Jets Embarrass Patriots: Rhodes’ Prediction Comes True with Pats Poor Showing

In the run up to the 100th all-time meeting between the Patriots and Jets, the AFC East rivalry contained all the hallmarks of a hard fought battle. For instance, in the preceding 99 games, both teams had 49 wins (one game ending in a tie).

The last time the two foes met, the game went into overtime; as in past closely fought games where New England’s taken part, trash talk was levied against the Pats by a member of the opposing team’s secondary (e.g. Kerry Rhodes of the Jets last week, Anthony Smith of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007, Freddie Mitchell of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005).

And if you only saw the score of yesterday’s game—the Jets winning 16-9—you’d think yesterday was yet another hard fought battle. 

Those who watched, though, saw something quite different.

They saw a Patriots team that was outplayed, outmatched, and to paraphrase Rhodes comments from last week, “embarrassed” by their poor performance.

That’s not to say the game was a downer from start to finish for Brady and Co., as the first quarter was filled with some great “firsts.” 

New England got great field position on the kickoff. Their first first down came on their first play, and the Patriots’ Joey Galloway hauled in his first catch as a Patriot just 1:30 into the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the Jets’ “firsts” weren’t nearly as propitious. 

The Jets’ Leon Washington lost a fumble to the Patriots, the first time the Jets have done so since 1991, and the Jets’ first First Down came with 10:45 remaining in the second quarter.

Despite the lacklustre start for the Jets, amassing a putrid minus two passing yards the entire first half, they went into the half only down three. The Patriots could only muster a mere six points heading into the half on two Gostkowski field goals (one from 45 yards, the other from 25 yards).

That’s right about where the tide turned for the J-E-T-S. 

As New York emerged from the locker room and made their way back to the gridiron, Sanchez and company compiled almost as many yards on their first drive as they amassed the entire first half (54 to 56). It took just three plays to do what the Patriots couldn’t do in an entire game: score a touchdown.

A 45-yard hook-up with Cotchery, a run up the middle, and a Sanchez-to-Keller connection put the Jets up for good 10-3.

The Jets would then go on to score two more times on a pair of field goals before game’s end; but Brady’s shakiness throughout the second half, made those six points seem gratuitous.

Granted, the Pats receivers didn’t make things easy for Brady, as the quartet of Galloway, Edelman, Moss and Maroney looked like court jesters with their juggling acts.  But given Brady’s four—FOUR!—delay of game penalties, the Patriots receivers weren’t the only objects worthy of ridicule.

The offensive line didn’t make matters any easier, as Brady was hurried 15 times and knocked down five times. 

As bad as it was though, the Patriots still had the opportunity to win the game with just under two minutes remaining in the fourth. Five plays, 18 yards, and 46 seconds later, though, the Pats went four and out. 

GAME OVER.

The win marked the Jets first home win over the Patriots since 2000. With it, they did what no team has been able to do since 2006; keep the Patriots from scoring six.  Through the season’s first two weeks, in fact, the Jets have yet to allow a touchdown.

In the post-game press conference and interviews, “better” was the operative word among those who spoke…referring to the Jets, of course.

“We were the better team today,” said New York Jets coach Rex Ryan in the post-game press conference. “That’s the football team we were this week, that’s the team we were last week.”

“They did a better job than we did,” said Belichick. “We just didn’t do a good enough job.” 

“We’ve got to find ways to perform better as a team,” echoed Brady in an interview with WEEI AM 850 Monday. “The veteran leaders have to do a better job at leading.  Ultimately, we just have to play better. I think that’s what it comes down to.”

True indeed.

The Patriots have a deadly duo to contend with next week in the Falcons Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez. Through two games, Gonzalez has a pair of touchdown catches, one of them yesterday in the Falcons 28-20 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Last year’s rookie of the year (Ryan) threw for three touchdowns, a career-high.  Atlanta’s 2-0 record marks their best start since 2006 (before that, since 1995).

The road doesn’t get any easier, for a team who many thought had an easy one to start the season.

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The Elevator: Panthers Defense Allows Ryan, Falcons to Flourish

The Carolina Panthers suffered their second consecutive loss to open the 2009 season on Sunday, but did so in a manner that was far less depressing than their Week 1 debacle against Philadelphia.  The Atlanta Falcons, donning throwback uniforms from the 1966 season, beat the Panthers 28-10 in the Georgia Dome.

The main issue for the Panthers on Sunday was their defense.  Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan could likely get away with not washing his uniform after he was relatively unaffected by the Panthers’ fruitless pass rush.  Ryan finished the day with 220 yards on 21-of-27 passing with three touchdowns and an interception.

The Falcons were also able to move the ball on the ground, gaining a team total of 151 rush yards—105 of which were picked up by Michael Turner. 

The Panthers’ main problem on the day was, as is apparent by the above two paragraphs, the defense.  Again, for the sixth consecutive game including the preseason, the opposing team was able to catch the ball, turn and move up the field before encountering a Panthers defender.

