NFL Wrap-Up (Week 1 Version)

Isn't it great to have the NFL back? Well, for most fans it is. For those of you too drunk to remember, here is your weekly NFL Wrap-Up. Based primarily on what I was able to see.

Game of the Week

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints. A division battle between two playoff-oriented teams. A great way to start the season, with enough offense and defense to make any fan happy. Honorable Mention to Minnesota at Green Bay and Carolina at San Diego.

Best Team Performance

Philadelphia Eagles. A 38-3 thorough ass-whipping of the St. Louis Lambs, err Rams. McNabb threw for 361 yards and a 131 passer rating, and three separate receivers gained at least 102 yards (DeSean Jackson, Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett). Honorable mention to the Denver Broncos, who won their game against the Oakland Raiders in about 2 minutes.

Least Impressive Team Performance

Oakland Raiders. They just simply looked out of sync the entire game. Dropped passes, missed opportunities (as few as they were), McFadden injured and just out-and-out sloppy play. Russell didn't play awful, so he may be something for the fans to keep watching.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Offense)

Michael Turner, RB - Atlanta Falcons. 220 on 22 carries, for 2 touchdowns. Welcome to the starting lineup Mr. Turner.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Defense)
London Fletcher, LB - Washington Redskins. 17 tackles. Just an enormous effort in an uphill game for Fletcher.

Honorable Mention to Charles Grant, DL - New Orleans Saints. He was only credited with 3 solo tackles and 1 sack, but he was a complete disruption in the game against the Buccaneers.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Special Teams)

Roscoe Parrish - Buffalo Bills. Concussionless and incredibly quick. Changes direction on a dime quicker than anyone in the NFL. His 63 yard punt return for a TD was electric. He could challenge Devin Hester as the most exciting Hurricane return man in the NFL.

Hit of the Week

Philadelphia's Sheldon Brown's hit on St. Louis's Steven Jackson that took his head (OK, his helmet) clean off. Much props to Jackson for popping right up.

Also Kansas City's Bernard Pollard's hit on T ... nah - that's just too mean, and it wasn't that big a hit. (Yep, I am going to hell).

Breakthrough Performance

This should go to Michael Turner, but because he was already mentioned, I am going to give this to his teammate Matt Ryan, QB. Not huge numbers (9-13, 161, 1TD), but a victory for QB-starved Falcons Fans (all 3 of you), plus a TD on his first NFL pass (more on this later).

Also look out for Eddie Royal, WR from Denver, and DeSean Jackson, WR from Philadelphia.

Finally
Reggie Bush, RB - New Orleans Saints. 14 carries for 51 yards, and 8 catches for 112 yards, including a 4th quarter game winning 42 yard TD reception that was practically all run. Is this the Reggie Bush that everyone was expecting? Plus, Kim Kardashian.

Impact Injury

Duh!

But also Nate Burleson, and possibly the combo of Joseph Addai and Dallas Clark. Burleson's injury is really threatening to the Seahawks because with the exception of one Shaun Alexander record setting year, they rely on the passing game. With no starts at WR, they need the collective talents of all of their receivers to really function, especially since their RB's are just not good.

I could also put Shawne Merriman here, but his injury was from so long ago, that he could have been recovered by now. Whoops.

Team Rising

Chicago Bears. Assuming that Kyle Orton can continue his steady play, they might just have the right run/pass mix to have a serviceable offense which complements their dominant defense. Now, I know their defense was not good last year, but the performance against the Colts, with the pressure they put on Manning and the tackling by the linebackers and secondary, especially on the slant patterns, was great. [Ed. note - Probably wishful thinking and Bears homerism.]

Team Falling

Cincinnati Bengals. And fast. Their prolific offense might just be finished, and since their defense never even approached adequate, that spells trouble, Ocho Cinco or no Ocho Cinco.

Best Teams

1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. Philadelphia Eagles
4. Denver Broncos
5. New York Giants

Worst Teams

32. St. Louis Rams
31. Cincinnati Bengals
30. Seattle Seahawks
29. Oakland Raiders
28. Cleveland Browns

Preview - Game(s) of the Week

3. Indianapolis at Minnesota - The loser falls to a precarious 0-2. Not impossible (See Giants, New York circa 2007), but still not a fun hill to climb.

2. Buffalo at Jacksonville - Time to see if Buffalo is real. Also time to see if Jacksonville peaked last year, or if the Titans just have their number.

1. Philadelphia at Dallas - For division, conference and possibly league supremacy.

Trivia

Who was the last quarterback before Matt Flynn to throw at TD on his first NFL attempt? Answers in the comment section. Answer provided next week.