Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Chicago 14 at Atlanta 13 Chicago Bears: Jim Miller looked downfield much more often today. His check downs led him to throw the ball downfield rather than into the flat. He took some vicious hits as the Falcons had decent pressure on him all day. Spread the ball around to 7 different receivers. Marty Booker is still the money receiver when the Bears need to move the ball. David Terrell is a popular red zone target and he uses his body well to shield the defender when the ball is in the air. He had just one catch but it was for the touchdown. Anthony Thomas salvaged another weak rushing performance by scoring. The offensive line doesn't seem to open many holes until the second half. It's probably a function of grinding the DL down as the game wears on. 26 carries netted 84 yards and a TD. Atlanta Falcons: Mike Vick looked solid for the second week in a row. Lots of big gains on called QB draws. He enjoyed great protection for most of the game. Looked comfortable in the pocket for the second week in a row. Led the team in rushing for the week with 56 yards. Warrick Dunn is still the featured back in the red zone and between the 20's. Duckett performed well when he got the ball but his opportunities were limited to just 5 carries and zero catches. Cincinnati 7 at Cleveland 20 Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengal receivers proved once again that there is not a big-play man among them. Chad Johnson was quarterback Gus Frerotte's only downfield target. Frerotte missed him on both attempts deep, but found him in the end zone for 22 yards and Cincinnati's only score. The receivers did not look to move the ball upfield after the catch and openly showed their frustration with Frerotte. Frerotte threw 12 of his 26 completions after the Browns took a 20-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the game and Cleveland loosened their secondary. Threw a terrible left-handed interception that caused a 10 to 14 point swing right before the half. The last of his three interceptions was a Hail Mary at the end of the game. Corey Dillon got his 100 yards on the ground, but the lack of a Bengal passing game would allow a better defense to shut him down, witness the Chargers in week one. Cleveland Browns: Kelly Holcomb showed again that he can start in this league. He spread the ball well including four completions to three different tight ends. He read blitzes and played smart. However, most of his 13 incomplete passes were due to poor throws. No Brown had more than four receptions. Cleveland had a hard time getting their running game on track with rookie William Green and Jamel White. The Browns longest run from scrimmage was ten yards against a defense that gave up 241 rushing yards against San Diego. The Browns' revamped offensive line was missing two starters (center Dave Wohlabaugh and right tackle Ryan Tucker) due to injury. Shaun O'Hara and Roger Chanoine were their replacements, respectively. Tennessee 13 at Dallas 21 Tennessee Titans: Derrick Mason is far and away the Titans # 1 WR. He is clearly McNair's favorite as he was targeted as much as all the other receivers combined. QB Steve McNair suffered a mild concussion running into an equipment trunk on the sidelines and left the game for a while. He did returned but did not appear as sharp as before the incident. TE Frank Wycheck may not be the focus as he once was, but he's still a guy McNair has a ton of faith in. 4 catches including a TD. Dallas Cowboys: The sky isn't falling for the Cowboy players. This was a gut check game and they responded. QB Quincy Carter was 14 of 24 for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was only sacked once. WR Joey Galloway caught 5 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. WR Antonio Bryant caught 3 passes for 87 yards. The Cowboy Defense is a unit worthy of starting. They played an inspired second half, scoring a defensive touchdown and limiting the Titans to a 52 yard field goal. RB Emmitt Smith rushed for 59 yards on 18 carries without much room to run. Miami 21 at Indianapolis 13 Miami Dolphins: Any fears about Ricky Williams losing out to Robert Edwards in scoring opportunities like he did last week were unfounded. Williams was the only back used for anything significant in the Red Zone and the game for that matter. In fact, Edwards didn't have a carry all game, and only a single reception. Minor had 3 carries for 1 single total yard, with no receptions. And although Full Back Rob Konrad did score, it came on the only single time he touched the ball. Jay Fiedler ran the ball in the Red Zone a number of times. On 3rd and 7, Fiedler picked up 11 on a QB sneak. On 2nd and Goal from the 1, Fiedler ran a naked bootleg for