When the opposing quarterback only has six incomplete passes for the game, one of which being an interception, you know that something is wrong in the pass defense.  Coupled with a pass rush that simply could not apply pressure, Carolina was left with little chance of victory.

The good news for the Panthers is that it doesn’t appear that there are any hangover effects from the Week 1 performance that had fans edging closer to various ledges throughout the city. 

Jake Delhomme rebounded nicely with 308 yards while completing 25-of-41 pass attempts with a touchdown and a relatively irrelevant interception.  The touchdown pass to Dante Rosario gave the Panthers a fighting chance at the end of the game to come back and tie.

Double Trouble put together an impressive performance, combining for 144 yards on 25 carries.  DeAngelo Williams had the lone touchdown, a three-yard run early in the second quarter.

Jonathan Stewart averaged 7.2 yards on his nine carries and notched the game’s long run of the day with a 28-yarder off of a draw play.

Let’s take a ride on the elevator to see what positives the Panthers can take from this loss and what needs to be addressed in the long week leading up to their Monday Night Football affair in Dallas.

 

Going Up…

/\  Jake Delhomme.  Delhomme’s performance on Sunday provided Panthers fans with a collective sigh of relief.  While most were likely again thinking, “there’s no way that can happen again,” I’m sure they were more skeptical of that phrase after seeing last week’s performance.  Delhomme didn’t force the ball too much. He made one very boneheaded play, where instead of throwing the ball out of bounds, he threw it lazily into the air where only Falcons defenders could reach it.  Luckily, no Falcons defender was able to make a play and the ball fell harmlessly to the turf.  Delhomme led the offense to a touchdown when he had to and took the team down the field to set up an opportunity to tie at the end of the game.  A solid performance is just what the doctor ordered for Delhomme and the Panthers’ offense.

/\  Dante Rosario.  Rosario caught three of the four balls that were thrown his way on Sunday including the lone touchdown pass from Delhomme.  He averaged over 10 yards per catch.

/\  Steve Smith.  Smitty returned to his usual form on Sunday, catching eight balls for 131 yards.  He made two great sideline catches and was Delhomme’s primary target, as usual.  He was able to gain separation from the Falcons defense and catch the ball in-stride to pick up yards after the catch.

/\  Thomas Davis.  Davis has been on a tear since this season began.  He notched his second straight 10-plus tackle game to start the season, finishing with 12. 

/\  Quinton Teal.  Teal has filled in nicely for Chris Harris in the first two games of the season. He recovered a fumble on Sunday after a long drive on the first Atlanta possession of the second half while adding three tackles. 

/\  Louis Leonard.  Leonard started in place of the injured Nick Hayden at defensive tackle on Sunday and was pretty effective in stopping the run until a fractured ankle knocked him out of the game.  It’s unclear at this point how much time he is going to miss.

 

Going Down…

\/  Defense.  I could use a different section to blast each defensive unit, but I’ll give them their lashing as a team.  When you’re only making a play on six out of 27 balls thrown, something is clearly wrong.  No opposing receiver had to do any more than run to a soft spot in the zone, sit and wait to get the ball.  Where is the defense that the organization was so excited about in the offseason?  Where are the players collapsing towards the ball?  Where are the strips and the gang-tackles?  I haven’t seen any of that.  The defense got their second interception in as many games and also recovered a fumble, but that doesn’t count for anything if you allow the opposition to run and pass all over you throughout the rest of the game.  For the second week in a row, the defense started the game off with a three-and-out, then disappeared.  I’m sure Drew Brees has the two Panthers games circled on his calendar at home.

\/  Punt team.  In the season opener, this unit had a punt returned for a touchdown against them.  In the second game of the year, they had one blocked.  Yes, Jason Baker took too long to get the ball off.  But from what I saw, the snap wasn’t on point either.  When a punter receives a snap it should be a tight spiral that the punter can catch on a level angle so he can rotate the ball to put the laces up and drop it directly onto his foot.  The snap looked like it was at an awkward angle, which threw Baker off of his rhythm, causing a snowball effect.  The bigger problem is the missed block that allowed the Falcons defense to be in the face of Baker.  The protection guys made a half-hearted attempt to get in the way of who was coming, but didn’t sustain the block long enough for him to have gotten the kick off even if the snap was perfect.  Games can be won and lost with the punt unit and the Carolina unit certainly hasn’t helped their team’s case in the first two weeks.

\/  Rhys Lloyd.  I like Rhys, but he got embarrassed by Michael Koenen in the kickoff department yesterday.  The Panthers did not get the opportunity to return a single kickoff on Sunday.  Lloyd had five kickoff attempts, of which only two were touchbacks.  That is a relatively good day for a normal kicker, but when you are consuming a roster spot for the sole purpose of kicking the ball off deep to prevent returns, you have to do better.  The problem is magnified when the Panthers coverage allows the opposition to return kicks for an average of 34 yards.

