Heroes: Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2

Since football games only take place 3 nights a week, we're branching out a bit and we're going to start recapping some TV shows. Since tonight is the season premiere of Heroes (probably the 2nd best show on TV after LOST) we're going to start strong.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Volume 3: Villains

Episode 1: The Second Coming

We start off with Peter racing through Manhattan, 4 years in the future. A very vague conversation ensues between Peter and a totally badass looking Claire.

Peter jumps back to the past and...shoots Nathan! Wow.

The camera follows Nathan into the hospital where he dies. Peter goes into the operating room and Nathan sits up.

Has Peter learned how to transfer his powers to others instead of just receiving them? Parkman's powers evolved, so Peter's could too....

Commercial break leads off with the Windows "I'm a PC" ad that's a response to the Mac ads.

Hiro comes out and dominates time right after the break. Hiro is given a mysterios DVD as we're sent off to Claire, who gets surprised by Sylar at her door. Claire rocks him like the Eagles rocked Ben yesterday, then runs to the kitchen and grabs a knife. A spooky scene with Sylar stalking Claire ensues, kinda makes you wonder if she is dreaming...

Jump-cut to Maya attacking Mohinder as he comes into his apartment. Mohinder is doubting himself again, but then makes a scientific breakthrough on the genetics front...

Over to Hiro watching the DVD his father left him. His father tells him to never open the safe, so naturally Hiro tries to open it. He finds another DVD and his father talks about protecting half of "the formula." Hiro opens the case and has the formula snatched from by a new character whose power is super-speed.

Jump over to Peter and Matt, who engage in a battle of mental powers and we find out this is Future Peter and that he can remove his scar willingly.

Commercial break.

Back to Nathan in the hospital, who wakes up and walks out. A news crew follows him into a church, where Nathan displays a surprising amount of religious philosophy in a very authentic speech with Future Peter watching in the background.

"Save ourselves, save the world" - Nathan Petrelli

Mohinder and Maya are running experiments on Maya's blood...looks like Mohinder has the hots for Maya. But Mohinder shows signs of starting down a dark track...researching the ability to give powers to people. Dangerous. Big philosophical question here: just because you can give people powers....should you?

Back to Sylar and Claire...I guess it's not a dream. Sylar gets a monologue about how he's going to take everyone's powers and then gets STABBED IN THE HEART by Claire...but that's not quite enough to stop him, as he telepathically pins her against the wall and starts to steal her power.

Commercial.

Back to Sylar and Claire, he has her laid on a table with the top of her head pried off, searching her brain for her powers and how it works...and now he has her power. In a strange twist of fate, Sylar gives Claire the top of her head back and when she heals herself he tells her that she can never die...and neither can he, now.

Mohinder comes out on offense with Maya playing defense. Mohinder reveals a deep-seeded desire to become special so that he can kill Sylar...Maya leaves with Mohinder pondering his fate.

Over to Peter (which one?) and Nathan in the hospital. Philosophical/religious discussion ensues with Nathan talking about how they're angels sent to save the world. Speaking of which, Linderman is back!

Flash over to the governor who has Nikki, calling herself Tracy, alongside him, talking about "using" Nathan as a political tool.

Last commercial break. Heroes is moving faster than the Steelers offense did yesterday.

Out to the desert where Parkman wakes up with a scorpion on his face, a nice divergence from the cockroach theme that had been running through. My bet is it's a mental trap that Future Peter put him in.

Hiro and Ando in Bangkok. Hiro jumps to the future and watches Ando, now with a power kill him. And then, in a scene eerily reminiscent to Hiro's first future-trip to New York, the city blows up and Hiro jumps back just in time.

Choice time for Mohinder. Destroy it or inject himself? Ethics goes out the window and Mohinder may have just turned into a villain.

Angela Petrelli shows up for the first time in Nathan's hospital room. We finally find out Angela's power, the ability to dream the future. She tells Future Peter to go back and we see someone claiming to be Peter in "level 5" that we had been teased with in previews, along with people with other powers and...Noah Bennett!

The episode ends with a classic Mohinder voice-over.

Flash to Mohinder on the dock, manifesting his ability of super-strength with the symbol in the background...

Commercial-less jump to Episode 2!!!

Episode 2: The Butterfly Effect

Claire and her mom are talking....and she gets a piece of glass stuck in her hand and realizes that she no longer can feel anything. She can still heal, but now she can't feel...

