Football Notebook: NFL Week 2, Cowboys Lose Romo & NCAA Week 3
By Jared Sandler | @SandlerJ
Opening thought: How many weeks until a team thinks they tie the game last-possession, only to miss the game-tying extra point?
COWBOYS NOTEBOOK
Random Thoughts
*It stinks to wonder if 2014 was Tony Romo's last fully healthy season.
*Very few teams can succeed w/ a backup QB for extended periods, but the Cowboys didn't help their case by ignoring the need this off-season.
*Who could they have gotten? Well, I don't rate Brandon Weeden very highly at all, so I think there were several options who would have been upgrades. With that said, based solely on free agent options, I would have loved Colt McCoy or Tyrod Taylor.
*Injuries aside, what an ugly two wins for the Cowboys.
*Thank goodness the NFC East looks horrible so far.
*Man, it's great to see Sean Lee out there and healthy. He seemed to be in on every play and that interception was humongous and a patented heads up play by the Nittany Lion alum.
*I like how creative they are getting this year with Lance Dunbar.
*Do you honestly buy into Weeden's performance as a sign of what's to come? Don't be insane.
MY NFL TOP FIVE
*A ranking not at all based on record but my own one-person committee's thoughts.
1. New England (2-0): Who is stopping this offense?
2. Green Bay Packers (2-0): I was most impressed with Green Bay's defensive effort versus the tough and versatile Seahawks offense.
3. Arizona Cardinals (2-0): That same opportunistic defense paired once again with a healthy Carson Palmer? Great combo...
4.Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1): Early blemish was to the number one team on this list. Might have best offense in football.
5. Seattle Seahawks (0-2): Exactly why I don't do it based on record. Do you really think this team won't win 11+ games?
NCAA
• I loved the movie, The Blind Side, but, man, did they screw up their portrayal of Hugh Freeze, who came across as a football idiot as Michael Oher's high school head coach at Briarcrest Academy.
• Dear Jerrod Heard: Thank you for making Texas, one of college football's flagship programs, watchable again.
• Auburn's Jeremy Johnson is my front-runner for the Most Overhyped Impact Player on a Team Supposed To Be Special award.
• I so badly want to believe this is the year Georgia avoids a mid-to-late-season choke job. This might be Mark Richt's best opportunity to come out of the SEC.
• Leonard Fournette...Boss. Best running back in college football.
• My USC Trojans continue to disappoint me. For the fifth straight season, they've dropped a game in the month of September. I said it when they hired him, several times since, and, I'm sure, more still to come: Sark is not the right guy to win you National Championships.
NFL
• The (potential) resurgence of Doug Martin is the biggest key to Jameis Winston's success this season.
• Still not sure how I feel about Tyrod Taylor
• Jerry Rice set a record with 13 consecutive games with a TD catch...Rob Gronkowski will break that. He's currently at five straight games.
• The Texans can switch their quarterbacks all they want, but they won't remain satisfied with any of their options. Neither Mallet, nor Hoyer will assuage their desires for a quarterback capable of leading them to the playoffs.
• This isn't a bold proclamation, but the Drew Brees-Saints era of contending is over.
• Johnny Manziel. 8-for-15, 2 TD-0 INT...What an odd line for a guy who played the whole game.
• Kam Chancellor is a Seahawk before their week 3 tilt.
3-PIECE OF NUMBER NUGGETS
NCAA
-Ole Miss ranks #1 in FPI, Game Control, and Strength of Record...three very telling statistic.
-Jerrod Heard's 527 yards of total offense was the most in Texas history.
-Georgia's Greyson Lambert set a FBS record for completion percentage in a game at 96% (24-for-25)
NFL
-The 2014 Raiders had just two 100-yard receiving games all year. Both Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree eclipsed the century mark in Week 2.
-Tom Brady is just the sixth quarterback all-time to begin a season with 7 TD and 0 INT through two games. Among those is the man he replaced, Drew Bledsoe, who did it in 1997.
-Per Elias, the Giants are 1st team in NFL history to lose first 2 games of season despite leading by 10 or more points in 4th quarter of each game
Here were my pre-season picks
NFC
East: 1. Philadelphia 2. Dallas 3. New York 4. Washington
North: 1. Green Bay 2. Detroit 3. Minnesota 4. Chicago
South: 1. Carolina 2. New Orleans 3. Tampa Bay 4. Atlanta
West: 1. Seattle 2. Arizona 3. San Francisco 4. St. Louis
AFC
East: 1. New England 2. Buffalo 3. Miami 4. New York
North: 1. Pittsburgh 2. Baltimore 3. Cincinnati 4. Cleveland
South: 1. Indianapolis 2. Tennessee 3. Houston 4. Jacksonville
West: 1. Denver 2. Kansas City 3. San Diego 4. Oakland
Super Bowl: Green Bay over Indianapolis
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
