Category Archives: 2012 Regular Season

NFL Week 7: NFC East – Interesting Times In The Division

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Pierre-Paul brings down Alex Smith for one of New York’s 6 sacks last week.

Well there is one old adage that still serves: If you want to become a champion you have to beat the champion. The San Francisco 49ers had spent the better part of two weeks dispatching AFC East also-rans, in the Bills and Jets, to the tune of 79-3. Everyone anointed them the best in pro football yet forgot their next game was against the defending champion New York Giants. Now that the Niners have beaten Seattle and held 3 of their last 4 opponents to 10 points or less, you begin to understand how strong the Giants 26-3 win in Candlestick was.

Not only did Eli Manning come through in another big win on the road, Ahmad Bradshaw ran with more thunder than usual (116 yards/1TD). The Giants defense was as forceful as it was opportunistic with 6 sacks and 3 interceptions. The pendulum has swung on expert ideas on who the best team in the NFL is.

Now at 4-2 the Giants have to start taking care of business in their own division. With losses to Dallas and Philadelphia, here comes the NFL’s newest ultimate weapon in Robert Griffin III coming into The Meadowlands. Just as the Giants are coming off a confident and very focused win out west?? Should be interesting… Lets take a look at the NFC East standings

East Division

W

L

T

PCT

PF

PA

HOME

ROAD

DIV

CONF

STRK

LAST5
New York Giants Giants 4 2 0 .667 178 114 2-1 2-1 0-2 3-2 W2 4-1
Philadelphia Eagles Eagles 3 3 0 .500 103 125 2-1 1-2 1-0 1-2 L2 2-3
Washington Redskins Redskins 3 3 0 .500 178 173 1-2 2-1 0-0 3-2 W1 2-3
Dallas Cowboys Cowboys 2 3 0 .400 94 119 1-1 1-2 1-0 2-2 L2 2-3

RG III eludes Viking defenders for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns in last week’s 38-26 win.

How can you not be impressed by the Redskins RGIII?? Most young quarterbacks rely on their running or scrambling ability as they get their understanding of the pro passing game down. Now most of these runs are of the 7-10 yard variety that are a nuisance to defensive co-ordinators, but what do you do when a QB can break a 76 yard TD gamebreaker?? Especially in the fourth quarter on a defense that has tired from chasing him all day. It happened to the Minnesota Vikings last week.

When asked before the season who would be better between RG III and Andrew Luck, it was this facet of his game that our CEO thought gave him the edge. Do you realize that in 6 games he has 379 yard rushing and 6 TDs. That projects to his becoming the second quarterback in history to rush for 1,000 yards (1,010) yards, and would break Cam Newton’s rushing touchdown record of 14 touchdowns with 16. All of this before we remind you he’s completing 70.2% of his passes for 1,343 yards and 5 TDs.

What makes RGIII’s season more remarkable is everyone thought the Redskins defense would be stout enough to allow him to make mistakes and ease into his role. No one expected a 27th ranked defense giving up 417 yards per game. We know the loss of Brian Orakpo was big, but Washington’s offense has to perform at a high level to bail out their defense.

This week they travel to New York to battle the Giants. The Redskins are a personal foul call away from being 3-0 on the road however this will be different than trips to New Orleans, St Louis, or Tampa. This front four can tee off with the most athletic defensive line in the NFL. Where everyone thinks the key is to stop RGIII first, is the wrong approach. Osi Yumeniora, Jason Pierre-Paul and that front need to stop RB Alfred Morris (538 yards / 5 TDs) first. Once they are one dimensional or forced into passing situations, look for delayed blitzes and combination coverages keeping the safeties in tight. They’ll need to be there when Griffin III can’t find his receivers and looks to run. Couple that with the crowd noise and you’ll understand why we take the Giants in this one.

Michael Vick’s 8TDs and 8ints. coincide with the Eagles record of 11-11 with him as a starter. Can he turn it around??

