WFNY Stats & Info: C.J. Miles’ extended slump
December 29, 2013
Cleveland Browns vs Pittsburgh Steelers Week 17 Open Thread
December 29, 2013As a local market representative and league manager of one of 16 teams invited to be a part of Crown Royal’s inaugural Fantasy Football League dubbed “First and Crown,” I will be using this spot every Sunday before the Browns kick off against their respective opponent to tell you who we’ll be watching during this week’s contest.
@WFNYScott Josh Gordon, to see if he stays focused on finishing strong.
— Jeremy Zura (@jzura74) December 29, 2013
This Week’s Spotlight: Josh Gordon, WR
The only thing on the line this Sunday is pride. Sure, a win for the Browns ensures that the Pittsburgh Steelers—who didn’t notch their first win of the season until the end of November—watch this year’s playoffs from the comforts of their respective homes. And sure, a loss would “cement” the would-be 4-12 Browns as having a better “shot” at landing the player of their desire come this spring. But at the end of the day, the Browns have a Pro Bowl-bound wide receiver who is just in his second year of professional football, shattering records and lighting up highlight reels amidst one of the worst regressions in recent memory.
The last time that Gordon lined up opposite of a Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back, he went on to set the first of many team records for receiving yards, one which he would break once again just one week later. While Gordon would shrug it all off as meaningless due to the Browns failing to win a winnable game at home, this Week 17 match-up provides the electric playmaker with the chance at “cementing” his rank as No. 1 in the NFL in receiving yards despite playing in just 14 games1. Gordon has a stranglehold on per-game metrics like yards-per-catch and yards-per-game. He also has the longest touchdown of the season (95 yards) and the most receptions for at least 20 yards (28). Teams have tried to take Gordon out of games, but have largely failed.
Can the 22-year-old stay focused in a game that has been rendered meaningless by the woeful play of the previous three months? Can he create the chasm of separation needed for Jason Campbell to throw the football in his direction? Week 16 saw Gordon record a few drops that would have likely changed the game in a drastic way; touchdowns instead of field goals, points rather than turnovers on downs. As we toss around rhetoric surrounding momentum and progress, the Spotlight shines on Josh Gordon for the third time this season.
Previous Spotlight Players:
Josh Gordon, WR
Barkevious Mingo, OLB
Brandon Weeden, QB
Jabaal Sheard, OLB
Paul Kruger, OLB
D’Qwell Jackson, ILB
Jordan Cameron, TE
Joe Haden, CB
Brandon Weeden, QB
Josh Gordon, WR
Buster Skrine, CB
MarQueis Gray, TE
(Image via Candice Vlcek/WFNY)
- Gordon presently has a 72-yard lead on Detroit’s Calvin Johnson; Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown is third, trailing by 152 yards. [↩]
1 Comment
Antonio Brown showed Josh Gordon how it’s done. Gordon once again looked like a rookie going through the motions in his last game. That being said I would have liked to have seen the offense get him the ball in a ton more ways then what they did.