Pro Dawgs, Week 3: Desert Storm

Awkward as it may be for many Seattle sports fans, the Arizona Cardinals have become the locus of pro talent for UW alumni. Budda Baker led the redbirds with eight solo tackles, one for a loss, and a pass defense. Unfortunately, Baker in the past week suffered a tear of his UCL in his thumb and while he played through it he will go in for surgery in the next day or two. He may struggle to get interceptions with the injury but the hope is may be able to miss as little as one week if everything goes as planned.

Byron Murphy added three tackles and Ezekial Turner chipped in with a special teams tackle. On the other side of the ball, Darrell Daniels snagged a pair of passes for 24 yards. Alas, it wasn’t enough to beat Detroit. The Lions also have four Huskies on the roster, but largely in less prominent roles. Danny Shelton tallied two tackles while eating up space in the middle of the defense. Marvin Hall saw action without accumulating any stats, and both Desmond Trufant and Hunter Bryant sat out the game.

The pleasant surprise of the young season has been Myles Gaskin’s ascent up the Dolphins’ depth chart. From week one, he took a larger share of the carries than either Matt Breida or Jordan Howard, and he extended that dominance in Miami’s Thursday night win over Jacksonville. Gaskin totaled 27 touches (22 rushes and 5 receptions) for 95 yards. The yardage per carry was rather pedestrian, but the Dolphins will be satisfied with their ability to control possession in a three-score win. On the other side of the field, Sidney Jones saw action for the Jags and recorded a special teams tackle.

Elsewhere in Florida, Brady and the Bucs got their second win of the year. While Tompa Bay gets the headlines, Vita Vea has become a cornerstone of a tough defense. He totaled three tackles, a sack, and two more QB hits while his defense held the moribund Denver offense to ten points. Jaydon Mickens also took part with three punt returns for 21 yards and a kick return for 17.

Closer to home, the Seahawks got a big win over Dallas in a 38-31 shoot-out. Will Dissly did lots of blocking and got in the scorebook with two catches for five yards. Ben Burr-Kirven also got on the field as a reserve linebacker, but didn’t log any stats.

Shaq Thompson probably had the best individual game of any former Husky. The Panthers linebacker forced a fumble and recovered it himself in addition to an eye-popping 13 combined tackles and a pair of pass defenses. He was essential to a narrow 21-16 win.

Much like the Cardinals, the LA Rams are another NFC West rival chock full of Dawgs. They also had a tough week three, going down 35-32 to Josh Allen and the Bills. Taylor Rapp had seven tackles, second most on the team. Greg Gaines had one in a reserve role and Coleman Shelton saw time on the offensive line.

Other notables

• Cory LIttleton probably won’t want to remember the 36 points New England hung on the Raiders, but at least he had six tackles and one for loss.

• The Colts rolled over the Jets, but Jacoby Brissett got the garbage time action instead of Jacob Eason.

• The Bengals only managed a tie with the Eagles. Perhaps they could’ve pulled it out if Drew Sample and John Ross combined for more than a single catch for one yard (by Sample).

• The Falcons are making a habit of blowing leads that seem impossible to blow. But don’t blame Kaleb McGary. Why not? He didn’t play.

• Kevin King’s Packers outlasted Dwayne Washington’s Saints 37-30 in a Sunday Night shootout. The game might not have been billed that way by the networks, but King did chip in with three tackles.

• Nick Harris saw action as a reserve center for the Browns in their 34-20 win over a/the/some football team. Likewise, Senio Kelemete saw reserve action for Houston.

• The Ravens and Chiefs play one of the best Monday Night Football matchups in recent memory. Marcus Peters might not willfully represent UW in that game, but I assure you that he did play for the Huskies at one point.