NFL Says Holy Jacoby

The third week of the NFL season warrants takeaways, and not just the ones off fumbles.

The most striking parts of the Patriots-Texans game was the cowardice of the Texans overall and the rawness of Jacoby Brissett, who led four scoring drives but overall showed how raw he is as a true rookie. The Texans almost from the beginning were playing scared; Brock Osweiler showed mediocre command of the offense and never delivered drives worthy of a quarterback being paid over $15 million per season; the Texans also were terrible at ball security with two ugly fumbles on returns.

The first fraud of the year comes from the Steelers, a decent but ultimately mediocre squad crushed by an ascending Eagles team whose rookie quarterback isn't making mistakes.

The Bills got a shocker of a win as they humiliated Carson Palmer, himself less than what he's accomplished of late

Despite superb effort by ex-Raiders quarterback Terrell Pryor, the Browns are still the Browns as they botched it against a weak Miami Dolphins team. 

The Chargers appear already to be finished after blowing another one, this after the other teams in the AFC West all won. 

The Browns aren't the only pathetic resident of the NFL as the NY Jets became the NY Jets again with six picks, one of them a pick six.

There was the usual plethora of scoring as the Seahawks rolled over the Niners and the Redskins exposed the NY Giants, among other games.

Zeke Elliott's game was part of the Cowboys' surge past the always-nondescript Bears.

NFL Week One's Headscratchers Ball

The NFL's 2014 season has kicked off and in just one week a lot of beliefs have been turned upside down.   We look at the varied games that have left a lot of people scratching their heads -


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The AFC East becomes a beast - No New England runaway here.   The AFC East suddenly looks full of depth.   Miami's second straight win over the Patriots showcased that the Dolphins really have improved, this after being written off entering the season.   And the Dolphins aren't the only division team that looks better - E.J. Manuel played strikingly well in a wild Buffalo Bills win at Chicago after a tumultuous Bills preseason featuring brawling and poor play by the quarterback - and the rumor mongering before the game was that Kyle Orton would step in to replace Manuel.  

So what went wrong for the Patriots?  The offensive line had been a question mark even before the Logan Mankins trade and breakdowns there came primarily in the middle with some gaffes by blocking tight end Michael Hoomanuwanui also evident; the player getting the most blame right now is rookie Jordan Devey.   There was also the curious irrelevance of Darrelle Revis, whose signing was thought to give the Patriots defense the edge of a shutdown corner it ostensibly hasn't had for years.   Yet Revis, despite some plays made, didn't appear to intimidate the Dolphins at all. 

The Patriots aren't a team to let one bad loss ruin them, but line issues require addressing, and it shows the once-mocked AFC East is better than critics think it is.


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The AFC South is also a multi-team race -The Houston Oilers twins - the Titans and Texans - both won, are presently tied atop the AFC South standings, and Tennessee's win was the more impressive coming against a Kansas City Chiefs team that's better than Jay Gruden's Redskins.   Jake Locker was good under center for the Titans while Alex Smith showed why the Chiefs shouldn't have signed him to that big contract.   The ultimate indignity for the Chiefs then came when their former kicker Ryan Succop signed with Tennessee. 

The near-upset of the day was the Jaguars as they attacked and raced to a 17-0 lead at Philadelphia, but the Eagles roared back and exploded to 34 unanswered points.   That the Jaguars played that well is something Gus Bradley needs to build on as his Jaguars are no longer anyone's pushover.


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The wild and wacky AFC North - The trainwreck Browns and the mighty Steelers?  Mismatch, right?   Wrong.   The Browns came to play and they played like a team that can win.   The Steelers found out right away the Browns aren't the same old Browns, but the Steelers for their part also proved doubters wrong after a shaky preseason where their O-line looked atrocious.  

While those two were slugging it out the Bengals pulled one of the day's upsets by handling the Ravens in Baltimore.   Despite a great touchdown by ex-Panther Steve Smith the Ravens were abysmal on offense as Joe Flacco was intercepted in the endzone and threw 62 passes with just 35 completions.  The Bengals offense did have struggles with five field goals needed in redzone trips, but overall they showed they're still solid while the Ravens suddenly look shaky facing a short week where they host the now-confident Steelers.


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The Vikings get an opening in the NFC North - The Packers got exposed and the Bears once again failed to seal the deal with Jay Cutler, so the Vikings enter Week Two with a win and a pretty big one after hammering the Rams with 34 points.   Neither Rams quarterback - Shaun Hill or Austin Davis - looks ready for primetime while Matt Cassel didn't need much in volume stats to crush St. Louis.


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Tony Romo does his thing again. - Tony Romo keeps getting the benefit of the doubt in some analyses because of his volume stats.   His performance against the Niners showed anew why he'll never amount to anything as a quarterback.   The interceptions are what happen to quarterbacks who refuse to play smart football and instead insist it has to be about their arm.   It's Favreball and it's garbage.


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NFC West close to the vest - The Seahawks did their thing and the Niners rebounded from a shaky preseason, while the Cardinals never gave up against San Diego and pulled out the win.   As for the punchless Rams, they look like a last-place team.


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Broncos lead AFC West despite themselves - The Broncos manhandled the Indianapolis Colts but didn't seal the deal, instead giving up 24 points and nearly blowing another game where they led 24-0.   They thus lead the AFC West with the Chiefs already in trouble.  The Chargers meanwhile blew yet another lead and Philip Rivers is showing increasingly that he isn't the elite quarterback he's truly supposed to be.    Then there is the last-place Raiders.



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NFC South rises again - The Panthers pulled off the win, and it gives their new-look offense some momentum to work with, while the Falcons proved they're much better than in 2013 with an amazing overtime win over the hated New Orleans Saints.   The loss by the Saints nonetheless showed they will be a force this season.   The Bucs meanwhile got almost nothing out of new offensive guard Logan Mankins - the irony is they played better after he left the game than they did with him.



