It was possibly one of the least likely outcomes in the first week of the new 2005 season. Washington, the reigning SuperBowl champions were travelling to the nations' auto capital, Detroit, in what was expected to be simply a matter of turning up. Unfortunately for the champs, it appears that the Lions have been working very hard throughout the off-season to turn their usually lacklustre offence around.
From first impressions, it seems to be working. We managed to corner Lions owner William Clay Ford, a man who isn't often lost for words, and asked him how he felt about the win. "Great. Yeah. Thanks".
With a little prompting about the team as a whole, he commented, "We decided there had to be a change of direction at the end of 2004. It's not good for anyone, not the fans, not the players, and definitely not for me, to finish near the bottom of the league. Our problem in recent years has been the Offence, so we went out with a mission to find some of the best assistants we could persuade to join us in Detroit.
"With the back office in order, there had to be some big changes on the field too. I think coach (Henderson) did a great job of acquiring the players we needed in all the positions we felt required attention. Unfortunately, it was inevitable that we had to let some people go, but that is the price of progress".
Indeed, the Lions have a new arm in Scott Dreisbach this season, one of several players snapped up through free agency, something the Lions haven't been known for utilising. "The three-round draft system just isn't a help when you want to undertake a rebuilding program on the scale we wanted", the head coach of the Lions stated at a press conference held on the Monday after their win. "So we invested a lot of time and effort finding players by other means. I'd say we are quite happy with the current squad".
When pushed to comment if it was true that a curfew had been enforced in the weeks leading up to the game against the 'skins, coach Henderson replied, "We felt it was better for the guys to concentrate on the game, which is why we introduced a new training regime for 3 weeks, something that ended last Thursday. There were no complaints from the players, as they knew what was required of them. We had such a lot of work to get through".

The curfew was lifted last week, but we were told they will still be working very hard for the next few weeks at least. If the performance against Washington is anything to go by, this new work ethic is evidently productive. However, with all the attention focused on these new-look Lions, wouldn't it be dangerous for them to become complacent
Veteran receiver Herman Moore doesn't think so, "There's a heck of a lot of experience in our team. We know what it's like to be at the bottom of the barrel, so I think we'll manage to keep our heads out of our asses". Wise words indeed. Dreisbach was very enthusiastic about his first win for his new team, "Awesome, man. Just awesome. To come out and win your first game, and against the current champs too. This is almost as good as the time me and Betty-Sue were c...". Unfortunately at that point, he was ushered out of the press conference and we were unable to ask him any more questions.
Taking a look at the league standings, it all looks decidedly different to what's been the norm for the last few seasons. Last years 16-0 Vikings fell to an in-form Atlanta side with eyes for a return to those age old days of SuperBowl Sunday. In fact, of all the NFC playoff contenders of last season, only the 49ers won their first game of 2005, albeit against the lowly Cardinals, a team currently in the process of stretching its record of 30 consecutive losses. The AFC West fared no better, as the entire division managed to be outscored 131-58, and look to pick up the pieces before they venture into the second week of confrontations. The rest of the AFC performed to the standard as was expected, with the usual suspects of the Bills and Browns showing why they are perennial championship contenders.
Looking ahead, Detroit are facing divisional rivals Tampa Bay next weekend, an always hard-fought meeting that tends towards the home side. Unfortunately for the Lions, they won't be playing in the Motor City.
That was the week that was.

Interesting first week, with a certain upsetting of the old order in the NFC. My game was a complete 'mare against the Bears. For some reason the Bears are a bit of a bogey team for me anyway. I didn't deserve to win the game, but the manner of losing was horrible! Having done absolutely nothing in the first 3 quarters it all came down to the 4th.

The only reason I was still in the game was turnovers and 3 missed 2nd qtr FGs from the Bears (45, 45 and 53). The team looked hungover, badly. Couldn't stop the run, couldn't stop the pass. At least there was a blitz. No rushing attack to speak of and Randall hadn't completed a single pass going into the 4th. 0-15, and a reasonable proportion of those were against run defences!

Then he suddenly found some rhythm and went 10-14 for over 100 yards. Inside the 2 min warning we were suddenly ahead by more than 3. The Bears start to drive, but run into trouble inside FG range. Next thing I know, they're facing 4th & 7. Oh. Drops back to pass, dumps it off, and breaks out for a TD. Still time to win, only down by 3. Reach midfield and then the WR fumbles and the Bears recover. That's me 0-1.

Excellent wins for the new look Cowboys, revamped Lions and most of the NFC West. Especial congratulations to Paul Meskill for his win over the Vikings. Maybe the Falcons will actually make the playoffs this season? At least the Redskins looked like they haven't recovered from that Superbowl win yet! The Cards should at least give them a chance to rediscover some form. Oh yes, and can anybody explain to me why my best form was OPS? I was something like 10-25 on short passing. I would have thought my DBZ was better, at least.

