So Week 1 of the NFL season has almost come and gone, so only 20 more Sundays to look forward to of doing as little and eating as poorly as possible. Between the Thursday opening night and the usual Sunday games, I managed to catch a good portion of 6 games. A few random thoughts on each, all the while trying not to let one game change what I thought before a few days ago:
Saints-Vikings – This one was a lot lower scoring and sloppy than I thought, but it summed up my pre-season thoughts on these two teams. The Vikings are going to have to rely on their defense a lot more than last season. The Gunslinger doesn’t quite look the same out there, and whether its old age, missing training camp or an injured ankle remains to be seen. What boggled me most is the reluctance of Brad Childress to send out more than a few receivers, often leaving tight ends and running backs in to block and having only 2 or 3 receivers running patterns. We’ll see this week if that’s something that continues, but don’t be shocked if the Vikes go 8-8.
The Saints looked great on their first drive, then struggled the rest of the game. I expect the Saints to struggle more than most this season. I don’t think you can rely on Drew Brees every game and expect to win.
Patriots-Bengals – This one was a lot more lopsided than expected. Tom Brady looks like he’s all the way back from his knee injury, and Wes Welker looked as good as he did before his. Welker coming back strong will be huge as the Patriots use a makeshift offensive line due to injury and the absence of Logan Mankins. I still wonder if their defense can keep up with some of the great defenses in the AFC like the Jets and Steelers, but they’ll compete for the AFC East.
The Bengals had a terrible first half (plus an opening kickoff of the 2nd half) where everything that could go wrong did. Then they rebounded in garbage time and made the game somewhat competitive. With a game against division rival Baltimore next week, the Bengals could be 0-2 and staring at missing the playoffs if they don’t get things together soon. I’m leery of them rebounding at this point with a tough schedule and I don’t think Carson Palmer is any good any more.
Dolphins-Bills – I didn’t catch much of this but it sounds like it played out a lot like expected. Miami controls the game with its Wildcat running attack, and the Bills are, well the Bills. Keeping the game within a score and a chance for a winning drive is really all that could be expected of them. I question whether Miami has enough firepower to compete with the Jets and Pats, but their running game keeps them competitive and their defense makes them a threat.
Panthers-Giants – The Panthers were my pick to surprise this season, and I’m standing by that for now. The Giants are a terrible matchup for them with that pass rush and Matt Moore being inexperienced. Once the Panthers got down more than a touchdown, the Giants teed off on Moore and knocked him out of the game. The Giants showed me a lot more on offense than I thought they would. Their running game looked effective, and their young receivers stood up and had a big game. The Panthers need to go get their running game going to be dangerous. They have a fairly week schedule with Tampa and a Bengals team that doesn’t look as good as we thought coming up coming up the next couple of weeks. The Giants have the Colts and Titans the next 2 weeks so we’ll get a good idea of how good they are soon.
Packers-Eagles – Andy Reid won’t say it, but there is a QB controversy already. The merciless Eagles fans won’t stand for much more losing. Mike Vick looked effective but it’s hard to think he can sustain that effort week to week. Even so, Kevin Kolb looked pretty terrible and if his concussion keeps him out and Vick plays well he might not get the job back. This should be one long season for them. As far as the Packers, they played about as bad as they could, still scored 27 points, and still won the game fairly easily despite a late rally from Vick and the Eagles. With that offense they will be in every game they play. Aaron Rodgers should be an MVP candidate but needs to cut down on the turnovers. The Packers should have won this game more handily. That’s my only concern about them right now. Good teams will step on their opponents’ throats in games like this.
Redskins-Cowboys – This game showed 2 fatal Cowboys weaknesses that both reared their head at bad times: Bad coaching with Wade Phillips going for it at the end of the 1st half, leading to a fumble and a DeAngelo Hall touchdown, and a suspect offensive line with a penalty on the last play of the game to wipe out a game winning touchdown. The Cowboys have a ton of talent but at big moments, bad things seem to happen. Dez Bryant and Miles Austin looked awesome though. When you factor in Jason Witten and a decent running game, opposing defenses won’t be looking forward to seeing Dallas on the schedule.
The Redskins were lucky to win this one, plain and simple. Donovan McNabb continued his ineptitude against the Cowboys, their running game was non-existent until the final drive, and their defensive backs looked suspect though the Cowboys passing game will make some teams look that way. Their defense stepped up at big times and kept the Cowboys to 7 though, so some credit has to be given there. I really question how good this team can be as long as the Mike Shanahan-Albert Haynesworth feud continues. Haynesworth is one of the top defensive players in the game. For him to be getting spot duty and be used in the methods Shanahan wants is simply a waste of a huge talent. Right now, I think the Cowboys go 9-7 and the Skins go 8-8, and both miss the playoffs.
Some random thoughts on games I didn't catch:
- The Lions were robbed. Calvin Johnson's TD should have counted, and I don't care about the letter of the law.
- Tennessee looks like they could be really, really good. The Colts may have to fight to make the playoffs. When was the last time we could say that?
- Huge overtime win by Pittsburgh. Everyone is writing them off without Big Ben, but there are a lot of players there and a healthy Troy Polamalu makes a huge difference. On a side note, does Mike Tomlin not look like one of the coolest MF'ers alive? If they can even go 2-2 without Roethlisberger (and they have Tampa in Week 3, so this shouldn't be an issue), they'll be primed for a big run.
- The Denver-Jacksonville game being delayed by lightning was probably the best news those fans got all day. Both of those teams look to be all sorts bad.
- San Fran will still win their division by default, but I can't wait to bet against them in the first week of the playoffs.
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