“We’ve got to go back and look at it. I think we’re still going to be a good football team, there’s no need to panic.” – Bears QB Jay Cutler following Chicago’s 21-15 loss to the Packers on Sunday night.
Cutler’s right – there is no need to panic. For all we know, Chicago will run the table to finish 15-1 and win the Super Bowl this season.
But even still, Cutler needed to show more than he did on Sunday night in Green Bay. Bad games are going to happen, but his four-interception night was trumped by only his poor attitude during and after the game. His receivers and his pass protection certainly didn’t provide him any help (a fact I’m sure isn’t lost on Cutler, who doesn’t mind dishing out blame), but Chicago’s defense gift-wrapped a win for this team and he did everything in his power to ensure that Green Bay would walk away with a victory.
Cutler played like a rookie tonight. On multiple occasions, he threw against his body and into coverage. He had a screen pass intercepted by Johnny Jolly because he didn’t show enough awareness to see that the 325-pound defensive tackle had stayed home on the play. On Tramon Williams’ 62-yard interception, Cutler flat out threw the ball in the direction of a receiver, but clearly had no idea where the pass was going.
If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn that Cutler had money on Green Bay tonight. And yet after the game what does he say?
The Cardinals raised their 2008 NFC Championship banner on Sunday before their game against the 49ers, and then promptly saw their potent offense neutralized in a disappointing 20-16 loss.
Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner threw for 288 yards and a touchdown, but he also finished with two interceptions and failed to get receiver Anquan Boldin (who had just two receptions for 19 yards) involved in the passing game. Warner did hook up with Larry Fitzgerald six times for 71 yards and a touchdown, but San Fran did an outstanding job mostly limiting the veteran signal caller to underneath passes and dump offs (which is why running back Tim Hightower racked up 121 yards on 12 receptions). Cornerbacks Nate Clements and Dre’ Bly did an outstanding job blanketing Fitzgerald and Boldin all game.
The 49ers’ offense struggled to get into a rhythm for most of the day. But quarterback Shaun Hill delivered when it mattered most by leading San Fran on a 15-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped off by a 3-yard touchdown reception by Frank Gore.
While it certainly isn’t panic time for Arizona considering this is only the first week, it must be worrisome for head coach Ken Whisenhunt that he lost playcaller Todd Haley this offseason and the Cardinals only mustered 16 points. Arizona’s offense wasn’t anemic by any means, but it’s interesting that when they absolutely needed to march down the field and score in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t muster more than one first down in each of their final three drives.
Dallas had concerns about the chemistry between quarterback Tony Romo and receiver Roy Williams entering the season. After releasing Terrell Owens in the offseason, the Cowboys were praying that Romo and Williams (whom the team acquired from Detroit in exchange for a first round pick last season) would develop a connection.
The Cowboys’ fears about the tandem were quelled early in the game on Sunday when Romo connected with Williams twice for 20 yards during a nine-play, 31-yard dive that ended with a Nick Folk 51-yard field goal. Romo also found Williams on a beautiful 66-yard touchdown pass early in the second half to give Dallas a 20-7 lead.
On the day, Romo finished with 353 yards on 16 of 27 passing and three touchdowns, while Williams caught three passes for 86 yards and a TD. Patrick Crayton had a productive day as well, as he hauled in four passes for 135 yards and also caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Romo early in the fourth.
Drew Brees and the Saints’ offense is already in midseason form, which is a scary thought for teams in the NFC South.
Brees completed 26 of 34 passes for 358 yards and threw six touchdowns in New Orleans’ 45-27 win over the Lions on Sunday. The Saints racked up 515 total yards of offense and was 9 of 13 on third down conversations.
Granted, it’s important to keep in mind that the Saints were playing against a Lions defense that is severely lacking talent and clearly hasn’t had the chance to grasp the new scheme implemented by first-year head coach Jim Schwartz.
But for a moment, set aside whom the Saints were playing; Brees looked like a surgeon slicing through Detroit’s pass defense and threw passes to eight different receivers. Jeremy Shockey (2 TDs), Devery Henderson (5 rec., 103 yards, 1 TD), Marques Colston (3 rec., 30 yards, 1 TD) and Robert Meachem (2 rec., 38 yards, 1 TD) all had productive days.
Although they gave up 27 points, the Saints’ defensive performance was encouraging. They limited the Lions’ offense to 231 total yards and forced three turnovers. Darren Sharper, who was acquired in free agency this offseason, had two interceptions.
The dark cloud for the Saints was their special teams. Reggie Bush muffled two punts, the punt coverage unit surrendered a big return and kicker John Carney had a 34-yard field goal attempt blocked. Even with how potent the offense is New Orleans can’t have these kinds of miscues on special teams.
Matthew Stafford had a rough debut, completing just 16 of 37 pass attempts for 205 yards and three interceptions. That said, he developed good chemistry with receiver Calvin Johnson (the pair hooked up on a nice 64-yard completion on a crossing route) and he did score a touchdown on a one-yard run in the third quarter. All in all, Stafford looked like a rookie making his first career start on the road.
