Trying to Make Sense of the First 6 Weeks

The Tecmo Rabbitt, for no good reason

We’re 6 weeks into the NFL season, which is generally the point at which we have enough of a sample size to have the tiniest bit of a clue what we’re talking about. Granted, there’s still a lot of football left to be played, and there’s probably a bunch of things I’ll say here that will seem hilariously wrong just a few weeks from now.

3 Things That Have Surprised Me:

11.       The Patriots struggles- Looking at New England’s schedule going in to this year, most saw them as at least a 12 win team. The legitimately played the easiest schedule I can remember a good team playing in a long time. Coupled with the fact that they’ve won 14 and 13 games the last 2 years respectively the last two years, there was little reason to think they’d trip up this much this early. With losses to Seattle, Arizona, and Baltimore (in which they lost close leads each time), you have to wonder if the old formulas are getting stale up in Massachusetts.

22.      The NFC West is damn good, or at least balanced. 2 years ago, every team stunk. Seattle won the division at 7-9. Last year, San Francisco dominated, but the other 3 teams were all mediocre to bad.  But right now, San Francisco is 4-2, having beaten contenders in Green Bay and Detroit, and embarrassed the Jets and Bills. Arizona and Seattle are both exciting young teams, and are also 4-0. Even the Rams, 2 and 14 last year, are 3-3 and becoming a threat every week under new Head Coach Jeff Fisher. In the NFC, 3 different divisions seem solid 1 through 4, which was expected, but the NFC West is one of them, which was not.

33. Rushing a QB taking a knee actually became a controversy. It’s low-rent, classless horse-shit. It’s not old-times football, nor is it something Vince Lombardi would have approved of, as I heard someone mention on the radio a few weeks back. As an offensive lineman, I was always worried about cheap shots, and that a bunch of professionals would be basically forced to do it bothers me just as much as the fact that half of the talking heads on TV sanctioned it.

3 Things That Absolutely Have Not Surprised Me

1.        

   This has been a site Eagles fans have seen 9 times already this year.









The Eagles/ Michael Vick soap opera continues- Right now, the Eagles are 3-3 and could easily be 5-1 or 0-6. Almost every game has been that close. But this was a team with high expectations last year, and was basically given a mandate this year: win big or see changes. Already, Defensive Coordinator Juan Castillo has been fired. But the real controversy around the Eagles centers on Michael Vick. In 6 games, he has thrown for 1632 yards already, placing him 9^th in the NFL. However, he has thrown 8 interceptions, which is 6^th in the league, but above him are names like Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel. He’s also fumbled 9 times already. Nine! And they’ve lost 5 of them. That’s 14 turnovers in 6 games.

Now, not all of it is his fault, but the Eagles took a big risk hitching themselves to Michael Vick in 2010, after his best year as a Pro. Vick is 32 now, and it’s safe to say he’s as good as    he’s ever going to be, if not already on the down slope. If they decide to rebuild with a new Head Coach next year (which seems like a lock without a deep playoff run), it is likely the new coach will not want to begin a new process with an aging Vick. But as always with the Eagles, they are a few hot weeks away from looking like the best team in the NFL again.

2.       Atlanta/ Houston running away with divisions-  I don’t think I’m the only one who thought of this, especially when it comes to Houston. Even with the Colts being a bit better than expected, the Texans still have a 2.5 games lead already. With the pace they are on, they division will probably be mathematically clinched before the 13^th game of the year is played.

Atlanta might be a bit more surprising to some people, depending on how you thought the Saints situation would play out. I personally thought they would really struggle, although 0 and 4 to start was bit more than that. Atlanta currently has a 3.5 game lead already. If they were to win 4 more and get to 10-0, it’s possible that no one in the division would be above 4-6 and they might clinch the division before Thanksgiving.

3.       Denver not being as great as predicted- As soon as Peyton Manning signed with Denver, people were ready to take a division champion from last year, with a great defense, and put them in the Super Bowl. Only here’s the problem, that division champion last year was an 8-8 team that had some of the craziest luck anyone can remember, and lost their last 3 games, but managed to back into the playoffs because everyone else in their division sucked harder. As for that “great defense:” the Broncos defense was 19^th in yards allowed and 24^th in points allowed. Certainly not groundbreaking numbers. Manning has been up and down so far, and that’s perfectly illustrates by the teams’ 3-3 record. They could still win the division, because the Chiefs, Raiders, and Chargers still stink, but as of right now, they are not a serious Championship contender.

3 Teams Who Have Pleasantly Surprised

Lauren Tannehill. As if I needed a reason to post her picture.

1.Miami- Anyone who saw Hard Knocks, or saw them go 0-4 in the Preseason did not form an optimistic prognosis for the 2012 Dolphins.  But they are currently 3-3, and every game since Week 1 has been either a win or a 3 point loss. Ryan Tannehill is playing way above expectations, and Miami currently sits in a 4 way tie for first (and last) with everyone else in the AFC East.

2.Minnesota- 4-2 currently, already beating their win total from last year. Probably not a team that can sustain the run, but even a 7-9 season or so would be considered way ahead of schedule for a team in Year 2 of a total overhaul. 

3. Washington- Robert Griffin III is way ahead of the field for Rookie of the Year, and their 3 losses all  came by 7 points or less. It looks like they may finally have their franchise QB, which could set them up for years to come. The most likely of this group to stay in it for the whole year, as they still have all 6 divisional games left, and right now feature the NFL’s 2^nd ranked rushing attack.

3 Who Have Disappointed:

1.New Orleans- Look, no one knew exactly what we could expect from them this year. The worst case scenario seemed to be 7-9 or 8-8. But an 0-4 start basically ended their season before it even started. Losing your Head Coach due to suspension is not something anyone has ever had to deal with, but a team with Drew Brees should not open the season with losses to Washington, Carolina, and Kansas City (the first and third being at home).

2. Lions- The classic team that was bad for a long time, got good for a year, and everyone just assumed they would stay good forever. Currently at 2-3 and very much still in it. But they have let a number of games slip away, don’t seem to have the same offensive explosiveness as last year, and it’s seems as if they are embracing the problems from last year a bit too much, with this week’s story about how they plan to return to being the “Bad Boys” this week. So basically that means they think they need to play dirty.

3. Chiefs- A sexy pick as a dark horse divisional champion, currently a 1-5 and blown out 4 separate times. They have the 30^th ranked offense, and the only headlines they made this year revolve around their own fans booing their starting QB being injured.

                                              Game of the Year So Far

6 Games of the Year so far (2-6 in no order):

1.       Titans 44 Lions 41 (OT) 46 points in 4^th quarter. Lions score 14 points in 18 seconds, including Hail Mary as time expires. Game of the Year so far.

2.       Colts 30- Packers 27 The first comeback of the Andrew Luck era, huge upset.

3.       Falcons 30- Panthers 28 Falcons drive 98 yards to stay undefeated

4.       Chiefs 27- Saints 24 (OT) Chiefs score 11 unanswered in 4^th, send Saints to 0-3.

5.       Ravens 31- Patriots 30 AFC Title Game Rematch ends on barely made 30 yard FG, lots of replacement ref fun

6.       Giants 41-Bucs 34 Giants score 25 4^th Quarter points, kneel downs become controversial.