Four Downs 9/10

Welcome back to the blog, folks. I apologize for the inconveniences lately with discontinuing of series and the overall lack of production. However I can report that, now that I know my schedule and how to organize myself in general, I can be happy to report that from here on out, my production level with this blog should steadily increase. Except during exam weeks. That is when things will get hellacious. I still will try to get one post a day, not including sharing videos, pictures, .GIF files or any of the fun things that this blog has featured over the past few months. We’re nearly approaching our one-year anniversary, and it’s been a blast to share this with the 25 of you that pay attention to this blog. No but really, thanks guys, and I’m glad that my patience and your patience is clearly at the same level.

Nonetheless it’s time to kick off a staple that I hope to maintain every Monday. That feature is called ‘Four Downs.’ Yes, this almost was a radio show, but I have decided to take it, and use it so that it succeeds in another entity. What this feature will bring is the following:

• Things I Liked From Week 1 (and the weeks to follow) of the NFL Season
• Things I Didn't Like From Week 1 (and the weeks to follow) of the NFL Season
• Games/Matchups to Watch For in Week 2 (and the weeks to follow) of the NFL Season
• Monday Night Football Preview. Tonight, because of the doubleheader, there will be two previews. Merry Christmas.

With that said, here is the first edition of the Four Downs feature.

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1st Down: Things I Liked

Cowboys Triumph Over the Champs

Kevin Olgetree (right) helped lead the Cowboys
to a stunning upset in the Garden State.
(Star-Telegram/Ron T. Ennis)

If you were to say that the Dallas Cowboys would waltz into MetLife Stadium, the home of the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, and come out victorious in that meeting, you would have been laughed at, most likely because the only people that were believing that would occur were Cowboy fans. Little did everyone else know that that would be what occurred last Wednesday night in front of a rowdy, sold out crowd in the swampy Meadowlands. The Cowboys, with a balanced attack through the air and on the ground, and with a stout defensive showing (and surely an added ‘Thank You’ gift basket sent to Victor Cruz of Paterson, New Jersey), beat the New York Giants by the score of 24-17. 

Tony Romo looked phenomenal, DeMarco Murray looked like a star, Kevin Olgetree might be the next TD vulture to play for the Cowboys (paging Laurent Robinson), Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr looked like great additions to the secondary and the linebacker corp featuring DeMarcus Ware, Sean Lee, Bruce Carter who was all over the field, and the underrated Anthony Spencer were fantastic. Seriously, how much better could it have gotten for the Cowboys? You’d be hard pressed to answer that question.

49ers Strike Gold Away From Home

Speaking of great road wins this weekend, how about the San Francisco 49ers going into Lambeau Field and, if not for the always-awful prevent defense play in the fourth quarter, smacking around the Green Bay Packers? There was a lot of talk going into this game that the 49ers would not nearly repeat their incredible defensive performance last year and that, based on their offense and specifically their quarterback play, fall back down to earth. That all happened, even though the defense that was ranked near the top in almost every statistical category last year returned all 11 starters, and their front seven is no joke, people. So what do you think happened here?

Well, they pressured Aaron Rodgers constantly, their secondary covered the loaded Packer wide receiver group extremely well, and on offense thanks to the defense playing so well, looked sharp against a porous Green Bay defense. (Randy Moss pulled a “RVD” taunt in the end zone that certainly got my attention) Green Bay is too darn good to be held down for so long and hopefully for their sake, their defensive woes don’t hurt them when they need them most, but San Francisco’s impressive showing is certainly at the top of the discussion. They’re no fluke, ladies and gentlemen.

Taking the Offensive

Going to the offensive part of the discussion now, how about we talk about some offense? The Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, and the once-offensively-inept New York Jets all scored more than 40 points on Sunday. Chicago hasn’t seen this kind of usage of the forward pass in a long time, maybe ever (okay, I’m kidding Bears fans). Jay Cutler despite a horrid, horrid start turned it around and had a great day at Soldier Field. Brandon Marshall looks like every bit of what Chicago fans and GM Phil Emery wanted him to look like and Alshon Jeffery seemed to have a bit of critic-silencing clinic that made him slip to the second round. It would not shock me in the least bit if he turned out to be the steal of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Meanwhile, how about those New York Jets? The topic of discussion all offseason was keeping a Wildcat package hidden from everyone to keep people off guard. Well, it seemed to me that THIS caught people off guard more than the Timmy Rah Rah package (thanks Jeff Parles for that). Mark Sanchez made strong, accurate throws all day and picked on a Buffalo defense that was coming into the season with high expectations. Now those look to be hitting the dirt, and the Jets are flying high. For now, at least. We’ll see what they’ve got against Pittsburgh next week.

