Early games & Thanksgiving review

If you're interested in following the progress of Seattle castoffs, there is not much to see in this morning's early games.


Deon Grant continues to play for the New York Giants, who host the Jaguars today. Grant is listed as the backup strong safety, but he has started four games, and he often appears in nickel packages. To date, he has 36 tackles, 1 sack, and 3 interceptions.

Meanwhile, Mansfield Wrotto will be playing for the Buffalo Bills. Although listed as the third string right tackle, Wrotto started last week at the position. The hapless Bills host the Steelers today.

If you want to see All-World left guard Steve Hutchinson bulldoze Redskin defenders, you can check out the Vikings visiting D.C.

Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack still starts at right guard for the Cleveland Browns, who host Carolina today. Evidently, Eric Mangini wants to lose this very winnable game, because he has elected to replace injured rookie quarterback Colt McCoy with interception machine Jake Delhomme. Perhaps Mangini thinks Delhomme will know how to exploit the weaknesses of his former team, but I think it's more likely that the Panthers defensive backs will know how to capitalize on Delhomme's generosity with regard to turnovers.

Mangini would have been wiser to start Seneca Wallace. So far this year, Delhomme has thrown 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions. Wallace has thrown 4 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions.

I guess Delhomme looks really good in practice...

On Thanksgiving, Seahawks fans who watched the Lions game saw several Seattle castoffs in action. Rob Sims make several nice blocks, including two that elicited praise from the play-by-play guys, who generally ignore the offensive line. Maurice Morris started at running back, carrying the ball 9 times for 55 yards and two touchdowns, and catching balls for 20 yards. Nate Burleson turned in a pedestrian performance, catching 3 passes for 35 yards. Third-string tight end Will Heller caught his first pass of the year for a 13-yard gain. Julian Peterson logged just three tackles.

Deion Branch had a great game for the victorious Patriots, catching 3 balls for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns. You might recall that Branch had a great outing in his first game back with the Patriots in Week 6 (9 catches, 98 yards, 1 touchdown), and assume that Branch is having a Pro Bowl year. But in the 5 games in between, Branch averaged 4 catches for 55 yards and did not score. So, the Patriots are getting better production from him for less money than the Seahawks paid, but getting Deion back wasn't the steal of the century.

Later on Thanksgiving, Jon Kitna had a good game for the Cowboys, posting a completion rate in excess of 75%, throwing for more than 300 yards, and getting robbed of victory by a Roy Williams fumble.

Julius Jones was the leading rusher for the winning Saints, carrying 10 times for 45 yards, and catching 3 balls for 21 yards. I still don't miss him.