As for the tight-rope walking Philadelphia Eagles… can you believe the Eagles are thinking of benching Michael Vick?? They also fired their defensive co-ordinator and promoted Todd Bowles. Listen, when you see teams making moves like this, it’s a sign of desperation. The Eagles have lost 3 of 4 and two of those came against losing teams in the Steelers and Lions. So they are a bad 3-3. We hate to say it but you’re looking at the end of the Andy Reid era in Philadelphia. After the public comment by owner Jeffery Lurie ”That a year without making the playoffs is unacceptable” pressure is mounting by the week.

One thing they can do is get the ball into LeSean McCoy’s hands more. With 111 carries for 459 yards and 1 touchdowns, he’s getting 18 carries per game but they need to push the limit of what he can take. Sure they risk burning him out but if it comes down to he and a more stationary quarterback, defenses will focus totally on him and limit his effectiveness completely. The Eagles are caught in an ugly vice and it’s all on Vick to save his and Andy Reid’s jobs. Horrible time for a bye week…& the clock is ticking.

Speaking of coaches who’s job is on the line…keep your radar locked in on Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Dallas is 1-2 on the road after giving away a game to the Ravens last week, but now they play 4 of their next 5 on the road. Uh oh!! Considering that they were 2-6 on the road last year with the same cast of characters, tells us this losing will continue. Garrett is in deep, deep, trouble.

As for more on the Cowboys and week 7 : https://taylorblitztimes.com/2012/10/14/nfl-week-7-turning-points-the-dallas-cowboys/

Time is running out on this era of inconsistent Cowboys football. We here at Taylor Blitz Times are always saying “At some point, you have to believe what you are seeing.” This is an average ball club with average personnel and very average results. In their last 200 games, the Cowboys are 100-100. They are a mistake prone bunch that will give games away like they did last Sunday. Constant mistakes at the point where they’re concentration should be at their best says something about the damaged psyche of this football team. Can they straighten themselves out before this season is over as Jerry Jones would have you think?? The Chancellor just left our meeting shaking his head.

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NFL Week 7: AFC West – Illusions

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Peyton Manning showed true greatness in Monday night’s stunning come from behind win.

In the waning moments of Monday night’s comeback, we saw the true nature of the San Diego Chargers under Norv Turner and the possibilities for the Denver Broncos with Peyton Manning. First lets look at the perennial underachieving Chargers. When our CEO talks about championship football teams, it’s usually around signature wins that bolsters their confidence as they mature over a season. Before you can prove to the rest of the NFL that you’re a force to be reckoned with, you have to knock down a bully in your backyard.

Now wasn’t it one year ago Rex Ryan boldly stated “Had I coached the talent the Chargers have, I’d have Super Bowl rings”, in an obvious dig at Turner?? How did he and his team respond after being called out?? They came out and took a 21-10 halftime lead on the Jets only to show no fight in the end while losing 27-21.  http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201110230nyj.htm They were outscored 17-0 as the Jets promptly took their lunch money without much of a struggle.

Fast forward 358 days and here the Chargers were playing the odds on favorite to win the division in the Denver Broncos. This time they woke in the heat of battle up 24-0. Antonio Gates had just scored after the defense showed it could play Manning tough with Quentin Jammer’s 80 yard interception return for a touchdown. Their crowd was in it. Manning was having his struggles and Phillip Rivers looked like a world beater. So what happened???

Let’s take a look at the AFC West standings…

West Division

W

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PCT

PF

PA

HOME

ROAD

DIV

CONF

STRK

LAST5
Denver Broncos Broncos 3 3 0 .500 170 138 2-1 1-2 2-0 3-2 W1 2-3
San Diego Chargers Chargers 3 3 0 .500 148 137 1-2 2-1 2-1 3-1 L2 2-3
Oakland Raiders Raiders 1 4 0 .200 87 148 1-1 0-3 0-2 1-3 L2 1-4
Kansas City Chiefs Chiefs 1 5 0 .167 104 183 0-3 1-2 0-1 0-3 L3 1-4

