Week 2: Oh When The Saints Come Falling Down

If nothing else, this blog is doing for me what I hoped it would do for other girls who are constantly surrounded by NFL talk. I have been spouting off stats and NFL tidbits all week and the reaction has been priceless.  The only downside so far has been that when it was time to go pick up lunch today neither my husband nor I wanted to go because we were both glued to the NFL Kickoff show, a minor bump in the road during this experiment in marriage and sports. SO MUCH happened this Sunday, here are some of the big headlines. I have also highlighted some "Impress Him" facts that are sure to raise some eyebrows if you have the opportunity to use them.

- The New Orleans Saints are no strangers to adversity. Seven years ago, Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and Drew Brees and the Saints stepped up to become the face of the recovery effort and the team that everyone was rooting for no matter who their team was. This year the Saints find themselves facing a different kind of adversity, a less friendly kind. Allegations of players being paid bounties for making hits against certain players have left Drew Brees and New Orleans without their head coach, Sean Payton for this season and the eyes of NFL fans everywhere focused on them, this time in a negative way. The Saints lost to the Carolina Panthers, 27-35, for the first time since 2009 and are now 0-2 for the first time since 2007. Cam Newton and the Panthers looked energized in their home stadium. Newton did a little bit of everything, he had 253 passing yards, was the lead rusher with a career high, 71 rushing yards, one rushing TD, and no interceptions,(Disclaimer: I am a HUGE Cam Newton fan, so I may tend to dwell on him a little. I'm sorry, I can't help it, we have a very special connection that only he and I know about. Well, he doesn't actually know but that's neither here nor there.). Anyhoo, on the other side of the ball, the Saints defense looked rough. They have allowed over 900 yards of offense in their last 2 games. Drew Brees threw 2 interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown. Everyone will be talking about how Drew Brees and the Saints can bounce back from this disappointing start to their season. (Aside: A replacement ref was dismissed at the beginning of this game because it came out that he was a HUGE Saints fan, and when I say "huge" I mean that there were pictures of him on Facebook wearing every bit of Saints clothing he could get his hands on. I am willing to bet there is a Saints tattoo somewhere on his body. Good call by the NFL.).


Cam Newton's Signature TD Celebration, "The Superman"

- Are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers really going to beat the NY Giants at home?! Are the Super Bowl Champions going to be 0-2?! Absolutely not, but it looked like it for the better part of 3 quarters. "Impress Him" Fact: Both the Offensive and Defensive Coordinators for Tampa Bay came from the NY Giants. The Giants had developed special signals just for this game in case it seemed like the Bucs were onto them. And it certainly seemed like they were onto them. At halftime, Eli Manning had thrown 3 interceptions for the New York Giants and the Bucs were up by 11. After the half, the Giants changed their tune. Eli Manning came out with 295 yards in the second half, tying for the 8th most in NFL history for a total of 510 passing yards overall (what?!). Tampa Bay scored 21 points off of turnovers but once Eli decided to play like a 2 time Super Bowl Champ, there was little the Bucs could do to stop him. The Giants won 34-41.

- Do you remember when I said a couple of weeks ago that Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys were under a lot of pressure this year? And then they opened this season up with beating the reigning Super Bowl Champion, NY Giants, in New York and I said it looked like the Cowboys had come to play this season? Remember all that? Well forget it. They looked terrible today against the Seattle Seahawks. Just terrible. And it started immediately, Felix Jones fumbled the kickoff return which gave the Seahawks their first 3 points and then Jeron Johnson returned a blocked punt to give the Seahawks a 10-0 lead in less than 5 minutes! Tony Romo started off in the hole and his teammates didn't do much to help him out of it. Jason Witten and Dez Bryant couldn't seem to catch a break, let alone a ball and Demarco Murray, who had over 100 yards against the Seahawks last season, only rushed for 44 yards. Seattle's rookie QB, Russell Wilson didn't look too bad either. He passed for 151 yards and ran for another 28. Marshawn Lynch also did his part for the Seahawks with 122 yards on the ground and one touchdown. Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks got their first win at home in a big way, 27-7 over the Cowboys. "Impress Him" Fact: The last time Tony Romo and the Cowboys played in Dallas was during the 2006 NFC wild card game where Romo bobbled the snap of what would have been the winning field goal, and then tripped up just shy of the goal line for what would have been the winning touchdown. Remember, the Cowboys have only won ONE PLAYOFF GAME during the Tony Romo years.

