Cincinnati Bengals: Week Two Report Card

Defense: A

Athletes often talk about being “in the zone” when their performance reaches a level not yet conquered. If there is such a place, Antwan Odom was the king of it yesterday, sacking Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers five times. With two sacks last week, Odom is now just one away from his career-high total of eight.

Rookie linebacker Rey Maualuga was also credited with a sack yesterday, the first of his NFL career. The hit caused Rodgers to fumble the ball. Maualuga caused another fumble with a hit on Packers running back Ryan Grant that resulted in a turnover.

The Bengals’ defense continues to impress me more and more. The aggressive style that coordinator Mike Zimmer has implemented is paying off. No longer are we seeing opposing running backs being tackled by safeties on a regular basis. They aren’t getting that far. The defensive line and linebackers are fighting hard on every play.

Green Bay did score 24 points, but two touchdowns were the result of Charles Woodson interceptions. He returned one for a pick six and another to the Bengals’ 11, setting up a touchdown.

 

Offense: B

It is hard to find fault with a team that goes to Lambeau Field and puts up 31 points.

Cedric Benson ran for 141 yards behind an offensive line that created holes. Benson showed agility and explosiveness that will be a tremendous asset shall it continue. The running game allowed the Bengals to control the clock, keeping the ball for nearly 34 minutes.

Chad Ochocinco made good on his promise to do the Lambeau Leap if he scored a touchdown. Ochocinco wisely found some Bengals fans conveniently sitting in the front row and chose them to share in the celebration. Whether or not they were planted there is up for debate.

Carson Palmer made two bad decisions on the passes that were picked off by Woodson. He did throw three touchdown passes, one each for Laveranues Coles, Chris Henry, and Ochocinco.

You cannot have offensive penalties in the red zone and expect to win on a consistent basis. However, despite the penalties, the Bengals were 4-for-4 in red zone efficiency yesterday.

 

Special Teams: B

Rookie Quan Cosby had punt returns of 60 and 32 yards. The 60-yard return was the longest by a Bengal since Peter Warrick returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown in 2003 against the Chiefs.

Punter Kevin Huber, another rookie, averaged 46.3 yards on four punts yesterday, including a 61-yarder that put the Packers on their own 15-yard line with 4:02 left in the game.

The only reason for not giving the special teams unit an A was because of the near heart attack they caused by not recovering Green Bay’s onside kick with 44 seconds left in the game. The Packers were able to get to the Bengals’ 10-yard line but ran out of time.

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Green Bay Packers-Bengals Aftermath: Is Mike McCarthy in Charge Here?

To quote Vince Lombardi, “What the hell is going on out here?”

Carefully read between the lines of this quote by Aaron Rodgers after the Cincinnati game: “We need to have a good week of practice. Offensively, our two weeks of practice have been average. We haven’t practiced the way we’re capable of practicing. Young guys and old guys alike need to focus in a little more in practice and practice like a professional.

“I’m including myself in that sentence, but we’re two weeks into the season now and it’s time to grow up and be a pro and practice and play like it. Charles Woodson played his butt off today and kept us in the game, but we need to have eleven guys on defense and eleven guys on offense playing and wanting it as badly as Charles does. We have to follow his example.”

Maybe Aaron Rodgers should be coaching this team. Or maybe Charles Woodson.  Because Mike McCarthy is not getting it done. That’s really what Rodgers is saying. Sure, he’s putting it on the players shoulders, but who is responsible for the team being focused in practice?

Mike McCarthy is a lousy motivator and does not hold his players accountable. He makes excuses, laments the things that were done wrong, and promises to fix it in practice, but it doesn’t happen. We just see more of the same.

This isn’t a new complaint from me. I’m not jumping down his throat after one bad loss. I’ve been saying this since his first season as Packers coach.

Play a horrible game, and you’ll “work on it” in practice and be right back in there the next game—no worries about your job. Get called for four penalties and go to sleep that night knowing you’ll just be asked to “clean things up.”

I’m done with the penalties. I hold you, Mike McCarthy, solely responsible for that mess. The Packers are going to have a third straight penalty-ful (like plentiful) season? It’s your fault, Mike. And just accepting blame in your press conferences isn’t enough. Where is the discipline on this team?

And now we find out that the Packers’ head coach can’t even get the players to focus in practice? Players are not acting like professionals in practice? Where is the accountability? What kind of leadership abilities is McCarthy displaying for the players to not take practice seriously?

In fairness, let’s give Coach McCarthy a chance to explain. Here is what he had to say about the practices after the Bengals debacle. “But you go through it every year at the beginning of the year. I don’t know of how many teams that I’ve been a part of that just jumped right out of training camp and were having great weeks of practice.

“I thought we practiced better this week than we did last week. I thought the defense has put together two good weeks of practice, solid weeks of practice. The offense has got some work to do and I think it’s carrying over to our performance. So, you have new faces, you have different things, guys doing different things during the work week.

“It’s a normal progression and we will clean up the problems that we had today, we will clean them up tomorrow and I can promise you we will have a hell of a practice Wednesday.”

