| The NFL kicks off their regular season |
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| Written by Matthew Russell | |
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What is the biggest news in sports this week? Without question, it’s football. The NFL kicked off the regular season this week and there were several marquis match ups at the college level as well. As we all know by now Ohio State (1) beat Texas (2) this weekend to take the undisputed top spot in college football. Why did Ohio win? One word: Turnovers. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy played a decent game. In fact, when you remember that he is just a red shirt freshman, you can see a bright future for the future of the Texas huddle. That being said the Longhorns had to deal with a few realities: First, you cannot beat the nation’s number one team if you have two turnovers and do not force a single one. Second, the two best players on the field, Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr., lined up on the same side of the ball and it was OSU’s. Lastly, Superman was not there to suit up in a number ten, burnt orange jersey to save them. After his performance in this game Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith finds himself at the forefront of the Heisman race. The other headline showdown would have been Notre Dame against Penn State if the Fighting Irish had not simply blasted the Nittnay Lions. The story in this game was not so much Irish quarterback Brady Quinn as it was the existence of the Notre Dame defense in the past two games. Now to the NFL; this week there were some interesting developments as we were given our first true look at some of the rookies and other acquisitions made by teams during the off season. I’ll start with one of the most anticipated rookies in recent history, the Saints Reggie Bush. Bush didn’t make any of the jaw-dropping runs and cutbacks that he blessed us with in his college career at USC. He did however put in a very solid body of work in his NFL debut. He did not make it into the end zone, but he did make an impact and give us a taste of the show of versatility he will put on in the coming weeks as he helped New Orleans win their season opener. Bush ran up 61 yards on 14 carries while sharing the back field with Duce McAllister, who rumbled for 90 yards on 22 carries. He led the Saints in with 8 catches for 58 yards, and he also returned 3 punts for 22 yards. The most hyped game this week was the showdown of Payton and Eli Manning, dubbed the “Manning Bowl. Surprise, surprise the game turned out just as it should have, with Payton’s Colts taking the narrow victory. Payton was only marginally better than Eli in this one, but the vastly superior Colts team is really to thank for the victory rather than either of the Mannings’ exploits. The Colts have better receivers, a better offensive line, and a better defense. Elsewhere in the league one of this years preseason favorites to win the Super Bowl, the Carolina Panthers, stumbled a bit without their All-Pro receiver, Steve Smith. Even more troubling than the offense’s inability to score with out Smith was the ineptitude of their defensive line to stop the Atlanta Falcon’s running game. The Panther’s front seven were billed as some of the best in the league against the run, but the Falcons shredded the front line so badly that Carolina’s four starting safeties and cornerbacks had 31 tackles, six more than the much hyped front 7. 252 rushing yards is the second most ever given up by a Carolina Panthers team. This loss marks the third straight opening day loss for the Panthers in as many years, all of which have come at home. To the south west the Philadelphia Eagles Donovan McNabb and Donte Stallworth did their best to erase the Terrell Owens controversy from Philly fans minds by connecting for 141 yards and a touchdown in Houston. McNabb finished the game with 314 yards and 3 touchdowns. One of the more talked about moves this off season was the addition of Daunte Culpepper to the Miami Dolphins. There were two questions being asked about Culpepper this year. The first was would he be able to bounce back from the knee surgery he had undergone? Well the answer to that question is yes, but the second question is what form will he bounce back to. Hopefully (for the Dolphin’s sake) this question has not quite been completely answered yet. Against the Steelers he was held without a touchdown pass and finished the game with 2 interceptions. So far he looks more like the 2005 Culpepper who threw 12 interceptions to 6 touchdowns in only 7 games, rather that the 2004 Culpepper who ransacked NFL defenses for 39 touchdowns while only throwing 11 interceptions for the entire season. In other sporting news, Maria Sharipova won the women’s US Open title, firmly proving that she is not simply the next Anna Kournikova. Roger Federer has continued his march into tennis history books with a third straight U.S. Open championship, this time by defeating American Andy Roddick. In an interesting moment before the match, Federer met with Tiger Woods for the first time. Woods and Federer right now share a unique place in the sporting world by dominating their solo sports so completely that right now the only thing they are fighting is history. |
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