NFL Week 2 Recaps Posts -- FanHouse

Latest NFL Week 2 Recaps Stories

Cowboys Beat Dolphins With Help From a Spying T.O.

Posted: Sep 17th 2007 12:33AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: Cowboys, Dolphins, AFC East, NFC East

Normally, I don't like Terrell Owens' touchdown celebrations. However, this ... pictured ... was a pretty good one. After catching a 34-yard TD pass in the 4th quarter, T.O. hid behind the goalpost, used the football as a camera and mimicked the Patriots' "Spygate" controversy. Sorry, Chad Johnson, but that's better than a weak Hall Of Fame jacket.

Owens caught 5 passes for 97 yards in the win:

"It was all in good fun," Owens said with a grin. "I hope they don't give me a hefty fine like they gave Belichick."

Terrell Owens was just part of Dallas' 37-20 whipping of the Miami Dolphins. Dallas piled up 166 rushing yards and their defense ... while not perfect ... played much better than in their Week 1 win over the Giants. They got five takeaways, including four interceptions and dominated the first half. Miami made a nice adjustment in the 2nd half [noting that the Boys' secondary was giving them short routes] ... but it wasn't enough to overcome the turnovers [especially when the Phins forced none].

Mistakes were the name of this game for both teams. Dallas' big problem was penalties: 11 of 'em for 101 yards! However, the Dolphins continued to kill themselves with mistakes. Not only did they have the four picks and lost a fumbled snap, but committed 7 penalties of their own ... including two penalties on a beautiful punt. The re-kick was returned 49 yards by Patrick Crayton and the Cowboys soon scored a TD. There was also the end of the first half where Trent Green wasted time and two downs to SPIKE THE FOOTBALL! The first spike slipped out his hands and was ruled a fumble. He then had to hurry to get his confused team back up on the line to spike the ball again.

Final score: Cowboys 37-Dolphins 20

Devin Hester's Many Happy Returns Sink The Chiefs

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 11:09PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Bears, Chiefs, AFC West, NFC North, Chicago, Kansas City

0 COMMENTS

The ecstasy and the Rex-stasy were both in full view as the Bears beat the Chiefs 20-10 in their home opener on Sunday. Devin Hester provided the ecstasy with a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown, a 31-yarder that set up one of Robbie Gould's two field goals and a 95-yard kickoff return that should have netted six more points for the Monsters of the Midway. It was called back because of a holding penalty, though, and the Bears had to be content with a slim margin of victory.

Hester wasn't the only Bear to have a good game on Sunday. Cedric Benson quieted any talk about being too soft to succeed as the feature back by rushing for 101 yards and outplaying his opposite number Larry Johnson. L.J., a Benson supporter, was shut down by the Bears defense and spent another week compiling material for his next anti Chief rap. Maybe Benson can return the favor and remind Johnson that things can get better if you keep trying. Either that or he can come up for a derogatory rhyme for Damon Huard for Johnson's next single.

So the Bears ran the ball with authority, dominated on defense and made big plays in the kicking game, why didn't they blow out Kansas City? The answer to that question is Rex Grossman. The always-embattled quarterback actually started quite well, leading a 15-play, eight minute drive that ended with Chicago's first touchdown of the season early in the second quarter. Hester and Gould extended his lead to 20-7 in the third quarter and you'd think that Grossman would be able to take it easy and manage the Bears to a comfortable win.

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Broncos 23, Raiders 20: The Wild West Lives

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 8:08PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Broncos, Raiders, AFC West, Denver, Oakland

28 COMMENTS

Just as the second quarter started in Denver the skies opened in a fury of lightning and thunder. NFL rules call for a halt to the proceedings when the heavens pour down like that. For the Raiders it really was a heaven-sent interruption. Josh McCown had just thrown his second interception of the game and the Broncos were in business near midfield when the game was halted. On the first play back, though, Jay Cutler was picked and the Raiders drove for a field goal that cut Denver's lead to 7-3. That was just the beginning of what the man upstairs had in store for the Raiders on Sunday. And like any good biblical story there were moments of glory, agony and redemption before He finally pulled the rug out from under Lane Kiffin's gang.

The glory came when Gerard Warren sacked Cutler for a safety and when Thomas Howard picked off one of his passes for a 44-yard touchdown return that elevated the Raiders to a 20-17 lead with nine minutes to play in the game. The redemption belonged to McCown and Lamont Jordan. After a miserable first half McCown found Jerry Porter for the first Oakland touchdown and his tailback picked up big chunks of yardage throughout the second half before finishing with 159 yards. Some of those yards set up Sebastian Janikowski's 52-yard field goal to win the game four minutes into overtime.

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Ravens Hold On When Comeback Slips Through Jet Fingers

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 7:54PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, Ravens, AFC East, AFC North, New York, Baltimore

2 COMMENTS

The Jets couldn't run the ball any better today than they did against the Patriots. They protected the quarterback with the same matador style they used in the opener. And they rushed Kyle Boller like touching him would give them Chlamydia.

Yet they still had a chance to tie the game in Baltimore when a new offensive problem reared its ugly head. Justin McCareins and Laveranues Coles combined to drop three passes that would have been touchdowns from Kellen Clemens in the last two minutes. The last of those passes brushed off McCareins' fingers and into Ray Lewis' hearty mitts and the Ravens escaped with a 20-13 win.

