Bucs played clean

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and his players were clearly upset when Eli Manning was knocked down as he took a knee to end the game against the Buccaneers. Anybody who thinks the Bucs delivered a "cheap shot" on that play is a either an idiot or a drama queen. In this case the Giants are drama queens. The Bucs defensive line pushed the Giants offensive line backwards into Manning forcing him to gently fall to the ground. Yeah, that's quite a cheap shot (heavy sarcasm). Tampa Bay did what every team should: don't let up until you're told the game is over.

Packers defense too much for Bears

I thought that the Bears would beat the Packers and more importantly that their larger wide receivers would be too much for Green Bay's secondary to handle. I was dead wrong. In the 23-10 victory the Packers defense sacked Jay Cutler seven times, three and a half by Clay Matthews, and intercepted four of his passes. In a division like the NFC North, where all the teams have a fierce pass rush, the Bears need to do a better job protecting Jay Cutler if they want to be playing football in January.

The oldest rivalry in the book

The Bears and Packers square off tonight for the 185th time. Wow that's a lot of games! Jay Cutler has his old-new favorite target Brandon Marshall, a healthy Matt Forte, and as always a strong defense. The Packers have listed Greg Jennings as doubtful and while that's a fairly big loss this offense has depth at the receiver position. But I think the Packers secondary is in for a tough night going up against this dangerous Chicago offense. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery are tall and strong receivers that can out-muscle and out-leap defenders. Add the Matt Forte into the mix and you get a balanced attack.
After losing to the 49ers on Sunday it's hard to vote against Green Bay playing at home tonight but I just have a feeling they're going to come up short tonight. Bears 27 Packers 24

I could get use to these replacement refs

Like the usual referees, the replacements made some mistakes. However, they officiated a lot better than I expected them to. A true luxury from these replacement refs is that we're seeing much less defensive pass interference calls compared to previous seasons. Wide receivers are by far the whiniest players on the field constantly complaining to the officials. If I had a nickel for every time I saw a receiver drop a ball, throw his hands in the air and look towards the referees resulting in a defensive pass interference call, I wouldn't still be living with my rents. Hopefully the league doesn't do or say anything to change that part of the game... again. 

Pats defense and running game shine in season opener

There were two eye openers in the Patriots victory against the Titans: 1) Stevan Ridley is a quality back and 2) This young defense looks pretty good. Ridley ran for 125 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries and caught two passes for 27 yards. He showed good vision and burst through the line of scrimmage and used his blockers very well. I was very impressed by his performance. On the other side of the ball the defense was pretty good. Their first first three draft choices from April (Chandler Jones, Donta Hightower, and Tavon Wilson) made big plays. Chandler Jones strip sacked Jake Locker and the fumble was recovered and taken in for a touchdown by Hightower. Tavon Wilson recorded an interception. The pass defense needs to improve but as far as stopping the run goes, they were phenomenal holding the Titans to a mere 20 yards rushing. There will obviously be games where the defense struggles but from what we saw yesterday this defense is much improved from last season.

RG3 shines while his fellow rookie quarterbacks struggle

Five rookie quarterbacks started week one; Robert Griffin III (WAS), Andrew Luck (IND), Brandon Weeden (CLE), Ryan Tannehill (MIA), and Russell Wilson (SEA). But only Robert Griffin III came out victorious and put on a stellar performance completing 19 of his 26 passes for 320 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions as he lead the Skins to a 40-32 upset victory in the Saints' Super Dome. Griffin didn't look like a rookie yesterday, but a four year veteran. His fellow rookie signal callers, well they had rookie written all over them. Andrew Luck, Brandon Weeden, and Ryan Tannehill each threw three interceptions. Russell Wilson threw only one pick in his struggling debut against the Cardinals.

Bounty Gate conclusion?

The suspensions of Johnathan Vilma, Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, and Will Smith have been overturned and all are eligible to play this Sunday. Initially the Commissioner suspended Vilma for the entire season, Hargrove for 8 games, Smith for 4 games, and Fujita for 3 games. This is huge for the Saints now that Vilma is back to lead the defense. We'll probably hear more about the bounty gate scandal throughout the season as Commissioner Goodell will look to prove there was intent to injure among the Saints players.