UConn in the NFL: Week 10

Player of the Week: FB Anthony Sherman, Kansas City Chiefs: 3 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery

Anthony Sherman is earning consideration as one of the best fullbacks in football, as evidenced by his appearance on John Clayton's mid-year all-pro team. In this week's victory against the Buffalo Bills, the Sherminator made his biggest impact on special teams. With the Chiefs punting, down 13-10, Sherman forced a fumble on the Bills punt returner and recovered it in the red zone, leading to the game winning touchdown. The Chiefs once again ran for over 100 yards on the ground behind Sherman, who received a 3-year contract extension on Wednesday.

Sio Moore, Oakland Raiders: 7 tackles, 5 solo, 1 TFL, 1 PD, 1 QB hit

It seems like every week Moore is able to make his presence felt on defense for the Oakland Raiders.  With his 7 tackles, he has now recorded at least five tackles in every game he has played in this season.  Despite this, the Raiders lost again, 41-17 to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, dropping to 0-9 on the season.  Sio is now up to 61 tackles on the year, averaging just under 9 per game.  He will see former Huskies Donald Brown and Kendall Reyes next week as the Raiders play the San Diego Chargers.

RB Donald Brown, San Diego Chargers: BYE

With the Chargers in the heat of wild card race in the AFC, they expect to get a healthy Ryan Matthews back against Oakland while our boy Donald Brown could see time as a 3^rd down or change-of-pace back because of his  ability in the passing game along with Branden Oliver. Brown will also be a contributer on special teams for the Chargers down the stretch.

TE Ryan Griffin, Houston Texans: BYE

Strictly receiving snaps on special teams, we don't see why the Texans wouldn't give Griffin a shot as they have received nothing from the tight end position all year (152 yards in 2014).

CB Darius Butler, Indianapolis Colts: BYE

Butler will assume nickel duty when the Colts take on the Patriots in a marquee match-up during Sunday Night Football. Look for Darius to have a big day as he takes on his former team.

CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Tennessee Titans: 6 tackles, 1 pass deflection

The Titans secondary held Joe Flacco and the Ravens under 200 yards through the air, but Blidi got beat a few times by Torrey Smith including the game-sealing touchdown. Wreh-Wilson and the Titans are looking for their third win of the season on Monday night against the Steelers.

Will Beatty, New York Giants:

Beatty bounced back from a very poor week with a very good week despite the Giants' 38-17 to the Seahawks.  Although he played well, the Seattle defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, holding Giants' running backs to just 54 rushing yards while getting 13 hurries on Eli Manning.  Beatty allowed zero of those hurries, earning him Big Blue View's offensive MVP honors. The Giants take on the San Francisco 49ers next week.

Robert "Reggie" McClain, Atlanta Falcons: No stats

For the second time this season, McClain did not record any stats on defense, this time in a 27-17 win over Danny Lansanah and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Josh Wilson, McClain's replacement,is playing well and it seems unlikely "Reggie" will regain his starting nickel cornerback position.  The Falcons take on division opponent Carolina Panthers next week.

Danny Lansanah, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6 tackles, 4 solo, 1 TFL

Once again, Lansanah turned in another solid performance for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers- recording six tackles including one tackle for loss.  Unfortunately, the Bucs lost their fifth straight game, a 27-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.  The professional journeyman has recorded at least five tackles for the third time this season, and recorded a tackle for loss for the fourth time this season.  Lansanah and the Bucs take on Washington next week.

Tyvon Branch, Oakland Raiders: IR

Branch played in UConn's 21-17 victory over Louisville in 2007, the Huskies first ever win over the Cardinals.  He broke up a fourth-down pass attempt by Brian Brohm, which set up the game-winning touchdown: An Andre Dixon 7-yard run.  Larry Taylor's "fair catch" was also featured this game.  Check out the game highlights on a crazy Friday night from THE RENT.

Marcus Easley, Buffalo Bills: DNP

To the surprise of most Bills fans Easley, who was listed as probable, was inactive for Buffalo's heartbreaking 17-13 loss to the Chiefs. The Bills could use Easley leading their special team units this weekend- he hasn't played since week four.

Jordan Todman, Jacksonville Jaguars: 2 carries, 6 yards; 3 catches, 27 yards; 2 kick returns, 32 yards

Todman was featured in the Jaguars offense more than he has been recently during Jacksonville's 31-17 loss to the Cowboys in London. He was targeted six times in the passing game as their primary third down back, and is on pace to set single season career highs in receiving and kick return yards.

Kendall Reyes, San Diego Chargers: BYE

Reyes has been struggling mightily as of late and it will be interesting to see if he retains his role as an every down lineman against the Raiders this week. He had a good game against them in week five (3 tackles, 1 for a loss) but has not been making an impact since then. The 5-4 Chargers are in a slide and could use a big performance from Reyes to get them on track moving forward. He plays a position where stats are hard to come by, but hopefully he can regain the form which made him a starter for so many games.

Dwayne Gratz, Jacksonville Jaguars: 3 tackles, 2 pass deflections

Gratz had the type of up and down game you would expect going against a wide receiver like Dez Bryant. While he was able to make a nice read and tackle staying at home on a reverse and bat down two passes from Romo, he also got torched for two touchdowns. One came when he got caught looking in the backfield and left Jason Witten open in the endzone, and another came when Bryant simply beat him on a fly route. Gratz is firmly entrenched as the Jaguars starter, and the task gets no easier after a bye week this week when Jacksonville goes into Indianapolis to square off against the great Colts' passing attack led by Andrew Luck.

Dan Orlovsky, Detroit Lions: DNP

Orlovsky did not play in the 7-2 Lions 20-16 win over the Dolphins. Athlon Sports released rankings of the back up quarterbacks in the NFL and has Orlovsky listed at 24 (two spots behind of Christian Ponder, but two spots ahead of Johnny Manziel.) Honestly the rankings look like they were picked out of a hat.

Shamar Stephen, Minnesota Vikings: BYE

The 4-5 Vikings return to action this week as they take on the struggling Bears in Chicago. Stephen has been a nice surprise for the Vikings as a good depth player and he has been mentioned in articles this week praising Vikings general manager Rick Spielman for finding great value in this years draft.