When I woke up Sunday morning aroused, I knew the first full slate of NFL games had to be on the docket. Either that or it was just another morning. Anyway, there's nothing like the opening weekend of NFL action, and the fantasy frustrations and calories that come with it.
Here's what I took away from Week 1.
• Two-and-a-half years ago, Tom Brady was considered an efficient, don't-screw-it-up cog in the machine who won Super Bowl XXXVI MVP honors despite completing only 16 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. Now he's an aggressive offensive weapon, as valuable to the NFL's best team as any player in the league. Selected 199th overall in the sixth round of the 2000 draft, Brady was picked after Chad Pennington, Chris Redman, Giovanni Carmazzi, Tee Martin and Tim Rattay. Today, New England wouldn't trade him for anyone in the entire NFL. And can you believe the change of fates for Brady and his SB XXXVI counterpart, Kurt Warner?
• Joe Thiesmann said he wants to make an on-field ruling of "down by contact preceding a fumble" a challengeable call. As if a blown whistle doesn't affect anything that happens after it, such as players stopping and not attempting to retrieve a loose ball. Two minutes into Sunday night's game and Joey T. was in midseason form.
• Is Jerome Bettis thrilled to have scored three touchdowns or embarrassed that his career has deteriorated into being a human plow? He scored the most fantasy points ever for a guy who proved why he should be on your team's bench. Unless you're expecting a big season out of a guy who amassed one yard in five carries.
• When ESPN Countdown promised features on Deion Sanders, Terrell Owens and Warren Sapp "coming up," I went out for lunch. I'm guessing I didn't miss anything complimentary, unless they were talking of themselves.
• I heard where Deion didn't defend a pass or make a tackle in his debut, then did not speak to reporters after the game. I guess he didn't have an answer for the most obvious question, "Is all your shit-talking applicable to Week 2, as well?"
• Teams whose fans are very happy Monday: Vikings (Dallas' D was supposed to be its strong unit), Patriots (it ain't broke), Jets (the schedule gets even easier), Redskins (if the goal is a wild-card, 1-0 against an NFC team is a great start), Eagles (couldn't ask for more, but it was only the Giants).
• Teams whose fans took the biggest hits: Ravens (easily the most disappointing of Week 1), Cowboys (Minny's tough, but ya gotta be nervous), Saints (same 'ol, same 'ol), Colts (if only because that red, white and blue monkey is still on their backs).
• Long, long seasons ahead: Giants, Texans, Bears, Dolphins, 49ers.
• Michael Vick: Just an OK player? Against one of the NFL's worst teams, he tallied 163 yards passing and 10 yards rushing. Not what we expected two seasons ago.
• Paul Maguire bested his own NFL record by saying, "I'm a tell ya what" 142 times in one Sunday night broadcast. Best wishes to regular ESPN play-by-play man Mike Patrick as he recuperates from triple-bypass surgery, but what a treat it was to hear Pat Summerall back in the booth. Less screaming = better telecast. Though going from Patrick to Summerall was like replacing Don King with Marcel Marceau. Maybe too much of a contrast with the other two screamers.
• Major props to John Madden for not biting when Al Michaels tried to set up Corey Dillon as some kind of tortured soul Cincinnati. Madden opined that maybe Dillon wasn't the kind of guy to help them turn things around. A rare and welcomed critique.
• Does Jeremy Shockey still play for the Giants? I couldn't tell. I've never seen a player of such supposed caliber absolutely disappear from games. Nor can I remember a play he impacted where he didn't catch the ball.
• Great Moments in Gambling History: With 2:37 left in the Eagles-Giants game, Philly had its 9-point spread comfortably covered with a 31-10 lead and New York safely its own territory. Then a Tiki Barber TD romp, a three-and-out, and an Eli Manning-led drive brought the Giants to the red zone with 45 seconds left and a chance to turn Vegas sports books upside down. Alas, Manning is still looking for the license plate of the truck that ran him over with 21 seconds remaining, in essence ending the game. (All this from memory? No way. Check out NFL.com's incredibly detailed, new-for-2004 game summary.)
• With a new season comes new commercials and so far the best is the NFL.com fantasy football spot, where Michael Strahan and Tony Gonzalez buddy up with their owners, and Peyton Manning holds up a cheesy, little trophy and says, "This is what I play for." The worst? Every plug for a new fall TV series, and the return of "Subway" Jared Fogle.
• I don't want to hear another god-damn thing about the Chiefs' defense — the one that's been "improved" each of the last five seasons — until they hold a decent team under 30 points. Seriously, it's a joke.
• Fantasy Jackpot: Broncos RB Quentin Griffin. Now you know you're getting 1,200-1,500 yards and 12-15 TDs that's typical for any Denver starting back.
• Not downing a single chicken wing was blasphemy, but I did manage to put away pizza, nachos, a pulled pork sandwich, mac and cheese, and beer. My stomach is loving me.
• Week 2 Games to Look Forward To: Carolina at Kansas City (can't drop to 0-2 at home), Minnesota at Philadelphia (NFC favorite TBD?), Denver at Jacksonville (good test for young QB), Pittsburgh at Baltimore (could result in an elated 2-0 team and a panicked 0-2 one).
I'm with you on the Joey T. stupidity. Clearly, the point an announcer should make is that an emphasis for officials is to allow fumbles to play themselves out instead of blowing the whistle. Then replay can be used to determine if, in fact, the player was down by contact. You can't review a play if the whistle interrupted its flow. That's just plain stupid.
Posted by CJ at September 13, 2004 1:16 AM