[Chief Rum]

Week One: Arizona at Detroit

First week of the season and we are already battered by injuries. Our best corner and two key members of our O-line depth are out, as is our fullback. The linemen are out for the season, and our replacements for the corner and the fullback are drastically worse than what we have in place.

Nonetheless, we go into this game with hope, since we're playing the Lions.

We kept it close early on, as neither offense really came out rolling. We were down 7-3 at halftime. The Lions turned on the jets in the second half, though, and blew us out 28-3.

Blake was under seige all day. He was sacked five times and hurried five others. That and five passes defensed meant Blake was returning to his old form. Sure enough, he did what he never did int he preseason--threw a lot of interceptions, four to be exact. Bryant Johnson also fumbled the ball, so we had five turnovers to the Lions' none. That's hard to overcome.

We actually outgained the Lions 310-301, not that it mattered.

QB Blake: 16-for-33 for 232 yards, 0 td, 4 int
RB Smith: 57 yards (3.3 ypc), 4-54 yd rec
WR Johnson: 3 rec, 76 yd, 0 td

Boldin was disappointingly quiet, with 2 catches for 24 yards.

LB McKinnon had 9 tackles to lead the defense, which got just one sack, but overall, did well with the short fields the turnovers forced them to work with.

No one really stood out for the Lions on offense, since they didn't have to do much to get in position to score. DT Dan Wilkinson destroyed the line for 2.5 sacks, and LT Clement allowed three of the sacks. Safety Brian Walker intercepted a ball, forced Johnson's fumble, and defensed three passes.

Other Games

Home team in CAPS

Atlanta 20, DALLAS 9: Michael Vick (17-27, 245, 2 td) to Peerless Price (6-149-1) broke this one open in the second half.

PITTSBURGH 17, Baltimore 10: Jerome Bettis (93 yd) and Tommy Maddox (17-24, 226 yd, 1 td, 43 yd rush) were enough to edge out the Ravens in a close one.

SAN FRANCISCO 26, Chicago 24: The Bears scored two touchdowns in the last three minutes of the game to make it close, falling just a failed Stanley Pritchett conversion short of a tie ball game. Kevan Barlow ran for 104 yards.

Denver 27, CINCINNATI 3: The Broncos' Clinton Portis (135 yd, 1 td) ran all over the Bengals, and the home team didn't help itslef by throwing three interceptions either.

MIAMI 24, Houston 17: This wasn't nearly as close at it seemed. The Titans got scores off of an Andre Johnson punt return and an Aaron Glenn interception return. They only got 9 first downs against Miami's D. DT Tim Bowens got 3 sacks.

CLEVELAND 31, Indianapolis 28: Kelly Holcomb (25-40, 348, 4 td, 1 int) completed a 32-yard scoring pass to Kevin Johnson with 48 seconds left to win this one. The Browns had to execute a two-minute offense after the Colts scored with 2:17 left in the game to take the lead. Edgerrin James had 123 yd in a losing effort.

Jacksonville 41, CAROLINA 13: It's all about Donovan Darius. The safety intercepted three passes and returned two of them for scores. Fred Taylor (89 yd, 3 td) did the rest. The Panthers only had 9 first downs.

Minnesota 21, GREEN BAY 14: It wasn't as close as it looked, since Brett Favre completed a 79-yard scoring strike to Donald Driver in the final minutes. Randy Moss (11 rec-111 yd-1 td) was the man. Favre threw for 353 yd, but also 2 int and only 50% comp.

BUFFALO 24, New England 17: Another that wasn't as close as it seemed. Tom Brady was sacked 6 times and threw 2 int. Travis Henry led the way for the Bills with 101 rush yd.

WASHINGTON 18, NY Jets 6: Patrick Ramsey (21-30, 173 yd, 1 td, 1 int) and Laveranues Coles (6 rec, 70 yd., 1 td) were quietly effective in a low-scoring game. The Skins sacked Chad Pennington 5 times.

SEATTLE 22, New Orleans 19: Trent Dilfer (17-30, 263 yd, 3 td, 3 int) finished an up-and-down game on top, leading the Seahawks to two fourth quarter scores to get the win. Yes, Dilfer is starting for the Hawks.

TENNESSEE 23, Oakland 12: As has been stated: FOF loves Steve McNair (21-32, 165 yd, 2 td, 0 int). His top receiver was TE Frank Wycheck (9 rec, 65 yd. 1 td). Raiders put up goo dyardage, but just couldn't score.

KANSAS CITY 31, San Diego 7: The Chiefs' D kept Ladainlian Tomlinson to just 11 yd on 13 car. Trent Green (23-32, 263 yd, 2 td, 0 int) ran the offense with ease.

St. Louis 24, NY GIANTS 20: The Rams came back from a 17-7 deficit to beat the Giants down the stretch. Torry Holt had 9 rec, 169 yd, and 1 td and, yes, it was Kurt Warner throwing to him. Tiki Barber gained 146 rush yd for New York.

Tampa Bay 31, PHILADELPHIA 10: Four turnovers against a tough defense is an easy way to lose, even at home. Michael Pittman (81 rush yd) and Thomas Jones (80 yd) tag-teamed to lead the Buccs' attack.

Injuries

I managed to get through Week One without any injuries, and saw some guys get healthy (although no one who didn't play in Week One).

CR