Was it me or was that among the most intense days of football in recent memory?? Welcome back, NFL.

I feel bad for Dwayne Rudd, whom I'd never even heard of before. Bonehead, stupid mistake, but the Browns have to regroup and know that they are a playoff caliber team. As tough as it must be, they HAVE to support Rudd and make sure he knows that he can't let one BONEHEAD, STUPID MISTAKE undermine his season. Oh, and the kicker being called for taunting? Odd.

YAY for the Broncos!! Thanks to another bonehead mistake - by Mike Martz, going for it on 4th down instead of kicking a tying field goal - and a brilliant call by Shanahan, going for it on fourth down late and making big yardage, Denver is 1-0 and tied for first in the AFC West. Wait, everyone in the AFC West is tied for first. Anyway, BRING ON THE NINERS!

How 'bout dem Bearss, too? Fantastic comeback. Memories of last year. Can't wait to go down to Champaign for a game!

Three overtime games. The Texans leading the Cowboys. Only three games won by more than a touchdown. Great stuff!

Way to go Texans! Way to go Garner and Gannon!

DAMN, both the Cowboys and Browns lost.
David Carr vs the Cowboys, from listening to the anouncers, who else was on the field? Granted the "kid" definitely had a good game and winning his first pro game and against the Cowboys was probably more than he (or Houston) could ask for. Okay, we were all kind of cheering for him. Salute, Mr. Carr.
On the other side of the ball, how many games do we have to tolerate Carter. The offense was lifeless. He's got to go. Chad, Chad, where are you? Jones, you know where he is. Get some balls and play the guy. The Cowboy offense looked limp and unmotivated from the start. Carter isn't a leader, Carr is and the outcome of the game showed that.
The other game I cared about was the Browns, sad outcome but their offense (terrible last year) looked good. Holcomb played well, as well as the rest of the offense, the running game needs improving but overall they looked good. Eliminate those stupid mistakes and the Browns will be a force to content with. Seems kind of reflective of their games last season, the Bears and the game that had the bottle throwing incident, weird endings. However, the game was definitely edgy. It was NFL entertainment at its best.
I'll be a bottom this week, 6-9 on my picks.

Luckily, my pal Buzzer gets the NFL package on the Dish, so it was all the games, all the time today. OK, we probably saw about 3 plays in some of them because of the great stuff going on elsewhere, but still.

Michael Vick played out of his head today; I'm a loser's pool where you pick one team to lose each week and a lot of people picked Atlanta. I thought "Nah, Vick could blow up, even if it is in Lambeau". Scared the hell out of the Packers, that's for sure. They need to play better D or the chances of them going deep in the playoffs is slim.

Nice to see Drew Bledsoe play well for the Bills; a tough, tough loss for them but I guess the Bills can claim a moral victory? Yeah, I know, they're still 0-1.

The ending of the Browns game was indeed bizarre. I hate all the strutting and posturing that goes on during games, so in a way I didn't feel sorry for Rudd, but man oh man, what a horrible loss for the Dawg Pounders. Now we'll get to see what Butch Davis is made of: will the Browns fall apart or learn their lessons and move on? *Sigh* No Tim Couch, except for some choice sideline shots.

I'm already sick of David Carr. I'm sick of his wife, I'm sick of his baby and I'm sick of the hype. That said, he looked efficient and did what he needed to do, except that horrible pick that he threw right in to the middle of the Boyz D-line. All the mo' that the Cowboys built at the end of the season seems to have disappeared. They looked awful on offense. Emmitt looks like he's past it and Carter is...terrible.

Nice to see my lust object Brian Griese play well and it was really, really great to see Eddie McC catch a TD pass. It's great to have him back and the Broncos will be much better with him in there.

What an exciting opening day of NFL action....nearly half of the games were decided in the last minute of regulation (or later) and it is capped off by the gorgeous David Carr leading the Texans over Jerry Jones' Cowboys....as Jackie Gleason used to say "How Sweet It Is!"