\/  Injuries.  The team lost Brad Hoover, Na’il Diggs and Louis Leonard on Sunday to injuries.  Hoover’s absence meant that rookie Tony Fiammetta had to step in. He dropped the only pass that came his way.  With the lack of depth on the defensive line, the loss of Leonard will hurt for weeks to come.  For a team that obviously hasn’t grasped their new scheme on defense, they need their starters in there as much as possible.

\/  John Fox.  Fox has major work to do if he wants to make another trip to Spartanburg as Panthers head coach.  If this team continues to lose, he will find his seat quickly heating up—especially because there are so many reputable coaches out there right now.  Terry Bradshaw brought up the Bill Cowher conversation on Sunday during the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show—a realistic option if Fox gets the boot.  His sidestepping in press conferences, shady information on injuries and team news and inability to show passion, win or lose, has frustrated fans in Carolina for a long time.  It’s starting to reach a boiling point.

 

The Panthers performed better on Sunday than they did the week prior, but 0-2 is no way to start a season.  Next week’s game doesn’t get any easier. The Panthers will travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in their brand new, billion-dollar stadium, which will make its first ever Monday Night Football appearance.  The defense will have to step up and keep Tony Romo from picking them apart the way Matt Ryan did.  If that doesn’t happen, regardless of how the offense plays, they could be staring 0-3 right in the face.

 

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The Washington Redskins: A Sigh of Disbelief

The way this season has begun, we may look back at the Redskins 9-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams and breathe a deep sigh of relief.

Glad we won that one!

The margin of victory in the NFL is so small that a team will take any win.  Just one extra win may mean the difference between playing in the first round of the playoffs, or playing the first round of golf with your buddies in January.

Take for example the Redskins’ record last year and the insignificant-let’s-put-that-behind-us-and-move-on-loss to the Rams, had they won that game and everything happened the way it did, the Skins would have had nine wins going into the last game of the year against the San Francisco 49ers, with a playoff berth on the line. 

Instead, Redskins’ fans shook their heads in disbelief as they counted the losses to the Rams, Bengals, and 49ers as games they wish they had back. 

So be glad the Redskins beat the Rams yesterday because it could be worse.  You could be a fan of the Rams, bemoaning another 0-2 start to your season.  For there isn’t much that separates the 0-2 Rams and the 1-1 Redskins.

Consider this: Both offenses have scored just one touchdown each in two regular season games.  And the Redskins special teams have scored more points than the offense.

Once again, the defense was forced to make something happen.  For a second week in a row, the Redskins’ defense surrendered only one touchdown, but showed some signs of weakness which could get exploited by more potent offenses.

While the secondary didn’t give up any big plays in the air, the relatively soft coverage by the cornerbacks allowed the Rams’ receivers to convert some key third downs into first downs.

The only big gain the defense gave up was in the second quarter, on Steven Jackson’s 58-yard rumble down the right sideline.  In fact, LaRon Landry had a clear shot at tackling Jackson for a smaller gain, but completely whiffed on his attempt, springing Jackson free for the run.  

While Landry has the ability to bring the big hit on every play, his tendency to go for the jarring hit causes him to miss and not make the right play, which is exactly what happened on the Jackson run.  Jackson side-stepped him and raced down the sideline.  

Good defenses occasionally will give up big plays, but they make up for it by creating turnovers—especially when they need it most.  

That’s exactly what happened when Chris Horton forced a Donnie Avery fumble on the Redskins five-yard line in the fourth quarter, ending the Rams’ attempt to take a small lead.  

Instead, the Redskins’ defense, once again, was forced to compensate for the offense. If the offense couldn’t put points on the board, the defense certainly wasn’t going to let the Rams score.  

So for the second week in a row, we are coming up with answers for why the Redskins can’t score points—most importantly—why they can’t score touchdowns.

You have to start the discussion with the man responsible for calling the offensive plays: Jim Zorn.

And while you have to give Zorn credit for showing some moxie and going for it twice on fourth down, you have to question the play calling.

On the first fourth down play in the fourth quarter, with the offense facing a 4th-and-1 from the Rams’ 20-yard line, Campbell handed off to Portis, who gained nine yards on the run.

It was the right call.

You had Portis, who loves handling the ball in big moments, lined up in the right formation, and he ran behind Chris Samuels to pick up the first down.

However, later on the same drive, facing another 4th-and-short, when the simple call is a quarterback sneak with 6′ 4” Jason Campbell—even though he did tweak his ankle earlier in the game—Zorn called for another run behind left end.  

This time the played was stopped.  The Redskins turned the ball over on downs, and, most importantly, came away with no points.  

That was just one of many questionable plays that were dialed up by Zorn.  

In the second quarter the Redskins put together a nice string of short gains—by running and throwing the ball—to move into Rams territory, when Marcus Mason trotted onto the field for his first action in an NFL regular season game.

