Roth Regatta

The late, great Bill Walsh once said, “If a player does it once, then it’s the coach’s job to get him to do it all of the time.”

After an opening week with mostly predictable results and some big surprises, there are several coaches with lots of coaching to do. Some reside in New York and Detroit, where two rookie quarterbacks showed enough promise in Week 1 to give their team’s fan bases hope.

Mark Sanchez went on the road and won his first start, going 12-of-15 on third down for 191 y

ards and a touchdown in the Jets’ 24-7 victory over Houston. nfl jerseys wholesaleWe may have just witnessed the opening of a rookie-of-the-year campaign. The Texans knew Sanchez was a young guy who liked to make plays with his feet and has no problem moving outside the pocket. Yet, they didn’t sack him once in 31 pass attempts and he demonstrated he can sit in the pocket and read coverages.

Fellow rookie Matt Stafford didn’t have the same kind of day for the Lions on the road, losing his d

ebut, 45-27 to New Orleans, throwing three interceptions in the process. However, there were things about Stafford’s performance that should give some hope to Lions fans, who haven’t seen a regular-season victory by their team since Dec. 23, 2007. He was only sacked once in 40 pass plays and he scored a touchdown, a 1-yard run in the third quarter. He also led his team to more points than the Lions scored in any one road game last season.

Here are six things that caught my eye in the first w

eek of the season:

1. Wildcat growing, but so is Wildcat defense
The Panthers, Jaguars, Jets, Dolphins, Cowboys, Eagles and Browns, among others, used a form of the Wildcat in their Week 1 games. However, I was more intrigued with the defensive game plans for the scheme. Almost every defensive coach I spoke with this summer said they developed a new plan for the Wildcat in 2009. After Week 1, it looks like a patient plan, with fewer called blitzes, that stays flat across the line of scrimmage is the way teams are headed. For a week at least, it appeared to work, with few big plays developing out the Wildcat formation. For the most part, defenses have made good adjustments in the chess game known as the Wildcat.

2. Sophomore jinx? What sophomore jinx?
The two sophomore quarterbacks, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, served notice that they are not going to unravel in their second season. Both won their openers, combining for five touchdown passes, one interception, two victories, and plays they might not have made a year ago. Both impressed me with their decision-making and improved arm strength.

3. Getting Favre was the right move
It was interesting to watch how the Vikings used Brett Favre. nfl jerseys wholesaleWe got a hint in Week 3 of the preseason when Favre saw a safety come down in the box early and show a run-defense call. Favre did not check out of the run, which I liked to see. This week, in the win over Cleveland, he threw only 21 passes while calling 37 running plays. He took four sacks rather than trying to make something happen, and when the day was done the Vikings had 34 points. It sure looks like coach Brad Childress has a plan similar to the one Denver employed in 1998 when John Elway started just 12 games, averaging about 20 passes in each. If Favre paces himself and continues to lead a team that makes 40 percent of its third downs and doesn’t turn over the ball, like it did on Sunday, then the Vikings will win a lot of games this season.

4. Life without Polamalu
Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu is regarded as one of the elite safeties in the NFL. In the Dick LeBeau scheme, Polamalu is the perfect piece to the puzzle. He can line up on the line of scrimmage and convince a quarterback he’s blitzing, then on the snap of the ball get to the deep middle and pick off a pass without the receiver or QB seeing him show up. Polamalu suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in Pittsburgh’s Kickoff win over Tennessee, which begs the question: How will it affect the Steelers? In 2006, Polamalu suffered the same injury, causing him to miss three games. More injuries in 2007 forced him out of five more. In the eight games with their Pro Bowl safety, the Steelers were 6-2. It will be tough, but history says they can continue to win. That’s the Steeler way.

 

5. Did they change the culture?
General managers and head coaches like to talk about “changing the culture” in the locker room. Translation: change a losing attitude into a wi