So Coach McCarthy is saying that all his teams have had lousy practices early in the season and that’s normal. Blame it on “different things, guys doing different things during the work week. It’s a “normal progression.” 

Really Coach McCarthy? It’s normal for your QB to have to call out his teammates after game two for poor focus in practice? Normal?! Normal?! (Say that to the tune of “playoffs?!”)

For a guy that was supposed to be a tough, hard-nosed Pittsburgh guy, when do you see him get in someone’s face? The once a year he supposedly gets really angry is not enough for me. Sorry, but I like my coaches “old-school.” When is Coach McCarthy going to do something more demonstrative than stand up at press conferences and promise to “get things cleaned up”.

If you need a current frame of reference, check out the job Rex Ryan is doing with the NY Jets. He has completely changed the mindset of that team and those players. He is truly the Anti-Mangini (and Anti-McCarthy).

In a recent interview with Mike Vandermuse of the Green Bay Press Gazette, when asked about last season, McCarthy said, “Professionally it was the most frustrated I’ve ever been. Clearly the hardest year I’ve ever been through.”

Well Coach McCarthy, if you don’t get this cleaned up fast, last year will start to look like a cakewalk.

—————-

You can find more of Jersey Al Bracco’s articles on several sports websites: Jersey Al’s Blog, Packer Chatters , Packers Lounge, NFL Touchdown and of course,  Bleacher Report.

You can also follow Jersey Al on twitter.

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More on Crabtree and 49ers

Hopefully, my look inside the 49ers-Michael Crabtree negotiations on Friday proved the point that it’s not as simple as “slotting the pick” and filling in the numbers accordingly.

This one is complicated for a few reasons, some of which we discussed then.

In negotiating the contract for Jeremy Maclin, the wide receiver taken after Crabtree in the first round (albeit nine picks later), one of the difficulties was that the selection was sandwiched in the first round by players who were defensive linemen, offensive linemen, a tight end, a quarterback, etc.

Should that matter, you ask? For the purposes of base contract and guaranteed money, not really. The player is picked where he’s picked; it’s of no importance—except for a quarterback—what position he plays.

 

The National Football Post is a unique and premier online source of quality and credible news, information and insight about all sides of football featuring professionals with experience in all facets of the NFL.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Ship Is Leaking Badly

This Buccaneer frigate of Captain Raheem Morris is leaking badly. It is listing mightily as it pulls back into port here in Tampa after getting shot apart in Buffalo on Sunday.

It is leaking because it cannot defend itself. That was painfully evident in the 33-20 defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills.

It was clear that things weren’t going well from the start. The Bucs trailed 17-0 faster than Morris could say, “these young Tampa Bay Buccaneers are fighters!”

The Bucs fired their offensive coordinator before the season started but now they’d better ask defensive coordinator Jim Bates to stop the bleeding, stop the water that is pouring into the good ship Buccaneer.

This defense made someone named Fred Jackson look like the second coming of Adrian Peterson. Jackson hit the Bucs up for 163 yards rushing.

Can somebody please tackle someone?

And speaking of tackling, perhaps Raheem The Dream needs to have a rules clinic for his players this week. Buccaneer defenders latched onto the face masks of assorted Bills players FOUR TIMES to set the pace for a penalty party that would see the Bucs get slapped for 112 yards!

Real pirates pride themselves on cheating and devious methods.

In the NFL, they have to play by the rules.

Raheem’s fighters indeed tried to fight their way out of that early hole and seemed to get back in the game when it was 20-14. But as this game wore on, this team was getting beat physically and mentally.

The secondary remains vulnerable. Even the boisterous one—T.O.—got in on the action when he beat Aqib Talib on a 43-yard catch that doomed these Buccaneers for the second week.

T.O. could have had another one, too, had a long pass from Trent Edwards not gone right through his hands earlier in the game.

These same Buccaneers that ran for 174 yards last week against Dallas, chalked up 57 on Sunday.

“We want to be a running team, they took us out of our game,” lamented Morris. “We played catch-up the whole day.”

That catch-up mode forced quarterback Byron Leftwich to put up more than 50 passes and that just flat out isn’t going to cut it for this football team. You’re talking a depleted receiving corps that left Antonio Bryant back in Tampa.

Sure there were moments from Kellen Winslow and Maurice Stovall but Michael Clayton, Sammie Stroughter and the rest simply couldn’t do enough.

Neither could Leftwich, who was assaulted all day, beaten and knocked around like an aging boxer. To his credit, he kept getting up, and taking more from the Bills pass rush.

Tough son-of-a-gun, at the least.

“They beat us. They played better than us,” Lefty said afterwards. He was fortunate to be coherent with the beating he took.

While Buffalo’s pass rush came hard and often, Tampa Bay’s defensive line was very stoppable by a young, depleted Bills offensive line.

And that’s no good.

Gaines Adams was a no-show, as if that surprises anyone.

Yes, the boat, this Pirate ship commanded by the youthful Morris has a ton of leaks.

The treacherous waters of the NFL are rushing in.

It hasn’t sunk yet, but it’s listing, it’s in trouble and it needs all hands on deck to start bailing water.

