2009 Game Reviews
NFL Week 2
by Jody Jamieson
24/9/2009
 
Panthers 20 Falcons 28
 
Jake Delhomme almost got redemption for his last two performances when his last second Hail Mary pass deflected in Dwayne Jarrett’s direction. Continuing with the recent luck he’s had, the ball landed inches short, and Carolina’s chance to take the game to overtime was gone. Delhomme bounced back well from recent struggles by putting together a solid enough line (25/41 308 yds 1 TD 1 INT) for his first 300 yard day in 2 years but Carolina ultimately fell to 0-2.
 
The Panthers had the lead 2 different times in the first half of this game, but when Matt Ryan threw his third touchdown pass of the day to make it 21-13, Atlanta never looked back. Ryan hit Tony Gonzalez, Jason Snelling and Roddy White in the first half and had a great day overall. Many impact rookies are susceptible to a sophomore slump, but Ryan has kept the momentum going. Michael Turner went in from a yard to give the Falcons a commanding lead. Donte Rosario scored his first touchdown since his walk-off TD catch last year in San Diego to make it a one score game, but ultimately it was not enough. After Steve Smith was shutdown last week, he exploded for 131 yards on 8 catches to help Delhomme’s cause. The Panthers have had too many key injuries early and may struggle to compete for the playoffs this year but Delhomme has bounced back nicely to give them a chance as the season progresses.
 
Vikings 27 Lions 13
 
Punt, fumble, punt, punt, interception, field goal. That’s how the Lions possessions in the second half went. Looking for their first win since 2007 and holding a 10-7 half time lead, the offense came up really small in the second half. Favre’s longest passing play of the day was a 14 yard dump off to Chester Taylor, as he completed 23/27 for 155 yards and 2 TD’s. Efficient, but for a pedestrian yards per attempt average of less than 6. Percy Harvin had 5 catches, but it was a 13 yard rush that was his longest play of the day. Detroit actually had a very good first half in which they led 10-0 after forcing an Adrian Peterson fumble, kicking a field goal from the resulting possession, and then Stafford found Calvin Johnson in the endzone for his first NFL TD pass. As the half wound down, the Lions couldn’t contain Peterson and the Vikings drove methodically down the field to set up a one yard pass by Favre on play action to Visanthe Shiancoe to make it 10-7.
 
Detroit did nothing offensively in the second half as previously mentioned, and an Adrian Peterson 27 yard run gave Minnesota the lead, which was iced by Percy Harvin’s second TD catch in as many weeks. Interestingly Favre was sacked more times (3) than Stafford (2) but Stafford threw 2 picks while Favre didn’t add to his all time NFL interception record (310) for the second week in a row.
 
Bengals 31 Packers 24
 
After the Packers kicked a field goal to make it a seven point game with less than a minute to play, was it not completely obvious that the Packers would recover the onside kick? Cincinnati could have found themselves 0-2 after losing the Denver game on a freak play, but held on for the win at Lambeau Field. Despite everything, the Cincinnati Bengals hung on for a win that shouldn’t be as big of a shock as people are making it out to be. The Bengals are talented (if a little chaotic and snake bitten) on both sides of the ball and the Packers struggled to put away the Bears despite all Chicago’s failings last week.
 
Carson Palmer took his team up and down the field, but he threw two pretty awful floaters to Charles Woodson, one of which was returned for a touchdown. When Palmer sets his feet, he’s got a good arm, but he’s not setting his feet properly in the pocket right now, which is a concern. Hopefully he gets back to basics soon. He did set his feet well on a touchdown pass to The Artist Formerly Known as Johnson, who did his promised Lambeau Leap when he gave Cincinnati a 28-21 lead. Green Bay recovered the previously mentioned onside kick at 31-24, and Rodgers completed a pass to Donald Driver at the 10 with time running out. Rodgers almost got the snap off, but right tackle Allen Barbre didn’t get to the line in time. Barbre was victimised last week by the Bears pass rush, but it was left tackle Daryn Colledge that was destroyed, as Antwan Odom picked up 5 sacks from right defensive end, adding to his two sacks against Denver last week for the league lead with 7 sacks. Cincinnati inexplicably converted a 3rd and 34 in this game after Daniel Coats caught and fumbled the ball. Laveraneus Coles managed to pick the ball up without dropping it and got the required yardage.
 
