I know it's cliche...

As the saying goes..."Offense wins games, defense wins championships". On my way to the beach this weekend, I had to listen to the 1:00 games on the radio. Being that my trip was to North Carolina, the Eagles/Panthers game was the easiest to find and the clearest reception. This game was amazing to listen to just look at the statistics for the defense: 5 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 touchdown, punt return for touchdown, and 5 sacks. But to really understand how defense changes a game, at the beginning of the second quarter Carolina was winning 7-3 with the ball on their own 25. First play: sack, fumble, defensive touchdown for Philly. Second series: punt after 6 plays, punt return for touchdown. Third series: interception on third play. First play for Philly is touchdown pass. 5:05 came off the clock in the second quarter and Philly was now winning 24-7, the Carolina fans were booing, and the Panthers were struggling. And let's not forget that Delhomme threw interceptions on the first two drives in the second half. I guess you could say the Eagles were playing for the memory of their former defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson, who passed away in July.

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I can say that my first post of the regular season is not going to be about defense but I probably could. But for once I want to talk about offense...and a few things that I found really shocking about week one in the NFL and the first two weeks of NCAA football. First, if I were to tell you that only 5 quarterbacks had 40 or more pass attempts, could you tell me who they were? If I were to think about it and just go based off past occurrences I would say: P. Manning, Brady, Warner, Brees, Ryan. I would have only gotten 2 right. Brady and Warner would be correct, the others may have been close but not quite. Now here are the ones you would not expect: Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich, Joe Flacco. Leftwich was Roethlisberger's back up last year and has not been a regular starter since 2006. This is a little unexpected. The Ravens and the Steelers are the franchises known for a running attack; Baltimore led the league in rush attempts in 2008 while Pittsburgh did in 2005. These two teams are known for hard nosed football and I would not think that Roethlisberger and Flacco would be looked upon to throw this much. But I guess these franchises are changing (maybe just the offenses...don't try to run against their defenses).

But speaking about Joe Flacco, the other thing that really caught my attention in the last two weeks is the impact of rookies; players and coaches. While Michael Crabtree is crying at home and hoping to become a millionaire, his fellow rookies and sophomores are winning games and leading franchises. I know that most of the impact has been coming from quarterbacks. But he is losing out. I am sorry but taking a year off is not going to get you a high draft slot and millions of dollars guaranteed. Flacco, Matt Ryan, and Mark Sanchez are turning around franchises with the help of their rookie coaches. It is amazing that young coaches and players are having such an important impact on the league. Roethlisberger won a ring in his second year, so did his currect coach Mike Tomlin. While the league is usually predicated on the experience of the veterans, the last five years have been ruled by the talent and will of the young. Let's look at some stats and players:

-- Adrian Peterson was second and first in rushing yards in his first two years respectively.
-- Tim Hightower scored 10 TDs in his first year
-- Flacco and Ryan led their teams to the playoffs in their rookie year

And this doesn't just belong in the NFL, right now Michigan and Southern Cal are being led by true freshmen QBs.

We will have to see how the youngsters keep up...