In 2008, Tony Sparano’s Dolphins did all the little things right. They took care of the football, they didn’t beat themselves and they didn’t self-destruct. Thanks to those things, Miami was able to win the AFC East and make an improbable playoff run under a first year head coach in Sparano and an underrated, yet limited quarterback in Chad Pennington.
But in a 19-7 loss to the Falcons on Sunday, the Dolphins did the opposite. They turned the ball over, they shot themselves in the foot with costly penalties and they didn’t do the little things right offensively.
The Dolphins turned the ball over four times on Sunday (as opposed to the Falcons, who didn’t turn the ball over once) and committed four penalties, one of which cost them a touchdown. They were also just 4 of 11 on third downs, which is staggering given that Atlanta’s defense struggled mightily in getting off the field on third downs in preseason.
Speaking of Atlanta’s defense, the unit was fast, aggressive and tenacious today. The Dolphins made plenty of stupid mistakes of their own, but the Falcons’ defense deserves credit for harassing Pennington (who was sacked four times and never looked comfortable in the pocket) and delivering bone-crushing hits whenever Miami’s players got their hands on the ball. For such a young, inexperienced unit, Atlanta’s defense was awfully impressive.
Head coach Mike Smith has to be pleased with the overall effort he got from his defense on Sunday. Even though Matt Ryan threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns and six different receivers caught passes (including Tony Gonzalez, who made an incredible catch in the first half and also caught a touchdown pass), the Falcons’ offense wasn’t as sharp as it could be. They’re going to start clicking eventually and if Atlanta can get the same defensive effort this season as it did today, then the Falcons go from being a playoff contender to a Super Bowl contender.
For 59 minutes and 32 seconds, the Broncos and Bengals played the most boring game of Week 1. Then Cincinnati cornerback Leon Hall forgot that batting the ball straight up in the air is a horrible idea.
At first, I disagreed with the commentator who said that Hall could have intercepted Kyle Orton’s horrid pass. It looked like he jumped at his highest point and while falling backwards, he tried to knock the ball down and instead batted it straight up.
But upon further review, Hall could have picked off the pass had he positioned his body better when the ball was in the air. Or at the very least, he should have been able to knock the ball down instead of doing his best impression of a volleyball setter by batting the football up.
Either way, this was a heartbreaking loss for the Bengals. They didn’t play a clean game, but they should have had this win locked up after Cedric Benson scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds remaining. Plus, on the play before Stokley’s circus catch, Cincinnati had intercepted Orton but the defender couldn’t stay in bounds while he was coming down with the football. The Bengals had several opportunities to start the 2009 season 1-0 but they fell victim to a fluke play.
It was a cheap win, but Josh McDaniels will take it after all the crap he went through (some of it he created himself) this summer with Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall.
The Eagles thumped the Panthers 38-10 on Sunday in Charlotte, but their mood went from jubilation to concern after quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered a rib injury after rushing for a touchdown in the third quarter.
McNabb was able to walk off the field under his own power, but he was clearly in discomfort when he returned to the sidelines in the fourth quarter. The Eagles haven’t announced how long McNabb will be out for, or if he’ll be out at all.
What’s interesting about this injury is that Philadelphia’s backup quarterback is Michael Vick, who won’t be available until Week 4 until after he’s done serving a three-game suspension. Kevin Kolb will start next week if McNabb can’t play.
Even though Vick brings an added dimension to the field as a runner, him starting would be a worst-case scenario for the Eagles. Philadelphia is a serious Super Bowl contender and need McNabb (who is the far superior passer to Vick) under center. Outside of a couple of preseason games, Vick hasn’t played in two years and would need time to shake off the rust following his suspension.
But maybe this is all a moot point. McNabb might not miss any time and even if he does, Kolb is going to get the chance to start while Vick is out. If he plays well, it’s highly doubtful that Andy Reid would turn the keys of the offense over to Vick.
As for the Eagles’ opponents on Sunday, this was a worst-case scenario for a Panthers team that was hoping to put their disastrous performance against the Cardinals in last year’s divisional round of the playoffs behind them.
Quarterback Jake Delhomme had another awful performance while completing just 7 of 17 pass attempts for 73 yards and four interceptions. Why Carolina refuses to develop a young signal caller behind Delhomme is beyond me. If his performance on Sunday was any indication of how he’ll do the rest of the year, then the Panthers are in serious trouble.
Update:ESPN.com is reporting that McNabb fractured a rib, but Reid stated that the quarterback might still play next week.
When the Vikings signed Brett Favre this offseason, they only wanted him to do a handful of things: Instill life into the passing game, don’t make too many mistakes, and get the hell out of the way for Adrian Peterson.
In the Vikings’ 34-20 win over the Browns on Sunday, Favre accomplished two of those things, namely getting the hell out of Peterson’s way.
AP had a monster day on the ground, rushing for 180 yards and three touchdowns while Favre completed 14 of 21 passes for 110 yards and added a 6-yard touchdown pass to Percy Harvin in the third quarter. Perhaps most importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over, although he looked like a player that missed all of training camp because he was awfully rusty in the first half.
