Tuesday Morning Running Back Week Three: Lions Snap Skid

It’s the home base of the declining U.S. auto industry, as well as the home of baseball’s Tigers, who are clinging to a sparse two-game lead in the AL Central as I write this.

Long story short, the people of Detroit needed a pick-me-up to get them thinking positive again.

Well, they got it in the most unlikely source.

Finally, after 19 straight losses, the Detroit Lions tasted victory for the first time in over a year.

Behind the leadership of confident rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford, and the power running of Kevin Smith, the Lions were finally able to halt the snickers from other NFL fans, at least for one week.

Of course the Lions victory was aided by the poor play of the Redskins, who missed several opportunities of their own on offense, and could not stop the Lions from running out the clock on their final drive.

But a win’s a win, and it’s especially sweet if you’ve waited 21 months for one. Therefore, I don’t blame the Ford Family for acting like they won the Super Bowl when time ran out.

A victory tastes sweet no matter how long you wait for it or who you beat. The sweetest ones however are the ones that are few are far between.

Elsewhere in week three action:

• Right now, the Redskins must question if either Jim Zorn is the right coach for their system, or Jason Campbell is the right quarterback for it. In other words, a change must be made if they want to save their season.
• It was nice to see that the Patriots were more comfortable running the ball on Sunday. It was even nicer to learn that my team has a coach that is willing to go for it on fourth down deep in his own territory!
• I never realized how much Falcons coach Mike Smith looks like Steve Martin until I saw him up close on Sunday.
• The pressure’s on Donovan McNabb once he returns from his cracked rib. Not only did Kevin Kolb throw for over 300 yards on Sunday, but he also proved that he can control the offense without Brian Westbrook.
• Kudos to the Jets David Harris who had an interception and a sack on the Titans’ final two possessions to preserve New York’s victory over the Titans.
• The problem for the Texans right now is their run defense. Maurice Jones-Drew ran all over them on Sunday.
• Aaron Rodgers was the right man for the job in Green Bay. His strong arm led to several deep passes that led to scores, and he’s gone over 100 passes without throwing a pick.
• He may have overthrown some balls and taken a lot of punishment on his body, but Brett Favre can be as good a clutch quarterback as anyone in the NFL. His game-winning throw to Greg Lewis proved it.
• Phillip Rivers was smart to realize that the Dolphins had collapsed the pocket on him. Therefore, he wasn’t afraid to run with it and score the touchdown on a quarterback draw that put the Chargers ahead for good.
• Chad Pennington’s shoulder injury is the most crushing blow to a team in the NFL so far this season.
• Josh McDaniels is my early, and I stress early, choice for NFL coach of the year. He’s put his faith in Kyle Orton, and the defense did not allow a touchdown for the second straight week.
• Steelers K Jeff Reed was a goat again missing a key field goal that could have put the game away.
• Not even Otto Graham can save the Browns now.
• Devin Hester told Jay Cutler to give him the ball before the Bears final drive. Not surprisingly, Cutler’s perfect passing drive culminated in a 36-yard TD to Hester and a Bears win.
• Did someone forget to separate the colors from the whites while washing the Seahawks jerseys last week?
• The Saints won at Buffalo with a strong defensive effort, but perhaps more shocking is that TO did not record a catch in a game for the first time since 1996! I bet he’ll want out of Buffalo by the end of the season.
• The Cowboys addressed every concern they had last week last night. The running game was dominant even without Marion Barber, and the pass rush looked like it finally mastered the 3-4 defense.
• It should be a good week four with the Pats playing the Ravens and the Pack playing Favre for the very first time. See you next Tuesday for all the analysis.

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Tuesday Morning Running Back, Week Two: Cowboys Christen New Home

$1.15 billion can sure build a state-of-the-art football facility.

Proof of that was on display on Sunday evening when the Cowboys opened their brand new football haven with a regular season game for the ages.

Even before the game one couldn’t help but get caught up in the sheer grandeur of Cowboys Stadium.

Massive doesn’t even begin to describe the facility. It can seat 75,000 people comfortably, with room for another 30,000 to view the game from a standing room section.

