Impressions & Depressions: Week 1
Around the web there are numerous venues to find clever and
interesting Monday recaps of Sunday’s games during the season. There’s PeterKing’s Monday Morning Quarterback, NFL network’s Shame Report with thehilarious Dave Dameshek, and ex-NJ-Star-Ledger-Giants-beat-reporter-now-USA-Today-journalist
Mike Garafolo’s Game Balls segment to
name a few. Here’s my version: Impressions
and Depressions. I’ll give myself a day to think on Sunday’s games and
deliver this on Tuesdays. The segment will have three impressions and follow
with three depressions from each week.
Impressions
- Peyton Manning looked excellent on Sunday night so look
out League. During a official-botched red flag challenge by Steelers head coach
Mike Tomlin, Peyton is shown by NBC to be conversing with Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger
on the Steelers sideline; if you’d like you can picture me with a crazed toothy
grin and wide eyes as I repeatedly shove handfuls of popcorn in my face. “Yeah,
yeah, football is here. Yeah, yeah...” And it was a thing to behold as he took
over the game, not entertaining Troy Polomalu’s showing of the blitz (whether he
would or not) by checking out two plays and taking a time out, and audibling
out of a play to a play that became a 71 yard receiver-screen catch and run
touchdown. Completed or not, on a first game back from multiple neck surgeries,
a season on IR, and with a new team, he made all the throws. Like in Indy he
made good receivers look great and a running game seem possible against the
legendary Steelers D.
- Despite the greatness of Manning, the Broncos themselves
made the night extra interesting. There was a ton of context: VP of Football Ops
and legendary NFL QB John Elway looking down from the box, head coach John Fox—ex-Panthers
head coach and former defensive coordinator with the Giants, defensive
coordinator Jack Del Rio—former head coach of the Jaguars, Denver’s star veterans
like Champ Bailey, Willis McGahee, Von Miller (2nd yr), Elvis
Dumervill, veterans new to the team like Brandon Stokely who previously played
for Denver and Indy, Jacob Tamme from
Indy, and Tracy Porter, the DB who’s pick six of Manning in Super Bowl 44
sealed the victory for New Orleans. And in the center of it all conducting the
show: Manning himself. Damn, there’s a lot going on with the Broncos. It’s like
the 2009 Vikings, but more.
-Wondering out loud if the lock out last year had anything
to do with generally poor defensive play around the league and the Packers going 15-1...The 49ers defense
simply manhandled the Discount Double Check offense. Also, interesting of note—the last
game the Packers played last year they lost and it was to the other NFC Championship
participant. Who could that be?... I wonder...
Depressions
- I hate the uncertainty of week 1 in the NFL. Last year the
Giants lost their first game and won the Super Bowl. Ugh. So many talking head’s
are so high and low on teams and it’s hard to have impressions that will last
more than the two days between Monday Night and Thursday Night.
-The Giants DB’s are in atrocious shape just like last year.
Eli had 7 comebacks in 2011 and it seems he’ll have to do it again if the
Giants are to win with no running game and Cruz dropping passes.
-The Steelers D has 7 starters over 30. It’s tough to watch
them get beat by Manning despite how great Manning was because they are THE
defensive reference frame for their time. The plays they made won’t be made any
time soon by just any old (he-he) defense. What I like least about the Steelers
D being old is that it makes me feel old. Obviously, I’m over selling it, but
the idea is that these guys generally have a window of time on their careers as
truly effective super masculine warriors of the weekend who play with the
rare combination of titans in intelligent coordination and they’re my age. I
can articulate this better, but I won’t.
....
....
