NFL 2010: Week 1

The regular season starts tonight, as the Super Bowl Champions New Orleans Saints play host to the Minnesota Vikings. This primetime game is a rematch of the NFC Championship in January. I'm sure the entire country is psyched that the season is now upon us, and obviously what a way to start it off. I'm going to only highlight a few of the games per week (Redskins preview will be separate of course), and I'll try my best to highlight each team at least a few times over the course of the season. Enjoy!


Week 1 Key Match-ups.

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans

The Colts are still the tops in the AFC, if not at least the AFC South. It's not easy to bounce back from a Super Bowl loss, but I bet that just makes the Colts that more dangerous this year. How can you not believe in Peyton Manning and that offense? The Texans have lost 15 of 16 to the Colts and despite have the top QB/WR tandem in Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, could not win more than nine games last year. They were ranked 30th in rushing and will need to find a healthy balance in their offense. If they can beat the Colts at home, they can really pick that monkey off their back and constructively look real hard at making the postseason. Houston can't think of a better way to start the season.

Pick: Colts

Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints

Brett Favre is back....again. He only makes the Vikings better in my opinion. I'm sure the Vikes hope to get as productive a season from him as last year. They still have a tough divisional foe in the Packers, but for Week 1, heading to New Orleans is their task at hand. Drew Brees and the Saints can flirt with more history if they can make it back to the Super Bowl. Not too much has changed this offseason so I'd expect the same level of play this year. No significant losses or pick-ups.

Pick: Saints

Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets

The battle of the young quarterbacks, Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco. Both led their teams to the playoffs in their rookie seasons, with Flacco one year older. But this match-up isn't really about these two. It's about defense. The Jets were the top ranked defense and the Ravens were third. Not surprising will be how disruptive the defenses will be. The Jets lost Thomas Jones but gained LaDainian Tomlinson, and cornerback Darelle Revis finally settled his contract and came back to the team. To some, he's the best player in the entire league. For the Ravens, the receiving corps get a little veteran upgrade with Anquan Boldin from the Cardinals and T.J. Houshmanzadeh from the Seahawks. Oh yeah, the Jets open up at home in the new stadium (still shared with the Giants).

Pick: Ravens

I Bleed Orange and Blue Series: UVa 34 - Richmond 13

"The new shirts for this season." Image Courtesy of Opti-Mrs. Cheung

The Mike London era of UVa Football officially began this past Saturday in Charlottesville when the Richmond Spiders came into town. The missus and I went down for the 6pm game and watched first hand as the Hoos beat the Spiders 34-13. It was a great and much needed win for us given our recent inept past. It also was the first time in nearly sixty years that a new coach won his debut game. Interesting enough, I had forgotten much of Al Groh's first year as coach back in 2001. Anyways, here are some highlights from the gameday experience in addition to a short recap of the game itself.

With a new regime in place, the energy level in Charlottesville was clearly more positive for the home opener. Everyone was reluctant to talk season projections, but people confidently expressed hope and faith with Coach London and the direction of the program. Not nearly a sellout, the capacity of Scott Stadium at least appeared to be 80-85% full. The student section was quite full, even to the brink of filling out the hill. The only other times I see such a large fan showing are when Virginia Tech comes into town, but that's due to a mix of both sides. JJ and I sat with her sister and our friends in the student section, as is our usual arrangement. The games are always more fun there, especially when we get to sing the "Good Ol Song".


"CavMan!!!" Image courtesy of Opti-Mrs. Cheung


UVa started with the ball first and methodically marched down the field with purpose, ending with a Keith Payne 2-yard TD run, one of four for the day for Payne. Richmond would answer back in the 1st quarter with a 70-yard TD run by Kendall Gaskins. After that play, one can agree that this could be a long day for UVa's defense, a depleted one for that matter too. UVa was without their key defensive back, Ras-I Dowling, out with a leg injury. Fortunately enough, Richmond's QB Aaron Corp could not connect on the deep ball with his receivers, even with them breaking off the UVa corners and had better passes been thrown, UVa would have been behind quickly. Oh well, their loss was the UVa offense's gain. Verica and the running game took full advantage of their time on the field and was able to move down the field and Verica connected with Kris Burd on a short 2-yard TD pass in the second quarter. Richmond would score on a field goal in the final minutes of the half and UVa would nurse a 14-10 lead going into the second half.


"Keith Payne (#22) scores one of his four TDs" Image courtesy of Opti-Mrs. Cheung

"Even well into the second half, UVa students stick around. Sea of Orange!!" Image courtesy of Opti-Mrs. Cheung

Richmond would cut the lead to one by kicking another field goal on their first possession in the second half. Thankfully, the UVa defense made sure those were the last points Richmond would score the rest of the way. On offense, the running game would prove to be the workhorse for the team, with Payne leading the way. By the end, UVa would rush for over 200 yards. In one series, Payne ran for four consecutive first downs. "And that's another Cavalier FIRST DOWN!" became a broken record as the fans all pointed in the direction of the first down marker. Oh how I missed the positive and fun energy at these games. Last year, all four games I attended were losses; some were no surprises, others straight up embarrassments. This game was neither and overall, UVa played well on all sides of the ball. UVa would score three more TDs in the second half; all three on the Payne TD runs as I mentioned earlier. One I can argue, should have been a TD reception by the tight end, but the referees called him down at the one. Payne of course, just punched it in at the goal line. The only botched play all game came at the PAT attempt when the holder fumbled the snap and failed to convert the play. So what normally would be 35-13 ended up 34-13.

"In what is to be a new tradition at UVa, the players shaking hands with the students at the end of the game." Image courtesy of Opti-Mrs. Cheung

All in all, it was a solid opening game against a formidable foe. Richmond was and is no cakewalk and I'll take this as a legitimate win for UVa. It must have been bittersweet for London to have beaten his former team and in the fashion of that win. Nevertheless, I think that if Richmond can refine their passing game, they could still be a threat in their division. Some final thoughts. Verica played mistake free and will need to build on that going forward. The running game looks to be on the right track so a healthy balance between rushing and passing will be the key difference in a win or loss. I believe if Payne can continue to just dig through trenches, he'll be unstoppable. He's massive, 6-3, 245 lbs, with a Brandon Jacobs type build. We have plenty of depth at that position so I'm confident there. Our receivers are still a bit undersized and will need some help from our tight ends to open up the middle. On defense, I'm concerned with the inexperience of some of the secondary, especially since it's been bit by the injury bug. With Dowling back, I can only hope that we avoid giving up the big deep plays, both in passing and rushing. Next week, UVa visits 16th ranked USC. I'm not holding my breath, this could be a lopsided game. I just hope we stay competitive, come out with no injuries, and maybe lose by no more than 10 points. That last part, I'm not confident about......

Til next week, Wa-hoo-WA!!!