While it was good to see Mason get some time on the field, his two running plays resulted in a total of five yards and a third down situation.  Fortunately, Campbell was able to find Santana Moss for a first down, and the drive continued, resulting in another field goal.  

The fact that the drive ended with a field goal, reinforces the questionable play calling by the offense.  

It just seemed like the wrong time to throw Mason in the mix.  His two run plays stalled the momentum the drive had built up, and Campbell, facing a 3rd-and-10 after a false start by Derrick Dockery, had to scramble out of the pocket to complete the pass to Moss.

The Redskins found themselves inside the red zone four times yesterday, and came away with no touchdowns.  Zorn, willing to try anything within ten yards of the end zone, went for the predictable halfback pass which resulted in an incompletion. 

Don’t we have two tall receivers—Marko Mitchell and Malcolm Kelly—to throw, essentially, jump balls to in the end zone? Yet, there was not one call for that play.

So if you can’t score a touchdown in the air near the goal line (or hold onto a pass, Mike Sellers and Devin Thomas), then you have to run it in. 

Again, another area of concern for the rushing game.

To make matters worse for the offense, right guard Randy Thomas appears likely to be out for the season, injuring his right triceps muscle early in the game. 

So an already shaky offensive line is down a key player on its most delicate side.  That means Will Montgomery, listed as the primary backup to center Casey Rabach, will have to work with right tackle Stephen Heyer to hold down the right side.

Does this mean we will eventually see a Chad Rinehart sighting? 

With a patched-up offensive line, it will be nearly impossible for the Redskins to run effectively on the right side; and with an injury to Samuels, Dockery, or Rabach, any hopes of the offense finding a rhythm and scoring touchdowns appears to be unlikely.

So there are a lot of issues the Redskins will need to address this week as they prepare for another winnable game against the Detroit Lions.

So let’s be grateful the Redskins gritted out a win. 

But I think we should have lowered expectations for the Redskins for the rest of the season, unless they can show us something better on offense.

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Dumervill Puts “D” Back in Denver

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NFL Week Two: Snap Judgments and Quick Reads

Another week in the books and another set of observations have been made, logged, and laid down in this blog.

The first week pointed out some potential duds in the making as this author took a swing at both Jay Cutler and Jake Delhomme. However, in week two, both found a bit of redemption as Cutler was on the winning end of a nail-biter and Delhomme, well, he didn’t throw four interceptions this time.

Denver managed to beat the living crap out of Cleveland—proving that the Browns really need to start praying for another number one pick, and Eric Mangini is still the same overrated head coach he always was—just with a worse team.

However, the benefit of saying these are “snap judgments” and “quick reads” is that it makes it clear that either can be changed. Nothing is set in stone.

That said, a few quick reads and judgments for week numero dos:

Steve Slaton…Where the heck are you?

The Texans managed to waltz into Tennessee and pull their best version of “We ain’t skeered” as they pounced and trounced all over the Titans for 34 points and a very impressive road victory.

Matt Schaub did his best Drew Brees impersonation as he made the Tennessee defensive backs look ridiculous to the tune of 357 yards and four touchdowns. It didn’t hurt that he had a little help from his previously missing wide receiver, Andre Johnson, as the big man from the “U” hauled in 10 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

Tennessee had no answer for Johnson, and Schaub used that fact to abuse Tennessee’s tiny little secondary. All. Day. Long.

However, noticeably, missing from the fray was Steve Slaton. Come to think of it, Slaton has been MIA for two weeks in a row now.

The 5’9″, 215 pound wunderkind who spun and juked his merry way through the competition for 1,282 yards last season managed only 34 yards on 17 carries Sunday.

Huh? This is Steve Slaton, right? The same Steve Slaton who is supposed to match or better last season’s totals? Same guy?

Okay. Just checkin’ because the Steve Slaton from both weeks one and two looks like he couldn’t get to or through a hole if he had a post hole digger at his disposal.

Now, his fans will say that he got off to a slow start last season as well. That’s true. He only had one 100-plus yard game in his first 10 starts. However, that one 100-plus yard game came against an Albert Haynesworth led Tennessee defense in week two (18 carries, 116 yards, and a touchdown).

That said, Haynesworth is gone and Tennessee’s defensive line is not exactly better for his absence.

Snap Judgment: Slaton is headed for a second-year hangover.

The Patriots are starting to show some chinks in the armor

In week one, the Buffalo Bills very nearly marched right into Foxboro and laid the smack down on the Patriots to spoil the Tom Brady comeback train.

However, true to form, the Brady led Patriots rallied, remained poised, and escaped a loss courtesy of a poor decision by the Bills special teams.

This week, they faced a talented New York Jets team who has a head coach with a serious set of cajones and a penchant for saying precisely whatever is on his mind.

Brady, for his part said “talk is cheap” after hearing coach Rex Ryan’s comments about the Jets looking to gain a little AFC respect.

