Alright, I was wrong when I said that Newton would not impress in his first NFL start. He impressed alot of people, including every analyst at ESPN and yes, me....to an extent. Newton did a very good job, that is for sure, but the performance was slightly skewed. Newton's 77 yard TD pass was more about the speed of Steve Smith than the excellent passing of Newton. Any NFL QB can hit a streaking wideout behind the coverage for a touchdown, considering that Smith was not even guarded at that point. Take off those tack on yards and you're left with 345 yards, still an amazing number, but a much more realistic figure to look at. To go along with that 345, he had two bad interceptions, (one recalled by an off the ball defensive penalty against AZ) and a 66% completion percentage. I predict a lot of people will be worshipping Newton for the next week, but I can't bring myself to worship a great effort against a pass defense ranked 31st in the league last year, which gave up its best corner in free agency. Look, you can pass against the Cardinals. Cam Newton did that, and he did that very effectively. But lets see him replicate that against the likes of Jacksonville (17th), Washington (15) and Chicago (21st) before we crown him the NFL's best.
On Sunday I was able to mark an item off my bucket list, as I finally got to see the Pittsburgh Steeler's lose with the same spastic, desperate flailing effort that teams normally resort to against them. Yes, Jim Harbaugh's Ravens got out the gate early against the Steeler's and never looked back, cruising to a 35-7 victory. I have to say I'm even more impressed about this win because these two teams typically play very close games. Indeed, the last 12 regular season match ups between these two have all been won by a margin of 4 points or fewer. This could be indicative of trouble in Pittsburgh, but I wouldn't count on it.
MNF had a doubleheader last night, and while that in itself sounds like an enticing bonus for the fans, I have to say, a New England blowout could only be beaten by the Denver-Oakland game of last night for the least entertaining game they could have shown. After both teams fumbled within their first few series, the game turned into an absolute sloppy mess. The two teams combined for 222 yards in penalties last night, enough yellow being thrown that I thought I was watching this program instead. During the game, there were 25 separate play stoppages. The biggest highlight of the game was when the iron legged* kicker Sebastian Janikowski nailed an NFL record 63 yard field goal as time expired in the half- and promptly proceeded to say he wasn't happy with it.
* No NFL kicker has a known metal appendage.
National Passing Week is over in the NFL game, a ridiculous slate of games in which the league had one 500 yard passer, three 400 yard passers, and ten 300 passers. A total of 663 completions torched NFL secondary's for 54 touchdown passes, a TD pass for every 12 passes thrown. The highest QB rating belongs to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick of Buffalo, with a 133.00 rating. With such a week concluding, it will be interesting to see if some of the victimized teams switch up their defense a bit. I'm looking at you, Miami.
Noteworthy Performances (that weren't by QB's) :
Darren McFadden RB Raiders: His 150 yards rushing on 22 carries was the most by an Oakland player in the season opener in team history. He had a 6.8 YPC pace on the night.
Haloti Ngata NT Ravens: In addition to his 4 tackles on the night, Ngata had a hand in 3 Steeler's turnovers Sunday, forcing a fumble, recovering another and tipping a pass at the line for an interception. Ngata's efforts helped Baltimore forced 7 turnovers out of Pittsburgh.
Ted Ginn Jr. WR 49ers: Ginn Jr. accomplished a super rare feat, following his go-ahead 102 yard kickoff return with a 55 yard punt return in the same game, turning a close contest into a blowout and sealing the win for his team. He also took a voluntary pay cut from the team this week, something not many players would even consider doing.
Oh Hey, I didn't see you there: QB Donovan McNabb started at QB for the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday and threw for a paltry 39 yards in a 7-15 effort, with one (short) TD pass and one interception. I'm not gonna say its the worst a QB will play this season, but I'm just not sure Derek Anderson will see much time this year.
Back from the dead player of Week 1: Panthers WR Steve Smith, once a fantasy stud, who had long been relegated to team distraction duties, went off for 178 yards receiving with two scores, including a 77 yard catch and run after a defensive mix up by the Cardinals. With the possible breakout of Cam Newton in Carolina, Steve Smith may once again find himself relevant in this league.
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