THUNDERING BLURB

ANDREW GARDA'S ENDLESS TAKES ON NFL AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Posts Tagged St. Louis Rams

Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow & Jim Kelly: 2010 NFL Draft Smoke

Mar 29

Posted by admin in AFC East, Buffalo Bills, Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Uncategorized, nfl draft | 2 Comments

Today none other than long-time NFL writer Gil Brandt opined that Sam Bradford’s Pro Day Workout had left people speechless and was the greatest workout since Troy Aikman.

Meanwhile news leaked that legendary Bills quarterback Jim Kelly had been involved in a dinner the team had with Florida quarterback-turned-Draft-lightning-rod Tim Tebow. According to Kelly (or rather his wife’s Twitter-feed) the former quarterback came away impressed.

Of course what this has led to in both cases is intense media speculation about everything as to when they will be drafted to whether they (in Bradford’s case) will sign before the draft.

Days like this remind me of the old saying: Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.

Let’s think about what we really heard today – not the hype, not the crazy salivating. What was actually said.

Bradford had a good Pro Day - but best ever?

In Bradford’s case, he had an outstanding Pro Day, no doubt about it.

Keep in mind though—the guy threw a ton of passes, yes, but scripted and with absolutely no pressure on him. He didn’t take a hit, didn’t have to get back off the turf after a big hit to his shoulder.

Now, I’m not going to downplay the work he did to get his shoulder right. He is showing no weakness in the shoulder and that assuages my one big concern for him.

I don’t worry much about durability—the guy chose to try and let his shoulder heal on it’s own via rehab and when he come back, it was clear that wasn’t enough.

So throwing the way he did is a big deal. But he didn’t show that much more than we expected did he? Did we see something never seen before? I’ve been to a bunch of Pro Days, including a rather impressive one Mark Sanchez had at USC last year.

Hell John David Booty had an impressive Pro Day.

I’m hear to tell you it’d be more of a shock if he had a bad day.

So what did we learn? We learned his arm is fine, his accuracy is just as advertised and he can throw a deep ball when not under pressure.

Aside from that? Hype. Keep some perspective—locked in 1st pick? Maybe. Hall of Fame? Maybe later…

As a side note, we’re a month out and while we’re all assuming Bradford is the top pick, suddenly reports say he’s not going to sign his not-yet-offered contract.

So…. we’ve got the World’s Greatest Pro Day and a Qb who is rumored in some vague way to not be sure he’ll sign a contract that doesn’t exist yet.

Huh?

Our other Over-Reaction Moment for Monday involved Tim Tebow. Shocking, I know.

I would dearly love to spend a day with this guy if just to see what he’s really

With Tebow it's hard to seperate truth from hype.

like.

Because who can tell with the smoke and mirrors around him? I have to wonder how much he buys into what is said about him. He seems very grounded, but how the heck would I know? How could anyone outside of those who take him to dinner or interview him in a dark room at their team facilities?

Speaking of dinner, the Bills had Tebow over for dinner this weekend and rumors ran rampant on the internet about how impressed Kelly was with him.

What did the staff think? Hard to say since everyone was busy reading into Kelly’s reaction which actually wasn’t even his so much as his wife’s reaction to his reaction.

Head hurt? It should. All the discussion about the Bills came about mostly because of one person’s excitement about another person’s excitement.

Am I saying Tebow isn’t going to the Bills or that Jim Kelly didn’t fall in love with him after dinner? No. What I am saying is that it shouldn’t really be this much news when a) a team meets with a top prospect or b) someone comes away with a dinner with Tebow and says he’s a class act.

REALLY? TEBOW IS A GOOD CITIZEN?

This is the part of the year where teams start some real gamesmanship. I’m sure the Bills are thinking a bit about Tebow. But how much? Hard to say and anyone who swears they know the level better be working for the team.

But we’re watching high-stakes poker. Teams are all trying to see how soon they have to go ‘all in’ to get what they want.

Someone will blink on Tebow. They’ll see—or rather think they see—another team ahead of them in the next round start to move and they’ll leap forward, push their chips in and hope to good they don’t get river’d.

I have my concerns about Tebow, but there is enough buzz around him to where people are intrigued. It does feel a bit like Tebow is a strong possibility for the Bills, and I think they may strongly consider him with their second round pick.

