Tuesday, September 10, 2013
The Season Begins-2013 National Football League
Last Monday night,
The Philadelphia Eagles dodged a bullet in the
fourth quarter as the Washington
Michael Vick, the
Eagles’ quarterback threw an overhand pass into the flat which was deflected by
a Skins’ lineman. The ball fell onto the turf, and resembled an incomplete
pass; however, it was not a forward pass, and it was scooped up by the
Redskins, and easily trotted down the field for six points. Stunned as they
were by that turn of events, the Eagles regrouped and scored the next 33
points. At that point, it should have been game, set, and match.
Not as far as the
Redskins were concerned. They methodically took charge, and put the next 24
points on the board. With less than a minute remaining, Washington
But the Redskins had
reinforced the notion of playing to the final whistle, and scared the pants off
the Eagles’ coaching staff. The Redskins’ coaches, father and son Shanahan had
made the better adjustments at half time, and won the second half soundly. They
just didn’t put enough points on the board.
Most of the rest of
the league started the season on Sunday. Local focus, naturally, was on the Buffalo New England
Patriots. Pats quarterback Tom Brady, now 36 years old, rallied his troops on
several occasions to lead his team to victory.
Brady was able to
find his receivers when it counted the most. Julian Edelman snagged two
touchdown passes. Shane Vereen thundered along the ground to complement the passing
attack. In the end, the Patriots relied on the foot of Stephen Gostkowski to seal the deal. He hit a 33 yard field goal
with five seconds remaining in the game to give the Patriots a 23-21 victory.
They don’t get much closer.
But it was the play
of newcomer Danny Amendola that impressed the most. Amendola signed with the Patriots
last March, and is expected to try to fill the shoes of Wes Welker, who left
the Pats for the Broncos earlier this year. Amendola had ten catches on the
day, leading the Patriots with 104 yards. “He really toughed it out, which was
impressive,’ Brady said of Amendola after the game. Amendola had aggravated a
groin injury in the first half, but continued to play until the final whistle.
Amendola first signed
with the Cowboys as a free agent, undrafted by all NFL teams. He went to the
Rams a year later, and led the NFL in “all purpose yards in 2009 and 2010.
Brady summed up his
team’s victory: “I didn’t have a lot of doubt. We’ve got a team full of
fighters. There’s going to be some ugly wins, but we’re always going to fight
until the end.”
The Patriots won
their tenth straight season opener. That ties the streak of the
Portsmouth/Detroit team who opened seasons from 1930 to 1939 without a loss, in
case you had forgotten.
The Bills and
Patriots hook up again later this season. That will be a game to watch.
James Hurst
September 10,
2013
# posted by James Hurst @ 5:53 AM 
