2009 NFL Season has started!

[rickfc]

On a side note from that game: Frank Bush has no excuse as to how and why his defense was caught looking and burned for TD's on three consecutive drives. Absolutely inexcusable.

He and Lovie Smith can console each other. The Bears didn't force a punt until the fourth quarter when Cincy put in JT O'Sullivan. Every other time Palmer put hands on the ball the Bengals moved down the field and scored. They did have to settle for a field goal once, so there's that...

I forgot to mention that all three came from the exact same play to the same receiver. They're lucky to have hung on to the lead.

Yeah that was pretty funny.  It's not like they even came CLOSE to covering Davis on that play... he was wide open all 3 times.

gellar

Exactly.  It's one thing to let them score 21 points and ALMOST come back.  It's quite another for it to look like they're being awarded points for every time that FOX shows an instant replay. 

Actually it reminded me of the first New England/Miami game last year where the 'wildcat' was unleashed.  The defense is confident and prepared for one offense, and suddenly a completely new one shows up out of the blue.  I'm impressed they weathered the storm.

Yeah, but unlike the wildcat, in which the offense lines up the same way but can run multiple different plays, San Francisco lined up the exact same way and ran the exact same play.  I could understand had they gotten burned with two or three different plays; the Texans had not prepared for the back-up quarterback.  Mario Williams stated so himself.  The thing I can't get over is that they got burned with the same play, and the defense was unprepared all three times.   

[leo8877]

Singletary has named Smith the starter for next week already.  Let's see if he can keep it up!

[rickfc]

Singletary has named Smith the starter for next week already.  Let's see if he can keep it up!

I don't doubt it.  He played great.  Hopefully for them, it wasn't a fluke or that that the defense wasn't ready for him.

[naednek]

Singletary has named Smith the starter for next week already.  Let's see if he can keep it up!

I don't doubt it.  He played great.  Hopefully for them, it wasn't a fluke or that that the defense wasn't ready for him.

I doubt it.  Yes he played well yesterday, but he still shows that he keeps making rookie mistakes.  Like yesterday's 2 min drill.  He's having a hard time managing the time.  Neither Hill or Smith is the answer.  I was hoping Hill would prove me wrong.  Maybe Smith will, but he has had many tries and has always fall short.

[leo8877]

Wow the skins are bad....did you see that 4th and goal?  They snapped it to the ground.

[Eightball]

Wow the skins are bad....did you see that 4th and goal?  They snapped it to the ground.

It is SO fun being a Skins fan right now, I tell you.

[Moliere]

An interesting article from the Denver Post about dead money around the league. Sometimes you have to find a way to do more with less.

Within the first five days of free agency — as the Jay Cutler saga exploded to cast an ominous cloud over the Broncos' 2009 expectations, as the New York Giants gave a $42 million contract to Chris Canty, as the Washington Redskins gave $41 million guaranteed to Albert Haynesworth — McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders signed 12 free-agent players for a combined $36.62 million in guaranteed money.

All but two of those players — backup quarterback Chris Simms and running back J.J. Arrington, who was signed to a conditional contract based on a physical he eventually did not pass — have made a significant on-field impact this season.

[Teggy]

It's amazing to compare how good the Giants looked at the start of the season to how horrible they look now.

[Gratch]

Singletary has named Smith the starter for next week already.  Let's see if he can keep it up!

I don't doubt it.  He played great.  Hopefully for them, it wasn't a fluke or that that the defense wasn't ready for him.

I doubt it.  Yes he played well yesterday, but he still shows that he keeps making rookie mistakes.  Like yesterday's 2 min drill.  He's having a hard time managing the time.  Neither Hill or Smith is the answer.  I was hoping Hill would prove me wrong.  Maybe Smith will, but he has had many tries and has always fall short.

He's looked good so far today.  Amazing what he can do with a couple decent receivers and a line that gives him more than .5 seconds to throw before getting killed.

[Xmann]

umm, not hard to look good for the Giants when you play Kansas City, TB, Oakland, etc.   Kinda explains their early success.

[Teggy]

Down goes Denver. Looked like SF had their chance for a huge upset but couldn't come through.

[leo8877]

Down goes Denver. Looked like SF had their chance for a huge upset but couldn't come through.

