I don’t want to hear anyone associated with the league’s
side of NFL operations saying a damn word about the “integrity of the shield”
and that garbage that they like to spew.
This officiating has become an embarrassment and is disgracing the
game. The officiating of the
Packers/Seahawks game was an abomination to the sport and got the headlines,
but it wasn’t the only shame. How about
the referees in the Lions/Titans game marching off 27 yards for a personal foul
instead of 15 because they don’t realize which 44 yard line they’re on? How about Jim Harbaugh getting 5 timeouts in
a half?
Roger Goodell and his flunkies need to quit bickering with
officials over the dollars that are separating the two sides. Are the “real” NFL officials worth what they’re
asking for? No, but if Mr. Goodell truly
cares about the “integrity of the shield” he needs to bring back the
professionals, not only for the sake of the league and quality of the product
but also for the safety of its players he swears to care for so dearly. I’m no fool, but if the owners are playing
this “they’re still buying the product so who cares” stance, then shame on
them. The bottom line doesn’t always
need to be the bottom line. These unfit
officials have already cost one team a victory.
How long until their ineptitude is the cause of a significant
injury? Why do we need to wait until
something horrible happens before we fix the problem? Get it together NFL!
AFC East
Through three weeks there are two 2-1 teams in the AFC East,
and neither of them resides in Foxboro. Those
top teams, the Jets and Bills, both won on the scoreboard but lost personnel,
one quite more significant than the other.
The Jets lost All Pro corner Darrelle Revis for the season to an ACL
injury in a non-contact situation. I
don’t think there’s a player on their roster whose loss makes a greater impact
to their team. They’ll be thoroughly
tested these next two weeks when they host the 49ers and Texans in back to back
games. I highly doubt they’ll still be
atop the division after the conclusion of those contests…..Buffalo experienced
their loss when CJ Spiller went down in the first quarter with a shoulder
injury. Unlike Revis, who is lost for
the season, Spiller’s injury isn’t expected to sideline him for long. Still, this is an offense already without
Fred Jackson that gets to host a pissed off Patriots team Sunday. Jackson could
be back as early as this week, and while the Bills want to lean on the run
game, it’s nice consolation to know that Ryan Fitzpatrick is tied for the
league lead with 8 TDs through the first three games…..New
England is 1-2 in the standings and below .500 for the first time
since 2003. I don’t think they have any
uncorrectable problems, but they definitely need to be making more plays on
defense – 2 INTs and a meager 3 sacks through three games. They also need to move on from this Welker
contract drama and throw the guy the football.
He didn’t go from one of the league’s better producers to Julian
Edelman’s rightful backup overnight. Oh
and Bill Belichick chasing and grabbing one of the officials after the game is
an image I won’t soon forget…..Then there’s Miami.
Not to be left out, the Dolphins had an “oh damn” moment of their own
Sunday when Reggie Bush left the game with a knee injury. Bush thinks he’ll be back this week, but this
1-2 team can’t afford to be without their best (by far) offensive player for
any significant stretch.
AFC North
It took 8 months, but the Ravens got their championship game
revenge and sit atop the North, tied with the Bengals at 2-1. I don’t know if I could have found the
give-a-damn to strap on shoulder pads after the loss of a family member, but
Torrey Smith did and couldn’t have given his brother a better tribute. After going through an experience I wouldn’t
wish upon anyone, the Ravens receiver was the star of the game, catching 6
passes for 127 yards and 2 TDs. Way to
go Torrey! The wannabe refs were at the
center of this one, ruling that a Justin Tucker that sailed over the top of the
right upright, was indeed good. See how
easy that was Billy Cundiff? If I’m
worry about anything with the Ravens it’s that they’re struggling to generate
much of a pass rush outside of Haloti Ngata.
Courtney Upshaw hasn’t gotten off to a hot start, and Paul Kruger has
been invisible…..The Bengals got a big win at Washington, with Andy Dalton
throwing for over 300 yards for the second week in a row. He also tossed 3 TDs, but the highlight heave
of the day was Mohamed Sanu’s deep strike to AJ Green. A big positive for Dalton is that he had completions of at least
20 yards to give different receivers.
