NFL Rewind: Week 2 (part 1)

Falcons 28 Panthers 20

Falcons

Matt Ryan continues to play very well in his second season with the Falcons, as he totaled three touchdowns in their victory over the woeful Carolina Panthers. As during Week 1, Ryan found tight end Tony Gonzalez for seven catches, totaling 71 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t ignore last years main target Roddy White, who caught six passes for 53 yards and his own touchdown.

Michael Turner made his own noise, carrying the ball for 105 yards and a touchdown, though it took him a huge amount of carries (28) to do so and he also lost a fumble. The defense played well, forcing two fumbles, sacking Delhomme once and grabbing a key interception in the end zone to seal the game.

Panthers

For 99% of the game, Jake Delhomme did everything he needed to in order to make Panther fans forget his awful Week 1 performance. Unfortunately it still wasn’t enough and his interception in the end zone just reminded everyone of Week 1 Jake. Still, a massive improvement for Delhomme even though the team couldn’t get the job done. He looked to veteran Steve Smith (8 catches for 131 yards) often, and spread the ball around quite a bit to keep the Falcons from keying on any one player.

On the ground, the Panther continue to move the ball well, if not quite as good as they did in 2008. DeAngelo Williams (79 yards and 1 TD) got most of the work while second year man Jonathan Stewart (65 yards) looked just as good in his spot duty. Unfortunately both running backs coughed the ball up, although only Williams was lost. In the end, though the offense played much better than last year, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Falcons.

Vikings 27 Lions 13

Vikings

For a half it looked like the wheels had come off the Vikings bandwagon already and you had to worry for the safety of the tons of fans preparing to leap off of it. But the ship righted itself and again—largely on Adrian Peterson’s back and with some great defensive plays, the Vikes came out on top. While Brett Favre did find both rookie Percy Harvin and Visanthe Shiancoe for touchdowns, he still has timing issues and his botched hand-off to Adrian Peterson was largely his own fault.

Still, he found Bernard Berrian six times for 46 yards and Sidney Rice three times for 29 yards and even Peterson four times for 24 yards, adding to his 92 on the ground. The Vikings still go as Peterson goes, but slowly and surely Favre is becoming more of the weapon Minnesota was hoping for.

Lions

What can you say about the Lions that hasn’t been repeated many times? Rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford is still getting hit and hurried way too often. Stafford was sacked twice and picked off twice (by the same player no less) and still looks very much a rookie. But there are moments where he looks better – his accuracy to Calvin Johnson (5 catches for 51 yards and 1 TD) was much improved and though he threw less passes towards Johnson this week (7 down from 13) he made more out of them. He has also started using fellow rookie Brandon Pettigrew, hitting the tight end four times for 40 yards.

Running back Kevin Smith also struggled with the offensive line woes but gained 83 yards on 24 carries. In the end though, the Lions still had no defensive answer for Peterson or the rest of the Vikings offense, and the offense could not keep up.

Bengals 31 Packers 24

Bengals

The Bengals should have won last week against the Broncos, but couldn’t get their offense going and couldn’t make the big play defensively when they needed to. Today they did both, with big games by Carson Palmer (three touchdowns), Cedric Benson (141 yards) and Chad Ochocinco (91 yards and 1 TD).

Palmer is still struggling overall and really this was all about the defense being able to disrupt Packer QB Aaron Rodgers to the tune of five sacks and numerous hits. Defensive End Antwan Odom owned the Packer offensive line and notched all five sacks himself. Rookie Rey Maualuga continues to make a nice impact as well, getting a pair of forced fumbles in the game.

Packers

If you looked at the stats and not the score, you might think the Packers had won. QB Aaron Rodgers completed 21 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown, running back Ryan Grant had 46 yards and a touchdown and Donald Driver caught half a dozen balls for 99 yards and his own score. But looking closer, several things stood out. Greg Jennings had zero catches, disappeared for much of the game and dropped a ball.

Left tackle Chad Clifton was carted off the field and you could tell the line suffered a bit for it. Overall, it was a disappointing game for the Packers who seemed to take a step back on both sides of the ball after a reasonably nice debut against the Bears. 

Cardinals 31, Jaguars 17

Cardinals

After dropping a game to division rival San Francisco in Week 1, the Cards bounced back hard and landed on top of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The offensive line gave QB Kurt Warner decades to set up and pass—and pass he did, setting a record for single-game completion percentage of 92.3%. He even got an early hook after a very good 243 yard, two touchdown performance.

Running back Tim Hightower continued to contribute, this time on the ground with 15 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Chris Wells looked good as well, shredding the Jags defense for 44 yards on just seven carries. Steve Breaston led the way through the air with five catches for 83 yards, with Anquan Boldin right behind him with more catches (8) but less yards (69). Larry Fitzgerald came away with the aerial touchdown for the trio. When this offense is firing on all cylinders, they are deadly and today the Jags couldn’t touch Warner and found that out first hand. 

Jaguars

Jacksonville did too little too late, coming back in the second half while the Cardinals were already focusing on post-game activities. QB David Garrard had a good stat-line with 282 yards and a pair of touchdowns, hitting Mike Sims-Walker for six catches, 106 yards and a TD. It’s deceptive though when it comes against a defense just trying to keep the clock running in prevent.