Though some of that just feels like it’s what they want me to feel.

Like so many things, we’re being manipulated early and often.

So next time you see that blurb about Jacksonville feeding Tebow or Player A having ‘the greatest Pro Day recorded in human history since we started recording history’, make sure you read a little closer and think a little longer.

And try not to step in the hype.

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Thundering Blurb Interview #1

Feb 26

Posted by admin in Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey guys – if you follow me on Twitter or listened to Wednesday’s show, you know I was interviewed on a St. Louis radio station (KFNS 590 The Fan) about Tim Tebow, the Combine and the Rams.

I finally threw it up for your perusal and since I was home on Friday due to inclement weather (ice and snow) did a whole show on top of it. So listen in, and you’ll get the interview, my expanded thoughts on the subjects we covered and then my five things you need to keep in mind as you watch the Scouting combine this week.

Enjoy!

ps – Did a second interview on an ESPN affiliate in Bakersfield. When I get the audio, so will you.

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Up For Grabs: How Warner’s Retirement Opens The Door For The 49ers

Jan 29

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It’s over. Just give San Francisco the 2010 NFC West Division title now and be done with it.

OK, that’s a bit of hyperbole. Nothing is ever set in stone. You just have to like the 49ers’ chances, though, in a division where the most consistent and dynamic offense just lost it’s biggest weapon.

Future HOF QB Warner bows out - what does that mean for the Cards?

Future HOF QB Warner bows out - what does that mean for the Cards?

With the announcement today that Arizona Cardinal quarterback Kurt Warner is leaving the game, the 49ers find themselves with an opportunity to not only compete—something they were already doing this past season—but wrest the Division title from the Cardinals for the first time in two years.

It won’t be easy. The Cardinals still have one of the best group of wide receivers in the game today. Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston—and if he stays—Anquan Boldin are all top notch players. If Boldin leaves, Early Doucet has proven he can step in as a number three, while Breaston steps up into the number two role.

Problem is, they won’t have Kurt Warner throwing to them.

Say what you will about judging too early, but Matt Leinart has yet to show that he will step seamlessly into Warner’s shoes. While he looked improved when given spot duty during the playoffs, Leinart lacks consistency and has struggled more than he has excelled.

It’s safe to say that for an offense predicated on massive pass yardage, this could prove to be a huge step backwards. 

While Chris Wells and Tim Hightower have formed a pretty good running back tandem, they will now face stiffer run defenses until Leinart can prove he’s the real deal. The offensive line, which has been shaky and streaky, will be tested with blitzes and various pressure schemes to press Leinart into bad decisions.

The Cardinals won’t implode, not by any means. What they may have to do is seriously alter their offensive game plan to suit the remaining talent, which can take time. Fitzgerald and company may be able to make Leinart look better quicker, but ultimately defenses will test the young quarterback.

From what we’ve seen so far, he has a long way to go still.

While the 49ers struggled throughout the season, they made some great strides forward. Another year with the same coaching staff, with the same vision, should allow them to continue to build towards something very good.

There are certainly areas of need. The secondary needs help, the offensive line has pretty significant problems and they could use more defensive line and linebacker depth to help create pressure on opposing offenses (such as the Cardinals).

However, if 49ers quarterback Alex Smith can play a little more consistently and continue to make strides forward, if the team can improve that offensive line via Free Agency and April’s NFL Draft, if Frank Gore can stay healthy while Glen Coffee takes a step forward in his secodn year—well the 49ers have an opportunity to strike and wrest the Division away from Arizona.

It’s a lot of ‘if’s’ but the 49ers were in the hunt for much of the season this year despite some really shaky moments. With a second off-season together, as well as additions they can make this Spring, they will continue to take a step forward.

The running game—anchored by Gore and assisted by Coffee—will still be a key feature and as the offensive line improves, they will only be more effective.

While there are still questions about Smith as a viable starter long-term, the weapons he has in tight end Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree (and to a lesser extent, Josh Morgan) are potent. Smith needs to protect the ball better, but his arm strength coupled with his receivers could allow him to pull defenses away from the offensive line and give the run game more room.

There is work to be done, but the 49ers offense is on the upswing.

