Here we go.
From the "Talks too much" studios, buckle up.
Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons toppled Philadelphia on Monday night.
It was a very good win for the Falcons for a variety of reasons.
It was a win against arguably the second-best team the Falcons will play this year.
It was a win in Dan Quinn's debut, something that is always a positive for a new coach still trying to mold a team and galvanize a locker room.
It was a win that showed yet again, as TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer tells us herehttp://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/columns/story/2015/sep/15/wiedmer-matty-ice-ii-saves-falcons-again/325180/, that the Falcons can trust their kicker in all moments, big or small.
It was a win that generates a very positive review for offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who did an excellent job of utilizing his best player - Julio Jones - in a variety of ways.
Mostly, though, it was a win that shows Quinn's influence on the defense will yield tangible and real changes.
The defense flew to the football. They tackled well. They forced turnovers. They dictated pace and changed flow.
In truth, the defense was a night and day difference to the reactionary disaster that we watched a year ago.
That friends was a great start.
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A freshly painted NFL football logo is shown in the south end zone of CenturyLink Field in Seattle in this Jan. 14, 2015, photo.NFL rewind
In this space each week we'll look at the five big takeaways from the opening weekend of the NFL season.
And with a shoutout to regular Press Row listener Justin, we're going to introduce 'NFL Overreaction Tuesday' that will be a weekly staple here and on the radio.
1. Julio Jones will be the NFL offensive player of the year. Jones had nine catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He will be a frequent target for two reasons: First, he's a bad man. Second, Kyle Shanahan's offense loves to work a dominant wide out.
2. Peyton Manning is finished. The Broncos beat the Ravens in their opener Sunday, but Manning was downright pedestrian. He was 24-of-40 for 175 yards and a pick. He also appeared on the Broncos' injury report with a bad back.
3. The Cowboys are cooked. Dallas escaped with a week one win because Eli Manning channelled his inner Ryan Leaf and melted down in the final minutes Sunday night. Now, Dallas faces a dangerous stretch without Dez Bryant, who may miss two months with a broken foot.
4. The Bills are going to the Super Bowl. Buckle up because Sexy Rexy Ryan stuffed Indy and Andrew Luck with a never-ending pass rush and a better than expected showing from Tyrod Taylor. And the pass rush will only get better when Marcel Dareus returns. Ouch-standing.
5. The Patriots are going to be tough to beat and they will probably cheat. Wait, that's not an overreaction at all.
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Tennessee coach Butch Jones claims responsibility for the Volunteers' inability to hold off Oklahoma in Saturday's double-overtime loss to the Sooners.College football ripples
Monday, UT football coach Butch Jones took blame for the Vols' fall-from-ahead defeat against Oklahoma.
It was the right move. Be the leader take the blame.
It also was the correct move, because it looked like the Vols played not to lose and that's coaching.
Oklahoma accepted some blame too on Monday as Eric Striker and Hatari Byrd apologized for their actions after the game that included some celebrating by taunting UT fans and some one-finger salutes.
Here's the story http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13660045/eric-striker-hatari-byrd-oklahoma-sooners-apologize-obscenities-middle-finger.
There were some intriguing reactions to the actions on the sidelines last Saturday.
First there was the whole Striker-UT back and forth. Striker talked a little bit on the front end - and here's saying the UT fans bent his ear all Saturday evening up until the end - and he fired back after the comeback win.
OK.
Then there was Jim McElwain's harsh words for Kelvin Taylor after he pulled the tired throat slash move in Florida's win over East Carolina.
First, anyone who has ever been a football sideline has heard way worse than that on any Friday night, Saturday or Sunday.
Here's my question: All of this etiquette and demeanor - and that's fine - but has anyone seen any of the reactions of the fans in today's pressure-cooker football world?
It's arguably the biggest double standard in all of sports.
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This and that
- OK, we owe everyone an apology. In our normal, who won and lost the weekend, we all agreed that Marcus Mariota won the weekend. That's square. But to not mention Jordan Spiethhttp://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/25301621/watch-jordan-spieth-sings-at-texas-game-in-green-jacket is borderline blasphemous. Spieth you see, spent Sunday night at Jerry World watching the Cowboys from Tony Romo's box. He spent Saturday at the University of Texas - where he went for a year before turning pro - and sang the fight song. A cool weekend, right? Well, Jordan showed up in his Masters green jacket and with his U.S. Open trophy. Oh yeah, the Texas marching band spelled out his name at halftime. That's money.
- We thought this was pretty cool stuff http://finance.yahoo.com/news/map-shows-most-popular-nfl-164003711.html. Yep a state-by-state map showing which NFL teams are the most popular. New England has the most at five, with Kansas City and Dallas next with four.
- We wanted to pass this along because it was such a goos story http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13650802/nba-how-moses-malone-mentored-young-charles-barkley. Yes, Charles Barkley credited Moses Malone for making him into the Hall of Fame player Barkley became. Chuck even called Moses "Dad."
- Kudos to the Lookouts for making it to the championship series of the Southern League.
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Today's question
It's a true or false Tuesday, so you know what that means.
It's also fair to toss out your NFL overreaction, a reoccurring theme we'll follow this NFL season.
We also noticed today is Tommy Lee Jones' 69th birthday. And TLJ has a sneaky strong IMBD pagehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000169/. Rushmore of Tommy Lee Jones movies has to include "Lonesome Dove" but what else?
Go (and it's never to early to remember the mailbag).