Diner Morning News: Postgame Thoughts

QUOTE: “Candor is always a double-edged sword; it may heal or it may separate.”—Wilhelm Stekel

Week Two brought some very exciting finishes, but are we any closer to learning more about the 2009 season? I’m not sure we are (we all know Yahoo Dave might be—let him have his fun this week), and we won’t be close to forming any concrete conclusions until mid-November. Here are some thoughts about the weekend.

 

RANDOM GAME THOUGHTS

1. Jay Cutler of the Bears was sensational Sunday. Forget about the statistics; watch his athletic ability, his movement, his footwork and his arm, making all the throws as he moved away from pressure. He was really bad last week, and he was really good this week.

2. The Bears must find a way to get their running game going as they have not been able to establish any balance in their offense. Understanding that they’ve played some very tough teams that defend the run well, they still must find a way to get this element of their offense moving.

3. Green Bay’s offensive line is a mess right now at both tackles. When they carted starting left tackle Chad Clifton off the field, they moved Daryn Colledge to that spot, and things went from bad to worse. The Pack must get this line fixed—quickly.

4. Antwan Odom of the Bengals was a dominating factor. Five sacks are hard to get in any game, regardless of who played left tackle for the Packers. I loved that the Bengals went to a three-man line at the end of the game when they couldn’t secure the onside kick. It’s always an adventure getting in the win column for the Bengals.

5. There are times when I’m not sure that the power and velocity have returned to Carson Palmer’s arm. There are times when he doesn’t appear to be able to drive the ball. The Bengals are 1-1 and haven’t gotten a 2005 Carson Palmer-like game yet. This was his first win in his last six starts. Make no mistake—the Bengals’ defense is very good.

6. Brett Favre has thrown for 265 yards in two games, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt, and has been sacked seven times. But the Vikings have won two road games to start the season, and Favre has not thrown an interception. Can they keep winning with no down-the-field passing game? Favre’s longest pass of the game Sunday was 13 yards.

7. As bad as Kurt Warner looked last week, this week he came back and proved to me that his bad opener was more rust than age creeping into his game. He was spotless with his accuracy and his handling of the offense. Three of his first four drives produced 17 points. Warner still hasn’t been able to make down-the-field throws (just two long passes of 22 yards), but he has been effective moving the team.

8. JETS WIN JETS WIN JETS WIN.…Impressive win for the Jets. Watching the game, they proved they can tackle much better this year than last year when they ranked 31st in allowing yards after catch, and they held the Patriots to less than 10 yards per catch. The Patriots have not been able to make big plays down the field in their offense, and until they do, they’ll have to rely on their ability to convert third downs. They were 5-of-15 on third-down conversions Sunday, which is where the Jets won the game.

9. The Falcons’ Tony Gonzalez continues to be amazing. With Matt Ryan at the controls, Gonzalez is the perfect player to enhance this offense. The Falcons led the NFL in first-half point differential last year, and just after two games, they are plus-18. Under Mike Smith, the Falcons are 13-1 when leading at the half.

10. The Raiders win with less than 100 yards rushing, with just over 100 yards passing and despite allowing the Chiefs more than 400 yards of offense. But they protected the ball (no turnovers), and they gained 69 of their 166 total yards on the winning drive. They found a way to win. Any win in the NFL is a good win, no matter what the stat sheet says.

11. MVP of the NFL after Week Two? Mike Bell of the Saints. His 229 yards rushing, along with his power and toughness in the run game, allow the Saints’ other talented skill players to shine. And shine they do, with Drew Brees making every throw possible. The Saints have scored points on 14 of the 25 offensive possessions they’ve had so far this year, with one drive resulting in a missed field goal.

12. I know the Eagles didn’t have Donovan McNabb, but their defense couldn’t rise to the challenge of facing the Saints. This will prove to be a very valuable learning experience for new defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.

13. The Cowboys have real problems on defense. I know Tony Romo is going to get all the grief, but the ‘Boys are giving up almost five yards a carry and allowing opposing quarterbacks to average over 7.5 yards per pass attempt. What makes all this alarming is the fact they can’t make plays on the ball. This secondary is going to be exploited all year—especially if it can’t get any rush.

14. Greg Ellis has three sacks so far for the Raiders, and Anthony Spencer has yet to record his first for the Cowboys. Spencer hasn’t looked good on tape to me so far this year, and he must be able to rush off the edge to help DeMarcus Ware. I wonder what the front office (Jerry Jones) is thinking now that Wade Phillips is running the defense and the defense is playing so poorly?

15. Seattle’s run defense is as bad this year as it was last year. After Week Two, the soft label has moved from Houston to Seattle. Now, all the Seahawks fans will say they have too many players injured, but in reality, there are always injuries in Seattle.

16. How many more games is Seneca Wallace going to play in and lose to make the Seattle front office go out and get another quarterback? I said it during the draft—Mark Sanchez made the most sense for the Seahawks in light of the durability issues surrounding Matt Hasselbeck. But the Seahawks love linebackers and wideouts. They lead the NFL in money allocated to linebackers and wide receivers.

17. Ladies and gentlemen, the National Football Post’s own Ray Gustini will now take over the play calling in the red zone from the Redskins’ Jimmy Zorn. The ‘Skins were 0-5 in the red zone and 0-4 in goal-to-go situations. Now that’s ugly. Rapid Ray claims he has never been 0-fer in the red zone since he started playing Madden.

18. Did you know Terrell Owens was second in the NFL in dropped passes last season? This year, he might become the No. 1 dropper in the league. Nice Bills win coming off the tough loss in New England.

19. I know I’m being a smart ass, but that secret of not naming a quarterback this summer has really helped Eric Mangini and the Browns offense. I know it’s early in the Mangini regime in Cleveland, but I don’t like the direction this team is going. They have one offensive touchdown in the last eight games. They have no back, one receiver and a unproven quarterback. Do you think it’s going to get better for their offense?

20. The Ravens have scored 24 points or more in their last 12 wins, and the way they can move the ball this year on offense makes them a complete team. Ray Lewis looks great moving around making plays.

21. The Chargers are going to have to outscore people this year, and they lost Sunday because they were 0-5 in the red zone and 0-4 in goal-to-go situations. This is where they missed LT.

22. Matt “I Love Me Some Texans” Bowen was last seen in Chicago drinking more Bud Heavies than he could handle celebrating the Texans’ win. Impressive win it was, but as I wrote Friday, divisional games are always closer. I was really impressed with Matt Schaub standing in there and making plays; he showed me the toughness I haven’t seen before on the road. Nice win for the Texans.

More game thoughts in today’s Tavern along with my NFL.com column. I just love the NFL.

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