Monday Nite!

The Browns haven't had a Monday night game since I got my driver's license, and even though it's still the preseason, I was pumped to see the Brady Bowl Part Deux on display in prime time last night. Little did I know that bush league penalties, and a future fantasy stud (Domenik Hixon - draft him while you still can) would crash my party harder than paparazzi at the Beer Olympics.

On the brighter side of a 23 - 3 first quarter drubbing, Irish alumnus Justin Tuck enjoyed some Janice-McAlarney-esque face time. While the Giants lost a very good defensive lineman and a great personality in Michael Strahan, they seem to have an excellent replacement in Tuck, who in addition to playing a major role in the G's super bowl win, also caused a very good (I think...) Browns offensive line considerable trouble last night. At one point the announcers even hypothesized if the Giants could eventually become "Justin Tuck's team" (rather than Manning's). Go get 'em you beast.
The Brown's inability to defend the Giant's rush resulted in Anderson taking a pretty hard hit from Osi Umenyiora that knocked him out of the game and gave Quinn the opportunity to take some extra snaps. Brady looked pretty good overall, completing 7/12 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown (although the TD would have been a pick if not for a great play by all-name receiver Syndric Steptoe), and he also displayed good mobility in the pocket when he was pressured.
After earning praise from the coaches for his play in summer practices, Travis Thomas continued his struggles in live play against the Giants. The former Irish RB/LB was pushed back into his punter to force a safety, and he looked a little lost on offense, getting only 2 carries for 7 yards and being a non-factor in the screen game.

In relatively unrelated news, I'm happy to announce that one of my favorite Notre Dame blogs, The House Rock Built, has been resurrected after a deathly long offseason and is back to cranking out some good stuff. So if you're not getting enough laughs here, give it a read.