Maurice Jones-Drew was relegated to spectator for part of the game and his 13 carries for 66 yards was a disappointment even with 17 yards added from the passing game. 

Raiders 13 Chiefs 10

Raiders

Oakland almost lost a second close one but managed to lose less than the terrible Chiefs and come away with their first win. QB JaMarcus Russell continues to look generally mediocre though he lead the offense on a nine-play, 69-yard drive in 1:31 which led to a Darren McFadden touchdown which won the game.

McFadden was mostly quiet otherwise with 35 yards on 12 carries as was his partner in the backfield, Michael Bush who only had 35 yards as well. Overall it was a win, but it wasn’t won the Raiders should crow too loudly about. 

Chiefs

Matt Cassel survived his debut with the Chiefs but was roughed up both physically (a pair of sacks and numerous hits) and mentally (two interceptions). He was able to find his top receiver, Dwayne Bowe, for a touchdown and 56 yards, but the score came while all world cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was out of the game. He also hit Bobby Wade six times for 72 yards and scrambled for 34 yards as well.

Larry Johnson was able to put together a nice total of 78 yards. Overall, though this offense continues to struggle and are due for many hardships against better overall defenses than the Raiders bring to bear. 

Jets 16 Patriots 9

Jets

Rookie QB Mark Sanchez may not be tearing up statistical records, but he’s getting the job done. He looks confident and poised in the pocket, even in the face of blitzing linebackers and even when he got knocked down or almost intercepted, the ex-USC Trojan bounced back with a good play.

He had ample help on the ground from both Leon Washington (58 yards) and Thomas Jones (54 yards) and from his wide receiver corps of Jerricho Cotchery (4 catches for 87 yards) and Chansi Stuckey (4 catches for 37 yards) including some key first downs. Dustin Keller also continues to get a ton of love from his rookie passer, including the lone touchdown of the game. The offense isn’t perfect but does what it needs to and is rolling very nicely after two solid games.

Patriots

After the last minute heroics of last week, it was hard to believe the guy with Brady on his jersey was the same one who played on Monday night. But Jets coach Rex Ryan and his defense took a page from the Giants Super Bowl win playbook and blitzed on every down they could get away with it. Brady hates pressure and Ryan brought the thunder, occasionally with seven players. With that and a great job by Darrelle Revis on Randy Moss, the Pats failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time since December 10th, 2006 against the Miami Dolphins.

Saints 48 Eagles 22

Saints

Drew Brees threw for another 300+ yards and three touchdowns, hitting Marques Colston for two scores in a game that at times seemed closer than it really was. After not having one catch in Week 1, Colston totaled eight catches and 98 yards to go with his pair of touchdowns. Both Reggie Bush (33 yards rushing, 42 yards receiving) and Mike Bell (86 yards rushing, 9 receiving) had very good days as well, though Bell left the game late with a knee injury which has since been categorized as a slight sprain.

Eagles

Amazingly, Drew Bress didn’t throw for the most yards in this game - Kevin Kolb did. But Kolb’s 391 yards and two touchdowns were marred by a trio of interceptions. DeSean Jackson had an outstanding game, reeling four balls for 101 yads and a touchdown while tight end Brent Celek 104 yards.

Unfortunately as the Eagles fell behind early,the run game wasn't very effective. Brian Westbrook only had 66 total yards and left the game late in the fourth with an ankle sprain which Coach Andy Reid termed not very serious. Westbrook's status should be watched all week, as should that of Donovan McNabb who still looks like he will miss the Eagles' Week 3 game. Jackson also suffered a groin strain although he had a similar issue last week and still played.

Texans 34 Titans 31

Texans

After the disappointing loss to the Jets in Week 1 where QB Matt Schaub was hit early and often by the Jets, the Texans had a much better game offensively. That may be an understatement of tremendous proportions with Schaub throwing for 357 yards and four touchdowns, two of which found Andre Johnson. Johnson caught ten balls for a total of 149 yards, exploding in production after being stymied by the Jets secondary in Week 1.

Jacoby Jones and tight end Owen Daniels both contributed a touchdown as well with Daniels catching six balls for 72 yards as well. The rushing attack is still lacking punch though, with Steve Slaton running a pedestrian 34 yards on 17 carries. Still, this was an offense which showed us it can be as dynamic as any other when Schaub gets protection and time to throw. 

Titans

If I merely told you Chris Johnson had 197 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, I imagine you'd be suitably impressed. It's an outstanding day, no doubt,. But what if I told you he added nine catches for 87 yards and another touchdown to the total? That's right, Chris Johnson dropped three touchdowns and 284 total yards on the Texan defense and the Titans are still 0-2.

 The problem is, the game became a shootout and nobody but Johnson stepped up. Nate Washington had a touchdown but only 36 yards. Justin Gage and Kenny Britt fell back to earth after big games in Week 1. LenDale White didn't do anything of note. So while Johnson had a great individual game, the Titans ended up losing. Defensively this team is out of sorts and while they put some pressure on Schaub, they never sacked him and their secondary was summarily picked apart.

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