Courtesy of philadelphiaeagles.com

By TLarner

The season keeps on rolling as Week 2 is almost in the books. We saw many stars shine, and many more fade on Sunday. Tonight’s game is sure to keep us on the edge of our couches and recliners.

Quarterback Controversy in Philly

Kevin Kolb was out this weekend while recovering from last week’s concussion. Michael Vick looked great in relief of Kolb last week, and started his first game since 2006 yesterday. And it looked like he hadn’t missed a step. Detroit also had to use their reserves as backup QB Shaun Hill got the start for the injured Matthew Stafford. Vick began an offensive showdown with the Lions by connecting with receiver DeSean Jackson for a 45-yard score. Lions’ rookie running back Jahvid Best answered with a rushing touchdown in the first quarter. Best got the best of the Eagles’ defense by then taking a 75-yard screen pass to the house, making the score 17-7 Detroit. Then, the Eagles took charge with four unanswered touchdowns. Vick showed his elusiveness throughout the game that made him a threat in Atlanta. He was able to shake multiple pass rushes, and found Jeremy Maclin for a score before the half. Eagles’ running back LeSean McCoy had three rushing touchdowns, including a 46-yarder in the fourth quarter. Detroit made it interesting in the end, as Best, who is one letter away from being a “Beast”, found the end zone again. Hill later hit Calvin Johnson for a touchdown, narrowing the deficit to three as the Lions trailed 35-32. Detroit then recovered an onside kick with less than two minutes remaining. Fortunately for Head Coach Andy Reid, the Philadelphia defense shutdown Hill on fourth down to end the threat. Vick finished with 284 yards and the two touchdown passes. Now all the buzz around Philadelphia is who should Coach Reid start next week, Kolb, the future of the franchise, or Vick, who has been on fire in the past two games?

How ’bout Them Cowboys?

The Dallas Cowboys fell to an 0-2 start after their loss to Chicago on Sunday. Quarterback Tony Romo had another disappointing game as the Bears won 27-20. Romo finished with 2 interceptions, while Jay Cutler is looking hot in his second game, going 21-29 with three touchdowns. Also note that neither team was able to effectively run the ball. Chicago’s defense made an early statement when corner Charles Tillman jarred the ball loose from receiver Miles Austin, and D.J. Moore was able to pluck the ball out of the air before it hit the ground. However, Dallas answered with a 62 yard punt return by rookie first round pick Dez Bryant to take a 7-3 lead. After Cutler threw a touchdown to Greg Olsen, Dallas took 14-10 lead when another rookie, Chris Gronkowski, caught a one-yard TD pass from Romo. Devin Hester made a beautiful one-handed grab in the corner of the end zone, and the Bears went up 20-14. Cutler, who ran Mike Martz’s offense to perfection, then found Matt Forte for another touchdown. With a 27-17 lead, the Chicago defense strips Dallas receiver Roy Williams to end a must score drive.

Jets’ Offense Ready for Takeoff

The New York Jets recovered from a one point loss to Baltimore by easily handling their division rival New England. While Mark Sanchez looked rather awful last week, he shined against the Patriots. Sanchez threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Braylon Edwards, Dustin Keller, and Jerricho Cotchery each caught a touchdown. Ladainian Tomlinson lead the ground game with 76 yards and Shonn Green added 52 yards. Tom Brady looked good early, hitting Randy Moss and Wes Welker for touchdowns in the first half. Following Moss’s one-handed touchdown catch, Jets’ corner Darrelle Revis left the game with a hamstring injury, and is expected to miss a week or two. In the second half, Brady was picked off by Antonio Cromartie and Brodney Pool. In the fourth quarter, Jason Taylor sacked Brady, forcing a fumble, which was scooped up by linebacker David Harris, sealing the Patriots’ fate. While Sanchez was sharp in Week 2, the New England defense is considerably weaker than that of the Ravens. I’m looking forward to see if he can continue this level of play against a stronger opponent.

Game of the Week Results

Courtesy of colts.com

My Week 2 Game of the Week ended just the way I had expected. There was no looking back for Indianapolis as they defeated the New York Giants 38-14. Did anyone really expect the Colts to fall to 0-2 to start the 2010 season? Not with Peyton Manning calling the shots. Even as adults, little brother Eli is still getting beaten up by his older brother.

