Houston Texans Get Tough in Tussle with Tennessee Titans

Redemption.  Coming off of one of the worst losses in franchise history, the Houston Texans bounced back in a major way in Nashville.

The Texans fell behind 21-7 early.  Chris Johnson was unstoppable early.  Coverage was blown.  The offense was stalling.  Things looked bad.

But then the Texans dug in and showed something.  Whether you want to call it heart or toughness or intestinal fortitude, the Texans responded after being punched in the mouth. 

No team can avoid adversity.  Responding to adversity is a hall mark of good teams.  I don’t know if this team is good yet.  This Texans team could be good.  But the Texans responded today.

I do know they’re inconsistent, but the good Texans showed up against the Titans.  I do know that when the Texans get tough, they can play with the most physical teams in the league.

Andre Johnson was unstoppable.  Normally a reserved superstar, Johnson shouted at borderline dirty Titans CB Courtland Finnegan after the former Sanford Bulldog jumped onto Johnson’s head and pulled him down to the ground.  No flag was thrown, but Johnson responded by barking and jawing with Finnegan.

During a second half scuffle on the Texans’ sideline, Mario Williams was throwing teammates out of the way to fight back against the Titans.  Eric Winston was seen shouting “You and me” to Titan defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch moments after Vanden Bosch dove into and twisted QB Matt Shaub’s legs late after a pass was thrown.

Eugene Wilson, never known as an overly physical safety, routinely banged heads both against the pass and run.  Demeco Ryans and Dunta Robinson played like the leaders they should be.  Brian Cushing was a force and a physical presence, as was John Busing.

The Texans showed today they were not going to pushed around again.  They responded to the very physical Titans.  The Texans pushed back. 

What does it all mean?  In the standings, it’s a conference win on the road against the most bitter of rivals.  The Texans are now standing at 1-1. 

But in reality, it means more.  Much more.  The Texans won on the road after laying an egg in the season opener.  Most importantly, the Texans showed they will fight back.

Is everything solved with one victory?  No.  Plenty of questions and problem areas remain.

WR Jacoby Jones is truly representative of the Texans.  On back-to-back plays, Jones dropped a sure first down and responded by scoring a touchdown. 

Jones also was bailed out by the rules when he muffed a fair catch which was recovered by the Titans.  Fortunately, by signalling for a fair catch, Jones and the Texans were awarded the ball since the Titans interfered by touching the ball before it touched the ground.

In addition, RB Steve Slaton was once again not the force he was last season.  The defense gave up too many big plays and was not able to generate much pass rush.  But, coming off of a victory, watching film and preparing for the Jaguars is much more palatable.

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Broncos-Browns: Firing on All Cylinders, Denver Rolls Over Cleveland

And the streak rolls onward to nine.

The Denver Broncos have now beaten the Cleveland Browns in their last nine meetings.

The game began with legendary Broncos tightend Shannon Sharpe parachuting into the stadium. Sharpe was officially inducted into the team Ring of Fame today.

Also worthy of note, the Broncos won their tenth straight home opener, and have now started 2-0 for the third straight season.

Today’s win, 27-6 over the Browns, was an outstanding team effort by all members of the Broncos. Everyone did their job, and the team looked very impressive playing in front of it’s fans at Invecso Field.

The game opened with a disastrous play, during which Peyton Hillis fumbled (and lost) the kickoff and gave Cleveland excellent starting field position. However, the Broncos defense held fast, and forced the Bronwns to settle for a field goal.

After a Broncos three-and-out gave Cleveland the ball, newly acquired linebacker Darrell Reid was able to recover a Brady Quinn fumble, giving the Broncos excellent field position. Kyle Orton capitalized with a nice two yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Scheffler.

The rest of the first half was uneventful, with the Broncos adding three more points on a Matt Prater field goal.

The second half opened with the Broncos defense making more big plays.

Elvis Dumervil tackled Browns wideout Joshua Cribbs and forced a fumble that was recovered by Brian Dawkins. The Broncos were able to capitalize with another Prater field goal.

The Broncos entered the fourth quarter up 13-6, but were not done by any means. The offense was ready for their “best quarter” of the young season.

On a second down and eight from the Denver 49-yard line, Kyle Orton hit Jabar Gaffney on a deep-out route. Gaffney ran away from the defenders and sprinted all the way to the two yard line. Peyton Hillis then bull-rushed his way into the endzone to put Denver up 20-6.

After another Browns three-and-out, Correll Bucklhalter put the game out of reach. Taking a handoff at midfield, Buckhalter ran easily into the secondary, where he put a beautiful move on two defenders.