That was an incredibly gritty performance by Peyton Manning. Where he could have packed it in after his pick 6, he kept on firing. One strong point to the comeback was they didn’t totally abandon the running game. This kept the Chargers honest and his intermediate passing lanes open. The clinic he performed was reminiscent of the 21 point 4th quarter deficit he erased when his Colts came back on the champion Buccaneers 38-35 in 2003. This time he performed surgery for 2 quarters. Of course we all remembered his epic comeback in the 2006 AFC Championship against New England. However this one seemed better than those..surreal. He has been trying to make it work with a new team, and if you dissect his season, it’s as though he has to realize the strengths of his personnel and what they present in match-ups to the opposition. He’s had to do this in every game and then he gets hot. Do you realize that with 1,808 yards and 14 touchdowns, he is on pace for 4,821 yards and 37 TDs?? Yikes!! Can he physically keep it up for the duration of the season??

So what are we talking about when we say illusions?? In all actuality the Broncos only raised their record to 3-3 and right now the defense is allowing 23 points per game. They do rank 11th in total defense and can play stifling defense in fits and starts. So are they as good as their 3 wins or as flawed as they appeared in their 3 losses?? Puzzling but this win over the Chargers was the first over a winning team as well as a first triumph on the road. As for the rest of the season they only face 3 teams who are .500 or better, and 5 of their next 8 games are on the road.

The Broncos could ride that momentum into a winning streak and a more impressive record. Yet playing good football in spotty fashion has dug to deep a hole against quality teams. With upcoming games against New Orleans, at Cincinnati, at Carolina, home to the Chargers, and then away at Kansas City: If the Broncos were to rattle off wins against these under performing teams and inflate their record, are they a true elite team in the AFC?? Our CEO just shrugged his shoulders at the thought of that…

As for the Chargers, here they were with an inflated record of 3-2 with wins over the back-pedalling Raiders, Titans, and Chiefs. When it was time to step up and show they were for real in a showcase game, they gave us another epic collapse. Just like that loss last year to the New York Jets, it showed this team lacks toughness and has a damaged fight or flight mechanism also. They became clock watchers and couldn’t turn the tide once momentum was on the side of Denver. With the loss of WR Vincent Jackson, this team has lost all of the playmakers they once had to turn a close game in their favor. From a psyche standpoint they will not stand up and fight. As long as Norv Turner is the coach, this team is not to be trusted as being a Super Bowl caliber group.

As for the Raiders and Chiefs…it’s been an optical illusion that they have even taken the field this year.

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We would like to entice readers to tune in to The Artie Clear Show which has been a place where Taylor Blitz Times has been on several times talking football. Artie tells it like it is and as of October 17th will be live on Fox Sports Radio as well. Congratulations Artie Clear! Guys and girls, tune in. The Chancellor of Football from Taylor Blitz Times will be on there talking football again.

http://www.theartieclearshow.com/

 

 

NFL Week 7: Turning Points & The Dallas Cowboys

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The Cowboys self destructed again today with untimely penalties and poor clock management in a 31-29 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

If you listen to the mainstream media or Jerry Jones, you’ll get the impression this team has the best personnel in pro football. From time to time they’ll put together a good game but will ruin the continuity of their play with an inability to finish drives, or quarters, that would give them command of football game.

Take what happened in the game earlier today. Leading 7-3 and at the Raven’s 15 yard line, the Cowboys incur two illegal shift formations and get thrown for a huge loss forcing them to kick a field goal and changes the complexion of the game. At the time Dallas had rushed for nearly 100 yards in the first quarter and were on the verge of taking a 14-3 lead on a Raven team that had not gained a first down yet. Instead they lose momentum and the Ravens put a drive together bolstered by a 57 yard reception by Ray Rice and make the score 10-10.

