Not a Moment Too Soon

Just when I thought I couldn't take the wait anymore, the NFL is back. I'm not sure I could have made it through another week of absolute boredom. All due respect to baseball, but the last few weeks haven't exactly been lighting a fire under me. The same can be said with soccer, as nice as it is to have it back, we don't even really know what we're watching until it gets a little colder out. But the Gods of Sports have graced us with the return of football. And what a return it was. There is so much to cover so I'll just graze on through some of the highlights, and lowlights, of Week 1.

Tom Brady's Knee
We're still waiting on the MRI report, but it looks like that report is just going to tell us what we already know. Tom Brady is probably going to be out for the year. I'm going to write a lot more about this tonight or tomorrow, so I'm going to hold off on the bold predictions until we know for sure what the deal is. To every Patriots fan in the world, I am sorry, I can't imagine how awful a feeling it is to have your football season last less than 1 quarter. Especially when you were the Super Bowl favorite. Um, at least you have the Red Sox??


The Steelers Are Good...
Real good. You can think what you want about the Texans, but a year ago they were 8-8 in one of the best divisions in football, and they didn't lose anybody in the offseason. In fact, they got better. And the Steelers absolutely took them apart yesterday. Pittsburgh was throwing, running, and playing defense excellently yesterday. Of all the teams I got to watch yesterday, they looked the most impressive.

...The Browns Are Not
We started to get a few inklings of this during the preseason, but it's tough to take preseason games seriously. When the Giants put up 30 points in a quarter, I just chalked it up to preseason mishaps, miscommunication, etc. etc. But this Cleveland defense is a pretty inept, and untalented group. Tony Romo had a field day with this secondary, and Marion Barber and Felix Jones were relatively unstoppable. What really upsets me is that I couldn't get a real gauge for how good the Cowboys are. They looked good, but this Browns team has a lot of problems.

Sunday, November 2nd
All of a sudden that is a huge day in New York. The Jets travel up to Buffalo, and the Giants welcome in the Cowboys, in the first time both meetings happen this year. If I told you two months ago that the Jets/Bills game in November would be a big deal to a lot of people, how crazy would I have sounded? Buffalo looked real convincing in their win over Seattle yesterday, even though it was a weakened Seattle team. Buffalo goes down to Jacksonville this weekend, in what could be a potential battle for the two wild card spots.

How About That Atlanta Offensive Line?
I told G when he did his preview about the Falcons and Michael Turner, that Atlanta Offensive Line is still good, and they will be able to protect. While I agree that they aren't a good team (a home win over Detroit shouldn't be reason for celebration) they will have games like this where they can pound the ball on weaker defensive teams. Michael Turner is a good back, and was a good pickup for the Falcons, and Matt Ryan seems to have the tools to be able to blossom down there. It's the first time in a long time that you're happy if you're a Falcons fan.


G's Not the Only Stupid One
My 16-0 pick for the Colts lasted one week. Thanks for showing up guys. This team really missed Jeff Saturday, (where was Joseph Addai last night??) And you could see the rust on Peyton from not playing at all during preseason. I'm not saying there is any cause for concern, it's just week one rust is all. And that shouldn't take away from the way the Bears played last night. They played the football I love to watch. Forte looks like an absolute stud in the backfield, and the Bears will be able to pound the ball. Orton looks like he has the confidence and knowledge at this point to be able to keep his offense on the field and avoid turnovers, which is all they need from him. And that defense is still the Chicago Bears defense. If you're a Bears fan, you have every right in the world to think that the team that played last night can compete throughout the season for a division title.

St. Boo-is Rams
Uh-oh, if anybody saw Marc Bulger yesterday, he did not look like Marc Bulger from a couple years ago. He never looked comfortable in the pocket, and never really settled down. Steven Jackson held out all summer, and it looked like it. The defense should be ashamed of themselves. If they were my child, I'd put them in timeout today. Donovan McNabb and DESEAN JACKSON, made the Rams look like a Juco team, not good.

That Chargers Defense Ain't Lookin' So Hot
Luckily for them, the Colts dropped the ball at home to the Bears, and Tom Brady won't see another snap until September 2009. Otherwise, I think the people of SoCal would be a whole lot angrier about the events of yesterday afternoon. Phil Rivers had a monster performance though, and I may have to start conceding that he's a good quarterback.

Monday Night Double-Header
I like the Vikings to beat the Packers in the 7pm start, and the Raiders to upset the Broncos in the extremely late 10:15 start. I love the idea of having two Monday night games, I hate the fact that one of them starts at 10:15. Roger Goodell is dictating to me that I must stay awake until 1:30 am, and that isn't right. I'll stay up this time, but only to watch Purple Jesus and Run-DMc.