Monday's Maddness: A Recap of Monday Night's NFL Action

The opening Monday night of the NFL season has always been fun, especially in recent years when ESPN has elected to have doubleheaders. While I will use any excuse I can to write about football, two games that feature incredible individual performances makes the writing process significantly easier. So let’s dive in.

I’m not a confident Jets fan anymore (but it was a fun 24 hours while it lasted).

The Dolphins threw some really weird looks at the Patriots on Monday night, particularly on the offensive end. I shouldn’t have expected anything less from a team coached by Tony Sparano, who throws the kitchen sink at opponents whenever possible. But I will admit that even I was surprised when the Dolphins scored a touchdown on a five-wide quarterback draw that came straight out of the last football video game I played.

Because Miami was firing on all cylinders (especially early in the game), and the Patriots had no scouting on the new look offense, I’m not surprised that the Patriots defense took a little while to get settled. But then again, the Patriots defense hasn’t been winning them any games outright over the last few seasons. That part has been left up to the Pats’ offensive unit.

And apparently, Tom Brady hasn’t forgotten that.

On Monday night, Tom Brady unleashed the fury on a good Miami secondary, drumming them to the tune of 517 yards and four touchdowns. With the exception of literally one pass that was deflected and hung in the air for what felt like forever, Brady picked apart a defense that usually gives him trouble.

Obviously, coaching and scheming is certainly a part of this equation. Bill Belichick debuted what I can only describe as the next generation of play-action passing last night; lining up his offense in power running formations, and then sending his super athletic tight ends both in motion before the snap, and on fly routes after it.

But it was Brady who patiently sat behind the center, scanning the defensive movement before the snap, and on almost every play, checking his receivers on different routes.

Now, I certainly don’t think that Tom Brady is going to throw for 500 yards every game. But I do think that Tom Brady has an incredibly unique set of weapons around him, and that he has now figured out how to utilize every single one of them.

My concern as a Jets fan is that Gang Green just struggled mightily against an offense that is not nearly as complex as that of the Patriots. The Patriots, especially in their twin tight end sets, create match-up nightmares for whoever they play, and the only way New York will be able to compensate for the glaring size discrepancy is by making Brady uncomfortable in the pocket; an act that looked almost impossible for the Dolphins last night.

Here’s the bottom line. Most opening games are taken with a grain of salt. Teams are still working out the kinks and trying to settle personnel issues. The Patriots opener last night looked less like that, and more like the scene in Spiderman where Peter Parker looks down at his hands as if he’s saying “holy crap, did webs just come out of here?” The Patriots just realized how powerful their offense is. And it could spell bad news for everybody.

Raiding Oakland’s Performance (see what I did there?)

It is hard to take passing statistics seriously when the weather conditions are as bad as they were in Denver last night. People were slipping and sliding all over the place, and the ball was getting fumbled so much that it looked like a wet noodle.

But horrible analogies aside, there were still two very important takeaways from last night’s game between the Raiders and Broncos.

1) The Oakland Raiders can run the ball effectively and are a playoff threat.

2) The Denver Broncos cannot run the ball effectively, and are probably not a playoff threat.

Last night, Denver’s offensive line was nothing short of atrocious. The weather can be partially blamed for that, because it’s significantly more difficult to get good footing. But the weather cannot be blamed for false starts, holding penalties, and horrible run blocking. Kyle Orton had 300 yards passing, but that number was terribly inflated, and here’s why:

The Broncos (who for as long as I have been alive have been a run first team) had to abandon the run before halftime because of how badly their two feature backs were getting stuffed in the backfield. Because of Denver’s poor run blocking, Kyle Orton was forced to throw the ball 46 times, in the rain. But to put Orton’s “big passing day” in perspective; Tom Brady threw the ball two more times than Orton, for 215 more yards. Simply put, that is a product of the offensive line.

We all know how effective Orton can be when he is given time, but between the running game that was totally stuffed and the passing game that failed to generate a single play for over 25 yards, it was clear that the line wasn't giving anyone enough time.

That said however, Oakland’s secondary wasn’t doing their team any favors out there either. For how good Oakland’s front seven played, Denver shouldn’t have just lost by three; they should have been shut out.

The good news for Oakland however is that Darren McFadden is the real deal. McFadden's hard running made life very easy for Oakland’s offense last night. Oakland executed almost 20 more running plays than passing plays, which is exactly what is supposed to happen on a rainy day.

If Oakland’s secondary can improve, they will have all the tools they need to take out San Diego and have a great shot at winning the AFC West.

That’s my time. Keep an eye out for an all new Armchair ADs podcast, coming soon.