Now that we know her power, we get to see Angela's dream. She sees everyone dead with a "hit squad" including Nikki and Sylar. Peter is assembling a string-line structure of history, much like how Future Hiro did in Isaac's apartment. Apparently, Peter told Claire not to go to Odessa, which was why she was home for Sylar. Uh-oh. Future Peter is screwing up the future that he was trying to save.

Spiderman Mohinder is going power-crazy...and Maya-crazy. Maybe he needs an Uncle Ben figure to tell him "With great power comes great responsibility."

The adrenaline-rush from the show gets pumped up even more when the commercial break with a preview for the new Bond movie: Quantum of Solace. Terrible name, but Daniel Craig was great in Casino Royale. Look for another strong performance here. Big downer at the middle of the commercial with the WPXI 11:00 news previews. There's a reason they're #3.

Obama commercial: We can't afford more of the same.

Parkman is still out in the desert. Elle and Bob watch Sylar kicking ass. Bob is a bad parent.

Hiro is suspicious of Ando now, since he saw Ando killing him in the future. Speedy's name is "Daphne."

I guess Hillary became President in Heroes, because the position of Junior Senator in New York is open. Nikki/Tracy are set up to offer the position to Nathan.

Jump-back to Hiro and Ando in Daphne's apartment. She's stolen a bunch of priceless art, including the Mona Lisa.

Claire clip that we were previewed before the show. "Attempt #7." Peter flies in and saves her at the last second.

Baby rocking the Blackberry E-Trade commercial totally rules this break.

Right back to Claire and Future Peter, discussing how Sylar took her powers.

Nikki/Tracy walks in on Nathan praying by the window. Apparently "Gerald Dickinson's untimely death" was the reason for the opening of the Junior Senator position...I'm sticking with the Hillary story. Linderman gives Nikki a creepy look as she walks out the door. Linderman trys talking to Nathan, telling him it's "God's plan" for him to take the senate seat.

Elle walks into Bob's office to tell him to watch out for Sylar trying to get to Level 5, only to find out that Sylar killed Bob. Elle gives Noah a gun, and he pops a cap (or 5) in Sylar, but with his new-found ability, Sylar heals himself.

Sylar turns the gun gold for fun and tries to steal Elle's power, but she goes Emporer Palpatine on him and- cut to commercial. AAAAAHH!

Back from the break, Elle wakes up to see all the Level 5-ers fleeing...then passes out.

Over to Hiro and Ando in Daphne's apartment. Hiro tells Ando what he saw in the future. Ando tells Hiro he won't kill him. Hiro starts talking pop-culture and says they need to set a trap like Batman for Catwoman.

Future Peter and Nathan are back in the hospital. Future Peter confesses to Nathan that he shot him and asks for forgiveness. Nathan asks for career advice from Future Peter. FP disappears to go "set things right"...another "save the cheerleader, save the world" moment?

Nathan calls Nikki/Tracy and demands her being on his staff. Creepy reporter guy tries to convince her again that she's really Nikki Sanders, and she grabs his arm and...freezes him. The "Ice Queen" seems like an apropos name for Tracy's new power. Maybe Nikki has a different power with each personality?

Commercials...McCain commercial that talks about how Obama wants to increase taxes. Except for the fact that Obama's tax plan only raises taxes on those at the top of the income bracket.

Back to Heroes...Angela Petrelli is taking over for Bob and apparently making some changes at the company. Angela starts by giving Elle the boot. Sylar is trapped for now, but others got out, including Noah and the guy claiming to be the real Peter Petrelli.

Ando and Hiro in Daphne's apartment. Hiro plays matador, and lets Daphne get away, but not before planting a tracking device on her. She's off to Germany...

Mohinder is seeing some ill effects of the injection, like his skin peeling off.

Reminder: Full episodes of Heroes now on NBC.com

Parkman wakes up and thinks he can hear a turtle talking to him, but it's really a man. Parkman finds out he's in Africa. Product-placement moment. "Should have gone with Sprint"...ironically, Sprint sponsors Heroes, as we know from the online "Design your own Hero" challenge. The man he met knows his name...and apparently can paint the future.

Noah is home, and Claire tells him she's better. Noah says something has happened that he can't ignore...

Nathan and Linderman playing Chess...a nurse walks in and asks why Nathan is playing chess with himself. Linderman is either invisible or is a figment of Nathan's imagination...