Looking at the rest of the Divison doesn’t really create worries. Aside from anfc-west[1] Cardinals team which will still be a tough foe—even without Warner—there are two teams in far worse shape than San Francisco.

The St. Louis Rams are in complete rebulding mode and barring a miracle, will not be a factor for several years. Both sides of the ball—from quarterback to secondary to offensive and defensive linemen—are a shattered mess in need of a complete tear-down and rebuild.

The Seattle Seahawks have more tools to work with but are still in a transitional period. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has problems staying healthy and is no longer the top-shelf quarterback he once was. There is little to speak about in the run game, the wide receivers—even 2009’s Big Signing TJ Houshmandzedah—are decidedly average even when Hasselbeck isn’t struggling or hurt. The defense is slipping. And they have a new coach—former USC Head Coach Pete Carroll—who has to come in and revamp much of the team.

Neither of these teams are serious contenders for the NFC West Title.

It will come down to the Cardinals and the 49ers. Neither team is perfect, but while the 49ers are adding pieces, the Cardinals are losing one—a big one. You don’t lose a potential Hall of Fame quarterback and just move on. (Well, you rarely do. Usually you need Steve Young.)

It’s a long off-season and both teams will make many roster moves between now and opening day. Many things will change, perhaps radically.

Regardless of those moves, the balance of power in the NFC West has shifted. It may be slight. It may even still be weighed in the Cardinals’ favor.

It moved, though and that slight shift could be all the 49ers need to win the Division Title since 2002.

 

Find more 49ers articles by Andrew at BleacherReport.com.

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NFL Rewind: Week 2 (part 2)

Sep 21

Posted by admin in NFL Recap | No Comments

Redskins 9 Rams 7

Redskins

Individually, the Redskins put up some decent numbers. Clinton Portis had 88 total yards (79 on the ground, a pair of catches for 9), Chris Cooley had 83 yards receiving and Jason Campbell threw for 242 yards. But overall the offense couldn’t get anything going, especially in the red zone where they went 0-5. Not much more to say about this game which showed that the Redskins have a lot of problems in their offensive scheme than we suspected.

Rams

The Rams didn’t look much better as only Steven Jackson had anything resembling a real productive day with 104 yards on the ground. They also involved him in the passing game this week which added four catches and 15 yards to his total.

The only other moment for this offense was a two yard pass from Marc Bulger to Laurent Robinson in the second quarter. Overall though, this is a team still struggling in all areas of the game and you have to wonder if they are looking to reboot the whole team, perhaps with the exception of Jackson.

Bills 33 Buccaneers 20

Bills

Coming off a terribly disappointing loss to the Patriots in Week 1, the Bills played determined football on both sides of the ball and jumped out to a 17 point lead early, with quarterback Trent Edwards connecting with Lee Evans for a 32 yard touchdown and Safety Donte Whitner nabbing an interception and returning it 76 yards for a touchdown.

Fred Jackson carved out even more of a permanent space in the backfield with a brilliant 163 performance on the ground, his second game in a row where he had more than 140 total yards. Terrell Owens caught his first touchdown as a Bill in the fourth quarter and totalled three catches for 52 yards. The Bills offense seems to have not missed a beat after firing their offensive coordinator just before the season.

Buccaneers

Quarterback Byron Leftwich had a decent game, completing 26 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, he turned the ball over twice, including the Whitner pick six I mentioned in the Bills recap. Kellen Winslow continues to play well, catching seven balls for 90 yards and touchdown. Maurice Stovall filled in for injured Antonio Bryant and caught three balls for 80 yards. Carnell Williams had a nice day in the pass game as well, hauling in seven balls for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Unfortunately he and the rest of the backfield stalled out on the ground. Williams had an awful 9 yards on seven carries, while Derrick Ward only had 32 yards and Ernest Graham totalled 16. Part of this was due to falling behind so far so early, but even when the Bucs closed in, the run game could not move the chains.

49ers 23 Seahawks 10

49ers

The big story here – from an offensive standpoint, virtually the only story – was Frank Gore’s 246 total yards and two touchdowns. Gore showed both toughness when running between the tackles and big play ability with his long touchdown runs, the first for 79 yards and the second for 80. The rest of the offense was relatively lackluster, but when you have Frank Gore you ride him and that’s what the game-plan is and will continue to be for San Francisco.

