NFL season starts the overreactions from fans
I was going to use this space to break down the Oakland Raiders,
the team I thought would be surprisingly decent this season
considering their pushover schedule.
I was going to watch Monday Night’s game against Denver, review
each play, go over the stats with a fine-toothed comb, and praise
the ability of Raider Saviors JaMarcus Russell and Darren
McFadden.
NFL season starts the overreactions from fans
I was going to use this space to break down the Oakland Raiders, the team I thought would be surprisingly decent this season considering their pushover schedule.
I was going to watch Monday Night’s game against Denver, review each play, go over the stats with a fine-toothed comb, and praise the ability of Raider Saviors JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden.
I was going to tout the billion-dollar Raiders defense, and how they made Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler look like some run-of-the-mill signal-caller that attended some non-football factory like Vanderbilt.
I was going to do all of that. I had it all planned. But after Monday Night’s game, I shall do none of that.
The Raiders’ schedule is apparently no pushover at all, at least not for them; Russell and McFadden, with all their praises, may actually be good, but we’ll probably never find out; and the billion-dollar defense made Denver receiver Eddie Royal, who was filling in for an injured Brandon Marshall, look like a king.
It was bad. It was 41-14 bad.
But remember this: In sports, for every overreaction …
The Raiders are 0-1. They’re doomed!
The Patriots lost Tom Brady. Run for the hills!
… There is a complete and opposite overreaction …
The Jets barely beat the Dolphins. Brett Favre is the greatest human ever!
Favre? Who’s Favre? Aaron Rodgers is the next Bart Starr! He just toppled the Vikings!
Depending upon your allegiance, the conclusion of Week 1 is either the best or worst thing going right now. Your team is either the next Super Bowl contender or are already in the draft room planning who they will take with the No. 1 pick in April.
The Lane Kiffin Watch has officially begun in Oakland. New England is considering a two-headed Daunte Culpepper/Tim Rattay combo at quarterback.
The Jets are AFC East champs. Green Bay seamlessly continues their football tradition.
In all, it’s just another opening week in the NFL. Here are some reactionary, and perhaps over-reactionary, observations:
– Falcons running back Michael Turner, who ran for 220 yards and two touchdowns on just 22 carries against Detroit on Sunday, is appropriately labeled as “thick.”
– Falcons running back Jerious Norwood, who ran for 93 yards and one touchdown on just 14 carries against Detroit on Sunday, has helped label the Lions’ rush defense as “terrible.”
– San Mateo native Tom Brady is out for the season, and you just threw up in your mouth.
While the Patriots have been here before, the previous scenario involved an aging Drew Bledsoe and a New England squad that was anything but Super Bowl favorites.
I didn’t think the Pats were going to win the title this year anyway, and with Brady out, they will definitely not win it. But whomever they throw in behind center – whether it is Matt Cassel or the Culpepper/Rattay Combo of Mediocrity – they’re still one of the best teams on paper.
Not taking anything away from Brady, but I can’t imagine it being that difficult to stand behind New England’s Pro Bowl offensive line, and either hand off to one of the many top-notch running backs they have or pass it to either Randy Moss or Wes Welker, who seem to be open 90 percent of the time.
Without Brady, you lose the leadership and the last-minute heroics, which are huge. But the question surrounding the Pats and whether or not they can win is still their defense, and it should be the No. 1 area of concern.
It’s not, of course, and perhaps for good reason. But the Patriots are still too talented to take so much of a step back that the Jets are suddenly the AFC East favorites.
– Speaking of the Jets, just how interesting would it be if Brett Favre, only the greatest human being ever, was still retired right now?
– It was a point most Pats fans brought up on Monday morning, as Favre would have been undoubtedly leading the Pats into East Rutherford this Sunday against the Jets, instead of Favre and the Jets awaiting the Pats in East Rutherford.
– And finally, the Seattle Seahawks, you are on the clock!
Ahhh! We lost to Buffalo. Run for the hills!
