Dave’s Football Blog

There’s no question that the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks are the class of the NFC this season. The road to the Super Bowl will likely go through one of those towns.

I’ve been having an ongoing conversation with my old friend Flash, though, about just how vulnerable the Eagles may be. Sure, they got skills and they got swagger, but given their situation right now, they may be a key injury or two away from another pre-Super Bowl exit.

Season-ending injuries to running back Correll Buckhalter and right guard Shawn Andrews haven’t stopped the Eagles yet, but what about Jon Ritchie? The blocking fullback is out for the season with a torn ACL. Ritchie has been key to Illadelph’s running game and the success of Brian Westbrook. Can someone step into Andy Reid’s system and fill his spot? If not, Westbrook’s rushing totals may drop, putting more pressure on Donovan McNabb to make big plays. It will be interesting to see how the loss of Ritchie affects the team as the season progresses.

Click here for final game stats from NFL.com.

Here’s what I know:

Duce Staley finally broke 100 yards in this game, but he got 49 of them on the Steelers’ final possession, a drive that was nearly meaningless save that it kept the ball away from Miami and preserved Pittsburgh’s 10-point lead. The Dolphins’ D — the lone bright spot on that team — was probably tired and feeling defeated by then.

Ben Roethlisberger was 12-for-22 for 163 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. The touchdown pass to Hines Ward was the culmination of an early 4th-quarter drive in which Big Ben went 4-for-5 for 48 yards. He didn’t go up against a weak defense in Miami, but he was clearly helped by the fact that the Dolphins have no weapons on offense.

The Dolphins fumbled 5 times and lost two of them.

Antwaan Randle El had a 41-yard kickoff return, which was good, since this was clearly a field-possession game, and the Steelers seemed to get the better of that most of the way.

That’s about it. Those of you who actually saw the game are free to fill in the blanks as you please…

I have returned from a weekend excursion to Virginia Beach, and I am bummed, because the Steelers-Dolphins game that was pushed back from 1:00 PM EDT to 8:30 EDT is nowhere to be found on my television dial. I could go out to a local watering hole to watch the game, but I am too tired from today’s drive, thus leaving me with the lone option of following the game on NFL.com. I guess that’s better than nothing…

The Panthers, meanwhile, had a bye week this week and face a Falcons team that is 3-0. I am debating, however, just how strong that 3-0 record is, especially after Atlanta’s struggles today against Arizona. More on this later…

Last year, the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets were doomed when their starting quarterbacks got hurt during preseason games and missed several months. This year, Michael Vick and Chad Pennington are healthy and playing well, and their teams are both 2-0.

The injury bug is starting to hit other teams, though, starting with the Cleveland Browns, who have lost rookie tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr., for eight weeks after he broke his leg during an onside kick attempt in Dallas on Sunday. John Clayton reports that this injury could cost Winslow more than $5 million in incentive bonuses. The Browns have already lost running back Lee Suggs for two weeks with a neck stinger. Show me a happy person in Cleveland today, and I’ll show you a Jets fan.

One person who doesn’t need any more financial incentive is Colts RB Edgerrin James, who’s playing in the last year of his contract this season. James may miss next Sunday’s game against Green Bay, though, because of a hamstring injury suffered during his game-clinching 30-yard touchdown run against the Titans. Granted, Indy is facing Brett Favre in a dome, so they might not need James as much next week.

Nor might the Steelers need QB Tommy Maddox, who’s out for six weeks with ligament damage in his right elbow. Rookie Ben Roethlisberger will start, but given his performance in relief of Maddox last week, that might not be so bad. The Miami Dolphins will put pressure on Big Ben and force him into throwing more interceptions, but there’s even more pressure on Dolphins QB A.J. Feeley to perform right now, what with the Dolphins being 0-2 and losing starting defensive tackle Larry Chester for the rest of the season with torn knee ligaments. The Dolphins luck right now looks a lot like my recent luck at tournament poker.

Of course, it’s still not as bad the New Orleans Saints’ luck over the last 30 years. The Saints, who just barely beat a pitiful San Francisco 49ers team that looked a little better with Ken Dorsey at QB, will be without the services of RB Deuce McAllister for up to 5 weeks after he sprained his ankle on the third play of the game. It’s the same ankle he hurt two years ago, and it’s in worse shape now than it was then. The Saints now have Aaron Stecker and Ki-Jana Carter at running back. Aaron Brooks may have to pass a lot more for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys already-weak running game became worse with the news that rookie RB Julius Jones would miss two months with a broken shoulder blade. Last week on the Jim Rome Show, former Cowboys RB and Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett suggested that it might be a “very long season” for the Cowboys. Jones’ injury may only make it a little longer.

Finally, the Chicago Bears lost their Johnny-on-the-spot, safety Mike Brown, for the rest of this season with a torn Achilles tendon. Brown scooped up a fumble by Ahman Green and returned it 95 yards for a TD on Sunday, which sparked the Bears’ upset win over the Packers in Green Bay. The Bears were already marginal as it was. Losing one of their best defensive players surely won’t help.

Y’know, I almost believe Deion Sanders.

After a 23-yard punt return in yesterday’s Steelers-Ravens game, Prime Time was penalized 15 yards for celebrating by taking off his helmet right after being tackled. He later told reporters that the skull cap he wore beneath his helmet had slipped over his eyes, and he had to take the helmet off to put it back in place. The replays even showed Sanders adjusting his “head thing” (that what he told reporters it was) right after taking off his helmet.