Even though it was on the road, the Bengals need to keep their foot on
the accelerator in games like this.
After getting out to a 24-7 lead last in the 2nd quarter, Cincinnati allowed 17 straight points to even the game
before Dalton
tossed two more TDs. Their upcoming
schedule sets up nicely with games against the Jags, Dolphins, and Browns. Now is the time to rack up the victories….. I know it’s not easy to travel out west and head
home with a win, but the Steelers have no excuse for letting the Raiders drop
them to 1-2. They gave up 34 points in
this loss and have surrendered 65 total points in their two defeats. They’re also having trouble establishing any
semblance of a ground game. Yes the
offensive line is banged up yet again, but Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer have
combined for 142 rushing yards on 54 carries or 98 less yards than Antonio
Brown has on his 18 receptions. Ben
Roethlisberger has carried this team before, but I’m not sure he can do it for
an entire 16 games…..Bringing up the rear is one of the league’s two remaining
winless teams. On the positive side, their
three losses are by a combined 18 points.
On the negative side, Trent Richardson followed up his 109 yard game
against the Bengals with 27 against the Bills, Brandon Weeden is tied for the
league lead with 6 INTs, and their next three games are against the Ravens,
Giants, and Bengals.
AFC South
Did I call that one
right or what? The Texans totaled 436
yards against the Broncos, and JJ Watt got 2.5 sacks of Peyton Manning. If you take away the two garbage time TDs
Denver scored down 20, the Texans’ total yards allowed doesn’t look so
bad. These guys are clicking in all
phases right now. Not even losing part
of an earlobe can keep Matt Schaub off the field. If they didn’t have believers after trashing
the Dolphins and Jaguars, folks took notice after this one. They’ll have two more tune ups against the
Titans and Jets before hosting the Packers and Baltimore prior to their week 8
bye. If they’re not 5-0 when Green Bay comes to town
I’ll be shocked…..I think the rest of the division has already been eliminated
from postseason contention. The Jaguars
got their first win last week against the Colts. Maurice Jones-Drew had his first big game of
the year, rushing for 177 yards and a TD.
I still think the Jags are horrible, but this week’s matchup against the
Bengals will give us the truest evaluation of this team in my opinion….. The
Titans escaped from that circus of a matchup against the Lions with their first
win of the year. I don’t see the
excitement lasting long with an upcoming trip to Houston this Sunday. Chris Johnson is still absolutely awful,
“spearheading” the worst rushing game in the league. Mr. CJ2K has 45 yards on 33 carries. I don’t care how bad your blocking is. That’s pathetic. Speaking of pathetic, the Titans rank among
the worst in football defensively against both the run and pass. This defense wasn’t supposed to be
gangbusters this season, but they weren’t supposed to get rolled over each
week. So far, teams are averaging 38
points per game against these guys. Not
good…..Indianapolis
gets a week to heal up from the first three games and plan for the
Packers. I like the chemistry Andrew
Luck has developed with Reggie Wayne.
The veteran receiver ranks 4th and 5th in football
in receptions and receiving yards respectively.
Defensively, they’ve played better against the pass than I expected, but
teams are still running on them rather easily.
AFC West
San Diego
sits alone atop the division, but color me unimpressed. Sure they’re 2-1, but they got smoked in
their only tough matchup, a 27-3 beating at home against the Falcons. Ryan Mathews saw his first action of the
regular season but didn’t make a difference in the game. The 3 points were the fewest scored by the
Chargers during either Norv Turner’s or Philip Rivers’ tenure. Rivers didn’t handle the Falcons’ pressure
well, completing a little more than half of his passes and throwing 2
INTs. Per ESPN, Rivers was 6 of 14 with
both of his INTs on plays where the Falcons rushed 5 or more guys. I’ll believe in them a bit more if they can
beat the Chiefs in KC…Speaking of those Chiefs, they got their first win of the
year at the Saints’ expense. Jamaal
Charles busted out with 233 yards on the ground and a TD, helping put the
Chiefs atop the NFL in rushing after three weeks. Matt Cassel is still Matt Cassel. Even against a really bad Saints’ defense, Cassel couldn’t complete 60% of his passes or throw a
TD. He is SOOOO holding this offense
back. A guy of whom I’m a huge fan and
advocated the Bucs drafting last year, Justin Houston, exploded for 3 sacks of
Drew Brees, giving him 4 on the season.