a stand up TD. On 2nd and 7 from the Colt's 16, Fielder ran his naked bootleg again for a 5 yard gain. On another 3rd and short at the Colt's 13, Fiedler ran a QB sneak for the 1st. This could become a very regular trend that would boost Fiedler's numbers, and hurt William's. The Dolphins moved the ball with ease all game. They were methodical. Miami has the Norv Turner Offense down and is firing on all cylinders. In a pregame interview, Fiedler told the reporter that Turner has simplified the play book a lot this season and is only using the basic sets and plays to make sure that everyone completely understands what they should be doing. Also, the Cover two Defense used by the Colts allowed the receivers to make receptions all day without much difficulty. There were no real gains after the catch though, as the Colts swarmed to the point of the ball. Tough Rushing Defense. At 1st and Goal from the 2 yard line, the Dolphins lead by Zack Thomas stopped 4 straight James carries right up the middle for a loss of ball on downs by the Colts Cornerback Patrick Surtain left the game with 40 seconds left in the first half and did not return. Major break for the Colts as Surtain and CB Sam Madison were shutting down the Indianapolis passing game. Jamar Fletcher replaced Surtain and was beaten regularly. Indianapolis Colts: James looked more like his old self this week as evidenced in a short gain where he started out in smothering traffic, and made a series of 3 separate full cuts for a 5 yard gain. He was still a little shaky on a few plays, losing his balance and falling down twice in the open field untouched, but he is most certainly back. Uncharacteristically, failed to score on 4 consecutive rushing attempts inside the Miami 2 yard line. Marcus Pollard is sorely missed. The Colts didn't run any of their trademark Double TE sets in the Redzone, or anywhere on the field, instead opting for empty backfield sets with a RB used in the Slot. Replacement TEs Jermaine Wiggins and Joe Dean Davenport were not effective. The Colts were very conservative on Offense, calling safe plays, more so in the passing game with a number of short high percentage passes to James. At the Half, outside of a single catch by 4th string WR Troy Walters for no gain, the only Colts with any receptions were Harrison and James. WR Qadry Ismail, although shut down for almost all of the game, was looked at often. He was totally dominated all day by Cornerback Sam Madison. Manning did not seem to lose confidence in him though. Ismail struggles getting off the line against the physical corners. Jacksonville 23 at Kansas City 16 Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Mark Brunell had a great day. He spread the ball around between Fred Taylor, Jimmy Smith, Patrick Johnson, and Kyle Brady. RB Fred Taylor was stopped early, but had a solid second half, exploding through the holes when they appeared. TE Kyle Brady has emerged as a big part of the Jacksonville passing game Free Safety Marlon McCree was a all over the field with 4 Tackles, 1 Assist, 2 Interceptions and multiple passes defensed. Kansas City Chiefs: QB Trent Green had a horrible day. His poorly thrown passes and bad decisions cost the Chiefs the game. RB Priest Holmes ran very strong until Jacksonville stacked the line to stop him. TE Tony Gonzalez had another touchdown and is still a big part of the Chief's passing game. The Kansas City passing defense was very poor. There was always an open receiver. Green Bay 20 at New Orleans 35 Green Bay Packers: RB Ahman Green played well but fumbled during a crucial part of the game that caused the Packers to start throwing the ball more to catch up with the Saints. Green left the game and did not return with an injury with 10:34 left in the 4th quarter. He seemed capable of returning but Green Bay left Rondell Mealey in the game. QB Brett Favre spread the ball around to his receivers but was hit on nearly every pass attempt. Favre is still forcing the ball into coverage when losing and getting pressure. WR Terry Glenn was a target very often in the game with crossing and quick patterns. Glenn came down with a tough catch in the end zone for a 14 yard TD. New Orleans Saints: RB Deuce McAllister played great again with a 62 yard run that lead to a TD and a 50 yard run for a TD that was called back for holding. McAllister finished the day with 123 yards rushing with 2 TDs. Seems to have filled the void left by Ricky Williams by running with speed and power. WR Joe Horn is clearly the go to guy and will find a way to get Horn the ball several times a game. QB Aaron Brooks had a lot of time to set up and throw. In the Red Zone, the Saints were running spread formations that allowed Brooks the option of throwing or running for the score, this