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Week 4 NFL Predictions

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Lions going for 8th in a row…will Dallas stop them today?

The NFL is upside down or hell hath frozen over.  Can you believe there are only 3 undefeated teams, and two of those would be teams that haven’t been to the playoffs since 1999?? Are you serious?? The NFL Champion Packers haven’t been playing at their best but they’re cruising along. Yet the Lions are nipping at their heels and have an important encounter today in Dallas. Before we get too late lets get into this week’s games. At the present time we’re 31-17 after two bounce back weeks of 12-4 & 11-5. so we’re starting to make sense of it all. Without further adieu…

Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals: Are the Bills due for a serious letdown after an emotional win over the Patriots?? We think they are but are the Bengals strong enough to knock them off?? We see a close game but the Bills will win a close one.

Minnesota Vikings @ Kansas City Chiefs: Adrian Peterson versus the 28th best run defense in the Kansas City Chiefs. Thomas Jones has to run at the Vikings but they’re defense is ranked #4 against the run. So it will come down to Matt Cassel against the Vikings rush with Jared Allen coming back to town?? Going Vikings gang….

Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys: Tony Romo had a breakthrough game on Monday night. He showcased leadership ability and willed his team to a win. However the Lions are the winners of 7 straight dating back to last season with most of those wins on the road. Calvin “Megatron” Johnson against the Cowboys secondary is a mismatch. First game for #1 draft pick Nick Fairley after coming back from foot surgery also. Pass rush has been a beast and the Cowboys aren’t the best at protecting the quarterback. Remember broken rib and punctured lung?? Lions win their 8th straight and headed for a huge Monday Night Game against the Bears. These boys are feelin’ it..

San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles: Well the dreamteam super season is in serious jeopardy with a loss today. No wonder Michael Vick has been in the bacta tanks for the last week. His hand went from broken and he’ll be out four weeks to a mild sprain with two band aids. Fastest healing in history. Surely we jest but this is a game where Vick has to play like the Vick of last year. Especially after laying that egg against the Giants. Will Eagles lose 3rd of season?? Eagles and Vick in a close one.

Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears: The Human Highlight Film is going into the Windy City. Now Julius Peppers gets to play against his former team. He will be fired up. Will the Bears keep Newton on the bench with their own long drives?? The Panthers have to get the running game going to get Urlacher and Briggs up to allow Newton to complete passes behind them. Don’t see it this week as Peppers goes off and Hester will come alive and take one back in this one. Da Bears

New Orleans Saints @ Jacksonville Jaguars: Can Jacksonville score enough to stay with the Saints?? This one looks like a slaughter on paper. Although the Jaguars have the 4th ranked defense, Brees has a field day. Saints in this one…

Washington Redskins @ St. Louis Rams: Cadillac Williams just doesn’t give this offense the punch it needs in the ground game. However Rex Grossman and the Redskins did nothing to embarrass themselves on Monday night. We know its a second straight travel week, but going Redskins in this one.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Houston Texans: This is where Houston can show that they are indeed one of the big boys of the AFC now. They had this game circled since pre season. They have Mario Williams ready to chase Roethlisberger all over Reliant Stadium and welcome back last year’s leading rusher, Arian Foster. This is going to be a high scoring affair and the Steelers stats are padded from playing two lackluster teams. This is the beginning of where we’ll think of the Steelers as an offensive team for the 2011 season. Today though it won’t be enough…Texans.

Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns: Losing Wr Kenny Britt was a big blow to the Titans who have quietly played some good football. Cleveland by a field goal.

New York Giants @ Arizona Cardinals: Eli Manning threw for 4 touchdowns last week and gets to face a team that can’t cover anyone. This is one of those games where the Giants normally lay an egg. Antrel Rolle (The U), Kenny Phillips (The U) have played better as a secondary these last two weeks. Kolb to Fitzgerald should be slowed with Rolle a former Cardinal coming back to cover his ex-teammate. Giants.

Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks: The Falcons are looking to get back on track and should do so against Seattle. Falcons

Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers: In a rematch of Super Bowl XXII some 13 years later and missing Brett Favre, John Elway, Terrell Davis…etc  the Broncos travel to Lambeau and take on the Packers. Aaron Rodgers has been on a tear yet the defense has given up yards to the tune of being the 29th best defense in football. Yikes, but they’re still #1 against the run and thats what the Broncos need to do to win. Packers in this one

 New England Patriots @ Oakland Raiders: Two teams with identical 2-1 records. NFL rushing leader Darren Mcfadden will need t0 have a monster day. Tom Brady’s 4 interception day will be behind him.  In a high scoring affair, going to take the Patriots.

Miami Dolphins @ San Diego Chargers. Phillip Rivers should be licking his chops getting the Dolphins pass defense. The Dolphins rank 30th against the pass yet they got a break playing Cleveland last week. They should strive for #32 again as Rivers carves this defense apart. Chargers

New York Jets @ Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens and Jets will play a rock ’em sock ’em affair with the boys from Gotham. Last week Mark Sanchez threw for well over 369 yards and 3 TDs in last week’s loss to the Raiders. The Jets did lead that game 17-7 before the Raiders came back to win. This is the game for one of these teams to make their move that they are a heavyweight for homefield advantage later in the season. We think it’s the Jets.

Indianapolis Colts @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This should be a bludgeoning of biblical proportions. Don’t watch the carnage past the 3rd quarter. This week it’s Tampa’s turn to showcase their young team that no one knows nor remembered wen t10-6 last year. Bucs will slaughter them…

 

NFL Week 3 NFC East: Diminishing Returns

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Week 3 in the NFC East had teams facing early season gut checks that a couple teams came through with flying colors and one team totally scratching it’s head. Alright, whenever our CEO sees a team that makes a high signing of free agents he always asks the same question: “Are they going to be the 1994 San Francisco 49ers or the 1995 Miami Dolphins?” The two teams contrasted by one becoming a powerful world champion and the other being a talented team with no chemistry, who exited the playoffs in an inglorious fashion. Well with the acquisition of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Namedi Asoumgha, and several others, this Philadelphia Eagles team was to be the team to beat in the NFC.

Right now they are a 1-2 football team that is struggling to score in the red zone and Michael Vick has taken a pounding. Vick, stay away from comments about the refs in press conferences please. Just not manly. To reach the promised land they have to show up better than with the 24th ranked defense in the NFL and they should be embarrassed by their inability to tackle. Did you see the 4 missed tackles on Victor Cruz’s (who) 70 yard touchdown reception against the Giants? In fact Cruz went for 3 rec. 110 yards and his second touchdown he out jumped two Eagle defenders for it. Cruz and the Giants played last weeks game like they wanted it. Teams seem to be ready to defend Michael Vick this year by blitzing and putting hits on him. It’s like they watched the old how to defense John Elway tapes where use of the delayed blitz is getting there just as he’s making the decision to scramble for more time to pass, or decide to run. Reid had better put Vick on some rollouts and fire deep passes to Jackson to back off defenses or he won’t last the season. Now with a hurt non throwing hand could possibly be out 4 weeks?? Vick can’t miss more than 1 more game or they’ll be relegated to winning a wildcard at best. They get a San Francisco team this week that is playing spirited football. A 1-3 record looms if they look past them. Careful Philadelphia.

Speaking of the Giants….sigh Just when you count against Eli Manning he comes through with a 4TD passing day. Before we go onto the enigmatic Giants lets take a look at the standings.

NFC EAST W L T PCT NFC E NFC N NFC S NFC W AFC E AFC N AFC S AFC W
Dallas 2 1 0 .667 1-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 1-0-0 0-1-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
Washington 2 1 0 .667 1-1-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 1-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
NY Giants 2 1 0 .667 1-1-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 1-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
Philadelphia 1 2 0 .333 0-1-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0

The Giants seem to find their formula whenever they need it, in fact this was the best they looked this season. They were after Michael Vick from the word go and on offense they ran steady and kept the Eagle defense honest. So honest they slipped heavyweight Brandon Jacobs out for a surprising 40 yard touchdown pass. Taylor Blitz Times was unsure Jacobs could even run that far, but the big man snatched the pass and scooted into the endzone. Eagle Defensive Co-ordinator Juan Castillo is still steaming over that play. However the Giants secondary was active and picked off Eagle quarterbacks 3 times. Should bode well this week when they take on Kevin Kolb and the Arizona Cardinals out in the desert.

