NFL 2009: Week One News, Notes, and Observations
The first weekend of the NFL is in the books with some interesting story lines developing already. The Eagles show why they are considered a NFC favorite, Jake Delhomme’s nightmare continues, Brees and the Saints light up the Lions, Orton and Cutler have very different results, and more.
Eagles vs. Panthers
One of the marquee matchups of the day had NFC runner-up and preseason Super Bowl contender, the Philadelphia Eagles, taking on another NFC favorite in the Carolina Panthers coming off of a 12-win season. Initially the game started with the Eagles looking out of sync after their first possession resulted in a punt after six plays and the defense making silly penalties keeping the Panthers initial touchdown drive alive.
The Panthers still had control of the game even after they managed to hold the Eagles to just one yard and a field goal after Delhomme threw his first interception of the day setting the Eagles up on the Panthers’ 32-yard line. The game got away from the Panthers starting with the next possession after the Eagles field goal.
The Eagles took the lead when a Trent Cole sack led to a Jake Delhomme fumble being recovered for a touchdown by Victor Abiamiri. The ensuing possession ended with DeSean Jackson taking a punt back 85 yards for a touchdown and the Panthers were never in the game from that point on.
It deteriorated into a comedy of errors for the Panthers from that point on with their three quarterbacks, Delhomme, Josh McCown, and Matt Moore, combining to complete just 14 of 34 passes for 138 yards and five interceptions. As a team the Panthers tallied just 169 yards on 69 plays, turned the ball over 7 times, averaged just 2.9 yards per rush, and allowed five sacks.
In his last two games Jake Delhomme has completed just 24 of 51 passes for 278 yards, 1 touchdown, 9 interceptions, and two fumbles lost. If Jake thought it was bad after last season’s playoff debacle it is about to get even worse for him in Charlotte. There are already rumors flying around the Internet about who the Panthers are going to go after to replace Delhomme.
Conversely the Eagles had it in cruise control on offense running for 185 yards and passing for 82. Brian Westbrook looked healthy and like he did not miss anything by sitting out most of training camp recovering from off season surgeries. Westbrook and rookie LeSean McCoy combined to rush for 110 yards on 22 carries and the Eagles averaged 5.8 yards per game behind a re-vamped offensive line.
The defense simply dominated the Panthers as rookie defensive coordinator Sean McDermott called a brilliant game confusing the Panthers’ quarterbacks all day long and holding DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to just 72 yards on 25 carries.
It is a good thing the defense played as well as it did given that Donovan McNabb left the game with a broken rib and backup quarterback Kevin Kolb looked awful in relief. Kolb did complete 7 of 11 passes but they went for just 23 yards and the passes he threw down the field were woefully under thrown or off target. If McNabb cannot play this weekend the Eagles are going to need every bit of their defense to step up against a high-powered Saints offense.
Jay Cutler vs. Kyle Orton
When the Bears traded for Jay Cutler this off season it was hailed as the move to put the Bears over-the-top and back into Super Bowl contention. Cutler gives them a legit franchise quarterback and his presence is supposedly going to take the attention off of Matt Forte and loosen up defenses for him to gain bigger chunks of yardage. I had previously written not to expect big things from Cutler this year because quarterback is not the only underlying issue with the Bears offense.
Granted, just about everyone will take Cutler over Kyle Orton and/or Rex Grossman, but, it has always been mediocre quarterbacks throwing to mediocre receivers that has been the issue. With Cutler the Bears will see more of the big pass plays like they saw last night to Devin Hester and Johnny Knox simply because he throws the deep ball better than Orton or Grossman but it is not going to eliminate the fact that his receivers would not start for many other teams in the league and they are going to let the team down.
While Cutler threw for 277 yards last night he completed under 50 percent of his passes and threw four interceptions. I wrote at the beginning of camp that the Bears are going to be in trouble on offense if Devin Hester is their number one receiver. Not all of those incompletions were the were the receivers’ fault, some of them were just flat out bad throws by Cutler, but he was let down on more than one occasion by someone not running the right route, running a clean route, or just dropping the ball.
