2010 NFL Football Season: Week One Observations

A new season is upon us and it should be an exiting one. 

In the NFC we wonder if the New Orleans Saints can repeat as Super Bowl champions. If all the hoopla over the Dallas Cowboys will end again in ignominy. If Brett Favre can take a depleted receiving corps back to the playoffs. If San Francisco is as good as advertised and how will the only rookie starting quarterback in the league, Sam Bradford, fare in St. Louis?

The AFC appears to be even more wide open than the NFC.  Several teams have a legitimate shot at Super Bowl glory.  The New England Patriots with a healthy and hot Tom Brady, Wes Welker, and Randy Moss and a young defense should improve over the year and be a contender.  The New York Jets and their slothful undisciplined coach say they are the heirs to the AFC East. 

The Baltimore Ravens are loaded on offense and their defense looks as good as ever.  The Pittsburgh Steelers defense proved to be as formidable as ever and when Big Ben gets back their offense should improve.  The Indianapolis Colts are always a tough team and the Houston Texans are emerging.  Meanwhile, the San Diego Chargers may or may not slip.  They are in the weakest division in the AFC and despite losing their opener, will likely have a spot in the playoffs.

Before jumping in the games I watched this, a few big picture headlines that week one revealed.

-Brady, Welker, Moss and the offense are back and as good as ever.

-New Orleans appears to have started right where they left off last year with a powerful offense and defense that is solid.  They are the favorites to emerge from the NFC.

-Minnesota, after the tiresome annual saga of Brett Favre’s retirement dance, suddenly found themselves without receivers.  Their defense is solid but their opening salvo on offense bodes ill for their chances this season.

-Thankfully, for once, we won’t have the annual will the Indianapolis Colts go undefeated as they spank the teams in their weak division.  Houston hung a loss on the Colts. If their offense line continues to struggle, Peyton Manning is in for a long season.

-Will Michael Vick be the Eagles starter this season?

-San Francisco is not as good as we thought they were.

-Dallas continues to shoot itself in the foot.

-Finally, for the most part the defenses in the league seem to have started the season a step ahead of the offenses.  This is likely to change as the season progresses. As someone who loves the defensive side of the ball, it was refreshing to see.

GAMES I WATCHED

New England Patriots over Cincinnati Bengals, 38-24

One word: Welker. 

It was a very happy sight to see Wes Welker looking like, well, Wes Welker. Following his amazingly recover from reconstructive knee surgery after suffering an injury in the last game of the season.  WELKER! WELKER! WELKER!

Tom Brady also looked very sharp in this game as did the entire offense.  It was good to see the running game back in the game plan although they could run the ball even more.  Fred Taylor seemed to have fresh legs in the first half and the running-back-by-committee approach worked.  I continue to be amazed at how older players like third-down back Kevin Faulk can continue to be so effective.

It was heartening to see the young defense with two rookie starting corner backs hold up against the powerful Cincinnati Bengals offense. They  have two of the best receivers in the league. I did get worried in the second half when the Bengals had two back-to-back- scoring drives.  Barring injury, I expect the defense to improve as the season progresses.  While it was not a lock-down defense, it was good enough to win this game.

And Brandon Tate!  His kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half was crucial to extend the lead.  Instead of providing more momentum for the Patriots, it seemed the Patriots thought the game was over in the third quarter.  The defense suddenly looked vulnerable and the offense didn’t do much either. 

The Patriots played a good all around game. The Bengals didn't get started until the second half. But for Patriots' fans the story was Wes Welker.

As a side note, good riddance Baloney Lauren Maroney.  And don’t worry about Randy Moss, he’ll be fine.

MVP: Wes Welker, WR

New Orleans over Minnesota Vikings, 14-9

There are really a lot of story lines to this game.

The Saints look like a Super Bowl team.  While their offense struggled, their two scoring drives were dominant. Once they started running the ball in the second half, they locked the game up.  If they can continue to mix in a solid running game with their vaunted passing attack, they will be very difficult to beat this season.

