NFL: Week 2
An exciting weekend of football would have been a whole lot better had the Bengals shown up in New England. It was not a great start to the 2010 season for the Bengals, it's never good when before halftime you are already down 24-0. The defense did not play like the defense of last year as QB Tom Brady had enough time in the pocket to make a sandwich. The Bengals recorded no sacks and only hit Tom Brady twice. Not a great recipe for success on the defensive side of the ball.
Now for the offense. The Bengals offense came into the game with loads of talented players and looking to put up big yards on an inexperienced Patriots secondary. Instead the Patriots looked like a Top 10 defense in the first half, holding the Bengals to only three points on a Mike Nugent 54 yard field goal. Patriot LB Gary Guyton also intercepted a Carson Palmer pass, which hit him right between the numbers, and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown. A Cedric Benson fumble also led to points for the Patriots and at the half the Bengals down 24-3. Chad and T.O. left for the locker room early before the first half was over, which would have been fine, if the offense didn't have the ball. I won't go into that, better off forgetting about it and moving on. The offense played better in the second half, which was encouraging, just wish the game wasn't out of reach by that point.
All in all the Bengals played well, after the game was pretty much over, but it still was promising. I was upset at the way they came out, as were a lot of Bengals fans, but it is still only the first week of the season. This is a good football team and they are better than what they showed last Sunday. The offense racked up 428 yards and 24 points, which is very good. If they can do that every week, the defense will come around and we will win some games. Give the Bengals some time. You have to wait until week 5 or 6 before you find out who the real contenders are. Their are a lot of negatives that came out from Sunday's game, but their are also a lot of positives. They have a tough task this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens, but they are up to the challenge. They are still the reining division champs and the beat Baltimore twice last year. The season had only just begun and the Bengals still have a lot more football to play.
Each week their are some teams or players that give very impressive performances and some not so great. So, here are those who went above and beyond the call of duty, Impressive Performers, and as the guys say on ESPN Countdown a, "C'mon Man," for those who played rather poorly.
Impressive Performers:
CHI-RB Matt Forte: 17 car, 50 yards; 7 rec, 151, 2 TDs
TEN-RB Chris Johnson: 27 car, 147 yds, 2 TDs
JAC-QB David Garrard: 16-21, 170 yds, 3 TDs, 138.9 QB Rating
IND-QB Peyton Manning: 40-57, 433 yds, 3 TDs
HOU-RB Arian Foster: 33 car, 231 yds, 3 TDs
Baltimore Ravens Defense: 6 first downs allowed, 176 yards of total offense, forced one fumble, 9 points given up against the NY Jets.
Houston Texans: Beat the Indianapolis Colts for only the second time in team history and looked very good doing it.
"C'mon Man"
NY Jets: The Jets were supposed to be one of the top teams in the NFL this year, but they got the crap kicked out of them on Monday Night Football. The offense looks like it needs a lot of work before they play the Patriots.
MIN-QB Brett Favre: 15-27, 171 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT. Looked rusty, ankle and other injuries might be starting to take their toll on the veteran QB.
Detroit Lions: QB Matthew Stafford hurt his shoulder, only had 168 yards of offense, 3 turnovers, and Calvin Johnson had his game winning TD reception overturned because he did not maintain possession. Another rough weekend for the Lions.
San Francisco 49ers: Allowed 31 unanswered points to the Seahawks, sure didn't play like a team that was suppose to win the division.
Dallas Cowboys: My pick to go to the Super Bowl in the NFC did not play well against the new and improved Washington Redskins. A turnover on the last play of the first half led to a Redskins TD, when all they had to do was take a knee and go into halftime. Then a holding penalty, one of 12 penalties, at the end of the game negated a game winning touchdown and sent the Cowboys home with a loss.
Week 2 Picks:
Like the Bengals I got off to a rough start last week with picks, going 8-8. It's still a .500 record and just give me a few weeks to figure it all out. There were a couple of upsets like, San Francisco, San Diego and Indy, which I didn't see happening. Better luck next week I guess and here are my picks for Week 2, saving the Bengals for last of course.
Tennessee over Pittsburgh: The Steelers got lucky last week and I doubt they will have the same success against the Titans as they did the Falcons. The duo of Chris Johnson and Vince Young will be too much for the Steelers defense. And I hate the Steelers, just like I always have, but I will pick them to win at least one game this year.
Minnesota over Miami: Miami barely got by the Bills last week and the Vikings are on a whole other level than the Bills. The Vikings had a tough opener in New Orleans and I like Adrian Peterson to return to season form against the Dolphins in a win. Brett will should play better too.
