My Newsletter will be posted every Tuesday on FoxSports.com.  Here are my thoughts on the second week of the NFL.  Please remember there are 32 teams in the NFL, there is no way I could mention every big play made by every player in every game.  If you want to talk about your favorite team or player, just leave a comment about it and I while address it.

MVP of the Week:  This is looking like a season where QB Drew Brees is going to be in this part of the letter every week.  This time he helped the New Orleans Saints torch what was a very good pass defense in 2008, lighting up the Philadelphia Eagles for 25 completions on 34 attempts, 311 yards passing, three touchdowns, one pick and a QB rating of 118.6 in a 48-22 win.  San Francisco 49er RB Frank Gore led the running backs with 16 carries, 207 yards and two rushing touchdowns, which were 79 and 80 yards in length.  That helped lead a 23-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks.  TE Dallas Clark had a big game at the tight end spot going for seven catches, 183 yards and one touchdown in the Indianapolis Colt's thrilling 27-23 win over the Miami Dolphins.

I also have to mention two records that were broke this week.  Colts QB Peyton Manning broke Johnny Unitas's record for most wins in franchise history with 119.   That puts Manning at fifth place on the all time list and only five wins away from tying former Minnesota Viking QB Fran Tarkenton.  Secondly, QB Brett Favre of the Vikings set the NFL record for most consecutive starts by a non punter with 271, breaking longtime Viking DE Jim Marshall's record.  There is some controversy whether Jim Marshall's record is 282 games, because the Cleveland Browns did not keep track of starts his rookie year, back in 1960.  Regardless, it is an impressive feat for a QB that is less than a month away from turning 40 years old.  If Favre can stay healthy, he will pass Marshall's unofficial 282 game mark in December of this year.  224 quarterbacks have started at least one game since Favre's streak began.  It is one of the most amazing accomplishments in all of sports.

Loser of the Week:   The Green Bay Packers offensive line would have to be one of my top nominees.  They allowed DE Antwan Odom, who had 15.5 career sacks entering this season to post a 5.0 sack effort on Sunday, which was a major reason the Green Bay Packers lost a 31-24 game at home.  There offensive line has played as badly as any unit in the NFL this year and that has to be fixed if they want to contend with Minnesota and Chicago in that division.

I would also go with Dallas Cowboy's QB Tony Romo; granted it wasn't a December or January collapse, but you know Dallas Owner Jerry Jones wanted to win the opening game in his billion dollar stadium with all the Cowboy's legends in attendance and a NFL record crowd of 105,121.  While Romo did lead a go ahead drive in the fourth quarter only to be outdone by Eli Manning on the next drive, Romo finished the game 13 for 29 with 127 yards, one touchdown, three picks (in Romo's defense a bounced ball to S Kenny Phillips off of TE Jason Witten's shoe resulted in one of the picks) and a QB rating of 29.6.  It's just another example of this talented player coming up short in a big game, a reputation that he couldn't have erased with a win; but that is going to continue to stick with him until he leads the Dallas Cowboys to a playoff win in January. 

Game of the Week:  I'd go with the two nationally televised games, the New York Giants beating the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football 33-31 and the Indianapolis Colts surviving the Miami Dolphins 27-23.  I already talked about Romo leading a go ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, only to be outdone by E. Manning on the very next drive.  The Giants kicked the winning field goal as time expired to win that game to win the game 33-31 and move to 2-0 in the NFC East. 

Meanwhile, P.Manning watched a lot of football on Monday Night, as the Colt's offense was only on the field for less than a quarter, including just 13 plays in the second half.  Two big pass plays helped the Colts survive the Dolphins ball control attack.  One was an 80 yard touchdown pass to Clark in the first quarter and the other was a screen pass that WR Pierre Garcon took 48 yards for a touchdown.  That was the difference for the Colts, who start the season 2-0.

The Bay of Pigs:  This is the easiest selection of the week, thank you St Louis and Washington for that 9-7 thriller in the Nation's Capital, a game that the Rams fumbled away in the fourth quarter down by the Washington end zone.  Needing only a field goal to take the lead, the Redskin's Chris Horton forced WR Donnie Avery to fumble the ball and Charles Rodgers recovered.  That allowed the Redskins to keep the lead and eventually was the key play that preserved their victory.