He had to stiff-arm and fight cornerback Eric Wright for the final five yards, but was able to make it into the endzone, putting the game away for the Broncos.

Brady Quinn’s final, last ditch effort pass was intercepted by rookie safety Darcel McBath.

This game, in addition to being another solid Denver win, was a very promising sign for fans. The Broncos defense turned in a lights-out performance, holding the Browns to just 11 first downs and 200 net yards on offense.

On the other side, the Broncos offense woke up in a big way, tallying 449 net yards of offense.

Elvis Dumervil had a career day, getting to Quinn for four sacks and forcing a fumble.

The Denver rushing attack also looked excellent. Correll Buckhalter led the way with nine touches for 76 yards, including the big 4th quarter run. He was followed by rookie Knowshon Moreno (17 for 75 yards) and LaMont Jordan (seven for 19 yards).

Kyle Orton also had a solid day, finishing 19 for 37 with 263 yards and a touchdown. He has yet to throw an interception.

The Denver offensive line did not allow any sacks.

Overall, today was a very good day in Broncos Country. The defense backed up last week’s performance and showed that they might just be “the real deal”. Mike Nolan’s defensive playcalling was excellent once again.

The offense made up for last week’s sluggish start, and the team looks confident and ready.

Coupled with a Chargers loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Broncos now sit alone atop the AFC West.

Next Sunday, the team will travel to Oakland to take on an improved Raiders team. It is very important for the Broncos to open the season 3-0, and they will work all week to accomplish that goal.

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Seattle Seahawks: Pieces In Place, but Not a Complete Team…Not Yet

It’s week two, and the Seahawks are already losing players to injury. Yes, the Seahawks are 1-1, but today showed why they got lucky against the St. Louis Rams last week.

As of today after the game, the Seahawks are without the following players: LTs Walter Jones and LT Sean Locklear, C Chris Spencer, QB Matt Hasselbeck, WR Deion Branch, LBs Leroy Hill and Lofa Tatupu, and CB Marcus Trufant.

All eight players listed above are starters on the Seahawks, and are all not active or are unable to play.

Not only are the Seahawks getting depleted physically with injuries, but today against the 49ers got depleted mentally and emotionally.

The Seahawks put seven and eight men in the box to stop running back Frank Gore and force quarterback Shaun Hill to throw the ball, which was a great game plan that just got torn up by the lack of tackling on the Seahawks defense, who got ran over for 200+ yards and two touchdowns by Frank Gore.

When you have the right game plan coming into the game and can’t execute because of poor tackling, you’re not going to be successful even with 11 players in the box.

The Seahawks’ defense looked bad, but held the 49ers offense to 23 points. That might seem like a lot, but the way the Seahawks were playing, it’s a bright spot in a poorly executed game.

The defense doesn’t get all the blame. The Seahawks’ offense just looked like they did in the first quarter of last week without the turnovers.

Hasselbeck and the Seahawks’ offense could never get in a rhythm, which is the Seahawks bread and butter.

Last week, once the Seahawks got into a rhythm, they scored three straight touchdowns via Matt Hasselbeck.

This week, the Seahawks only had one turn over, but that didn’t make a difference because they never got anywhere on offense except for one field goal.

Give credit to Matt Hasselbeck for that quarterback run in to the goal line, but was nailed by linebacker Patrick Willis. Right after the hit you knew something was wrong because his face turned burnt red and right after heading towards the sideline Hasselbeck’s knees just completely gave out and had to be supported down to the ground.

The report is Hasselbeck has a “rib” injury and did not return to the game. I know there will be a lot of Seahawks fans saying, “oh, here we go again with Hasselbeck’s injuries,” but Seahawks fans need to give him a break. Tis is one of the toughest quarterbacks in the NFL.

Seneca Wallace came in to take his place and threw a one-yard touchdown pass to running back Julius Jones. That’s all there was for the Seahawks offense.

So what does this mean for the Seahawks after today? Well, it shows the difference from the No. 1 to No. 2 on their roster at many positions. For the Seahawks, once they got down to the third player on the depth chart, they knew they were going to hurt.

That’s what happened to the Seahawks today and so far this season. Brandon Frye, who the Seahawks picked up off waivers from Miami, is not Walter Jones or Sean Locklear.

Steve Vallos looked like a third-stringer today with the three botched snaps, and it shows the difference between Vallos and Spencer.

Also, DT Brandon Mebane was inactive for the game today and Red Bryant filled in for him. Bryant is not Mebane, and that showed today as well, but the Seahawks’ defense overall was just unable to tackle anyone.