For Brady’s part, he looked pedestrian: overthrowing, under-throwing, or just not throwing to his receivers. The Jets defense harassed and harangued him into ineffectiveness and made Brady and his team look…well…beatable.

Now, to their credit, the Jets always play well against the Pats, and this could just be a case of a dog finally having his day. But Tom Brady clearly has yet to find his rhythm at quarterback and the Jets took advantage of that fact.

Snap Judgment: The Patriots reign as the untouchables of the AFC East is coming to an end.

The Lions could conceivably go 0-16 again this year

It has become alarmingly clear that even though the Lions have upgraded their management, coaches, player personnel, and defense, they are still not a very good football team.

Their defense has proved that it has the ability to play hard for two quarters of football. Problem is, they need to play all four to have a chance at winning.

In game one versus the Saints, Drew Brees erupted for six touchdowns in leading his Saints over the Lions. The first four of those scores came in the first two quarters. After half time, Detroit was able to minimize the damage a bit and hold Brees to just two touchdowns from (one in the third and fourth quarters respectively) the third quarter forward.

This past Sunday against the Vikes, the defense stood stout against Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, and company for the first half—holding Minnesota to just seven points. However, after the half, they fell apart and allowed 20.

If the Lions don’t learn to finish the drill and play hard for 60 minutes instead of 30, they will lose every game this season. Again.

Quick Read: The Lions are still a long way from being relevant in the “wins” column.

The Seahawks are in trouble

Say whatever you have to in order to get yourself through to the next game, but the Seahawks are looking like a war-torn group of elder statesman.

Matt Hasselbeck looked good in last week’s return but, true to form, he is already saddled with an injury that is likely to last the whole season.

The Niners Patrick Willis was the man who put Matt out of the game on Sunday as the Seahawks suffered their first loss of the year at the hands of the Bay Area Bunch.

Even more embarrassing was the 207 yards that the Niners pasted on that lackluster defense that was able to shut down the Stephen Jackson led Rams the previous week.

What the heck happened? Was the win last week just a fluke?

Either way, this team sinks or swims on the success of it’s quarterback and, from the looks of it, they won’t be seeing much of him this season either.

Quick read: This season will bring more disappointment in Seattle.

Jacksonville looks bad. Just bad.

Maurice Jones-Drew: number one fantasy pick, break-out candidate, jack of all trades, etc., etc. Okay, for those of you who picked MJD over AP…you got punk’d.

Jacksonville looks inept on offense. I don’t know if they know what  a touchdown is supposed to look like or not, but their offense is anemic and Garrard is not the man he needs to be in order to inspire anyone to play well. 

It’s easy to say that Garrard could have been effective on Sunday if the line play had been better. Or, to point out the fact that he still managed to rack up 282 yards passing in spite of being on the ground or under pressure most of the day. 

But, here’s the problem, most of those 282 yards came after the Cardinals put a ton of points on the board—it was too little, too late.

Add to that, where is that great Jacksonville defense? They just let ol’ Kurt Warner stand back there and sip tea all day long while he connected with Steve Breaston and Anquan Boldin. Last time anyone checked, the Jags were supposed to be strong on defense if nowhere else.

Imagine what might have happened if coach Ken Whisenhunt hadn’t pulled Warner in the third quarter…that’s right…the third quarter.

Jacksonville needs to get it together fast if they expect to ever be taken seriously.

Snap Judgment: The Jags are fading from AFC relevance fast.

On to the next week.

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Bears Defense Delivers Vs. Steelers: What Can Brown Do To You?

Observations on the Bears-Steelers game

Alex Brown introduced Ben Roethisberger to the freshest sod on Chicago’s lakefront Sunday afternoon. Twice for sacks, but more importantly when he knocked Big Ben down in mid-throw early in the second quarter, serving up Charles Tillman with an interception. That was the play that changed the tone of a first half, that had the Steelers offense moving the ball at will on the Bears.

On their first possession, the Steelers drove 92 yards for a TD, something the Bears defense rarely allows. On this next drive, that started at Pittsburgh’s 10 yard line, they had already crossed midfield to the Bears 38 yard line when Brown came in and hammered Roethlisberger during his release, causing him to loft a rainbow arc that Tillman slid under, for the Bears only takeaway of the game.

It was a game-changer in more ways than one; it was a sorely needed stop at a crucial moment. Another Steelers long drive for a score at that point, and the Bears would have been playing from a hole for the rest of the game. And it signalled, for Lovie Smith, that it was time to turn up the pressure. After gaining 144 yards on their first two possessions, the Steelers managed only 164 for the rest of the day.

Brown left the game with 4:11 remaining, but insisted he’ll be ready to play Seattle next week.

_____

The Jay Cutler that Chicago had breathlessly anticipated, showed up in a big way Sunday. After enduring the yo-yoing affections of both fans and media, Cutler endured the equally mercurial lakefront weather, displaying confidence in himself and his much maligned young receiving targets. Even on a day when when occasional torrents of rain made pass catching a slippery proposition. Jay went 9 for 10 in the fourth quarter, including a laser strike to Johnny Knox for a game tying touchdown. He showed a coolness under pressure that was missing in the opener in Green Bay, and managed the whole game well.

