Matt Ryan might as well change his birthday from May 17 to April 23, because that’s the day Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff traded a 2010 second round pick to Kansas City in exchange for future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez.
After hauling in five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta’s 19-7 win over Miami in Week 1, Gonzo followed up that performance with a seven-catch, 71-yard effort in the Falcons’ 28-20 victory over the Panthers on Sunday. He also caught his second touchdown pass of the year after Ryan found him on a 24-yard completion late in the first quarter to give Atlanta a 7-3 lead.
It’s still early, but Gonzalez is turning out to be one of he best offseason acquisitions of the year. He’s such a mismatch on safeties and linebackers that it’s almost unfair that the Falcons can use him in the red zone. And when he’s not catching passes, he frees up Roddy White (6 receptions, 53 yards, 1 TD) and other receivers to make plays in the passing game.
The Bengals’ 31-24 win over the Packers on Sunday is proof that nobody knows what the hell is going on in the NFL. You may have called this upset, but I guarantee you that there was a game on the schedule this week that made you scratch your head.
Cincinnati scored seven points last week. Green Bay’s defense harassed Jay Cutler for four quarters last Sunday night and made him look like a rookie. So it makes sense that this week that the Bengals would roll into Lambeau Field and put 31 points up on the scoreboard.
Wait…what?
Where to begin? Let’s start with the disastrous play of Green Bay’s offensive line. Left tackle Chad Clifton was carted off the field in the first half and the Packers had to bring center Scott Wells into the game. They also slid Jason Spitz to left guard and Daryn Colledge to left tackle, and the changes resulted in Cincinnati racking up six sacks, including five by defensive end Anthony Odom.
Aaron Rodgers did a good job of adjusting to the pressure and scrambling out of the pocket. But he was always on the run, could never set his feet and his receivers didn’t help him by dropping multiple passes throughout the game. (How does Greg Jennings go an entire game without a catch?) If this team doesn’t get their issues resolved on the offensive line, Rodgers doesn’t stand a chance.
Of course, Green Bay’s defense doesn’t get off the hook here. Cedric Benson racked up 141 yards on 29 carries, which set up Carson Palmer and the passing game to make some plays. Outside of a Charles Woodson 37-yard interception return for a touchdown, there’s not much good that came out of this game for Dom Capers’ defense, which had played so well against Chicago the week before.
Somehow, the Packers still had a chance to tie the game with seconds remaining, but a false start penalty (which resulted in a 10-second run off) ended Green Bay’s comeback bid.
As for the Bengals, if they can generate that kind of pressure every week, they’d be in good shape. But I don’t think Odom is going to rack up five sacks every game, so keeping the expectations low for this team would be wise. Still, this was an impressive upset for a team that was devastated at home last week on Brandon Stokley’s fluke last-second touchdown.
The quality isn’t great, but here’s video of Chad Ochocinco doing the “Lambeau Leap” after scoring a touchdown late in the third quarter:
Pundits warned after the Patriots barely beat the Bills on Monday night that it’s ignorant to come to conclusions after Week 1.
Well, it’s only Week 2 and I’ve already come to this conclusion: Bill Belichick’s team has issues. They’re still 1-1 after their 16-9 loss to the Jets on Sunday, but New England is a Leodis McKelvin kneel-down away from being 0-2 right now.
New England’s pass protection might be at the forefront of the Pats’ problems. The offensive line struggled to control the penetration that New York was able to generate throughout the game and the Pats were also unable to pick up a crucial 3rd and 1 at their own 38-yard line trailing 16-9. That’s a telltale sign that the horses up front for the Patriots aren’t getting the job done.
Remember the days when the “mad scientist” Mike Martz called the plays in St. Louis and the Rams scored at will against opponents? Well, they’re light years from resembling that offense again.
When Steve Spagnuolo was hired in January to be the Rams’ next head coach, he appointed former Eagles’ QB coach Pat Shurmur to run his offense. And if the first two games of the ’09 season are any indication of how St. Louis will fair offensively this season, then this team will be lucky to average 10 points a game this year.
I realize it’s early, but the Rams’ offense already looks pathetic. A week after being shut out in Seattle, St. Louis mustered only a touchdown in a 9-7 loss to the Redskins on Sunday.
The Rams had a golden opportunity to move the chains through the air against a Washington team that inactivated cornerbacks Fred Smoot and Kevin Barnes before the game and therefore, the Skins only had four active cornerbacks. Washington was sold out to stop Steven Jackson in the running game and despite facing a passive Washington defensive backfield, Marc Bulger threw for only 123 yards and a 4.4 YPA average. That’s brutal – rookies post those kinds of numbers in their first games.
Granted, neither Shurmur nor Bulger can do anything about receiver Donnie Avery fumbling in the red zone, and they couldn’t help that center Jason Brown and left tackle Jason Smith left the game at various times with injuries. Plus, it always takes players two to three years to learn the West Coast Offense.
But the bottom line is that the Rams have seven points in eight quarters and that’s just not going to cut it, especially for a team that expected to play harder under Spagnuolo.
Matt Ryan might as well change his birthday from May 17 to April 23, because that’s the day Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff traded a 2010 second round pick to Kansas City in exchange for future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez.
