Crazy week in the NFL

It was another crazy week in the NFL. There were several outcomes that were very surprising to me and I want to touch on a few of them in my weekly thoughts.

(1) What do we make of the Titans after the first two weeks of the season? Last year, they led the AFC with a 13-3 record and were a couple breaks away from playing for the AFC Championship on their home turf. This year, they have already lost a tough game to the defending champs and a real stinker in their home opener. No one should be ashamed to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but how do you explain the terrible performance against the Houston Texans. The defense that looked so strong against the Steelers was carved up like a holiday turkey by Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson. After Schaub’s struggles in week one, I did not see this performance coming. He looked like an MVP candidate in Nashville. He completed 64% of his attempts and threw for a career high four touchdown passes. Two of his TD passes went to the incredible Andre Johnson, who abused the duo of Courtland Finnegan and Nick Harper to the tune of 10 catches for 149 yards. If Schaub can stay healthy, a big if, he is going to put up huge numbers along with Johnson. I can see these two being in the top five of quarterback-wide receiver tandems in the league. The Titans had absolutely no answer for them, which was a shame because the Titans offense, namely Chris Johnson, put on a show worthy of the Grand Ole Opry. Johnson administered a complete smackdown against a Texans’ defense that is looking more and more suspect by the passing minute. Johnson had touchdown runs of 57 and 91 yards, with the 91-yard strike matching the longest running play in franchise history. In addition, he added a 69-yard touchdown reception becoming only the fourth player since 1970 with three touchdowns of at least 50 yards in the same game. Unfortunately, the Titans wasted his extraordinary performance and fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2006. Personally, I think they are a much better team than they have shown in the first two weeks. Their offense showed in week two how good they can be and their defense opened the season with a dominating effort in the Steel City. I chalk this game up to a bad week for the Titans and I fully expect them to right the ship. The problem is that they will be forced to straighten things out on the road against a Jets squad that looks to be playing with a newfound swagger. The bad news for Titans’ fans is that it is going to get a little worse before it gets better.

(2) I have to give a lot of props to the Jets, who have had two impressive victories to start the 2009 campaign. They thumped the Texans to start the season and then called out the AFC East bullies better known as the New England Patriots. Not only did they poke the hornet’s nest in Foxboro but they backed it up with a hard-fought, hard hitting victory against the Pats. This game had to be a beautiful sight to behold for Jets’ first year coach Rex Ryan. He imported the Baltimore recipe for success, which includes tough defense and conservative offense, and watched it worked to perfection on Sunday. The Jets’ defense held the Pats to under 300 yards of total offense, forced Tom Brady to misfire on over 50% of his attempts and held Brady without a TD pass for just the third time in 21 games. The Jets have still not allowed an offensive touchdown through the first two games of the season. The Jets never got to Brady but their frenetic style kept the Patriots off balance all game long, which led to New England’s first game without a touchdown since December 10, 2006 against the Miami Dolphins (1st time in 37 games). On offense, the Jets turned around a miserable first half to outscore the Patriots 13-0 in the second stanza to pull out the big victory. The big reason for the turnaround is that the Jets took off the training wheels for Mark Sanchez and unleashed the rookie in the second half. After only attempting five passes in the first half, Sanchez was outstanding in the second half leading the Jets on three consecutive scoring drives including a three play, 56-yard touchdown drive to start the 3rd quarter. It is very clear that Coach Ryan learned his lessons well under in Baltimore. He is leaning on a stout defense and a strong running game to take the pressure off of Sanchez. I think we can all expect the Jets to continue loosening the reins on Sanchez as long as he continues to show he is capable of handling increased responsibility. In meantime, the Jets defense and the running game will carry the majority of the weight. In conclusion, I would be concerned if I was a Patriots fan. They were fortunate to win on Monday night and they followed up that lackluster performance with another ugly outing. If Brady cannot find his groove, the Patriots are going to struggle all year long.

(3) I’m not sure how to evaluate Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears after they absolutely stole a victory against the Steelers. On the positive side, we can talk about how the Bears grinded out a victory despite getting zero production from their running game. We can talk about how Jay Cutler rebounded from his disastrous opening performance to lead the Bears to last second victory. We can talk about how their defense held their ground against the defending champs despite losing their leader for the entire year. I think that all of these things are valid reasons to feel much better about the kind of season that the Bears can have. I think that the real Jay Cutler lives somewhere between the guy that showed up in Green Bay and the guy that shined on the Midway. Nevertheless, I think that the Bears are living on borrowed time. After playing so horribly against the Packers, Cutler was not much better on Sunday. True, he led an impressive final drive, where he connected on all four of his attempts. The other side of the coin is that he struggled mightily throughout the game against the Steelers 3-4 defense. He led three very nice drives but he was also at the controls of six drives that ended in punting situations. In the end, I think the bigger concern for the Bears was their lack of a running game for the second consecutive week. A week after gaining only 55 yards, Matt Forte was bottled up by the Steel Curtain for only 29 yard on 13 carries. Forte wasn’t much of a factor in the passing game either. The Bears must find some balance in their offense because too many throws from Jay Cutler will lead to more implosions like we saw in Green Bay. The bottom line for the Bears is that they should be 0-2, if Jeff Reed would have connected on either of his 4th quarter field goal attempts.

