Browns jolted by Jets

    The Cleveland Browns lost a game in which they allowed only 54 yards passing (42 on one play) to the New York Jets, and couldn't overcome two returns for touchdowns in a 27-20 loss in New Jersey.

Dillon Gabriel threw two touchdowns, Quinshon Judkins rushed for seventy-five yards, and Jerry Jeudy caught a touchdown pass amongst his seventy-eight receiving yards. 

The now 2-7 Browns return home to meet the resurgent Baltimore Ravens.

Brownie Bits

1) That wasn't a typo above.

The Jets finished with fifty-four yards passing, but forty-two came on one play, a Fields throw to running back Breece Hall early in the fourth quarter that broke a 17-17 tie and was enough to win the game.

2) The touchdown by Hall was the only touchdown allowed by the defense, but they still had their share of blame.

The Jets are trying to run the clock out, and they face a third and sixteen with 1:50 to go, and Justin Fields runs to keep the clock rolling or make the Browns use a timeout.

Devin Bush is called for defensive holding- automatic first down.

3) We progress a few plays later, it's fourth and five with fifty-eight seconds to go.

The Jets milk the clock for as long as they can and then either call a timeout or take the delay of game penalty and punt.

The Browns Cameron Thomas jumps offside-First Down.

Game over.

4) The Browns offensive line allowed six sacks, four of them by Will McDonald.

McDonald had three sacks in the Jets first eight games and eclipsed that number with one game against the Browns.

5) Much was made of the change of playcallers from Kevin Stefanski to Tommy Rees before the game, and the offense did look a little different in the passing game.

Rees moved Dillon Gabriel out of the pocket far more than Stefanski and they used some jet sweeps and misdirection more than Stefanski but I'm going to reserve judgement on consistent improvement.

6) The Browns have used Malachi Corley as the player who has handled the jet sweep calls, rushiing twice for thirty-two yards.

Corley, a wide receiver, has rushed four times this season for seventy-four yards, yet has caught only two balls for seventeen.

Boxing Challenge: Ortiz rips Lubin

      Vergil Ortiz wanted to make a statement in his defense of his minor junior middleweight title in front of potential future opponent Jaron "Boots" Ennis, who was at ringside with his promoter, Eddie Hearn, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Ortiz did more than that in tearing apart Erickson Lubin in less than two rounds, finishing a helpless Lubin along the ropes to force the early ending. 

Other than not scoring a knockdown before the conclusion, there was nothing that Ortiz could have done to Lubin, who has now been stopped in all three of his losses and two of those in less than two rounds.

Ortiz and Ennis did the obligatory face-to-face in the ring after the fight, and the match has been anticipated since the two were fellow welterweight prospects moving through that division.

Both possess fight-ending power, although I think Ortiz has a small edge in pop, and both have ring skills as well. I'd give Ennis a slight advantage there, and while both fighters are listed at 5'10, Ennis will have a 4-inch reach advantage (74 to 70).

I lean slightly towards Ennis, but this fight might be what boxing fans hoped that they would see from the long-awaited Terence Crawford-Errol Spence match in 2023.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 137 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 130 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 53 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

   The boxing challenge will have only one bout this weekend, but it's a very interesting one with major ramifications for 2026.

Fort Worth, Texas, will be the site of a top junior middleweight clash as Vergil Ortiz defends his minor title against Erickson Lubin in a pairing of two hard punchers.

The unbeaten Ortiz heard the final bell in each of his last two fights, for the only times in his career, with decision wins over quality opponents in Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk, and looks to be in prime condition for his match against Lubin.

Lubin has been stopped in both of his losses as he was knocked out by Jermell Charlo and Sebastian Fundora, but has won three fights since losing to Fundora, two of those over unbeaten contenders Jesus Ramos and Ardreal Holmes.

The victory over Ramos was undeserved, in my opinion. Lubin looked good in knocking out Holmes in eleven rounds, and certainly has the power to hurt Ortiz, who was knocked down twice by Serhii Bohachuk in his majority decision win.

I see the two styles meshing well and giving fans an entertaining battle, and I could see Lubin building a lead on the scorecards before Ortiz's steady pressure gradually wears Lubin down as his way to a stoppage in the middle to late rounds.

Junior Middleweights. 12 Rds 

Vergil Ortiz vs Erickson Lubin

Ramon Malpica: Ortiz KO 7

TRS: Ortiz KO 9

Vince Samano: Lubin KO 4

PPM

 More picks from the PPM for the football weekend.

