Manning, Manning, go away. The
best thing to come out of this weekend is the fact that we
don't have to hear about the "Manning Bowl" anymore this
season. For the last week, the Mannings have been
everywhere. And I'm elated that we don’t have to hear
anymore stories about how hard it is for Archie Manning
to watch his sons play against each other, or how their Mom
just doesn't even want to watch the games. Even ESPN's
postgame analysis featured video of the Manning parents and
comments about how hard it was for them to watch the game.
Every time NBC showed a shot of them (and they most have
showed them a dozen times), they seemed to be scowling.
Waaahh. Waaaaaaaaahh. I feel so sorry for you and your sons
with their $50-million-plus contracts. Gosh, it must be so
hard.
What impressed me about Colts-Giants.
Of course, I watched the entire game. And I was particularly
impressed with two aspects of the game. The first was the
Indianapolis Colts' kicking team. Facing one of the most
dangerous kick-returners in the game, the Colts' kicking
team held Chad Morton to inside his own 20 two of his
five returns, and held him within the 25-yard-line every
time but once. If they can keep forcing teams to start
inside their own 20 after a score, good things will happen
with this team.
The other
piece was the Giants' running game. From the blocking to the
way Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs hit the
holes, this aspect of the offense, which carried the team in
2005, looked even better than it did last year.
How much are the Carolina Panthers missing Steve Smith?
Consider that last season the Panthers beat up on the
Atlanta Falcons in both of their games, beating them by
a combined score of 68-17. In the offseason, the Panthers
have been a very hot pick to win the NFC if not the Super
Bowl. But in their first home game, with Smith on the
sideline, they failed to score double digits for only the
second time in their last 27 home games; that other game was
a 17-6 loss to San Diego in 2004 in which Smith did not
play.
Panthers
fans have much to be concerned about. Hamstring injuries
just have a way of lingering and lingering (look at Randy
Moss in the second half of the 2004 season). Reports are
now saying that Smith will be out until week 3; truth be
told, he should probably sit out an extra two or three weeks
beyond that to make sure the hamstring is well-healed.
Otherwise, we're still going to be talking about "what's
bothering Steve Smith" into November.
What to think of the Patriots. The
New England Patriots' victory over the visiting Buffalo
Bills was supposed to be a fait accompli. So, I was
mildly distressed when the 17-7 halftime score, with the
Bills leading, came up on my Blackberry at about 2:15 p.m.
The Patriots pulled it out in the second half, winning 19-17
on a safety with under nine minutes to play. The biggest
problem for New England, oddly, was quarterback Tom Brady.
He fumbled the first ball he touched, which resulted in a
7-0 deficit 10 seconds into the game. After the safety in
the fourth quarter, Brady threw an interception on the next
play; and only a bad call by the guys in stripes saved the
Patriots from disaster.
What does
this all mean for the Pats? I'm not too worried. The Pats
defense played well, giving up only 10 points. Their running
game looked good, with 41 rushes for 183 yards. Feel good,
Pats fans: The shakiest piece of your team's game on Sunday
was one of the greatest clutch quarterbacks in NFL history;
and he'll develop a chemistry with the receivers he's got.
Expect 250 yards and 3 touchdowns from him against the
Jets next week.
Hard-luck Herm. Quarterback
injuries just seem to follow Herm Edwards. While the
head coach in New York, the Jets battled virtually every
season with injuries to QB Chad Pennington (who had a
QB rating of 123.17 on Sunday). Now, in his first game as
the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, he saw his
starting quarterback, Trent Green, carted off the
field with head and neck trauma. Injuries always suck,
especially ones like this could cost Green and the Chiefs
their season.
Who impressed me this week? Hats
off to the entire Baltimore Ravens franchise. They
opened up a can of whoop-ass on Tampa Bay, embarrassing
every aspect of the Bucs' game. Jets QB Chad Pennington
was supposed to be washed up. But, he turned in one of
the best performances of the weekend at any position. Who's
the top fantasy running back in the league right now? Forty-Niner
Frank Gore. Sure, it was against the Cardinals; but,
170 total yards and 2 touchdowns is pretty good for someone
who was supposed to be on a bad team with a weak offensive
line.
The
season begins: It’s tempting to read a lot into the
first week of a new season, but one should resist. But what
fun is that? In 2005, Seattle, Carolina and Denver lost
their openers, but all three went to their conference
championship games. New Orleans won its opener, then went
2-13 the rest of the season. This decade, three teams
have lost their opener and went on to win the Super Bowl.
Carolina
and Denver lost their openers Sunday and Seattle was lucky
to win at Detroit, 9-6. New Orleans beat Cleveland, so we
will see whether history repeat’s itself.
Manning
vs. Manning: In case you hadn't noticed, Peyton
Manning's team played against Eli Manning's team Sunday
night. Peyton and the Colts held off Eli and the Giants,
26-21, in a terrific game that could never live up to its
hype.
Peyton was
the dominant presence, leading the Colts on six scoring
drives. With no running game (55 yards) and defense that
looked soft, the burden was upon Peyton and he delivered. A
key stat was the Colts going 11 for 16 on third-down
conversions, almost all of it passing.
Eli was
pretty good, too, and the Giants offense was only stopped by
its mistakes -- 10 penalties and two turnovers. A key play
was a lame offensive pass interference against the Giants
that wiped out a first down late in the game with the Colts
only up by two. On the next play, Eli threw an interception
and that basically ended the game.
