Cavaliers steal one away in Boston!

After one of the worst quarters of basketball that you could expect to see,the Cleveland Cavaliers trailed by 17 points amid a terrible quarter of defensive basketball,I was ready to type a less than glowing report of "growing pains" and "processes".
However,those will wait for another night,as the Cavaliers destroyed the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter and stunned the fans in Boston with a 122-121 shocker.
LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 41 points with Kyrie Irving finishing with 27 points.The now 4-3 Cavaliers will host the Atlanta Hawks tonight...

Swashbucklings

1) LeBron James and Kyrie Irving stepped up in the fourth quarter and simply refused to lose.
The pair outscored the Celtics 25-20 in the fourth quarter and took over the game.
That is what you hope to see as part of the "progression" and the play of the two produced a type of determination that is going to be awesome to see when they are able to put all things together for 48 minutes...

2) Kevin Love may have struggled with his shot (2-10 from the floor),but he still had a nice night on the boards  with 15 grabs and zipped off one of those long bomb outlet passes to LeBron James for a huge uncontested slam.
Those are beautiful to see...

3) Anderson Varejao scored 16 points to make up for Love's rough shooting.
Varejao hit seven of ten shots in the win with hooks low in the paint.

4) The biggest question entering the season was defense and its been warranted.
The defense in the third quarter was weak and it is pretty clear to me that the Cavaliers aren't finished tinkering before this season ends.
There is no shot blocking threat and no one to keep the paint clear from invaders.
The number one need is that type of player,it's up to David Griffin to figure out a way to get him there...

5) Dion Waiters returned to the court with 10 points in 17 minutes,but Joe Harris played more minutes with six points.
WAY too early to speculate,so I'll speculate anyway,if the team can develop Harris by mid-season,Waiters would be an appealing trade chip...

6) Disappointing night from Tristan Thompson,who scored just four points and was part of the bunch that allowed those uncontested drives down the lane.
Cleveland will need more than that from Thompson.

7) None of the comeback matters if Rajon Rondo takes the shot at the end of the game.
Boston had a chance to win with their best player having the ball in his hands.
Rondo wanted no part of the shot and spent the time looking to pass and dribbling and never put the ball in the air,....

Stunner in Tennessee! Browns rally for 29-28 win!

I ,among many other suffered through a lousy first half of football for Cleveland Browns against Tennessee and said so at home and on Twitter.
Side note-If you root/watch for any of the teams,you really need to follow me on Twitter,I'm always there during games.
However,I had hope despite a 28-10 deficit for a few reasons-a late TD in the first half,The Browns strong rally in the last game that they were trailing like this (27-3 vs Pittsburgh at Heinz Field) and most importantly it was Charlie Whitehurst taking the snaps for the injured Jake Locker.
Not Jake Locker will not remind many of Jake Plummer let alone Warren Moon,but those of you that remember our Seattle coverage days will remember the ineptitude of Mr.Whitehurst.
Amazingly,in a sloppy game,Brian Hoyer capped off a day of 292 yards and three touchdowns with two touchdowns strikes to Travis Benjamin in the fourth quarter after a 4th quarter blocked punt by Tank Carder to lift Cleveland to a stunning 29-28 win over the shocked Titans.
Ben Tate rushed for 123 yards while Taylor Gabriel grabbed four passes for 95 to pace the Cleveland offense.
The now 2-2 Browns will host Pittsburgh next week by Lake Erie,..

Brownie Bits

1) There are tons of things to write about and I'm sure that I'll miss a few,but the key play of the game to me was knocking Jake Locker out of the game on a Buster Skrine blitz.
Locker injured his thumb on Skrine's helmet on the followthrough and was gone shortly after.
Charlie Whitehurst did throw two touchdowns in the second quarter,but was terribly bad in the second half.
Any type of offense from Tennessee in the second half wins them this game.


2) Why on Earth did Ken Whisenhunt go for it on 4th and 1 from the Titan 42 with 3 minutes to go?
I get the argument that with one timeout for the Browns that a first down wins the game,but your offense had done nothing all half-you punt the ball and hope for the long field to take its effect....

3) Had to love the stuff of Charlie Whitehurst on the above note,but the Browns allowed way too many rushing yards (175 yards and a average for a 4.9 yard avg) to a team featuring Shonn Greene and Bishop Sankey.
The run defense is going to have step up and fast!