In my Key Match-up, I stated the team who ran the ball better would win the game. In their Week 1 meeting with Houston, not only did the Texans gash the Colts’ defense on the ground, Indy couldn’t run the ball. Last night, Joseph Addai and Donald Brown sparked the ground game with a combined 161 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries. Compare those numbers to the loss against Houston, when Addai had only 44 yards on 10 carries. Peyton was his typical self, completing 20 of his 26 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns. He spread the ball around as Austin Collie, Dallas Clark, and Reggie Wayne all caught a touchdown pass.

Eli was smothered by the pass rush of Indianapolis. Star defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis each had two sacks. Each also forced Eli to fumble the ball on a sack. Defensive tackle Fili Moala recovered Freeney’s forced fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. Eli was able to find Mario Manningham in the third quarter and Hakeem Nicks with less than 10 seconds left in the game for touchdowns. Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 89 yards, but Brandon Jacobs only had eight yards on four carries. In his frustration, he threw his helmet, which ended up about 10 rows in the stands. Peyton is now 2-0 against Eli and both teams end Week 2 at 1-1.

Remaining Scores from Sunday

• Buffalo-7
• Green Bay-34

• Miami-14
• Minnesota-10

• Kansas City-16
• Cleveland-14

• Arizona-7
• Atlanta-41

• Tampa Bay-20
• Carolina-7

• Baltimore-10
• Cincinnati-15

• Pittsburgh-19
• Tennessee-11

• Seattle-14
• Denver-31

• St. Louis-14
• Oakland-16

• Houston-30
• Washington-27

• Jacksonville-13
• San Diego-38

Courtesy of neworleanssaints.com

Monday Night Football

Tonight, the New Orleans Saints travel west to face the San Francisco 49ers. The Saints were able to sneak past the Vikings last week in the first game of the 2010 season. The 49ers were preseason favorites to win the NFC West, but were manhandled by the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1. San Fran Coach Mike Singletary has been vocal about his belief that his 49ers can take down the Super Bowl Champions.

Drew Brees and his offense was quiet against Minnesota. If the 49ers’ defense plays like they did last week, expect Brees, Reggie Bush, and Marques Colstonto light up the scoreboard. However, linebacker Patrick Willis of San Francisco is arguably the best defender in the NFL, and he won’t give up without a fight. Running back Frank Gore is looking to get the ground game running on all cylinders.

I expect a rather easy victory for the Saints. Offensively, they have too many weapons for the 49ers’ defense to cover. Bush, Colston, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, and Jeremy Shockey are all big time threats for Brees to connect with. Pierre Thomas was effective on the ground last week, too. The Saints’ defense, which specializes as causing turnovers, will give opposing quarterback Alex Smith headaches. “Who Dat?”

Have NFL Splinters? Share them here.

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

By Paul Gotham

Staying undefeated

One quarter of the NFL season done (at least for most of the league), and four unscathed – Minnesota notwithstanding. And, no that is not intended to be a prediction for the Monday Night outcome. Prior to the season, this discussion could have had a ‘Sesame Street’ theme to it – as in one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong. Enough of that. You get the idea. Sure, the Giants, Saints, and Colts all fit. But did anyone predict the Broncos to be 4-0? As I was saying, this could have used a ‘Sesame Street’ theme. But the Broncos are proving they belong. 26 is the key statistic for Josh McDaniels’s squad. 26 represents the number of points allowed. No typo here. After four games, Denver has protected the end zone better than any other team.  The next closest is San Francisco with 53 points.  To date, the Broncos have allowed two touchdowns.

Kyle Orton is benefiting from the defensive pressure. We could do a blind resume, but I’ll spare everyone the anticipation. Or maybe I won’t. Yesterday, Orton went 20-29 for 243 yards, 0 interceptions, and two touchdowns. His counterpart went 25-41 for 255 yards, 1 interception, and zero touchdowns. Yeah, Orton isn’t as sexy as Tony Romo. He just gets the job done. Wonder if Jessica Simpson has designs on joining Kyle’s ‘mile-high’ club?

