Things I Noticed: Week 2

The NFL has added to their schedule of Thursday night games this season.  Last week opened on a Wednesday night, but starting this week, we'll have a Thursday game every week until Week 16.  I'm all in favor of adding football to another day of the week.  It makes the afternoon games on Sunday slightly less hectic to follow, especially during weeks with no byes, while also allowing me to get a head start on this column.  Why shouldn't they do this every week?

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• With Greg Jennings sidelined with an injury, the Packers offense struggled to find a rhythm.  Granted they've played two of the better defenses in the league, but through two weeks, the Packers offense hasn't looked like the powerhouse unit from the past few years.  Instead, it was the defense and special teams that carried them to victory this week.  The defense that ranked dead last in total yards allowed last season gave up only 168 total yards to the Bears, while sacking Jay Cutler 7 times and picking off 4 of his passes.

• Clay Matthews was a beast in this game.  He notched 3.5 sacks in the game and now has as many sacks through 2 games as he had all of last season (6).  
• Green Bay took control with a gutsy special teams play.  Facing 4th and 26 from the Bears 27 yard line, the Packers sent out the FG unit.  Rather than settle for three points, the Packers surprised us all with a fake.  The holder flipped the ball to Tom Crabtree, who ran to the endzone for the score.
• Cutler had a rough night, but it wasn't all his fault.  It didn't help that he spent most of the night running for his life.  He threw 4 INTs, but most of them came on passes he forced due to being hurried by a defense that repeatedly blew past the Bears offensive line.  Earl Bennett shares the blame for one of them for failing to come back to the ball on his route, letting the defender slip in to steal it while he stood and waited for it to come to him.  He also had a ball dropped by Brandon Marshall in the endzone.
• As if things hadn't been bad enough for the Bears, they also lost Matt Forte to injury again.  If it turns out to be a high ankle sprain, the injury could keep him out for a few weeks.
• The Cardinals stunned the Patriots in a wild finish in Foxboro.  It was the first home opener loss for the Patriots since they moved into Gillette Stadium, snapping a streak of 10 straight years.
• The Pats offense seemed out of sync all afternoon, but they managed to put it together in time to execute a drive resulting in a TD with just over 2 minutes remaining.  Yet after a failed two point conversion attempt, they still trailed by 2 points.  It seemed inevitable that the Cardinals would run out most, if not all, of the clock.  That is, until a Ryan Williams fumble gave the Patriots new life and set up what looked to be a miracle finish.  Recovering the ball around the 30 yard line with about a minute to go, the Patriots were already in range to kick the winning FG.  They actually scored what would have been the game winning TD on a Danny Woodhead run, but a very questionable holding call negated the score.  Deciding to play it safe, the Patriots took a knee to wind down the clock and spiked it with just enough time to leave for the FG attempt. Except... Stephen Gostkowski, New England's all time leader in FG accuracy, missed the 42 yard attempt, thus sealing the soul crushing loss.
• Wes Welker was a bit more involved this week (5 catches for 95 yards) and surpassed Troy Brown (who was in attendance to be inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame) on the all-time franchise list for receptions.  Yet it's worth noting that Julian Edelman actually started the game ahead of him and was on the field for more snaps through the early part of the game.  It wasn't until Aaron Hernandez was knocked out with an ankle injury that the Patriots were forced to adjust and get Welker more involved.

