Another week down in the NFL and now we are starting to see what teams are for real and which ones aren’t. September is ending and we are heading into October, the second month of the season. It was eventful week with the Lions winning and some Brett Favre magic were only two highlights among the many. Lets get into my thoughts on the week of play:
The Lions Win!
I'm going to Disney World!
It’s been 21 months since the Lions tasted victory but that is all forgotten- at least for now. The monkey is finally off their back and they should be able to string together a few more wins this season.
Zorn on the Hot Seat
That seat just got a lot hotter after yesterday’s performance. Owner Dan Snyder is known to be very impatient and I’m sure he’s on the brink right now. A loss next week at home to Tampa Bay would probably do the trick. Even if it doesn’t happen soon he’s all but certain to be out at the end of the season unless the Skins put together a playoff run. He has probably gotten a bad shake but he knew what he was getting himself into when he took the job.
Favre Magic
On Sunday afternoon we saw vintage Favre on that final drive as he engineered an 80 yard drive in 87 seconds without any timeouts. That’s one game so far that the Vikes would have not one with Tavaris or Sage at the helm. Brett just had his ‘Viking Moment’ and gives the team a lot of momentum as the Vikings head into a huge Monday night clash against the Packers.
Vick is Back
1,001 days after playing his last regular season game Michael Vick returned to the playing field for a rather uneventful 11 plays. I’ll some up his play in 11 words; He is simply not the best Wildcat quarterback on the team. In fact, I’d rather have Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, and LeSean McCoy taking snaps in the Wildcat over Vick right now. He has a long way to go but it was a start.
Relax Bill Simmons, the Patriots are fine
In his latest column Bill Simmons pretty much said even without directly saying it that he thought the Pats were in for a long season. Well, after Sunday’s performance i wouldn’t write them off quite yet. Without Wes Welker they defeated the Falcons, a NFC contender, in impressive fashion. I think Belichick finally realized that you need to run the ball and he has a pretty good running back in Fred Taylor. The running game brought some balance to the offense and kept the defense on the sidelines. This may not be the Pats team of a few years back but they’re still a team to be reckon with.
Trouble in Pittsbugh?
Another last second loss for the Steelers and now they’re sitting at 1-2 and two games behind the first place Baltimore Ravens. And if not for a couple of Rob Bironas missed field goals in the opener the defending champs would be sitting at 0-3. One positive though, the running game looked a lot better this week. Anything would have been better than the first two weeks but Willie Parker looked good, not great. They still need last years first rounder, Rashard Mendenhall, to make an impact. It’s clear though that this team really misses Troy Polamalu. They haven’t forced a turnover in the two games without him and had two in the game where he played. They have a big game against the Chargers this week as they try to avoid going 1-3.
I’m Wacko for Flacco
I continue to be more impressed each week by the play of Joe Flacco. He has made a huge leap from his rookie season to this year and is looking like an upper echelon quarterback. Without many weapons to his disposal he is making use of every player available spreading the ball around. After years of the Ravens defense bailing out the offense it finally looks as if they have an offense to complement it and even perhaps bail out the defense from time to time.
J-E-T-S
More of the same from the Jets this week. Sanchez looked good, the defense was great, and Rex Ryan is one big boy. The 3-0 Jets head to New Orleans to battle the 3-0 Saints next week in a game pitting arguably the best offense and defense against each other. Side note: Did anyone see Rex Ryan’s halftime interview with Bob Costas at halftime of the Sunday Night game? One of the more awkward experiences of my life and I was watching. It still didn’t top Costas’ interview with Leno two weeks ago though. I had to look away at one point it was that awkward. I can’t tell if it’s Costas or if NBC has some terrible sound delay but something needs to be done.
How bout them Broncos!
I gotta admit I had the Broncos pegged wrong this season. I thought the offense would be fine with Orton but I was worried that the defense would be atrocious. But after three weeks they are first in points allowed (5.3 per game) and first in total yards allowed (215 per game). Perhaps Josh McDaniels best move was hiring Mike Nolan as defensive coordinator, where he flourished with the Ravens.
0-3 Teams in Trouble
Titans- Another valiant effort from the Titans but they fall short once again. Coming close won’t get you any wins and as Bill Parcells says “You are what your record says you are.” Unfortunately, time may be running out for the Titans. The Colts are three games ahead of them making a wild card their only shot at the playoffs. If they don’t start winning it may be time to see Vince Young again.
Dolphins- This 0-3 start was more expected but it’s still hard to take for Phins fans who saw this team go 11-5 last year. It looks as is Chad Pennington will be out for a couple games and possibly the season and if that’s the case but it may be his career. We’ll get a look at Chad Henne in the next couple of weeks and even if it’s only a couple week injury for Chad it may be best to stick with Henne.
Quick Notes
- T.O. goes catch less for the first time since his rookie year.
- Cutler was sharp again leading the Bears to another comeback win.
- Eric Mangini playing quarterback carousel already, is it time for Brett Ratliff?
- Anyone notice Kevin Kolb isn’t as bad as the media has made him out to be?
- Just when we thought JaMarcus Russell had reached a career low he plays even worse..
- Changing quarterbacks isn’t going to make any difference for the Bucs.
That does it for week 3. Enjoy Monday Night football!