Cardinals 31 Jaguars 17
 
Kurt Warner followed last week’s poor performance (ignore the box score which flattered him) with a great afternoon in Florida, setting the NFL single game record for completion percentage (92.3%) with a 24/26 246 yard day. Warner was pulled from the game with Arizona holding a 4 touchdown lead, and almost had to come back in as the Jags flirted with a comeback. Warner is still obviously struggling with his hip, but great players can adjust and find a way to still play great when hampered by an injury that may sideline a less gutsy quarterback.
 
Arizona held a 10-3 lead when a field goal was blocked by Calais Campbell and Antrel Rolle returned it for a touchdown. If I was Jack Del Rio, Mercedes Lewis would be cut for his horrendous effort on the return. As Rolle strolls over the goalline, Lewis is strolling alongside with the angle to make the play, but looked lazy and pathetic in allowing it to happen. I was furious watching it, and I had absolutely zero rooting interests in this game. It was ironic that later in the game when Lewis scored a touchdown, he broke tackles and fought for the score. Jaguars radio announcer Brian Sexton’s call of “what an effort by Mercedes Lewis!” at least made me laugh.
 
Jacksonville’s offensive game was plagued by negative plays. Garrard was sacked 4 times, threw one interception and his team fumbled the ball 4 times (twice recovered). Arizona iced the game early in the third quarter when Larry Fitzgerald scored his first touchdown of the season to make it 31-3. Two Jags touchdowns made the game look closer than it really was.
 
Raiders 13 Chiefs 10
 
Here on JaMarcus Watch we look at his line through 2 games. 19/54 (35.2%), 317 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT, 46.6 passer rating. Struggling against San Diego is understandable as they have a pressure defense full of ballhawks (even if they were a little shoddy on Monday), and its one game. Going 7/24 for 109 yards against a Kansas City defense that got shredded by Baltimore last week is entirely unacceptable. Kansas City meanwhile managed to lose a game in which they had more than double the offensive yardage of their opponents (409-166) and up until their game winning drive, Oakland had less than 100 yards of offense.
 
Field goals were the order of the day for the first three quarters, as the Raiders led 6-3. Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 54 yarder. The Chiefs had a chance to end the first half with a field goal, but mismanaged the clock and couldn’t get out of bounds on a passing play as time expired. Matt Cassel on his Chiefs debut threw 2 interceptions (both to Michael Huff) before with less than 5 minutes to play Cassel found Dwayne Bowe in the corner of the endzone with a fantastic throw. Nnamdi Asomougha had left the game with an injury and his replacement Stanford Routt was beaten by Bowe. With how Russell had played up to this point, Raider Nation was understandably crestfallen, but Russell took just 91 seconds to lead Oakland 69 yards for the game winner, completing a key 3rd and 15 play with a 28 yard pass to Todd Watkins before Darren McFadden rushed for the 5 yard game winning touchdown. I still think Russell is a liability but Oakland look a much improved outfit this season, and if the Chargers sputter they may have enough to be competitive in a weak division.
 
Patriots 9 Jets 16
 
Before Gamepass screwed up again, I was getting really into what was a great battle for field position. The grizzled clutch veteran on one side, and the rookie making his first home appearance on the other. The Jets talked a lot of fairly cringeworthy smack in the build up. I’ve always been a believer that if you need to talk about what you’re going to do, then you’re not particularly confident that you’re going to achieve it. If I’m confident I’m going to achieve, I don’t need to talk about what I’m going to do. I’ll just go out and do it. This time though, the Jets backed up their talk with an excellent defensive performance and a huge victory to take them to 2-0 and the summit of the AFC East at this early stage.
 