Noah runs through the Level 5-ers with Claire and tells her how he has to stop them. Claire wants to help. Claire's mom comes back to help protect the family. Too bad we saw that shot on a sneak peak before the show.

Peter jumps down to Level 5...and Angela tells him off.

The Level 5-ers are wrecking havoc on some civilians.

Angela wakes up Sylar, and she tells him that...she's his mother!!

We're left hanging with the "who's the father?" question...Linderman? Adam? Mr. Nakamura?

Conflict of interests next week as Heroes is on at the same time as the Steelers-Ravens game.
Solution: Watch the game. Watch Heroes online on Tuesday.

Return of the Maginot Line: Steelers Lose

Get ready to see a lot of this picture.

Before we get to the ugly stuff, we want to give a shout out to Patrick Bailey, who was signed to the team Sunday morning from the practice squad to replace Donovan Woods on special teams. Bailey, an undrafted free agent out of Duke who has a major in biomedical engineering, was the lab partner of one of my high school friends at Duke. Congrats on making the team Patrick!

Bailey got his name in the books by recording a tackle on special teams. He was out there on kickoff and punt returns as well, and I noticed him getting held at least once.

Now on to the ugly stuff...

15
6

Harvey Dent sneers at us as Philly wins the toss.

Reed boots a kickoff into the end zone, but Philly brings it out across the 35.

Philly comes out firing with swing passes to Hank Baskett and Tony Hunt. Westbrook gets stopped twice by Kirschke to force a 3rd and short, but Westbrook was able to grind out the yards. A holding penalty set the Eagles offense back on first down, but they converted a 3rd and 17 on a deep in route to former Michigan boy Jason Avant. Bad sign for the defense not getting off the field there. McNabb hit Hunt on another swing pass, and Hunt got rocked by Farrior, jarring the ball loose. Tomlin throws the challenge flag and...wins his first challenge of his coaching career! Apparently B-Mac came up with the ball in the pile.

The Steelers come out passing as well as Ben hits Heath right off the bat for 9 yards. Willie can't find a crease on 2nd down, forcing a 3rd and short. Philly gets called for being offsides, giving us a free first down. Ben hits Holmes for 16 and 6 before Santonio drops one over the middle. Like clockwork, Ben goes to Hines to convert and keep the drive alive. Parker goes nowhere again, but Ben is able to find Nate Washington for his first catch of the year and Nasty Nate picks up 16, moving us into field goal range. Parker finds a crease and picks up 6 on first down. The predictability of Arians shines through as we run again, this time for nothing. Guess what's coming now? Yup, a pass to Hines. But he can't come up with it and it's Jeff Reed time.

3-0

Philly comes back out throwing, as McNabb hits Buckhalter for 11 on a swing pass, then DeSean Jackson on a short route. Westbrook gets 4 yards to set up a 3rd and 2, but McNabb converts again by hitting Jackson on a short route. On first down, the defense steps it up and McNabb gets plowed by Kirschke and Foote.

Second Quarter

We came into the second quarter looking hopeful. Their running game wasn't going anywhere, our offense had produced points on our first drive, and we had sacked McNabb to close out the first quarter. Little did we no at this point that the shit was about to hit the fan.

Westbrook darts around the end and tries to hurdle one of his linemen, but his first foot lands on his lineman's leg and his other foot comes down awkwardly. It looked ugly, and he was done for the game. In comes Buckhalter. On 3rd and 15, with a real chance to swing the game, the Steelers give up another long conversion on the same deep in pattern, this time to Hank Baskett. Ouch. Buckhalter runs for 9 and McNabb hits Baskett to keep the drive marching. James "Some Kind of Monster" Harrison got excited and jumped offsides, giving the Eagles a 1st and 5. They go to Buckhalter twice for two yards, but once again the D can't hold and McNabb converts the 3rd down with a short pass. McNabb recognizes the Steelers in man-to-man coverage and dumps a check-down pass to Buckhalter, who outruns Harrison then hurdles Ike Taylor to get into the end zone.

7-3

With the Eagles on the board with the lead, Jim Johnson their defensive coordinator decided to be aggressive. And you know what that means...

Ben is sacked on first down. Parker slices through for 8 on second down to set up 3rd and 4. Philly gets called for a defensive delay of game on 3rd down...I'm not sure how that happens, but hey, it gave us a first down. Maybe a punt would have been better.