Seahawks

Seattle had a rough day. First the defense gets absolutely embarrassed by Frank Gore. Then they lose. And in the process, QB Matt Hasselbeck went down with a rib injury. Seneca Wallace stepped in and did very little more than fill a spot, throwing a touchdown to Julius Jones and an interception to 49er Safety Dashon Goldson.

The interesting ‘watch this guy’ moment of the game was running back/fullback Justin Forsett who played pretty well both on the ground (five carries for 35 yards) and in the receiving game (six catches for 57 yards). We know Edgerrin James and Julius Jones aren’t long term answers. Could Forsett emerge as the main back at some point? Keep him on your radar. Hasselbeck’s x-rays were negative and the ribs are bruised, not cracked. Watch him this week as he could very well miss the next game.

Bears 17 Steelers 14

Bears

For the most part Chicago looked far more together against the Steelers than they did Week 1 against the Packers. QB Jay Cutler looked much more confident and settled, throwing 27 completions for 236 yards and two touchdowns, one to emerging threat Johnny Knox and one to tight end Kellen Davis. The tight end we thought would get those touchdowns – Greg Olsen – only had three catches on the day.

Back to Cutler though – he looked much more poised and made far better decisions than in his game against the Packers in Week 1. Cutler worked underneath a lot and took what the Steelers gave him, rather than forcing the ball long. It worked very well. Matt Forte continues too look bad in the run game, gaining only 29 yards on 13 carries for a pretty weak 2.23 yards per carry. On the plus side he caught five balls for 33 yards, but he’s not gaining anything on the ground. Whether this is merely too many defenders in the backfield or Forte having a huge case of sophomore slump is hard to say this early. But he’s not playing well and that’s a huge concern for the Bears.

Steelers

Last week the Steelers made up for a lackluster run game with an outstanding passing attack. That didn’t happen on Sunday as Ben Roethlisberger didn’t find the same success. Big Ben only totalled 221 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing one interception. He did also run for another touchdown, but he was the only one who could find room to do that. 

Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore combined for just 99 yards though Mendenhall’s 39 came on just three carries. Wide receivers Santonio Holmes (5-83) and Hines Ward (6-57) both came back down to Earth though they had solid overall games. The Steelers were able to stay in the game though, but in the end, the offensive stalled on two successive drives which were capped by a pair of Jeff Reed misses and ate up too much of the clock to come up empty-handed.

Broncos 27 Browns 6

Broncos

Kyle Orton may be no Jay Cutler, but he’s also no JaMarcus Russell – he can actually find his wide receivers. And while nobody broke out in a huge way, he moves the chains well enough. Two things of note in this game: first Corell Buckhalter looks good and continues to excel. His 76 yards and a touchdown on nine carries was a great performance and while rookie Knowshon Moreno nearly equaled it (75 yards), CBuck is still playing more effectively. Peyton Hillis was almost nonexistent but did get a touchdown.

The second thing to take away from in this game is the continued poor showing of Eddie Royal. It’s not as if Royal isn’t getting targets – he was thrown to nine times in this game – but he isn’t doing enough to haul those balls in. He only got three catches for 20 yards. Why is he struggling so? It’s hard to say right now, but he needs to get back on the same page as Orton if he is to be effective this season.

Brandon Stokely (5-70) and Jabar Gaffney (3-82) stepped up in his stead but Brandon Marshall continues to do very little, catching only three balls for 34 yards.

Browns

Well at least you can say Braylon Edwards had a good game. Edwards’ six catches for 92 yards was about the only bright spot for this team which was stifled on both sides of the ball by an overpowering Broncos team. Even Joshua Cribbs – he of the big play ability – had a miscue, fumbling the ball. Overall nobody looks very good on this team and it doesn’t look like it will get better any time soon.

Ravens 31 Chargers 26

Ravens

The Chargers were without Defensive Lineman Jamall Williams and the Ravens took advantage of that with a very solid rush attack. Willis McGahee continues to be impressive (and healthy!) gaining 79 yards and scoring twice. McGahee is shaking his injury prone label thus far and seems to be flourishing. Ray Rice and Le’Ron McClain were relegated to bystander status, but that didn’t matter for the Ravens especially as Rice added 46 receiving yards. While the pass game wasn’t very impressive, the backs did the job and the Ravens came away with a win.

