RealGM Wiretap
The AFC The Buddy Nix Matt Rich Warren of Buffalo Rumblings: “After the Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 on Sunday, many struggled to think back to some of the highest-scoring games for the team in the offensively-inept recent past. Even going all the way back to the team's founding in 1960, Sunday stands pretty high as one of the most dominant regular season performances in franchise history.” The Jeff Ireland Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald: “Tom Brady passed for 517 yards against the Dolphins. It is the MOST passing yards the Dolphins have allowed in one game in franchise history, blowing away the 479 yards Ken O'Brien threw for in 1986. But rather than simply blame the cornerbacks (who were to blame for much of it), one must take a wider view of the situation.” The Jonathan Kraft Gregg Knopping of Pats Pulpit: “The Patriots got off to a shaky start on the defensive side of the ball, as the Dolphins marched straight down the field for a touchdown. Gary Guyton, in particular, seemed to struggle in both pass and rush coverage. The group, however, would recover.” The Mike Tannenbaum Brian Costello of The New York Post: “Calling his defense's performance ‘painful,’ Jets coach Rex Ryan did not hand out any game balls on the defensive side of the ball Monday after Sunday's 27-24 victory over the Cowboys. The Jets gave up 390 yards of offense.” The Ozzie Newsome The Baltimore Beatdown: “Since Flacco and Harbaugh took over in Baltimore (not including Sunday’s game), the Ravens are 36-19 (.655) including their playoff games. If you take out the losses to the Steelers and the Colts, the record becomes 34-10 (.773), or roughly 12.36 wins per season. Against every other team, the Ravens have played extremely well and won the vast majority of their games.” The Mike Brown Josh Kirkendall of Cincy Jungle: “Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton recorded his first NFL start Sunday, posting a win even though he only participated in a share of the game due to an injury to his throwing arm. Bruce Gradkowski became the Bengals version of Francisco Cordero, becoming frighteningly ineffective at times, but sealing the win in the end with a strike on the outside corner/sidelines.” The Tom Heckert Dawgs By Nature: “Down three points late in the fourth quarter, the Cleveland Browns had to stop the Cincinnati Bengals from converting a 3rd and 3 and running out the clock. Cincinnati stacked the box, leaving only one WR on the field in favor of ‘22’ (2 backs, 2 tight ends) personnel. Cleveland countered by bringing an 8th man (Joe Haden) into the box, but 8 weren't enough.” The Kevin Colbert Neal Coolong of Behind The Steel Curtain: “Teams look for two things when replacing an offensive linemen, whether on their current roster or not; Whether he knows the offense well enough to contribute immediately, and what kind of physical conditioning has he maintained.” The Rick Smith Battle Red Blog: “Yes, it's true that the Texans have been in a similar position before. One year ago, the team with the awesome bull logo on the helmets beat the team with the ever-so-blah horseshoe on the helmet quite decisively in the first game of the season, only to go on to a 6-10 season while the shoe team won the division -- again.” The Chris Polian Stampede Blue: “Simple question, and it demands a simple answer. If Peyton Manning never plays another down of football again, will you continue to root for the Indianapolis Colts?” The Gene Smith Vito Stellino of The Florida Times-Union: “The Jaguars gave quarterback Luke McCown an offensive game ball Monday to go with the handcuffs they gave him Sunday. Of course, he didn't get real handcuffs in his first start with the Jaguars, but their offensive game plan limited his opportunities to throw.” The Mike Reinfeldt Music City Miracles: “No surprise here that Chris Johnson's success rate was just 33%. The rushing game is my biggest concern that emerged from this game. The defense is going to be a work in progress, but the offensive line was supposed to be fixed. They sure didn't look fixed on Sunday.” The Brian Xanders Lindsay Jones of The Denver Post: “Oakland kicker Sebastian Janikowski joined New Orleans’ Tom Dempsey (1970) and the Broncos’ Jason Elam (1998) in the record book for the longest field goal in NFL history.” The Scott Pioli Randy Covitz of The Kansas City Star: “Buffalo coach Chan Gailey has defended the cut block by Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson that caused a season-ending knee injury to Chiefs strong safety Eric Berry in Sunday's game.” The Al Davis Rich Langford of Silver and Black Pride: “The D-Line was at their dominant best in this one. They manhandled a