4) Huge rejected punt by Tank Carder for the safety in the fourth quarter,
That block saw the ball go out of the back of the end zone for two points,but those points allowed the touchdown and extra point to win the game instead of having to go for two for the tie.
Carder went right up the middle untouched for the block and a change in momentum that you could tell that the Titans went into protect the lead mode thereafter.

5) I was ready to be all done with Travis Benjamin when he fumbled a punt that had Tennessee not committed a penalty,would have cost possession and valuable time.
All of which made me feel like an idiot when Benjamin would grab both fourth quarter touchdown passes and the game winner was a tightrope walk to stay inbounds.
So maybe if the Browns continued to use Benjamin as a wideout and used Jordan Poyer or Jim Leonhard as a punt returner that could be a better way to go...

6) I thought the Browns running game was dominant with Ben Tate rushing for 123 yards and getting another fifty plus from Terrence West and Isaiah Crowell.
Tennessee was pounded by the three backs and I would make an argument that the team didn't use them enough in the red zone,most notably the third quarter drive that saw Tate run for seven yards and throw two passes thereafter.
Sometimes you can outsmart yourself....

7) I have wondered about the Browns wide receivers and still do,but I like Taylor Gabriel.
He has shown an ability to get open down the middle and for such a slight frame,he is a tough little player.
I think he is going to be a weapon that the Browns can use more and more as the season goes on...

8) Joe Haden left the game with an injury and his status for the Pittsburgh game is unknown,which might be a good thing considering how Antonio Brown generally abuses him.
That's a little tongue in cheek and you never want to lose a corner of Haden's stature,but Haden has not gotten off to a great start....

9) Really-REALLY bad tackling in the first half that saw the Titans break tackles and fake Browns out of their pants.
Buster Skrine and K'Waun Williams both missed several tackles among others and that needs to upgraded across the board...

10) Justin Gilbert saw the field seldomly and accumulated no stats.
Not what you expect from a first round pick.
If Joe Haden sits on Sunday,Gilbert is going to see more time.

11) The Browns were 0 for 2 on fourth downs,but one of them was a bit of bad luck as Jordan Cameron was wide open for a touchdown,but a Tennessee paw batted the ball back to the turf.
I wouldn't put too much stock into that.

12) Finally,this win was the biggest in Cleveland Browns history and the largest ever for a road team in league history,
Now if they can just play a whole game like this!!!!

You CAN call it a comeback! Devils KO Capitals!

The New Jersey Devils twice rallied from two goal deficits in the third period and used a bounce off of Andy Greene (6) to knock out the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime in front of a stunned Washington crowd.
Devils goals (besides Greene) to Jaromir Jagr (13 power play),Dainius Zubrus (8) and Marek Zidlicky (4 power play and 5).
The Devils travel to Chicago Monday night and another powerhouse team in the Blackhawks...

Hell Raisers

1) I didn't think this team had it in them.
There. I said it.
Entering the third period after a horrible second on the road-the Devils seemed licked.
If the Devils manage to do anything out of this season and to me that would be simply making the playoffs,you might want to look back at this night as the start....

2) Jaromir Jagr was tremendous with a power play goal and two assists and even hit someone!
Jagr's sharp angle goal with the score 3-1 was delivered with stoic execution and Jagr clearly was the player of the game.

3) Not take any credit away from the usually frowned upon Marek Zidlicky,who came through with two goals.
Zidlicky's power play goal showed just enough to tease Devils fans with what he is capable of when he is performing at his highest level.

4) The Capitals might have been lucky to even get to overtime,if not for a mental clunker by Patrik Elias.
With Washington leading 3-2,Elias tried to make a pass down the chute in his own end,which was stolen and passed to Alex Ovechkin,who gunned the puck by Marty Brodeur.
Just goes to show,mental errors aren't exclusively the realm of the young.

5) Martin Brodeur was not good in this one.
The Mihkail Grabovski goal was excusable,but one goal was handed on a fat rebound,another he thought he had and didn't and the Ovechkin went through the five hole.
You know,Marty has bailed a bad offense out enough through the years,I suppose he deserved one like this...

6) Andy Greene is either A) having a career year or B) is turning into a defenseman that is starting to reach all-star caliber.
Either way,Greene's play was tremendous on this night and Greene deserves a bow...

7) It wasn't all Jaromir Jagr dominating,it was his linemates too as Dainius Zubrus and Travis Zajac each came up huge with Zubrus chipping a rebound off a Jagr shot in and Zajac assisting on both goals scored by the line.
This line was the dominant line of the night....

8) This one feels good,I must admit,but it is just one game.
Monday night will be very interesting.....