• This is the second straight week that Welker's usage has become a noteworthy story.  It seems like it's more than just game plan tactics that are behind the reasoning for starting the inferior Edelman ahead of the team's best receiver.  Is Welker being punished?  Is Belichick trying to see if his offense can thrive without him given the uncertainty of Welker's contract situation beyond this season?  As unthinkable as it may seem, could the Pats be thinking of trading Welker?  While that would be a shocker, it wouldn't be beyond Belichick to do it.  A few years ago he shocked the world by trading Randy Moss, after similarly phasing him out of the offense for weeks.
• The Hernandez injury really hurt the Patriots offense.  After running every play in the season opener against the Titans with at least two tight ends on the field, the Pats were forced to move to primarily three receiver sets instead after Hernandez went down, which proved to be much less effective.  With Hernandez expected to miss about a month, the Pats are hoping that newly signed Kellen Winslow, Jr. will help fill the void and allow them to get back in their comfort zone of using multiple tight end sets.  Winslow may not be able to match Hernandez's production, but he is a former Pro-Bowler that has averaged 73 catches and 792.3 yards over the past three seasons.
• Arizona's offense struggled, with Larry Fitzgerald (1 catch for only 4 yards, really?) being taken away by the Pats defense, but it was the Cardinals defense and special teams that helped them pull off the upset.  Half their points came on short field drives, with the first coming after Brady threw an INT on his first attempt of the game.  The pass was tipped and Patrick Peterson made an incredibly athletic play to haul in the diving catch.  Their special teams unit would later block a punt to give the offense the ball at the Patriots 2 yard line, leading to their first TD of the game.  The defense also did a great job of exposing a struggling Patriots offensive line, rattling Brady by hitting him 6 times and sacking him on 4 of them.
• After showing no signs of a pass rush in a blowout loss last week, the Bills revamped defense recovered to hammer the Chiefs.  They sacked Matt Cassel 5 times and kept the Chiefs out of the endzone until late in the 4th quarter, when a couple of garbage time TDs made the final score look a little closer than the game actually was.
• CJ Spiller had another big game, racking up 123 yards and 2 TDs.  Given Fred Jackson's age and injury history, the explosive Spiller may not give up the starting job even when the veteran does get healthy.
• Last week, Brandon Weeden looked like perhaps the worst QB... ever.  He didn't get the win this week, but he did come out looking a lot better, throwing a couple TD passes and more importantly, not turning the ball over.  Fellow rookie Trent Richardson also showed signs off life with his first career 100+ yard game and TD.
• Down by 10 late in the 4th quarter, the Browns managed to get all the way to the Bengals 7 yard line, but the defense managed to hold them out of the endzone.  Needing two scores, the Browns kicked the FG.  They failed to recover the onside kick anyway, but given that they were so close, why not go for the TD on 4th down?  Any throw they made would have had to be to the endzone, so it wouldn't have wasted much more time than the FG attempt did.  If they had recovered the onside kick with about 20 seconds remaining, wouldn't it have been more likely that they could complete a pass to the sidelines for 15-20 yards to put themselves in FG range rather than relying on a 50 yard Hail Mary attempt?

• Andrew Luck got his first career win after a clutch 53 yard FG from Adam Vinatieri in the games final seconds (of course automatic Adam would get a game winning kick on the same day the Pats lost on their last second attempt).  Luck played pretty well himself.  After the Colts defense failed to hold a 14 point 4th quarter lead, giving up the tying TD with 31 seconds left, Luck engineered the drive that put his team in range for that game winning kick by completing a pair of 20 yard deep passes.  An ill-timed Vikings off-sides penalty got them an extra 5 yards closer, which turned out to be just enough.
• Speaking of rookie QBs that rebounded from an awful debut, Ryan Tannehill looked to be much improved in his second start, leading the Dolphins to victory over Oakland.  After the rookie trio of Tannehill, Luck and Weeden combined for 11 turnovers last week, they combined for zero this week.
• Who says Reggie Bush can't carry a heavy workload?  His 26 carries for 172 yards and 2 scores begs to differ.  Bush's first TD came after contact that caused him to stumble, twirl and nearly go down before he somehow managed to regain his balance to finish the scoring run.  Call it outstanding athleticism on his part or just call it bad tackling for the Raiders.
• The Giants pulled off a wild shoot out win in the games final seconds against the Bucs.  Eli Manning looked awful at times, throwing 3 INTs (one of which was returned for a TD), but still managed to recover from those early woes to pile up an eye popping 510 yards and 3 TDs.
• Hakeem Nicks led the way with 199 of those yards, plus a TD, but Victor Cruz wasn't far behind with 179.  A big chunk of that came on his 80 yard TD catch, which should help atone for his frustrating number of drops in Week 1.
• The Bucs put themselves back in the game when Josh Freeman connected with Mike Williams on a 41 yard jump ball in the endzone to tie the game, but you just can't give one of the Manning brothers 2 minutes on a game deciding drive.
• Tampa's run defense wasn't quite as stout as it was against the Panthers, but they did manage to hold the Giants to under 4 yards per carry, so their improvement against the run may be for real.  
• Speaking of the Giants run game, rookie David Wilson clearly isn't out of the doghouse yet for his fumble in Week 1.  Even after Ahmad Bradshaw left with an injury in the first half, it was Andre Brown (who?) that handled the bulk of the carries.  
• Tom Coughlin sure does have a problem with people breaking the so-called unwritten rules of the game.  This time it was Bucs new coach Greg Schiano getting an earful after the game when Coughlin flipped his lid over the fact that Tampa's defense attacked in a desperate attempt to force a turnover on a kneel down in the final seconds of the game.  According to Coughlin, the game was essentially over, with the kneel down being just a formality, so the Bucs had no right to try to steal the ball away.  So no matter how unlikely a turnover in that situation may have been, the Bucs are supposed to just give up?  Just because that's what normally happens in that situation, doesn't mean you can blame the Bucs for trying.  They are coming off a miserable season where they quit on their former coach.  Give Schiano a lot of credit for getting his guys to play until the final whistle.  
• Despite turning the ball over 3 times, Michael Vick managed to overcome his mistakes to lead the Eagles to a win over the Ravens.  The Eagles are now 2-0 for the first time since 2004, when they made it to the Super Bowl.  Vick scored the winning TD himself, running it in from the 1 yard line with under 2 minutes to go.
• Prior to that game winning run, the replacement officials overturned a Vick fumble, ruling that his arm was coming forward before the ball was knocked out.  Replay showed that to be the correct call - it was not a fumble.  However, if it wasn't a fumble, then it clearly should have been intentional grounding.  He was in the pocket and released the ball while getting hit, but there was no receiver anywhere near where the ball landed.  Were the officials too busy worrying about if it was a fumble or not to realize this?  Had it been called correctly, it would have given the Eagles 3rd down from the 11 instead of the 1 yard line.  Doesn't mean they wouldn't still have scored, but it sure makes it less likely.  This may be the first, but probably not the last, example of the replacement officials negatively impacting the outcome of a game.
• Were people too quick to anoint Joe Flacco as an elite QB after last week?  He came crashing back down this week, showing the same inconsistencies that have plagued him through his career.  On the Ravens final drive, he overthrew Ray Rice on a critical 4th and 1 play.  That was his 5th incomplete pass in 7 attempts on the drive and turning the ball over on downs added to Flacco's other two turnovers.  
• Cam Newton used his arm and his legs to put the reeling Saints into an 0-2 hole.  Newton started the game winning drive with a 66 yard bomb to Steve Smith and sealed it with a 5 yard TD run.  That score put the Panthers up by 2 TDs.  While the Saints would counter to pull back within one, a Drew Brees INT thwarted their comeback attempt.