The stat for Indianapolis must be 300. As in 300 yards per game. For the first time in his career, Peyton Manning has opened the season with four 300-yard games. So much for missing Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy. Manning’s strike to Reggie Wayne was the 55th time the teammates have combined. Only Manning and Dan Marino have thrown 55 or more TDs to two different receivers. The Colts only figure to improve when Bob Sanders returns.

AP Photo/Bill Feig

After week two, Drew Brees had everyone trying to guess what his nine touchdown passes would convert to over 16 games. Since then, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sharper have taken care of getting the ball in the end zone.  Thomas rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns last week. This week, Thomas 86 yards on the ground, caught four passes for 46 yards and scored one TD. Sharper has five interceptions this season – two returned for touchdowns including one for 99 yards yesterday against the Jets. The New Orleans defense pressured  Mark Sanchez so much that the Jet rookie quarterback  must have dreamed of fleur-de-lis last night. With the win, New Orleans goes into the bye week undefeated as they prepare for the Giants.

Speaking of the Giants. Call it chocolate. Call it vanilla. Call it what you want. The Giants have had a cake walk thus far. After spanking the wet rag Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the G-Men pounded on the Chiefs yesterday. Please wake me when the Giants play a relevant team. It is nice that Mario Manningham and Steve Smith have made fans forget of past Giant receivers.

The New England Houdinis

Somehow, the Patriots escaped defeat in week one when Buffalo’s Leodis McKelvin fumbled a kickoff. This week, the Ravens were driving with less than :30 in the game, when Mark Clayton dropped a fourth-down pass inside the ten yard line. Of his miscue, Clayton commented: “Flat out drop.”

Despite revamping almost their entire defense, not having Wes Walker, and Tom Brady recovering from reconstructive knee surgery, the Patriots stand at 3-1. Guess we shouldn’t be surprised by a Bill Belichik-coached team.

Which way to Asbury Park?

After a “month-long vacation in the strasophere where he found it really hard to hold his breath,” Mark Sanchez came crashing back to earth yesterday. In a  sea of fleur-de-lis, the rookie went 14-27, 138 yards, 0 TDs, and 3 INTs. Ouch! Don’t worry Mark. It’s all part of ‘ooh-ooh growin’ up.’  Besides the Jet defense held the high-flying Saints without an offensive touchdown for 50+ minutes.

Converting on third down

Joe Flacco might not get the headlines, but the Raven QB gets first downs. In their loss to New England, Baltimore converted on 9 of 14 third down opportunities. Flacco went 8-11 in those situations. Maybe he needs to improve on taking a roughing the passer.

Get the fork ready

Remember when Tennessee began last year 10-0? Remember how the Titans earned home-field advantage in last year’s playoffs? That all seems a distant memory as the Titans fell to 0-4. The last team to go 0-4 and make the playoffs? The 1992 San Diego Chargers. Yeah, yeah, yeah the Titans went 1-4 in 2002 before making AFC title game.

Got any NFL Splinters? Share them here.

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

By Paul Gotham

Contenders,  Chrissie Hynde, and The Promised Land

Three weeks in the books, and seven teams have yet to lose: the NY Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings.

It comes as no surprise to see the Colts, Ravens, Giants, Saints, and Vikings on this list. Indy showed last week that time of possession can be overrated. This week the Arizona Cardinals’ defense actually made some tackles (as opposed to the Dolphins grabbing at air last week). Peyton and company put together some sustained drives en route to a 31-10 drubbing of last year’s Super Bowl participant. 15 minutes of possession equalled 27 points versus Miami. 31 and change = four touchdowns and a field goal in the desert. Manning used six different receivers – five of whom caught more than one pass. Four different Colts caught passes and went to the house – Reggie Wayne, Joseph Addai, Dallas Clark, and Pierre Garcon.   The Colts play at home against Seattle in week 4. The Seahawks should leave the neon jerseys at home. Quoting the better half: “Uh…ewwwwww.” Okay, so she has had better ones.

Kinda tough catching anybody by surprise when you are wearing a neon sign.

Some picked Baltimore  to represent the AFC in this year’s Super Bowl. The Ravens are doing their best to make those pundits look good. Bear in mind,  Baltimore has feasted on the Chiefs and Browns. It’s a little surprising KC put a 24-spot on the board. Then again, it was week 1. The Browns offered little resistance this weekend.  Brady did not look  like ‘The Mighty’ Quinn.  Challenges lie ahead. Tom ‘Terrific’ (Gag!) and the Patriots host the Ravens next weekend, and the resurgent Bengals (oxymoron alert?) pay a visit in week 5.