(4) I kind of wish I was a New York Giants fan, so that I could enjoy their ruining of the opening day of the new Cowboys Stadium even more. I’m sure that Jerry Jones must feel like Eddie Murphy after Rick James put his dirty shoes all over his couch. I’m having a hard time thinking of anything more enjoyable than sticking it to the most egotistical owner in pro sports on the day that he unveiled his $1 billion plaything to the entire world. Personally, it feels even better to predict the mouse-like performance that Tony Romo was going to have against the Giants. Last week in this column, I talked about how soft Romo is and he backed me up to the fullest with another vintage Tony Romo stink bomb. Less than 50% completion percentage, check. A quarterback rating less than 50, check. Multiple turnovers, check. Same dopey smile on his face, check. On Sunday night, Romo submitted more evidence as to why he will never lead the Cowboys to anything of significance. Romo is great when the stakes are low, but he morphs into Greg Norman when the crowd is at a frenzied pitch and each play is do-or-die. Conversely, Eli Manning looked calm, collected and in control throughout the football game. He completed nearly 66% of his passes, threw for over 300 yards and connected for two touchdown passes, one each to Mario Manningham and Steve Smith. I have never been a huge Eli fan but he showed once again why he has a Super Bowl ring. All Romo has is a trophy from the time he rolled a perfect game at Charleston Lanes during his days at Eastern Illinois University. Eli may not be his brother’s equal, but I would rather hand him the keys to my franchise than give them to Tony Romo. Romo is the kind of guy that can get ladies’ numbers with his eyes closed but they get so bored of him talking and talking that he never closes the deal. Meanwhile, Eli plays the back, whispers the right compliment into the ear of the hottest chick in the room and next thing you know they are doing the horizontal hokey pokey back at the hotel. In the end, if you want to win a game in September, give me Romo but if you want to win the NFC Championship game in frigid temperature, give me Eli.

(5) The Seahawks were absolutely bullied by the San Francisco 49ers. They were stymied by the San Francisco defense and they allowed the 49ers to execute their offensive game plan to perfection. Everyone on the planet knew that the Seahawks had to stuff the run and put the game into the shaky hands of Shaun Hill. They couldn’t allow the 49ers to relive the game from 2006 when Frank Gore torched Seattle for a franchise record 212 yards rushing. Instead, the Hawks were gashed in the running game to the tune of 256 yards rushing. They allowed Gore to go untouched from 80 yards and 79 yards to become only the second player since 1940 to have multiple touchdown runs of over 75 yards in the same game (Barry Sanders in 1997). As a result, Shaun Hill did absolutely nothing and the 49ers still came away with a dominating victory. In my eyes, this Seattle defense looks like the same defense from the last several years. They are world-beaters at Qwest Field, but they turn into feeble creatures on the road. What is the reason for this home/road dichotomy? Does the 12th Man really provide such an edge that the Seahawks are unable to replicate the same intensity on the road? The defense isn’t the only unit that deserves the blame for this horrible effort. The offense started slow again and finished even slower once Matt Hasselbeck left the game with fractured ribs in the 2nd quarter. Before Matt’s injury, the Seattle offense had only produced 72 total yards and one measly field goal. They finished the 1st half with their only impressive drive of the day, but the enthusiasm was tempered by the image of Hasselbeck staggering off the field with the rib injury. In the second half, the Seneca Wallace-led offense went punt, punt, interception, punt, turnover on downs and end of game on six possessions. Their six second half possessions yielded only 113 total yards. I can’t figure out if the 49ers’ defense is just this good or if Seneca Wallace is just this bad. I know that we were missing Sean Locklear as well, but hasn’t Wallace been in the league long enough to produce more. I know that Seneca believes that he can start in the NFL, but I have yet to see the proof on the field. He looks like a back-up NFL quarterback every time he steps on the field. Ultimately, I have to give the 49ers a lot of credit. They took the fight to us. Their front seven was dominating as they held the Seahawks to less than three yards a carry. I was concerned about the Hawks’ running game after last week’s game and I’m even more concerned now. They knocked our starting quarterback out of the game and they were very physical with our wide receivers. Even though it was an ugly loss, the bigger concern for me is the mounting injuries. We are already without Big Walt, Marcus Trufant, Leroy Hill and Deion Branch. After Sunday’s blood bath in the Bay Area, we might have to move forward without Matt Hasselbeck, Ben Obamanu, Lofa Tatupu, Josh Wilson and Sean Locklear. The injury situation is getting pretty dire for the Hawks, especially with the wide receivers where Seattle finished Sunday’s game with only three healthy players. Let’s pray that Tim Ruskell will not call Billy McMullen, Koren Robinson or Keary Colbert.