What an exciting week! Lots of close games and now we know just a little bit more about what we can expect during the season. Let's revisit my Week 2: What to Watch For list and then move on to other thoughts.
1) The Cowboys: I said this game would tell us if things have truly changed in Big D as it would likely come down to a final drive Romo and the crew would need in order to win. Turns out I was right. The Cowboys didn't pull out the victory and because of that I think things haven't changed that much in Dallas. Dez Bryant was spectacular in the first half and then disappeared once the Chiefs' D made adjustments. I said KC was a tough place to play and that the difference b/w a win and a loss for Dallas would be leadership. Championship teams usually win games like that and though the Cowboys may win a lot of games this year we've seen them come up short like this all too often. Told you so...
2) Zona vs. Detroit. Peterson is really good. Megatron got loose, but that doesn't negate his (Peterson's) talent. It's becoming increasingly hard to play corner in this league so my hat goes off to Peterson and the way he stayed with Megatron for most of the game. I still think he's a bit overrated as he failed to tackle Johnson on a slant that resulted in a long TD. Arizona's line held up against a Lions' d-line that was curiously ineffective. Mendenhall ran for 66 and a touch and Palmer was upright for most of the game. Arizona can play with anyone and if you have any Detroit stock left, sell it. No offensive points in the second half means the coaching staff couldn't/didn't make enough or any good adjustments. There are ways good teams lose games and this is not one of them. The Lions are too talented and Swartz has been with this team too long to go down like this.
3) RGIII. He's still rusty. I said this would be a bad spot for Washington and it was. 0-2 is not a good start, but it's not the end of the world. Washington and RGIII are not going to be as dynamic as they were last year, especially given the fact that RGIII is coming off of major knee surgery. My worry is that he gets frustrated and tries to make more plays with his feet. If RGIII is going to last in this league he's going to have to become a better passer from the pocket and he's probably the least developed of the young QBs in that regard. Be patient Washington fans. RGIII is very good, but he's going to need some time to build a solid foundation so he can play for a decade.
4) The Manning Bowl. I thought this game wouldn't be that interesting and it wasn't. The Giants have been 0-2 before and had a successful season. Right now they can't run the ball effectively, but we knew that coming in. The Broncos showed once again that they're a top 5 team in the league, but again, we knew that coming in. Both teams will be competitive throughout the year, blah, blah, blah.
5) 49ers vs. Seahawks. I thought this was going to be a good game. I was wrong. This was an ass kicking. And though it was tough to watch my favorite team get handled I learned a few things from this 4 quarters of domination:
a) If Seattle gets home field throughout the playoffs they'll be nearly impossible to beat. No team wants to go play in this stadium. It's just that intimidating.
b) 49ers still commit a worrisome number of boneheaded penalties.
c) Kaepernick is still learning how to be a consistently effective QB; especially in the redzone and under pressure. One thing Wilson does much better than Kaep is throw under duress and on the move.
d) The 49ers really miss Crabtree. Boldin is great receiver, but he's not fast and that really hurt the 9ers' passing game Sunday night. Kaep struggled partially because his guys couldn't get open and if anyone is going to beat Seattle they're going to need strong receivers that can separate from those big corners. Nightmare game!
Okay, now on to other thoughts about week 2
Cam Newton: whatever it is that E.J. Manuel has that allowed him to win this game Cam doesn't appear to have it. Success is often apparent from day one. Success, not glory or greatness, but success. I'm not saying Manuel will be great, nor am I saying Cam is a complete flop, but you can't look at Cam's body of work to date and then look at E.J.'s early success and feel too much better about the former player's trajectory than the later. The panthers had three field goals in the fourth quarter and though Cam led his team to a lead after the game was tied he still was unable to score a TD when it mattered most. To me that speaks to leadership, poise, preparation, and mental talent. Cam doesn't have a lot of offensive help, but neither does Luck. One of those guys publicly states he wants to be an icon before taking his first NFL snap and the other just goes out and plays like one. When Newton fails to achieve his ultimate goals it won't all be his fault. He's just another in a line of incredible talents that come up short because they weren't afforded the tools, time, and mentorship to realize their full potential. It's a come story across many professions and everyone's a loser in these scenarios.
