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The NFL Report: Week 2
Posted by Dr. Tom on Sep 12, 2003, 14:02
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THE NFL REPORT: WEEK 2
The first week of the NFL�s 84th season is in the books, and already, there have been plenty of surprises. Miami manages to suck just enough to let the second-year Texans jump up and beat them. Brett Favre plays like garbage at home, allowing Minnesota a win at Lambeau. The Patriots play the worst game they�ve played in recent memory, dropping a laugher to their chief division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, who played better and looked like they wanted this game more.
Of course, Cincinnati lost, meaning the expected can still happen, too.
This week, teams that started off with a win look to capitalize on their first-week success. This is especially true of teams with long seasons ahead of them, like Houston and Detroit. Houston knocked off a playoff contender right out of the gates, and might play over their heads for a week or two as they ride the high of beating the Dolphins. It�s easier for baseball teams (like last year�s Twins and this year�s Royals) to play over their heads than it is for football teams, so don�t expect much out of Houston this year. Detroit will have the misfortune of not playing against Arizona every week, but the Harrington-to-Rogers connection has already gone for two scores. Steve Mariucci has this team moving in the right direction and believing in themselves. His hiring has proven to be the only good decision that dreadfully incompetent team CEO Matt Millen has made.
Let�s take a look back at last week before we go over the league news and look ahead to this weekend�s games.
Week 1: In Review
Pittsburgh 34, RAVENS~! 15. The Ravens� offense did about what was expected of them in this one. Jamal Lewis pounded out 69 yards, but the Steelers� strong run defense never let him break a big one. Pittsburgh also brought their full complement of blitzes against rookie QB Kyle Boller, who was baptized by fire to the point that he suffered third-degree burns. Boller didn�t play badly, and in fact, made some good throws at times and used his mobility to get away from the persistent Pittsburgh pass rush. However, he also played like a rookie at times, especially early in the game. This was a tough game for Boller to go into as his first start, but now that he�s gotten it out of the way, he should be able to relax and play a more composed game.
The Ravens� defense, on the other hand, was modeled after Swiss Cheese. I have to wonder if Hines Ward could have been a little more wide open on his second touchdown catch. There were literally no Raven defenders within 20 yards of a Pro Bowl receiver running a simple skinny post pattern. Perhaps Ward had a dead skunk around his neck that didn�t show up well on TV. The other explanation is that the Ravens struggle against the pass, which is perplexing when you consider the talent in their secondary. A big problem when playing the Steelers is that Plaxico Burress absolutely owns Chris McAlister. If McAlister plays loose coverage, Burress cuts across the middle and burns him. If McAlister plays tight coverage, Burress uses his height and physical advantage to come down with the ball anyway. Both men love talking trash on the field, but it seems like only one of them is able to back it up head-to-head. It seems to me that McAlister should spend more time studying game film and less time thinking of new things to say when he flaps his gums on the field.
Washington 16, NY Jets 13. The Redskins looked very good in the first half, then decided to crawl into a shell and hibernate for most of the second. Former Jet Laveranues Coles had over 100 yards receiving in the first half, then completely disappeared from the offense after halftime. Ladell Betts had the better game at running back, meaning he�s probably going to split time with Trung Canidate. Vinny Testaverde didn�t look bad, but the rust showed in his timing, which was clearly off on several throws. The Jets� strange ability to always get one yard fewer than what they needed on third down helped seal this one for Spurrier�s gang.
Carolina 24, Jacksonville 23. Carolina trailed the whole game before coming back and winning late, with 17 points in the fourth quarter. Jake Delhomme staked his claim to the starting QB job with his performance in relief of graybeard Rodney Peete. Mark Brunell showed that he�s the best QB Jacksonville has, and that there�s not much room for debate about it. Still, since the Jaguars aren�t going to be doing a whole lot this year, expect Brunell to lose time to rookie Byron Leftwich.