How the mighty have fallen. In a single week, all of the top teams in the NFC were brought down to Earth with a bang, as some unlikely results were posted. It's become immediately apparent that the influx of new coaches during the off-season has already had a huge effect on the balance of the league. So much so, that it has been well and truly tipped. The Bears' new play-caller Paul Macguire, edged out long-time coach, and current career leader in wins, coach Jon Heath's Eagles, in an 18-17 thriller at Soldier Field. The Bears' defence were allowed to run riot all day, holding a rather surprised Philadelphia to a paltry 179 of total yards. Their defence fared little better, with the Bears roaming freely throughout, ending the game with almost 400 yards for the day.
In the seasons' first overtime battle, the usual dominant Rams lost the nail-biter by a field goal to another new coach in Richard Appleby. With St. Louis' ground game neutralised, they were forced to rely on a passing game barely strong enough to keep them in the contest. Fourteen unanswered points by Dallas had the Rams on the back-foot from the outset, and if their defence can't sort out the problems soon, they'll be lucky to be fighting for a wild card spot come week 16. The Cowboys are showing a lot of promise already, despite the shake-ups in the squad that were required to make them effective, and are likely to see a rise in their standings by the end of the season.
The Vikings' run of 18 consecutive wins ended in Atlanta, despite a 13-0 lead going into the second half. The Falcons regrouped after the break, scraping into the lead in the fourth and the much sought after opening win, 20-18.

Although the Falcons had trouble moving the ball on the ground, their determination to win, and the fanatical support from the Georgia Dome stands turned the tables on an all but assured Minnesota dominated game. The Vikings will be looking to next weeks' home game against Chicago to improve their fortunes, but that may turn out to be harder than the preseason forecasters predicted. Tampa Bay began their campaign with a loss away to the Saints. The Buccaneers struggled all day to venture deep into New Orleans' territory, managing only a single rushing touchdown as their opponents racked up 24 points. The Buccs held the Saints ground attack to 27 yards, but an impressive air game allowed New Orleans to set an NFC high of 355 yards.
San Francisco hosted a Cardinals team trying to pull themselves out of a recession that has seen them lose 29 straight regular season games, an NFLAB record. Unfortunately, the 49ers came out fighting, and the Cardinals could do little but hang on for the ride, with the final score 34-10 in favour of the home side. The Arizona QB was feeling the pressure all day, and without a running game to keep the 49ers defence off-balance, was hurried and sacked a league high 5 times.
The Cardinals next face travelling to Washington to play a team completely surprised by their week 1 upset in Detroit. Unusually for the Redskins, they were down 16-0 after the first half, their defence struggling to contain a Lions offence up to the challenge. Being effectively shut-down from the start by the aggressive Detroit defence, an 8 point rally in the 3rd was flattened as the Lions returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the endzone.

What an odd week. There were those of us that thought that home wins where much easier to get early in the season due to the special teams bonuses, but week 1 in the AFC turned that theory on it's head with all 6 games going to the road team.
In Cincinnati the Bengals got a mauling at the hands of the Bills despite posting pretty reasonable numbers the Bengals lost fumbles which probably lost them the game, throw in a safety and a missed 4th down attempt and that's all she wrote on that one. The Bills look good to be contenders again this year following that performance. The Bengals look like they have a long season ahead, but I don't expect them to be squabbling over 1st Draft pick. In Tennessee the Titans did everything right, but still managed to end up on the wrong side of a 28-25 scoreline. Coach Birtchnell will be cursing those 3 lost fumbles, which look to have sealed the Titans fate.
The Dolphins get 1 in the W column, but will need better performances than last week to push for the AFC East crown. The Titans will be better than last year (not that that is hard), but I have a feeling that they'll really need to sort out those silly mistakes before they trouble the Steelers and Browns for the Division. The Jets Steamrollered the Chargers and look well on course to push for the East crown this year. Coach Gorner must be wondering what hit him. Bear in mind that he has what was last years Broncos and the Jets just took them apart. Could be a long year in San Diego, but equally it could be a real warning shot from the Jets, who may have decided that they don't want a wild card into the playoffs this year...?

Out to Kansas now and the Patriots seem to have put last years woes behind them, for week one at least, with a reasonably convincing win over the Chiefs. KC will be glad to have seen the rest of the Division lose, as this has left them top of the West, but surely one team in there has to wake up and smell the coffee? New England will be glad of the win, though as a testament to how tough the East is going to be this year the win only leaves them 3rd in the Division with a tough Divisional game next week. The AFC East could well be the toughest Division in the League this year!
The Browns showed that they mean business this year by 'twonking' Seattle, who never really managed to get anything going on a tough Brown D. Coach Horne was still not hugely impressed with his team though. As they completely failed to light the field up with yards, but at the end of the day it's the score that matters and if they can win by 30 while playing 'badly' then God help the rest of us. The Browns have to be my tip to repeat as Central Champs, but I'm hoping Pittsburgh will have their say in that. Talking of whom...
Finally my Steelers travelled out to Oakland and left with a win. It wasn't the most convincing of performances to be honest and the 'college' Gameplan really didn't work at all well, but the Raiders made one too many mistakes and we capitalised on that. The Raiders will win a few this year though of that I'm sure. I expect them to be near the top of the West come seasons end.
In summary: The East goes 4-0 the West (do we start with the 'worst' jokes yet?) goes 0-4. All the read teams win. What an odd week.