The Saints’ offensive line was the most dominant unit was best I saw all weekend.  Guards Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans, along with center Jonathan Goodwin, completely dominated Minnesota’s defensive tackles, Pat and Kevin Williams.  Maybe the Williams boys need to get back on that supplement that almost cost them a suspension.  They got punked in this game. 

And I really have to give a huge shout out to Jermon Bushrod.  He totally handled my 2009 Defensive Player of the Year Jared Allen entirely on this own.  Last year I got a lot of criticism for favoring Carl Nicks over Jahri Evans as my All Pro guard.  I did so because last year Nicks often had to help Bushrod who was the weak link on the offensive line.  I don’t know if this is a one game stellar effort by Bushrod or if he has really improved that much.  If continues this level of play the Saints may even be better this year than last.

In the second half the Saints finally started running the ball with Pierre Thomas who ate up the clock and moved the chains.  His solid performance was a great change of pace by Sean Peyton.

Minnesota, meanwhile, looked awful on offense.  With Sydney Rice out for half the season. Percy Harvin ailing and running lousy routes, there were no receivers to throw to.  Bernard Berrian looked awful in preseason and woeful in this game as well.  He seems to have completely disappeared.  I was surprised Greg Camarillo did not see more action in the slot.

Minnesota’s defense did not play up to their usual standards on the defensive line. But they settled down and managed to hold the Saints to 14 points.  They are battling injuries in the secondary. Antoine Winfield is also coming off an injury plagued 2009 year. It was great to see linebacker E.J. Henderson back in the lineup. He played well after suffering a gruesome broken femur last year.  I though his career was likely over. Clearly it is not.

Minnesota is likely to continue to struggle on offense unless the receivers get their heads out of their ass and start playing football.

While Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans played wonderfully, I give the most valuable player award here to Jermon Bushrod for handling Jared Allen.

MVP: Jermon Bushrod, T

Green Bay Packers over Philadelphia Eagles, 27-20

Let the quarterback controversy begin!  The Eagles offense looked absolutely miserable in the first half.  Kevin Kolb was harassed and the receivers weren’t open but he wasn’t doing much either.  I am not sure if it is because Michael Vick kept entering the game. He did not allow Kolb to establish a rhythm. Once he sustained a concussion, Vick took over and the offense came to life.  But that was mostly because of Vick’s legs.  His running broke the game open but they fell short in the end.

It will be interesting to see what transpires with Kolb out for a few games and Vick as the starter.  If Vick is successful, it will be hard for Andy Reid not to keep him behind center once Kolb is healthy. 

But you know what?  Vick will never lead a team to the promised land (although he has sent quite a few dogs to doggie heaven).  His success in this game was mostly his running ability.  Just like in Atlanta, once teams scheme against him, his inaccurate passing and poor decision making will catch up with him.  Yes, he can throw the ball 60 yards with a flick of the wrist, but Eagles’ fans should not get too giddy over the possibilities.  If he continues to be a running quarterback, teams will catch up with the Eagles with Vick at the helm.

Green Bay didn’t look all the wonderful either.  The offensive tackles had a hard time handling the rush but managed a couple of touchdown drives.  The star of the game was Clay Matthews, Jr.  He was all over the place on defense and recorded a couple of sacks.

MVP:  Clay Matthews, Jr., LB

Washington Redskins over Dallas Cowboys, 13-7

GOAT: Jason Garrett.  And no, that is not for “greatest of all time” but idiot.  I am sure everyone has seen the play by now. At the end of the first half, in bad field position, with little time left on the clock, the Cowboys ran a short sideline route to Tashard Choice. He fumbled the ball which was returned for a Redskins touchdown and was the difference in the game. 

What made this play so stupid?  First, the Redskins offense was doing absolutely nothing and had only a 3-0 lead.  Scores were clearly going to be a premium in this game. With so little time left on the clock, the smart move was simply to run the time off the clock and regroup in the second half.  Secondly, the play had no chance of even netting enough yards to get into field goal range.  It was stupid play call, period, for that situation. 