The Mike Martz Award:  I'm going with San Diego Charger's Head Coach, Norv Turner this week.  He has one of the best QB's in the league in Philip Rivers, who had 436 yards passing against the Ravens.  RB Darren Sproles was leading the Chargers in rushing yards with just 26 yards.  It only makes sense that on Fourth and Two trailing 31-26; having moved the ball all the way down the field to the Baltimore 15 through the air that Turner would decide that it is time to establish the run.  The play did not work and MLB Ray Lewis stuffed Sproles for a loss on the play and the Chargers for a loss in the game.  I think in that situation you win and lose the game with Rivers, you don't go to a run that hasn't worked the entire game.  I'm not saying Rivers converts that play, because the Ravens have a tough defense; but what I am saying is you either win the game or lose the game with the ball in your star player's hands.

Injury Report:  Another starting QB is hurt just two weeks into the young season, this time it is Seattle Seahawk QB Matt Hasselbeck.  He has a cracked rib and similar to Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, Hasselbeck will be missing some time.  Dallas Cowboys RB Marrion Barber has a quad injury and his status is up in the air.  The Atlanta Falcon's rookie DT, Peria Jerry, who was also the team's first round pick, suffered a season ending knee injury.  Finally, enough about the finger nail,  Favre's hand is fine and we don't need to be constantly updated about how his fingernail is doing.

Overall Impressions of Week Two: 

1) Something feels different about the J E T S, Jets! Jets! Jets! -  A lot of people thought the New York Jets were going to have problems competing in this division.  The New England Patriots were 11-5 last year and they had QB Tom Brady coming back from knee surgery.  The Miami Dolphins were 11-5 last year and won the division.  The Jets on the other hand had collapsed at the end of last season, going 1-4 in their final five games.  Favre "retired," WR Laveranues Coles left for Cincinnati, and Eric Mangini became the coach of the Cleveland Browns.  There was a lot of excitement about Rex Ryan bringing the intensity he helped install in the Baltimore Ravens to New York.  There was a lot of optimism that the defense was improved, but people didn't know what to think of Pro Bowl RB Thomas Jones turning 31 years old, the Jets going with rookie QB Mark Sanchez, and the Jets having no superstar to throw the ball to in the passing game.  It was a team many people thought would be competitive, but were unsure how they would do in this tough division.

The New York Jets started the season off great, winning 24-7 in Houston against a Texans team that many people thought could be a dark horse to compete in the AFC South.  Most people chalked that win up to the Texans being overrated, yet again.   Then the Texans went to Tennessee and dropped 34 points on one of the top defenses from a year ago.  Suddenly, that win and defensive effort looks a lot better.  To top it all off the Jets were able to walk the walk and talk the talk, something I was critical of them for last week and they stunned the New England Patriots 16-9 at home, ending an eight game losing streak to the Patriots in New York.  They got after Brady all day and their blitz packages were a major reason the Patriots went without an offensive touchdown for the first time since December, 2006.

The Jets have been impressive in many regards.  They have allowed the 10th fewest passing yards and considering the pass offenses they played that is outstanding.  They are eighth in rushing yards allowed, third in rushing touchdowns allowed, third in points allowed, are allowing only 4.8 yards per attempt and are allowing only a 51.3 completion percentage.  Combine that with a rush offense that ranks sixth in the NFL and the Jets are doing the same things that Ryan helped oversee in Baltimore, a strong defense that relies on its offense to not make critical mistakes and control the ball with the running game.

I know it's only two games, but Jet's fans have to feel different about this year.  Last year when they were 8-3 it was very surprising, because the team was so inconsistent.  One week Favre would look like the 3-time MVP and the next week he looked like a washed up QB.  One week the defense would dominate the line of scrimmage, the next week teams were running and passing all over them.  It seemed like a team that was often winning with smoke and mirrors.  This team is much more intense and plays both the run and the pass well.  Sanchez is making enough plays to keep defenses honest, but not making multiple mistakes that are putting his team in a bad position.  This seems like a young team on the rise that has the potential to get better, not a team that is trying to find an identity.

I don't want to get too far of myself, I try to remember that the Packers and Broncos were 2-0 last year and both failed to move above .500 and both missed the playoffs.  The Jets still have a rookie QB and he is going to play some games this year that will leave Jets fans shaking their heads.  The Jets haven't had to deal with any major injuries yet.  Their depth will be tested as the season grinds along and they are forced to deal with those things.  That said, you can tell that Mangini's act was wearing thin in New York and so far it hasn't worked in Cleveland.  The Browns are 0-2, struggling to score on offense and losing games by double digits.   Ryan, on the other hand has won that team over.  They believe in their coach and they respond to his intensity. 

Remember, Mangini started 10-6 his rookie season and was a welcome departure to Herm Edwards, before Mangini's act wore thin.  While Ryan has the team now, it doesn't have to stay that way.  I am very excited that the Jets are doing well and look forward to see what this defense and young quarterback can do as the season progresses.  I look for this team to keep responding to their rookie head coach, who has as intense of a personality as any head coach in the NFL.

