My two favorite rookie running backs both had huge days. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 90 yards and a TD but was overshadowed by Adrian Peterson. The Vikings started the game by giving Chester Taylor the ball three times on the opening drive. He gained 18 yards and never carried the ball again. The rest of the carries went to Peterson who rushed for 103 yards. But his breakthrough moment came on a screen pass he almost didn't catch. He bobbled the ball, which allowed the blocking in front to create a lane for him, which he ran right through, for a 60 yard touchdown.
Where's Michael Vick When You Need Him?
Joey Harrington was sacked six times and threw 2 interceptions as the Falcons got killed by the Vikings, 24-3.
Kicking Counts
Three teams won games on last second field goals, the Packers, the Redskins (in OT) and the Broncos. For the Broncos, Jason Elam redeemed himself after missing two kicks earlier in the game.
Tough Luck
Bears safety Mike Brown tore his ACL and is out for the season. In 2004 he played 2 games and suffered a season ending injury. He played 12 games in 2005 and 6 in 2006, when he suffered another season ending injury. Brown will have missed 43 of his team's 64 games over the past four seasons.
Monday Night Doubleheader
I really enjoyed the Monday Football doubleheader which featured two exciting but poorly played games.
Costly Penalty
With time running out and the Ravens trailing by 7 Kyle Boller (Kyle Boller!) connected with Todd Heap on a game-tying touchdown. But it was called back due to offensive pass interference. This was a bad call (there was contact, but it was minimal) but given the situation, it was terrible. The Ravens didn't rebound and lost the game. But they also have themselves to blame. They turned it over 6 times, including 3 fumbles in the first quarter.
Ocho Cinco Dons a 54 Long
Chad Johnson scored an early touchdown and his contrived celebration involved him donning a huge yellow blazer (like the one NFL Hall of Famers get) on the sidelines. I barely managed a chuckle at this display but I get much more annoyed at the stodgy old fools who decry antics like this as the end of western civilization. It's a game, it's fun and it should be fun. If Chad enjoys it, and some fans enjoy it (and I know some do), then he's not hurting anyone by doing it. Maybe he's calling attention to himself, maybe he's showing up the other team, but I have no problem with his gimmick and I enjoy his routines when they're funny.
Awful Announcing
The only bad part of the Monday Night Football Doubleheader was the trio of Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic and Mike Ditka in the booth for the second game. It's just like ESPN to try to promote their morning show ("Mike & Mike") by putting two inexperienced announcers in the booth. Why not tab a solid old pro like Mike Patrick for this one time event? Greenberg and Golic cut down on their schtick, but they are still used to that morning show format. At one point Greenberg said that Arnaz Battle didn't have a single drop last year, the only regular WR to not drop a ball. Golic then said everything he knew about Battle (he used to be a quarterback at Notre Dame), but none of it further illustrated the point or was all that interesting.
Awful Quarterbacking
The young quarterback duo on display in the Arizona-San Francisco game (Matt Leinart and Alex Smith) disappointed me greatly. Leinart consistently overthrew his receivers and missed open guys. Alex Smith just sucked, until the last drive when he got it together and led him team to the victory.
Holy Roller
A crazy play occurred at the very end of the Arizona-San Francisco game. On 3rd and 13 with about 30 seconds left, Alex Smith completed a 22 yard pass to Arnaz Battle who fumbled at the 1 yard line.
The ball rolled forward into the end zone. The 49ers recovered but the ball is taken back to the point of the fumble. The rule is designed to prevent an offensive player from purposely throwing the ball forward and a teammate recovering it ahead of the spot from when it was fumbled. This only applies to fourth down and the last 2 minutes of a half. This rule was put into effect after this play (listen to the announcer's adjectives for the play, and for Madden's butt):
Game of the Week
Chargers 14 Bears 3
I know there were some other higher scoring games, closer games, but I enjoyed watching this one. This was two awesome teams (probably the best in each conference) playing their games and the better team came out on top.
The Bears dominated the first half shutting down LT and holding the Chargers offense to 3 3-and-outs and several other short drives. Rex Grossman did throw an INT in the first half, but so did Philip Rivers.
A lot of fumbling in the second half. Benson fumbled on the Bears first drive but with 2nd and goal from the 1 Rivers fumbled it right back. This was a controversial play because it looked like the Bears were offside, and basically they blew up the snap and Rivers never got his hands on it.
The Bears couldn't capitalize however and they were forced to punt, which was fumbled, but San Diego held onto it.
But they couldn't do anything to they punted and Chicago fumbled the punt. But this time the Chargers recovered and they used the short field and some trickery to put their first points on the board. LT threw another touchdown, the 7th touchdown pass of his career. The Bears fumbled again on the very next drive (the other Adrian Peterson, this time) and the Chargers once again took advantage of the field position and scored a touchdown.
The Bears had one more chance but were stopped on 4th down.
One bright note for Bears fans, Rex Grossman was responsible for only 1 of the 4 turnovers.
Game of Next Week
San Diego at New England
Should be a great matchup and a preview of the AFC Title Game (the de facto Super Bowl this year). There is still some bad blood left over from last year's playoff game. Seems like NBC handpicked this game and ratings should be huge, no true NFL fan should miss this one.
Cheerleader of the Week
Romi Beam of the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders
There's a lot to like about Romi who has been a Broncos Cheerleader for 3 years.
She says her most memorable game was against the Chiefs and points out that the Rock was there.
John Lynch is her favorite player and "The Secret" is her favorite book. Maybe she uses the tricks of the secret to get John Lynch.
A place she would like to visit is the Poseidon Resort in Fiji where the rooms are underwater.
But the best thing about Romi is that one of the two people she would like to have dinner with is Tiger Woods. The other is Barney Stinson.
A Brief Rant About the Redskins
A win is a win and a lot better than a loss. But I was very unimpressed by the Redskins performance at home against a mediocre, at best, Dolphins team. Jason Campbell was not impressive at all, his stats look better than they were because of that fluke pass to Antwaan Randle-El that almost won the game. The big problem is that Campbell threw 2 INTs and 0 TDs. The running game was good, especially at the end of the game. Portis and Betts combined for 157 yards. The defense played well, led by linebackers London Fletcher and Rocky McIntosh. But they only forced one turnover. They could have had another one when Fred Smoot stepped in front of a Trent Green pass late in regulation, but it bounced off his chest. In order to win the Redskins must run the ball and be in the plus column in turnovers. They only did one of those in this game, but still got the win. Next up, the Eagles on Monday night in Philadelphia.
If The Super Bowl Were Played Today
The Chargers would beat the Cowboys 42-28. The Chargers are freakin awesome and as great as the Colts and Patriots, and even the Steelers played, I'm going to have see someone beat them before I take them out of this spot.
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