Dallas
Cowboys over New York Giants
This week
the Cowboys elevated themselves and made themselves the favorites in the NFC
East early this season. They had an
impressive win in New York over the defending Super Bowl Champions where Tony Romo
continued his quest to lose his reputation as being unclutch. The game is a good sign for the Cowboys but I
wouldn’t say that this division is an open and shut case. The Giants, Cowboys, Eagles and even Redskins
have a chance in this division.
Atlanta
Falcons over Kansas City Chiefs
The Falcons
dominated what I think is a really bad football team in the Chiefs and did so
in a way many thought they would. The
Matt Ryan to Julio Jones connection looks spectacular as the Falcons look
poised to air it out this season and should be the favorites in the NFC
South. The only thing is that I think
that before they can be considered Super Bowl Contenders they have to show that
level of play against a good team.
Philadelphia
Eagles over Cleveland Browns
This was a
case of both teams feeling really bad about themselves and their future as a
team. The Eagles just escaped with a 1
point victory over a clearly bad Browns team.
Michael Vick had a very bad day, throwing 4 interceptions, while Andy
Reid decided that having him continue to throw was smarter than giving it to
the extremely efficient LeSean McCoy. On
the other hand the Browns probably are feeling worse than the Eagles are right
now as their franchise doesn’t look strong in the present or future. Their coach for some reason didn’t go for 2
after the Browns got a TD to go ahead 5 in the 4th quarter and
preceded to lose the game by 1 point, the 3rd overall pick in the
draft Trent Richardson got 39 yards on 19 carries, their 28 year old rookie
quarterback Brandon Weeden looked like the worst starting quarterback in
football completing 12-35 passes for 118 yards with 0 touchdowns and 4
interceptions, and their star cornerback Joe Haden lost his appeal and will be
suspended 4 games for PED use. Not a
good day to be a Browns fan.
Washington
Redskins over New Orleans Saints
After having
a pretty horrible week of picking games, I would like to gloat about one of the
games that I did first guess, the Washington Redskins giving the Saints a tough
game and actually beating them, even if I incorrectly marked the game as home
for the Redskins. RGIII looked as good
as a rookie quarterback could possibly look in his debut and outplayed Drew Brees. The Saints were unable to handle the unique
playing style of Griffin and he led them to a defeat. What the game does though is catapults the
Redskins into the discussion as a possible team that could sneak into the
playoffs and the Saints as a team that could fall this season. I think the value of not having your head coach
or even the interim head coach showed for the Saints as they were beaten by the
Redskins.
Detroit Lions over St. Louis Rams
The Lions
might have been able to beat the Rams on Sunday but they didn’t make it easy on
themselves and weren’t that impressive in the process. They won by 4 points against a team that last
year was awful and I’m not sure if this year that the Rams will be as bad as
they were last season but they very well could be. Matthew Stafford threw 3 interceptions as the
team attempts to figure out what its identity is going to be except throw it up
to Calvin Johnson and hope he catches it.
Usually an effective strategy but against good teams the Lions will have
to diversify its playbook.
New England
Patriots over Tennessee Titans
In what was
an easy to see coming blowout victory the Patriots destroyed the Titans and
looked like the Super Bowl contender everybody thought they were and possibly
are better than last year. This defense
looks better with the additions of rookies Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower
along with the running game with the emergence of 2nd year back
Stevan Ridley. With an improved defense
and a strong running game it’s hard to picture the Pats not being Super Bowl
favorites considering they basically only made it last year passing the
football. The Titans though looked like
a team that was overmatched and Jake Locker while showing some talent will take
some time to develop.
Houston Texans over Miami Dolphins
This game
basically reinforced the common perceptions that everyone had going into this
game. The Texans are going to be a force
in the AFC with a solid offense and defense that is going to give difficulties
for any team. The Dolphins played like a
team that has the 2nd worst starting quarterback and football and
irrationally traded its best receiver, Brandon Marshall, and its best corner
Vontae Davis for a 2nd, 2 3rds and a conditional late
round draft pick. The Dolphins had a
tough offseason and it showed this game in what should be a long season for the
team.
New York Jets over Buffalo Bills
As a Buffalo
Bills fan there is only one word I can use to describe the game,
depressing. The Buffalo Bills got
thoroughly outplayed in all aspects of the game, and really the only positive
was the performance of CJ Spiller.
Outside of that Ryan Fitzpatrick was abysmal while the game still
counted and the “vaunted” defensive line couldn’t put any pressure on Sanchez
while the corners couldn’t cover the Jets receivers. This was an extremely
discouraging performance for the Bills with really the only positives going
forward are that it was just week 1 and the season is still young, and that
they might be able to build some positive momentum with the next 2 must win
games against Cleveland and Kansas City.
On the Jets side this game was extremely well played, Sanchez played
great and the Defense looked like the classic Jets defense. Really the only thing that wasn’t great was
that Tebow wasn’t effective to everyone at ESPN’s or NFL Network’s dismay.
Minnesota Vikings over Jacksonville
Jaguars
In a game
between 2 teams that probably aren’t going very far this season they both got
some promising signs from this week’s games.