Felix Jones and the Cowboys rushing attack had over 120 yards for the game.

How ’bout them Cowboys?? After Dallas fans have roasted Tony Romo over the last couple of weeks they were silenced by a possibly career defining game. With a punctured lung and broken rib protected by a flak jacket he was hit several times by a Redskin pass rush that was averaging 3.5 sacks per game coming in. For the first time this season the Cowboys showed signs of life rushing the football with Felix Jones 1st 100 yard game of the season. Yet this game marked the first time Romo didn’t let his teammates ineptitude derail the Cowboys train. Due to injuries to Miles Austin and Dez Bryant for a period, he had to direct traffic just to get them to line up properly and know what they were doing. He had to get on receivers for running the wrong routes and even had to jump on his center’s ass for a 4th bad snap late in the 4th quarter. Instead of throwing an ill conceived pass, on 3rd and 21, he bought time and ad libbed a rollout, and threw to Dez Bryant for the first down. That wasn’t the Cowboy playbook, that was a quarterback NOT letting his team lose even though they tried for much of the night. This is the growth that we felt Romo needed to do and his locker room and huddle will be better for it. He’s earned league wide respect during these last two weeks and look who is in 1st place all of a sudden. Diminishing returns with Romo at the healm?? Not hardly, a leader is developing.

As for the Redskins, they just came up short in a defensive struggle. Hightower ran well and Rex Grossman performed admirably. Grossman was just a victim of a Cowboy pass rush that fed off the crowd and that last drive was swamped.They lost a tough, tough divisional game 18-16 and they sure we saw some Grossman throws that reminded us of his Chicago days but for the night he was 22 of 37 for a modest 233 yards. He kept his mistakes to a modest 1 interception and didn’t have that nervous Rex look until the final drive. Yet he was draped by a DeMarcus Ware coat for much of it. So modest diminishing returns for the Redskins this week.  However if you told a Redskin fan three weeks ago that they would be a solid 2-1 after 3 weeks, trust me they would have said we’ll take it. So this week they get the St. Louis Rams and if they make it to 3-1, this could prove to be a season of vindication for Coach Shanahan.

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NFL Picks Week 3:

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The NFL has had a turbulent first two weeks. Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, who were supposed to be an elite team, have slid off the map where the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions look like they want to end their decade long playoff drought. Are they for real?? Is Michael Vick going to play Monday Night? The NFL will answer those questions on the field of play which makes this game great. So lets take a look at a few of these matchups. The Buffalo Bills are 2-0 and have a showdown with the Patriots to see if they’re for real?? Perfect! You wouldn’t want it any other way.

What about the Chicago Bears who get to face their hated rival in the Green Bay Packers?? Last time they faced each other, the Packers danced off their field with the George S. Halas trophy. Do you think Bears fans forgot?? Soldier Field may get a little rowdy today when the Packers run onto the field today.

Man, how far will the Colts slide without Peyton Manning?? This is an easy answer…see the ’99 San Francisco 49ers when they lost Steve Young. They were 3-1 with him and went 1-11 without him. Peyton won’t come back and play meaningless football so if they lose a few more he’ll be shelved for the season and placed on IR. With that cap relief they can go sign a few players to help them win but if you’re a Colts fan, the era of football excellence is over.

So lets get into these games….

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Carolina Panthers: Seriously has there been a fervor over a rookie quarterback like this in modern NFL history?? Not that we can remember. Even in 1983 when Dan Marino came in and led the Dolphins to the playoffs, it was the late David Woodley who started the first 6 games. Here we are looking to see if Cam can go 3 for 3 to start his career with 400 yard passing games?? Goodness. Carolina gets their first win in front of a packed house.

Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns: “Thank God” proclaim the defensive backfield of the Miami Dolphins who have been passed to death in these first two games. They are the reason the Dolphins are dead last in total defense in the NFL. Now we find out if the front seven can tackle or rather how long they will want to tackle taking on Peyton Hillis. The Browns are developing Colt McCoy slowly and want to pound the ground game at them. Like the Browns in this one, especially after last week’s win in Indy. The Dolphins won’t want to tackle —-> (that guy) in the 4th quarter.

Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans: The Titans woke up a few people with last week’s win, yet we should have known Mike Munchak would put it on the boys after a lackluster performance against the lowly Jags. This week the “start Tebow” chant is wrested from the ears of beleaguered Bronco Coach John Fox. This could be music to his ears. He needs to lose this game and then insert Tebow in the next week or so. The Titans are better with Hasselbeck than advertised. He’s completing nearly 70% of his passes and pretty soon they will start taking advantage of things with Chris Johnson on teams. Taking the Titans at home.

New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles: For some reason, we just can’t put our finger on what is wrong with the New York Giants, they are just schizophrenic. In reality they were just a more complete team than the Rams they beat last week without Stephen Jackson. The Giants want to be a diverse team and put the ball in Eli Manning’s hands but throwing at Asante Samuel and Namedi today would be the wrong recipe. The Giants will run it but won’t be patient enough They want revenge against the Eagles for knocking them out of last year’s playoffs but the Eagles are a more complete team. Even with a gimpy Vick….Eagles

San Francisco 49ers @Cincinnati Bengals: Alright a rematch of Super Bowl XXIII with Joe Monta….huh?? Alright we almost got carried away. The 49ers lost a spirited game to the Cowboys and are facing a mirror image in the Bengals in terms of trying to find out who they are. Each are 1-1 and have a new team personality. Niners under Coach Harbaugh and Bengals with Carson Palmer and Ocho gone. Still unsure if Andy Dalton is playing or not for Cincy, yet just not sold on Alex Smith on the road. Not at all. The Bengals are running the ball better and are home..that reason alone. Cedric Benson is running hard with over 180 yards in the first two games. Bengals

 

Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings: Vikings have been feeding the ball to Peterson but will Donovan McNabb start completing some passes to back the Lions front seven from becoming a front eight. With the way the Lions have played on both sides of the ball. Right now the Lions are feeling it and trying to see how good they can be. That much motivation with bonafide talent and the Lions keep rolling

New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills: This is the game of the week. Are the Bills for real? Can anyone score to keep up with Tom Brady?? Well if you have been reading we gave you a prelude when we told you that both Buffalo’s Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brady have each thrown for 7TDs and only 1 interception. The NFL’s leading rushing team is Buffalo and the 31st defense in the NFL belongs to the Patriots. The Bills Fred Jackson is the NFL’s leading rusher after two weeks. Is Belichick a genius?? Yes but he doesn’t have Rodney Harrison or Tedi Bruschi in there to stop the run. In a heated game we have Buffalo

Houston Texans @ New Orleans Saints: The Texans have been a good developing team and are going to the playoffs this year but they will struggle in this one on the road. Call it growing pains but Drew Brees and the Saints offense wins this one.

New York Jets @ Oakland Raiders: This game is going to be close. Can Jason Campbell complete passes against the blitz. We know the Jets will focus on stopping Darren McFadden, the NFL’s second leading rusher. Will Campbell step up and complete passes in the face of the blitz like last week in Buffalo or revert to throwing off his back foot in previous years??  Tentative pick in the Jets

Have to speed through the rest of the games…so we’re going to fire this up

Baltimore Ravens @ St Louis Rams: Will the real Ravens stand up? We think they will but they’re secondary is going to be tested severly. Tentative pick in the Ravens

Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers: Now the Chargers play up and down to their competition but they can’t play that down. LOL Have to take the Chargers. Phillip Rivers and this team need this game as a growing experience and put the wood to a down division rival.

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears: Alright this will be an interesting visit to Soldier Field. The Bears will be sick to their stomach and have lived with that loss. This is going to be a blood bath but we see the Packers winning a close game. Aaron Rodgers throw the ball away because Peppers will be coming!

Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks: Kevin Kolb and Larry Fitzgerald will star in this one. Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Bucs: This is a reprise of the hardest hittting game of last year. It was a thing of beauty. It was 1960s hitting football with personal fouls, fights, moxie. The Falcons are on a short week and this is where the Bucs are going to gauge if they have stepped up into the elite after last week’s win in Minnesota. Going Bucs in this one…

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Indianapolis Colts: Its actually sad to watch this proud franchise founder without Peyton Manning at the helm. We have been critical of Manning getting a pass by the sporting press but never forget we’re fans of football and want to see him on the field. The Steelers just because there isn’t a contingency plan for a team to lose a Hall of Fame quarterback…there just isn’t. Steelers

Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys: Tony Romo is still recovering from a punctured lung and broken rib. Yikes!! The Redskins are coming in with 7 sacks in two games. They will hit Romo and knock him out of this one. They don’t have a strong enough running attack to keep the Redskins off the field. Redskins

Those are our picks and we’re sticking to them…no matter how crazy they are. See ya’ next week folks!!

NFL Week 2 AFC North: Season of Change Seems Like the Same Old Thing, or Is It??

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When we were putting our annual previews together this summer we stated this division was about to see some change. This was clearly the last year the Ravens and Steelers would be head and shoulders above the Bengals and Browns. Its been well chronicled about the age of the Steelers defense and we have to see which was more indicative of where they will play as a unit. Was it the 170 yards they gave up on the ground to the Baltimore Ravens in week 1 or the 31 yards last week to the Seahawks?? Speaking of the Ravens… What was that egg you guys laid in Adelphia Coliseum last week in losing to the Titans?? Are you serious?? Finally get that big early season win over the Steelers to put them in the rear view and then stub your toe the next week and catch you in the standings. You’re running out of time to get Ray Lewis another ring before he retires.

As for Marvin Lewis and his Cincinnati Bengals, who knew that he’d be only a few plays away from a 2-0 start after losing Chad Ochocinco and recovering from the Carson Palmer odyssey. With rookie QB Andy Dalton playing well these first couple of weeks and Bruce Gradkowski as insurance if there is a drop, time to unload Palmer. An in-season trade to help fortify the defense and get your team to totally rally around the quarterbacks that want to be there. Would go a long way in solidifying your locker room. Keep feeding the football to Cedric Benson. His 180 yards rushing in these first two games has been the difference between going 1-1 as opposed to 0-2 and resting your defense. Face it you stole one from the Browns who should have had that game. You get a win however you can though…

AFC NORTH W L T PCT HOME ROAD DIV CONF PF PA DIFF STRK
Cincinnati 1 1 0 .500 0-0-0 1-1-0 1-0-0 1-1-0 49 41 +8 Lost 1
Baltimore 1 1 0 .500 1-0-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 1-1-0 48 33 +15 Lost 1
Cleveland 1 1 0 .500 0-1-0 1-0-0 0-1-0 1-1-0 44 46 -2 Won 1
Pittsburgh 1 1 0 .500 1-0-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 31 35 -4 Won 1

As for the Browns, hopefully it’s the ties that bind that will bring the coaching carousel to a close. Coach Pat Shurmur is the nephew of the late Fritz Shurmur, who was the defensive co-ordinator for present Brown GM Mike Holmgren when he coached in Green Bay. The Shurmur/ Holmgren relationship was forged during the late 80s when Mike was the offensive co-ordinator for the World Champion 49ers and the hardest defense in their division year in and year out was the Los Angeles Rams defense under Fritz. That’s the coaching pedigree. Right now he doesn’t have to draw up any exotic blitzes, just has to have his defense not give up over 100 yards a game rushing on defense. They already have the perfect antidote in having Peyton Hillis pound at rival defenses to keep opposing teams off the field. He needs a little more help from Colt McCoy, who is completing only 56.3% of his passes. He has to show some growth in this season or Hillis could break down late in the season from overuse. They need him down the stretch where 3 of their last 4 are on the road. They absolutely need a receiver to emerge, to have Hillis as the leading receiver shows the ball is getting dumped off too much. Hillis isn’t Marshall Faulk running intricate routes. Come on Massaquoi and Josh Cribbs…

