So, without further ado, I will roll out my recaps of weeks 1, 2, and 3. I know my blog isn't sexy yet.
It will get better. Away we go.
NFL RECAP – WEEK ONE
STATE OF THE GAME
Maybe the replacement refs
didn’t cost anybody any games, but we are in for a long season if the
experienced guys don’t come back. There
were lots of fuzzy interference calls, some really slow and late flags (even
though the calls were mostly correct), and just bad “presence” when making
calls. It always looked to me like the
head guy was looking for positive affirmation every time they announced to the
crowd. My favorite gaffes:
The block in the back that wasn’t
in the Green Bay San Fran game. They
gave themselves a do over and still missed an obvious infraction that likely
led to a Packer touchdown. No harm no
foul I guess as 49ers still won.
The extra timeout Seattle
called in the game with Arizona. Hawks
are driving for the winning TD. The
Hawks call timeout in a chaotic goal-to-goal situation. Card bench goes ballistic and then a long
conversation ensues about whether the Hawks had a timeout to call. You can almost hear the Final Jeopardy music
in the background. In the end the
officials still award Seattle a timeout they didn’t have. It really didn’t matter because they gave the
Hawks about five timeouts worth of discussion time while they were making their
decision on how to count to three. Fortunately
for this black and white dream team the Hawks botched their end of game plays
and Arizona emerged triumphant.
5-10 MUSINGS FROM THE GAMES
SEATTLE AND KANSAS CITY??
I heard quite a few “experts”
mention Kansas City and Seattle as sleeper picks to win their divisions, and maybe
go deep into the play-offs. OK, good for
them to make bold predictions, but I don’t see it. I like Russell Wilson’s game, but I am not
sure he is ready for prime time. Plus,
he really doesn’t have a top-notch set of wideouts. Marshawn Lynch usually takes about 8 weeks to ease
into productivity. By that time the
Hawks will be wondering what to do with the QB situation given their investment
in Matt Flynn.
Kansas City has Matt Cassell starting at QB and that means by default they are not a serious threat for anything. The loss to Atlanta was ugly. Reminds me of last year when Kansas City
started their first two games getting blasted by something like a combined
100-3. I know, this is the AFC West and
something near 9-7 should do the trick. The Chiefs do seem to hang together and
rally as the season wears on. Hmmm,
maybe they should put that on their bumper stickers.
WHINE ME A RIVER
Is anybody besides me sick of
Wes Welker? Welker whined after the
Super Bowl (People spent way too much time analyzing whether to blame Brady or
Welker for the pass Welker DROPPED.
Let’s move on). He whined when he
didn’t get his contract and had to make due with $9.5Million this year (I can
almost hear Sprewell in the background wondering how a guy feeds his family on
that). He whined when he didn’t get
enough touches in game one. Evidently
Wes was not happy with the Patriots efficient dispatching of the Titans because
he didn’t feel loved enough. Or maybe
his hair plugs are too tight?? http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4725388/welker-gets-hair-transplant
Wes, shut up and play,
please.
THAT WAS INTERESTING
I found the New Orleans and
Washington game to be interesting on many fronts. First, Tony Kornheiser on Pardon the
Interruption (PTI) terribly predicted that with all the us against the world
stuff in the Big Easy, the Redskins probably shouldn’t even show up. Well, let’s just color that the opinion of
another “expert” and let’s stop making predictions because we really don’t have
a clue. I will try to stay away from
bold predictions, but on occasion I probably will not be able to help myself.
RG3 and Andrew Luck both have
game and it will be exciting to watch their contrasting styles throughout the
years. RG3 showed poise, leadership
and a penchant for the big play. Hopefully Mike “The Brain” Shanahan doesn’t
over think how to use him and let’s RG3 do his thing.
The Saints needed to win this
game, in my opinion, to set the tone for the season. They needed to convince
themselves they could weather the storm – pun kind of intended. The defense looks awful and the offense out
of that rhythm we have come to expect from the Saints.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE PACK
As early as late in the 2011
regular season the Packers showed signs of losing their mojo. Everybody kind of dismissed the loss to the
Chiefs as a bad team beating a good team that had nothing to play for. That is fair.
I think the Chiefs wrote the recipe on how to beat Green Bay. Make them make long drives. Test their patience to move the ball down the
field. With Green Bay’s lack of a ground
game, all it takes to stop a drive is a dropped ball, incomplete pass, or sack
along the way.
