NFL Week Two Review

       After a awesome Week One of NFL, we were once again treated to another awesome weekend of football but it was one that ended in tragedy.  The Sunday evening match between the Colts and the Giants gave us a Manning brother showdown didn't disappoint with big brother Payton showing Eli how it is done.  A brilliant comeback by the Texans against the Redskins, recovering from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter going on to win in overtime.  The Jets showed what they were made of, offensively and defensively, against the Patriots only allow them to score in second quarter whilst scoring 28 points in return.  Monday Night Football picked another gem of a game with the New Orleans Saints score a 37-yard field goal that barely fluttered through as time expired.  But Week Two was ended in tragedy as Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley has been found dead in his home in an apparent suicide according to the police in the US state of Colorado.


I only managed to catch two games this week the Sunday late night Manning Bowl and the New Orleans Saints at the San Francisco 49ers.  Here are my reviews.

      The Manning brothers came into this game with the 2nd and 3rd longest starting streaks in NFL, but it was the older brother, Payton who showed Eli how to play.  After the Giants kicked off the Colts Payton lead the Colts on a 6 minute drive up the field for a touchdown, during the drive Payton completed all his passes and all the offensive plays made yards.  After the Colts rushed more in this game than they had previously in any Payton Manning game and the Colts rarely huddled and didn't let the Giants defence make changes. It was these that made the difference for the second touchdown., after 6 consecutive passes the Giants defence made a mistake and Payton threw 40 plus yard for the touchdown. 
      The Colts scored 24 unanswered points in the first half, the giants we blown away before they could get into the game, they both scored 14 points in the second half but by then the game was already gone.  Payton went 2-0 against his younger brother throwing 20 for 26 for 255 yards, Peyton and Wayne have hooked up for 63 TDs since 2001 to tie John Unitas and Raymond Berry for second place in franchise history. Peyton and Marvin Harrison set an NFL record with 112 TDs.

      The 49ers had a horrible start against the Saints handing them 2 points from a safety after 90 seconds.  It looked like the Saints were going to win this one easily when Reggie Bush, who handed his 2005 Heisman Trophy back this week, caught a 6 yard touchdown pass from Drew Bress putting the Saints 9-0 up after 5 and half minutes.  It was the third time in a row that they had scored a touchdown with their first drive of a half this season, they didn't continue that streak in the second half though. 
      The 49ers scored the only points in the second quarter and with both sides scoring touchdowns in the third quarter the Saints led 16-14 going into the final quarter.  Garrett Hartley kicked two field goals in the fourth quarter to leave the New Orleans Saints 8 points ahead with 2:12 remaining and with the San Francisco having no timeouts remaining most Saint fans would have thought it won. 
      The 49ers received the kickoff 3 yards into their end zone and ran it just short of the 20, 7 plays later they where 7 yards short of the Saints end zone.  Then Frank Gore ran for a 7-yard touchdown with 1:19 to play and Vernon Davis made a close-call catch at the goal line for the tying 2-point conversion. The play was initially called no good, but the 49ers (0-2) got the call after a replay review.
       The defending Super Bowl champion Saints, who relied on their defence most of the game, got the ball back at the 30 with 1:14 left and the wind at their back. Brees hit Colston with a pass that put the Saints on the 18 with 18 seconds left. The 49ers watched anxiously as Hartley's kick just made it. It was Hartley who booted the game-winning field goal in overtime last season against Minnesota to send the Saints to the Super Bowl. Ray McDonald got a hand on Hartley's kick but it just got there.

      I'm sorry I don't have the time to do plays and talking points for the rest of the games.  But my thoughts go to Kenny McKinley family and friends in their time of need.