EAST BOUND & DOWN Cowboys’ sorry showing is good news for division, highlights Giants’ big loss
PERHAPS it was a message from the man upstairs — and we’re not talking about some guy drinking a Coors in the upper deck at Denver’s Sports Authority Field.
The Cowboys were trailing the Broncos 7-0 with 33 seconds to go in the first quarter, when lightning delayed the game for an hour and two minutes. When the teams returned, Dallas tied the game on a pass from Dak Prescott to Dez Bryant, but from there, it was all Denver in a 42-17 victory punctuated by Aqib Talib’s 103yard interception return through a thoroughly disinterested Cowboys team.
The lightning could be a metaphor for how things can change in a flash in the NFL. One week, Ezekiel Elliott is rushing for 104 yards in an easy win over the rival Giants and a federal judge blocks his six-game domestic violence suspension. The next, he’s held to 8 yards on nine carries and faces the specter of having his ban reinstated by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It’s any given Sunday,” Bryant said when asked about Elliott’s meager rushing total. “We all know who Ezekiel is around here. He’s the best back in the league.”
The Broncos agreed and dedicated their defensive game plan to stopping him at all costs.
“Our plan was to clog every gap,” said Broncos coach Vance Joseph, now 2-0 to start his career. “If he did pop a run, it was going to be on a missed tackle. It wasn’t going to be on an open gap. … He could have run it 15 more times for 10 more yards, but that wouldn’t help him win.”
“We really need to have some success throwing the ball to get them out of that defense,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. Prescott threw a career-high 50 passes, and although he completed 30 of them and had two TD passes, he clearly was out of his comfort zone — playing behind a top offensive line, with a successful ground game and usually with a lead.
All in all, Sunday was a good day for the 0-1 Giants, who host the Lions on Monday night. They had to revel in the crushing of the Cowboys, even if it makes them wonder how they could put up only three points against a team that gave up 42 to the Broncos. The Eagles were competitive in a 27-20 loss to old coach Andy Reid in Kansas City, and the Redskins got by the Rams in Los Angeles, also 27-20, to put the other three teams in the NFC East all at 1-1.
BRADY’S GOT THIS
Worrying about the Patriots after a Week 1 loss turned out to be about as big a waste of time as watering your lawn during a hurricane.
Tom Brady changed the subject in a big way on Sunday, throwing for 447 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-20 rout of the Saints on Bourbon Street.
“To be 0-1 with a 10-day break, it felt like a year,” Brady said, referring to the opening night 42-27 loss to the Chiefs, after which the critics were out en masse to question whether the Patriots Dynasty was finished.
It’s true the Saints don’t have a good pass defense, but the way Brady did this was impressive. The Patriots dressed only three wide receivers for the game — Brandin Cooks,
Chris Hogan and newcomer Phillip Dorsett. And tight end Rob Gronkowski left in the third quarter with a groin injury (he says he’s OK), after catching six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Still, Brady hit on 30 of his 39 attempts in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ useeverything-ya-got game plan. And as he was leading the Patriots up and down the field, Brady also was at times officiating the game — better than the real refs were.
After a first-quarter touchdown pass to Hogan was apparently nullified by a flag for an illegal pick, Brady calmly explained to the zebras why the play was legal. The marker was picked up and the points put up on the board. Later, after the Saints made an interception on a tipped ball, Brady put up one finger on one hand and two on the other, certain the Saints had 12 men on the field. That eventually became the call. The Patriots defense gave up 429 yards to
Drew Brees and Co., still a lot but an improvement from the 537-yard embarrassment against the Chiefs. A lot of the yards the Saints racked up came with the Patriots well ahead and playing loose in coverage.
There are still some reasons to wonder if this version of the Patriots has enough to get them back to the Super Bowl. But this week it may be best to keep them to yourself rather than telling them to Brady.
PLAY OF THE DAY
It was Christmas in September for Eagles TE Zach Ertz. He ran a deep route down the left sideline and was overthrown by 5 yards by Carson Wentz. Chiefs CB Terrance
Mitchell had an easy interception but the ball bounced off his forearm and high into the air, where it was snagged in stride by Ertz, who took it to the KC 11 for a 53-yard gain with two seconds to go in the first half.
BAD BEAT
You’ve got the Browns plus eight at Baltimore, and you know they are capable of a back-door cover because they had one in Week 1 against the Steelers. They’re down 24-10 with just under 12 minutes to go but have the ball at the Ravens’ 3 when DeShone
Kizer loses 4 yards on a run and then is intercepted in the end zone. Cleveland gets the ball back on a fumble, but Kizer, who in the first half had left the game for a spell with a migraine, gives Browns backers a headache of their own by throwing another interception.
POST PATTERNS
The Falcons had to be having flashbacks when their 34-10 lead over the depleted Packers was trimmed to 34-23 with 5:51 to go in the inaugural game at the new stadium in Atlanta. But the Dirty Birds hung on — Devonta Freeman converted a key third down on a handoff from Mohamed
Sanu out of the wildcat as Matt Ryan was split wide — and are 2-0 in the year of their expected post-traumatic Super Bowl hangover. Aaron
Rodgers was huge, as usual, throwing for 343 yards and two touchdowns with both starting tackles ( Bryan Bulaga and David Bakhtiari) in street clothes and WR Jordy Nelson KO’d from the game. His 1-yard shovel pass to Ty Mont
gomery was his made him the 11th quarterback with 300 career TD passes, and he got there with the fewest attempts and is the only one in that club with fewer than 100 interceptions.
Jay Cutler was a winner in his Dolphins debut, 19-17, as the Chargers’ Younghoe Koo missed a potential game-winning 44-yard kick. Reuniting with head coach Adam Gase, his offensive coordinator with the Bears, Cutler threw for 230 yards and no turnovers and used Miami weapons
Jay Ajayi, DeVante Parker, Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills smartly if not spectacularly. … The Chargers’ Antonio Gates caught his 112th career touchdown pass, breaking a tie with Tony Gon
zalez for most in NFL history by a tight end. The Bills hung in all day, sacking Cam New
ton six times, and had a chance to pull out a victory. But Zay Jones couldn’t hold on to Tyrod
Taylor’s pass on a diving attempt inside the 5 and the Panthers survived, 9-3. Carolina lost TE Greg
Olsen, likely for the season, with a broken foot. Browns LT Joe Thomas passed the 10,000 mark in consecutive snaps, having played every offensive down (now 10,062) in his 11-year career. Texans star J.J. Watt tweeted his admiration: “10,000 consecutive snaps. That’s unbelievable. Hats off to you good sir.’’ … The Browns are favored by 2½ points at Indianapolis in the opening line for Week 3. They’ve been underdogs for the past 21 games. … KC’s Kareem Hunt has five touchdowns in his first two career games. Only Dutch Sterna
man of the 1920 Decatur Staleys has more (six). … Bears coach John Fox said he won’t be switching from Mike Glennon to first-round pick Mitchell
Trubisky after the 29-7 loss at Tampa Bay. ... The Vikings had no chance in Pittsburgh, losing 26-9 with Case Keenum at quarterback after Sam
Bradford was scratched with a left knee injury. The Vikings reported he had no structural damage, but coach Mike Zimmer gave this strange timetable for his return: “Sam is fine. He might play one game from now, he might play six weeks from now. Either way, he’s fine.”