Week 4 Review of the NFL

The Greatest Quarterback Ever

Now I know I’ve mentioned it before. Who is the better quarterback? Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? Which ever you choose you can’t lose. They are among the best of not just this generation, but of all-time. I’ve always leaned towards picking Peyton Manning rather than Tom Brady. Reason being is that when I watch Peyton make his pre-snap adjustments he seems to always be one step ahead of the defense and it no only helps himself and his playmakers, but his offensive line as well to better protect him. That’s no knock on Tom Brady who does it as well, but when you see Manning do it he already knows what you’re going to do and will even fool you into thinking that he doesn’t. If that makes sense. Either way I’ve had the luxury of seeing some great quarterbacks in my time. John Elway, Dan Marino, Steve Young, Joe Montana (with Kansas City). Those quarterbacks and others that played in that era I saw at the end of their careers, but they were still great nonetheless. What I have seen in watching Peyton Manning since he first entered the league has proven to me that he is the greatest quarterback the NFL has ever seen. He is able to do what he wants, even with decent pressure coming at him from the defense, but he is able to get rid of the ball in a timely manner to make a play at a crucial moment. I’m willing to listen on any other quarterback being better, but I will find it hard to put anyone ahead of Peyton Manning.

Yes, They’re Good

Strangely enough it seems like not enough pundits are talking about the Seattle Seahawks. If you haven’t heard they are pretty good. The Houston Texans jumped all over them in the first half of their meeting Sunday. But Seattle’s second half charge led by QB Russell Wilson who doesn’t have a reliable receiver to throw to with their big offseason acquisition, WR Percy Harvin out with a hip injury for the first half of the season. The Seahawks real strength is in their defense though. Even though they gave up some big plays early on they didn’t allow the Texans to do so in the second half and cause Texans QB Matt Schaub to make a boneheaded play to allow the Seahawks to tie the game with a pick-six score. Seattle would win it in overtime and prove that they are still a formidable team, even away from their friendly confines of Century Link Field. They’ll to be more consistent on offense though because they will not be so lucky the next time they are down by two or more touchdowns.

They Find A Way To Win

The New England Patriots certainly aren’t the best team in the NFL. But when you have Tom Brady as your quarterback you’re going to win some games you probably shouldn’t. They were playing in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome against the Falcons. Not an easy place to play. Now the Patriots roster, mainly their receivers consist of some no-names right now with the injury to TE Rob Gronkowski and the free agent departure of WR Wes Welker, but the Patriots are a resilient group. The Atlanta Falcons have been exposed this year on the defensive side of the ball and are in danger of falling flat at a time when they should be contending for a Super Bowl. This game ended up much like the NFC Championship game last year in which the Falcons had a chance to win on the final drive of the game and couldn’t punch it in. It couldn’t get any better for the Patriots as they play the Bengals, Saints and Dolphins in three of their next five games. This was a huge victory for the Patriots and a disappointing defeat for the Falcons. There’s still time for Atlanta, but they’ll to turn it around in a hurry if they want to stay in the race with the Saints going forward.

Week 3 Review of the NFL

3-0 And Proud Of It

The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks and the Miami Dolphins are all 3-0 to start the season. Now this doesn’t mean they are going to be Super Bowl contenders. The playoffs are likely, but that doesn’t always mean success. There are eight teams who are 2-1 to start the season and they all have a chance at success later this season. The two surprise teams to come out of the 3-0 group are the Chiefs and Dolphins. Miami’s defense was solid last year, but the offense was the big question going into this season. It seems that QB Ryan Tannehill needed some more weapons to be a pretty good quarterback. The Chiefs were 2-14 last season and a simple head coaching change and a new quarterback was all they needed to quickly turnaround their outlook. Whether this early success continues into the fall is yet to be determined, but you’re in a good spot if you’re undefeated to start the season.

