Questions from the Weekend
By: Carmichael Dave
Ahhhhh, football is back! I found myself on sensory overload yesterday, taking in as much as I possibly could. All year I prep the mancave for these specific moments.
Yesterday's food of choice was homemade chili. Eggs for breakfast, chili for lunch, and chili dogs for dinner. Good thing for all of us the wife took the kids to a friend's house all day.
While basking in gridiron bliss, I generally will take notes to bring up on the show the next day. Unfortunately (or fortunately) our show isn't 9 hours long, so I thought I'd let you guys take a stab at a few of these. Feel free to leave your answers in the comments below…..
PACKERS/BEARS: Did the Bears surprise you with how close they kept it? Does James Jones prove that in most cases, the QB makes the receiver more than the other way around?
CHIEFS/TEXANS: Was the Houston D overrated? Or was the Chiefs' O underrated? Lost Bowe, got Maclin, but it was Travis Kelce that did the major damage. Are the Chiefs a dark horse in the AFC?
JETS/BROWNS: With two fumbles and a pick, does Johnny Manziel deserve another shot next week? Are the Jets a little better than we thought, or are the Browns just that bad?
BILLS/COLTS: Wow. Buffalo already had a good D last year, but Rex took it to the next level. Can the Bills also be a dark horse in the AFC? Can they compete long run with Tyrod Taylor at the helm? Is Frank Gore NOT the answer in Indy? Should we overreact to this loss, or is it just a great Bills team?
DOLPHINS/REDSKINS: Dolphins special teams won this game. Cliché question: Did the Dolphins win this game more than the Skins lost it? RG3 was playing D-back in practice this week. Cousins didn't impress. Will we see Griffin behind center again for the Skins? Ever?
PANTHERS/DOLPHINS: Was this just a couple of bad teams, with one less bad than the other? Or can Carolina compete in that crappy division? Can the Jags take anything exciting from this game?]
RAMS/SEAHAWKS: Sherman got beat on a couple of key plays. Rams scored 34 (with special teams help). Did the loss of Kam Chancellor show in this game? Lynch needed a yard to keep the game going, didn't get it. Weird sort of vindication for passing in the SB last year? Carroll AND Hauschka claim that it wasn't an onside kick, it was supposed to be a lob much further down the field. Do you buy it? Is Carroll just a weiner that outthinks himself? Could this Rams team be for real? Or was this opening day flukiness?
CARDINALS/SAINTS: It was said not long ago that Carson Palmer could be the most valuable QB in the league (to his team). Any truth to that? Did the Saints show the loss of Jimmy Graham? How sick is that Cards defense? Is there any other 3-headed divisional monster in the NFL better than the Hawks/Rams/Cards?
CHARGERS/LIONS: Lions up 21-3 in the 2nd, get outscored 30-7 the rest of the way. Was this in part the loss of Suh? Better debut: Abdullah or Melvin Gordon? Is Philip Rivers underappreciated (not $ obviously).
TITANS/BUCCANEERS: Marcus Mariota- 13/16 209 4TDs in basically 3 quarters. Jameis Winston looked like garbage. Does this go down as one of the best debut performances of all time? Will people overreact and say the Bucs should've drafted Mariota? Or are they onto something. Winston has lost twice since high school- both to Mariota. Winston has lost those games 101-27
Mariota: only QB to throw 4 TD's in first half of a debut. Only Tarkenton had more total in his debut (1961)
3 rookies debuted with a perfect 158.3 rating?
Mariota
Drew Bledsoe
RG3!!!!
Last 10 seasons: Highest QBR in 1st career start?
Kaepernick: 95.9
Mariota: 95.7 (highest of the week)
Winston 6.7 (lowest of the week)
BRONCOS/RAVENS: Is this the start of the downfall of Manning? His throws looked horrific at times, were batted down 3 times from the line of scrimmage. Can the Ravens still compete in the playoffs with Terrell Suggs out for the seasaon? Should the Ravens have left with a W (Smith drop)
3rd time a Manning-led team won a game without an offensive TTD and 1st since week 13 at Browns in 2008
BENGALS/RAIDERS: Did we underestimate the Bengals? Or did we overestimate the Raiders? Is Tyler Eifert the newest member of the elite-tight end club? And the Raiders- can you come up with two positives? Is it ok to worry about Derek Carr (other than health-wise)? Does DJ Hayden need to just never talk again? Are you still as excited about Amari Cooper? At one point Dalton was 8-9 for 96 and a TD throwing to Eifert.
EAGLES/FALCONS: Will Bradford excel tonight against that Falcon defense? Will Tevin Coleman be the answer at RB for the Falcons? Will we get some clarity between he and Devonta Freeman? Will Demarco Murray transition seamlessly to PHI, or will he miss that Cowboy O-line?
NINERS/VIKINGS: Will Bridgewater continue his hot streak? Will AP tear up that Niner front line? Can Carlos Hyde carry the ball 20-25 times effectively? Will Kaep be able to establish a rapport with Torrey Smith and find VD with that weak right side of the line?
MISCELLANEOUS:
Do you believe we saw the last of Floyd Mayweather in the ring? Will he really stop TIED with Marciano? Doesn't he want the more aesthetically pleasing 50-0?
Did you watch any of the Djokovic vs Fed matchup? Why don't we care more?
Be honest: How much baseball did you watch?
Did you take any pleasure out of seeing Jim Harbaugh yell and scream and freak out (and get his first win) in Michigan over the weekend?
Bonus Poll Question:
