NFL Week 1 Recap – the Good, Bad & Ugly
Yes, the Week 1 Recap is a little late this week, but better late than never, right?
Week 1 had plenty to talk about; big plays, NFL firsts, upsets, season-ending injuries, an “I told you so” and a partridge in a pear tree. Besides QB Brett Favre becoming a game manager in purple, RB Adrian Peterson showed why the Vikings will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
QB Tony Romo threw for a career best 353 yards and three TDs. So much for needing T.O. The Eagles find themselves in a familiar situation, as QB Donovan McNabb gets injured, AGAIN! The Bears lost their defensive field general, Brian Urlacher, for the season and rookie QB Mark Sanchez helps the Jets pull an upset by beating the Texans on the road.
The Good: Part 1
Saints QB Drew Brees became the first QB to throw for six TD passes on NFL opening weekend. Sure he did it against the Lions, but anytime your QB tosses six touchdown passes – that is a beautiful thing.
The Good: Part 2
No way I could not place RB Adrian Peterson (198 total yards, 3 TDs) in this week’s “Good” section. AP sealed the Vikings victory with a 64 yard TD run in which he shoved a couple Browns defenders out of the way. Not only did that run show Peterson’s speed, it showed his strength and determination. If he stays healthy, the Vikings will be tough to beat.
The Bad
Losing a football game is bad enough, but losing in the final minutes of the game is atrocious! (I don’t usually use big words, my wife, Tricia gave me atrocious.) There were five games that were lost in the final minutes, but none stranger than the Bengals giving up an 87-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds. Broncos WR Brandon Stokley caught a deflected pass and ran it in for an 87-yard touchdown with only 11 seconds remaining. This happened just after the Bengals had scored the go ahead touchdown seconds earlier.
The Ugly
There is a growing pandemic in the NFL, Interceptionitis. QBs Jay Cutler and Jake Delhomme threw four interceptions each, while rookie QB Matthew Stafford threw three INTs, while five other QBs threw for two a piece. All in all, quarterbacks threw 34 interceptions during Week 1 games in the NFL.
Come back next week for another edition of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
Polamalu Down, Fitzgerald Next?
The 2009 season got underway tonight in Pittsburgh, where the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Tennessee Titans. What a way to kick-off the season with the Steelers getting a win in overtime, 13-10. Unfortunately, although they won the game, the Steelers might have lost.
With about three minutes left in the first half of the season opener, Titans TE Alge Crumpler fell on Steelers All-Pro Safety Troy Polamalu’s left knee when Polamalu was trying to scoop up a blocked field goal attempt.
After the game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that it appeared to be a sprained MCL and that an injury like this could sideline a player anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks. When asked if the injury could be worse, Tomlin said,
“I’m sure there’s a possibility of it, but I don’t have any concrete evidence that there is anything more than that.”
Do you believe in the Madden Curse?
Here we go again!
Every year, a player gets selected to appear on the cover of the popular EA Sports game Madden NFL Football. This year, on the cover of Madden 10, EA Sports wanted to shake things up by putting not one, but two players on the cover. That’s right, you guessed it, Troy Polamalu is one of them. The other?
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
What must be going through Fitzgerald’s mind right now. Fitzgerald is entering his 6th season in the NFL, and he has only missed 4 games due to injury in his previous 5 years. I do not wish harm on any player in the NFL, but if Fitzgerald was to get hurt and miss a significant amount of playing time, could one not argue that it was due to his appearance on the cover of Madden 10? I guarantee you, the folks at EA Sports are hoping Larry Fitgerald gets through the season without incident. Although he would not admit it, I bet Larry is hoping for the same thing.
This is all speculation, of course, as we do not know the extent of Polamalu’s injury. However, I think EA Sports is going to be hard pressed to get players to grace the covers of their game in years to come.
Clearly The Raiders Need Help
Last week, the Oakland Raiders demonstrated to the football world that they need help.
No, not help on the football field, but help in the front office and, to an extent, as an organization as a whole. The NFL needs to take over the organization and force the once great Al Davis OUT of the league!
Or, as Jeff says, at least the league can place the Raiders under conservatorship.
I, along with the rest of the NFL world, am trying to find the reason behind the Oakland Raiders trading away a first round draft pick for a DE that is near the end of his career. What are the benefits of Richard Seymour of the Patriots? It’s not like he is the missing piece of the puzzle to get the Raiders to the Super Bowl. Seymour represents one piece to a puzzle that has about 15 pieces missing.