New York got nothing going on offense early on, but defensively did a nice job of containing Tom Brady and the New England offense despite not sacking him at all. Pressure came from all sides, and Brady still looks a little jumpy in the pocket. Brady somehow managed to get himself called for delay of game twice on consecutive plays. I always consider Eli Manning to be the king of delay of game penalties but Brady is making a run at the crown. New England led 9-3 going into the second half, but the Jets took the lead on a Dustin Keller touchdown pass in the third quarter. Jay Feely added two field goals, and that was enough. Brady, who completed less than half of his passes (23/47) just couldn’t get anything going, and when Kerry Rhodes broke up a Tom Brady pass on 4th and 10, the Jets ran out the clock to take the early lead in the division.
 
Saints 48 Eagles 22
 
Things began well for Kevin Kolb in his first NFL start. Kolb threw a 71 yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson to tie the score at 7 after Drew Brees took the Saints down the field on their opening possession and hit Marques Colston in the endzone. After that the Eagles got sloppy in all phases of the game and allowed Brees to pick them apart. Kolb missed Jackson wide open on third down at the end of the half, and Brees to Colston for the second time gave New Orleans a 4 point lead at the half on the resultant Saints possession. Ellis Hobbs fumbled the kickoff to begin the second half, and Heath Evans caught a pass down the sideline to make it a two score game. Kolb then threw a bad interception, and Mike Bell scored on the resultant drive. A potential 10-10 scoreline to end the first half became a 31-13 Saints lead less than 4 minutes into the second half. On a side note, the Eagles had a lot of success running the wildcat with Jackson and Brian Westbrook. It’ll be interesting to see how that develops with Michael Vick activated next week against the Chiefs.
 
Kolb overall had a good game for Philadelphia, but his teammates didn’t help him out and New Orleans completely dominated. Drew Brees put in a marvellous performance on the road in a hostile environment. I commented last week that Brees doesn’t do a great job away from the Dome, but if Sunday was any indication of things to come, then Brees is the easy early frontrunner for MVP even in Week 2. New Orleans defense continues to be impressive and underrated much like the Bengals defense was last year. The Saints are dangerous.
 
Texans 34 Titans 31
 
Houston have made failing to stop the run into an art form. They were a really sexy pick to make the playoffs (that I nearly fell for, but did have them at 9-7) in the offseason. However, if they don’t figure out how to tackle a ball carrier, they’ve no chance. Houston host Jacksonville next week, so get Diner friend Maurice Jones-Drew into all your fantasy teams. Of all the games predicted to be a potential shootout, this was very low on the list, but that’s what it became. Matt Schaub threw 4 touchdown passes and had a great game despite no help from his running game (Slaton 17 carries for 34 yards) as the offensive line once again looked shoddy again.
 
This was not a great advert for defense as Chris Johnson scored on three humungous plays, including a 91 yard touchdown run. On the other side, Tennessee didn’t bother to cover Andre Johnson who torched them for 149 yards including a 72 yard touchdown to go with his more sensible 19 yard TD catch. Tennessee did have a 21-7 lead at one point, but their defense went all Keystone Cops and allowed Houston to score 17 points in 4 and a half second quarter minutes. The defense in this game defied all logic by giving up points by the bucket load early, and then holding firm for the last 24 minutes, with just the game winning field goal by Kris Brown coming after 62 points had been scored with 6 minutes gone in the third quarter.
 
