Game of the Week
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48 New Orleans Saints 40. A few games could have taken this honor; Kansas City Chiefs 38 - Los Angeles Chargers 28, Cleveland Browns 21 - Pittsburgh Steelers 21 for example, but by far the most exciting game was Tampa Bay and New Orleans where Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 211 yards in the first half, and Drew Brees threw for even more! Fitzpatrick - nay FitzMAGIC, finished 21-28 for 417 yards and 4 TDs, while rushing for an additional 36 yards and another score. Who is this Jameis Winston again? Drew Brees more than held his own against FitzMagic going 37-45 for 439 yards and 3 TDs. The quarterbacks combined for ZERO interceptions. For New Orleans Michael Thomas (180 yards 1 TD) and Alvin Kamara (112 yards, 1 TD receiving, 2 TDs rushing) both finished with over 100 yards receiving, but cold not keep up with the Buccaneers led by DeSean Jackson (146 yards, 2TDs) and Mike Evans (147 yards (1 TD).
Best Team Performance
Baltimore Ravens - Soundly defeated the Buffalo Bills 47-3 at home, and it wasn't even that close. People around me were taking bets in the first quarter at how soon we would see Josh Allen replace Nathan Peterman. Crazy thing is, I still don't know if this Baltimore team is any good.
Least Impressive Team Performance
Arizona Cardinals - OK, ok, the actual answer is Buffalo Bills, but I wanted to write about a different game, so this write-up goes to the Cardinals. Defeated soundly 24-6 at home by the Washington Racists, the Cardinals could only manage 153 passing yards and 68 rushing yards, and only managed to score on a David Johnson touchdown run with 5:47 left in the game and down 24-0. Although Sam Bradford only threw 1 interception, 20-34 for only 153 will leave fans clamoring for Josh Rosen sooner rather than later. Only Larry Fitzgerald, with 7 catches for 76 yards, had a decent game offensively for Arizona. Arizona did sack Alex Smith 3 times, which is something.
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Offense)
Ryan FitzMagic, QB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers. See above.
For variety, I would like to honorably mention Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs. Hill caught 7 passes for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also taking a punt return 91 yards for a touchdonwn. In a league full of fast players, Hill might be the fastest.
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Defense)
T.J. Watt - DE, Pittsburgh Steelers - In a game dominated by defensive players (4 total interceptions and 11 total sacks), Watt stood out like no other player. He finished with 11 total tackles (8 solo, 3 assists) and 4 sacks. Perhaps most importantly, however, is that Watt blocked the Browns potential game-winning field goal with :06 left in overtime. The performance of Anthony Hitchens of Kansas City with his 15 tackles also deserves some note.
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Special Teams)
Greg Zeurlein, K - Lost Angeles Rams - Zeurlein kicked 4 field goals, including one from 55 yards, and 3 extra points as the Rams defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-13.
Least Impressive Individual Performance
Nathan Peterman - QB, Buffalo Bills - Peterman finished 5-18 for 24 yards, with 2 interceptions and the Ravens sacked him 3 times in the aforementioned 47-3 shellacking. At least he didn't throw 5 interceptions in the half.
Most Surprising Team Performance
Washington Racists. Went into Arizona and annihilated the Cardinals 24-6. Sure the score is not that impressive, but the Racists held the ball behind the rushing attack of Adrian Peterson ("Burgundy Jesus"?) (96 yards) and Chris Thompson (65 yards) and an efficient Alex Smith (21-30 for 255, 2 TDs, 0 Ints). The defensive held its own with 2 sacks, and interception and a fumble recovery.
Most Disappointing Team Performance
Atlanta Falcons - Sure the defense played great against the Philadelphia Eagles, but the offense was non-existent with Matt Ryan going 21-143 for 251 yards and the team rushing for only 74 yards total. At least Julio Jones caught 10 balls for 169 yards.
Most Surprising Individual Performance
Jared Cook - TE, Oakland Raiders. Cook, who has never had more than the 759 yards receiving he amassed in 2011, his third season in the league, had 9 catches for 180 yards last night, in the 33-13 loss against to the Los Angeles Rams.