If you want to look at this for the 49ers, take out Frank Gore, three starting offensive linemen, Nate Clements, and Patrick Willis, and then tell me if you think they would be 2-0.

It’s the exact same thing the Seahawks have right now. It’s not an excuse, because injuries happen in the NFL, but there’s no excuse for poor play.

If you look at the Seahawks’ roster right now you have to say they are not a complete team (player wise not attitude-wise), but that they do have the pieces in place. They still need those two or three more players to finish it off.

Here are the players the Seahawks have (when healthy): QB Matt Hasselbeck, WRs TJ Houshmandzadeh and Nate Burleson, TE John Carlson, LT Walter Jones (should retire this off season), RG Max Unger, LG Rob Sims (maybe), DT Brandon Mebane, DE Patrick Kerney, DE Cory Redding, LB Lofa Tatupu, LB Aaron Curry, LB Leroy Hill (maybe), CB Marcus Trufant, SS Deon Grant, and K Olindo Mare

That’s 15 starters out of 22 that could be listed as the players in place. Julius Jones is a possibility, but I don’t think he is the long-term answer with Jahvid Best in the draft.

The Seahawks will need to address LT, LG (maybe), DT, CB, and FS in the offseason to really complete this team out.

Colin Cole is a great No. 2, but I just can’t list him as a starter with confidence because that’s what this list is.

So now, Seahawks fans will look at those two first round picks in the 2010 NFL draft and think of what could be done with them to improve this team.

Here are some players that would work at positions of need: S Eric Berry, RB Jahvid Best, DT Ndamukong Suh, DT Gerald McCoy, OT Trent Williams, DT/NT Terrence Cody, S Reshad Jones, S Taylor Mays, and CB Joe Haden.

That list most likely won’t change, because no matter what the Seahawks won’t drop Hasselbeck unless he retires.

Walter Jones and the offensive line will need some work this offseason, as well as that secondary.

By week seven or eight, if the Seahawks for some reason are way out of it, then Seahawks fans can look toward Oklahoma, USC, Florida, Nebraska, and Georgia to start looking at players who the Seahawks might draft in 2010.

These next four weeks will be key with three winnable at home games and one road game before the bye.

 

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Week 2: Highlights, Lowlights, Disappointment, and Upset in the AFC North

Well, the picture at Soldier Field showed Steelers kicker Jeff Reed with a very different look on his face. An interesting Week Two for the AFC North has just finished unfolding, and it seems that expecting the unexpected is the theme for this 2009-2010 NFL season.

Looking at the upset first, the Cinncinati Bengals went up to Lambeau Field after a heartbreak loss at Denver last week looking to regain the spark they showed in the offseason and preseason. After an even more impressive preseason, and a hard-fought win against the Bears last week, Green Bay came into Sunday as the heavy favorites.

Unfortunately for the Packers, Carson Palmer came ready to play, as he threw for 3 TD’s.

While not perfect, it was enough to secure the win, as the AFC North Defensive Player of the Week (most likely) DE Antwan Odom racked up five sacks on Aaron Rodgers and kept the Packers’ offense out of sync. The other key difference was Cedric Benson, who ran all over a Packers Defense that kept Chicago’s run stuffed up in Week One, racking up an impressive 141 yards.

Chad Ochocinco has to be happy today, as he got to keep his promise to do the Lambeau Leap after catching one of Palmer’s three TD passes (which probably should have been censored, as Packers fans didn’t appear to appreciate Ochocinco’s antics). All in all, the Bengals have much to celebrate after an impressive upset win as they get ready to host the Steelers next week.

As for the lowlights, there are two really: one is the play of the Cleveland Browns, the other being the play of Jeff Reed. In the so-called “Belichick Bowl” between Eric Mangini’s Browns and Josh McDaniels’ Broncos, Kyle Orton looked fairly well polished as the Browns managed only two field goals in the first quarter and no other scores the rest of the game.

The Broncos finished the Browns off easily, as many Browns fans are feeling despondent for another season.

The Steelers headed into today’s game excited, rested, and eager to start off their title defense 2-0. Unfortunately for them, the Bears put up more of a fight than many expected. Bears QB Jay Cutler looked much more relaxed and comfortable than he did in his disastrous season debut. Cutler kept the Bears in the game, even after Roethlisberger led the Steelers 92 yards for a TD on their opening drive.

In the end, the difference in the game was not the defenses, but rather missed field goals. Pittsburgh’s game tying/winning hero, K Jeff Reed, missed on not one, but two field goal opportunities. Hitting either one would have probably forced OT, and hitting both would have won them the game.

