NFL Week 2: The NFC South has 3 top 15 teams and the universe revolves around Tom Brady

[Tyche]

ESPN Power rankings!

2011 Power Rankings: Week 2

1 (1) Packers 1-0
2 (2) Patriots 1-0
3 (4) Eagles 1-0
4 (8) Ravens 1-0
5 (7) Jets 1-0
6 (5) Saints 0-1
7 (13) Bears 1-0
8 (3) Steelers 0-1
9 (10) Chargers 1-0
10 (11) Texans 1-0
11 (6) Falcons 0-1
12 (16) Lions 1-0
13 (14) Cowboys 0-1
14 (12) Buccaneers 0-1
15 (19) Jaguars 1-0
16 (21) Cardinals 1-0
17 (15) Giants 0-1
18 (22) Raiders 1-0
19 (28) Redskins 1-0
20 (17) Rams 0-1
21 (18) Chiefs 0-1
22 (26) 49ers 1-0
23 (9) Colts 0-1
24 (20) Vikings 0-1
25 (23) Titans 0-1
26 (24) Dolphins 0-1
27 (30) Bills 1-0
28 (27) Broncos 0-1
29 (31) Panthers 0-1
30 (32) Bengals 1-0
31 (25) Seahawks 0-1
32 (29) Browns 0-1

Make of that what you will. The Bills are at 27, which is a bit laughable seeing the way the throttled the Chiefs in one of the toughest NFL stadiums. The NFC South has 3 teams in the top 15...There's 5 0-1 teams in the top 15, and they have 3.


SUN, SEP 18

Kansas City at Detroit - Kansas City was throttled at Buffalo against a mediocre QB and mediocre receiving crew, now they're going on the road to face a good QB and a good receiving crew, on turf. This game is going to be fast, and Stafford may drop 350 yards. I don't think KC has the offense to keep up with the Detroit offense.

Oakland at Buffalo - I thought Buffalo did a pretty good job at keeping the #1 rushing offense last year in check. They should be able to do the same with DMC and Bush. I'll concede that Oakland may be better than I thought on the defensive side of the ball, and in December, this may be a different game. Anyway, I like Buffalo to chalk up another win at home.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota - I really don't know where to go in this game. I wouldn't really be surprised if either lost by two or more TDs. I think one of the teams is going to rebound big off of tough losses, but I just don't know who it is. If I had to take a guess, it would be TB, but Minnesota is at home, so who knows. I'll go with my gut and say TB wins.

Chicago at New Orleans - I think we may have looked over that Bears defense. They haven't really dipped at all from their peak last year. They had the offense to throttle a damn good receiving crew and very good QB. Now they'll face a good receiving crew and great QB. I think Brees' experience and ability to adjust plays by coverage will give him more of an advantage than Ryan had. Saints win, but not by much.

Baltimore at Tennessee - The unflappable. Wacko for Flacco. ED REED ED REED ED REED. ED REED ED REED ED REED ED REED ED. ED REED ED REED ED REED. ED REED ED REED.

Cleveland at Indianapolis - The battle of the Andrew Luck contenders...winner take all! These two teams played very poorly in week 1, but Cleveland had a full offseason to practice and prepare...Indianpolis didn't. Collins gets another week of practice and time to learn the playbook. He'll eventually get on page with the receivers and the Colts will be decent. I think the upturn could start with a home win against Cleveland.

Jacksonville at NY Jets - Jacksonville doesn't have Tony Romo, which means they won't lose the game in the fourth quarter...but it also means they won't even by competitive enough to lose it in the 4th quarter. As bad as the Jets offense is, they aren't playing a top flight defense...or offense. There's really no reason for the Jets to lose this game, despite their pretty bad home record in the Ryan era.

Seattle at Pittsburgh - I kind of feel bad for Seattle here. Tomlin is going to get Pitt ready and they may very well behead Tavaris Jackson. Pitt is going to be pissed, upset, and looking for something to prove. All at the expense of Seattle. This is going to be ugly.

Arizona at Washington - This could be one of the better games of the week. The teams are pretty evenly matched (sounds weird saying this 5 weeks ago). If we get the "fuck it, I'm going long" Rex, Washington may win. If we get the "fuck it, I'm going long" Rex, Washington may lose. And that's why Rex is awesome. Washington wins, if Cam can do it, Rex can do it twice as well.

Green Bay at Carolina - cam will get his chance versus a pretty good defense, and he makes his home debut. Carolina loses a key player they recently resigned to a huge contract, which is going to be a big blow for the team. This isn't a question of whether or not Carolina is going win or lose, but are they going to look good doing it.

Dallas at San Francisco - Last week, their beat up secondary got ripped by Sanchez, so I expect that Alex Smith could do the same. However, San Fran doesn't have the defense or ST that won the game for the Jets. I can't imagine Teddy Ginn not running out of bounds for a 2nd strait week. That's just crazy talk. Dallas wins, america loses.