Chargers

I bet many fantasy owners thought they had better match-ups than this one and sat Rivers like me. If that’s the case then, like me, you missed a huge game as Rivers threw for 436 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was so good in fact that the two interceptions were barely a blip. Rivers had his team set to win, until Ray Lewis smushed diminutive Darren Sproles on a 4th and 2 to end the game.

Sproles was outstanding filling in for LaDainian Tomlinson, though his damage was caused in the passing attack. Sproles (7-124-1) was one of two Chargers who topped 100 yards, Vincent Jackson and his 141 yards being the other top performance. Both players accounted for a touchdown as well. Sproles is certainly a serviceable replacement for LT. Still, you have to wonder if a healthy Tomlinson might have been strong and big enough to shove past Lewis for the critical first down. 

Giants 33 Cowboys 31

Giants

Eli Manning had an outstanding day, throwing for 330 yards and two touchdowns. He was able to find his receivers often and deliver solid throws to them and the receivers stepped up. Steve Smith has played pretty well since entering the league and he had a great day, catching 10 balls for 134 yards while Mario Manningham caught another 10 for 150 yards.

Smith and Manningham were the recipients of Manning’s touchdown throws not to mention nearly all his throws (20 of Manning’s 25 completion went to one of those two receivers).

With the passing game clicking, the ground game fell by the wayside and both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw had sub-par days.

Cowboys

Fresh off a victory they thought answered all the questions about them, theCowboys opened their new home by letting their secondary get blown up by the Giants. As good as Tony Romo looked in Week 1, he looked equally bad Sunday night. His 127 yard, one touchdown to three interception performance was pretty brutal, the only bright spot being Jason Witten’s touchdown.

On the ground it was a different story, as Marion Barber totalled 124 yards and a touchdown and his partner in crime Felix Jones had his own touchdown to go with his 96 yards on just nine carries. Overall the Cowboys stayed close, but like the Redskins in Week 1, they couldn’t seal the deal.

This article is also posted at BleacherReport.com.

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NFL Week One Recap – Pt 2

Sep 14

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BRONCOS 12, BENGALS 7

 

BRONCOS

If it wasn’t for a lucky – but still skillful – play by Brandon Stokely this game would be viewed as a disappointment. Instead, Kyle Orton’s ok-but-not-fantastic 243 yards and a touchdown looks much brighter and the Broncos might feel better about a game where they could not get their rhythm going. Correll Buckhalter was the most effective back, but Coach McDaniels seemed determined to get rookie Knowshon Moreno a bunch of work. Both got eight carries but Moreno could only accumulate 19 yards to Buckhalter’s 46. Orton moved the ball around a lot, but no receiver stood out. Brando Marshall only saw four catches, Eddie Royal had just two and overall there were many drops from Orton’s targets. The Broncos may have run, but their offense looks shaky at best.

 

BENGALS

Carson Palmer had a good yardage total (247) but his two interceptions showed some of the rust he accumulated from so much time on the I/R. Chad Ochocinco was back to normal form with five catches for 89 yards but Chris Henry – who Palmer had gushed over all Summer – was almost nonexistent with his expected targets going to second year wide receiver Andre Caldwell who had six catches for 54 yards. Veteran Laveranues Coles had several drops and was a non-factor. Cedric Benson continues to play well for the Bengals (76 and one TD) and might have some nice fantasy value this season. Overall though, not the start anyone hoped for with Palmer and Ochocinco finally healthy.

 

JETS 24, TEXANS 7

 

JETS

Mark Sanchez looked calm and cool in the pocket as he threw far more than many expected and totaled 272 yards and a touchdown in his Jets debut. His one interception proved he has a ways to go – he made a bad decision and threw right into the arms of Safety John Busing. Still a nice performance. Dustin Keller had a very nice game with four catches for 94 yards and Jerricho Cotchery caught six balls for 90.  Chansi Stuckey was the recipient of Sanchez’s first touchdown and also had 64 yards on the day. Despite the 107 yards and two touchdowns, Thomas Jones looked horrible for most of the game. He looked bad in preseason and until he broke loose for a pair of long runs (one for a touchdown) his yards per carry was weak. True to Rex Ryan’s word, Leon Washington got a lot of carries – 15 in total – gaining 60 yards on the ground to go with his 24 through the air.