For the Vikings, Adrian Peterson looked good in his debut coming back
from a torn ACL and Christian Ponder put forth a solid performance. On the Jaguars side, Blaine Gabbert didn’t
play totally incompetent but actually quite well, a promising sign for a team
with a seemingly bleak future.
Chicago Bears over Indianapolis Colts
This game
again was a game that probably reinforced a lot of common thoughts about both
teams going in. The Bears proved they
had an always solid defense with an improved offense and will be a tough team
to play throughout the year. The Marshall
trade and drafting Alshon Jeffrey paid immediate dividends for the Bears as
both had big performances in their first games on the team. The Colts played like a team with a bright
future that won’t be great in the present.
Luck was successful to a certain level against a pretty good Bears
defense put turned the ball over too frequently.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Carolina
Panthers
This game
seemed to come down to one major factor, Carolina turned the ball over twice
and Tampa didn’t turn it over at all. In
their 16-10 win over the Panthers, the Bucs showed off their new and improved
team that should have a substantially better defense and running game. If Josh Freeman can play like he did Sunday
and not turn the football over then the Bucs could find themselves in
contention for a playoff spot. Carolina
seemed to show some serious flaws in their team if what happened Sunday
continues going forward. The vaunted
Panthers running attack ran the ball 13 times and got only 10 yards out of
it. If the Panthers aren’t going to be
able to run the ball this season then they will be putting Cam Newton in the
tough position of having to throw all the time which could lead to many
turnovers like it did on Sunday. On a
positive note, while Tampa’s offense might not be that good the Panthers’ defense
looks like an improvement over last year’s unit.
Arizona Cardinals over Seattle Seahawks
Well my pick
for the worst team in football got off to a resounding start while winning
their first game on Sunday against a good Seahawks team. While I still don’t think the Cardinals will
be a good team this season, they might not actually be the worst team in
football, especially if they continue winning every close game they are
in. I still don’t see a team who is
rotating between Kevin Kolb and John Skelton at quarterback being that
successful. On the other hand the
Seahawks lost the game because they got below average play from their rookie
quarterback, Russell Wilson. While
Wilson wasn’t awful this week, he was slightly below average in a week where
Seattle needed him to perform a little better.
San
Francisco 49ers over Green Bay Packers
The most
impressive performance this weekend was the beatdown that the 49ers put down on
the Packers. They went into that game
and completely took the Packers out of their rhythm with their defense, and
offensively the team looks like an improved unit off of last year. They played a classic 49ers game, completely
shut down the run, win the turnover battle, take the opponent’s passing game
out of rhythm and dominate running the football. If the 49ers are able to do that on a week to
week basis then I will be dead wrong not putting them into the Super Bowl
contenders. While I still believe that
some of the turnover differential and injuries might regress this season, other
improvements within the team might be able to offset that. For the Packers the team seems like they are
going to play exactly like last year’s unit.
This Packers team seems to have the same weakness as last year’s
team. If you can get physical with them
and take them out of rhythm then they are entirely beatable. The team is dependent entirely on Aaron
Rodgers and in less he is playing outstanding, which he does a very large
percent of the time, then the team is not that great.
Denver
Broncos over Pittsburgh Steelers
Something
happened on Sunday Night Football that I wasn’t expecting, Peyton Manning
looked like the MVP Peyton Manning who makes average teams Super Bowl
contenders. While my colleague Taylor
probably has the biggest man crush on Peyton Manning of any person in the
world, I myself agree that he is very good.
If Manning is able to keep up this level of play for the rest of the
season, then the Broncos move themselves into the upper echelon of playoff
contenders and possibly even Super Bowl contenders. The Steelers on the other hand I just thought
got outplayed by Peyton Manning on Sunday Night Football, Peyton’s practical
home. I see the Steelers being fine for
the rest of the season even if the offensive line hasn’t improved from last
season.
Baltimore Ravens over Cincinnati
Bengals
The first Monday
night game of the season to me was just a case of one team being far superior
to the other. To me the game says more
about where the Bengals are as a team than where the Ravens are. The Bengals were an average football team
last year that played an easy schedule, this year they look like practically
the same team and I think its record will show that this season. The Ravens on the other hand looked like
Super Bowl Contenders and that Joe Flacco has emerged and is ready to be an
elite quarterback in this league.
Remember last season Joe Flacco had a very similar performance week 1
against the Steelers and ended up being the regular “Joe” he usually is. All this game showed that if Flacco is an
elite quarterback than the Ravens are an elite team, and I think it will take
the season for us to determine those questions.
San Diego
Chargers over Oakland Raiders
This season
didn’t start out as an absolute train wreck for the San Diego Chargers! Their yearly horrible start to the season is
at least going to be delayed one week as the Chargers were able to defeat the
Raiders. To me this game doesn’t say all
that much about either team that we didn’t already know. The Chargers should be in a fight for a
playoff spot as long as Rivers plays well and the team doesn’t quite on Norv
Turner. The Raiders while not off to a
great start to the season, still will have a chance at making the playoffs if
they can get their offense together.
Stay Hungry
My Friends
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