Here are the Pack alum's performances (sporadically infused with random bits of other goodies) from week 11 of the NFL season. Players are listed in alphabetical order as not to offend anyone; please hold your applause until the end of the presentation.
Zach Allen (‘13/UDFA): If Seattle wasn't already your favorite NFL team, it should be. Allen was recently signed to the Seahawks' practice squad, giving them a league-high four former Pack players. Buffalo and Detroit each have three. How cool would it be to see Allen and J.R. Sweezy starting at the guards with Russell at QB? Pretty damn cool, that's how cool. And it could happen (but probably not until next year).
David Amerson (‘13/2nd): Amerson made five stops in the Skins' 24-16 loss at Philly (6-5), which won at home for the first time all season to take over first place in the NFC East; idle Dallas sits at 5-5. Amerson's Redskins (3-7) can be pretty safely pegged as the first team to fall from contention in a division that only the AFC South can rival for futility.
Andre Brown (‘09/4th): The Giants (4-6) are alive if not exactly well in the NFC East following their fourth straight win, an easy 27-13 triumph over the free-falling, Aaron-Rodgers-less Packers (5-5). Brown rumbled for 66 yards on 18 carries and added 27 more yards on three catches. After pushing the pile forward four yards to the goal line with a defender lifting one of his legs off the ground and three others trying to stand him up, Brown had what should have been his touchdown vultured on the next play by Brandon Jacobs, who is spelling him in short yardage situations. Boo. The G-Men can cement their status as division contenders despite an 0-6 start with a win Sunday at Dallas.
Audie Cole (‘12/7th): Cole recorded his third tackle of the season in Minnesota's 41-20 beat down by the beat-down capable Seattle Seahawks (10-1). Seattle is now the proud owner of the best record in the NFL thanks to Denver's win over previously-unbeaten Kansas City; both the Broncos and Chiefs are 9-1.
Jerricho Cotchery (‘04/4th): Cotchery caught a touchdown pass for the third straight week, bringing his season total to a career-high seven scores. He had 48 yards on three catches to eclipse 500 yards receiving for the first time since 2009 and should get plenty of targets going forward with Emmanuel Sanders nursing yet another injury. Pittsburgh (4-6), which beat Detroit (6-4) 37-27, is 4-2 in its last six games and not totally out of the playoff picture since 5-5 is currently good for the last wildcard spot in the AFC.
Mike Glennon (‘13/3rd): Two in a row is a streak. Glennon had his most efficient day as a pro, connecting on 20 of 23 attempts for 231 yards and a pair of scores in the Bucs' 41-28 rout of Atlanta (2-8). Tampa (2-8) may only have a pair of wins, but the Bucs have four losses of three points or less to playoff contenders Seattle (in overtime), New Orleans, New York (Jets), and Arizona. Glennon only started one of those games (at Seattle) or that 2-8 might look more like 5-5. This team isn't that far from being competitive, especially if running back Bobby Rainey is for real. Rainey complemented Glennon's strong performance with 163 yards rushing and two scores. Rainey had 21 carries all season before toting the mail 30 times Sunday.
Here's how Glennon compares to a couple other notable rookie QBs:
QB |
DYAR* |
DVOA** |
Passer Rtg. |
Comp. % |
TD% |
INT% |
Glennon |
268 (15th) |
4.6% (14th) |
87.7 (14th) |
62.1 (15th) |
4.4 (16th) |
1.6 (5th) |
Manuel |
29 (28th) |
-9.2% (28th) |
82.1 (20th) |
58.5 (26th) |
3.7 (23rd) |
1.8 (9th) |
Smith |
-482 (43rd) |
-35.1% (40th) |
65.1 (32nd) |
56.3 (30th) |
2.8 (30th) |
5.4 (34th) |
*DYAR = Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement **DVOA = Defense-adjusted Value Over Average
Glennon's passer rating and advanced metrics make the case that State has not just three of 32 NFL starting QBs, but three of the top 15 signal callers in the league (can we get this on a recruiting letter, pronto). And, as he is the only rookie playing well above replacement level, I wonder if a few GMs wish they had a mulligan on draft day.
T.J. Graham (‘12/3rd): Graham did some things, most notably catching a 34-yarder for his first TD pass of the season, in the Bills' 37-14 blowout over the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets (5-5). Graham hauled in two balls in sum for Buffalo (4-7), and his other grab was good for 40 yards.
Leroy Harris (‘07/4th): Harris was inactive for the incredibly funky loss at Pittsburgh that saw the Lions score 27 points in the second quarter. That's 27 of their total of 27...all in one quarter. The Steelers actually did a decent job against Megatron, who had six grabs for 179 yards and two scores but was targeted 13 times. If he catches a couple more, it's likely a much different final score.
Steven Hauschka (‘08/UDFA): Hauschka was busy again Sunday, booting five extra points and a pair of threes to put him at 24-for-25 on the season. Hauschka leads the NFL in both made field goals (24) and field goal percentage (96%). Hawaii here he comes.
Nate Irving (‘11/3rd): Irving returned to practice late in the week but was inactive due to a shoulder injury in Denver's 27-17 win over KC. He should be back Sunday night against the Patriots (7-3) in a matchup that looked like it would have home-field advantage implications in the AFC before the Panthers upended Tom Brady and company on MNF.