Atlanta over Arizona: The only reason Arizona won last week was because they were facing the St. Louis Rams and a rookie quarterback in Sam Bradford. And they still almost managed to blow it. Atlanta gets a win at home after losing in overtime last week to the Steelers.
Kansas City over Cleveland: I was shocked by the performance that the Chiefs gave on Monday Night Football against the Chargers. Their rookies really made an impact on special teams, Dexter McCluster and Javier Arenas, and the defense, under new d-coordinator Romeo Crennel, played excellent against a good Charger offense. Jake Delhomme threw two INTs, which he is prone to do, and it cost the Browns the game against Tampa. Chiefs win in Cleveland.
Dallas over Chicago: Dallas did not play well in D.C., but the Bears barely got by the Lions if it weren't for Calvin Johnson's TD being overturned. The Bears are better than they were last year, but Cutler will make some mistakes against a good Dallas defense. Dallas wins a close one at home.
Philadelphia over Detroit: The Eagles will be without QB Kevin Kolb, who suffered a concussion last week against the Packers, and Michael Vick will get his first start since 2006. Lions QB Matthew Stafford is also out with a shoulder injury, which is not good. The Lions will lose another one, after losing a heartbreaker last week, and maybe many more if QB Matthew Stafford is out for a while.
Green Bay over Buffalo: Even though the Packers lose star RB Ryan Grant to a season-ending ankle injury, they should still have no problem with the Bills at Lambeau Field.
Carolina over Tampa Bay: The Buccaneers won last week and the Panthers lost, but Tampa beat Cleveland and Carolina lost to the NY Giants. Two totally different teams and don't buy into the early success of the Bucs. Panthers win, but it might be closer than you think.
Denver over Seattle: Denver lost a close one to Jacksonville last week, but the offense looked good under QB Kyle Orton. Seattle shocked everyone by crushing the 49ers 31-6, but I still think that Seattle is not as good as they looked. I like Denver to win at home and I think Time Tebow will have a larger impact this week.
Oakland over St. Louis: This is a toss up. St. Louis played well at home against Arizona, but they still are a young team and QB Sam Bradford is only making his second career start. The Black Hole in Oakland is a tough place to play and Oakland bounces back from a Week 1 lose.
Houston over Washington: This might just be the best game Sunday, as the Texans go into the nations capital. Houston shocked everyone by beating the Colts, pretty convincingly, last week and the Redskins squeezed by Dallas. Everyone is already starting to buy into Houston, so I guess I will too. Texans in a close one.
New England over NY Jets: The Jets were suppose to be one to the teams to beat this year and they got more than man handled on Monday night. The Patriots had no problems with the Bengals and the offense was almost unstoppable. CB Darrelle Revis can't cover both WR Randy Moss and WR Wes Welker and who knows what to expect from the Jets on offense. I hate to say it, but Patriots win again.
San Diego over Jacksonville: The Chargers were surprised by the Chiefs last week, but they will not be surprised by the Jaguars this week. Chargers by at least a touchdown.
Indianapolis over NY Giants: The Manning Bowl, the second ever meeting between brothers Peyton and Eli Manning, should be a great game Sunday night. The Colts rarely lose a game, yet alone two in a row. Peyton and the Colts are just too good, but Eli and the G-Men will keep it close. Peyton beats Eli for a second straight time.
New Orleans over San Francisco: The Saints started off defending their Super Bowl crown with a win over the Minnesota Vikings and the 49ers got off to a rough start. The 49ers will be better prepared this week, but the Saints are still a damn good football team and they come out the City by the Bay with a win.
And...
Bengals over Ravens: If the Bengals come out and play like the did in the second half against the Patriots, they can win this game. Baltimore played really well against the Jets, but still managed to only score 10 points. The Ravens have an excellent defense and they showed that in New York, but the Bengals have a lot of weapons for them to cover. The Raven secondary will be playing without S Ed Reed, who always kills the Bengals, so that will be to Cincy's advantage.
Key Matchup: The battle in the trenches between both offensive and defensive lines might just decide the game. If the Bengals can win the battle up front on both sides of the ball, they will win.
Corners Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph can cover Raven WR's Boldin and Houshmanzadeh, the key to success on defense will be up to the front seven. The linebackers have to play better and must not bite on the play action like they did last week. Defense coordinator Mike Zimmer is a great coach and he will have the Bengals prepared on defense. On offesne, if the o-line can block for Palmer and Benson, the offense will have no problem scoring points. These division games are always tough, but the Bengals went undefeated last year in division play. Last year these games came down to the final drive and it just might happen again this Sunday. C'mon Bengals, let's get off to a good start in the division and get back to winning. Who-Dey.
