Ahmad Bradshaw got
furious at himself, and took it out on the Cleveland Browns.Bradshaw
fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, setting up a Cleveland
touchdown. After that, he was unstoppable, surpassing his yardage on
the ground for the season with a career-best 200 yards in a 41-27
victory Sunday. The Giants are 9-0 in games he has rushed for 100
yards or more. The passing game was there, too. Victor Cruz made a
career-best three touchdown catches. Eli Manning hit Cruz for scores
of 3, 7 and 28 yards, prompting Cruz's trademark salsa in the end
zone after each touchdown. New York (3-2) also forced three
turnovers, including Chase Blackburn's interception in the end zone
midway in the fourth quarter to clinch it. That led to rookie David
Wilson's first NFL touchdown, a 40-yard scamper, which Wilson
celebrated with a flip in the end zone.The Browns are 0-5 for the
first time since their return season to the NFL in 1999 and have lost
11 straight dating back to last season, matching the franchise
record. Their inexperience as the league's youngest team could not be
offset by the skills of third overall draft pick Trent Richardson,
who ran for a touchdown for the fourth straight game.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Ravens D, is all they need
The Baltimore
Ravens' hallmark for the better part of a decade has been defense.
It's what has carried them to countless victories, playoff
appearances and Super Bowl glory. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the rest of
the guys in black and purple showed up at Arrowhead Stadium on
Sunday. They shut down Jamaal Charles and the rest of the Chiefs'
offense in the second half, and made a big fourth-quarter stand to
depart Kansas City with a 9-6 victory. The Ravens had the NFL's
second-ranked offense through the first four weeks of the season, but
it faltered against an inspired Kansas City defense. Ray Rice ran for
101 yards, but Joe Flacco had just 187 yards passing and was picked
off once. Matt Cassel threw for just 92 yards, was intercepted twice
and credited with two lost fumbles before leaving in the fourth
quarter with what the Chiefs described as a head injury. Charles had
140 yards rushing, but only 15 in the second half, when the game was
to be decided. Kansas City has now committed 19 turnovers through its
1st 5 games, the most in history since the New Orleans
Saints had 21 of them to start the 1997 season. Quinn, who was 3 of 3
for 32 yards passing on his only series, was greeted by applause from
Kansas City fans when he entered the game. Quinn led the Chiefs
downfield in the fourth quarter, but a pass interference penalty by
Dexter McCluster negated what would have been a go-ahead touchdown
pass to Dwayne Bowe. After the Chiefs' late field goal, Baltimore
took over. Flacco scrambled for 16 yards on third-and-15 with a
couple minutes left in the game, and Rice plunged for another first
down with just over a minute remaining to help run out the clock.
Colts Trot Over Pack
All Chuck Pagano
asked the Indianapolis Colts to do was focus on football. Andrew Luck
and Reggie Wayne did that -- and a little more to honor their ailing
coach. With his career-best 362-yard passing effort Sunday, Andrew
Luck set a Colts rookie QB record. The 18-point comeback also was the
best by a rookie quarterback since Matthew Stafford led a 21-point
rally for the Lions vs. the Browns in 1999.
Interim coach Bruce
Arians, nicknamed BA, acknowledged he was fighting back tears when he
spoke to reporters. From the sounds of it, so were Luck and Wayne.
The sometimes emotional team owner, Jim Irsay, sniffled as he spoke
inside a silent locker room before dashing off to the hospital where
Pagano is undergoing treatment for leukemia. Wayne finished with 13
receptions for a career-high 212 yards -- the second-highest total in
Colts history behind Hall of Famer Raymond Berry in 1957. It was a
wild finish to an emotionally-charged week in Indy. Green Bay (2-3)
had a chance to force overtime with a 51-yard field goal. But Mason
Crosby's attempt went left with 3 seconds to go, setting off an
emotional celebration on the Colts' sideline. In the second half, the
Colts dominated. Luck threw an 8-yard TD pass to Dwayne Allen and set
up Adam Vinatieri for a 50-yard field goal to make it 21-13 midway
through the third quarter. He then ran it in from 3 yards out with 18
seconds left in the third quarter to get the Colts within 21-19.With
the clock ticking down, Luck converted two third-down passes to
Wayne, then scrambled for a third third-down conversion before,
fittingly, spotting Wayne for the go-ahead score.
Dolphins Swim Past Bengals
Two
blown leads, two overtime losses. The Miami Dolphins had become
masters of last-minute misery in their past two games, finding
creative ways to give 'em way. An easy interception let them finally
finish one off. Reshad Jones picked off Andy Dalton's overthrown pass
at midfield with 1:22 left on Sunday, preserving a 17-13 victory over
the Cincinnati Bengals that ended back-to-back weeks of heartbreak
for Miami. "We had two tough weeks leading up to this one,"
rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "Guys really talked all
week about how we've got to finish. We were two plays away from
having a winning record." Miami (2-3) had led at halftime before
losing to the New York Jets and Arizona in overtime. The last one
really stung, Tannehill had a fumble that helped the Cardinals tie
it, then an interception in overtime that set up a 24-21 defeat. The
Bengals (3-2) had a chance to make them sweat another one out, but
blew it. Mike Nugent missed a 42-yard field goal try with 3 minutes
left, his first miss of the season. The Bengals never got anything
going consistently on offense. Dalton was only 26 of 43 for 234 yards
with 2 interceptions and 3 sacks against a defense that came in
ranked No. 1 in the league against the run. Bengals running back
Bernard Scott had a 29-yard run in the first quarter, the longest
allowed by the Dolphins this season. He hurt his left knee in the
first half and didn't return. Scott tore his ACL, and will be out the
remainder of the season.
Cardinals Wings Get Clipped
After
capping the St. Louis Rams' opening drive with a touchdown pass to
Kendricks, Bradford endured an 0-for-12 slump that included Patrick
Peterson's interception in the end zone on a pass tossed up for grabs
under heavy pressure. No worries, The Rams' defense saw to that.
"Those guys played outstanding," Bradford said after the
Rams knocked off the Arizona Cardinals 17-3 on Thursday night.
"They've played great all year and they have kept us in a lot of
games." Bradford busted out of his funk with a 51-yard touchdown
pass to rookie Chris Givens for a 14 point cushion, and Robert Quinn
had three of the Rams' nine sacks on Kolb to keep the Cardinals in
check. Arizona (4-1) scored at least 20 points in each of its 1st 4
games, but had no luck containing a pass rush that had totaled just 6
sacks on the year, and got stopped twice inside the 20 in the final
minutes. Kolb got his helmet knocked off twice on hits, once after
getting popped in the jaw. "I'm all right," Kolb said. "I'm
glad we've got the weekend to heal up, mentally and physically."
The Rams totaled 2 victories last year but so far have executed a
quick turnaround under new coach Jeff Fisher. They're 3-0 at home for
the first time since 2003, and they're above .500 for the first time
since they were 4-3 on Nov. 4, 2006. Bradford finished 7 for 21 for
141 yards, the second-lowest total of his career. He threw for 126
yards against Tampa Bay his rookie year in 2010. Before the second TD
pass, he had been 3 for 16 overall for just 25 yards, often missing
on his receivers by a lot. Undoubtedly, he missed Danny Amendola,
sidelined in the second quarter with a right shoulder injury on a
diving attempt that was initially ruled a 22-yard catch for a first
down but overturned after the Cardinals challenged. Arizona's loss
leaves Atlanta and Houston as the only remaining unbeaten teams. The
loss was only the Cardinals' third in 14 games since starting the
2011 season 1-6.
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