2) Are the New Orleans Saints for real? - This is the complete opposite of the New York Jets, with the offense dominating the competition instead of the defense.  It's difficult to tell how good the New Orleans Saints are going to be this year.  In Week One they played the Lions, a team that has now lost 19 games in a row.  Brees lit up the Lions for six touchdown passes and they scored a 45-27 win.  Then they went to Philadelphia and did even better, scoring a 48-22 win on a team that represented the NFC in the Championship Game, before losing to the Arizona Cardinals.  In Philadelphia's defense, McNabb sat out the game with a rib injury, but in the Saints defense, McNabb and Kevin Kolb, the Eagle's backup QB don't play defensive back.  No matter how you slice it or dice it, the Saints have now scored 93 points in their first two games.  The 2007 New England Patriots had only 76 points in their first two games and the 1998 Minnesota Vikings had only 69 points in their first two games.   Those teams are number one and number two in points scored in a single regular season.

You have to go back to the 1968 Oakland Raiders, who scored 95 points in their first two games to see a start that even resembles this start.   You get the feeling that you are watching something historically good when you watch the Saints.  What is different about this team compared to 2006-2008 is that Brees is completing the ball at an alarming rate.  For his career he completes 64.1 percent of his passes, this year he is at 75.0 percent in his first two games; even if he stays at a 67% to 69% completion percentage the rest of the way, the Saints will be impossible to stop if he keeps completing passes at that clip.  Brees is in an absolute zone right now and the result is points being scored at an alarming rate.

The one area of concern for the Saints is yet again their defense; they have allowed 49 points in their first two games or 24.5 points per game.  Part of that is because of their 576 passing yards allowed, which is partly attributed to the opponent being down so quick that they have to throw the ball around to catch up.  Still, the worst defense to win a Super Bowl this decade was the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, who gave up 22.5 points per game.  It's very hard to be that explosive for an entire season and it is doubly hard to keep that pace up in the playoffs against good defenses.  If the Saints allow 24.5 points per game this season, it is difficult to see them advancing to the Super Bowl with that type of defense.  Given how the Saints defense has performed in the past few seasons, it is fair to ask whether the totals are the result of the offense getting out to such big leads or whether the Saints defense will continue to be the liability this season that it was in past seasons.  A lot of sins are forgiven when the offense is averaging 46.5 points per game.

Historically, it is so hard to win with the explosive passing game that must outscore the other team.  The 1999 St Louis Rams did it, but they also had the fourth ranked scoring defense at 15.1 points per game and Marshall Faulk running the ball.  The 2006 Indianapolis Colts did it, but they were a dead team walking until S Bob Sanders got healthy and helped upgrade the defense for a title run.  Remember they won a 23-8 game against Kansas City and a 15-6 game against the Baltimore Colts in the playoffs.  The bad defense was a distant memory by the end of the playoffs.

We've seen teams try to win championships by outscoring other teams.  The Miami Dolphins tried to ride Dan Marino's arm to a Super Bowl ring in the 1980s, but only made one Super Bowl appearance and lost.  That is what the 1990's Houston Oiler teams led by QB Warren Moon tried to do and they couldn't make it to an AFC Championship Game.  The 1998 and 2000 Minnesota Vikings tried riding WRs Randy Moss and Chris Carter to the Super Bowl, but failed to advance to a Super Bowl in two NFC Championship losses.  

Again, it's only two games, one of which was against the historically bad Detroit Lions.  There is a lot of football to be played before we can start calling the 2009 New Orleans Saints a historic offense.  Just as it is too early to say the Saints are a historically good offense, it's too early to say their defense is a liability.  When teams get up that early in a game, you see other teams score garbage touchdowns at the end, which hurt a team's defense ranking. That can really skew the rankings after two games.   There is a lot of football to be played before we start talking about them as a Super Bowl contender, but if I am a Saints fan I am very excited about what I am seeing.   The Saints were a combined 2-5 in September for 2007 and 2008, so this is a much better feeling; a feeling that something special may be in the works in New Orleans.

A Look Ahead:

Street Cred's 2009 Regular Season Record:  21-11

This year I will not be including my picks in my newsletter, instead I will release them on Thursday as a separate article.  Check back on Thursday as I release my picks for the upcoming games, with analysis of the big factors that will determine the winners.

Check out www.fantasyfootballmaniaxs.com for other articles about the NFL and fantasy football.  We received 20,000 hits for our Start / Sit article in Week One and had another strong showing in Week 2.  Find out why people trust the Maniaxs for the best fantasy football advice.