On the next drive Romo throws his fourth interception of the season, on third down, once he’s inside the Ravens 30 and the Cowboys played pensively the rest of the half. In fact the Cowboys had the Ravens held to a 3rd and 15 with less than 3:00 left in the half and Anquan Boldin, who was covered by a linebacker, makes the first down. Consequently Flacco gets hot and drives the Ravens to the go ahead score with a 19 yard touchdown to Torrey Smith with :41 left until halftime. In position to go up 14-3 they wind up being down 17-10 in a matter of minutes. Self induced errors kill this team time and time again. This turnaround sapped the confidence from a Cowboy team that was gashing the Ravens defense. Listen… DeMarco Murray had 13 carries for 90 yards with 8:00 to go in the first half!! Then they went to the air and abandoned the run the rest of the half.

During the game CBS put up a stat that Tony Romo is rated last in quarterback rating on 3rd down in the NFL. Now its hard to keep harping on a team for it’s shortcomings but when a team continually beats itself, how do you not talk about it??

Dez Bryant scores the Cowboys final touchdown before the fateful 2 point attempt.

After the Cowboys give up a kickoff return for a touchdown to Jacoby Jones, they rediscover their running game. Felix Jones and #34 Tanner who chipped in several impressive runs. After performing possibly a team and season defining drive to tie the score the Cowboys hit the self destruct button once again. They ran the ball down the Raven’s throats (226 yards most ever against Raven defense by the way)and then almost faltered once they made it to the goal line again. First they had another illegal shift penalty before Romo hit Dez Bryant with the touchdown to bring them within two at 31-29. Then on a carbon copy throwback fade that gave them the touchdown, Dez Bryant drops a perfectly thrown ball with less than 1:20 to go in the game.

Then came the end of the football game where the final few plays illustrated the damaged fight or flight mechanism of Tony Romo. After recovering an onside kick, Romo had the chance to get off a few plays to put themselves in position for a more manageable game winning kick. After a first down, the clock was down to :25 left in the game. Romo caught the Ravens in a blitz and had both Miles Austin and Craig Ogletree running fly patterns with single coverage. What does Romo do?? The check down that would be fine if it were the middle of the game, saw Dez Bryant tackled in bounds with the clock running. He should have taken a shot down the field. Even though they had a time out left, they don’t call it and had to wait for those receivers to make it back to the line of scrimmage. Bryant was tackled with :15 left in the game. They let almost ten seconds burn off the clock before calling timeout. This forced a young kicker, Dan Bailey to kick a 51 yard field goal that was wide left with :01 to go.

All of these doomed the Cowboys to a loss that drops them to the NFC East basement with a 2-3 record. With the Redskins beginning to feel their oats and the Giants putting the wood to the perceived best team in San Francisco today. When are the Cowboys going to turn this around?? They completely outplayed the Ravens today and were too afraid of success to close the deal. Have the Cowboys really not practiced what to do when there are seconds left in the game?? Of course they have but the Cowboys keep blowing situations and that is the fault of coaching. This team is one loss away from the buzzards circling overhead for Head Coach Jason Garrett. Time and time again if it isn’t a Romo short circuit: Not throwing the ball downfield or using the timeout to preserve 10 seconds it’s Garrett’s play-calling. First abandoning the run when Murray was averaging 6.6 yards per carry and Jones with 5.1 yards at points during each half. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2012101406/2012/REG6/cowboys@ravens#tab=recap&menu=highlights

Bottom line is they gave this game away today. The Ravens didn’t win it, the Cowboys found a way to lose it.

Time is running out on this era of inconsistent Cowboys football. We here at Taylor Blitz Times are always saying “At some point, you have to believe what you are seeing.” This is an average ball club with average personnel and very average results. In their last 200 games, the Cowboys are 100-100. They are a mistake prone bunch that will give games away like they did today. Constant mistakes at the point where they’re concentration should be at their best says something about the damaged psyche of this football team. Can they straighten themselves out before this season is over as Jerry Jones would have you think?? The Chancellor just left our meeting shaking his head.

