Week 1 NFL Notes

Football season is uopn us, and we are through Week 1. Here are some thoughts from the first week on the gridiron:

After a 3-13 season, the Detroit Lions look like they might be ready to turn in a respectable (6 wins?) season. They thumped the Raiders 36-21 on Sunday, showing that their offense might be ready to become productive on a regular basis. The Lions lost eight games by 7 or fewer points last year, and scored 39 points in their season finale against Dallas. Look for rookie Calvin Johnson to have a nice year catching the ball. A big question for the Lions is whether Tatum Bell can hold up at running back. Plus, any team with Jon Kitna at QB is destined to lose at least half of its games.

New York Giants' QB Eli Manning got dinged up in the loss to the Cowboys on Sunday. Reports indicate that he could play this weekend. Mr. Manning needs to start stepping up his game on a consistent basis if New York is to make any noise this year. There are some rumors floating around that the G-men may target former Jaguar Byron Leftwich, but that seems a little far-fetched, since the Giants already have their franchise QB. Perhaps Kansas City or Chicago will make a run at the Jags' recent roster casualty.

Speaking of Da Bears, Mr. Rex Gross-Man proved once agian that he is not capable of being a good quarterback in the NFL. Chicago desperately needs some offense to go with a superior defense and special teams. The Bears managed just 202 yards against the Chargers in Week 1, and with the loss of defensive stalwart Mike Brown, it's even more important that Chicago gets some decent points out of its offense. This team could go downhill in a hurry if something isn't done about the QB position.

After watching the Cardinals-Niners game on Monday night, I am already convinced that Matt Leinart is not developing as he should. He has a great receiving corps, and a good running back in The Edge, but he is wildly inconsistent --- something we didn't see at USC. If I were an NFL GM, I would stay away from drafting QBs who have had great college careers, but have had a superstar running back to lean on (a la Reggie Bush). You just can't determine how much of an impact that the running game has on the QB position until you take out the superior threat.

Speaking of bad QBs, why is Joey Harrington still in the NFL? Two teams (the Dolphins and Lions) could have told us that he can't play a lick, but the Falcons decided to give him a shot anyway. Despite any productive stats that he might put up, he has not been able to shake the propensity to make huge mistakes. It's too bad, because he is a great guy, and had a wonderful career at Oregon. Look for a QB change in Atlanta very soon, with Leftwich being a real possibility.