FRO's FAVORITE FIVE
Top Five NFL Performances
Week 2
by Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer-At Large, Football Reporters Online
#5: MAGIC TRICK NUMBER ONE
The NFL can be a funny league. In their season opener, the Oakland Raiders likely should have won but let a game get away against San Diego. A week later, the Raiders probably should have been blown out in Kansas City, yet found a way to win late, despite being thoroughly dominated by the Chiefs. Consider some statistics… First Downs: 25-11, Chiefs; Rushing Yards: 173-67, Chiefs; Passing Yards: 236-99, Chiefs; Total Yards: 409-166, Chiefs; Time Of Possession: 38:39 to 21:21, Chiefs. Now, consider: Raiders’ quarterback Jamarcus Russell finished 7 of 24 for just 109 yards, only 4.5 yards per attempt, with a 46.0 passer rating. For more than 58 minutes, the Raiders scored just 6 points on a couple of field goals, and Russell was 3 for 17, for 42 yards on the afternoon. At this point, any reasonable football follower would be saying, “Come on, now, the Chiefs won easily, right?” Nope. In some sort of football wizardry, the Raiders managed to be within 10-6 when they got the ball at their own 31 yard-line with 2:30 to play. Despite three Raider penalties from that point, Russell went 4 for 7, for 67 yards, engineering a 9-play, 69-yard drive capped by a Darren McFadden 5-yard touchdown run with 1:07 left in the game, to give Oakland a most improbable 13-10 victory.
#4: A RELENTLESS ANTWAN ODOM
Entering the season, Cincinnati defensive end Antwan Odom recorded 15.5 career sacks in four years with the Tennessee Titans and one season with the Bengals. In 60 minutes against Green Bay, Odom had nearly one-third as many sacks, dominating the Green Bay Packers’ porous pass protection for a team record-tying five sacks in the Bengals’ 31-24 victory at Green Bay. Odom took advantage of Packers’ starting left tackle Chad Clifton’s injury. Odom had four of his five sacks after Clifton left the game. How good was Odom’s day? Well, consider that Odom, who leads the NFL with 7.0 total sacks, had more sacks on Sunday than any other player in the league has over the first two weeks combined.
#3a: CHRIS JOHNSON’S RUNNING AND RECEIVING and…
Since two different running backs had outstanding games on Sunday, it was hard to pick just one without giving both their due. And, since this is technically FRO’s Favorite FIVE, let’s just divide the third best performance into a 3a and a 3b, starting first with Tennessee Titans’ running back Chris Johnson. Although it came in a Titans’ 34-31 loss to Houston, Johnson had a fantastic day as a dual threat, not only rushing for 197 yards on just 16 carries, for a 12.3 yards per carry average, but also catching 9 passes for 87 yards, finishing the day with 284 total yards. Okay, cue the special infomercial music… But wait, there’s more! Johnson also scored on three long touchdowns: Johnson’s 57-yard touchdown run gave the Titans a 7-0 first quarter lead; his 69-yard touchdown reception, also in the opening quarter, put Tennessee up 14-7; and his 91-yard touchdown burst up the middle of the field, gave Tennessee a 31-24 with 9:53 left in the third quarter. All worthy of perhaps the top spot on this list, except for the fact that there wasn’t much more after that. Those were Tennessee’s last points of the day as the Texans pretty much shut Johnson and the Titans’ offense down over almost the final 25 minutes of the game. Still, Johnson did more than enough over the first 35 minutes to be one of FRO’s top performances of the day.
#3b: FRANK GORE JUST RUNNING WILD
Now for the other great rushing act on Sunday… When a running back runs for 159 yards in the NFL, he had a good day. When he does that on just two carries, taking one for a 79-yard first-quarter touchdown run to give his team a 10-0 lead, and another on the first play of the third quarter for an 80-yard touchdown to put his team up 20-10, and then he adds another 48 yards throughout the game, to finish with 207 yards on just 16 rushes, that’s an amazing day. That was 49ers’ running back Frank Gore’s day in first place San Francisco’s 23-10 victory over Seattle. Fueled mostly both those two big touchdown runs, Gore finished the game with an extremely efficient 12.9 yards per carry.
