Some Notes On NFL Week 1

I guess it wasn’t such a good idea for the Chiefs to let Trent Green go, was it? They got shelled - shelled! - by the hapless Houston Texans this afternoon. And remember a couple of years ago, when Houston got such a hard time for taking defensive lineman Mario Williams out of N.C. State instead of tailback Reggie Bush out of USC in the draft? Well, how about this - so far this season, Williams has more touchdowns than Bush. Williams scooped up a turnover in the Texans-Chiefs game and ran it back for a touchdown. Bush’s New Orleans Saints have no offensive or special teams touchdowns - their only trip across the goal line came when cornerback Jason David stripped a ball out of Reggie Wayne’s hands on Thursday night and David ran it back for a touchdown. (Not that Williams will have more touchdowns than Bush for long, of course. It's just sort of mildly amusing. For now.)

Not that the Miami Dolphins did that much better in picking up Green - they lost in overtime to the Washington Redskins. But did you see the end of regulation in that game? Here’s what happened. The Redskins had the ball with one last shot - what’s called the Hail Mary pass, which is when the quarterback sends everybody downfield toward the end zone and then hurls the ball in that direction. I don’t even know why teams still use this play - it turns into an interception every time. Every. Single. Time. Write it down. The reason it’s always an interception is because the guys who are supposed to catch the ball are sprinting downfield toward the end zone with their backs to the ball - and the guys who aren’t supposed to catch the ball are already in the end zone, watching the ball come their way. You don’t have to be a great football analyst to figure out who has the advantage there.

What doesn’t happen every time is what happened today at the end of regulation between the Redskins and the Dolphins. Jason Campbell, the Washington quarterback, heaved the ball, and everybody went for the end zone. When the ball came down, it came down, predictably, in the hands of one of the Dolphins. The Dolphin in question was defensive lineman Jason Taylor, who did what you are taught to do in that situation. He knocked the ball down - sort of. What he actually did was sort of swat the ball horizontally, rather than knock it vertically to the ground.

Almost as soon as Taylor swatted the ball, it was snapped up by the most exciting player in the National Football League. That’s right - I’m talking about flashy punt return specialist and wide receiver Antwaan Randle El.

Antwaan Randle El FROM?

(Indiana.)

Now, once Randle El had the ball, he immediately juked right, which was where all the Dolphins were, instead of juking left, which was where none of the Dolphins were and where he could have scored the game-winning touchdown. But that’s not the point - the point is that he was alert enough and quick enough to make an amazing catch. (Randle El's line for the day, by the way, was five catches for 162 yards, which is going to put him second in the league in receiving yards behind Randy Moss, unless Chad Johnson has a monster game on Monday night, which is entirely possible.)

Speaking of amazing catches...did anyone (other than Maiers) see that New England-NYJ game? Randy Moss had nine catches for 183 - count ‘em, 183! - yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came on a 51-yard bomb from Brady (who I suspect had the cleanest post-game uniform of anyone who played today) that was thrown into (sort of) triple coverage. The J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets! had two DBs and a linebacker trailing Moss, and he still caught the ball in stride and loped into the end zone unmolested. The Patriots, ladies and gentlemen, are everything that the pre-season hype promised. The offensive line was simply remarkable. Brady stood like a statue in the pocket and had gobs and gobs of time to go through all his checkdowns and find his guys.

I loves me some Colts, as you all well know. But damn. And the Patriots thrashed NYJ in the Meadowlands. Once they get Seymour and Harrison back, I don’t imagine they’ll be containable. I think the AFC championship game will feature the Colts and the Patriots again, and I think that game will also determine who will win the Super Bowl. No team in the NFC is even close to as good as the Colts and Patriots right now. (And yes, I know that things can change, and that we’ve only played one game. It’s altogether possible that the Colts defense will not play this well every week. It’s also possible that New England’s defense won’t hold up - especially in the next three games - against a team with a high-octane offense. And the unfortunate part for the Patriots is that they have two high-octane offenses in the next three games - next week they host San Diego and game four is at Cincinnati. But even if these two teams don't play every week like they played this week - they still aren't going to lose many games between them. If the porous Colts run defense rears its ugly head again, the Colts have three or four potential losses sprinkled throughout the schedule. Once the Patriots get Seymour and Harrison back, their only remaining potential loss is Indianapolis.)

That’s about the extent of my wrap-up for today. I watched what was, for me, a lot of football today, but it still wasn’t really a lot. And I can’t really start talking about stats yet, since the season is only one week old. But I did manage to watch the Colts and the Patriots in week one, and based on the highlights and scores I saw from around the league on the NBC and Fox tickers, I get the impression that it’s these two teams and then everybody else - and the drop-off is steep. There’s been a lot of off-the-field bad press concerning the NFL lately, but there is still much that is right with the league - and the Colts and the Patriots (or the Patriots and the Colts, whichever you prefer) are the two things that are most right with this league. These are the two best-run, best-respected organizations in the best-run and best-respected major league professional sports organization in the country.

Which is the better team right now? It's almost a toss-up - the Patriots won on the road, but the Saints are a better team than NYJ. The Patriots didn't turn the ball over, which the Colts did once; but the Patriots didn't force any turnovers, either - the Colts got three turnovers from the Saints. The Colts had 21 more yards of offense than the Patriots, and 3 more points; but the Patriots only gave up 167 total yards, and a scant 60 on the ground. But then again, though the New England defense gave up fewer yards, it also gave up 14 points. The Colts defense gave up only 3 points. Actually, the more you look at the box scores (Colts-Saints here and Patriots-Jets here), the more you come to realize that it really is a toss-up. Is there an edge, then? Can either of these teams be considered better than the other at this point in the season? The answer is yes, for one small reason - the Patriots won a division game on the road, and that's a more important win than a home victory against a team from the other conference. The New England Patriots, then, are the best team in the league. For now.

It's too bad these two teams can't play each other in the Super Bowl. That would be an amazing game. Personally, I don't know how you can watch either Indianapolis or New England and feel any kind of animosity toward either team. Sure it hurts if you're a fan of one and the other beats you - but these two teams are professional football at its very, very best, and it's a rivalry that's got years and years left to go. Are you ready for some football?