Tar Heels in the NFL: Week 11 Recap

Ryan Switzer and Jonathan Cooper vs. Mack Hollins. Eric Ebron vs. Mitch Trubisky. Brandon Tate vs. Tre Boston. There were a number of games on Sunday that featured some Tar Heel alumni facing off against one another.

Let’s take a look at the stats from some former UNC football players in this week’s NFL recap.

Kareem Martin (Arizona)

Martin got the start on the defensive line for the Cardinals in their 31-21 loss to the Houston Texans. Martin finished the game with two total tackles (1 solo, 1 assisted).

James Hurst (Baltimore)

In their shutout victory over the Green Bay Packers, Hurst started and played the entire at left tackle. Hurst and the Ravens’ offensive line gave up only three sacks to the Packers’ defense.

Brandon Tate (Buffalo) vs. Tre Boston (Los Angeles Chargers)

In their blowout win over the Bills, Boston and the Chargers had a field day against the Buffalo quarterbacks. They picked off the Bills five times, including one from Boston. Boston now has four interceptions on the season. In Sunday’s game, he also picked up four total tackles.

With the Chargers scoring 54 points in the game, Tate was busy returning kicks on Sunday. He had seven kickoff returns for 144 yards (average of 20.6 yards per return). Tate also had one catch for seven yards.

Mitch Trubisky and Connor Barth (Chicago) vs. Eric Ebron (Detroit)

Trubisky and the Bears fell to their division opponent the Detroit Lions and Eric Ebron 27-24. Ebron had four catches for 49 yards in the victory, which keeps the Lions within two games of the NFC North division-leading Minnesota Vikings.

Trubisky played pretty well despite the loss, as he continues to get more and more comfortable as a starter in the NFL. He finished with one touchdown pass, going 18-30 on 179 passing yards, and had 53 rushing yards. In the closing minutes of the game he drove his team down the field and positioned his kicker, Connor Barth, for a 46-yard game-tying field goal; however, Barth missed (1-2 on field goals, 3-3 on extra points) and the Bears dropped to 3-7 on the season.

Giovani Bernard and Russell Bodine (Cincinnati)

Bodine, Bernard, and the Bengals pulled off the 20-17 victory over the struggling Denver Broncos. Bodine started and played the entire game at center, but Bernard did not have one of his best games, as he had -4 yards rushing and caught only one pass for eight yards.

Ryan Switzer and Jonathan Cooper (Dallas) vs. Mack Hollins (Philadelphia)

Switzer, Cooper (started and played the entire game at left guard), and the Cowboys appeared to be in good position to defeat the Eagles on Sunday night after the slow start by Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia offense.

Switzer got Dallas off to a great start and in scoring position right away with a 61-yard opening kickoff return; however, in what was the theme of the night for the Cowboys, their offense stalled out and had to settle for a field goal. Switzer finished the night with four kickoff returns for 147 yards (36.8 yards per return).

On the opposite sideline, Hollins had only one catch for seven yards; however, he did make some plays on special teams, including these tackles on former UNC teammate, Switzer.

Robert Quinn (Los Angeles Rams)

In a battle between two of the best teams in the NFC, the Vikings came out on top 24-7 thanks in part to a strong defensive performance. The Rams’ defense had a tough time keeping Latavius Murray out of the end zone, but Quinn tried doing his part with four tackles (3 solo, 1 assisted) in the game.

Sylvester Williams (Tennessee)

Last Thursday, Williams and the Titans’ defense could not stop Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ high powered offense, as they put up 40 points on Tennessee. Williams finished with two tackles (1 solo, 1 assisted) in the game. Da’Norris Searcy played in the game, but he did not show up in the stat column.

Zach Brown (Washington)

After leading by 15 points with under six minutes to go in the 4th quarter, Brown and Washington’s defense allowed Drew Brees and the Saints to tie it up and send it to overtime. Wil Lutz would kick the game-winning field goal to earn the 34-31 come-from-behind victory.

Brown finished with five tackles in the game. His five tackles puts him over 100 for the season (101 total tackles), which still puts him as the NFL league leader in that category.