Week 1 of the NFL season and the road teams rule. This is the 2nd year of my weekly column "The Day After Tomorrow". If you are new to the site, what I do is break down every single game from Sunday and bring you the truth as only your Bonfide Sports Expert can. We had some great games and some ugly ones, but all and all it is great to have football back, so lets get to the breakdown.
Pittsburgh Steelers 28 vs. Miami Dolphins 17
First my sincerest apologies to Charlie and The Chocolate Factory Batch. He played beautifully sans the one fumble on the goal line. The real star of the game though was "Fast" Willie Parker who shredding and wore down a very good Miami Dolphins defense. Even "50 Cent" Porter had a great game (what is up with the Steelers always kissing on each other, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I never thought of "50 Cent" Porter as a metro sexual), which I am sure he will be talking about at full volume throughout the week.
Daunte Culpepper played decent for 3 quarters then it seem that lightening struck him and he realized that he sucked last year. I am only a Bonfide Sports Expert and not a starting QB in the NFL, but even I saw "50 Cent" Porter in the passing lane on that last INT. Unless he starts to read defenses better Nick Saban is going to be wishing he signed Drew Brees. By the way Nick, you throw a challenge flag like a 12-year girl, please man up.
Indianapolis Colts 26 vs. New York Giants 21
I turned on the TV wanting to watch a football game, but instead I got the Manning Family Reunion home videos. With that being said, Big Brother edged out little brother for the victory. The Colts are going to have a problem if they don't get some kind of running game going. They are not going to be able to make it far with the running back by committee approach. On the flip side their defense was horrible against the run. Not a great combination going forward.
The Giants if you look at the stats should have won the game. They shot themselves in the foot with penalties, drop interceptions and fumbles. Eli looked good, but even more impressive were Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs who just gashed the Colts. When they look at the tape they are going to be kicking themselves over all the blown opportunities.
Jacksonville Jaguars 24 vs. Dallas Cowboys 17
You can't blame T.O. and you can't blame the kicker. The only person Dallas fans should be blaming is Drew Bledsoe. He single-handily cost his team the game. Simply put this is a championship caliber team, but if Bledsoe plays the way he did today throughout the season the Cowboys will be a .500 team at best. I am not ready to jump on the Tony Romo bandwagon, but I am running right behind the wagon at this point.
I was impressed with Byron Leftwich and the Jags. The first 10 minutes of the game they seemed lost, but by midway in the 2nd quarter they were moving the ball consistently against a very good Dallas D. Even Fred Taylor looked good. I said in my NFL preview that for Jacksonville to make that next leap to an upper echelon team Leftwich has to make that next step. Today was a good beginning.
Cincinnati Bengals 23 vs. Kansas City Chiefs 10
First my thoughts and prayers go out to Trent Green, because that was truly a vicious hit he took. Hopefully it is nothing more than a concussion and he will be back real soon. Without Green the Chiefs are going to struggle big time and it will even be more difficult for Larry Johnson to run the ball.
What impressed me about the Bengals today was their ability to grind out a victory on the road against a team that is hard to beat in September at home. Nothing spectacular, just a hard nose win which is a good sign. The defense looks improved over last year they did a decent job on Larry Johnson.
Saint Louis Rams 18 vs. Denver Broncos 10
Jake Plummer is a fragile guy. I don't know if it is because Jay Cutler was drafted or he is just a sensitive, but he played like a QB who knew that the fans didn't want him to be the QB. So he tried to do too much and ended up throwing 3 picks. Mike Shanahan needs to stop playing around and just choose one Bell run the ball. The 2 back system worked OK, but in reality he went to the Super Bowl riding one horse Terrell Davis.
The Rams won the game, which is a good thing, but there has to be a lot of concern about the offensive. This should have been a blow out. Something along the lines of 38-10, but they won a game that no one thought that they could win (including me) and the defense was extremely impressive.
