Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. Congrats to Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints for breaking a once considered unbreakable record of throwing a touchdown pass in 48 straight games. Job well done!! Tom Brady owns the next longest streak, which is less than a season of games behind Brees. Trivia note: Johnny Unitas wore number 19. His number was called in the record breaking play, as Brees threw a touchdown pass to number 19, Devery Henderson. Unitas' son Joe handled Brees surpassing his father with class, by attending the game and supporting Brees with his accomplishment. Now to the Update.

   The 0-5 Cleveland Browns fought the good fight against the New York Giants, but they are now this week's Kings of the Cellar. They are the lone winless team in the NFL. The San Diego Chargers made key mistakes against the Saints and Brees made them pay the price, which were the first victory of the season and the record. Cleveland is 0-5 for the first time since 1999, their first year back after the original club moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens in 1996. The 1999 Browns started 0-7. The Browns are also sporting a 11 game losing streak, their last win coming in Week 11 last season against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

  There are five teams with a 1-4 record and the loser of that group is the Carolina Panthers, who lost three straight, including a 16-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Although the Panthers were 4-2 in the final six games of last season, that promise was broken by not being able to overtake or put teams away. They also started the season 1-4 last year and went 1-5 before beating the Washington Redskins. At least they last beat a team with a winning record last season.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 2-3 Buffalo Bills. Although the showed a spark by beating the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland, other opponents exposed they weaknesses. The New York Jets (honorable mention runner-up), New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers all spanked the Bills by scoring a minimum of 45 points, with the Pats putting up 52 on them.

Next Loss...

   Cleveland returns home to face their cross-state rivals the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals swept the series last season. The Browns have beaten the Bengals only three times since 2004, the last time in 2010. The last time Cleveland swept Cincinnati was in 2002, the Browns' first winning season since their return in 1999. However, this could be an upset special and if there is to be one, this is it.

   Since Carolina,  New Orleans, and the Jacksonville Jaguars have a bye this week, let's focus on the other 1-4 teams.

   The Kansas City Chiefs travel to sunny Florida to take on the 1-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This could be an upset special and if Jamaal Charles runs against the Bucs like he did against the Saints, then it will be a definite upset. However, Tampa Bay's defense is much better than the Saints' defense, which makes the upset less likely.

    The Tennessee Titans will host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. Much like the Saints-Falcons rivalry, the records don't matter much for this game. Pittsburgh swept the series last year. but if the Titans can get their running game in gear, this too, could be an upset special. Tennessee has never swept a Pittsburgh season series with Ben Roethlisberger as Steelers' quarterback. In fact, the last time the Titans swept the Steelers was in 2000. As with the Saints, Lions, and Packers, the Titans are a better team than their record indicates, but until they show up for sixty minutes, the Steelers will emerge victorious on Thursday.

   Here are some historical scores for teams playing each other this week, today in:

1977  New England 31 - Seattle 0
1977  Houston Oilers 27 - Pittsburgh 10
1994  New York Jets 16 - Indianapolis 6
2011  San Diego 29 - Denvver 24
2011  Pittsburgh 38 - Tennessee 17