SZ706

BY JIM DAWSON

OCTOBER 28, 2019

CLEVELAND WASHED AWAY BY DUMB PLAYS AND PATS’ DEFENSE 27-13

(For the appropriate atmosphere, the following may be read to the refrains of Who’ll Stop the Rain by CCR, Here Comes the Rain Again by the Eurythmics, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head by BJ Thomas and A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan.)

This was a game that only the hardy (and lucky) Patriots fans could have endured due to the steady, and at times, torrential rain that started before the game and lasted much of it. Driller Killer and I have seats in the lower level and are blessed because those seats are under the 2^nd deck overhang so that once we walked up to Gillette Stadium, we were protected from the elements. We were joined by Driller’s brother Matt, the Grid General.

Even with rain pants and waterproof shoes/boots (my Merrells succumbed to the waves of water), it was not a pleasant walk up, but the game sure was. The Cleveland Browns won the opening toss and deferred. It was one of their few correct moves.

After both the Pats and Browns did nothing on their first possessions, NE used their second to march down the field, settling for a 20 yard field goal. This occurred after Julian Edelman caught a 10 yard pass on 4^th and 7 from the Cleveland 33.

It was at this point that the Browns began their self-inflicted sloppiness that would spell doom. On second down, Nick Chubb took a hand off and was hit by his own lineman, fumbling the ball right to Dont’a Hightower who said thanks for the largesse and ran 26 yards for a touchdown. 10-0 Pats.

On 1^st down on Cleveland’s very next possession, Chubb broke loose for a 44 yard run down to the Patriots 16, but Jonathan Jones punched the ball out and Devon McCourty recovered it. The Pats didn’t do anything with the ball (poor field position starting at their 4), but the great play by Jones prevented a Browns score.

So on the 1^st down of the very next Cleveland possession, Baker Mayfield tried a shovel pass which went directly to DL Lawrence Guy (good hands, Guy) who ran with it to the Browns 11. It took Tom Brady two plays to hit Julian Edelman with an 8 yard TD pass.

The extra point made it 17-0 and the Browns were swimming upstream from that point on. So on 3 consecutive offensive plays, the Cleveland Browns had turned over the ball 3 times leading to 2 Patriots touchdowns. This was all in the first quarter.

The Browns however did not throw in the towel. After getting good field position (their own 46), they drove and scored on a 21 yard TD pass from Mayfield to his TE Demetrius Harris. It was only the 2^nd passing TD given up by the Pats D all season. The half would end with the score 17-7 and the Browns had the 2^nd half kickoff. Cleveland would use that possession to move 55 yards and kick a 38 yard FG to make it 17-10. Pats fans were clearly not happy with the Browns being within a score of tying.

‘We need 7’ was the rallying cry. The Patriots answered on their next possession. On a 3^rd and 10, Brady hit James White with a short pass and White weaved his way 59 yards to the Browns 25. Sony Michel would convert on a 3^rd and 1 and then Brady hit Edelman with a 14 yard TD. At 24-10, Pats fans felt more comfortable (except those in the rain).

The rest of the game included some strange calls by 1^st year coach (and maybe soon to be fired coach) Fred Kitchens. A punt was ordered with Cleveland having 4^th and 11 on their own 24. After a Browns’ penalty made it 4^th and 16 from their 19, Kitchens had his team go for it. Huh? Mayfield was then sacked. However Nugent missed a 34 yard FG.

Later Kitchens had his team kick a FG to make it 27-13. Why? Dumb. The Browns were their own worst enemy on this day as they amassed 13 penalties, several of which negated positive offensive plays. All that hype about Mayfield and Co. All wet.

LEFTOVERS

Nick Chubb ran hard. He had 131 yards on 20 carries but 92 of those were in the 1^st half and included his 44 yard run. He was responsible however for at least one of 2 fumbles.

Sony Michel had 74 yards on 21 carries, but misses lead blocker FB James Develin. The Pats also had to have James Ferentz play RG for Shaq Mason (out with an ankle injury), so that is 3 different players on the O Line. Expect LT Isaiah Wynn to be off IR soon.

Mohamed Sanu Sr. was targeted 5 times with 2 catches. His first Patriots catch was on 4^th and 4. He got the 1^st down and it survived an appeal by Kitchens. Unfortunately Mike Nugent had his 29 yard FG blocked. Nugent also missed a 34 yard attempt.

The amazing Julian Edelman was targeted 11 times and had 8 catches, 2 for TDs.

Mayfield looked better in the 2^nd half and was 20 of 31 with 1 TD and 1 INT for the game. Look for a replay of that shovel pass that Lawrence Guy intercepted. It was one of the strangest and dumbest passes ever.

Brady was 20 of 36 with 2 passing TDs and no INTs. He was sacked 3 times. Interestingly, stud Myles Garrett had one of those sacks but not until it was 27-10.

Jamie Collins had a monster game. He had 12 tackles and 1 assist plus 1.5 sacks. Adam Butler had 2 sacks, Van Noy 1 and Winovich .5. The Pats had 7 QB hits in total.

HORRORWEEN

So it’s that time of year for witches and goblins and things that go bump in the night. As a service to my readers who are into horror movies, here are some suggestions. Everyone knows about scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis and the original Halloween. However the 3rd installment of that series Halloween III: Season of the Witch with Dan O’Herlihy has a nasty plot device involving kids and their masks. There is no Michael Myers in it either.

