My plan for the NFL Season is to write a weekly news letter recapping the action in the NFL for that particular week.  I skipped last week, because the only game was the Hall of Fame Game.  I got the idea from a Newsletter that one of my Fantasy Football Commissioners Uses for our league.   It is a fun way to keep everyone in our league appraised of their fantasy success, or lack there of.  I thought it would also be a neat way to recap the NFL Action for the week.  While I appreciate feedback of things that I failed to mention, please don't get upset if I don't list something about your favorite player or team.  I could do a Newsletter for just one team.  Trying to mention every team or player in one newsletter would be impossibility.  I will try to post it to my blog every Tuesday, probably in the late afternoon or early evening.  I hereby present to you Street Credit's First NFL Newsletter. 

Standings

 AFC East                         NFC East
1.Buffalo (1-0)                 1.Dallas (1-0)
2.Miami (1-0)                   2.Washington (1-0)
3.NY Jets (1-0)                3.Philadelphia (0 -1)
4. New England (0-1)     4.NY Giants (0-1) 

 AFC South                       NFC South
1.Tennessee (0-1)         1. Tampa Bay (1-0) 
2.Indianapolis (0-1)       2. Carolina (1-0)
3.Jacksonville (0-1)       3. Atlanta (0-1)
4.Houston (0-1)              4. New Orleans (0-2)

 AFC North                       NFC North
1.Cleveland (1-0)           1.Chicago (1-0) 
2.Baltimore (1-0)            2.Detroit (1-0)
3.Pittsburgh (1-1)           3.Green Bay (1-0)
4.Cincinnati (0-1)            4.Minnesota (0-1)

 AFC West                        NFC West
1.Oakland (0-1)               1. St Louis (1-0) 
2.Denver (1-0)                 2. Seattle (1-0)
3.Kansas City (0-1)        3. San Fran (0-1)
4.San Diego (0-1)           4. Arizona (0-1)

MVP of the Week:  This is a pretty easy call.  Kellen Clemens went 16-22 for 174 yards, 3 touchdowns against 0 interceptions as the Jets scored a week high 31 points in their 31-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.  Honorable mentions to Detroit Lion teammates Dan Orlovsky and Shaun McDonald.   Orlovsky passed for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns against 1 pick, and McDonald had 146 yards receiving and 1 touchdown catch.

Game of the Week:  An excellent introduction for my Game of the Week.  I would go with the Detroit vs. Cincinnati game.  Cincinnati pulled out to a 26-10 lead, before Orlovsky led a comeback for the pre-season ages.  Alright, it isn't exactly John Elway at his finest, but it still was a good game.  The Lions rattled of 17 unanswered points in 5 minutes of game time to steal a 27-26 victory at Ford Field. 

LVP of the Weak:  There are a lot of places to go here.  With so many veterans playing limited snaps and undrafted rookies playing entire halves, there are plenty of candidates.  I would go with Trent Green of the Miami Dolphins.  The veteran went 6-15 for 60 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception.  The Dolphin fans were booing him, and he was unable to move the ball in 6 possessions.  He managed 4 first downs in an entire half of work.  Not exactly what you would hope for from your biggest off season acquisition on offense. 

The Bay of Pigs:  This is my depressing game of the week, which gets its name from the old Bucs and Packers games of the 80s.  Those two matchups per season were watchable only by the player's mothers.   Again a lot of games that could take honors in the 2nd week of the preseason.  With many teams playing their first game and first units playing a few series, 19 teams scored 17 points or less.  I would go with the game I watched on Saturday night, Green Bay v. Pittsburgh.   It was definitely nothing to get excited about.  Brett Favre went 2-7 with 7 yards passing and Big Ben went 2-2 for 14 yards and 1 lost fumble.  Pittsburgh had an extra point blocked.  The final was 13-9.  Green Bay's first team offense looked lost most of the time, which was understandable seeing it was their first preseason game, as opposed to Pittsburgh's second.  Pittsburgh looked very average on offense for playing their second preseason game.  With the exception of one blown assignment, which led to a 41 yard touchdown pass, Pittsburgh managed to score only 3 points.  Honorable mention to the 14-6 gem that the Redskins and Titans put up this week. 

The Mike Martz Award (Excellence in Judgment): I'm not going to begin issuing this award until the regular season, unless someone steps up and takes the bull by the horns.  This award is going be for the mind boggling play calling, play execution, clock management, or replay decision that helps a team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  However, with teams playing so many players and trying to practice different packages against different teams, rather than actually win the game, it would be almost impossible to fault a coach or player for making a decision that would normally not be made in the regular season. 

Hospital Visit:  The Cardinals are on their way to a devastating pre season.  Early reports show that starting offensive tackle Oliver Ross and starting linebacker Chike Okeafor suffered season ending injuries in the loss to Oakland.  Not exactly the way you want to start your preseason.  Kenny Irons season ended with a knee injury in practice earlier this week.  With Chris Perry already set to begin the season on the PUP, the Bengals are having issues at running back depth.  Anthony McFarland was placed on injured reserve last week, further weakening the Colts Defensive Line.  Willie McGinest is schedule to have back surgery and will miss about 6 weeks.  That is bad news for a team that is under as much pressure as any team to win this season.  Finally, the Texans lost starting strong safety Glenn Earl for the entire 2007 season with a left foot injury.         

Overall Impressions of the Week that Was: All in all, it was a very good week.  I think the biggest stories were Trent Green's struggles with the first team offense in Miami, the Jets 31 points scored against the Atlanta Falcons defense, the 29-3 spanking the Eagles took without Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair's impressive drive, Travis Henry's excellent start in Denver, Vince Young being suspended for one preseason game for violating a team rule, and the large amount of low scoring preseason games, which is not surprising with all of the young players playing significant minutes.  It will be interesting to see how most of the teams that were playing live competition for the first time since last season make adjustments in their second preseason games.   

A Look Ahead:  Game 3 is usually the game where teams will play their starters for at least a half.  With most teams playing only their second game, look for this week to be more of the same from last week; backups vs. other backups.  Chicago at Indy will be an interesting preseason matchup, as it pits last years Super Bowl representatives against one another.  It will be interesting to see how the revamped New Orleans defense fairs against an explosive offense like Cincinnati.  Denver at Dallas is a matchup of two teams with division title aspirations.  Carolina at Phily is an important game.  The Eagles don't want to get blown out two games in a row.  McNabb is expected to play.  It will be interesting to see how he looks after the knee surgery.  The game that is probably the most important for each team is Miami at Kansas City.  Jacksonville has one of the toughest defenses in the NFL.  Therefore, Trent Green struggling in his first game as a starter against that defense is understandable.  If he struggles against Kansas City, which gave up 247 yards passing to Cleveland last week, there is going to be even more reason for concern in Miami.  For Kansas City, they come off a 16-12 defeat to the Cleveland Browns.  They rushed for only 90 yards and passed for only 110 yards.  They had 3 turnovers.  They gave up 346 yards.  While people will tell you that preseason doesn't matter, it is only the score and the result that doesn't mater.  It is important to at least look sharp in some facets of the game.  While neither team is concerned about winning next week, both of these teams will hope to have an overall better showing in their second preseason game.  KC, Miami, and Philly have some extra pressure on them this week to perform at a higher level than they did in their first game.