Clemens deserved better. The second-year player made his first career start in place of Chad Pennington and struggled for most of three quarters before finding his rhythm in the fourth quarter. He was 10-for-19 for 176 yards and a touchdown in the final 15 minutes while leading the Jets back from a 20-3 deficit.

Those first three quarters belonged to the Ravens. They stifled everything the Jets tried on offense, sacking Clemens four times and intercepting him once while Boller was doing an excellent job running the offense. He threw a pair of touchdowns and his offensive line, sans Jonathan Ogden, had no trouble giving him time to find the right receivers at the right times. Willis McGahee ran the ball well and caught Boller's first touchdown.

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Stunning! Cardinals Beat Seahawks With Surprising Rally in Final Minutes

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 7:32PM by Dan (author feed)
Filed under: AZ Cardinals, Seahawks, NFC West, Phoenix, Seattle

6 COMMENTS

With the game tied 20-20 and the Seahawks driving with only 2:00 to go, Cardinals fans had to be thinking "here we go again!" Then, suddenly, the unthinkable happened. As Matt Hasselbeck turned to handoff to Shaun Alexander, the ball came loose. For Arizona and Seattle fans, time stood still for a moment -- this was the game. As Darnell Dockett fell on the ball, a collective shriek of excitement could be heard across the country emanating from Phoenix.

From there, it was all up to Edgerrin James and Neil Rackers -- neither of whom would disappoint. Edge gained 20 yards on the next three carries, setting Rackers up for a potential game-winning 42-yard field goal. And as the clock slowly ticked away, the Rackers kick sailed through the uprights, all but securing the Cardinals their first win of the season. While the Seahawks did have one second and a kickoff return remaining, their efforts would prove to be fruitless, as Arizona stopped them before they even reached the 30.

Sure, I may have played this up a little, but I've got my Cardinals hat on today. Admittedly, it's not that often that the Cardinals and their fans can celebrate, and while it may only be week two, this was a huge win for this franchise. It was a fabulous rebound from last week, and gives Arizona a little motivation going forward.

For Seattle, it's a horrible bitter way to end the week. They really seemed to outplay a sloppy Cardinals team, but the only thing that matters is the final score. Unfortunately for them, they were on the wrong side of that this week. And because of that, good performances by Hasselbeck, Alexander, Deion Branch and Lofa Tatupu went to waste.

Let me have it, Seahawks fans. I know it's coming, so please, let loose.

Final Score: Cardinals 23 - Seahawks 20

Browns and Bengals Sent Defense Back 100 Years

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 6:32PM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, Browns, AFC North

16 COMMENTS

All week long, people in Cincinnati were going on and on about the defensive effort against the Ravens on Monday night. I doubt that will be the case this week after the Bengals lost to the Browns, 51-45.

How in the heck do you give up 51 points to the Cleveland Browns? How do you let Browns' QB Derek Anderson complete 20-of-33 passes for 328 yards and ... gulp ... 5 touchdown passes!?!?! I mean, Cleveland traded Week 1 starter Charlie Frye for change this past week, and the guy that he beat out in the preseason dumps 5 TD tosses on you?

And it wasn't just the pass defense. The Bengals allowed Jamal Lewis to run for 215 yards ... including a 66 yard TD romp. Cincy allowed 554 yards of offense to a team that mustered just 221 last week in Pittsburgh.

I mean, Cleveland's defense stunk too. They gave up 45 points, 531 total yards, 6 TD passes from Carson Palmer and 209 receiving yards to Chad Johnson, who fullfilled his promise of jumping into the Dawg Pound after scoring his 2nd TD of the day [as you can see in the pic, they didn't like that very much]. However, we expected that coming into this game.

Marvin Lewis and Romeo Crennell have both been defensive coordinators for Super Bowl winning teams [Ravens and Patriots, respectively]. Yet, as head coaches ... their franchises haven't figured out how to apply their knowledge. For Cleveland, it just joins a list of problems to deal with. For Cincinnati, it's what is preventing them from being an elite team.

Final Score: Browns 51-Bengals 45.

Brett Favre Picks Apart Giants AFL-Like Secondary as Packers Roll

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 4:02PM by Dan (author feed)
Filed under: NY Giants, Packers, NFC East, NFC North, New York

11 COMMENTS

The field presence of Eli Manning made no difference today, as the Giants secondary was picked apart for the second week in a row. Despite having as many offensive injuries as New York, Brett Favre was able maneuver a near back-up squad to a 35-13 victory.

The Giants now fall to 0-2 on the season, and have to be left wondering if defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was the answer. While Tim Lewis didn't fare much better last year, New York's secondary is almost laughable. Through two games, they are by far the worst in the league and showed no indications that they are improving. They were scorched for 286 yards today, and once again, their achilles heel was the tight end -- something the Packers rarely use. On the plus side, their defensive tackles, Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins, played quite well this afternoon.

Offensively, the Giants were all over the place. They looked good early on, and then completely fell apart toward the end. All Giants fans can do is take solace in the fact that Manning played decent outside of his pathetic interception, Derrick Ward looked good, Anthony Mix performed well in garbage time and the offensive line appears to be much more capable than people expected coming out of preseason.

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