NFL Week One Recap: Part Two

BRONCOS 12, BENGALS 7

BRONCOS

If it wasn’t for a lucky—but still skillful—play by Brandon Stokely this game would be viewed as a disappointment. Instead, Kyle Orton’s ok-but-not-fantastic 243 yards and a touchdown looks much brighter and the Broncos might feel better about a game where they could not get their rhythm going.

Correll Buckhalter was the most effective back, but Coach McDaniels seemed determined to get rookie Knowshon Moreno a bunch of work. Both got eight carries but Moreno could only accumulate 19 yards to Buckhalter’s 46. Orton moved the ball around a lot, but no receiver stood out.

Brando Marshall only saw four catches, Eddie Royal had just two and overall there were many drops from Orton’s targets. The Broncos may have run, but their offense looks shaky at best.

BENGALS

Carson Palmer had a good yardage total (247) but his two interceptions showed some of the rust he accumulated from so much time on the I/R. Chad Ochocinco was back to normal form with five catches for 89 yards but Chris Henry—who Palmer had gushed over all Summer—was almost nonexistent with his expected targets going to second year wide receiver Andre Caldwell who had six catches for 54 yards.

Veteran Laveranues Coles had several drops and was a non-factor. Cedric Benson continues to play well for the Bengals (76 and one TD) and might have some nice fantasy value this season. Overall though, not the start anyone hoped for with Palmer and Ochocinco finally healthy.

JETS 24, TEXANS 7

JETS

Mark Sanchez looked calm and cool in the pocket as he threw far more than many expected and totaled 272 yards and a touchdown in his Jets debut. His one interception proved he has a ways to go—he made a bad decision and threw right into the arms of Safety John Busing.

Still, a nice performance. Dustin Keller had a very nice game with four catches for 94 yards and Jerricho Cotchery caught six balls for 90.

Chansi Stuckey was the recipient of Sanchez’s first touchdown and also had 64 yards on the day. Despite the 107 yards and two touchdowns, Thomas Jones looked horrible for most of the game. He looked bad in preseason and until he broke loose for a pair of long runs (one for a touchdown) his yards per carry was weak.

True to Rex Ryan’s word, Leon Washington got a lot of carries—15 in total—gaining 60 yards on the ground to go with his 24 through the air.

TEXANS

The Jets defense spent most of  the day in the Texans’ backfield and that made things difficult for quarterback Matt Schaub. If Schaub can’t get some protection, he’s going to get hurt again. He was only sacked once, but spent a lot of time picking himself up off the turf.

The entire offense was out of sync, as the Jets defense threw multiple looks at them and they had no answers. Andre Johnson had a quiet game—just four catches for 35 yards—and was shadowed effectively most of the day by Jets corner back Darrelle Revis.

Running back Steve Slaton found no room to run on the ground and got just 17 yards, salvaging the day a little with three catches for 35 yards.

VIKINGS 34, BROWNS 20

VIKINGS

Are you convinced Adrian Peterson is a stud now? That he’s the engine for this offense and should have been the No. 1 pick in every fantasy draft? Sure, the 198 total yards and three touchdowns came against a pretty bad Cleveland team. It doesn’t lesson the fact that he’s a man amongst boys.

Watch him as he dismisses Browns defenders when he rips off a 64 yards touchdown run (the 57 second mark is the best spot).

It’s his team and will continue to be so. Newly un-retired quarterback Brett Favre looked like a man who had skipped Training Camp, missing Sidney Rice in the end zone and generally not on the same page with his receivers. This happened with the Jets last season and will last another three to five weeks.

Rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin was the only real story in the receiving corps, as he had a nice touchdown from Favre and carried the ball twice for 22 yards to add to his 36 receiving yards. Bernard Berrian was there but might as well been invisible and Rice only got 17 yards on a pair of catches.

BROWNS

Brady Quinn looked serviceable in his performance, throwing for 205 yards, one touchdown and one pick. Tight End Robert Royal was his favorite target, gaining 60 yards and a touchdown on four catches.

Jamal Lewis held the starting job for another week and totaled 57 yards on the ground, though surprisingly added 47 yards on a trio of receptions. Will this keep up? If Quinn keeps having to check down, it might, and Lewis may have some value yet.

49ers 20, CARDINALS 16

49ers

Shaun Hill wasn’t very pretty but got the job done with a 18/31, 209 and one touchdown effort. As he did often in the preseason, he found Vernon Davis often, helping the newly minted team captain to a five catch, 40 yard day. Veteran Isaac Bruce had a huge 50-yard catch on his way to a four catch, 74-yard day.

Josh Morgan started out hot but ended up with just three catches for 38 yards. All three got more targets than catches, but at times Hill just wasn’t quite on point with his throws. Still, that will come with time, and the day was encouraging.

Frank Gore couldn’t get much going on the ground, which is a huge concern for a team which purports to run the ball 60 percent of the time. Gore supplemented his 30 yards on 22 carries with another 18 on three receptions. Gore did score twice, once on the ground and once through the air.

CARDINALS

While Kurt Warner was able to throw for 288 yards, he struggled often and threw a pair of picks as well as a touchdown. The 49ers defensive line did an outstanding job of disguising their defensive schemes and Warner seemed to have a hard time adjusting.