#2: MAGIC TRICK NUMBER TWO
Whereas the Raiders’ magic trick was almost in spite of themselves, the Indianapolis Colts pulled off an opposite, yet even more amazing feat, making the most of the very limited time they had the ball. What odds would you give a team trying to win on the road on Monday Night Football if you knew that team would be given the ball for the equivalent of just one quarter to the home team’s three quarters with the ball? Well, maybe those odds would be better if you knew the road team was led on offense by Peyton Manning. The Miami Dolphins used their wildcat (actually, more of a slow, methodical pacing kitten) offense to run 84 plays to the Indianapolis Colts’ 35, while rushing for 239 yards and controlling the clock for 45:07 to the Colts’ mere 14:53. Holding the ball for two quarters less, while running 49 fewer plays? No problem for Manning and the Colts, who scored two fourth quarter touchdowns, to beat Miami 27-23, in an historic game in a few different ways. For Manning, it was the 37th time in his career that he led a comeback win in the fourth quarter or overtime. It was also his 119th career victory, moving him past the great Johnny Unitas and setting the franchise record for most wins by a Colts’ quarterback. But, perhaps most significant, and what makes the Colts’ win FRO’s second best moment in Week 2, was that the Colts possessed the ball for the least amount of time for a winning team since the NFL began keeping time of possession statistics in 1977. A football magic trick indeed.
#1: KURT WARNER’S NEAR-PERFECT DAY
We’ve seen many times how good Kurt Warner can be, but never as close to perfect as was in Jacksonville, in the Cardinals’ easy 31-17 victory on Sunday. Helping Arizona to a 31-3 third-quarter lead, Warner connected on his first 15 passes, en route to setting an NFL record for accuracy in a single game, completing 92.3 percent (24 of 26) of his throws for 243 yards, while throwing for two touchdowns and avoiding any interceptions or sacks. Warner didn’t complete a pass for more than 22 yards, but he spread the ball around to nine different receivers, six of those, for at least 13 yards apiece. Yet another way the former arena league star has etched his name into the NFL history books.
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Showing posts with label Top Five. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Top Five. Show all posts
Friday, September 25, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
FRO's FAVORITE FIVE Top Five NFL Performers From Week 1 by Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer-At Large, Football Reporters Online
FRO's FAVORITE FIVE
Top Five NFL Performers From Week 1
by Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer-At Large, Football Reporters Online
It was tough to pick the top five for Week 1 as the opening week in the 2009 NFL regular season was a very eventful one with lots of good action. So, before we get to top five, here are a few well-deserved honorable mentions (okay, some of those are not "performers" as the above heading suggests but they were some fun Week 1 moments, and worth noting (in reverse order, saving the best for last):
Seattle Seahawks' Defense:
Okay, so they were at home, where the Seahawks are always more Jekyll than the Hyde they turn into on the road seemingly every year. And, the Rams figure to be one of the NFL's worst teams this season. Still, Seattle won 28-0, and any shutout in the NFL is worth some attention, especially when a team records 3 sacks and holds its opponent to just 247 yards of total offense, as the Seahawks did against the Rams.
Atlanta Falcons' Defense:
The Falcons were impressive, forcing and recovering 3 fumbles, while intercepting QB Chad Pennington once, and holding the Dolphins scoreless until 3:22 remained in an easy 19-7 win.
Denver Broncos' Upset Helped By A Solid Defense And An Alert Brandon Stokley:
Although the Bengals were able to amass respectable totals of 86 yards rushing and 221 yards passing, the Broncos defense bent but didn't break for most of Denver's game in Cincinnati. The general consensus says Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco will have a big year, but the Broncos were able to keep them off of the scoreboard until a Cedric Benson 1-yard plunge gave the Bengals a 7-6 lead with just 38 seconds left In the game. Two plays later though, Denver pulled off one of the biggest upsets of Week 1 when WR Brandon Stokley caught a deflected ball intended for Brandon Marshall, and raced up the left sideline for an 87-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left in the game, his only catch of the game, and an incredible finish to a Broncos' 12-7 upset win in Cincinnati.