Now for the offense. The Bengals offense came into the game with loads of talented players and looking to put up big yards on an inexperienced Patriots secondary. Instead the Patriots looked like a Top 10 defense in the first half, holding the Bengals to only three points on a Mike Nugent 54 yard field goal. Patriot LB Gary Guyton also intercepted a Carson Palmer pass, which hit him right between the numbers, and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown. A Cedric Benson fumble also led to points for the Patriots and at the half the Bengals down 24-3. Chad and T.O. left for the locker room early before the first half was over, which would have been fine, if the offense didn't have the ball. I won't go into that, better off forgetting about it and moving on. The offense played better in the second half, which was encouraging, just wish the game wasn't out of reach by that point.
All in all the Bengals played well, after the game was pretty much over, but it still was promising. I was upset at the way they came out, as were a lot of Bengals fans, but it is still only the first week of the season. This is a good football team and they are better than what they showed last Sunday. The offense racked up 428 yards and 24 points, which is very good. If they can do that every week, the defense will come around and we will win some games. Give the Bengals some time. You have to wait until week 5 or 6 before you find out who the real contenders are. Their are a lot of negatives that came out from Sunday's game, but their are also a lot of positives. They have a tough task this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens, but they are up to the challenge. They are still the reining division champs and the beat Baltimore twice last year. The season had only just begun and the Bengals still have a lot more football to play.
Each week their are some teams or players that give very impressive performances and some not so great. So, here are those who went above and beyond the call of duty, Impressive Performers, and as the guys say on ESPN Countdown a, "C'mon Man," for those who played rather poorly.
Impressive Performers:
CHI-RB Matt Forte: 17 car, 50 yards; 7 rec, 151, 2 TDs
TEN-RB Chris Johnson: 27 car, 147 yds, 2 TDs
JAC-QB David Garrard: 16-21, 170 yds, 3 TDs, 138.9 QB Rating
IND-QB Peyton Manning: 40-57, 433 yds, 3 TDs
HOU-RB Arian Foster: 33 car, 231 yds, 3 TDs
Baltimore Ravens Defense: 6 first downs allowed, 176 yards of total offense, forced one fumble, 9 points given up against the NY Jets.
Houston Texans: Beat the Indianapolis Colts for only the second time in team history and looked very good doing it.
"C'mon Man"
NY Jets: The Jets were supposed to be one of the top teams in the NFL this year, but they got the crap kicked out of them on Monday Night Football. The offense looks like it needs a lot of work before they play the Patriots.
MIN-QB Brett Favre: 15-27, 171 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT. Looked rusty, ankle and other injuries might be starting to take their toll on the veteran QB.
Detroit Lions: QB Matthew Stafford hurt his shoulder, only had 168 yards of offense, 3 turnovers, and Calvin Johnson had his game winning TD reception overturned because he did not maintain possession. Another rough weekend for the Lions.
San Francisco 49ers: Allowed 31 unanswered points to the Seahawks, sure didn't play like a team that was suppose to win the division.
Dallas Cowboys: My pick to go to the Super Bowl in the NFC did not play well against the new and improved Washington Redskins. A turnover on the last play of the first half led to a Redskins TD, when all they had to do was take a knee and go into halftime. Then a holding penalty, one of 12 penalties, at the end of the game negated a game winning touchdown and sent the Cowboys home with a loss.
Week 2 Picks:
Like the Bengals I got off to a rough start last week with picks, going 8-8. It's still a .500 record and just give me a few weeks to figure it all out. There were a couple of upsets like, San Francisco, San Diego and Indy, which I didn't see happening. Better luck next week I guess and here are my picks for Week 2, saving the Bengals for last of course.
Tennessee over Pittsburgh: The Steelers got lucky last week and I doubt they will have the same success against the Titans as they did the Falcons. The duo of Chris Johnson and Vince Young will be too much for the Steelers defense. And I hate the Steelers, just like I always have, but I will pick them to win at least one game this year.
Minnesota over Miami: Miami barely got by the Bills last week and the Vikings are on a whole other level than the Bills. The Vikings had a tough opener in New Orleans and I like Adrian Peterson to return to season form against the Dolphins in a win. Brett will should play better too.
Atlanta over Arizona: The only reason Arizona won last week was because they were facing the St. Louis Rams and a rookie quarterback in Sam Bradford. And they still almost managed to blow it. Atlanta gets a win at home after losing in overtime last week to the Steelers.
