Friday, October 02, 2009

Week Three Observations


1. Make no mistake about it, Detroit outplayed the Redskins on Sunday. This was no fluke. I am having a tough time diagnosing what’s wrong with the Skins. Their offensive line is a bit of a mess and they can’t get the running game going. Their defense isn’t creating turnovers. They just don’t seem that bad to me though. They are the kind of team that gets 11 yards on third and 12, the kind of team that can’t overcome a holding penalty, the kind of team that doesn’t confuse a Matt Stafford into turning the ball over, the kind of team that will have a new coach in three months.

2. Jim Schwartz has to be my favorite coach in the league – even ahead of Mike “Olde Whitey” Smith. He reads Football Outsiders, rocks a bit of a fauxhawk, doesn’t draw attention to himself, and coaches well. Some of my other favorites:

QB: Tyler Thigpen
RB: Ahmad Bradshaw
TE: Brandon Pettigrew
WR: Eddie Royal
WR: Larry Fitzgerald
OL: Ryan Clady
DE: Jared Allen
DT: Jay Ratliff
LB: Ray Lewis
CB: Champ Bailey
S: Adrian Wilson
P: Mike Scifres
K: Mason Crosby

3. Lions rookie S Louis Delmas is left cleaning up a lot of messes on the back end.

4. The Packers stick with Ryan Grant and the ground game, though it’s unimpressive.

5. Someone explain to me the difference between Greg Jennings and Lee Evans. How does Jennings always seems to be available for a couple bombs, while Evans is rarely targeted and always blanketed?

6. Kyle Boller could be better than Marc Bulger at this point in their careers. I know one thing – Boller was VERY excited to get his opportunity.

7. Shaun Hill showed me what I needed to see. Hill, Vernon Davis, and Josh Morgan flashed enough of a passing game to make the Niners a comprehensive team. The game was snatched cruelly away from them, but Sunday was still a good day for San Fran – each of their division rivals lost.

8. Minnesota is not blowing teams away, but they are not going to be easy to beat. The Vikings have unstoppable players on offense and defense.

9. Michael Turner hasn’t lost a step, or a half-step, but he may have lost a quarter-step.

10. Atlanta had a nice matchup week one against the Dolphins, but since then it has become obvious this team has no defense. They can’t get off the field.

11. Houston’s defense looks just like Atlanta’s: one good pass rusher and a bunch of stiffs. Not enough speed or strength, poor tackling, and little playmaking. These teams have explosive offenses but they can’t get a hold of the ball.

12. Jets rookie RB Shonn Greene has yet to set foot on an NFL football field.

13. The funny thing about the Chiefs is that Matt Cassel is as good or better than advertised, and they still completely suck.

14. It’s staggering to think that of all the wideouts that have come out of USC the last decade, Steve Smith of the Giants is easily the most productive pro.

15. Derek Anderson gives the Browns just a sliver of hope, as he can deliver the ball downfield to Braylon Edwards. Brady Quinn really needs dynamic short-pattern receivers to succeed. A legit tight end would have helped him out.

16. I’m not the first to say this: the three worst words in sports are Doctor James Andrews.

17. The Bears would really be in trouble without Jay Cutler. There are not many things they do well. Cutler has already bailed them out of two games they should have lost.

18. Underrated coaching performance of the week: Sean Payton grinding out a win in Buffalo, leaving the ego on the shelf, and using a low-risk game plan which virtually insured a New Orleans victory.

19. Second year LT Ryan Clady has given up half a sack in his career for the Broncos. Clady may be the best offensive lineman in the world.

20. Correll Buckhalter is averaging 7.4 yards per carry.

21. Denver’s defense, one of the worst in NFL history last season according to several statistical models, currently ranks in the top ten of every category you can think of. Some of the more

Yardage – 1st
Passing yardage – 2nd
Yards per pass attempt – 3rd
Opposing QB rating – 3rd
Pass touchdowns – 1st (0 on the season)
Interceptions – 5th
Sacks – 1st
Rushing yardage – 7th
Yards per rush attempt – 7th
Rushing touchdowns – 4th
Forced fumbles – 1st
Recovered fumbles – 2nd
Points per game – 1st (averaging a ridiculous 5.3, less than half #2 NY Jets)
First downs – 1st
Third down stop percent – 4th
Fantasy points – 1st

22. ***Softball analogy of the week***
You see some pretty weak girls step up to the plate playing coed softball. Girls that have little chance at getting the ball out of the infield, let alone getting on base. At the same time, almost every guy is at least competent – and many are terrifying bashers who always hit the ball hard. I play third base, which is positively terrifying when one of those big boppers steps in. There are men who threaten to reconstruct my face Anquan Boldin style. Now, throwing strikes is not that easy. Throwing accurately underhand is challenging. But when our pitcher walks a weak girl, I lose my mind. Not only did we just put someone on base who is probably going to come around and score, not only did the chances of my teeth spilling onto the infield just increase, but we lost a great opportunity to record an out.