It is packed with enough video boards and electronics to make a Sony executive blush.

Best of all, it’s home to America’s team, and perhaps it would inspire them to finally return to the glory days of Cowboys football.

After night one, the team is still a work in progress.

The flashy Dallas offensive unit sputtered as QB Tony Romo threw three interceptions and compiled a passer rating of 29.6. And the Giants’ offense, led by wideouts Mario Manningham and Steve Smith, spoiled opening night with a 33-31 victory.

However, the final score is not as misleading as one would think, given the poor play of the Dallas offense. There were eight lead changes in the game, and no team was ahead by more than six points at any time.

It also went right down to the wire, as Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes calmly nailed a 37-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Giants to the win after his first attempt was nullified by a late timeout call from Cowboys coach Wade Phillips.

All in all, it was a fine debut for a billion-dollar stadium, and a game that should be remembered for years to come.

Elsewhere in week two:

• The Chiefs/Raiders was ugly all-around. An ugly debut for Matt Cassel, and an ugly 7-for-24 completion rate by JaMarcus Russell. But hey, at least Darren McFaddens’ power running got the Raiders a win!

• If you were lucky enough to draft the Titans Chris Johnson, give yourself a pat on the back. He gained 284 all-purpose yards despite the fact his team lost to the Texans.

• If there’s any consolation for the Rams, at least they broke their streak of 15 possessions without a touchdown. At least the Cardinals are still playing for something meaningful at the moment.

• An extra pat on the back for you fantasy owners that were stupid enough to pick the Bengals as your No. 1 defense. They recorded seven sacks, including five solo by Antwan Odom, in a win versus the Packers. At least I won’t be sneering at you this week.

• Hypothetical question of the week: The Packers celebrated their 90th anniversary on Sunday. If he were retired, do you think Brett Favre would have been invited to the festivities?

• Just when you thought Kurt Warner would spend his days reminiscing about his glory days in the NFL and gabbing about God, he completes 92 percent of his passes in the Cardinals win at Jacksonville. 

• Brett Favre told the media after the Vikings victory over the Lions that his experience with the team thus far as “been fun.” It should be fun when you play with a running back as gifted as Adrian Peterson.

• The Saints scored another 48 points on Sunday. Dare I compare them to the 2007 Patriots in terms of production?

• The Falcons are now 9-1 at home under Mike Smith. This is very surprising considering not much was expected of them at this time a year ago.

• The Jets didn’t embarrass the Patriots like Kerry Rhodes said they would, but the Patriots embarrassed themselves in that game. Sloppy passes by Tom Brady as well as numerous penalties and a lack of consistent rhythm on offense cost the Pats the game.

• Rex Ryan deserves to be complimented on his defensive schemes. The constant stream of blitzes confused the Patriots and helped to quell any sort of momentum they got.

• I’m not surprised that Phillip Rivers had a career day against the Ravens. After all, LaDainian Tomlinson was out, and the Chargers have a mediocre running attack without him.

What does surprise me however is Rivers’ inability to run the two-minute offense in the waning stages of the game. That’s why they lost. 

• Niners running back Frank Gore rushed for 207 yards against the Seahawks. Surprisingly, that’s not his career high. The team against which he achieved his career best mark was also the Seahawks. That leads me to wonder how good he’d be if he played Seattle in every game?

• Speaking of surprises, the Broncos have only given up 13 points on defense through two games. And you thought their offense was going to be their selling point.

• While it’s true that Jay Cutler didn’t throw a pick, and may have found a new favorite target in Johnny Knox, Bears fans should really thank Steelers kicker Jeff Reed who missed two clutch field goals and gave Chicago the victory.

• For all the glitz the Dolphins had last night in rolling out the red carpet to introduce the new owner and several celebrity minority owners, you’d think they’d play well.

Ball control wasn’t a problem, but their lack of delivering the knockout punch gave Peyton Manning a chance to win. Predictably, Manning’s late touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon sealed the fish’s fate.

• Have a great rest of the week, and I’ll talk to you next Tuesday.