Rams 7 Redskins 9
 
St Louis are on pace to score 56 points this season. Or to put it another way, the Saints have scored more touchdowns than the Rams have points this season. Or to put it yet another way, Antwan Odom has the same amount of sacks as St Louis has points scored. Either way the Rams despite their ineptitude ran Washington close on Sunday at FedExField and even led 7-6 at the half. Bulger with a fade pass to Laurent Robinson in the left corner of the endzone gave them a one point lead after two Shaun Suisham field goals. Suisham eventually added what turned out to be the game winner in the 3rd quarter. A huge fumble by Donnie Avery down at the Redskins 5 yard line took any chance of a comeback away. Washington tried to ice the game down at the St Louis goalline with 2 minutes remaining but Clinton Portis lost yards on a 4th and 1. It ultimately left St Louis with over 95 yards to go which was too much to ask.
 
Actually it was 95 yards too much to ask was as Bulger threw 4 straight incompletions. Washington somehow came out of five redzone trips with just 9 points in a sloppy game. Washington have to improve offensively if they have any chance in the competitive NFC East.
 
Buccaneers 20 Bills 33
 
After looking like absolute certainties for the postseason last year while sitting 9-3, the Bucs have now lost 6 games in a row, and are clearly in rebuilding mode. While both teams fired their offensive co-ordinators during the preseason, Buffalo at least are attempting to look like they’re trying to win right now. Tamps Bay are in full rebuild, and while it’s clearly the right way to go, this is going to be a long year for their fans.
 
Byron Leftwich frustrates me. He seems to have all the tools to be a good quarterback, and that throw on the touchdown pass to Kellen Winslow was a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, he makes some horrendous mistakes that set him and his team back far too much. Leftwich had a reasonable line on Sunday (26/50, 296 yds 3TD 2INT) but he is almost guaranteed to make a few horrible throws a game. His INT thrown the way of Donte Whitner while he was falling down was very poor. Leftwich did get a lot of junk yards when the game was over to save his line. Buffalo were out to an early 17-0 lead, so Tampa had to rely on Leftwich and abandon the run early, which is a recipe for disaster.
 
Terrell Owens had his first TD as a Bill when Trent Edwards hit him for a 42 yard score in the 4th quarter. Considering Trent Edwards started the game 4/11, his final line of 21/31 230 yds 2TD 1INT was fantastic. His one pick was a horrible throw that set up an easy score for the Bucs, but other than that I thought he was brilliant. Fred Jackson continues to make a push for keeping the starters job even when Marshawn Lynch comes back. 28 carries for 163 yards is a great effort.
 
Seahawks 10 49ers 23
 
Frank Gore is my new fantasy football enemy. Only a receiving touchdown against Arizona last week saved my NFLUK fantasy team as he had a laughable 30 yards on 22 carries. So naturally I stupidly dropped him this week, and he went berserk on Seattle. Gore was good for 39 fantasy points. My entire team scored 54 points this week. More fool me. When Gore is running like that, the vastly underrated Shaun Hill has an easier time of things. Hill was his usual solid if unspectacular self (19/26 144 yds) and is now 9-3 as a starter. He eyeballs his receivers, lacks the arm strength and throws too many times off his back foot. But isn’t it all about winning? Hill might not lead the glorious comeback down a couple of scores in the 4th quarter, but he rarely if ever puts his team in a tough situation. Hill has only thrown 9 interceptions in his 12 career starts.
 
On the other side, Seattle need Matt Hasselbeck healthy as they cannot win with Seneca Wallace. Hasselbeck got roughed up on a scramble in the second quarter and left with a rib injury. Seattle did score their lone touchdown with Wallace at quarterback, but he did take over on the one yard line after the injury. San Francisco led 13-10 after a first half highlighted by Gore’s 79 yard touchdown run, and it wasn’t long before he was doing it again. On the first play of the second half, Gore ran 80 yards for his second score of the day. The game was over by then as Seattle got very little going offensively. Joe Nedney added a late field goal to give San Francisco sole possession of the NFC West lead. With a win over two divisional opponents in the opening two weeks, the Niners are setting the pace in a division that could be won with a 9-7 record.
 