Detroit 42, Arizona 24. Charles Rogers got his Lions career off to a good start with two touchdown catches, and Joey Harrington added two more TD throws on the day. Jeff Blake had a huge day at QB for Arizona, racking up 363 yards in the air, with 217 of them going to rookie Anquan Boldin. Someone has to catch the ball in Arizona, so it might as well be Boldin.
Minnesota 30, Green Bay 25. Brett Favre threw four picks, Donald Driver and Robert Ferguson both left with injuries, and Green Bay dropped a division game at home. Randy Moss had a huge day against the Darren Sharper-less secondary, and both Moe Williams and Daunte Culpepper turned in good performances. The Vikings aren�t the scrubs of last year, folks, and this should be a reminder of that.
Buffalo 31, New England 0. Yikes. These two teams are going to be duking it out for the AFC East crown, and the Bills landed some strong punches in this one. Lawyer Milloy, released by the Pats during the week, provided an emotional spark (and his usual solid play) for the Bills, but the Patriots lost this game just as much as the Bills won it. If you want a pre-Halloween fright, look at Tom Brady�s passing line. Eeek!
Kansas City 27, San Diego 14. Would anyone still like to question the health of Priest Holmes? He took the bulk of the second half off after his team had built up the lead, but in 35 minutes, he had over 180 total yards and a pair of TDs. The hip is healthy, friends, and with it, so is the Kansas City offense. Their defense, long maligned, managed to hold LaDanian Tomlinson to 34 yards on 13 carries, with the low latter number reflecting the 24-point deficit the Chargers faced at halftime. The KC defense is still a trouble spot, but they should look at that as an encouraging sign.
Houston 21, Miami 20. That sound you hear is the fire being stoked beneath Dolphins coach Dave Wannestedt�s hot seat. Losing a squeaker on opening day to a good team is one thing, but losing a squeaker to last year�s expansion team on any day is disgraceful. Plain and simple, the Dolphins should have won this game going away. Houston, though, was able to contain Ricky Williams on defense, and move the ball late in the game when they needed to. They definitely earned this win. The Dolphins, of course, failed to help themselves out with their playcalling; they seem to have a trend of refusing to run the ball to eat up the clock, despite having arguably the best back in the league on their team. In the immortal word of Mr. Spock: curious.
NY Giants 23, St, Louis 13. The Giants defense stepped up to the plate here, sacking Kurt Warner six times, forcing an equal number of fumbles, and getting one interception. Tiki Barber owned the ground game for the Giants, racking up 146 yards against a defense that should be stingier than that. Kurt Warner�s problems in the game � he threw for 342 yards in spite of them, and the interception really wasn�t his fault � are attributed to a concussion he suffered in the first quarter. More on this later.
Atlanta 27, Dallas 13. Mike Who? OK, so the Falcons and their fans aren�t going to forget about the exciting Mr. Vick, but until his broken leg is healed, Doug Johnson is proving himself a capable fill-in. He doesn�t have Vick�s insane running ability or ridiculous downfield arm, but he�s an efficient passer who can move the ball. His touchdown pass to Alge Crumpler was a beautiful play. On the Dallas side, Joey Galloway had a big day at receiver, and QB Quincy Carter turned in a respectable performance in the losing effort. The positive signs are there.
The City 49, Chicago 7. Welcome to the City of Broad Shoulders, Kordell. Really, there�s just not much else to say about this one. Kordell Stewart demonstrated, against a woeful pass defense, why he is not qualified to be a starting QB in the NFL. The question now is how long it will take the Bears to realize what everyone else in the league already knows.
Tennessee 25, Oakland 20. I may have underestimated the Titans in my AFC preview. They looked very impressive in beating an Oakland team that shelled them twice last season. Eddie George was awful, but the Titans have been winning in spite of him for a while now, anyway. Steve McNair is clearly the heart-and-soul of the team, and looked good spreading the ball out to his receivers and eluding the Raider rush. It took the Raiders a while to get into an offensive rhythm, but they started to click better in the second half. They�ll be fine.
