What we’ve learnt so far
4 weeks in and you have to ask yourself what kind of mad man would have predicted the way results thus far this season have gone. Sure, we all jumped on the Lions bandwagon pre-season, sure, I said Fitzpatrick was the real deal, but even in his most bizarre moments, the mind of Rex Ryan could never conceive of something as bizarre, nay, mental as the Bengals being 2-2. With each of the team a quarter of the way through their regular season schedule, it seems the perfect time to reflect on what we’ve learnt thus far…
The Lockout has hit defences worse than offenses.
Look at some of the yards that some average QBs are putting up, you’ve got to wonder if some secondarys are still on the lockout. Three of the top teams in the league, the Packers, Saints and Patriots are being roasted time and time against when their defenders are on the field, there just seems to be a lack of cohesion all over the shop. Even star individual suchs as Nnamdi Asomugha are looking foolish, though no more so than the rest of his team. The Patriots in particular have no defence to speak of. Brady threw 4 TDs against the Bills, and lost, and they gave up equally bizarre yardage to the Dolphins (with Henne, CHAD HENNE, at QB) and Chargers. Even Jason Campbell looked vaguely competent at the weekend when he remembered what team he was playing for. I’m not enough of a tactical expert to breakdown why this is happening, but expect to see secondarys across the league improve as the season wears one.
The Lions are for real
Over the last few years, pieces have been added to Detroit to turn them into a more than decent football team. With Suh on one side of the ball, a fit QB, an o-line to protect him and the most mind-bendingly awesome reciever around, the Lions are a team to be feared with. Say what you like about the Cowboy’s collapse at the weekend, but to come back from 24 points down against any team takes some doing. Add that to two come from behind wins over Tampa and Minnesota and you’ve got a team with the balls to match their talent. The Matt Stafford-Calvin Johnson combination looks as good as any other in the league right now, and even triple coverage isn’t stopping Megatron (compare that to Ochocinco, or as I like to call him, Optimus Whine). There are only two unbeaten teams left in the league, both in the NFC North, their first meeting on Thanksgiving could be something special.
The NFC West may not be the worst division in football
Every pre-season we get a lot of hype from journalists, based in the north-east of the USA, about how good the NFC East is, but look at it, LOOK AT IT, is sucks. The top two teams in it are the Giants and the Redskins, the Redskins! The two QBs leading those teams- Eli Manning and Rex Grossman, who combine for more big apple turnovers than Greggs. And as for the Eagles, well the moment VY decided to call them the ‘Dream Team,’ they were screwed. In reality, no-one expected them to go 16-0, and you could forgive the loss to the Falcons, and to some extend the Giants, but the 49ers? A team from the West? The NFC West? The division so bad that I sometimes forget it exists? Come on man, Alex Smith is their QB. Now you may know that I BELIEVE IN ALEX SMITH. But if you’ve got Vick throwing for over 400 yards and Alex Smith is still beating you? Pssshh, if Nnamdi is an island, then it’s one serving up Pina Colada and hot dogs right now. In reality, you’d expect the Eagles to come good, so lets all enjoy it while they suck.
The Titans and Bills have genuine QBs
All the Titans talk going in to the season was about CJ, his hold-out and then predictable explosion. It hasn’t happened, he’s averaging 2.9 yards a carry, yet his team, now without their top-quality reciever in Kenny Britt is 3-1. How has this happened? Well Matt Hasselbeck has found some form and is spreading it around like Big Ben at freshers week, add to that a vaguely competent defence (that leads the league in lack of points allowed) and somehow the Titans look like an actual football team.
As for the Bills? Well there was no talk about them pre-season. Nowt. Nada. Dick. Zilch. Niente. Nil Point. No dice. Aside from me. Yes, I hate to blow my own trumpt (I don’t), but I was banging on for AGES how the Bills need not find a QB as Fitzpatrick was the real deal, and whaddya know, I am right. Sure they’ve got no defence, and a hit and miss run game, but the Bills are fun to watch this season. They beat the Pats from 21 down, engaged in all-out air warfare with the Raiders and then lost to the Bengals. They may not be the most talented team in the league, but for the first time in a while they’re a respectable one, and you can’t take your eyes off them for a second.