Last Week: 8-6 

Overall: 95-44

College

Ohio State over Purdue 45-6

Texas Tech over BYU 31-27

Georgia Southern over Appalachian State 20-17

South Florida over UTSA 41-30

Bowling Green over Eastern Michigan 21-18

Middle Tennessee over Florida International 13-10

Oregon State over Sam Houston 21-17

Games of the Week

Iowa over Oregon 23-21

James Madison over Marshall 34-31

NFL
Jets over Browns 20-14

Panthers over Saints 27-13

Games of the Week

Chargers over Steelers 24-20

Packers over Eagles 28-24

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

    Back for more tributes to a few people who have recently left us.

Goodbye to Mike Greenwell at the age of 62. 

Greenwell was the left fielder in the Boston Red Sox lineage behind Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and Jim Rice, and after finishing second in the voting for the 1988 American League MVP, hitting .325 with 22 homers and over 100 RBI, he appeared to be the next great addition in the line.

Greenwell continued to hit well for average ( a career .303 hitter), but never hit more than fifteen homers in a season again and finished his career as a good, not great player.

Goodbye to Warren McVea at the age of 79.

McVea was the first African-American to play for the Houston Cougars and was named All-American in 1967.

McVea spent one season with the Cincinnati Bengals after being drafted in the fourth round in 1968, before being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he was a key part of their offense in their World Championship season of 1969.

McVea would play four seasons with the Chiefs before finishing his career with the World Football League's Detroit Wheels and Houston Texans in 1974.

Goodbye to Nick Mangold at the age of 41.

The New York Jets' first-round draft choice in 2006 from Ohio State was named an All-Pro three times and played in seven Pro Bowls.

Mangold was an All-American for Ohio State in 2005 and was a reserve center for the 2002 National Championship-winning Buckeyes.

Mangold suffered from a genetic kidney problem and had appealed for a transplant in recent months.

Goodbye to Bob Trumpy at the age of 80.

An excellent receiving tight end during an age when tight ends were used more as a blocker, Trumpy was the tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals when Bengals assistant Bill Walsh began to develop the West Coast offense.

Trumpy caught 298 passes in his ten years with the Bengals, thirty-five for touchdowns, and made the All-Star/Pro Bowl four times (two each in the AFL and NFL), but might be better known as a long-time color analyst for NBC Sports, working with several partners, including Don Criqui, Bob Costas, and Dick Enberg.

Goodbye to Richie Adubato at the age of 87.

Adubato was head coach for three NBA teams (Detroit, Dallas, and Orlando), but only one (Dallas) used him as the permanent head man.

The Mavericks gave Adubato four seasons before firing him midway through the fourth season (1992-93) with Dallas's record 2-27.

Adubato would coach for nine seasons in the WNBA with the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics and led the Liberty to three appearances in the WNBA finals, losing all three.

Browns trade Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to Bears

     The Cleveland Browns made a minor trade on NFL trade deadline day, as Cleveland traded defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and a seventh-round pick to the Chicago Bears for a 2026 sixth-round choice.

Tryon-Shoyinka was signed in the off-season from Tampa Bay as a free agent after playing for the Buccaneers for four seasons as their first-round pick in 2021.

Tryon-Shoyinka was expected to help bolster the pass rush opposite Myles Garrett, but didn't see much playing time at defensive end and didn't finish with a sack.

Tryon-Shoyinka was helpful with the punt return unit and finished with five solo tackles, four of those in Cleveland's upset win over Green Bay.

It's a minor deal and unlikely to pay dividends, but the Browns did trade a seventh-rounder for a sixth by including a special teamer, who wasn't likely to return next season, so it's not a loss of someone who was part of the rebuild for the future.

Late Thoughts: Ohio State pounds Penn State

    This is really late due to a fun trip on Sunday, personally, but I wanted to add a few thoughts on Ohio State's 38-14 win over Penn State last Saturday.

1) Julian Sayin threw for over three hundred yards and fired four touchdown passes.

Sayin has firmly placed himself in Heisman consideration, and the biggest hurdle that Sayin may have to face might be voters splitting votes between Sayin and his top two receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.

2) Ryan Day gives more and more challenges each week to Julian Sayin, and the final advance might have come against the Nittany Lions, where Sayin began looking downfield for big plays to his standout pass catchers.

Sayin completed fifty-seven-yard passes to both Smith and Tate and showed the ability to throw a beautiful deep ball.

3) Penn State was only down three points at the half after a C.J. Donaldson fumble late in the first half led to a Penn State short-field touchdown drive, but I never felt threatened with an upset.

Ohio State scored on every first-half possession other than the final drive when Donaldson fumbled, and I didn't think Penn State could keep pace in the second.