Houston Texans: By now it should be apparent that this team ain't it. Say it out loud (again), the Texans, at home, ahead by 6 going into the fourth quarter give up two touchdowns to the Titans and need overtime to win. The Texans are 2-0 and have managed to barely squeak out games against teams they should have beat more comfortably. This game says more about the Titans than it does the Texans because we should know by now the later team isn't for real. I'm not sure how the Titans have been able to stay in some of these games, but it appears they may be building some important momentum for the coming years, if they can find the right QB.
Pitt vs. The Natti: The Steelers need better players on offense and Andy Dalton is limited. First, the later. It's hard to watch a QB miss as many open receivers as Dalton did and think, "Yeah, that's a franchise QB". Unfortunately, I think the Bengals are trapped on a shallow peak with Dalton as their guy. He's obviously limited and if he had played in an earlier era he would be more than adequate to win a championship because defenses would be better able to directly control the outcome of games. The last teams that fits this mold are the championship Buccaneers and 2002 Ravens. Until the Bengals try and fail to win it all with Dalton they're not going to be able to make a change. This is the same problem the Texans have albeit the Texans are 14-16 more games away from realizing their limitations and being justified in making a change at QB. Maybe the Texans' failure to win a ring this year will help the Bengals realize they need to pull a Seattle and find a real franchise QB in later rounds.
Now The Steelers. It's always worrisome when a team has a glaring need for multiple seasons and doesn't address it. The Steelers acquired a fantastic center but failed to build a solid supporting cast. The problem now is they have no healthy and/or dominant skill position talent and their offensive line can't pick up the slack. Big Ben doesn't have the extra time to wait for Sanders and Brown to get open and the line can't create big enough holes for Redman and Dwyer to run through. It's frankly a bit shocking to see an organization so well run fail to maintain such an important component of success. They'll recover quickly though.
Okay, on to week three!
1) The Cowboys: I said this game would tell us if things have truly changed in Big D as it would likely come down to a final drive Romo and the crew would need in order to win. Turns out I was right. The Cowboys didn't pull out the victory and because of that I think things haven't changed that much in Dallas. Dez Bryant was spectacular in the first half and then disappeared once the Chiefs' D made adjustments. I said KC was a tough place to play and that the difference b/w a win and a loss for Dallas would be leadership. Championship teams usually win games like that and though the Cowboys may win a lot of games this year we've seen them come up short like this all too often. Told you so...
2) Zona vs. Detroit. Peterson is really good. Megatron got loose, but that doesn't negate his (Peterson's) talent. It's becoming increasingly hard to play corner in this league so my hat goes off to Peterson and the way he stayed with Megatron for most of the game. I still think he's a bit overrated as he failed to tackle Johnson on a slant that resulted in a long TD. Arizona's line held up against a Lions' d-line that was curiously ineffective. Mendenhall ran for 66 and a touch and Palmer was upright for most of the game. Arizona can play with anyone and if you have any Detroit stock left, sell it. No offensive points in the second half means the coaching staff couldn't/didn't make enough or any good adjustments. There are ways good teams lose games and this is not one of them. The Lions are too talented and Swartz has been with this team too long to go down like this.
3) RGIII. He's still rusty. I said this would be a bad spot for Washington and it was. 0-2 is not a good start, but it's not the end of the world. Washington and RGIII are not going to be as dynamic as they were last year, especially given the fact that RGIII is coming off of major knee surgery. My worry is that he gets frustrated and tries to make more plays with his feet. If RGIII is going to last in this league he's going to have to become a better passer from the pocket and he's probably the least developed of the young QBs in that regard. Be patient Washington fans. RGIII is very good, but he's going to need some time to build a solid foundation so he can play for a decade.
