Before we get into the Week 2 box scores, two words from the world of college football:
Darren McFadden.
Some of you may remember my column about five months back, "Birth of a College Football Fan." In it, I swore to start following the "amateur" game, and, through the first three weeks, I couldn't be happier with the results.
So far, the best of what I've seen (in no particular order): Boston College and Matt Ryan, Florida and Tim Tebow, Oregon, LSU, Alabama, the tremendous loyalty shown Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, Steve Slaton, the lack of a controversy surrounding my favorite team, and illegally positioned cameras, the girls of Mississippi State (I was in New Orleans the weekend they played at Tulane), Lee Corso (sat next to him on an airport shuttle), Oklahoma, the Mountain West, Missouri, Brian Brohm's arm, USC.
And Darren McFadden.
College football sometimes produces loony numbers as All-Americans matchup against over-matched also-rans in town for a paycheck. But this was no mirage. I had seen McFadden play before, but not like this. This was a pure beast, a running back straight out of the movie 300, battering a very good Tide defense over and over again. 195 yards on 33 grueling carries. It was awesome. He could step onto an NFL roster right now and rush for 1,000 yards. And unless there's a QB-needy franchise salivating over Brian Brohm in the No. 1 spot next April, McFadden should be the top overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
He's that good.
***
On to Week 2:
New England 38, San Diego 14: Man, did they play pissed off on Sunday night. Say what you will about the Pats and the camera shenanigans (and everybody has), but the unintended consequence of all this negativity has been the coalescence of individual talent into a solid team with as large a chip on their shoulder as you've ever seen. You're going to tell Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel and Matt Light that everything they've ever done doesn't count? That their entire careers are tainted? They're going to shove it up your arse. And they are not going to be gentle about it.
Good luck, Buffalo.
Fantasy impact: The defense that just shut down the best running game of the last half decade adds two-time Pro Bowler Rodney Harrison in a few weeks and five-time Pro Bowler Richard Seymour a few weeks after that (probably). Sad news for Laurence Maroney owners: it looks like Sammy Morris is going to be a touchdown stealer. It sucks, I know. Sorry.
Baltimore 20, New York Jets 13: With all the hullabaloo about the Pats' controversy and the debut of the Kellen Clemens era, Jerricho Cotchery quietly continues to go about proving he's one of the best WRs in the league. After Sunday's 7 receptions for 165 yards against Baltimore, he now trails only Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, Steve Smith, and Andre Johnson in total receiving yardage. And he's had by far the hardest competition of the five.
Fantasy impact: Leon Washington had zero carries in this game. Not a single one for a guy who totaled more than 1,100 all-purpose yards last year. That's a huge mistake by the coaching staff. Then again, when you face 18 third downs with an average of 8 yards to go, resulting in only one called third-down running play (Thomas Jones for –3), there's not much use for a third-down back, is there?
Cleveland 51, Cincinnati 45: With defense befitting an Arena Football training camp scrimmage, it's tough to make any sense of this game. Instead of looking at it as a whole, I'm going to look at it in two parts.
1. The Bengals' defense getting waxed by the Browns' offense: the only thing I can think of is that this was a perfect storm of a road defense coming off an emotional win on a short week running into a home offense led by a quarterback who had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders with the departure of his main rival (Charlie Frye). You have to give credit to Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel for pulling the trigger on the Frye trade. They may have saved their season.
2. The Browns' defense getting waxed by the Bengals' offense: that's just the talent disparity between these two units. The Bengals' O is that much better than the Cleveland D.
In other words, if these teams were to play again next week (we have to wait until Week 16), the Bengals would be much more likely to put up 45 again than the Browns would be to put up 51 again.
Fantasy impact: I'd hesitate paying too big a price for a bunch of Browns guys who just put up what may very well be their season highs. Who knows? Maybe Derek Anderson-to-Braylon Edwards will be the new Brady-to-Moss (with the exception being Anderson has no hope of holding on to this job past this year). But chances are Anderson and the rest of the crew will fall back to Earth with a trip out to Oakland next week and a home game against Pittsburgh the following week.
