So my fellow idiots, it’s been a while but the NFL is back in full swing and I could not be more excited. There are already significant changes/controversies going on in the league, and we are only 2 weeks in. Those of you who keep up with the world of football probably all know of the Tom Brady injury situation in New England, and the overplayed and ridiculous goings on of the Brett Favre saga. But there are also a number of controversial officiating debacles that have taken place in the last week of play. The biggest and most obvious is the blatant fumble that was whistled a dead play in the Denver VS. San Diego matchup this last Sunday. The bad part about this call, is that not only did San Diego miss out on an opportunity to win the game, but there is currently no way to overrule a call that has been whistled dead, even if it was in-fact a fumble. There have been a myriad of similar calls like this in the past since the replay system was re-instated back in the late 90′s
The other mentionable call took place in the Philly VS. Dallas game on Monday night, where Eagles rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson threw the ball backwards at the 1 yard line. He thought that he was past the goal line when running for an attempted touchdown. The play was whistled dead as soon as the ball hit the ground, being called an “incomplete backward pass”. With that being said, the current rules do not allow for Dallas (or any) defenders to make any sort of play on the ball, which they should be able to do. But because the play was “officially” ruled dead, it’s a no-go even though it was technically a backward lateral pass. Had it not been whistled dead, Dallas could have potentially recovered the ball on the 1 yard line, and made an attempt at a play. I am sure that until we have some replay changes in effect, we will see plenty more controversial calls like these being made. I have learned however, that the entire replay system will be heavily looked at for some much needed possible changes this coming off-season. All in all though, the system has been relatively effective since it was re-instated, despite the miscues.
I also wanted to touch on the surprising starts of some of the teams that either were heavy favorites, or severe underdogs coming in to this season, so I will try to break this down into their respective divisions.
AFC WEST:
The first team in this division that comes to mind is the heavily favored AFC west defending champion San Diego chargers. They have been slated pretty favorably to win the AFC west again, and possibly even make a super bowl run this year. Instead, they have started out with a dismal 0-2 record, with both losses coming in the later moments of the 4th quarter in each game. They still have a very powerful offense however, with QB Phillip Rivers and RB Ladanian Tomlinson. But the bad part for them is after losing OLB Shawn Merriman for the season with a serious knee injury on defense, they have struggled with the leagues 30th ranked defensive unit. The Oakland Raiders sit at a mediocre 1-1 start, with not much to be proud of as of yet, with an unproven QB and a weak defense so far. They also face the reality that their head coach may be out of a job sooner than later. Head Coach Herman Edwards’ Kansas City Chiefs are at an unimpressive start of 0-2 so far on the year with a horrible offensive effort so far, and a mediocre at best defense, leaving the Denver Broncos solely atop the AFC west. Although the Broncos bolster the leagues #1 ranked offense, they sport a poorly ranked 27th overall defense for a surprising start of 2-0.
AFC EAST:
The New England Patriots have managed to start off with an expected 2-0 record despite losing quarterback Tom Brady with a season-ending knee injury, being replaced by first-time NFL starter Matt Cassel. The other teams in AFC east division are just not that threatening to the Patriots, even with the recent trade of Brett Favre to the New York Jets, who have started with a mediocre 1-1 record. The Jets have had high expectations, but with an aging Favre and inexperience at wide receiver, how good can they really be? The Buffalo Bills have come out of the woodwork to jump to a quick 2-0 start to tie New England atop the AFC east, so there may be some contention for the Patriots in this division after all if they can keep pulling wins out of the bag. The Miami Dolphins remain to be one of the leagues laughing stock teams, with little offensive prowess ranking 26th overall, and a lackluster defense which also ranks 26th. This comes in the wake of losing pro bowl defensive end Jason Taylor in a trade to the Washington Redskins this past offseason.
AFC SOUTH:
The Tennessee Titans have surprisingly jumped to the top of this division with a 2-0 start even after losing QB Vince Young for several weeks due to a sprained ligament in his knee. Young has also been battling the press along with his own personal demons, which may contribute to him missing more starting time, leaving veteran QB Kerry Collins to start in his absence. The high expectation of the Indianapolis Colts has been calmed recently with a 1-1 start, as they barely got a win over the Minnesota Vikings late in the game last Sunday. As a whole, the Colts are a healthy team, but it would seem as if their swagger and hype as a former super bowl champion team back in 2006, has slightly diminished over the last year or so. The Jacksonville Jaguars have made an unimpressive start to a record of 0-2, despite heavy expectations of a playoff contending season, with Head Coach Jack Del Rio trying to re-vamp his team, making several changes offensively and defensively. And lastly, the Houston Texans can’t expect to win a game if they can’t even play in their own stadium due to Hurricane Ike pounding much of southern Texas in recent days. The Texans have started the season at 0-1 under head coach Gary Kubiak.