A Wild And Crazy Game

Both the Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals had rough moments in this game. They both had 4 turnovers and sloppy play. For a moment it looked like the Packers would hold on for an important road win. The Packers were up 30-14 late in the 3rd quarter. Green Bay had scored 30 straight points, but the Bengals slowly crept back into the game. Bengals QB Andy Dalton threw a TD pass to WR A.J. Green. Then Dalton threw another one to WR Marvin Jones in the 4th quarter. The Bengals were only down by a field goal. Packers rookie RB Jonathan Franklin fumbled with under 4 minutes to go in the game and the Bengals promptly returned it for a go-ahead touchdown. The Bengals would go on to win the game. At one point in the game the cameras caught Packers head coach Mike McCarthy get into a heated conversation with QB Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines. Both downplayed the incident, but I would have to think that Rodgers is getting tired of being constantly pressured with a porous offensive line. He was sacked four times and threw two interceptions. Whether or not it was a one time thing or a sign of things to come is unclear. Rodgers is a competitor and doesn’t want to be sitting down while competing.

An Intriguing Transaction

Before the Indianapolis Colts went to the play the San Francisco 49ers, they made a big splash in acquiring RB Trent Richardson from the Cleveland Browns for a 2014 1st round pick. That’s right, the Browns gave up on Richardson after only one year. Most were shocked and figured that the Cleveland Browns were giving up on the season. Turns out they were lucky to play a dismal Minnesota Vikings and caught them off guard winning without Richardson and QB Brandon Weeden who was out with a thumb injury. But on to the Colts. They did lose their opening week starter Vick Ballard for the season with a knee injury. And free agent pickup Ahmad Bradshaw isn’t a sure thing for an entire season. This trade makes perfect sense for them now and for many years. Think about it. The Colts gave up a 1s round pick to get a 1st round pick from the 2012 draft. If you remember Colts QB Andrew Luck was the first pick in that draft and Richardson was the 3rd pick. In just one year if you can get away with having two of the top five picks in a draft your future will be bright. Time will tell of course, but on paper the Browns are cleaning house in a bigger way than many thought under new ownership and the Colts may have a repeat of the Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James years.

Week 2 Review of the NFL

The Marc Trestman Effect

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it did to me that the Chicago Bears actually look like a good football team. Granted this is only through two games of the season, but you have to look at the big picture. Their new head coach Marc Trestman has a relatively good history in the NFL as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. It did take a long time for him to finally get an opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL, but it wasn’t until his success in the CFL (Canadian Football League) that teams began to take notice. The schedule for the Bears remains relatively easy, but we’ll have to see how they play on the road. It’s more manageable to win back-to-back games in comeback fashion at home, but try doing that in a hostile environment. Chicago has been prone to finishing poorly after having strong starts to a season. It will be interesting to see how new head coach Marc Trestman adjusts to those moments.

The Other Rookie QB

I never paid much attention to the hype around New York Jets rookie QB Geno Smith. With all that focus on him being the best available quarterback in the NFL Draft, everyone had put aside the only quarterback taken in the first round, E.J. Manuel. The Buffalo Bills surprised everyone by taking him instead of Geno Smith. Manuel did not wow everyone with his play at Florida State, but he looked good and could be a decent quarterback in the right situation. We all doubted it however, because it was the Buffalo Bills. Not since Doug Flutie and before him Jim Kelly have the Bills been a stable franchise. After seeing what E.J. Manuel could do in their first game against the New England Patriots, I thought this guy might actually find some success there. Granted, the Bills defense didn’t do him any favors by letting the Patriots march down the field for a last second field goal, but Manuel’s performance was good. This last one against the Carolina Panthers wasn’t as good, but it showed me with his 4th quarter heroics that he wants to win every single game. I was trumpeting the Buffalo Bills a few years ago when Ryan Fitzpatrick was at the helm. Big mistake, I know. I think this time is different. I don’t see the Bills making the playoffs or anything close to that, but they have a chance of building something that could put them in a good position to unseat the Patriots when their quarterback situation begins to change.

Two Very Different Teams

The Washington Redskins went to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers as a matchup between two playoff teams from a year ago looking to avoid an 0-2 start to this season. Both looked to be two completely different teams from a year ago. The Redskins looked sluggish and started out slow. The Green Bay Packers took advantage quickly and QB Aaron Rodgers had a field day with 480 yards passing and four touchdowns. RB James Starks became the first Packers running back to rush for over 100 yards in a game in 45 tries. His 132 yard, one touchdown day put a nail in the Redskins coffin that afternoon. The Packers are 1-1 and the Redskins are 0-2. Does that mean one will definitely make the playoffs and the other won’t? No. But what it does mean is that the Redskins are being exposed for their lack of preparedness in the first two games of the season. The Philadelphia Eagles did it to them during the first Monday night football game of the year. Washington will need to turn it around quickly in the next two weeks before their bye.