Ben is sacked again as he can't get back to the line to avoid the pressure. Ben hits Nate on second down to get to 3rd and manageable.

Ben is sacked again and fumbles. The Eagles fall on the ball. Let the frustrations begin.

McNabb hits Jackson for 18 to move the Eagles into field goal range. Buckhalter picks up 12 yards on 2 carries to get the ball inside the red zone, but Larry Foote comes up with a huge sack on first down.

McNabb goes back to Jackson, and Willie Gay comes up with a solid tackle to force a 3rd and 8, where McNabb throws his first incompletion of the game after 15 completed passes. Akers knocks it through.

10-3

At this point, you were hoping that the last drive was just a fluke and that the Steelers offense could put together a scoring drive to tie the game before the half.

You were wrong.

After two sacks, even though the second one was a 15-yard facemask, Ben goes deep for Nasty Nate, but Asante Samuel makes a better play on the ball than Nate and takes it right out of his hands.

With just under 2 minutes, the Eagles looked poised to drive down the field and score again. But the defense stopped Buckhalter, forced an incompletion, and then....

B-Mac comes up with a huge interception. Philly challenged that he was touched down so the 15-yard run-back didn't count, but at least we got the ball back.

With a minute and a half to go and a short field, the Steelers took advantage. Ben to Hines for 8. Mewelde Moore dashes up the gut for 6 as the clock rolls down to a minute.

Again, really? Yup. Ben is sacked on first down, pushing the ball back to the 42. Ben goes to Nasty Nate again on 2nd down for 8 yards, then can't find Hines on 3rd down. The ball is on the 36 and Tomlin sends out the field goal team after a timeout to think about it. Philly gives him a chance to re-think the decision by taking another timeout, but Tomlin sticks with it.

And Reed is money from 53 yards. He had enough to hit it from 60.

10-6

Reed hits a pop-up kick and Patrick Bailey gets the tackle on special teams. McNabb kneels to end the half.

Third Quarter

That good feeling you had after the first quarter was gone. But you were also a little hopeful and thought that maybe, just maybe, the coaches would be smart enough to make some halftime adjustments. Plus, we were only down by 4, so a touchdown would put us right back in the thick of things.

The Steelers get the opening kickoff and decide they're going to try to establish the running game, since Parker had only 5 carries in the first half. Willie picks up 4 on first down to get us to 2nd and manageable. Ben can't hook up with Hines and 3rd down rolls around. They can't get the play off, resulting in a delay of game, followed by a false start on Kemoeatu. 3rd and 6 just turned into 3rd and 16. Philly brings the heat but Ben scrambles across the line for 2 yards, so it's not technically a sack. Punt.

McNabb, who got a little dinged up on the first sack, didn't come out at the start of the second half, so Kevin Kolb took the reigns of the Philly offense. Kirschke came up with a stop on a running play. Kolb went to pass on second down and the ball was tipped into the air. Troy gave it a Superman-like dive and snagged the ball just before it hit the ground. Philly challenged, but the interception was upheld. I bet if this had been in Indy or New England, it would have been overturned....

Steelers ball at midfield, you would think we'd do something with it. But Arians rolls out the motif offense. Run-run-pass-punt. The only difference was, with all the pressure the "Pass" was actually Ben scrambling for his life again, barely picking up 1 yard.

Kolb comes back out and turns to short passes to Jackson and Baskett to move the ball out across the 30. McNabb comes back in and hands off to Buckhalter who dashes for 7. McNabb goes to the air and hits Buckhalter for a short gain and another first down. After runs of 5 and 11 yards, McNabb throws an incomplete pass on first down. The Run D comes up with a stop on second down and McNabb throws another incompletion on 3rd down that Willie Gay almost picks off. Big Snack was hurt on the play apparently.

From deep in their own zone, the Steelers came out...throwing! To Heath! It's about time. Witten killed Philly last week, the Steelers really should have utilized their tight ends more. First down, and we're back to the motif offense. Run-run-trytopassbuthavetoSCRAMBLE-punt. Berger booms a 53-yarder, pinning Philly back inside their 20.

Timmons stops Buckhalter on a swing pass on first down, then Kirschke gets in on the act on second down, plugging up the run again. LaMarr "Big Stick" Woodley brings the heat and takes McNabb down on 3rd down. Punt.