In Reed’s defense, the weather was dreary, and the field appeared to be completely messed up. Usually when wet, sodded ground will tear apart as cleats sink in. Instead, the field at Soldier Field seemed to repel cleats, causing slips by players on both teams.

Bears K Robbie Gould seemed unfazed by the turf, nailing a 41-yarder to win the game. The game should not be all doom and gloom for the Steelers, however. The running game got back off the ground (sorry for the bad pun), as the O-line looked far more polished. Rashard Mendenhall finally showed Steeler Nation why he was a first-round pick, after busting out a nice 39 yard run to help set up the Steelers 2nd TD.

As for the upset, in my opinion at least, it came in San Diego as the Ravens managed to keep Chargers QB Phillip Rivers under raps—literally. Rivers seemed to get hit after every single throw, as the Ravens’ defense came through in a big way (see Ed Reed hitting Darren Sproles in the backfield on 4th-and-1 on the go-ahead for the win).

The offense was back to its Week One form for the Ravens, getting big production, putting up big points (31) on a team usually known for its overwhelming defense. Joe Flacco is continuing to get better, and it shows as the Ravens claim the top spot in the AFC North.

Heading into Week Three, there will be a lot of pressure on the Ravens to continue their dominance on both sides of the ball, as they look to continue to lead the division. The Bengals and Steelers, currently tied for second, will hash out the official second and third place seeds in the division next week (assuming the Ravens win against the last place, 0-2 Cleveland Browns). As for the Browns, they will most likely fall next week, keeping them in 4th, and the Ravens on top. As the saying goes, however, anything can happen on any given Sunday.

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Redemption for the Buffalo Bills

               Just like that, Monday night means nothing anymore. The Buffalo Bills stepped on the pedal and put away the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday, 33-20. Buffalo came out motivated and pumped in their home opener. It seemed like these two teams played each other often or as if they were in the same division but amazingly enough this was Tampa Bay’s first trip ever to Buffalo during the regular season. After this Sunday beatdown Tampa Bay is not going to want to come back anytime soon.

                While Tampa somewhat reminds me of Buffalo a few years ago they might not be the cream of the crop, but still give them credit. They have young talent but have basically taken over and erased what was the Tampa 2 defense.  Tampa allowed 438 yards and Buffalo loved every single yard of it.

                Buffalo started things off right by involving T.O. right from the get go on a reverse that only amounted for 13 yards but was much more exciting than a 13 yard run sounds. After a steady dose of Fred Jackson Buffalo went to the air and found Lee Evans for a TD which electrified the sold out crowd.  Tampa responded by moving quickly down the field but only to be stopped by Donte Whitner who took a pick six back 76 yards. While Buffalo still squandered some opportunities and in no way, shape, or form played a perfect game a win is a win.

                What was more important was redemption from last Monday. Moving forward and moving on with the season. While Buffalo’s defense had some key plays and applied constant pressure I worry about the amount of passing yards being put up by these QB’s. I realize the circumstances of both teams playing from behind but Buffalo’s pass defense is by far one of the worst when it comes to yardage so far this season. On the bright side the run defense held Tampa in check and they were only able to amount for 57 yards.

                I believe that Buffalo has a fear of Terrell Owens and that we possibly saved ourselves for another week. After a bomb by Trent Edwards to Owens that was dropped Owens was not able to get into the scheme of things. He showed his frustration on the sidelines and even his emotion when Buffalo went for it on fourth down early in the contest. While I believe those things are great and fun to watch and see I’m just waiting for a blow up. Terrell Owens had redemption himself as he made up for his drop with a 43 yard touchdown pass. Bills fans celebrated by throwing popcorn in the stands. Entertaining? Yes. Maybe that’s all it needs to be?

                More importantly, the emergence of “Fast” Freddy Jackson has been amazing. We all knew that Jackson was a special talent but until he was given the chance to shine I don’t think we realized just how much. What an amazing story Jackson is. Jackson ran for a career high 163 yards and also had 6 catches for 25 yards.

                While Buffalo will quickly move ahead and start planning for the league’s most dangerous offense I think it is important to sit back and enjoy this for at least today, well, and possibly tomorrow. This is a young Buffalo team under the leadership of someone who has been quite impressive so far this season, Trent Edwards. The Bills looked and found redemption and now continue down the road.

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Tampa Bay-Buffalo: Bills Blast Bumbling Bucs, 33-20

It may be quite a while before Tampa Bay Head Coach Raheem Morris experiences the thrill of his first NFL coaching victory.