I caught the last few minutes of that Chiefs-Browns game and with the exception of the Cal-Stanford game from about 15 years ago with the 7 laterals and the band on the field that has to be the strangest ending to a football game I've ever seen....one small correction, BridgeportJake -- it was actually the HOLDER/PUNTER Chris Gardocki who received the 15 yard "unsportsmanship conduct" penalty for taunting (and not the kicker) following the Browns go-ahead field goal with about 30 seconds left....his "mistake" is vastly more inexcusable than Dwayne Rudd's throwing of his helmet in celebration of the presumed victory....I agree with Dan Dierdorf's comment that a punter/holder being called for taunting should be penalized 90 yards (not 15) when he barely participates in the game at all....in either event, that ridiculous taunt ultimately placed the Chiefs (who remember were out of time outs) in position to be near midfield and resulted in Morten Andersen's (how old is that guy now? 45?) game winning field goal with 0:00 left on the clock and without the benefit of the kickoff return the "helmet toss" would not have affected the outcome of the game....BOTH penalties were complete boneheaded "plays" by the Browns and overshadowed a surprisingly strong performance by Kelly Holcomb in placed of injured Tim Couch....the only consolation should be in the fact that at least Cleveland gets the face the apparently hapless (again) Bengals at home this Sunday and rebound before their season completely tailspins in the wrong direction....I guess the league should be happy that the Browns banned those plastic beer bottles in Cleveland after last year's debacle or else Rudd and Gardocki probably would have been pelted with em this time instead of the officials.

Well, I can only say that if this first Sunday is any indication then we are in store for one hell of an exciting NFL season this year (even after that boring NYG game Thursday night).

[ September 08, 2002: Message edited by: gamecock ]

It is truly going to be a great season of football games. I think Seattle doesn't need to get too excited, as per usual. Very happy for the Bears, and the Texans too!!!!

Not to beat the Rudd thing to death, but I have a question:

I was turning back and forth between games and missed the actual penalty, but came back to folks talking about it. As I understood it yesterday, Rudd not only threw off his helmet but did so before spouting off to the ref about not making a call (holding I think).

Today, though, media coverage is treating it like Rudd was just overzealous in his celebrating -- which is still stupid, but in my mind, a different kind of stupid (excessive showboating vs. definite unsportsmanlike conduct).

I know the penalty, and therefore the end result, is the same -- just curious.

--Mike

P.S. A taunting holder should be penalized 90 yards -- and kicked a few times for good measure. That's like getting picked on by your little brother.

It was silly to take his helmut off which was a violation. Too then get the attention of the ref by complaining about an earlier call would be even sillier.

I can't mount much sympathy for Rudd, but the game result may be punishment enough. In addition this event may become a defining moment of his career.

[quote]one small correction, BridgeportJake -- it was actually the HOLDER/PUNTER Chris Gardocki who received the 15 yard "unsportsmanship conduct" penalty for taunting

---

I got my info from espn.com, which wrote "TV replays appeared to show that it was [Cleveland kicker Phil] Dawson who had yelled at one of the Chiefs."

I thought it was neat to see an event that took place during the Bronco's win over the Rams.

The announcers noticed that Brian Griese was looking introspective and lonely sitting on the bench and no other player sat near or spoke to him. They also recounted periods of insecurity about his own performance that had hampered Greise's ability to work through tough sitituations in the past. This was after he had thrown an interception.

Almost on cue, as though he were listening to the broadcast (could he have been?) Shannon Sharpe scooted over to chat with Greise.

When the Broncos went on to win the game after a Griese handoff to Portis, in an unusual play that the Rams had used against the Broncos last year, it was a bit like a fairy tale ending, or season beginning, for the Broncos.

I have never been much of a fan of the Broncos (and I think the Rams have intimidated teams with their gutsy offense, something that may not happen this year after what the Patriots did to them in the last Superbowl) and had never much noticed Griese, nor have I liked the loudmouthing Sharpe, but I was touched by the way the event unfolded.

I may even become a Bronco fan..sniff..well, at least until they play the Eagles.

[quote]Originally posted by sportinlife:
I may even become a Bronco fan..sniff..well, at least until they play the Eagles.

---

If the Eagles keep coming up with pathetic second-half performances like the one yesterday, you'll have lots of company on that Bronco bandwagon. I'm glad I overslept yesterday and ended up not going out to a bar to watch it on the satellite feed. They gave away a game they should have won going away.

I'm somewhat shocked that the Baltimore Ravens lost to Rodney Peete's Carolina Panthers. They're lucky they've got two games with the Bangles....errr, Bengals, on the schedule or they might be winless. Rodney Peete....(grumble)....he's like 70 years old now.

Houston beat Dallas....one word: BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

The Dallas Cowgirls have absolutely hit rock bottom, Coach Campo and Jerry Jones both said they were not embarrassed - FYI you should be.

I think we learned long ago that Jerry Jones doesn't even have the embarrassment gene.

Thanks to David Carr and the Texans we had something to watch Sunday night- the stench from the Cowboys is the worst yet! I would fire Campo and waive Carter for this one! Unfortunately we can't fire Jones- just stay away from Texas Stadium- lol.

