Tar Heels in the NFL: Week Nine recap

Week nine of the NFL regular season was pretty much an uneventful one for many former UNC football players, outside of the matchup between Nazair Jones and Zach Brown. A number of former Tar Heels had solid games and made significant contributions to their respective teams, but there were not many stat-stuffing or noteworthy performances this past week.

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

Kareem Martin (Arizona)

The Cardinals’ defense played a big part in keeping the San Francisco 49ers winless on the season. Arizona held the 49ers to only 10 points and limited them to only 63 yards on the ground in their 20-10 victory.

Kareem Martin had one tackle for the Cardinals while playing a significant number of snaps at linebacker and on special teams.

James Hurst (Baltimore), Da’Norris Searcy and Sylvester Williams (Tennessee)

The Titans held on for a 23-20 victory on Sunday, after the Ravens put together a furious rally in the 4th quarter by scoring 14 points. Hurst played the entire game at left guard and remains a valuable lineman in protecting Joe Flacco, as he was only sacked two times.

Williams and Searcy didn’t factor too much into the result of the game, but Williams started at nose-tackle and Searcy made it onto the stat sheet with one tackle.

Julius Peppers (Carolina)

We have gotten so used to seeing Peppers’ name in the sack column each week, but he only found his way into the tackle column with two tackles (1 solo and 1 assisted) on Sunday against the Falcons. The Panthers’ defense was solid once again, as they limited the Super Bowl runners-up to only 17 points.

Gio Bernard and Russell Bodine (Cincinnati)

Bernard, Bodine, and the entire Bengals’ offense had a tough time getting anything going against one of the best defensive teams (Jaguars) in the league. In their 23-7 loss to Jacksonville, Bernard had just one rush and one reception in the game that netted him -6 yards of total offense; however, Bodine started and played the entire game at center.

Ryan Switzer and Jonathan Cooper (Dallas)

The Cowboys got an impressive 28-17 victory at home on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

After earning the starting spot at left guard, Cooper has been a surprising contributor amongst a very talented offensive line. Cooper and the offensive line did a good job protecting Dak Prescott in giving up only one sack to the Chiefs. They also helped Dallas’ run attack churn up 131 yards on the ground.

Switzer returned two punts for a single yard and didn’t have any returns on kickoffs.

Tim Scott (New York Giants) and Robert Quinn (Los Angeles Rams)

The Rams continued their impressive season with a dominating 51-17 victory over the Giants. Quinn assisted on two tackles in the win.

Scott was signed off the practice squad this past week by the Giants to play cornerback. Previously, he had never played in a NFL regular season game, but on Sunday he saw his first ever action by getting to play one snap on special teams.

Bruce Carter (New York Jets)

While Carter did not make his way onto the stat sheet last Thursday night, he did see some time at defense and on special teams for the Jets in their win over Buffalo.

Now, Carter was not on the field during the timeout (in the video below), but there was no way I could leave out the greatest thing to ever come from the Jets. If you haven’t had a chance to do so already, check out the countless number of #JetsDanceToAnything videos that are all over social media. It is certainly well worth five minutes (or more) of your time. This is my favorite one below.

Mack Hollins (Philadelphia)

Carson Wentz and the Eagles have been rolling on offense the last couple of weeks and Sunday was no different, as they put up 51 points on one of the best defenses in the league (Denver) and improve their league best record to 8-1 on the season. Hollins had one catch in the game for eight yards, and he continues to contribute on special teams for Philadelphia.

Nazair Jones (Seattle) and Zach Brown (Washington)

In what was a defensive battle between two NFC teams looking to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot, Washington came away with a surprising 17-14 road victory on Sunday.

On the losing side, Jones continues to contribute in his rookie season along the defensive line while coming off the bench for Seattle. Against Washington, he had one fumble recovery (seen in the video below), ¹⁄₂ sack, and three total tackles (1 solo, 2 assisted).

On the winning side, Brown continues to be a force in the middle of the Washington defense. He led the team on Sunday with 11 tackles (8 solo and 3 assisted), and had one sack in the game.