Tampa Bay saw their best opportunity of the first quarter of the season slip past their fingers as the Buccaneers had turnovers, penalties, and some defensive lapses in a uglier then the score indicates 33-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Buffalo, coming off a tough loss against their rival New England Patriots, came out fired up and blasted Tampa Bay in the first quarter.

Trent Edwards connected on a 32 yard touchdown to Lee Evans to open up the scoring for Buffalo. Like against Dallas, the Bucs secondary allowed Evans to slip behind them and it was a pinpoint toss by Edwards for the touchdown.

On the ensuing offensive possession, Buffalo Safety Donte Wintner intercepted Bucs QB Byron Leftwich and took it 76 yards for a touchdown and suddenly the Bucs were down by two scores.

On the next drive, Leftwich and the Bucs would be victimized again but this time with a controversial call. It appeared that Buffalo Safety Byron Scott trapped an interception by Leftwich. Morris challenged but inexplicably, despite clear evidence that the ball had touched the turf, the call was upheld.

The pick would lead to a 31 yard Ryan Lindell field goal and before the first fifteen minutes of the ballgame had expired the Bucs were down by 17 points.

Give credit to Tampa Bay as they didn’t quit after the forgettable first, the Bucs marched down the field and capped a five play 77 yard drive with a beautiful strike by Leftwich to Kellen Winslow. The score went for 42 yards and cut the Buffalo advantage to ten.

The Bills would come right back, using the battering ram Fred Jackson to pound the rock deep into Tampa Bay territory before settling for another Lindell field goal.

After the Bucs were stuffed, the Bills marched back down the field again and were in point blank range to put the Bucs away early.

Instead, Buffalo running back Fred Jackson lost the handle on the football and the ball bounced into the hands of much maligned Bucs Safety Sabby Piscitelli. Piscitelli would be off to the races and only a touchdown saving tackle by speedster Rosco Parrish prevented a scoop and score.

Leftwich would cash in a play later, connecting with Cadillac Williams for a eight yard touchdown pass. The Bucs found themselves back in the ball game down by six at the half.

The Bills defense turned to blitzing the Buccaneers unmercifully in the second half and it befuddled the Buccaneers offense. Tampa Bay’s offense would suffer three and outs on three drives and lost on downs on a fourth drive.

Buffalo’s offensive would be stymied until late in the third quarter, when they completed a 13 play, 64 yard drive with another Lindell field goal. As the fourth quarter began, Buffalo led 23-14.

After another stalled drive, the Bills blew the game open as Terrell Owens, who had been quiet the entire ballgame finally made a play for the Bills. T.O. went step for step with Bucs cornerback Aquib Talib who had no safety help. Talib let up one step trying to make a play on the football and the perfectly thrown ball by Edwards fell into the hands of Owens for a 41 yard score. Owens, who was booed after he dropped a potential big catch in the first half motioned to the crowd.

Tampa Bay inched a little closer with 5:32 remaining in the ball game when Leftwich on fourth and goal connected on a circus catch by tight end Jerramy Stevens for a 6 yard touchdown score. The Bucs went for two points but failed and the Bucs were down 30-20.

Lindell would add a field goal late to provide the final margin.

For the Buccaneers defensively, they cut down on the deep balls, limiting the Bills to only two big plays through the air – unfortunately both went for touchdowns. Where the Bucs were really gashed was on the ground, where Fred Jackson’s 163 yards powered a rushing attack that wrung up 218 yards on the ground.

For the second straight week, the Buccaneers allowed over 400 yards of offense.

Unlike last week, the Bucs offense couldn’t move the ball with the efficiency we saw against Dallas. Tampa Bay managed 353 yards of offense but only 57 of that was on the ground.

Sabby Piscitelli redeemed himself with that big fumble recovery and an interception of Edwards. On the other hand, Gaines Adams continued his disappearing act. He was a non factor in the pass rush and was in on only a few tackles.

Kellen Winslow had a good game for Tampa Bay, nabbing 7 passes for 90 yards and a score. Maurice Stovall, playing for the injured Antonio Bryant also played well, hauling in 80 yds on three catches.

Leftwich would finish 26 of 50 for 296 yds, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.

The Bucs were also penalized 13 times for 112 yds including four personal fouls for facemask penalties.

As Tampa Bay tumbled to 0-2, any positive vibes that could be taken from the Dallas loss were gone in this poorly played ballgame by the Buccaneers.

Buffalo outplayed the Bucs in every facet of the game and won this one convincingly.

Former Patriots/Jets/Giants head coach Bill Parcells once said, “You are what your record is.”

The Bucs look every bit an 0-2 team, and its seems as if it may be awhile before they get that zero out of the win column.