Larry Fitzgerald contributed to the cause with 71 yards and a touchdown, while Anquan Boldin only had two catches for 19 yards.

With Steve Breaston out, Jerheme Urban caught five balls for 74 yards. Warner did have a 100 yard receiver but it wasn’t any of the usual suspects—instead it was running back Tim Hightower who caught 12 passes for 121 yards. Hightower and rookie Chris Wells both struggled on the ground and neither ran the ball more than eight times, with Wells gaining 29 to Hightower’s 15.

GIANTS 23, REDSKINS 17

GIANTS

Eli Manning and the Giants offense allowed the Redskins to hang around far too long and were unable to finish them off until Steve Smith recovered an on-side kick with 1:30 left to play.

Manning played well, totaling 256 yards and a touchdown with his favorite and most reliable target being the aforementioned Smith, who hauled in six catches for 80 yards.

Brandon Jacobs was never really get any traction on the ground, gaining just 46 yards over the course of 16 carries. No. 2 back Ahmad Bradshaw had a little more luck, totalling 60 yards on 12 carries. Bradshaw added 11 receiving yards and Jacobs compiled 17 himself through the air.

Unfortunately, the two biggest stories for the Giants were injuries. Third stringer Danny Ware was injured on the opening kick-off, sustaining  a dislocated elbow while rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks left in the fourth quarter with what turned out to be a sprained ankle.

They dodged a bullet with Nicks, as the initial injury looked far worse than the two to three weeks he should be out. The extent of Ware's absence is currently unknown and as of Monday morning he is out indefinitely.

REDSKINS

The Redskins were in the game a long time, but were unable to do much until the end of the game. Quarterback Jason Campbell was inconsistent, connecting with tight end Chris Cooley for a touchdown at one point and finding Giants corner back Corey Webster for an interception another. The run game was also average at best.

Clinton Portis earned every yard of his 62 yards, finding it extremely tough to gather any momentum against a tough Giants run defense.

Antwaan Randel El had the best game of the Washington wide receivers, catching seven balls for 98 yards. As mentioned, Cooley got the touchdown and added 68 yards to that. No other wide receiver had more than a pair of catches as the offense never got going on a consistent basis.

SEAHAWKS 28, RAMS 0

SEAHAWKS

Seattle came out firing against the hapless Rams but were far from perfect. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's 279 yards and trio of touchdowns were solid, but he also turned the ball over twice. Nate Burleson had seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, but also fumbled the ball twice, losing it once.

Still, the bright spots were dazzling. Second year tight end John Carlson had six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns while running back Julius Jones carried the ball 19 times for 117 yards and his own touchdown.

Newly acquired receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh had a solid day, gaining 48 yards on six catches and should be a bigger part of the offense as the season progresses.

RAMS

There isn't much good to take away from the Rams efforts. Wide receiver Laurent Robinson had the most yards with 87 yards on five catches. Donnie Avery seemed healthy and ran for eight yards on top of his 46 yards on six receptions.

But Steven Jackson was limited when the Rams fell behind and while his yards per carry was an impressive 4.19, his totals topped out at just 67 yards.

Jackson was also virtually ignored in the passing game after the Rams had said he would be a bigger part of it. They're going to have to get him more involved if they have any hope of overcoming offensive line problems.

PACKERS 21, BEARS  15

PACKERS

Neither of the quarterbacks in this game were pretty, but Aaron Rodgers limited his mistakes and got the job done. His 184 yards and a touchdown didn't have visions of highlight reels dancing in your head but he won and that's all that counts on the field. Fantasy-wise, he'll do better and owners should worry.

Wide receiver Greg Jennings got his year off to a booming start with six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown and he continues to make his mark with every game. Donald Driver had a little less success—just 39 yards on four catches—but he is a steady presence and someone Rodgers can look to when it gets dicey.

Ryan Grant got nearly every carry and put in a workman-like performance with 61 yards on 16 carries. He also found the end zone once for six points.

BEARS

Just a guess, Jay Cutler might have been hoping for a better start to his regular season Bears career. The Packers' new 3-4 scheme continues to impress and kept Cutler on his heels all night long and forced Cutler into four interceptions. Those picks made his 277 yard, one touchdown stat-line almost irrelevant and while he settled down after the first three, his final interception (to Al Harris) with a minute left just capped off a bad night.

Devin Hester had a great night, totalling 90 yards and a touchdown on just four catches. Rookie Johnny Knox made the most of his two catches with a yards total of 82.  Earl Bennett built up the Vandy-connection discussion a little more as his college teammate found him seven times for 66 yards.

But there were times when the wide receivers looked over-matched and a few of the interceptions might have been due to some confusion over routes and timing.

Matt Forte started his second year off with a 'oof' as it took him a total of 25 carries to get just 55 yards. He was also just about forgotten in the passing game, a concern many had due to Cutler rarely checking down to his running backs last season in Denver.

Forte was a huge disappointment, perhaps worse than Cutler and Bears fans and fantasy owners have to hope this was just a blip on the radar and not a sign of things to come. It's too early to panic, but it is a situation that bears watching (pun really NOT intended), especially since life doesn't get easier against the Steelers next week.