Week 2
9/14/06
- Week one of the 2006 season - Donte Stallworth, Desmond Clark
and the Rams defense are not that good. Jake Plummer, Tom Brady
and Javon Walker are not that bad. Don't go blowing up your
fantasy football rosters based on one week's worth of action.
With coaches keeping their preseason game planning vanilla flavored
and not playing star players in order to keep them healthy for
the season, the first game of the year for most teams and players
is not indicative of what to expect the balance of the season.
Recall in 2003, the Patriots opened on the road in Buffalo and
were demolished 31-0. That didn't stop them from going 14-1
over the rest of the regular season and winning the Super Bowl.
By the way, the score in the Pats final game of the season at
home against those same Buffalo Bills? 31-0 Pats.
- Yes, Aaron Brooks is that bad, pass protection problems or
not.
- Here's to Packer's general manager Ted Thompson and his ability
to evaluate talent at the wide receiver position. Thompson traded
Javon Walker for a 2nd round pick and then signed free agents
Marc Boerigter and Rod Gardner while drafting Greg Jennings
(2nd round) and Cory Rodgers (4th round) to replace him. Only
Jennings remains with the others being beaten out for a roster
spot by Ruvell Martin, an undrafted free agent. It gets better.
Thompson's blunders have now led him to sign the talented, yet
troubled Koren Robinson, who is likely to be suspended at some
point during the regular season. As a banker might say, don't
throw good money after bad.
- Fear not, Packers fans, for Thompson has taken great pains
over the last two years to upgrade the team's offensive line.
At the end of the 2004 season, the line had Chad Clifton, Mike
Wahle, Mike Flanagan, Marco Rivera and Mark Tauscher, going
from left to right. A solid tackle tandem, Pro Bowl level talent
at guard and an above average center. However, Thompson saw
fit to let Wahle and Rivera depart prior to the 2005 season
and Flanagan was allowed to leave this past off-season. The
interior of the line has been in shambles for over a year now
with Thompson using two picks on guards in the 2005 draft and
three picks on guards in the 2006 draft. Of the 2005 picks,
Junius Coston has been moved to tackle and Will Whitticker is
no longer with the team. From the 2006 draft, Tony Moll (5th
round) and Jason Spitz (3rd) are in the starting line-up while
2nd round pick Daryn College played his way out of the starting
line-up due to an abysmal training camp. Not to mention that
prior to the 2005 season, Thompson signed Adrian Klemm and Matt
O'Dwyer to replace Wahle and Rivera, only to see Klemm perform
at an average level and O'Dwyer fail to make team out of training
camp. As for the center position, Scott Wells is a marginal
talent who may give way to Chris White at some point during
the season.
- By the way, when Moll and Spitz started this week, it marked
the first time in 10 years that a team opened the season with
a pair of rookie guards in the starting line-up. The last time
a team started two rookie guards in any game was in 2004 when
the Colts started Ryan Lilja and Jake Scott. Mr. Thompson, that's
called not being ready to start the season.
- On the other hand, the Rams have done a nice job of overhauling
their defensive unit, starting with the addition of former Saints
head coach Jim Haslett to run the unit. Of the Rams newcomers
on defense, and there are many considering only six starters
were with the team in 2005 and one of them (safety O.J. Atogwe)
never started a game last season, free agent signees Fakhir
Brown and Corey Chavous as well as 1st round draft pick Tye
Hill came up with interceptions while middle linebacker Will
Witherspoon forced a fumble and tipped a pass for the game clinching
interception by Brown.
- It was nice to find out this week that even the best running
back in football, Willis McGahee (self-pronounced, of course)
can sometimes forget down and distance prior to a huge third
quarter play on the road in a key game against a division rival.
And don't think his teammates won't be thinking that McGahee
could have reached the 1st down marker on the play by simply
plowing straight ahead, as opposed to cutting back into the
middle of the line of scrimmage. Willis, here's some advice:
even if you have messed up, next time keep your mouth shut.
And here's some advice for new head coach Dick Jauron: the next
time you're ahead by 10 on the road with a team that's learning
how to win and you're facing a team that knows how to win and
your offence has just chewed up five and a half minutes after
receiving the 2nd half kickoff, please kick the field goal and
go up by 13 points rather than risk handing momentum back to
your opponent on a silver platter.
