Thoughts and observations from Week Two of the 2011 National Football League season:
The Detroit Lions. That's really all that needs to be said. They move to 2-0 with a demolition job on Kansas City. QB Matt Stafford might be maturing into the star we all thought he could be when he game out of Georgia. He just needs to stay healthy today. It was a team effort, with the defense causing 2 fumbles that led to 2 scores. This is a team going places. For the record, Stafford was 23-39 for 294 yards, 4 TDs and one INT. Nice day out.
One of the great wins in Buffalo franchise history on Sunday. The Bills were down by 21-3 in the second quarter and outscored the Oakland Raiders 35-14 in the second half for an epic 38-35 win that was only confirmed ten minutes after the final whistle, when referee Mike Carey confirmed that the Bills had intercepted a last-gasp Hail Mary in the end zone. What drama! The Raiders find new and inventive ways to lose!
Rookie Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton threw for another 432 yards and 1 TD vs. Green Bay, The problem was that he also tossed 3 INTs. Turnovers kill, especially against an offense as prodigious and productive as the Packers one is. Even so, and despite me being a Newton hater, the kid has some skill and poise about him. He's just going to have to work on curbing back those turnovers.
It goes from bad to worse for the Indianapolis Colts. A week after being pounded by Houston, the Colts have fallen to Peyton Hillis and the Cleveland Browns 27-19. The way things are going, it will be a dreadfully long season for the Colts. It's amazing how much of a different team they are without Peyton Manning. In fact, the Colts are 0-2 for the first time since 1998, Manning’s rookie season. Memo, Colts Front Office: Curtis Painter needs to get a shot now. Kerry Collins should not be your guy!
The 0-2 Kansas City Chiefs are in all sorts of trouble. Not only have they been outscored by a combined 89-10 in their two losses, they are without TE Tony Moeaki, S Eric Berry and, perhaps, RB Jamaal Charles, who left yesterday's game with a knee injury - ACL, if the reports are correct. And Matt Cassel just looked horrible out there, too. Long season ahead for the Chiefs.
Classless work from Michael Vick. I don't care what the crowd is saying, doing stuff like pointing to the scoreboard, letting the Atlanta fans know that they were losing, is not cool. In a league where running up the score is frowned upon and many post-TD celebrations are flagged as unsportsmanlike conduct, Vick's actions are unwarranted. I daresay this will be a water-cooler discussion all week long. Oh, and by the way, Philly ended up losing.
Back to their old selves after Week One aberrations: New Orleans, who pounded Chicago, and Pittsburgh, who did something similar to Seattle. A crazy first week where Buffalo and Detroit won but the Steelers and Saints didn't seems to have righted itself.
Least Valuable Player for Week Two: Jacksonville QB Luke McCown, who was 6-19 for 59 yards , 4 INTs and an end zone sack that resulted in a safety. That's a QB Rating of 1.8, a whopping 133.9 less than what New England QB Tom Brady put up. No wonder rookie QB Blaine Gabbert came in. If McCown starts next week, the Jaguars franchise is a complete and utter joke.
It wasn't pretty, but the NY Giants got the win they needed at home on Monday night. There are still major injury concerns for Big Blue, especially headed to Philadelphia next Sunday, but 1-1 is better than 0-2. Thankfully, Eli Manning settled down after a nervous start, including an INT deep in St Louis territory. Really, though, the Rams were their own worst enemies; all four Giant TDs resulted from St Louis mistakes. That's no way to win a football game.
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