alone may vulture some TDs from McAllister. New England 44 at NY Jets 7 New England Patriots: The Patriots won in all aspects of the game. In the passing game, QB Tom Brady looked sharp and appears to be very comfortable in this offense. Patriots used 4 and 5 WRs but focused on Troy Brown. In the rushing game, Antowain Smith accounted for only 15 of the 40 carries by the team, giving way to the other RBs after the game was out of hand. On defense, the Patriots dominated, getting 5 sacks and two turnovers that were both converted for touchdowns. New York Jets: Through the first half, the Jets had completed only 18 offensive plays in 9:59 of possession. QB Vinny Testeverde did not complete a pass to a wide receiver until the third quarter, and followed it up with an interception. The next series, Pennington started. The defense struggled and allowed 30 points (the other 14 were on defensive turnovers). The announcers made the comments that Testeverde would surely start next week. Detroit 7 at Carolina 31 Detroit Lions: Detroit looked horrible in this game. They could not get the ball moving in the running or passing game, and made many mistakes on both sides of the ball. The Carolina defense pressured QBs Mike McMahon and Joey Harrington all game long, sacking McMahon six times. While the Lion's run defense did fairly well, their secondary gave up over 300 yards to Rodney Peete... Peete's first 300 yard game in 10 years. James Stewart started and played the whole game. With the Lion offensive line playing very poorly he was ineffective for the most part. He ran well enough when he got the blocking, but that wasn't often. He did rip off a nice 21 yard run, but carried the ball only 12 times. Both QBs Mike McMahon and Joey Harrington played poorly in this game. While some blame can be laid at the feet of the offensive line for their poor performance in protecting the QB ( Lions guard Kerlin Blaise going down with a sprained left knee and leaving the game didn't help the situation at all), Both QB's made some poor throwing decisions. McMahon led one good drive which resulted in the Lions only score (he ran it in himself on a bootleg). Carolina Panthers: Rodney Peete had a career day against a very weak Detroit secondary, throwing for 310 yards and a TD. Peete showed a veterans poise in the pocket, and threw the ball with great touch. He locked on to Muhsin Muhammad in the second half, hooking up with him for 8 receptions and 107 yards and a TD. His longest pass went to RB Lamar Smith for 58 yards. He was relieved late in the game by Chris Weinke. This is a weak pass defense that deserves your attention. The Panthers had trouble with their running game. Lamar Smith did have a rushing TD, but carried the ball 21 times for only 56 yards... a 2.7 yards per carry average. The Panther defense played very well, severely limiting the Lion rushing game and pressuring Mike McMahon and Joey Harrington on every pass play. They sacked McMahon six times total, forced a McMahon fumble, and intercepted each QB once, returning their interception of McMahon for a TD. They allowed the Lions only 122 total yards combined. The Panther defense has yet to be tested against a good offense this year though. Panther kicker John Kasay had a bit of a bumpy day kicking, hitting all 4 extra point attempts but only one of three field goal attempts. A 46 yard attempt was blocked, and he missed a 40 yard attempt wide right. He did hit one from 23 yards out. Tampa Bay 25 at Baltimore 0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tampa Bay controlled the clock all game, but continued to struggle getting the ball into the end zone. Michael Pittman looked to be physically back to 100%, shifting gears and looking fully healed from the ankle injury that bothered him in the preseason. Jon Gruden's offensive scheme is still not clicking on all cylinders. The offensive line is having problems blocking the pass rush. Cornerback Ronde Barber seems intent on proving he's one of the more complete corners in the game. He's rarely out of position. Baltimore Ravens: Chris Redman was totally ineffective and looked confused by Tampa Bay's defensive schemes. Tampa continually put eight men in the box and Redman still could not find the open receiver Baltimore continued to run the ball, even while down 18-0 late in the fourth quarter. Brian Billick has shown no confidence in the passing game. The Ravens could not stop the short passing game. Michael Pittman and Mike Alstott caught dump passes all day long and earned significant chunks of yardage. Pass-catching running backs will continue to do well against the Ravens defense. Ray Lewis recorded 17 total tackles, and the Buccaneer offensive line could not hold him down. Arizona 24 at Seattle 13 Arizona