg Zuerlein was feeling his oats as he converted four field goals. The first, a 58-yarder that was followed up by a club record 60 yards. Expect him to be named special team player of the week...The disappointing Lions lose for the third time in four weeks after as the Vikings go on the road and come away with a 20-13 win. Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson continues to impress coming off knee surgery as he ran for 102 yards on 21 carries. Detroit's QB Matthew Stafford threw for 319 yards...For the second time this year, the Buffalo Bills gave up more than 45 points in a game. Sunday, they gave up 52 to the New England Patriots. The Bills did take a 14-7 halftime lead then saw their defense give up 45 points in the second half in the 52-28 loss. Patriots QB Tom Brady threw for 340 yards and two TDs...San Diego (37-20) and Denver (37-6) routed Kansas City and Oakland respectively. The Chargers jumped out to a 20-0 lead and Denver scored 21 third-quarter points running away with the victories...

Bengals and Ravens Tied for First in AFC North; Cleveland and New Orleans Still Winless

Don't look now but the Cincinnati Bengals are tied for first in the AFC North after its 27-10 road win over Jacksonville. The Bengals are tied with the Ravens who just got by the winless Cleveland Browns last Thursday 23-16. The Browns had a chance to send the game into overtime but Cleveland's QB Brandon Weeden pass in the end zone went out of bounds...They join the only other winless team, the New Orleans Saints who were edged by Green Bay 28-27. The Saints had a chance to take the lead but Garrett Hartley misses a 48-yard field goal with a little less than three minutes in the game...

New York Giants Lose a Heartbreaker to Philadelphia Eagles

The New York (Football) Giants fell to 2-2 and 0-2 in the division after losing Sunday night in Philadelphia 19-17 to improve their record to 3-1. Big Blue had a chance to win it after Lawrence Tynes missed his first attempt at 54 yards but Eagles head coach Andy Reid called a timeout. Tynes could not take advantage of the second opportunity as the kick came up short. Giants QB Eli Manning did throw for 309 yards and two touchdowns but the running game was non-existent. The Eagles did not turn the ball over for the first time this young season. The Giants host those lowly Browns Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Everything is not Big in Texas As Dallas Loses to Chicago Bears at Home

Finally, the Chicago Bears (3-1) went into Dallas (2-2) and picked off Tony Romo five times (tying a career high) coming away with a 34-18 win. Bears QB Jay Cutler completed 18 of 24 passes for 275 yards and two TDs while wide receiver Brandon Marshall pulled in seven catches for 138 yards and one touchdown. Dallas now gets a much-needed bye week, as Romo and his offense, try to figure out how to straighten out their issues. When they return to the field, four of their five following games will be on the road.

VIDEO DISCUSSION: Johnny Manziel investigated by Fort Worth police for possible domestic violence

NFL Personnel Changes

January 17, 2016

McAdoo, Gase, Kelly gain new coaching positions; other prominent names aren't so lucky, yet

NY Giants announced that offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo has been promoted to the position of head coach. The hiring of McAdoo makes him the second-youngest head coach in the NFL behind the newly crowned Miami Dolphin head coach Adam Gase. Even though other candidates were interviewed, the Giants decided to promote from within thus keeping the continuity that the organization cherishes most. The offense, under McAdoo, has been successful and gave Eli Manning’s statistics a nice boost. It remains to be seen how McAdoo will address the defense which ranked dead last in the league and set all of the wrong records.

Former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has landed in San Francisco. The 49ers have announced the hiring of Chip Kelly as their new head coach. This announcement comes after management fired Jim Tomsula after one season. Unlike the last year of his tenure with the Eagles, Chip Kelly will not be in control of making player personnel decisions, allowing him to solely focus on coaching. In the 49ers, Kelly has two quarterbacks in Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert who can be good fits to run his style of offense but it is also a team that has lost talent due to retirement or trades.

Other NFL coaching hires:

Cleveland Browns hired former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. Jackson was a hot name in the head coach carousel and was on the interview list for the NY Giants opening. He spurned the stability of the Giants opting to join an organization in transition as the offseason firings affected the head coach position as well as the front office. In his first move as head coach, Jackson will not hire an offensive coordinator opting to the plays himself. While he is not the first or only head coach to call the offense, most coaches still retain the services of offensive coordinators.

Tennessee Titans named former interim coach Mike Mularkey as their new head coach. He had a 2-7 record with the Titans as the interim coach. The Titans also hired a new GM and more changes are likely now that Mularkey has the head coach position. Many of the assistants that he inherited from predecessor Ken Whisenhunt's regime have contracts that expire on February 15th.

Philadelphia Eagles named Doug Pederson as their new head coach. The Eagles pursued former NY Giants head coach Tom Coughlin for the vacancy. All indicators seemed to point to Coughlin taking the reigns but ultimately Coughlin withdrew his name from consideration. Pederson was a quarterbacks coach under former Eagles head coach Andy Reid and Pederson followed Reid to Kansas City becoming an offensive coordinator.

Tampa Buccaneers promoted offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to head coach replacing former head coach Lovie Smith. Once Smith was let go, it was believed that Koetter was the person management wanted to fill the void.

VIDEO DISCUSSION: Did the Cleveland Browns do the right thing by giving Manziel a second chance?

Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel got a touchdown in the Cleveland's first preseason game against Washington. Manziel did his job and didn’t flash the money sign.

Could this be a new beginning for Johnny Manziel?

Do you agree with What's The 411Sports host Glenn Gilliam that New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith would not have been able to get away the Manziel's antics?

Is there is a double standard in the NFL?

Every week, there is always someone behaving badly or NOT, depending on your point of view.

This week, What's The 411Sports reporter Bianca Peart, who was away by the way, put Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel in absentia. She left the rest of the team to debate whether Johnny Manziel belonged in the doghouse.

What's your take on Johnny Manziel?

Check out the video for the Johnny Manziel Debate. #411DogHouse

 

WATCH VIDEO: IN THE DOGHOUSE: Levi Copelin and Josh Gordon

Every week, What's The 411Sports puts a person or organization in the Dog House. This week, Levi Copelin and Josh Gordon get the honors.

NCAA Football is banning Levi Copelin, wide receiver, Missouri, from playing football for the entire 2014-15 season for using banned substances.

Cleveland Browns' wide receiver, Josh Gordon, is facing a suspension after failing a second drug test.

 

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