solid Bronco offensive line. The Raiders had five sacks in this game. Two by Richard Seymour. One by Tommy Kelly and Matt Shaughnessy and one credited to the team. They constantly made Orton uncomfortable and he rarely had time to set his feet. They also made the Broncos run game a non-factor. John Fox wants the Broncos to be a run first team, but they were dominated so badly in the running game they carried only 13 times and gained just 38 yards. Numbers that look even more impressive when you consider Orton had a 13-yard scramble.” The Dean Spanos Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune: “The better Norv Turner is at calling plays, the more he will pay this year in support of an organization that fights hunger in San Diego. Turner and his wife, Nancy, will donate $500 for every touchdown the Chargers score in 2011 to Feeding America San Diego.” The NFC The Stephen Jones Rainer Sabin of The Dallas Morning News: “Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said he wasn't surprised [Tony Romo] took lion share of responsibility for the defeat. ‘He's got high expectations for himself,’ Witten said. ‘I think he knows we go as he goes and I think I said last night that he's an elite, elite quarterback. I think we saw that a lot the way he attacked that defense. But ultimately he puts a lot on himself and he'll be better because of that.’ Still, Witten said Romo is aware of the spotlight that follows him as the quarterback of the Cowboys.” The Jerry Reese Ebenezer Samuel of The New York Daily News: “Greg Jones saw what the Redskins were doing. He knew Tim Hightower was running as stretch play, which the Redskins' tailback was aiming to dash into the corner on of the end zone. And he diagnosed it correctly. But the Giants' promising rookie linebacker just didn't quite make the stop on that first-and-goal from the 1 in the second quarter, because he followed all of his brilliant analysis with a youngster's mistake: He took a bad angle to the ball.” The Howie Roseman Bleeding Green Nation: “Michael Vick left Atlanta in disgrace five years ago. He returns this weekend as one of the NFL’s most electrifying players. Vick will make his first career start against the team that made him the first pick in the 2001 draft on Sunday when the Eagles and Falcons meet at the Georgia Dome” The Bruce Allen Mike Jones of The Washington Post: “With two major weapons in Chris Cooley and Fred Davis, the Washington Redskins on Sunday utilized multiple tight end sets for nearly 80 percent of their offensive plays, and Coach Mike Shanahan said you can expect to see plenty more of that this season.” The Jerry Angelo Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune: “Plenty will be made this week about the Bears facing Olin Kreutz on Sunday, 51 days after he rejected a one-hour ultimatum from general manager Jerry Angelo on a one-year contract. It never should have gotten to that point but it did and the Bears are where they are -- happy with the quick development of Roberto Garza.” The Martin Mayhew Steve Kornacki of MLive.com: “Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson had two touchdowns to the one Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib got after grabbing a Matthew Stafford pass tipped by tight end Will Heller. Talib pranced into the end zone with long strides, spun the ball and then appeared as if he was cranking a highlight reel camera. He couldn't explain his antics afterward because he refused to speak to the media.” The Mark Murphy Kareem Copeland of The Green Bay Press-Gazette: “Cam Newton is the Packers problem this week as the defending champs head to Charlotte, N.C. for a noon kickoff at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday. ‘Four twenty-two, that was impressive,’ Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday morning.” The Mark Wilf Mark Craig of The Star-Tribune: “Turns out Donovan McNabb's first snap as a Viking was a play he changed at the line of scrimmage based on the man coverage the Chargers were using on Percy Harvin in Sunday's game at San Diego. The original play call was a run for Adrian Peterson. McNabb switched to a quick pass to Harvin in the left flat. The ball never arrived because linebacker Shaun Phillips reached up, batted the ball and intercepted it.” The Thomas Dimitroff D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Despite leading the team in tackles, Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon had a rough outing against the Chicago Bears. He missed a tackle on Chicago running back Matt Forte’s 56-yard touchdown run that drew the attention of head coach Mike Smith.” The Marty Hurney Cat Scratch Reader: “Cam Newton's rating to change from 77 to 81 in Madden '12. ‘I think people were expecting [Newton’s] ground game to lead the way. And then we all went 'whoa,' this guy is looking like a legit passing quarterback,’ said Donny Moore, EA Sports' Madden NFL Ratings Czar.” The Mickey Loomis John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: “Watching the Indianapolis Colts be dragged around and punished while looking totally inept in a 34-7 loss at Houston on Sunday should have made us appreciate New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees even more.” The Mark Dominik Rick Stroud of The St. Petersburg Times: “Bucs coach Raheem Morris said some of his players blinked in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Detroit Lions. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson indicated quarterback Josh Freeman and others lost their 'swagger.' Whatever the reason, the Bucs did not look like a confident team in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Detroit Lions.” The Rod Graves Revenge Of The Birds: “After all the questions during the preseason about how he would perform, Beanie Wells ran for 90 yards on 18 carries and had a touchdown on the Cardinals opening drive. Although he mishandled a pitch from Kevin Kolb, Wells did a good job securing the ball which is definitely an upgrade from last year.” The Billy Devaney Ryan Van Bidder of Turf Show Times: “Despite his insistence on playing in week two, the Rams will have to be careful with [Sam] Bradford. Nerve damage in his fingers could affect his accuracy (even more than receivers who drop those passes).” The Trent Baalke David Fucillo of Niners Nation: “It's safe to say that Jim Harbaugh went to the Bill Belichick school of media handling. It wouldn't surprise me if it had as much to do with Harbaugh's former status as a player as much as anything else. He was there to answer questions, but he did a pretty impressive job of giving away as little information as possible.” The John Schneider Danny O’Neill of The Seattle Times: “The same referee who officiated Seattle's controversial Super Bowl loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers has been assigned to Sunday's game when Seattle plays at Pittsburgh. Referee Bill Leavy has been assigned to officiate Seattle's Week 2 game, which is at Pittsburgh. Leavy was the referee at Super Bowl XL, which included several controversial penalties.”
NFL Scoop: 32-Team Week 1 Reactions
The AFC The Buddy Nix Matt Rich Warren of Buffalo Rumblings: “After the Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 on Sunday, many struggled to think back to some of the highest-scoring games for the team in the offensively-inept recent past. Even going all the way back to the team's founding in 1960, Sunday stands pretty high as one of the most dominant regular season performances in franchise history.” The Jeff Ireland Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald: “Tom Brady passed for 517 yards against the Dolphins. It is the MOST passing yards the Dolphins have allowed in one game in franchise history, blowing away the 479 yards Ken O'Brien threw for in 1986. But rather than simply blame the cornerbacks (who were to blame for much of it), one must take a wider view of the situation.” The Jonathan Kraft Gregg Knopping of Pats Pulpit: “The Patriots got off to a shaky start on the defensive side of the ball, as the Dolphins marched straight down the field for a touchdown. Gary Guyton, in particular, seemed to struggle in both pass and rush coverage. The group, however, would recover.” The Mike Tannenbaum Brian Costello of The New York Post: “Calling his defense's performance ‘painful,’ Jets coach Rex Ryan did not hand out any game balls on the defensive side of the ball Monday after Sunday's 27-24 victory over the Cowboys. The Jets gave up 390 yards of offense.” The Ozzie Newsome The Baltimore Beatdown: “Since Flacco and Harbaugh took over in Baltimore (not including Sunday’s game), the Ravens are 36-19 (.655) including their playoff games. If you take out the losses to the Steelers and the Colts, the record becomes 34-10 (.773), or roughly 12.36 wins per season. Against every other team, the Ravens have played extremely well and won the vast majority of their games.” The Mike Brown Josh Kirkendall of Cincy Jungle: “Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton recorded his first NFL start Sunday, posting a win even though he only participated in a share of the game due to an injury to his throwing arm. Bruce Gradkowski became the Bengals version of Francisco Cordero, becoming frighteningly ineffective at times, but sealing the win in the end with a strike on the outside corner/sidelines.” The Tom Heckert Dawgs By Nature: “Down three points late in the fourth quarter, the Cleveland