SEA BASS TIES A RECORD, BRADY GOES OFF, TIGERS GET A PAIR BACK & JUST HOW SLOPPY WAS WEEK ONE?
Week one of the 2011 NFL season is in the books & we saw some fantastic feats tonight. The Raiders beat Denver 23-20 in a fumble-filled monsoon at Mile High(I refuse to call it Sport's Authority Park at Mile High). Oakland RB Darren McFadden just loves playing the Broncos, tonight marked his 3rd consecutive 100-yard game against them. In 22 carries, McFadden sloshed thru the rain for 150-yards, the Raiders out-rushing Denver 190-38. Denver's offensive line was dreadful, couldn't run block, couldn't keep Oakland's front 4 off QB Kyle Orton & they drew a lot of penalties. Like any AFC West game that includes the Raiders, there was a lot of pushing, shoving & even a couple of punches, the Silver & Black was flagged 15 times for 131-yards. Some things never change. Orton was forced to hear the crowd's chants for Tim Tebow. Denver punt returner Eric Decker took one back for a 90-yard touchdown. But the three points that decided this contest were compliments of the "Sea Bass" placekicker Sebastian Janikowski who boomed an NFL record-tying 63-yard field goal just before half. He's now tied with Jason Elam & Tom Dempsey for the all-time longest field goal.
Janikowski's reaction after 63-yard FG
Tom Brady is amazing, yeah the Patriots won handily, 38-24 & tho they lost center Dan Koppen with a broken ankle in the 2nd quarter, Brady remains one of the most dangerous quarterbacks of all-time. In Miami Monday night, he threw 48 passes, completed 32 of them for 517-yards, 3rd highest game total ever. He tossed 4 touchdown passes including a 99-yard hookup with WR Wes Welker after the New England defense stopped Miami at the one-yard line on downs. The Pats two tight ends, Aaron Hernandez(7 catches for 103-yds & 1 TD) & Rob Gronkowski(6-86 & 1) ran wild over the middle while Welker caught 8 passes for 160 & 2 scores. Midway thru the 2nd quarter Brady instituted the no-huddle offense & right after halftime, the Dolphin defenders had nothing left. They were cramping & so winded they sort of milled around on some plays, they weren't even set before the ball was snapped. The much maligned Dolphin QB, Chad Henne, led his team in rushing with 7 carries for 59-yards & a touchdown. He threw 2 touchdown passes among his 416 passing yards. The 906-net passing yards was an NFL record. There was 1,110 total yards in this game, not a lot of defense. When Koppen went down, right guard Dan Connelly moved over to center & newly acquired Brian Waters played every snap at RG.
Donvan McNabb had 39 passing yards yesterday in San Diego, at that rate he'll pass Brady's night before half of week 14.
Who said today "I felt right up until kickoff we were ready to go?" See below.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost right tackle Willie Colon to a torn triceps. He missed all of last season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. I'll bet Mike Tomlin has already spoken to Flozell Adams, the unsigned free agent who replaced Colon for all of last season.
Mizzou fans got some good news on Monday as two starters, center Travis Ruth & wide receiver Jerrell Jackson, returned to practice & were given the O.K. to play Saturday against Western Illinois(my trivia question on the radio show last night was "name W.I.'s mascot"). This should help QB James Franklin prepare for the real game in two weeks, at Oklahoma.
I forecast injuries, penalties & a lot of turnovers in the first 3-4 weeks of the NFL season. Opening weekend proved that theory to be true. We saw 243 penalties, or 15.2 per game, which is way over the normal average. There were 54 turnovers between Thursday night & tonight's doubleheader night cap. Pretty sloppy football. I predicted very unpredictable special teams play & opening weekend witnessed 8 returns for touchdowns, 3 kickoffs & 5 punt returns, an NFL record. Just too little practice time plus too little conditioning time has seen a huge increase in cramping & other leg injuries. Ever see so many players bent over at the waist sucking wind? There are a lot of out-of-shape guys wishing they had worked harder on their own during the lockout.
The quote above was uttered by Todd Haley Monday afternoon. The Mascot for Western Illinois is the Leathernecks.
Janikowski's reaction after 63-yard FG
Tom Brady is amazing, yeah the Patriots won handily, 38-24 & tho they lost center Dan Koppen with a broken ankle in the 2nd quarter, Brady remains one of the most dangerous quarterbacks of all-time. In Miami Monday night, he threw 48 passes, completed 32 of them for 517-yards, 3rd highest game total ever. He tossed 4 touchdown passes including a 99-yard hookup with WR Wes Welker after the New England defense stopped Miami at the one-yard line on downs. The Pats two tight ends, Aaron Hernandez(7 catches for 103-yds & 1 TD) & Rob Gronkowski(6-86 & 1) ran wild over the middle while Welker caught 8 passes for 160 & 2 scores. Midway thru the 2nd quarter Brady instituted the no-huddle offense & right after halftime, the Dolphin defenders had nothing left. They were cramping & so winded they sort of milled around on some plays, they weren't even set before the ball was snapped. The much maligned Dolphin QB, Chad Henne, led his team in rushing with 7 carries for 59-yards & a touchdown. He threw 2 touchdown passes among his 416 passing yards. The 906-net passing yards was an NFL record. There was 1,110 total yards in this game, not a lot of defense. When Koppen went down, right guard Dan Connelly moved over to center & newly acquired Brian Waters played every snap at RG.
Donvan McNabb had 39 passing yards yesterday in San Diego, at that rate he'll pass Brady's night before half of week 14.
Who said today "I felt right up until kickoff we were ready to go?" See below.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost right tackle Willie Colon to a torn triceps. He missed all of last season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. I'll bet Mike Tomlin has already spoken to Flozell Adams, the unsigned free agent who replaced Colon for all of last season.
Mizzou fans got some good news on Monday as two starters, center Travis Ruth & wide receiver Jerrell Jackson, returned to practice & were given the O.K. to play Saturday against Western Illinois(my trivia question on the radio show last night was "name W.I.'s mascot"). This should help QB James Franklin prepare for the real game in two weeks, at Oklahoma.
I forecast injuries, penalties & a lot of turnovers in the first 3-4 weeks of the NFL season. Opening weekend proved that theory to be true. We saw 243 penalties, or 15.2 per game, which is way over the normal average. There were 54 turnovers between Thursday night & tonight's doubleheader night cap. Pretty sloppy football. I predicted very unpredictable special teams play & opening weekend witnessed 8 returns for touchdowns, 3 kickoffs & 5 punt returns, an NFL record. Just too little practice time plus too little conditioning time has seen a huge increase in cramping & other leg injuries. Ever see so many players bent over at the waist sucking wind? There are a lot of out-of-shape guys wishing they had worked harder on their own during the lockout.
The quote above was uttered by Todd Haley Monday afternoon. The Mascot for Western Illinois is the Leathernecks.
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