Philadelphia Eagles' Defense:
In a 38-10 rout (after trailing 7-0), the Eagles made Jake Delhomme look like he was playing last year's NFC Divisional playoff game against Arizona, over again. The Eagles had 5 sacks, forced 6 turnovers (2 fumbles and 4 INT's of Delhomme, who was limited to just 7 completions in 17 attempts, for 73 yards,
Throwback Uniforms:
Although the "Silver & White" doesn't look right in front of Raider Nation in Oakland, the throwback versions of the white jerseys with the old Raider helmets against the classic Charger powder blues look awesome, as did the old Bills uniforms (consider this a public plea to make those permanent in place of those ugly semi-pro-looking modern Bills uniforms), and most of all (although, I do like the new Pats uniforms), the old school white helmets with the Patriot snapping the football, and the Steve Groaganesque red jerseys and white pants were a great site!
Adrian Peterson:
The Vikings had an easy time with the hapless Browns, winning 34-20, paced by the NFL's best rusher, who finished the day with 180 yards on 25 carries, and 3 touchdowns, including a spectacular 64-yard scamper up the left sideline, on which he broke five tackles. If not for all of the great performances listed below, which barely edged Peterson out, his big game against the Browns would have made our top five this week. We're sure he'll have plenty more chances to make the top five as the season wears on.
Nationally Televised Night Games:
After what we saw in Week 1, maybe the rest of the NFL schedule should be moved to a nationally televised night slot. There wasn't a single non-thrilling game among the four night games, so much so, that two of the four night games played featured players who made this week's Top 5 list… Thursday night, the Steelers rallied to tie the Titans and win in overtime; Sunday night, the Packers rally to win on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings with just 1:24 left; as if those two weren't exciting enough, Monday Night Football had an outstanding doubleheader with the Patriots simply stealing what should have been a big Buffalo upset in the final minutes, and a seesaw battle that had three lead changes in the final 7:22, with the Chargers scoring the game-winning touchdown with just 18 seconds left.
#5 Tom Brady
It was supposed to be a triumphant return for Brady after missing just about all of the 2008 season with a bad knee injury. For over 55 minutes, it didn't look that way. The Buffalo Bills, which hadn't beat New England in 11 straight meetings, not since ironically, the 2003 regular season opener, came in as 11-point underdogs. However, instead of trailing by 11 points, the Bills led by that same amount, 24-13, after a Trent Edwards 22-yard touchdown pass with just 5:38 left in the game. That's when lightning struck twice, just 76 seconds apart. Brady completed 9 of 11 passes, leading the Patriots 81 yards in 3:26, hitting TE Ben Watson with a perfect strike on an 18-yard touchdown pass, to pull New England to within 24-19, with 2:06 remaining. After Brady and the Pats missed a two-point conversion, they needed help, and they got it, just 10 seconds later, when Pats' kicker Steven Gotkowski recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. two-point conversion, they needed help, and they got it, just 10 seconds later, when Pats' kicker Steven Gotkowski recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. You can't give a veteran quarterback the caliber of Brady a break like that. After two short completions, like Sherlock Holmes, the heady Brady went right back to Watson, who made a very grab after being turned around by a Brady pass, for the game-winning touchdown. The Patriots grab after being turned around by a Brady pass, for the game-winning touchdown. The Patriots were up 25-24 with 50 seconds left. That completed Brady's night with 39 completions (the second most, by just one, in the 40-year history of Monday Night Football) in 53 attempts, with 2 TD's, and a pick (returned for a TD), and it effectively finished the game for the Buffalo, whose losing streak against New England reached 12 consecutive games.
#4 Ben Roethlisberger
As he did in Super Bowl XLII, Big Ben came up big in the clutch and simply refused to lose down the stretch. Roethlisberger was an impressive 33 of 43 for 363 yards, but what gets him the number 4 spot on this list was his 16 of 18 in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Trailing 10-7, Roethlisberger engineered a 56-yard drive to the Tennessee 14-yard line, to set up a game-tying field goal with 2:57 left in regulation. After the Steelers got the ball back quickly, Roethlisberger then completed four straight passes, and would have put Pittsburgh in position to win, if not for a Hines Ward fumble at the Tennessee 4-yard line. But, on Pittsburgh's first possession of overtime, Roethlisberger went 5-for-7, taking the Steelers, from their own 22 to the Titans' 15 yard-line, to set up a game-winning 33-yard FG.