When it comes to the Steelers,. this team loves to run, but their defense is going to similar to every NFL team and see a defensive slip this year. That lack of conditioning and age will have the Steelers giving up points this year and placing the game in Roethlisberger’s hands. Face it he keeps plays alive and makes things happen and with his size never gets knocked out of the game. With Emanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown able to get deep, it should open up the intermediate routes for Hines Ward, Heath Miller, and Mike Wallace. So here we would suspect you’d ask why aren’t we saying Pittsburgh should run. We don’t because we know they’ll run yet the defense may put them in a few jams where they will have to come from behind or score late. Something they have not had to put up with in the Roethlisberger. The Steelers will be a passing and bubble screen team much like they were in 2003, its a transitional year. They get a break and take on the Manningless Colts this week so the stats won’t look bad on this defense.

Well after last year’s playoff loss to the Steelers we called Joe Flacco a beta quarterback and not an alpha. We took a lot of flack for that yet it’s reared it’s head in just two weeks of this season. Lets face it, it was the 170 yards rushing on the Steelers defense as the  reason they won that game. Where Flacco has to become a more polished quarterback and more of a field general was in a game like last week. They’re losing to a team they should really be ahead of. It’s those games that you see the best quarterbacks put their team on their back if they have to and pass them to victory. Dating back to last year’s Monday Night loss in Atlanta to Matt Ryan and the Falcons we have had our eye on this. He has the chance to change our CEO’s mind in two weeks when he takes on the New York Jets then two weeks later the Houston Texans as well. He will at least be home for these games and has to come through. He’s the AFC’s version of Tony Romo, just without the big mistakes. It’s time for some absolute field generalship from him. He needs to channel his inner Unitas.

NFL Week 2 AFC East: In the Land of the Giants

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The New England Patriots and the New York Jets are the NFL’s version of the Hatfield and the McCoys. Last year they had the best race of any two teams in football. The 45-3 Monday Night massacre gave the Patriots the division, yet the Jets came back a month later to knock them off of their perch in the playoffs. Even here at the Taylor Blitz Times, we have these two picked to face off in the AFC Championship Game in the new Meadowlands. True to form they have come out of the blocks strong with twin 2-0 records and each have looked as advertised.

However no one figured that Buffalo’s land of misfit toys would come together with an esprit du corps that has them believing they are worthy of primetime status with their 2-0 record. Misfit toys?? Yes! Who wanted Shawne Merriman after his steroid suspension and subsequent knee injury?? How about Fred Jackson who leads the NFL in rushing after two weeks with 229 yards?? Buffalo draftedRB CJ Spiller to be the breakaway runner the team has lacked since Thurman Thomas just last year to replace Jackson. Who was going to catch passes now that Lee Evans is gone?? Stevie Johnson has more than taken over for Evans, he’s outperforming what was projected of Evans had he stayed. Then you have quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Ivy League guy. He doesn’t pass the eyeball test for an NFL quarterback when you look at his stature, and with that name you’d associate that with your local accountant. You know he doesn’t have a quarterback name like Luckman, Unitas, Aikman, Staubach, or a Tarkenton. Fitzpatrick?? Yes Fitzpatrick. The ultimate “misfit toy” has thrown for 472 yards, 7 touchdowns with only 1 interception. Better get used to the name…we have but first lets look at the standings

AFC EAST W L T PCT HOME ROAD DIV CONF PF PA DIFF STRK
New England 2 0 0 1.000 1-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0 73 45 +28 Won 2
NY Jets 2 0 0 1.000 2-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 1-0-0 59 27 +32 Won 2
Buffalo 2 0 0 1.000 1-0-0 1-0-0 0-0-0 2-0-0 79 42 +37 Won 2
Miami 0 2 0 .000 0-2-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 0-2-0 37 61 -24 Lost 2

The Buffalo Bills are averaging 39.5 points per game, which is higher than the 2007 New England team that scored 589 points for the all time record with 36.8 point average. Ironically Tom Brady and the Patriots are averaging 36.5 points per game themselves as they work Ochocinco into the mix. Do you realize that Brady has thrown for 940 yards 7 TDs and only 1 interception?? He’s on pace to throw for 7,520 yards and 56 TDs. Of course we jest but these numbers don’t make you scoff because he owns the record with 50 TDs in a season. Yet had we said that for Fitzpatrick, who has equaled him in touchdowns to this point, the notion would be received differently. Right now the Patriots have shuttled in Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead for a combined 185 yards rushing to keep defenses honest. Wes Welker (15 rec. 241 yds) and Deion Branch (15 rec. 222yds) are on torrid paces along with their championship caliber quarterback. Each would finish with 1,700 yard seasons which has never been done before by teammates. So Buffalo and New England are #1 and #2 in scoring so far this season.

