Week 1 of the NFL is officially in the history books and as
usual, the NFL did not disappoint in its ability to provide drama, surprises,
rookies doing well and rookies doing…well, just down right terrible.
There’s a lot that could be covered about every team in the
league here but I’ve decided to introduce a new feature of this blog, and that is (*drumroll please*)…
Calisportsdiva’s Top 10 NFL Afterthoughts of the Week
10. The Rams almost beat the Lions in Detroit. I know no one
else is talking about the Rams and if you thought I wouldn’t find a way to work
the Rams into my top 10, you don’t know me very well. I had a lot of hopes and
expectations for the Rams going into week 1. Sam Bradford looked a lot better
in pre-season, Jeff Fisher is a veteran coach with a lot of experience, the
Rams defense is much improved (and after this week – I know, it’s week 1 – I’d
say their defense is pretty darn good in comparison to some other teams *cough*
New Orleans *cough *Bengals* cough*). But I think most Rams fans didn’t expect the
Rams to be able to beat the Lions on the road, and they kept it close and made
it a very close game. Does that mean the Rams are playoff caliber? Not saying
that. But don’t expect the same old Rams this season. They proved in this game
that they have the drive to fight for the win, and for this Rams fan, that’s a
MAJOR improvement over last season.
9. Buffalo, oh no. We all waited in anticipation to see how
the Jets Sanchez-Tebow circus would perform in week 1. The answer? A 48-28 absolute
pounding by the NY Jets. Sanchez made the Buffalo defense look like a piece of
swiss cheese there were so many holes. Didn’t help Buffalo that Fred Jackson
went out early in the game due to injury (didn’t help my fantasy team either
*sigh*) and Fitzpatrick threw as many interceptions as TD’s. I said in my NFL
predictions that I expected Buffalo to be better (so far, not seeing it) and
that the Jets can win a wild card spot. If the Jets keep up performances like
this, wild card for sure. But let’s see how they perform against a top ranked
defense, like Baltimore.
8. Speaking of Baltimore, I know I picked them to win their
division (with really no contest) but wow, what complete annihilation of the
Bengals . Not that I expected the Bengals to be stellar but I at least liked
their offensive options. It looks like Dalton and co. have a bit to work on
still. But you can’t discount that Baltimore defense. What is it about the
Harbaugh brothers and their defenses? After week 1, I’m definitely interested
in seeing a Niners-Ravens re-match.
7. I think most people expected Green Bay to win at home
against San Francisco. We knew the Niners defense was tough. But we also knew,
or at least thought, that Aaron Rodgers could out battle Alex Smith. How about
this for a stat? I’m in 3 fantasy football leagues. Depending on how the points
are laid out in the league, Alex Smith had more fantasy points than ALL of my starting
QB’s. Who are, as follows: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford. Yep. That’s
insane. But that’s the NFL for you. Have to give it to the Niners though – they
were absolutely stellar. I had a glimmer of hope that the Rams might be able to
beat them at home but now…yikes. Not so sure about that. Watch out for the
Niners this season. They can still taste that NFC Championship loss against the
Giants, and if they play their cards right, they may be right back at that
championship come this January.
6. Not so lucky. Andrew Luck, that is. He wasn’t lucky from
the start, having his debut NFL performance against the Bears. If I could pick
5 defenses I wouldn’t want to face my first NFL appearance they would be
(historically speaking): Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, San Francisco, and
Oakland. I don’t think anyone expected the Colts to win this game – they are
rebuilding with a rookie QB and Chicago’s looking pretty solid as long as
Cutler can stay healthy. We’ll have to see how Luck does going forward.
Fortunately for him, the AFC South is not exactly a super tough division right
now. The Colts can realistically beat Tennessee and Jacksonville, and they get
to play them twice.
5. Matt Ryan is a baller. I picked Atlanta to win their
division and if anyone had any doubts about that, see the Falcons-Chiefs game.
Okay, sure, it’s Kansas City, who has been in recent years, a .500 team at
best. However, you got to give props to Ryan for his 3 passing TD’s plus
rushing for a TD. Matt Ryan and Julio Jones fantasy team owners rejoice,
Michael Turner fans cry. Matt Cassel didn’t have a terrible day (he was one of
the few QB’s who didn’t throw an interception) but against an explosive
offensive team like Atlanta, they needed to be better. The Falcons are a good
team. NFC, take note.
4. Battle of the QB’s vs the rookie. Skelton or Kolb? Who is
Russell Wilson? Yes, I’m talking about the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle
Seahawks. This year, it seems to be the year of the rookie QB’s. So how did
Russell Wilson do…eh, well…you know…not all that bad. He did okay. But not good
enough to win the game, even after Skelton left due to injury and Kolb took
over to close out the win. As if there wasn’t enough drama in Arizona over
their QB situation. Arizona hasn’t had a solid answer at QB since Kurt Warner
retired. So we’ll see is it’s Kolb or Skelton next week. Either way, not super
impressed by either Seattle or Arizona this week. Feels good as a Rams fan,
because it gives me hope that the Rams can actually beat these teams. We’ll
see.
3. How ‘bout them Cowboys? Maybe the Cowboys read my NFL
predictions blog. Because I was mighty down on them. I couldn’t help it. In the
past few years it seemed like they had made all of the right moves for this
elite team and just…fell flat. Maybe everyone being down on them it what they
needed to get their act together. The Giants certainly weren’t expecting it.
Oh, and who the hell is Ogletree? Probably the most requested WR off the
waivers on fantasy this week. Whether he’s Romo’s new fav or just a fluke is
yet to be seen but the overall point is this: the Cowboys are ready to fight.
Eli “you can’t spell elite without eli” Manning better take note. The Giants
are going to have to fight hard against the Cowboys for this division win.
2. RGIII. Of all of the rookie QB’s, RGIII certainly enjoyed
the best week 1 performance. RGIII threw for 320 passing yards and 2 TD’s. Impressive? Yes. Against a New Orleans defense
that is subpar due to the sanctions played against them due to bounty gate, no
Sean Payton and not a whole lot of changes to the defense in the off season? It’s
a good performance. Before you Redskins fans get crazy excited, just remember
that Cam Newton threw for 400+ in his rookie debut, and he hasn’t taken
Carolina to the playoffs yet. Don’t get cute. We’ll see how RGIII does against
the Rams D next week. I may be at the game – cheering loudly for my Rams.
1. Peyton’s Back. Come on, how can Peyton’s comeback on SNF
not be #1? It wasn’t the best performance ever by Peyton but the overall
dynamic was clear: Peyton is back and ready to roll. As soon as John Fox gave
Peyton the go ahead to run a no huddle offense? You saw classic Peyton. How
many different receivers/tight ends did he throw to? Peyton wasn’t at 300+
yards and 3 TD’s, but he did what Denver needed to do to get this win. And the
Steelers? I said this in my NFL predictions: their defense isn’t as scary as it
used to be. Peyton is familiar with the Steeler D and there were times where it
just looked like Peyton was having fun with Polamalu – teasing him. For a fan
of Peyton, it was nice to see him back in his element. I wish it was in a Colts
uniform but I wish him success. I’m not going to jump on the Broncos bandwagon
but I will support Peyton.
So that wraps up the big stories of week 1 of the NFL. Hope
to bring some live game perspective of the Rams next week. Until then, go baseball
Cardinals!
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