Finally, the Atlanta Falcons and new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter shied away from the conservativeness that was brought to the table for the last four years and played as aggressively as I have ever witnessed the Atlanta Falcons offense play. Their performance against the Kansas City Chiefs was one of the best all weekend, from top to bottom. Their defense didn’t look great in the first half, but new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan clearly played a part in the visible adjustments that the team made in the second half, which allowed the Falcons to attain the victory.

The Legend Begins

Many people thought that the story to come out of the New Orleans-Washington game down in the Bayou would be about the Saints and how they would play with the “us against the world” mentality and certainly defeat the lowly Washington Redskins. As a famed talking head once said though, “NOT so fast my friend!” Robert Griffin III quarterbacked the Washington Redskins to a stunning upset of the New Orleans Saints, in their own backyard, and had a dazzling performance in his own right. Griffin III had 320 yards on 19 completions (26 attempts) and threw two touchdowns and astonishingly no interceptions.

He danced around New Orleans defenders all game, rarely brought down to the turf, and made some excellent reads and throws. His poise may have been the best thing about him; he certainly did not look like a rookie on Sunday like some other teams (which we’ll get to later) and embarrassed the New Orleans Saints defense (which we will also get to later). I am sure that NFC South fans were very happy with the Saints’ fall and RGIII’s performance. Unfortunately for them, Griffin III and the Redskins take on the NFC South this season, and not just New Orleans. In the end though, this was a special story by a special player on a special day.

Notables: Blaine Gabbert’s successes, Eugene Monroe’s incredible day as he held Jared Allen to zero pressures and tackles, Adrian Peterson’s cyborg-like qualities, David Akers’ 63-yard field goal, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers holding Carolina to 10 yards rushing, and Peyton Manning being Peyton Manning

2nd Down: Things I Didn’t Like:

When the Saints Go Tumbling In

If you are the New Orleans Saints, how can you live with yourselves at the moment? Yes, Robert Griffin III had an incredible performance. Yes, you certainly have had a trainwreck of an offseason. And yes, you do not have your head coach. But come on, really? After all the months leading up to this and with the appeals being accepted and the rulings of the suspensions being overturned for the defensive players on the Saints in the bounty scandal, and with this us-against-the-world mentality that was growing for weeks and months, this is the performance that you give your home crowd? I am sorry, but this did not look like a Saints team that will be doing anything special this season.

It was not a banner day at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome
for Drew Brees (above) and the New Orleans Saints
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Am I overreacting to one week of football? Maybe, but if you can’t beat the Redskins who still allowed you to get into position to win the game, how are you going to fare against the rest of the league? The NFC South plays no cakewalk of a schedule; Dallas, the New York Giants, Philadelphia, and Green Bay are on the schedule, not to mention Peyton Manning’s Broncos (which is a game in Denver) and not to mention the dangerous looking San Francisco 49ers. For as great as Drew Brees is, that defense looked even worse against a (very good) rookie quarterback. Whatever this performance was, it was demoralizing to the fanbase and could be a strong indicator of things to come for what could be a tumultuous season for the Saints.

Interceptions… Interceptions, and More Interceptions!?!?

What was the deal yesterday? There were multiple quarterbacks in the NFL that threw interceptions not once, not twice, but several of them threw three or more interceptions! And it wasn’t just the rookie class that did either. Andrew Luck, Brandon Weeden and Ryan Tannehill all threw three or more interceptions, but they weren’t alone. Matthew Stafford, Michael Vick (who for some reason threw 55 passes yesterday) and Ryan Fitzpatrick all threw three interceptions or more, as well. Cam Newton threw for two himself, as did Matt Cassel, and Drew Brees. To me this makes absolutely no sense but it could be perhaps leading to a bit of a shift in defense as the rest of the league adjusts to the arsenal of good-to-great quarterback play around the league. Perhaps, perhaps not. We’ll see though in the weeks to come.

