The View From the Crossbar

Stark Reminder

This weekends injury to Bills TE Kevin Everett, is a stark reminder of how brutal this game really is. Honestly I'm surprised more injuries like this don't happen. During the game Everett was tackled and during the play, Everett went limp and immediately dropped to the ground. He eventually had to be carted off. On Monday it was announced that he had suffered paralysis, and his doctor said at the time that chances were that it would be permanent and he'd never walk again.

Fortunately late Tuesday news broke that Everett had voluntary movement of both his arms and his legs, and his doctors are now saying chances are strong that he will walk again.

It's really amazing when you think of all the violent hits, especially in the sportscenter highlight culture of sports now, that there aren't more injuries like Everett, Mike Utley, and Dennis Byrd.

I Spy With My Videotaping Eye

For all those fans out there who dislike the New England Patriots, the news that the Patriots and Bill Belichick were caught cheating should really delight them. The Patriots were caught videotaping Jets playcalling signals during their 38-14 dismantling during week 1. Videotaping any aspect of the opposing teams sidelines is against the rules, and Commissioner Goodell, has already stated that he's not happy.

But then again news that Belichick likes to bend the rules shouldn't really come as any surprise. During the 2001 through 2003 seasons, the Patriots rise to power was helped by the fact that Belichick openly encouraged his defensive backs to rough up Wide Receivers and to interfere with them as much as they could get away with. This led to the NFL's emphasis on DB/WR interaction during the 2004 season. The result, Patriots still won the Superbowl.

Earlier this offseason, the Minnesota Vikings accused Bill Belichick of tampering as they tried to get a player through waivers. And this isn't the first time allegations of signal stealing has been levied against Belichick.

But none of this really changes anything. Truthfully the leagues punishment won't really be much of anything. Chances are it'll be the removal of two draft choices. But it won't be a first rounder, it wasn't severe enough to deserve a first rounder.

It also doesn't change the fact that Belichick is a really good coach. Good coaches try to work the system in their teams favor. Belichick is no different. Granted this is different than just playing the way the officials call the game, like with the db's in '01-'03. It'll be interesting to see if Belichick's next foray to the edge goes even further.

What we learned

So what did we learn from week 1 of the NFL season? Well not a whole lot. Not a lot can be learned from just 1 game. What the league looks like on the first Tuesday of the season, is often very different from what it looks like on the 17th Tuesday of the season. Still there are a couple things we did learn for sure.

#1. We learned that the NFC is as advertised. And that is bad. The NFC went 2-2 against the AFC in week 1. It's winning teams were those teams like the Detroit Lions beating up on the Oakland Raiders, and the Washington Redskins beating up on the Miami Dolphins. Meanwhile the NFC Losers were the top two teams in the NFC last year going out and Losing to the defending Champions and last years AFC Best record. So while the NFC can beat the AFC's bad teams, the AFC's good teams can embarass the NFC's bad teams. But then, in watching games it's not really that the AFC is so much better than the NFC. While the NFC was bad, it was only slightly worse than the AFC. Because the other thing we learned is...

#2. There's the Colts, Patriots, and Chargers, and then everyone else. Though this can, and most likely will change throughout the season, at the end of week 1 these three teams are clearly the class of the league.

#3. This is one thing we can definitely know for certain after week 1. Al Davis just doesn't seem to get it anymore. Davis has always tried to do things his own way while running the Raiders. The last few years, is moves have been more and more perplexing, but this season takes the cake.

After firing Art Shell at the end of last season, the Raiders began their search for his replacement. Unable to find anyone desperate enough for the job in the pro ranks they went to the college ranks, and higher Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin had never been a head coach anywhere before. Lane Kiffin had never been an offensive coordinator anywhere before. He was USC's QB Coach.

Next the Raiders drafted QB Jamarcus Russell, which everyone, except me, at the time said was a great move. Russell and the Raiders then became embroiled in a difficult dispute and Russell held out. So the Raiders went out and got Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper had a pretty solid preseason, making many surprised to see how much of his old form he regained. However just before the game this past Sunday, Coach Kiffin gave the nod to Josh McCown.

Meanwhile #1 pick Jamarcus Russell is still nowhere to be seen and became the first draft pick since 2002 to holdout into the season.

McCown played good during the game. He was 30/40 for 313 yards 2 Td's, and 2 int's. Those are good numbers, not great, but good. So how do the Raiders react to McCown's good showing in week 1, and Daunte Culpepper's surprising preseason? On Monday they caved like a house of cards to Russell. Despite Russell holding out all offseason, and missing all of training camp, and basically throwing away his rookie season, the Raiders gave him a 6 year, 61 Million dollar contract, with 31 to a possible 35 million in guarantees.

That's anywhere from 6-10 million more in guarantees than last years #1, or the last QB to be taken #1 overall received.