After a tough home game against one of the best teams in the NFC in the New York Giants, they head on the road to Philadelphia and Washington – places where the Bucs typically struggle and they’ll be facing two teams that will be desperate for victories after losses today.

The optimism of a new season quickly slips away when it becomes painfully obvious this team is far from contention.

Buckle up, Buc fans. It’s going to be a long season.

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Browns-Broncos: Brownies Bomb in Denver, 27-6

It is often said that things sometimes have to get worse before they can get better. 

The Cleveland Browns better hope for two things.  One, that the proverb is true and two, that they can’t get much worse then their performance in a 27-6 loss to the Denver Broncos.

In a game that could have been a lot worse if not for two Matt Prater missed field goals, the Browns once again kept it close in the first half only to be manhandled after the second half kickoff. 

Failing to take advantage of opportunities presented by the Broncos and presenting more than a few to Denver was the story for the beaten and battered Browns.

Cleveland got a gift on the opening kickoff when Peyton Hillis fumbled. But the Browns was unable to convert the turnover into a touchdown and had to settle for a Phil Dawson field goal.  The Broncos, on the other hand, were able to convert an Alex Mack botched snap into a touchdown pass from Kyle Orton to Tony Scheffler.

If the Browns play-calling could be described in two words I would go with “boring” and “horrible.”  Once again deciding not to stretch the field, Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll instead attempted to utilize a short passing attack. 

This was rendered ineffective by Brady Quinn’s inefficiencies and the inability of the offensive line to give Quinn time to throw.

After looking decent in two starts in 2008, Quinn has looked over-matched and unable to make plays. 

Today was no different as he seemed to have little or no cohesiveness with his receivers all game. Tackle John St. Clair did not help things as he yielded four sacks to Denver’s Elvis Dumerville, which set a Broncos franchise record. 

It was, once againm another game without an offensive touchdown, which makes it seven inept games out of eight for the Browns.

The Browns defensive performance mirrored that of the first game versus Minnesota.  They managed to keep the team in the game in the first half, helped by Prater’s two missed kicks, but derailed as the second half wore on.

Whether it is just being worn down by the opposing offense, not having enough playmakers on that side of the ball, or just losing faith that the offense will keep you in a game, the Browns defense can not seem to put a complete game together.

So it’s 0-2 for the Browns with a trip to Baltimore to face the rugged Ravens staring them right in the face.  If the Browns don’t find some sort of consistency—or more importantly, some sort of team identity—in a hurry, they are looking at an even more brutal season than most predicted.

For the Browns sake, they better hope that proverb exist for a reason.  Because it will be very difficult to get much worse than they have been in the first two games of the season. 

The Cleveland faithful would rather these games not get much more difficult to watch.

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Michael Huff and Oakland Raiders Defense Earn Hard Fought Victory

Michael Huff and the rest of the Oakland defense led the Raiders to victory.

Though the stats say the Kansas City Chiefs had a good game, the Raiders defense was able to hold strong at key points of the game.

Huff came up big for today with two interceptions on the day. This is great news because this is the Michael Huff we’ve have been waiting for with both interceptions killing drives for the Chiefs.

On defense, Kirk Morrison lead the way with 13 solo tackles and Thomas Howard chipped in eight solo tackles.

You can state that the Chiefs had tons of yards, but you can also make the case that the Raiders offense struggled, thus keeping the Raiders defense on the field.

Time of possession was 39 minutes for the Chiefs and only 22 minutes for the Raiders.

If it wasn’t for the Raiders defense not allowing the Chiefs to put up points, then this game could have gotten ugly. That is why the defense must be thanked for this win.

A key point in this game occurred when the Chiefs had the ball with 14 seconds left before half with no timeouts. Instead of kicking the FG, they decided to try for the end zone one more time and were stopped inbounds by Nnamdi Asomugha, forcing the Chiefs to lose out on a halftime lead as the game went into half 3-3.

Thanks on the day can also go to the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line for its many penalty flags.

With that being said there are three key moments/players I would like to talk about.

1) Javon Walker:

Tom Cable, why in the world would you have this guy on the field trying to return punts?

I believe it was in the 3rd or 4th QT, the Chiefs punted the ball back to our own 20 and instead of getting out of the way, Javon Walker stupidly sticks his hand out trying to make a catch.

I don’t know if he felt he was going to return that for a TD or what, but there is no way he should be trying to even touch that ball. He had no read on the ball in the sky, it was like I was watching it in slow motion, saying to myself—”Javon’s going to screw up, Javon’s going to screw up, Javon’s going to screw up”…and what did he do? Screw up.

