NFL WEEK #1 REVIEW

1.) ROAD WARRIORS
In can only be described as a wacky and in some cases woeful opening week for many teams, especially those playing in the confines of their own stadiums. Of the 16 games this weekend, 11 road teams won, a staggering figure when you consider the average winning percentage for road teams is about 45%. So much for home field advantage.

2.) SCORING? WHAT SCORING?
Not only were the home teams losing a lot but they were hardly scoring at all. In the 16 games the home teams averaged 13.8 points while the roadies tallied 20.6 PPG. Three teams were shut out (Bucs, Raiders, Packers) and all 3 happened to be at home. It was the first time 3 teams had been shut out on any weekend since 1991. The total avg PPG was a measly 34.5, which should send degenerate gamblers scrambling to take the "unders" this week.

3.) WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BUCS?
When you get shut out 27-0 by an ancient quarterback and a team that hadn't won on the road all last year, where do we begin: the O line was banged up, Chris Simms looked like a rookie again, Joey Galloway (no catches) must have missed his wake up call, Caddy only had 8 carries for 22 yds and Gruden was too fired up in calling for a review on a 4th down spot in the first quarter. C'mon Chucky, if your team knew how to gain yardage you wouldn't have to haggle over one yard!

4.) PATS IN NEED OF OFFENSIVE HELP
With Deion Branch busy packing his bags for the Pacific Northwest Tom Brady and his band of receivers were having all sorts of difficulty putting points on the board vs Buffalo. But what do you expect when your corps is made up of Troy Brown, Reche Caldwell and Bam Childress? After managing only 19 points and 163 yards in the air against the Bills (2TDs, 1 FG, 1 BIG safety), Brady is going to have to rely heavily on his tight ends and running backs to shoulder the load of losing Branch to Seattle. Luckily sleeper rookie RB Lawrence Maroney had an impressive debut, racking up 86 yards rushing, including 22 & 26 yd'ers on his first 2 NFL carries.

5.) QUARTERBACK COMEBACKS
Not coming back in the game but coming back TO the game, three QB's who were injured last season had impressive first games in '06: Chad Pennington rebounded nicely from rotator cuff surgery to go 24-33, 319 yds & 2 TDs in the Jets 23-16 win over Tennessee. Donovan McNabb overcame a nasty sports hernia (he named it T.O.) to post an impressive 24-35, 314, 3 TD line in Philly's 24-10 win at Texas. And Carson Palmer looked as calm, cool & collected as always in guiding the Bengals to a 23-10 thrashing of the Chiefs in KC after suffering a serious knee injury in the playoffs last year.

6.) REGGIE BUSH'S DEBUT? PRETTY DARN GOOD
The 2nd overall pick in the draft (who was #1 again? nice pick Texas) had a solid if unspectacular debut for the Saints in their 19-14 win at Cleveland. He ran the ball 14 times for 61 yards, caught 8 balls for 51 yards and returned 3 punts for 22 yards for a grand total of 141 total yards in his first NFL game, and the Saints had him on the bench at the end of the game or his numbers could've been better. But at least rookie Coach Sean Payton used the versatile rookie frequently and effectively; it's only a matter of time before he dazzles everyone with one of his patented cut-back, side step breakaway runs.

7.) BEST G.B. TEAM EVER BRETT?
Me thinks Mr. Favre might be choking on that infamous preseason assertion for the rest of the miserable season as the Packers were downright humiliated by the archrival Bears 26-0 on their hallowed "tundra". It was the first time a Favre team had been shutout in his career. Brett was a pedestrian 15-29 for 170 yds and 2 more "Favres", errr interceptions, this despite the fact that Ahman Green ran for over 100 yards. Look for more games like this, and plenty more Favres from Favre before the man realizes he should have retired instead of keeping the team in the lurch all those months.

8.) T.O. GOT HIS TD, STILL DALLAS LOST
Well at least he didn't mouth off at his QB or coach. But that's about the only positive thing to come out of Dallas' disappointing 24-17 loss to the Jags. QB Drew Bledsoe continued his mystifying pattern of throwing ill-advised INTs at crucial times (he had 3 for the game) and the running game was poor as well, managing only 88 yards. so who's to blame? Parcells for sticking with his man Bledsoe despite clamoring for backup Tony Romo, who performed well in preseason? Bledsoe himself for fooling everyone into thinking he still had what it took to guide a team to the postseason? Or owner Jerry Jones for bringing Owens in and creating a massive early distraction that may have affected team concentration & preparation? Not sure but ironically the one person you CANNOT blame (for once) is TO, who had a nice debut in Blue (6 catches for 80 yards & 1 TD).

9.) BIG BEN IS OVERRATED
It has long been said that Ben Roethlisberger is no more than a caretaker, a facilitator of the offense whose job it was to hand off to the Bus, throw 5-10 yard dump passes and not commit any turnovers. In other words the latest incarnation of Trent Dilfer. Well that argument was further validated when Charlie Batch stepped in for A-Ben-dicitis in the season opener. What did Charlie do? He merely went 15-28 for 209 yards, 3 TDs & no turnovers in the Champs 28-17 win over Miami on Thursday night. Not spectacular numbers, just efficient, workmanlike, and error-free. Sound like anyone you know? QB controversy anyone? Now Steeltown won't have to worry when Ben runs into his next calamity, like being stomped by an elephant at the zoo or something.

10.) ARE THE CARDINALS FOR REAL?
It's pretty hard to tell considering they played the 49ers on Sunday. But you still have to be impressed with the performance of the upstart Cards: they scored 34 points, 21 in the first quarter after going down 7-0 early. They amassed 367 total yards including 330 and 3 TDs from china doll Kurt Warner. They won their home opener in their palacial new stadium in front of a sold-out crowd with Fergie performing. True they allowed 393 yards to the lowly Niners, but hey, don't rain on the parade.