So it is with Week Two on the way.

Some Takes As NFL Enters 2014

We are now closing rapidly upon the beginning of the 2014 NFL season, and as the final preseason games approach, some thoughts on the coming season -


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EASTERN DIVISIONS, SAME STORY - In the Eastern Divisions of both conferences the story is the same - New England and Philadelphia are head and shoulders atop, the other six teams are playing for 8-8.   The 42-35 preseason game between the Patriots and Eagles got a lot of flack for the enormity of penalties - and also got some pub because one of referee John Parry's line judges is one of the first ladies to officiate and NFL game, Maia Chaka - but the enormity of scoring by all three strings of both teams plus the need for a Patriots goalline stand to win it was competitively compelling, preseason or not.   Both appear to be playoff locks already.

That isn't the case for the other six teams.   The Giants and Jets played a good competitive game and it illustrated some decent form for Jets quarterbacks while raising questions about the Giants, who won 35-24 after trailing in the battle of the Ones 17-14.   Even with that, the Jets do not look all that strong and neither do the Giants.   Meanwhile Miami has shown some improvement but not enough, especially from Ryan Tannehill, to feel they've turned a corner.   The Cowboys meanwhile look the same - some flashy high-end talent but overrated quarterbacking and the spectacle of Dez Bryant's contract now hanging over Valley Ranch's head. 

The Redskins and Bills face the biggest questions as Robert Griffin III has clearly regressed and Kirk Cousins is outplaying him, while the Bills have brawled repeatedly and have ignored Doug Marrone about it, a very bad sign that they've quit on him.   E.J, Manual meanwhile has looked scared when playing with no evidence of any advancement as a quarterback, an even worse sign that 2014 will not be the beginning of a turnaround, but instead a further collapse of an organization already traumatized by the continuing ownership search.


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AFC NORTH LOOKS GOOD, NFC NORTH MEDIOCRE - The Bengals remain the team to beat in the AFC North, but the Baltimore Ravens look noticeably better than the squad that fell to 8-8 after blowing itself up to pay Joe Flacco.   Ex-Panther Steve Smith has put up some eye-popping numbers and looks like a good fit with the Ravens.    The Steelers in contrast look lost still, unable to build an offensive line that's any good yet again.  

The trainwreck here is the Browns, who've lost Josh Gordon for the year and perhaps 2015 and are stuck with Johnny Manziel after a tellingly subpar effort against the Redskins and an uneven one against the Rams.   Manziel looks more and more like Ryan Leaf the more we see him play.


In the NFC the North exudes little confidence.   The Detroit Lions look okay but remain needing to prove they can win more than they have with a roster as talented as any.    The Packers haven't shown they're any better than last year and the Bears were abysmal against the Seahawks, sign Jay Cutler will once again put up meaningless volume stats.   The Vikings have an intriguing quarterback issue in Teddy Bridgewater, who looks like he will become starter in a year or two.


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WILL THE SOUTH RISE AGAIN? - The top three quarterbacks in preseason play have been Tom Brady, Peyton Manning..............and the Titans' Jake Locker at 119.9 rating.   Andrew Luck and the Colts overall look solid again despite a subpar effort against the Saints, but the Titans with a new coaching staff in Ken Whisenhunt still show promise of a breakout.   The teams also to keep an eye on are the Houston Texans - who rebounded from a horrid first preseason game to show some legitimate form and have Bill O'Brien as head coach after his amazing job at the trainwreck that was Penn State - and the Jacksonville Jaguars as they have a potential quarterback of the future in Blake Bortles.

In the NFC the New Orleans Saints are yet again ready to explode.   The Carolina Panthers have been somewhat shaky in preseason, especially in a godawful performance against the Patriots, but still look stout enough to contend for the title.   There have been signs of improvement in Atlanta and Tampa Bay, though I have questions about Logan Mankins in Tampa given he was overrated despite being Pro Bowl caliber anyway, and there was the sharp decline of his play in Foxboro after giving up eleven sacks in 2013.


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GO WEST - The obvious starting point is the Seahawks - the one thing right now that stands in their way is the Superbowl winner's jinx, where no defending champ has won a playoff game since the 2005 Patriots beat the Jaguars.   Even getting fined $300,000 (a third of it from Pete Carroll) by the league over off-season practices that were too physical isn't going to affect the Seahawks.

The team they beat in the Superbowl also looks ready, but not as good as last year's squad.  Peyton Manning's play has come under some fire over leaving Wes Welker in effect out to dry on the Texans hit and the fact is he remains the worst playoff quarterback since Dan Marino. That the Texans put up a legitimate fight in their game against Denver should be an encouraging sign for Broncos opponents.

The baffling team is the Chargers, who looked abysmal against Seattle and San Francisco after embarrassing the Cowboys.  One wonders how hard the Chargers were even trying there.

Kansas City is the puzzle, for the Chiefs have looked weaker now than last year, and their schedule is much harder than 2013.   Alex Smith is not the answer and it's puzzling Andy Reid isn't trying to develop a successor.

Back on the NFC side the 49ers suddenly look in trouble, even with a win over the Chargers.   Their quarterbacks have not shown competent play and one has to wonder if Colin Kaepernick is as good as people thought he was.   In even worse shape with quarterbacking is the Rams, minus Sam Bradford amid rumors of a possible effort to get Mark Sanchez or Ryan Mallett (and yes the Tim Tebow lobbying has been detected - ugh).

The team that may upset everyone is the Cardinals - they've become legitimately good and can get better, though Carson Palmer cannot be the long-term answer.  


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So it goes as we claw toward Week One of the season.



Oh, I forgot - the Raiders are a lost cause.