Reign In Blood

Fall and football is here and it feels much better than it did last year after the lockout ended. I was unable to get out for any week 1 games so I ended up watching as many as I could on TV. The worst part of that is the crappy commercials. With network TV shows, delaying the broadcast so I can fast forward through the commercials works out perfectly. That doesn't quite work for live sporting events though. I need to know NOW what is happening. So, I have to deal with those crappy DirecTV commercials with Deion and the Mannings playing the bugs that they are. ESPN is the only constant when it comes to delivering commercial entertainment and I will tell ya, that John Clayton commercial is my favorite ESPN commercial of all-time and undoubtedly ranks in the Top 5 across the board. In honor of that commercial, my delayed recap features homage to other classic heavy metal jams.

Run To The Hills - maybe that is where Buffalo's defense was. Who knows if they will show up against Kansas City this week, but many owners dumped them quickly after letting the anemic Jets roll all over them. One of the players picked up in their place was NYJ WR Stephen Hill. The rookie secured the #2 WR position easily by debuting with 5 catches for 89 yards and 2 TDs.

The Last In Line - the Miami Dolphins were the only team without an offensive TD in week 1. Sure, it was against one of the better defenses in the league and on the road, but folks, you are looking at the worst team in the NFL. They are playing for the number 1 draft pick.

Victim Of Changes - the Oakland Raiders learned the hard way that they should dedicate some practice time for all positions, even specialty positions, such as the long snapper. When Jon Condo went out with a concussion, the Raiders had no adequate backup and botched three punts to gift-wrapped 9 points for a San Diego offense that desperately needs Ryan Mathews in the line-up.

Sweet Leaf - in the least-watched, but one of the most entertaining games of the day, the Minnesota Vikings pulled off a miracle 14-second drive to kick the game-tying field goal prior to winning in OT. Though it was against Jacksonville, the Vikings may actually have an offense since AP seems to be healed and Christian Ponder can move the ball with Percy Harvin, Kyle Rudolph and even Devin Aromashodu. Once WR Jerome Simpson joins the team following his suspension, he will be an additional weapon on offense for Ponder to consider.

Seek And Destroy - when the Broncos noticed that the Steelers could not run the ball with Isaac Redman, they targeted Big Ben successfully. They sacked him 5 times and picked him off for a game-icing TD. Until Rashard Mendenhall is fully healed, the Steelers need to rely on Jonathan Dwyer to run the ball. He is built like a prototypical Steelers back anyway.