Howard’s Hands

Bucs tight end OJ Howard hit up Game 4 of the American League Division Series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night, and it wasn’t long until he made his presence felt.

Howard plays his trade with his hands, mostly, either blocking, or being one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the NFL.

As such, it wasn’t a huge surprise when he made a sick, highlight-reel type of play on Tuesday night — although this time it wasn’t on the field, but rather in the stands which likely explains how Howard has been effecting NFL betting sites.

A foul ball cam hurtling his way, and Howard reached out with just one hand to make a sick snag.

Great hands.

Collision Disaster

The collision involving Broncos cornerback De’Vante Bausby and teammate Alexander Johnson was indeed as scary as it looked during Sunday’s game.

Bausby ran into Johnson attempting to tackle Chargers running back Austin Ekeler during the game, and he was down for quite some time. He was eventually put onto a stretcher and taken off the field to the locker room, and apparently, he couldn’t even move during that time.

“They said I was paralyzed for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes I could wiggle my toes and after two hours I could move everything else,” Bausby told Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com.

He was asked if he was scared during this time:

“Little bit, . . . I was never unconscious, I just couldn’t move, but I was still talking and everything,” he said. “The doc, the neurologist said I was going to be fine and I just trusted that, and after about 30 minutes I was able to wiggle my toes and after a couple hours I was able to regain full mobility so I was straight, I was fine.”

On the bright side, Bausby did say he just needs to “strengthen my [neck] muscles and I’ll be fine,” as it relates to his recovery, so we wish him well during this process, and it’s good to hear that he’ll likely be OK going forward.  Good news for those planning to bet the super bowl.

Cheap Shot Called Out

Browns defensive end Olivier Vernon tried to sneak in a cheap shot during Monday’s game, and he actually got away with it, but it didn’t take long for the Internet detectives to catch him red-handed.

49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was seen attempting to throw a block on an end-around in the first quarter of the game, with Vernon attempting to track down the ball carrier. However, rather than just running through him, Vernon elected to punch Jimmy G in the face instead.

Here’s a more clear screenshot of the punch in question.

No penalty was called on the play, but Vernon will likely be hearing from the league in the form of a fine later on this week.