Bills over Raiders
Adam
- A 2-0 start, even if it came against the seemingly awful Chiefs and the never ready for prime time Raiders, is something no Bills fan will complain about. Putting up 79 points in their first two games is a great sign as well.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick is a quarterback that can get the ball to his playmakers and has proven he can put up big numbers and points. If they can continue to surround him with talent he can be a solid-to-good starter.
- The fact that Buffalo rallied from an 18 point deficit also hints that the losing culture might be shifting on this team.
- The Raiders really have to be kicking themselves after this loss. They had a tremendous chance to open up the season 2-0 and instead blew a huge lead.
- Jason Campbell has been pretty good so far this year posting 3 touchdowns to just one pick with a 100 passer rating, but he needs some help from his defense.
- Darren McFadden seems to be building on last year’s breakout performance compiling well over 200 yards in his first two games.
- With 35 total points scored and five lead changes in the fourth quarter alone, this was a wild one, the most entertaining contest of Sunday’s early games. The Bills came back from a 21-3 halftime deficit by scoring on all five of their second half possessions.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick and the 2-0 Bills are one of the great stories of the very early going. Fitzpatrick threw for 3 touchdowns this week, and added to his 4 from a Week 1 Chiefs rout, Fitzpatrick is tied for the league lead in touchdown passes.
Adam
- A 13-0 hole on the road is no problem when Aaron Rodgers is your quarterback and you’re defending world champs. Points come in flurries with this Packer offense, which has put up 72 points in two games so far.
- Including last year and last year’s playoffs, over the last 10-15 games Aaron Rodgers might be playing the quarterback position better than it’s ever been played by anyone. So far this year he’s completing 71% of his passes for 620 yards, 5 touchdowns, no picks, and a 126 passer rating.
- If I would have expected Cam Newton to be a stud right away, I would have thought it would be because of his insane athletic ability and moving the chains with his legs. Instead, it’s been his arm, throwing for 422 yards Week 1 then 432 here against Green Bay. Even though Carolina is 0-2, the franchise has to be salivating at the promise of their top draft pick.
- I am completely on board the Cam Newton train. Sure, he’s winless in two starts, but it’s not all his fault, and if he keeps playing at this level, the Panthers are going to win a fair share of games.
- By going over 400 yards passing for the second-straight week, Newton becomes the first rookie to ever debut with back-to-back 400-yard games and only the sixth quarterback to ever do it. (Tom Brady would accomplish the same feat later Sunday afternoon.)
- Playing in Carolina, the Panthers jumped out to an early 13-0 lead but couldn’t hold off Green Bay in the end.
- James Starks averaged over 9 yards per carry and probably could use an increase in his workload. Starks will be a valuable weapon that Green Bay didn’t really have last January.
Adam
- The Lions beating anyone, even a high school team, by 45 points is something that has to catch your eye. The Lions front four is so imposing, and the offense so potent, that the lack of talent in the secondary and linebacking corps isn’t nearly as glaring as in years past.
- Matthew Stafford has been unreal so far this year tossing 7 touchdowns, throwing for 600 yards, and posting a 112 passer rating.
- Let’s pretend I didn’t pick the Chiefs to win the AFC West. Can we all agree to that? Yikes.
- Everything has gone wrong for KC. Matt Cassel seems to have regressed, superstar Jamaal Charles and rising star Eric Berry are both out for the year, and instead of making a playoff run, this looks to be a team threatening in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.
- It’s bandwagon jumping time in Detroit. The Matthew Stafford-led offense and Ndamukong Suh-led defense are both running on overdrive right now.
- The 45-point spread was Detroit’s largest ever winning margin. In their two games, the Chiefs have been outscored 89-10.
- The Kansas City IR list keeps getting longer. Tony Moeaki two weeks ago, Eric Berry last week, now Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles goes down for the year with, you guessed it, a torn ACL.
Adam
- Colt McCoy might not be ready for a breakout year in the sense of taking the world by storm, but he seems to have reached a level where you can trust him to make some plays and not lose the game for you.