He’s exactly what the Chiefs are looking for in a pass rusher opposite
Tamba Hali…..The Broncos were taken to the woodshed against the Texans, and
questions about Peyton Manning’s potential as a passer are starting to pop
up. Through 3 games, Blaine Gabbert,
Russell Wilson, Carson Palmer, Jake Locker, and Ryan Fitzpatrick all have a
higher passer rating than Manning. After
a solid week one against the Steelers, he’s had two subpar games against what I
believe to be great teams. I’m not
hitting the panic button yet on Manning.
Remember, in addition to the neck issue, he’s trying to implement a new
offense with new personnel. I like his
chances against the Raiders this week.....That Oakland team followed up a very
disappointing road showing against the Dolphins with a home win against the
Steelers. They get a thumbs up for that
performance, but I still don’t believe in this team. Darren McFadden had his best rushing game of
the season (18-113), but if you take away his 64 yard TD run, he averaged less
than 3 yards per carry. I’m not a fan of
Carson Palmer at this stage of his career, and losing Darrius Heyward-Bey for
who knows how long to a neck injury isn’t helping the offense.
NFC East
I wondered how the Giants would bounce back on a short week
after a dramatic comeback win at home against the Bucs in week two. Question answered. The Giants rolled down to Carolina and whipped Cam Newton and his
Panthers all over the field all night.
Eli Manning continued to show why he’s one of the best QBs and leaders
in the game of football. Now he didn’t
have a statistical explosion, but he did such a great job of consistently
leading his team down the field for scoring opportunities and exploiting
weaknesses and mismatches in the defense.
I love how he adjusts at the line.
Andre Brown had quite the game in Ahmad Bradshaw’s absence, rushing for
113 yards and 2 TDs. Brown is easily the
hardest runner on the roster and will make things interesting when Bradshaw is
ready to return. Martellus Bennett seems
to be a great fit for this offense. The
free agent TE scored in his third straight game and continues to draw a ton of
targets from Eli. I really like where
this team is right now.....Philly is up next for the champs. The Eagles were pretty much pushed around by
the Cardinals, a team with an underrated defense. Can Michael Vick eliminate the mental mistakes
and keep the Eagles on the right side of .500?
Will the Eagles make a concerted effort to make LeSean McCoy the focus
of the offense? In my opinion they won’t
win consistently unless they do. I’m not
big on this team, and despite the 2-1 record, they’re 4 points from being
0-3. I don’t see them being any better
than .500 after these next three games (Giants, Steelers, Lions). I must compliment their pass defense
though. No, Brandon Weeden and Kevin
Kolb are world beaters, but in addition to holding them both in check, they
gave Joe Flacco his toughest game of the year so far…..Dallas got a home win
against the Bucs, but it wasn’t quite the bounce back from the Seattle loss
that you’d look for from a playoff contender.
They had only two three-play drives on the day, but they started in Tampa territory on their
two first half scoring drives. They
didn’t do much when they had to create on their own. They also got lucky when a call went their
way, hosing the Bucs out of a TD on a play where Tony Romo got pancaked and
fumbled. I’m not impressed with this
team so far. How do they do Monday night
against a comparably dysfunctional Bears team?.....Bringing up the rear are the
1-2 Redskins, fresh of a bitter home loss to the Bengals. RGIII is getting a ton of (rightful)
publicity, but I’m not buying the Redskins as a team. Is Alfred Morris a true primary ball
carrier? Can Pierre Garcon get healthy,
and can anyone establish himself as a legit option in Garcon’s absence? Fred Davis is having a disappointing start
but leads the team with 11 receptions.
