Good Evening Sports Fans!
Hot topic tonight is contenders/pretenders, and the super unlucky in the NFL.
First the good news.
Undefeated Teams of the NFL:
Baltimore Ravens
Denver Broncos
Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets.
Contenders:
Baltimore is a force to be reckoned with in the AFC. Sure two of their three victories are against the lowly (and winless) Chiefs and Browns, but this team dismantled the reigning AFC West Champion San Diego Chargers. The score of that game was much closer than the game actually was. It appears with the three headed running back team, featuring a resurgent Willis McGahee, and the cool hand of second year started Joe Flacco, the Ravens are poised to run away with the AFC North.
One team in New York is Legit. The Giants have been asking only one question all season long... Plaxico who? With the emergence of young wide outs such as Mario Manningham and Steve Smith, this team looks even better than their 12-4 2008 campaign. A much bigger story is the play of the defense. The secondary hosts a list of players that we'd never heard of to start the 2009 campaign but i assure you if they keep it up, they will be household names by the end of this season. Great secondary play will not be difficult with the continued success of their front seven. Umenyiora and Tuck figure to be the most productive Bookend tandem in the league this season.
The Inadianapolis Colts have scratched and clawed their way once again to the top of the AFC South. Simple as this ; as long as this team has Peyton Manning at the helm they are a sure fire favorite to make the playoffs. Not to mention that defense will look much better once Bob Sanders returns. If you don't believe reference their 2006 playoff run... here's a hint, it ended with a Super Bowl.
Pretenders:
The Denver Broncos have shocked the world starting out 3-0. Not that their competition has been too fierce, but after all the turmoil this was unexpected to say the least. While I lable them a pretender, it is not because I don't think they are a good team. I'm just not sure yet. With wins over the hapless Browns and Raiders, and a miraculous catch to beat the upstart Bengals, its difficult to gauge their successes. All of that can change this Sunday however, when they host the Dallas Cowboys. In the NFL momentum is 90% of the battle and if Denver can rattle off a win against the Cowboys, it'll put New England, San Diego and Pittsburgh (their next three games) on notice.
The New York Jets are in a similar boat to Denver. While they have won some big games (in fact they have the best opponent record of the undefeated teams) I have to think that Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez's moxy will bite them in the behind before too long. The defense is playing really well and Marky Mark hasn't made the big mistake...yet. and the defining moment of this team will be after those two things occur. How will the fragile mind of a rookie QB be affected.
New Orleans needs to fix that defense. Unlike Indy they won't be returning a pro bowl safety mid-season. so its up to that current roster to fix the problems. ASAP, or Drew Brees will finish runner up in the MVP voting on a playoff missing team... again.
And Now for the Bad News Bears... or at least the winless teams of 2009.
Keep in mind that these teams currently have a worse record than the Detroit Lions... ouch.
Kansas City Chiefs
Cleveland Browns
Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins
Saint Louis Rams
Carolina Panthers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Teams that are in for a long season:
The Miami Dolphins just lost their starting QB and the catalyst to last years rise to the top of the AFC East. That paired with the wild kitten purring instead of roaring, this team is in for a long season.
The Rams can't seem to score, or catch a break. Injuries are piling up, including starting QB Marc Bulger. It looks like more of the same for this once great franchise.
Tampa Bay proves that firing your O-Coordinator weeks before the season starts is a bad idea. And it cost Byron Leftwich his job. Who replaces him? NOT the first round pick Josh Freeman, but last years late rounder Josh Johnson... interesting. It seems even the franchise doesn't think this team will recover and contend.
Teams that could fix this:
The Tennessee Titans are only one season away from being 13-3. While they've already matched last years loss total, their opponents combined record is 5-4 and one of those teams just won a superbowl. However, if Collins doesn't shape up soon this could once again become Vince Young's team. And while his stat line won't impress, he has a knack for winning games.
The Cleveland Browns may have thrown their season away by reigniting the QB controversy. However they are the only team in the NFL whose opponent's record is 9-0. No matter how you slice it, that's tough. If they can find some playmakers on offense and makes sure their defense can play for a whole game and not just the first half, they could go as high as 8-8.
Carolina is hurt. Once health returns to their decimated defense they will start to turn some heads. This team will not be a cellar dweller for long and I fully see a surge to kick and claw their way back to five hundred.
That's all for now Sports Fans. Let me know, what you think. Hit my Mail Bag and I might feature you in the Mail Bag later this week.
Douglas
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I like the analysis.
ReplyDeleteTwo things that I would disagree with: I do not believe Miami is necessarily in for a long season; and I believe Carolina is in pretty bad shape.
Miami has been close in their last two games this season with a last minute loss to Indy and a very close game at San Diego until a late pick-6 ballooned the score to a 10 point game instead of a 3 point game. One thing they have going for them is a steady running game with 2 solid backs that can be substituted for each other in any situation of the game (Brown and Williams). Additionally, to say that the Wildcat offense is more like a "wild kitten" is kind of absurd. It was that style of play-calling that lead to Ronnie Brown's big game (136yd/2td) against Indy and sets up for many interesting looks that opposing defense still have to compensate for. With Pennington being out, Miami starts Chad Henne who isn't a shlub. He didn't look great in his debut off the bench against SD, but he has the tools to make this offense move more than Pennington ever did. His deep throw is infinitely better than Pennington and with a receiver like Ginn, all you need is one step and you can drop it over the top to him for a big score. Miami's defense isn't too shabby as well. Joey Porter and Jason Taylor are play makers and will have big games when called upon, and that's just how it works.
I see Carolina struggling this season. Like Miami, Carolina has a great running back tandem (Williams and Stewart), perhaps better, but without any wrinkles in the offense and an old and slowed Muhsin Muhhamad opposite of Steve Smith, the offense isn't terrifying by any means (especially with Delhomme struggling to connect with their limited receiving corps). What will hurt this team more than anything is their lack of depth in the front 7 on D (where has Julius Peppers been?). They have already had several injuries decimate their d-line including losing starting DT Maake Kemoeatu and replacement DT Louis Leonard for the season. Their defense simply cannot recover from these injuries and lack of depth in order to bring them to a competitive level.
Overall, a great look at the top and bottom teams of the league at the moment. How about throwing up some projections for final records and playoff seedings?