#3 The Philadelphia Eagles’ Defense
In a 38-10 rout (after trailing 7-0), the Eagles made Carolina QB Jake Delhomme look like he was playing last year's NFC Divisional playoff game against Arizona, over again. The Philadelphia defense had 5 sacks, forced 7 turnovers (2 fumbles and 5 INT's, 4 of those picks against Delhomme, who was limited to just 7 completions in 17 attempts, for 73 yards), and allowed less total yards (169 total; 86 rushing, 83 passing) than Peterson alone rushed for in Cleveland. The Eagles turned all of those Panther mistakes into 24 points in a dominating performance under new defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, taking over for the late legend, Jim Johnson.
#2 Drew Brees
Dan Marino, be worried that your all-time single-season passing record may fall this year, one season after Drew Brees came within a completion or two of shattering that mark last December. Brees picked up in his 2009 season opener where he left off in 2008. Granted, it was against the Lions at home, but the Saints’ signal caller was unstoppable in New Orleans’ 45-27 rout of Detroit. Brees was nearly flawless in New Orleans’ spread offense, connecting with eight different receivers, completing 26 of 34 passes for 358 yards, and six (yes, SIX!) touchdowns, tying a Saints’ club record, while finishing the game with a 137.0 quarterback rating. But, But, don’t worry Dan, it’s not like all of the Saints games this year are against teams like the Lions. Brees still needs 4,727 yards for the record, and he can’t possibly average the 315.133 yards per game he would need for the rest the regular season. Or, can he? We think he can (look out our Brees Watch, profiling Brees' repeat chase of Marino's record, right here at FRO).
#1 The New York Jets’ Defense
The Rex Ryan era debuted in Houston with an auspicious beginning, with the New York Jets’ defense dominating one of the more dangerous offenses (at least on paper) in the NFL, in an easy 24-7 road win. All of the Texans’ big offensive weapons were taken out of their usual games by Ryan’s relentless and punishing Gang Green defense, which kept attacking. Matt Schaub? He was constantly blitzed by the Jets’ 3-4 scheme with five-man pressures, into just 18 completions in 33 attempts, for 166 yards, no touchdowns, while being picked once. His favorite target, Andre Johnson, harassed often by corner back Darrelle Revis, was found just 4 times for 35 yards, none longer than 17 yards, which happened to be the exact grand total that Steve Slaton rushed for on 9 carries, for a Houston ground game that was limited to only 38 yards on 13 rushes all day. The Texans ran just 48 plays (to the Jets' 73), managed only 11 first downs, and held the ball for just 21:14 (to New York’s 38:46). The most important statistic, however: no points offensively for the Texans. The only Houston score came on a harmless fourth-quarter interception and fumble return for a touchdown. For at least one week, Ryan’s new team delivered on new its head coach’s promise to bring what Ryan learned and taught in Baltimore, to change the culture in Jetville. The result was a stifling defensive performances that earned the Jets' defense the first-ever number one spot on FRO's Favorite Five.
Top Five NFL Performers From Week 1
by Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer-At Large, Football Reporters Online
It was tough to pick the top five for Week 1 as the opening week in the 2009 NFL regular season was a very eventful one with lots of good action. So, before we get to top five, here are a few well-deserved honorable mentions (okay, some of those are not "performers" as the above heading suggests but they were some fun Week 1 moments, and worth noting (in reverse order, saving the best for last):
Seattle Seahawks' Defense:
Okay, so they were at home, where the Seahawks are always more Jekyll than the Hyde they turn into on the road seemingly every year. And, the Rams figure to be one of the NFL's worst teams this season. Still, Seattle won 28-0, and any shutout in the NFL is worth some attention, especially when a team records 3 sacks and holds its opponent to just 247 yards of total offense, as the Seahawks did against the Rams.