Yeah I thought the Niners might pull it off, but alas no.

[Devil]

NY-NY Super Bowl looking dead-on like the experts predicted in week 3.

[Teggy]

This MIN-GB game is delivering.

[Xmann]

wow, Denver looked very bad

[naednek]

Singletary has named Smith the starter for next week already.  Let's see if he can keep it up!

I don't doubt it.  He played great.  Hopefully for them, it wasn't a fluke or that that the defense wasn't ready for him.

I doubt it.  Yes he played well yesterday, but he still shows that he keeps making rookie mistakes.  Like yesterday's 2 min drill.  He's having a hard time managing the time.  Neither Hill or Smith is the answer.  I was hoping Hill would prove me wrong.  Maybe Smith will, but he has had many tries and has always fall short.

He's looked good so far today.  Amazing what he can do with a couple decent receivers and a line that gives him more than .5 seconds to throw before getting killed.

He looked decent in the first half.  Then in the 2nd half he looked bad, but I blame most of it on bad play calling.  They keep going back to that conservative offense.  Smith excels at the spread/shotgun position, and they dabbed in that in the 2nd half with good success, and then they abandoned it again. 

[mori]

This MIN-GB game is delivering.

The Vikings defense decided not to come out after half time. BS roughing the passer penalty against the Vikings. One of the worst calls of the week.

[naednek]

I don't understand why the packer fans were booing Favre.  He made that team a sucess the last 12+years.  Yes he left and played for other teams, but so do other players. 

Jerry Rice left to play the Raiders, and when he came to SF he'd get standing ovations.  Favre should get the same respect.

[Jancelot]

I don't understand why the packer fans were booing Favre.  He made that team a sucess the last 12+years.  Yes he left and played for other teams, but so do other players. 

Jerry Rice left to play the Raiders, and when he came to SF he'd get standing ovations.  Favre should get the same respect.

Agreed 100%.  I thought that was pretty tasteless.  He's a legendary QB who bled yellow and green for most of his career.  They had a weird breakup but it's no reason for that kind of reception.  I'm glad it was a great game which is originally all I wanted from it.  But after that booing I was glad to see him win.

Big bummer for the 49ers.  They had that game but couldn't seal the deal offensively in the second half.  My buds at work will certainly be solemn tomorrow.

As for the Cowboys, I'm just glad to see good Romo showing up for games and the Dallas D performing up to potential.  I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts.   The big test will be to see if they can hang with the red hot Eagles next week.

[mori]

I don't understand why the packer fans were booing Favre.  He made that team a sucess the last 12+years.  Yes he left and played for other teams, but so do other players. 

Jerry Rice left to play the Raiders, and when he came to SF he'd get standing ovations.  Favre should get the same respect.

They are cheeseheads. That explains it all.

[ATB]

Does anyone not remember HOW he left GB? It was ugly ugly.  I would have booed him too.

[Devil]

I don't understand why the packer fans were booing Favre.  He made that team a sucess the last 12+years.  Yes he left and played for other teams, but so do other players.  

Jerry Rice left to play the Raiders, and when he came to SF he'd get standing ovations.  Favre should get the same respect.

I'm no Packer fan, but can see MANY reasons why they'd turn on the guy. Here are a few of my guesses:

Because he left and played for other teams? Because he was an ass about it? Because he held the team up
for 3 years while he made up his mind? Because he made it a point to go to a divisional rival. Because he was good?

Maybe it's my east-coastness, but it'd be very easy for me to boo a guy like that, no matter what he did fir the team 15 years ago.

[naednek]

Does anyone not remember HOW he left GB? It was ugly ugly.  I would have booed him too.

Yeah, packers didn't want to pay him the money.  Don't think Favre just left town to join the jets

[leo8877]

NY-NY Super Bowl looking dead-on like the experts predicted in week 3.

So glad to see Rex Ryan shut up.  Man those first 3 weeks were annoying as hell when he thought he was god's gift to football.

[Harkonis]

I definitely think going to the division rival is enough reason to boo someone.

[Blackadar]

Does anyone not remember HOW he left GB? It was ugly ugly.  I would have booed him too.

