NFL Week One Recap

Week one in the NFL got started with a thriller in Pittsburgh and ended with a thriller in Oakland, what a great start to the season. There were a lot of great games, a few upsets, and even a miracle or two. My advice was the avoid the Bengals/Broncos game at all costs. That was good advice until the last 30 seconds of the game (thank you red zone channel for keeping it live for me). Kyle Orton threw a yard hail-mary which was tipped by the Cincinatti defense before being hauled in by Brandon Stokley for an 87 yard miracle touchdown to take the lead with 11 seconds on the clock. I guess it was a good reward for anyone who invested time watching that awful game, or for those who invested money in getting NFL Ticket.

If you went with my picks across the board this week, you went 8-8 (sorry about the juice, hopefully you laid it at a casino and broke even- hey! free entertainment). As for my teaser, my disdain for Boston sports continues. Here are my picks again and the results:

Bengals to cover 4 - wrong (12-7 Broncos miracle play)

Jets +4.5 -correct (24-7 Jets)

Lions +13 - wrong (45-27 Saints)

KC +13- wrong (38-24 Ravens 4th down TD under a minute left)

Cardinals to cover 6.5 - wrong (49ers win outright 20-16)

St. Louis +8.5 - wrong (28-0 Seattle)Atlanta -4 - correct (19-7 Falcons)

Vikes -4 - correct (34-20 Minn)

Colts -7 - wrong (14-12 Indy)

Dallas to cover 6 - correct (34-21 Cowboys)

Skins cover 6.5 - correct (23-17 NYG)

Eagles cover -1.5 - correct (38-10 Eagles)

San Diego covers -9 - wrong (24-20 last minute drive win)

Tenn covers +6.5 - correct (13-10 Steelers)

Green Bay covers -3.5 - correct (21-15 Packers)

Pats cover -10.5 - wrong (25-24 Pats)

Teaser of the week: Dallas +1 @ TB, Pats -4.5 against the Bills, and Minnesota +2 @ Cleveland. Wrong. Don't even want to talk about this one. The Patriots have a knack for disappointing me in week one, the trend continues. Their offensive line better get it together or Tom Brady may be on the shelf again before too long. He sure didn't look like the all-world quarterback that he was pre-injury, at least last night. After I realized that the Pats weren't going to cover I started pulling hard for a Bills upset. Constant disappointment from the Patriots. They are on the inside track to be this years' Chargers for me (a team that screwed up every wager I laid on a game involving them last year somehow).

The Eagles defense was just nasty in week one, forcing five interceptions and recovering two fumbles while holding the Panthers to just 10 points. Everyone is talking about the Eagles offense but it may just be the defense which carries this team to the playoffs. Donovan McNabb suffered a rib injury and will most likely miss some time. The Eagles signed veteran Jeff Garcia for security. Garcia refused to accept a back-up role in Oakland but it looks like he will be either third or fourth string on the Eagles depth chart when McNabb and Vick return to the lineup. I have a feeling Kevin Kolb's days in Philly are numbered. I said it preseason and I think it even more after the first game, I think the Eagles will play for, if not win, the Superbowl this year.

How about Cadillac Williams? What a comeback he had after basically missing two years with knee injuries. Cadillac had 97 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Good to see the guy back on the field after all he has been through, and playing well at that.

And don't look now, but the Ravens finally look like they have an offense. Flacco went 26-43 with 307 yards and 3 TD's (but also had a costly interception that almost turned the game around and needs to improve his pocket presence to make the jump to elite QB status). Ray Rice is running hard and pairs up very well with McGahee out of the backfield. This team looks like a possible contender after week one.

After week one, this is how the league is looking to me:

Teams that look good: Ravens, Falcons, Vikings, Saints, Cowboys, Eagles, Jets

Teams that look bad: Dolphins, Broncos, Bengals, Browns, Lions, Panthers, Texans, Rams

Teams that could go either way: Titans, Steelers, Chiefs, Jags, Colts, Bucs, Redskins, Giants, 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks, Bears, Packers, Bills, Patriots, Chargers, Raiders

I'm thinking I need to do some extra homework on the NFL this week so I can go better than 8-8 on my picks. I'm feeling better now that I have a little foundation to build on. I'm just glad that football is back and I can spend hours and hours writing, talking and arguing about football related topics. Social life, you can wait until February.