Yet with all that scoring must come a foil. The New York Jets are the team that is playing the tortoise to New England and Buffalo’s hare and come in having given up the second fewest points in the NFL yielding just 27. They come in with the league’s #8 defense after two weeks and are a slow methodical team. http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&defensiveStatisticCategory=GAME_STATS&conference=ALL&role=OPP&season=2011&seasonType=REG&d-447263-s=TOTAL_YARDS_GAME_AVG&d-447263-o=1&d-447263-n=1 Mark Sanchez’s statistics aren’t up with his division rivals with 4TDs and 3 interceptions but two of those came in a meaningless 32-3 win over Jacksonville. However this team has to stop relying on the defense to hold everyone down until the offense can find a way into the game. Surprisingly Shonn Greene has only 71 yards rushing so far. However this is their recipe for winning. Its the 11 tackles by Bart Scott, 9 by David “Hitman” Harris, and 9 by S Eric Smith that is forcing punts. Once opponents pass into the secondary Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie  are waiting where they have 1 and 2 interceptions respectively. So yes they too are 2-0.

The first thing that jumps out at us about the Miami Dolphins is the top 3 tacklers from this team are all in the secondary. They have to run the football better and keep teams off the field. Everyone is dissecting that 517 yard performance that Brady put on them in week 1. Its a good thing that we are in the digital age or that film would definitely snap from overuse. Although this team’s stats were distorted by the Patriot game. They held a potent Houston team to just 23 points in their second loss of the season. They need a strong running presence, Henne can’t do it on his arm yet. The Dolphins will win some games this year they just ran into two strong teams in the first few weeks. However they need to work on being dead last in defense. Go to the running game.

Well one of these 2-0 teams has to lose when the Patriots travel to Orchard Park this Sunday. Its at this point our CEO (Buffalo fan) comes in the room and plays a disc of Dick Vermeil describing his ’99 Rams. “When you get a group of talented athletes without a distorted ego and they really start believing. You have something special.” To us, it did resonate and made us think long and hard about this Buffalo team. They are literally coming from out of nowhere and much like that ’99 Ram team had to learn how to win on the fly. Their most important game?? When they were 3-0, they had to take on the San Francisco 49ers who were the dominant team in the division, and had beaten them 17 straight times.  Once they won there the sky was the limit. Buffalo has lost 15 straight to New England. Its going to be loud in Ralph Wilson Stadium. Don’t forget the Patriots did give up 24 points to the Dolphins on their last road trip and do not miss this fact: The Patriots are ranked 31st in defense and the Bills are coming into this game with the NFL’s #1 rushing attack with 189 yards per game. Food for thought.

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NFL Week 2 AFC West: Who Are These Guys??

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The most enigmatic division in the NFL has just gotten weirder and weirder over the last two weeks. We chronicled how the Chargers play up or down to their competition and until Norv Turner is gone will continue to do that. True to form in their 1-1 start, they played down to the Vikings and up to the Patriots, although they lost. In the 93 years of the NFL, normally when a team can run the ball better than their opponent, they usually will win. Well the Chiefs are turning that axiom into a lost cause. They have run for over 100 yards in their first two games yet were blown out of the stadium on both occasions. They were also dealt another loss when they lost RB Jamaal Charles, who ran for over 1,400 yards last year. Second in the NFL.

