NFL Daily Presents: NFL Analytical Assault Week3

There were great performances, awful jerseys, and surprises from 3-0 all the way down to 0-3. Scouts INC analysts Ken Moll and Matt Williamson chime in as well.

- Two surprises hit the first game of the week, Green Bay's great 3-0 start led by a stout defense and a good ball moving offense led by 420 TD passer Brett Favre who led a furious comeback ending in a Greg Jennings score. Then there are the 1-2 Chargers who can't seem to get LaDanian Tomlinson in any kind of rhythm, and he fought on the sideline with Phil Rivers to boot, who played catch well with Gates until the final drive where Nick Barnett picked him off to seal the deal. The big question is how much do the Bolts miss Marty Schottenheimer. Considering their 14-2 mark last year and their current status, I'd say a whole hell of a lot. A trend is starting for the Chargers that no team will run on them because they're just awful against the pass. New England was first to exploit this, and then Green Bay only ran the ball 13 times compared to throwing it 45 times. A 3-1 pass-run ratio should probably clue Ron Rivera in that the pass coverage is costing them games, and more trouble will arise if the problem can't be quelled.
- What wasn't a surprise was how the Vikings offense disappeared in the 2nd half against Kansas City, which allowed the Chiefs to come back and take Minnesota 13-10. Larry Johnson can't for the life of him get it going on offense, but still won despite a ghastly 1.6 yards per rushing attempt. That's because Damon Huard stepped up and threw for a high percentage (20/29) including the game winning strike to emerging rookie Dwayne Bowe. The Chiefs were also a decent 6/15 on 3rd downs and just got by with a win.
- New England may have gotten down early in the game, but was there realy a doubt to this outcome? JP Losman got hurt and was replaced by rookie Trent Edwards, who may have a better chance at leading this Buffalo team than Losman. I don't care if Marshawn Lynch played like Barry Sanders, your team can't win with 83 total passing yards. This team's in trouble, and it may be a good time to give Edwards a chance. I may not be a Stanford man like Edwards was, but I know enough to realize that the Bills are going nowhere. Tom Brady was magnificent, only throwing 6 incompletions and averaging over 10 yards per attempt. Maroney broke 100 on less then 20 carries, and were able to get Sammy Morris a good amount of touches to keep the defense honest. It was just like Christmas in April for Brady when the Pats traded for Randy Moss and Wes Welker, as the team has more weapons than a certain visiting Middle Eastern President. 34 minutes with the ball and very good secondary play holding Lee Evans to one reception allowed New England to once again dominate.
- The Jets finally got a win as Thomas Jones and Leon Washington were factors in a win over Miami. New York however, allowed the Dolphins to come back in the 4th after Gang Green seemingly put the game away at 31-13. Trent Green performed very well, and Ronnie Brown accounted for over 200 yards total offense and 3 scored. Chris Chambers continues to play well also. Matt Williamson commented on the Miami offense and the two teams in general:
"They did (a nice job on offense) and R Brown had a real big game. Still, I thought that was a close game between two pretty bad teams with poor talent in the trenches."
- With ugly jerseys and high scores, I thought that the Arena League came a bit early to the Linc, but that was Donovan McNabb coming up with a huge game to silence his critics and hooking up with Kevin Curtis to the tune of 42 first half points in a huge win over a Lions defense that got more scorched than the Russian soil during the Napoleonic Era. Westbrook also had a monster game, as did Kitna and Williams for Detroit. Can the Eagles attack perform even half as well against the Giants next week? But back to the jerseys, were those the ugliest duds ever worn in a game, Matt Williamson?
"Not sure on that one, but those Eagles' throwbacks really made my head hurt."
The Philly offense made my head spin, and may have given a migraine or two to the Lions staff.
- Is it just me, or is Pittsburgh making it look easy? Mike Tomlin did a tremendous job opening up the offense, Willie Parker was a beast, and the defense and special teams each had a TD. If a Steelers fan can't smile about that, his mouth must be wired shut. Alex Smith looked puzzled in the 4th quarter, and Frank Gore couldn't really get anything going. The 49ers shouldn't be discouraged though, they were flat out beat by a black and gold machine.
