With emotions running high marking the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers, the country was in need of something to not only reflect, but also help fill the American spirit inside all of us. And what's more American than spending a Sunday afternoon watching football?Heading into Sunday's match-up between the San Francisco 49ers and the division rival Seattle Seahawks, it wasn't a marquee free-agent player everyone had their eyes on at the start of the game, but rather the newly hired head coach Jim Harbaugh. Making his NFL debut, Harbaugh who spent the last four years at Stanford would renew his beef with Seattle's Pete Carrol who made the transition back to the NFL last year after forming a dynasty at USC. With the upper-hand at the collegiate level having outdone Carrol's Trojans twice in three meetings, Harbaugh looked to add yet another tally to the win column against his counterpart.
As the game got underway, the 49ers appeared to be in the drivers seat in the early going. With neither team's run game able to find much running room and both quarterbacks held in check for the most part, it was the defense that sparkled during the first half. Alex Smith and company were able to march down field a number of times, but the 49er offense had to settle for field goals as one of San Francisco's offseason acquisitions David Akers made it a 9-0 game by splitting the uprights on three consecutive drives. However, the 49ers offense would finally reach the end-zone on their next drive as Alex Smith scampered his way across the goal-line before being met with a big hit, to put his team on top, 16-0, heading into the half.After a sluggish first half on offense, the Seahawks appeared to have made some adjustments, turning their first drive of the second half into seven points as Tavaris Jackson found receiver Golden Tate on a slant pass for an 8-yard touchdown. After exchanging punts, what was a sixteen to nothing lead at one point for the Niners would soon dwindle down to a three point game as Seattle struck by scoring 10 unanswered points. The following drive, David Akers would once again make it a two possession game, connecting for his fourth field goal of the afternoon. But a huge play from one of Harbaugh's former players at Stanford would bring the Seahawks within two points as Jackson utilized the slant once again, this time finding rookie Doug Baldwin for a 55 yard score.
With just over four minutes remaining in the game and the 49ers leading 19-17, Harbaugh's boys were in need of a shot in the arm on offense if they planned on making their coaches debut a successful one. However, the offense didn't need to take the field as Ted Ginn Jr. and the Niners' special teams stole the show. Picking the team up and putting them on his back, Ginn ran back a 102 yard kick return for a touchdown to once again put the pressure on Pete Carrol. Normally a team on the receiving end of kick returns, Seattle looked stunned and found themselves scratching their heads. Little did they know, Ginn wasn't finished. With the Seahawks forced to punt less than a minute later, the former first round pick and standout at Ohio State would put the finishing touches on the game by returning the kick 55 yards into the end-zone, sending the 49er faithful in a frenzy and putting the game out of reach, 33-17.Rundown & Week 2 Preview: Though it wasn't the prettiest performance on either side of the ball for the 49ers, Alex Smith managed to play mistake-free football, despite only throwing for 124 passing yards in a 15-for-20 effort. More importantly was that the team was able to get the Harbaugh era started on a winning note. With an idea of what his team looks like now in regular season form, the rookie head coach Harbaugh can address the areas that are in need of fixing in hopes of improving to 2-0. Week 2 won't be an easy task though as Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys pay a visit to Candlestick Park in search of their first win of the season, coming off a late-game debacle against the New York Jets.
Keys to the game: With running back Frank Gore virtually a non-factor in Sunday's win for San Francisco (59 yards rushing), I'd expect to see the Pro Bowler bounce back with a big game in what should be a nail biter.
