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The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 9
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
As we near the halfway point, the race for the Dan Henning Trophy is, like last year, shaping up as a battle of the winless, with both Cincinnati and Detroit stinking the NFL up from, well, Cincinnati to Detroit.
This one could go down to the wire, with both teams exhibiting qualities of Bottom Ten champions this past Sunay. Cincinnati, playing a good Pittsburgh team, barely even bothered and they rolled over and played dead, while Detroit lost to a lousy Houston team, despite scoring eleven (11) unanswered points in the fourth quarter!
This week's poll, as the nags head up the backstretch:
1. Cincinnati (0-7; lost to Pittsburgh 38-10)
Mitigating Factors: Bengals doing all the right things in quest for B-10 title, with offense ranking Dead Last in NFL with 225.6 yards per game, and Next To Dead Last scoring at 14 points per game and rushing at 73.9 yards per game…Bengals actually pull to with in seven late in third quarter, but lose interest late, getting outscored 21-0 in fourth quarter.
Very Charted Waters: Bengals 0-7 for second time in Double Aughts and sixth time in history.
Next Loss:at Houston
2. Detroit (0-6; lost at Houston 28-21)
Mitigating Factors: Lions cause B-10 pollsters to hold breath with eleven unanswered points in fourth quarter, but they're still bad enough to lose to lousy Texans…Lions score second-most points of season and give up second-fewest, which means they close game instead of getting blown out.
Insert Ye Olde "The Defense Rests" Line Here: Lions defense ranks Dead Last in NFL, giving up 31.2 points and 410.7 yards per game.
Next Loss: Washington
3. Kansas City (1-5; lost to Tennessee 34-10)
Mitigating Factors: Losing no momentum following a bye week, Chiefs spring out to 27-0 deficit before late field goal, touchdown prevent complete humiliation…Seven of first nine possessions end in punts, the others in a missed field goal, end of first half….Four of these drives are exciting, three-and-outs.
At Least We're Avoiding Those Heartbreaking, Close Losses: Chiefs five losses have been by an average of 22.8 points.
Next Loss: at NY Jets
4. Seattle (1-5; lost at Tampa Bay 20-10)
Mitigating Factors: Defense does its part giving up 402 total yards, but offense key vs. Buccaneers, mustering just seven (7) first downs and 176 total yards, including just 73 through the air…Surprising no one, Seahawk passing game worst in NFL, at 126.8 yards per game…Seahawks explode for five drives of less than ten yards.
TripTik: Tampa trip was third of four games on East Coast.
Next Loss: at San Francisco
5. Cleveland (2-4; lost at Washington 14-11)
Mitigating Factors: Browns so bad they make Redskins sleepwalk through dull, scoreless first half, too…Browns explode for four first half first downs and 59 total yards… First half features twelve drives, eleven punts…Other drive stalls when first half ends.
Crunch Time: Browns break two-game losing streak, in plenty of time to start long losing streak needed to propel them back into B-10 medal stand contention.
Next Loss: at Jacksonville
Caught In The Lint Trap:
6. Houston (2-4) - Pollsters not fooled by win over lousy Lions!
7. NFC North - First place teams finally have winning records, but entire division only 11-16!
8. Oakland (2-4) - Dropped from Top 5 after time out call late in fourth negates a missed Jets field goal…Jets tie game on replayed field goal and Raiders manage to win in OT.
9. San Francisco (2-5) - 49ers, losers of four straight, rebounding nicely from early two-game winning streak.
10. Backstairs At The Monte Carlo - Gaylon's book is on sale now! Buy it here!
This Week's Clash of the Titans: Cincinnati at Houston
This Is Don Criqui Reporting: Seattle at San Francisco
Comments? Recipes? Complaints? Email the Writer's Shack here!
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