I don’t want to take away
anything from the Niners. They dominated
the Packers in Green Bay. Yes, but the
Giants dominated the Packers in Green Bay too.
Are we seeing the Packers return to the Pack?
DOES PEYTON PLAY DEFENSE
There is all this silly
enthusiasm in Denver that the Broncos will win every game and fulfill Peter
King’s prediction of making it to the SB.
Gosh, I just don’t see it.
Remember these Broncos? They have
a defense that gave up 40+ points five times last year?
The conventional wisdom is
that with Manning the Broncos will be playing ahead all the time and Elvis Dumervil
and Von Miller will make everybody pay.
I guess it could happen that way.
What I saw against Pittsburgh was a defense that struggled to get off
the field. The Broncos were fortunate
that Pittsburgh couldn’t close the deal on a couple of drives that stalled into
field goals.
THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN, NOT
Did anybody else get
disappointed when Mark Sanchez didn’t melt down after he threw a terrible
interception early in the 1st quarter against the Bills? Instead, Sanchez righted himself and played
an efficient game. The same Jets that
couldn’t buy a TD all preseason got 48 points in game one. Yes it is only game one. Yes the Bills were awful. Yes (hopefully) there will be many
opportunities for a Sanchez/Tebow circus throughout the year. For one day though, Mark is the man, and all
is easy in the Big Apple. Tim who?
I HAVE A THEORY
Even though we love the NFL, we
have to admit that many times we lament time spent watching the
unwatchable. I am here to help you avoid
that situation. First let me remind you
that your DVR is your friend. Shudder at
the thought that you watched four hours of the Raiders and Chargers? This game had the devilish double: Bad football and bad announcers. I got into the rhythm with my DVR FFWD button
and watched every play of this game in 17 minutes. So, practice the timing, get the rhythm, and
get back your life.
OK, here is my theory. My unscientific sense of this and past
seasons is that the very worst games frequently involve the same handful of
teams. Don’t watch games that these
teams play and you will probably have reason to thank me. Unscientifically, I suggest that there is a
53% chance that the worst game each week will involve one of these four teams:
Cleveland
Jacksonville
Miami
St. Louis
I suggest the odds go up to
90% if any of these two teams play each other in any given week.
WEEKLY AWARDS
MVP
I am not a fan of his GQ
spreads and the borderline female fashion he sometimes wears. No, I am not talking about Tom Brady (not
this time). My week one MVP is Mark
Sanchez. Did he really believe the Jets
could bring the goods? I doubt it, but
they did and he looked good as the trigger man. Tim who?
EL BUSTO
Denver Nuggets commentator
Scott Hastings famously referred to a Nugget’s draft pick (Tony Battie) as El
Busto. Scott used the term to indicate a
career-long condition. I will steal the
term to designate my anti MVP for each week.
My first El Busto is Ryan
Fitzpatrick of the Bills. Maybe it was
knowing he couldn’t possibly be as bad as Fitzpatrick that gave Sanchez the
confidence to soar to new heights? I
think Buffalo is in for another disappointing season. The Bills gave Fitzpatrick a nice contract
after a few good games last year. He has
pretty much stunk since then save for a late season game against the vaunted
Bronco D. Maybe he will earn the EL
BUSTO moniker for a career?
SURPRISE-SURPRISE-SURPRISE
The Jim Neighbors award goes
to RG3. I did not see this performance
coming at all. RG3 looked like a
younger, faster, smarter Michael Vick in a tough New Orleans road venue. Sure he made big plays, but he made solid
little plays all game long. Color me
impressed.
TREASURE OF THE WEEK
My first best game of the
week award goes to San Fran/Green Bay. The 49ers played a solid game offensively and
defensively that left the Packers looking all out of sorts. San Fran had a real nice balance of run to
pass that plays well late in the season.
I know it is early in the season, but I think the Packers really need to
beat Chicago next week and look good doing it.
TRASH OF THE WEEK
I thought this would be a
no-brainer after the Browns/Eagles staged their dueling interception derby on
Sunday. Then in the week’s last game,
Oakland and San Diego made us all hope and pray that ESPN gets rid of this
opening week double-header game. No
offense, bad camera work, two teams without any real identities. This game was painful to watch, even in 17
minutes. This is a photo finish. However, rather than suggest they each replay
these games, (in a nod to the women’s 100 meter trial results), I will make a
call. I can’t ignore eight
interceptions. Congratulations to the
Browns and the Eagles.
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