_____

Speaking of Johnny Knox, this kid is quickly becoming a presence that opposing defenses are going to have to plan against. He had 6 catches for 70 yards, including his first NFL touchdown, with two defenders draped on him. After the game, Knox confessed he hasn’t learned the whole playbook yet. Jerry Angelo is bringing him into the offense gradually, without throwing him too much at once, a strategy that’s going to make the Cutler-Knox connection a lot of fun to watch over this season, as Knox’s role inevitably expands.

_____

How good is Robbie Gould? On a day when rain and field conditions combined to cause two missed field goals for Pittsburgh’s Jeff Reed, Gould continued to set the standard by punching one in for 44 yards to seal the game for Chicago. Last week against Tennessee, the Steelers squeaked out a win in overtime. Until the final 15 seconds of regulation, this game had an eerie feeling of deja vu. But Gould negated any fears of putting the ball in Roethlisberger’s hands again, by coming through in the clutch yet again.

____

If you want to talk about negatives, there are a couple. The secondary still looks vulnerable, although pressure from the line goes a long way towards minimizing threats. And Devin Hester’s poor decision making is frightening. He gave up on a punt he could have caught, pinning the Bears against their own goal line. And he needs to stop turning backwards after getting the ball. He does it routinely on returns, and it never goes well. Yesterday he did it on a screen, when the near sideline was open. Had he turned toward it, instead of trying to force something in the opposite direction, he would have notched a fair amount of positive yards.

Nobody wants to see him break one for a long run more than I do, but he needs to take what’s in front of him, instead of trying to create something where nothing exists.

The Bears are not an elite football team. Not yet. But if they can tighten the bolts in a few areas, they can be a contender this season. This defense gets to the ball in a hurry, but they’re not wrapping people up on first contact. If they start making that first contact tackle, they could easily be one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL.

_____

I’ve been optimistic about this team, since Lovie Smith took over the defense, and they acquired Jay Cutler in the off-season. There have been a lot of positives, even in the Green Bay game. After last night’s toe-to-toe brawl with last year’s Super Bowl champs, I’d bet a lot of nay-sayers are coming around.

Admit it. Even if you were one of the people saying the Bears were going 0-3 to start the season, how good does the sans-Hasselback Seattle Seahawks game next week, look now?

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Growing Pains: Detroit Lions Fall to the Minnesota Vikings, 27-13

The Detroit Lions have lost 19 straight games.The last time Detroit put up a number in the win column was Dec. 23, 2007. Our leading passer was Jon Kitna. Our leading rusher was T.J. Duckett.

Let me put that in perspective for you.

A good friend of mine, Bleacher Report NBA writer, Dr. Trade has recently made the move to Stevensville, MI. An ardent Vikings fan, he decided to wash the car last Sunday rather than watch the debacle against the Saints. However, being a sports guy, he tuned the radio to Dan Miller and giggled as the Lions lost their 18th straight.

However, even he was surprised when he learned the Lions last win was December of 2007. See, the good doctor graduated from college in 2007. Since then, he’s had a child, moved to Utah—teaching seventh and eighth grade. He’s moved back to Michigan—teaching social studies and English at the high school level.

In his own personal life, he has had a plethora of experiences since the Lions experienced a win.

What about in your life? How have you lived since Dec. 23, 2007?

One of the biggest frustrations for Lions fans is that the people responsible for this travesty have lived rather well.

Matt Millen, the architect of the NFL’s only 0-16 season, has lived rather well since 2007. He is now back on the fast track to be one of ESPN’s top color commentators—a job he’s always coveted.

William Clay Ford Sr. may be hurting from the fractured fanbase and from this latest recession but is actually making a ton of money from Ford Field becoming a popular venue for a host of big entertainment options.

Tom Lewand, the teams chief financial officer, in charge of handing out some of the worst contracts this league has ever seen, got a promotion.

What have you done? How have you lived.

You’ve lived without a Lions win. That is a frustrating fact. That frustration bubbled to the surface during the Lions’ second drive on Sunday.The Lions had gotten a FG on their first drive, a mixture of run and pass getting all the way to the red zone before Stafford missed a wide open pass in the end zone, setting up a Jason Hanson field goal.

On that second drive, a fateful drive, the Lions looked golden. The Lions, without hyperbole, were running all over the Vikings. Madieu Williams, the Vikings strong safety was living in the box, and the Vikings were still giving up runs of five and six yards.

Scott Linehan, sensing the big play was there, dialed up a pass to fullback, Jerome Felton, who surprised just about every fan, rumbling and stumbling for 21 yards.

Then, after another great run by Kevin Smith, Linehan put the ball in Stafford’s hands.