Chin up, Romo. At least you don't have to go home to Jessica Simpson

- Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles did it again this week against the Baltimore Ravens. Vick turned the ball over 4 times but in the end Michael Vick came through with a 1 yard rushing touchdown to win the game 24-23. Just as he overcame throwing 4 interceptions last week against the Cleveland Browns, to win the game 17-16. Whether or not you have forgiven him for his past, Michael Vick is proving that he still has plenty of life as a premier NFL quarterback.

- Rookie Quarterback, Robert Griffin III (RG3), almost had more to prove this week after the dazzling display he put on during his debut as the Washington Redskins starter last week. This week the Redskins took on Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams. At one point in the first half the Redskins led 21-6; but Rams receiver, Danny Amendola, decided to make things tricky with 12 receptions in the first half (an NFL record) including a 1 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-6 at the half. In the fourth quarter the Rams were up 31-28, but RG3 had managed to get the Redskins in easy field goal position to tie the game...that is until an unsportsmanlike conduct call went against the Redskins who now had to try for a 62 yard field goal attempt...which they missed and lost the game 31-24. Does this mean RG3 isn't the real deal? Not at all, he had a solid game with 206 passing yards, 82 rushing yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns. This guy is something special. "Impress Him" Fact: Mike Shanahan, the head coach of the Washington Redskins, wanted to draft Sam Bradford when he was #1 overall pick in the 2010 Draft but was not able to make the necessary moves to secure a higher draft pick.

- Last time the San Francisco 49'ers and the Detroit Lions played their head coaches , Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz, almost got in a fist fight during their post-game handshake. So naturally, all the talk before this game was focused on whether they would kill each other during their handshake this year. They didn't. Not before the game, not after. And the San Francisco 49'ers won their second game of the season. Alex Smith threw for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns, Michael Crabtree was clutch in converting 3rd downs for SF. The SF managed to shut down Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions and stopped him from having another big yardage game. The San Francisco 49'ers won 27-19 over the Detroit Lions.

Quick Notes:

-The New England Patriots lost in a heartbreaker in their home opener against the Arizona Cardinals. Tom Brady and the Pats were stopped on an attempted 2 point conversion and then missed a field goal that would have won the game for them. They lost 20-18 to the Cards. (Aside: I know girls tend to swoon over Tom Brady, but I am not one of those girls. No offense to Gisele but I think he is a First Class Goob, and I think the picture below proves that I am not far off.)

married to Gisele, but snuggling a goat

-Miami Dolphins rookie QB, Ryan Tannehill, led the Dolphins to their first win (35-13) against the Oakland Raiders. Tannehill had 200 passing yards and Reggie Bush (another Kim Kardashian casualty) clenched the win with 172 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.

- In other rookie QB news, Andrew Luck also got a "W" for the Indianapolis Colts against the Minnesota Vikings. Luck completed 20 out of 31 passes for 224 yards.

- Following their big win last week against the  NY Jets struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers who were trying to avoid losing 2 in a row. The Jets lost to the Steelers 27-10 even though the Steelers were without key defensive vet, Troy Polamalou and linebacker James Harrison, who were both out with injuries. Tim Tebow only played for one snap on which he rushed for 22 yards...and was then booed when he came off the field. No one likes this guy, not even his own fans.

- C.J. Spiller led the Buffalo Bills to a big win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The former Clemson Tiger carried the ball 15 times for 123 yards (8.2 yards per carry) and rushed for 2 touchdowns. The Bills won 35-17 at home.

- Frustration is growing when it comes to the replacement refs. They are making inconsistent calls and one quarterback, the usually mild mannered Joe Flacco, has called them out for effecting the outcome of the game. They are also being criticized for taking too long making decisions and slowing down the game.

With everything that happened on the field this Sunday, I know that there is something that you might hear people talking about that I missed. If you ever need me to elaborate on games or story lines please feel free to hit me up on Twitter @gridiron4girls or you can email me at gridironforgirls@gmail.com. See you all Tuesday morning for a recap of the Denver Broncos vs. the Atlanta Falcons. All I can say is, thank god the Bachelor Pad is over.

