NFL Week 2 Game Notes

Bengals over Ravens 

Adam: -This game was just as it should have been.  The Ravens have played backyard brawls in back-to-back weeks and may be a little worn out heading forward.  All in all, both clubs can be satisfied going .500 through two tough games.  These teams will be competing for a playoff spot all year.

Eric: -Two teams flexed their defensive muscle in this one as just one touchdown and then six field goals constituted all of the scoring.

-Joe Flacco had a stinker of a game with four interceptions.  That would account for the winning margin—turnovers—because Carson Palmer threw no interceptions for the Bengals.

Dolphins over Vikings

A: -The Dolphins are feeling good.  They're 2-0 with two road wins and having scored just 14 and 15 points in their first two games, respectively.

-Brett Favre was terrible throwing three picks and losing a fumble for a touchdown.   Adrian Peterson was huge, but the Vikings don't have a go-to receiver.

E: -The Vikings had multiple opportunities to put points on the board where they didn't capitalize.  I'm looking at Favre's three interceptions, two of which came with the Vikings in the red zone, and Adrian Peterson getting stood up at the goal line on four straight runs.

-The Dolphins are a scrappy bunch and have the ability to get it done when the game's on the line.  I name check Karlos Dansby here.

-The other point I'll make is that Chad Henne doesn't have nearly as much confidence with his other receivers as he does with Brandon Marshall.

Bears over Cowboys

A: -The Bears looked awful and won last week.  This week was much better against a much more impressive opponent.  The biggest thing here was that Jay Cutler completed a high number of passes with three scores and no turnovers.  Chester Taylor has some key plays and Johnny Knox and Devin Hester looked like NFL-caliber wideouts.  The Bears' offensive line is worrisome though.

-For the Cowboys, going 0-2 is disastrous in the NFC East and they have to find a way to create a pocket for Tony Romo.

E: -Cutler has thrown together a very nice stat line so far under the Mike Martz regime.  When Martz comes in and says, "I want to throw the ball fifty times a game," Cutler says, "I'm all for it."  The re-emergence of Matt Forte has been something to watch too.

-The media ordains the Cowboys "paper champions" every year, and every year they find a way to muck that up.  It seems like they've found the formula earlier than normal this season.  It's only been two games though.  I'm not too worried that they can turn it around.

Eagles over Lions

A: -The Eagles get a win and Michael Vick passes the ball extremely well, also running for forty yards.  DeSean Jackson goes off and LeSean McCoy finally impresses with a 120-yard, 3-touchdown outburst on the ground.

-The Lions impressed by scoring 32 points with backup Shaun Hill, and Jahvid Best accumulates 232 total yards and 3 touchdowns, hello fantasy football.  Brandon Pettigrew also goes over a hundred yards receiving.  I know the Lions are 0-2, but things are much better than they seem. This team is a year away anyway, yet they have talent to compete now.

E: -Vick is ready to be a starter again in this league.  Even with Andy Reid's announcement that Vick will be the starter, I say the Eagles are a bad fit for him just because of the fact that they gave up Donovan McNabb so they could have Kevin Kolb be their guy.  Vick's services will surely be looked upon favorably elsewhere.

Falcons over Cardinals

A: -It's a different scene this year with no Kurt Warner; the Cards almost lost to the Rams and got destroyed by the Falcons.

-For the Falcons, it's nice to see the offense get rolling.  Also, the Falcons have to be happy only allowing twenty-two total points in their first two games.

E: -Like I said last week, Arizona is a team in flux, and they will have this type of game every so often, much more often than Cardinal fans are willing to admit.

-I think the Falcons showed in this game that they can be a serious threat to the Saints in the NFC South.  And what do you know; these two teams play each other next week.  Tune in!

Chiefs over Browns

A: -It's not like the Chiefs have bowled us over, and this week they only beat the Browns, but 2-0 is the same no matter who you beat in this league.  Chiefs rookies come up big again as Tony Moeaki snatches five balls and Javier Arenas/Dexter McCluster are explosive in the return game.  Eric Berry tallies seven tackles.  Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones are a scary duo.  Matt Cassel has to be better.

E: -Here's a surprising 2-0 team: the Kansas City Chiefs.  This is a young team in the right direction that has already beaten the de facto division champ, the Chargers.  I am still looking for more consistent play out of Cassel.

-The Browns suck.

Packers over Bills

A: -This one's as one sided as it gets.  Aaron Rodgers looked good but not as good as he can be, Jermichael Finley was a beast again, and the Pack schemed their way around the absence of Ryan Grant.  Clay Matthews is an absolute superstar, and rookie Morgan Burnett made a really nice play on his interception.

-The Bills are terrible; they can't go down the field whatsoever and their offensive line is embarrassing.

