Every Sunday evening throughout the 2011 NFL season I’ll compile quick-hit reactions from the day that was in football. I vow to always overreact, side with sensationalism over rationalism, and draw conclusions based on small sample sizes instead of cold, hard facts. It’s the only way I know how to write…

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.

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Jerome Harrison is currently working behind Montario Hardesty during OTAs. Obviously, this is a big blow to those fantasy owners hoping to find a solid RB2 in the third or fourth round in the form of Harrison. This looks like it’s shaping up to be a timeshare. Keep an eye on the competition as training camp wears on. Harrison was outstanding late last season and could be a steal if he wins back the job.

Felix Jones is looking better in the passing game. Jones is unlikely to get enough carries in the running game to become a true fantasy RB1, especially with Marion Barber vulturing goal line carries. But if he can become a regular fixture in the passing game, he could do some serious damage in PPR leagues.

Dustin Keller primed for a big year? The Jets have added some wrinkles in order to utilize Keller’s talents and Rex Ryan has said that Keller is likely to have more TDs than last season (2). He is a solid TE option for those owners who elect to wait on the position and play Tight End By Committee (TEBC).

Domenik Hixon is out for the season with a knee injury. This is a big blow to the Giants’ receiving corps, which will have to lean on Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks even more this season. Move both players up a couple of spots on your cheatsheet.

Will Eddie Royal bounce back this year? He seems like a prime candidate since Brandon Marshall left town leaving Royal as the best and most proven receiver on the roster. Last year was a disaster, but Royal showed what he can do in his rookie season.

Vincent Jackson prepared to sit out until Week 11. This is bad news for his owners and for Phillip Rivers, but it could be good news for Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd, who reportedly looks great in workouts.

Cowboys looking to get the ball to Witten in the red zone. He went for 94-1030 last year, but only caught two TD after averaging 5.5 the previous two seasons. If the Cowboys are serious about calling his number more in the red zone, it may mean Witten once again cracks the Top 5 in standard leagues.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

For those who couldn’t tune into Monday night’s game between the Cowboys and the Panthers, you didn’t miss much.

The Cowboys were sloppy, the Panthers were sloppier and thus Dallas won the ultimate snooze fest 21-7. Victories are hard to come by in the NFL, but if I were Wade Phillips or Jerry Jones, I wouldn’t be breaking out the party favors and bubbly after this one.

The Panthers are bad – real bad. And it’s not fair to pin all of their problems on Jake Delhomme, who threw two more interceptions tonight to run his season total to 407. Delhomme has been bad, but he’s hardly the only reason why Carolina is 0-3 right now and has little to no chance of repeating as NFC South champions.

The Panthers might as well cheat and set up speed bumps on every play, because their run defense is horrible. The Cowboys rushed for 212 yards tonight on 32 carries (6.6 YPC) without Marion Barber as Carolina made Felix Jones and Tashard Choice look like Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen.

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The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Marion Barber suffered a quad strain in the Cowboys’ 33-31 loss to the Giants on Sunday and could be held out against the Panthers, whom Dallas plays on Monday night.

An MRI taken Monday morning confirmed Barber suffered a quad strain. When asked later in the afternoon if the injury could force the running back to miss some time, head coach Wade Phillips said, “We’ll have to wait and see on that.”

How the injury responds in the next few days will determine if he’s able to play against Carolina.

This is the second year in a row where Barber has come out of the gates like a bat out of hell, only to suffer an injury to slow him down. Last season, he scored nine touchdowns in the first 13 weeks before a toe injury severely limited his production for the rest of the year.

If Barber can’t play, Felix Jones would get the start and split carries with Tashard Choice.