Browns hit Heartbreak Hotel vs San Diego 30-27

The Cleveland Browns twice in the waning minutes appeared to have pushed the San Diego Chargers to overtime-first with Josh McCown's TD pass to Gary Barnidge and then tying the game on a two-point conversion pass from McCown to Taylor Gabriel.
The issue was this -Had the Browns left too much time on the clock for Phillip Rivers?
The answer? Yes as Rivers adroitly moved the Chargers down the field for a 39-yard game-winning attempt by rookie Josh Lambo.
To the surprise of Browns fans, Lambo hooked the attempt to the right and overtime loomed.
Until you saw that dreaded piece of yellow laundry on the field.
The result was the Browns Tramon Williams being called for offsides and Lambo getting a second chance, this time from 34 yards, which naturally he drilled and San Diego escaped with a 30-27 win.
Josh McCown led the Browns offense with 356 yards passing with two scores with Travis Coons adding three field goals.
The now 1-3 Browns travel to Baltimore Sunday for a meeting with the Ravens...

Brownie Bits

1) You expect a rookie or a young player to jump offside on a play that could determine a game.
You don't expect a veteran like Tramon Williams to do so, simply inexcusable...

2) Josh McCown played well in not throwing an interception and only turning the ball over once on a fumble caused by a blindside hit.
I still think that Johnny Manziel needs to play and McCown isn't the future at all, but overall, McCown took care of what he could control...

3) The offensive line had real issues as the Chargers entered the game with just one sack.
They left it with five as Josh McCown was dumped four times and rushed throughout.
Alex Mack is struggling and Joel Bitonio has regressed from a strong rookie year.
The O-Line is a disappointment to me.

4) But not nearly as much as the defense, which has been disappointing and way overrated.
Many Browns fans/observers thought this defense could be a top-five defense.
I didn't see them as that good but thought they had a chance to be an upper half of the league defense.
They might be the worst in the league.

5) Joe Haden was listed as probable, yet didn't play.
Mike Pettine said the call was Haden's not his.
The listing of probable means you are highly likely to play and the league has said they are looking into the matter...

6) Gary Barnidge is developing into a receiving threat at tight end.
Barnidge caught all six passes thrown to him including what is the catch of the year thus far for the Browns.
Barnidge will never be confused with Jimmy Graham as a deep threat, but like a sure-handed shortstop, he catches what is thrown to him...

7) Isaiah Crowell finished with 63 yards rushing, but his reception of 53 yards set up a score.
Breaking tackles and running hard, if Crowell can become even a decent threat in the passing game, Crowell could suddenly be a three-down back...

8) Writing of running backs-Duke Johnson emerged as a huge part of the offense as he caught a long touchdown pass among nine catches.
Johnson reminded me of Darren Sproles in his New Orleans days and much of the offense was funneled through him.
It'll be interesting to see if that continues against Baltimore...

9) 12 penalties?
Suffice it to say that's too many, especially from a team supposedly fundamentally strong...

10) The Browns made stars out of a team with two healthy wide receivers, yet were destroyed by Danny Woodhead and Dontrell Inman.
How in the world can a "top defense" be hammered by players of that ilk?

11) Justin Gilbert finally got his chance to return kicks and he looked good doing it as he averaged 30 yards a return.
I'd like to see more value from a number one pick than just kick returning, but at least the Browns have gotten something from Gilbert.

12) Dwayne Bowe was "ready to showcase the talent".
Bowe had one pass thrown to him.
Incomplete.
Glad he was so ready...

Podcast-Football Weekend in Ohio

The podcast discusses the Buckeyes win and Browns loss.
I plan on doing a Browns blog post later tonight....

Postol stuns Matthysse-Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge with R.L.Malpica rolled on with an upset in the 140 pound division that has division shaking affects...