It almost makes me think that he was trying to do that on purpose in order to ruin the game for. I still don’t know whats going on with Javon Walker. This leads me to my next player.

2) Mike Mitchell:

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Mitchell was able to recover Walker muffed punt catch. I was very glad that Mitchell had his head in the game and was focusing on the ball. Mitchell didn’t have any stats, and didn’t see much playing time on defense, but that play was huge for. This is what it takes, everyone must play a role in winning whether it’s small or large.

3) Todd Watkins:

Todd Watkins played hard today.

He didn’t see many balls come his way, but as the 3rd WR he ran his routes hard. Watkins had one catch for 28 yards and it was huge. All of the OTA’s, Mini camps, training camps, preseason games—all of the hard work from Watkins in the offseason was put into that one catch. I’m glad to see someone who put in some hard work had it pay off.

4) Sebastian Janikowski:

It’s not easy kicking FG’s on the road.

Janikowski was clutch today hitting from 48 yards and 54 yards. Those 2 FG’s lead to the win.

 

Regardless of the stats for both teams, all that matters is that the Raiders won the game. Kansas City is a tough place to play for the Raiders and the games between the two teams always end up close.

Jamarcus struggled, yes.

In the end, Russell came through and led the 4th QT comeback win, if anything the Raiders escaped and now that they are back to .500,  can now look to beating the Denver Broncos.

The game versus the Kansas City Chiefs was a test. Now the upcoming game versus the Broncos will go along way to tell which way the season will go.

To all my Raiders fans, enjoy this win.

It feels good to win.

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Jay Cutler Out-Performs Ben Roethlisberger as Bears Defeat the Steelers

Chicago made a horrible decision to trade for disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler. 
 
At least, that’s what many people were saying after the Bears 21-15 loss to the Packers during last week’s Sunday Night Football match-up. 
 
Cutler was 17 of 36 for 277 yards, 1 touchdown, and 4 interceptions. 
 
That’s not exactly the performance you would expect out of a guy you traded so much for. 
 
It was almost a foregone conclusion that the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers would wipe the field with the Chicago Bears, right? 
 
If Jay Cutler performed so poorly against the same Packers defense that couldn’t stop the Bengals this week, how on earth could Cutler expect to play well against the vaunted Steelers defense? 
 
He did.
 
27 of 38 for 236 yards, 2 touchdowns, and zero interceptions. 
 
And Ben Roethlisberger? 
 
23 of 35 for 221 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interceptions. 
 
Unfortunately for Ben, his performance, which was quite similar to that of last week, was not enough to get the victory this week. 
 
As far as Mr. Cutler, he improved by leaps and bounds. 
 
The same quarterback who posted a 43.2 quarterback rating against the Packers’ defense managed to post a 104.7 rating against the Steelers defense. 
 
What made his performance all the more impressive is that he managed to pick up the victory despite being backed by only 43 team rushing yards. 
 
The Steelers racked up 105 rushing yards, but even with the balanced support to aid Roethlisberger, it was Jay Cutler who ended up driving the Bears down the field for Robbie Gould to kick the game-winning 44-yard field goal. 
 
If this was any sign of things to come for the Bears, the people of Chicago will have plenty of reason to smile this week. 

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New York Jets Player Power Ranking: Week Two

David Wyatt is a writer for Gang Green Nation, this article first appeared there at:

http://www.ganggreennation.com/

Like last weeks that you can read here I have just completed the New York Jets player power rankings for week two of the NFL season. To see how players moved, quickly check out the order in the first article and then compare.

As always these are based purely on my own view point, so please feel free to leave comments in the section below with your own top 10 players.

The second weeks rankings will be mainly on today’s performance but also with last week’s in mind.

Read after the jump

One

Darrelle Revis– Cornerback (Last weeks ranking=3)

I found it difficult supplanting a quarterback who is a rookie and has started his career 2-0. However enough can’t be said for Revis and his contribution to this team. I paid specific attention in the second half and he ran step for step with one of the most difficult receivers to cover. It’s no mistake that Moss had a excellent game last week and Andre Johnson didn’t. Andre Johnson had a excellent game this week and Moss didn’t. Revis is earning his reputation as a shut down corner. Randy Moss had 4 receptions for 24 yards and nothing more. The Patriots tried moving him away from Revis because he was getting no luck. He also made a couple of excellent open field tackles.