Morris’ predecessor—Jon Gruden—had two favorite sayings he used to throw around.

“It is hard to win games in the National Football League,” he’d tell us.

Raheem Morris, Jim Bates and the rest of the coaches and players are finding that out firsthand.

And this one: “You get what you deserve in the NFL.”

These Buccaneers got themselves a loss on Sunday.

They’re 0-2 and now face the New York football Giants this coming Sunday at Raymond James.

And thus far, these Bucs have gotten what they deserve.

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An Old Familiar Tune: Detroit Lions Lose Again

Damn, damn, damn…just when you think something good is going to happen, reality decides to slap you hard in the face and say, “Wake up dummy…it ain’t gonna happen today!”

Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t all gloom and doom, but it’s getting a little tiring to talk about moral victories or how certain areas of the team has improved.

Moral victories don’t win football games.

 

Good Points

The Detroit Lions’ defense did a decent job on Sunday; they held Adrian Peterson to 92 yards and Brett Favre to 155 yards passing.

Unfortunately, Peterson and Favre still did enough damage between them to account for three touchdowns. The Lions had Favre under the gun for much of the first half, but as good teams will do, they adjusted the game plan and used bubble screens, quick slants, and underneath routes to move the ball. This opened up the running game more for Peterson and allowed the Vikings to control the clock.

Kevin Smith continues to run hard, getting 84 yards on 24 carries. Matt Stafford tossed his first career touchdown pass, a nice eight-yard flip to Calvin Johnson. However, he tossed career interceptions four and five. 

Call me crazy, but I think he needs improvement in this area. Stafford was 18-of-30 for 152 yards…not setting the world on fire just yet are we?

 

Bad Points

Despite holding the Vikings off for most of the first half, the Lions allowed the Vikings to march down the field with Favre hitting Visanthe Shiancoe with a one-yard touchdown pass. 

Even worse, the Lions received the ball to start the second half and promptly went three-and-out, while the Vikings responded with a field goal to tie the game at 10.

If you look at the statistics of this game, the Lions and Vikings played pretty much even (these are all based on net yards per NFL.com):

Rush Yards: Vikings 112 yards, Lions 129 yards

Total First Downs:  Vikings 18, Lions 17

Passing Yards: Vikings 153 yards, Lions 136 yards

Average Gain on Passing Plays: Vikings 4.9, Lions 4.2

Penalties: Vikings 5-for-43 yards, Lions 6-for-45 yards

Time of Possession: Vikings 29:35, Lions 30:25

The main difference, the Vikings were able to get the ball into the end zone when they had the opportunities. Stafford’s two interceptions were drive killers and Kevin Smith fumbling the ball with the game tied 10-10 allowed the Vikings to kick a field goal, which pretty much sealed the game.

Good teams bounce back. But from what I could catch of the game, the minute the Vikings recovered Smith’s fumble, the Lions began playing on eggshells. It became even more apparent after Longwell knocked the ball through the uprights from 47 yards.

2009 is going to be a season where Lions fans are going to grope for anything good.  However, a win may be a ways off. They might have a shot against the Washington Redskins who held off the Saint Louis Rams 9-7 on Sunday. 

But after that, they face the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Pretty soon, articles are going to come out saying we need to fire Schwartz or perhaps there will be a fire Mayhew movement started. Or even better yet, passionate pleas to William Clay Ford, Sr. to sell the team.

I’m still rooting for the Detroit Lions…that can’t be helped, it’s hardwired into my DNA. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t lose faith. 

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Frank Gore with the Score and Much, Much More vs. Seattle

As the saying goes, “That’s how you draw it up.”

In a breezy 23-10 home win over the division rival Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers enjoyed the fruits of a game plan that was low on pizazz but high on execution, with star running back Frank Gore romping through the battered Seattle front seven for 207 yards on 16 carries, and two long touchdowns.

After a brutal opener at Arizona where Gore struggled in vain to find any holes, managing only a meager 30 yards on 22 carries, 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye revealed that his playmaker called him at two in the morning on Monday, asking him what went wrong and if he’d missed any holes.

“He was looking for a hug, a rub, and a lie,” was how Raye put it.

It would be a big lie indeed to say that Gore had to do anything extraordinary on either of his scores against Seattle, as basically both were perfectly blocked runs up the gut where he wasn’t touched.

For the first touchdown, which came on their series after the team had already successfully driven for a field goal in their first possession, the call was a counter and with right guard Chilo Rachal and center Eric Heitmann taking care of their men and fullback Moran Norris sealing off Seahawks middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu, Gore had a wide lane to burst through.

He deftly used referee Bill Leavy as a bit of a pick to get an angle on Seattle safety Deon Grant and he was off to the races for a career-long 79-yard score.

Seattle’s front seven had already come into the game at considerably less than full strength, as defensive tackle Brandon Mebane (calf) and outside linebacker Leroy Hill (groin) were out injured.

While Tatupu gamely tried to gut his way through a balky hamstring, it was obvious that he was limited, and he called it a day after Gore’s first score.