Atlanta Falcons' Defense:
The Falcons were impressive, forcing and recovering 3 fumbles, while intercepting QB Chad Pennington once, and holding the Dolphins scoreless until 3:22 remained in an easy 19-7 win.
Denver Broncos' Upset Helped By A Solid Defense And An Alert Brandon Stokley:
Although the Bengals were able to amass respectable totals of 86 yards rushing and 221 yards passing, the Broncos defense bent but didn't break for most of Denver's game in Cincinnati. The general consensus says Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco will have a big year, but the Broncos were able to keep them off of the scoreboard until a Cedric Benson 1-yard plunge gave the Bengals a 7-6 lead with just 38 seconds left In the game. Two plays later though, Denver pulled off one of the biggest upsets of Week 1 when WR Brandon Stokley caught a deflected ball intended for Brandon Marshall, and raced up the left sideline for an 87-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left in the game, his only catch of the game, and an incredible finish to a Broncos' 12-7 upset win in Cincinnati.
Philadelphia Eagles' Defense:
In a 38-10 rout (after trailing 7-0), the Eagles made Jake Delhomme look like he was playing last year's NFC Divisional playoff game against Arizona, over again. The Eagles had 5 sacks, forced 6 turnovers (2 fumbles and 4 INT's of Delhomme, who was limited to just 7 completions in 17 attempts, for 73 yards,
Throwback Uniforms:
Although the "Silver & White" doesn't look right in front of Raider Nation in Oakland, the throwback versions of the white jerseys with the old Raider helmets against the classic Charger powder blues look awesome, as did the old Bills uniforms (consider this a public plea to make those permanent in place of those ugly semi-pro-looking modern Bills uniforms), and most of all (although, I do like the new Pats uniforms), the old school white helmets with the Patriot snapping the football, and the Steve Groaganesque red jerseys and white pants were a great site!
Adrian Peterson:
The Vikings had an easy time with the hapless Browns, winning 34-20, paced by the NFL's best rusher, who finished the day with 180 yards on 25 carries, and 3 touchdowns, including a spectacular 64-yard scamper up the left sideline, on which he broke five tackles. If not for all of the great performances listed below, which barely edged Peterson out, his big game against the Browns would have made our top five this week. We're sure he'll have plenty more chances to make the top five as the season wears on.
Nationally Televised Night Games:
After what we saw in Week 1, maybe the rest of the NFL schedule should be moved to a nationally televised night slot. There wasn't a single non-thrilling game among the four night games, so much so, that two of the four night games played featured players who made this week's Top 5 list… Thursday night, the Steelers rallied to tie the Titans and win in overtime; Sunday night, the Packers rally to win on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings with just 1:24 left; as if those two weren't exciting enough, Monday Night Football had an outstanding doubleheader with the Patriots simply stealing what should have been a big Buffalo upset in the final minutes, and a seesaw battle that had three lead changes in the final 7:22, with the Chargers scoring the game-winning touchdown with just 18 seconds left.
#5 Tom Brady
It was supposed to be a triumphant return for Brady after missing just about all of the 2008 season with a bad knee injury. For over 55 minutes, it didn't look that way. The Buffalo Bills, which hadn't beat New England in 11 straight meetings, not since ironically, the 2003 regular season opener, came in as 11-point underdogs. However, instead of trailing by 11 points, the Bills led by that same amount, 24-13, after a Trent Edwards 22-yard touchdown pass with just 5:38 left in the game. That's when lightning struck twice, just 76 seconds apart. Brady completed 9 of 11 passes, leading the Patriots 81 yards in 3:26, hitting TE Ben Watson with a perfect strike on an 18-yard touchdown pass, to pull New England to within 24-19, with 2:06 remaining. After Brady and the Pats missed a two-point conversion, they needed help, and they got it, just 10 seconds later, when Pats' kicker Steven Gotkowski recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. two-point conversion, they needed help, and they got it, just 10 seconds later, when Pats' kicker Steven Gotkowski recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. You can't give a veteran quarterback the caliber of Brady a break like that. After two short completions, like Sherlock Holmes, the heady Brady went right back to Watson, who made a very grab after being turned around by a Brady pass, for the game-winning touchdown. The Patriots grab after being turned around by a Brady pass, for the game-winning touchdown. The Patriots were up 25-24 with 50 seconds left. That completed Brady's night with 39 completions (the second most, by just one, in the 40-year history of Monday Night Football) in 53 attempts, with 2 TD's, and a pick (returned for a TD), and it effectively finished the game for the Buffalo, whose losing streak against New England reached 12 consecutive games.
