How We Saw Week 1

I spent Sunday with Jim, Jim Allen, Brent and Kathy partaking in our annual NFL kickoff tradition of sitting around Jim’s house watching football, screaming, celebrating, and eating – oh yes, we eat (mostly chicken and burgers – except Brent, who sticks with his veggie burgers).

It’s become one of the great traditions that I look forward to every year:  watching football with friends.  This year, it was highlighted by two themes:  1) Jim’s great article about just that – gay guys watching sports – in the New York Times; 2) one of the best sets of games I can remember watching in one day.

Jim gets the DirectTV package, so we get to see every game.  I got the remote control taken away early for leaving the Redskins-Cardinals game and staying with the Dolphins-Lions game too long (one of my Fantasy running back is Ricky Williams).  The morning games offered three incredible finishes.

Every year, there is a team that Jim says will be one of the best teams in football that I think will be good, but not great.  Last year, it was the Titans.  This year, it’s the Packers.  The game panned out like I figured it would:  Michael Vick and a FAST Atlanta Falcons team giving the Packers fits.  And, if it wasn’t for a roughing the kicker penalty, the Falcons just might have stolen one.

Speaking of roughing the kicker – the team that I have anointed this season, and that Jim thinks isn’t very good, is the New York Jets.  They roughed the kicker not once, but twice.  Of course, they also returned two kicks for touchdowns and stole the day.  I guess that makes our two Super Bowl teams both 1-0.

The absurd ending of the day, though, belongs to the Chiefs-Browns game.  How does that happen?  So bizarre.  It will be a test of Butch Davis’ coaching to keep his team focused in the coming weeks – that will be a tough loss to swallow.

And then there are the Dallas Cowboys.  Since May I have been saying, “bet the house on Dallas.”  Well, there you go.  I was very impressed with Houston, actually.  While David Carr looked like a boy playing with men, he has one strength – the strength of his arm – and the Texans utilized it beautifully.  They may not win another game until November, but they have a really great foundation for something special in Houston.

As I was watching David Carr in an interview after the game, and having watched him play and interact with teammates today and for the last month, something struck me.  There are lots of athletes who I think are totally hot, and David Carr is certainly one of them.  But, I assume that they are, mostly, straight.  But, there’s just something that seems to me – well – gay about David Carr.  He’s got the perfect haircut, seems glued to his wife (won’t take his wedding ring off even though it’s NOT SMART), and just kinda seems odd in his interactions with his teammates – like he’s uncomfortable around them.  Of course, this is just from some random observations from over the television – but, if you saw the outfit, and the sunglasses, he showed up in at the NFL Draft, you might have a question about it too.

Finally, I learned a very good lesson about fantasy football today.  Instead of starting my #1 pick, Priest Holmes, I thought I'd be cute and start Emmitt Smith.  Holmes would have gotten me 38 points; Emmitt . . . didn't.  Lesson:  don't play the matchup, play the star.

--Game of the day: KC 40, Cleveland 39 (see today's bottom). I have never seen such an ending and Dwayne Rudd earned his spot in the NFL blooper reel. You could hear Cleveland players telling Chiefs players how lucky they were. The reply: "We'll take it!"

--A star was born in Green Bay, as Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick showed he will be a force. Though the Falcons lost, 37-34, in OT, Vick was brilliant. He had 281 total yards. he also had two touchdown passes dropped by receivers or Atlanta would have won. He will be fun to watch all season and could carry Atlanta to the playoffs.

--Saw a slew of dumb special teams plays that cost teams. Among the lowlights: The Jets twice roughed the Buffalo punter, giving the Bills first downs, including one on what was the game-tying drive at the end of regulation. Cleveland holder Chris Gardocki got a crucial 15-yard penalty for taunting on made field goal late in the KC game. Tampa Bay's blocking scheme broke down, allowing New Orleans to break through and intercept a pass from punter Tom Tupa to end that game in OT.

--Homoerotic announcer comment alert: "He really stuck it in the hole."

--Green Bay beat Atlanta, but the Packers defense looked awful and the Cheeseheads were lucky to win.

--Dumb celebration of the day: David Martin, Packer tight end, slipped and fell while trying to do the Lambeau Leap.

--Drew Bledsoe at quarterback gives Bills fans reason for hope, but the special teams look ghastly and they cost Buffalo its game against the Jets.

--How bad will the Cowboys be scorned in Texas? Losing to an expansion team. From Houston. On national TV. Quincy Carter is a joke at quarterback.

--Most hated commercial of the day: The Hummer. Anybody who buys one of these things is a moron. Big, dumb-looking, wasteful.

--San Diego 34-Cincinnati 6. Looks like another loooooooooong season for the Bengals, who haven't had a winning season since the year we first invaded Iraq (1991).

Week's Hot Player

Wade Phillips Memorial
 Bonehead Coach of the Week Award