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NFL Week 6: Culture War

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Back in the 1990’s, former UCLA basketball legend John Wooden was being asked what he thought of North Carolina’s Dean Smith. He felt that Smith should have more titles but felt that he “over-coached”. In other words he was too wrapped up in gimmicks he pioneered like his “four corners” offense instead of just playing basketball. Too busy showing off his genius ideas instead of just conducting his team. The same can be said for offensive play-calling in the NFL right now.

The first question The Chancellor has is : What’s the rush?? Why does it seem every NFL team is lined up in multiple receiver sets 60-70%of the time even when they have deficient quarterbacks?? Take last night’s game betweeen the Cardinals and Rams. Arizona’s Coach Wisenhunt was asking Kevin Kolb to perform like Kurt Warner. This offense has struggled mightily even though they were 4-0. Why not trim the number of multiple receiver sets and run the football out of traditional sets which would make Kolb’s reads easier??

The tactic of running the football at a defense wears them down from a physical point. The other factor is when you stay with traditional sets (1 or 2 running backs/ 2-3 receivers/ 1-2 tight ends) it forces a defense to stay with 3-4 linebackers and 4 defensive backs. Constant running of the football slows down the pass rush, and makes the linebackers a step slower in defending the pass. Why?? They have to wait until the quarterback doesn’t hand the ball off before they drop into coverage. How many times last night did it seem Kolb threw a 15 yard pass and it seeemed like 20 Rams were around the football?? This is “over-coaching”

When you’re coaching a football team you have to adjust to what your personnel is best suited to. If you have a quarterback that struggles against exotic defenses, don’t put him in multiple receiver sets that forces him to face them.

Over the last four weeks, many teams in the NFL have suffered from this affliction. Take the Buffalo Bills versus New England last week. After taking a 21-7 lead in the 3rd quarter, the Bills stayed in multiple receiver sets and promptly had 3 straight 3 and out series allowing the Patriots to roar back. One problem was by not running down the clock any, they gave the Patriots too much time to come back. How much time?? Enough for the Patriots to score 45 points in a little more than a quarter. That’s pathetic.

Teams are getting away from simple tactics that wear down a defense. We addressed running the football but what about getting to the line of scrimmage quickly and forcing the defensive line to be in their stance for 15-20 seconds?? Anyone who has played defense will tell you how this fatigues the body. If a quarterback is mixing his cadence here he can cause a few encroachment (defensive offside penalties) as well. Drain the play clock down to 5, or 3 seconds.

The reason you don’t see this is because everyone is in shotgun and the ball is snapped with a silent snap count once the quarterback lifts his leg. So the defense KNOWS when the ball is snapped too! Another lost advantage in how you can slow down a defense a step.

Did we say everybody?? That’s not totally true and what we are seeing are several teams still adhere to many of these tried and true tactics. The Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, and the SanFrancisco 49ers are the vanguard of these old school tactics. Look at their combined records. Carolina has lost a couple of slugfests but the commitment to the run has been there. These teams are wearing teams out by pounding the football and resting their defense. They use the clock to their advantage and use play action passing where the quarterback has 1-2 quick reads and the ball is gone. Plays set up by the running game.

This culture war between teams in a myriad of formations versus these traditional teams has been very lopsided. In weeks 1 & 2, San Francisco bloodied the noses of Green Bay and Detroit while feeding them heavy doses of Frank Gore (the U) and Kendall Smith. Not the gimmicky draws from four receiver sets. We’re talking seven man sled, knuckles in the dirt, firing off the ball power running plays. The only game the 49ers lost was when Minnesota did it to them.

Now we just watched the Vikings put it to the Lions last week in Detroit no less. Sure Percy Harvin got the game off to a roaring start returning the opening kickoff, but the Vikings beat em up for the next 80 plays of that game.