New England Patriots 19 vs. Buffalo Bills 17
The Patriots did not look good, they won, but they look bad on offense. I don't know if this means they need Deion Branch, but Tom Brady did not look very comfortable. I tell you though that Laurence Maroney kid is a keeper. I give the Bills credit for going on the road and putting up a fight, but the facts are they should have won this game and that is the difference between good teams like the Patriots and bad teams like the Bills.
Atlanta Falcons 20 vs. Carolina Panthers 6
I like what the Falcons did with Mike Vick, they basically said screw all these people talking about making him a pocket passer, we are going to play street ball. You know something it worked, so I can't criticize. Will it work for an entire season? I don't think so because at some point he is going to have to make plays from the pocket, but in the interim this maybe the best strategy. Once again Warrick Dunn is proving that he is the most underrated back in the NFL.
No excuse for the Carolina Panthers to lose that game at home. I thought this was a dominant defense, so why did Warrick Dunn run all over them? I know Steve Smith didn't play, but it isn't like they don't have quality offensive players. I am extremely disappointed in them. For some reason they always get off to these slow starts, but it may cost them this year.
Baltimore Ravens 27 vs. Tampa Bay Bucs 0
A complete whitewash. Chris Sims has John Gruden wondering why he let Brian Griese go to Chicago. Steve McNair did exactly what he was brought in to do, manage the game, don't make mistakes and put points on the board. The defense especially Ray Lewis looked dominant.
Chicago Bears 26 vs. Green Bay Packers 0
Wow. I knew it was going to be tough for "God" Favre and the Packers, but I couldn't in my wildest dreams imagine them getting shutout at home in a season opener no less. I hate to jump to conclusions after the first week of the season, but this cannot be a good sign for what lies ahead for the Packers. I know that they don't want to hear it, but they need to get Aaron Rodgers in some of these games, because it is time to move on from the Favre era. The Bears picked up right where they left off last season. Great defense, a couple of big plays from their offense and special teams. They were dominant.
Arizona Cardinals 34 vs. San Francisco 49ers 27
The Cardinals finally won a season opener for the first time in at last 30-40 years. That is the good news; the bad news is they struggle to put away a 49ers that is not very good but played hard. The offensive line is still a problem and the defense is real shaky at this point. I told you to give Alex Smith some time before you labeled him a bust and he showed signs that he could be a better than average QB in the league. Frank Gore had a nice game as well, look for the 49ers to pull some upsets this year.
Seattle Seahawks 9 vs. Detroit Lions 6
This was the worst game by far of the week. I don't even know what to say except I was shocked at how inept the Seahawks offense was. I hope for their sakes this is not a sign of things to come. The Lions were as bad as I assumed they would be, but the defense looks promising, but where is the "O" Mike Martz?
New Orleans Saints 19 vs. Cleveland Browns 14
I like they way new Saints coach Sean Peyton used Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister. He kept the Browns guessing all day and Bush didn't disappoint with over 100+ of total yards. Drew Brees looked sharpe and poised as the Saints QB. The Browns are making progress, but they need a little more out of Charlie Frye because the defense will be better.
New York Jets 23 vs. Tennessee Titans 16
I have to give props to Mr. Privilege Olive Oil Arm Pennington, I never thought he would throw for over 300 yards again, but he proved me wrong. He looked really good, of course I could probably throw for 200 yards against the Titans, but that doesn't take away from the point he looked impressive. A piece of the advice for the Titans either play Vince Young all the time or leave his ass on the bench. That one series per quarter isn't helping his development.
Philadelphia Eagles 24 vs. Houston Texans 10
You all know I have the NFL Sunday Ticket so I watch all the games. Now this wasn't a particular interesting game, but when I did check in I took some notes.
Number of times the announcers mentioned T.O.- 9
Number of times mentioned McNabb is a new QB- 12
They played the Houston Texans, lets not get too excited, but please I am begging you unless T.O. is playing in the game I don't want to hear his name.