The Steelers get the ball around midfield again and come out throwing. Ben can't find Holmes or Hines on first and second down, but then hooks up with Hines for a big 3rd down conversion to keep the drive alive. Parker goes nowhere twice as the quarter winds to a close.

Fourth Quarter

The Steelers could have taken a lesson from the French and just signed an appeasement treaty. Sadly, they had to come out and play the 4th quarter, which brings us to our favorite graphic...

Ben is sacked on the first play of the 4th quarter. Colon got called for holding the guy that made the sack. Let me repeat that. Colon held the guy...and he still made the sack. Actually, the guy just blew by Colon on the outside and Colon tried to grab on to protect Ben, but still got smoked.

Berger pins them down at the 10, and you start to get the feeling the defense is going to have to score if we want to win this game.

Philly's offense stalls and has to punt, but their punter booms a 64-yarder to flip the field on us, setting us back to the 30, which feels like the 10 for our offense.

Ben can't hook up with Holmes...again, but hits Hines for 4 yards on 2nd down. Philly brings the heat, but Ben is able to scramble for 2 yards. Punt. Frustration city.

McNabb hits Baskett for 12 yards to get the ball across the 35, but an offensive holding penalty on the next play sets Philly's offense back. McNabb converts two short passes to get back to 3rd and 8, but Big Stick brings the pressure, forcing a bad pass. Another great punt pins us back inside the 10.

1st down, 94 yards away from the end zone, I wonder what we're going to do? That's right, motif offense time. Parker loses 2. Davis around the outside for 1.

You knew it was coming. Philly brings the heat and Ben tries to get a pass off as he's being dragged down but he's called for some sort of grounding/his knee was down before he got rid of the ball penalty that results in a safety.

12-6

After the free kick, Philly gets some good starting field position. McNabb is throwing it all over the field and converts a 3rd and 6 to get the ball across midfield. Buckhalter goes nowhere, then McNabb throws 2 incompletions, forcing a punt. Another great punt by the Eagles pins the Steelers down at the 7.

I guess we learned our lesson last time, because they came out throwing this time, and Holmes finally pulls one down for 10 yards to get the ball out to the 17. Mendenhall comes in and drops a short pass, but comes back with a reception that he busts for 11 yards. Ben feels the heat and can't find Holmes or Ward and another false start on Kemoeatu sets them back in another 3rd and long.

This time it's Brian Dawkins who dives in and swats the ball out of Ben's hand then falls on the loose ball. Ben got his hand stepped on diving for the fumble and didn't return to the game. X-rays were negative.

With the ball already in the red zone, Philly's offense didn't have to do anything except waste time. They did a good job of it and Akers made another field goal, stretching the lead to 2 scores.

15-6

With Ben out, Leftwich comes in to try and rally the troops. He hits Nasty Nate on first down for a big gain to keep the faintest bit of hope alive. Two-minute warning.

Nasty Nate can't come up with a pass as Byron feels the heat, but Byron comes right back with a big pass to Heath for 21 yards. Off of no-huddle, Byron goes right back to Heath for 17 more and the Steelers use their second timeout. Byron goes to the end zone for Nate, but Nasty Nate can't pull it in. Byron goes right back to him and Nate picks up 9 yards, but doesn't go out of bounds, forcing the Steelers to use their last timeout.

You knew it was coming. Byron isn't mobile and Philly was blitzing hardcore. On 4th down, instead of kicking the field goal and giving the team a chance to stay in the game, Tomlin and Arians decide to go for it on 4th and long. Why? I don't know...you kick the field goal here and put your team within 1 score. Then at least you can try the onside kick.

But to keep with the WWII motif we've got going here, Tomlin raises the white flag by going for it. Philly brings the heat and Leftwich throws a pass into the dirt short of Holmes (who would have been short of the sticks anyways). Terrible coaching decision.

McNabb comes in for the kneel-down to end the game.

These two pictures probably say it best.

We just didn't know what hit us.

Players of the Game:
Offensive Game Ball: Jeff Reed. He hit a career-long 53-yard field goal. That was about the only highlight on offense.
Defensive Game Ball: Bryant McFadden. Filling in for Deshea, he has an interception (his 2nd in as many games) and came up with a fumble recovery.