#4 Ben Roethlisberger
As he did in Super Bowl XLII, Big Ben came up big in the clutch and simply refused to lose down the stretch. Roethlisberger was an impressive 33 of 43 for 363 yards, but what gets him the number 4 spot on this list was his 16 of 18 in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Trailing 10-7, Roethlisberger engineered a 56-yard drive to the Tennessee 14-yard line, to set up a game-tying field goal with 2:57 left in regulation. After the Steelers got the ball back quickly, Roethlisberger then completed four straight passes, and would have put Pittsburgh in position to win, if not for a Hines Ward fumble at the Tennessee 4-yard line. But, on Pittsburgh's first possession of overtime, Roethlisberger went 5-for-7, taking the Steelers, from their own 22 to the Titans' 15 yard-line, to set up a game-winning 33-yard FG.
#3 The Philadelphia Eagles’ Defense
In a 38-10 rout (after trailing 7-0), the Eagles made Carolina QB Jake Delhomme look like he was playing last year's NFC Divisional playoff game against Arizona, over again. The Philadelphia defense had 5 sacks, forced 7 turnovers (2 fumbles and 5 INT's, 4 of those picks against Delhomme, who was limited to just 7 completions in 17 attempts, for 73 yards), and allowed less total yards (169 total; 86 rushing, 83 passing) than Peterson alone rushed for in Cleveland. The Eagles turned all of those Panther mistakes into 24 points in a dominating performance under new defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, taking over for the late legend, Jim Johnson.
#2 Drew Brees
Dan Marino, be worried that your all-time single-season passing record may fall this year, one season after Drew Brees came within a completion or two of shattering that mark last December. Brees picked up in his 2009 season opener where he left off in 2008. Granted, it was against the Lions at home, but the Saints’ signal caller was unstoppable in New Orleans’ 45-27 rout of Detroit. Brees was nearly flawless in New Orleans’ spread offense, connecting with eight different receivers, completing 26 of 34 passes for 358 yards, and six (yes, SIX!) touchdowns, tying a Saints’ club record, while finishing the game with a 137.0 quarterback rating. But, But, don’t worry Dan, it’s not like all of the Saints games this year are against teams like the Lions. Brees still needs 4,727 yards for the record, and he can’t possibly average the 315.133 yards per game he would need for the rest the regular season. Or, can he? We think he can (look out our Brees Watch, profiling Brees' repeat chase of Marino's record, right here at FRO).
#1 The New York Jets’ Defense
The Rex Ryan era debuted in Houston with an auspicious beginning, with the New York Jets’ defense dominating one of the more dangerous offenses (at least on paper) in the NFL, in an easy 24-7 road win. All of the Texans’ big offensive weapons were taken out of their usual games by Ryan’s relentless and punishing Gang Green defense, which kept attacking. Matt Schaub? He was constantly blitzed by the Jets’ 3-4 scheme with five-man pressures, into just 18 completions in 33 attempts, for 166 yards, no touchdowns, while being picked once. His favorite target, Andre Johnson, harassed often by corner back Darrelle Revis, was found just 4 times for 35 yards, none longer than 17 yards, which happened to be the exact grand total that Steve Slaton rushed for on 9 carries, for a Houston ground game that was limited to only 38 yards on 13 rushes all day. The Texans ran just 48 plays (to the Jets' 73), managed only 11 first downs, and held the ball for just 21:14 (to New York’s 38:46). The most important statistic, however: no points offensively for the Texans. The only Houston score came on a harmless fourth-quarter interception and fumble return for a touchdown. For at least one week, Ryan’s new team delivered on new its head coach’s promise to bring what Ryan learned and taught in Baltimore, to change the culture in Jetville. The result was a stifling defensive performances that earned the Jets' defense the first-ever number one spot on FRO's Favorite Five.
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