Week 2 was a special week in the National Football league as players, fans, and Americans alike, paid tribute to fallen Arizona Cardinal safety, Pat Tillman. Tillman was killed in Iraq last April while serving the United States Army after walking away from football to serve his country. The league acknowledged Tillman's courage on Sunday, as every team wore Tillman's jersey number (40) on the back of their helmet and dedicated the entire season in honor of Tillman. The NFL also has plans to pay tribute to Tillman's family planned for the Super Bowl in February.
As thoughts of Tillman's courage rang out across the country, from stadium to stadium, NFL teams played their games with a war-like mentality, searching for key early victories.
The AFC East looked impressive this week, despite losses to Oakland and Cincinnati. New England is as strong as everyone thought they would be, and if everything plays out right for the Jets, they could start the season a whopping 5-0.
Oakland 13, Buffalo 10
Don't look now, but it seems as if another Bills season will be lost if they cannot create an offense during this weekend's bye. The Bills walked into a nightmare in not only the Raiders' dedicated freak-show fans, but in Bob Ryan's Oakland defense which sacked Quarterback Drew Bledsoe seven times. Raiders veteran defensive linemen Warren Sapp and Ted Washington stuffed Bills Running back Travis Henry, holding him to 67 yards on 21 carries, while Willis McGahee ran only twice for 7 yards. Bills star wide receiver Eric Moulds was shut down by Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson for only 2 receptions for 41 yards. The penalty bugaboo haunted Buffalo for the second week in a row as they negated two kick returns for over 125 yards accumulatively and 7 different violations costing them 55 total yards.
Fortunately, the Bills will get a Wek 3 bye and extra time to prepare for New England, who will travel to Buffalo in Week 4.
Cincinnati 16, Miami 13
The South Beach disaster continues through Week 2 for the Dolphins, as they have yet to show any signs of proving NFL analysts wrong. Miami quarterback A.J. Feely failed to find a rhythm in his passing game, throwing two interceptions against a Bengals organization not known for their stifling defensive secondary. In a battle of "Who can be the worse offense," the Bengals pulled out a victory on Shayne Graham's 48-yard field goal coming in the final seconds of the game.
New England 23, Arizona 12
In a proud Sun Devil Stadium, the Cardinals paid a special tribute to Pat Tillman in military salute and memorial. However, the current players couldn't get the win over the defending champs, as the Patriots' Tailback Corey Dillon ran for 138 yards. Arizona rookie wide out Larry Fitzgerald had 5 receptions for 36 yards. New England hasn't lost a game since September of last year, and look strong in continuing this phenomenal streak.
New York Jets 34, San Diego 28
The Jets continue to fly on the arm of young quarterback and Mid-American Conference alum Chad Pennington, who won his fifth consecutive start. Veteran running back Curtis Martin also seems to have resurrected his game, scoring two touchdowns and scampering for 119 yards. Martin has 4 touchdowns for the season, and also became the Jets' all-time rushing leader on Sunday.
Miami will be the only team in action from the AFC East next Sunday, as they will host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh will give rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from Miami of Ohio his first career start in relief of an injured Tommy Maddox.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