After not doing much of anything for the first 28 minutes of the half, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck ran a clinical two-minute drill to get the team to San Francisco’s four-yard line, but his fateful decision to try to run it in on second-and-goal cost the Seahawks any chance to win the game.

Hasselbeck dove headfirst at the goalline, only to be met head on by 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, who got in a clean lick on the Seattle signal caller’s fragile back.

Hasselbeck was done for the day with bruised ribs and even though backup Seneca Wallace would go on to toss a one yard scoring pass to wide open running back Julius Jones on the next play; that would pretty much be his last highlight for the afternoon.

Whatever momentum the Seahawks took into half time being down only 13-10 despite being largely dominated, quickly evaporated on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter as Gore didn’t waste much time in setting a new career high for his longest carry.

This time it was a simple trap play, and with left tackle Joe Staley sprinting out to sealing back side defensive end Patrick Kerney, Gore again was past the Seahawks safeties before they knew what hit them on the way to an 80-yard touchdown, bringing the margin to a comfortable 10 points once more at 20-10.

“In my mind I was like, ‘If he makes the right cut, he’s gone,'” Staley said in the locker room afterward. “I felt a ‘whoosh’ go by my butt, and I turned back and saw [quarterback] Shaun [Hill] smiling, and I knew Frank scored.”

Gore “whooshed” his way to some lofty company. The only other player in NFL history with two runs of 79 yards or longer in the same game prior to today was Detroit’s Barry Sanders, who had touchdown runs of 82 and 80 yards at Tampa Bay on Oct. 12, 1997.

The only downer for San Francisco in the game was that despite their much-improved run blocking, the offensive line is still having a hell of a time keeping Hill off the dirt, with their plucky QB taking four sacks in 30 dropbacks.

Again the weak link was the right tackle spot, where both Adam Snyder and Tony Pashos got their shots to keep Hill clean, and both failed, with the duo combining to allow three of the four sacks between them.

Hill would blame himself for holding onto the ball too long in his postgame press conference, but head coach Mike Singletary wasn’t having it.

“Our quarterback is taking too many hits, and we have to do a much better job,” he said emphatically.

Still, all things considered, this was exactly the kind of win that Singletary and Raye were looking for. Gore was the bell cow, Hill didn’t turn it over and wasn’t required to do anything heroic, and the defense didn’t do anything gaudy, but didn’t give up any big plays either.

Just like they drew it up.

So far through two games the 49ers have beaten a Cardinals team that begged for Hill to throw on them (Singletary and Raye begrudgingly let him, in the fourth quarter, when they had no other choice), and a Seahawks team that was too depleted to stop the run.

Next week’s test, at Minnesota, will be against the Vikings, who have had little difficulty (albeit against inferior competition) in stopping the run or pass. They also have a decent runner of their own, fella by the name of Peterson.

“We’ve been 2-0 before since I’ve been here,” said Singletary, who joined the team as a linebackers coach in 2005. “We haven’t been 3-0 yet; that’s the next step.”

The next step can wait. 2-0 is 2-0, and after two weeks, it’s not a bad place to be.

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Smile High: The Wonderful Weekend That Was for Colorado Sports

Sometimes the planets align, or an eclipse happens, or a beautiful comet streaks by and we get a quick look see. This weekend was like that for Colorado sports fans, as many of their teams took the field and won.

 

Colorado Rockies win two, widen wild card lead

This weekend, the Rockies played the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado clobbered Arizona in Phoenix. During Saturday’s contest, the Rockies got a solid pitching performance from Jason Hammel (9-8) as he went seven innings with three runs given up off of four hits while punching out five.

But the performer of the game was Jason Giambi, as he hit his first home run with the Rockies during a five-run ninth inning that put Colorado up 10-4.

Following the game Manager Jim Tracy said, “With the way things have been going offensively, as frequently as it has of late, you ask yourself the question, ‘Is this going to come back to haunt us?’ Tonight, we followed it up with a terrific ninth inning and did put it away.”

Sunday, the game was much dependent upon the pitching side of the game, as Ubaldo Jimenez whiffed eight batters over seven innings and only gave up one run. Jimenez was his usual hittable self early on, but domineering as he got into the flow of the game.

“That’s what I’ve learned about me; probably in the first two innings, I’m never as sharp as the game gets going,” said Jimenez. But as he got into the heat of a game with playoff implications on the line, Ubaldo sat down an amazing 12 straight batters at one point in the game.

With the wins coupled with a San Francisco loss Sunday, the Rockies lock on the wild card lead is about as solid as the Rocky Mountains themselves at four-and-a-half game lead over the Giants.

 

Broncos improve to 2-Ohio by beating the Browns

After McJaygate, Brandon Marshall’s tirade, and the team being basically overhauled, many Broncos fans were wary to say the least about how the team would fare this season. Well, things have begun well, as Denver’s NFL team is undefeated through two weeks.

In all, the offense looked improved over the first week, but not exactly proficient. Given that, the Broncos gained almost 450 yards on offense, and Kyle Orton played relatively well with 263 yards and threw a touchdown as well.

The Broncos pulled out the win 27-6 and looked solid if not somewhat impressive.

