Week 3 of the NFL Season was brought the end of several long winning streaks, big comebacks, and put a couple of head coaches on the hot seat early in the year. This week also saw another big star go down with a season ending injury, and that injury is going to hurt more than just one player.
Cam Newton was absent from the NFL’s headlines after dominating the highlight reels for two weeks, but was his performance on Sunday his best outing yet? Find out in this week’s NFL recap.
Is Tony Saprano’s Time Up in Miami?
Being a head coach in the NFL in a high pressure job no matter what division you’re in. When you’re coaching in the hyper-competive AFC East, that pressure is only intensified. And when you coach the only team in the AFC East to have a losing record…well, it’s safe to say you’re feeling a ton of pressure to perform immediately. Unfortunately for Miami’s Tony Sparano, this is the situation he finds himself in. At 0-3, the Dolphins have nearly played themselves out of playoff contention even before September ends. After an uninspired effort in Cleveland, how much longer can Sparano last in Miami?
Things haven’t always been so bad for Sparano. In 2008, his first year as Miami’s head coach, he led the Dolphins to only their second AFC East title in over 15 years. The Dolphins were the only team in history earn to a playoff berth following a one win season. The Dolphins felt optimistic about their outlook under Sparano and for good reason. They had Chad Henne, a young QB that had Sparano’s confidence, a good left tackle in Jake Long, and a good running game with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. They had a solid, but not spectacular defense, and good special teams play. Sure, they were in a tough division, but in spite of that Miami felt good about where they were headed.
Fast forward to 2011, and the picture could hardly be bleaker for the Dolphins. Since 2008, the Dolphins have gone 14-18, finishing no better than third place in the AFC East. It will be exceedingly difficult for the Dolphins to catch up to the Bills, Patriots, and Jets, who are all off to good starts. It certainly appears that Miami is headed towards a last place finish in their division. What’s going on with the Dolphins? Is Sparano to blame?
Between the 20’s, Miami’s offense has actually played surprisingly well. Henne has been much improved, and their total offense (total yards) is ranked at a respectable 17th in the league. However, their ability to turn those yards into touchdowns has been a huge problem. Compared to their total offense ranking, the Dolphins’ scoring offense is ranked near the bottom of the league at #27. In their 17-16 loss to the Browns, the Dolphins made 5 trips inside the Browns’ 25 yard line. The result: three field goals, one turnover, and only one touchdown. Red zone efficiency is always key in the NFL, and in a one point game it’s even more important. It’s not a stretch to say that if the Dolphins were better in the red zone, they would have won on Sunday.
Miami’s struggle to score points Sunday was not just a fluke. On the season, the Dolphins have scored only five touchdowns in thirteen red zone trips. In fact, it’s been a problem throughout Sparano’s time in Miami. They’ve never ranked above 15th in total points scored, and last season they ranked an abysmal 30th. The Dolphins attempted to address this by bringing in Brian Daboll to be the new offensive coordinator, but while the offense’s ability to move the ball has improved, they still can’t score points.
Perhaps the biggest issue Miami has had on offense is the offensive line. They’ve been unable protect Henne, giving up 11 sacks and 22 QB hits (both 5th worst in the league). For a head coach who has been an offensive line coach for most of his career, that has to be maddening. In particular, the Dolphins felt that they could make it through the season with Marc Columbo at right tackle, but so far that’s gone disastrously wrong.
Sparano isn’t the only person to blame for Miami’s struggles. The Dolphins’ ownership has made it very clear they aren’t interested in spending money in free agency, and general manager Jeff Ireland has made plenty of questionable decisions with the money he has been allowed to spend. Still, much of the blame falls at Sparano’s feet. When you have a team that has struggled in the same areas for years, as a coach you have to address those issues or face the consequences. On top of that, Miami’s undisciplined play (10 penalties for 93 yards in Sunday’s loss) is the responsibility of the head coach. Moving on from the Tony Sparano era isn’t going to fix all that has ailed Miami over the last few seasons, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Surprise of the Week
This summer, if you had told any Detroit or Buffalo fan they would be sitting atop of each of their divisions after three weeks of play, they’d probably be incredulous. You would be hard pressed to find someone who would believe you as you went on to tell them they’d be undefeated, too. And yet that is where both teams find themselves.
After both teams won their first two games, each faced daunting tasks in week three. For Buffalo, they had to overcome a 15 game losing streak to New England. Detroit faced an ever longer streak: prior to Sunday’s win, they hadn’t won in Minnesota in 13 years. Not only would each team have to overcome these streaks, but they’d also have to make a huge comeback to steal victory away.
