The day week one in the NFL season ends, MVP's are proclaimed, Super Bowl match-ups are announced, and the sports world collectively claims who is underrated and overrated.
I'm here to tell everyone: relax.
The Steelers are not going to go 0-16, the New York Jets are not going to average 48 points per game, and Michael Vick will have much better days than what we observed in yesterdays 17-16 win survival at Cleveland. However, there were some things I learned watching yesterday's week one games. Here are a few of my thoughts:
The Steelers are fine: Everyone in the Pittsburgh area needs to take a collective breath. It was week one. On the road. Against Peyton Manning. Are we sure Manning took a year off last year? He again out-smarted his opponent and looked sharp in all aspects. I think we're going to continue to see teams try and run up-tempo against the Steelers defense much like the Broncos did Sunday night with much success. But again, let's keep this in perspective. Winning on the road week one is tough to do to begin with. Factor in that James Harrison and Ryan Clark did not play in this game (two of the four best players on defense) and you get the result you did. The Steelers were excellent on third downs against a tough Denver defense and had a chance late in the game to take the lead. I liked what I saw out of Jonathon Dwyer (9 carries, 43 yards, ran hard and decisive) and the offensive line, who protected Roethlisberger well before that disastrous desperation drive. Overall, there are more positives than negatives.
Russell Wilson is not the second coming of God: Yes, Russell Wilson had a very good pre-season, but I stand by my opinion that Matt Flynn should be the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson was the biggest star in the four exhibition games that no one cares about or game plans for. Wilson will likely be a pro-bowl caliber quarterback in this league, but as for Sunday, the 18-34, 153 yards with a touchdown and interception apiece were not good enough to beat the Cardinals, led by a combination of John Skelton and Kevin Kolb.
The Bills did not look like contenders: After numerous "experts" ignored the fact that the Buffalo Bills still have no secondary, linebackers, offensive line, quarterback, and a running back who can stay healthy and picked them to not only beat the Jets but be a wild card team, Buffalo gave up 48 points to a Jets offense who could barely muster up a touchdown this preseason. Which leads me to this