week 1 — Mon Sep 14 09:19:52 PDT 2009

From: Jeff
To: mnf@doobie.com
Date: Mon Sep 14 09:19:52 PDT 2009
Subject: It's Monday...

...and how about those 49ers!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Mike Singletary's niners started this season in grand fashion, by going to Arizona and stunning the defending NFC champion Cardinals 20-16.  The niners had the lead for most of the game, based mostly on the strength of their defense (who picked off Kurt Warner twice, and seemed to get through the Arizona offensive line at will), but the Cardinals almost staged a comeback in the second half.  Then, with about 7 minutes left to play, QB Shawn Hill engineered an 80 yard drive, capped of with a 3 yard pass to a wide open Frank Gore in the end zone.  Next week, the Cardinals go to Jacksonville and SF hosts Seattle.

There are five teams in the NFL that haven't scored yet.  Four of them haven't played.  Then there are the Rams, who got shut out by Seattle 28-0 (despite the Seahawks three turnovers).  Neither team looked all that impressive out there, but St. Louis looked downright awful -- racking up only 247 yards of offense, and giving Seattle 85 yards in penalties.  Next week, St. Louis will try again in Washington.

Washington went to East Rutherford, NJ, and got crushed by the Giants defense.  The final score of 23-17 doesn't really tell the story of this game.  Washington's first touchdown was on a fake field goal, and the second was late enough in the game to be meaningless for anyone who wasn't betting on the game (which had a 6.5 point spread).  Also notable... the complete uselessness of Fox commentator Troy Aikman, who hates the Redskins so much that when he compared QB numbers, he heaped praise on Eli Manning, while deriding Jason Campbell.  The numbers? Eli went 20 for 29, for 256 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception.  Campbell went 19 for 26, for 211 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception.  Both fumbled the ball twice.  Those are similarly bad numbers. Neither team had any single player who ran or caught for 100 or more yards.  There will be some very long discussions in the offensive coordinators' offices on the Acela corridor this week.  Next week, the Giants go to Dallas for the Sunday night game.  Hopefully, they'll bring some offense.

The Bengals/Broncos game was the most boring game of the week for 59 minutes, and then the most exciting in the last minute of play.  After holding onto a 6-0 lead for almost the entire fourth quarter, the Denver defense let the Bengals get into the end zone with 38 seconds left, to make the score 7-6.  The Broncos went back on the field, and Kyle Orton put the ball in the air from the 13 yard line -- beginning with a near interception.  Then there was the second play from scrimmage.  Orton hurled a pass in the general direction of the sidelines (he was aiming for a well-covered Brandon Marshall).  It was tipped up into the air by cornerback Leon Hall... and fell into the arms of veteran Bronco Brandon Stokely, who was already past the defense.  He ran it in for an 87 yard winning touchdown that you'll be seeing on the highlight reels.  Next week Denver hosts Cleveland, and the Bengals go to Green Bay.

This is an abbreviated Monday Morning Mailing... I'm in Vegas, and in a move that's rather out of character for me, I've got a tee time that I need to get to.  So, let's get right to tonights' games.

The Games

Tonight, the New England Patriots host the Buffalo Bills, followed by the Oakland Raiders hosting the San Diego Chargers. 

Up in New England, there will be many cameras.  T.O. is a Bill this year, and he brings along a VH-1 film crew, in an effort to out-Kodak the Patriots organization.  The cameras won't make him play any better, but at least he's allowed to use them.  Kickoff is at 4:00.  Yes, really.

Out in Oakland, cameras are best left at home.  There are enough people in the stands who are wanted on outstanding warrants, that taking indiscriminate pictures might get you in trouble (and you thought it was the blackout rules that keep Raiders' games off the air). Kickoff is at a reasonable 7:15.

The Line

On Thursday, the Smart Money won.  It begins the season 1-0, soundly beating both the S&P and the mattress stuffed with cash.

The Patriots are favored by 11.  The over/under is 47.  Curiously, the smart money takes Buffalo.
The Chargers are favored by 10.  The over/under is 43.  The smart money takes the over and the Chargers.

The Bar

Brendan's Irish Pub
Inside The Orleans hotel/casino Las Vegas

Kickoff is at 4:00, then again at 7:15.

See you there?

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