Week One Other NFL Games

Mack Herron said:

Sanders already with more catches than LaFell. Starting to question that contract, as well as dumping LeGarette Blount (assuming major role in Steeler offense) for James White (riding the pine).

Click to expand...

I can just imagine the howls on this forum had the Patriots signed another smurf receiver (Sanders weighs 180 pounds). In terms of contract, Sanders' deal was for $15 million with $6 million guaranteed; by contrast LaFell has a cap number of $2 million, and only $3 million guaranteed.

I was going to suggest that the time to assess a draft pick was two or three years down the road, but apparently now even two or three games is too long?

jmt57 said:

I can just imagine the howls on this forum had the Patriots signed another smurf receiver (Sanders weighs 180 pounds). In terms of contract, Sanders' deal was for $15 million with $6 million guaranteed; by contrast LaFell has a cap number of $2 million, and only $3 million guaranteed.

I was going to suggest that the time to assess a draft pick was two or three years down the road, but apparently now even two or three games is too long?

Click to expand...

I only said I am starting to question these moves. Being cheap is not necessarily better. With Dobson out, we needed him to step up and LaFell was particularly ineffective today. He is not in Sanders league, IMO. If he continues to put up goose eggs and penalities, wasting a few million on LaFell will not have been a better value than Sanders. Similarly, our rushers were ineffective today and we could nto establish a ground game. If we had retained Blount he certainly would have played, while White could not get on the field. These are not final evaluations, they are early facts.

Things could be worse. We could be the Colts.

So jealous of the Broncos offense. Peyton's great and all, but these guys are just open.

Brady always seems to be throwing into coverage.

Jadeveon Clowney tears meniscus in Texans debut, could miss 4-6 weeks | Houston Chronicle

jmt57 said:

Jadeveon Clowney tears meniscus in Texans debut, could miss 4-6 weeks | Houston Chronicle

Rookie outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney is expected to miss from four to six games after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee during Sunday’s 17-6 season-opening victory over Washington.

Clowney, the first overall pick in the draft, suffered the injury while rushing quarterback Robert Griffin III late in the first half. He’s expected to undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage.

This is the third time Clowney has been injured since the Texans drafted him in May. He underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia in June, then missed the last two games of preseason after suffering a concussion during a practice at Denver.

Clowney had a groin injury and a concussion last year at the University of South Carolina.

On what turned out to be his last series against the Redskins, he dropped receiver DeSean Jackson for a 9-yard loss on a reverse before being injured on the pass rush after he jumped and came down and landed wrong. He was untouched.

Clowney limped off the field, got some attention from the trainers, returned to the field and then limped into the dressing room and didn’t return for the second half.​

Click to expand...

I kinda feel sorry for BOB.

The Kansas City Chiefs lost six of their last eight games last year, including a 45-44 loss to the Colts in the playoffs. Over that stretch they averaged 29.9 points allowed; to put that in perspective, over a 16-game season that's 478 points, just two points fewer than the worst defense in the NFL, the Vikings (480/30.0 per game).

Now they have lost two of their best starters on defense, DE Mike DeVito and ILB Derrick Johnson. Both players ruptured their Achilles tendon Sunday and are done for the year.

Chiefs' depth, run defense will be tested without Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito | The Kansas City Star

I wonder if things will turn ugly in St. Louis this year. I completely forgot that the Rams can walk away after the season is over, as they are in the final year of their stadium lease.

Rams fall flat in opener | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A bit of trivia: the St. Louis defense was the first since the AFL-NFL merger to allow an opposing receiver to rush for 100 yards.

While we are all fixated on the Tale of Two Cities, aka the good first half contrasted with the awful second half in the Massacre in Miami, it's interesting (at least to me) that there were plenty of other momentum shifts in Week One.


-- Pittsburgh was coasting with a 27-3 halftime lead over Cleveland at home, and then the Browns came back to score 24 straight. The Steelers ended up escaping with a victory on a field goal as time expired. On a side note, Brian Hoyer went 19/31 for 230 yards, 1 TD and zero picks; LeGarrette Blount averaged only 1.5 yards per carry (6 yards on 4 carries), but did score a touchdown.

-- Jacksonville forced three turnovers and outscored Philadelphia 17-0 in the first half. The Eagles then outscored the Jaguars 34-0 in the second half, to win by the same amount they were losing by, 17 points.

-- The Saints scored a touchdown with twenty seconds left in the half to go up by 13, 20-7. At the end of the third quarter the Falcons led 24-20 after scoring 17 unanswered points. From that point on there were four lead changes.

-- Broncos score the first 24 points, then the Colts outscore Denver 24-7.

-- The Bills were up by ten at halftime and blew that lead, but managed to come back to win at Chicago.

-- Cincinnati was up by 15 at halftime, blew that lead, then overcame their deficit to win with a go-ahead touchdown with less than five minutes to play.

-- In the first 29½ minutes, the Rams were only down 6-0 to the Vikings. Over the next 28 minutes Minnesota outscored St. Louis 28-3.

-- Washington scored first, but a blocked point after was an omen of things to come; they were outscored by the Texans 17-0 the rest of the way.

-- Carolina takes a 17-0 lead, then Tampa Bay scores two touchdowns in a five-minute span.

-- Niners outscore Dallas by 25 in the first half, then the Cowboys score 14 straight.

-- After a 10-10 score late in the second quarter, the Seahawks outscore Green Bay 26-6 the rest of the way.

-- Chiefs score first, then Tennessee scores five straight times before KC scores again.

-- The Jets scored 17 unanswered points. I know it's Oakland, but come on....

Baltimore media not too happy after the Ravens lost their home opener. One stat that jumped out at me: Baltimore had 65 passing plays, and 20 running plays. I know they don'y have much of a running game and Cincinnati has a tough run defense, but that lack of balance is not good. Also, if you remove the one late 80-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith, the Ravens averaged less than four yards per pass.

Instant analysis of the Ravens 23-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in week 1 - baltimoresun.com



Veteran running back Justin Forsett makes most of chance after Bernard Pierce is benched - baltimoresun.com

Probably not a good sign for your future when Justin Forsett takes your place. 14 yards on six carries with a lost fumble says it all.


Ravens wide receivers catch a case of drops against the Bengals - baltimoresun.com

Interesting, on SportsCenter last night they gushed about Smith's great catch but didn't mention all those previous drops.


Watching Joe Flacco is like riding a roller coaster of emotions - baltimoresun.com

Yes, I would think Dramamine would be a prerequisite for any Flacco/Ravens fan.


Five Things We Learned from the Ravens' 23-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals - baltimoresun.com

On Thursday the Ravens play Pittsburgh in Baltimore, then five of their next seven games are on the road. While their is no such thing as a 'must win' game in week two, things could potentially unravel very quickly for the Ravens.

Jangles said:

So jealous of the Broncos offense. Peyton's great and all, but these guys are just open.

Brady always seems to be throwing into coverage.

Click to expand...

I guess you missed the second half. The Broncos' offense was almost as bad as the Pats' offense was. They had 31 yards in the third quarter, punted five of six drives in the second half, and their longest drive other than the TD (which was only a 48 yard drive) was 25 yards. Once the Colts stopped playing scared on defense, Manning and the Broncos' offense was stymied.