Week 2 Results:

For Week 2/Season
Vs. W/L: (12-3)/(23-7)
Vs. Spread: (9-6)/(20-11)
Vs. Aggregate: (8-7) (15-16)

Vs. “The Sportsline Experts”:
Richard: 23-8-0
PFN: 20-11-0
Harmon: 19-12-0
Madden: 16-15-0
Prisco: 15-16-0
Judge: 14-17-0
“SpiN”: 13-18-0


There are undoubtedly many people out there in San Diego calling for the head of Ed Hochuli after his blown call in Denver most likely caused the Chargers to lose. The key series of errors simply reinforces the point that no matter how many technological safeguards are in place ultimately the human element rules the day. There remain still some bitter Patriots’ fans who remember when Ben Dreith (“Who?”) dropped a “roughing the passer” flag for a phantom foul back in ’76 in a playoff game at Oakland. There are probably a lot more Raiders’ fans who are still steamed over the “tuck rule” in the snow back in ’01 (but that wasn’t a mistake). People make mistakes, and sometimes they affect the outcome of the standings. However, rather than making a federal case out of one referee's mistake, perhaps the Chargers ought to reinvest that energy in figuring out how the Broncos were able to move the ball up and down the field pretty much at will. San Diego's defense is considered to be one of the better ones in the league, and mistake or not, they were shredded by Jay Cutler. It serves no constructive purpose to castigate
Mr. Hochuli, (who has earned an otherwise superb reputation as an NFL official) or call for his flogging in the public square. As long as there are human beings who are responsible for making judgments on the actions of others (whether in fields of play for courts of law) there are going to be mistakes. The best course of action is to analyze the mistake and change the procedures so that it won't happen again.

Dallas may have won on Monday night, but the Eagles exposed certain flaws in the Cowboys’ game that opponents will capitalize on moving forward. The Cowboys’ offensive line is huge and powerful, but their mobility may be a problem. Neither team’s defenses did much to distinguish themselves, but the Cowboys were hyped up to be uniquely “agile, mobile and hostile”. The Eagles showed one and all that they're for real this year.

Week 2 Studs: Buffalo, Green Bay, Washington, NY Giants and New England.
Week 2 Duds: Kansas City, St. Louis, Detroit, Miami, Minnesota and NY Jets.

Game Balls: Denver’s Mike Shanahan for making the “going for two” call.
The New England Patriots’ defense for stuffing it to the Jets.
Peyton Manning from mounting a great fourth-quarter comeback against the Vikings.
Donovan McNabb for playing like the magic is finally back.

Knucklehead Of The Week: Philadelphia's DeSean Foster, for celebrating that touchdown about two yards short of the end zone. How does a young man who attended one of America's most prestigious colleges (UC Berkeley) make such a stupid play? His only saving grace was that no one on the Dallas defense had the presence of mind to pick up the ball.