NFL Story Lines Going Into Week 3

1. Which 0-2 Team is Most Likely to Bounce Back and Make the Playoffs?

(http://jseverns.wordpress.com/tag/espn/)

Of the eight teams that find themselves at 0-2, I'm giving the Redskins the best chance to come back and sneak into the playoffs. The primary reason for this is because of how weak the NFC East is this season. The Cowboys are an accident waiting to happen so I just can't believe that they will keep it together long enough to make the postseason. The Giants, another team currently 0-2, have absolutely no running game to go along with a sub par defense which means they have to rely heavily on the arm of Eli Manning. The result of this is that he has thrown six interceptions in just the first two games. Arguably the best team in the division is the Eagles. They have proven to have an electric offense (which I will be discussing more in depth later) that has the ability to put a lot of points up on the board in a hurry. Their defense, however, is positively abysmal which puts a lot of pressure on the offense to score a lot. Another thing to keep in mind is that if history has shown us anything, it's that it's only a matter of time until Mike Vick gets hurt. Essentially, all other teams in that division have major flaws and the Eagles and Cowboys are tied for first each with a record of 1-1, putting the Skins only a game back of first. Additionally, I'm confident that RGIII is going to get better and better as the season continues, giving them a fairly good chance of making it to the postseason.

2. Which 2-0 is Most Likely to Miss the Playoffs?

(http://www.rantsports.com/fantasy/2013/08/19/often-passed-over-kansas-city-chiefs-boast-sleeper-potential-this-fantasy-football-season/)

Let me preface this by stating that I'm not saying the Chiefs will not make the playoffs this year, simply that out of all the 2-0 teams I think they are the most likely to miss out. First of all, I have absolutely no doubt that the Broncos are going to win that division, so if the Chiefs make the postseason it will have to be as a wildcard. My primary reason, however, for choosing Kansas City is just because I haven't seen enough from this team to buy in. In their first game they beat the Jaguars...there are no words to accurately describe quite how bad the Jags are this season...but anyway, the point is beating Jacksonville doesn't exactly prove that you're a good team. Then they went on to play and beat the Cowboys, one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL. It is also important to note that Andy Reid, as the previous coach of the Eagles, knows the Cowboys like the back of his hand, giving them an advantage. While I have no doubt that the Chiefs are greatly improved from last year, I will have to see a bit more before I endorse them as a playoff team.

3. Eagles Prolific Offense

(http://gcobb.com/2013/04/03/desean-jackson-is-excited-about-playing-for-chip-kelly-video/)

One of the biggest questions coming into this season was what would the Eagles offense be like under the direction of new coach Chip Kelly. Well that question has been asked and answered even after just two weeks. The answer is that the Eagles have a prolific offense that quickly marches down the field big chunks at a time. Their offense is a must see for any football fan that appreciates that side of the ball, as one can't help but compare this unit to the 2000 Rams, also known as the Greatest Show on Turf. To put into perspective how high-powered this offense is, take into consideration that they currently have the leading receiver and leading rusher in the league (DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy respectively). It's rare to see one team with leaders in those two categories. To take it a step farther, Jackson is on pace to obliterate the single season record for receiving yards that Calvin Johnson set a year ago by over 400 yards. While the defense certainly needs some work, this offense is simply fun to watch and will give fans a show week in and week out.

4. Trent Richardson Traded to the Colts

(http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2012/12/should_the_cleveland_browns_be.html)

Just yesterday the Cleveland Browns made the most peculiar decision of the season. Despite being competitive in each of their first two games, it appears that they have thrown in the towel for this season as they traded away Trent Richardson, their best player, for a first round pick in next year's draft. So now there is literally no reason to pay attention to the Browns this year as they are essentially and automatic win for anyone who plays them. Now on to the part of this trade that actually has an impact on this season. The colts have been looking for a good running back ever since they got rid of Edgerrin James after the 2005 season. They finally have that in what seems like a match made in heaven between Richardson and Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. Since drafting Luck with the first overall pick last year the Colts offense has been more than serviceable, but has been missing one crucial part to being a consistent offense. That missing part was a consistent running game. With the addition of Richardson, I think we are going to see a much more balanced offense that gives defenses a lot of trouble moving forward. I recognize that Richardson has not exactly been a stellar player, averaging only 3.5 yards per carry during his short career, but in his defense he was on the Browns. He was the only offensive player on that team that defenses were worried about. I think we are going to see a major boost in productivity for him, as well as a boost in efficiency for Luck. Watch out league, the Colts are not to be trifled with.