They’re awful against the pass, as I said they’d be, and have
surrendered back-to-back 300+ yard passing games to Sam Bradford and Andy
Dalton. What will Eli and Romo do
against these guys?
NFC North
Jay Cutler didn’t have a great personal bounce back from the
Green Bay drama
game, but the Bears won a convincing 23-6 contest against the Rams. On defense they’re doing a great job of
getting to the passer with just their front four, freeing up the rest of the
defense to shut down receivers and create turnovers. They intercepted Sam Bradford twice (one for
a pick-6), sacked him six times, and held the Rams to 160 total yards on
offense. Michael Bush did a decent job
in Matt Forte’s absence but missed the entire fourth quarter with what appears
to be a shoulder injury. Keep an eye on
that…..Easily the surprise of week three, the Vikings took care of the Niners
24-13 in a game they controlled throughout.
Hats off to the Vikings for playing one hell of a football game. Christian Ponder did a great job of
controlling the game; throwing for 2 TDs, rushing for another, and most
importantly, not turning the ball over.
The fact that they were able to hand the ball to Adrian Peterson 25
times tells you that they were playing the type of game they wanted to
play. Percy Harvin continues to be a
target monster, catching 9 more passes for 89 yards. I’m interested to see how much of a boost
Jerome Simpson provides the offense with upon his return from suspension. Chad Greenway showed why he’s considered one
of football’s better backers totaling 10 tackles and 2 sacks on the day. How will they respond this week in Detroit against a
disappointed Lions team?.....Wow, it took me three teams to finally get to the
Packers. It wouldn’t have though had the
pop warner fill in officials know the rules of football prior to taking the
field. Simultaneous catch my ass. Golden Tate simultaneously caught that ball
like I simultaneously drive a cab from the back seat or how I simultaneously
fly a plane from row 33. What an awful
awful embarrassment for the NFL. The
Packers aren’t blameless in this.
Where’s the explosive offense from last year? Where are the big plays and rhythm? Shock jocks like to laugh at Aaron Rodgers
and his offensive line for the 8 first half sacks, but what they didn’t mention
is how Seattle’s secondary was straight abusing Packers receivers all
game. Rodgers isn’t an indecisive guy
who just holds onto the football. Now
they get the winless Saints at home. The
Packers have to bounce back from that screwjob and take care of business…..The
Lions definitely did NOT take care of business in Tennessee last Sunday. Talk about your strange games. The Titans/Lions matchup featured a horribly
executed penalty mark off, a hail mary tip and catch for TD, and bad bad bad
execution from the Lions on the last play of the game. I said I didn’t trust this team in my season
preview, and they’re not proving me wrong.
They barely beat a decent Rams team, got smoked in San Fran, and looked
inept throughout at Tennessee. They’ll still be in the basement next week if
they don’t bring their A-game this Sunday against the Vikings.
NFC South
Atlanta
was the only NFC South team to win in week 3.
They’re also one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the
league. I said I had big thoughts for
this team in 2012, and I’m not wrong so far.
They have a QB who is stepping firmly into his prime, two receivers who
can beat anyone on any given Sunday, a future HOF’er at TE who is still one of
the best in the business, a young RB (above) who is going to be a huge factor
before all is said and done, and an aggressive, physical defense. I love the way this team is set up. I think they’re one pass rusher away from
being a complete football team. They get
the Panthers at home this week, and given their success in the Georgia Dome, I
expect the Falcons to be undefeated come Monday…..No one is looking like a
threat to the Falcons at the moment.
Sitting tied for second are the Bucs and Panthers. Tampa
Bay lost more than the game at Dallas. They lost their best pass rusher in the
process. Adrian Clayborn will miss the
rest of the season after tearing his ACL, leaving Michael Bennett and Gerald
McCoy as the team’s only serious pass rushers.