Stafford took the shotgun snap and rolled to his right, away from pressure, and lofted a ball in the direction of Calvin Johnson. Of the around hundred thousand people who watched that pass, only Matthew Stafford thought it was a good idea.

Calvin Johnson was double covered, and Chad Greenway was sitting in a zone, reading Stafford’s eyes between him and CJ. Greenway picked off the pass easily and ran 13 yards the other way.

It would be only the first of two Stafford interceptions on the day.The second one was also picked off by Greenway and even more ill-advised.

The most maddening play of the day was on the Lions third drive of the second half. The Vikings had just taken the lead and the Lions needed to answer. On third down, Calvin Johnson ran a slant and beat his defender badly. Stafford delivered the ball low and outside, forcing CJ to dive for the ball.

If that ball was on target, it was a first down. With the talent of Calvin Johnson and one man to beat, it could have been a touchdown. Instead, 4th-and-2, punt.

To look on the brightside, Matthew Stafford played better week two than he did in week one, throwing his first NFL touchdown pass. However, he was checkdown city, missing several open receivers downfield for 4.5 yards/pass.

For a quarterback whose college scouting report was the polar opposite of Joey Harrington, he looked very similar to the former Oregon Duck on Sunday—completing many of his passes behind or close to the line of scrimmage, depending on Calvin Johnson or Kevin Smith to get YAC.

Following the game, Jim Schwartz refused to site “rookie mistakes” in retrospect of Stafford’s game. The two interceptions and the many bad incompletions were either bad decisions or horrible throws and inexcusable, even for a rookie.

Yes, these Lions (and Lions’ fans) are certainly experiencing the brunt of Matthew Stafford’s growing pains.

Jim Schwartz famously said “this isn’t an experiment” when he named Stafford the starter.

But isn’t it? Aren’t the Lions experimenting just how long veterans like Larry Foote and Julian Peterson can tolerate a rookie’s mistakes while holding their tongues? Aren’t the Lions experimenting, trying to find exactly where Calvin Johnson says, enough is enough?

For now, at 0-2, everything is still copacetic around Allen Park, but for how long? There is one, perhaps two, winnable games between now and the Lions’ week seven bye. If the Lions are 0-6 at that point, what changes will be made?

As of now, the Lions are just one of eight teams who are 0-2. Excuses can be made, light can still be seen (or rather manufactured) at the end of the tunnel. The Lions barely were able to sell out their home opener.

If the Lions do not win a game soon, if they march on toward the Buccaneers’ 26 consecutive losses, they will find themselves conducting an experiment—on what playing football in an empty stadium is like.

 

Other Observations From Week Two

Jeff Backus is Really, Really Bad

No, seriously, he’s bad.

Quote of the day from Vikings fan, Brock Groth, who watched the game with me, “Wait, I thought Backus was good.”

No, no he isn’t. Not a bit. Stafford was sacked twice on that drive in a second half nothing like the first.

I’m not saying anything Lions fans haven’t been screaming since 2001. However, take an extra look at his production. Many of the Lions rushing yards were to the left on Sunday, but Backus was paired with a tight end or a fullback for all of those positive plays.

Backus was called for a costly holding penalty and got away with a few blatant holding calls on Jared Allen.

On the Lions’ fourth first-half drive, Maurice Morris spelled Kevin Smith for two plays. On his second run, fans were treated to a close-up, slow motion view of Jeff Backus with two fists full of Jared Allen’s jersey, holding the living crap out of him.

I personally have no idea how officials failed to throw the flag.

I personally have no idea how Backus is still a starter in this league.

 

The Lions Can Blitz?

In the Lions preseason win against the Colts, the Lions played a very conservative defensive plan, yet Gunther Cunningham threw one crossing blitz at Indianapolis, sacking Peyton Manning and enticing Lions fans everywhere.

Against the Saints, week one, the Lions blitzed very sparingly in the first half, getting torched every time. When the Lions sat back, things only got worse.

Fast forward to week two, and all of a sudden, Brett Favre can barely find daylight against a Lions defense which sacked Brett Favre three times, hit him seven times more and compiled five tackles for loss.

The Lions also held Adrian Peterson to under 100 yards for only the 14th time in his career.

When the Vikings went to the wildcat, Julian Peterson blew up a block and the Vikings never went to that well again.

The Lions looked like a team finding its offensive identity on Sunday. Surely they are a work in progress—closer to the starting gun than the finish line—but there is promise.

 

Looking Forward

The Lions face Washington at home this week in perhaps their most winnable game until the week eight, “Mediocrity Bowl” against St. Louis.

It will be the second time in two weeks that the Lions have faced a version of the West Coast offense. Minnesota clearly has better personnel on offense than the Redskins and it could be a very good game.

However, Washington is a defense statistically very comparable to Minnesota and Stafford will face a lot more blitz packages than he did against the Vikings pseudo-Cover Two.

This week, the Lions need to focus on Stafford’s maturation as a game manager.

The Lions defense should be able to win this game.