On the HBO side of the evening,the shocker came when Viktor Postol stunned Lucas Matthysse with a tenth round knockout.
Postol,not known as a puncher,dropped Matthyssee with a short right hand that dropped the Argentine to his knees and despite looking like he could have risen,chose not to.
Matthysse was favored by most,but I did see a few people looking at Postol as a live dog in this one,due to his style,which controlled the day.
It has become clear that Matthysse cannot handle taller fighters with a decent jab,which is how Danny Garcia took a close decision over him.
This was not nearly as close as I had Postol ahead 87-84 entering the tenth round.
Postol earned the WBC title with the win and immediately was being talked about as the next opponent for WBO titlist Terrence Crawford,who is an HBO star and in need of a strong future fight should he defeat Dierry Jean in three weeks on the network.
Ramon and I each picked Matthysse,so "No points on that one"

On a side note-ever notice how huge punchers often times show little heart in losses?
I'll be talking about this on a future podcast,but I'm always surprised that a bomber has no qualms about going toe to toe for 12 rounds as Lucas Matthyssee did in 12 rounds of hell vs Ruslan Provodnikov,but often will not continue after being out-jabbed by a boxer/puncher.
It has to be mostly mental....

The HBO co-feature saw Ramon and I each add two points for Antonio Orozco's unanimous decision win over Humberto Soto.
The cards were all wider than my 96-94 score for Orozco,but the judges had the correct winner,so that's as much as I can ask for....

Over on Showtime,Ramon and I each added two points for getting the winners correct,but not how they earned their victories..

Adrien Broner added the WBA version of the 140 pound crown with a 12th round stoppage of Khalib Allakhverdiev.
I had Broner far ahead at the time of the ending,but Broner didn't overly impress in the win.
Broner simply was in with a fighter that allowed him to do what he wanted.
The best part of this fight (and I mean that loosely) came when Broner challenged Floyd Mayweather to offer up Ashley Theophane from his "Money Team".
That's Ashley Theophane as in 35 year old,39 and 6 with zero victories over world class opposition.
Ashley Theophane.
That fight will get made too as PBC continues to emulate the worst of pro wrestling.
Only in boxing.....

In the co-feature,Jose Pedraza retained his IBF Jr.Lightweight title with a split decision over Edner Cherry.
I scored Cherry a 115-113 winner and wouldn't have quibbled with a similar scorecard for Pedraza.
However,both Pedraza winning scorecards notched a 117-111 verdict,which was way out of whack in my opinion.
Pedraza lost even more points with me with a post-fight interview that saw him comment on a potential rematch with "Yes,but he'll have to wait a while" when asked why "I'm the champ,he waits for me".
Uhhh,Ok.

I still retain my four point lead over R.L in the boxing challenge at 118-114

Buckeyes scared in Bloomington 34-27

The top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes were outplayed for a half and every time that they picked up the pace,the Indiana Hoosiers had an answer.
What Ohio State had that the Hoosiers didn't was Ezekiel Elliott and his 274 yards combined with three long touchdown runs and a batted away pass in the end zone on the last play of the game allowed OSU to escape Bloomington with a 34-27 win.
Cardale Jones threw for 274 yards and a score,while Jalin Marshall caught six passes for 110 yards for the now 5-0 Buckeyes.
Ohio State returns home next Saturday to host Maryland on the Terrapins first visit to the Horseshoe...

Olenthangy Offerings

1) What a game from Ezekiel Elliott!
Elliott almost singlehandedly won this with his 274 rushing yards (tying Keith Byars for second most in a game by a Buckeye) and three touchdown runs of 55,65 and 75 yards.
Elliott's game might have re-entered him in the Heisman race and more importantly kept the Buckeyes in the national title race....

2) I feel a little iffy on Cardale Jones,even though he threw just one interceptiona,although it wasn't a good pass that was picked off.
It was pretty clear to me that Urban Meyer was afraid to let him throw the football in the latter part of the game and allowed Indiana to crawl back into the game.
It reminded me of how the Buckeyes did the same thing to J.T.Barrett against Penn State last season and allowed an inferior team to hang in there due to an overly conservative offense...

3) Jalen Marshall did have some nice receiving numbers,but fumbled the ball twice.
When you look at Marshall's similar issues against Indiana last year,perhaps he should skip the Indiana game next season.
In all seriousness,Marshall holds the ball away from his ball and doesn't take care of the football.
Marshall brings so much to the game with his explosiveness,it's too bad that you always have to worry about the security of the football...

4) Ohio State did take a sizable chunk of the Indiana offense away with injuries to Hoosier quarterback Nate Sudfeld and running back Jordan Howard.
Indiana couldn't throw the ball with backup passer Zander Diamont and had to result to trick plays to move the ball through the air.

