The Week 1 Roundup: Lessons Learned

Opening day of the NFL season is probably the second best day in all of sports; number 1 being the first round of the NCAA tourney, which actually spans two days, but you know what I mean.  So, instead of doing my usual post-game Eagles analysis, I’m going to cover the entire week 1. I couldn’t watch every game but with Sunday Ticket and by the grace of God, I was able to watch a hell of a lot of football.The Eagles

Because I was overboard with pessimism last year when the Eagles dropped the opening day game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I will refrain from being wildly optimistic about this win.  Sure, the offense looked great with McNabb to TO for three touchdowns and Westbrook showing the kind of moves that got everyone so fired up last year.  And, despite what everyone is saying, the run defense wasn’t that bad.  Take away Tiki’s meaningless 72 yard run and the Eagles run D kept the Giants to under 100 yards.  Still, consider the level of the opponent.  Beating the NY Giants is like beating a retard at checkers.  It’s somewhat satisfying but hardly a win to proclaim your greatness – at football or at checkers.

So, Eagles fans, enjoy the win, don’t get too bogged down listening to the inevitable idiots on WIP screaming about the poor run D, but don’t go betting the life savings on getting the Lombardi trophy either. Next Monday night will tell us a lot about how good this team is.

Defensive Lessons

Week 1 taught us a few things about defenses around the NFL. You can easily go from a good defense to a bad one (see Tampa Bay) but it’s damn hard to go from bad to good in one year. The teams that were great on offense but played no defense last year are still not playing it this year. The Colts looked awful against a very good New England offense on opening night. Their corners are terrible, they have no pass rush and no blitzing D to make up for their front four mediocrity. The Chiefs still can’t stop anyone and is sure to lose plenty of games where they can’t outgun the opponent. And finally, Minnesota, which ranked 26th last year in passing defense (217.3 ypg) gave up 352 passing yard to Vinny Testeverde and the Cowboys. Vinny Testeverde. The last time Vinny was a good QB, Meg Ryan was actually cute.

Finally, we have the Denver Broncos, which I was convinced to draft as my D in my fantasy football league. Sure, they were playing the high powered Chiefs but they looked terrible against the run. Priest Holmes would just bounce to wherever he wanted and hit the holes. If Trent Green wasn’t such a stiff at QB, KC would have carved them apart. (So much for Trent “throwing the ball really well” in preseason.) Perhaps I’m just being impatient because the Broncos were ranked on Fantasy Draft boards as high as #2, but what I saw was no big play ability from the secondary, which is where you get most of your fantasy points. Champ Bailey is great. That interception he made, I would have torn at least five different types of cartilage just attempting that. But Champ is terrible for a fantasy defense. Teams just don’t throw the ball his way. So this leaves Middlebrooks and Herndon to make your picks and your returns for TDs. Who? Exactly. This is a terrible segue into…

Fantasy Football Lessons

Someone asked me whether to starting Edgerrin James or Quentin Griffin. My response was that Edge is a known commodity while Q has yet to establish himself. Boy was I wrong. I’m not sure this thinking works most times but in the early part of your season, it’s the best time to take the gamble. Basically, trust the system and factor in lack of game film. For the Denver Broncos, that system always leads to a great RB. I don’t expect Griffin to tear it up for 3 TDs every week because teams will start to accumulate game film and key on him. (Plus, he doesn’t play the Chiefs every week.) However, in the beginning of the season, go ahead and take the chance if the reports coming out of training camp are good.

To a lesser extent, the same could be said about Roy Williams and Larry Fitzgerald. Remember, they play for pass happy come from behind teams. Just as these two teams produced Boldin and Rogers last year, expect good receiving production from Williams and Fitzgerald.

Team Reports

Teams that are not as good as the first week would indicate:

Redskins: Seemed to have their way with a very mediocre Tampa Bay team but barely managed to get the win. Beating a crappy team by 2 FGs at home is not something to be proud of.
Denver: They have the Chiefs’ number (should have won last year at Arrowhead as well) but Jake Plummer still makes boneheaded plays and will cost them two to three games this year.
Atlanta: The Vick play where he ran backward 20 yards and fumbled the ball reminded me a lot of Randall Cunningham in the early years. This is not a compliment. Also, if Tim Rattay doesn’t make a terrible decision at the goal line, San Francisco (a 4-12 team at best) wins that game.

Teams better than the first week would incidicate:

Indianapolis: Still no defense but they will win the division. Manning and Edge won’t make that many terrible plays throughout the season and Harrison will still get his. New England is in their kitchen so until the playoffs start, you can count on them not to have a complete mental breakdown and play the way they did Thursday night.
Bengals: The Palmer to Chad Johnson connection looks like it’ll develop into Culpepper-Moss and …dare I say it, McNabb – Owens.

Teams everyone expected more from but are terrible:

Raiders: Still terrible. Another year of Bay Area viewers never being able to see their team on TV. Oh wait, that happens even when they’re good because Al Davis is a greedy bastard.
Baltimore: I saw an interview on ESPN where Kyle Boller said he’d have a better year than Carson Palmer. No chance.

Final and Random Thoughts

How great is football season? A friend said to me before the Thursday game, “I have a semi-erection, and I’m only semi-kidding.” While that was very disturbing, I knew exactly what he meant. I love most sports but, as all the announcers keep reminding us, football is the new American pastime.

·Who at ESPN thought it was a good idea to add Pat Summerall to the Sunday night games? He is the Ricky Henderson of play by play men. I feel bad for him. Every time he said “I beg your pardon” because he just called Tony Gonzalez Jason Dunn or made a completely incorrect observation, I just cringed. It’s like listening to the programmed announcers in Madden or 2K5, always late with the call and sometimes completely wrong. Someone please tell him to retire – for real this time.

·How can Hyundai so blatantly rip of Black Sheep for their SUV commercial? Is anyone else upset about this?

·Shannon Sharpe has some pretty good insights but can someone please get him a Vick’s nasal inhaler?

·Can I have 1/17th of my Sunday Ticket price back? Why in holy hell would I want to watch the Titans-Dolphins game on tape delay?

·Tom Jackson predicted Owens would have 8 or 9 TD catches this year. Good work, Tom. I noticed you were pretty quiet about TO during the Eagles game highlights.

·Deion Sanders. What a game changer.