DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING…

- Who knew that with the Bears in New Orleans to take on the Saints and Cam Newton hosting the defending champs that Raiders-Bills would be the most entertaining early game on Sunday? I’m pretty sure neither defense dressed for the second half but this game had it all: a major come-from-behind victory, plenty of big plays (that TD Denarius Moore caught from Jason Campbell was siiiick), and a last-minute touchdown pass on fourth down (see the photo above as Scott Chandler scores the game-winner). It’s actually fun to watch Ryan Fitzpatrick run Buffalo’s dare-I-say-high-powered offense.

- I was impressed by Cam Newton in his pro debut (how could you not be?), but I fully admit that I expected him to fall flat on his face against the Packers. Naturally he comes out and throws for over 400 yards again and is now on pace to pass for 6,832 yards this season. He’s also completing over 60% of his passes and had he not turned the ball over three times, I’m not so sure the Panthers don’t beat the Packers today. I don’t know if this is beginner’s luck or we’re seeing the next great thing at quarterback but I shudder to think what he’ll do once the game actually starts slowing down for him.

- Let me get this straight: the Ravens rack up 35 points on the Steelers’ defense but couldn’t muster more than a touchdown and two field goals against the Titans? Some were concerned that the Ravens would come out flat after their impressive win over the Steelers last Sunday and “some” were right. Matt Hasselbeck took advantage of a depleted Baltimore secondary all afternoon, completing 30 of his 42 pass attempts for 358 yards and a touchdown. Hasselbeck was helped by the fact that the Ravens wanted nothing to do with pressuring him as they finished with zero sacks.

- Jaguars win a gutsy 16-14 game over the Titans in their season opener, then fail to show up today and are blasted by the Jets, 32-3. Titans look hapless in Jacksonville last week, then came out on Sunday and romp a Raven team that destroyed the Steelers last week. The NFL is screwy, I tell ya.

AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM…

- Somebody inform the Vikings that there are two halves in a football game because I’m not sure they’re aware. In its first two games, Minnesota has outscored its opponents 34-7 in the first half and has been outscored 41-3 in the second. Too many missed tackles and broken coverage for the Vikes’ defense again this week.

- The Answer: Protecting Joe Flacco, covering Kenny Britt and pressuring Matt Hasselbeck. The Question: Name three things the Baltimore Ravens had no interest in doing on Sunday.

- Football games are never decided by one play but if Chris Johnson intercepts that Ryan Fitzpatrick pass in the end zone with under a minute to play, the Raiders are heading back to Oakland with a 2-0 record to start the season.

- It’s going to be “one of those years” for the Chiefs. I don’t know what looked worse: Jamaal Charles’ injury or Kansas City’s defense for the second straight week. (Update: It has been confirmed that Charles is done for the year. What a horrible start to the Chiefs’ season after such a great 2010.)

- I don’t care how thick your blinders are when it comes to the Falcons: They were lucky tonight. And you must know I absolutely hate it when anyone says a team got lucky. Winning in the NFL has nothing to do with luck, but I don’t know how else to describe the Falcons’ first win of the 2011 season. I don’t classify turnovers as one team being lucky or unlucky. They’re part of the game – period. But the Eagles dominated the first half and yet the Falcons still led 14-10 at halftime. The Eagles dominated defensively (for the most part) and yet the Falcons still scored 35 points. If Michael Vick doesn’t exit the game in the third quarter, I don’t know if the Falcons win. In fact, they probably don’t. That said, a win is a win is a win is a…

- When can we start with the Andrew Luck-to-Indianapolis talk? Oh, we already have?

- I don’t want to hear any media members criticizing Jay Cutler this week. He looked jittery at times but anyone would look jittery if they had defenders draped all over them the second they took the snap. If it weren’t for Matt Forte the Bears wouldn’t have scored today thanks to shoddy play by their offensive line. (By the way, what are you waiting for, Jerry Angelo? Give Forte a new contact already – clearly he’s worth every penny.)

- Ladies and gentlemen, Luke McCown.

- I suppose that 20-for-29, 159-yard passing performance by Tarvaris Jackson buys him another shot to start next week, huh Pete Carroll? (Jackson was the Seahawks’ leading rusher today with 12 yards, so maybe I should cut him some slack.)

- Good tweet by Cardinals beat writer Kent Somers today: Panthers proved you can pass against Arizona. Washington proved you can run. Cardinals have proven they have problems on defense.

