NFL Diner Morning News: Postgame Thoughts

National Football Post

QUOTE: “Too often we color our perception with other people’s pencils.” -- Tim Winter

The NFL season is upon us, but we shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from the opening weekend.  There are, however, a few observations to make along the way.  Remember, the NFL is a marathon, not a sprint.  Last year, the ‘Skins started out 6-2 and the Bills 4-0, and both watched the playoffs with the rest of us. 

So, fast starts are good, but peaking at the right time is better.

In the Diner every Monday during the season, I’ll have 10 or so thoughts about the games, and in the afternoon, a full Tavern to go over the weekend events. Also, I’ll be writing my first column for NFL.com today, so be sure to check it out.

SOME RANDOM GAME OBSERVATIONS…

1. Mark Sanchez of the Jets is the real deal.

He’ll have some bumps along the way and make mistakes, but he’s someone to build a franchise around.  His poise, his command, and most of all his leadership skills were tremendous.  His pocket awareness was outstanding; his eye level stayed down the field all day.  What a day on third down for Sanchez as he was 8 for 9 converting third downs.

Now that’s impressive--and awful for the Texans.

Matt Schaub struggled yesterday as the Texans didn't put up much of a fight against the Jets.

2. The Texans played liked they did in last season’s opener. In Pittsburgh last year, they got down 21-3, and this year at home, where they normally play well, they were down 10-0. The Texans are not physical now, they were not physical last year, and I see no evidence that this will change in the first five games. It’s a talent issue more than anything. Welcome to the hot seat, Gary Kubiak, because CEO Bob McNair says 8-8 won’t cut it.

3. Is it me, or does Houston’s Matt Schaub just not look like he has any presence on the field? He doesn’t seem to have the leadership to get his team out of a funk, and it seems like the Texans have adopted his personality.

4. I thought the Vikings were a good team without Brett Favre and are a good team with him, but being objective, Favre looked old and rusty Sunday. His sense of timing was off.  How is he going to last when he gets sacked four times by the Browns, who only had 17 sacks last season.

5. Brett Favre was the 31st worst passer in the NFL in completions of more than 20 yards last year. Yesterday, his longest pass was for 21 yards. For the Vikings to make the move to the next level, they need him to make plays in the passing game, not just manage the game.

6. I feel so badly for the Bengals, but situational football is a huge part of the NFL. Where was the deepest man on the field?  Who cares if they catch it?  All they had to do was tackle anyone who touched the ball.  A defense cannot get outflanked.  I know this is a little like second-guessing, but it’s paramount to the situation.  I wonder if the Bengals worked on that one.

7. Miami’s first four drives went like this: punt, fumble, fumble, punt.  This team has now turned the ball over nine times in the past two games, five from the Baltimore playoff game and four on Sunday.  It had six fumbles all of last season and three yesterday.  The Fins are not good enough to not play their style, which is to protect the ball and keep the game close.  They played well enough on defense to win, but giving the Falcons four extra possessions is tough.

8. The Falcons are strong when they can play with the lead, and yesterday they had a 10-0 lead at the half.  John Abraham is a factor at home when that happens, as he had two sacks.  If you want to beat the Falcons, you must protect against Abraham.

9. These are not the same defensive Ravens as before.  Not anymore.  These Ravens can move the ball with Joe Flacco at quarterback.  Flacco might throw the best seven cut (corner route) in the NFL.  He has a great command and is really in sync right now.  Ray Rice is hard to tackle, and as the season progresses, he will be a huge factor.

10. Brodie Croyle had a 116.00 quarterback rating against the Ravens, but he was 2 of 10 on third down, so the Chiefs ran only 44 plays and held the ball for 20 minutes.  Quarterback ratings clearly do not tell the whole story.  The Chiefs are bad on offense, and it will take some time to get it fixed.

11. Jake Delhomme was in a very giving mood, and he’s why I love the Sunday Ticket.  It’s not to watch all the games but rather to turn off the bad games -- and this one was bad.  The Panthers looked bad on offense, and if they don’t make a big play, they struggle.  In fairness to Delhomme, once a team takes away Steve Smith, what are his options in the passing game?

12. San Francisco looked very physical on defense, and showed it can pass rush with power.  Kurt Warner looked as if he didn’t play enough in the preseason and was never in sync.  Anquan Boldin was not himself and didn’t have any speed or burst because of the hamstring injury.  The Cards’ line was pushed around all day.  The 49ers are going to be tough to move the ball on with their front.

13. The ‘Skins must find a way to get the ball down the field in their passing game.  When teams take away Santana Moss, they don’t have a playmaker who worries you.  Teams will take an attitude that if Antwaan Randle El beats us, or if Chris Cooley beats us, we deserve to lose.  However, we can’t let Moss beat us, which is was the gameplan the Giants followed. Two catches for six yards is not going to get it done.

14. I feel badly for Steve Spagnuolo and the Rams. It’s going to be a very, very long season.

Check back later for the Tavern.

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