I could not get enough of David Carr. He is a stud and I can't wait to see him play again soon-

Josh
Grapevine, TX

Here's an interesting question, and I'm not sure how I feel about it:

Should Rudd have been called for the penalty? It was away from the play, didn't affect how the game was played, and the resulting, unaffected, play ended the game. While what Rudd did is indefensible, I think there might be a line of thought that says the referee shouldn't have called the penalty. What do you think?

[quote]Originally posted by Cyd at Outsports:
Here's an interesting question, and I'm not sure how I feel about it:

Should Rudd have been called for the penalty? It was away from the play, didn't affect how the game was played, and the resulting, unaffected, play ended the game. While what Rudd did is indefensible, I think there might be a line of thought that says the referee shouldn't have called the penalty. What do you think?

---

I agree- there was no need to call that penalty- it had no bearing period.

Josh

I disagree. The rule is the rule. Whether the rule is stupid or ridiculous or The Greatest Rule Ever doesn't matter. And the fact that it happened away from the ball is irrelevant, IMHO. You could argue that roughing the kicker and roughing the passer don't affect the play or that the calls take place away from the play in the sense that in most cases, the ball has already left their foot or hand, yet they are still called.

blah blah blah

The point is when are you going to Enforce these rules, all of the time ? some of the time ? just when the Browns are about to win a game ?

When is excessive celebration or dancing in the end zone called ?

osufan, if I were you I'd be much more upset about the taunting call. That's a call that might have some bit of leeway in it. But there was no doubt that the rule about helmets is clear and unambiguous, and NOT to have called it would have been an abdication of their responsibility as a referree.

Keep in mind - the flag was thrown IMMEDIATELY - as soon as the helmet came off. They didn't decide to throw a flag after Tait was out of bounds. I know it's hard to imagine, but what if the play had some how come back towards Rudd. He was still an eligible player on the field. But he shouldn't be making that tackle. One of the reasons the rule is in there is for the protection of players' bony heads. It wasn't just that he was doing sommersaults or anything. It was that he ripped his helmet off. That's the key. Everything else is immaterial.

I don't blame you for being upset. Your team should NOT HAVE LOST that game. You was probably robbed by the refs on that taunting call. But I think you need to give up on this one. Rudd was wrong, the refs were right. Cleveland is robbed again (in the metaphysical sense).

Amazing.

All of these post and no one has mentioned The Ball Coach and my beloved Redskins.

Truly amazing.

[quote]Originally posted by PCC:
Amazing.

All of these post and no one has mentioned The Ball Coach and my beloved Redskins.

Truly amazing.

---

They beat Arizona. Yawn.

Cyd, the "no taking off your helmet rule" is not a "judgment" call in the NFL. It is an automatic penalty if it takes place on the field. I read somewhere that the officials have been instructed to call it whenever they see it during a game - no matter what stage the game is in. I think it even applies during a dead ball. If the officials had not called the penalty then the Kansas City fans would justifiably be asking why a clear rule was ignored to the benefit of the Browns (and the detriment of the Chiefs).

If Rudd (the Cleveland player) had actually tackled Green and THEN threw his helmet, there could have been no penalty because the game would have been over. As it happened, though, the play was still proceeding even though the clock had reached 0:00.

[ September 09, 2002: Message edited by: PredominantlyOrange ]

[ September 09, 2002: Message edited by: PredominantlyOrange ]

[quote]Originally posted by bridgeportjake:
Rudd was wrong, the refs were right. Cleveland is robbed again (in the metaphysical sense).

---

Don't blame the cops when you get a ticket- don't blame the refs when a stupid player gets a penalty.

The Pats beat the Steelers to finish off NFL Week 1. OK, the Pats played great, but man oh man did the Pittsburg D stink up the joint. There are three reasons tonight's Pats victory is (in the immortal words of the soon-to-be-sporting-an-orange-jumpsuit Diva of Domesticity) a good thing: (1) Tom Brady showed why nobody misses Bledsoe around here; (2) it should get the Steelers to finally shut up about losing last year's AFC Championship game - yo, Pittsburgh, wanna ask the 2002 Boston Red Sox what being better on paper is worth?; and (3) Cowher's scowl is so damn sexy ... the man is the very definition of "you're so cute when you're angry".

Well, Jim @ Outsports' picks for the SB, the Pack and the Steelers, were totally underwhelming this week. The Packers won, but still. Of course, it's only week 1 and there's no need to push the panic button--unless you're the Cowboys, who looked awful--a lot can happen.

POrange, good point about how Chief's fans would have been justified in whining like Brown's fans if the Rudd play hadn't been called.

[quote]Originally posted by BoSoxRudy:
The Pats beat the Steelers to finish off NFL Week 1.

---

YIPPEEEE !!! Pittsburgh SUX !!!!!