Markus Kuhn (‘12/7th): Kuhn has been rostered (rather than released or placed on the season-long PUP) but was inactive for the Giants' win over the Packers.
Ted Larsen (‘10/6th): Larsen entered Sunday's game in the second quarter and was promptly flagged for holding some guy 20 feet away from the play. The flag negated a nice gain, but Rainey bailed Larsen out on the next play by going up the gut for a 43-yard scoring scamper. Larsen did not play much the rest of the way.
Manny Lawson (‘06/1st): Lawson was instrumental in the benching of Geno Smith, sacking him once, hurrying him twice, and falling on one of Smith's fumbles. The Jets have 18 turnovers this year and Smith is responsible for 17 of them. Lawson had five total tackles.
Terrell Manning (‘12/5th): Manning remains on the Bolts' practice squad.
Tobais Palmer (‘12/UDFA): A Google search for Palmer basically brings up a bunch of old BTP "Pack in the Pros" articles, which would not seem to bode well for his NFL future. If anyone has information on Palmer's whereabouts, please share them in the comments section.
Philip Rivers (‘04/1st): The Chargers' offense continues to do their best N.C. State impression in the red zone. They settled for three Nick Novak field goals a week after trading three for seven a couple of times against the Broncos. The result: Miami (5-5) hangs on for a 20-16 win despite being outgained by nearly 100 yards. Rivers did post yet another nice stat line in a loss for the Chargers (4-6), connecting on 22 of 34 attempts for 298 yards and a TD. He did throw a pick.
J.R. Sweezy (‘12/7th): The Seahawks had their entire starting line together for the first time since week one, though Sweezy was the only member of the line to play every offensive snap. His unit only allowed one sack but showed a little rust in the run game, where Marshawn Lynch managed just 54 yards on 17 carries; Lynch did run for a pair of scores.
Stephen Tulloch (‘06/4th): Tulloch and the Lions had trouble keeping up with the Steelers' no-huddle attack, yielding a season-high 37 points. Tulloch made nine stops in the loss.
Mario Williams ('06/ 1st): The Bills' defense got four sacks for a second straight week, and, for a second straight week Super Mario did not get any of those sacks. One assumes that the attention Williams draws from opposing offenses does free up his teammates to some extent, but it would be nice to see Mario drag a guy or two down and break his sack slump. He did have two tackles, one of which was for a loss, and he was credited with a pass defended.
Adrian Wilson (‘01/3rd): Wilson is still languishing on the Pats' IR, but since the Pats played the Panthers (7-3) it gives us a rare opportunity to point out: damn, Carolina! I hear ya. The Panthers have won six straight, including a roadie over San Fran and Monday night's come-from-behind, penalty-flag-picked-up win over New England. The Panthers have the fourth best point differential (+103) in the league and it's hard to argue that they aren't one of the top five teams in the NFL right now. Denver and Seattle stand out as the cream of the crop, but is any other team clearly better than embattled Ron Rivera's cats?
Russell Wilson (‘12/3rd): Wilson enjoyed yet another efficient outing against the Vikings, hitting on 13 of 18 throws for 230 yards and a pair of scores without an interception. He upped his yards per completion to 13.4 and his TD% to 6.9; both marks are third best in the NFL. His 8.6 yards per attempt ranks fourth. Wilson has completed a league-best 59.4% of his passes of 15+ yards against a league average of 41.8%. And the ‘hawks are just going to get scarier with Percy Harvin back in the nest.
C.J. Wilson (‘13/UDFA): Despite an injury-depleted secondary, Wilson was not promoted from the practice squad for the Bears' 23-20 overtime win over the Ravens (4-6). After waiting out a long weather delay (prayers to all those in the path of the rare fall tornado outbreak), the Bears (6-4) erased a 10-0 deficit to forge a tie with Detroit atop the NFC North; the Lions swept the season series already, so Chicago will need to finish ahead of their rival to win the division.
Earl Wolff (‘13/5th): Wolff was inactive for Sunday's win over the Skins due to a knee injury and is expected to miss multiple weeks.
Willie Young (‘10/7th): Young was active in a reserve role, contributing on four tackles against the Steelers.
AND NOW THE MUCH ANTICIPATED ALWAYS APPRECIATED ALL CAP INTRODUCED ANDRE BROWN LIVING MEMORIAL GAME BALL OF THE WEEK GOES TO...
Mike Glennon.
Completing 87% of your passes en route to leading your team to a season-high 41 points is definitely game-ball worthy. Glennon is exceeding expectations as a rookie and giving the Tampa faithful a modicum of hope for the future. I felt like Glennon had a chance to become a Joe Flacco-like NFL quarterback. Surround him with a good defense and a running game and he can manage his way to a lot of wins, maybe even the ultimate win, as Flacco did a season ago. Given his performance so far, it's not hard to imagine that Glennon may become more than that. Does Tampa have a star in the making? Will the Bucs keep winning, saving Schiano's job and losing out in the JaDeveon Clowney sweepstakes in the process? With four games left against winning teams, including roadies at Carolina and New Orleans, we'll soon get a good sense of whether Glennon and Tampa's turnaround are for reals.