More in the mainstream is Trick ’r Treat which has its moments. There are 5 different stories. IMDb gave it a 6.8 which isn’t bad for a horror movie since they’re frequently given short shrift.

If you want some movies out of the Halloween sphere, you can’t go wrong with The Descent, The Babadook, Get Out, The Thing (John Carpenter’s version), Let The Right One In (the Swedish version), House of a 1000 Corpses (only for the devoted horror fan)

and Feast (a personal favorite).

A few others with horror elements: Dressed to Kill (a favorite of Victoria’s), Don’t Look Now and Wild Tales, which IMDb gave an 8.1. It’s not strictly a horror film but is an anthology of 6 stories, some of which will make a lasting impression.

Recently I mentioned Psychotronic movies, a term coined by Michael Weldon, who has two wonderful video/movie guides filled with examples. One movie that fits that bill is Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. It’s a strange movie that has an early performance by Matthew McConaughey, who is as over the top as you can get. You will not forget the character he plays. And Renee Zellweger is in it too!

Don’t forget to hand out candy to the kids. Sweet Dreams!

E-MAIL

Hey Jim,

My guess to this week’s trivia question is Linda Ronstadt. What a voice! I have recently seen a piece on her brave battle against Parkinson’s.

Bruce Irwin

Bruce, good guess but not who I was looking for. I hear the documentary on Ronstadt is very good. - Z

Hi Jim-

I am inspired after watching Ken Burns' Country Music documentary to suggest Dolly Parton…

Making His Mark

Yes Mark,it's Dolly Parton. Good for you. You're the first to get the correct answer.

There wasn't a lot of space for this issue's trivia which worked out. Had I included that she had 25 certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards, I think more people would have gotten it. Way to go Mark. - Z

That is awesome, Jim!

Even a blind pig finds an acorn every once on a while (;) Mark

I’m going to guess Dolly Parton on the Country Chart. My second guess was Diana Ross, third Aretha. Dolly is something else. One of the best song writers in history. Wrote I Will Always Love You and Jolene on the same day. Good Day. Matt, yes, you are right - it's Dolly Parton. Hope you've been watching the Ken Burns documentary on Country music. - Z

Jim,

That sweet slice of a voice from heaven in the personage (especially of her ample endowments) of one Dolly Parton; she would be my choice for a prolifically and gifted songwriter in the modern country world. She is feisty, sly, and savvy when it comes to the recording and performing business. A powerhouse. Her records with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt are of legend when female harmonies come to mind.

Bill LaPlante

Right you are, Bill - it's Dolly Parton, she of the angelic voice. - Z

Driving home from the pool I have heard 2 Beefheart songs on radio-10 days ago "Ella Guru" from 1st album - today " Cugamanga" from " Bongo Fury"-W/Zappa -- Is a bigfoot sighting next??

Ken Forestal

Ken, that's amazing that two Cap't Beefheart songs were played. Two of my favorites are Lick my Decals Off Baby and I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby. Then I just found out that Zappa and Don Van Vliet went to HS together, that Zappa gave him the name Cap't Beefheart and that Beefheart recorded on Zappa's label when he was looking for a new label. - Z

Sportzine is available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz

THE HOT CLUB

We had been talking about Jerry Lee Lewis and I mentioned that his rock n’ roll career took a big hit in the ’60’s after he married his young (13 y/o) cousin in late 1957, and had to convert to country music. Special K was skeptical about this and also when I said it wasn’t necessarily good to be married to him. So I researched it and told her, Cap’t Jack, Mark and Peter the following: Wikipedia indicates that Lewis had minimal success in the ’60’s until switching to country music in 1968. After that, Lewis had 30 songs reach the top 10 on Billboard’s C&W chart. As for being married to The Killer (wed 7 times), his 4th wife died in a swimming pool accident before divorce proceedings were finalized, and his 25 y/o 5^th wife lasted 77 days, dying under dubious circumstances. Rolling Stone (’84) covered the strange death of Shawn Stevens Lewis.

So I told Foot Joy, the Bear and Peter that they were like my therapists but they weren’t doing a very good job because they made fun of me and things that I said. FootJoy replied: “You get what you pay for.”

ANSWER TO LAST ISSUE’S TRIVIA QUESTION

Last time I asked you to identify the woman who has had 25 #1 songs, 41 top 100 albums and is in a Hall of Fame. Making His Mark and Matt Dawson had the answer: Dolly Parton. Hope you’ve seen Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary which salutes her work. Dolly also has won nine Grammy Awards and had two Academy Award nominations. She was inducted into the Country Hall of Fame in 1999. Dolly has written over three thousand songs! Her song I Will Always Love You written as a farewell to her former mentor and partner Porter Wagoner went to #1 in 1974. Whitney Houston did her version of it for the movie The Bodyguard. It also went to #1 and according to Wikipedia (the source for all this) is considered the best selling single by a woman in music history.

THIS ISSUE’S TRIVIA QUESTION

This singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist was more known for the songs that he wrote which were recorded by many other artists. Elvis Costello, Jimmy Buffett, Joan Baez, the Everly Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris are some who covered his songs.

His first album was produced by Robbie Robertson of the Band and engineered by Todd Rundgren. He’s in the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. I saw him perform at Salt on Thames Street in Newport, RI in the late 70’s. Name?