Honorable Mentions:
Larry Foote: 1.5 sacks and a few other tackle's for a loss
LaMarr Woodley: 1 sack, 1 hurry
Travis Kirschke: 6.5 tackles, 1/2 sack. He did a great job filling in for the Diesel.
Troy Polamalu: As we said last week, he's back to his old form. He's had an interception every game so far.
Heath Miller. He lead the team with 4 catches for 63 yards. We need to use him more.

As much as this may surprise you, the Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game does not go to the offensive line. This one goes to the Coaching Staff. Their inability to call plays in max-protect packages that would keep their franchise quarterback out of harms way resulted in Ben getting beat up and injured. You're paying the guy over $100 million over 8 years. Don't get him hurt in the first year. To make a spin-off of a French joke....

How many Frenchmen blockers does it take to defend Paris Roethlisberger?
Noone knows Arians doesn't know, it's never been tried.

The scary thing is, you know Baltimore is going to come after us next week on Monday night. Hopefully the extra day will give the coaches time to come up with a blocking scheme that can protect Ben.

On the bright side. This is the NFL, and as the Patriots proved last year, you're not going to win every game. And if you're going to lose, it's best to lose to a non-conference opponent because then it doesn't hurt you in any tiebreaker situations.

Than being said, we really need to come up with something better on Monday night.

Potential solution(s): Heath and Mendenhall. Heath is the most under-utilized player on the team. He has the 2nd best set of hands (behind Hines) and he's tough to bring down in the open field. We need to use him more. Mendenhall provides a great alternative to Parker. He can run hard and run through tackles and wear down a defense. It would be nice to see more of him.

The defense played great, but it was an ugly day on the offensive side of the ball. Hopefully we turn things around for next week. We'll end with a quote from Coach.

"We didn't deal with it. We didn't recognize pressure, we didn't identify hots, we didn't run hots, we didn't get them thrown and caught, etc"

Game Day 7

Today is the day the Steelers can prove that this team is different from last year's team. All the things that hounded last year's team, the Eagles possess and will exploit. Short dump-off passes killed us last year (see: Welker catching 7 straight on a drive in New England), we struggled against teams with good run defenses (and bad run defenses), but mainly...we struggled to win away from home.

Going to Philly is never an easy task. Hell, they booed Santa.

Donovan McNabb has started another season strong. The question remains, as it has the past few years...will his body hold up?

Brian Westbrook is one of the top backs in the league. His versatility to come out of the backfield and catch short passes is worrisome to a Steelers defense that doesn't play a lot of press coverage. It's going to be a big day for the linebackers who might have to cover him in space.

Philly has a great run defense, but Romo and the Cowboys shredded them through the air. Today might be the Roethlisberger-to-Holmes show we've been waiting for all year.

Going into someone else's house, who should we send in to kick ass?

Week 3 Preview

Week 3 might have more matchups with playoff implications than Week 16. This weekend is loaded with great early-season showdowns that will help determine those that get an early jump on the season. But if there's one thing to remember this weekend, remember this: the Super Bowl is not won in September. So no matter how great the game is between Dallas and Green Bay on Sunday night, don't get too excited.

Best game: Dallas at Green Bay. I think this choice was a bit obvious. There were a plethora of good games to choose from this weekend, but this is the only game featuring two playoff teams from last season that are both still undefeated. This game features two of the NFC's "young" quarterbacks, both with high-powered offenses that can put points on the board. I don't think this one will go as high as the Dallas-Philly game on Monday night, but Dallas' inability to cover in the secondary has to be cause for concern. On the other side, Green Bay had a chance to bury Detroit last week, but let them sneak back into the game before driving the nail in the coffin with two pick-6's.

Most Intriguing Game: Arizona at Washington. Why did I pick this game when I could have talked about how New Orleans and Denver were going to be racing to break 50? Well, Washington bounced back last week and gave a solid performance against New Orleans. Arizona has had a lot of questions over the secondary in the past few years, and with Jason Campbell coming off a 300-yard passing day, this matchup will give us a clear indicator whether or not Arizona is a contender or a pretender (that still has a shot at a division title). It's going to be a tough trip for the west coast boys coming across the country to play, but this game should give us a better indicator where they stand in comparrison to the rest of the NFC as compared to their first two games against San Fran and Miami.