Two

Mark Sanchez– Quarterback (Last weeks ranking=1)

Everyone was screaming the same thing at half time. LET MARK THROW. We were pulling out hair out, a lot of runs, a lot of passes to the flats, and it was fooling nobody. We came out in the second half and let Sanchez go, completing a big pass down-field to Cotchery and then the ball to the back of the end zone to Keller. He had a TD pulled back, and rightfully so, and then should of done better finding Stuckey in the end zone. However for a rookie starting in only his second NFL game, to come out and beat the Patriots, can’t ask much more from Sanchez. 14-22 for 163 yards a TD and no INT.

Three

Dustin Keller– Tight End (Last weeks ranking=4)

Keller’s blocking is still suspect, but he is still doing what he does best. Coming off a excellent game last week, Keller was quiet on the whole, but he scored the important touchdown that separates the two teams tonight. He made a nice double move, got to the back of the end zone and Sanchez put it where only he could catch it. He did just that, brought his feet down in-bounds and sent a rapturous Meadowlands into hysterics. He finished the game with 3 receptions for 22 yards and a TD.

Four

Kerry Rhodes– Safety (New entry)

Kerry missed out last week because he did nothing to catch the eye, but he was solid all the same. However after talking a good game this week, he really had to come out and prove himself, he put extra pressure on himself and he came through with flying colours. He led the Jets with 6 solo tackles and 2 assists. He put pressure on Brady on the blitz, his coverage was on the whole pretty good,  Some might suggest that this is too high for a player who was not even ranked last week, but a lot of eyes were fixed on Kerry and I thought he delivered.

Five

Donald Strickland– Cornerback (Last weeks ranking=9)

Yer that’s right. I thought Strickland was superb today. That follows up from his big game last week causing the fumble. It is a pity that he got hurt because a game ball was definitely coming his way. He is a much better open field tackler than I ever thought, and the different between him and the players we had in his role last year speaks volumes. He finished with 6 tackles today, 4 solo and 2 assisted and he really stepped up to the plate, he hits hard, but he is also very smart, knows when to play aggressive and when to sit and play conservative which is not very often. I can already tell that he is going to be one of the unsung heroes this season.

Six

David Harris– Linebacker (Last weeks ranking=2)

Let me just start this and say that Harris did nothing wrong, don’t read too much into him dropping four places here. He was as solid as we can expect and I think I saw a little extra game planning in there to block him, he made some key stops when we needed him, and it’s would be easy to put any of the defence in this situation, combining last week with this weeks however, he couldn’t drop any lower than here.

Seven

Bart Scott– Linebacker (New Entry)

Six tackles for Scott today and he looked pretty damn good again. He was solid last week, solid again today, made a nice stop on a 3rd down play in the 4th I think it was. Really set the intensity of the defence, got called for a dubious personal foul that looked fine from one angle and completely ridiculous from another. Was always around the ball, talking up his team mates on the bench, setting the tone, pumping up the crowd. The atmosphere that he provides is just fantastic and I think the players really feed off his energy. Himself and Leonhard have that swagger and it’s rubbing off on players.

Eight

Leon Washington– Running Back (New Entry)

Ok he had that fumble to begin the game that led to 3 points, but to me it looked like his knee was down, although it’s completely understandable why they didn’t reverse the play, no evidence. However his kick return to lead off the second half put the Jets in excellent field position and Sanchez exploited that to score. In fact thinking about it now, Leon should definitely be higher than this. In a game like this though, it’s near impossible to get everyone placed where they should be because quite simply there were too many good performances. He ran for 58 yards, as well as receiving a couple of passes and making some nice moves.

Nine

Jerricho Cotchery– Wide Receiver (Last Week Ranking=8)

Now under any circumstances, you have a 87 yard receiving game you will be higher than 9th on the list. However like I said above there are just too many players having good games. He made the excellent play to start the 2nd half, and brought in some excellent catches. Sanchez looks comfortable going to him, and he looks comfortable being a number one receiver. Like many on this list who have fallen, he did nothing wrong, he looked pretty solid throughout.

Ten

Jim Leonhard– Safety (New Entry)

Anyone else really excited by this safety partnership, if Scott is the general of the linebackers then it seems to be that Leonhard is the general of the secondary. Always communicating, I saw him several times relating changes in the offence to the defence through hand signals and signs. He had 6 tackles on the game, and was around the ball, his solid play allows Kerry Rhodes to make other plays. He will be like Strickland a player that will go unnoticed a lot of the time, but make great contributions.

Honorable mention to the entire defence, the fans who were as loud as I have ever heard them. Stuckey was solid, in fact everyone was pretty solid today, this list was near impossible to generate with so many people performing.

Bottom line, Jets are 2-0 and we should fear nobody. Bring on the Titans.

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