NFL QUARTER POLE:
What Have We Learned?
4 weeks in to the NFL season, most team are one fourth of the way through their schedules. 25% of any season is enough to draw some conclusions, and I’m here to tell you which ones you should draw now from this one.
First: The Broncos are for real. The Cowboys may not be as good as we thought, but Denver’s win was still impressive. Brian Dawkins has brought an irrepressible energy to the defensive group and is flying around making big hits like always. Champ Bailey is still one of the top five corners in the NFL. No corner has recorded more red zone interceptions in their career than Bailey, and he notched another against the hapless Tony Romo. Knowshon Moreno and Corell Buckhalter form a potent backfield duo capable of gashing even the best run defense. Brandon Marshall showed every bit of his explosiveness on the winning Denver touchdown against Dallas. Many discounted Denver’s 3-0 start, but the win over the Cowboys validated the team in startling fashion. Yielding a single touchdown to a Cowboys team that posted 31 points on a highly regarded Giants defense showed the D is back in Denver.
Second: The Giants will run away with the NFC East. Dallas may not be as good as we thought. Tony Romo has lost his swagger, and his body language is that of a defeated man. The Redskins are terrible, maybe a bottom five team. The Eagles are predictably injury prone and overrated. Despite two gaudy wins, the team was blown out by New Orleans and owns a modest 2-1 record. Expect another nine win season. That leaves the Giants as the clear favorite. Already ahead of the game with a 2-0 division record and a win at Dallas, the G-Men look explosive on offense and defense. The team has recorded 45 points off turnovers in three contests, Eli Manning has more passing yards than Drew Brees, and Steve Smith leads the league in receiving yards and touchdowns. When Brandon Jacobs really gets rolling, this team will be tough to deny, especially when Manning has the ball late in games.
Third: The refs love them some Patriots. The Ravens will never get a chance to beat the Patriots in a close game, as the refs seem poised to give the Pats every call. The last two times the teams have played tight contests, phantom defensive penalties have hurt Baltimore deeply. Of course, in 2007 they didn’t have a receiver drop a perfect pass in the red zone on fourth down, but the penalties are what put the Ravens in those dire straits to begin with. The referees also let Randy Moss get by with a clear offensive pass interference on his touchdown catch. At one point, the refs waved off a flag that was thrown at the onset of a New England 3rd and 1 play, as if to set up the out for the Patriots should they fail to get the yard. The officiating in this game was fishy at best. Expect more of the same in Patriots games as the season progresses. No way the Jets take the rematch in New England with this kind of officiating.
Fourth: Peyton freaking Manning. Manning has always been a great quarterback. So far this year, he is even better than ever. Having thrown for well over 300 yards in each of the first four games, Manning is proving adept at using weapons we didn’t even know he had. Anthony Gonzalez hurt? No problem, Pierre Garcon will step in and make plays. Garcon is covered? No problem, Austin Collie is in single coverage. Manning at this point could make your grandmother look good at wideout. In Dallas Clark, he has an unfair advantage over every linebacker in the league. The Colts D is average, but with Manning’s freakish efficiency on offensive possessions it doesn’t matter. Manning keeps the pressure on the opposing team with lightning strikes and methodical drives. The win in Miami, where the Colts had the ball less than fifteen minutes for the whole game, was nothing short of amazing. Four weeks in, Manning is the clear MVP front runner. Second place needs four more weeks to enter the picture.
Fifth: Something’s wrong in Steeltown. Rashard Mendenhall looked great against the Chargers. The offense is putting up big numbers. Ben Roethlisberger looks like a two time Super Bowl winning quarterback. The defense seems to be playing pretty well without stud Troy Polamalu. Somehow, though, the Steelers are terrible in the fourth quarter. A team that’s made its living in crunch time the last few years is suddenly the worst in the league at closing games out. Up 28-0 on the Chargers at the half, the Steelers allowed San Diego to come storming back with 28 second half points. A touchdown pass on a trick play saved the Steelers from a third consecutive ignominious defeat, as they allowed late rallies from Chicago and Cincinatti to beat them. The Bengals may be a better team than previously imagined, but the Steelers vintage 2008 wouldn’t have had any trouble closing either one of those games. Polamalu could be the problem. A dynamic player who has been the lynchpin of the defense since his arrival, Polamalu was dominating the Titans in the opener before an injury sidelined him late in the first half. Hopefully for Pittsburgh, his absence is the true source of their woes, and there is not a greater complacency seeping its way into the team. Many of the players have two championship rings, and it wouldn’t be the first time a franchise lost its hunger.
Sixth: The Vikings are pretty good. I never feel safe with players who were injury prone in college. Now Adrian Peterson is complaining of back pain. He’s looked mortal for two straight weeks. No matter how good Brett Favre looked against the sub-par Packers defense, this team is nowhere close to a contender with Peterson being anything less that a dominator. The fact is, Peterson has looked remarkably average since his opening day outburst against the woeful Browns (180 yards, 3 Tds). The Vikings defense is going to face much tougher tests than their NFC North counterparts can offer, with games against Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Arizona and the Giants all looming on the schedule. The Vikings will get to 5-0 on their trip to St. Louis, but don’t hold your breath for them to beat the Ravens the following week.
Seventh: The Saints have finally arrived as a power. Drew Brees and the offense have held up their end of the bargain the last three years, but a disappointing defense has kept the Saints out of the postseason the last two. Darren Sharper has brought a confidence to the unit that they were sorely lacking, and as the active career interceptions leader he can back it up as well. In fact, Sharper is leading the NFL with an incredible five picks in the first four games, including 90+ yard TD returns in each of the last two games. Sharper has also returned Eli Manning interceptions for touchdowns twice in his career, so that matchup could loom large in the playoffs. The electricity Sharper has brought to the Saints defense brings New Orleans to the level of the NFL elite. Finally.
Eighth: Safety is the most important defensive position in football. Sharper, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Kenny Phillips, Jim Leonhard, Brian Dawkins LaRon Landry and Bob Sanders (when he’s on the field) are all integral parts of good defenses. Safety has become the new defensive glamour position. It remains to be seen how much the loss of Phillips for the season will hurt the Giants. Conventional wisdom says the team’s fearsome pass rush will hide secondary flaws, but Phillips was off to a huge start. Pittsburgh’s flaws without Polamalu have been exploited in each of their games so far. The Ravens would be woeful without Ed Reed’s timely interceptions (and penchant for TD returns). Leonhard went to the Jets from Baltimore to help Rex Ryan run his defense in New York. The Jets defense allowed only 10 points to the prolific Saints offense, and held Drew Brees to a paltry 190 yards with no touchdowns. Name a good NFL defense, and there is a good player at safety anchoring the squad.
Ninth: The worst team in the League is the Rams. They are terrible.
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