5) The Buckeyes lost another wideout with the loss of Corey Smith to a leg injury that looked especially gruesome.
Smith had just started to become more of a force at wide receiver and his loss will be felt.

6) Classless fans in Bloomington,who decided to pick a time with a player down on the field with a potentially season ending injury to chant "F Ohio State"...

7) I wonder where Braxton Miller went in this offense?
Miller had one reception and a rushing play and the creativity that was used to get the ball in his hands against Virginia Tech has disappeared.
A little Miller might be the ticket to loosen defenses that will focus more and more on Ezekiel Elliott.

8) Raekwon McMillan finished with 14 tackles and Adolphus Washington with 10 more,no matter the issues on this day-the run defense up the middle was not one of them...

9) The last time that Indiana defeated Ohio State?
1988,when my son was one year old and still in diapers and I was just 20 years old.
Indiana won the 87 and 88 games and before that?
Ohio State had not lost to the Hoosiers in 36 years,so in the last 63 years (almost my father's lifetime),the Hoosiers have defeated the Buckeyes twice.
Losses to Indiana will not be tolerated....

10) I'm hoping that this is one of these dodged bullets that occasionally happens,but the game that that I found myself reflecting on as the game progressed was the 2002 title team and their win on the road against an average Purdue team that somehow pulled out a win on a similarly bad weather day on the road.

11) However,that team had an offensive identity-a run first team led by Maurice Clarett that used the pass as an way to keep the defense honest.
Considering the issues at quarterback and the injuries at wide receiver,perhaps this team should ponder a similar plan.

Boxing Challenge

Strong boxing weekend as HBO and Showtime go head to head with competing main events in the 140 pound division.

HBO has the better bout as Lucas Matthysse goes after the WBC title vacated by Danny Garcia against top rated Viktor Postol.
Matthysse,who will likely have the 2015 fight against Ruslan Provodnikov after the 2014 fight of the year vs John Molina always makes great fights and Postol is likely to make another good one with him.
The co-feature looks strong as well as talented,but untested prospect Antonio Orozco takes his first real step up against former champion Humberto Soto in what could be another action battle.

Showtime's feature isn't quite as strong as the WBA title vacated by Danny Garcia will be filled not by their "Interim" champ Jose Benavidez,but by the winner of Adrien Broner (coming off a loss) against Khabib Allakhverdiev (hasn't fought in 18 months) in Broner's hometown of Cincinnati.
This is a joke already,but the WBA is clearly the oldest and most corrupt of the sanctioning bodies,so I am not surprised.
The WBA has up to three "Champions" per divisions and even by its own rules should have promoted Benavidez to this title,but it's the WBA so corruption or stupidity should be expected...
More on this on today's podcast..
The co-feature looks to be a fun one though as IBF Jr.Lightweight champ Jose Pedraza defends for the first against hard punching veteran Edner Cherry,
This could be a very good bout...

The Boxing Challenge continues with R.L.Malpica.I lead the challenge at 114-110....

Vacant WBC Jr,Welterweight title.12 rds
Lucas Matthysse vs Viktor Postol
R.L; Matthysse KO 5
TRS:Matthysse KO 9

Jr.Welterweights.10 rds
Antonio Orozco vs Humberto Soto
Both: Orozco unanimous decision

Vacant WBA Jr,Welterweight title.12 rds
Adrien Broner vs Khabib Allakhverdiev
Both:Broner unanimous decision

IBF Jr.Lightweight title.12 rds
Jose Pedraza vs Edner Cherry
Both:Pedraza unanimous decision

Pigskin Picking Machine

The PPM machine rolls on!

Last Week:7-2
Overall:26-7

College
Ohio State over Indiana 42-17
Bowling Green over Buffalo 48-25
Boise State over Hawaii 37-17
Baylor over Texas Tech 50-42

Game of the Week
Georgia over Alabama 25-23

NFL
Chargers over Browns 28-14
Cowboys over Saints 42-31

Game of the Week
Bills over Giants 24-17

Podcast-Julie Kendall Returns

Julie Kendall returns to talk about her latest project.
We also wish Rachel a Happy Birthday,talk about the Indians attendance woes,boxing and why it's OK to root for more than 1 team.