Week two is in the books and that means it's time for a Final Drive! What teams surprisingly fell to 0-2 and which ones made the 2-0 leap! Let's get it on!
(2-0) Pittsburgh Steelers 19
(1-1) Tennessee Titans 11
Even after passing for only 21 freaking yards, gaining only 127 in total and losing starting QB Dennis Dixon, the Steeler offense played good enough to win, especially since the Titans decided to hand out seven turnovers. Seven! Jeff Fisher had no choice but to put Kerry Collins in the game to try and spark his offense, but Collins was almost just as horrific. The real trouble for Tennessee was the lack of a running game as Chris Johnson gained a paltry 34 yards. With 3rd QB Dixon out three weeks, Charlie Batch or the newly re-signed Byron Leftwich is the man for the job... until he gets hurt.
(2-0) Miami Dolphins 14
(0-2) Minnesota Vikings 10
Hey Minnesota, have you met the real Brett Favre? He showed to the Metrodome on Sunday, as did his three interceptions and fumble in the endzone for a Dolphin touchdown. Ha! For some reason Favre doesn't get along with Bernard Berrian, who isn't getting passes thrown his way in Sidney Rice's absence. Brad Childress finally gave Adrian Peterson the ball, racking up 145 yards on 29 carries, but it still wasn't enough to overcome the mistakes of number four. On the Miami sidelines, you have to be impressed with the 'Phins' defense that held the Vikings back on repeated goal line trips, but the offense has left little to be desired in these first two games. 29 points in two games normally doesn't get it done. Chad Henne needs to throw more than 15 passes if they expect to compete in the AFC East.
Gorgeous. Getty Images.
(1-1) Cincinnati Bengals 15
(1-1) Baltimore Ravens 10
After a hard-earned win over the Jets, the Ravens came back after a short week and dropped another tough game to the Bengals. Joe Flacco looked horrible, throwing a whopping four interceptions. While Carson Palmer didn't exactly light it up with a less than 50% completion percentage, he didn't commit any turnovers, controlled the clock and kept his team in the game. Now the AFC North belongs to the Steelers (for this week). Did anyone see that coming?
(1-1) Philadelphia Eagles 35
(0-2) Detroit Lions 32
Well it was certainly a close call the Lions' late rally, but the Eagles won their first game of the season thanks to the talents of Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy's three touchdowns. Vick's 284 yards and two touchdowns through the air gave QB-less teams around the league (Buffalo anyone?) a heads-up for when free agency comes around. The other heads-up was given by Detroit running back Jahvid Best, who is all man. (And fast, too.)
Reuters
(2-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20
(0-2) Carolina Panthers 7
Congratulations to Tampa Bay for winning two-thirds as many games as they did last year. Congratulations to Carolina for deciding to end the Matt Moore experiment and to start Jimmy Clausen next week. Your season will still be disappointing. My 6-10 prediction is looking awfully optimistic right now.
(2-0) Houston Texans 30
(1-1) Washington Redskins 27
I'm guessing Donovan McNabb remembered how overtime worked this time around. That didn't help his Redskins, who let the Texans come back from 17 down in the third quarter to get their second win. Matt Schaub's 497 yards passing would sound insane in a video game, making his case to belong in the second tier of NFL quarterbacks. Following their impressive outing against the Cowboys, the Redskins defense crumbled apart against Houston. There's no excuse for that.
(1-1) New York Jets 28
(1-1) New England Patriots 14
Man, now the Jets have a reason to talk a big game again. They shut down Randy Moss even after Darelle Revis left the game with a hamstring injury and made the Patriot defense look mediocre. Mark Sanchez played his best game as a pro, rebounding from the awful week one performance. It seems the AFC East isn't the Patriots' playground. On a personal note, I actually cheered for the Patriots in this one. I needed twelve showers.
Sabo/News
(1-1) Indianapolis Colts 38
(1-1) New York Giants 14
Well, Peyton got the better of Eli yet again, and it didn't take long either The Manning Bowl was over by halftime, punctuated by Brandon Jacobs' idiotic helmet throw into the stands and subsequent benching. Peyton refused to start the year 0-2 and he made sure it didn't happen by throwing it all over the Giant defense. More surprising was the way Indy ran the ball, accumulating 160 yards between Joseph Addai and Donald Brown. If Peyton gets a running game, look out NFL.
"Suck it Eli. Race you to Dad's!" Getty Images
(2-0) New Orleans Saints 25
(0-2) San Francisco 49ers 22
It was a heart-breaker for a Niners squad that came back to nearly send the game into overtime, but the Champs get to 2-0 on the arm of Drew Brees and the turnover-creating defense. If they lose Reggie Bush for any amount of time, it'll hurt the offense. San Fran isn't out of the NFC West race by any stretch, but this is a game they could have won had they made a few more defensive plays down the stretch. On a positive note, Alex Smith didn't look like crap at times.
Okay everybody, talk to you next weekend!
Keywords: Adrian Peterson, Baltimore Ravens, Brandon Jacobs, Brett Favre, Carolina Panthers, Carson Palmer, Chad Henne, Cincinnati Bengals, Darelle Revis, Dennis Dixon, Detroit Lions, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jahvid Best, Jimmy Clausen, Joe Anello, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, Matt Schaub, Miami Dolphins, Michael Vick, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, NFL, Peyon Manning, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Randy Moss, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Tom Brady, Vince Young, Washington Redskins
