Week 1 Wrap Up

Week 1 is in the books, and this guy hit the Weekend Trifecta – Notre Dame won on Saturday (throttling Penn State 41-17), the Eagles won on Sunday (24-10 over the Reggie Bush-less Houston Texans), and the stinkin’ Cowboys lost in Jacksonville (hee hee).

Ah, but the good fortune was only beginning. It turns out that the San Diego Chargers nine-sack shutout of the Oakland Raiders not only propelled "Bonzi’s Pecans" to a Week 1 win over "Action Jackson," but also resulted in the high point total for the Week, and an extra few bucks in this guy’s pocket.

And, showing no signs of rust from the long off-season, The Kid opens 2006 with a 12-4 straight-up record and a 10-6 mark against the spread. As for the lifetime record, I was able to recover the file. The tale of the tape is as follows:

Straight Up
2002 157-98-1 (.616)
2003 159-97-0 (.621)
2004 170-86-0 (.664)
2005 171-85-0 (.668)

Against the Spread
2002 129-127-0 (.504)
2003 120-136-0 (.469)
2004 137-119-0 (.535)
134-111-11 (.547)

The 12-4 and 10-6 Week 1 records represent my best opening week since I’ve been doing this. Usually it takes a couple of weeks to know who’s for real and who’s not, so the fact that Week 1 was so strong is hopefully a sign of good things to come. Stay tuned.

Here are some random thoughts from Week 1…

Most Impressive Teams
Baltimore Ravens: The new-look Ravens, with a new quarterback and the same old defense, went to Tampa and hung a 27-0 beat down on the Bucs. After only one week, Steve McNair sure looks like the missing link. Ray Lewis is back at 100% health, and maybe its because he missed 10 games last year, but you almost forget how dominant he can be.

Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons opened with a very impressive win in Carolina, behind the running of Warrick Dunn and the play making of Ron Mexico. Atlanta’s defense completely shut down Carolina’s short-handed offense (more on this in a minute).

Least Impressive Teams
Carolina Panthers: I know they were without Steve Smith, but Carolina’s vaunted defense was gashed for 253 yards on the ground, and they lost two players (LT Travelle Wharton and LB Dan Morgan) to injury. I don’t think it’s time for everybody’s Super Bowl pick to push the panic button, but the Panthers’ weakness may have been exposed.

Seattle Seahawks: How’s that Super Bowl runner-up curse working for you? I know they won, but maybe they miss LG Steve Hutchinson more than they let on. Shaun Alexander garnered 51 yards and a fumble, and the rest of the Seahawk offense could only accumulate nine points against the Detroit Lions? They’re not the ’85 Bears. Seattle did trade for disgruntled Patriot Deion Branch, so we’ll see how that works out.

Denver Broncos: Jake Plummer looked like a different quarterback all of last season, tossing only seven picks and becoming a much better game-manager. Jake Plummer of Sunday looked like Jake Plummer circa 2003, turning the ball over three times in Denver’s loss to St. Louis.

Offensive Player of the Week
Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers – Gore amassed 170 total yards and 2 TD’s on 22 touches. He was very impressive in a losing effort.

Defensive Player of the Week
(tie) John Abraham, Atlanta Falcons; Shawne Merriman, San Diego Chargers – Abraham was all over the field in Carolina, recording 5 tackles, a sack, a pass break-up, and 2 forced fumbles. Merriman was equally unblockable, notching 6 tackles and 3 sacks in Monday night’s shutout of the Raiders.

Quick Hitters
Nice debut for Reggie Bush in New Orleans, eh?

Attention Fantasy Footballers – pick up Jay Cutler – now.

High marks for the new Monday Night Football crew. I’ve been a Pardon the Interruption fan for a while, so I’m a big Tony Kornheiser guy. And a lot of people seem to be down on Joe Theismann, but he’s a Domer, meaning he’s alright by me.

Speaking of MNF, I can’t look at Suzy Kolber without thinking of an inebriated Joe Namath falling all over her. One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

What’s up with the sissy throwing of the red challenge flags? Nick Saban and Bill Parcells both threw in their flags late and did so in passive fashion. Hard to say if it cost either, but you’d better believe if Bill Cowher wants to challenge a play, he’d hit the referee with the flag before he’s let it go unseen.