If Stafford can attack the flats similar to this week, the Lions will be able take advantage of those Redskins’ blitz packages.

In addition, Stafford will have chances with Johnson down the field against shorter weaker cornerbacks. Stafford needs to silence his detractors and hit Johnson down the field.

If Stafford can do that this week, weeks four through six (Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay) will be that much easier if teams are forced to game plan against the deeper passes.

 

In Conclusion

This was a much closer game than many critics thought it would be. The Vikings are considered the class of the NFC North and stacked on both sides of the ball.

Although the Lions have lost 19 straight, fans know that playing teams close is nothing new. However, having a lead at half time is a new and exciting adventure many of the most faithful appreciate.

The Lions are taking meaningful, valuable steps forward but need to reward their most faithful with a win.

Coming up tomorrow, yours truly will be picking up the torch from B/R ace, Angel Navedo and compiling the week two official Bleacher Report NFL Power Rankings. Check back for that.

For the most up-to-date Lions info, follow me on Twitter.

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Thanks to Rex Ryan, They’re Not the Same Old Jets

 

For Rex Ryan, who put his coaching reputation as a defensive wizard on the line with a week of inspired horn-blowing before his Jets met the Patriots, the cold-fish, no-look, post-game handshake he got from losing coach Bill Belichick had to be the sweetest reward of all.

 

Ryan earned his reward by believing in himself, believing in his defense and believing that Jets fans would not reject as cheesy the coach’s clarion call for full-throated support against his team’s most vexing opponent.

 

“We’re giving the game ball to our fans,” Ryan said Sunday after a 16-9 victory at Giants Stadium that ended the Pats’ eight-year winning streak on the Jets’ turf. “This game ball is going in our trophy case.”

 

Too bad Jets fans can’t do with the game ball what NHL players can after their team wins the Stanley Cup: Keep it for a day and do whatever you like.

 

Instead, Jets fans can savor a victory as brash and decisive as Ryan himself.

 

Twice in the game’s final nine-and-a-half minutes, the Patriots had the ball needing a touchdown to tie the score.

 

Did the Jets retreat into the conservative shell of a “prevent defense” and give Tom Brady ample opportunities to break their hearts?

 

As Ryan himself might say, “Hell, no.”

 

Blitzes came early and often—from up the middle, from the right side, from the left (blind) side, making Brady uncomfortable throughout.

 

Brady finished 23-for-47 for 216 yards with an interception and no touchdowns—pedestrian numbers by his standards.

 

The Jets kept the heat on Brady until his final pass, intended for Joey Galloway over the middle, was repelled by nickel back Dwight Lowery with 62 seconds left.

 

That’s when the noise at Giants Stadium became deafening, noise from Jets fans who had grown tired of seeing their team pushed around by the Patriots, tired of lamenting “Same Old Jets” after apparent victories had morphed into numbing defeats.

 

And if offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer had not kept under wraps in the first half rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez (3-for-5, 15 yards, 1 fumble) and his favorite receiver Jerricho Cotchery (0 receptions, 0 yards), the Jets might well have routed the Patriots

 

That’s how well the Jets’ defense played.

 

There is reason now to believe the Jets have become at least the equal of the Pats, if not their superiors.

 

Ryan is the reason.

 

He has built a defense that hasn’t allowed a touchdown in eight quarters this season. (The Texans’ Week One touchdown came on an interception.)

 

His defense limited the Pats to three field goals in a first half in which Brady and Co. began drives at the Jets’ 17, the Jets’ 49 and their own 40.

 

Ryan’s defense shut out the Pats in the second half, causing one New England fan to tell me, “We didn’t have Wes Welker. That hurt us a lot.”

 

This is the NFL equivalent of grasping at straws.

 

Since when is the absence of Welker, out with a knee injury, a valid reason for the Pats’ inability to score a touchdown all day?

 

Randy Moss played. So did Brady and Galloway and Laurence Maroney.

 

But most of all, the Jets’ defense played.

 

The defense played well enough to justify Ryan’s bold talk and send a clear message to the rest of the NFL: These are not the same old Jets.

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The Headline: Romo and Jerry Jones Ruin Cowboys’ Beautiful Setting

You can’t have one without the other, so why lump Jerry Jones in to this? Because even though Jerry does not actually suit up and play. All this mess goes back to the start  of the 2009 offseason. When Jackass started making cuts to the roster, traded away a better corner for a bum back up. Then pissed away a entire draft, with the exception of 3 players who are actually worth a damn.

Think I am done tearing them a part? Not by a long shot folks, I aint done yet, because No real screw up could ever be 100% complete. Unless Mr wonderful Tony Romo didn’t show us his balancing act, 3 Int’s and one fluke off Wittens foot.

No pass rush, no ability to stop the pass, ladies and gentleman I give you The Greatest Jokes On Turf, Your 2009 Dallas Cowboys

Thanks for ruining the new stadium CLOWNS

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Tony Romo Struggles in Big Game…Again

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