Most Disappointing Individual Performance
Ben Roethlisberger - QB, Pittsburgh Steelers. Although the rushing game did not look like it suffered without Le'Veon Bell (James Conner 135 yards rushing, 2 TDs), Big Ben was only 23-41 (albeit for 335 yards) with 3 interceptions and was sacked 4 times. Granted two of those sacks were at the hands of Myles Garrett, who looks All-Pro. Big Ben single-handedly kept the Cleveland Browns in the game as both teams tied 21-21.
Most Impressive Team Performance (Premier League)
Off weekend for national team play.
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Premier League)
Off weekend for national team play.
Goat of the Week
Dan Quinn, HC - Atlanta Falcons. Why is a coach the goat of the week when his team lost to the defending Super Bowl champions by 6 on the road where they had a legitimate chance to win on the last play of the game? Because of a decision he made on the very first drive. On fourth-and-two from the Eagles 2 yard line, Quinn decides to forego a sure 3 points and go for the touchdown, where the Eagles stopped the Falcons and retained the ball on downs. Although we can never predict the outcome of a game based upon one changed play as the teams would likely have played the game differently - those 3 points would have allowed Atlanta to kick an easy field goal to the tie the game in the 4th quarter and potentially win (or tie) in overtime instead of suffering a loss.
Goat of the Week (Premier League)
Off week for national team play.
Breakthrough Performance
Saquon Barkley - RB, New York Giants. Barkley, the Giants number 1 draft pick out of Penn State, rushed for 106 yards on 18 carries, and caught 2 passes for 22 yards, living up to the hype of a first round draft pick. This Giants team, which lost 20-15 at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars, has a long way to go, but Barkley is the right person to lead them.
Comeback Performance
Adrian Peterson - RB, Washington Racists. Yes Peterson briefly and sparingly played at the end of last season, but he truly came back this weekend gaining 96 yards rushing and 70 yards receiving in the 24-6 defeat of the Arizona Cardinals. Welcome back Burgundy Jesus!!!
Comeback Performance II
Aaron Rodgers - QB, Green Bay Packers. After being injured in the first half, leading to a DeShone Kizer appearance, Rodgers, clearly hobbled by a left knee injury, returned to throw 3 fourth quarter touchdowns (39 yards to Geronimo Allison, 12 yards to Davante Adamns, and 75 yards to Randall Cobb), leading the Packers back from a 20-0 deficit to defeat the Chicago Bears.
Finally
Myles Garrett - DE, Cleveland Browns. Although he showed flashes of talent last season, he did not look like a number 1 overall pick should. Well, now he does. Garrett had 6 overall tackles, with 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in a performance against a very good Alejandro Villanueva of Pittsburgh.
Impact Injury
Leonard Fournette, RB - Jacksonville Jaguars. If Aaron Rodgers has to miss significant time, his is the most impactful injury, but since he returned to the game and we don't know Rodgers' long-term prognosis, Leonard Fournette's hamstring is the most important injury primarily because the Jaguars rely so much on defense and running the football, and secondarily because of the tremendous drop-off from Fournette to his backup T.J. Yeldon.
Team Rising
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Dismantled what is supposed to be the best Saints defense in a number of years. Looking like a potential playoff team from the NFC South, with or without Jameis Winston.
Team Falling
Dallas Cowboys - Managed only 8 points on next-to-no offense in a 16-8 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Looks like this could be another year outside of the playoffs for Jerry's boys.
Best Teams
(All undefeated teams will be ranked in the top 5 until there are less than five teams, and then the rankings will consist of my true thoughts and not just records).
1. Baltimore Ravens
2. Los Angeles Rams
3. Kansas City Chiefs
4. Washington Racists
5. New York Jets
Worst Teams
(All winless teams will be bottomed ranked teams until there are less than five teams, and then the rankings will consist of my true thoughts and not just records)
32. Buffalo Bills
31. Arizona Cardinals
30. Oakland Raiders
29. New York Giants
28. Dallas Cowboys
Middle Teams
(Middle teams based on records until the teams play a significant amount of games to gauge their true ability).
