NFL: Thoughts on Week 2

As an Eagles fan last night’s loss was awfully tough to take.  It is not solely because it was against Dallas but because of the feeling that Philadelphia had a chance to put Dallas away and could not pull the trigger.  Not to mention the last play they ran.  Was that really the best they could come up with.  I thought we have always been told that you have to throw to or past the marker on 3rd or 4th down.

The game was somewhat encouraging in that McNabb looks like he is playing with a purpose this year.  He was moving around in the pocket and hitting his targets.  If not for some dropped passes he would have had his second 300 yard game in as many outings.

I was also very impressed with how well the run defense played.  They kept Marion Barber contained most of the game and held the Cowboys as a team to just 2.8 yards per carry.  There were only two runs where Barber really had significant gains.

The secondary, on the other hand, was atrocious at times.  What they were doing with Sheldon Brown on Terrell Owens at times just boggles my mind.  Fortunately they made the right adjustments and Owens was a nonfactor after he scored his second touchdown. 

It may also be time to start thinking about who is going to succeed Brian Dawkins at safety.  Dawkins is still a good player but he got burnt a couple of times last night where he typically would not have in the past.  He looks as though he has lost a step.

DeSean Jackson was both a positive and a negative.  His speed is just what the doctor ordered however he seems prone to stupid mistakes and lack of concentration.  I don’t what he was thinking when he flipped the ball like that and he dropped a couple balls he should have caught.

The officiating in that game was horrible.  I saw at least two blatant face mask penalties that did not get called and then there was the pass interference penalty called on Dallas in the end zone that should have gone against Greg Lewis as he clearly had a handful of the defender’s jersey on that play.

It appears as though we can still count on Tony Romo suffering vapor lock in big games and the Cowboys as a whole are still committing too many penalties.  They will likely coast through the season again and then lose in the playoffs because of the lack of discipline and mental lapses they still seem to suffer from at times.

Can the Cowboys tackle anyone without grabbing the facemask?  They were flagged at least three times for a face mask penalty and there at least two or three others that were overlooked.

As for the other games around the league.  The Panthers are the team to beat in the NFC South. They look awfully tough and look light years ahead of last year’s team. Once Delhomme went down last season the team pretty much folded up shop for the year. Jonathan Stewart is an absolute beast of a running back. He had a couple of carries Sunday where he just shrugged off two or three tacklers. It will not be long until he is getting the bulk of the carries for Carolina and DeAngelo Williams will be relegated to #2 status again.

Aaron Rodgers is on fire right now and until proven otherwise Green Bay is the team to beat in the NFC North.

The Lions and the Rams are the two worst teams in football right now with Bengals nipping at their heels.

So much for the Saints re-vamped improved defense. They gave up 29 points and 455 yards to a pretty inept Redskins offense.  Until they do something to drastically improve the secondary and the pass rush I’ll never understand all of the love they get from the media as potential Super Bowl contenders.  They put a ton of money and effort into upgrading the linebacking corps but the defensive line and secondary needs some added depth as well.

The Falcons defense is still not very good and Matt Ryan looked like a rookie QB yesterday. It just goes to show how awful the Lions are on defense right now.

Arizona is the team to beat in the NFC West simply because they seem to be the only team capable of playing some semblance of defense right now.

How many tough losses can San Diego withstand until they implode and this becomes a lost season for them?

Tarvaris Jackson continues to show why Minnesota is not a Super Bowl contender.  He was routinely booed during the game on Sunday and I cannot help but wonder how much longer Brad Childress waits until he goes with Gus Frerotte at quarterback.

When does Derek Anderson start looking over his shoulder in Cleveland? The Browns had high hopes coming into this season and Anderson has not gotten the job done against two of the leagues better teams. In fact he has been downright mediocre to bad.

It looks like everything is starting to finally click for Jay Cutler. He has been very impressive the first two weeks of the season, but what is up with inexplicably coughing the ball up twice in the 4th quarter with no real pressure?