Steelers 14 Bears 17
 
I cannot remember seeing anyone look so crestfallen on the sideline as Jeff Reed was after Robbie Gould kicked the game winner for the Bears. Reed missed two field goals from relatively comfortable distances for him (38, 43) and it came back to haunt the champions who lost for the first time since Tennessee stomped them in Week 16 last year. Big Ben had another good game, but Pittsburgh’s awful running game is putting too much pressure on him. Right now Mewelde Moore is their most useful running back due to the fact he can actually catch the ball out of the backfield.
 
Jay Cutler looked much better this week for Chicago. Last week was a disaster and he copped some heavy criticism, but he bounced back well against the best defense in football to get his first win as a Bear. Rookie Johnny Knox is looking like Cutler’s early go to guy despite many including me thinking he’d fall in love with Greg Olsen. Knox had 6 catches for 70 yards and he’s doing a great job of getting open all over the field.
 
Pittsburgh were leading 14-7 when Reed missed his first field goal, and the Bears took full advantage, going down the field and Cutler hit Knox for a 7 yard score. Reed missed again on Pittsburgh’s next drive, and with decent field position, Cutler showed the poise he lacked last week and took his team down the field to set up Robbie Gould. Gould succeeded where Reed failed.
 
Browns 6 Broncos 27
 
Denver put together a really impressive 16 play drive to end the first half, but on the 17th play Matt Prater missed a 39 yard field goal. Luckily, the Cleveland Browns are inept so it didn’t come close to costing them. I was a big fan of Brady Quinn coming out of Notre Dame, and I thought he did a good job last year before he broke his finger. People pointed to his quarterback rating and such, but before he got injured he played very well. When he played through the pain, he ruined his stats, and people who didn’t watch the games jumped all over him. This year however he looks anything like the franchise quarterback he is supposed to be. I don’t know what is wrong with him, but if he doesn’t get it right soon, Derek Anderson will be back in.
 
Kyle Orton is still Kyle Orton, but Cleveland are as bad at stopping the run as they are at playing offense. Correll Buckhalter (9 carries, 76 yards) and Knowshon Moreno (17, 75) ran all over the Browns.
 
Orton to Scheffler was the lone TD of the first half, and Denver confirmed their dominance in the 4th quarter when two rushing touchdowns by Peyton Hills and Buckhalter gave Denver a three touchdown lead they were value for. I’m still not convinced by Denver, but if they can win in Oakland on Sunday, then it’s time for me and others to stop writing them off and actually take them seriously.
 
Ravens 31 Chargers 26
 
San Diego didn’t nearly look as shambolic as they did in squeaking past Oakland, but they weren’t good enough to put away a Baltimore team who look much better offensively this year. Without Rex Ryan their defense may have taken a step back, but they’re still one of the more formidable stop units in the NFL. Haloti Ngata somehow remains the most underrated player in the league, and Domonique Foxworth has looked tremendous in their system through two weeks. However the defense looked shambolic allowing Darrren Sproles to score on an 81 yard catch and run. Willis MacGahee, who had a scary injury near the end of the AFC Championship game in January, scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half to give Baltimore the initiative.
 
San Diego were terrible in the redzone and wasted three great opportunities in the early stages where they had to settle for short field goals of 29, 22 and 23 yards. They were punished when Kelley Washington scored on a 29 yard reception after Antoine Cason fell for the fake screen and left Washington wide open over the top. Baltimore held a 28-16 lead when Phillip Rivers decided to ignore the redzone altogether by throwing a beautiful 35 yard pass to Vincent Jackson at the back of the endzone over three defenders. Jackson had 6 catches for 141 yards on the day. Flacco threw an interception when Shawn Merriman hit him despite being obviously offside on the play, but San Diego yet again could only score a field goal of less than 30 yards after failing again inside the 20. The referees failed again when they missed an obvious pass interference call on a pass to Chris Chambers. The ball was tipped and intercepted by Barnes. Later, when San Diego got the ball down by 5, Legadu Naanee made the catch on second down and danced around unnecessarily before being tackled shy of the first down. Two plays later on 4th and 2 Darren Sproles was destroyed in the backfield by Ray Lewis to end the game.
 
