If you told me that we’d be starting off week 3 of the NFL Season with the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, and Minnesota Vikings at 0-2 and that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Houston Texans would all be 2-0, I’d say you were on something. Well here we are at week 3 and everything that you thought wouldn’t be true is. It’s ok though, there’s an underlying meaning to everything, and I’ll elaborate more on that. Week 2 was an interesting one to say the least.
For the 3 teams that are sitting at 0-2 and giving their fanbases ulcers by the week, I’d say that the only team that has a real worry right now is NOT the Dallas Cowboys, but the Minnesota Vikings. I know people will look at me like I’m crazy for this, but here’s the reason why.
Dallas is beating themselves early and often. Penalties have been killing them, and that is a fixable problem IF the coaching staff can nip it in the bud. If Alex Barron hadn’t tried to strangle Brian Orakpo and actually had proper help blocking for the double team on that final play, they score the touchdown and win on the road in week 1 and no one would even be discussing them. Now I know the Dallas critics will say “Well what happened against Chicago?” It’s pretty simple. Dallas is still suffering in the 2 prime areas it suffered in last year and can’t seem to get it right: Special Teams and Red Zone offense.
Jerry Jones, for some odd reason, thinks that he can skimp a couple extra dollars off the top this year and save money by having David Buehler kick both on the kickoffs and field goals. His leg is booming when it comes to kickoffs and punts, but he’s not a field goal kicker. Sorry to break it to you Jerry, but every other team has 2 guys for a reason. When you have guys like Matt Stover, John Karney, and Kris Brown all on the market, why on earth are we discussing issues about missed field goals? This is a simple problem to be fixed if Jerry will just open his eyes.
Red Zone offense can be attributed to a couple things, but mainly the one glaring thing I’m seeing is the playcalling. Jason Garrett has 2 big, pass-catching TE’s in Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett. Why these 2 guys are not being targeted in the end zone when they’re matched up against LBs, well you’ve got me. Garrett has failed to establish an identity for this team so far. They have a great passing
game, and a great run game, yet neither one seem to be working. When the run game gets going, he abandons it after 12-15 carries. When the passing game starts having issues and opposing defenses start sending the house, he doesn’t go back to the run. Are you catching the trend here? They need to run the ball more. Flat, simple, to the point. These are simple things that can turn this team from a sinking ship back to floating on track. It’s small but the season can still be saved and people won’t even be talking about this come January if they make the playoffs.
Minnesota on the other hand, they have a different kind of problem, and no it’s not Brett Favre. Brett took a few weeks to get himself moving last season. They relied real heavily on Adrian Peterson in the first couple games until Brett got his legs under him and then he took over from there. I know everyone will say “his ankle this, his ankle that.” His ankle isn’t the issue. Brett’s a gunslinger, everyone knows that. He’s going to put some passes in very questionable places but he has trust in his receivers. Last year, his goto guy was Sidney Rice. Rice won’t be in until week 6 so he’s gotta improvise until that point. Guys like Greg Camarillo are patchwork fixes. They sound nice, but it isn’t going to do the job.
To make things worse, the problem of Minnesota’s pass defense wasn’t exactly helped in the offseason. They traded Bennie Sapp to Miami to acquire Greg Camarillo, so now they robbed an already thin DB position to try and patch up an offensive issue. Bad move Childress. If you manage to land Vincent Jackson from San Diego, then I think that will help ease the pain until Rice gets there. Plus to boot, can you imagine what it will be like having both Rice and Jackson on opposite sides of each other? If week 6 comes around with VJ on the sidelines and Rice comes back, the NFC North might want to watch out, because Brett might go nuts throwing jump balls wherever he wants.
**I get a very weird feeling about the 2010 Houston Texans. 1 year ago they were an explosive offense, decent run game, lacked a little protection and suspect defense. They seemed to be the best 3 ½ quarter team in the league. 1 year later, that offense looks full force for 4 straight quarters, the defense is much more aggressive, the pass defense is stout, and they look like they’re on a mean streak. I am reminded of a team that was very similar in 2008 and the way they changed was identical in 2009: The New Orleans Saints.
A lot of people had written the Saints off to start 2009 because they didn’t believe that the defense would be as aggressive as Gregg Williams has designed it. People forgot real quickly that Drew Brees was the 2nd person in history to throw for over 5000 yards. So when 2009 came around, they were going to be another great offensive team that couldn’t finish drives or stop anyone. Well unless you have been hiding under a rock, I believe you see how that whole story played out.
Kubiak is throwing his hand in and going all in this year. They finally cracked the .500 barrier. Gary knows that this could be his last year if they flame out again like they normally do to end the season. The defense has been good, but not show-stopping. Plus, they’re playing this well so far, and they don’t even have R.O.Y. Brian Cushing in the backfield playing yet. Its boom or bust for the Texans this year, and I think they’re about to show the AFC who they really are. Schaub looks great, Andre Johnson is the best WR in the league right now, and Arian Foster came out of nowhere like a bat-outta-hell. Dallas plays them in Week 3, and I think that’s going to be an absolute slugfest considering what is at stake for both teams.
**I need to give Mike Shanahan some well deserved recognition. He has Washington playing with a new attitude, and it’s contagious in D.C. Everyone believed that the McNabb trade would blow up in their faces due to the lack of the offensive line in D.C., but it seems to be playing perfectly into their hands. Donovan looks mobile again, the pocket is moving, and he’s tearing backfields up. I don’t care that they lost against the Texans, the fact that he threw for over 450 yards with no one (I mean seriously, who do the Redskins have that’s a game changing receiver??? I’ll wait…) is amazing to me. He could have put University of Tennessee’s receiving core out there and he’d have made them look like All-Stars.