Week 1 Review of the NFL

Lucky Number Seven

It didn’t seem like there was much of a problem with the Denver Broncos with outcome being a 49-27 victory. It was a strange start to the game as it was delayed over thirty minutes due to lightning strikes in the area. Although viewers on television saw no such strikes. Regardless of when the game started it would be imperative that the Broncos win this game convincingly. The Baltimore Ravens are the defending champions and defeated Denver on their field in the divisional playoffs last season. This time around the Broncos wanted to give no chance for the Ravens to spoil their home opener. Peyton Manning ended the game tying an NFL record by throwing seven touchdown passes against the Ravens who were able to pressure him, but not enough to get Manning out of any rhythm. I don’t see this game as a sign of things to come for both teams, but it does tell you that adding WR Wes Welker with Eric Decker, Demaryius Thomas and the surprise appearance of TE Julius Thomas that the Broncos will be hard to stop on offense. Baltimore had a rude awakening, but they should be able to bounce back.

Deja Vu, Well Sort Of

The Green Bay Packers figured that 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick would try to establish the read option early and often. Green Bay was smart and did an excellent job shutting down the read option the 49ers used so well last season. However, they forgot that Kaepernick can throw the ball fairly well. He threw for a career high 412 yards and 3 touchdown passes against the Packers. Aside from the blown call of the referee crew and to the trash talking by Packers LB Clay Matthews and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, this was a great game. The ‘game of the week’ as Fox called it and it actually lived up to the hype. The Packers were still able to establish their offense against a stellar 49ers defense and that bodes well for them going forward. Just a note to other teams though, the 49ers quarterback can beat you through the air as well.

Welcome To The NFL

I had my misconceptions about former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and his offense working in the NFL. I didn’t think it would look like the Oregon Ducks would be playing the Washington Redskins on Monday night, but it actually did. The only flaw I thought about was the health of Eagles QB Michael Vick. Will he be able to stay healthy for an entire season? History shows that he won’t. Although the offensive line in front of him is perhaps the best he’s ever played behind in his entire career so it could bode well for him and the Eagles. RB LeSean McCoy looks to be having a lot of fun in the read option type offense and the Redskins defense had no answer for it. Speaking of the Redskins, QB Robert Griffin didn’t look comfortable throughout the entire game. There’s still plenty of games left in the season, but he looks like his routine is out of whack and he’ll need to get that fixed in a hurry. Chip Kelly looks good after his first game, but if Michael Vick goes down will this offense work with backup QB Nick Foles?

Super Bowl Prediction

* – Division Winner

+ – Wild Card Winner

AFC

1. Denver Broncos*

2. Houston Texans*

3. New England Patriots*

4. Baltimore Ravens*

5. Cincinnati Bengals+

6. Indianapolis Colts+

NFC

1. Atlanta Falcons*

2. San Francisco 49ers*

3. Green Bay Packers*

4. Dallas Cowboys*

5. Seattle Seahawks+

6. New York Giants+

Wild Card

Patriots over Colts

Ravens over Bengals

Giants over Packers

Seahawks over Cowboys

Divisional Round

Broncos over Ravens

Texans over Patriots

Falcons over Giants

49ers over Seahawks

Championship Round

Broncos over Texans

49ers over Falcons

Super Bowl 48

49ers over Broncos

These are easily two of the most complete teams in the NFL this year. Scary thought about them is that they each have a star player that will miss some time in the early part of the season. Broncos LB Von Miller will be suspended for the first six games for violation of the substance abuse policy. And 49ers WR Michael Crabtree tore his achilles early in minicamp in the spring. If they both return later in the season to their superstar form both teams will be even better than at the start. This should be a tremendous matchup and one that many pundits are picking as well. Just know this. My last three Super Bowl predictions have had at least one of the participants right. Last year I had them both. My track record speaks for itself. Football is back!