Santana Moss, Monkeyinmymind NFL Player of the Week

Ah…Week 2 of the NFL. Between fixing the wireless card on my computer and rummaging through my basement in preparation for our pending move to our new home, I managed to sneak a few minutes of the Giants-Rams game, as well as the Vikings-Colts matchup. The first halves of both of these games were underwhelming, and for just a minute I got the sense that the Giants might be a tad overrated after barely beating an anemic Redskins attack, with victorious Giants QB Eli Manning posting a sub-mediocre 61.1 quarterback rating in that first game. As a matter of fact, the most exciting part of the Giants first half was catching interstitial highlights of Aaron Rodgers building up a 21-0 first half lead against the forever hapless Detroit Lions.

Nonetheless, it wasn’t terribly shocking that the Giants ultimately ran away with the game against the Rams, 41-13, but what was shocking was the fact that the Lions not only engineered a phenomenal comeback to go ahead 25-24 with just 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, but also squandered that lead and got thoroughly torpedoed in the process, thanks to a Packers field goal, rushing TD, and two Jon Kitna interceptions being returned touchdowns, all within about three minutes.

So far the young Jedi is a game up his on his former mentor Brett Favre. Are the Monkey and I wrong our my prediction that the Rodgers-led Pack will go 6-10? Not officially. Yet.

Beast of the East

In the NFL’s toughest division, the Cowboys and Eagles squared off in a much-hyped Monday Night showdown that failed to disappoint. With their insane shoot-out win over the high-flying Philly Eagles in the books, the Dallas Cowboys are the inaugural recipients of The Monkeyinmymind Beast of the East Award for their demonstrated dominance of the East Coast football clubs.

This game had it all: sick, back to back long bombs by both Romo and McNabb, bone-headed plays by highlight reel-seeking rookies, a Romo fumble for the ages, hard-headed running by Barber and Westbrook, record-setting TD tosses by D McNabb (surpassing Ron “Packers Dynasty” Jaworski’s record for Eagles touchdown passes), defensive & special teams touchdowns, Donovan McNabb looking like his younger self, running up and down the field requiring three or four Dallas defenders to pull him to the turf, all in one of the highest scoring Monday Night games ever.

Watching this game was like looking over the shoulders of a couple of pimple-faced kids duking it out on Madden ‘09, only infinitely more entertaining. One of the best moments of the evening was actually after the final seconds had expired when Tony Romo, after being asked what was going through his head after he managed to cough up a potentially costly fumble, said: “I suck.” I love how this guy shakes off poor play or mistakes and just “rubs some dirt on it” and gets back in there. I shudder to think that my Skins have to take on both these teams in back-to-back weekends: Sept. 28th in Dallas and Oct. 5th in Philly. As if contending with Romo, Barber, and Owens weren’t enough, now Donavan McNabb seems to be on the verge of a career-defining season…Who will be Beast of the East then?

Skins Come Marchin’ Back

I “watched” most of this game on my computer, using ESPN’s Gamecast, but nearly gave up hope when I saw the Redskins fall behind 24-15 midway through the fourth quarter. Is it possible that QB Jason Campbell is finally getting a little of his swagger back now that he’s running an offense similar to that employed by his undefeated Auburn Tigers? It’s too early to tell, but he’ll have an opportunity to showcase his newfound confidence against the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday.

Redskins-Saints Highlights below…

Man in the High Cassel Isn’t Favre (with Apologies to Phillip K. Dick)

Has the Favre honeymoon in New Jersey already come to a close? With Tom Brady out and a quarterback whose last start was at Chatsworth High School (of which actors Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer, and Kirk Cameron are fellow alums), the New England Patriots suddenly looked vulnerable and represented a possible bonus “W” on the Jets’ schedule. Unfortunately for Jet Favre, the “bend but don’t break” Patriots D a la Belichick Superbowl-Winning Season One showed up, helping the Pats put together a scrappy win. If you live where I live (in the heart of New England) you’d think that Cassel was the second coming of TB, going by the gushing response of the talking head homers on my local sports talk radio station (WEEI AM 850). Granted, Cassel gets his first win as a starter but the game ball should go to the defense for making Jet Favre look as old as he really is.

Patriots-Jets Highlights below…

Cutler Cuts Out Chargers’ Hearts

I wonder what the Tuesday Morning Quarterback himself, Gregg Easterbrook, will say about Denver Head Coach Mike Shanahan’s decision to go for two and the win instead of the PAT and overtime after engineering a referee-aided comeback on top of the Chargers’ miraculous comeback? TMQ, a Shanahan hater, will probably say that Shanahan finally put his ego aside and read his column, heeding the call for less “fraidy-cat” play calling, but I think that he knew that his team was playing in the favor of the Football Gods and that victory would be his, if only he were to reach out and grab it. And grab it he did. Not since the NFL re-adopted the use of the two-point conversion in 1994 and one time in 2005 when the Tampa Bay Bucs stuck a dagger in the heart of my Redskins in 2005 have I witnessed a team potentially risk everything to go for a win instead of the “safe” tie and ensuing overtime.

I'd hate to be this guy right about now...

Truth be told, overtime is hardly a gimme, and more a function of a totally random coin toss than anything else (I am personally a supporter of the NFL adopting college football’s overtime rules requiring teams to each get a chance to score from their opponents’ 25 yard line). So in a way, the only thing courageous about Shanahan’s call was his recognition that his team had squandered a huge lead, been the beneficiary of two horrible officiating calls, and might not have a chance against the surging Chargers and Darren Sproles, who had already scored two unbelievable long touchdowns.

Broncos-Chargers Highlights below…

Week 2 Monkey’s Eye View:

Watch out for Tavaris Jackson’s benching, Lane Kiffin’s firing, and for the San Diego Chargers to take on their first “must-win” of the season. Until next week…