What to Watch for in Week 2 (Rich)
Football fans are always nervous when they know what to worry about, but on some level are more nervous when they're not sure what to be worried about. On paper, the Steelers are much better than the Texans, and should handle them. Somehow, the lack of any one big concern is even more disconcerting--because it means if something reaches up and gets us, it'll be something surprising--say, outgaining your opponent by an order of magnitude yet repeatedly turning it over for scores the other way.
The scariest Texan, no doubt, is Andre Johnson, so the nightmare scenario par excellence would be for Carr to hit Johnson on several deep balls. This presumes Ike Taylor can't stay with Johnson (which may be true) and Carr can stay upright (almost certainly not true). NFL road games are always dangerous--those of you who lost you suicide pools the first week on the Rams or Broncos are morons, because there's no reason to ever take a road team in those things. But a loss in Houston, if it happens, will be the result of the devil we don't know.
More interesting this week will be the divisional games. Cincinnati might be for real, and beating Minnesota would go a long way toward showing it. Baltimore might not be for real, and struggling in Nashville could show it. If I know anything about football, Cleveland vs. Green Bay is a matchup of eventual 4-12 teams.
Of course the other story for the week will be whether Willie Parker is a one-game wonder. The best guess here is that he isn't, but that he's also not going to continue his 2,576-yard pace. I'm guessing he goes for 90 if Duce is active, 115 if he isn't, and that Big Ben attempts at least 16 passes this time. If any Steeler offensive player has a breakout game, my vote's on Hines.
--rich erenberg
The scariest Texan, no doubt, is Andre Johnson, so the nightmare scenario par excellence would be for Carr to hit Johnson on several deep balls. This presumes Ike Taylor can't stay with Johnson (which may be true) and Carr can stay upright (almost certainly not true). NFL road games are always dangerous--those of you who lost you suicide pools the first week on the Rams or Broncos are morons, because there's no reason to ever take a road team in those things. But a loss in Houston, if it happens, will be the result of the devil we don't know.
More interesting this week will be the divisional games. Cincinnati might be for real, and beating Minnesota would go a long way toward showing it. Baltimore might not be for real, and struggling in Nashville could show it. If I know anything about football, Cleveland vs. Green Bay is a matchup of eventual 4-12 teams.
Of course the other story for the week will be whether Willie Parker is a one-game wonder. The best guess here is that he isn't, but that he's also not going to continue his 2,576-yard pace. I'm guessing he goes for 90 if Duce is active, 115 if he isn't, and that Big Ben attempts at least 16 passes this time. If any Steeler offensive player has a breakout game, my vote's on Hines.
--rich erenberg
posted at 11:03 PM
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