Kyle Orton, the man who Cutler swapped jobs with, had a completely different experience in Denver’s opening victory. While Orton did not post stunning numbers and the Broncos scored only 12 points on the day he did win the game and did not turn it over one time.
Orton’s performance is a perfect example of what a decent quarterback can do when surrounded with adequate talent at the skill positions while Cutler’s debut is an example of how no matter how a good a quarterback is he is going to struggle if you surround him with mediocre talent.
Vikings – Browns Quick Hits
Brett Favre completed 14 of 21 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson could have done that and they are not being paid $12 million this season. Just sayin’ is all.
Brad Childress cannot be happy about allowing four sacks to a Browns team that registered just 17 all of last season.
Browns still cannot stop the run. They allowed 225 yards to the Vikings yesterday.
Think Jamal Lewis is feeling James Davis breathing down his neck? Lewis ran for 57 yards on 11 carries and caught a trio of passes for 47 more.
Brady Quinn threw about as well as could be expected against a tough Vikings team that was bringing the heat all day long. He managed to complete 21 of 35 passes and threw one pick against one touchdown.
Dolphins – Falcons Quick Hits
Michael Turner disappointed fantasy owners by running for just 65 yards and not scoring any touchdowns.
Tony Gonzalez made an impact in his Falcons’ debut catching 5 passes for 73 yards including a 20-yard touchdown strike from Matt Ryan.
Second year defensive end Kroy Biermann had the best game of his young career registering five tackles, a pair of sacks, a quarterback hit, and a tackle for a loss.
The Dolphins, who led the NFL with a +17 turnover margin last season, turned the ball over four times including a Chad Pennington interception and fumble.
Miami tight end Anthony Fasano fumbled away both of the balls he caught yesterday.
Pat White threw an incomplete pass and ran the ball one time for no yards.
Broncos – Bengals Quick Hits
Second year wide-out Andre Caldwell had career highs of six catches and 54 yards for the Bengals.
Knowshon Moreno ran for just 19 yards on eight carries in his regular season debut with the Broncos.
Brandon Marshall caught four passes for 27 yards in limited action for Denver.
Jaguars – Colts Quick Hits
Torry Holt was the only Jaguars receiver to catch more than one pass cathing 3 for 47 yards.
Maurice Jones-Drew had 21 of the Jags’ 25 rushing attempts with David Garrard having four of the others.
Jags run defense held the colts to just 71 rushing yards and 2.3 yards per attempt.
Reggie Wayne was huge catching 10 balls for 162 yards and a score.
Lions – Saints Quick Hits
Drew Brees was on fire throwing for 358 yards and six scores.
Mike Bell ran for 143 on 28 carries, Reggie Bush ran for 14 on seven carries. Bush did have five catches for 55 yards though. Is it time to pull the plug on Reggie Bush as a NFL running back and convert him into a slot receiver?
Five Saints players caught at least three passes including a fullback, halfback, and tight end.
Five different Saints caught touchdown passes from Drew Brees on Sunday.
Matthew Stafford was brutal against the Saints completing just 16 of 37 passes and throwing three interceptions. I am still not sure what the Lions saw in him that thought he should be the starting quarterback. It is not as though he was lighting up other teams during preseason games.
Calvin Johnson was the Lions lone bright spot on offense catching three passes for 90 yards.
The Lions managed just 33 yards on 20 carries.
One positive for the Lions offense is the line allowed just one sack and that was the only time the Saints got Stafford to the ground.
Cowboys – Buccaneers Quick Hits
Cowboys offense was clicking on all cylinders to the tune of 34 points and 462 yards.
Patrick Crayton, Roy Williams, and Jason Witten all had over 70 yards receiving.
Marion Barber had just 14 carries and did not catch any passes against Tampa. Looks like the Cowboys are limiting his touches in the early going.
Dallas cannot be happy with how the defense played allowing 450 yards to that offense.
The Bucs ran for 174 yards and a pair of scores on 31 attempts.
Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward combined for 159 yards and a pair of scores on 25 carries.
