NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest |  |
- Rams show life but still come up short in 17-13 loss to Cardinals
- Niners stunned in Seattle in opening day blowout 31-6
- Good, Bad, and Ugly in Bengals opening day loss to Patriots
- Ugly but a win; Dolphins go to 1-0 in Buffalo 15-10
- Lions QB Stafford out 2 to 6 weeks with AC joint sprain
- Browns bungle their way to opening day defeat in Tampa 17-14
- Video: Steelers march their way to an OT win over Atlanta
- Titans ground out easy 38-13 win over Oakland to kick off 2010
- Lions loss to the Bears in cursed fashion to start the 2010 season
- Though the Eagles Lost, Vick Shows Promise; Should Be Starting QB
| Rams show life but still come up short in 17-13 loss to Cardinals Posted: 13 Sep 2010 02:58 AM PDT
The Rams kept coming and kept fighting the Arizona Cardinals until their was no time left on the clock in the 4th quarter and they fell short as Sam Bradford's Hail Mary attempt was intercepted in a forest of Arizona Cardinals defenders. It was a moral victory for the Rams, but with yet another game available for the taking, the Rams did not have enough on offense, defense and special teams to win the game. Kicker Josh Brown had his first field goal attempt blocked and the Rams were gouged by the Cardinals kickoff returns at every chance. The Rams defense came up with a huge strip sack of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Derek Anderson and defensive tackle Clifton Ryan was rumbling into the endzone and was stripped by Arizona wide receiver Steve Breaston inside the 10 yard line and the Cardinals recovered for a touchback. The Rams left 10 points on the field with just those two plays alone. The Rams had two chances in the last 5 minutes to win the game and both times the Rams scuffled on the Cardinals side of the field with two desperation heaves that were turned into interceptions. With a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start in his first regular season NFL game and a 2nd year head coach who has not had practice with too many late game two minute drills, the Rams showed their inexperience. The Rams wasted time, dropped passes and were not able to pick apart the Arizona Cardinals prevent defense. With Sam Bradford making his first NFL start and throwing the ball over 50 times, the Rams should be happy with their moral victory. They came close, but just ran out of time. However, the Rams fans are sick of moral victories and would start to like seeing victories of the real kind very soon. And the Arizona Cardinals put this game on a platter for the Rams and they were unable to capitalize. The Rams missed an opportunity to make themselves a story in the insanity after week 1 and they missed their opportunities. The Rams did not have enough on offense, defense, special teams or coaching staff to win the home opener against a vulnerable but talented Arizona Cardinals team. The Rams are still very young with a 2nd year head coach. They have room to grow in the NFL and this will be a great lesson and moral victory. But, I'm tired of lessons and moral victories. |
| Niners stunned in Seattle in opening day blowout 31-6 Posted: 13 Sep 2010 12:56 AM PDT
This was not the way to start what is expected to be a winning season. In a matchup that most anticipated the Niners to be victorious, they went out and showed that maybe they are not as good as most thought they were. On the other hand, a Seattle Seahawks team that was supposed to go through some sort of a rebuilding phase played extremely well. However, this was only one game. This game should not be an omen for either the 49ers or the Seahawks. Alex Smith started the game rather well and cooled off as early as the second quarter. The team as a whole was 1-for-15 in third down situations and could not convert on manageable fourth down conversions. A Seahawks team playing at home for animated head coach Pete Carroll wasted no time and capitalized on the Niners' early mistakes. Alex Smith finished the game with no touchdowns while throwing for 225 yards and 2 interceptions. He could have had an easy touchdown had he not poorly thrown the ball to Moran Norris on a fourth-down conversion in the early phases of the game. His counterpart Matt Hasselbeck had a rushing touchdown in addition to his 170 passing yards and 2 touchdowns passes. The defense sparked the Seahawks in the early going and made things hard for the 49ers throughout the game. Seahawks secondary players Jordan Babineaux and Marcus Trufant both intercepted Alex Smith; Trufant returning the interception 32 yards for a touchdown. Running Back Frank Gore who has dominated against the Seahawks recently was a non-factor, finishing the game with 17 rushes for just 38 yards. If the Niners expect to win their division, they must put this game behind them and pick up their act as soon as possible. Up next, a Monday Night matchup against defending Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints. |
| Good, Bad, and Ugly in Bengals opening day loss to Patriots Posted: 12 Sep 2010 09:07 PM PDT |
| Ugly but a win; Dolphins go to 1-0 in Buffalo 15-10 Posted: 12 Sep 2010 09:02 PM PDT