Understand this, the more a team practices wide open offense, the more they will have trouble powering for 3rd and short and goalline situations. They’re not conditioned for it. You’re also conditioning your defense to not be prepared to play against a power running team. This has afflicted the Dallas Cowboys for the last three years, yet their fans put it all on Tony Romo. The problem is systemic and goes back to their coach, Jason Garrett, over-coaching.

So it’s at this point, you have to start to believe what you’re seeing. Minnesota is for real and may be there in the end to fight for their division crown. Seattle has a shot at theirs and Arizona might if they stop trying to ask too much of their quarterback. Of course the 49ers and Falcons look to be on a collision course for the NFC Championship, but we’re only a quarter of the way through the season. Besides the Chicago Bears and those Vikings should have something to say about it.

Who is going to win this culture war?? Our CEO thinks one of the power running teams will. Teams have caught on to Green Bay’s offense and the only pass first teams that will go deep in the playoffs reside in New England and Pittsburgh.

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‘Cleveland ’95: A Football Life’ – A Look Back

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Looking forward to this episode of a football life. Bill Belichick and the Cleveland Browns made the playoffs in 1994. Who did they lose to?? Bill Parcells and the New England Patriots. After being fired by Cleveland once they decided to move and start in a new city with a new coach, Belichick reunites with Bill Parcells as his defensive co-ordinator for the Patriots in 1996. The result?? They make it all the way to Super Bowl XXXI. However, what would have happened had the Browns not announced they were moving and demoralizing the fanbase and the team?? If you look at the coaching staff that Belichick had amassed, they were eventually going to get the players to make it work. Current Alabama coach Nick Saban was on that staff as well.

The move of the team gutted the heart of all of Ohio, not just Cleveland. Yet it was this move that also taught where the NFL Championship Trophy was. Since the league mandated the Browns colors and memorabilia stay behind, this included the trophies won by the team. As the officials looked for the championship trophies from the 50’s and 1964, they couldn’t find them. Well, conferring with the Pro Football Hall of Fame they came to find out the NFL championship trophy moved around on a rotating basis. The champion held it like the championship belt of a prize fighter. So after winning it all in 1964, they defended their title in Green Bay for the 1965 championship. Well Green Bay won 23-12, in Jim Brown’s last game and kept the trophy. With the following season, 1966, the Super Bowl ushered in the era of a new trophy each season for the winner to keep.

Many, many reasons to watch this interesting story.

NFL Week 5: First Quarter Report Cards

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Tonight’s game between the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys marks a quarter of the 2012 NFL season will be in the books. Last year we had twists and turns that could be blamed on the lockout where this one doesn’t have a scapegoat. Alright maybe it does with the replacement officials yet in hindsight they only affected one game. Aside from the Seattle Seahawks v Green Bay Packers Monday Night tilt, there were bad calls on both teams to even things out. Yet the regular officials were back yesterday and made a call that surprised me and will be the last we’ll say about the referees for awhile.

Doug Wiliams injuring his knee and dropping the football in Super Bowl XXII. The ruling then was he gave himself up therefore the ball was dead. Yesterday the NFL refs ruled differently.

Taken from The Chancellor of Football’s Facebook page: In yesterdays Jets v 49ers game, Santonio Holmes injures his knee, drops the football and turned it over to San Francisco. In Super Bowl XXII, Denver was up 10-0 on the Washington Redskins when Doug Williams dropped back, injured his knee, drops the football as he is writhing in pain just like Holmes. He hadn’t been touched down and Rulon Jones recovered the ball. The explanation THEN was Doug Williams “gave himself up (injury) therefore the ball was dead” Huh? The Denver Broncos would have had the football at the Washington 22 with a chance to go up 17-0. A turning point of a game that NEVER got talked about. So either the Broncos got cheated in Super Bowl XXII Dennis Smith Karl Mecklenburg Eric V. Lockett or they screwed up yesterday. Which is it!?!?!?!?

The point maybe moot with the 49ers handing the Jets one of their worse home loss in years but we are here to hand out report cards.

The 49ers swallowed the Jets offense yesterday 34-0.