Expect offenses to key even more on those two the rest of the way. Those two are having tremendous seasons, as
is MLB Mason Foster, a guy I was big on replacing this offseason. I’m glad he’s proving me wrong; showing that
he can be a strong NFL MLB. I’ve got to
see more from this offense though. They
look very vanilla on this side of the ball, and I worry about their ability to
post points in a hurry when the situation presents itself…..If I’m Carolina I’m extremely
worried about Cam Newton. I said it
right when I saw the play on tv, and I’m glad to hear it echoed by the shock
jocks this week. I’m sorry bubba, but we
don’t celebrate TDs when we’re getting our asses kicked. After a 1 yard TD, Newton got up and did his superman thing and
showed everyone just where his head is.
It’s about him, not the team, and that’s something that would really
bother me if I’m a Panther player. They
had no answer defensively for anything the Giants wanted to do and will
continue to struggle against teams that have the ability to consistently move
the football. I believe those who were
looking for the Panthers to take it to the next level this season were quite
premature…..Wow, the Saints are actually 0-3.
That was a piss poor performance this past Sunday against the
Chiefs. You’re up 11 at the half at home
against a Matt Cassel-led offense, and you get outscored 14-0 for the rest of
the game. Shame shame Saints. This might be the worst defense in
football. They’re getting run over week
in week out like a slow squirrel. This
group is going to slow down the Packers?
What an awful start for New
Orleans.
NFC West
I’m really not sure where to go with this. In one of the worst calls in the history of
pro sports, the Packers were absolutely jobbed out of a win, and the Seahawks
improved to 2-1 on the year. Get rid of
these bums now! If I play defense in the
NFL, I want to be on the Seahawks. That
crowd absolutely fulfills the role of 12th man, making it extremely
difficult for opposing offenses to focus and communicate. I love this defense. Chris Clemons destroyed the Packers blockers
for 4 sacks, and both Brandon Mebane and rookie Bruce Irvin added two
apiece. That secondary is physical and
does a great job of taking advantage of the inept replacement refs. Russell Wilson put the first headline in his
scrapbook after this one. Wilson doesn’t light up
the stat sheet, but he’s not a game manager, someone trying not to lose a
football game (see Tarvaris Jackson). He
just doesn’t have a lot to work with at receiver. I like this team a lot and still feel pretty
good about my prediction of them winning the West…..Ok, so they’re not
unbeatable. The Niners pride themselves
on being able to run the ball at will offensively and shut down the other
team’s run game defensively. Well none
of that happened Sunday at Minnesota. It’s not like they were awful
offensively. Minnesota simply made more plays, especially
the big ones. No, it’s not time to
panic. The Niners didn’t head back west
after the game but instead remained on east side prior to this week’s matchup
at the Jets. I fully expect a bounce
back Sunday…..The West has two feel good story teams. Arizona
took it to the Eagles from the first whistle to the last whistle in a 27-6 butt
whoopin’. QB Kevin Kolb was efficient,
threw for 2 TDs, and didn’t turn the ball over.
Ryan Williams got the bulk of the carries and averaged 6.4 yards
per. There was a Larry Fitzgerald
sighting too. The All Pro had easily his
best game of the year so far, catching 9 passes for 114 yards and a score. The story of this one though is the defense. These guys are strong at every level. Daryl Washington is having the breakout
season I predicted, and that secondary refuses to give up big plays. They’ve yet to allow an opposing team to
reach 20 points. I didn’t believe much
in this team in the preseason, and as good a story as they are, I’ve got to
wonder if the defense can carry a lacking offense for an entire season. I’m not ready to jump on the Kevin Kolb
bandwagon yet is what I’m saying I guess…..St. Louis simply isn’t making strides. They lack big play ability on offense and
don’t close out enough drives defensively.
The talent is absolutely there on the defensive side of the ball to
carry a weak offense through short stretches, but they have got to get better
offensively. They get the hot Seahawks
and Cardinals in their next two game and look to avoid falling even further
behind in a surprisingly competitive NFC West.
