Week 2: Chiefs Postgame

First thought: Devin Hester is a fictional character. This is the NFL. The players are physical freaks: giant men who also happen to be very, very fast. They are trained to knock down other giant men. And these NFL players, arguably the greatest and toughest athletes in the world are almost always able to knock/pull/push/drag down the guy with the ball. Or at least shove him out of bounds. And then there is Devin Hester. As I said earlier, he must be a fictional character, because somehow, he makes 11 outstanding athletes, whose sole purpose is to knock him down, look like old dogs chasing a rabbit. Who among you, NFL coaches, is so arrogant to think that your team can get away with kicking it deep?

Other notes: Devin excepted, this game was pretty boring, wasn’t it? I guess the defense forcing turnovers is exciting, but its almost expected now. And while Ced’s numbers look good now, it was a rather ho-hum 101. Rex, well, he’s always exciting I guess, but nobody enjoys that. Hey at least Urlacher got his first sack since early 05! And the crowd went crazy for it too.

Dad’s report from Soldier Field: Dancin’ Ditka (the fat guy in an 89 jersey who dances during every time-out in hopes of getting on the jumbotron) is back for more! And he wanted to know where The Great Mark Bradley and Garrett Wolfe were.

Mom’s report from Soldier Field: She wishes Mike Carey would do every game. And Urlacher has great shoes, which you can see in photo 19 here.

Things I watched in Week 2:

Maynard watch: I updated this late on Saturday after I found out about Dirk Johnson, so the situation wasn’t as dire as I thought it might be. But they he gets hurt and Robbie had to punt anyway! In any event, there was the mini heart-attack on the first punt when the rent-a-punter dropped the low snap from the normally perfect Pat Mannelly. And the shank on Gould’s first punt. And the fact that my dad thinks Johnson is faking his injury to get paid for the whole year instead of one week. But hey, the Bears got away unscathed. And thankfully it’s only one week, because over time, those mistakes would turn out terribly. (PS. Remember how I said in the pregame post that the Bears were the ones who are supposed to win games with game-breaking special teams? Ahem, see Brandon, Manitoba’s own Izzy Idonije’s blocked kick. And that 23 guy as well)

Danieal Manning watch: I thought Manning was serviceable in his first start of 2007. Obviously he had the pick in the endzone, but he benefited from a great play from Peanut on that one. He seemed late getting over a few times, especially on the chaotic play in the back corner that ended up as the Chiefs’ lone TD of the day. He’ll keep getting better, and Tillman and Vasher will make him look good.

O-line watch: They had outstanding push this week, and looked dominant on the TD drive in the second quarter. Not sure why they had so much trouble picking up the blitz early, but it looked like the result of missed pickups by the backs rather than Rex or Olin misreading the D. It’s good to see Kruetz and Rueben get a little chippy, too.

Things I'll be watching for in 2007 (running themes):

Corey Dillon watch: Cedric showed up! Ok, so he can’t get the corner, and he’s not going to break any long ones. So he might be the second coming of Anthony Thomas. But if he gives the Bears 1,100 yards and keeps the clock moving by being a sure thing on third-and-short, I’ll take it.

Rex watch: I didn’t bring a pen or paper to Alary’s so I’ll be going from memory. In the first half I remember him going deep into coverage, woefully underthrowing Bernard and having it be nearly picked. CBS camera’s barely showed Rex ripping his chinstrap off like he was looking for a flag. Still, an awful throw. The first pick was terrible footwork, and another example of why you want your QB to be taller than 5’11.” Could he even see Wolfe? Or Napoleon Harris? I doubt it. And maybe the Chiefs saw it coming when Wolfe came into the game for the first time? Obvious play-call, terrible execution. I love the Edwards pick because Rex hummed it in with such confidence and hit him right between the numbers. He must not have seen him. You do not hear great quarterbacks say they didn’t see someone. All-in-all, Rex was who we thought he was. It didn’t cost them the game or anything, but he better start improving quickly.