One of the more intriguing story lines this NFL season is that of this year's number one overall draft pick and former Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. Despite his poor performance during the Panthers' preseason, Carolina head coach Ron Rivera has decided to give Newton the nod over last year's second round draft pick and fellow quarterback -- Jimmy Clausen. While starting 10 games last season for the Panthers, Clausen saw little success and was unable to spark Carolina's offense through the air as the team eventually went on to finish the season with a league-worst record of 2-14.Though the franchise is coming off a season to forget, their torrid 2010 campaign allowed them to pick first overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, a pick in which they used to snag Cam Newton who led Auburn to a National title. Hoping to make Newton their starting QB for the long-term, feeding him to the lions by having him begin his career with little to no professional experience isn't the ideal thing to do, but with Clausen and Derek Anderson behind him on the depth chart there really isn't that veteran presence around for him to learn from. With Pro Bowler's at both the wide receiver (Steve Smith) and tight-end positions (Greg Olson and Jeremy Shockey), Newton will have some weapons to target. However, the kid has a lot to improve on as his bumpy preseason performance indicated.
While his throwing accuracy has been mediocre at best, he has shown a strength when running and has grown comparisons to Mike Vick. Making Newton's job a little easier will be Carolina's dominant run game led by one of the more lethal tandems at the running back position in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Both of which will ease the workload of Newton on offense. Unfortunately for him though, he finds himself in what's become one of the more difficult divisions to win in the NFC South with the young rising talent of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who surprised everyone by finishing 10-6 last year. They've also gotta deal with the lethal Atlanta Falcons who many are predicting to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this year. And finally there's the New Orleans Saints who are only two years removed from winning their first ever Super Bowl and are looking to avenge their early exit from the Playoffs last season.Though I don't see Newton struggling as much as everyone else is predicting him to, I don't envision him making the Panthers any better than a three game improvement (5-11). While the talent level is certainly there, I expect Newton to be a long experiment until he fully develops into a successful NFL QB. Newton and the newly looked Panthers will get their first test on Sunday at 1:15 as they head to Arizona to take on the Cardinals.
With the start of the NFL's regular season less than a week away, the Indianapolis Colts appear to be on the brink of doing something they haven't done in over a decade and that's start a season without their Pro Bowl quarterback Peyton Manning. Entering his 13th year in the league, Manning has never missed a game during his professional career and boasts a streak of 227 consecutive starts (including playoffs) only behind Brett Favre who's streak of 321 consecutive games started came to an end last December due to an ankle injury. Manning's streak is in danger thanks in large part to a surgically repaired nerve (neck) during the offseason on May 23.According to doctors, the timetable of Peyton's recovery was expected to be 6-8 weeks which would've allowed him to be at full strength come the start of training camp. However, back pains as recent as last week have limited Manning during practice, proving that he's behind schedule in the healing process. Though trainers and doctors haven't completely ruled Peyton out for week one's meeting with the Houston Texans on Sunday, neither them nor the Colts' front office are taking any chances considering how valuable Manning is. Not to mention the new 5-year, $90 Million deal the two sides agreed to a little more than a month ago. With Manning watching from the sidelines for the first few weeks being the worse case scenario for Indianapolis, Colts owner Jim Irsay isn't shying away from letting it be known where he thinks his 4-time MVP will be come week one.
Upon being told about the possibility of opening the season without Manning, the Colts didn't hesitate to provide insurance at the quarterback position by contacting the recently retired Kerry Collins. Three years removed from leading the Tennessee Titans to a 13-3 record and a top seed in the playoffs, Collins would have little success towards the end of his tenure with the team he served five seasons with (2006-2010) while sharing the starting role with former Rookie of the Year Vince Young. Following a dismal 6-10 season in 2010, Collins announced his retirement from the game of football after sixteen years on July 7. A month and a half later, he finds himself in a favorable position to not only get a few starts in, but also win a Super Bowl ring. With Manning's health uncertain, Collins who I seen as being a one week rent-a-player may be a more important piece to the Colts season than first thought.Regarded by many as the best player in the game today, Manning's health is a scare to not only the Colts organization and their fans, but also to those who have him in their fantasy leagues including myself. Regardless of the time he misses, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if he still finishes the year with a Pro Bowl campaign. After all, he's Peyton Manning. With the speculation of Colts nation treating a few games without their beloved QB like it's the end of the world, there's no telling how things will be once the Manning era ends in Indy considering no one player or name is as synonymous to a franchise as Manning and the Colts.