What this play and head coach Wade Phillips’ comments after the game shows is that Wade Phillips is not in control of this team.  He threw Garrett under the bus by saying they should have knelled on the ball.  He didn’t know why the ran a play there. And tersely said the defense (which he runs) did its job and did not give up a touchdown.  I believe they will continue to be destiny’s stepchild this season.

Otherwise, both teams struggled a great deal on offense.  Dallas’s offensive line did not protect Tony Romo well. They finally got going late in the game to finally make a run for a win, but, alas, they failed.  A holding penalty on the last play of the game negated a would be game-winning touchdown.  It was clearly holding too so nobody can gripe about the call.

The Mike Shanahan era started off with a win over   Dallas on Dallas’s home turf.  While it was not a particularly impressive win, especially on offense, it was a win.  As usual the Washington defense is very solid this year.  While they have sometimes been criticized for not getting enough turnovers, they are basically a sturdy unit. 

The offense, however, was woeful.  Shanahan needs to find a way to fix that quick because they won’t be winning many games like this otherwise.  He can thank DeAngelo Hall for the fumble recovery and touchdown which was the difference in the game.  Or send Jason Garrett a thank you card for the gift.

MVP:  DeAngelo Hall, CB

Baltimore Ravens over New York Jets, 10-9

The New York Jets are an undisciplined team and reflection of their coach, the slovenly Rex Ryan. They shot themselves in the foot with penalties. They also gave up big plays on third and long when they had the Ravens’ offense on the ropes. This was the difference in the game.  Add to that, the harassment by Jets players of a female reporter showed a lack of professionalism, decorum, and discipline. Again a reflection of their head coach.  The Jets may very well implode this season.

The Jets defense continues to be a stellar unit, one of the best, if not the best in the league.  But their offense looks awful.l Mark Sanchez has not proved he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL.  They were facing another top defense in the Ravens, so maybe time will tell.

The Ravens defense played excellent football and Ray Lewis continues, in his fifteenth NFL season, to be one of the best defensive players in the league.  He got some great hits on the Jets and the rest of the unit played well.  I was surprised at how the offense was so throttled facing the Jets.  With Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, a good offensive line, Anquan Bolden, Derrick Mason, and Todd Heap, I thought they were loaded on offense.  The Jets bailed them out with bad penalties most of the game. The Ravens were lucky to escape with a win.

MVP: Ray Lewis, LB

Kansas City Chiefs over San Diego Chargers, 21-14

I was happy to see the Chiefs beat the Chargers on Monday night. But Chiefs' fans should not get too excited.  Two big plays sealed the deal including a 56-yard-touchdown run by Jamaal Charles and a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown by rookie wide receiver Dexter McCluster.  Otherwise the offense looked anemic. Matt Cassel really didn't do much to distinguish himself. 

The Chief defense played well.  Defensive tackle Glen Dorsey finally looked like a first round draft pick. The defensive backs did a nice job on the Charger receivers, especially Brandon Flowers.

Philip Rivers looked like an idiot yelling at his teammates and carrying on a like a petulant child in the second half.  While indeed his teammates made mistakes, I can’t imagine that endears him to his offensive line. Or establishes him as the leader of the team.  They did almost come back and win despite his antics.  Rookie running back Ryan Matthews had a decent game but gave up a fumble that led to a touchdown to help secure  the win for Kansas City.

MVP:  Dexter McCluster, KR/WR

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offensive Player:  Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans (231 yards rushing, 3 TDs)
Defensive Player: Clay Matthews, Jr., LB, Green Bay Packers
Offensive Lineman: Jermon Bushrod, T, New Orleans
Special Teams: Brandon Tate, WR/KR, New England Patriots
Rookie of the Week: Dexter McCluster, WR/KR, Kansas City