NFL - Week 2 Review

A very wild week in the NFL. Three games went into overtime, some whacky special teams plays and the two players who made guarantees failed to deliver. Here's a game-by-game look at Week 2.

Houston at Indianapolis - The biggest story out of the Texans-Colts game was that one of Colts running backs likely distinguised himself. Rookie Joseph Addai outrushed veteran Dominic Rhodes by 45 yards on 2 more carries and scored his first NFL touchdown. Oh, and Peyton Manning threw for 400 yards and 3 TDs. Just another day at the office for Manning and Colts, who ran their all-time record against Houston to 9-0.

New Orleans at Green Bay - Few predicted that the Saints would win more than 4 or 5 games. New Orleans is yet to play at home, and they're already halfway there. Sean Payton is using Reggie Bush effectively, and Drew Brees isn't making the costly mistakes previous Saints quarterbacks have made.

Cleveland at Cincinnati - Despite Sgt. Winslow's prediction that Leigh Bodden would shut down #85, Chad Johnson is still going to check off the "No" category for Bodden on his report card. Johnson had 6 grabs for 78 yards and a touchdown. The ground is the only thing that can stop #85, as Johnson appeared to injure his right shoulder on his TD catch. Injuries were the theme of the day for Cincinnati, who may have lost David Pollack and Rich Braham on Sunday.

Detroit at Chicago - Dumbass Predictions, Part II. Detroit WR Roy Williams predicted a win (and 40 points) against the Bears defense. Williams had a decent day (6 receptions, 71 yards), and the Lions finally scored a touchdown this season, but it wasn't nearly enough as Detroit was blown out by the Chicago Bears, 34-7. At their current pace, Detroit will cross that 40-point mark against the NY Jets on October 22nd.

Oakland at Baltimore - Aaron Brooks left with an injury in the 1st quarter, giving way to the "future" QB, Andrew Walters. Walters played better than Brooks, but that isn't really saying much. Walters completed 30% of his passes (that grows to nearly 50% if you count the 3 interceptions he threw) and moved the Raiders into position to actually score 6 points. That's 6 more than anyone expected them to score on the Ravens defense. I predicted a good season from the Ravens, but I am concerned about yesterday's 1-6 performance in the red zone. 28-6 is a blowout, but they should've scored 40 points yesterday.

Tampa Bay at Atlanta - Around 4pm, I did the tuck and roll as a I lept off the Buccaneers bandwagon. The offensive line can't block, Chris Simms can't throw and I don't understand Jon Gruden's play-calling. There is no veteran QB on the roster who can step in and guide them to narrow victories. I give up. For Atlanta, 306 yards on the ground against Tampa Bay is incredible. The Buccaneers were the one team that always bottles up Vick, and last year, this group was very stingy against the run. It's going to be a long season for the Bucs.

Carolina at Minnesota - As much as they miss Steve Smith, the absence of their best player is no excuse for what happened yesterday. Mistakes on special teams (Chris Gamble's ill-advised lateral and being caught napping on the fake FG for a touchdown) cost John Fox's crew the game. Now the Panthers are 0-2, two full games behind New Orleans and Atlanta. On the bright side, DeAngelo Williams earned some more playing time. For Minnesota, they were lucky to escape with an overtime win. They didn't do a very good job of protecting Brad Johnson, and that includes All-World LG Steve Hutchinson, who got abused by Panthers DT Kris Jenkins.

NY Giants at Philadelphia - Indulge me for a minute, ok? Back in October of 2004, the Seattle Seahawks led the St. Louis Rams 27-10 as they entered the 4th quarter at Seahawks Stadium. That period would see the Rams bottle up the Seahawks running game, preventing the Seahawks from running out the clock. St. Louis scored 17 unanswered points to tie the game, forcing overtime. In overtime, Marc Bulger hit Shaun McDonald for a long touchdown. St. Louis 33, Seattle 27.

Fast-forward to Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles lead the Giants 24-7 as they enter the 4th quarter. The Eagles can't generate any ground game to run the clock out. They miss a field goal attempt. The Giants score two touchdowns, get the ball back and kick the tying field goal with 7 second left in regulation. Eli Manning hits Plaxico Burress with a 31-yard TD in overtime to win the game.

Aside from the Eagles actually touching the ball in the overtime period, the two games are eerily similar. In 2004, the Seahawks were never fully capable of erasing that game from their memories. They won the division, but lost at home to the Rams in the playoffs. How will the Eagles respond after giving away a win to a division rival?

Buffalo at Miami - I wonder what the people who predicted that the Dolphins would make the Super Bowl (hello, Sports Illustrated!) are thinking this morning. In the home opener, against a Buffalo Bills defense started FOUR rookies, the Dolphins score just 6 points.

St. Louis at San Francisco - I'm not normally one to brag, but in my weekly picks column, didn't I mention that people were too quick to praise Jim Haslett and the Rams defense? After giving up 360 yards to the 49ers, failing to sack Alex Smith even once, and losing 20-13, maybe the Len Pasquarelli's should wait for more games to unfold before hyping up a unit that clearly isn't worthy of such praise.

Arizona at Seattle - Seattle is still shaky offensively, but they were good enough to beat the upstart Cardinals by 11 points. Led by an underrated defense, the Seahawks applied constant pressure on Kurt Warner (in fairness, thats not the hardest thing in the NFL to do) and held the high-powered Cardinals offense to just 256 yards. Seattle missed some opportunties to blow this game wide open, but they'll take the 11-point win and 2-0 record.

Tennessee at San Diego - Titans rookie QB Vince Young led the Chargers in rushing and passing, which at this point of the season, where he's still the #2 QB, isn't a good thing. The bright side for the Titans is Young got his first TD pass out of the way, hitting Drew Bennett for 18 yards to Titans to within 26 of the Bolts. The most shocking aspect of this game was that Shawne Merriman only had 1 tackle, and the Chargers did not sack Young or Kerry Collins once.

New England at NY Jets - I sort of suspected that the departure of David Givens and Deion Branch, along with getting healthy on the offensive line and the drafting of Laurence Maroney, that the Patriots would be a more run-oriented offense in 2006. Splitting carries between Maroney and veteran Corey Dillon is working. Combined, the duo ran the ball 36 times for 145 yards and a pair of TDs (one each), while Tom Brady only attempted 29 passes, one of which he connected with rookie Chad Jackson for a 13-yard TD pass. Not a bad debut for Jackson, who has awfully big shoes to fill. It was also good to see Tedy Bruschi return from a broken wrist to notch 6 tackles and an interception.

Kansas City at Denver - Thankfully, I didn't subject myself to a second of the Jason Elam-Lawrence Tynes show. 9-6 games are painful enough to watch, a 9-6 game that goes into overtime is torture.

Washington at Dallas - Is it too late for Washington to send Al Saunders back to Kansas City? The Redskins offense is excruciating to watch, and the defense isn't nearly as good as advertised. It's still early in the season, but the Redskins are looking more and more like a pretender. The Cowboys win probably quieted the Tony Romo talk, but the news isn't all good in Big D. Terrell Owens has a broken finger, which may sideline him for a month. Convenient, seeing how Dallas travels to Philly in early October.