NFL Week 14 in Review: Penn State Football Alumni

See how all the Nittany Lions in the NFL did in Week 14 after the jump!

Running Backs

Bryant Johnson, Texans — No stats recorded
Jordan Norwood, Browns — 2 receptions for 21 yards, 3 punt returns averaging 9.7 yards
Deon Butler, Seahawks — Plays Monday night

Justin King, Rams — Plays Monday night
Bryan Scott, Bills — 8 tackles, 1 pass defended, 1 fumble recovery for a touchdown

Robbie Gould, Bears — 1/1 field goals (57 yards), 1/1 XPs
Jeremy Kapinos, Steelers — 4 punts for 165 yards averaging 41.7 yards/punt, 1 inside 20

Someone should tell Bryan Scott that he’s in his ninth year in the NFL. That’s when NFL players, especially those on defense are supposed to begin regressing, right? The veteran safety for the Bills has continued to reinvent himself in his 9th season, this time doing so in the endzone. Early in the third quarter with the Chargers on their own 16 yard line, Philip Rivers dropped back to pass, but as he brought his arm forward, he dropped the ball without any contact. At this point, Rivers was in the end zone, so Scott just jumped on the ball and brought his team back within 5 points of the lead. Too bad they’re the Bills and found a way to lose all the momentum they may have gotten from Scott. Before this season, Scott had never scored a touchdown in the NFL, but this season he has already found the endzone twice. See the play here, under the video called, “WK 14 Cant Miss Play: Scott’s slippery opportunity.”

In his third career game, Evan Royster was finally given an opportunity to show what he can do on a football field. In true Royster style, he embraced the opportunity and put up the type of numbers we saw from him in college. Given just 6 carries, Royster amassed 44 yards, which is an average of 7.3 yards/carry. As is the case with stats like that sometimes, the numbers weren’t inflated by a single big play. He had runs of 16, 14, and 10 yards and thus showed his ability to consistently pick up chunks of yardage. As I said last week, Roy Helu has cemented his spot as the starter, but if Royster can put up at least one more game like this Sunday’s, than I think it’s fair to say he will have earned a spot on the roster for at least next year.

This week’s Thursday night matchup featured a slew of Nittany Lions, as the Browns took on the Steelers. The one Penn Stater who emerged as the talk of the game, however, was the one you’d have least expected to coming into the game. Scott Paxson was a Trending Topic in the United Stats on Twitter on Thursday night at one point after he picked up his first career sack. People weren’t talking about the career milestone, however. When Paxson hit Ben Roethlisberger in his left leg as he took him down, he gave him a high ankle sprain and forced him out of the game. Big Ben eventually ended up returning to the game and leading the Steelers to a win, but not before 28-year-old Scott Paxson got his moment in the sun. To see the play, click here and watch the video called “Big Ben hurt.”

NFL quarterbacks beware, Posluszny Island is in full effect. Everyone’s favorite Nittany Lion linebacker Paul Posluszny picked up his second interception in his last 5 games on Sunday, after Bucs QB Josh Freeman had a pass deflected. Poz is now 1 interception away from matching his career season-high of 3, which he picked up in Buffalo in the 2009 season. One of the biggest criticisms of his game is that he does not perform well in pass coverage, but these past few weeks have shown that he’s more than capable.

NFL kickers must really enjoy playing in Denver. Maybe it’s the actual thin air or the placebo effect it causes, but whatever it is, kickers tend to play well in the altitude. This week, Robbie Gould got to experience a little Mile High magic, as he tallied the longest field goal of his career, slamming a 57-yarder through the uprights in the first half on Sunday. His previously career long had been 54 yards, which he notched last year in the dome at Ford Field in Detroit.

Sean Lee took full advantage of his newly whittled down cast on the national stage on Sunday night. This week, the club had holes for his fingers and part of his hand, instead of the fully covered forearm that he had been sporting up to this point. Lee was able to make grabbing motions with his hand, which proved vital. In the middle of the 4th quarter, Eli Manning threw a pass that was deflected off of Lee’s shoulder. The pass went straight up into the air, and Lee was able to snatch the ball out of the air for his 4th interception of the year, which is tops amongst NFL linebackers. He ended up returning the pick 30 yards and he even included a nifty little juke move to avoid going out of bounds. See the play here under “Lee picks off Manning.”

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