Sunday NFL Notes

The New York Giants (5-0) vs. the New Orleans Saints (4-0) was the big matchup of the week, but it turned out to be a pretty dominating showing by my #1 ranked Saints. I knew that the only way the Giants would win is if their defensive front could put pressure on quarterback Drew Brees throughout the game, because their secondary is extremely weak.

Well, give credit to the Saints' offensive line. I had no idea they were any good, I couldn't name a single player on that line, but they must be good if they allow the Saints to have such an amazing offense every week, and this week they completely shut down a Giants defense which may be the best in the league at pressuring the quarterback. JaMarcus Russell could probably throw for 300 yards against this secondary if he had the kind of time Brees had today. The Giants got absolutely no pressure on him, and as such, he moved the Saints offense at will, completely exposing the Giants' great weakness. C.C. Brown shouldn't even be on a football field.

The Saints defense also played very well again. They have had some doubters due to their strength of schedule, but this is a good defense led by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Most people were claiming the Colts as the better team, but I have had the Saints atop my Power Rankings, and after today I have no doubts about that.

If there had been one negative until this point for the Giants, it was the inability of Brandon Jacobs to bust off the big run, but his running may have been the only positive that the Giants could take away from this game. After a 3.55 yards per carry average through their first five games, Jacobs had 4.7 YPC against the Saints, including a rush of 14. Unfortunately, it was just in a small sample size (7 rushes for 33 yards) as the Giants were forced to pass for most of the game.

The Giants will face another high-powered offense next week when the Cardinals come to town. It will be important for them to get back on track with the Eagles following that game, although the Eagles have problems of their own after losing to the Raiders. I didn't watch any of that game, but how were they unable to find the end zone when they didn't even turn the ball over? Must be the Eagles continuing to ignore the running game. When will Andy Reid change this philosophy?

Speaking of horrible losses, I cannot comprehend how the Jets lost to the Bills today. They really played quite a trick on us getting off to their impressive 3-0 start. The loss of Jerricho Cotchery cannot possibly hurt this much, especially factoring in the addition of Braylon Edwards. Rex Ryan said he was embarrassed by his defense in the previous week against Miami, and I expected him to have his team fired up to win this week against the awful Bills, but apparently he was so focused on his defense that he forgot all about preparing his offense.

The Redskins continue to be impressively horrible, allowing the Chiefs to get their first win of the season, even with the game in Washington. The Buccaneers missed their opportunity to get their first win hosting the also disappointing Panthers. The Jaguars almost let the Rams get their first win on their home turf before pulling out the overtime victory. And the Seahawks brought absolutely no momentum from their 41-0 win last week, losing 27-3 to the Cardinals.

59-0. I don't know what to say about this game. How good are the Patriots, or how bad are the Titans? Well, that question can easily be answered when you look at Kerry Collins' line for the day: 2/12, -7 yards, 1 INT. Vince Young then came in and threw two passes, neither complete, with the first getting picked off. You can also mention the Titans' lack of their top two cornerbacks, as well as Bill Belichick's desire for running up the score. But either way you look at it, this was complete domination by the Patriots.

Lastly, the Bengals finally slipped up in losing to the Texans, who have been far from good this season. Cedric Benson, after five great games against defenses such as Denver, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, somehow had his worst game of the season against one of the worst rush defenses in the league. Matt Schaub stole the show with 392 yards passing and four touchdowns. And the undefeated Vikings remained unbeaten, taking down the Ravens with a 33-31 victory.