It was a wild weekend of football, with exhilarating plays and shocking upsets galore.
First off, I should mention that I actually flew all the way to New Orleans just to see the Saints home opener. It was truly spectacular. I will be sharing my photos in my next diary. The price of my ticket for the game was outrageous, but in this case, worth every penny since my team won. :)
Minnesota 9, New Orleans 14.
Kind of a bizarre scoreline considering that these two teams combined for 59 points the last time they met. I was very impressed both by Drew Brees and by the Saints defense. I was rather unimpressed by the play calling of Brad Childress and the leg of Garrett Hartley.
Cleveland 14, Tampa Bay 17.
The Browns started out like gangbusters and promptly fell apart. Tampa Bay's lead running back, Cadillac Williams, is going to have a big year I feel.
Miami 15, Buffalo 10.
Buffalo's first-round draft choice, running back C.J. Spiller was a total non-factor (and quite a goose egg in my fantasy football team). Chad Henne kept it together enough to deliver a crucial win for the Dolphins. Ronnie Brown was a standout.
Cincinatti 24, New England 38.
Both Carson Palmer and Tom Brady were ON FIRE. The difference in the game: the Patriots scoring not one but two defense/special teams touchdowns. Also, Wes Welker is back in a big way.
Indianapolis 24, Houston 34.
Houston running back Arian Foster ran for over 230 yards and 3 touchdowns. Nuff said.
Denver 17, Jacksonville 24.
In 2007, Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard threw 18 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. Three. He finished the season with a passer rating of 102.2. On Sunday, David Garrard was 16 for 21, with 170 yards passing, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 138.9. Might he be on track to replicate his 2007 season? Nothing would please Jaguar fans more.
Atlanta 9, Pittsburgh 15 (OT).
Pittsburgh running back Rashard Mendenhall finally broke through for the only touchdown of the game. Falcons running back Michael Turner was stuffed by the Steeler defense.
Oakland 13, Tennessee 38.
Vince Young has arrived. Chris Johnson was already there.
Carolina 18, New York Giants 31.
What a totally sloppy mess of a game this was. Eli threw 3 touchdowns AND three interceptions. But the Giants defense essentially stifled the Panthers' normally strong running game. Matt Moore left the game with a concussion. I see bigtime problems for the Panthers this year.
Detroit 14, Chicago 19.
Although I was rooting for the Bears, I really think the Lions got screwed. You'll have to watch the play and judge for yourself. I don't even necessarily believe that the officials enforced the rule correctly. In any case, the bizarre ending of this game will just add to the misery of Lions fans I expect.
Arizona 17, St. Louis 13.
Another unimaginably sloppy game, with turnovers all over the place. Arizona quarterback Derek Anderson didn't throw a pick though and led his team to victory. Steve Breaston saved the game for the Cards on many levels.
Green Bay 27, Philadelphia 20.
Green Bay jumped out to a large lead, then almost blew it. Too many injuries to count in this one, not the least of which was Kevin Kolb's concussion, which will knock him out of next Sunday's game.
San Francisco 6, Seattle 31.
How long is it going to take before the owners of the 49ers are willing to recognize that Alex Smith is a BUST? He is simply nowhere near the level he needs to be to lead the 49ers to a division title. Pity, because the 49ers are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball.
Dallas 7, Washington 13.
The Redskins are back. Mike Shanahan has completely revamped this team both offensively and defensively. On top of that, the Cowboys killed themselves with penalties and some unbelievably stupid decisions, including an extraordinarily ill-advised Tony Romo lateral to end the first half (if you didn't see the game, I'm sure you can guess what happened).
Baltimore 10, New York Jets 9.
The Ravens are my choice for the best defense in the league. In tonight's game, they held the Jets to just 6 first downs. They also had 2 sacks and a fumble recovery. The Jets defense is likewise excellent but I do not believe they will be able to stop Tom Brady next week. Offensively, it was nice to see Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson put in a good game. He seems to have rediscovered his burst.
San Diego 14, Kansas City 21.
The Chiefs have a completely different attitude this year, defensively. After having given up an average of 41 points per game to the Chargers over their last two meetings, the Chiefs were able to hold Philip Rivers' offense to just two touchdowns tonight. On top of that, the Chiefs' rookie wide receiver Dexter McCluster returned a punt 94 yards for a score. Most impressive.
Btw, I was 9 and 7 in my picks this week. Meh.