with melting wax and feathers brown
Week 2! MNF
One of our readers, Cooz, sent a message saying, “Gotta get a names edition of Betting Antelope”, after being inspired by John Christian Kaʻiminoeauloamekaʻikeokekumupaʻa.
I agree - so I did some digging for unique names related to the Browns and Steelers rivalry. During the search, I came across Joseph Willie "Turkey" Jones and was intrigued by the nickname.
Just before Thanksgiving, he earned his nickname from a rookie prank. The veteran players convinced the rookies to go on a wild turkey chase to non-existent farms for free holiday turkeys. Jones, determined, searched for hours, even after his peers had given up. The next year, he fell for the same turkey trick again.
He’s more well known for his slam on Terry Bradshaw, leaving Bradshaw concussed.
This event, seen as either a gritty move or a dirty play, etched Jones' name in football lore, accompanied by a $3,000 fine.
When Terry Bradshaw retells the story of the sack, he is able to chuckle about it now, though at the time it was horrifying. The medics did not have a table for him, so they took a door off the locker room and strapped him to it, and made him wait out it in the hall until the game was over, at which point they flew him back to Pittsburgh.
All the while, poor old Bradshaw had no feeling in his body and lay there wondering if his career was over or whether he could lead a normal life.
Bradshaw says, “That was thirty years ago, folks. You got to realize that what the NFL has done today is absolutely phenomenal.”
Numbers
15: Nacua, a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, hauled in 15 receptions on 20 targets for 147 yards in the Rams' Week 2 loss to the 49ers. The 15 receptions are the most by a rookie in a single game in league history.
300: Justin Herbert threw for over 300 yards for 2 TDs, 0 INTs. The defense sacked Ryan Tannehill 5 times. Derrick Henry didn’t break 100 yards rushing. The Chargers lost.
28: The Giants didn’t score for 6 quarters. At 28 points, they now have more points this season than the Raiders.
4 [TRIVIA]: Packers QB Jordan Love is now the 4th QB in team history with at least 3 passing TD in each of the first 2 games of a season. Can you name the other 3? (Bonus points if you can pair the year with the name.)
Quotes
“There’s enough cameras out there for everyone to watch it and figure out what happened.”
Courtland Sutton on the noncall PI at the end
"Obviously, the guys talk a lot, don’t have a lot of respect for a lot of individuals, so you take that stuff personally. It was a great win for the team. I’m just excited to ... head back to Balt. on the plane relaxing, feet kicked up w/nice W.”
Roquan Smith on beating Bengals
“Those fans are probably some of the worst fans in the NFL, and I’m gonna stand on that. They are real nasty and some of the things they were saying, I wouldn’t say in church.”
Tyreek Hill calls out Patriots fans
“We came in here and drew some plays up and they were like, ‘We’re going to hit you on this post. I told D.J. right before we broke out of the huddle, ‘Throw it. Just throw it.’ He trusted me and threw it. I wish I scored, but great outcome. I think that changed the whole outcome of the game — that one play.”
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Picks
Monday, 9/18 @ 8:15pm
Browns (-2) at Steelers (U38.5)
Since ‘18 the Browns are 0-7 vs Pitt when Nick Chubb doesn’t eclipse 90+ total yards. This is against the same defense that gave up 169 total yds to McCaffrey last week.
Record
ATS: 6-2 (+5.46)
O/U: 2-2 (-0.18)