NFL: Thoughts About The Second Sunday

Week 2 of the marvelous NFL season has sadly come to a close.  We saw quite a bit this week, from surprise teams emerging (Buffalo and Carolina), second chance quarterbacks leading their team to victories (Kurt Warner and Brian Griese), and one hell of a Monday night game.  But with all this, week 2 left us with a bevy of questions going into week 3.

Five Best:

1) Buffalo Bills

-Okay, maybe they don't need to be ranked this high.  Maybe they weren't the best team from Sunday.  But look at the situation they're in.  First of all, when Brady went down in week 1, it opened the gates for the Jets and Bills to actually have a thought about winning the AFC East.  Imagine the sense of pressure put on this young team.  Second, they were playing a Jacksonville team that needed to come out and have a big game, and in my opinion, a team that is more talented than the Bills.  And what do they do?  They come out and play a great game against the Jags.  The score may not show it (20-16), but this was a hell of a win.  They stout Bills defense held the double headed monster that is the Jaguars' running game to 98 yards and picked off David Garrard without allowing a touchdown throw from him.  What was most impressive was Trent Edwards.  The 2nd year man out of Stanford completed 20 of his 25 passes and threw for a score (aided by a ridiculously good catch by rookie James Hardy).  Edwards is managing the game exactly the way Dick Jauron wants him to.  The Bills got a win against a quality opponent, a legitimate Super Bowl contender, and now face Oakland and St. Louis, two highly dysfunctional teams (if you can call them teams).  There is no reason why the Bills could start this season 4-0.  Yikes.

2) Donovan McNabb

-Wow.  I mean...wow.  I'm amazed at how well McNabb played against the Cowboys.  He looked poised in the pocket.  When he had the chance to run the ball, he waited and let his receivers get open (although, this also had a negative effect, as McNabb could've run the ball on several occasions instead of taking a sack which would've entirely changed the outcome of this game).  Except for one miscommunicated handoff to Brian Westbrook, McNabb was essentially perfect.  He's making DeSean Jackson a front runner in for the ROTY award, and he's vaunting his Eagles to the top of the NFC.  Yes, they lost the game, but McNabb's performance sent tremors of fear down the spines of every single NFC head coach, not to mention us Cowboys fans.  This is supposed to be "our" year.  All the talk about how we're the most talented team in the NFC was sucked up in a vacuum.  Now the the NFC East is a battle between the Eagles and Cowboys?!  Ugh.  I feel like a kid at Toys 'R Us whose parents just told him they won't get him a toy.  So unfair.  

3) Matt Cassel

-No, Cassel didn't throw for a touchdown, nor did he throw for 300 yards (or even 200 for that matter).  But for not have started a game since high school, Cassel did pretty well.  Imagine the pressure of a) starting your first game in roughly eight years against a first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback who figures that his team has the upper hand in the division and a coach who was grinning the whole week wearing the "Bernard Pollard Fan Club" t-shirt everywhere he went and b) replacing the reigning MVP of the league and arguable the best quarterback in the league.  Cassel made short, efficient throws that put his team in the position to win the game.  That's really all Bill Belicheck asked for.  And for all that talk that Cassel is the next Tom Brady, let's keep in mind that this was one game (and Tom Brady actually started a game in college).  If Cassel and the Patriots can play like this every game, there's no reason we can't consider them to win the division.

4) Tony Romo

-My boy Romo again faced the Eagles defense that has baffled him every time he's played against them.  Jim Johnson has done a wonderful job of blitzing the crap out of Romo, forcing him to either take the sack or throw an interception.  Monday night, however, Romo showed the improvements that so many people talked about in the offseason.  He was quick to release the ball, he checked down to Marion Barber when facing the rush, and most importantly, he rebounded from a terrible, terrible turnover.  The most telling statistic was the fact that he wasn't sacked.  Not even once.  Now, that is probably the result of great offensive line play by the Cowboys, but Romo definitely had something to do with it.  Being a Cowboys fan, I'm no longer clutching the remote, ready to throw it at the TV (or my little brother), in anticipation of a bonehead turnover or avoidable sack.  I don't know about you, but going 21/30 for 312 yards and 3 touchdowns against a team that was supposed to shut you down is worthy of a "five best" spot.  Plus, the fact that he's Tony Romo doesn't hurt.  

5) Carolina Panthers

-So let me get this straight.  You lose your best player, the leader of your team to suspension.  Your quarterback is coming off Tommy John surgery, a procedure that's supposedly a career changing one.  And you pull of two straight come from behind victories against two great defenses?!  I was shocked and amazed.  The Chicago Bears' defense, looking like the 2006 team that went to the Super Bowl, played exceptionally well, holding Jake Delhomme to 128 yards passing and picking him off once.  But once again, John Fox's team rallied behind rookie running back Jonathan Stewart, who is looking awfully good.  Their defense looks better than ever, and now this team sits comfortably atop the NFC South.  With the return of Steve Smith, the Panthers should be able to pass the ball more, thus opening up more running lanes for Jonathan Stewart, leading to John Fox keeping his job and the Panthers quite possibly winning the division.

