Our last weekly Monday sports round-up of 2014 features J.J. Watt’s stellar season, the leadership and maturity void in Cleveland and one fan’s must-watch rant, and the NFL playoff picture.
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1. The Houston Texans J.J. Watt Is Making Defensive History
We spend a lot of timing talking about the offensive playmakers, the quarterbacks, the running backs, the wide receivers. But on the defensive side of the ledger, Texans defensive end, J.J. Watt, has put together a season for the ages. With three (more) sacks yesterday, he became the first player since sacks were recorded as a statistic (in 1982) to have multiple seasons with 20 or more sacks.
Many are saying that Watt deserves the MVP award. It’s hard to argue. Here’s the statistical rundown, courtesy of ESPN:
Watt finished with 20.5 sacks, 50 quarterback hits/hurries, 29 tackles for loss, nine batted passes, five fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, a blocked extra point, one pick-six, one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown and three touchdown catches on nine offensive snaps. He is the only player in NFL history to have a pick-six, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and three touchdown catches in the same season.
Wow.
He’s an earnest hard-working guy to boot. And he doesn’t take himself too seriously either.
We’re pulling for him. (It’s easy to pull for guys like Watt).
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2. With ‘Leaders’ Like Johnny Manziel and Josh Gordon, The Cleveland Browns Are In Trouble
Johnny Football didn’t exactly impress with his party-hearty summer schedule or “show-me-the-money” gestures. And when he finally got his first start, it was not pretty. Meanwhile, dripping-with-talent wide receiver, Josh Gordon, spent most of the season suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Now together, and among the brightest stars in the Browns organization, they . . . are impressing even less:
On Friday night, Manziel apparently threw a party that was attended by multiple Browns players, including Gordon. Gordon then promptly missed a walk-through on Saturday and was suspended for yesterday’s season finale. Meanwhile, Manziel was fined for being late to his treatment for his injured hamstring.
Brown’s owner, Jimmy Haslam, says: the Browns young players need to “grow up.” Sure seems that way to us.
With leaders like Manziel and Gordon in place in Cleveland, the future for the Browns certainly is bright. #NopeItsTheOpposite
— Michael Kasdan (@michaelkasdan) December 28, 2014
The absolute best thing coming out of Cleveland, is this frustrated fan’s must-watch epic rant. It captures the simultaneous frustration and loyalty of every fan of a losing team:
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3. It’s All NFL Football This Week: A Bunch of Teams Made the Playoffs. Others Did Not.
Yesterday was the last game of the NFL regular season.
Welcome to the playoffs to the Patriots, Broncos, Steelers, Colts, Bengals and Ravens and to the Seahawks, Packers, Cowboys, Panthers, Cardinals, and Lions.
Everyone else, you’re dismissed.
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NB:
Odell Beckham Jr., the darling of “So…This Happened,” again did not disappoint. Though his Giants lost to the Eagles, ODB racked up another 12 catches for 185 yards and a touchdown, giving Giant fans something to look forward to for next year.
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Photo Credit(s): JJ Watt (YouTube/screen cap)
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For back-issues of our weekly “So…This Happened. Three Things in Sports,” see:
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Dec. 22, 2014 Edition: The Raiders host Ava Urrea, Zach Doubek returns on the court, Kentucky Men’s Basketball dismantles UCLA, and . . . well . . . Odell Beckham Jr.
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Dec. 15, 2014 Edition: Odell Beckham Jr. (again!), Johnny Manziel being shown the money (but not how he imagined), and a wonderful speech by Notre Dame’s women’s basketball coach about activism by athletes – and all of us – in the wake of the death of Eric Garner.
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December 8, 2014 Edition: Eric Garner protests by athletes, Andre Johnson’s Christmas toy shopping spree for kids, and the Legend of Odell Beckham Jr. grows.
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December 1, 2014 Edition: Ferguson protest by the St. Louis Rams, what’s good about sports from Ohio State/Michigan, and an epicly bad loss by the NY Football Giants.
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November 24, 2014 Edition: Odell Beckham, The Red Sox, and Kentucky Wildcats basketball
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