The score doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the Browns, but there were actually several positives that Cleveland can take from this game. The run defense wasn’t as bad as the box score indicates, but Peterson broke off a 64-yard touchdown scamper with just under six minutes remaining in the game, which contributed to his total of 180 yards.
Linebacker Kameron Wimbley played well while running sideline-to-sideline, creating havoc in Minnesota’s backfield and sacking Favre once. But credit the Vikings’ coaching staff for making good halftime adjustments, because Wimbley wasn’t as effective in the second half as he was in the first. Still, for a team that wanted to get more defensive pressure under new head coach Eric Mangini, the Browns did that on Sunday. Mangini’s offseason additions of safety Abram Elam and linebacker Eric Barton played well, too.
Offensively for the Browns, Braylon Edwards made some tough catches, although quarterback Brady Quinn struggled in the second half. He didn’t make good decisions after Minnesota adjusted at halftime and he had a costly fumble. But one thing to keep in mind is that Quinn doesn’t have a ton of starting experience, so a game like this is a perfect learning experience.
The Browns are improved under Mangini, but it was clear on Sunday that the Vikings were the better team. The book is still out on whether or not Favre will breath some life into Minnesota’s passing game, but at least he showed today that he can successfully take a backseat to Peterson.
When the Jets hired former Ravens’ defensive coordinator Rex Ryan as their new head coach, they hoped that he would bring a swagger to the club similar to the one he had instilled in Baltimore throughout the years.
When Ryan arrived in New York, he took pot shots at other head coaches in the division (New England’s Bill Belichick) and tangled with linebackers that his team would have to face twice a year (Miami’s Channing Crowder). So when it came time for the Jets to play their season opener against the Texans in Houston, Ryan’s bunch need to back up his offseason talk.
The Jets did just that on Sunday, blasting the Texans 24-7 in an absolutely dominating performance. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez was excellent in his professional debut, finding a wide open Chansi Stucky for a 30-yard touchdown in the second quarter, which was Sanchez’s first career TD.
The Jets’ defense was also outstanding, limiting Houston to only 183 total yards of offense and suffocating second-year running back Steve Slaton (he had just 17 yards on nine carries). If one didn’t know better, they would have thought that the Ravens’ players dressed in green and white for Sunday’s game.
The Jets have a long way to go to become a serious contender, but this was an impressive debut for Sanchez and Ryan. Whether or not the Jets contend for the division or a playoff spot is irrelevant at this point, because they already backed up their head coach’s words.
As for Houston, this was a pitiful performance for a team that thinks it’s a playoff contender. Their offense was stagnant, their defense played slow and on a whole, they put together a pretty flat performance. The Texans allowed 190 rushing yards on Sunday, which is inexcusable facing a rookie quarterback in his pro debut. Sanchez needed the Jets to establish the run and once they did, he took full advantage of it with a confident performance.
There’s a long way to go, but this was about as bad of a start as Houston could have imagined. (And about the best the Jets could have hoped for.)
Here are quick-hit previews for all of today’s action in the NFL.
Dolphins at Falcons, 1:00PM
The Falcons have issues in their secondary that Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington can exploit. Atlanta had trouble getting off the field on third downs in preseason and the Dolphins excel at moving the ball methodically down the field. Conversely, Miami must keep up with Atlanta’s high-powered offense, which could be tough given how potent Matt Ryan and company looked in preseason.
Broncos at Bengals, 1:00PM
This game features the highly anticipated return of quarterback Carson Palmer, who will be without receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh this year. It’ll be interesting to see if Chad Ochocinco can rebound from a poor ’08 campaign and re-establish a rhythm with Palmer. For Denver, new head coach Josh McDaniels gets to unveil his offense, which should include receiver Brandon Marshall, although his playing status is still somewhat up in the air. The player I’m keeping an eye on today is rookie running back Knowshon Moreno, who could excel in McDainels’ pass-happy offense as a receiver out of the backfield.
Vikings at Browns, 1:00PM
Even though this will be Brett Favre’s Vikings debut, Adrian Peterson will remain the focal point for Minnesota’s offense. Rookie Percy Harvin is expected to see a ton of playing time and could be used as Brad Childress’s X-factor. The Browns will find it tough to move the ball on the ground today, as Minnesota will have their Williams Wall intact. Quarterback Brady Quinn will be counted on to make plays in the passing game and it’ll be interesting to see if Braylon Edwards can put his tumultuous offseason behind him. One player to watch for the Browns is Joshua Cribbs, who is coming off a great preseason and could be used in a variety of ways today.
Jaguars at Colts, 1:00PM
Jacksonville is looking to bounce back from a disastrous ’08 season, one in which they were supposed to contend for the Super Bowl and instead found themselves at the bottom of the AFC South. Jack Del Rio’s Jags have always played the Colts tough and they could take advantage of Indy not having safety Bob Sanders in their secondary. The most intriguing matchup today will be Colts receiver Reggie Wayne against Jaguars corner Rashean Mathis. If the now-healthy Jags can keep Peyton Manning and company contained, Jacksonville could sneak away with a win.