However the Chiefs have lost three prominent players to injury and no one can answer the lingering question: What happened to the Chiefs passing attack?? It fell apart just  because Offensive Co-ordinator Charlie Weiss left?? We don’t buy that. Josh McDaniels and Todd Haley are from that same New England Patriot coaching tree. They both were offensive passing coaches there. So how do you explain Matt Cassell who threw for 27 touchdowns to just 7 int a year ago, to having thrown for only 1TD and 4 interceptions in two games this year?? Look no further we’ll reveal that answer in a moment. Yet lets take a look at the AFC West standings…

AFC WEST W L T PCT HOME ROAD DIV CONF PF PA DIFF STRK
Oakland 1 1 0 .500 0-0-0 1-1-0 1-0-0 1-1-0 58 58 0 Lost 1
San Diego 1 1 0 .500 1-0-0 0-1-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 45 52 -7 Lost 1
Denver 1 1 0 .500 1-1-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 1-1-0 44 45 -1 Won 1
Kansas City 0 2 0 .000 0-1-0 0-1-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 10 89 -79 Lost 2

Which brings us to the cream of this crop in the Oakland Raiders. Someone must have told Darren McFadden about our CEO’s claim that the SEC sends too many draft busts to the NFL. Since the midway point of last year no running back has run with more purpose. Even in defeat he ran hard for a well earned touchdown in Buffalo, where he fought off two Bills at the pylon. DMC rushed for nearly 100 yards for a second straight week. He’s the second leading rusher in the NFL after two weeks and it’s his play that’s allowed Jason Campbell to settle in and play some good football.  Right now Campbell has completed over 65% of his passes and is going downfield with confidence. That touchdown bomb to Denarius Moore was a thing of beauty. Last year he would have overthrew his receiver or thrown a two yard outlet pass since he saw Buffalo CB McKelvin running with Moore. The Raiders have stuck to their philosophy of running first to set up the pass. Something the Chiefs used to do.

How about the embattled John Fox and the situation in Denver regarding the quarterback position. Should he start Tim Tebow or Kyle Orton?? We say start Tebow and you can always go back to Orton. By going with Orton and switching to Tebow late it looks like you’re giving up the season and the Bronco players might go in the tank. If Orton is your guy trade Tebow and get something for him. You can’t dangle a talent like that in front of a fan base and have him not hit the field. We said it before on our CEO’s facebook page, the more Cam Newton succeeds in Carolina, the louder the fan base will call for Tebow. How embarrassing was that a week ago to be on Monday Night Football and your stadium chanting for Tebow to play?? They’re chanting this while Orton is playing ok football. When he has a bad outting Coach Fox might need a heavy police presence to get him to his car. Better make a decision fast or keep winning. Well so far they did the latter after Willis McGahee (The U) came off the street to rush for over 100 yards in last weeks win over the Bengals.

The Chargers have the NFL’s best quarterback that hasn’t played in a Super Bowl in Phillip Rivers. He’s a fiery field general yet needs his duplicate on the defensive side of the ball. The Chargers are well coached and are strong in ever phase of the game. What they lack is a little more play making ability to get a little more out of each play. On defense they haven’t had a “presence” since Shawne Merriman left this team. They don’t have an enforcer maybe Bob Sanders can remain healthy and become that guy. They have to stop coming out unmotivated and playing down to teams then try to roar back late in the game. It will work against a lessor team but you saw what happened in New England when they try that against a good one. This will be Norv Turner’s last year coaching them if they can’t break that spell.

Which leads us back to the Chiefs. Haley should fire his offensive co-ordinator and take over play calling himself or pass it over to Josh McDaniel. This team needs to get back to running first and passing second. This was the #1 team in the NFL in rushing attempts and yardage last year. So after 2 weeks Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster and Thomas Jones have a combined 38 carries for 219 yards?? Last year those were single game totals and to have McCluster with as many carries as Jones shows their running out of passing formations. Too much slick ’em and not enough sick ’em. Get your lineman firing off the ball and run at your opponents with purpose. Enough of this trick ’em football!! Chiefs if you listen and play to your fundamentals you can reclaim your division. We know that you have scored 10 points while giving up 79, has a team ever had that bad a beginning of a season and made the playoffs?? Yes, the 1989 Pittsburgh Steelers were 0-2 after losing 51-0 and 42-10 to the Browns and Bengals yet fought their way to a 9-7 wildcard. So it can be done. Aside from the Raiders, who in this division has some direction??