It may have been ugly. It may have been boring. Heck, it may have been many things, but one thing that the Week 1 matchup against the Buffalo Bills wasn't, was a loss. The Miami Dolphins just barely avoided catastrophy against Buffalo, but with the help of their shut-down defense, they pulled out the victory in Buffalo, a place where the team has not won at since 2003. In a game where the outcome was decided by defensive stands, Miami pulled through. Yes, Miami won a defensive battle. Was it not the Miami defense that was one of the main worries coming into the season? Newly acquired defensive coordinator Mike Nolan showed how big of an impact he can have on this team today, by commanding the Dolphins defense to holding the Bills offense to only 166 total yards! The story of the game was the Fins D, which only allowed the Bills high powered run game to 50 yards on the ground. But an even bigger and better succes story for the team was the pass defense, and the pass rush. The Fins got to Bills quarterback Trent Edwards three times, with Karlos Dansby, Cameron Wake and rookie Koa Misi all registering sacks. With the Dolphins getting an consistent pass rush on the quarterback, it allowed the cornerbacks to go out and do their thing. Jason Allen, getting his first start as a cornerback in which he actually earned it, had a great game, in limiting Bills star receiver Lee Evans to only 34 yards on 4 catches. Evans was taken out of the game for the most part until the end of the 3rd quarter/start of 4th quarter. While the score shows 15-10, the final should most likely be 13-3. The Bills gave up an intentional safety when they were backed deep in their own territory to try an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. The Dolphins also gave up a 31 yard touchdown pass to receiver Roscoe Parrish on which the defense trotted out three safeties to play center field. On the coverage, Tyrone Culver stepped up into coverage, instead of dropping back, and Parrish ran right by him to catch the pass over the top, for the Bills only touchdown of the game. The Dolphins lone touchdown came on a 1 yard run by running back Ronnie Brown after a 20 yard reception by tight end Anthony Fasano set up the scoring play.
Here are some of the observations I made during the game:
A win is a win, and while it was an ugly one, the Dolphins are now 1-0, and will travel to Minnesota next weekend with a winning record, and not a sense of urgency to get their first win. They started out the season the right way, whether it be a bad win or not, the Dolphins do not care about style points, they just want to start off on the right track. |
| Lions QB Stafford out 2 to 6 weeks with AC joint sprain Posted: 12 Sep 2010 08:53 PM PDT
Stafford hurt his left shoulder, and gave way to Shaun Hill who should have been the hero when he threw what was a clear TD pass to Calvin Johnson in the final seconds of the game. Reports from Peter King and other media sources say that Stafford has a 2nd degree sprain of his AC joint on his left shoulder, and will miss anywhere from two to six weeks. The QB was hurt after the Bears went up 14-10 when he was hit in the shoulder by Bears DE Julius Peppers as he dropped back to pass and landed on it, the ball coming loose in the process. "I don't know, we'll see," Stafford said after the game about playing next week vs Philly. "I will try, though." If King’s report is correct, it doesn’t sound like Stafford will be around for awhile in 2010. |
| Browns bungle their way to opening day defeat in Tampa 17-14 Posted: 12 Sep 2010 08:37 PM PDT
All it took was one very hot day in Tampa to bring the Browns back to earth, this after they seemed to have a lot of momentum entering the season after an offseason filled with mostly positive moves and coming off a four-game win streak to end 2009. So much for that. Jake Delhomme was filled with mistakes, as was fullback Peyton Hillis. Delhomme threw two picks, one of which directly got the Bucs back in the game after the Browns went up 14-3, and Hillis’ fumble gave Tampa Bay another scoring shot. This all after the Browns seemed to dominate the first quarter and a half of football, getting ahead by 11 points and it looked like they were going for more when Delhomme threw a bad pick to Rhonde Barber that led to Tampa Bay then scoring to make it 14-10 at half. Hillis’ fumble occurred on the first possession of the second half when the team got to the Bucs 15. A TD there and the Browns once again take control of a game they should have won. After the fumble, the Browns gained only two more first downs the rest of the game and had only one more play over 10 yards. The Bucs knockout blow came when QB Josh Freeman, playing with a bad thumb, went up top against first round pick Joe Haden for a 33-yard score to Michael Spurlock to give the Bucs a 17-14 lead. The Browns every possession in the fourth quarter started inside their 10-yard line, expect one, which started at the 11. They never really came close to having a shot to give kicker Phil Dawson a chance to tie the game up at least. “The feeling in this locker room is we gave that game away,” said linebacker Scott Fujita. “We’ve got to get to the point where we’re playing to win the game and not making mistakes that cost us,” said coach Eric Mangini. Delhomme was 9-of-19 in the second half and finished with a passer rating of 59.2. On the day he was 20-for-37 for 227 yards with a TD and two picks. Jerome Harrison had 9 carries for 52 yards, but really was not much of a factor other than a 39-yard-run. “Our fans won’t tolerate us beating ourselves, like we just did,” Josh Cribbs said. “We just played Browns vs. Browns, and the Browns lost.” Uh, whatever Josh. Bottom line is the team looked a lot more like pre-December 2009 than a team that was supposed to make strides in 2010. |
