With the 2006 NFL Season underway – it’s time to bring back the good, bad and ugly news and notes from the NFL. So without further hesitation, let’s take a look at the notes from Week 1.
The Good
There were so many excellent performances in Week 1 that it was difficult to come up with one.
With the opening of a new stadium out in the desert, the goodness points directly at the Arizona Cardinals. The stadium is gorgeous and it looked spectacular and so did the players.
Giving it up to both QB Kurt Warner and WR Larry Fitzgerald. Warner put up 301 yards and 3 TD passes while Fitzgerald hauled in 9 catches for 133 yards receiving in a 34-27 win over the 49ers. What a way to open up the new stadium! Now that the 49ers are out of the way, let’s see if they can take it to last year’s division champion Seattle Seahawks. One thing is for sure, the Cards will be fun to watch this year.
The Bad
Daunte, Daunte, Daunte. Hard to put a guy who has come back from reconstructive knee surgery to repair all three ligaments in his right knee on the bad list, but Culpepper’s play late in the game cost the Dolphins the win against the Steelers to open the 2006 season on Thursday night.
Culpepper, who tore his anterior cruciate, medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments in a loss at Carolina last season, threw 2 critical INTs late in the game and his second was returned for a Steelers TD by linebacker Joey Porter.
Props to Daunte for getting back on the field, but he certainly has a long way to go before he returns to the Pro Bowl type player he was in Minnesota.
The Ugly
3 Opening day shutouts!
For the first time in 15 years there were 3 shutouts in one weekend – it just happened to be opening weekend! The three teams all representing bay areas, lost at home. Must be something in the water! The Bears beat Green Bay, the Ravens beat Tampa Bay and the Chargers defeated Oakland Bay. The Packers, Buccaneers and Raiders offensive futility earn them the honor of ugly teams for Week 1.
Those 3 losing teams are staring 0-2 in the face. The Bucs have to go on the road to play an Atlanta Falcons team that took out Carolina convincingly. The Raiders go on the road to face the Baltimore Ravens, who were responsible for the Tampa Bay shutout, and the Packers will be hosting a much improved New Orleans Saints team which won on the road in Cleveland.
The bad thing is that the Packers, Raiders and Buccaneers combined for an anemic 538 total offensive yards between the three teams. Ouch!
