Two NFL players began the NFL's first week with virtuoso performances. One was Peyton Manning. The other was Anquan Boldin. Both had John Harbaugh shaking his head in disgust.
Manning's seven touchdown passes against Harbaugh's catatonic defense left the Baltimore Ravens reeling. While they spent Sunday recuperating from their Thursday night whooping, John and a few Ravens were probably sitting around watching Jim Harbaugh taking on the Green Bay Packers in the game of the day.
John may have been proud of his brother pulling out the win. However, 193 yards and two touchdowns from Anquan Boldin should have had him kicking himself in the head Vinateri-style for trading Boldin to his brother for a sixth round pick. At the time, John's nepotism wasn't given that much of a second thought because Boldin was thought to be at the end of the line as a top-flight receiver. There were concerns that he was slowing down entering his 32nd year. He's never been a burner anyways. Boldin excels at using his body and mental acuity to create space to haul in catches.
Conversely on Thursday night, the Ravens lost Boldin's replacement as Baltimore's No. 2 receiver, Jacoby Jones, sprained his MCL.
In his post-game interview with NBC Sports, Vernon Davis thanked God for giving him Boldin as a teammate. He should have acknowledged John, who probably spent his afternoon avoiding shouting the Lord's name in vain in combination with any four-letter expleitves everytime Boldin caught another big throw from Colin Kaepernick.
The timeline on Michael Crabtree's recovery from a torn Achilles heel makes Boldin Kaepernick's No. 1 target in a revamped receiving corps. I case you had any questions about who Kap would throw to and whether their passing attack would suffer, he answered all questions in week one. The Niners may be even better.
