Week 2 is always one of my favorite weeks of the NFL season. It reshapes the way we view some of the so-called surprises and confirms some of the raised suspicions from week 1. This season, it seems we received an even stronger dose of clarification/confirmation than usual. The ACL Festival took up the vast majority of my weekend, but I still caught enough good old-fashioned NFL football to take stock of several teams’ fortunes.
The Haves
Atlanta
Okay, they don’t have a kicker (rookie Koenen was 0/4 on FG attempts on Sunday), but they have a defense whose motor won’t quit and a quarterback who’s reclaimed his confidence. While their win at Carolina was tempered somewhat by the Panthers’ clunker vs the Vikings, against Tampa Bay they displayed the same two-way dominance as last week and confirmed they are the team to beat in the NFC South. Their game 3 matchup against the 2-0 Saints in the newly refurbished Superdome on Monday Night Football should be telling.
Jacksonville
A defending Super Bowl champ hadn’t been shut out the following season in a quarter century. Whoops. Last night, the Jags demolished the Steelers, holding them to 153 yards on 46 plays. Their physical corners pushed around the Pittsburgh receiving corps, which allowed Jax to run-blitz on every down and frazzle the champs. Matt Jones has soft hands and precise foot control, qualities that can turn a 6’6″ speed WR into an MVP candidate over time. And my favorite play of the night came from little rookie RB Maurice Jones-Drew, who took on savage twister Troy Polamalu 1-on-1 on a blitz and stood him straight up. After Dallas whupped the ‘Skins, the Jags’ win in week 1 looks even more impressive. These guys are one to watch.
Baltimore and San Diego
Neither has allowed a TD yet, but combined they’ve played Tampa Bay, Tennessee, and Oakland twice — 3 of the worst teams in the league. But good teams thump bad ones decisively, and both 2-0 starts were dominant, to say the least. If Steve McNair stays healthy and Phil Rivers stays calm, look out.
Cincinnatti and Seattle
Both struggled a bit in week 1 and turned in solid performances against mediocre clubs in week 2. They are both offense-oriented teams with competent defenses and stable coaching situations. Neither has wowed me, but barring QB injuries, both seem like locks for the playoffs. The definition of “solid.”
I didn’t include Chicago because I’m not sold on their running game, which has struggled in both games. If they can’t run, they’ll lose out to more balanced teams. Ditto for Indy. While Addai had a decent game against Houston, I’ll remind you it was Houston. Unless they can run on the good teams, they’re pretenders; the run and shoot never wins titles. I haven’t seen enough of New Orleans, the Vikings only won because the Panters got stupid on a lateral pass during a punt return (and the Vikes still needed a fake FG TD pass to pull it out), and New England could’ve lost both games (don’t Belicheck’s games always feel that way, though?). Any of these teams could be division champs, but I’m not sold yet.
The Have-nots
Oakland
They have a WR who laughs on the sideline when his QB gets sacked. Their coach has trouble staying awake during the game and unable to prepare his team on either side of the ball during the week. The have 6 total points this season. I smell 0-16, and I’m seriously wondering if they’ll score an offensive TD all year.
Tampa Bay
Chris Simms couldn’t wait to be handed a starting job without earning it so he could crap the bed in pefect Chris Simms fashion. Unfortunately for him, there are no North Texas or Rice games on the schedule to pad his stats. They have 3 points on the season, and Simms has 6 picks, one going the other way for a TD, to show for Gruden’s faith in him. Any Texas fan could’ve saved Gruden some time and probably his job by pointing him to any film of Chris Simms in a game that mattered. Nobody has done less with this many impressive physical attributes.
Miami
Woof. A popular dark horse Super Bowl pick nearly got shut out by the Bills at home. They also allowed JP Losman to throw a TD pass against them. I’m not sure which is more embarrassing. Meanwhile, the Steelers shouldn’t feel so hot about barely beating them, huh? And I guess New England shouldn’t feel so bad about nearly coughing one up to the Bills.
Tennessee
Kerry Collins. Nuff said.
Washington
Many dollars spent on WR/PRs, assistant coaches, and various team ornaments. It helps if some of those dollars go into the QB position, but someone forgot to tell Grandpa Joe.
Detroit, Green Bay, Cleveland, KC, Houston
Poor D + no QB = few wins. Hardly news.
Several teams can fold up shop for the season, a few others have reason to be cautiously optimistic. I can’t wait for week 3 to prove some or all of this wrong, too.
Oh, surely Oakland have a shot at beating Cleveland or SF, at least?
If they can do it without a TD, maybe, but it isn’t like their defense has looked too competent either. And weirdly, SF looks… solid. They beat the Rams, who beat the Broncs…
I’ve been a Raiders fan long enough to remember The Snake, Casper, Tatum, The Mad Stork (and the greatest punter ever, and Matuszak, and Rod Martin, and a washed-up cast-off QB from the Pats with just enough juice in the old arm …) and to idolize that magical coked-out cover man, Lester Hayes.
Spiritually, Oakland is a team that forges greatness from oddballs and misfits by making a family for them. Something happened to that, around the time they first left Oakland. Al Davis and his Brooklyn accent used to be a part of the team’s us-against-the-world strength, but as an old man he has merely been a grumpy malcontent detracting from the team’s sense of solidarity. I suspect that they will not be able to build a sustainable team again until he dies.
and is interred in a solid concrete case, with a stake through his heart, in a coffin packed with garlic, and sealed with Holy Wafers, preferable the whole to be dumped into the Mariannas Trench.
Dear Marc,
http://www.popmatters.com/call-sports.shtml
Thank you and good night.
McBoing:
Thanks, dude. They liked my pitches and have agreed to let me submit sports coverage. W00t! So look for me on Pop Matters sometime soon.
Make sure you plug them on the blog. It will be the only time I pay attention to sports.