# NFL Week 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 18, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653 "2009-09-18T23:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/81 "2009-09-21T17:14:44Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I was in the car for 8 hours yesterday, so not only did I miss the Packers game, the radio stations I got rarely gave any analysis or information on the game. Maybe that was a blessing though. > > Here is what I said in a thread earlier: “The Packers announced their cuts, and cut my guy Jamon Meredith. After trading Tony Moll their backup LT, they now have one true LT on the roster, Chad Clifton. I’m scared if he goes down.” I’m now officially scared. > > Not that Clifton was doing an outstanding job, but Colledge couldn’t get the job done in the least. First, RT, now LT are question marks. That’s not good. > > Not that I’m panicking, but this is the second year in a row the O Line has been a major question mark. They’ll have to get something figured out soon. Did anyone see this game? I missed it too, and had to settle for highlights. Did Barbre improve on the right side at all? Geathers seems to have had a pretty quiet game over there against him, perhaps the Packers gave up so much to Odom because they were helping Barbre all game long. Is Barbre that bad or was Ogunleye just playing out of his mind last week? Ogunleye didn’t do much against Pittsburgh this week, though Alex Brown seemed to do pretty well on the other side. I still can’t figure out if the Bears pass rush is any good. They’ve had a pair of good games but they were going against two teams that probably have the most widely publicized O-Line issues. Next week they probably won’t be too heavily tested either in Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/82 "2009-09-21T18:37:45Z")
Well, nobody on the line really shone, to say the least. Barbre actually held his own, but they were all getting pushed around like third graders. Pass protection was pretty piss-poor and Rodgers never really had a solid pocket long enough to truly take command of the game. Didn’t help that the receivers and RB’s apparently wore teflon coated mittens. I’m betting TT has already placed a call to Tauscher. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/83 "2009-09-21T18:43:15Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Did anyone see this game? I missed it too As did I. I’ve been getting really into watching “shorty” games via DVR, and getting the most out of my two-market location with both the NYC and Hartford feeds. So I saw every snap of Patriots-Jets, Saints-Eagles, Steelers-Bears, Bucs-Bills, Giants-Cowboys, plus the bonus coverage of the end of the Ravens-Chargers game. I haven’t watched non-NY football in years, but I found watching all the games tremendously enjoyable. I’m guessing Bengals-Packers was broadcast to very few people outside of Cincinnati and Green Bay. DirecTV subscribers could have watched, but I doubt any significant number of them would have. Not a fan of having Aaron Rodgers on my AllPro fantasy team, but it could be worse; I have Tony Romo in the Dynasty league. Oy. ---
**Author:** ![UncleNito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7cd45c/32.png) [@UncleNito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleNito)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/84 "2009-09-21T18:44:03Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Here is what I said in a thread earlier: “The Packers announced their cuts, and cut my guy Jamon Meredith. After trading Tony Moll their backup LT, they now have one true LT on the roster, Chad Clifton. I’m scared if he goes down.” I’m now officially scared. Maybe it’s time to move one of our three FBs to the practice squad and see who is still out there. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/85 "2009-09-21T19:10:08Z")
> [@UncleNito](#): > > Maybe it’s time to move one of our three FBs to the practice squad and see who is still out there. We’ve known for a couple years that our tackles were concerns. Clifton and Taush were injury risks, and there was no backup being groomed. They passed on Joe Staley, Tony Ugoh, and others in the draft and didn’t make any moves to grab a free agent. Now, I’m a huge TT supporter, and think he’s done a lot more good than bad, but not addressing the OT position position better is a gaping flaw in his master plan. And they wasted valuable reps on Moll only to trade him for a guy they cut a few weeks later. Colledge sure could have used those. Maybe TT is snakebit. He dumps his backup T, the starter gets injured. He dumps the safety he traded that guy for, and his two starting safeties get injured. He keeps three FBs, and there are no suitors. Not a run of luck. But it is way to early to panic. The season is still young, and the Pack have some time to work these kinks out. Hopefully Clifton will be healthy, Barbre will continue to improve, Colledge will be an adequate backup at LT, and Raji will be healthy sooner rather than later. And I have faith in Capers’ ability to handle defensive adjustments. So we get the Rams next week in a should (i/e we better fucking) win game, and we’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/86 "2009-09-21T19:17:38Z")