Following the game, Josh McDaniels said, “I think we have had confidence since really we started training camp. I think when you win on the road in this league it is tough, and that certainly can help your confidence level.

“We are not an overconfident football team, and we know we have got a long way to go and a lot of improvements to make.”

 

Colorado State Rams improve to 3-0, Air Force wins and is 2-1, and even CU got a victory

The Colorado State Rams (3-0) won in impressive fashion over the Nevada Wolf Pack (0-2) 35-20 in their second home game of 2009. They reached 3-0 for the first time since 1994 and have received votes in each national poll for the third straight week now.

Against Nevada, CSU moved the ball effectively up and down the field while creating turnovers as well, as they started up 14-0 and led 20-6 at one point.

Next up for the Rams is a tough in-conference opponent in No. 19 BYU in Provo, Utah, on Saturday.

The Air Force Falcons (2-1) won 37-13 versus New Mexico Lobos (0-3) in Colorado Springs on Saturday behind four forced turnovers. Air Force was up as much as 17-0 before New Mexico scored its first offensive touchdown of the season, one that broke a 15 quarter drought.

And finally, even the lowly CU Buffs (1-2) got a victory 24-0 over the Wyoming Cowboys (1-2) this weekend.

CU had been demoralized in their first two games of the season, and this win was much needed for them to at least gain some confidence coming into their Big 12 schedule.

The Buffaloes won behind a strong 127 running yards and two touchdowns behind Rodney Stewart. The Colorado defense only allowed Wyoming three first downs on the day.

 

So, as this wild and wonderful weekend comes to a close, there is nothing like the feeling you get when all your teams have won.

It’s like the planets all aligned for Colorado sports for the past few days, let’s all hope the teams can continue their winning ways.

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The Day the New York Jets Punched the Bully in the Mouth

“Rex Ryan has the defense heading in the right direction but their starting QB will not only be a rookie but one that started only 16 games in college. Laveranues Coles is gone, Chris Baker is gone too ,which means Dustin Keller will be less of a receiving threat and used more to block.

“Thomas Jones is now 31-years old and before Brett Favre showed up he rushed for just 3.6 YPC in 2007. The Jets potentially will have one of the worst offense in the league.”

– Bleacher Report “Analyst” Matt Cullen.

 

There is a big mistake that football fans consistently make every single year; they think they have any idea what is going to happen. People make mistakes on predictions before the season and they make mistakes by jumping on or off a bandwagon too early in a season as opposed to sticking to their guns.

However, I have a prediction that I would like to take back. A profuse apology to Mark Sanchez, to Rex Ryan, to Thomas Jones, and while I am at it I apologize to the entire New York Jets team.

I was wrong about the New York Jets, dead wrong. I am drinking the Rex Ryan Kool-Aid.

Regardless of what the Miami Dolphins do tonight against the Indianapolis Colts, two weeks into the season and the New York Jets are in sole possession of 1st place in the AFC East.

Mark Sanchez, the rookie QB from USC looks like the pro-style offense he was apart of in college has done well in getting him prepared. Very solid numbers for a rookie, 435 total passing yards in two games with two TDs, one INT, and a QB rating of 91.3.

That current QB rating is 10th in the league. Jerricho Cotchery, Chansi Stuckey, and Dustin Keller all have made solid contributions in the receiving game with a combined 25 catches, 394 receiving yards and a defense.

Remember that aging RB named Thomas Jones? He had over 100 yards rushing in Week One against the Houston Texans who I think have a pretty good front seven. Jones and Leon Washington have paired well together in the first two games averaging just under 140 YPG on the ground in the first two match-ups.

And while it is encouraging how well the rookie QB is playing and how strong the running game is, the key has been the defense. Not only second in PPG allowed and YPG allowed, they have done it against two of the best offenses in the NFL.

The New York Jets defense has a new attitude and a new energy, absolutely bumrushing first Matt Schaub and now Tom Brady. Lots of blitzing, offensive lines bewildered, and QBs in panic.

As a collective unit, the New York Jets only have two total sacks on the year but the sacks total hardly tells the story. Both QBs have had hands in their face, gotten hurried out of the pocket, and gotten battered and bruised.

Newcomers to the defense such as ILB Bart Scott, CB Lito Sheppard, and SS Jim Leonhard are making immediate impacts. Derrelle Revis appears to be turning into one of the best corners in the league and the unit is also getting good contributions from FS Kerry Rhodes, ILB David, NT Kris Jenkins and many others.

Yesterday’s game in particular stood out because of who they played and circumstances attached to the game. The New England Patriots have dominated the AFC East since the beginning of the decade. In 2007 they had an offensive season that could only be described as historic.

With QB Tom Brady back in the lineup, the New England Patriots have virtually the same offense as that 2007 offense. Out are WRs Donte Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney but in are RB Fred Taylor and WR Joey Galloway.

If this wasn’t enough, the New York Jets did the unthinkable and talked trash before the game. FS Kerry Rhodes said that the Jets wanted to embarrass the New England Patriots. This historically always ends poorly, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick beats every little snippet that could possibly be perceived as trash-talk or disrespectful into the ground, putting the New England Patriots in a frenzy.