- Peyton Hillis was his workhorse self in this game, carrying the rock 27 times for 94 yards and two scores. The Browns need to find a vertical threat on the outside to really make their offense complete.
- Peyton Manning’s value continues to increase in his absence. It becomes more and more apparent just how reliant this team has been on him in years past, and now with former franchise cornerstones like Dwight Freeney, Reggie Wayne, and Joseph Addai past their physical primes, Manning’s injury hurts even more.
- It might be early to proclaim this, but the Colts might be the worst team in football, or at least in the running.
- Without Peyton Manning, the Colts may be the least exciting team in the league. So when the Cleveland Browns come to town (another team in contention for such a title) it’s time to change the channel.
- At least one Peyton shined in this contest. The Browns’ Peyton Hillis could not be stopped and ran for 94 yards on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns. An underrated receiver, Hillis also caught 4 passes and added another 23 yards to his total.
Adam
- I’m happy whenever the Vikings lose but especially because I didn’t want to see a good young team like the Bucs go into an 0-2 hole. I want the NFC South competitive all year long, and a come from behind win on the road is just what a youthful team needs to build confidence.
- Josh Freeman has been solid thus far this year, but he has spectacular talent and I expect that to shine through as the season wears on.
- Barring injury, Adrian Peterson might be a good bet to at least threaten for 2,000 rushing yards this year because he is far and away the Vikings biggest offensive threat.
- Donovan McNabb was decent in this past game, but his best options are his tight ends and a player without a true position in Percy Harvin. He just doesn’t have a go-to target down the field or a great security blanket over the middle. McNabb is good enough to take a very talented team on a playoff run, but he can’t carry a squad without good receivers like he used to in his early Philly days.
- The new comeback kid, Josh Freeman led the Bucs back from a 17-point halftime deficit and pulled off his eighth career fourth quarter/overtime victory.
- LeGarrette Blount had a resurgent game Sunday, really a transcendent second half. After gaining only 4 yards on five first half carries, it looked like déjà vu all over again for Blount who had rushed for only fifteen yards the week before. But in the second half versus the Vikings, Blount took control and finished with 71 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which came with just thirty seconds left in the game and was the decisive score.
- The Vikings flatout dominated the first half, but in the second were merely flat. It was a similar situation in San Diego last week as Minnesota kept it competitive in the first half but faded in the second. It’ll take a full, four quarter effort to get the winless Vikings off the schnide.
Adam
- A year after tossing a career high 22 interceptions, Drew Brees has yet to hurl a pick this year and has 6 touchdowns through two games. He’s right on point, as is the machine that is the Saints offense.
- This is the Bears team I know and love (love to hate that is). Jay Cutler was inaccurate, the offensive line was a sieve, and the secondary isn’t good enough to cover if the front seven doesn’t get pressure.
- The Saints picked up right where they left off last Thursday and put up another 30 on the scoreboard, only this time, there wasn’t a Green Bay Packer team on the other side to score 40. Chicago was simply overmatched.
- Jay Cutler was sacked 6 times this week and 4 times the week previous. The Bears’ offensive line is back to its old tricks, namely sucking.
Adam
- The Jets are simply more talented at every position than Jacksonville, and it showed. New York’s offense wasn’t prolific, but they scored off of turnovers, and the defense feasted on poor Luke McCown.
- The Blaine Gabbert era has begun. That didn’t take long did it?
- Four interceptions later… how does Luke McCown look now?
Adam
- The Steelers’ defense looked mighty again, but against Seattle, most defenses look great. Pittsburgh is vulnerable in the secondary, but Tarvaris Jackson is likely the least equipped man in the league to take advantage.
- Seattle has been shut out in six of their eight quarters so far this year. Having fun yet Pete Carroll?
- Tarvaris Jackson had probably the best game he’s going to have all year as he went 20/29 and committed no turnovers, but the Seahawks are that much worse than the Steelers that it didn’t even matter.
