Lessons Learned - Week 1 NFL (1 Viewer)

[Bill Barue]

Football is here! The NFL season has started with a touchdown, extra point and a concussion! In this World Cup year of 2010, the real football has finally arrived. No more diving on the ground grasping at an ankle like it just got snapped like a twig. In real football your ankle did just snap like a twig. Welcome to the National Football League version 2010. Here are the top 5 lessons learned from week 1.

1. The VIOLENCE is back! What a dangerous sport. Remember playing frogger and trying not to die by getting run over by a truck? That is the NFL, on every play. No one is safe on the field. Sunday morning I could be found jumping of the couch with phrases like: "I think he might be concussed!!"," Please get him off the field already!!" or my personal favorite, "Oh, he's dead!". Steal them if you must. I will never again blame a player for holding out or fighting for guaranteed money because I can guarantee you this, the NFL is a concussion waiting to happen! See ya next week.

2. Defense is ahead of the offense! Drew Brees starting the season by scoring 14 points. Enough said. Almost. He is one of the great quarterbacks. Then there are these guys: Anderson, Hill, Dixon, Smith, Edwards, Henne, Campbell, Moore, Freeman and Orton. Hard to figure why defenses were better. These guys were not that good in college, except Smith who was then wrongly evaluated as an overall #1. Fancy offenses with 5 wides and wild animals and stuff proves they don't have a good QB. If they did, they wouldn't do that. Good luck Niners!

3. Experts suck! I listened to them tell me that San Francisco was good. I mean improved, disciplined and talented. Mike Singelatary can do no wrong. Pete Carroll is a rat who left a sinking ship and can't win in this league. Ben "over" Roethlisberger suspension will doom the Steelers. Romo is a super star. Cincinnati, well who really thinks Palmer can handle Ocho and T. Oh-no.

4. Bill Belichick is still a genuis! His mentees not so much. Mr. Genius managed to look brilliant again in his teams win Sunday. Brady back in the pocket, Welker back in the slot, running back by committee and a younger, faster defense. Winning formula for New England. Meanwhile, Josh McDaniels is still an idiot, Jim Schwartz still coaches for Detroit and Eric Mangini continues to lose and keep his job.

5. Rain Delays? When did a baseball game breakout? So they delay the game because of rain? Okay, officially lightning, but where do you go? The players go to the locker room and the 50,000 fans hide in the hallways? What exactly is going on here? More commercial time? More chances to show the players family in the suites? More opportunity to show the facially gifted side-line reporters? When is a game going to be postponed because of a storm in the area. Doppler shows Monday at 1:00p.m. is the best time for kickoff.

Welcome back football. I am looking forward for that first Tuesday morning injury report to see who is alive, who is day-to-day and who is dead, at least for 2010.

 

[Daywalker]

Slow down buddy.

 

[FantasyTrader]

Slow down buddy.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

That if you have the football with 1 play to go in the half and you aren't close enough to throw in into the endzone, take a knee.

I thought the coaching staff of the Cowboys may have known this already but apprently they needed to still learn that lesson in Week 1.

The Title is Lessons Learned so I am hoping that this has actually occured in what is the worst season opening loss I can EVER remember for the Dallas Cowboys.

 

[Couch Potato]

I'll just remind everyone of a lesson we should all already know but sometimes forget, a lesson I learned many many years ago.

Things that happened in Week 1, had they happened in Week 8 instead, wouldn't have been under such a microscope. One game does not make a season, and only a fool over-reacts to such a small statistical sample. Don't be the guy that panics and makes dumb knee-jerk decisions based on Week 1 of the season.

 

[FantasyTrader]

As usual, CP checks in with sage, concise wisdom.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

I'll just remind everyone of a lesson we should all already know but sometimes forget, a lesson I learned many many years ago. Things that happened in Week 1, had they happened in Week 8 instead, wouldn't have been under such a microscope. One game does not make a season, and only a fool over-reacts to such a small statistical sample. Don't be the guy that panics and makes dumb knee-jerk decisions based on Week 1 of the season.

You wouldn't bench Barron off of that 1 week performance? Sometimes there are situations and tough decisions that need to be made as well. Ya, don't go dropping Shonn Greene to the waiver wire but you also need to look long and hard at the bottom of your roster and determine who may not be what you thought and who's more than what you thought that's on the wire because After Week 1, a lot of these guys get gobbled up. Then after Week 2 you decide that oh, Laurent Robinson isn't the guy I really want to keep around and the 5 WR Fa's from Week 1 are gone.

 

[gethugefast1]

Carolina Panthers may not have the running game as past couple of years without Jeff Otah.

 

[Couch Potato]

I'll just remind everyone of a lesson we should all already know but sometimes forget, a lesson I learned many many years ago. Things that happened in Week 1, had they happened in Week 8 instead, wouldn't have been under such a microscope. One game does not make a season, and only a fool over-reacts to such a small statistical sample. Don't be the guy that panics and makes dumb knee-jerk decisions based on Week 1 of the season.

You wouldn't bench Barron off of that 1 week performance? Sometimes there are situations and tough decisions that need to be made as well. Ya, don't go dropping Shonn Greene to the waiver wire but you also need to look long and hard at the bottom of your roster and determine who may not be what you thought and who's more than what you thought that's on the wire because After Week 1, a lot of these guys get gobbled up. Then after Week 2 you decide that oh, Laurent Robinson isn't the guy I really want to keep around and the 5 WR Fa's from Week 1 are gone.

I didn't say not to react to the happenings of Week 1. I said not to panic and over-react. Just like at any other time of the year, if the facts and circumstances warrant -- teams make role changes, there are injuries, etc. -- use good judgment and incorporate Week 1 into that judgment. I didn't say blindly stand pat. But be sure you know what is now different from the day before the season began which is causing your judgment to change, beyond simply stats in a box score. I wouldn't be making huge downgrades or upgrades on players if their roles are still the same and they just had a statistically aberrant week due to matchups, playing catch up all game, etc. Austin Collie is still what he was before last week. Michael Crabtree is still what he was. If you look at any game-by-game stats for players in past years you'll see some good weeks and some bad. For some players Week 1 just happened to be the exceptionally good or bad.If you understand WHY certain stats occurred in Week 1 and in your judgment the WHY is a true change from assumptions you had before rather than merely an aberration, it becomes a sound reason for a change in your previous judgment and of course you should react. Just like any other week. But if you don't understand these things you end up being the guy who trades away Crabtree for Collie, forgetting who these guys are and all that was incorporated into their relative rankings before the season began, just because of one week. I doubt there will be 2 more games this year that the Colts will be playing catchup all game long, or any games Collie will be 11 of 11 on targets again.