Kansas City over Cleveland: I was shocked by the performance that the Chiefs gave on Monday Night Football against the Chargers. Their rookies really made an impact on special teams, Dexter McCluster and Javier Arenas, and the defense, under new d-coordinator Romeo Crennel, played excellent against a good Charger offense. Jake Delhomme threw two INTs, which he is prone to do, and it cost the Browns the game against Tampa. Chiefs win in Cleveland.
Dallas over Chicago: Dallas did not play well in D.C., but the Bears barely got by the Lions if it weren't for Calvin Johnson's TD being overturned. The Bears are better than they were last year, but Cutler will make some mistakes against a good Dallas defense. Dallas wins a close one at home.
Philadelphia over Detroit: The Eagles will be without QB Kevin Kolb, who suffered a concussion last week against the Packers, and Michael Vick will get his first start since 2006. Lions QB Matthew Stafford is also out with a shoulder injury, which is not good. The Lions will lose another one, after losing a heartbreaker last week, and maybe many more if QB Matthew Stafford is out for a while.
Green Bay over Buffalo: Even though the Packers lose star RB Ryan Grant to a season-ending ankle injury, they should still have no problem with the Bills at Lambeau Field.
Carolina over Tampa Bay: The Buccaneers won last week and the Panthers lost, but Tampa beat Cleveland and Carolina lost to the NY Giants. Two totally different teams and don't buy into the early success of the Bucs. Panthers win, but it might be closer than you think.
Denver over Seattle: Denver lost a close one to Jacksonville last week, but the offense looked good under QB Kyle Orton. Seattle shocked everyone by crushing the 49ers 31-6, but I still think that Seattle is not as good as they looked. I like Denver to win at home and I think Time Tebow will have a larger impact this week.
Oakland over St. Louis: This is a toss up. St. Louis played well at home against Arizona, but they still are a young team and QB Sam Bradford is only making his second career start. The Black Hole in Oakland is a tough place to play and Oakland bounces back from a Week 1 lose.
Houston over Washington: This might just be the best game Sunday, as the Texans go into the nations capital. Houston shocked everyone by beating the Colts, pretty convincingly, last week and the Redskins squeezed by Dallas. Everyone is already starting to buy into Houston, so I guess I will too. Texans in a close one.
New England over NY Jets: The Jets were suppose to be one to the teams to beat this year and they got more than man handled on Monday night. The Patriots had no problems with the Bengals and the offense was almost unstoppable. CB Darrelle Revis can't cover both WR Randy Moss and WR Wes Welker and who knows what to expect from the Jets on offense. I hate to say it, but Patriots win again.
San Diego over Jacksonville: The Chargers were surprised by the Chiefs last week, but they will not be surprised by the Jaguars this week. Chargers by at least a touchdown.
Indianapolis over NY Giants: The Manning Bowl, the second ever meeting between brothers Peyton and Eli Manning, should be a great game Sunday night. The Colts rarely lose a game, yet alone two in a row. Peyton and the Colts are just too good, but Eli and the G-Men will keep it close. Peyton beats Eli for a second straight time.
New Orleans over San Francisco: The Saints started off defending their Super Bowl crown with a win over the Minnesota Vikings and the 49ers got off to a rough start. The 49ers will be better prepared this week, but the Saints are still a damn good football team and they come out the City by the Bay with a win.
And...
Bengals over Ravens: If the Bengals come out and play like the did in the second half against the Patriots, they can win this game. Baltimore played really well against the Jets, but still managed to only score 10 points. The Ravens have an excellent defense and they showed that in New York, but the Bengals have a lot of weapons for them to cover. The Raven secondary will be playing without S Ed Reed, who always kills the Bengals, so that will be to Cincy's advantage.
Key Matchup: The battle in the trenches between both offensive and defensive lines might just decide the game. If the Bengals can win the battle up front on both sides of the ball, they will win.
Corners Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph can cover Raven WR's Boldin and Houshmanzadeh, the key to success on defense will be up to the front seven. The linebackers have to play better and must not bite on the play action like they did last week. Defense coordinator Mike Zimmer is a great coach and he will have the Bengals prepared on defense. On offesne, if the o-line can block for Palmer and Benson, the offense will have no problem scoring points. These division games are always tough, but the Bengals went undefeated last year in division play. Last year these games came down to the final drive and it just might happen again this Sunday. C'mon Bengals, let's get off to a good start in the division and get back to winning. Who-Dey.
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