Unnoticed in all the huge performances yesterday was Kurt Warner’s latest record game- over a 92 completion percentage on the day, an NFL record for a quarterback with more than 20 attempts in a game. ---
**Author:** ![UncleNito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7cd45c/32.png) [@UncleNito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleNito)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/87 "2009-09-21T19:44:01Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > But it is way to early to panic. The season is still young, and the Pack have some time to work these kinks out. Hopefully Clifton will be healthy, Barbre will continue to improve, Colledge will be an adequate backup at LT, and Raji will be healthy sooner rather than later. And I have faith in Capers’ ability to handle defensive adjustments. So we get the Rams next week in a should (i/e we better fucking) win game, and we’ll be fine. Won’t argue with you there. After that we’re at MIN, which is a like-to-win but not a must-win since we get another shot at home. Then it’s a bye, then Cleveland. One month is enough time to get Bigby and Clifton healthy, get Raji up to speed, and figure out RT. It’s plausible to only lose one game in that span. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/88 "2009-09-21T20:27:52Z")
Did anyone else see John Madden and George W. Bush sitting next to one another and start laughing uncontrollably? ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/89 "2009-09-21T20:44:04Z")
The Ravens are actually giving me hope this year… I’m getting a warm gleeful feeling in my belly. I was only able to catch the last quarter of the Raven’s game, but it was worth it. The last play just reminded me of why I loved the Ravens in the beginning. Also, I’m amused in my fantasy league I chose to start Flacco over Rivers just to mock my opponent (who chose to start LT, even though he was out), and I might actually end up winning the matchup… ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/90 "2009-09-21T21:01:43Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Did anyone else see John Madden and George W. Bush sitting next to one another and start laughing uncontrollably? I did. I tried imagining how that conversation could have gone and just couldn’t picture it. > [@Ro0sh](#): > > The Ravens are actually giving me hope this year… I’m getting a warm gleeful feeling in my belly. I was only able to catch the last quarter of the Raven’s game, but it was worth it. The last play just reminded me of why I loved the Ravens in the beginning. The Ravens look very strong this year. They’ve done a nice job building the offensive line and Cam Cameron is excellent at adapting to different teams. After James Harrison schooled Gaither in a couple of games last season I was impressed (and disappointed) that they were able to adjust their schemes to account for him a lot better. They’re pretty evenly matched defensively against the Steelers, passing offense is close, PGH might have an edge there but baltimore’s running game is much better. Unfortunately I think that will become a bigger factor as the season progresses and the Steelers don’t have any surprise superstar linemen waiting in the wings to unleash on anyone. The running game will probably get better but it certainly won’t be as good as Baltimore’s three-headed attack. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/91 "2009-09-21T21:24:39Z")
> [@HongKongFooey](#): > > I did. I tried imagining how that conversation could have gone and just couldn’t picture it. Frank Caliendo will probably have some thoughts on that. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/92 "2009-09-21T21:37:09Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Well, I am not a commentator, but I am a Patriot fan, and I will say it. Brady looked off the entire game yesterday, missing passes left and right that he would normally hit with his eyes closed. During this entire week of trash talk from the Jets about how they were going to pressure him and come at him, etc., I was thinking “Bring it on, dipsticks!” I mean, standing in the pocket under pressure and methodically picking defenses apart is Brady’s _forte_! But his accuracy was shit, so even through he was often throwing it to the right receiver, it was high or behind or whatnot. Don’t even get me started on the redzone offense. > > As for the defense, I was feeling great after the first half. They looked rock solid against both the pass and the run. And then…what? I have no idea. Suddenly it was like a different team out there - couldn’t stop a rookie QB and a career 3rd-down back! Painful. There was almost no pressure on Sanchez whatsover, and receivers were wide open. I could have hit some of those passes! Seymour’s absence was felt big time in that second half. > > All in all, an embarrassing loss for the Pats. There’s no other word for it: embarrassing. :mad: Mind you, I DON’T hate the Pats. I’m a Giants fan who still hasn’t figured out how Ray Handley got the head coaching job over Belichick, who was OBVIOUSLY a genius, even as a coordinator. If and when Brady is healthy, things will look a lot better. And I have confidence Belichick will find ways to make the defense work before long. I just get tired of the media’s infatuation with the Patriots. When they’re great (and they often are), give them all the praise they deserve. But when they suck, SAY so, and stop pretending an ugly win was a sign of greatness. