NFL 2007 Week 1: AFC Edition

The first week of the NFL season (Christmas in September for me) has come and gone. It was a week more riddled with injuries than any opening week I can remember, and was eye-opening on a lot of levels.

AFC EAST: Already the East is looking like the most one-sided division in the league. Every team performed terribly except the Patriots, who steamrolled the Jets. We’ll see if there’s any fallout from this play call subterfuge but, likely, it’ll just be acknowledged that this happens all the time and for all time and teams will be told to be more careful. Were it a team that didn’t have the hearts of America and a GQ QB, this might be different. As it stands, there should be little if any repercussions. Jets fans should be disgusted with themselves for their treatment of Pennington. I may not be a big Chad fan, but what else do they have going for them? Buffalo suffered the morally devastating loss of Kevin Everett, the first injury of this severity in some time, and their season will either be bolstered or shot by the blow, there is no way to tell. Considering how many total yards they had, I’d say the season is shot. Miami plain sucks on every level. If you can’t put the Redskins away, there aren’t many teams you’ll be able to. Maybe the Browns, maybe the Raiders, and that’s a sad statement on Miami’s team.

AFC North: Pittsburgh may have been playing the Browns, but they scared the hell out of everyone in the conference with their dominance on both sides of the field. Bill Cowher may well be coaching again next year, but it certainly doesn’t look like the Steelers are missing his presence so far. A healthy Roethlisberger is tough to beat, and they look a lot more like ‘05’s version than last year’s. Cincinnati and Baltimore played a tough game that was ugly but exciting, unless you’re a Ravens fan, I guess. Ed Reed looks better every year and is just outstanding on the field. The big question is whether the Ravens can hold the defense without spiritual leader/murder accomplice Ray Lewis around. If he really does have torn triceps, he’ll be out most of the year and somebody else will have to assume the leadership role. Chad Johnson’s endzone celebration was ridiculous and very funny; I love watching him play. He and Houshmandzadeh are the most cohesive receiving duo in the league and they look like they’ll go far as a team this year, no matter how lucky they got on Monday night. The Browns are an embarrassment. Not only do they look exactly as bad as everybody expected them to look, they are also delusional enough to blame the ineptitude on Charlie Frye who, as a result of his trade to the Seahawks, actually has the chance at a career. Now, in Cleveland, we’re looking at a quarterback in Derek Anderson who really doesn’t have any business in the NFL and another who has no business at all starting this season. Tim Couch, anybody? They’re truly pathetic and definitely the whipping post of the league.

AFC South: The Colts appear to have shored up their run defense issues, and they looked superb in the league opener. If we are to believe that New Orleans is as good as they were last year, then that’s scary. If we are returning to the Saints of old that I know and love, then we’ll see how they fare against better runners. The other three teams in the division are going to be battling for #2 pretty fiercely, since all of them look very inconsistent. Though Jacksonville was the only team to lose, they are no worse than, at least, the Texans. Speaking of them, was that a W I saw in their standings? Am I in Bizzaro NFL? Somehow, some way, a team got put together out of those rejects. I’m all for their success, and I’m really glad Mario Williams finally looked like the #1 pick he was chosen as. The Titans are the big question mark. Based on last week, they could go 16-0 or 1-15; they are that inconsistent. The receivers need to be there to keep the defenses honest or they’re going to stack the run and, it doesn’t matter how good their crew of RBs and Young are, they won’t be going anywhere.

AFC West: If there was ever a regular season game that is liable to give me a heart attack, it was the Broncos-Bills nail biter. Why did they not spike the ball at the end? To give me a heart attack, I guess. In the end, it didn’t matter and they won but, Jesus Christ, spike the damn ball! Cutler looked, at times, like Brett Favre at his worst and that makes me nervous, but Henry looked fantastic, like everything they’ve wanted in the running game since Portis was traded. I’m so glad to see that San Diego looks like the type of team that Norv Turner would coach. For all that talent, they put up that kind of performance? I don’t care if they were playing Chicago’s D, they looked bad out there. This makes me smile. Also making me smile are the other teams in this division. Could it be true that the Chiefs are worse than the Raiders?! Shocking, but hilarious. They’d better start running LJ every down again, because that’s clearly the only way they can move the ball. I see no reason to mention the Raiders, except to say that they all suck.