Tampa Bay 17, Philly 0. Leave it to the fans of Philadelphia to vociferously boo the fact that their team trailed the defending Super Bowl champs by all of three points at halftime. The situation rapidly worsened in the second half, as the swarming Tampa Bay defense refused to let the Eagles build any kind of offensive momentum. Brad Johnson threw two touchdown passes to Joe Jurevicius � the first of which was a highlight reel job � and the rout was on. Tampa Bay owns the Eagles, and if Philly is serious about making a Super Bowl run, they�d better figure out how to beat the Bucs.
Games Not Worth Writing a Paragraph About
Denver 30, Cincinnati 10. You were expecting something else?
Indianapolis 9, Cleveland 6. Zzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzz.
Seattle 27, New Orleans 10. Seattle looks to be picking up where they left off last year.
Dr. Tom�s Superstar of the Week
Priest Holmes. He�s had to endure questions about his hip injury for months. He played sparingly this preseason, after the Chiefs drafted former Penn State star RB Larry Johnson in an apparent move to cover for a Holmes injury. Let no doubters remain. Holmes is as healthy as he�s ever been, as his performance against a tough Chargers defense attests. There has been no better offensive player in the NFL the last two years, and Holmes is going for the trifecta after his strong first week.
Dr. Tom�s Shithead of the Week
Mike Martz. OK, so Kurt Warner�s concussion wasn�t officially diagnosed until after the game. Martz is off the hook, right? Wrong. Can someone explain to me how a head coach who acknowledged his quarterback looked foggy and not like himself, can keep sending that QB out onto the field? Concussions are common in today�s NFL, and every coach knows what they look like. Martz was rolling the dice with Warner�s health, plain and simple. There is no excuse for leaving a man with a concussion in the game to take a further beating from a tenacious defense. I�ve said before that Martz was a shithead, but that was based on his undeserved status as an offensive genius (he admitted he called a bad game this past Sunday), and richly deserved status as an idiot of the first division when it comes to personnel decisions. This is just one more notch on Martz�s shithead belt. If the Rams are smart, they�ll send him packing after this year in favor of someone who�s not trying to kill his starting quarterback.
News From Around The League
Stolen from ESPN and the AP, as always.
-- Packers WR Donald Driver was released from a Green Bay hospital Tuesday. Driver gave everyone quite a scare when he landed on his head after catching a pass in Sunday�s loss to the Vikings. The official diagnosis is that Driver has a sprained neck, and it�s currently unknown when he�ll return to the field.
-- Houston has signed TE Billy Miller to a new four-year contract. Official terms were not released, but league sources put the value of the deal at $4 million, with a quarter of that being the signing bonus. Miller was the Texans� leading receiver last year, and proved to be a vital safety valve when David Carr was running for his life every other play. Miller caught three passes for 20 yards in the opener against Miami.
-- The banged-up Eagles defense is not getting a reprieve this week. Philly could be without Pro Bowl CB Bobby Taylor, Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins, and DE Brandon Whiting for Sunday�s game against the Patriots. Clinton Hart would start for Taylor, and Lito Sheppard, who got burned for two scores in Monday, would start for Dawkins. If Tom Brady has a good game this Sunday, hilarity could ensue.
-- The Ravens may have WR Frank Sanders and CB Tom Knight back for this Sunday�s game against Cleveland. Sanders has been inactive since the first preseason game, when he dislocated two toes after making a catch. Knight missed the Pittsburgh game with a hamstring injury, forcing return specialist Lamont Brightful onto the field as the nickel back. I get the feeling that Knight wouldn�t have let Hines Ward get so farcically wide open on that second TD catch.
