Cleveland — Former Lions defensive end Bill Glass, a four-time Pro Bowler with Cleveland and member of the Browns’ 1964 NFL championship team, has died. He was 86.
The Browns said Glass died Sunday night surrounded by family at his home in Waxahachie, Texas. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Glass spent seven seasons with the Browns, who acquired him from the Lions as part of the trade involving quarterback Milt Plum.
An All-American offensive guard at Baylor, Glass switched to defense when he began his pro career in 1957 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. A year later he joined the Lions, who had drafted him with the No. 12 overall pick.
Glass spent four seasons with Detroit before going to Cleveland, where he became a star. He was credited with 161/21/2 sacks in 1965, back when they were not recognized as an official stat by the league.
Glass finished with 871/2 sacks, getting 771/2 in his seven seasons with the Browns. He retired after the 1968 season and was inducted into the Browns Legends program in 2007.
After he retired, Glass, who was born in Texarkana, Texas, started his own ministry, Bill Glass Behind the Walls, working extensively with helping reform prisoners.
Broncos back in last place
With the AFC West lead so tantalizingly in reach, the Broncos fumbled, bumbled and stumbled their way to another loss against Kansas City, plunging to their familiar whereabouts in the division’s cellar instead.
As usual, coach Vic Fangio’s defense was exceptional against Patrick Mahomes and company. And per usual, his offense was atrocious and his special teams abominable in their 22-9 loss.
“When you play a team like this, you have to get sevens (because) threes aren’t enough,” Teddy Bridgewater said in the lead-up to the showdown Sunday night.
That’s why the Broncos (6-6) went on fourth-and-2 at the Kansas City 8 late in the first half when a field goal would have cut their deficit to 10-6.
Rookie running back Javonte Williams, who had a monster game, was confused, however, lining up wrong and looking frantically toward the sideline for help that never came before taking the handoff and losing a yard.
“By the time that we knew there was confusion,” Fangio explained, “it was too late to call a timeout.”
“I thought we were in the gun, but we were under center,” Williams said of just about the only blemish on his career night in which he became the first rookie in franchise history to top 100 yards rushing and 75 yards receiving in a single game.
So, the Broncos were left with nothing to show for a 20-play drive that covered 83 yards and kept Kansas City’s explosive offense on the sideline for more than 11 minutes.
That epitomized the Broncos’ night of missed chances that featured three turnovers. Bridgewater threw two interceptions, including a pick-6, and rookie Caden Sterns ran into punt returner Deionte Spencer at the Denver 15-yard line for another costly giveaway.
Fangio always leaves blueprints for the real contenders to copy against the Chiefs, more well-rounded opponents with better offensive creativity and productivity, and sounder special teams discipline and execution.
Fangio found a way to limit Mahomes to 184 yards on 15-of-29 passing with no touchdowns and an interception, an effort that should have been enough for the Broncos to beat him for the first time in eight tries.
Instead, they extended their losing streak to the Chiefs to an even dozen.
Denver’s defense has held Kansas City to an average of 22.6 points in five losses under Fangio. A whole lot of good that does when his offense has averaged a mere 10 points a game in those five defeats.
The theme coming out of Denver’s locker room is that the Broncos are going to treat the rest of their games as playoff contests, including Sunday’s game against the Lions.
“We are still in the hunt,” Fangio declared, “and we can take care of business.”
Extra points
Corey Davis (Western Michigan) has been ruled out for the rest of the season after injuring his core muscle against the Eagles on Sunday. Davis will have surgery on the muscle, Robert Saleh (Dearborn) said Monday.
Davis was already questionable because of a groin injury heading into that game, but Saleh wasn’t sure if playing through that injury caused this season-ending one.
“It’s a fair question. He was cleared. Went through a lot of different procedures to try to get that thing ready to roll,” Saleh said.
“It’s unfortunate it just finally gave out.”
Davis was injured early in the fourth quarter when Zach Wilson floated a pass to him down the sideline that fell incomplete. Davis tumbled and crashed on the sideline before getting up gingerly then limped away.
… Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was placed on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list Monday.
Coach Brandon Staley said that Allen’s status “is day to day right now, and hopefully we’ll have some good news on him in the next few days.”
The Chargers (7-5) host the New York Giants this week.