E: -The only thing that stunned me about this game was that the Packers didn't score seventy.  Buffalo's that bad.  Brandon Jackson still needs work.

Buccaneers over Panthers

A: -I know it's the Panthers and Browns, but who would have thought the Bucs would go 2-0 to open the year?  Josh Freeman looks sharp and the Bucs appear to have some nice young talent at wideout.

-The Panthers may struggle to score all year.

E: -Tampa Bay has found something in Freeman.  This is another young, surprising team at 2-0, but I think they have reason to be optimistic.  Freeman has a nice receiving corps headlined by rookie Mike Williams.

Steelers over Titans

A: -Pittsburgh just wins, running their record to 2-0 without Big Ben Roethlisberger.  Their defense has allowed twenty points through two games and held Chris Johnson to 34 rushing yards this week.

-Vince Young gets pulled for being ineffective, but I don't see that developing into much of a story.  He'll be back.

E: -Even with Charlie Batch taking the reins, superb defense racked up another win for the Roethlisberger-less Steelers.  Pittsburgh held Johnson to under forty yards rushing and baited the Titans into seven turnovers.  No team will ever win a game if it commits seven turnovers.

Raiders over Rams

A: -The Raiders will be happy to be at .500, and at least the Rams have been competitive the past two weeks.  Sam Bradford played well for a rookie QB.

-Darren McFadden has his signature performance as a pro going for 145 yards on the ground.  Louis Murphy and Darrius Heyward-Bey have nice days for Oakland.

E: -This was an ugly game.  Jason Campbell is still not looking like the quarterback we thought he could be as a first-round pick coming out of Auburn.

-Bruce Gradkowski had to come in in this game to pull out a win against a sub-par Rams team.  When Gradkowski started for Oakland last year, he gave them a real jolt and they got on a roll late in the season.  I was somewhat surprised that they were so eager to hand over the keys to Campbell when he came over from Washington.

Broncos over Seahawks

A: -Seattle shows what I believe to be their true colors by getting stomped in Denver.  Kyle Orton is very efficient as usual; Matt Hasselbeck turns the ball over a bunch.  Demaryius Thomas has a breakout performance.

E: -I guess the hot start I predicted for Seattle last week only lasted one game.  Denver looked confident at home and the Seahawks looked ugly on the road.  Seattle couldn't make up any ground after committing multiple turnovers early and falling behind.

Texans over Redskins

A: -Matt Schaub and Donovan McNabb are unconscious—both pass for over 400 yards—in a matchup of much improved teams.  Andre Johnson is a beast and the Texans make a great rally to force overtime.  Arian Foster doesn't give huge production but carries the ball a bunch and is solid.  The Texans ultimately get a huge win on the road and have a momentum-building 2-0 start.

E: -This was a tremendous game with the Redskins eking out a lead, the Texans coming back to tie and send the game into overtime, and eventually winning it off a kick from Neil Rackers.  Rack 'em up; the Texans are 2-0.

Chargers over Jaguars

A: -The Chargers rebound nicely with an easy week.  Phillip Rivers is up and down but ultimately is productive enough to win.

-The Jags are in the race for worst start to the season.

E: -I was expecting this kind of performance out of the Bolts last week.  Oh well.  They still have plenty of time to mop up the rest of the AFC West.

Jets over Patriots

A: -Tom Brady played OK but turns the ball over three times.  Randy Moss beat Darelle Revis on a nice play.  Aaron Hernandez has been a revelation for the Patriots.

-The story is Mark Sanchez throwing for three scores with no picks and LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene piling up the rushing yards.  If Sanchez is that efficient for the rest of this year, the Jets will be very good.  Dustin Keller has a big game as well.

-The Dolphins can really put themselves in a great position if they can beat the Jets next week.

E: -It was a tale of two halves for Brady and the Patriots' offense as they were unable to generate any ball movement in the second half.  In Brady's own words, "We sucked."

-The Jets played a different style of defense in the second half after Revis went down.  With Revis out there, the Jets blitzed a lot more, confident in their cornerbacks' one-on-one matchups.  Without Revis, they played more zone coverage and were less aggressive with the blitz.  That change threw off Brady's rhythm.

-Sanchez looked much more confident than he did a week ago.

Colts over Giants

A: -Peyton Manning is absolutely ridiculous.  Through two weeks, he's averaging 345 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, and is completing over seventy percent of his passes.

E: -The Giants had no answer for Indy's premier pass-rushing duo, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.  With those two creating so much havoc for Eli Manning, the defensive backs only had to play ten yards off the line of scrimmage.  Any deep route ran by the wideouts, Manning wouldn't have time to get them the ball.

Saints over 49ers

A: -Don't ask.

E: -San Francisco's defense did a great job holding the Saints to twenty-five points, but they don't have enough offense yet, not with Alex Smith leading the charge.