If it was just an equipment problem, then, why exactly did Sanders not put his helmet right back on afterward, choosing instead to high-step around the field like he had just scored a touchdown?

Sorry, but I don’t buy it. Maybe the wardrobe did malfunction, but he still deserved the penalty. I won’t go so far as to say he deserved to pull that hamstring later in the game, too, but hey, karma’s a bitch…

John Clayton:

DeShaun Foster runs well when he’s angry and he was angry Sunday. So were his Carolina Panthers teammates. On Monday night, the Panthers admit they stunk it up in a 24-14 home loss to the Packers. Jake Delhomme called the performance “pitiful.”

Amid a sea of red-clad Kansas City Chiefs fans, Foster wanted to silence critics who say he’s a fumbler. Sure, he fumbled at UCLA. And during the preseason, he fumbled twice against the Patriots and Panthers coaches began to look at him with a skeptical eye.

Everything changed on Thursday night. Stephen Davis grew tired of a knee that was swelling and had surgery to fix it. With Davis expected to be out 2-5 weeks, Foster finally had the responsibility of being the team’s workhorse back. He wrapped his arms around the football as if he were a fireman carrying a baby to safety. Pity any Chief in his way or any defender trying to strip the ball.

Click here for final game stats from NFL.com.

I made two big mistakes in my Pick ‘Em contest today. The first one was listening to Hank Goldberg on ESPN and picking St. Louis over Atlanta. (Hank’s going to have one of those years, folks; avoid his picks like the plague.) The second one was going along with Paul and changing my pick for this game from Carolina to Kansas City. I chalked that up to a strategic move, though, since I didn’t want Paul to gain any points on me in case the Panthers lost.

That little voice in the back of my head, though, kept telling me that Panthers RB DeShaun Foster just might have a big day…

32 carries, 174 yards, 1 TD.

Indeed.

QB Jake Delhomme wasn’t perfect, but his improbable touchdown pass to Kris Mangum in the first quarter — a pass you’ll see replayed a lot this year — and his ability to spread the ball around to different receivers complemented Foster’s outstanding performance well.

The Carolina defense, dominated by Green Bay, also delivered today, holding Chiefs’ RB Priest Holmes to 82 total yards and keeping pressure on QB Trent Green. Julius Peppers led the way with two of the Panthers’ three sacks, one of which caused Green to fumble and forced a turnover.

It’s hard to say that a Week 2 game is a must-win for any team, but the Panthers needed this one, and they delivered. They have next week off, but the next three weeks are a murderer’s row — at home vs. Atlanta, at Denver and at Philadelphia. If they can go 2-1 in those games, they’ll be in excellent shape for the rest of the season.

Give DeShaun the game ball today, though. He stepped up his game in a big way. I should have had a little more faith in him in that Pick ‘Em contest…

Click here for final game stats from NFL.com.

So I went to Champps at Southpoint today to watch this game. Somewhere along the way, I realized that I went to Champps last year for the Steelers’ Week 2 game at Kansas City. The Steelers were pretty thoroughly dominated in that game, too…

You have to blame the defense for this one. That unit couldn’t stop Jamal Lewis on the the first drive, and when they did clamp down on the defense, they forced Ravens QB Kyle Boller to beat them… and he did, constantly finding tight end Todd Heap open in the secondary. At one point, Boller had more rushing yards than Duce Staley.

If there was any bright spot for the Steelers today, it was the play of rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger in the second half. Tommy Maddox, who was flustered enough to go after a linebacker after a perceived late hit and cost his team 15 yards and, ultimately, 3 points, injured his elbow in the third quarter and sat out the rest of the game. It was just as well; Maddox was 4-for-13 for 67 yards and looked flustered by Baltimore’s defense.

Roethlisberger stepped in, though, and engineered a couple of solid late-game touchdown drives. He did throw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a TD in the 4th quarter, but overall, he showed a lot of potential for future games. Depending on the severity of Maddox’ injury, though, that potential may have to become kinetic quickly. His development will be interesting to follow.

It will definitely be more interesting than today’s whitewashing was. I’m not sure what annoyed me more — the game itself, or the eerie silence of that small, demure, young woman sitting at the end of the bar and wearing a Ray Lewis jersey.

Oh, well. At least the service was good and the barmaids were hot.

On NFL Countdown this morning, Chris Mortensen reported that the Baltimore Ravens may bring backup QB Kordell Stewart into the game for some short yardage situations. Stewart, of course, was replaced by Tommy Maddox as the starting QB in Pittsburgh two years ago and found himself floundering in Chicago last year.

Can you say, “Grudge,” boys and girls?

As if the Panthers needed any more bad news…

Stephen Davis, Carolina’s All-Pro running back, will be sidelined for two to five weeks after an MRI revealed “a small cartilage problem” in his knee, according to head coach John Fox. DeShaun Foster will start in his place against Kansas City on Sunday, and Rod Smart and Nick Goings will likely get some carries as well.

As much as I hate to admit it, I sense a big post-Super Bowl letdown coming with this team. There is no slack in the Panthers’ schedule. After this weekend’s game in Kansas City and a Week 3 bye, they face Atlanta at home and follow that up with road games in Denver and Philadelphia. They will likely be without Davis and WR Steve Smith for all those games, and anyone who saw that Monday Night game doesn’t think too highly of the Carolina run defense right now. The Panthers need to get at least two wins in the next five weeks, or they may find themselves in a very large hole.

On the other hand, DeShaun Foster showed flashes of brilliance last season, especially in Indianapolis, so perhaps there is no need to hit the panic button just yet. We shall see…