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Tuesday Morning Running Back Week 1: Return of the Brady

As year three of this column begins, the big story leading up to opening weekend in the NFL in my neck of the woods was the return of the Patriots’ leader. Yes, the golden boy with the golden arm was finally going to be under center for the Pats for the first time in over a year in a meaningful game.

Unfortunately, the hype was greater than the sum of its parts, and Tom Brady found that both he and his offense were out of sync for the majority of the game. However, with the help of a gift fumble by the Bills’ Leodis McKelvin, the Brady Bunch saved their best drive of the night for last, and Tom Terrific fired a strike to tight end Ben Watson in the back of the end zone for an improbable 25-24 victory few saw coming.

Heck, even I flipped to Leno once the clock struck ten.

But I should have remembered Brady is a miracle worker. After all I’ve been watching him for eight years. By the time I flipped back, the deed was done.

The moral of this story is, he who gives Brady a chance to win will almost certainly pay for his misfortune in the end.

The rest of the weekend in the NFL can be summed up in one word: adjustment.

Eleven head coaches made their debuts, the Jets and Lions had to adjust their offenses to fit rookie quarterbacks and we fans had to adjust to not hearing the booming voice of John Madden in the broadcast booth for the first time in 30 years.

Now, as I’ve been to prone to say before I give my opinions on the rest of the games on the NFL schedule, on to the bullet points!

• Let me ask you a hypothetical question: What was more shocking in the Saints/Lions game? The fact Drew Brees threw six touchdowns passes or the fact Jeremy Shockey caught two of them to earn his first two scores as a Saint?
• Kudos to Jets QB Mark Sanchez for throwing for 278 yards in his first game as a professional. The last rookie QB to even throw for 200 yards in his debut was a fella named Peyton Manning in 1998. What ever happened to him?
• Did you see Jets coach Rex Ryan on the field with Joe Namath before the game? Rumor has it Namath guaranteed Ryan a victory in his debut as a coach and that he asked Ryan to kiss him.
• Not much to say about the Ravens/Chiefs game, except that Mark Clayton was the offensive star of the game with 300 yards receiving.
• I am convinced that only the Bengals can routinely lose games on tipped passes that go for touchdowns. I wouldn’t be surprised if they lose next week on a fumble in the end zone when they’re down by four in the fourth and there’s no time on the clock.
• Panthers QB Jake Delhomme has turned the ball over 11 times in his last two starts. That’s hardly the mark of a quarterback who signed a $5 million contract extension over the summer.
• Cracked ribs are a painful injury to play through. Therefore, I don’t expect Donovan McNabb to be on the field this Sunday for the Eagles.
• The real reason Brett Favre came back was that he knew Adrian Peterson would run the majority of the Vikings defense. That was clearly evident in the Vikings’ win over the Browns.
• Who would have ever thought Tony Gonzalez would have 11,000 receiving yards as a tight end? Congratulations to him.
• So much for life with T.O., as Tony Romo had the best day statistically for the Cowboys.
• The key to the 49ers’ win over the Cardinals was that the Niners defense never allowed Kurt Warner to become comfortable. By the time they did, the game was out of reach.
• In yet another example of why the preseason doesn’t matter, the Rams had a perfect preseason but didn’t score a point in their opening game at Seattle.
• New Seahawks running back Julius Jones ran for 117 yards and a touchdown in his first game as a Seahawk. I would think he’d be on more fantasy teams  next week.
• There was a lot of pressure on new Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan to keep the defense at the same high-performing level they were at under Steve Spagnoulo. All they did was harass Jason Campbell all day to prove they are still an elite defense.
• Jay Cutler played better in the second half, but he was far from the man the Bears brought in to be the franchise quarterback.
• Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, made a beautiful throw to Greg Jennings that caught the Bears defense off guard for a touchdown. Score one for the Pack!
• I’m sure Hines Ward is the most relieved man in Pittsburgh right now. His end zone fumble on Thursday night was much ado about nothing.
• You can fault the Chargers for allowing the Raiders to keep it close, but Phillip Rivers ran a heck of a two-minute offense last night, allowing his team to eek out a victory.
• Thank you for reading the first edition of the third year of Tuesday Morning Running Back. I hope you come back for more candid opinions next week.

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