Early NFL Looks
September 21st 2009 04:13
Sorry everybody, I've been a busy college student lately. I will make a concerted effort to get more thoughts up in this space in the near future. As always, I'm humbled by your readership and thankful for your time, energy, and following.
In case you live in a cave with Internet access, the NFL is back. And I'm excited. The fantasy train is humming along (not so good for my teams so far), and the general outlook of roughly 26 teams is promising. Clean slates and optimism are abounding all around the league. I want to offer a recap of the games and what we've seen through Week 2.
One of the biggest stories of the young season is the re-establishment of the San Francisco 49ers as the preeminent NFL franchise. I'm only kidding. The Niners, though, have been as impressive as any team coming out of the gates, with two nice wins over the projected leaders of the NFC West, the reigning NFC Champion Cardinals and the division favorite Seahawks. This team had high hopes coming into the season after last year's strong finish under interim coach Mike Singletary. Singletary deserves loads of credit in the overnight turnaround of his team, which has been led by his locker room cultural overhaul. After a handful of years of getting pushed around and out-toughed, the Niners are implementing a defensive-minded, run first style while simply out-toughing the opponent. Young Patrick Willis leads a surprising defense which has surrendered just 26 points in the season's opening pair of games. Nate Clements is finally earning the lavish contract he signed 2 offseasons ago in anchoring a secondary that has given up only 1 touchdown by pass thus far. Bionic running back Frank Gore exploded for 200 and 2 long TD runs against Seattle, and looks to be in the form of his breakout 2007 campaign. The rubber hits the road over the next 9 weeks for the Niners, as the schedule shows brutal games at Minnesota, against Atlanta, at Houston and Indianapolis, and consecutive games against Tennessee, Chicago, and Green Bay. Time will test the legitimacy of this upstart crew.
The New York Jets are turning heads with a 2-0 start, including a dramatic victory over the increasingly rivaled Patriots. The Jets defense looks downright suffocating against the juggernaut offenses of Houston and New England, while proving competent offensively. Mark Sanchez has been solid if unspectacular in the limelight of his position. Many criticized his choice to enter the draft this year, but he has shown maturity beyond his years in handling the media pressure both on and off the field. The Jets have surrendered an astounding 16 points in two games, and are the surprising class of the AFC thus far.
The Baltimore Ravens are winning as expected, but not with the defensive juggernaut we're used to. No, the 2009 version of the Ravens is doing it with offense, having scored 69 points in 2 games, good for #2 in the NFL.
Quarterback Joe Flacco is no superstar, but is absolutely underrated as a skilled winner at his position. He showed this in his great rookie season and has continued to develop in his sophomore year. Unfortunately, former defensive coordinator and new Jets coach Rex Ryan do not see the Ravens on the schedule this season, but hopefully the playoffs will see these teams meet.
It looks like the Wildcat offense in Miami has been figured out. With a year of game planning and scheming under the belt, it feels as though everyone has stymie Tony Sparano's innovative, college-style offense. The NFL is known for having teams overachieve and shock the world one year, then succumb to huge expectations the next season. Well friends, the Miami Dolphins are that team this year. Chad Pennington played over his ceiling in terms of ball control last season, which helped mask the weaknesses of an overachieving defense. With yet another competitive crop in the AFC East, don't think you'll see Miami repeat with 11 wins this season.
I'll resort to list form to finish out my thoughts
THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!
1. Adrian Peterson (272 rush yards, 4 TD)
2. New Orleans Saints offense (league leading 93 points, 9 passing TD)
3. Cleveland, Jacksonville, Kansas City, all 0-2 (no explanation needed)
4. Andre Johnson (9 catches, 141 yards, 2 TDs in Week 2)
5. Drew Brees (9 TD, 669 yards, 2 INT)
6. Atlanta Falcons (2-0 5th in /-, 13.0 points allowed per game)
A LITTLE SURPRISED
1. Cincinnati Bengals defense (18.0 points allowed/game, 1-1 record)
2. Tennessee Titans 0-2 (47 points allowed)
3. New England Patriots offense (only 34 points scored)
4. New York Jets, San Francisco, the frisky Buffalo Bills
5. The Oakland Raiders (1-1, should be 2-0)
6. Denver Broncos (Cutler who? Shanahan who? 2-0, 6.5 points allowed per game)
RISING
1. New York Jets
2. Oakland Raiders
3. Houston Texans
4. San Francisco 49ers
5. New Orleans Saints
6. Denver Broncos
7. Baltimore Ravens
FALLING
1. Miami Dolphins
2. New England Patriots
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Tennessee Titans
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Carolina Panthers
7. Green Bay Packers
Well, that felt good. It's nice to be back.
In case you live in a cave with Internet access, the NFL is back. And I'm excited. The fantasy train is humming along (not so good for my teams so far), and the general outlook of roughly 26 teams is promising. Clean slates and optimism are abounding all around the league. I want to offer a recap of the games and what we've seen through Week 2.
The New York Jets are turning heads with a 2-0 start, including a dramatic victory over the increasingly rivaled Patriots. The Jets defense looks downright suffocating against the juggernaut offenses of Houston and New England, while proving competent offensively. Mark Sanchez has been solid if unspectacular in the limelight of his position. Many criticized his choice to enter the draft this year, but he has shown maturity beyond his years in handling the media pressure both on and off the field. The Jets have surrendered an astounding 16 points in two games, and are the surprising class of the AFC thus far.
The Baltimore Ravens are winning as expected, but not with the defensive juggernaut we're used to. No, the 2009 version of the Ravens is doing it with offense, having scored 69 points in 2 games, good for #2 in the NFL.
It looks like the Wildcat offense in Miami has been figured out. With a year of game planning and scheming under the belt, it feels as though everyone has stymie Tony Sparano's innovative, college-style offense. The NFL is known for having teams overachieve and shock the world one year, then succumb to huge expectations the next season. Well friends, the Miami Dolphins are that team this year. Chad Pennington played over his ceiling in terms of ball control last season, which helped mask the weaknesses of an overachieving defense. With yet another competitive crop in the AFC East, don't think you'll see Miami repeat with 11 wins this season.
I'll resort to list form to finish out my thoughts
THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!
1. Adrian Peterson (272 rush yards, 4 TD)
2. New Orleans Saints offense (league leading 93 points, 9 passing TD)
3. Cleveland, Jacksonville, Kansas City, all 0-2 (no explanation needed)
4. Andre Johnson (9 catches, 141 yards, 2 TDs in Week 2)
5. Drew Brees (9 TD, 669 yards, 2 INT)
6. Atlanta Falcons (2-0 5th in /-, 13.0 points allowed per game)
A LITTLE SURPRISED
1. Cincinnati Bengals defense (18.0 points allowed/game, 1-1 record)
2. Tennessee Titans 0-2 (47 points allowed)
3. New England Patriots offense (only 34 points scored)
4. New York Jets, San Francisco, the frisky Buffalo Bills
5. The Oakland Raiders (1-1, should be 2-0)
6. Denver Broncos (Cutler who? Shanahan who? 2-0, 6.5 points allowed per game)
RISING
1. New York Jets
2. Oakland Raiders
3. Houston Texans
4. San Francisco 49ers
5. New Orleans Saints
6. Denver Broncos
7. Baltimore Ravens
FALLING
1. Miami Dolphins
2. New England Patriots
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Tennessee Titans
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Carolina Panthers
7. Green Bay Packers
Well, that felt good. It's nice to be back.
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