 

TEXANS

The Jets defense spent most of  the day in the Texans’ backfield and that made things difficult for quarterback Matt Schaub. If Schaub can’t get some protection, he’s going to get hurt again. He was only sacked once, but spent a lot of time picking himself up off the turf. The entire offense was out of sync, as the Jets defense threw multiple looks at them and they had no answers. Andre Johnson had a quiet game – just four catches for 35 yards – and was shadowed effectively most of the day by Jets corner back Darrelle Revis. Running back Steve Slaton found no room to run on the ground and got just 17 yards, salvaging the day a little with three catches for 35 yards.

 

VIKINGS 34, BROWNS 20

 

VIKINGS

Are you convinced Adrian Peterson is a stud now? That he’s the engine for this offense and should have been the number one pick in every fantasy draft? Sure, the 198 total yards and three touchdowns came against a pretty bad Cleveland team. It doesn’t lesson the fact that he’s a man amongst boys. Watch him as he dismisses Browns defenders when he rips off a 64 yards touchdown run. (The 57 second mark is the best spot) It’s his team and will continue to be so. Newly un-retired quarterback Brett Favre looked like a man who had skipped Training Camp, missing Sidney Rice in the end zone and generally not on the same page with his receivers. This happened with the Jets last season and will last another three to five weeks. Rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin was the only real story in the receiving corps, as he had a nice touchdown from Favre and carried the ball twice for 22 yards to add to his 36 receiving yards. Bernard Berrian was there but might as well been invisible and Rice only got 17 yards on a pair of catches.

 

BROWNS

Brady Quinn looked serviceable in his performance, throwing for 205 yards, one touchdown and one pick. Tight End Robert Royal was his favorite target, gaining 60 yards and a touchdown on four catches. Jamal Lewis held the starting job for another week and totaled 57 yards on the ground, though surprisingly added 47 yards on a trio of receptions. Will this keep up? If Quinn keeps having to check down, it might and Lewis may have some value yet.

 

49ers 20, CARDINALS 16

 

49ers

Shaun Hill wasn’t very pretty but got the job done with a 18/31, 209 and one touchdown effort. As he did often in the preseason, he found Vernon Davis often, helping the newly minted team captain to a five catch, 40 yard day. Veteran Isaac Bruce had a huge 50 yard catch on his way to a four catch, 74 yard day. Josh Morgan started out hot but ended up with just three catches for 38 yards. All three got more targets than catches, but at times Hill just wasn’t quite on point with his throws. Still, that will come with time, and the day was encouraging. Frank Gore couldn’t get much going on the ground, which is a huge concern for a team which purports to run the ball 60% of the time. Gore supplemented his 30 yards on 22 carries with another 18 on three receptions. Gore did score twice, once on the ground and once through the air.

 

CARDINALS

While Kurt Warner was able to throw for 288 yards, he struggled often and threw a pair of picks as well as a touchdown. The 49ers defensive line did an outstanding job of disguising their defensive schemes and Warner seemed to have a hard time adjusting. Larry Fitzgerald contributed to the cause with 71 yards and a touchdown, while Anquan Boldin only had two catches for 19 yards. With Steve Breaston out, Jerheme Urban caught five balls for 74 yards. Warner did have a 100 yard receiver but it wasn’t any of the usual suspects – instead it was running back Tim Hightower who caught 12 passes for 121 yards. Hightower and rookie Chris Wells both struggled on the ground and neither ran the ball more than eight times, with Wells gaining 29 to Hightower’s 15.

 

GIANTS 23, REDSKINS 17

GIANTS

Eli Manning and the Giants offense allowed the Redskins to hang around far too long and were unable to finish them off until Steve Smith recovered an on-side kick with 1:30 left to play. Manning played well, totaling 256 yards and a touchdown with his favorite and most reliable target being the aforementioned Smith, who hauled in six catches for 80 yards.

Brandon Jacobs was never really get any traction on the ground, gaining just 46 yards over the course of 16 carries. Number two back Ahmad Bradshaw had a little more luck, totalling 60 yards on 12 carries. Bradshaw added 11 receiving yards and Jacobs compiled 17 himself through the air.