Receiving an “A” grade:

Atlanta Falcons – On course for a possible trip to the NFC Championship Game or beyond. Matt Stafford trapped on his own 1 with :59 left and down 28-27 hits Roddy White for 59 yards. He completed 3 passes and moves the team 70 yards and they win 30-28. Could be a team of destiny with a win like that. An absolute championship building block.

Minnesota Vikings- Christian Ponder has yet to throw an interception and this team is not beating itself. Yesterday’s 20-13 win over Detroit was the Vikings first divisional win in 2 years. By moving to 3-1 with a head to head victory on Detroit gives them a 3 game lead over the Lions. As time goes on and Adrian Peterson gets comfortable with his recovered knee…look out.

Houston Texans- Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, and Arian Foster are powering the only team in the AFC South. J.J. Watt and the defense has played solidly yet this team hasn’t played anyone yet.  We’ll know if they stay on the “A” list when they take on the Baltimore Ravens in week 7. That’s the team that eliminated them last year.

Arizona Cardinals -Surprisingly this team has become a defense first football team. They had a signature win over the New England Patriots in Foxboro two weeks ago. They have won in spite of their offense sputtering in 3 games and rotating quarterbacks in Skelton and Kevin Kolb. Right now they are 4-0 and playing strong football. Patrick Peterson is about to become the cover corner and is blossoming into a great player.

San Francisco 49ers – Last week when they lost to the Vikings everyone wanted to attribute it to jetlag. Maybe the Vikings are that good and surprised San Fran. Yet Harbaugh’s bunch exposed the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions to start the season off right. Yesterday’s 34-0 destruction of the New York Jets showed how physically imposing this team is. They are rushing the football with authority and playing thunderous team defense. They will definitely be there in the end.

Brian Dawkins was honored at halftime of last night’s game.

Receiving a “B” grade:

Baltimore Ravens – This team should be on the “A” list but were undone by Joe Flacco’s 4 for 16 2nd half performance in the 24-23 loss to the Eagles. The defense has played lights out football with Haloti Ngata, the best defensive lineman in the NFL, and Ray Lewis still playing at a high level. Ray Rice is still running the football hard and has 317 yards rushing on the young season. Flacco is still checking the ball down too much to Rice and if he doesn’t improve on this they won’t make it to an “A”.

Philadelphia Eagles – Michael Vick has had a rough first quarter yet he did march them to a winning score with a minute to go against Cleveland. As an encore, he brought the Eagles back last night against the world champion Giants. What has been lost in this great start is how the defense has been playing. Everyone besides Namedi Asoumgha… What has happened to him?? Right now they are 3-1 and as the Cardinals keep winning, that one loss doesn’t seem like such an upset.

Chicago Bears – Last night showed how a team can play when they are hitting on all cylinders. Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall are making progress. You saw how Devin Hester can be freed with defensive attention on Marshall. Once the team is totally in an offensive rhythm once Matt Forte is at 100%, you can see how Hester can become the Bears answer to Minnesota’s Percy Harvin. On defense, it was pointed out that the Bears are playing fundamental 4-3 defense without any gimmicks. Solid pass rush, strong linebacker play and Charles “Peanut” Tillman has been the most consistent corner over the last 5 years. All they have to do is get Cutler to have a good game once they face the Packers. They’re records keep going as they are and they won’t have to worry about Green Bay. A serious NFC darkhorse in Chicago.

New England Patriots – Early on they had some protection issues and were going away from Wes Welker. With yesterday’s blistering 45 point second half in their 52-28 win in Buffalo, they may have righted the ship. In doing so, the Patriots had two 100 yard rushers in Stevan Ridley (137 yards) and Brandon Bolden (137 yards) and should bode well the rest of the season. Even though they are 2-2 on the season, they lost to 4-0 Arizona and 3-1 Baltimore. Brady can get hot and now that they have awakened from their early season slumber the Patriots will be off and running from this point forward. Next up they host the Denver Broncos. Tom Brady v. Peyton Manning. You don’t think Brady will be up for this one?? Another 40 point outing awaits…

San Diego Chargers – Just making this list by virtue of their record are the 3-1 Chargers. In reality they are the best of the weaker teams and have a weak schedule to thank. The Titans, Raiders, and Chiefs have a combined record of 3-9. When they lined up against the Falcons, they couldn’t stay on the field and were crushed 27-3. Their offense is ranked 24th in the NFL and will need to remain turnover free to keep this up.

