Every year after NFL week 1, everyone dissects the week way too much, and makes outlandish predictions based on one game. I'll try not to do that, but here are some of my impressions from the first week:
- I hate to say it, but Donovan won't be the same this year. Remember the year after they went to the Super Bowl, in the first game he suffered a seemingly minor sternum injury, but it ended up hampering his play for the entire season. I'm afraid even if Donovan comes back by week 4, he won't be the same for the rest of the season.
- That being said, the Eagles D looked great against the Panthers. Sure Delhomme was terrible, but many of his poor throws were caused by Eagles pressure. My biggest worry about this team heading into the season was the defense, but they looked great against a pretty good Carolina team.
- Again, not to make outlandish predictions based on week 1, but Chicago is done. Besides the loss of Urlacher, the just looked lost on offense even with supposed franchise savior Jay Cutler. Cutler seems like the kind of guy who could lose focus easily if he starts the season out poorly.
- Arizona is in trouble as well. They still have no running game, and let's face it, Kurt Warner is old.
- Denver will still be bad, a miracle play against the Bengals to win means nothing.
- The Raiders actually played with some life for the first time in years, and they got robbed of that game. They'll be second in the West, maybe get to 7 wins.
- Even though they lost, the Titans might have been the best team in the AFC South in Week 1. The Colts looked bad just getting by the Jaguars.
- The best performance of the week goes to Drew Brees. I don't care if you're playing against the Drexel football team, 6 TDs is impressive.
- The worst performance of week 1 goes to the Texans. For years we've been waiting for this team to break out, and this finally seemed like the season. Instead, they lose by 17 points to a rookie QB in his first start on the road.
- To college now, and I haven't been more upset about a game recently than Notre Dame/Michigan. Michigan played well, no doubt, but Notre Dame just shot themselves in the foot. Notre Dame has the talent to win 10 games, and I wasn't convinced of that before the season. But they still don't know how to win close games, so it looks like it'll be something like 8-4, Gator Bowl loss, and bye bye Charlie Weis.
Top 5/Bottom 5 after week 1
Top 5
1. Steelers
2. Eagles
3. Patriots
4. Giants
5. Vikings
Bottom 5
5. Chiefs
4. Bucs
3. Browns
2. Lions
1. Rams
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