Unfortunately, the two biggest stories for the Giants were injuries. Third stringer Danny Ware was injured on the opening kick-off, sustaining  a dislocated elbow while rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks left in the fourth quarter with what turned out to be a sprained ankle. They dodged a bullet with Nicks as the initial injury looked far worse than the 2-3 weeks he should be out. The extent of Ware’s absence is currently unknown and as of Monday morning he is out indefinitely.

REDSKINS

The Redskins were in the game a long time, but were unable to do much until the end of the game. Quarterback Jason Campbell was inconsistent, connecting with tight end Chris Cooley for a touchdown at one point and finding Giants corner back Corey Webster for an interception another. The run game was also average at best. Clinton Portis earned every yard of his 62 yards, finding it extremely tough to gather any momentum against a tough Giants run defense.

Antwaan Randel El had the best game of the Washington wide receivers, catching seven balls for 98 yards. As mentioned, Cooley got the touchdown and added 68 yards to that. No other wide receiver had more than a pair of catches as the offense never got going on a consistent basis.

SEAHAWKS 28, RAMS 0

SEAHAWKS

Seattle came out firing against the hapless Rams but were far from perfect. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s 279 yards and trio of touchdowns were solid, but he also turned the ball over twice. Nate Burleson had seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, but also fumbled the ball twice, losing it once. Still the bright spots were dazzling. Second year tight end John Carlson had six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns while running back Julius Jones carried the ball 19 times for 117 yards and his own touchdown.

Newly acquired receiver TJ Houshmanzadeh had a solid day, gaining 48 yards on six catches and should be a bigger part of the offense as the season progresses.

RAMS
There isn’t much good to take away from the Rams efforts. Wide receiver Laurent Robinson had the most yards with 87 yards on five catches. Donnie Avery seemed healthy and ran for eight yards on top of his 46 yards on six receptions. But Steven Jackson was limited when the Rams fell behind and while his yards per carry was an impressive 4.19, his totals topped out at just 67 yards.
 
Jackson was also virtually ignored in the passing game after the Rams had said he would be a bigger part of it. They’re going to have to get him more involved if they have any hope of overcoming offensive line problems.
 
 
PACKERS 21, BEARS  15
 
PACKERS
Neither of the quarterbacks in this game were pretty, but Aaron Rodgers limited his mistakes and got the job done. His 184 yards and a touchdown didn’t have visions of highlight reels dancing in your head but he won and that’s all that counts on the field. Fantasy-wise, he’ll do better and owners should worry. Wide receiver Greg Jennings got his year off to a booming start with six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown and he continues to make his mark with every game. Donald Driver had a little less success -just 39 yards on four catches – but he is a steady presence and someone Rodgers can look to when it gets dicey.
Ryan Grant got nearly every carry and put in a workman-like performance with 61 yards on 16 carries. He also found the end zone once for 6 points.
 
BEARS
Just a guess, Jay Cutler might have been hoping for a better start to his regular season Bears career. The Packers new 3-4 scheme continues to impress and kept Cutler on his heels all night long and forced Cutler into four interceptions. Those picks made his 277 yard, one touchdown stat-line almost irrelevant and while he settled down after the first three, his final interception (to Al Harris) with a minute left just capped off a bad night.
 
Devin Hester had a great night, totalling 90 yards and a touchdown on just four catches. Rookie Johnny Knox made the most of his two catches with a yards total of 82.  Edgar Bennett built up the Vandy-connection discussion a little more as his college teammate found him seven times for 66 yards. But there were times when the wide receivers looked over-matched and a few of the interceptions might have been due to some confusion over routes and timing.
 
Matt Forte started his second year off with a ‘oof’ as it took him a total of 25 carries to get just 55 yards. He was also just about forgotten in the passing game, a concern many had due to Cutler rarely checking down to his running backs last season in Denver. Forte was a huge dissappointment, perhaps worse than Cutler and Bears fans and fantasy owners have to hope this was just a blip on the radar and not a sign of things to come. It’s too early to panic, but it is a situation that bears watching (pun really NOT intended), especially since life doesn’t get easier against the Steelers next week.

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