Best game of the week

The best game of the week, was the very same game that Josh McCown threw for 313 yards. This game featured surprising offense. Tough Defense. A near comeback, and a possible rookie breakout. The Lions, who opened up a 17-0 lead, before Oakland came back to within 3 at 20-17, and to fight for their first win of the year. However the Lions, who we knew would be decent offensively showed some spark on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Rookies stole the show

Lions Rookie WR Calvin Johnson wasn't the only rookie to have a good week 1.

In Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson showed why he was worth the #7 pick. He garnered 163 total yards of offense. However remember, with Peterson there was never any doubt he had the ability. The question was, and still is, does he have the health.

San Diego Rookie DB Eric Weddle was a third down machine for the Chargers. In the first half with San Diego struggling Weddle got two tackles and a sack on key 3rd downs to stop drives, and prevent the Bears from extending a 3-0 lead. Later in the 4th, Weddle came up with another big 3rd down tackle of RB Cedric Benson to stop another Bears drive.

Questions to Ponder

So after week 1 there are some things to ponder. Some of them will affect future games, others just this past week.

How did Jason Elam and the Denver field goal team get on in time to make that final kick?
So should Rams RB Steven Alexander had actually played in the Preseason? Or should he just have focused on holding onto the ball, instead of running his mouth about 2500 yards?
Did the Philly Offense and QB Donovan McNabb think it was still preseason?
How long before the AZ Bandwagon becomes a bonfire yet again?
Do the titans really have a good rushing attack with Chris Brown and LenDale White, or do the Jags just stink defensively?
And Finally, does Rookie QB Brady Quinn (Now #2 with Charlie Frye having been traded) see action this weekend or next? Also for all the money that they spent on the OL in the offseason, how does their QB get sacked that much?

The Perfect Watch

The search for the NFL's final perfect team didn't get anywhere this week, as there are 32 teams still perfect in the NFL. Was a tie too much to ask for?

The Top 14

1. Indianapolis Colts - 1-0 - Unlike some (ESPN.com) mere offseason hype isn't enough to diminish winning the Superbowl. And in the first week the Colts proved they were the best team. But this will be an interesting battle all season. After all, as ESPN's own TMQ pointed out, since 2002 the Colts are the second best team at 68-24, to only the Patriots at 69-23.

2. New England Patriots - 1-0 - Brady got to play with some of those new toys of his as both Wes Welker and Randy Moss were on the receiving ends of TD's.

3. San Diego Chargers - 1-0 - While it took them a half to adjust to the Bears ferocious Defense, you can't keep LaDanian down all day. If he can't run it, he'll just resort to catching and throwing it.

4. Cincinatti Bengals - 1-0 - The best thing about their Monday Night win? They did it with some solid defense.

5. Seattle Seahawks - 1-0 - There was a bit of rust, and they struggled more than they should have with the Bucs, but this Seattle team is one people should watch out for.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers - 1-0 - Roethlisberger looked like he never got on that Motorcycle. But then again it was only the Browns.

7. Dallas Cowboys - 1-0 - Tony Romo and company sure looked good on Sunday Night. But they might want to be worried a bit that they gave up so many points.

8. New Orleans Saints - 0-1 - Let's just hope Peyton Manning bought Former Colt DB Jason David dinner after that affair.

9. Chicago Bears - 0-1 - To quote Dennis Green: "They were who we thought they were". And we thought they were a team with a ferocious defense, and a lousy qb and offense.

10. Baltimore Ravens - 0-1 - Speaking of another team with good defense and no offense, 6 Turnovers and a few injuries doesn't help their case.

11. Denver Broncos - 1-0 - The college option offense? Really? That's cool! And somebody please check that Field Goal team for speed or something.

12. Philadelphia Eagles - 0-1 - It really helps if you hold onto the ball on punt returns and not fumble. This keeps up they might as well not send anyone back to field them, and just let their opponents down the ball.

13. San Francisco 49ers - 1-0 - It took them awhile to get the rust off, but those last few minutes were some amazing football, especially by QB Alex Smith. Niner fans better hope the last few and not the first 50+ minutes are what they'll see from here on out.

14. Carolina Panthers - 0-1 - 186 yards rushing by the Panthers really makes it nice so that Jake Delhomme doesn't have to be relied upon.

The Bottom 3

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 0-1 - Inept offense? Check. Horrible Blocking? Check. Letting Free Agent QB Jeff Garcia get sacked and injured? Check.

31. Atlanta Falcons - 0-1 - Could the Joey Harrington we've seen every year since '03 really be the real Joey Harrington? Maybe his bandwagon can borrow some matches from the Cardinals

32. Cleveland Browns - 0-1 - Hey guys, The season started already. Might want to be aware of that.