Week 2: Chicago Bears at Greenbay Packers Recap

It just hit me today the dedication it takes to follow this sport. I just have to trust that the Glee season premier went off okay without me and that the designers of Project Runway managed to get their designs down the runway without my supervision. But there isn't any time to dwell on the fact that I am missing Britney Spears as a judge on the X Factor because tonight it is all about the "Oldest Rivalry in Football".

Going into this game it is safe to say that Packer Nation was freaking out. They had lost their home opener against the 49ers and were about to go up against their biggest NFC rival. The thought of the Greenbay Packers going 0-2 on their sacred Lambeau Field was more than even this blogger could handle (mostly because I think Aaron Rodgers is dreamy). One thing they knew for sure is that they needed to commit to a running game if they were going to win this game, and they found success on the ground with running back, Cedric Benson, who rushed for 81 yards and who also used to be a Chicago Bear. The Packers got their first home win of the season with a 23-10 win over the Chicago Bears


- The first half of the game turned into a defensive battle, with both quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers for the Packers and Jay Cutler for the Bears) spending a lot of time on their backs and neither offense could get anything going. With 2 minutes left in the half the Packers were up 3-0 and it looked like they were about to kick another field goal...but wait..are they going to fake this field goal? You bet your bottom dollar they are and not only that, it is going to work!  Tom Crabtree ran the ball 27 yards in for the touchdown to make it 10-0. All was not lost for the Bears...they still had 1:50 left in the half to put some points on the board....oh my bad Jay Cutler just threw an interception and the Packers got another 3 to make it 13-0 at halftime.

- Jay Cutler, the quarterback for the Bears, was running his mouth before the game just as you would expect thy guy who knocked up Kristin Cavallari to do, I believe he said "good luck covering us". Well that was nice of him to wish the Packers luck especially since they sacked Cutler the first time he touched the ball...and 3 more times before halftime. Incidentally, the number of times that Jay Cutler was sacked in the first half (4) was the same number of completions that he threw in the first half. One can only hope that Cutler is a better father than he is smack talker, or quarterback for the matter, but my guess is that Baby Cutler-Cavallari has a long road ahead.

- Things seemed to be going from bad to worse for Jay Cutler and the Bears after the half. The first time that Jay Cutler targeted his #1 receiver and former favorite target when they both played for the Denver Broncos, Brandon Marshall, he dropped it in the end zone for what should have been an easy touchdown. I like to call Brandon Marshall "Sir Drops-A-Lot", this goes back to his days as a Miami Dolphin...seriously, I could drop as many passes as this guy for half of what he is getting paid. In fact, Brandon Marshall did not get his first reception in this game until halfway through the 4th quarter....oh and then he dropped another one in the end zone.

- Sir Drops-A-Lot aside, Jay Cutler had bigger problems...one very big problem in particular, Clay Matthews. To say this guy is a beast is an understatement, I don't even know the right word for this guy and I bet neither does Jay Cutler after the number of times he was planted by him which was 3.5 times, 7 sacks total. (Fun Fact: Clay Matthews had 6 sacks ALL SEASON last year and already has 5.5 sacks in the first 2 games of the 2012 season, he also looks like the incredible Hulk but when he opens is mouth he sounds like Papa Smurf- no disrespect, Clay Matthews.).

-Everyone will be talking about the lack of protection given to Cutler. When Jay Cutler wasn't picking grass out of his helmet he was throwing interceptions. He threw 4 interceptions total, and completed 11 passes out of 27 attempts for 126 yards. Cutler is now 0-3 at Lambeau Field.

-  Aaron Rodgers got off to a rocky start for the Packers and while he had a solid night with 22/32 completions for 219 yards, 1 touchdown, and only 1 interception, the real star of tonight's game is the Greenbay Packer defense.


I have to say I am happy to see the Packers win, Aaron Rodgers seems like a solid guy with a good head on his shoulders and there is just something so intriguing about Wisconsin..am I right?? See you Monday morning for my recap of all of Sunday's games!