NFL Week 2

-Manning Bowl II: A classic nail-biter, it wasn't. A reminder of how good the Colts can be when they get rolling, it certainly was. This was a statement win for Indianapolis. All week, their players have been hearing a smorgasbord of the following: the Colts can't defend the run, they're soft, they can't run the football, they are over-reliant on Peyton Manning, their offensive line is poor, etc., etc. During one the pregame shows, ESPN pundit Keyshawn Johnson repeatedly maintained that after watching hours of game film, he believed the Colts era was coming to an end.

Don't be making plans for the funeral just yet, Keyshawn.

The Colts first statement of the night was to score a rushing touchdown (a 7 yard run by Donald Brown) on their opening drive. Indy's defense went on to make a number of statements: harnassing the Giants running game, continuously pressuring Eli Manning and causing turnovers.

The elder Manning is long through with having to make any statements, but he went 20 of 26 for 255 yards and three touchdowns on the night just for the heck of it. The game was as good as over by halftime, with the Colts up 24-0.

The victory once again demonstrated the strength of the Indianapolis Colts franchise. It seems that every time the media starts asking questions of them or sniffs out some perceived vulnerability, the Colts respond well and deliver a performance that reminds us of why they have been at or near the top of the AFC for so long.

-Two high profile quarterbacks struggling = Two traditional NFC powerhouses start 0-2. Let's start with Brett Favre (I heard somewhere that he likes top billing). After looking shaky last week in the Thursday night season-opener against the Saints, Favre had a day to forget against Miami: tossing three picks, losing a fumble (which was returned for a touchdown) and throwing two incompletions on fourth down for two more turnovers.

Until he starts winning some games, the questions are going to continue rain down about his age, his desire and quite simply if he still has it. The bad news for Minnesota is that they have very little in terms of a backup plan at quarterback: they are going to live and die with Favre under center this season. I wonder, I just wonder if they might be starting to kick themselves for passing on Carolina rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen with the 34th pick of the 2010 draft.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, the season has been all about missed opportunities. Just as they did in their opener, the Cowboys got into promising positions time and again, but failed to convert those opportunities into maximum points. There was the David Buehler missed field goal from 44 yards, the Roy Williams fumble and the two Tony Romo interceptions. Romo did end up throwing for almost 400 yards on the day but came up short in the business end of the game.

Both the Vikings and the Cowboys have a decent shot at winning next week against the Lions and at the Texans respectively, but if either of them don't, the alarm bells will be doing more than ringing.

-Last season, it was the Jets defense that had everyone talking. This season, the Steelers defense is back, in a big way. Where do you want to start? Holding the league's best running back to 34 yards on 16 carries? Brutalizing Vince Young to the point where Jim Fisher felt forced to bench him?Laying big hit after big hit on the Titans playmakers? Nah, let's go with turnovers. Pittsburgh forced six of them against Tennessee (and a seventh on special teams): three interceptions and three fumbles. When the Steelers D plays like that, led by safety Troy Polamalu and linebacker James Harrison, they become Pittsburgh's best offense, regardless of who they have at quarterback.

-How about those Buccaneers? They may not have beaten two of the league's best teams, but still, who had them starting 2-0? I certainly didn't. Tampa Bay owes its emergence to:

a) The continued improvement of second-year quarterback Josh Freeman who may only be completing a little over 55% of his passes this season (29 of 52) but has a 4-1 TD to interception ratio through two games.
b) Its rookie wide receiver Mike Williams, who already has two touchdown grabs for the Bucs.

Still, their winning record could very well be history sooner rather than later as they face the Steelers, the Bengals and the Saints in their next three games. But for the moment, Tampa Bay should enjoy the rarefied air at the top.

-A mostly “Darelle-Revis-less” Jets secondary holds up well against the Patriots passing attack. When Revis left the game with a tight hamstring and New York trailing New England 14-7, it appeared that Tom Brady might have a great opportunity to really get rolling. Instead Antonio Cromartie, rookie Kyle Wilson, backup safety Brodney Pool and co. shut Brady down. They intercepted him twice, and covered Randy Moss and Wes Welker brilliantly: the two star receivers had only one catch between them in the second half.

On the other side of the ball, the Jets offense avoided mistakes and, thanks to big days from the rejuvenated Ladanian Tomlinson, the rejuvenated Braylon Edwards, and Mark Sanchez, scored the points that they couldn't last week in Baltimore.

-Rookie Performance of the Week: Against the Eagles, Lions running back Jahvid Best ran like the player who terrorized Pac-10 defenses for the last two seasons. Best was effective both running and receiving the ball: rushing for 78 yards and two touchdowns and catching 9 passes for 154 yards and another TD, on this beaut of a play.

-Play of the Week: Randy Moss doing what he does best.

-Ridiculous Play of the Week: Bounce, bounce, bounce....

-Five Quick Hits:

1/If you like comebacks and you like offense, you better have been watching the Redskins-Texans overtime thriller. There were 947 yards of total offense in the game of the season to date, as Houston overcame a 27-10 deficit late in the third quarter to win on a Neil Rackers kick..

2/ Graham Gano, you just got iced.

3/ I don't how Andy Reid is going to keep both his promise to Kevin Kolb and the fans in Philadelphia happy.

4/ Clay Matthews once had to walk on to the USC football team. Today, the second-year outside Packers linebacker leads the NFL in sacks with six, three of which came Sunday against Buffalo. He's going to have a big, big year.

5/ Thank you Derek Anderson for proving my interception prediction true (Twice). Could the Max Hall era really start in Arizona before the winter kicks in?