As of this writing, Seymour has yet to report to the Raiders. Can’t say I blame the poor guy. Who would want to go from a team that has a legitimate shot of going to the Super Bowl, to a team that has a legitimate shot of winning 6 games. The Raiders have done something right, however. They sent Seymour a letter today giving him five days to report to the team. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, league sources told him that Seymour has five days to report to the team or be suspended.
Al Davis is in the hall of fame, and for that he should be allowed to gracefully step aside from the Raiders organization. The fact of the matter is, he is a proud man that has allowed the game of football to pass him by. He is hanging on to a part of the game that no longer exists. He hires and fires coaches like most teams hire and fire ball boys. His team is in financial trouble, mostly because he has spent money poorly and on the wrong players, and his team has not posted more than 5 wins since the 2002 season when they lost to the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. That’s six seasons with five or less wins.
The Raiders need help and the league must step in soon and give it to them.
Chad Ochocinco’s Plan B
According to NFL PR, the following was sent to all 32 teams:
The NFL informed clubs today that coaches, players and football operations personnel are permitted under league policy and with club permission to use social media on game day during specific time periods before and after games.
League policy allows for the use of social media or networking sites (including Twitter and Facebook) by players, coaches and football operations personnel up to 90 minutes before kickoff and after the game following media interviews. The use of these sites by these individuals is not permitted during the game, including halftime. No updates are permitted to be posted by the individual himself or anyone representing him during this prohibited time on his personal Twitter, Facebook or any other social media account.
So that means there will be no posting on social media/networking sites during games, much to the chagrin of some NFL players, including Cincinnati Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco.
During Episode 5.18, Jeff and I joked that the over/under for Chad Ochocinco getting a fine for tweeting during a game would be the 1st half of the Bengals Week 1 game versus the Denver Broncos. Upon reading the NFL’s social media policy, Ochocinco tweeted the following:
Well there won’t be any tweeting during the game, o well, plan B: anybody have info on how to get in touch with a Mariachi Band?
To which we responded with the following:
Ochocinco taking the news better than we 1st thought.
And that elicited a personal response from Chad himself!
@NFLRandR Mariachi Band Plan is in full effect now, piñata , sombrero and ponchos, viva Mexico!!!!!!!!!!!
In a time when the NFL is turning into the No Fun League, it’s fun to see that some players can still have fun playing the game we love to watch. I will eagerly watch the Bengals games in hopes of catching a glimpse of a sombrero donning, mariachi band dancing Ochocinco.
That is, of course, until the NFL issues a “No mariachi band on the sidelines policy”!
NFLRandR Gets Twitter Shout Out From Warren Sapp
Warren Sapp at qbkilla.com
The QBKilla, Warren Sapp, gave us a shout out earlier today, posting @NFLRandR as one of his Follow Friday names for the day. Check out the tweet here. http://u.nu/2pk33
Also, make sure to check out the future Hall Of Famer’s website at http://qbkilla.com.
NFL Addresses Cowboys Video Screen
It looks like Jerry Jones will not have to move the video screen at Cowboys Stadium.
Yet.
The following is the news statement released by the NFL regarding the video screen at Cowboys Stadium.
Video Screen at Cowboys Stadium taken before preseason game vs Titans.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8/28/09
Commissioner ROGER GOODELL notified NFL clubs of a change in rules for the 2009 season relating to the video board over the field at the new Cowboys Stadium but that will also potentially apply in other situations.
After consulting with the Competition Committee and NFL staff, the commissioner said the following will be in effect for all remaining preseason, regular season, and postseason games of the 2009 season:
1. If a ball in play strikes a video board, guide wire, sky cam, or any other object, the ball will be dead immediately, and the down will be replayed at the previous spot.
2. If there is not an on-field ruling that the ball struck an object, the Replay Assistant is empowered to initiate a booth review, including if the event occurs prior to the two-minute warning. If, prior to the two-minute warning, no booth review is initiated by the Replay Assistant, a coach’s challenge is permitted under the customary procedures for such a challenge.
3. In the event the down is replayed:
(a) The game clock will be reset to the time remaining when the snap occurred.
(b) All penalties will be disregarded, except for personal fouls which will be administered prior to replaying the down.
Rule 3, Section 1 of the Official NFL Playing Rules provides for an official ruling to be implemented “in the interim between the annual rules meeting” that is “official only during the current season.” This Official Ruling expires at the conclusion of the 2009 postseason.
“We will continue to address the particular circumstances in Dallas, giving full consideration to the competitive, safety and fan experience issues involved,” Commissioner Goodell said. “The Cowboys have been fully cooperative as we have addressed this subject, and we will continue to work closely with the club on a longer term resolution.”