New Orleans showed yesterday they can also play defense.  The Saints, averaging 46 per game, touted the highest scoring offense in the league coming into the game with the Buffalo Bills. For 50 minutes yesterday, Drew Brees and company managed to put just 10 points on the scoreboard at Ralph Wilson Stadium.  The Saints D held the Bills to 7; check that the Saints D held the Bills offense to 0. Buffalo used some chicanery with a fake field goal.  The New orleans offense exploded for 17 points in the final ten minutes.

Old man Favre still has the touch.#4 found Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone with :02 remaining, and the Vikings remained undefeated. Let’s see…Green Bay at Minnesota next week. That should be interesting. Throw in there the possibility of the Detroit Tigers having to play at Minnesota against the Twins for the AL Central crown and next Monday could be a wild one.

The G-Men haven’t lost. Of course, I have seen wet rags put up a better fight than the Buccaneers did yesterday. Check this one out – Tampa Bay managed 86 yards of total offense. The Bucs failed to convert on third down…ALL DAY.   Eli completed passes to five different receivers while Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs combined for over 200 yards on the ground. Derrick Ward, on the other hand, who used to play for the Giants but now wears a Bucs jersey? He rushed for two yards. Not so easy when you don’t have the Giant line opening holes.

How much longer before we find out if  Denver really has ‘brass in pocket?’  Sure, the Broncos are 3-0. Their wins? Cleveland, Oakland, and Cincinnati. The crazy thing is the Broncos have held their opponents to 16 points. Yeah, you read that right 16 points!!! The next closest total is the Jets with 33 points. In fact, Denver has allowed just one touchdown all season.  Tony Romo and the Cowpokes visit Denver next week, and then Tom ‘Terrific’ pays a visit. Ya know what? maybe, I should have put Martin Chambers as the sub-title.  That band would have been nothing without him on the skins.

AP Photo/Tim Larsen

Mark Sanchez is showing he’s not a boy; he might just be a man, and he has Jets fans dreaming of the Promised Land.  With the Pats in week 2 and the Titans in week 3, many had the Jets opening the season at 1-2. And rightly so. Rex Ryan would have been happy with 2-1. 3-0 and Rexy has to be giddy.  Giving up 33 points in three games and one of those games against the Pats – the Jets might be for real. Since they play home games in Jersey, Bruce can offer a little more advice: “Blow away the dreams that tear you apart - Blow away the dreams that break your heart -Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted.”

In case you’re wondering – I am not a Jets fan. The Bruce stuff just worked with them.

Bob Geldof understands the Bills

Before there was Live Aid, and before he shaved his eyebrows, Bob Geldof fronted the Boomtown Rats. The Rats had this catchy little tune called – ‘Tell Me Why I Don’t Like Mondays.’  Dick Jauron might change those lyrics to: Tell me why I don’t like fourth quarters…I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot the whole quarter down.  In their two losses, the Bills have given up 32 points in the fourth quarter. In the other six quarters of their two losses? 20 points. Ouch!

The T.O. effect is a real thing. Terrell Owens throwing temper tantrums in Dallas and Philly was amusing.  As yesterday’s game entered the fourth, T.O. hadn’t caught a ball. The tension was palpable. Like a bomb ready to blow just sixty miles west on the thruway. Not that I know anything about football, but for the love of God, can we get him some touches. Let’s try something short. Maybe a quick slant in or an out pattern. Everything to Owens yesterday was 15-20 yards down the field. Oh, and another thing – if you are going to run the hurry up, then do it.  None of this – getting to the line, looking over at the sidelines for  five seconds, checking the wrist band, and then going. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the hurry up?

D3 Power

Garcon (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Remember the name Pierre Garcon. The second-year receiver has 7 receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns for the Colts. Garcon’s college? Mount Union. Who is Mt. Union you ask? Ask any member of the St. John Fisher Cardinals. The Purple Raiders of Mt. Union have dominated D3 football for the last decade.

Got any NFL Splinters? Share them here.