- Ben Roethlisberger was a little dinged up in this one, but with his defense pitching a shutout and Mike Wallace running rampant all over Seattle’s defense, Big Ben didn’t have to be in top form. Again, it speaks to how bad the Seahawks are that even not at 100% and coming off a game where he committed 5 turnovers, Roethlisberger came out and threw for 298 yards with no interceptions or fumbles.
Adam
- The Titans are a really tough team to figure out for a few reasons: I don’t know what Matt Hasselbeck is going to produce from week to week, Chris Johnson is off to a slow start, and I can’t name most of the players on their defense. Still, they seem to be the type of team that is going to play competitively no matter who they line up against, and beating Baltimore by two touchdowns has to be a huge confidence boost.
- Kenny Britt is a stud. So far this year he has 14 catches for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns.
- This one is a head scratcher for the Ravens. They blow out arch-rival Pittsburgh in Week 1, and then get pushed around by an ostensibly much worse team in Week 2?
- The Ravens must build on any lead they can against Pittsburgh because the division race is always so tight, and Tennessee is a team they should have beaten.
- Joe Flacco has to be better; completing 53% of his passes so far this year simply won’t get the job done.
- This was the Matt Hasselbeck we expected to come out against Jacksonville, not Baltimore. Going 30/42 passing for 358 yards and a touchdown, Hasselbeck made Baltimore’s opening week drubbing of Pittsburgh a distant memory.
Adam
- What the hell, Rex Grossman? Just settle on good or terrible and ride with it. I can’t take all this up and down. Sometimes you throw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, and other times it’s 5 picks in a game. So far so good this year. And despite Grossman’s proclamations to the contrary, I just don’t see enough talent on this Redskins team to be a true playoff threat.
- The Cards were close to taking a commanding lead in the vicious NFC West (joke) but fell just short. The Kevin Kolb trade seems to be paying off thus far though. Kolb has a 110 passer rating behind a below average offensive line.
- This game shouldn’t have been as close as it was. Washington moved the ball seemingly at will in the first half, but turnovers and other mistakes meant they only had a three-point lead going into the half. After trading scores in the third and fourth quarters, a Graham Gano field goal sealed the win for Washington.
- After connecting only three times in the opener, Kevin Kolb and Larry Fitzgerald got on the same page in this one to the tune of 7 receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown.
Adam
- What an amazing performance by Tony Romo to re-enter the game with a broken rib/punctured lung and lead a ten-point comeback in the fourth quarter. Romo is often over-criticized for being a pretty boy, but there is nothing diva-like about playing an NFL football game with cracked ribs and a lung that could collapse.
- Dammit. I really thought San Francisco had this game. Not that I had high hopes going in, but a ten point lead in the fourth quarter at home has to be a game you finish.
- Alex Smith has been solid, but that’s about it.
- The Niners rarely look downfield and play pretty conservative football. That showed when Jim Harbaugh elected to decline a penalty that Dallas committed on a field goal, which would have given the 49ers a fresh set of downs deep in Cowboy territory. Instead, Harbaugh elected to keep the field goal on the board and hope a ten point lead would be sufficient. I can’t argue with the call—the 49ers offense isn’t a reliable unit, and points aren’t always easy to come by—but in the end Dallas was able to catch up and outlast the Niners in overtime.
- Still, the way Harbaugh makes decisions with conviction and actually seems to have a plan is a reprieve from the chaos of the Mike Singletary and Mike Nolan eras.
- It took an overtime period, a gutsy game from Tony Romo, and a game-clinching play from a former reality television star, but the Cowboys got the win. Romo finished the contest with two broken ribs but still played great and silenced his critics after a rough Week 1.
- Dez Bryant not playing at all and Miles Austin a little banged up left the door open for Jesse Holley to be the hero. Unfortunately, showboating his way toward the end zone he got tackled and didn’t score the winning touchdown. Dallas left that to the foot of Dan Bailey.
- Alex Smith has to be flawless for the 49ers to win, and he wasn’t on this day. With Romo out nursing his ribs, Smith threw a crucial interception that set up the Jon Kitna-led Dallas offense with an extremely short field. Miles Austin made San Francisco pay, as he did the whole game, by catching the second of his three touchdowns on the day.