- Is it just me or does the Packers defense suddenly have an issue limiting the big play? It was another lackluster day for Dom Capers’ defense, this time against a rookie quarterback, no less.

- I’m not going to bemoan the Chargers for not winning in New England but at some point the Bolts are going to have to have that marquee win to give them the confidence heading into the postseason (if they make the postseason, that is). It seems like every year this team is a Super Bowl contender on paper, but it plays second-fiddle to the elite teams in the AFC.

“CHAMPIONSHIP…”

- I knew the Lions were going to be competitive this year. I even figured they would spend most of the season challenging for a playoff berth before finishing somewhere around .500. What I didn’t know was that they had already made plans to become an unstoppable rebel force poised to leave a path of destruction on their way to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February…

- Seriously, the Lions were unbelievable today. Every time I looked up they were in the red zone one minute and scoring the next. I’ll probably write this every week but if Matthew Stafford can stay healthy there’s no telling how far Detroit can go this season.

- Why were the Seahawks so willing to let Matt Hasselbeck walk this offseason? It’s befuddling. He’ll only take a team so far but he lit up a pretty solid Baltimore defense today for 358 yards and a touchdown. Even at his age, he’s five-times the quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is.

- Colt McCoy’s stat line: 22-of-32 for 211 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs. He also spread the ball around to eight different receivers and only took one sack. He may not light it up on a weekly basis but the kid is going to be an efficient quarterback in Pat Schmur’s West Coast offense.

- I think LeGarrette Blount needs a small attitude adjustment but after voicing his disappointment with his limited role in the Bucs’ loss to the Lions last week, he made the most of his opportunities today. He carried the ball 13 times for 71 yards at a 5.5 yards-per-carry clip, and scored the game-winning touchdown (his second on the day) with 31 seconds remaining in the game. If he’s patient, he’s going to see his carries increase throughout the year and has a bright future in Tampa Bay’s offense.

- Mark Ingram only gained 3.6 yards per rush (14 carries, 51 yards) against the Bears, but those numbers aren’t indicative of how hard the rookie ran today. He’s going to allow Sean Payton to stay balanced with his playcalling and keep opponents on their heels, especially if Drew Brees (26-of-37, 270 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) continues to light up defensive backfields.

- Unlike the Ravens, the Jets didn’t allow their emotional Week 1 victory stop them from coming out and crushing an inferior opponent on Sunday. Rex Ryan’s defense looked like it was in midseason form, forcing four turnovers and two sacks while making Luke McCown’s life a living nightmare.

- That was a gritty performance by the Redskins in the fourth quarter. They weren’t overly impressive by any means but this is a game the Skins have found a way to lose in the past. They outscored Arizona 12-7 in the fourth quarter and produced a huge turnover late in the game to seal the win. (They actually forced two turnovers on the Cardinals’ final offensive possession but one play was reversed.

- Say what you want about Tony Romo but any man who fractures a rib and comes back into a game earns my respect.

- Speaking of the Cowboys, they may have won the battle but they suffered a ton of injuries. Along with Romo’s injury, Miles Austin may be out until the team’s Week 5 bye after re-pulling his hamstring, while Felix Jones has a separated right shoulder. Oh, and Dez Bryant didn’t even play because of a quadriceps injury. This is the same nightmare Dallas just woke up from last year…

- The Texans are 2-0 but there’s no doubt that Arian Foster’s hamstring is going to be a problem for a while. I’m not a doctor and thankfully I don’t have to worry about making personnel decisions for a NFL team, but if I were the Texans I’d seriously consider allowing Foster to fully heal up for a couple of weeks. If they can manage without him while he recoveries, maybe he returns in the second half and has a monster rest of the season.

Maybe there was something to what Deion Sanders had to say last week about Dez Bryant.

A week after Deion stated publicly that the receiver “needs help,” Bryant is now being sued by a landlord in Stillwater, Oklahoma for failing to pay his rent.

“He still has not paid us,” said Bryce Campbell, the manager for Jim Campbell Property Management, the plaintiff in the case. “He will not answer our calls.”

Campbell said Bryant’s lawyers told his company that if they signed a form agreeing to drop the case, the leasing office would receive a check within two weeks.

“We never received anything,” Campbell said, “and that’s been months ago.”