For Buffalo, they were coming up against a red hot Patriots offense led by Tom Brady. And for the first half, New England rolled over Buffalo’s defense. New England jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and it appeared that the 15 game win streak would be extended to 16 games. But Buffalo rallied, and used a interception off of Brady to go into the half down 21-10. From there on they forced Brady into 3 more interceptions, and the Bills offense was firing on all cylinders. They outscored the Patriots 17-7 in the 4th quarter, and won the game on Ryan Lindell field goal as time expired.
In Minnesota it was a similar story. As the Vikings leap to a 20-0 lead, it seemed as though the Vikings winning streak at home over the Lions would stay intact for another year. The normally potent Detroit offense was stagnant, producing only 50 first half yards. The team finally showed up in the second half, and the offense simply exploded. They went from barely being able to get a first down to finishing the game on a 26-3 run.
Are Buffalo and Detroit for real? While it’d be surprising to see both teams continue on these runs, it’s far from out of the question. Detroit clearly has the offensive fire power to maintain the run they’ve found themselves on, and they’ve built a defensive line that can change games quickly. The biggest question for Detroit will be if they can keep Matt Stafford upright and healthy for 16 games, which is something he’s been unable to thus far in his career.
Buffalo doesn’t have the star power that you typically see in successful NFL teams, but they certainly have the heart. Sunday’s win marked the second time they’ve come back from 21 points down this year to win already. They have refused to accept defeat and sometimes it seems as though Ryan Fitzpatrick is just willing the team to victory. They’ll have to avoid the slow starts they’ve had in games so far this year, but both Buffalo and Detroit aren’t showing any signs of fading away anytime soon.
Rookie Watch
Panthers’ QB Cam Newton put up tremendous numbers in his first two starts, but failed to come away with a win. Sunday, however he was finally able to lead the Panthers to victory. And while his numbers weren’t nearly as good as his first two starts, I think his performance versus Jacksonville was his best game yet.
The conditions in Carolina for Sunday’s game were horrible. It was reminiscent of a monsoon, with visibility limited on the field and standing water every where. Nearly four inches of rain fell during the game, rendering it nearly impossible for either offense to get much going. It kept the game on the ground, and prevented Newton from having another 400 yard, headline grabbing game. And even before the downpour started Newton was having a tough day. Passes were sailing high and low, and it was clear his inaccuracy was frustrating him. He finished up the day 18-34 for only 158 yards. But significantly he had no turnovers on a day where interceptions and fumbles could have easily taken over the game.
In spite of all his struggles, Newton’s knack for winning games came through when he and his team needed it the most. As the Panthers trailed 10-8 in the 4th quarter, Newton took his team down the field on a game winning drive. Though he had been inaccurate all game, he was 4-4 on that drive, including a 16 game winning touchdown pass. It wasn’t a pretty game. He didn’t make any of his fantasy owners happy. But on a day where things could have gone horribly wrong, Newton led his team to victory. And that’s why Carolina drafted him: to win games.
Fantasy Notes
Another week, another fantasy stud goes does for the year. This time it was Titans’ wide receiver Kenny Britt, who tore both his ACL and MCL and will miss the rest of the season. Britt was set to have a tremendous year, and was making many a fantasy owner very happy. Unfortunately, Britt is not the only player whose fantasy outlook will be much worse off for the rest of the year.
After his hot start, Matt Hasselbeck was a popular pick up for teams looking for a reliable QB2 option. However, the Titans’ passing offense without Britt is not an inspiring one. Their best option is now Nate Washington, who was off to the best start of his career playing along side Britt. With defenses no longer double covering Britt, Washington will have a much more difficult time getting open consistently.
The player that will suffer the most from Britt’s absence is Chris Johnson. He’s struggled to find running lanes already this season when the Titans have faced eight man fronts. Opposing defenses have been selling out to stop the run, and essentially daring the Titans to throw the ball. Britt was able to capitalize on that in ways that none of the other Titans’ receivers can. That leaves defenses with no reason to not put eight defenders in the box on nearly every play. Unless a receiver can step up for Tennessee, Johnson will likely struggle for the majority of the season.
What do you do if you were relying on Britt for your fantasy team? At this stage of the season you aren’t going to be able to find anyone on the waiver wire that will match the production Britt was going to give you, but there’s still some hope. If you’re in a PPR league, I like both Mike Thomas in Jacksonville and Eric Decker in Denver. Thomas has quickly shown he’s Blaine Gabbert’s favorite option, and Decker recorded eleven targets on Sunday, even with Brandon Lloyd back on the field. In standard leagues, take a look at Davone Bess. The Dolphin continues to get red zone looks even with Brandon Marshall in the picture.
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