NFL Week 1 In Review - Week 2 Picks

Poolside Rant 09/14/07

What a spectacular week one! We started the NFL week with a disappointing game when the Saints just looked overmatched by the flawless Colts and ended with a dog when the Cards won the battle of ineffective offenses to lose to the Niners and a revamped defense. There were some very entertaining games between those two and a multitude of surprises. I will run down the events and performances I found most the most intriguing in week 1.

Shocker #1. The Pats Cheat! Belicheck and the Pats are caught video taping the Jets defensive signals. Surprising for a team that has so much talent but more to the point…is Belicheck a genius coach or has he been playing by his own set of rules all along and creating an unfair advantage? Tainted but I think the league did an OK job on handing down a punishment. I would have liked to have seen a suspension for Coach Bill, as well perhaps a couple years worth of picks but I am sure teams will heed “iron fist” Goodell’s warning.

Surprise #2. Randy Moss has returned. Are you kidding me? 183 yards, a TD and it looked like the Moss of old. Scary if they call his number consistently this season because physically the man is a freakish talent. Combined with the cool head and live arm of a Tom Brady could mean a trip to the big game but it was only week one. 16 more weeks for Moss to revert to the lazy, malcontent we all know and dash the Pats dreams of a long prosperous off season.

#3. Rookie success. Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch all exceed expectations and have great debuts in the NFL. It certainly didn’t look as though any of these guys had to adjust very much making the transition from college to the Pros. Brandon Jackson and Steve Smith (the other Steve Smith) also showed up and made themselves a great case for starting at some point this season. Dwayne Bowe showed enough to be named the starter at this point in KC…but it is over a wounded Eddie Kennison. Tony Ugoh looked pretty good against a solid Saints pass rushing tandem and Staley showed OK in SF. On defense Patrick Willis looked like a whirling dervish hitting everything in sight and Leon Hall did a decent job in Cincy shutting down, well OK it was Raven’s WRs he shut down, still he OK for a rookie. Spencer had some good pressure on Manning and eventually put him out of the game while Okoye looked OK in the middle on the Texans line stuffing LJ and stifling the Chiefs offense, what there is for an offense anyway.

#4. Injuries, injuries and more injuries. Football is a contact sport but there were an inordinate amount of major injuries to start the 2007 season. Players like Orlando Pace, Yeremiah Bell, Jason Ferguson, Ko Simpson, Mike Brown, Jason Simmons, William Joseph and Jon Jansen are all done for the season leaving their teams down a starter. Not very good if you consider there are 15 games left to go for every team and if you project that out over the year it means every team has 4 guys on IR by seasons end. Those are also the guys done for the year not just banged up a little or out for the next few weeks. I pity Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson owners, Pace is not going to be easy to replace and that could be St. Louis’ shot at the division.

#5. Charlie Frye traded after starting week 1 vs the Steelers. The few days following leading his team to the field against the Steelers Charlie Frye is sent packing to the Seahawks for a draft pick…a low one. Tough break not getting a chance to redeem yourself but I guess Romeo figures he has had enough. Honestly who thinks Frye was the Cleveland Browns biggest problem in week one? Me neither he didn’t play on the defense. Well, it was only a matter of time before Brady Quinn was the starter anyways so here’s to Derek Anderson and his new team the ???, come Tuesday morning. Let’s all welcome Brady Quinn to the league as the Browns new starting QB against the Raiders. That will be three starters in three games for the Browns…and a really high draft pick to Dallas next year.

Five surprises is enough. There were others to be sure but there are more important things than what I found to be shocking in the NFL’s first week of the season so let us move on. The picks I made last week never got out to the public except for a select few who played in a little side betting and I went 12-4 straight up so this week I am going to give out some freebies against the spread and my upset of the week.

Dallas (-3.5) vs Miami– Dallas. Even a bad hydraulic and an unscheduled landing won’t stop Romo from putting up enough points to beat the Dolphins this week. Of course, judging from Miami’s offensive attempt at offense last week that may not be more than 10 points and only a repeat of Dallas’ pitiful attempt at defense can stop them from steamrolling the Dolphins in this one.

Seattle (-2.5) vs Arizona – Seattle. Even that spectacular new stadium won’t help motivate the Cards enough to win this one. Expect a better performance from Matt Leinhart this week but not enough to take one from Seattle and Shaun Alexander. The Seahawk defense looks like it might be for real.

Green Bay (+2.5) vs New York Giants – Green Bay. This isn’t my upset pick even though the Gmen are favored. Farve will shred the Giants D or what is left of it. Eli may play but I doubt he finishes the game with the Pack bearing down on him and no one fears the Giants running game without Brandon Jacobs.

Cincinnati (-7) vs Cleveland – Cincinnati. Be surprised only if the Bengals defense doesn’t outscore the Browns offense. The real challenge is figuring out which quarter Brady Quinn will take over the Browns offense for the season.

Atlanta (+10) vs Jacksonville – Jacksonville. I like every team against the Falcons this season at nearly any spread. Jacksonville didn’t look good last week and I don’t like Garrard as a starting QB and yet I still choose the Jags. Is that any indication of what I think of the Falcons?

Kansas City (+12) vs Chicago – Chicago. I don’t care what the spread is. Chicago. A great defense against a brutal offense spells W-I-N in Chi-town. Larry Johnson owners beware…Chicago might play 11 men in the box on Sunday.

Ok six free picks and now I trip the light fantastic sticking my neck out on a game I have no business picking in this section. For some reason after the past week this game strikes me as a tough one for the champs but I really should be examined for going against the Colts.

Indianapolis (-7) vs Tennessee – Tennessee. I am not buying into the Vince Young is great or anything but I like Lendale White at 245lbs against the Colts smallish D and then some Chris Brown and Vince Young rushing to keep time of possession up for the Titans. I have no idea how the Titans stop Joseph Addai much less Peyton Manning but nonetheless I stick with this pick as my upset of the week.

I suppose that is crazy enough for one week even though last week was crazy enough without my help. If I am not in the asylum next week or undergoing shock therapy you can expect another rant from the poolside. Until then I am outta here.

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