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/93 "2009-09-21T21:53:49Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > \*\* SAN DIEGO 3 Baltimore 40½ \*\* > The Chargers offense was a disaster last Monday. I have no idea what went wrong there and LDT is out this week hurt. The get to face a Baltimore defense that will be fired up and I wouldn’t want to be Sproles this week shouldering the full load. Flacco had a monster last week and considering how open those Oakland WRs were all game I suspect he’ll have another one. He certainly won’t bail out the Charger defense by airmailing the ball like Russell did all game. All signs point to a big Raven win, I think last weeks game was much closer on the scoreboard than it actually was. > > The Pick: **Ravens 38 - Chargers 16** While I’m sorry the Ravens still lost, I’m gratified that it wasn’t nearly the blowout you expected it to be. Go Chargers! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/94 "2009-09-21T21:54:54Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > LOL, want do you want the fans to do, shank him? He’s covered in protective gear. Worst they could do is tell him “fuck off”, dump beer on him or spit on him. Green Bay fans seemed much cooler with it than the Browns fans did, although I did notice the one guy on the left flipping Chad the bird, although he didn’t look too unhappy. Yes, I would like to see him harmed for that sort of disrespect. Or at least scared. Maybe the fans of some dome/cheerleader cupcake football team should let that sort of thing slide, but I expect better of fans in Cleveland and Green Bay. Maybe I’m nostalgiac, but if Chad had pulled that shit circa 1988 in the real dog pound, I think he might’ve gotten pulled in and brutally gangraped. > [@UncleNito](#): > > Which is why what the Packer fans did was worse for Mr. Johnson than what the Browns fans did. By flipping the bird and yelling F bombs into the camera, they guaranteed that the footage would never be shown. Nah, they [they did that too](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T-89mT_Eyo). Actually the only thing they really did do was that splash you see on Johnson’s back at 2 seconds into that video which the announcers call a “dose of beer” was actually a few guys pissing into a cup. You could see chad on the sideline all pissed off about it a few minutes later in the broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/95 "2009-09-21T22:36:23Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Maybe I’m nostalgiac, but if Chad had pulled that shit circa 1988 in the real dog pound, I think he might’ve gotten pulled in and brutally gangraped. Probably, but only because he’s better looking than Cleveland women. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/96 "2009-09-21T22:45:56Z")
I’m starting to like Chris Collinsworth. Never thought I’d say that. He’s getting right down to the point with things like, “That DB is out of position and looks like he blew his assignment.” He points out key blocks. This helps me learn the game with more depth. A lot of announcers just hail the offense, particularly the ball carrier, and don’t get into blocking or defensive schemes. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/97 "2009-09-22T00:25:55Z")
And it’s really rare to see an offensive-minded guy do that, too. Usually sportscasters point out stuff involving their area of expertise, but Collinsworth is just as apt to point out something involving a neat coverage shift as he is to point out a route-running error. Compare and contrast with Joe “the QB can do no wrong” Theismann. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/98 "2009-09-22T00:34:40Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > While I’m sorry the Ravens still lost, I’m gratified that it wasn’t nearly the blowout you expected it to be. Go Chargers! 🙂 I think I read that game pretty well, my biggest oversight was the capability of Sproles to be a difference maker by himself even against a traditionally solid D like the Ravens. Perhaps the lightning bug can be more than a 3rd down back. Though in the weeks to come we’ll have to watch and see if the Ravens D is still elite, after giving up nearly 500 yards you have to wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/99 "2009-09-22T00:57:03Z")
Meh. Sproles had one big play, which was a reception on a swing pass where the Ravens simply forgot to cover him. Any running back would have scored on that play. He was totally stuffed in the running game. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653/100 "2009-09-22T01:39:15Z")
Every time they give Ronnie Brown the ball he does something with it. Then they give it to Ricky for something lame. Gah. You don’t need to force RBBC when it’s clear one of your guys is owning the defense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-2/510653.md?page=6)