Random thoughts from some of Week Two’s games

The second week showed the continued dominance of some units, while weaknesses became more glaring than the hot August sun for others:

Joey Harrington is still struggling, Vikings’ Adrian Peterson has some insane moves, Chad Pennington has Kellen Clemons hot on his tail, Vince Young still needs some work, Brady Quinn can throw touchdowns against the Lions’ 3rd string defense, the Panthers’ offense was completely inept against Philly, and the Jags have some wild running backs.

And now for some more organized thoughts on some of this week’s games.

Now with 50% more roster spots!

– Well, Atlanta’s bad breaks continue. The best player the Falcons have left, tight end Alge Crumpler, has been slowed by a bothersome left knee. Not much is known about this injury, but according to Bobby Petrino, Crumpler has yet to be seen at full strength this summer.

For the Falcons, this could be the straw that broke the camel’s back. New starter Joey Harrington would be relying heavily on Crumpler as a safety blanket, and if the Pro Bowl tight end’s status is up in the air throughout the year, the offense would struggle significantly as it learns a new system.

 Around the league in less than two minutes…

– The Pittsburgh Steelers laid a whooping on the New Orleans Saints from start to finish in the first preseason game of 2007, with the big surprise coming from Mike Tomlin’s passing game absolutely torching the Big Easy secondary. Ben Roethlisberger was perfect on his ceremonious one drive, connecting two times to Cedrick Wilson for a total of 73 yards.

The other story of note? The Saints’ passing game was rusty, with Drew Brees finishing 1/6 for 6 yards & backup Jamie Martin rounding out the first half with a 3/8 and 26 yard outing. Painful to watch, frankly. But I’m sure the ship will right itself.

It’s gettin’ hot in hurr.

– The Arizona Cardinals offensive line woes may become a thing of the past if the first week of camp is any indication. Of course, this could be the product of a defensive front seven still learning the nuances of a new defense.

– With Michael Vick presumably done for the year and Warrick Dunn scheduled to miss all of the preseason after offseason back surgery, Bobby Petrino will look to throw the ball more.

Tampa trims the fat

In a downright surprising move today, Simeon Rice was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Finishing second on Tampa’s all-time sack list, Rice only managed to play half the season in ‘06. Despite his career low season sack total, it came as an astonishing move, just a day before the first Bucs’ practice of training camp.

After failing his physical, Rice’s $10.45 million cap figure for ‘07 became too expensive for the team to keep aboard. A player sure to garner Hall of Fame attention, Rice will enter his 12th season if he finds an interested team. The talk around the league is that after having played at such a high level for so many years, he might have lost that spark for the game once his shoulder started slowing him down.

– Much maligned second round pick Alan Branch has signed, leaving the Arizona Cardinals with just one draft choice left unsigned (first-rounder Levi Brown).

– Unsurprisingly, Michael Vick’s welcome seems to be worn out in the ATL.

– In other Vick news, the court house he attended today turned into a full blown nightmare. Good thing Vick has the support of three morons from Boston.

– Jonathan Ogden is being placed on the PUP list due to a lingering toe injury, meaning he probably won’t be seeing much action until week one of the regular season.  He will then play all 16 games.  Duh.

Falcons finally get some good news

According to Profootballtalk.com, Jamaal Anderson and the Atlanta Falcons have agreed to terms on a five-year deal worth 13.4% over last year’s eighth pick. As a team desperately in need of a good PR move, it makes sense that the Falcons became only the second team out of the top 26 to come to an agreement.  Since the deal doesn’t seem to have been inked until late Wednesday night, we expect to hear official confirmation sometime early tomorrow.

Kansas City just got a lot more interesting (the team, not the city)

As we touched on in our Short Slants earlier today, Priest Holmes is now expected to report to training camp on Saturday. When we first heard about the possibility of this, we’ll admit, we didn’t take it very seriously.

After letting our brains digest the news, we contemplated what all this could mean.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of Jerious Norwood’s draft stock rising

Boy. When it rains, it pours, huh? Warrick Dunn’s future as the Atlanta Falcons’ starting running back has now been put in serious doubt. Earlier today, ESPN reported that Dunn has had his second surgery of this offseason, going under the knife for a herniated disc. After undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury about six months ago, this could be another sign that the 10 year vet’s body is breaking down.

– Tarik Glenn has officially called it quits, and with that, the Colts’ chance of repeating takes a major hit. Peyton Manning’s blindside will now be protected by rookie second rounder Tony Ugoh. Little Trouble for Big Country.