San Francisco 17, St. Louis 16: The Rams' defense played far more inspired than they did against Carolina in Week 1, but that's still no excuse for Alex Smith and the 49ers' passing game to remain so conservative. Smith completed 11 passes (out of 17 attempts) against one of the weakest secondaries in the NFC, missing their best cover corner (Tye Hill). You've got to push the passing game more if you want to sustain the early success.
Fantasy impact: Poor Marc Bulger. With the offensive line in complete disarray and the running game going nowhere, Bulger is going to face a brutal onslaught week after week after week. The 49ers came after the Rams QB hard, and got to him for six sacks and a whole bunch of other hits. To his credit, Bulger kept fighting, putting up over 350 yards passing (145 to Isaac Bruce). But he's not going to last long taking this kind of beating, and their next two games are at Tampa and at Dallas. 0-4 isn't just a possibility, it's a likelihood. And so is another Bulger injury.
Green Bay 35, New York Giants 13: How to lose a close game in the NFL:
1. After kicking a field goal to get within one late in the third quarter, allow a 10-play, 80-yard drive over the next six minutes.
2. Now down by eight, fumble away the ensuing kick-off.
3. Allow another touchdown within five plays to go down 15.
4. Get ball back. Get sacked on first play. On 3rd-and-18, throw it to your running back for eight. Punt.
5. Force three-and-out. Get ball back. Drive to opponent's 38. Throw interception.
6. With the other team at 3rd-and-6 just outside of field-goal range, allow a 38-yard touchdown run.
7. Bathe in the love and adoration of your loyal fans.
Fantasy impact: Find people playing against the Giants defense and start them.
Pittsburgh 26, Buffalo 3: Make no mistake, the Steelers are going to have to be reckoned with before the much-predicted Colts/Pats AFC Championship Game can take place. So far, we've seen them beat up on Cleveland and Buffalo, so there's still some proving left to be done. With a trio of games against the NFC West (San Fran, @ Arizona, Seattle) coming up before their bye week, they could be 5-0 heading into a Week 7 showdown at Denver.
Fantasy impact: Four Steelers drives in the first half ended up with field goals under 40 yards. That's a lot of points left on the field. For Jeff Reed owners, that's great. For everybody else, not so great. My guess is they spend a little time on that in practice this week.
Tampa Bay 31, New Orleans 14: What in the name of Bourbon Street is going on with the Saints' running game? If there was one thing I thought was a sure thing going into this season, it was the New Orleans offensive line. But here we are, two weeks later, and Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush have 152 yards rushing — combined. Of everything that's happened over the past two weeks, the no-show by the Saints' offense has to be the biggest shocker of them all.
Fantasy impact: The Saints have given up 10 passing plays of 25 or more yards in just eight quarters of football. Ten! That's more than one per quarter! I'm not sure Tennessee has the receivers to take advantage next Monday night, but the Titans' Roydell Williams might not be a bad flier.
Indianapolis 22, Tennessee 20: On a list of injuries that would most decimate their teams, Colts safety Bob Sanders (11 tackles, 2.5 sacks) would be top 10 easy. If you eliminate quarterbacks from the conversation, he's top three. There's really no way to over-estimate what he means to this team. With respects to Ed Reed and Sean Taylor, Sanders is the best safety in the game.
Fantasy impact: Don't look now, but LenDale White is becoming a legitimate NFL running back. He won't really break out until Chris Brown leaves after this year (or gets hurt), but the potential he showed at USC is starting to surface.
Arizona 23, Seattle 20: First, Arizona goes up 17-0. Then they allow Seattle to score 20 unanswered. Then Arizona ties it up. Then Seattle goes on what looked like a game-winning drive. Then Seattle fumbles the ball like a Pop Warner team trying to learn a quarterback-running back hand-off. Then Arizona wins.
Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the 2007 NFC West!