| Video: Steelers march their way to an OT win over Atlanta Posted: 12 Sep 2010 08:30 PM PDT
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| Titans ground out easy 38-13 win over Oakland to kick off 2010 Posted: 12 Sep 2010 08:14 PM PDT
The Titans started out 2009 by losing their first six games, but this year they seem to be a lot more on track using their franchise back all the way to a big win. "That's one of the biggest games of the season, getting that first win in the first week," Vince Young said. "We did a great job executing the plays today. Our defense did a phenomenal job putting a lot of pressure on them." The game started somewhat slow for the Titans, but then they took control of the game after trailing 3-0 by scoring 24 straight points, and pounding Raiders QB Jason Campbell into the ground. Young hit Nate Washington for a 56-yard score to make it 7-3, and then after Rob Bironas hit a field goal to make it 10-3, Javon Ringer made it 17-3 in the second quarter with a 15-yard TD run. Johnson then put the game away before half with a 76-yard run to make it 24-3. Johnson scored again in the 3rd quarter to make it 31-6, and Young closed out the Titans scoring with a 1-yard pass to Bo Scaife to make it 38-6 just five seconds into the fourth quarter. Young was 13-for-17 for 154 yards with two TD’s and a QB rating of 142.8. The Titans were 7-for-15 in third downs, and held the Raiders to 286 yards total. The Titans put up 205 yards rushing. As far as the defense went, they sacked Campbell four times, and held the former Skins QB to 22-for-37 for 180 yards with 1 TD and a pick. The schedule for the Titans gets no easier, as next week they play the Steelers at LP Field at 1pm. |
| Lions loss to the Bears in cursed fashion to start the 2010 season Posted: 12 Sep 2010 07:03 PM PDT
Stafford pumped faked in the pocket and was about to cut the ball lose when he was blind sided by Peppers. Stafford's arm was pulled backwards by Peppers as he was trying to throw and then both of their weight came down on Stafford's shoulder while his arm was pinned back. I implore Lions fans to prepare for the fact that Stafford could be done for the season. Despite the loss of Stafford, the Lions still managed to hold the Bears offense in check. The Bears consistently started at midfield and even had a drive start at the one inch line and couldn't score. The defensive line harrassed Culter all day and never let the running game get started. Other than the two plays to Forte, the Lions defense was dominant and showed more signs of life than any time in the last decade. The offense was struggling even before Stafford got injured, and I'm not sure if the Bears were bracketing Calvin Johnson or not, but the inability to get him involved hampered the rest of the offense. The offensive line struggled to handle the Bears' overloaded front against the run, but held up fairly well in pass protection. The play of the game ended up being made by the officials as they took a Lions' touchdown off the board. Calvin Johnson made the game winning touchdown catch, got both feet, both knees and his rear on the ground with control of the ball. Due to an inconsistent rule in the rulebook, none of that mattered as CJ dropped the ball after it touched the ground. The rule came under fire several times in the 2009 season due to the inability to call it correctly, but it wasn't changed or clarified in the offseason. In the end, the Lions lost in typical cursed fashion, questionable call by the officials, major injury suffered and unrealized potential. Stafford will be out for a while and the schedule is brutal, Lions fans should brace for a rough month. |
| Though the Eagles Lost, Vick Shows Promise; Should Be Starting QB Posted: 12 Sep 2010 06:46 PM PDT
Usually there are some things you do that you realize later that you really did something bad. It’s one of those times where you forget about the consequences that lie ahead of you. Something that you will regret or a long, long time. That happened to Michael Vick. But for everybody, they deserve a second chance. So did Vick. And the Philadelphia Eagles gave him that chance. In his first season back in the league, Vick only did a few plays here and there. However, towards the end of the season, he showed that he still had it in him. He would end his season with a rating of 93.7, throwing one touchdown and having 86 passing yards. He would also 95 yards on the ground. Coming into the 2010 season, Vick would be an alternative. Just a playmaker, none the less. He would come in at drives and just make plays that defenses won’t expect. At this point, people should realize that Vick can still scare defenses. Although they were a lot more scared of him four or five years ago, Vick can still trick them and make them answer questions in their heads. Will he pass? Is he going to run? The Eagles already traded away Donovan McNabb, but many were highly criticizing the decision because of how much success he brought to them. Along with that, Philly traded McNabb to the Washington Redskins, a