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It was over when ...

Matt Forte ran 67 yards for a touchdown and icing the comeback of the chiefs with 1:48 to play. The rookie showed no signs of fatigue and pounded through the porous defence all night long.

Game ball

Robbie Gould and the special teams were nearly perfect the whole game. The kicker was 4 for 5 missing only a 50 yards plus field goal against the wind. Back-up linebacker Nick Roach was a force on punt and kick returns and registered 4 special teams tackles.

Key stat

The bears defence controlled the line of scrimmage and held chiefs running back Larry Johnson to just 43 yards on 20 carries. Star linebacker Brian Urlacher registered 10 tackles and after missing the first game due to injury cornerback Charles Tillman picked Thigpen twice early in the game.

Noteworthy

Mr Jones... 1st half report... 

The 49ers put the Rams in a stranglehold, dominating the first half of play at St. Louis' Edward-Jones-Dome for a 24-0 shutout at the break. Frank Gore and Shaun Hill led the way on offense for the Niners, with Gore rumbling for 125 yards on the ground and Hill going 14-for-19 for 184 passing yards and 3 TD throws as they put together three 70plus-yard TD-drives. On the other side of the ball, San Fran's defense limited Stephen Jackson and the Rams offense to only 54 yards. While only recording one sack, the Niners' blitz packages kept Rams QB Marc Bulger on his heels all throughout the half. Both teams stayed turnover-free. San Francisco caught a few of lucky breaks however. Hill threw a couple of ill-fated passes that were dropped by the Rams defenders (raising memories of the recent so called "beer-fumbling incident" at the German owners meeting). The momentum could have turned just minutes before the half with the Niners leading 17-0 when receiver Jason Hill, who finished the half with 3 TD catches, muffed a punt near his end zone but the Rams failed to recover the football. 

Da Moose... 2nd half report... 

The Rams showed they can play but it was not enough to pull off a victory against a very bad 2nd half Niner team. Behind 0:24 at halftime the Rams did not allow another point in the second half of play. Instead they scored on a 49y FG from Josh Brown in the 3rd Quarter trailing 3:24 before a high scoring 4th Quarter began. A 31y TD bomb from M. Bulger to Derek Stanley set the score to 10:24 with (I don’t remember) to go. The Ram D suddenly controlled the humanless Niner O and after another spread offense/no huddle drive S. Jackson scored on a short TD run to bring the Rams within 7 points. In between this great offensive plays the Rams had a 69y punt from D. Jones pinning the Niners on their own 3y line. Could be the punt of the season. Another 3 and out by the Rams defense gave them the ball back with 2:30 in the 4th and kept the Moose guessing what could be the rules if this human vs. human game would go into OT ??!!!??? Unfortunately, it did not happen... It was over when Marc Bulger completed a pass to rookie WR Kennan Burton on 4th and 5 with 35 seconds remaining on the Niners 16y line. The rookie WR caught the well thrown ball in full speed on a crossing pattern but could not make Walt Harris miss with 1 yard too go to get a new first down... Coach Moose congratulates his archrival coach Jones and thinks his beloved Rams can win a few after this nice second half performance... 

Ram and Niner players of the game... 

PASSING                    CMP  ATT  YDS  PCT   YPA SACK  TD  INT LONG RATING

Shaun Hill                    19     31    249    61   8.0     2      3    0      45   118.8

RUSHING                    ATT  YDS   AVG LONG  TD  FUM

Frank Gore                  30     153    5.0    21     0     0

RECEIVING                 REC  YDS   AVG LONG TD DROP YAC

Donnie Avery               6     75   12.5   38     0     1     28 

DEFENSE                   TOT LOSS SACK

Will Witherspoon          10      1     1   

PUNTING                   ATT  YDS   AVG LONG BLOCKS IN20 TOUCHBACKS

Donnie Jones                4    213    53.2   69      0        2          2

Andy Lee                     5    243    48.5   54      0        1          0

The punters!!! What a surprise...

In week 2 of the regular season, the Packers traveled to the Meadowlands, NJ to meet the Giants. As in Game 1, the Packers D came out dominating and this time held the Giants to 3 yards on their first drive and forcing a punt after just 45sec played. But Jordy Nelson, the Packs rookie kick/punt returner was hit hard while catching the ball, fumbling it and giving the Giants M. Hedgecock the chance to pick it up and return it for 41yds to give the home team a 7:0 lead. Not shocked at all, the Packers offense took the field and fought back, finishing a 6 play 77 yrd drive with a 11yrd TD pass from Aaron Rodgers to TE Donald Lee.

For the rest of the first half, although driving towards the Giants endzone several times, the Packers were only able to finish three drives with field goals, while the Packers D continued their strong play holding the Giants to

89 offense yrds and no further score. At half-time, the Pack lead the Giants 16:7. The Giants second score came on another Packers turnover, when Aaron Rodgers threw his first Interception of the season on the first drive after the halftime.

Sam Madison cought a pass intended for Ryan Grant and returned it untouched for 23yrd into the Packers endzone. After the TD, the kickers again became the scoring players, the Packers' Mason Crosby hit two more FGs, while Giants' John Carney scored once on a 52 yarder.

The final TD, sealing the Packers win, came after the last of three Eli Manning turnovers, when Cullen Jenkins forced a fumble and recovered it at the Giants 19yrd line. Two plays later, Aaron Rodgers hit Ryan Grant on a 6yrd pass for the final score of 29:17 for the Pack.

Asked about the victory, Packers coach McNuff stated that the Giants more or less gave the game away commiting 9 penalties for a total of 100yrds on top of their three turnovers. "The next game against the Chargers we have to finish our drives with TDs, we just can't rely on the opposing team to make so many mistakes again".

The Bengals bounced back from their defeat in the season opener with a resounding win over their Ohio rivals, the Browns. Cincinnati looked in control from the get go, and built up an 11 point lead at halftime, before adding 3 more Shayne Graham FGs and shutting out the Browns in the second half for a convincing 33-13 victory.

This was the product of an all around solid team effort. The Bengals dominated time of possession, largely as a result of Cedric Benson's consistent rushing (32 runs for 100 yards). The passing game delivered when it was needed, with the Bengals' 'big three' all turning in very good performances. Carson Palmer had a 124 passer rating, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught 8 of his passes. Chad Johnson was spectacular, catching 4 (mostly long) balls for over 100 yards.

Crucially, the Bengals didn't turn the ball over, while the Browns' Derek Anderson was intercepted once by SS Chris Crocker. The Browns also muffed a punt, which was recovered by the Bengals and put a definitive end to any hopes of a late comeback. Cincinnati's defense added 4 sacks, including one by DT Domata Peko, who now has 3 for the season and is developing into a force to be reckoned with.

But the highlight of the day came on special teams: On a Bengals kickoff, a backup safety whose name does not matter (but who was controlled by Ickey himself) came sprinting down the field like a lightning bolt and delivered a crushing BIG HIT on the return man - the first in Ickey's entire Madden 08 career! Now if only he could find that strip ball button every once in a while...