• Brees extended two impressive streaks.  He has thrown for at least 300 yards in 9 straight games and also has at least 1 TD pass in 45 straight games.  That's the longest active streak in the league (Brady is second among active QBs with 34) and is only 2 games away from tying Johnny Unitas for the longest all time streak.  The streaks and accolades are nice, but they don't concern Brees nearly as much as the recent trend of turnovers and losses.
• The backfield duo of Arian Foster and Ben Tate continue to be a nightmare for opposing defenses.  They combined for 244 total yards and 3 TDs in a blow out win against the over matched Jaguars.
• After showing some progress last week, Blaine Gabbert reverted back to the version of himself that struggled as a rookie.  He missed open receivers, made poor decisions and struggled with pocket presence.  He finished completing only 7 of 19 passes for a meager 53 yards, before exiting with a hamstring injury.  The injury may sideline him next week as well, but then again, that may be a good thing for the Jaguars.  Chad Henne couldn't be any worse.
• Congratulations to Joshua Morgan for earning the bonehead play of the week!  After the Redskins moved the ball into FG range for the game tying kick, Morgan's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing the ball at an opposing player (granted one who had provoked him with a cheap shove) pushed them back 15 yards to where the FG would need to be attempted from 62 yards out.  The kick missed of course, but had it been attempted from 15 yards closer, how different would the outcome be?  We'll never know.
• The classic look of shock on Mike Shanahan's face following the penalty would suggest that Morgan may need to worry about still having a job this week.  That lack of self control in a pivotal situation is unacceptable.
• After missing almost all of last season with a leg injury, Danny Amendola is back to remind everyone why he's often been compared to a young Wes Welker.  He dominated with 15 catches for 160 yards and a TD.
• What's going on with Steven Jackson?  After picking up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for angrily spiking the ball after getting stuffed at the goal line in the first half, coach Jeff Fisher benched the veteran RB for the rest of the game.  During the game the Rams claimed Jackson was healthy, so we were left to assume the benching was disciplinary.  Then after the game, Jackson and Fisher mentioned a groin injury.  Was Jackson hurt in the game, or was that just an excuse to deflect any controversy over the benching?
• Is it time to jump back on the Seattle bandwagon or was this just a sign that Dallas isn't as good as they looked last week?  I think it's just an example of how well Seattle can play at home.  The best home field advantage in the league helped the Seahawks defense shut down the Cowboys.
• Everyone who got overly excited about Kevin Ogletree's break out game last week and rushed to pick him up in their fantasy leagues came away a little disappointed.  1 catch for 26 yards doesn't help much.  
• Yes, I did get him in one of my leagues, but I didn't start him.  Hopefully neither did you.
• Anyone who thought that the Jets offensive woes were over forgot to wait until they were tested against a good defense.  The Steelers showed why their defense is still one of the leagues best by shutting down Mark Sanchez.
• With Darrell Revis sidelined with a concussion, Mike Wallace (5 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD) and Antonio Brown (7 catches, 79 yards) were free to roam all over the field.
• The Chargers held a nice pre-game ceremony to retire the number of Junior Seau.  The former Charger meant a lot to the San Diego community and it was great to see them honor his memory.
• San Diego continued the celebration by going on to steam roll the Titans.  Antonio Gates was a late scratch to the lineup, but Dante Rosario filled in admirably by catching 3 TDs.
• Make that two straight games now to open the season that Chris Johnson has failed to live up to expectations.  He managed only 17 yards on 8 carries and had less rushing yards than his QB, Jake Locker.
• Kenny Britt returned from suspension/injury, but if you blinked, you may have missed it, as he caught only 1 pass for 5 yards in the game.  
• So far the 49ers appear to be the best team in the league, as they've gone out and beaten two quality NFC opponents to start the season.  