Giants 33 Cowboys 31
 
Dallas and New York marked the official opening of Jerry Jones’ new theme park with a rollercoaster NFC East showdown attended by an NFL record 105,121 fans. After a good drive culminated in a Marion Barber touchdown run, Tony Romo threw a horrible pick six on their next possession to undrafted free agent Bruce Johnson. On the kick off, Felix Jones dropped the ball and the Giants recovered but could only turn the chance into three points. If Romo’s first pick was horrible, the second one was completely bizarre. The throw was well behind Jason Witten, but it hit his hand, bounced back up off his heel, and right into the hands of Kenny Phillips who caught the ball pretty much by accident. Mario Manningham’s rookie season was pretty much a wash, but last week against the Skins he had a nice game. Sunday night against Dallas he was marvellous, catching 10 passes for 150 yards and a 22 yard touchdown juggle and catch to give New York a 20-17 lead. Manningham’s partner in crime Steve Smith had 10 catches for 134 yards. Both of them had more receiving yards than Tony Romo mustered passing yards in the entire game.
 
Romo gave Dallas the lead in the 3rd with a touchdown run before a wild 4th quarter saw Steve Smith get his touchdown early before Lawrence Tynes pushed the lead to 6. Tony Romo had his best drive of the day to give Dallas a 1 point lead as Felix Jones went in from 7 yards. Eli Manning has developed into one of the best clutch passers in football, and he led his team calmly and methodically down the field to set up the Pride of Scotland Lawrence Tynes from 37 yards to win it. Wade Phillips almost became the first coach in NFL history to ice the kicker too late, but Tynes held his cool to nail down the victory.
 
Eli Manning threw his 100th touchdown pass in the contest, as he and Peyton became the first brothers in NFL history to throw at least 100 TD passes each.
 
Colts 27 Dolphins 23
 
Jon Gruden nailed it in commentary. Why are Miami biting on the play action on the very first play of the game against a team who struggle to run the ball? Monday Night Football started with a bang as Peyton Manning hit Dallas Clark for an 80 yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Miami are really the only team in the game you can say mix up the THREE stages of offense well on a drive (pass, run, wildcat) and they did it in reply to the early score when Ronnie Brown took a wild cat direct snap 14 yards for the touchdown. Incidentally, I’ve loved Jon Gruden in the MNF booth, but it’s amazing how over excited he gets about the wildcat. I was worried he might spontaneously combust when Pat White came into the game. Everyone knows the book on Chad Pennington’s passing skills and his inability to go deep or sling one in there, but he remains effective due to his accuracy, decision making and the Dolphins ability to sustain a drive.
 
Miami’s offense is fascinating to watch, and their first play of the second quarter was a thing of beauty on 3rd and 2. Three receiver set with Ricky Williams in the slot and Ronnie Brown lining up almost as a full back would in the I-strong formation. Williams comes in motion, the defense has to respect the sweep and the hand off goes quickly to Brown who takes it inside and out for an 18 yard gain. Miami would have scored a touchdown on this drive if Antony Fasano and Ted Ginn didn’t drop difficult – but certainly catchable – chances in the endzone. They had to settle for a field goal. Miami added another field goal before half time to make it 13-10.
 
The Colts trailed 23-20 with less than 5 minutes to go when Peyton Manning led another 4th quarter touchdown pass that culminated in a 48 yard catch and run by Pierre Garcon. Ted Ginn dropped another pass in the endzone and their fate was sealed as time expired when Antoine Bethea picked off Chad Pennington in the endzone. Miami did a lot of good things but despite completely dominating time of possession (45.07 – 14.53) and rushing for 239 yards, Indianapolis did what they always do and found a way to win the game.