In 2007 the San Diego Chargers had some fun with the Spygate controversy right before their Week Two matchup against the New England Patriots. The San Diego Chargers, best record in the AFC the season before, got clobbered at home against the Pats 38-14.

Later that season Pittsburgh Steelers FS Anthony Smith predicted victory against the undefeated New England Patriots only to see Tom Brady target him relentlessly when he was on the field as the New England Patriots lit up the scoreboard against one of the best defense of the league, winning that game 34-13.

Before Super Bowl XXXIX, Philadelphia Eagles WR Freddie Mitchell didn’t know the names of opposing players in the New England Patriots secondary, he probably found out later as he was a complete non-factor in the game with just one catch for 11 yards. The Eagles would lose that game and Mr. Mitchell and his mouth wouldn’t play another down in an NFL game.

You get the point the track record is bad, the New York Jets had just written their suicide note. They then proceeded to look at the note and smirk, and then smack the New England Patriots upside the head in a 16-9 battle.

Tom Brady had a small stretch in the 2nd quarter where it looked like he might be solving the New York Jets defense. He never did figure that out, completing less than 50% of his passes with one INT and a QB rating of 53.1. Sunday’s game marked the first time since 2006 that the New England Patriots failed to score an offensive TD.

Randy Moss was held to four catches for just 24 yards and Ben Watson had three catches for 23 yards. Joey Galloway did a little better with five catches for 53 yards and Julian Edelman did his best Wes Welker impersonation with eight catches and nearly 100 receiving yards but not enough to put any noticeable chink in the armor of the New York Jets defense.

We were reminded one thing on Sunday and learned another; we got to see Bill Belichick struggle to make eye contact when shaking hands after the game again, and that the Patriots will be in an absolute dogfight trying to reclaim the AFC East.

The Patriots were given one last shot to score a game-tying TD with less than two minutes to go, 90 yards to go. If I wasn’t interesting in seeing the Jets reactions after the game I would have changed the channel, because there was no doubt in my mind that the game was over.

The Jets did what the Buffalo Bills could not…Close. Coffee is for closers only and the Jets knew that.

The New England Patriots giant leash over the rest of the AFC East has been ripped off and they appear to have at least one fearsome foe in the division for years to come.

The New York Jets appear to have improved drastically in defense, drastically at head coach, and they no longer have an aging QB that will physically collapse in the final five games of the season.

Everything about the 2009 New York Jets screams SB contenders, everything about Mark Sanchez seems to scream franchise QB, and everything about Rex Ryan seems to hint that the take-off on the Chuck Norris jokes when he was hired seems more valid than we originally thought.

And somewhere out there in his home, Fireman Ed is ecstatic as can be.

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NFL: Bengals 31, Packers 24…the Game Unseen

My fellow Packers fans are aghast, not just at the way this team lost what should have been its most certain victory, but at the fact that I did not see the game!

As Inigo Montoya would say, “Let me explain…no, there is no time—let me sum up.”

As many of you know, I live in the great city of San Francisco, and the games of my childhood team are not always shown locally. No problem—I have DirecTV and purchased NFL Sunday Ticket.

Then my satellite receiver went on the fritz. So we order a new one, get rid of the things we have recorded on TiVo that would be lost in the switch by either watching or taping them, and install the new receiver.

Except it doesn’t work, as it turns out they gave us the wrong receiver and it could not record. So unbeknownst to me, while I am serving as a Head Porter for all three services at church (being there from 7:30 a.m. through 1:40 p.m.—I say this because while I am now Protestant, I was raised Catholic and have the appropriate martyr complex and need to complain), the game is not taping.

Maybe it’s a good thing.

From what I can tell from a statistical analysis, this performance was appalling. From what I have heard of eyewitness accounts, it was worse than that.

Plus, how frustrating would it have been to see the team run out of time 10 yards from tying the score?

Nonetheless, I have a journalistic obligation to report on the game, even though I lack the tools a journalist would have, such as being able to see more than four or five plays of the game in highlights. Keep that in mind as you judge my grading:

Quarterback: B

Aaron Rodgers was 21 of 39 (.538) for 261 yards (6.7 per attempt) and one score with no picks despite being under constant pressure—he was sacked six times for 39 yards. He ran four times for 43 yards, meaning he accounted for 265 yards on 49 plays—a 5.4-yard average.

Running Back: D-

Ryan Grant, the only running back to get on the stat sheet at all, had 14 carries for just 46 yards (3.3 average). He is showing some ability receiving this year, getting 22 yards on three catches in this game. This gave him a mere 68 yards on 17 plays (exactly a 4-yard average) with one score and one fumble, doing nothing to keep offensive balance.

Wide Receivers: D

Last week only Donald Driver and Greg Jennings made catches from this unit. This week, it was Driver and Jordy Nelson combining for all seven catches for 110 yards (one for 11 by Nelson) and one score. This unit was supposed to be the deepest on the team and was third-best in the league last year, but they have to help Rodgers out more.

