Football Wrap Week 1 - Fails Fails and Fantasy

(I'll be doing this every Monday night, Tuesday morning - reporting on my squads, the big moments and my fantasy wrapup)

One word describes this football weekend. Gut-wrenching. Bad enough I had to hear about UCLA play one of the worst games in recent memory (thank goodness I didn't see it) but to watch the Chargers and Cowboys come down to the final play of the game only to let it go away was brutal. Just Brutal!

I came home to watch the end of the Cowboys game after hearing it on radio. We couldn't make any moves in the 1st half except that bungled final play that led to a TD (Jason Garrett still a genius? In whose mind?). The 2nd half was better offensively but it shouldn't have taken that long to warm up. And Alex Barron. Oh, that poor excuse of a lineman Alex Barron!

How can I put this. If he isn't out of a job by the time you read this, he's one lucky man. You don't end the game on a holding penalty! Peter King flat said he was a joke starting. Michael Smith lit into him something fierce on Around the Horn. A lineman getting that much attention ain't good.

All in all, offense looked good in the 2nd half. Dez Bryant showed potential, Miles Austin is ready to be consistent and once again, Tony Romo didn't make any mistakes. But a L's an L and we need that offense to make something happen next week against the Bears.

As for the Chargers on Monday, great reminder of why September is the cruelest month to be a Chargers fan (5-7 in the Norv Turner era). It all started so well with Rivers to Gates then it turned into the coming out party for the Chiefs young guns. Jamaal Charles - long TD run that ended with juking that DB twice. Rookie Dexter McCluster - 94 yard punt return for 6.

That rain shorted our fuses cause we couldn't do anything right. Tackling, making simple plays, hiking the ball. It was like watching our JV team against an improving Chiefs team trying to make a name. When we finally did get going, it was back to basics. Short passes and then watch things open up. Made sense to me, made sense when we scored to make 21-14.

Here's a question. If you have four chances to score inside the 5-yard line, how do you NOT do it? It's plays like that which show why Cowboys fans hate Norv Turner and his playcalling. New crop of WR's aside, that was ineptitude.

Likes: Ryan Matthews' debut, Legadu Naanee ready to step up, Antonio Gates making plays, Phil Rivers' fire and decision making (minus the Trent Dilfer lovefest). Week 2 brings Jacksonville and Maurice Jones Drew - I'm cringing in my pants.

Who said Ray Lewis was over the hill? Ask Dustin Keller if he is. That hurt me all the way over here. DANG!

Pete Carroll - new team, same old enthusiasm. Let's what happens when Seattle loses a game. But it looks like I was watching USC all over when they played a patsy in Week 1.

Michael Vick still has it. He shouldn't be starting just yet but Sunday was a great reminder why he can be a great quarterback. It makes no sense that he lost nearly 2 years but can still make people miss and make plays. That said, if Kevin Kolb's healthy, he starts.

Who predicted Arian Foster would have the best Opening Day since OJ? And Sam Bradford throwing 55 times in his debut? Ridiculous.

The NFL needs to change their rulebook. Common sense, replay and watching it live say that Calvin Johnson caught that ball under control.

Quick college note: Trent Richardson from Alabama proved in the first two games he can play in the NFL. He and Mark Ingram, when he gets healthy, are the best backfield I've seen since Felix Jones and Darren McFadden.

Denard Robinson - Beast! 502 yards and the game-winning score against Notre Dame. The biggest buzz Michigan has had in years.

USC is 2-0 and shaky as anybody in the Top 25. They'll be the worst 4-0 team in the nation at month's end.

Virginia Tech's loss to James Madison is the worst of the season because it's repercussions will be felt 3 months from now when Boise State gets left out of the BCS.

Oh yeah, Miami lost bad too. Adding to my bad weekend was Jacory Harris throwing 4 picks to the Buckeyes and their mascot. If I was on the field, dude would've thrown it to me too.

FANTASY WRAP-UP

Went 2-2 in my first week, ironically winning my matchups in my new leagues but losing in my returning ones.

ESPN: U Mad League 0-1

ESPN: South Beach NWO 1-0

Yahoo: Fantaball 0-1

Yahoo: Sports Gurus 1-0

Fantasy WIN: Hakeem Nicks (3 TD's). Not even close. Helped me win both matchups and was the difference in me losing on Yahoo.

Fantasy FAIL: Not starting Steve Breaston in my ESPN league but praying for Lee Evans to fill in for Beanie Wells. Yeeeeah, I could've known that was tragedy waiting to happen. And shout out to Ryan Longwell missing some easy kicks.

So a bad week personally, let's hope my birthday weekend goes better for my teams.