Cam is an icon, an entertainer and a half-decent QB, on a really rubbish team (And Dalton isn’t too bad either).
Just look at Cam’s stat-line, turns out every jumped-up college football anaylst was wrong, the boy can ball. Now go back and look at his stat line again. He’s doing that with no run game, no offensive line, no defence and only one decent bloke to throw to, a bloke who looked out of it last season. I love Cam, but did anyone expect him to be THIS good THIS quickly? Sure, the lack of defensive nous mentioned above has helped, but he’s started off like Cliff Richard on his (never-to-happen) wedding night, except this one will last more than 15 seconds.
And I guess a bit of love for Andy Dalton is necessary, yes we all mocked him (and only partially because of his hair), but he’s come in to an awful, awful team and steered them to two wins. Though I’ve not paid enough attention to them to say a lot more.
Aaron Rodgers is ridiculous
The Green Bay offense is permenantly in a hurry. I’ve no idea where Aaron Rodgers has to be, but boy he’s never on the field for long. Wham, bam, downfield, TD, and off Aaron goes, I imagine to check on Favre-cam and laugh at him pressing all the wrong buttons as he plays Madden in his pants. But seriously, if Rodgers ended the playoffs last season good, he’s come back at least as good this term, which is difficult to comprehend. On Sunday as well as throwing for 4 TDs, he ran for 2, and didn’t even go off whining like that his pedigree chum from the Eagles. Sure, he’s got more offensive weapons than the back section of Ann Summers, but that doesn’t make what he’s doing any less impressive. In fact, turning a 52 year old Donald Driver into any kind of weapon is something that could only previously be done in video game ‘Dead Rising.’ (About as niche a reference as I am ever going to make).
Some teams aren’t very good
And by some teams, I mean the Chargers, Jets, Falcons and Steelers. Sure, they’re OK, but look how the way they were bigged up pre-season corresponds to their performances thus far. They’ve been like anyone on any dating website, all fart, no shit. The Chargers are 3-1, without their special teams acting like Rex Ryan at Foot Locker, but they’ve looked really poor getting there, scraping to wins over the Dolphins, Vikings and the Chiefs. The Raiders will push them hard this year, as Al Davis looks on, menacingly.
The Jets and Steelers look like half the teams they were last season. Their defences are no longer imposing and their QBs look about as infallible as Amanda Knox’s ‘I’m innocent’ face. Expect them both to miss the playoffs, there, I said it. That’s last season’s AFC Championship teams, neither in the playoffs. Good gosh ladies of the world, if Big Ben has nothing to do in January, you watch out now. And as for the Falcons, well they’ve managed to win some games without looking in any way impressive. Though this may end up being a good sign.
The Hottest Competition this season is for Andrew Luck
If some teams are depressingly average, there’s some almighty crap out there this season. The Vikings, Colts, Rams and Dolphins are (at time of writing) all winless, whilst the Seahawks, Chiefs and Jags don’t look much better. The Colts are doing an amazing job of showing quite how good Peyton Manning is (just look at how competent the Pats were without Brady a few years back), whilst none of Chad Henne, Tavaris Jackson or Donovan McNabb look like the answer to any question, let alone ‘are you a starting QB?’ The Rams is perhaps the most difficult one to comprehend. On paper they look stronger than the team that were THE DULLEST GAME IN HISTORY away from the playoffs, and yet they are winless, despite having played 3 teams from the NFC East. Expect the battle for the worst regular season record to be fierce from here on in as teams look to secure Andrew Luck in the draft. But don’t expect to see anyone go 0-16, there’s too much crap around for anyone to do that.
And finally, Tony Romo and the Cowboys. We’ve learnt nothing about them. Nothing at all. Because the Cowboys ARE EXACTLY WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE.