AFC NORTH:
The Pittsburgh Steelers have rebounded from a disappointing season a year ago, to bolster a 2-0 record, with Ben Roethlisberger being healthy and confident once again, throwing to a healthy Hines Ward and having a solid running game with Willie Parker has probably helped the team get to where they want to be thus far. The Baltimore Ravens have managed to squeak out a win, even after Starting QB Kyle Boller was put on injured reserve following the pre-season. The team is under new head coach John Harbaugh this season, after firing long time coach Brian Billick. The Cleveland Browns have had a miserable start with a 0-2 record so far, despite having talent at wide receiver with Braylon Edwards, and tight end Kellen Winslow JR, and a quarterback in Derek Anderson who seems to have pretty serious arm strength. But it seems as if they just have no defense to speak of to stop opposing offenses. And of course you have the Cincinnati Bengals, who have had more off the field trouble than anything for a couple of years now. That being said, QB Carson Palmer is healthy and throwing the ball fairly well, but he needs help from his out spoken WR “Ocho Cinco” Chad Johnson to get something going. They sit with a 0-2 record also.
NFC NORTH:
The high powered Green Bay Packers are another surprising team, who without Brett Favre, have been putting up some pretty impressive numbers offensively, seemingly not even missing Brett Favre’s presence. Defensively they may not be quite as polished ranking 22nd in the league, but they do have some pretty serious talent in the secondary that includes pro bowl cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson. I think the biggest overall surprise with the Packers, is their young quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is putting up very Favre- like numbers, despite being slated as an injury prone, under-experienced player this offseason. The Detroit Lions came in to this season with high expectations, and the best potential receiving duo in the league with Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson, but have failed to get anything going as they start the season out with a 0-2 record, and getting destroyed by the Packers in last Sunday’s game. The Chicago Bears are trying to keep pace with a 1-1 start, but are having offensive troubles of their own. They have a good defense, but have not managed to really scare anyone as of yet this season, even though pro bowler LB Brian Urlacher is healthy and playing well. And lastly, you have the disappointing start of the highly anticipated Minnesota Vikings with a 0-2 record. The Vikings and their impressive RB Adrian Peterson were thought to out-right win the NFC North, but with their young QB Tarvaris Jackson being benched for the rest of the season due to non-productivity, you can’t be sure that aging QB Gus Frerotte (who was named the starter for the rest of the season, barring injury) can get the job done either. Not to mention the fact that Green Bay has stated by the way they are playing right now, that they want the division for a second year in a row.
NFC EAST:
The Dallas Cowboys are off to a fast start as everyone predicted, but they will have some serious competition with their division rivals. In the suddenly dominant NFC east, you have the Cowboys with Tony Romo throwing to veteran WR Terrell Owens in their powerful offense pushing them to a 2-0 start. The Philadelphia Eagles however, with a healthy Donovan Mcnabb have started out 1-1, losing a close Monday night game to Dallas. They could however, lend some trouble to this division if QB Mcnabb and RB Brian Westbrook can manage to stay healthy, and teach their wide receivers to hold on to the ball until they have passed the goal line. And of course, Eli Manning and his New York Giants have pushed to a 2-0 start, not surprisingly, and are coming off of a convincing super bowl victory last season, would like a repeat this year. You also have the Washington Redskins at 1-1, who will probably not make any kind of run at the division, but could sneak in to the playoffs if they play their cards right. All of these teams seem to be in great contention to win, and it will probably be very difficult to predict who will take this division, but we shall see as time progresses.
NFC SOUTH:
The Carolina Panthers lead this weak division with a start of 2-0, even though WR Steve Smith has been serving a league mandated 4 game suspension. They come in with a high flying offense, and an aging defense, that so far has gotten the job done. The New Orleans Saints have started with a 1-1 record, but they have had a lot of pressure to live up to a higher standard since they made it to the NFC Championship game 2 years ago following Hurricane Katrina. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also started with a 1-1 record in this seemingly competitive division, despite having QB problems of their own already. Looks like head coach John Gruden is in for yet another year of disappointment. And the Atlanta Falcons have started out 1-1 even though they have had so much controversy with ex QB Michael Vick going to prison for dog fighting charges. They have had little success with rookie QB Matt Ryan taking over the offense.
NFC WEST:
Head coach Mike Holmgren’s Seattle Seahawks are a huge disappointment this season so far, starting out with a record of 0-2, With QB Matt Hasslebeck’s performance being dismal, and not much of a receiving corps since they lost 4 wide-outs in week 1. The Arizona Cardinals have finally started to look like the team that everyone thought they could be about 4 years ago, starting out with a 2-0 record. With QB Matt Leinart being benched for not being productive, it leaves the aging, but effective Kurt Warner to step in and start for the Cardinals throwing to what is probably the best receiving duo in the game in Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin. The St. Louis Rams are also undergoing some head coaching controversy as coach Steve Linehan may be on the chopping block if he doesn’t jump start his team. They start out at 0-2, they may be in the need of a whole new management and coaching staff to manage and clean them up. And lastly you have the San Francisco 49ers, who have been struggling for years now to find their niche, but have had little-to-no success. They benched QB Alex Smith in hopes to find a quarterback that could get them over the hump, but as it seems so far, QB J.T. O’sullivan may not be the right fit either.
I will be updating all of the scores, stats, and other NFL news weekly, so stay tuned, keep reading, and I will keep writing.
Later y’all!