• Since they ended up beating the Lions anyway, it didn't matter, but I'm still puzzled by the late game play calling by the 49ers.  They had the ball just outside the red zone with a one score lead and about 3 minutes left.  All they had to do was run the ball.  If they couldn't pick up a first down after three attempts, they could have settled for a FG.  In doing so, they would have forced the Lions to use their last two time outs and left them with only about two minutes to try to get two scores.  Instead, they called a passing play, which resulted in a TD to Vernon Davis. Going up two TDs late in the game may look great, but given the extra time, plus their time outs, Detroit had a chance at a comeback.  They ended up marching down the field and scoring a TD in about a minute and a half.  Had they recovered the onside kick, they'd have about another minute and a half to get another score to tie the game.  As it was, they didn't recover the kick and we don't know if they would have been able to repeat another quick scoring drive. However, the fact is that passing for a score (which risked taking a sack, turnover or clock stoppage) decreased their odds of winning the game.  Just because it worked, doesn't mean it was the right call.
• Yes, in one of my fantasy leagues I was matched up against the owner of Vernon Davis.  Yes, I would have won that match-up had Davis not caught that TD pass.  But no, that's not the only reason I didn't agree with the play call!
• If I had Calvin Johnson on my team, I'd want to throw to him all the time too, but you can't just forget about your other receivers if you're Matthew Stafford.  Johnson had 8 catches on 12 targets.  Brandon Pettigrew had 3 catches, but two of them came late in the game, so he was largely ignored for most of the game.  The two RBs each collected a pair of catches.  Nobody else had more than 1 catch.
• Matt Ryan completed his 100th career TD catch.  Since his rookie year in 2008, no QB/WR tandem has connected for more TD passes than Ryan and Roddy White (35).
• The Broncos turned the ball over on all four of their first quarter possessions (3 INTs, 1 Fumble), yet still managed to hang around to make the game exciting in the end, thanks to a pair of fourth quarter TDs by Willis McGahee.
• The replacement officials have been one of the top early season stories and their impact was on display in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football.  I wish I could say I stayed up late enough to watch Denver's thrilling come back attempt, but the truth is that the game was just taking too long.  The first quarter alone took about an hour and it was quickly approaching midnight by the time the 4th quarter was ready to begin.  Much of that can be blamed on the officials, who took far too long to make decisions, yet still managed to get many of them wrong.  In the first half there were three calls that ended up being overturned by replay.  There were 18 combined penalties and the officials had trouble figuring out where to spot the ball after some of them.  Then there was the on field skirmish where they nearly lost control of the game.  The officiating in this game was nothing short of a disaster.  Even the MNF commentating crew wasn't shy about venting their frustration over how long it was taking to make calls.  The constant delays aren't just annoying for the fans to watch, it also disrupts the flow of the offense, particularly for teams that rely on the hurry-up offense... like Denver and Atlanta.
• This isn't meant as a rant against the replacement officials.  I'm sure they really are doing their best.  The problem is, their best isn't good enough because they aren't the most qualified for the job.  Their training and experience pails in comparison to the real officials.  Behind them, the next most qualified officials are needed for the college games.  So at best, we're dealing with third string officials that have little to no experience at anything close to this level.  That's not their fault, it's the league and the officials union that have allowed things to get to this point.