NFL Week 1 Recap

The NFL season is back which means I'm back as well. With Week 1 of the season in the books I'm going to take a look at a couple of things that stood out to me this weekend. Before we jump right into business I would like to warm everyone up with a joke: ...Mark Sanchez

Now that we have all had a good laugh let's see what we can take away from this week:

1. 2nd Year QBs Lived Up to Last Year's Hype

(http://www.templeofsports.com/nfl/second-year-quarterbacks-fantasy-vs-reality/)

Last year had the best collection of first-year quarterbacks that I've seen in my entire lifetime. For clarification, I'm using the term first-year, rather than rookie, because Colin Kaepernick (above, left) was not a rookie last season, but he did become a starting quarterback for the first time. Andrew Luck (above, left-center), Russell Wilson (above, right-center), and Robert Griffin III (above, right) were all rookies last season and took the NFL by storm. What was so unique about all these young QBs was their ability to run a read-option offense due to their extreme athletic ability. While Luck is more of a traditional QB, he is not lacking in the athleticism department which allows him to make plays with his feet just like we all saw this weekend on his game winning touchdown run. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here. When rookies burst onto the scene the same question always follows: are they going to be able to sustain this success? This is a legitimate question for a couple reasons. First and foremost is the classic "Sophomore Slump". This is the common phrase to describe a player that had a great rookie year but then followed it up with a disappointing season. This is most often due to the fact that opposing teams have much more game tape of the player and can better find weaknesses in their games. However, with these particular quarterbacks there was even more reason to be worried about a decline in production. As I mentioned before Griffin, Wilson, and Kaepernick all run a read-option offense which, in the simplest terms, means that the offense relies heavily on their ability to run with the football. Last season was the first time this offense was heavily used in the NFL which means defensive coordinators did not have much experience trying to stop it. With an entire off-season to come up with a game plan to stop this offense, some people expected these QBs to be much less effective. Those people were dead wrong. This section is already longer than I intended it to be and I'm sure you're tired of reading so much on one topic, so I will wrap this up pretty quickly. Kaepernick, Luck, and Wilson finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in passer rating this week, and more importantly all won their games. While RGIII did not have as pretty a game as the other three, that was to be expected. The man tore his ACL in January and did not get a single snap in a preseason game, so there was bound to be some rust. Watch out football world, these young QBs are here to stay.

2. The Broncos Made the Right Choice

(http://tjsullivan.com/peyton/)

Although there really was not much doubt about this before, Peyton Manning's Week 1 performance simply reaffirmed that Denver made the right call when they decided to bring in Manning a year ago and trade away Tim Tebow. For anyone who doubts this (not that anyone does) let's just take a quick look at what they each did this week. Manning threw for an NFL record tying seven touchdowns, and Tebow is unemployed, praying to Jesus that he could throw like Manning. Just to be clear I really am not trying to be mean to Tebow. Anyone who knows me knows that I firmly believe that he could help a team more than oh, I don't know, Brandon Weeden or Christian Ponder (both threw three interceptions this week). That being said Manning is arguably the best QB in the league right now and Denver has a lot to be excited about this year.

3. Ozzie Newsome Did Not Have Some Secret Master Plan

(http://www.wildgrapesalovestory.com/2013/01/28/in-the-moment-lessons-from-the-ravens/)

This off-season was one full of change for the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens, starting with the retirement of all-time great linebacker Ray Lewis. Lewis was not the only player to leave town, however, as the Ravens got rid of a lot of starters from their Super Bowl team. All summer as this was going on everyone kept claiming that Ozzie Newsome, the general manager, must have some ingenious plan and we just do not see it right now. Well, I am here to say that does not look like the case. Many may say that I am overreacting to their 49-27 loss to the Broncos, but I can assure you I am not. This new look Ravens team just simply does not have the talent to even make a run at a repeat championship. After letting Ed Reed leave to go to the Houston Texans, the secondary of the Ravens looked flat out lost for most of their Week 1 game. I know Peyton Manning is a phenomenal quarterback, but even he had never thrown seven touchdowns in one game before. Additionally, the normally hard hitting Ravens defense could not seem to make a tackle the entire game. On the offensive side of the ball Newsome also made a bold decision to trade Anquan Boldin to the 49ers. Boldin was a humongous part of their Super Bowl run last year and was always Joe Flacco's go-to guy when they absolutely needed a catch. Without that safety net in their offense, they really had trouble moving the chains last Thursday. As if that was not bad enough, Boldin added salt to the wound by tallying a league high 208 receiving yards in his 49ers debut. While it is still quite early, it looks like Newsome's "masterplan" left the Ravens with a lot of weaknesses that they are going to need to fix if they want a chance to defend their title.

4. Reggie Bush is Going to Have a Monster Year

(http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/viewart/20130910/SPORTS/309100016/Lions-Bush-roams-open-spaces)

It may have taken a while, but Reggie Bush has finally started to live up to the hype. He left USC as one of the best college running backs of all time, but could never really get it to work in the NFL. Bush spent his last two seasons with the Miami Dolphins and he proved that he could be a serviceable running back in the league by averaging over 1,000 rushing yards per season and scoring 6 rushing touchdowns each year. However, he is primed to explode because he is now in the perfect system for his skill set. Bush has always been great a catching the football out of the backfield and now that he has a solid running ability he is truly the definition of a dual threat back. Now that he is in Detroit, his skill set will be utilized to his maximum potential because Matthew Stafford loves to dump it off to his running backs when he is unable to work it down the field. Another positive for Bush is that defenses this year are going to be so focused on dealing with wide receiver Calvin Johnson that he should have plenty of openings to break off big plays. In his first game with the Lions, Bush ran for 93 yards to go along with 101 receiving yards and a touchdown. I think we can expect to see huge numbers like this throughout the season, so if you get the chance, make sure to watch a Detroit Lions game because you are sure to witness some amazing plays.