Stats:
If the Colts average only 55 yards rushing and give up 186
for the season, they'll be in trouble.
On the
bright side, the signing of kicker Adam Vinatieri by the
Colts looks brilliant. He was 4 for 4 on field goals, but
more impressive were his kickoffs. The Giants average
starting position after a kickoff was their own 21-yard
line. Last year, Colts kickers could barely reach the 21 on
their kickoffs.
Smile,
you're on national TV: NBC showed about a dozen shots of
the Mannings' parents, Archie and Olivia, watching their
sons play. Not once did either of them smile, even when
Peyton or Eli threw a touchdown pass. They are probably more
glad the game is over than their sons.
Pats look shaky:The one
day game I watched the most of was Buffalo and New England, a
game won by the Patriots 19-17 on a fourth-quarter safety.
The Patriots were so bad in the first half (Tom Brady went
3-11 in the first half) that they were booed off the field,
trailing 17-7. The game turned around midway in the third
quarter when the Bills went for it on 4th and 1
from the New England 7. Willis McGahee got stuffed, the Pats
seized the momentum and outscored Buffalo 12-0 down the
stretch. I didn’t mind Buffalo going for it, but the play
took too long to develop and they barely got the snap off;
it too way too long to develop.
It’s
clear that Brady has no first-string wide receivers and
newcomers like Reche Caldwell better develop or they better
sign Deion Branch, or the passing game will struggle. On the
other side, Bills quarterback J.P.Losman is average at best
– on the safety he did not have the awareness to stay out of
the end zone when it was obvious he was going to be sacked.
Handsome Phil:I have
been tracking CBS analyst Phil Simms’
homoerotic comments for years, and he came close
Sunday but didn’t quite reach his usual level. During a
promo for the CBS pregame show, Simms saw a picture of a
leaner Dan Marino (now doing Weight Watchers commercials)
and said, “Dan Marino’s looking trim.” Simms’ partner Jim
Nantz saw a Simms photo and said, “You are a handsome guy.”
Give it to Reggie:Despite
the Saints’ win, they had some weird play calling at the
goal line. With the ball at the 2, the Saints ran Deuce
McAllister once (no problem there), had quarterback Drew
Brees try a sneak (huh?) and on third down threw an
incomplete pass. Memo to the Saints – you have a rookie on
your team named Reggie Bush, able to leap tall buildings.
Why not give him the ball and see what he can do? He had 119
yards rushing and receiving on the day.
Bengals D shines:
It was a
nice win on the road for the Cincinnati Bengals over the
Kansas City Chiefs. In a reversal, the Bengals won it with
defense, holding superstud Larry Johnson to 68 yards rushing
and the Chiefs to 10 points. As I wrote in my season
preview, the Bengals are a Super Bowl-caliber team if they
can stop the run. QB Carson Palmer was an efficient 13 for
19 for the Bengals, and he managed the game quite well (to
use a cliché).
Smelly cheese: It’s going to be a long season in Green
Bay. The Pack was shut out, 26-0, by Chicago, its first
shutout in 15 years. And it happened at Lambeau Field. So
much for me picking up Brett Favre for my fantasy team.
New improved Smith:In 2005,
it took until Game 16 for San Francisco’s Alex Smith to
throw his first touchdown. On Sunday, at Arizona, he got it
done on the 49ers first drive. Smith, the hottest guy in the
league (see
visual evidence), looks like a much better
quarterback, due to having a year’s experience and also to
new offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Troy Aikman loved
Turner so much when he ran the Cowboys’ offense in the
1990s, that he had Turner present him during his Hall of
Fame induction.
Gooseggs: I watched two plays of this game, but this
might be the most surprising score of the day: Baltimore 27,
Tampa Bay 0. It was Baltimore’s first road win since
November 2004, and the first time Tampa was shut out at home
since 1996.
Guns Hochuli:
Every game that buff ref Ed Hochuli does, the commentators
make some reference to his bod. It happened again during the
San Francisco-Arizona game. Play by play guy Josh Lewin
referred to Hochuli’s “guns,” while analyst Bill Maas said
that “Ed Hochuli makes those [new-style] controversial
referee shirts look pretty good. Now, we will run into some
others that may not give that kind of same look to that
shirt.”
Leaky
Plummer: A quarterback controversy will be brewing in
Denver if Jake Plummer continues to stink it up like he did
Sunday during the Broncos’ 18-10 loss to St. Louis. A stat
line of 13 for 26 and three interceptions will have fans
clamoring for rookie Jay Cutler to start. Plummer was
equally awful in his last meaningful game, throwing two
interceptions and fumbling once in the AFC Championship game
loss to Pittsburgh.
Boo Drew:
Another QB controversy may be in Dallas, where fans will
want Tony Romo to replace Drew Bledsoe, who threw three
picks against Jacksonville.
Jags respect? I am
one of those people who didn't think a whole lot of
Jacksonville's 12-4 season, mainly because the Jags had a
ridiculously easy schedule. But they deserve credit for the
beat-down they put on Dallas. Down 10-0, the Jags dominated
the game, scoring 24 points against a defense people were
calling all-world. The Jags never look pretty when they win
(QB Byron Leftwich has an ugly throwing motion) but they
always seem to be in every game.
Is
Chad back? I know he was throwing against Tennessee, but
Jets quarterback Chad Pennington was terrific -- 24 for 33
for 319 yards and two touchdowns as the Jets held off the
Titans, 23-16.
