Tuesday 13 September 2011

Week One

1st Down

Firstly I would like to welcome you to my weekly NFL review. My aim
is to analyse the weeks events and provide my thoughts and opinions of
this great sport.

Let's dive into a couple of key offseason events. It seems you could not
watch any NFL this weekend without the mention of the lockout and as it
took so much time and media coverage to resolve, I say this, it happened its over, lets play some football!

I also have to mention the major rule change to kick-offs being highly
disputed at the moment. The NFL has decided to move the kick off spot
forward to the 35yd line and decrease the coverage run up to no more than
5yds from the kick. I will provide further thought on this later in
my conclusion.

Finally on the offseason, there have been many player moves including
Ochocinco & Haynesworth to the Pats, Asomugha and many more to the
Eagles and Lee Evans to the Ravens. Who do you think will have the
most impact for their new Franchise this season?

My money is on Ochocinco as with so many teams seeing his name and game planning against him, Wes Welker and the two tight ends Gronkowski and Hernandez will have so much space their guaranteed to have amazing seasons!

2nd Down

Now that's the offseason covered let's move swiftly on with the events
off week 1. I begin with Thursday nights season opener between the
Saints and Packers. The past two Superbowl champions battling it out
at Lambeau field. I really wasn't sure what to expect in this one with
a lack of training and a short pre season, although pre game my money
was on the Packers.

They certainly didn't let me down, they came out the blocks quicker than Usain Bolt at the Worlds, in the first quarter Aaron Rodgers looked like the Superbowl was yesterday throwing three TD's on their first 3 possessions with the Saints only managing a 46yd strike to Meachem.

This really set the tone for the match and as soon as the Saints came back
into the game, the Packers would answer straight back. Although this
one came down to the last play of the game there was only ever one winner,
the Green Bay Packers who took it 42 - 34. The highlight of this one
for me was certainly Cobb's 108yd kick off return, check out the
assist from Kuhn after Cobb gets hit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmc1yVmuXxk
After this one, I was so pumped and couldn't wait till Sunday for more
fuuuutttbbbaaaalll!

We fast forward now to Sunday and the first game on the schedule was
the Steelers at the Ravens. This divisional rivalry is always a mouth
watering prospect and this one was no different. I have never ever
seen the Steelers dominated like this, from start to finish, The
Ravens were all over them with Flacco strong and decisive at QB while
the defence was forcing turnovers left, right and centre.

An outstanding opening week for the Ravens as they ran out 35 - 7 winners
forcing 7 turnovers in the process. My highlight of this game was the
sneaky yet brilliant two point conversion from Koch of Baltimore.

The last game I got to see on Sunday was the Giants vs Redskins and all I can say about this one is well done Redskins finishing victorious with a 28 - 14 win. No real highlights to speak off on this one so let's move onto the rest of the games.

3rd Down

So onto the remaining matches and some outstanding individual
performances, none more so than Cam Newtons 417 passing yds in their
loss to the Cardinals. I feel I must also mention Steve Smiths 178yds and Two
TD's in the same game.

I've also done well to hold this one back until now but I must also mention my beloved Bills. Fitzpatrick throwing 4 TD's in what was a very well executed game against the Cheifs as we ran out 41 - 7 victors! #Billsmafia for life!

A couple of other stand outs for me were Tedd 'don't worry I got this one coach' Ginn Jr with his back to back returns against the Seahawks and not to be out done by the rookie Newton, Tom Brady's 517 yds and 4 TD's vs the Dolphins.

Lets round off the other games this week starting with Chicago's win against the Falcons 30 – 12. I honestly thought the Falcons would win this one as Jay Cutler isn’t my idea of a great QB and why Chicago bother is beyond me! Anyhow thanks to their always reliable defence they picked up the win.

Next up we have the battle of Ohio in the Bengals vs Browns, not much to report aside from a Bengals win 27 – 17. I honestly had the Browns down to win this one but hey ho maybe next time.

What can I say about this next game other than a total blowout as the Texans hung, drew and quartered the colts without Peyton Manning 34 – 7. Jaguars and Titans played out a close one with Chris Johnson getting limited downs as the Jaguars upset the Titans 16 – 14.

Philadelphia all stars otherwise known as the Eagles beat the Rams 31 – 13 showing they mean business this year. Here is the remaining results:-

Detroit 27 – 20 Tampa Bay
Carolina 21 – 28 Arizona
Minnesota 17 – 24 San Diego
Seattle 17 – 33 San Francisco
Dallas 24 – 27 New York Jets
New England 38 – 24 Miami
Oakland 23 – 20 Denver

With all the results in, my Ballhawk performance of the week goes to the Ravens defence who man handled Pittsburgh and proved the AFC North is certainly a two horse race this year.

4th Down

In conclusion, It has been a great week for the NFL with all the usual ups and downs, twists and turns reminding me how happy I am it's back and better than ever. The Bills are showing that we will be a force to be reckoned with this year. #BillsMafia 4 Life, its more than a hash tag, it's a way of life.

With regards to the new kick off rule, I for one am all in favour of a rule that makes our game safer and as proved this weekend it will produce some breathtaking returns! Check out these beauties:- Tedd Ginn Jr - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix9PIejFux8
Percy Harvin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fBkVz8Bxq4

It certainly seems we are in for quality over quantity, who's with me??

I say again, I'm so happy NFL is back and would like to pose these questions to you:-

Was Cam Newtons Week 1 performance a flash in the pan?
Will the colts win a game without Peyton Manning?
Who will the Bills be playing in this years Superbowl?

Before I go, I have to give a special mention to Poland's third ever NFL player Sebastian Janikowski who banged in a 63 field goal this week against Denver. That was for you Bucki, hope you appreciate it.

I would love to here all your thoughts and opinions from this and every week, please feel free to drop me a comment or tweet me @adrimallows. I leave you with the parting words of Veronica Corningstone 'Thanks for Stopping By'

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