4) The Manning Bowl. I thought this game wouldn't be that interesting and it wasn't. The Giants have been 0-2 before and had a successful season. Right now they can't run the ball effectively, but we knew that coming in. The Broncos showed once again that they're a top 5 team in the league, but again, we knew that coming in. Both teams will be competitive throughout the year, blah, blah, blah.
5) 49ers vs. Seahawks. I thought this was going to be a good game. I was wrong. This was an ass kicking. And though it was tough to watch my favorite team get handled I learned a few things from this 4 quarters of domination:
a) If Seattle gets home field throughout the playoffs they'll be nearly impossible to beat. No team wants to go play in this stadium. It's just that intimidating.
b) 49ers still commit a worrisome number of boneheaded penalties.
c) Kaepernick is still learning how to be a consistently effective QB; especially in the redzone and under pressure. One thing Wilson does much better than Kaep is throw under duress and on the move.
d) The 49ers really miss Crabtree. Boldin is great receiver, but he's not fast and that really hurt the 9ers' passing game Sunday night. Kaep struggled partially because his guys couldn't get open and if anyone is going to beat Seattle they're going to need strong receivers that can separate from those big corners. Nightmare game!
Okay, now on to other thoughts about week 2
Cam Newton: whatever it is that E.J. Manuel has that allowed him to win this game Cam doesn't appear to have it. Success is often apparent from day one. Success, not glory or greatness, but success. I'm not saying Manuel will be great, nor am I saying Cam is a complete flop, but you can't look at Cam's body of work to date and then look at E.J.'s early success and feel too much better about the former player's trajectory than the later. The panthers had three field goals in the fourth quarter and though Cam led his team to a lead after the game was tied he still was unable to score a TD when it mattered most. To me that speaks to leadership, poise, preparation, and mental talent. Cam doesn't have a lot of offensive help, but neither does Luck. One of those guys publicly states he wants to be an icon before taking his first NFL snap and the other just goes out and plays like one. When Newton fails to achieve his ultimate goals it won't all be his fault. He's just another in a line of incredible talents that come up short because they weren't afforded the tools, time, and mentorship to realize their full potential. It's a come story across many professions and everyone's a loser in these scenarios.
Houston Texans: By now it should be apparent that this team ain't it. Say it out loud (again), the Texans, at home, ahead by 6 going into the fourth quarter give up two touchdowns to the Titans and need overtime to win. The Texans are 2-0 and have managed to barely squeak out games against teams they should have beat more comfortably. This game says more about the Titans than it does the Texans because we should know by now the later team isn't for real. I'm not sure how the Titans have been able to stay in some of these games, but it appears they may be building some important momentum for the coming years, if they can find the right QB.
Pitt vs. The Natti: The Steelers need better players on offense and Andy Dalton is limited. First, the later. It's hard to watch a QB miss as many open receivers as Dalton did and think, "Yeah, that's a franchise QB". Unfortunately, I think the Bengals are trapped on a shallow peak with Dalton as their guy. He's obviously limited and if he had played in an earlier era he would be more than adequate to win a championship because defenses would be better able to directly control the outcome of games. The last teams that fits this mold are the championship Buccaneers and 2002 Ravens. Until the Bengals try and fail to win it all with Dalton they're not going to be able to make a change. This is the same problem the Texans have albeit the Texans are 14-16 more games away from realizing their limitations and being justified in making a change at QB. Maybe the Texans' failure to win a ring this year will help the Bengals realize they need to pull a Seattle and find a real franchise QB in later rounds.
Now The Steelers. It's always worrisome when a team has a glaring need for multiple seasons and doesn't address it. The Steelers acquired a fantastic center but failed to build a solid supporting cast. The problem now is they have no healthy and/or dominant skill position talent and their offensive line can't pick up the slack. Big Ben doesn't have the extra time to wait for Sanders and Brown to get open and the line can't create big enough holes for Redman and Dwyer to run through. It's frankly a bit shocking to see an organization so well run fail to maintain such an important component of success. They'll recover quickly though.
Okay, on to week three!
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