-- It�s just one week into the season, but we already have some QB CONTROVERSY~! a-brewin�. In St. Louis, Marc Bulger is getting the start this week in place of Kurt Warner, who suffered a concussion in Sunday�s loss to the Giants. It�s only supposed to be for one game, but we�ll see. In Carolina, Jake Delhomme has been named the starter after his performance in leading the Panthers to a comeback win. Rodney Peete goes from being the only 50 year-old starter in the league to the only 50 year-old backup in the league. But he still gets to go home to Holly Robinson, so he�s probably not crying into his beer.
-- Speaking of senior citizens getting NFL jobs, the Titans signed free agent PK Gary Anderson to replace Joe Nedney, who will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. Despite punter Craig Hentrich�s clutch 3-for-3 kicking performance in relief of Nedney on Sunday, the Titans wanted to bring in a full-time kicker. Anderson is 44, but he�s been a reliable kicker for half his life. I think his recent years have been helped by getting half his kicks in the Metrodome, so this jury will remain out for now. Personally, I would have let Hentrich take double duty.
-- Former Packers WR Antonio Freeman has signed a one-year deal to return to his old team. The Packers, currently suffering at WR because of injuries to Donald Driver and Robert Ferguson, need a healthy body at that position. Freeman also has the benefit of knowing the Green Bay offense from his previous seven years with the club. The Lions were also pursuing Freeman.
-- Raiders WR Jerry Porter is going to miss at least three weeks after having abdominal surgery to repair what is commonly called a �sports hernia.� It�s believed that Porter came down with the injury late in the 2002 season, but was only affected by it recently. He skipped Oakland�s last preseason game because of it, and had only one catch for six yards Sunday before leaving due to the injury. Porter, who had nine TDs in just 51 catches last season, was a big part of Oakland�s passing game, since he�s a deep threat with good hands.
-- In attendance news, the league set its single-weekend attendance record this past weekend, when 1,095,720 made their ways thru the turnstiles. The previous record was set last September 15-16, and the top nine weekends for attendance have all occurred since Houston rejoined the NFL and allowed the league to play a full complement of 16 games on its opening weekends.
Dr. Tom�s Picks for Week 2
Last week: 11-5 (68.8%)
Season to date: 11-5 (68.8%)
@ Atlanta 23, Washington 17. I like the Falcons� offense better, even without Vick.
@ Green Bay 24, Detroit 16. If Jeff Blake can throw for 340+ yards against Detroit . . .
Tennessee 20, @ Indianapolis 14. Just like last year for the Titans.
Pittsburgh 38, @ Kansas City 33. The Steelers win a shootout.
@ St. Louis 30, The City 22. Marc Bulger saves the day for the Rams yet again.
@ New Orleans 30, Houston 13. No week 2 magic for the Texans.
Miami 24, @ NY Jets 10. Miami had better be ready for this game.
Buffalo 28, @ Jacksonville 17. Mark Brunell deserves better.
@ Baltimore 24, Cleveland 13. Jamal Lewis will be unleashed in this one.
Seattle 30, @ Arizona 14. Seattle�s run defense looks to be improving.
@ Tampa Bay 20, Carolina 10. Jake Delhomme didn�t sign up for this.
@ San Diego 21, Denver 15. It comes down to the QBs in this one, and Plummer sucks.
@ Philadelphia 27, New England 23. Philly needs to find a running game and a healthy D, stat.
@ Oakland 34, Cincinnati 10. Playing the Bengals is good for what ails a team.
@ Minnesota 24, Chicago 9. I still pity the fool who starts Kordell at QB.
@ NY Giants 20, Dallas 7. The G-Men defense has an easier time of it this week.
There are some really tough games up there. Atlanta-Washington could go either way, as could Tennessee-Indy, Pittsburgh-KC, Denver-SD, and NE-Philly. I�m uncomfortable picking that many home teams to win, but looking at everything, it�s hard not to. With so many games that could go either way, this should be a good weekend to watch a lot of football.
Enjoy the games.
Dr. Tom Fowler
drtom at thesmartmarks dot com
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