“We were kind of excited he got a contract,” Campbell said. “OK, the guy just didn’t have the money. Now he’s got a contract. Five thousand is nothing to him….He hasn’t even attempted to (pay).”

This isn’t the first time that Bryant has been accused of not settling his debts. A New York jeweler claims that the receiver owes $240,000 for unpaid jewelry ordered sometime between January and May of 2010. A Texas jeweler also claims that Bryant has not paid $588,500 in jewelry, $15,850 in sporting event tickets and $11,000 in loans. Apparently those purchases were made between June 2009 and June 2010 when Bryant was still enrolled at Oklahoma State.

The issue involving Sanders was reportedly because Bryant backed out of an endorsement deal with Under Armour only to keep the sporting good company’s money. Considering he signed a five-year, $11.8 million contract that included $8.63 million in guaranteed money, Bryant could probably settle his debts in an hour.

But the problem obviously isn’t money. The problem is that this 22-year-old kid has no concept of responsibility. From the moment he walked onto campus at OSU, he’s had everything handed to him and now he’s like an adult child with millions of dollars to play with instead of toys. And because of the lockout, the Cowboys can’t offer him any structure or guidance, which is a shame.

In some ways I feel bad for Bryant because clearly nobody taught him about responsibility. But come on: a 7-year-old knows that if they want something, they have to pay for it. Did Bryant not think that he had to pay rent? Did he not think that he had to pay for the jewelry that he purchased?

Speaking of which, how did Bryant come into all of this jewelry? Did OSU give it to him? Did he receive it from a booster or an agent? How does someone accrue thousands of dollars in debt for jewelry, tickets and loans without having to pay for it up front? Did someone lead him to believe that all of this was free? (Not that that gives Bryant a free pass in the matter.)

I smell an NCAA investigation.

In an ESPN.com article by Tim MacMahon, Deion Sanders verbally expressed frustration with Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, whom Sanders recently stopped mentoring. Sanders went as far as to say that Bryant “needs help.”

“He needs help. He needs help,” Sanders said. “I told the Cowboys from Day One that he needs help. Matter of fact, they have a team in place to help him. But you cannot tell a grown man what to do.”

“I haven’t spoken to the kid,” Sanders said. “I have no desire to speak to the kid. In regards to me, I can forgive, but I can’t forget. You can’t tarnish the other things that I have going on and the other kids. It’s sort of like I can’t allow something to poison the fruit of many other kids. I can’t do it, so I cut off those ties a long time ago.”

Bryant seems to think that Sanders’ frustrations with him stem from not signing a deal with Under Armor, who outfits Sanders’ youth athletic program. The deal fell apart because Bryant determined that Under Armour’s cleats weren’t a right fit for him after testing them out during Dallas’ mini camp last year.

“I never knew the reason for Deion not saying anything to me,” Bryant said. “The only thing I can believe is that when I stopped talking to Under Armour, Deion stopped talking to me. I never knew what Prime’s problem was.

“That’s my decision. That has nothing to do with Prime. That made me feel he must be getting something from Under Armour.”

“It bothers me more than anything,” Bryant said. “I’ve looked up to Deion my whole life. I’ve never done anything wrong to him.

“The only thing I can think of is the Under Armour situation. That’s the only thing. He didn’t want me to leave Under Armour, but I had to do what’s best for me. That’s the whole truth.”

Bryant went on to say that he wishes “Deion would come to me as a man and talk to me.” He also noted that he’s been “reaching out to Deion” and that he’s never lied to his former mentor.

The quotes are interesting, which is why I posted them. But I don’t have inside access to the Sanders-Bryant relationship (I tried, but was denied and handed a restraining order) so obviously I don’t know who’s telling the truth and who isn’t. That said, if the relationship did fall apart because Bryant didn’t sign a deal with Under Armor, then shame on Sanders. Bryant is the one that has to play in those shoes – not Deion. It sure sounds like Bryant has some immaturity issues that need to be straightened out, but if Sanders is willing to cut off ties with someone that he’s mentoring because of a shoe deal then he shouldn’t be the one helping him out anyway.

But again, I haven’t been on hand when Bryant and Sanders have talked, so maybe Bryant is reading the situation wrong. Maybe Sanders is good for him and Bryant is walking down a bad path. To this point, it seems like Bryant’s “red flag issues” are minor. But if they keep coming up then maybe Sanders is right and the kid does need help.