Upset of the Week: Jacksonville over Indianapolis. If the Jaguars want to resurrect their playoff hopes, they need a win this week. Otherwise, they are 0-2 in the division and 0-3 overall with Tennesse and Indy at least 2 games ahead of them. Even though the Jags have had some injuries along the offensive line, Indy's run defense has been disgustingly weak this year, which sets up MJD and Fred Taylor to have big games on the ground. Indy will put up points, but if Jacksonville can control the clock, look for them to have a shot to win at the end of the game.

Best Performance: Eli Manning. The formula here is pretty simple. Pick a player on a good team that has playmakers around him that is facing a bad team this weekend. Eli has been razor sharp in the Giants first two games and now he gets to face Cincy's defense, which I hear is just as bad even when you put a paper bag on your head. Look for Eli to carve these guys apart, dropping Cincy to 0-3 and getting Marvin Lewis one step closer to the door.

Stay Away From: Matt Schaub. Yes it would have been easy to name anyone on the Bengals, Rams or Dolphins here. But Schaub is poised for another downer of a game. After having last week off, Schaub gets to face a Titans defense that leads the league in Sacks and Interceptions. That's a dangerous scenario, especially when the Texans lack the running game to support the passing game.

Rocky was a fluke.

Go Steelers!

Philly Sucks

There's not a whole lot to say here.

William Penn still haunts them.

It's practically New Jersey.

And, oh yeah, they haven't won a professional sports championship (and no, Arena Football doesn't count) since 1980.

Jokes.

Andy Reid has more control over his team than his mustache.



Oh yeah, and apparently someone forgot to tell DeSean Jackson that you actually have to bring the ball with you when you visit the end zone.



On another note, this might be the funniest thing I've read in a long time.

John's Week 2 Power Rankings

Here are my rankings (in a much shorter form) after Week 2. Full rankings with analysis will be back after the Week 3 action.

High Five


2-0



2-0



2-0



2-0

2-0

Just Missed: Arizona Cardinals


Dive Five


0-2



0-2



0-2



0-2



0-2

Just Missed: Cleveland Browns

Ian's Week 2 Power Rankings

With Week 2 come and gone, here's a fresh new batch of Power Rankings from me.

The February Five

The Giants had my top spot last week and they did nothing against the Rams to warrant them dropping from this position. They get another easy one against the hapless Bungles (more on them later) this week, so look for them to stay atop the rankings.

Before the game on Monday night I told myself that whoever won would get the #2 spot in my rankings. Well, Dallas, in spite of a terrible defensive effort, won a school-yard shootout reminiscent of the USC-Texas Rose Bowl. Only this time, it was a guy from Cal making a boneheaded play. Dallas' offense looks scary, but the defense looks vulnerable which could be a factor in January.

A win is a win. And a road division win is the best kind of win, particularly over Cleveland. As I said in my game recap, unlike the BCS, style points don't count, just the final score. And right now, Pittsburgh is the best team in the AFC. Their 4-minute offense looked great against Cleveland, running off all but the last 26 seconds on the clock and leaving the Browns with a long field. Losing Kiesel won't be a huge hit to the defense, as both Kirshke and Eason can step in and play well enough to hold up the run defense.

My top four teams from last week won, so why change them? As those of us who remembered Aaron Rodgers' career at Cal recall, the dude can play. And he's showing it. The defense let the Lions back into the game but clamped it down at the end with two pick-six's. This week's matchup with Dallas has huge playoff-seeding implications. The way Rodgers played last week and the way Dallas' defense played, this could be another shootout. If Green Bay's defense steps up, look for the Pack to move into the driver's seat for a bye week.

Did I just say Buffalo has a shot at going to the Super Bowl? I must be crazy. Maybe not, as I did pick them to make the playoffs. Nevertheless, this team is good. They beat two decent teams and won a huge road game in Jacksonville this past week. The road victory over the Jags was really what lifted them into this spot over other close contenders Carolina and Arizona. With Oakland, St. Louis and Arizona left before their bye week, this team has a legitimate shot at going 4-1.

Just missed: Carolina

The April Five

The way the league is right now, it's really hard to pick a "worst of the worst." Luckily, Miami plays St. Louis, San Francisco, Houston, Kansas City and Oakland before the year is out. Henne looked sharp when he got in the game last week and is probably the long-term answer for this team.