The Denver Broncos lucked out in a win over the Bengals, then took care of business against the Browns and Raiders. The Broncos haven’t walked any girls so far this season.

Which is mandatory, because Denver’s next eight games look like this:
Dallas
New England
@San Diego
@Baltimore
Pittsburgh
@Washington
San Diego
NY Giants

Late-season trips to Indianapolis and Philadelphia lurk as well.

23. Pittsburgh looked like a behemoth to me on Sunday. Their loss to the Bengals was the flukiest of the NFL season thus far. The Steelers dominated a solid team on the road.

24. Marvin Lewis is officially the worst clock-managing head coach in the league.

25. In retrospect, the Colts couldn’t have had a better matchup than they had against the pass-first Arizona Cardinals, who can’t run the ball and can’t protect Kurt Warner.

26. In 2009, I am convinced that the name of the game is defensive line. Carolina, who lost Ma’ake Kemoeatu before the season began, does not have a defensive line.

27. Once every 381 days, you can count on a big game from Dante Rosario.

Defensive MVP of the Week: Kevin Burnett, San Diego
Offensive MVP of the Week: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay
Defensive Breakout Player of the Week: Kevin Burnett, San Diego
Offensive Breakout Player of the Week: Lynell Hamilton, New Orleans
Defensive Coordinator of the Week: Dean Pees, New England
Offensive Coordinator of the Week:

Power Rankings:

32. Cleveland (32)
31. Oakland (29)
30. Kansas City (30)
29. St. Louis (31)
28. Tampa Bay (26)
27. Detroit (28)
26. Miami (18)
25. Seattle (25)
24. Houston (24)
23. Jacksonville (27)
22. Buffalo (20)
21. Washington (21)
20. Arizona (23)
19. Carolina (17)
18. Chicago (15)
17. Green Bay (16)
16. Cincinnati (12)
15. Denver (19)
14. San Francisco (22)
13. Tennessee (14)
12. San Diego (13)
11. Atlanta (10)
10. New England (11)
9. Dallas (10)
8. New York Jets (7)
7. Philadelphia (8)
6. Minnesota (6)
5. Pittsburgh (5)
4. New Orleans (4)
3. Indianapolis (3)
2. Baltimore (2)
1. New York Giants (1)

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cincinatti beating Pittsburg at home was no fluke. They are very physical on the offensive and defensive lines. Spent most of today watching tape on them. When you control the line of scrimmage you always have a shot. Now the play calling on the other hand....

9:51 PM  
Blogger highlandfox said...

How do the Jets beat the Titans and drop a spot while the Titans move up one?

1:40 AM  
Blogger GnightMoon said...

Cinci is solid but let's not kid ourselves - Pittsburgh wins that game 9 times out of 10.

Power rankings are always based on overall profile and tape, never on game-by-game results.

2:37 AM  
Blogger zach said...

1) my compulsive weekly Redskins comment - biggest gambling question of the year that isn't being talked about - how in god's name are the Redskins going to be TD+ favorites three weeks in a row when we haven't scored 30+ in 20 games and cannot score an offensive TD??? I'm not betting on this stuff, but I don't see how you can ever bet on the Skins as touchdown favorites, even at home against horrendous teams.

2) what's wrong with James Andrews? shows my ignorance, he certainly gets the most press of any doctor I know but I don't know what he does good or bad

3) love the softball point about Denver, because halfway through I wanted to point out that the last two weeks they played two potentially all-time awful offenses.

8:29 AM  
Blogger 81Trucolors said...

Jags are certainly better than Buffalo and Wash and may be better than Zona, Carolina, and Da Bears.

2:47 PM  
Blogger Spencetron said...

I'm with Zach on James Andrews. I understand your point that everytime a QB or pitcher has to see Dr. James Andrews it is not good news, but how sweet would it be to be Dr. James Andrews. Easily the most famous shoulder doctor in the world. Sam Bradford flew down to Alabama so Dr. James Andrews could look at his shoulder on a golf course. I just like saying Dr. James Andrews. Dr. JAMES ANDREWS

4:11 PM  
Blogger GnightMoon said...

What you said Zach is something we have discussed every time that situation has come up, which was why we didn't bet SKINS week 2 vs Rams even though I loved it.

5:55 PM  
Blogger zach said...

glad it is being talked about somewhere then ... I would not be surprised at all if a terrific strategy on them this year is to take them anytime they're a touchdown dog, and go against them anytime they're a touchdown favorite. I know this is 3-0 this year so it sounds like 20-20 hindsight, but that's the way this team is built and everyone in DC knows it - they can't blow out anyone, but they won't get blown out either. Going to be a long, shitty, 7-9 season where every game comes down to the final play...

9:02 PM  

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