- Perhaps one discouraged team should be the Rams. Bulger has bad ribs, the offensive line is a MASH unit, Steven Jackson will miss at least a week, and you're 0-3. Tampa Bay got great running games from Michael Pittman and the unlikely Earnest Graham who scored 2 TD's in the 4th to seal the deal. Are the Bucs for real? There has been a recent trend over the years of cellar dwellers winning the NFC South the next year, you never know in this division.
- Ken Whisenhunt went back to college on Sunday, putting Kurt Warner in on no huddle situations and leading a furious comeback that almost materialized against Baltimore. The coach obviously knows what works against the Ravens D from his years at Pittsburgh, but what does it say about Matt Leinart, when he was yanked twice during the contest? The plan is fantastic in a vacuum, but not when emotions and confidence levels are put into the equation. The McNoller QB combo did well for Baltimore, but not as well as Willis McGahee or Anquan Boldin, who lit up the B'More back 4. Ken Moll talked about the Ravens chances this season:
"They have a chance if they can continue to play solid defense. I Know the Cardinals came back but Lewis and the Boys are excellent and they have a chance to be a wild card team. Steelers win the division if they continue to play (well)."
- You almost feel that the Colts never feel that they're going to lose, despite the close results of the games they play. Their special teams allowed another kickoff return to the house to open the game, but Manning and co never panicked, and Addai ran for 2 scores. Schaub played decently, but you can't expect him to do it all himself. The Texans had 40 total rushing yards, and that's why they lost. Unacceptable!
- If you wanna talk about a team dominating the line of scrimmage, you'll talk about what Jacksonville did to Denver on Sunday. The Jags had the ball for almost 39 minutes, rushed the ball 47 times at exactly 4 yards a rush, and held the Broncos to 47 yards rushing. The only reason why Denver was in the game was because of Brandon Marshall, who had a monster game. The Denver rush D needs to perform better or this team won't be reaching the postseason.
- What goes around comes around, right Raiders? The timeout that doomed them against Denver, saved them in a tight one against Cleveland? If this timeout thing is some sort of chain, then the Ravens should watch out next week. McCown and co started off with a 16-0 lead, and then the Browns came storming back with special teams and good days from Winslow and Edwards. But both teams aren't that good, and a time out was the difference. It looks like ice is hot, especially with the game on the line.
- The Bengals converted 11 times on 18 3rd downs and lost, because they turned the ball over 4 times. Rudi Johnson had 17 carries for 9 yards, and Seattle was able to escape with a win because nobody decided to cover Nate Burleson. Alexander had a nice game, and it looks like the Seahawks are back on track.
- If the Falcons still can't win when Joey Harrington has a monster day, I don't know when they'll get a victory. Foster played well to help out a team that had to change QB's because of an injury, and the Falcons are incredibly pathetic. I don't want to get cursed out like a Cubs fan did to me yesterday, so I'll stop here. I'll just say that the Falcons will be on the clock in April.
- The Giants knew that they're season was on the line, and they responded in the 2nd half. Tom Coughlin hasn't lost his team yet, and the Redskins have finally gone back down to earth where they belong. In the 4th quarter, either Joe Gibbs forgot how to coach, had a bad day, can't coach anymore, or had a stroke close to the goal line. There was no need to rush, especially with an inexperienced QB, and they missed a golden opportunity to go to 3-0. If the Giants played like they did in the 2nd half all the time, they could be good but this looks like a lost cause. So after this game, are the Redskins contenders or pretenders? Ken Moll has the answer:
"I tend to believe that they are Pretenders as they just don't have enough continutiy yet on either side of the ball. "
I tend to believe that you're right.
- It was pretty bad in the 2nd half for the Bears. Grossman was awful, they lost defensive players to injuries, and they got their behinds handed to them by Dallas, who were firing on all cylinders again. They realized that the run wasn't working, so they chucked it. I like to call it anti-Charger technology, but it applied to Chicago as well. You think Mike Martz saw this game and had a sick, sadistic smile on his face? You know he did.
- The Saints have crumbled. Drew Brees is not a good QB when he has to throw too many times, and he may have to now that Deuce McAllister is out for the year. They tried to make all the big plays instead of using a power running game more. ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth described the Saints offense as "Too much icing, not enough cake." I could not have said it better myself and gotten hungry at the same time. The Titans were also hungry, as Keith Bullock had 3 picks, controlled the clock, and allowed VY to manage the game well. Tennessee could be this year's Saints, and I gotta go grab some cake.