– Dolphin’s rookie quarterback John Beck(also known as Not-Brady Quinn) was impressive in camp sessions today, and Ted Ginn was at home without a contract.

– Arthur Blank was allegedly on the verge of suspending Michael Vick for four games this season.

Let the Joey Harrington era begin!

Michael Vick received a letter in the mail today from Commissioner Roger Goodell ordering the Falcons’ quarterback to stay far away from training camp as the NFL contemplates its next step. As we’ve said on this site multiple times, once the league caught a glimpse of the picket lines they’d have engulfing the Falcons’ headquarters, it would only be a matter of time before Goodell took action.

NGPF’s Short Slants, just in time for the weekend…..

– Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron has come out and said that the Dolphins had a trade partner for quarterback Daunte Culpepper.  Apparently the situation dragged out before disintegrating into dust.

While the obvious trade partner Cameron is referring to would be the Jacksonville Jaguars, we figured that the Jags were waiting for Culpepper to be released before bringing him in for a workout. If they were the Dolphins’ trade partner, though, Culpepper might already be in Jacksonville, signed, sealed, and delivered.

Wrapping up today’s major stories…

–  Nike has decided to pull the plug on a new shoe line named after Michael Vick.  Another Vick related product being nixed by the athletic apparel giant…the Nike Rape Stand 7000.  Sorry, kids.

–  One of the more interesting stories of the day not involving federal charges, was Daunte Culpepper’s first visit with a NFL team.  That team?  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  No, really. 

We don’t think there’s any chance of this actually going down, but considering that Culpepper played at Central Florida and Jon Gruden’s affinity for quarterbacks, it does kind of make sense to at least touch base. 

I heard Canada’s not too bad this time of year……

Over the last few days the Michael Vick dog fighting investigation has been broken wide open leading to rampant speculation of whether he’ll be cut, put on a paid leave of absence, or be allowed to play through this season.

– Can the Lions get Calvin Johnson into camp on time? If not, Jon Kitna might only throw for 40 touchdowns this year.

– The Vikings are dropping subtle hints about acquiring a veteran quarterback. We’re going to go ahead and drop subtle hints that the Vikings’ passing game will be horrendous.

– The Boston Globe lays out the Patriots’ options at cornerback. Maybe Bill Belichick should call up Deion Sanders.

– Football player Will Smith may soon be as rich as movie star Will Smith. The timing of Dwight Freeney’s mega deal couldn’t have come at a worse time for New Orleans.

Yesterday we poked fun at Vick’s dogfighting mess, including in our write-up a picture of a monkey riding a dog in our pic.  While the picture is still very humorous to us, we think it was inappropriate given the severity of the situation.

Why the change of heart?

We made our way over to the smoking gun today to find out a bit more as to what specifically was included in the indictment of Michael Vick.

WARNING: THIS WILL PISS YOU OFF/MAKE YOU SICK

As an update to our previous coverage on the man behind the myth, Michael Vick has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the dog fighting probe at his house in Surry County, Virginia.

Says ESPN.com:

The Falcons quarterback was indicted for conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Richmond, Va…

Welcome to the 7th Installment of Fantasy Impact 2007

It’s been a couple of days since our last Fantasy Impact, but we’re back, this time to talk about the NFC South. Tread carefully guys, this division is crammed full of 2006 FF busts. It does, however, feature some highly ranked players at quarterback and wide receiver.

And who can forget the NFL’s best running back tandem in New Orleans, Atlanta’s old reliable tight end, and the giant question mark known as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense?

Short Slants

– Anthony Waters, the Chargers rookie inside linebacker who will be looking to start this year, has officially been charged with assault. Someone threw a rock at his car and he proceeded to make the gentleman a bit bloody. NGPF advocates this. If you throw a rock at our car, we will beat your ass, too. Free Anthony Waters!

– The Falcons seem to have insurance against more rotting animal corpses being found on Michael Vick owned properties.

– Ravens’ quarterback Steve McNair triumphs over a stupid law.

Every year numerous milestones and records are reached in the NFL.  Last year, for example, LaDainian Tomlinson shattered the single season record for rushing touchdowns with 28.  Of course, there’s no way we can forecast individual season accolades, but we can explore career accomplishments.

Over the course of the rest of the summer we’ll get caught up on what possible milestones players will be working on in 2007.  Today we will take a look at the rock carriers — running backs.