Snide remarks aside, this was huge for Arizona. Lose another huge lead on the heals of the Monday night meltdown against San Francisco and they potentially go into their annual "nothing ever goes right for us" tailspin. Sometimes it takes a win you don't deserve to turn the tide.
Fantasy impact: Edgerrin James had his best game as a Cardinal, with 128 yards on 24 carries (a 5.3 average) and a touchdown. And just as the offensive line took the blame for last year's struggles, they (and their new position coach, Russ Grimm) deserve the credit for this performance. James will be challenged to repeat those totals over the next two weeks (@Baltimore, Pittsburgh), but Arizona's second-half schedule lends itself to a potentially monster year (starting with Week 9: @TB, Det, @CIN, SF, CLE, @SEA, @NO, ATL, STL).
Detroit 20, Minnesota 17 (OT): We knew going into this season Tarvaris Jackson was going to cost his team some games, and this was one of them. Not only that, but the coaching staff failed to force the running game, calling only 26 rush plays for Adrian Peterson and Mewelde Moore vs. 37 pass attempts by Jackson and Brooks Bollinger. In a close game, those totals should be reversed.
Fantasy impact: Shaun McDonald remains the most undervalued fantasy receiver in the league, owned by less than 15 percent of ESPN leagues, despite back-to-back games with above-average production (team highs with 13 receptions and 161 yards). And lest you think this is an aberration, that McDonald is just warming up Calvin Johnson's spot, remember that McDonald is a Mike Martz guy. He knows this offense, and Martz trusts him to be in the right place at the right time. McDonald isn't going away, so you might as well pick him up now while you can.
Dallas 37, Miami 20: Trent Green threw 4 interceptions and the Dolphins running game combined for 61 yards on 21 carries. Miami has a veteran defense and guys like Jason Taylor and Vonnie Holliday have show a propensity for public sniping. If things don't get better in a hurry against the Jets this Sunday, things are going to get ugly.
Fantasy impact: If you're looking for a kicker, you could do a lot worse than Nick Folk, the rookie from the University of Arizona. He's made all four of his attempts this year, as well as 10 extra points. This offense isn't slowing down any time soon, so the opportunities should be plentiful.
Chicago 20, Kansas City 10: This score tells you all you need to know about the Bears under Rex Grossman. And it's actually worse than the score would indicate because seven of the Bears' points came off a Devin Hester punt return. I'm going to say it every single week until it happens: the Bears should start Brian Griese.
Fantasy impact: I understood the decision to go with Damon Huard to begin the season, but Brodie Croyle is the better quarterback. And once they make the switch, the Kansas City offense will get better in a hurry. Tony Gonzalez owners should keep that in mind and just bide their time. It's bad to have a draft pick not perform. It's worse to drop that draft pick, only to have him take off for another owner.
Denver 23, Oakland 20: We keep saying the Raiders' defense is good based off last year's results, but so far this year, they've given up 392 yards to the Lions and 441 to the Broncos. At what point do we start to consider last year an aberration and this year the real thing? How they perform this Sunday against Derek Anderson and the Browns will provide the answer.
Fantasy impact: I'm not sure what about Josh McCown's 73-yard passing performance in Denver impressed Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, but it was enough for the career backup to earn the start again this weekend. That drags everybody on that offense down except for LaMont Jordan, who is averaging nearly 160 all-purpose yards per game through the first two. It will be interesting to see what Kiffin does once Dominic Rhodes comes off the suspension list after Week 4.
Washington 20, Philadelphia 12: Cheer up, Philadelphia. The Phillies are only 2.5 out of the NL East and 1.5 out of the wildcard.
Fantasy impact: Jason Avant may not be the fastest or most hyped Eagles receiver, but he is the most dependable. Watch for him to continue to force his way on the field and become the first-down maker on 3rd-and-long.
Seth Doria is a freelance writer based out of St. Louis. For the only daily column that mixes sports, politics, and entertainment news in one, visit The Left Calf.
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