- Keeping with the Bills, if you aren't convinced the team
is clearly in a rebuilding stage, we've got a little tidbit
for you. There are 21 new players on the team's roster. Marv
Levy and Jauron are certainly following the pattern of new management
sweeping out players they haven't acquired and bringing in their
own guys.
- If you're thinking about investing in the Patriots Tom Brady
given his career year in 2005, it might be time to rethink those
thoughts. Unless the team's tight ends come through with some
career years of their own (and they are a talented bunch), the
team's trade of Deion Branch may have ended all hope of the
team getting even marginal production from the wide receiver
position in 2006. The team has had nearly a complete overhaul
of last year's receiving corps with only Troy Brown remaining.
The other options currently on the roster are former Raider
Doug Gabriel, 2nd round pick Chad Jackson, former Charger retread
Reche Caldwell and former Bill retread Jonathan Smith.
- It only took 17 games but Titans offensive coordinator Norm
Chow has finally had one of his wide receivers register a 100-yard
game. Drew Bennett managed the task this week by making eight
receptions for 106 yards in this Sunday's win over the Jets.
Observers of the team will note that Chow involves the team's
tight ends and running backs in the passing game so much that
wide receivers simply don't get enough opportunities to top
100 yards in a game.
- If you're a Rams fan or a Steven Jackson owner, you had to
love seeing him go over 100-yards rushing against the Broncos
during the team's opening week win. Since moving to St. Louis,
the team has a record of 38-0 when they have a 100-yard rusher.
- Is there a team more snake-bitten than the Cleveland Browns?
Receiver Joe Jurevicius, brought in to bring a veteran influence
to some of the team's young offensive talent and provide a security
blanket for 2nd year quarterback Charlie Frye, will be out for
four to six weeks with broken ribs. He will be replaced by the
inexperienced Joshua Cribbs, allowing Dennis Northcutt to remain
in the slot as the team's third receiver, a role he's more comfortable
with.
- Keeping with Browns and the snake-bitten theme, the team
is now onto their ninth center since entering training camp
(LeCharles Bentley, Bob Hallen, Todd Washington, Alonzo Ephraim,
Ross Tucker, Lennie Friedman, Hank Fraley, etc.). Although Fraley
is a decent center and a nice fill-in for Bentley given the
circumstances, it must have been difficult for general manager
Phil Savage to watch Jeff Faine (the team's former 1st round
pick who was traded to the Saints in order to free up a spot
for Bentley) handle mammoth Ted Washington during the team's
opening day loss to New Orleans given that Faine's inability
to handle large defensive tackles was the reason he was deemed
expendable.
- Might be time for the Packers to abandon their plan of starting
converted defensive end Brady Poppinga at strong-side linebacker.
Poppinga failed to provide even moderate resistance against
Bears tight end Desmond Clark, allowing Clark to finish with
five receptions for 77 yards, his most receiving yards in a
game since 2001. Clark had 229 yards during the entire 2005
season and a similar amount in 2004. Although veteran Ben Taylor
lacks upside and might not be part of the team's rebuilding
plans, this might be a situation where he needs to move into
the starting line-up to retain decent morale within the unit.
Poppinga might have some decent upside but he's clearly overmatched.
If you've got a tight end on your FF roster that's facing the
Pack, start him.
- Save for the team's initial drive against the Eagles this
weekend, the Texans offensive line struggled as it did during
most of the 2005 season. Quarterback David Carr was left to
fend for himself for much of the day, with rookie left tackle
Charles Spencer (3rd round) looking every bit like an overmatched
rookie. The team ran 41 plays after their initial drive, with
19 going for zero or negative yards.
- Here's hoping new Lions coach Rod Marinelli doesn't turn
out to be a carbon copy of Dick Jauron and Marty Schottenheimer,
two coaches with the tremendously annoying habit of never attempting
anything risky that could result in a win. With three minutes
and 20 seconds remaining during the team's opening day loss
against the Seahawks, Marinelli chose to punt rather than let
kicker Jason Hanson attempt a 54-yard field goal. Of course,
the punt resulted in a touch back so the net on the punt was
only 17 yards. Hanson had missed from 52 yards earlier in the
game but he is a career 27 from 58 from 50 plus yards and six
of his last nine from that distance.
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