Week Two Football Wrapup

It was another incredibly exciting week in the NFL season, with a nice respite from serious injuries - unless, of course, you are a Seattle wide receiver.

Seriously, it's getting comical how many wideouts are getting hurt up there. The team still managed to post 30 points against the 49ers, but couldn't quite finish off the job, despite Joe Nedney's best efforts. It's easy to put too much into any one game, but that's a HUGE game for the 49ers, who avoided starting 0-2, beat a division rival who is beat up but has a solid defense, and they get to face the Lions next week. You can bet that overtime win felt GOOD.

To find out who won our league this week and get a more in-depth wrapup, click the link below to see more.

First and foremost, congratulations to sucker bet owner Michael Lang, who beat Erik Lindemann's NYC WHEELBARRELS by virtue of the tie-breaker. It's worth reiterating this, that the tie breaker is incredibly important. Ignore it at your own peril.

Like I wrote above, this was quite an exciting week. Whether it was my 49ers coming back under the helm of J.T. O'Sullivan (hereafter to be referred to as JTO), or the crazy Broncos-Chargers game, or the incredibly entertaining MNF matchup between the Eagles and the Cowboys, it was quite a week.

First off, JTO is - for better or for worse - the best QB the 49ers have had since Jeff Garcia, and fed some receivers in stride in a way that has been absent from this offense for way too long. Did you realize that JTO posted the first 300-yard passing game for the 49ers since 2004? That encompasses the entire Mike Nolan era. Look, I want to like the guy, but that's outrageous and pathetic. Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson looked like legitimate receivers and JTO clearly delivered to them more often than not. I'm not getting carried away here, but if the Niners can actually move the ball downfield this season, they will remain a very fun team to watch.

Two teams that are unquestionably at that level teed off on Monday Night Football. Before I get to the game, I think I wrote something last week about listening to football on the radio, and how under rated that experience was. I'd like to add one caveat to that: Unless Michael Irvin is announcing the game.

Now, longtime participants in the Greebytime Pick 'Em know how much I hate Irvin. In fact, one week before his career ending injury, I actually wrote that I hoped something like that would happen. And while I do feel bad about that, I should feel a lot worse than I do - I just don't like the guy. But while he was unquestionably one of the best receivers in the league, he's a train wreck when it comes to announcing or talking on air. It's not just that he steps on his own words in a way only topped by Shannon Sharpe, it's that he rarely has anything to say, and he always says everything at top volume.

Anyhow, back to the game - a discussion of which has to begin with Eagles WR DeSean Jackson. Look, the kid graduated from Cal and as an undersized guy, I want to root for him. In fact, I do. But that was a massively boneheaded move - and apparently one he did in college as well. He might just have taken the title from Plaxico Burress for The Dumbest WR In Football. (But not quite.) Jackson was lucky that the refs blew the whistle (was Ed Houtchouli there?), as the Eagles scored on the next play - but from a fantasy football perspective, I'm willing to bet that move changed a lot of scores for the week.

The Cowboys look pretty unstoppable at this point - Tony Romo is possibly playing better than any other QB (though Donovan McNabb is darn close), and Terrell Owens could have had four TD if things had gone just slightly different. Add in Jason Witten and the tandem of Barber and Jones at RB and right now, no one can run with these guys.

There's something pretty funny about the fact that Matt Cassel is starting in the NFL, and Matt Leinart isn't. I didn't know that Cassel is literally the only guy to ever start an NFL game without having started a single game in college. That probably says more about the depth at QB at USC than anything else, but it's a fun fact.

Do you think Al Davis was actually sort of bummed out that the Raiders WON this weekend? It definitely seems to have postponed his plans to fire Lane Kiffin. (And seriously, what a dick move - either fire him or don't, but this is preposterous.) What's more -- how bad are the Chiefs? The Raiders are one of the worst teams in the league, and have been for the past five years. And the Chiefs got ROLLED by them.

Speaking of bad, what is going on with the Bengals? I didn't think they'd be good this year - but I definitely didn't seem them stinking again. I think they are officially back to being the Bungles until further notice. Who Dat? The Bungles.

On the flip side, you have to be impressed with Aaron Rodgers -- here's a guy who had more reasons than I can count for not starting the season off that well. But he's looked rock solid, even great, for the first two games. And yes, every time I watch him I think, "There's a guy who wanted to be a 49er, who played for Cal...and the Niners took Alex Smith instead." Yes, it does hurt.

I'm going to wrap this up, with a reminder to get your picks in early and to make sure you've made ALL your picks.