Adam
- Andy Dalton’s passer rating so far is 105 with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Not bad rook.
- The Broncos are not a good team, but they played an equally inept one in the Bengals, and home field advantage was just enough to help Denver secure the win.
- The rookie Andy Dalton made this one a game, but like Adam said, there’s no way the Bengals were going to be 2-0.
- Another rookie, AJ Green, had a terrific game as well with 10 receptions for 124 yards and his second touchdown in as many weeks.
Adam
- Okay Houston, we really mean it this time. THE TIME IS NOW!!!! You are 2-0, the Peyton-less Colts are 0fer, the Titans are inconsistent, and the Jaguars are inserting a rookie at quarterback. If you don’t win the division this year, I will never pick you to win another game in my life, and that is a promise.
- Classic Chad Henne. He teases you with big numbers in Week 1 then goes 12-30 for 170 yards the next week.
- Brandon Marshall received half of those 12 completions. Clearly Miami needs more weapons.
- Chad Henne has a huge letdown game after throwing for over 400 yards against the Patriots last week, completing less than 50% of his passes in this one.
- Arian Foster’s return to the lineup saw him re-injure the same hamstring that kept him out of Week 1.
Adam
- C’mon Tom Brady, no 500 passing yards this week? Just 423 with 3 touchdowns? What a loser. Brady is 60 yards shy of 1,000 passing yards two games into the season.
- The Chargers had their chances and have the talent to compete with anyone but did what they’ve always done against elite competition: make that one fatal mistake—in this case a Mike Tolbert fumble—that decides the game.
- This marks the tenth-straight regular season game in which the Patriots have scored at least 30 points.
- More than the Patriots beat the Chargers in this game, the Chargers beat themselves. Three trips inside the red zone scoring zero points is not going to win against New England. The typical mark of a Charger team, too many mistakes will always hold them back against top competition.
Adam
- It all starts with the running game for Atlanta. Controlling the clock and allowing Matt Ryan to work off play action is how this offense thrives.
- Ryan, much like Joe Flacco, may never get much better than he is right now, but he’s plenty good enough to make the Falcons perennial contenders especially with all the weapons at his disposal.
- Well, it didn’t take long for Michael Vick to notch another season where he won’t start all sixteen games. Vick is unlikely to play this coming Sunday and you just have to wonder if building a team around this guy is viable considering how small he is and how often he exposes himself to hits.
- It was a close contest the whole way, but watching the Eagles after Mike Vick got knocked out proved for absolute certain that all Philadelphia's offseason additions won't mean jack squat if Vick isn't in there in crunch time.
- Jeremy Maclin had one hell of a game as he reeled in 13 passes for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns. But more than the balls he caught, Maclin's game will be remembered more for the one he didn't. Trailing by 4 points, Maclin dropped a 4th down Mike Kafka pass that would have extended the final Philadelphia drive.
- Also among the notables, Trent Cole crushed Falcon left tackle Sam Baker all night and was an utter menace for Matt Ryan and the Atlanta running backs.
Adam
- I’ve been confused about exactly what the Giants are ever since they won the Super Bowl in 2008. Are they good or not? I can’t really tell, and I think the figurehead of that confusion is Eli Manning. He’s won a lot of games, has a strong arm, is pretty smart, but it just never seems to come together for him completely. The best rating he’s ever had for a whole season is 93, and his career rating is just 80.2.
- They have some nice weapons with Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw, and the offensive line is still solid, but the offense is by no means a juggernaut.
- The defense has been devastated by injuries but they still have a relatively powerful defensive line rotation that can pressure opponents.
- I say the Giants will be an up-and-down team all year that finishes around the .500 mark.
- Sam Bradford is dinged up and adjusting to a new offensive system, but I think when he’s healthy and gets the playbook down he’s going to be a perennial Pro Bowler.
- Not having Steven Jackson really hurt St. Louis in this game, and the Rams, who many saw as a breakout candidate, now must climb out of an 0-2 hole.
- Playing from behind all night, Sam Bradford passed for a career-high 331 yards.
- Greatest touchdown celebration ever?
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