Cincinnati Bengals – On a 3 game winning streak, this is the surprise team of the early season in the AFC. Right now Andy Dalton has connected on 67.5% of his passes and 8 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. Cincy is playing wide open football and are ranked 10th in all of football. Do they have the ability to run the football with muscle when they need it?? They were exposed in that 44-13 opening day loss to Baltimore for lacking that. They have to develop some strong running game to combat all of their division rivals.

Marshawn Lynch has enjoyed a rebirth in Seattle.

Receiving a “C” grade:

New York Giants – Eli Manning has been saving this team all season and nearly pulled out another game last night against the Eagles. So if Manning didn’t throw for more than 250 yards and 25 fourth quarter points, where would the Giants be?? Where is their pass rush?? They have had a few injuries and they still need to run the football with authority. They need to make Andre Brown (5.2 yards per carry) the running back the rest of the season. Ahmad Bradshaw is not an every down running back.

Denver Broncos – Every thought has been on Peyton Manning and will the Broncos make it to the Super Bowl. At 2-2 with a trip to Foxboro coming up, this game is when we find out about this team. They beat the hapless Raiders and an undermanned Steelers defense. Yet against teams with real Super Bowl aspirations, they are 0-2 and face the defending AFC Champions. They beat this  Patriot team then talk to the Chancellor.

Washington Redskins – Robert Griffin III has made this team one to be reckoned with. Not only have they been competitive, they are 10 points away from being 4-0. Right now they are feeling the loss of Bryan Orakpo on defense. However after several years of solid defense, this team is transitioning into an offensive team that can run the football and rest their defense. With 8 rushing touchdowns to go along with 69.4% completion percentage, 1,070 yards and 4 touchdowns, Griffin will be more dangerous as defenses tire.

Seattle Seahawks – Everyone is upset that a bad call gave them a victory over the Green Bay Packers but a truth was overlooked by the finish. This team has been playing defense as though Buddy Ryan is coaching them. They sacked Aaron Rodgers 8 times in that game and almost knocked him from the game. The Seahawks are ranked #2 in total defense and the defense held the mediocre Cowboys to just 7 points when they came to visit. So keep in mind in home games, they have only given up an average of 9.5 points per game. This is a growing trend. Once the offense with Rookie QB Wilson can get some consistency in the passing game, this team will move into the “B” category.

Well these are the teams that have made the grade. So if you don’t see your team here, they have to return with a signed report card from their parents. Either they are going in the wrong direction or flat-out don’t grade above a “D” or an “F”. It is what it is… so they better crack open the books and get their game-plan together. Report cards are always tough elixirs for some to take. Remember this isn’t about cheering for a team, this is about assessing their performance.

[Dallas Cowboys] – Listen…not only do they not get a passing grade but everything that was discussed by The Chancellor before was evident last night. https://taylorblitztimes.com/2012/05/26/the-chancellor-weighs-in-on-jerry-jones-comments-on-cowboys-super-bowl-window-closing/ This team does not have a player at any position aside from DeMarcus Ware that is either the best at his position or a player other teams would replace their player for one that plays for the Cowboys. They’re just not that good. Seattle and Chicago both manhandled them in their two losses and they were sporadic in a lackluster 17-9 win over Tampa. They were fired up for game 1 against the Giants, which now looks like a fluke win. Now they’re season gets tough with four of the next five on the road in Baltimore, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Carolina. Who are they better than of that bunch?? Come on now Cowboy fans…

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