Tight End: B

A surprising bright spot on the team considering this looked to be the weakest unit going in. All three tight ends had over 20 yards receiving, combining for nine catches and 105 yards. JerMichael Finley is asserting himself as the team’s top tight end with four catches for 56 yards, twice what “starter” Donald Lee had in his four catches.

However, this unit needs to help open more running lanes and support in pass protection better.

Offensive Line: is there a grade lower than F?

There should be for this unit. Allen Barbre is largely responsible for the five sacks of Antawn Odom, who came into the game with just 17.5 in 65 career games. Chad Clifton went down with injury, and that does not bode well with the struggles of the rest of the young line.

No one is playing well, and even on bad knees, Mark Tauscher has to be better than Barbre. Ted Thompson may not like to do it, but he has to sign a new right tackle (Levi Jones?) if the season is not going to be completely lost. Teams now know they can come at Rodgers all day from that side, and they will exploit that weakness.

Defensive Line: C-

Cullen Jenkins managed one of the Packers two sacks, and the mere four tackles and one assist by the unit is not alarming because in a 3-4, the line just occupies blockers so the linebackers can make plays. But giving up 151 yards on the ground in 34 carries (a 4.4-yard average)—mostly to Cedric Benson no less—suggests they did not do that.

Linebackers: D

This unit has to be held accountable for the six catches for 64 yards from the Bengals running backs and tight ends. This is nothing special since none of them got into the endzone, but nothing to be proud of considering none of those guys are making a run at a Pro Bowl.

The entire unit accounted for 13 tackles and eight assists, the kind of numbers usually associated with one or two players. Even Clay Matthews’ first sack is nothing special—in a 3-4 this unit should get more than one sack every game.

Defensive Backs: B+

Charles Woodson had another stellar game, remaining the lone impact player Ted Thompson has ever signed. He had two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown, and led the team with nine tackles and an assist.

It is never a good thing when a defensive back is your leading tackler. It is even worse when there is no one on the team with more tackles than your top three defensive backs. The unit as a whole accounted for 27 tackles and six assists, and the rest of the defense had 17 and nine, respectively. Ouch!

Despite their stellar tackling, two turnovers forced, and score, they did give up all three scores. Carson Palmer did complete 65 percent of his passes for over eight yards per attempt, but a lot of that may be the lack of pressure. The wide receivers of the Bengals are probably their best unit, and managed just nine catches for 121 yards.

Special Teams: F

Did I see this right—Jeremy Kapinos had a 24.2 yard net average on his punts? Are you freaking kidding me? The punt coverage allowed a 22-yard average on returns!

Were we better in kick coverage? No, coverage there gave up over 40 yards per return. Maybe you could say it was better because it recovered an onside…

How about the return game? Okay, but not great: Will Blackmon averaged 22 yards on his kick returns, and neither he nor anyone else had any punt return yardage.

So was Mason Crosby at least good? Sort of—he did miss one of his two field goal attempts, but it was from 55 yards and the one he hit to draw the team within seven was from 45.

 

I should add that the Packers lost a game in which the opponents were flagged for 13 penalties, mostly by getting 11 themselves. The Packers were the second-most penalized team in the league last year and the second-most injured—both of those trends look to be continuing (Atari Bigby will miss up to a month with his knee injury suffered last week), and if not corrected, will lead to another long season.

Next week the Packers travel to St. Louis, which appears to be an even easier game than this one did on paper. They must not only win but play well to prepare themselves for the big divisional matchup against that traitor and his new team, who may well come into that week 3-0.

I originally wrote this article for SportsScribes.net.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Giants Upset Cowboys 33-31 on Tynes’ Game-Winning Field Goal

The Sunday Night Football game between the Giants and Cowboys had the buildup of a playoff game.

The Cowboys were opening up their brand-new, billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas and opened up on NBC playing their division rivals.

In the end, the game was a great one from start to finish and had a classic ending that many will be talking about for a while.

The Giants took their opening drive and marched it down to the 12-yard line before settling for a Lawrence Tynes 30 yard field goal to put the Giants up 3-0.

The Cowboys took their second drive and marched it down field on the Giants defense and ended with a Marion Barber two-yard touchdown run for a 7-3 Cowboys lead.

As time was ticking off the first quarter, Tony Romo overshot his target and the ball landed in the arms of rookie Bruce Johnson, playing because of the injuries to the secondary. Johnson ran it back 34 yards for a Giants touchdown to make it 10-7 Giants. In the first quarter, it looked like the Giants had the early momentum.

The Cowboys were taking a kick-off and Felix Jones got bumped into and fumbled the ball and was recovered by Bryan Kehl of the Giants, so the Giants had the ball and the advantage. The only thing was, the Giants weren’t converting in the red-zone, so another Tynes field goal made it 13-7 Giants. Romo was able to again move the ball down field and found his favorite target, Jason Witten, in the endzone for a one-yard touchdown pass and Dallas took a 14-13 lead.

After his touchdown pass, Romo under-threw Witten, and it looked like the ball was incomplete, but Kenny Phillips was running back the ball into the endzone. The referees reviewed the play and Romo’s pass bounced off Witten’s shoe and landed into Phillips arms so the Giants had a second interception off a crazy but bad play by Romo.

