The biggest frauds in the NFC and other NFL thoughts

(1)              I’m not really sure what to make of the NFC North.  On paper, the division boasts three of the best quarterbacks and defenses in the NFL, but the entire group has struggled through the first quarter of the season.  You might be surprised that I’m writing that the division isn’t playing up to the par considering that Chicago and Green Bay both sport 3-1 records after the first four weeks, but I believe that the results are a bit misleading.

I think that Chicago is the biggest fraud of the group.  They escaped week one after the officials took away a touchdown from Calvin Johnson because he didn’t completely control the ball while getting up to celebrate his apparent game-winning catch.  Some people might counter my argument by saying that Chicago statistically dominated the game against the Lions with 463 total yards versus just 168 total yards for Detroit.  Nevertheless, the Bears never were able to put away the Ferocious Felines because they turned the ball over four times, committed 100 yards worth of penalties and ran the ball terribly (31 carries for 101 yards).  The latter statistic has become an ongoing problem for the Bears.  In week two, Chicago got a seemingly big victory on the road in Dallas, but they were the team that got dominated for most of the game.  Dallas amassed 410 total yards of offense, but they were undone by three turnovers, which allowed the Bears to win the game despite converting just one third down in 11 attempts.  Chicago also overcame their inability to move the ball on the ground (19 carries for 38 yards).  I can give the Bears a little credit for getting a road win against a supposed Super Bowl contender, which means that this is the only win they deserve.  In week three, Chicago was given a victory on a silver platter as the Green Bay Packers decided to implode in historic fashion with an astonishing 18 penalties for 152 total yards.  Despite the team record in penalties, the Packers were poised to win the game before James Jones fumbled in the final minutes, which led to Robbie Gould’s game-winning kick with four seconds on the clock.  The Bears once again were unable to run the football and got dominated by their opponent in total yards and time of possession.  For intents and purposes, Chicago should have been 1-2 instead of 3-0.  As a result, the national media turned their attention to the Bears and started blowing smoke up the fanny of anyone associated with the Bears.  Fortunately, the Bears were cut down to size on Sunday Night Football by the N.Y. Giants.  The G-Men knocked Jay Cutler and back-up Todd Collins out of the game on their way to racking up 10 sacks.  Their sack attack fell two shy of the NFL record, but it did help New York limit the Bears to 110 total yards of offense, six first downs and zero third down conversions. 

Their awful performance against the Giants has exposed Chicago as a team that had no business being undefeated through the first three weeks of the season.  Frankly, they are a mediocre team at best.  They entered Sunday night’s game with the fourth-worst rushing attack in the NFL and their atrocious performance on the ground against the Giants is not going to help their ranking at all.  They have the potential to be explosive in the passing game, but their woeful offensive line and their middling wide receiver group will continue to hold them back and keep them as a middle-of-the-pack offensive team.  On defense, they are also no better than average due to the fact that they have been routinely lit up in the passing game, which explains their 28^th ranked pass defense.  They have been one of the stingiest run defenses in the NFL, but Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs ran up 189 yards with a 5.9 yards per carry average on Sunday night.  I predict that the Bears will struggle next week with the Carolina Panthers, especially if Jay Cutler is unable to play due to the concussion is suffered against New York.  The bottom line for me is that the Bears are an 8-8 team that was able to masquerade like a top-notch NFL team due to some extremely fortunate circumstances. 

(2)              So far, the 2010 season has been a little topsy-turvy with expected heavyweights like Dallas and Minnesota starting slow and perennial doormats like Kansas City and Houston looking like contenders.  After four weeks, the Kansas City Chiefs are the only remaining undefeated team as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears went down in defeat.  With these recent developments, it looks like Mercury Morris and his 1972 Miami Dolphins are going to be breaking out the champagne pretty early this year.  I think that the Chiefs have improved, but they have no chance of running the table.  Frankly, their 3-0 record is deceiving because they have beat teams with a combined record of 3-9.  I will concede that they did take care of business against the division favorites, the San Diego Chargers, but it was a home victory when everything, including the weather, lined up for an upset.  Not only do I not believe that the Chiefs have any chance of joining the 1972 Dolphins in the record books, I don’t even believe that they are the best team in the NFL right now. 

There are several teams with 3-1 records that could be thrown into the discussion about which team is the best right now.  You can probably make a case for Houston, Green Bay, New Orleans or Atlanta, but I believe that the debate really boils down to two teams: Baltimore and the New York Jets.  On the positive side of the ledger for the Ravens, they have a head-to-head victory over the Jets as well as another impressive road victory over the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers.  They have the 6^th ranked defense in the NFL based on total defense and they are the 5^th ranked scoring defense.  On the negative side, the Ravens have been mediocre on offense.  They are 22^nd in total offense and rushing offense.  They are 27^th in scoring offense with an average of just over 15 points per game.  They were supposed to have an improved offense with the additions of Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but the expected improvement has yet to materialize.  The more damning part of their offensive performance thus far has been their inability to run the ball consistently.  They have been averaging just a shade over 88 yards per game rushing, which means that Ray Rice and Willis McGahee have not been finding consistent running lanes.  It is fortunate that Baltimore has a dominating defense because they might be winless if their defense was in the bottom half of the NFL and their offense was expected to carry the weight.  In addition to their offensive struggles, the Ravens lost an ugly game to the unimpressive Cincinnati Bengals and they have the worst turnover ratio (-9) in the AFC, which means they are turning the ball over at an alarming rate.  Overall, I think the most impressive part of the Ravens’ start is that they have won three out of four games even though they have spent three out of four weeks on the road.