With the addition of Jim Haslett and the transition to the 3-4 defense, this new look the ‘Skins have is a little scary. The aggressiveness of Haslett’s playcalling is right up Shanny’s alley. They are going to compete this year. I can’t say how much, just because if Dallas wakes up and remembers who they are, I think they’ll take control of the division quickly. If Dallas doesn’t recover, I think that the Redskins can make the playoffs in the first year under Mike Shanahan.
**Staying in the NFC East, I think Andy Reid’s credibility to the media just keeps dropping by the minute. Last season he said Donovan was the starter in 2010, and then McNabb gets traded. Then he follows it up saying Kevin Kolb is our guy in 2010, and he’s effectively benched after seeing how well Michael Vick is playing. With the latest twist about Kevin Kolb being traded, I’ll say this: Kolb won’t be an Eagle by the season’s end.
The trade deadline is October 19th. That basically gives Reid a couple weeks to see if this re-emergence of Vick is true or not. If Vick continues to play at the stellar level he’s playing at, Kolb’s a goner. He’s in a contract year, they’re not going to franchise him and pay a backup $12 million dollars to sit on the bench or hold a clipboard. He’s good trade bait to another team that is desperate for a moderate level QB. Think about all the teams out there that have no stability at
the QB position: Arizona, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Carolina, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, and I know I’m still leaving a couple teams out. Kolb would net a good 3rd or 4th round pick to any of these teams to give them a better option than what they’re fighting with now. Kolb, its been fun for the first half of week 1 in Philly, but you might as well get a good real estate agent, because home’s about to change.
Just some additional Notes on recent events this week:
· With the way Pittsburgh’s defense is playing right now, it won’t matter who’s under center. It’s scary to think what will happen when Big Ben gets back under center. That defense has a very strong resemblance of the unit that bullied the AFC in 2008 on their way to the 6th Lombardi Trophy. Keep an eye on them.
· My “Dummy of the Week” award goes out to S Tanard Jackson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I’d give this to Braylon Edwards for his DUI (even more so knowing that the Jets have a free limo service for players), but I don’t think his punishment will be as severe. Jackson couldn’t seem to stop smoking weed, and he paid the price in the form of a suspension for the remainder of his 2010 NFL Season. It’s almost common to hear players smoking marijuana in the offseason and getting caught, but most everyone learns from it. For a team that needs to keep that momentum going, here’s a nice kick in the pants to the Bucs courtesy of your starting safety.
· I know I said that San Francisco has an unsure QB situation, which I think they do. I just have to give credit to Alex Smith for a beautiful final game drive against the Saints on Monday night. He carefully carved the Saints defense up all the way from the 20 yard line with just over a minute to go and converted on a 2 point conversion to bring the game to overtime. I know he had 2 INT’s that game, but I can’t exactly say both of those were his fault when you look at the film. I know the 49ers are 0-2, but they have fewer issues to fix than Dallas and Minnesota and they have the right coach to do it.
· I think the Chargers are going to shoot themselves in the foot over this whole Vincent Jackson mess. There now are a couple teams that have reportedly worked out contracts with Jackson, but deals keep getting shot down by A.J. Smith and company. He’s already stated he’s prepared to sit the whole season out, his attitude towards that franchise is enough that it could poison your locker room. Get this man out of there, collect what you can, and move on. They keep asking for such obsurd offers from other teams that they won’t be able to move him and instead will be stuck with a problem lingering on throughout the season. Don’t draw this out A.J., you’ve already done enough damage. Just let the man go and collect what you can.
SCREAMER!! Dallas Cowboys at Houston Texans
This is going to be a slugfest for both teams. Dallas remembers what happened in the preseason week 3 game, and Houston has to maintain that swagger in order to ride the wave of momentum in what could be the beginning of a dream season. Dallas is one loss away from total panic in Big D, so I think this is where Dallas’s playoff football begins. Both teams are going to show up for this one, but I think the fear of sinking to an 0-3 record and having Jerry lose his cool will keep the Cowboys with enough fear to shake them out of this early funk.
Cowboys win it in a great one 31-28.
SCREAMER!! Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
New Orleans will be a great team to watch this season. Not just because they look primed for a repeat, but because every team is going to play them as hard as they can. This one has upset potential written on it as well. Atlanta has a bit of depleted backfield, losing Norwood to the season and Michael Turner is slightly banged up…but don’t count out Jason Snelling. I can tell you from personal sources, this guy plans on running like a man possessed. New Orleans ground and screen game will miss Reggie Bush. He was Brees’s dump-off valve when pressure started to come. I think the Falcons keep it close, but Brees reminds the NFL that the Saints are still the best 4th quarter team in the league. Saints pull the last minute victory off again 34-28.
Sleeper…Cincinnati Bengals at Carolina Panthers
The only two markets watching this game will be Cincinnati fans that have the NFL Sunday Ticket and the Carolina home crowd. Bengals remembered who they were last week in that great defensive showing against the Ravens, and they’ll bring that same effort this week against the Panthers. With rookie Jimmy Clausen starting against an aggressive Cincinnati front 7, it’s going to be a rough welcome to the former Golden Domer.
Cincinnati doesn’t even keep it close in this one 27-10.
Sleeper… Philadelphia Eagles vs Jacksonville Jaguars
I know people will want to watch this game to watch what Michael Vick is going to do next, but he’s facing a depleted Jacksonville team that’s losing fans by the minute. They bench David Garrard only to lose McCown in that same game for the season. Defensively, they aren’t doing much either and it’s not looking good for Jack Del Rio.
Vick once again goes crazy in this game and Eagles win it 38-17.
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