11 Things I Know I Know: Week 1

1. I know the 49ers-Packers game lived up to its billing as "America's Game of the Week." Back and forth, high scoring, hard hitting, trash talking, mixed with great individual performances. Loved every second of it.

2. I know the Steelers should be embarrassed about their performance and seriously concerned about the year ahead. Pittsburgh was gifted a 2-point lead one second into today's game (must be an NFL record for quickest points scored, right?) against Tennessee. Unfortunately, they may not see another lead the rest of the season. The offense was a joke, they lost Maurkice Pouncey and Larry Foote for the year, and the defense gave up 16 points to the hapless Titans offense which may not seem like much but these are Jake Locker's Titans.

3. I know the Bengals and Cardinals have to be kicking themselves right now. They each blew 11-point leads on the road in the last 20 minutes. If Cincinnati has Super Bowl aspirations, that can't happen. If the Cardinals want to have any shot at the playoffs (or at least over 5.5 wins), they can't afford things like this.

4. I know the Free Agent Bowl was a dud. The Browns and Dolphins combined to spend over $100m in the first week of free agency. Didn't seem to matter. Mike Wallace had one catch for 15 yards. Paul Kruger, Dannell Elerbe, and Brent Grimes combined for eight solo tackles and a sack. Miami's not complaining after a W, but the game was a snoozefest.

So was the Top of the Draft Bowl. Kansas City had the first and Jacksonville had the second pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. The Jaguars looked like they'll be selecting in the same vicinity come 2014.

5. I know we will look back at Lavonte David's late hit on Geno Smith today as the sole reason Jadeveon Clowney won't be playing for the Jets the next 10 years. What was David thinking?

6. I know the following teams had better hope Week 1 was an aberration and they didn't actually spend their money in the wrong places:

   a) The Falcons: spent first and second round draft picks on defensive backs only to give up 357 yards through the air to Drew Brees.
   b) The Bucs: spent a first rounder (to acquire Darrelle Revis) and $41m+ to sign Dashon Goldson away from the 49ers and still gave up 214 through the air to the lowly Jets.
   c) The Vikings: spent a first rounder on Cordarrelle Patterson and $47m+ on Greg Jennings who combined for four catches and 43 yards against the atrocious Lions secondary.


7. I know if I were commissioner for a day I would make these two changes:

   1) When a team correctly challenges a call, they would not be penalized a challenge. Isn't the goal to get all calls correct? Why should a coach that made the correct call be harmed in any way.

   2) Enforce excessive celebration penalties for only the truly excessive celebrations. These guys get paid to score touchdowns. Why is it such a big deal that they celebrate with teammates? Refs are now actively looking for any reason to throw the flag.

8. I know the best three teams in the NFL are:

   1) San Francisco
   2) Denver
   3) Seattle (did not play well, had to travel across the country to play an early game, still won)

...and the worst three teams are:

   30) Pittsburgh
   31) Cleveland
   32) Jacksonville

9. I know I liked:

   a)  Martellus Bennett channeling his inner Tyrone Prothro to secure a touchdown catch despite (my boy) George Iloka's best efforts.
   b) Thomas Davis flying all over the field, making big plays, and just being healthy.
   c) Joique Bell's TD celebration, arms waving.
   d) EJ Manuel's touch.


10. I know I disliked:

   a) There's no buzzkill quite like every opening kickoff resulting in a touchback. Fans and players are amped...only to see the ball go through the back of the end zone most of the time.
   b) "Flacco" still auto-correcting to "Flaccid" on my phone.
   c) Matt Ryan's first pass this year was nearly identical to his last pass last year: incompletion over the middle to an open Tony Gonzalez.
   d) The Packers getting screwed by the refs again this year (offsetting 15 yard penalties).
   e) Blaine Gabbert. Everything about him.

11. I know the Redskins will beat the Eagles 24-22 (we are going to see some crazy final scores if Chip Kelly follows his always go for two mantra) and the Texans will beat the Chargers 30-26.




11 Things I Know I Know: my feeble attempt to trump the untrumpable Peter King and his "10 Things I Think I Think" which is my favorite part of his weekly MMQB article.