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Five Observations:
1. The NFC is still light years behind the AFC. The Philadelphia Eagles remain as the class of the Nether Football Conference but what other serious contenders are there? The Atlanta Falcons still can not pass the ball successfully and the Carolina Panthers just lost at home to the New Orleans Saints and will be without their best defensive player, tackle Kris Jenkins, for the season. Who do you rank as next best? The Minnesota Vikings, who looked disoriented in week one? How about the Seattle Seahawks or St. Louis Rams, both of who an unimpressive 0-1? The AFC is a much higher caliber at this point.
2. If you were one of those skeptics waiting for Drew Brees to fall off a cliff, you should change your opinion ASAP. Brees is the real deal. His first week’s numbers may not drop your jaw but he showed excellent poise in the pocket and moved the Chargers up and down the field pretty well. He did throw two interceptions – uncharacteristic of him – but he was working with a sub par receiving corps and without his main man, Pro Bowl tight-end Antonio Gates.
3. The Houston Texans still can not protect their quarterback and they can not rush opposing quarterbacks. They have allowed the most sacks in the NFL in the past three seasons and they kept up their pace to extend that accolade as they permitted five sacks in week one at Buffalo. This team will never take that “next step forward” that head coach Dom Capers keeps talking about unless they focus on protecting their franchise quarterback David Carr.
4. So much for the Minnesota Vikings defense being a dominant unit. They allowed 24 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who averaged just over 16 points per game on the road last year. And considering they scored zero offensive touchdowns, it sure didn’t look like they missed Randy Moss either. As pessimistic as I am, the defense will improve as rookie Erasmus James gets into the lineup and second-year end Kenechi Udeze continues to improve. The Vikings need to develop a speed rush off the end before anyone takes their defense seriously.
5. As mentioned above, the Atlanta Falcons are still not a serious contender until Michael Vick can resemble somewhat of a pocket passer. His passing stats from the Monday Night Football match up against the Philadelphia Eagles looked like this: 12-23, 156 YDS, 0 TD, 1 INT. 58 yards of those passing yards came on an ill-advised throw to Michael Jenkins, who was double-covered. The Falcons couldn’t move the ball through the air when they needed to (20% third down conversions) or the game would have been sealed much earlier.
Four Picks:
Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans
Well if Willie Parker can use the Titans run defense as his personal treadmill then Jamal Lewis will do likewise. The key to the Ravens offense has always been running the ball successfully and if they can do that they will be well on their way to a win. Anthony Wright gives this offense a real quarterback to work with while Kyle Boller sits out with an ankle injury. The Ravens defense held Indianapolis to three points in the first half so they probably won’t have much trouble with a developing Titans attack.
Baltimore -3.5
San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles
The 49ers did score 28 points in week one but a closer look at the statistics indicates that their offense was terribly ineffective. The running game combined for only 39 yards on 20 attempts and the passing game only amassed 165 yards. First of all, they will on the road this weekend. Second of all, they will be facing a much better defense who could pitch a shutout. And third of all, the Eagles need to win after being pantsed on national television on Monday night.
Philadelphia -13
Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears
The Lions only hung 17 on Green Bay’s porous defense at home and particularly labored in the red zone. They are a dome team who does not play well on the road and now they have to face a much better defensive team. Keep in mind that Lions place kicker Jason Hanson is battling a hamstring injury and may not play. Bears rookie running back Cedric Benson will get some more touches this week and with an improved running game, the Bears should win this game. Kyle Orton may be a rookie but the Lions defense will look refreshingly easy after facing a very aggressive, premier unit in Washington.
Chicago +1
Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys
I told you last week that the Chargers were not going to create enough quarterback pressure to faze Drew Bledsoe and judging by his statistics (18-24, 226, 3 TD) they didn’t. But this week, Redskins defensive coordinator is going to send everything he’s got including the kitchen sink. The Cowboys wide receivers don’t get up the field too quickly which further hurts Bledsoe. Mark Brunell may be past his prime but he has looked good in the preseason and is not nearly as mistake prone as Patrick Ramsey.
Washington +6
Three E-mails
Send ‘em if you got ‘em to dgolokhov@hotmail.com
Vegas Dave,
Is it flowers or chocolates for an apology?
David Akers and Matt Stover
-from Jason in Ottawa
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Dave,
We also provide a pocket of protection and we would have been a better choice for a Visa commercial than Tom Brady and his offensive line.
David Carr and the Texans O-line.
-from A. in C-spot
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Hey Dave,
If Javon wants to know what his quarterback thinks, and I would think he might, I’d tell him he’s going about this the wrong way…
Brett Favre
-from Edwin in Toronto
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Two Games to Watch:
Minnesota Vikings @ Cincinnati Bengals
Two of the games biggest talkers, Fred Smoot and Chad Johnson, will line up against each other without mouth pieces. Do I need to say anymore?
Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders
The Las Vegas over/under for this game currently sits at 53 points. Well, if you’re not interested in this sort of thing enjoy Buffalo at Tampa Bay.
Golokhov Power Ranking:
The rating for each team combines: strength of schedule, offensive and defensive productiveness, turnover ratio and special teams all relative to the rest of the league’s performance. Official statistics that are used to calculate the ratings are provided by NFL.com.
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Note: Keep in mind that only statistics from this season are factored into the equation so the ranking will become more accurate as more games are played.
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