Cardinals: As they did with Charlie Garner last week, the Seahawks allowed a big game to the RB. Thomas Jones' success was mostly due to a porous Seattle run defense. Jones was tentative in hitting the hole. Certainly, it was a huge day, but the defense definitely helped his game. Jake Plummer was inaccurate and was uncomfortable in the pocket despite very little pressure from the Seattle pass rush for most of the game. However, he looked like a different player on a 13 play 90 yard drive to put the game away in the 4th quarter. David Boston is the Arizona passing game. Shawn Springs held him to two catches for 24 yards (on 5 targets) through the first half. The reason he didn't get the ball more was that the Arizona coaching staff elected to simply ram the ball down the throat of the Seattle defense. Seattle Seahawks: Seattle couldn't finish several drives. Three trips inside the ten yard line resulted in a botched FG, a fumble, and a FG after a first down at the 3 yard line. The Seattle passing game took gigantic steps forward with the addition of Trent Dilfer in the game. He was accurate and looked down field several times. The knee does not look like it bothered him at all. The Seattle TE's were given 12 targets on the day. Itula Mili had a TD and Jeremy Stevens was targeted in the endzone 3 times. The Seattle rush defense is terrible. Their defensive line was consistently blown off the ball and they tackled poorly as a team. NY Giants 26 at St. Louis 21 New York Giants: Kerry Collins completed 22 of 26 passes for 307 yards. He had a ton of time to throw, as the new Giants offensive line did a tremendous job of containing the Rams pressure. Collins stood tall and made strong, accurate throws all game. His one interception was the result of a deflected pass. Considering how this pass defense held up against San Francisco in week 1, you have to respect what the Giants are doing here. Another solid outing against a high powered pass offense. Jeremy Shockey lived up to the hype and then some. He caught 4 balls for 50 yards, including his first NFL touchdown. He made a great move on Tommy Polley to get open. Shockey was the main guy New York looked to on crucial third down calls during the second half. He wants the ball on every single play. Took a lot of pressure off of Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard, enabling them to get open consistently. Ron Dayne is not a forgotten man in this offense, but he should be. He showed a complete inability to do anything up the middle, which is apparently his strength. Still takes "baby steps" to the line rather than running through with power. Kicker Matt Bryant made all 4 of his field goal attempts. Each was from less than 34 yards, but they were pressure kicks, especially for a new kicker. St. Louis Rams: Kurt Warner banged his hand again during a throw. Up to that point, he was already unproductive but after it he was just awful. After the injury, he: 1) threw a pass to Ernie Conwell that floated to him rather than led him, 2) fumbled a snap, and 3) threw a pass intended for Torry Holt that was intercepted by the Giants William Peterson, effectively ending the game. Commentators mentioned the possibility that the injury caused all three. Marshall Faulk appeared to have a good day running the football, but over half of his yardage came on one 44 yard run. He did have a tremendous touchdown run in which he emerged from a seemingly inescapable pile, but he also was stuffed on a 4th and inches late in the 4th quarter (and subsequently fumbled the ball as he was being driven back). Cornerback Aeneas Williams limped off of the field in the third quarter with an injury later revealed to be a bruised knee. St. Louis got not one, but two chances to come back and win the game. After the Faulk fumble, the Giants went three and out and gave the ball back to the Rams with just under 2 minutes left. One wonders if the '99-'01 Rams would have wasted even one such opportunity to win, let alone two. Buffalo 45 at Minnesota 39 (OT) Buffalo Bills: QB Drew Bledsoe displayed veteran poise and a cannon arm in a fantastic game. He had plenty of time to throw on most plays, waited for secondary receivers to get open, and repeatedly delivered the ball on the numbers all over the field. WRs Peerless Price and Josh Reed produced when the Vikings double-covered Eric Moulds in the second half. Price finished with 13 catches, 185 yards, and 2 TDs (including the game-winner in OT), with at least 100 of his yards coming after the catch. Josh Reed looked solid as well. He's the # 3 WR so keep that in perspective but he clearly has skills. 