Week Two: Seattle at Arizona
Jeff Blake started this one off by completing a 79-yard scoring bomb to slot receiver Jason McAddley in the first series of the game. We built up a 10-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. And that was our highlight for the game.
The Hawks came storming back and went 41-6 the rest of the way. Final score,
41-16.
Once again, Blake spent much of the game on his back (6 sacks allowed). In fact, four of our five starting linemen allowed at least one sack, and one reserve allowed one, too. Blake continued to compund his problems, throwing three interceptions as well, putting him at seven on the young season.
We only had 12 first downs and 264 yd against the Hawks. They racked up 411 yards, and Trent Dilfer didn't need to lead a fourth quarter comeback to win this one.
QB Blake: 9-for-23 for 170 yd, 1 td, 3 int
RB Smith: 82 rush yd. (5.1 ypc)
WR McAddley: 2 rec, 93 yd., 1 td
No receiver had more than two catches. Smith was surprisingly effective running the ball, but after we were down, it didn't really matter much any more.
LB McKinnon had 10 tackles to lead the way again, and DT Wendell Bryant had 1.5 sacks. One good thing was kicker Graham Bolvin, who seemed rather hit-and-miss in the preseason. He kicked 40, 42, and 43 yard FGs today and didn't miss a kick.
Dilfer (19-23, 227 yd, 3 td, 0 int) was on fire, and so was his main target Bobby Engram (4 rec, 111 yd, 3 td). Shaun Alexander had 85 rush yd.
Other Games
Home team in CAPS
JACKSONVILLE 34, Buffalo 17: The Jags continue to look good on both sides of the ball. They got 462 yards of offense today. Fred Taylor (157 rush yd, 1 td) did well again, and so did Mark Brunell (18-31, 277 yd, 3 td, 2 int). Four Jags defenders had at least one sack.
TAMPA BAY 24, Carolina 16: Brad Johnson (20-23, 252 yd, 3 td, 0 int) was amazing, leading the Buccs to a strong victory. Kevin Dyson (8 rec, 126 yd) did well in a losing cause.
MINNESOTA 27, Chicago 13: The Bears got within a score with six minutes left when Daunte Culpepper (23-30, 278 yd, 2 td, 1 int) connected with Randy Moss (5 rec, 116 yd, 2 td) on an 83-yard bomb to put them away.
OAKLAND 25, Cincinnati 10: The Bengals had almost 100 more yards of offense than the Raiders, but were undone by 4 turnovers, including 3 int by Jon Kitna. Charlie Garner (90 rush yd. 1 td) was the man for the Raiders.
BALTMORE 20, Cleveland 7: He didn't break any rushing records, but Jamal Lewis (121 rush yd, 1 td) was the offense for the Ravens. But this game was about the defense. The Ravens kept the Browns to 241 yards and sacked Kelly Holcomb 5 times.
NY GIANTS 41, Dallas 7: No Bill Parcells here, that's for sure. The Giants outgained the Boys by almost 200 yd. Kerry Collins (24-34, 377 yd, 5 td, 0 int) was great.
Denver 23, SAN DIEGO 21: The Chargers scored with 17 seconds left in the game to make this game look closer than it was. Clinton Portis (26 yd) had an off day, but Jake Plummer (25037, 372 yd, 2 td, 0 int) was all the Broncos needed.
GREEN BAY 26, Detroit 21: The Lions really tested the Packers before falling late. Ryan Longwell's 48 yard FG with two minutes left put the Pack up 23-21. On the following Lions drive, KBG batted down two straight passes, and Darren Sharper defensed another. Then the Lions lost the ball (and the game) when TE Mikhael Ricks dropped a fourth down pass from Joey Harrington. Tough way to lose (and in 50-degree weather with driving rain and on Lambeau, of all places).
Houston 20, NEW ORLEANS 13: The Titans' D really tightened up on the Saints to pull off a surprising victory. They sacked Aaron Brooks(13-34, 2 int) 5 times, forced 3 turnovers and limited the Saints to 225 yd of offense. The Saints best scoring attack was a 94-yard Dale Carter kickoff return.
Miami 30, NY Jets 24 (OT): The Jets were up 21-6 going into the fourth quarter when it all went to shit. The Fins got a field goal and two scores, to the Jets' field goal to tie it up. The final regulation score was a 27-yard strike from Jay Fiedler to James McKnight as time expired, and then a successful two-point conversion pass to Derrious Thompson to force the overtime. In OT, the Dolphins finally completed the comeback with a 7-yard scoring run by Rob Conrad with just 40 seconds left in the period.
PHILADELPHIA 13, New England 10: This game was closer than it should have been, since New England had just 236 total yd. of offense. Donovan McNabb was 25-for-41 for 259 yd, with 1 td and 1 int.
Pittsburgh 21, KANSAS CITY 17: Going into the fourth quarter, the Chiefs led 10-0, and even with two minutes left, the score was just 10-7. The two teams put up three scores in the final minutes, though, with the Steelers scoring two touchdowns in 25 seconds to overcome a 17-7 deficit at the 1:55 mark. Both scores featured long shots from Tommy Maddox to Plaxico Burress, who got 94 total rec. yd. on the two scores. Burress finished with 7 rec, 188 yd, 2 td.
ST. LOUIS 28, San Francisco 14: This one was tight at halftime (14-13, SF), but it was all Rams in the second half. Kurt Warner (21-36, 355 yd, 3 td, 1 int) led the way, throwing many of those passes to Torry Holt (7 rec, 163 yd, 2 td).
Tennessee 26, INDIANAPOLIS 17: Gary Anderson kicked accounted for 14 of the Titans' points, including four field goals with a 55-yarder in the final minutes to put the Colts away. Possible changing of the guard? Chris Brown had 97 rush yd, to Eddie George's 24.
ATLANTA 27, Washington 16: What a difference a Vick makes, eh? Michael Vick went 13 for 20 for 253 yd, with 2 td and 1 int. His big target was Quentin McCord (7 rec, 144 yd, 1 td).
Injuries
Once again, I didn't suffer any major injuries this week. Hodgins and Starks are still weeks away, though.
CR