1st Down: Week 1 Observations and Notes

1st Down are observations and notes of Sunday NFL games by a fat guy on a couch. It's all nonsense, but it's a good read. 

- Let's first start with that 31-6 disaster in Seattle. There's no other way to describe this game than a complete meltdown by the 49ers. They looked like the team that I predicted wouldn't make the playoffs. Everything that could possibly go wrong in this game for the 49ers happened. Turnovers, blown coverage, terrible line play, red zone failings, and horrendous clock management. While Alex Smith looked terrible, this was a complete team failing. If Mike Singletary wants to be the greatest coach ever, he needs to go back to school on clock and timeout management.

As for the Seahawks, they started slow but looked tremendous after the 1st quarter. Matt Hasselbeck looked like his Pro Bowl self when he was given time, completing crisp passes and running for 1st downs. I don't know how long Pete Carroll's happy-go-lucky act will last in Seattle, but it's working right now.

- Hell of a time for Randy Moss to go on a rant about his contract status with the New England Patriots. The Patriots humbled Cincinnati and Moss picked the wrong time to go off on the Patriots about his contract. This gist of the rant is that Moss feels "unwanted" by the Patriots because they refuse to extend his current contract. Moss is a free agent after the end of the season and he pretty much said he'll probably be playing for a different team.

This is going to be an issue all season long. This is what happens with Randy Moss. He's happy for maybe a season or two, before he burns his bridge and is sent packing. It happened in Minnesota and Oakland and will probably happen in New England. That is of course, Brady and Wes Welker don't pull a code red on Moss.



- It's going to be a long year in Carolina. The fans already want Jimmy Clausen because their offense was in complete disarray against the Giants. Matt Moore threw three interceptions including two in the second half in the end zone. The Carolina offense is just dreadful to watch. No running game and Steve Smith is the only receiver worth a damn.

The Giants didn't look much better. They just didn't out-suck the Panthers. Eli Manning threw three picks but also threw three touchdowns. The Giants receivers were hit and miss all day and Brandon Jacobs is a complete waste. The Giants offense will struggle all season.

- We have a potentially ugly situation involving the New York Jets and sexual harassment. TV Acteca reporter Ines Sainz claims Jets players were trying to run over her in passing drills and that she received catcalls from players in the locker room on Saturday. The NFL and the Jets are looking into the situation right now.

I'm going to withhold my judgment for now on the Jets and Sainz. I've already heard people condemn Sainz because she usually wears what some people might call inappropriate clothing. People are condemning the Jets for "neanderthal behavior." People need to withhold all comments and judgments until the investigation is over.  I just hope we don't have a Lisa Olson case on our hands.

- The Texans made a loud statement beating the Colts 34-24 on Sunday. The knock on the Texans was that they couldn't even win big regular season games. In fact the Texans were 1-15 against the Colts entering Sunday's game since they entered the league in 2002. Well, the Texans finally won a big regular season game against the Colts. Arian Foster destroyed the Colts defense for over 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Could the Colts actually suffer from Super Bowl loss syndrome?

- Reportedly when the Colts-Texans players showed their union solidarity before the game, the Houston fans booed them. Like the Saints-Vikings players did on Thursday, the Texans-Colts players stood on the field and pointed with a finger to show solidarity for the union in their fight in the CBA negotiations.