"Griffining" begins
With the first week of the National Football Season now behind us (minus the
Monday Nighters) it's time to break down some of the big stories on who stepped
up coming out of the off season and who still has some work to do with a long
season ahead.
Whether it was on your pro line or pool picks I can't imagine a lot of people would have taken the Washington Redskins to handle the New Orleans Saints as comfortably as they did. You could look at the Saints and say maybe it was the loss of Head Coach Shawn Peyton (amongst everything else the whole bounty scandal would have done to the team) but in all reality, Washington just played that well. And leading the way was the emergence of rookie-quarterback, Robert Griffin III. 320 yards passing (fourth most by a rookie in his first game), two touchdowns and 42 yards rushing. Not bad numbers. While it may be too early to make the claims that RG3 is the real deal and the saviour of the Redskins; Washington definitely showed that they are here to compete this year and Griffin
is going to be a player to watch for a long time to come after making a smooth transition from college.
Keeping up with the quarterbacks, the biggest question coming in to the season was how would Peyton Manning fare after nearly 2 years away from the gridiron and doing so with a new team. After a 31-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and their top-ranked defense, it's pretty safe to say Manning is going to do just fine. After a slower start to the game Manning got back in his groove for the success he found in Indianapolis and used his patented no-huddle offense to lead the way and throw a curve to Troy Polamalu and company. Manning also picked up his 400th career TD pass in the game.
Monday Nighters) it's time to break down some of the big stories on who stepped
up coming out of the off season and who still has some work to do with a long
season ahead.
Whether it was on your pro line or pool picks I can't imagine a lot of people would have taken the Washington Redskins to handle the New Orleans Saints as comfortably as they did. You could look at the Saints and say maybe it was the loss of Head Coach Shawn Peyton (amongst everything else the whole bounty scandal would have done to the team) but in all reality, Washington just played that well. And leading the way was the emergence of rookie-quarterback, Robert Griffin III. 320 yards passing (fourth most by a rookie in his first game), two touchdowns and 42 yards rushing. Not bad numbers. While it may be too early to make the claims that RG3 is the real deal and the saviour of the Redskins; Washington definitely showed that they are here to compete this year and Griffin
is going to be a player to watch for a long time to come after making a smooth transition from college.
Keeping up with the quarterbacks, the biggest question coming in to the season was how would Peyton Manning fare after nearly 2 years away from the gridiron and doing so with a new team. After a 31-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and their top-ranked defense, it's pretty safe to say Manning is going to do just fine. After a slower start to the game Manning got back in his groove for the success he found in Indianapolis and used his patented no-huddle offense to lead the way and throw a curve to Troy Polamalu and company. Manning also picked up his 400th career TD pass in the game.
A couple other big stories on Sunday were the return of Adrian Peterson after knee surgery to lead Minnesota to victory with two touchdowns. And in one of the more must-see match ups of the afternoon, the San Francisco 49ers edged out the Green Bay Packers after David Akers nailed a 63-yard field goal.
But not everyone enjoyed their first crack at the 2012-23 season. In another rookie debut, first-overall pick Andrew Luck became the first rookie since Peyton Manning in 1998 to start for the Colts but didn't make out as well as Griffin did. Despite 309 passing yards, Luck was barely over 50 percent passing and threw up three interceptions as Chicago spoiled his debut and beat the Colts soundly, 41-21. Luck is going to experience some growing pains making the move to the big league and just like in Griffin's case, it is still far too early to pass any solidified judgement on him. But for now Luck is definitely going to have to find a way to get this week behind him and find a way to capture that veteran form he seemed to have in the preseason.
And one of the biggest misses had to come from the Philadelphia/Cleveland game. Probably not a whole lot of people would have picked the Browns to get a week-one win over the Eagles, who despite keeping their claims of being a dream team to a minimum are still a Superbowl favourite) Cleveland was right in the game until the dying moments. Michael Vick gave up four interceptions as the Eagles high-octane offense failed to find its stride. Cleveland was no better (as expected mind you) and 28-year old rookie, Brandon Weeden, failed to show the poise and maturity Cleveland hoped would come with being older than other rookie QB's. Philadelphia gave Weeden ample opportunity to take advantage, but poor decisions and a lack of experience on the field (the Browns were also starting a rookie running back) were too big of obstacles for Cleveland to overcome.
And as a final big miss, I have to point out the referees. It's understandable they're replacements and should maybe be cut some slack but at some point enough had to be enough. Whether it was a botched timeout call in the Seattle/Arizona game, or a phantom clipping call between Dallas and the New York Giants, the replacements were making bad decisions and calls all around that were becoming too apparent and starting to affect games.
Week one is in the books. Whether it's second-overall pick ,Robert Griffin III, getting the better of the first-overall Andrew Luck, or Peyton Manning trying to prove he still has at least one more big year left in him, there are going to be a ton of story lines to follow throughout the year and fans got just a taste of what is already promising to be a solid season of football.
But not everyone enjoyed their first crack at the 2012-23 season. In another rookie debut, first-overall pick Andrew Luck became the first rookie since Peyton Manning in 1998 to start for the Colts but didn't make out as well as Griffin did. Despite 309 passing yards, Luck was barely over 50 percent passing and threw up three interceptions as Chicago spoiled his debut and beat the Colts soundly, 41-21. Luck is going to experience some growing pains making the move to the big league and just like in Griffin's case, it is still far too early to pass any solidified judgement on him. But for now Luck is definitely going to have to find a way to get this week behind him and find a way to capture that veteran form he seemed to have in the preseason.
And one of the biggest misses had to come from the Philadelphia/Cleveland game. Probably not a whole lot of people would have picked the Browns to get a week-one win over the Eagles, who despite keeping their claims of being a dream team to a minimum are still a Superbowl favourite) Cleveland was right in the game until the dying moments. Michael Vick gave up four interceptions as the Eagles high-octane offense failed to find its stride. Cleveland was no better (as expected mind you) and 28-year old rookie, Brandon Weeden, failed to show the poise and maturity Cleveland hoped would come with being older than other rookie QB's. Philadelphia gave Weeden ample opportunity to take advantage, but poor decisions and a lack of experience on the field (the Browns were also starting a rookie running back) were too big of obstacles for Cleveland to overcome.
And as a final big miss, I have to point out the referees. It's understandable they're replacements and should maybe be cut some slack but at some point enough had to be enough. Whether it was a botched timeout call in the Seattle/Arizona game, or a phantom clipping call between Dallas and the New York Giants, the replacements were making bad decisions and calls all around that were becoming too apparent and starting to affect games.
Week one is in the books. Whether it's second-overall pick ,Robert Griffin III, getting the better of the first-overall Andrew Luck, or Peyton Manning trying to prove he still has at least one more big year left in him, there are going to be a ton of story lines to follow throughout the year and fans got just a taste of what is already promising to be a solid season of football.