Honorable Mentions: Aaron Rodgers, Arizona Cardinals

Five Worst:

1) Minnesota Vikings

-They should not have lost the game against the Colts.  Simply put, picking off Peyton Manning twice, holding Joseph Addai to 1.3 yards a carry (also a result of a depleted offensive line), and having the best young running back in the league dash for 160 yards should equate to a victory.  Unless, of course, that equation involves the Minnesota Vikings. (Why am I using mathematical terms to talk about football?  Just another reason to add to my list of why calculus should not be required of students...or living, organic things).  Yes, other than allowing a 32-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Wayne and letting the Colts push down the field and win the game, the defense was wonderful.  It's the offense that is troubling.  First of all, Visanthe Shiancoe should have caught that pass.  A drop like is unacceptable.  That was probably the best throw Tarvaris Jackson has made all year, and probably would've saved his job.  Second of all, Tarvaris Jackson?  Need I say more?  Brad Childress entrusted so much in this kid, basically calling him the second coming of Donovan McNabb.  That hasn't worked out so well.  And now what?  Jackson has been relegated to being the infamous "quarterback of the future turned master clipboard holder".  While Brad Childress still states that Jackson is the quarterback they want to start, his decision to bench him and start journeyman veteran Gus Frerotte, while necessary, I feel that the Vikings season is all but over.

2) Cincinnati Bengals

-When you play two consecutive weeks against top notch defenses, it's customary to score below the capabilities of your team.  But when you have a team as talented as the Bengals' offense, scoring 17 points in two weeks is absolutely unacceptable.  The Bengals are making a case for being the most disappointing team in the NFL.  They have a Pro Bowl quarterback in Carson Palmer (who hasn't thrown for a single touchdown yet...last year in week 2 he threw 6 of them!) and a very, very good receiver in Chad Ocho Cinco (I most definitely typed Johnson first).  The defense has looked atrocious.  The Bengals are going back to their days of being the laughing stock of the NFL.  Karma is a killer, isn't it?  The rift between Carson Palmer and Chad Ocho Cinco (I typed Johnson again...crap) has clearly affected them on the field.  Marvin Lewis didn't want Chris Henry back on this team.  He adamantly stated that Henry had no place on this team.  And what does the Bengals' front office do?  They give Henry another chance.  It took a while to get the Bengals in the "respectable" category in the NFL, and it's looking like it'll take nothing short of a miracle to get them back there.

3) Seattle Seahawks

-When you consider making your backup quarterback the starting wide receiver, and even he gets injured, you know you've got bad luck.  If I'm a WR, I'm getting a job as far away from Seattle as possible.  That being said, in a year where the defense is your strongest asset, allowing J.T. O'Sullivan to throw for over 300 yards is just wrong.  We're talking about J.T. O'Sullivan.  This is a guy who couldn't get a job in Detroit.  And yet, he led the 49ers to a win against a team they were supposed to get pummeled by.  If I'm Mike Holmgren, I'm calling the Lions and offering them whatever I can for an unhappy Roy Williams.  As good as the Cardinals are playing, the Seahawks have to be worried.  Yes, the injuries aren't helping, which is a cause for the loss to San Francisco.  But teams have been able to overcome injuries in the past, and it shouldn't be different for a team led by one of the best coaches ever.

4) Ed Hochuli

-Referees make mistakes.  It's understandable.  But this one was obvious.  Hochuli's mistake cause the Chargers the game and put them at 0-2.  While many people would argue that San Diego couldn't stop Jay Cutler and the Broncos' offense before the ruling, keep in mind that they were leading.  If Hochuli made the right call, San Diego is 1-1 with a division win over their hated rivals.  Instead, Denver is 2-0 with two division wins and San Diego goes into a Monday night showdown with a very angry New York Jets team.  What had happened was that the whistle blew after the ball came out of Cutlers' hand, which signaled the end of the play.  For some reason, this doesn't apply to when the running back loses the football.  So basically, the play was ruled dead by Hochuli when it should have been a fumble, San Diego's ball, and San Diego's win.  The entire landscape of the AFC West could've been changed on one blown call.

5) Jacksonville Jaguars

-Injuries aside, the Jaguars have not looked good.  The running game hasn't been up to par, the defense is not playing nearly as well as they should be, David Garrard has already thrown three interceptions (he threw three all of last year), and the receiving game could pass for a flag football team made of 12-year olds.  The Jags have lost to a good Tennessee team (which they usually do) and a less-talented Bills team, a game they should've won.  I wrote last week that the Jags needed to win the game against Buffalo or they'd be in trouble.  Well, they lost, and now they're in trouble.  Tennessee is 2-0, the Colts are 1-2, and the Jags are stuck in last place.  The Jags' schedule is not favorable at all for them.  A loss to the Colts this week would drop them to 0-3 and 0-2 in the division.  After that, they face Houston at home, a very dangerous Pittsburgh team, and a surprising Broncos team.  When all their players come back from injury, they better be ready to go immediately.  I would not want to be a Jacksonville player right now.  The pressure for these next few weeks is very, very high.  This is like asking the girl to the prom.  This is like deciding whether to get the burrito or a burrito bowl from Chipotle.  So much pressure.

Honorable Mention: New Orleans Saints defense, Detroit Lions

Games to watch for next week:

1) Jacksonville @ Indianapolis- The most important game of the week, and a potential season saver for the Jags (assuming they win).

2) Dallas @ Green Bay- It'll be interesting to see how Tony Romo plays against another good defense and if Aaron Rodgers can continue to play as well as he has been.

3) Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia- Battle for Pennsylvania.  Big Ben is hurt, so it'll be up to Willie Parker to lead the way for the Steelers against a Philly team coming off a near win in Dallas.

4) New York Jets @ San Diego- Two teams coming off disappointing losses, both needing a win to keep up with the others in their division.

Five Thoughts From Week 2:

1) That Eagles-Cowboys game was one of the best games I've seen in a long, long time.

2) With both quarterbacks looking better than ever, the Jay Cutler-Philip Rivers rivalry is going to be great to watch.

3) Kurt Warner is reminding people why he was MVP of the league with the Rams.

4) Darren McFadden is going to be a star.

5) Even though he hasn't thrown a touchdown yet, Kyle Orton deserves to be starting for the Chicago Bears.