Wednesday Morning QB (NFL Week 1)
The NFL season began this past weekend but it was not the start they were hoping for in a new season. In a week that was supposed to put all of the offseason issues behind as people began to focus on football again turned into a nightmare for the league. Football was the focus for the majority of the week with games coming back and teams looking to put up a good showing as they opened their season. With Monday Night Football set to close out the week everything came apart and the issues of the offseason came back in full force. On Monday video was released of Ray Rice’s assault on his wife from a new angle that had not been seen by the public before. On February 15 Rice went to a casino in New Jersey with his then fiancée, now wife, when a fight broke out between the two. While in an elevator the couple began arguing and Rice hit his fiancée, knocking her unconscious. After the assault one angle from the casino was released showing Rice carrying his unconscious fiancée out of the elevator. The assault made headlines and brought about a massive discussion about the players and the conduct of players outside of the field. Rice’s incident was only one of many during the offseason and was by far the worst of any of the off-field incidents in the offseason. With Josh Gordon receiving a season long ban for a DWI that marked his second offence for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The season long ban led many to believe that, despite not having a firm policy on domestic abuse, Rice would receive a fairly large punishment. Instead Rice received a two-game suspension in a move that Commissioner Roger Goodell later admitted was too lenient. That comment from the commissioner came after the league passed a new domestic abuse policy that will see any player violating the policy a first time suspended for 6-games while violating the policy a second time would result in a lifetime ban from the league. The new rules would not affect Rice as it was put into place after his suspension was handed down. Clearly it was a glaring mistake on the part of the NFL and with the Ravens keeping him on the team and waiting for his return many heaped plenty of blame on them. This week that all changed as a video from inside the elevator showing the punch that knocked Rice’s fiancée unconscious. It was a video that the NFL had reportedly never seen and with the new evidence the Ravens released Rice and the league suspended him indefinitely. For the NFL and the Ravens the video release gave them a reason to correct the mistake that they had made earlier in the year. For many it was too little too late and the damage was already done. Many are now calling for Goodell to be fired after only taking action after the video was released. The reasoning behind this is that the NFL did not make a big enough effort to find the video from inside the elevator and that they really didn’t want to find the video. According to the league they made an effort to get the video while the New Jersey Police Department issued a statement claiming that it would have been illegal for the NFL to get the video. Still TMZ got the video and released it publicly leaving many to believe that there was no way a league as big and powerful as the NFL could not do something that a gossip website could. For the NFL it is not how they wanted to start the season as their image issues continue with players continuing to be labeled as thugs and drug addicts. The league and the players are doing little to curb this image and as the years move on it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Rice’s incident could be a turning point for the NFL and it is terrible that something that terrible had to happen for the league to wake up as more changes are coming with the league trying to end the image problem as soon as possible.
Fifth Quarter:
(Thoughts on Week 1 in the NFL)
Mathis Down
Robert Mathis still has plenty in the tank but it may not be used this season as he was already serving a 4-game suspension for violating the league’s Substance Abuse Policy and now will miss the rest of the season after tearing his Achilles working out on his own
Buffalo Sold
The Buffalo Bills did not take too long to solve their ownership issues ending the distraction as soon as they could when they agreed to sell the team to Terry Pegula, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, after their week 1 win
Welker Latest to Miss Games
As the league continues to deal with off-field issues one of the faces of the league fell prey to suspension with Wes Welker for four games after violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Drugs Policy reportedly for amphetamines
More Policy Changes
The suspensions for the NFL this year may all be wiped out in very little time as the NFL has plans to change their drug policy to reflect changes in laws regarding recreational drugs while also bringing in HGH testing
Key Scores:
Seattle Seahawks 36 – 16 Green Bay Packers
– The Seahawks were considered the best team in the league coming into the year until someone could beat the champs but everyone will have to wait as the Seahawks played a close game until breaking it open in the second half against some’s Super Bowl favourites
Buffalo Bills 23 – 20 Chicago Bears
– The Bills were not expected to do a lot this year with the team showing little signs of improvement and having their top rookie, Sammy Watkin, out of the game but they still pulled off the win against the heavily favoured Bears
San Francisco 49ers 28 – 17 Dallas Cowboys
– The Cowboys have always had high hopes in every season but they heavily disappointed in their first week when they looked outmatched by the San Francisco 49ers who did not take full advantage of the issues of the Cowboys but still earned the win
Detroit Lions 35 – 14 New York Giants
– The Giants looked like they were far from an NFL team when they took on the Detroit Lions as Eli Manning and the offence struggled to get on the same page while the defence could not stop Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and the Lions offence
Next Week:
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens (Thursday September 11th; 8:25 pm ET)
– The AFC North rivalry has taken a bit of a fall in the last few years with the Steelers and the Ravens not putting up the performances that many are used to seeing but that doesn’t mean the rivalry has gone as these teams do not like each other and will look for the win in Week 2
Dallas Cowboys vs. Tennessee Titans (Sunday September 14th; 1:00 pm ET)
– The Cowboys will always have a spotlight as “America’s Team” and after their Week 1 performance calls for changes are already ringing loud and knowing Jerry Jones if they can’t figure it out against the Titans changes may come sooner rather than later
Chicago Bears vs. San Francisco 49ers (Sunday September 14th; 8:30 pm ET)
– The Bears were disappointed by their Week 1 performance and are but to make a point that they are still one of the best in the NFC and they look to do that against a banged up 49ers squad just looking to prove that they aren’t to be counted out
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Indianapolis Colts (Monday September 15th; 8:30 pm ET)
– The Eagles did not perform up to what many thought in a game that they should have dominated form start to finish against Jacksonville but they have a second chance with a 1-0 record against the Colts who are looking to recover from their Sunday Night loss to Denver
The Sport Addiction 