Nobody Circles the Wagons…

C’mon, Buffalo. You have all of the hype surrounding you this offseason, and then that happens? Everyone around the football world thought it was a huge maneuver for Buffalo to snatch free agent defensive end/outside linebacker Mario Williams, and it probably was. Mario is one of the great pass rushers in the National Football League and coupled with Kyle Williams, Marcel Dareus and acquisition Mark Anderson, there was a lot of people wondering whether this would become a feared defensive line in the AFC and the NFL. Well, that quickly went up in smoke as the defensive line could barely register any pressure whatsoever on Mark Sanchez and the defense as a whole look putrid. The offense struggled mightily also, and as bad as things were they got worse with Fred Jackson spraining his LCL. All things considered though when that hit was made I thought that it was going to result in something much worse than that. But seriously, c’mon Buffalo, really?

The Replacement Officials Are at it Again! And They’re Getting Bullied, Too

There are two things that really bug me about this replacement officials ordeal. One, that they’re on the field, and two, that announcers are getting their free licks in on them whenever they choose to. It just isn’t sensical to me. The first slate of afternoon games went almost without a hitch. No bad calls, for my estimation, were made and there looked to be some promise after a pretty good showing Wednesday night in the Dallas-New York contest. Boy, was I wrong. The late afternoon slate and Sunday night games featured absolute catastrophes. The San Francisco-Green Bay game was darn near unwatchable, there was an absolutely appalling gaffe in the Seattle-Arizona game, and there was a notable mishap in the Denver-Pittsburgh game. The NFL needs to suck it up and make a deal with the regular officials (not that they aren’t prone to mistakes either) not only for the integrity, and so sanctity can perhaps be found, but so I don’t have to hear every single broadcaster feel the need to try and find something wrong with everything that goes on and so they don’t publically insult these guys week in and week out. It’s annoying. It’s nauseating. It’s grotesque. Stop it.

Notables: Carolina’s Rushing Attack, Ryan Fitzpatrick’s horrendous day, the Cleveland Browns, and the Green Bay Packers defense

3rd Down: Games/Matchups to Watch For in Week 2:

Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers, 8:20 PM ET, NFL Network

This is arguably the greatest rivalry in the history of the National Football League. So many Hall of Famers, NFL Championships, and Super Bowls between these two teams, and there are some big, big implications for this matchup on Thursday night. For one, the Chicago Bears could take a quick commanding 2-0 lead in the NFC North while the Packers, if they were to lose, would fall to a disappointing 0-2 start. Green Bay will look to avoid their first set of back-to-back home losses since 2008 in this game. Aaron Rodgers though, while some have seen the Bears as his ‘kryptonite,’ has performed very well against Chicago in his career. He’s 6-2 and has thrown 15 touchdowns to only five interceptions, so it will be interesting to see what the reigning MVP has in him for a very, very important early season matchup.

Despite attaining a chunk of yardage, Calvin Johnson (above) could not
find the endzone the last time the 49ers and Lions squared off.
(AP Photo)

The San Francisco 49ers Defense vs. Calvin Johnson

Yeah, there are obviously more players involved in this Sunday night contest, but I think this will ultimately be what keeps Detroit afloat, or what sends them spiraling down. Matthew Stafford didn’t look so great against a solid St. Louis Rams secondary this past week aside from his late-game drive to win the game, and if he performed bad against them, what’s that going to translate against probably the best overall front seven in the National Football League? Last year the 49ers defense were one of the only teams to lockdown Calvin Johnson. While he did have seven catches for 113 yards, it was one of only five games last year that he did not find the end zone. With an arsenal of, I think, underrated cornerbacks and a solid safety tandem of Dashon Goldson and Donte Whitner, this will be a fun show to watch.