It’s definitely been a solid year for rookies in the NFL, and here are the top offensive and defensive ones ranked in order of who we think wins the honors for 2010:

Offensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—Led the Rams to the team’s biggest victory in years last Sunday, and has to do it again this Sunday.

2. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—These two guys continue to put up ridiculous numbers if you combine them (81 catches, 1007 yards, 15 TDs).

3. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Two more TDs gave this kid 10 on the season, and he’s on the verge of 1000 yards.

4. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—He had 8 TDs (receiving and return) through 13 games before getting injured.

5. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—Okay, so this time the young McCoy had a rough go against the Ravens, but we won’t wipe him off the list.

Defensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—60 tackles and 9 sacks through 15 games for a DT is amazing for anyone, much less a rookie.

2. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—He hasn’t had an INT since Week 13, but the guy is all over the field making plays.

3. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—I’m sure U of Tennessee fans winced when they saw their former star return a pick for a TD against the Titans.

4. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—Had another pick against Baltimore along with five tackles. You think Mike Holmgren knows what he’s doing or what?

5. Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants—Even though he’s on a line that already has Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, JPP has 29 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 6 passes deflected. I think Jerry Reese chose well when many doubted this kid.

There was an article in USA Today’s Sports Weekly about what a solid rookie class this has been, and it’s so true.

Offensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—He’s thrown for 3065 yards on a team that won one game last season, and might possibly lead them to a playoff berth.

2. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—Between them, 953 yards and 13 TDs through 14 games. Those are Antonio Gates-esque numbers.

3. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—Did you need more proof that this kid is the future at QB? Yeah, the Browns lost to the Bengals, but McCoy put up 243 yards with 2 TDs and no picks, and completed 19 of 25 for a ridiculous 76% completion percentage.

4. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Through 14 games—58/880/8, and a big reason for the Bucs’ resurgence this year.

5. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—As electrifying a young player the NFL has seen in a long time.

Defensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Becoming a defensive leader on his team as a rookie, and helping the young Lions become respectable again.

2. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—Not only does this young stud have 6 interceptions, but he has 77 total tackles to rank near the top for NFL corners.

3. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—This is a guy you just don’t throw the ball near, and even if you don’t , he has ridiculous closing speed.

4. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—McCoy is the offensive bright spot, Haden the defensive one on a team showing promise in the Holmgren regime.

5. Earl Thomas, Seattle Seahawks—Hasn’t had a pick in a while, but his 5 still ranks near the top in the NFL.

Offensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—We’ll let the New Orleans game slide. For now.

2. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—You shut one out, and the other will burn you. Or, of course, will Deion Branch and Wes Welker.

3. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Was almost shut out by Redskins, but like Bradford, we’ll let it slide because he’s had such as great season on a promising young team.

4. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—He will get the start Sunday against Cincinnati after missing a few games with an ankle injury. Let’s see if it makes a difference, because McCoy has sparked the Browns before.

5. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—The Cowboys sure missed him against the Eagles.

Defensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Is anyone really surprised at the ease the big fella transitioned into the NFL?

2. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—6 picks leads all rookies.

3. Earl Thomas, Seattle Seahawks—Quiet the last few weeks, but who wants to throw in his direction?

4. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—Berry’s interception against the Chargers was the only good play of the game for his team, and it was a thing of beauty.

5. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—His five picks is right behind Thomas, and his overall play has been stellar.

This race is getting to be as exciting as the Heismann race. Well, maybe.

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—Is everyone comparing this kid to Troy Aikman because of how he plays and leads his team calmly? Or because he’s lanky and wears #8? We’ll go with the former, for now.

2. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Leads all DTs with 8 sacks, and is third in total tackles among inside guys with 49.

3. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—Leads the NFL with 6 interceptions

4. Earl Thomas, Seattle Seahawks—Wow, it’s turning out to be a monster DB class, isn’t it?

5. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—Like I said…..

6. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—Really, the numbers are astounding from this dynamic TE duo: 65 catches, 835 yards, 10 TDs

7. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—On pace for 68 catches, 1025 yards and 9 scores. Not bad for a rookie.

8. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—Well, yeah, it’s not like he had to play that great to keep the job from Jake Delhomme, but he went and got injured.

9. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—Another bummer of a season-ending injury.

10. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—His 69 tackles and 2 picks don’t tell the story about how QBs fear this kid