It looks as though Earnest Graham is the odd man out in the Bucs running back rotation as he had just one carry against the Cowboys on Sunday.
Ronde Barber never ceases to amaze. He had a sack and two tackles for a loss in the loss to Dallas.
Chiefs – Ravens Quick Hits
Brodie Croyle is still winless as a starting quarterback dropping his 9th straight against the Ravens on Sunday. He did have a solid game though completing 16 of 24 passes and a pair of scores.
Larry Johnson ran for just 20 yards on 11 carries.
The Chiefs defense had just 1 sack, no quarterback hits, and just two tackles-for-loss against the Ravens. It looks like they still have some work to do.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had the first 300 yard and 3 touchdown game of his career.
Someone not named Todd Heap or Derrick Mason led the Ravens in receiving Sunday. Mark Clayton snagged five passes for 77 yards and a score.
The Ravens steam-rolled the Chiefs for 198 yards and a pair of scores on 41 rushing attempts, led by Ray Rice’s 108 yards on 19 carries.
Jets – Texans Quick Hits
Rookie signal caller Mark Sanchez was pretty impressive throwing for 272 yards and a touchdown in his regular season debut.
Only four Jets players caught passes from Sanchez. That is not a good sign, what happens when the Jets play defenses better than the Texans?
The Jets ran up 190 yards on 42 rushing attempts led by Thomas Jones’ 107 yards and two scores on 20 carries.
The Texans were a chic pick to reach the next level this season but after yesterday’s dismal performance on offense one wonders if they will be interviewing for a new head coach in February.
Houston ran just 48 plays on offense and held the ball for just over 21 minutes.
Redskins – Giants Quick Hits
Antwaan Randle-El looked like the ‘Skins best receiver yesterday catching 7 passes for 98 yards.
The Redskins ran just 50 plays on offense and held the ball for just under 24 minutes.
The ageless London Fletcher recorded 18 tackles in the Redskins loss to the Giants.
Suprisingly the Giants struggled to run the ball against the Redskins averaging just 3.3 yards per carry while Eli Manning found his mojo completing 20 of 29 for 256 yards.
Four Giants players caught at least three passes led by Steve Smith who caught six balls for 80 yards.
Osi Umenyiora had a sack and returned a fumble 37 yards for a touchdown in his first regular season game since shredding his knee last summer.
49ers – Cardinals Quick Hits
Tim Hightower leads the Cardinals with 12 catches and 121 yards. Never thought I would see that given the presence of a healthy Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.
The Cards managed just 40 yards on 17 carries.
Frank Gore had just 30 yards on 22 carries and 18 yards on three catches but he did manage to score both of the Niners’ touchdowns.
The Niners offensive line play was less than impressive as the Niners managed just 21 yards on 25 carries, allowed four sacks, 11 tackles-for-loss, and five quarterback hits.
Rams – Seahawks Quick Hits
Rams pass rush was non-existant failing to register one sack and only two quarterback hits.
Rookie linebacker James Laurinaitis had an impressive debut racking up 14 tackles and a tackle-for-loss for the Rams.
Marc Bulger was all over the place completing just 17 of 36 passes for 191 yards.
Laurent Robinson was the lone bright spot for the Rams offense catching five passes for 87 yards.
Aside from throwing two interceptions Matt Hasselbeck was pretty sharp completing 25 of 36 passes for 279 yards.
Julius Jones led a ground attack that rolled up 167 yards with 117 of his own on 19 carries.
Seattle tight end John Carlson caught 6 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
Bears – Packers Quick Hits
Aaron Rodgers’ stat line may not have been impressive but he did hit the big throw to win the game when it mattered the most.
Right tackle appears to be an issue for the Packers as Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye got to Rodgers 7 times sacking him twice and knocking him down five other times. Ogunleye also added three tackles-for-loss to his impressive stat line for the night.
Cullen Jenkins had a strong game for the Pack registering six tackles, a sack, 3 tackles-for-loss, and a pair of quarterback hits on the night.
Devin Hester caught 4 passes for a career-high 90 yards.