Yeah, packers didn't want to pay him the money.  Don't think Favre just left town to join the jets

That's not the way I remember it - it had nothing to do with money.  I remember Favre waffling on his retirement for a couple of years, then deciding to retire in March, 2008.  After the Packers made plans (including salary commitments to other players) and geared their entire off-season to moving on without Favre, he decided he wanted to come back (in July).  By all indications, the Packers knew they had a good one in Aaron Rodgers and if they allowed Favre to come back as the starter, after giving the starting gig to Rodgers (and having him put the work in for the starting job), they would have lost Rodgers.  Rumors were that if Green Bay screwed him over like that, Rodgers would not have resigned at the end of this year under any circumstances.  Since good starting QBs don't grow on trees, reinstating Favre as the starter would have screwed the franchise.  Hell, the Packers couldn't even get a commitment from Favre to play longer than one year, nor would he agree to an open camp competition for the job.  He wanted to un-retire and walk back in to his starting gig and huge salary, without regard for anyone or anything else.  Talk about your no-win scenario for Green Bay.  

Within a week of him announcing he wanted to come back, he asked the Packers to release him so he could resign with another team.  So then he asked to be released so he could sign on with an inter-divisional rival.  All indications was that he wanted to sign with Minn or Chicago.  When the Pack asked him to not sign inside of the division, Favre refused.  So instead of releasing him, the Packers traded him to the NYJ to get him out of the conference.  They really didn't have any other choice.  He played in New York for a year and then re-retired to engineer his way out of New York so he could sign with the Packer's arch-rivals.

As such, I'd expect Green Bay fans to be burning Favre's jersey outside the stadium today.  And perhaps burning anyone who was wearing one.  

[Devil]

NY-NY Super Bowl looking dead-on like the experts predicted in week 3.

So glad to see Rex Ryan shut up.  Man those first 3 weeks were annoying as hell when he thought he was god's gift to football.

It's disgusting, but happens every year with NY teams. The media/leagues have such a strong desire to have NY be the talk of the sport that they elevate them to artificial heights. Last year, with Favre they were 6-2 and on the way to planning a parade route then too. Football has a "Best Ever This Week" mentality more than most sports, but I see it in hockey too.

I swear the NHL schedules the Rangers to have more games through the first 3 weeks of the season than any other team in the league just so everyone can say "Look at the Rangers on top of the division with 16 points!!". What they don't show is that they are 8-12 while the Flyers only have 14 points but are 7-0.

[Graham]

This MIN-GB game is delivering.

The Vikings defense decided not to come out after half time. BS roughing the passer penalty against the Vikings. One of the worst calls of the week.

There were plenty of holding calls missed by the officials (not to mention the blatant facemask on Rodgers that was shown during a Fox replay) by the Vikings that didn't get called.  It was another horrendous officiating session.

[Graham]

Does anyone not remember HOW he left GB? It was ugly ugly.  I would have booed him too.

Yeah, packers didn't want to pay him the money.  Don't think Favre just left town to join the jets

That's not the way I remember it - it had nothing to do with money.  I remember Favre waffling on his retirement for a couple of years, then deciding to retire in March, 2008.  After the Packers made plans (including salary commitments to other players) and geared their entire off-season to moving on without Favre, he decided he wanted to come back (in July).  By all indications, the Packers knew they had a good one in Aaron Rodgers and if they allowed Favre to come back as the starter, after giving the starting gig to Rodgers (and having him put the work in for the starting job), they would have lost Rodgers.  Rumors were that if Green Bay screwed him over like that, Rodgers would not have resigned at the end of this year under any circumstances.  Since good starting QBs don't grow on trees, reinstating Favre as the starter would have screwed the franchise.  Hell, the Packers couldn't even get a commitment from Favre to play longer than one year, nor would he agree to an open camp competition for the job.  He wanted to un-retire and walk back in to his starting gig and huge salary, without regard for anyone or anything else.  Talk about your no-win scenario for Green Bay.  

Within a week of him announcing he wanted to come back, he asked the Packers to release him so he could resign with another team.  So then he asked to be released so he could sign on with an inter-divisional rival.  All indications was that he wanted to sign with Minn or Chicago.  When the Pack asked him to not sign inside of the division, Favre refused.  So instead of releasing him, the Packers traded him to the NYJ to get him out of the conference.  They really didn't have any other choice.  He played in New York for a year and then re-retired to engineer his way out of New York so he could sign with the Packer's arch-rivals.

