Week XII

It’s been a miserable football season in New York where the cities two NFL teams are a combined 5-17. And its been particularly tough for the 3-8 Giants, a team just three years removed from their second Super Bowl win in five years that was really expecting a bounce-back year in 2014 after posting their first sub-.500 campaign in over a decade last fall. Instead, the ‘new’ offense has been spotty, while the old defense has been close to dreadful at times, all resulting in a 6-game losing streak that has left the team’s faithful with little to get excited about. Enter Odell Beckham Jr., the 12th player selected at this year’s draft. Beckham did not play the first month of the season because of a nagging hamstring problem, but has been quickly making up for lost time since getting into the line-up. Against Dallas this past Sunday night, for example, Beckham has 10 catches for 146 yards and a couple of scores that put the Giants in position to upset their long-time division rivals. Of course, what people will long remember is Beckham’s second TD grab which will go down as one of the greatest catches in league history. Indeed, Beckham appeared to violate several laws of physics as he elevated over a defender who actually had a hold of his jersey and then caught the ball with three fingers with his body torqued at what appeared to be an impossible angle. All that made the fact that he was able to stay in-bounds and hold onto the ball onto the ball when he hit the turf seem rather routine. Unfortunately, however, that dreadful Giants’ defense decided to show up at the worst time possible as the unit wilted in the final three minutes and allowed Tony Romo and the Cowboys to steamroll to a game-winning TD with just over a minute to play to spoil Beckham’s party. Still, that wasn’t enough to deny the Giants their first GBN ‘Rookie of the Week’ award in several years.

Other than Beckham’s amazing catch in New York, it was a rather quiet week for members of the 2014 rookie class, although Oakland QB Derek Carr did get his first ’W’ of his career as the Raiders got off the schneid with an upset win over Kansas City last Thursday. There actually wasn’t much special about Carr’s overall numbers as he completed just 18 of 35 passes for 174 yards and a TD on the night; however, Carr, the 36th player selected at the 2014 draft, saved his best for last as he led the Raiders on a 17-play, 80-yard scoring drive that culminated with an 8-yard scoring pass with 1:42 to play that gave Oakland the lead for good. On that drive, Carr completed 4 of 6 passes for 37 yards, including the game-winning TD; he also converted a couple of other key third down pass attempts, while he also had short runs for a couple of other first downs.

Meanwhile, Cleveland got another productive day from its rookie RB duo of Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West who combined for 150 yards and 2 scores on 26 carries in a 26-24 win over Atlanta. The undrafted Crowell led the way with 88 yards on 12 carries including TD runs of 26 and 11 yards, while 3rd rounder West chipped in 62 yards on 14 carries. In that game, Atlanta DB Dez Southward, the Falcons’ 3rd round pick this year, had an interception. There was also an interesting battle of former LSU rookie RBs when Cincinnati played Houston. Bengals’ 2nd rounder Jeremy Hill, came out on top as he ran for 87 yards and a score on 18 carries in Cincinnati’s 22-13 win, while Hill’s former LSU backfield mate Alfred Blue, a 6th round pick by Houston, had 46 yards on 16 rushes, while adding another 20 on 3 catches. Elsewhere, Baltimore MLB C.J. Mosley had another 9 tackles including a sack and two tackles for loss in the Ravens’ win over New Orleans on Monday night, while San Francisco DE Aaron Lynch, St. Louis DT Aaron Donald, Tampa Bay DE Jacquies Smith, and Arizona S Deone Bucannon also had sacks.

Previous Weekly Winners:

Week I:   Denver CB Bradley Roby
Week II: Chicago CB Kyle Fuller
Week III: Carolina WR Kelvin Benjamin
Week IV: Minnesota QB Teddy Bridgewater
Week V: San Diego RB Branden Oliver
Week VI: Dallas OG Zach Martin
Week VII: Buffalo WR Sammy Watkins
Week VIII: Arizona WR John Brown
Week IX: Cincinnati RB Jeremy Hill
Week X: San Francisco LB Chris Borland
Week XI: Tampa Bay WR Mike Evans

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