15. Carolina Panthers
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
17. Cleveland Browns
18. Chicago Bears
Statistic That May Interest Only Me
All seven new coaches in the NFL, meaning coaches coaching their first game with their current team, lost this weekend, going 0-7.
Statistic that May Interest Only Me, Part 2
Frank Gore of the Miami Dolphins needs only 14 more yards to pass Curtis Martin for 4th place on the all-time rushing chart. He has 14,087 yards to Martin's 14,101. Depending upon how the season unfolds, Gore has a shot to pass Barry Sanders, with 15,269 yards, for 3rd place.
Statistic that May Interest Only Me (and Sinickal and Hopps), Part 3
The Cleveland Browns tied Pittsburgh 21-21. This is the Browns best start to a season since 2004.
Preview - Game(s) of the Week
4. Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers - The Chiefs are flying high behind Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill, and will fly into Pittsburgh where they will find a Steelers team that desperately needs to find its way after its week 1 tie with Pittsburgh.
3. Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Tampa Bay will see if they can keep the FitzMagic going against the defending Super Bowl champions, which basically just shut down Atlanta's high flying (see what I did there) offense last week.
2. New England Patriots at Jacksonville Jaguars - In an AFC championship game re-match, the Jaguars must hope to have Leonard Fournette at close to 100% to have a chance. If they do, it will be interesting to see what adjustments the Jaguars make on offense from last year, and the adjustments Belichick will make as well.
1. Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers - The Packers second divisional rival to ope the season. This game will match Green Bay's explosive offense with Minnesota's stout defense.
Trivia
Chicago Bears LB Khalil Mack had a sack, forced fumble, fumble recover, interception, and touchdown in the first half of Sunday nights' game against the rival Green Bay Packers. As widely reported, Mack was the first player since Lawrence Taylor in 1982 to record all of those statistics in one half. Who was the last player in the NFL to accomplish this in a full game?
Sports Bar Review of the Week
Today's review is of Twin Peaks, Grease Burger Bar, located at 2224 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, West Palm Beach, FL
Although a chain, this place will likely be a staple of this column due to the fact that it has the best television arrangement/setup in my area. Part of the ever-expanding "breastaurant concept", for those unfamiliar with Twin Peaks it has a hunting lodge theme with bartenders and waitresses in skimpy tied shirts and skirts.
Ambiance is simply generic-themed restaurant. Large open space with a bar in the middle and an outdoor patio with its own bar. Lots of large tables for groups that want to come watch games together.
The sports feel/vibe is good. As noted earlier, lots of televisions arranged where there is always easy access to at least four games. Easy to watch for friends that may have different team allegiances, or for fantasy football players keeping eyes on different games. On football Sundays, games are definitely the focus.
I ate before I went to Twin Peaks, so I cannot rate their menu at this time.
The beer selection is very good. Lots of regular and craft beers, but Twin Peaks prides itself on the fact that it brews its own selections - Dirty Blonds, Naughty Brewnette and Drop Dead Read, to go with the misogynistic breastaurant theme. Although noted by one in our party, they do not offer a Smooth Chocolate Stout, which might make some of the waitresses feel left out. I partook in the Naughty Brewnette which is good, not spectacular.
Service was good, which in my experience is unusual with this establishment. Waitress Soso (her name) deserves lots of credit for keeping us hydrated.
The bathrooms are spacious, and despite the size of the restaurant, there was never a wait, for the men or women.
Service - Philip Rivers
Drinks - Ben Roethlisberger
Food - Baker Mayfield (i.e. not yet known)
Cleanliness - Drew Brees
Sports Accommodations - Tom Brady
Overall - Russell Wilson
Rating System Based Upon Career of QBs chosen: Meaning, even the rating system is subjective.
Trivia Answer
Check back in next week.
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