The most impressive achievement yesterday wasn't the Cardinals scoring three first-quarter touchdowns after failing to cross the goal line in the opening period of any game last season. Nor was it Jacksonville scoring 24 consecutive points to beat Dallas, after spotting the Cowboys a 10-0 lead. It wasn't even Alex Smith throwing a touchdown pass in his first start of 2006 after going until the final game of 2005 before recording an aerial score.
The most eye-opening accomplishment was Baltimore shutting out defending NFC South co-champion Tampa Bay 27-0 . . . in Tampa. Mind you, the Ravens had lost 11 in a row on the road, the longest active streak in the NFL, and the Bucs had gone 10 years and 24 straight home games without being shut out.
“To open on the road against a team of this caliber, to play the way the guys did, it's all on the players,” Baltimore coach Brian Billick said. “We had IVs pumping into every orifice of the body in (the locker room), and the guys just fought through it under all circumstances. Couldn't be prouder of this team. A shutout in the NFL is always shocking. That's hard to do.”
It would be foolish to make long-term predictions based on one game, but the Ravens definitely sent notice that they should be players in the quest for the Lombardi Trophy. The offseason acquisition of QB Steve McNair from Tennessee clearly has brought a sense of stability that wasn't there when erratic Kyle Boller was taking snaps.
McNair set the tone in the opening half, completing 12-of-19 passes to seven teammates for 108 yards and a 17-0 lead. Baltimore's defense must have felt as if the score were 40-0, considering the club was held to fewer than 20 points in 12 of its first 13 games last year.
Terrell who?
The Eagles are hoping to have found an outside threat to replace the departed Terrell Owens, and for a day Donte' Stallworth looked capable of handling the role.
The speedy wideout, acquired recently in a trade with New Orleans, caught four passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in his Philadelphia debut – in the first half.
“I still have to get adjusted to his speed,” quarterback Donovan McNabb said. “The guy can move. He has a different type of gear than most. . . . I think what he was able to display today in the offense is we have big-play capabilities. We still have to work on some different things, such as working the intermediate passing game and giving those guys opportunities to make guys miss. But it's good to see what we were able to do.”
Reunited
New England's Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison were together on the same defense for the first time since 2002 – the last of their nine seasons together with the Chargers – and Harrison said it was like old times yesterday in the Patriots' 19-17 defeat of Buffalo.
“It was fun,” said Harrison, who was credited with nine tackles, one more than Seau. “Junior played well (in his first game with the Patriots). He showed some emotion and got us going.”
Seau started at middle linebacker and played mainly on run downs.
Who needs touchdowns?
The Rams' first-team offense failed to score a touchdown on 11 preseason possessions and did not cross the goal line on any of its 11 series yesterday. No matter. St. Louis beat the Broncos 18-10 on six field goals by Jeff Wilkins.
Making amends
Falcons QB Michael Vick admitted in the offseason he didn't give his all in a 44-11 season-ending loss at Carolina last year, in part because Atlanta already was out of the playoffs. He promised it would never happen again, and yesterday he showed the Panthers his real ability, throwing for two scores and running for 48 yards in a 20-6 win.
Jim Trotter: (619) 293-1859; jim.trotter@uniontrib.com