Browns had to stop the Cincinnati Bengals from converting a 3rd and 3 and running out the clock. Cincinnati stacked the box, leaving only one WR on the field in favor of ‘22’ (2 backs, 2 tight ends) personnel. Cleveland countered by bringing an 8th man (Joe Haden) into the box, but 8 weren't enough.” The Kevin Colbert Neal Coolong of Behind The Steel Curtain: “Teams look for two things when replacing an offensive linemen, whether on their current roster or not; Whether he knows the offense well enough to contribute immediately, and what kind of physical conditioning has he maintained.” The Rick Smith Battle Red Blog: “Yes, it's true that the Texans have been in a similar position before. One year ago, the team with the awesome bull logo on the helmets beat the team with the ever-so-blah horseshoe on the helmet quite decisively in the first game of the season, only to go on to a 6-10 season while the shoe team won the division -- again.” The Chris Polian Stampede Blue: “Simple question, and it demands a simple answer. If Peyton Manning never plays another down of football again, will you continue to root for the Indianapolis Colts?” The Gene Smith Vito Stellino of The Florida Times-Union: “The Jaguars gave quarterback Luke McCown an offensive game ball Monday to go with the handcuffs they gave him Sunday. Of course, he didn't get real handcuffs in his first start with the Jaguars, but their offensive game plan limited his opportunities to throw.” The Mike Reinfeldt Music City Miracles: “No surprise here that Chris Johnson's success rate was just 33%. The rushing game is my biggest concern that emerged from this game. The defense is going to be a work in progress, but the offensive line was supposed to be fixed. They sure didn't look fixed on Sunday.” The Brian Xanders Lindsay Jones of The Denver Post: “Oakland kicker Sebastian Janikowski joined New Orleans’ Tom Dempsey (1970) and the Broncos’ Jason Elam (1998) in the record book for the longest field goal in NFL history.” The Scott Pioli Randy Covitz of The Kansas City Star: “Buffalo coach Chan Gailey has defended the cut block by Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson that caused a season-ending knee injury to Chiefs strong safety Eric Berry in Sunday's game.” The Al Davis Rich Langford of Silver and Black Pride: “The D-Line was at their dominant best in this one. They manhandled a solid Bronco offensive line. The Raiders had five sacks in this game. Two by Richard Seymour. One by Tommy Kelly and Matt Shaughnessy and one credited to the team. They constantly made Orton uncomfortable and he rarely had time to set his feet. They also made the Broncos run game a non-factor. John Fox wants the Broncos to be a run first team, but they were dominated so badly in the running game they carried only 13 times and gained just 38 yards. Numbers that look even more impressive when you consider Orton had a 13-yard scramble.” The Dean Spanos Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune: “The better Norv Turner is at calling plays, the more he will pay this year in support of an organization that fights hunger in San Diego. Turner and his wife, Nancy, will donate $500 for every touchdown the Chargers score in 2011 to Feeding America San Diego.” The NFC The Stephen Jones Rainer Sabin of The Dallas Morning News: “Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said he wasn't surprised [Tony Romo] took lion share of responsibility for the defeat. ‘He's got high expectations for himself,’ Witten said. ‘I think he knows we go as he goes and I think I said last night that he's an elite, elite quarterback. I think we saw that a lot the way he attacked that defense. But ultimately he puts a lot on himself and he'll be better because of that.’ Still, Witten said Romo is aware of the spotlight that follows him as the quarterback of the Cowboys.” The Jerry Reese Ebenezer Samuel of The New York Daily News: “Greg Jones saw what the Redskins were doing. He knew Tim Hightower was running as stretch play, which the Redskins' tailback was aiming to dash into the corner on of the end zone. And he diagnosed it correctly. But the Giants' promising rookie linebacker just didn't quite make the stop on that first-and-goal from the 1 in the second quarter, because he followed all of his brilliant analysis with a youngster's mistake: He took a bad angle to the ball.” The Howie Roseman Bleeding Green Nation: “Michael Vick left Atlanta in disgrace five years ago. He returns this weekend as one of the NFL’s most electrifying players. Vick will make his first career start against the team that made him the first pick in the 2001 draft on Sunday when the Eagles and Falcons meet at the Georgia Dome” The Bruce Allen Mike Jones of The Washington