Sep 29 2008
Thoughts on Week 4 in the NFL
How ’bout those Cowboys!? So much for them dominating the rest of the NFL for 16 consecutive weeks. I still think that Dallas is the best team in the NFL and this loss will probably serve as a wake-up call. I was very impressed with the way the Redskins completely controlled the game in Big D. They’re very much in the NFC playoff race at this point. On the other hand, the Eagles totally bombed out on Sunday night in Chicago. It was a very winnable game, but they came up small. I see the NFC East pecking order so far as Dallas, New York Giants, Washington, all lumped together at the top and then the Eagles. However, there’s a long way to go. By the way, the Giants had a bye this week.
The Bears were the only NFC North team to win this week, picking up an impressive W over the Eagles. We’ll have to see if that momentum from their amazing goal line stand carries over to the next game. The Packers were flat once again against Tampa Bay and may be in big trouble if Aaron Rodgers is out for any significant period of time. Even with him under center, he’s not exactly playing well. The Vikings were just outplayed by a superior Tennessee team. Minny is going nowhere fast. Detroit, who fired Matt Millen, had a bye.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored a big win over the Packers this week. The Bucs always seem to have a strong defense and Brian Griese has played well so far. They could have enough to win the division. Carolina easily discarded Atlanta as the Panthers share first place. I still can’t get a read on the Cats though. Their defense can be dominant, but their offense is inconsistent. New Orleans easily claimed a win over the 49ers. Not a big surprise there. However, they clearly do not have the defense to win this division. The Falcons are a non-entity.
The NFC West continues to be a laughingstock. The Arizona Cardinals, clearly the class of the division, lost 56-35 to the freakin’ New York Jets. If the Cards are the best team in the division and cannot win a road game to save their lives, it’s definitely a down year for the NFC West. The 49ers were easily defeated by Nawlins. The Rams fell apart in the second half against Buffalo. The Seahawks, who had a bye, clearly had the best week in this putrid division.
The New York Jets scored 56 points against the Cards and only have 115 on the year. In fact, they’ve actually been outscored on the season despite the offensive outburst. Who cares if they’ve only been outscored 116-115, that’s still getting outscored. The Bills continued to dominate 4th quarters, which has been the key to their success. I’ve been saying they’re the team to beat in the AFC East, and so far I’ve been right. The Patriots and Dolphins took the week off.
Someone finally had to win a game between Cleveland and Cincinnati, and the Browns took advantage of Carson Palmer’s injury to get their first win. Both of these teams still suck. A lot. The Steelers and Ravens are the two top teams in the AFC North. If Pittsburgh can somehow get healthy, they should be able to win the division. At this point, it looks like that is a big “if.”
The Titans have probably been the most impressive team in the NFL this year. That’s a major surprise to me as I only expected them to be a third-place team. In my defense, I thought Vince Young would’ve been the starting QB all year. I had no idea that he would go completely insane/suffer an injury and be replaced by Kerry Collins or that their defense would be so good. Very impressed. The Jaguars edged a Houston team that has yet to play a home game, but is getting very frisky. They’re a team to keep an eye on as the season progresses as I expect them to improve in the coming weeks. Luckily for the Colts, their old and brittle players had a bye week.
In the AFC West, Denver came back to earth with a shocking loss in Kansas City. Definitely didn’t see that coming. I don’t think the Broncos are as bad as they played this week, not do I think that the Chiefs are as good as they played. Denver will definitely be in the race for the division title while I am 100% certain that Kansas City will do their best doormat impression for most weeks. On the flip side, San Diego has gotten going against average (i.e. NY Jets) and awful (i.e. Oakland Raiders) teams. I still don’t think they can beat a team with a really good defense. Luckily for them, the only games that could give them problems the rest of the season are Week 7 @ Buffalo, Week 11 @ Pittsburgh, Week 12 v. Indianapolis, Week 16 @ Tampa Bay, and Week 17 @ Denver. Every other week should be slam dunk wins. They’ll probably win three of those five tough games too. That means around 12 wins or so. The Oakland Raiders seem to be better than the Chiefs, but they’re clearly not a good team.
Projected AFC Playoff teams through Week 4: Buffalo (AFC East); Pittsburgh (AFC North); Tennessee (AFC South); San Diego (AFC West); Denver (Wild Card); Jacksonville (Wild Card)
Projected NFC Playoff teams through Week 4: Dallas (NFC East); Green Bay (NFC North); Tampa Bay (NFC South); Arizona (NFC West); New York Giants (Wild Card); Washington (Wild Card)