division rival. However, they had high hopes in Kevin Kolb. Eagles fans got what they wished: No. 5 finally being gone. Now all the hands are in Kolb. Entering a tough game against the Green Bay Packers, the Eagles needed to depend Kolb to lead Philly. However, Kolb’s day ended early, as he suffered from a concussion. The game was all in Michael Vick’s hands now. This was Vick’s first NFL start at quarterback since December 31, 2006, which was ironically against the Philadelphia Eagles. Vick is entering the final year of his two-year contract with Philly, and he wants to make the most of it. Against the Packers, he did. And with Vick, the Eagles rolled, scoring 17 points thanks to him. Vick showed signs of his old “Superman” self from the Atlanta Falcons. With a struggling Kevin Kolb, Vick fixed all that, as he went 16-of-24 for 175 yards and one touchdown. He would finish with a 101.9 rating. Vick also ran for 103 yards on eleven carries, including a very important 31-yard scamper which would set up a touchdown for the Eagles. Down 27-10, Vick quickly brought the Eagles back in the game and brought them within a touchdown deficit, 27-20. The Packers somehow survived. Vick, in my opinion, had a much better showing than Aaron Rodgers, who went 19-of-31 for 188 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, along with a 73.1 rating. Vick did better than what people think is the number one fantasy quarterback in the league. But Vick was the one who tore up the fantasy books. Now the Eagles have questions to face. If Kevin Kolb is healthy and ready to play in next week’s game for the Eagles, should Andy Reid explore the possibilities of starting Vick? He should. However, as of right now, it doesn’t seem like the case, even after a stunning performance. “If Kolb is healthy he’ll start Sunday,” Reid told Philly.com’s Jeff McLane. Right now, I don’t believe that. Reid will definitely consider starting Vick. When you look at it, Kolb was struggling. Along with that, there was a game a year or two ago when Philadelphia faced the Baltimore Ravens. In that game, McNabb was struggling so Reid decided to surprisingly bench him in the favor of No. 4, Kevin Kolb. Kolb would struggle, and do much worse than Vick. And when ou look at it, he struggled today. I don’t see how Reid can pass on Vick. Vick showed that he can be a good passer today. He easily showed that. Although naysayers would say that I am judging from just one game, but look at it this way: Many are judging Kolb for just a matter of a couple of games, that’s it. And here he is being ranked as one of the top sleepers this year and one of those breakout players. In my opinion, the kid is just simply overrated. And he showed that today. Vick shows that he can still have it. And there is no other quarterback, who is two years removed from playing football, can still be amazing and a threat. When is there another quarterback who is able throw for over 200 yards and rush for 100 almost every game. Nobody. It’s been a while since we have seen that from Vick, but if he shows signs of what he did today, I wouldn’t be surprised if he averages a 200-100 passing-to-rushing yards ratio per game. Sure, he is not a perfect passer, but neither is Kolb. And so far, Vick has proven that he can win games. If you were to do an experiment of if you start Kolb for a year and then start Vick for a year, you can compare the results: Vick would most probably win more games for you. Along with that, the kid is a three-time Pro-Bowler. I don’t see how Andy Reid can’t take a chance on Vick starting. Vick has also led a team to the NFC Championship game, against no other than the Eagles. He is also 2-2 in playoff games, which isn’t so bad. Plus, Vick finally has targets around him. I really have a feeling that Vick can excel in the passing game. Who did Vick have when he was in Atlanta? When you take out Warrick Dunn, there was really nobody when you look at it. But coming to Philly, he has Brent Celek, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avantl, and more. Probably Vick’s best receiver in his time with Atlanta was someone like Michael Jenkins. Vick only had a year or two with Roddy White, but that is when no one knew of his talents. If he were with the Falcons right now, he would probably be much better than what he was about four or five years ago when you consider the fact that Atlanta currently has Michael Turner, Tony Gonzalez, and much more improved Roddy White. Also, after today’s game, Vick is 38-31-1 as a starter. It’s not perfect, but it is sure as hell as clear that it is over .500. And that is all you need. Plus, if Vick had weapons that many of the other star quarterbacks have, that would be a hell of a lot better. I bet you Matt Ryan couldn’t have had the success Vick had when Atlanta did not have any receiving weapons. Luckily for Ryan, he did. Starting Vick at quarterback would be a real wise decision now. Currently, I would project him to pass for about 2800 yards with 16 touchdowns and a quarterback rating ranging between 78-86. And I am serious. If the Eagles go with this, I can see Philly finishing with 7-11 wins this year. The 30-year-old Vick shows promise. Reid is going to have to make a decision. Deciding to pick Vick would be nice. And Andy Reid won’t regret it.
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