Thoughts after Week 1 of the NFL Season.

Here are some notes to summarize my first impressions about the new NFL season.

New England Patriots: This teams looks just as dangerous as ever. Brady looks real good, Welker is backing to playing the slot position to perfection, Moss is still impressive and effective, and the defense looked pretty solid against a good Bengals offense. Brandon Tate did a great job on special teams and the Patriots were in control of this game as they built a 31-3 early in the 3rd quarter. Patriots surprised even me by being so dominant in Week 1, this was definitely a statement game.

Belichick and Brady looked pretty good to open the season. Picture courtesy of patriotsdaily.com

San Francisco 49ers: As a 49er fan I was embarrassed and pretty angry by the first game played by this team.  They said the right thing throughout training camp and preseason, and they showed their continuity by locking arms and marching onto the field in rows, but they just didn’t get it done.  There were missed opportunities by Alex Smith, Michael Crabtree, Nate Clements, and Tarell Brown. Smith started off well, but when the running game failed and he was forced to pass to play catch-up, he just couldn’t do it.  Smith and Crabtree were also off and had some miscues, but those will iron themselves out very soon.  I’m not too worried about the offense, it had some great drives and just failed to capitalize on them.  When you have 3 drives into the redzone and come away with only 9 points it just makes it harder to go out and get it done the following drive.  Clements and Brown got beat on two plays that essentially changed the game and swung the momentum in Seattle’s favor. They gambled and they lost, badly. The 49ers struggled in week 1 but I believe they will bounce back.

Dallas Cowboys: They couldn’t seem to handle Redskins Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett’s gameplan.  They were pressured all night long and Romo was good whenever he had time to throw (and whenever it was called back for a holding penalty on Barron). The lone touchdown of the affair was a DeAngelo Hall recovery to head to the first half.  The Cowboys offense struggled as their right tackle picked up 3 holding calls in the last 31 minutes of the game and the biggest one on the almost game winning pass to Roy Williams that was nullified because of Barron.  Even without the penalties, the Cowboys high powered offense seemed sluggish and has only mustered 13 total points in their past 2 games. Thats not good for Cowboy fans.

Baltimore Ravens D: Who said this defense was getting old? Ray Lewis didn’t buy into that argument and he sure as hell didn’t buy into the Jets being over-rated.  And as captain of the defense, he made sure the rest of the team backed him up. Ray and the Ravens were as intimidating and hungry as ever as they completely shut down the New York Jets. The Ravens look damn good out there and once the offense starts to click, it can become very scary for the rest of the league.

Houston Texans: Congratulations on improving to 2-17 against the Indianapolis Colts.  But let’s not get carried away here, the Texans did not win this game by going with their strengths. The Texans are a passing team with Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, and they only had 107 passing yards. While it is nice to see Arian Foster get 230 rushing yards, he is not going to do it every week and Matt Schaub will have to lead this team to victories. But kudos to Gary Kubiak and Matt Schaub by riding Foster’s hot hand to the victory instead of trying to impose their game plan. But the play of the game may have to go to the defense. With Manning delivering a pass to Austin Collie for 32 yards, the Colts were able to get to the Houston 9 yard line.  The Colts were down 20-10 and just 9 yards away from making it 20-17.  Instead, Collie fumbled at the end of the catch, the Texans recovered, and 3 runs late the Texans scored to make it 27-10. That is a huge 14 point swing that Indy was unable to overcome.

Rivers needs to be more composed. Picture courtesy of sportsofboston.com

San Diego Chargers: They looked bad out there, and that pretty much sums it all up.  Offensively, Rivers wasn’t asaccurate as he usually is (probably due to the rain) and their special teams was manhandled by the Chiefs special teams. Dexter McCluster and  Javier Arenas had many good returns that set up the Chiefs offense with great field position (and one punt return for a TD). The run defense was atrocious like usual and Ican’t forget about the numerous dropped balls by the Charger receivers, Buster Davis, Malcolm Floyd, and Legadu Naane are not #1 receivers and Week 1 was very evident of that point. AJ Smith, do you think you can win a Super Bowl without Vincent Jackson? Think again. This receiving corps is not gonna get you to a Super Bowl and you know it. The Chargers offense was a mess, with the delay of game penalties and the frustration Rivers showed.  This is the bad side of Rivers, he is definitely a Top 6 QB in this league, but he is so volatile that he could erupt at any time. He shows his emotions on his sleeve and sometimes that isn’t a good thing.  As the QB, you need to stay calm and in control even when things are going wrong, you need to show the rest of your team that it’s ok.  Rivers almost blew up on his center and his receivers during the game. He needs to take a deep breath and grow up and stop acting like T.O. But one of the main reasons for this loss is Norv Turner.  Like usual, the Chargers came into week 1 looking unprepared and the penalties on the field showed it.  Let’s not forget about that stupid run call to Sproles on 2nd and goal at the 4 yard line that resulted in a loss of 2. Why run it with less than 1 minute to play and Rivers finally seems to be in sync? Norv you need to be fired, because you are a terrible head coach.

This is just an opinion…so please Pardon My Bias.