2007 NFL Season - Week 3 Recap
I'm reviving a modified version of my Weekly "Rants & Ranks" that I began writing after Week 9 of last season. This year, I'm limiting it to a top & bottom 5, and just to be all witty and special-like, I'll even give it a name. How about "Fab 5" and "Foul 5"? Will that work for everyone? Can we get a consensus vote real quick?Eh, screw it. It's my page, I'll do as I please. Onward and upward...
The Fab 5:
New England (3-0): No, this is not a homer pick. There is not one "expert" out there who would dispute that the New England Patriots, even without their two best defensive players in Rodney Harrison & Richard Seymour, are the best team in the NFL. Look at it this way - if you're a Patriots' fan, is there a single team in the league that scares you? And if you're not a Pats' fan, is there any other team you would rather face less than New England?
Dallas (3-0): Too bad this wasn't setup last season. This year, there's not nearly as many storylines for the media to feed off during a season where it looks like the Pats & Cowboys are headed for a Super Bowl collision. Last year there was Bill Parcells, the end of another Drew Bledsoe era for another team, Terry Glenn as a productive wide receiver again... Now there's what?
Indianapolis (3-0): As is to be expected at this point, Peyton Manning is leading the Colts to an undefeated record early in the season. Unfortunately, they still haven't really been tested - blowing out what looks like a vastly overrated Saints team, squeaking by a vastly underrated Titans team, and then barely holding on against Houston last week (and costing me a cover on a -6.5 point line by giving up the late score...) it's almost like they're biding their time until they play a game that "matters".
Pittsburgh (3-0): Gotta tell you, living in this city now, I don't know that I've ever met more passionate football fans. Understandable, since the Pirates are absolutely abyssmal, and no one cares about hockey, but this city is 100% insane about the Steelers. And this season, it looks like they've got a legitimate team to be crazy for.
Green Bay (3-0): How weird is it to be saying that after just about 20% of the season, the Green Bay Packers are one of the top 5 teams in the league? Their defense looks much better than it has in the past, and the offense (and by offense, I mean "Brett Favre"...) looks much more controlled than it has over the past four or five years. Of course, this is exactly the way the Saints started last season - big, emotional wins against supposedly strong opponents, a defense playing over it's head, and by Week 14 or so they had almost completely reverted to their former selves. For the sake of all that is good about the NFL, let's hope that's not the case here. I'd love to see Favre go out on at least a playoff team, if not an outright Conference Champion.
Cleveland (1-2): After Week One, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that the Browns were the worst team in football. After Week Two, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that the Bengals were worse than I thought, and the Steelers were much better. After Week Three, I'm completely confused. But I do know that Cleveland is no better than a bottom five team, so let's stick them here.
Kansas City (1-2): This week's win notwithstanding, this team is in trouble. They just happened to run up against a team with a worse offense than what the Chiefs are running out onto the field every Sunday. Against almost any other team in the NFL, that performance Sunday earns Kansas City an "L".
New Orleans (0-3): They've scored 38 points... and allowed 103. Their #1 runningback just blew out an ACL last night. Their quarterback ranks #32 in passer rating, ahead of only Rex Grossman & Tarvaris Jackson, and sports a solid 1 touchdown to 7 interceptions, all while attempting more passes than anyone else in the NFL. And the defense... well it's back to the defense of the "Aint's". If they can't find a way to rip off four or five straight dominating wins, I don't see anyway they morph into contenders by season's end.
St. Louis (0-3): Talk about a team looking lost... The offense has been non-existant (32 total points scored? That's just awful). The defense hasn't allowed a ton of points, but they haven't had to - it's the 2006 Raiders' theme. Teams know that 14-20 points should be enough to win the game, so why run up the score?
And the current worst team in the NFL?
Atlanta (0-3): Although in all fairness, they kind of brought this on themselves by trading away Matt Schaub for a second-day draft pick. I say Joey Harrington gets two more starts (baring injury) before Byron Leftwich is up to speed. At this point, they're just playing for the draft pick anyway.
Yes, I realize I left two 0-3 teams off the "Foul 5" in favor of two 1-2 teams. Very simply, I'm fairly certain that on a neutral field, Miami could beat either Kansas City or Cleveland, and I'm not quite ready to quit on Buffalo just yet. They would be the first-runner-up in this little informal poll though.
Back Thursday/Friday with picks, and maybe some quick-hit thoughts on the MLB Pennant races.
Lata.
Labels: 2007, NFL, Playoffs here we come, Rants and Ranks, Recap
posted by Big D @ 4:26 PM
1 Comments:
Ah! Nice props for the Steeler fans (like myself)! I can't imagine living in a city where football isn't LIFE!
I guess that's similar to baseball in Boston?
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