Best and Worst
Elite Eight
1 – Houston
Texans (4)
2 – San Francisco
49ers (1)
3 – Atlanta
Falcons (5)
4 – Baltimore
Ravens (3)
5 – Green Bay
Packers (2)
6 – New York
Giants (8)
7 – New England Patriots
(6)
8 – Seattle
Seahawks (NR)
Out – Denver
Broncos (7)
Funk Bunch
1 – Jacksonville
Jaguars (1)
2 – Cleveland
Browns (2)
3 – Oakland
Raiders (3)
4 – Miami
Dolphins (4)
5 – Indianapolis
Colts (6)
6 – St. Louis
Rams (NR)
Out – Minnesota
Vikings (7)
Top Performers
QB –
Ben Roethlisberger – 36/49, 384 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 123.2
QBR
Joe Flacco – 28/39, 382 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 117.7 QBR
Andy Dalton – 22/46, 328 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 132.9 QBR
Matt Ryan – 30/40, 275 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 107.8 QBR
Matt Schaub – 17/30, 290 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, 115.3 QBR, 1
mangled ear
Jake Locker – 29/42, 378 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 113 QBR; 4
rushes, 35 yards
RB –
Jamaal Charles – 33 car, 233 yards, 1 TD, 6 rec, 55 yards
Andre Brown – 20 car, 113 yards, 2 TDs, 3 rec, 17 yards
Ray Rice – 20 car, 101 yards, 1 TD, 5 rec, 49 yards
Maurice Jones-Drew – 28 car, 177 yards, 1 TD, 2 rec, 16
yards
Mikel Leshoure – 26 car, 100 yards, 1 TD, 4 rec, 34 yards
Darren McFadden – 18 car, 113 yards, 1 TD, 2 rec, 2 yards
Arian Foster – 25 car, 105 yards, 1 rec, 3 yards
WR –
Torrey Smith – 6 rec, 127 yards, 2 TDs
AJ Green – 9 rec, 183 yards, 1 TD
Calvin Johnson – 10 rec, 164 yards, 1 TD
Mike Wallace – 8 rec, 123 yards, 1 TD
Larry Fitzgerald – 9 rec, 114 yards, 1 TD
Santonio Holmes – 9 rec, 147 yards
Ramses Barden – 9 rec, 138 yards
DEF –
Chad
Greenway – 10 tackles, 2 sacks
Akeem Ayers – 10 tackles, 1 sack
Chris Clemons – 4 sacks, 4 tackles
JJ Watt – 2.5 sacks, 6 tackles
Michael Johnson – 3 sacks, 5 tackles
Justin Houston – 3 sacks, 3 tackles
DeMarcus Ware – 2 sacks, 2 FF, 2 tackles
Thomas DeCoud – 2 INTs, 3 tackles
Worst Performers
QB –
Sam Bradford – 18/35, 152 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 39.2 QBR
Josh Freeman – 10/28, 110 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 45.2 QBR
Cam Newton
– 16/30, 242, 0 TDs, 3 INTs, 40.6 QBR
Philip Rivers – 21/38, 173 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 45.2 QBR
Ryan Tannehill – 16/36, 196 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, 50.2 QBR
RB –
Chris Johnson – 14 car, 24 yards, 0 TDs
Willis McGahee – 12 carries, 36 yards, 0 TDs
Shonn Greene – 19 car, 40 yards, 0 TDs
Doug Martin – 19 car, 53 yards, 0 TDs
DeMarco Murray – 18 car, 38 yards, 1 TD
BenJarvus Green-Ellis – 17 car, 38 yards, 1 TD, 1st
career lost fumble
WR –
Vincent Jackson – 1 catch, 29 yards
Jordy Nelson – 2 catches, 19 yards
Justin Blackmon – 1 catch, 7 yards
Jason Witten – 2 catches, 8 yards
Sidney Rice – 1 catch, 22 yards
Brandon LaFell – 1 catch, 27 yards
Demaryius Thomas – 3 catches, 34 yards