As such, I'd expect Green Bay fans to be burning Favre's jersey outside the stadium today.  And perhaps burning anyone who was wearing one.  

A rare time I agree with Blackadar.  Favre presented himself as a good old boy who did it for the love of the game and instead he showed himself as a lying ass.  I used to be a huge Favre fan but if I had been there, I would a booed during the whole game as well.  He shouldn't have "retired" if he wasn't sure about playing.  I'm just glad that the Packers don't have to worry about the "is he or isn't he" game that they were playing for the past several years before he "retired."

[rickfc]

Damn it!  Looks like Owen Daniels is out for the season!   

[Jancelot]

True, but I also remember the fans and press had been bemoaning for quite some time their old QB who wasn't winning super bowls anymore.  They have equal blame and from my perspective it was just a bad situation.  Favre showed he had regained his class on Sunday by how he handled it.  The booing was low class, spiteful and uncalled for under any circumstances.  Shame on the fans.  I don't blame him one bit for not having difficulty deciding if he wanted to go back to an obviously ungrateful fan base.

[leo8877]

Man the Saints are fun to watch.

[The Grue]

Geaux Saints!!!  You know (and I know I am now cursing them), but the only real challenging team they have left to play for the rest of the year is New England (other than another Atlanta game).  I think they will lose more than that (they almost lost to the Dolphins), but I don't see them folding and not making the playoffs or anything.  This is a team that could make it to the Super Bowl.

[ATB]

This is a team that could make it to the Super Bowl.

I would love to see that happen. I would love to see them go undefeated through the playoffs and the superbowl.  I am willing to let go of undefeated if it's in exchange for a superbowl ring for the 'Aints.

[msteelers]

This is a team that could make it to the Super Bowl.

They are clearly the best team in football right now. They don't have a weak spot at all. Offensively they can beat you to through the air or on the ground, and on defense they cause havoc and force a lot of turnovers. I don't think they go undefeated, but they have a really good shot at representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

[Devil]

Saints don't go undefeated OR to the Super Bowl. Mark it down!
(and I like them)

[leo8877]

I would like to see the Saints go to the Super Bowl.  Brees seems like a great guy.

[Blackadar]

This is a team that could make it to the Super Bowl.

They are clearly the best team in football right now. They don't have a weak spot at all. Offensively they can beat you to through the air or on the ground, and on defense they cause havoc and force a lot of turnovers. I don't think they go undefeated, but they have a really good shot at representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

I agree with saying the Saints are the best team in football right now, but I'm not ready to jump on their bandwagon quite yet.  I really can't properly evaluate them.  They played the Jets in the middle of a 4 game losing streak, the Giants in the midst of a 3 game losing streak, the Eagles when they didn't have their starting QB, a bad Buffalo team in the midst of a 3 game losing streak, a Miami team that hasn't won a game outside their division, Detroit and a decent Atlanta team.

They're explosive, that's for sure.  But I'm not convinced that they're really a great team, nor that they can compete in a tough, physical game.  But then again, I'm not sure they'll play one this entire season.  This may be one of the least-tested teams going into the playoffs.  I see only 3 challenging games and they have two of those at home (the Patriots and Dallas).  The only road game they have that looks tough is at Atlanta, who plays in a dome. 

I remain a skeptic when it comes to the Saints.  I think there's little doubt they make the playoffs and will play at home, but I wonder what will happen when a tough, physical team punches them square in the mouth.  They remind me a bit of the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams teams.  But that team, for all its regular-season success, barely won one Super Bowl because they had a hard time physically competing in close games. 

[Teggy]

I know everyone seems to have MW2 or Dragon Age on the brain today, but there are some interesting games going on. Looks like Cincinnati will be taking out Baltimore, and right now Houston is up on Indianapolis.

[leo8877]

I know everyone seems to have MW2 or Dragon Age on the brain today, but there are some interesting games going on. Looks like Cincinnati will be taking out Baltimore, and right now Houston is up on Indianapolis.

I'm anxiously following my Bengals on NFL.com.  Looks like MIA is giving NE a run for their money, too.