Tony Romo vs. The Seattle Seahawks’ Secondary

Romo and the Cowboys, as previously noted played very well against the New York Giants and specifically their defensive line and secondary. The Giants had a bit of a M*A*S*H unit in at cornerback and their safeties played very, very poorly. That won’t be the case this weekend against a very, very good secondary for the Seahawks that gets overlooked often. Brandon Browner, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor are perhaps the best secondary in the league and a lot of them are ball hawks. Romo will have to make sure he is not prone to making poor decisions, because if he does, this feisty Seattle secondary will make him pay.

The New York Jets Offensive Line vs. The Pittsburgh Steelers Pass Rush

We saw the New York Jets play pretty well against a ‘vaunted’ Buffalo front-four this past weekend. Well, what are they going to do this week as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers? Time will tell. The Steelers front seven I nothing to be messed with, especially if James Harrison is healthy and ready to go, which will help LaMarr Woodley on the opposite side. Unfortunately for the Steelers, last evening Harrison was not active and the pass rush suffered, only registering two sacks all night. The Jets will most certainly look for that trend to continue so that Mark Sanchez has the time to make throws. If he does and if the offensive line holds up their end of the bargain, don’t be surprised if the New York Jets come away with a huge road victory.

4th Down: Monday Night Football Preview:

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens

This rough and tough AFC North rumble kicks off the Monday Night Football season. Frankly, I’m intrigued and am looking forward to what should be a very good defensive battle featuring two teams that finished in the Top 10 in total defense in 2011. Joe Flacco is looking to continue to ride the momentum from the best game of his entire career in the AFC Championship Game, despite the gutwrenching loss. Their defense is out to set some critics straight, not thinking too highly of them after Terrell Suggs’ injury. 

Meanwhile on the other side, the Cincinnati Bengals want to maintain their own momentum that they had last year after surprising the league by getting into the playoffs. They got bounced by Houston, but there are still some good, young pieces on this team especially A.J. Green and Geno Atkins, both of which are former Georgia Bulldogs. I think something to watch for in this game is Lardarius Webb’s matchup against A.J. Green. Apparently according to a tweet from CBS Sports, the Bengals are not afraid of throwing Webb’s way and will see what Webb has got against an awesome talent in Green. For what it’s worth, Webb did not allow a single TD last year.

As for the game, for as promising as Cincinnati looks, I just don’t see them walking into Baltimore on Monday night in the season (and home) opener for the Ravens. Then again, I didn’t expect the Cowboys to beat the Giants, but I’ll stick to my convictions.

Cincinnati 13

Baltimore 21

San Diego vs. Oakland

This AFC West showdown will be commentated by ESPN staple Chris Berman as well as Trent Dilfer. To some this might be an egregious booth, but I’m interested to see how Berman does and I don’t mind Dilfer’s analysis as much as some do. Anyways, onto the game; this is a big season for Philip Rivers. Vincent Jackson is now collecting paychecks in Tampa Bay, and Rivers is left with mostly #2 and #3 wide receivers. I like Malcom Floyd, but he has never gotten the workload of a #1 receiver aside from when Jackson held out a few seasons ago and had that stretch into the season. The Chargers defense is an underrated unit and I really like Eric Weddle too and I think they will definitely be at their best. 

Meanwhile this Oakland Raiders team looks like a textbook example of a team that could boom or bust. If healthy, there is so much speed on the Raiders offense. I think they’d be better suited for a dome, in fact. Darren McFadden, Denarius Moore, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jacoby Ford are some of the fastest players in the National Football League. Their defense isn’t too bad also, aside from their cornerback situation. Tyvon Branch is a very underrated safety, I think, and I expect him to play a big role if the Chargers want to test the deep ball and they definintely have a guy that can utilize it. Richard Seymour and Tommy Kelly, if they don’t act like knuckleheads, can definitely provide game-changing pressures if called upon.

This game is, to me, a total pick’em. The difference in my opinion is the discipline of this Raiders team. If they play a clean game and have <5 and="and" have="have" if="if" penalties="penalties" play="play" should="should" stupidly="stupidly" they="they" win.="win.">5 penalties, then things could get ugly. I’ll go with the silver and the black, though, and I think Tyvon Branch will come away with a game-changing play towards the conclusion.

San Diego 23

Oakland 27

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Thank you all for reading this feature, and we’ll be back next week.