If you remember what I said about this team in my season preview, I might just look like a prophet. "The Rams may very well start the season 0-7 or 1-6 with games against Philly, the Giants, Seattle, Buffalo, Washington, Dallas and New England to start the year. However, after that stretch, if they remain injury-free their schedule lightens up. Their last 9 opponents had a combined record of 52-92 last season, with only Seattle and Arizona breaking the 8-win plateau. If the Rams are going to make a run, they are going to do it in the second half of the season." Well, the tough schedule is hounding them and they're well on their way to reaching the 0-7 start I predicted. The offense looks terrible and the defense can't stop anyone. This team is almost as much of a joke as the U.S. Ryder Cup Team.

Run defense. Run defense. Run defense. Where did it go? Glenn Dorsey was supposed to help, but they're just not getting it done on either side of the ball. Herm Edwards will be picking at the top of next year's draft once again. Right now, this team is just painful to watch. They have a shot at getting their first win this week, if they don't let Michael Turner run all over them like D-Mac did. They play Miami and Cincinnati the last two weeks of the year, which might turn into a battle for draft position.

Cincinnati barely edged out Kansas City because they played a quality opponent in Tennessee this past week. That still doesn't excuse the opening day disaster at Baltimore. Marvin Lewis better start dusting off the resume if the offense doesn't start scoring soon. Things aren't about to get any easier with the Giants, Browns, Cowboys, Jets and Steelers in the next 5 weeks. This team might make it to November without a win. Looks like the Bungles of old are back.

I'm not sure if they're actually this bad or not, but they earned this spot by blowing a lead to San Francisco and giving up 300+ yards to J.T. O'Sullivan. Anyone who loses to one of the teams in my bottom five has a pretty good shot of showing up there the next week. Well, San Francisco got themselves out of the doghouse for now and Seattle is searching for answers at Wide Reciever where they have had 6 or 7 injuries. The defense is the real problem here. They gave up 33 to San Francisco.

Just missed: Detroit

Week 2 Recap

Week 2 Recap

No offense to our main guy, JD, but my primary consultants are Jack and Christian Shepherd.

Not the high profile names we had in Week 1, but there were still a few significant injuries.

Brett Keisel - out 2 months with a calf strain. Christian says it's a huge deal, while Jack thinks it won't affect the Steelers at all. (I agree with Jack.)

Robaire Smith - out for the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Not only did our Steelers send the Browns to an 0-2 start, but we vanquished one of their starting D-linemen.

Roy Williams - out at least 3 weeks with a broken forearm. Does this guy even matter any more? Jack feels he still has to fix him up and get him healthy.

Anybody finding my injury recap weird and making absolutely no sense should watch LOST, the best show on television, hands down.


What we've learned 2 weeks into the season:

*The Giants winning the super bowl may not have been a fluke.
*Seattle's reign may be finished, while Arizona may run away with the West.
*Minnesota needs a QB, while Detroit needs a defense.
*Carolina may be ready to return to the top.

*Buffalo is the team to beat in the AFC East, but N.E. still has a great defense.
*The Chargers are a different team without Shawne Merriman.
*The Steelers have the potential to be special, even without our top 3 picks.
*Tennessee is closer to elite status than Jacksonville.

*Either Knowshon Moreno (Cincinnati) or Malcolm Jenkins (St. Louis) will be the #1 pick.

Best Game of the Week - San Diego at Denver - This match-up had everything from high scoring to great individual plays, from gutsy coaching calls to horrendous officiating. Most of us didn't join in until the 4th quarter, but if you were paying attention Sunday afternoon, you knew that this was the most unpredictable game of the day. It is a shame that a bad call tarnished the outcome, but it still provided a classic finish and a great, albeit undeserved, win for the Broncos.

Most Disappointing Game of the Week - Pittsburgh at Cleveland - This designation is due in no way to the Steelers, but to the pathetic play of the Browns, as well as Hurricane Ike. In what was supposed to be a fiercely contested battle for early division supremacy, the Browns were extremely ineffective and reduced to a mere whimper. Meanwhile, the effects of Ike were on display in slowing down both offenses and providing a generally sloppy contest.

Top Performance - Anquan Boldin - 6 receptions, 140 yards, 3 TD, 23.3 average. Yes, this performance came against the Dolphins, and, yes, Brandon Marshall had 18 catches for 166 yards and one score, but the difference comes in the extra two touchdowns for Boldin, and especially in Marshall's yards per catch (or lack thereof, 9.2).

Playoff Shapers
Washington over New Orleans
Buffalo over Jacksonville
New England over N.Y. Jets
Denver over San Diego