NFL Week 2 Recap
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by user twins15
As always, a look at all of the action from Sunday:
Indianapolis Colts 43, Houston Texans 24 - This score is deceiving, because the game wasn't even this close. The Colts led 30-3 after 3 quarters, and Peyton Manning finished with 400 yards. By the way, now is officially the time to add Joseph Addai to your fantasy teams if possible. 82 yards rushing (on 16 carries), 22 yards receiving and a TD. With Manning drawing all the attention, Addai should have running room, provided he gets the carries. And, by the way, now's the time to drop any Texans RBs that you have on your fantasy team.
New Orleans Saints 34, Green Bay Packers 27 - The Packers were playing at home, jumped out to a 13-0 lead, Brett Favre played well... and they still lost. Reggie Bush showed he can still contribute even without running much... he had just 5 rushing yards on 6 carries... but he caught 8 balls for 68 yards, and got 36 yards worth of punt returns. Meanwhile, Deuce McAllister ran for 2 scores. Get comfortable Packer Backers... it's going to be a long year.
Cincinnati Bengals 34, Cleveland Browns 17 - And once again, the Bengals have the second-best offense in the NFL. Carson Palmer was great, throwing for 350+. Rudi Johnson ran for 145 yards. For the Browns, a running game would be nice. Reuben Droughns gained 32 yards on 14 carries. That AFC North is rather tough.
Chicago Bears 34, Detroit Lions 7 - One week of excellent offense, I could consider a fluke. Two weeks? Well, I'm closer to believing that the Bears can be a good offensive team to go along with the defense, and that scares me. Looks like Rex Grossman was the right choice to start at QB after all, with his 4 TDs on 20/27 passing. What does it say about Seattle's offense, though, that they could only muster 9 points against the Lions, who gave up 24 here in the first half? Wait, Mike Martz is still the Lions Offensive Coordinator, isn't he? Lions are averaging 6.5 PPG.
Baltimore Ravens 28, Oakland Raiders 6 - As if the Raiders offense wasn't bad enough last week, Sunday they decided to turn the ball over 6 times. Or, to put it another way, they had as many points as turnovers. Sometimes I wonder why they show up.
Atlanta Falcons 14, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 - Through two weeks, the Falcons might be looking like the most dangerous team in the NFL. Nearly 300 yards of rushing for the Falcons is nice... combine that with holding their opponents to 4.5 PPG is even nicer. Now if they could only get a FG kicker. As for the Bucs, they've scored 3 points in 2 games, and Cadillac Williams has not gotten things going running into the wall. Uh oh.
Minnesota Vikings 16, Carolina Panthers 13 - Wild, wild game. I thought the Vikings were pretty close to being dead in the water, and then Chris Gamble tried a backwards lateral on a punt return... one of the stupidest plays I've seen. Here's an interesting thought... Ryan Longwell accounted for all of the Vikings points, with 3 FGs and a TD pass. Vikings defense was superb, and they absolutely shut down every Carolina Panther not named DeAngelo Williams (trust me, this guy is the real deal, and already the best RB on the Panthers). Have I mentioned how much I love Brad Childress and Mike Tomlin?
One more thought on this game, and that's to give credit to Julius Peppers. I have never seen a defensive player dominate a game more than Peppers did. He had 6 tackles, 3 sacks, and a blocked FG, but the stat line doesn't do justice to the impact he had. He seemed to be disrupting things in the backfield every play, and if he wasn't there, he was usually pursuing guys downfield. Just an absolutely extraordinary player to watch, and I'm very glad the Vikings don't have to face him again.
New York Giants 30, Philadelphia Eagles 24 - That Eli Manning guy can play. 31/43, 371 yards, 3 TD, and a great 4th quarter comeback. Donovan McNabb ain't so bad either, throwing for 350 yards himself. I'm just shocked to see an Andy Reid-coached team blow a 24-7 lead in the 4th quarter. Of course, a game like this makes me feel a lot better about my pick of the Giants to go to the Super Bowl. Very good football game between two very good football teams.
Buffalo Bills 16, Miami Dolphins 6 - I think a lot of things can be summed up by this thread at a Dolphins message board... let's just say I feel a lot better about the Daunte Culpepper trade.
San Francisco 49ers 20, St. Louis Rams 13 - Maybe those Niners can play a little bit... Alex Smith continues to make strides and is making better decisions with the football. Of course, it helps that he has a running game, and Frank Gore is certainly providing that. Gore ran for 127 yards on Sunday. The Niners are still a ways off, but they're definitely on the right track... good young coach in Mike Nolan, and good young skill players. When they're able to get a little more talent and depth on that defense, they'll be a very solid club.
Seattle Seahawks 21, Arizona Cardinals 10 - Well, the Hawks offense was a little better this week, but 21 points against the Cardinals isn't exactly anything to write home about. Matt Hasselbeck connected on less than 50% of his passes, and Shaun Alexander wasn't great, but the defense was again stellar. Kurt Warner got a decent amount of yards, but the Seahawks held the Cards to 10 points, and the Cardinals aren't going to be winning any games where they score 10 points.
San Diego Chargers 40, Tennessee Titans 7 - Hold on a minute, you might not be the worst team in the NFL after all! The Vince Young Era might be coming sooner than anticipated, and that is most definitely not a good thing. For Tennessee, Kerry Collins sucked, they had no running game, and the defense sucked. This just a dreadful, dreadful team.
New England Patriots 24, New York Jets 17 - Interesting game here. Looked like the Pats had this thing wrapped up and on cruise control, but the Jets came storming back in the 4th and actually had a shot to tie things up with a final drive. For the Patriots, Troy Brown was their leading receiver. That's a problem. On the bright side, both Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney ran the ball well. For the Jets, Chad Pennington continues to impress coming off injury, throwing for over 300 yards for the second straight week.
Denver Broncos 9, Kansas City Chiefs 6 - There is really no reason the Chiefs should have been this close in Denver with Damon Huard starting at QB, except for the fact that Larry Johnson is really good. You have to believe me on that. After another bad performance by Jake Plummer (16/30, 173 yards, 1 INT), are we any closer to seeing Jay Cutler? My guess: yes. The fans want it, Plummer's playing poorly, and the offense is not doing well. If they struggle again next week, Mike Shanahan at least has to think about it, right?
Dallas Cowboys 27, Washington Redskins 10 - I know Clinton Portis was out, but is there anyone out there that thinks Mark Brunell can lead this offense? A weak-armed, erratic, 35 year-old QB? Yeah that usually turns out well. Meanwhile, Drew Bledsoe was a lot better than last week, but then again, it would have been hard not to be. Terrell Owens didn't get going at all (3 catches, 19 yards), but the offense was so bad he didn't need to. The Skins only TD came on a kick return. Oh my.
Jacksonville Jaguars/Pittsburgh Steelers square off Monday night. Two very good, very tough defenses.
Date
Sun 09/17/06, 10:50 pm EST
