NFL Weekend Recap: Week 2

In addition to my newest weekly blog on college football, I figured the NFL deserved its own post. Obviously, I missed the first week of the season ... sue me (but not really). I'd like to start off by recapping what I have seen over the span of the first two weeks.

Starting with prime time games ... I found Thursday night's game very unimpressive. The Packers might have beat up on the Bears, but it wasn't from a stellar offensive performance. Jay Cutler single-handedly gave Green Bay that win. The Packers are definitely not the same as their 2011 version that started 13-0; I see major changes being necessary if they are going to be a contender this year. Of course, the newest Broncos quarterback, Peyton Manning, was on prime time in back-to-back weeks. His debut performance was pretty impressive, but after throwing three -- count them, three -- interceptions there was no way for Denver to overcome their early deficit. Makes me second guess putting them too high in my power rankings.

I thought the opening week of football was quite mundane, but this past Sunday had some very fun games to watch ... and interesting outcomes as well.

Indianapolis-Minnesota, Arizona-New England, and Giants-Buccaneers all had nail-biting finishes. Even though the teams were less than stellar, Andrew Luck managed to pull off his first career win thanks to a game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri. Speaking of field goals ... poor Stephen Gostkowski. After the Cardinals almost pull off the choke job of the century, New England's kicker (whom was already 4/4 on the day) shanked his fifth attempt wide left. Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention Eli Manning's epic comeback ... and a questionable call for the critics. After having a very Peyton-like first half (three picks), Eli managed to finish off the game throwing for 510 yards and 3 TDs -- including a game-winning bomb down the right sideline to Hakeem Nicks in the waning seconds of the game.

Also in that game -- after that last touchdown pass -- Josh Freeman threw a ball down the sideline that appeared to be dropped by Arrelious Benn. After further review, it showed that he did get two feet down ... leading some to believe it was a catch and that he made a 'football move'. They called it a drop, and Freeman proceeded to end the game with an interception on the very next snap. I personally agree with the officials' call.

As a late side note, I want to mention what happened in Seattle over the weekend. The Dallas Cowboys, after beating the defending Super Bowl champion Giants with ten days between games, proceeded to be absolutely dominated by Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. Even I can't explain this one.

Here's my very tentative rankings after these first two weeks of NFL football:

1. San Francisco (2-0)
2. Atlanta (2-0)
3. Houston (2-0)
4. Denver (1-1)
5. Philadelphia (2-0)
6. Baltimore (1-1)
7. New York Giants (1-1)
8. Green Bay (1-1)
9. Buffalo (1-1)
10. San Diego (2-0)

Thank God for Thursday Night Football ... the next week starts in just over 48 hours.