On the next drive, Eli Manning threw a 22-yard pass to Mario Manningham that bounced a round  a little and ended up in Manningham’s arms while he was on the ground and the Giants took a 20-13 lead. Before the half ended, the Cowboys were able to get down field and were able to get a 47-yard field goal from Nick Folk to cut the lead to 20-17 at halftime.

In the first half, the Giants were able to move the ball through the air, but hardly on the ground, while for the Cowboys, it was the other way around with Dallas running the ball well and passing terribly. The Giants secondary was making plays off Romo’s mistakes.

On a flagrant play by Flozell Adams, Justin Tuck was tripped by Adams who was beaten off the ball by Tuck and drove his arm into the ground. Tuck had to leave the game and was seen in a sling for the rest of the game. His injury is unknown.

In the third quarter, the Cowboys looked as if they would regain momentum and re-took the lead when Romo ran a quarterback keeper on third and goal late in the third quarter to make it 24-20 Cowboys.

The Giants were struggling to run the ball with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw and had to punt it away.

However, Romo had no problem letting the Giants stay in the game. Romo aired the ball downfield towards the endzone, but Kenny Phillips was able to easily catch his second interception and Romo’s third of the game and the Giants were back in the game.

In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Manning found another reliable target all game, Steve Smith, for a 22-yard strike that put the Giants back up 27-24. Another field goal by Tynes made it 30-24 Giants.

The Cowboys weren’t giving up on their big night. They marched back down the field on the Giants and ran the ball well and with 3:40 to go, Jones marched into the endzone from seven yards out and reclaimed a 31-30 lead for the Cowboys.

This gave the ball back to the Giants for the rest of the game, and if the Giants were going to win the game, it was on the shoulders of their Super Bowl MVP quarterback, and he was up for the job.

Manning was able to throw the ball effectively to Smith and Manningham well on the drive, including an important pass to Smith with 13 seconds left to get the ball down into field goal range for Tynes. Manning ran a sneak to run time off the clock and center the ball for Tynes and they called time out with four seconds left.

Tynes made his first kick from 37 yards out just barely through the uprights, but Dallas head coach Wade Phillips called time out at the very last possible second, so Tynes had to re-kick the ball. Tynes was seen smiling and looked very cool and composed instead of being shaken by Phillips tactic.

Tynes got another chance to kick the game-winning 37-yard field goal and he drilled it right down the middle and the Giants won 33-31.

The Giants spoil the opening night of the Cowboys new stadium and are now 2-0 and take an early lead in the NFC East.

Manning was absolutely amazing in the game, going 25-for-38 and 330 yards and throwing for two touchdowns and no interceptions. Manning also was not sacked once in the game and did not turn the ball over once, which was critical.

Manningham and Smith both stepped up for the Giants tonight, catching 10 passes a piece. Manningham ended up with 150 yards and Smith with 134 yards.

The Giants passing game, which was once called questionable and weak, was sensational tonight against Dallas.

The running game for the Giants never got going under Jacobs and Bradshaw. Jacobs had 16 carries for only 58 yards and Bradshaw had nine carries for only 37 yards, which accounted for only 95 yards, a low number for a rushing attack that was ranked number one in the NFL in 2008. The Cowboys did well stopping the run. But Jacobs and Bradshaw both need to run the ball better for the Giants to play well in 2009.

On the other side, the Cowboys ran the ball very well. Barber had 18 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown while Jones had seven carries for 96 yards and a touchdown, so the Cowboys duo had 220 yards and two touchdowns, so they were very effective against the Giants defense.

But in the passing game, the Cowboys struggled, especially Romo, who went 13-for-29 for 127 yards, throwing one touchdown and three game-costing interceptions. Romo was terrible tonight and his turnovers, along with Jones’ fumble, killed the Cowboys chances.

Neither team played their best defense, especially since both teams didn’t record a single sack, but the Giants played a better game on defense with three interceptions and causing four turnovers, while the Cowboys did not cause one and that was the difference in the game.

One of the biggest reasons why the Giants were so effective on offense through the passing game was due to the Giants offensive line (David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O’Hara, Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie), who did not let Manning get sacked once. In their last game in December at Texas Stadium, Manning was sacked eight times, but this time, Manning stayed on his feet all game, and that was a big difference, which is why the Giants were able to put up 33 points.

This win for the Giants puts them in the driver seat in the division and maybe even in the entire NFC Conference, while the loss for the Cowboys stings and hurts.

While Tom Coughlin looks like a stable head coach and Manning looked like a clutch quarterback with the game on the line, Phillips’ job security will be called into question after this loss and Romo’s big game ability will still be criticized heavily.

Everyone knows Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hates losing on the big stage, especially to a division rival like the Giants, so losing the opening game on national TV in their brand-new billion dollar stadium may really bother Jones for a while.

When the dust was settled and the game was over, the Sunday Night Showdown was a classic and the Rumble in Arlington was worth they drama and the hype.

In the end, the Giants were able to deliver the final knockout blow to the Cowboys.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

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