Post: “With two major weapons in Chris Cooley and Fred Davis, the Washington Redskins on Sunday utilized multiple tight end sets for nearly 80 percent of their offensive plays, and Coach Mike Shanahan said you can expect to see plenty more of that this season.” The Jerry Angelo Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune: “Plenty will be made this week about the Bears facing Olin Kreutz on Sunday, 51 days after he rejected a one-hour ultimatum from general manager Jerry Angelo on a one-year contract. It never should have gotten to that point but it did and the Bears are where they are -- happy with the quick development of Roberto Garza.” The Martin Mayhew Steve Kornacki of MLive.com: “Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson had two touchdowns to the one Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib got after grabbing a Matthew Stafford pass tipped by tight end Will Heller. Talib pranced into the end zone with long strides, spun the ball and then appeared as if he was cranking a highlight reel camera. He couldn't explain his antics afterward because he refused to speak to the media.” The Mark Murphy Kareem Copeland of The Green Bay Press-Gazette: “Cam Newton is the Packers problem this week as the defending champs head to Charlotte, N.C. for a noon kickoff at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday. ‘Four twenty-two, that was impressive,’ Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday morning.” The Mark Wilf Mark Craig of The Star-Tribune: “Turns out Donovan McNabb's first snap as a Viking was a play he changed at the line of scrimmage based on the man coverage the Chargers were using on Percy Harvin in Sunday's game at San Diego. The original play call was a run for Adrian Peterson. McNabb switched to a quick pass to Harvin in the left flat. The ball never arrived because linebacker Shaun Phillips reached up, batted the ball and intercepted it.” The Thomas Dimitroff D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Despite leading the team in tackles, Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon had a rough outing against the Chicago Bears. He missed a tackle on Chicago running back Matt Forte’s 56-yard touchdown run that drew the attention of head coach Mike Smith.” The Marty Hurney Cat Scratch Reader: “Cam Newton's rating to change from 77 to 81 in Madden '12. ‘I think people were expecting [Newton’s] ground game to lead the way. And then we all went 'whoa,' this guy is looking like a legit passing quarterback,’ said Donny Moore, EA Sports' Madden NFL Ratings Czar.” The Mickey Loomis John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: “Watching the Indianapolis Colts be dragged around and punished while looking totally inept in a 34-7 loss at Houston on Sunday should have made us appreciate New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees even more.” The Mark Dominik Rick Stroud of The St. Petersburg Times: “Bucs coach Raheem Morris said some of his players blinked in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Detroit Lions. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson indicated quarterback Josh Freeman and others lost their 'swagger.' Whatever the reason, the Bucs did not look like a confident team in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Detroit Lions.” The Rod Graves Revenge Of The Birds: “After all the questions during the preseason about how he would perform, Beanie Wells ran for 90 yards on 18 carries and had a touchdown on the Cardinals opening drive. Although he mishandled a pitch from Kevin Kolb, Wells did a good job securing the ball which is definitely an upgrade from last year.” The Billy Devaney Ryan Van Bidder of Turf Show Times: “Despite his insistence on playing in week two, the Rams will have to be careful with [Sam] Bradford. Nerve damage in his fingers could affect his accuracy (even more than receivers who drop those passes).” The Trent Baalke David Fucillo of Niners Nation: “It's safe to say that Jim Harbaugh went to the Bill Belichick school of media handling. It wouldn't surprise me if it had as much to do with Harbaugh's former status as a player as much as anything else. He was there to answer questions, but he did a pretty impressive job of giving away as little information as possible.” The John Schneider Danny O’Neill of The Seattle Times: “The same referee who officiated Seattle's controversial Super Bowl loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers has been assigned to Sunday's game when Seattle plays at Pittsburgh. Referee Bill Leavy has been assigned to officiate Seattle's Week 2 game, which is at Pittsburgh. Leavy was the referee at Super Bowl XL, which included several controversial penalties.”