NFL Power Report, Week 3

(Sept 29)

I love the NFL. It is so nice to have a week to look at the previous weekend, gear up for the next week, and then bang! 16 games. I love baseball, but when teams play everyday for 6 months I really get burned out.

After 3 weeks of games it is clear that quarterback concerns are the overarching theme and indicator of good teams vs. bad teams. Browns, Rams, Bucs, Raiders, Dolphins, Panthers, and Seahawks all have very clear quarterback concerns, and as a result they have a combined 1 win. You might be able to throw the Chiefs and Redskins in there too. On the other side: Giants (Eli), Ravens (Flacco), Saints (Brees), Colts (Peyton), Jets (Sanchez), and Vikings (Favre) (and even the Broncos with Orton) have had great QB production that haven't lapsed, and are all undefeated as a result.

Best Moment: Brett Favre, despite heavy pressure, throws a perfect pass 32 yards, hitting Greg Lewis in the back of the endzone to win the game.
Best Individual Performance: Peyton Manning
Best Team Performance: New York Giants
Worst Team Performance: Buccaneers (1 first down in the first 3 quarters?).Special mention to Panthers, Browns, and Raiders
Worst Individual Performance: JaMarcus Russell
Upset o’ the Week: Lions over Redskins

The Great
1. Giants. Jacobs and Bradshaw finally got rumbling, Eli played error-free football, and the beat-up defense shut down the Bucs (who did score 41 in their first two) and the Giants show they are still the most complete team in the league.
2. Ravens. As expected, the Ravens trashed the hapless Browns on offense and defense. They have dominated.
3. Saints. The Bills kept them close for three quarters, but the Bills only scored once. That’s a good statement by the Saints’ D.
4. Colts. Peyton’s as good as he’s ever been, passing for over 300 yards in all 3 games, and the tired defense beat up Kurt Warner all night for their first very-convincing win of the year.
5. Jets. Mark Sanchez’ J-E-T-S have 3 big wins already, and their defense under new-head coach Rex Ryan is really, really good.
6. Vikings. Favre is the hero in his first new-home game in Minnesota, eclipsing 300 yards along with the week’s top highlight. There is no way that Tavaris Jackson makes that pass.
7. Chargers. Philip Rivers is carrying this team despite a pathetic 2.8 yard per carry ground game (lowest in NFL). That won’t get any better against the Steelers.
8. Patriots. They finally showed some balance in the offense (pass:rush = 42:39) and it results in their first great game. But four field goals in the red zone is disappointing. The defense stopped a very good Falcons team.
9. Falcons. The Patriots took Tony Gonzalez out of the game, and the Dirty Birds converted only 2 of 9 3rd downs. The defense couldn’t put pressure on Tom Brady (no sacks, no turnovers).

Pretty Good
10. 49ers. Oh, how that last play from Favre had to break their hearts, but Mike Singletary’s team showed once again that they are not afraid of anyone and played one heck of a game, despite losing their star on offense early.
11. Bears. Nice win in a hostile environment, the Bears kept the Seahawks out of the end zone after the first drive, and that’s the way to make a comeback.
12. Eagles. Kevin Kolb had a good confidence game and McNabb will be back after the bye, so what will they do with 4 quarterbacks who all want to play? Oh well, next three are against TB, Oakland, and Washington. That ought to give the defense some time to figure things out.
13. Broncos. Nobody takes them seriously yet but hey, they’ve allowed only 16 points in 3 games. Kyle Orton has a TD pass and no INTs in each game so far, and they have two good running backs. A win at home against the Cowboys should earn them some respect.
14. Bengals. How about them Bengals! Palmer directed a great 16 play drive (including converting a 4th and 10) capped with a TD pass in the final seconds for a great division win.
15. Packers. Offense finally got rolling, thanks to a game in St Louis. ARod connected for three nice long throws, running game was good. It’s a confidence booster, but it doesn’t really show us much. We’ll find out more against the Vikings this week.
16. Cowboys. They have the best ground game in the league (in total yards), even without Marion Barber. As long as Tony Romo doesn’t blow it, the Cowboys will do pretty well.
17. Steelers. Had a big lead and they can only manage 12 rushing yards in the 4th quarter? That is not gonna get the job done. They better figure out their o-line and ground game if they want to make the playoffs.
18. Cardinals. When this team loses, they lose ugly. They have no ground game.
19. Titans. I don’t think they are this bad, but they are already 3 games behind the Colts. Maybe it’s time to see what Vince Young can do. Of course the real problem is pass defense, but Collins isn’t doing anything helpful.

Bad
20. Seahawks. Coach Jim Mora is a moron trying to lose his job. You can’t hang out the kicker when the offense can’t get in the end zone. He made four field goals for you. Touchdowns = wins. Seneca Wallace is not a winner, but he could sure use some help on offense.
21. Bills. They stopped the Drew Brees air show but their only score came on a fake field goal. Owens caught zero balls.
22. Jaguars. It was the Maurice Jones-Drew show on Sunday. No air attack means I see the Titans getting their first win this week in Jacksonville.
23. Texans. Matt Schaub is a great fantasy quarterback, but this defense can’t tackle and gives up way too many big plays. Star opposing running backs have each scored 3 TDs the last two weeks against the Texans.
24. Panthers. 4 straight three-and-outs followed by a pick-6 and then fumble in the second half. What did Coach Fox say at halftime because it sure didn’t work! Is the Jake Delhomme era in Carolina over?
25. Dolphins. Quarterback is the most important position in football and the Fins are left with Chad Henne the rest of the way. Pennington is only good for one year, anyway. At least they have the #3 running team in the NFL.
26. Lions. Congratulations, Detroit. You host the Rams and Browns in November, so more wins are within grasp.

The Very, Very Bad
27. Raiders. JaMarcus Russell is terrible and not getting any better. He’s only completed 41% of his passes and has a QB rating under 40. I bet the Raiders wish they hadn’t let Jeff Garcia walk away.
28. Chiefs. No offense, no defense.
29. Buccaneers. Most teams gained more yards on a single drive than the Bucs did in the whole game. Weren’t the Giants even missing a few key defensive players?
30. Redskins. They allowed a 99-yard touchdown drive after their first possession. They converted only two 3rd downs while the Lions converted 10. Their only good playmaker is a tight end. The coach will be run out of town. This season will be disastrous.
31. Rams. Two first quarter fumbles in their own red zone was not a good start for a team on its way to their 13th straight loss.
32. Browns. This offense hasn’t got a clue.