Day game analysis ... Carolina? Jesus!

First, with the game that is freshest in my mind: Carolina vs. San Diego: Did that really happen? I was just thinking up a snarky comment about the SD fans holding up oversized cutout numbers saying "95" (aw, how cute! they think this is their year to get blown out in the Super Bowl !) when Delhomme rifled a pass to some guy with Rosario on the back of his jersey AS TIME EXPIRED. Mind you, San Diego had just executed the calm, professional fourth-quarter comeback that their recently under-performing offense had become known for last season. Rather than stack points on the board, they prefer to aim for late-game theatrics. But facing a Carolina offense missing their only dangerous receiver and grossly mismanaging the little time they had left, they couldn't get off the field! See my later section on teams we'll have to wait until next week to pass judgment upon. Then to the big news. TOM BRADY LEAVES GAME IN SECOND QUARTER WITH GRISLY KNEE INJURY! As far as I can tell, it's the knee on one leg and the foot on the other, right? That's not good. There are question marks on the Patriots this year. Fumbles by key receivers? An end zone defensive stand was needed just to beat the Chiefs, who would've sent it to overtime if Devard Darling can outrun the Pats secondary. But Brady is not New England's 2008 version of Drew Bledsoe, and Cassel sure as hell ain't this year's Brady. San Francisco vs. Arizona: Don't wanna talk about it. We (49ers) still can't stop the run in the second half. In fact, they can't do anything right in the second half. I place blame on the coaches. Jacksonville vs. Tennessee: If Vince Young can learn how to be a productive quarterback, there's no telling how good Tennessee can be. David Garrard had 5 turnovers all of last year; Haynesworth and Co. took it from him thrice, two Cortland Finnegan INT"s and a forced fumble. And while we're talking about Garrard, why is he throwing the ball 35 times when he has Mojo and Taylor in the backfield? Fourteen rushing attempts by the two of them for 31yards. Makes you wonder how badly the Jags O-line is banged up. Can VY recover from his injury? He seemed to leave the game every other week last season, only to return next week. Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans: Looks like TB won't be sneaking by people this year. Looks like another year where nobody in the NFC South can separate from the rest of the back. Sometimes that means all of the teams are contenders, and sometimes they're dogs. Carolina comes out of Week 1 looking like the best in the pack so far. Baltimore vs. Cincinnati: The Ravens pass the AFC cellar-dweller torch to the Bengals. No offensive touchdowns, Carson Palmer outplayed by Joe Flacco. Cincy was a Ravens illegal block on a kick return for a touchdown and a Bengals fumble return for a touchdown away from this being a 24-3 blowout. Ouch. Now, there were several games where I couldn't devote the time to watch long enough to figure out: was the winning team that good, or the losing team that bad? The close games like this: Detroit vs. Atlanta: Hands down the surprise of the day. Not that Detroit was supposed to be that good, but from what I could see, Michael Turner just proved the Lions attempt at revamping their defense an utter failure. It's good to see him get a chance to shine, and he rewarded fantasy owners more than anyone else this week. IF he can stay healthy, pencil him in for 1,400 yards rushing this season. Whether that will get the team anywhere remains to be seen. Matt Ryan completed two passes for over 40 yar4ds. When was the last time a rookie did that in his first start? He'll be tested next week against Tampa, while Detroit sees if they can avoid 0-2 vs. Green Bay. New York Jets vs. Miami: Did I really see Miami almost pull off the upset in this one? The Jets offensive line is supposed to be much improved, but sitting on a 13-point lead towards the end of the third quarter, they managed 13 rushing yards and no first downs. I knew that Jonathan Vilma leaving would hurt their defense more than Calvin Pace arriving would help it, but Pennington found open Dolphins running through the Jets secondary all day. The Jets head to New England with a chance to put take advantage of a stunned Patriots team, while Miami heads to Arizona hoping to build some legitimate momentum for this season. Seattle vs. Buffalo: I picked Buffalo in my office pool and fretted over it quite a bit, especially when I heard that Angelo Crowell would miss the game. I thought they would win, but by this much? Marcus Stroud to the Bills might be an early pick for biggest defensive free agent acquisition this offseason, but like I said, it's early. Is there something about the way Matt Hasselbeck throws the ball that makes it so hard to catch? His receivers can't seem to hold on to anything. The Jaguars are on tap to check the rise of the Bills, while the 49ers will perform a similar function checking the descent of the Seahags. Dallas vs. Cleveland: Is Dallas this good? Is Cleveland this bad? Logic tells you one of the two would be true, but I think we'll see neither is. Dallas replaced one Jones with another and didn't miss a step, and their defense, when healthy, now has that third corner they needed the last couple of years in the playoffs. But last year it wasn't their record in September (4-0) that defined them as a team, but their record in December and January (2-3). Call me when it starts snowing. The Browns managed only 10 points and went 4-and-out on 4 of 7 of their possessions. But every indication is that Cleveland will have a healthy receiving corps soon, which will help restore them to last year's levels. Why am I confident? Because in the midst of a blowout, the offensive line didn't give up a single sack. That bodes well, and they'll need everything to click if they want to beat Pittsburgh next week. As for Dallas, Philly looks nasty right now - definitely not a team I'd want to play. Pittsburgh vs. Houston: IF Pittsburgh can repeat this performance against Cleveland, then I'm a believer. Houston travels to Baltimore, where they need a win to restore faith to a team that could've sworn this was going to be their year. Philadelphia vs. St.Louis: Yes, Philly is this good. Yes, St. Louis is that bad. that's all you need to know.