San Diego at New England - Holy shit, I didn't know this was on the schedule til I just tabbed down to do the writeup. This should be a really really good game. Chad Henne carved out a name for himself against the New England defense, who allowed the most passing yards in the last 17 years. Phillip Rivers could quite reasonably pull a Tommy Brady out of his ass. I don't think that will happen, but if Chad Henne almost did it, Rivers could too. I still think New England is good enough to win this game, but Brady isn't going to have another 500 yard game anytime soon. Also, there used to be a hard rule in fantasy football...start the TE playing the Chargers. I don't know if the Chargers still have matchup issues with TEs, but if they do, it's going to be ugly. New England wins a shootout...which means that it'll be under 40.

Houston at Miami - I said Miami would start the season 2-2, and I still think that. Despite all the miscues on defense, Miami had a chance late last week. They came out with 3 points from 2 drives on the 1 yard line. One of those stalls caused a 14 point swing, which was the difference in the game. The defense isn't going to continue to be that bad. Miami also has a hell of a record at home in afternoon games in September. That may be a frivolous stat in this game, as they're facing a Texas team that should be accustomed to the heat. I still think Miami finds a way to win this game. I can't imagine their home woes continuing this season.

Cincinnati at Denver - Is Gradkowski starting this game for cinci? I'm a bit confused as to why he wasn't the starter from the beginning. He's a...what's the term...professional QB. Not good enough to be a franchise QB, but good enough to be a starter on a team in transition, and Cinci is a team in transition. Denver, also in transition, but to whom? Orton is gone at the end of the season and they're stuck with Tebow and that terrible kid from ND. Brady? I forgot his name. None of that really relevant to this week, well, I guess the Cinci starter is. Umm...who wins another terrible game in Mile High? What the hell, Denver.

Philadelphia at Atlanta - The return of Mike Vick to the Georgia Dome. After getting absolutely crushed against Atlanta, they look to rebound big off of an unlikely rival. Atlanta couldn't really stop the erratic Jay Cutler from dominating, I can't imagine they'll stop Vick, but they could. At this point, I really have to see it from Atlanta before I'll believe it. I was a huge Matt Ryan guy, as some of you know from previous posts in other threads. Now, I'm having some doubts. My gut tells me Atlanta is going to win, but every rational bone in by body says Philly will destroy. My gut is always wrong, but I always go with it anyway. Atlanta rebounds and wins.

MON, SEP 19

St. Louis at NY Giants - So, football ends on Sunday night this week? That sucks.

[Dimmauk]

http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com...e091970b-320wi

[Tweek]

beautiful, dimmy

[Headspace]

Dalton should start

And if you paid attention, you would see Dalton was the better qb of the two. Just because gradkowski caught the browns snoozing and hit Aj green on a pass that I could make does not a professional qb make.

Denver is 4-double digits in their last x amount of home games and have a lot of defensive players injured. Not to mention their lack of running game and john fox.

Bagels

Dan Skuta

[Sol-Blackguy]

Not sure if Rex is starting against Arizona. Shanahan has been hinting at some bullshit QB by committee system.

[Tyche]

Did someone other than you actually watch that game?

[Headspace]

Did someone other than you actually watch that game?

Flarega

[Demosthenes11]

chad henne's passing numbers were overblown. guy had 170+ in the last 2 garbage time drives with the pats up 21 with under 5 minutes to play.

I don't think the chargers have beaten tom brady ever

[archibaldcrane]

Henne looked pretty solid in the first 3 quarters too, stats or no.

[Tyche]

And Tom Brady had 100 yards in junk time on one catch. It happens.

[Tweek]

517 - 99 = still rape

[Demosthenes11]

just sayin you cant look at the stats and learn the full story of how NE defense played. in reality, they had a pretty average day, allowing ~350 yards of offense until those last few drives where BB always goes into "I don't care if we give up x points, as long as we still have more"

[archibaldcrane]

517 - 99 = still rape

Drew Brees threw for more than that, did he rape the Packers?

[Tweek]

Drew Brees threw for more than that, did he rape the Packers?

I don't even know how to respond to this.


Cam Newton had the most passing yards in his game too and lost, where did I say most yards = win?

[Tyche]

It's not that he just threw for that many yards, he did it efficiently and mistake free against, by most accounts, a pretty damn good front 3 or 4. The New England secondary wasn't good at all last year, and they don't seem to be much improved this year.

[Ketsuri]

Drew Brees threw for more than that, did he rape the Packers?

I'm not sure if rape is the correct word, but its not like the Packers contained him.

[archibaldcrane]

I don't even know how to respond to this.

simple question

did drew brees rape the packers?

[Tyche]

Even if you just took those away and didn't count them (as if Henne couldn't have moved the ball at all if it wasn't junk time), he had over 275 in 3,5 quarters. Saying he still wouldn't went for 350 isn't an absurd assertion.

[Tweek]

simple question

did drew brees rape the packers?

hard to tell when the packers left the game in the 3rd, they did as much as was required to win at that point. not to mention you guys lost williams

[archibaldcrane]

I'm not sure if rape is the correct word, but its not like the Packers contained him.

With the exception of the final drive (when it was only 8 points), the Packers defense was on the field protecting an 11+ point lead for every possession the Saints had after 9:29 in the first quarter. They sure didn't let it get too close - if that's not containing, I don't know what.