RSSThe More They Stay the Same (AFC)
Sep 09
Sports Football, NFL Comments Off
Week 1
1. Indianapolis Colts
Did anything about Thursday night’s win over the New Orleans Saints convince you that Colts aren’t repeat favorites to at least make it to the AFC Championship game? Most of their major players on offense, Reggie Wayne, Joseph Addai and the inestimable Marvin Harrison, are back again this year. Peyton Manning looked sharp, throwing 288 yards and three touchdown passes. Hey, they even let Adam Vinatieri kick two 33 yard field goals for good measure.
The big difference this year is the Colts defense played remarkably. In the Saints post-game interviews, both coach and players accounted for their lack of productivity by calling it rust and distractions. But give credit to the Colts defense for stiffening the line, particularly on third down. The Colts recorded two interceptions, one for an 83 yard touchdown and held the Saints to 293 yards and just two scoring drives.
The Colts will dominate another season.
2. New England Patriots
My buddy said it best, “Coach Belichick loves to shove it down the Jets’ throat.”
Everyone was worried about the New England defense, which lost two key players this week (Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour; 4-game suspension for drug policy violation and minimum 6-games on the physically-unable-to-perform list respectively.) But the truth was much simpler, defense can be average if your offense is stellar.
Much was made of the improvements to the offense of the New England Patriots. Wide receiver Randy Moss was the big one (a steal in exchange for a fourth-round draft choice) but New England also sealed wide receiver Wes Welker with a 5-year contract and added tight end Kyle Brady and running back Sammy Morris and all four had an impact in Sunday’s game against the Jets.
The performance by Moss was a return to form from his Minnesota days (let’s face it, he’s going to bury his time as an Oakland Raider faster than Fox buried The Loop) 9 receptions for 183 yards, 1 touchdown. But in classic Pats fashion, Brady distributed the ball to 8 different receivers and the Pats gave running back Laurence Maroney a bigger role since Corey Dillon retired.
The Pats made a convincing case for a Super Bowl run, but this was the Jets. The game against the San Diego Chargers will be more of a challenge.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are out to prove that last year was just a turn of bad luck. That, and they can dominate the AFC North without coach Bill Cowher, who is in the studio this year for CBS.
Like the Pats, this game was against a division rival, and the Steelers expected to burn them. The Browns, let’s face it, started Derek Anderson under center (refusing to give in to the pressure and start rookie Brady Quinn) and have an almost no-name rushing core. (In case you missed it, they signed running back Jamal Lewis in the offseason, whose offense production has been pretty consistent over the years.)
But the story wasn’t the Browns failure but whether the Steelers could return to the dominance of their Super Bowl season. They pounded the ball down the Browns’ throat and Roethlisberger threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers. The Steelers dominated every statistical category except…turnovers.
Pittsburgh was handed a dream schedule by the NFL. Here are the next four games: Buffalo, San Francisco, at Arizona, Seattle. If the Steelers are for real, this is an easy 4-0 start.
Notes from the Cheap Seats
San Diego was one of the teams that showed some legitimate rust in the first half of their win against the Chicago Bears. The Chargers looked fast asleep until half time, but fortunately for them, Rex Grossman pulled a Rex Grossman yesterday, was an abysmal 12-23 for 145 yards and 1 interception. That gave the Chargers ample opportunity to shake off the drowsiness and charge back to a 14-3 win, scoring both touchdowns in the second half.
Quarterback Philip Rivers looked like a rookie (this is his second season as a starter) for most of the first half, and seemed flustered by the Bears and the refs. In the end, Ladainian Tomlinson led the charge. He had 25 rushing yards on 17 carries, 7 receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown pass to Antonio Gates. Sure it doesn’t sound great, but it was clearly all the spark the Chargers need to wake up.
Neither the Denver Broncos nor the Buffalo Bills looked sharp in their first game of the season. The Broncos outscored the Bills by 1 point, and most of their offensive productivity was the result of Jason Elam field goals. Elam is a veteran kicker with 14 seasons under his belt. But what does it say about your team when your best player is a kicker?
Jay Cutler was average, and his receiving team (which includes ex-Colt Brandon Stokley) was okay. But the only real offensive threat was Travis Henry (most recently of Tennessee by way of Buffalo.) I don’t feel great about the Broncos, which has pretty much been the case since Elway retired. Okay, I know it’s stupid to pin all their hopes on a quarterback that hasn’t played in ten years, but the Broncos in that entire span have looked completely flat, even in the 2005 playoffs.
Is it time to cheer for the Buffalo Bills? I’m not convinced. I really wanted the Bills to play with a little more inspiration, but their offense just looked limp. Their defensive unit put on a good show, keeping the Broncos scoring to all field goals but one. And considering how the Broncos offensive production was stirring compared to the Bills offensive (470 total yard to Buffalo’s 184,) it’s amazing the game was as close as it was. But the Bills lost three, three!, defensive starters in the game: Ko Simpson, Jason Webster, and Coy Wire (broken ankle, broken forearm, sprained knee respectively.)
The Bills look to stew in mediocrity for another season, which is tough to do in the AFC East. You know the Pats are going to dominate, but it’s a three-way tie for second because none of the other teams (including Miami and NY Jets) look good. Again.