The Jets may have a head-to-head loss to the Ravens, but they have clearly been the most impressive team in the NFL over the last three weeks.  Since that opening day face plant against Baltimore, the Jets have averaged 32.3 points per game in victories over New England, Miami (road) and Buffalo (road).  In addition, New York has racked up 555 yards rushing with an average of 5 yards per carry.  The running game has dominated behind the young legs of Shonn Greene and the rejuvenated legs of LaDanian Tomlinson.  The situation with Greene and Tomlinson has developed into a true timeshare with the vet getting 56 carries and the kid getting 52 carries.  LT is averaging an astonishing six yards per carry after averaging 3.8 yards per clip in 2008 and 3.3 yards last season, which effectively wrote his own pink slip in San Diego.  Tomlinson is only 13 yards behind last season’s rushing champ, Chris Johnson, after four weeks.  With his 133-yard, two touchdown performance against the Bills, Tomlinson moved past Tony Dorsett into seventh place on the all-time rushing list.  In addition, he joined Jim Brown as the only backs ever to rush for 100 yards and two touchdowns in a game 25 times.  The only thing more surprising than LT’s resurgence might be the lights out play from quarterback Mark Sanchez.  The Sanchize started the year with a dud performance against Baltimore in which he threw for only 74 yards and posted a horrible 56.4 QB rating.  Since that awful beginning, Sanchez has thrown eight touchdowns against zero interceptions and posted a 117.5 QB rating.  For God’s sake, he is the fourth highest rated quarterback in the NFL with a better rating than Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Schaub and Tony Romo among others.  As a result, New York is winning games despite the fact that their defense is only ranked 16^th in the NFL in total defense.  In my opinion, the Jets’ ability to make plays and score points on offense makes them an even scarier opponent.  When their defense gets healthier and starts playing at their customary level, I think the Jets have an opportunity to run away with the AFC East.  In the end, I give the slight edge to the Baltimore Ravens on the strength of their head-to-head win over the New York. 

(3)                Donovan McNabb stayed classy until the end, but it had to feel good to return to Philadelphia and score a huge victory over his former team.  I also have to applaud the majority of Eagles’ fans that gave McNabb a hearty reception when he was introduced before the game.  I know that McNabb had a love-hate relationship with the Philly fans, so it was nice to them pay Donovan the respect that he had earned based on his stellar play over 11 seasons in the City of Brotherly Love.  Unfortunately, for Eagles’ fans, McNabb paid back their classy move by leading the Redskins to a big division victory.  McNabb was far from spectacular with only eight completions and 125 passing yards, but I think he provided an emotional boost and great leadership to his teammates.  I’m pretty sure that his fellow players wanted to win this game badly for McNabb because they respect him as a professional football player and as a human being.  I’m a firm believer that good things happen to good people and I don’t think they come much better in the game of football than Donovan McNabb.  Throughout his tumultuous years in Philadelphia, he always kept his composure and behaved professionally, which further highlighted the pettiness of his detractors. 

In the end, Washington pulled out the victory because they ran the football effectively and they got after the Eagles offense.  The Redskins offense tormented the Eagles on the ground to the tune of 169 yards rushing.  Even though Clinton Portis got injured, Washington kept rolling behind the bruising running style of Ryan Torain (18 carries for 70 yards).  It is pretty clear that running the football is part of the identity of any Mike Shanahan-coached team, so it was not surprising to see Washington rely on their running backs instead of allowing McNabb to throw the football a lot.  With the stability that McNabb provides at the quarterback position, I’m pretty confident that the Skins can be a good offense if they can get consistency from their rushing attack.  I also think they have a good defense despite the fact that they are attempting to play a 3-4 defense without proper 3-4 personnel.  Even though they allowed over 350 yards of total offense to the Eagles, the Redskins forced two turnovers and made it a point to set the tone with some hard hits early in the game.  One of those bone-jarring hits sent Mike Vick to an early shower with a rib injury.  The diagnosis after the game was the Vick had suffered broken ribs, which calls his availability for the upcoming San Francisco game into question.  The other important thing that Washington did on Sunday was get off the field on third down.  In turn, the Eagles struggled to keep drives alive and settled for a season-low 12 points.  I think this game highlights the fact that the NFC East is going to be a dogfight once again.