6 of Reed's 8 catches were across the middle, sometimes uncovered. RB Travis Henry was ineffective in the first half. Buffalo practically abandoned the running game after halftime. The Buffalo run defense failed to stop runs up the middle, especially when the Vikings spread the field and ran against nickel and dime defenses. Minnesota Vikings: The "Randy Ratio" held true for the second straight week. The Vikings called 59 pass plays (including penalties, scrambles, sacks, and fumbles). WR Randy Moss was targeted 23 times as a receiver and threw one pass, for a Randy Ratio of 40.7 percent. Moss had a 40-yard TD called back on a holding penalty (though Moss appeared to push off on the play), and had a sure 2-yard TD broken up on a fantastic deflection by CB Nate Clements. What could have been a monster day was simply a very good day. RB Michael Bennett may have played himself down into a RBBC today. Bennett had only one run longer than 5 yards, failed to catch a pass, committed a holding penalty that called back a TD, and was rarely seen in the red zone offense. Long time readers will not be surprised by this. The Vikings pass defense was disorganized all day, and repeatedly left receivers open in zone coverage. K Doug Brien missed a 44-yard FG at the end of the first half, missed two extra points in the second half, and botched a squib kickoff that gave Buffalo field position to tie the game at the end of regulation. Vikings head coach Mike Tice called in to the post-game show on KFAN radio in Minneapolis. He announced that Doug Brien would be released, and the team would be contacting former Vikes kicker Gary Anderson (still a Twin Cities resident) ASAP. Houston 3 at San Diego 24 Houston Texans: The expansion Texans first road game of the regular season was a tough one for the offense. David Carr was only 1/9 for 6 yards passing in the first half. He finished the game 6/25 for 87 yards, and 2 interceptions. James Allen was the only offensive bright spot, even though he had a pedestrian 56 total yards. The Houston defense did their part, allowing the Chargers only 2 offensive TDs. Both of these were came in the first quarter of the game. They also forced San Diego to punt the ball 10 times. The Texans were flagged 12 times for 73 yards. The penalties came at all the wrong times, negating several big plays. San Diego Chargers: Drew Brees didn't appear sharp in the game either. His two longest completions were under thrown. He also threw an interception in the game. Curtis Conway should be the player of the game. He scored the only two offensive TDs of the game. One was a 35 yard reception and the other was a 3 yard reverse. LaDainian Tomlinson's longest run of the night was for 10 yards. He finished the game with 90 total yards. San Diego's defense did a wonderful job keeping the pressure on David Carr. The Chargers came away with 9 sacks. The Texans also had to punt 10 times. Denver 24 at San Francisco 14 Denver Broncos: The big news is that Mike Anderson is definitely challenging Olandis Gary and Clinton Portis. - Anderson finished strong with 10 runs for 95 yards plus a short receiving TD. Gary was 12 for 61 yards and a rushing TD. Both shared carries in the last significant Denver drive with 9:35 left in the 4th quarter. The Bronco running game looked overall looked very good. Though his stats weren't spectacular, Brian Griese looked poised and efficient most of the day. Griese played well under a lot of 49er pressure. Any notion that Shanahan would bench Griese for Beuerlein Sunday pretty much evaporated. They played much of the game without the headset communication devices due to technical troubles but Griese didn't seem rattled. Denver is for real. After beating the Rams and the 49ers in two straight games, it's clear that Denver's defense is playing at championship level. San Francisco 49ers: Though the 49ers were playing against a good Bronco defense, there is a problem brewing that should be examined: Terrell Owens' production will suffer this year unless JJ Stokes or Tai Streets perform. Owens can't do it all himself. Kevan Barlow didn't post big numbers, but he is clearly a very good RB. Barlow has it all: size, speed, moves, and power. Barlow shows flashes that he could become an Ahman Green-like runner. Though the 49ers seem determined to rotate their RB crew, if Barlow continues to play at this level, he will assuredly get more carries and cut into Hearst's time. The 49er defense is improving, but this game reminded us that it's still young and somewhat inexperienced. Denver dominated the 49ers on the ground and finished with 201 yards rushing. 49er tight end Eric Johnson didn't score a TD, but he still finished strong with 7 catches for 69 yards. Johnson may benefit from the 49ers' lack of a good #2 WR. Oakland 30 at Pittsburgh 17 Oakland Raiders: The Raiders threw the ball all night with success. Gannon was very accurate and he picked apart the Steelers linebackers and secondary, mainly on short passes. He looked very good and his 43 completions are second all time in the NFL. Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, and Jerry Porter were all very busy in this game. Jerry Rice was the number one target on the most plays, and he was open all night in the middle of the field. He seems to be pushing Tim Brown as the Raiders number one receiving target. Jerry Porter was used on a number of deep patterns, and Brown was used on routes all over the field. Tight end Roland Williams was also involved as Gannon spread the ball around. Charlie Garner is the number one option out of the backfield for the Raiders. He was very elusive and even drew comparisons to Barry Sanders from the announcers. He definitely made the most of his opportunities in this game even though the Raiders game plan was primary to attack by passing. Pittsburgh Steelers: Kordell Stewart struggled throughout the game with the exception of a few good series. Stewart was forcing his passes, and was booed as he left the field in the third quarter by the home crowd. The Steelers offense did not operate efficiently with Stewart at the helm. RBs Jerome Bettis and Amos Zereoue together only had 13 carries (10 for Bettis and 3 for Zereoue). Neither back was able to get anything going, in part as a result of the few carries and short time of possession for the Steelers. Though Bettis received the bulk of the carries, this situation should be followed closely as Zereoue could steal more carries. Hines Ward seemed to make his case for the number one receiver in Pittsburgh. He was the primary receiving target throughout the night and Plaxico Burress was not as involved in the game plan. Antwaan Randle El was involved as a receiver and kick returner, and he also lined up at quarterback for a draw play. Randle El can burn and should continue to get looks in the offense. Between the Patriot game in week 1 and Sunday Night's 64 pass marathon, it's obvious that the rest of the league feels the way to beat Pittsburgh is through the air. Linebacker Joey Porter looked terrific and was the sole bright spot on a Steelers defense that was picked apart all night by Gannon. Porter finished the evening with two sacks and two interceptions one that was almost returned for a Steelers touchdown. Philadelphia 37 at Washington 7 Philadelphia Eagles: Donovan McNabb was clearly the star of the game from the beginning. His passing was brilliant, completing 26 of 38 passes for 292 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns, including a 39 yarder to James Thrash. Plus another rushing TD. The Redskins defense was also was unable to contain him when he chose to run, as shown by his 8 yard TD run. One concern might be his shoulder or arm. McNabb appeared to be favoring his arm and clutching it after throws. The Eagles wouldn't comment on anything during the game, saying he was fine. RB Duce Staley got the most carries, but Dorsey Levens got the most yards, thanks to a 47 yard touchdown run. Brian Westbrook only had 2 carries but looked good on a 10 yard run. Coach Andy Reid commented before the game that it looks to all start with Staley but that each guy would get touches. Obviously, this was effective for them. In the "Take It For What It's Worth" department, announcer John Madden said that Coach Andy Reid told him that he felt Freeman was their best WR. Washington Redskins: The Fun n' Gun was shut down by the Eagles defense. The Redskins offense scored no touchdowns (Redskins only touchdown was scored on a punt return by Jacquez Green), and the quarterbacks struggled to get the ball downfield. Shane Matthews sat out the second half with a shoulder injury. Even when he was playing, he wasn't nearly as effective as last week. In the one half he played, he only threw for 62 yards and completed less than half of his passes. Danny Wuerffel didn't have much time to show us what he can do. He looked very nervous under pressure, getting sacked or making bad throws. He finished 6 for 9 with 57 yards and one interception. Matthews is planned to start next week, but don't discount rookie Patrick Ramsey seeing action maybe sooner rather than later. Said Coach Spurrier, "We may practice Patrick up a little bit. We'll see how close he is to being ready." Stephen Davis had less than half the carries he did in week 1. The Redskins started to pass more when they fell behind in the second quarter. He was still the target of many dump offs and screens, and finished as the Redskins second leading receiver, but he was only used to run the ball 12 times. The lack of carries wasn't an offensive scheme problem, it was a result of being down 14-0 at the end of the 1st quarter and down 23-7 at the half.