Last week: 2 (+1) Record: 3-0 I’ve poked holes in pretty much every other team in the league. I can’t do that with this team. They are without a flaw. Winning in Denver in the high altitude against a talented team and a no huddle offense is damn impressive and 3 games into the season, [...]
Last week: 5 (+3) Record: 3-0 As many good teams as there are in the NFC, there isn’t a clear favorite. Maybe I just like poking holes in teams. Atlanta, however, is the best the NFC has right now and the favorite to represent them in the Super Bowl. The hole you can poke in [...]
Last week: 13 (+10) Record: 2-1 The Ravens rank 1st in the league in yards per play differential, though you need to add a human element to stats sometimes. Their defense is not what it normally is and they’re clearly missing Terrell Suggs and others. The reason they rank so highly is because their offense [...]
Last week: 4 (+0) Record: 2-1 The Eagles have gotten killed with turnovers in their first 3 games, with a league worst -6 turnover ratio. However, that tends to even out on a week to week basis. This is still one of the most talented teams in the league and they rank 4th in the [...]
Last week: 3 (-2) Record: 1-2 The Patriots are under .500 for the first time since week 1 of 2003, but they’ll be fine. Over the past couple of years, they’ve started a little sluggish and then hit their stride. This week, they go to Buffalo to face an old punching bag and hope to [...]
Last week: 8 (+2) Record: 2-1 The defense is playing great as usual, but the offense needs to come along. The offensive line is a major issue, but Jay Cutler needs to be able to succeed in spite of it if he’s going to be considered an elite quarterback. The Giants won the Super Bowl [...]
Last week: 7 (+0) Record: 2-1 So maybe these are the same old early season Chargers. They beat up on bad teams like last year, but got destroyed against a very good Falcons team. The good news is they should get better as the season goes on, as well, and they’re getting healthier. Antonio Gates [...]
Last week: 9 (+1) Record: 2-1 The loss in Minnesota was not unpredictable. Minnesota is an underrated team and it was to be expected that the 49ers would be flat against a “bad” opponent after being anointed after 2 weeks. The loss has allowed them to fall back to earth, which is what they needed, [...]
Last week: 9 (+1) Record: 1-2 Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Houston, talk about being welcomed back to the NFL harshly for Peyton Manning. The Broncos stand at 1-2, but they rank 9th in points per play differential and they’ve been competitive in all 3 games despite a tough schedule. They should still be very tough to beat [...]
Last week: 15 (+5) Record: 2-1 The Cowboys, like the Eagles, can be dangerous if they can ever get their act together. Penalties and turnovers are killing them, but the latter typically evens out over time. They rank 2nd in the league in yards per play differential, including 1st in the league in yards per [...]
Last week: 6 (-5) Record: 1-2 The Steelers suck on the road. Over the last year plus on the road, they are -43, including playoffs, and +137 at home. They beat Indianapolis by just 3, Kansas City by just 4, and Cleveland by just 3 last year and now they lost to Oakland. They also [...]
Last week: 26 (+14) Record: 2-1 The Vikings’ win over the 49ers was no fluke. They rank 8th in the league in yards per play differential and they have a winning record despite no advantage in turnovers +0. The Vikings went 3-13 last year, but had a Pythagorean Expectation of 6 wins and averaged 22.9 [...]
Last week: 1 (-12) Record: 1-2 This is my shocker of the week. The Packers didn’t deserve to lose last week. But they still did. In a loaded NFC, that could be the difference between making the playoffs and missing the playoffs. One team every year goes from a 1st round bye to out of [...]
Last week: 17 (+3) Record: 2-1 The Giants are certainly talented enough for a playoff spot, but in spite of their win over the Panthers, this team still has some obvious flaws, much like they did last year. Last year, they won just 9 regular season games and had a negative point differential. Right now, [...]
Last week: 12 (-3) Record: 2-1 This Bills fall despite winning for several reasons. One is the injury to CJ Spiller. Both he and Fred Jackson are questionable this week and will probably be back eventually, but it’s definitely not a good thing. The other is just that other teams in the AFC and have [...]
Last week: 23 (+7) Record: 3-0 Like the Seahawks and Marshawn Lynch, do you really trust anyone on this offense other than Larry Fitzgerald? The defense is great, but I don’t think they’re well rounded enough to make the playoffs in a loaded NFC. They have a negative yards per play differential and rank tied [...]
Last week: 24 (+7) Record: 2-1 Bogus win aside, do you really trust anyone on this offense aside from Marshawn Lynch? Their offense was stagnant all night on it took some blown calls to even get them into double digits. Russell Wilson was 9 of 20 for 106 yards and a touchdown before that late [...]
Last week: 25 (+7) Record: 1-2 There’s the Titan team I put in the playoffs at the beginning of the season. Jake Locker looked much more comfortable with Nate Washington and Kenny Britt at full strength, going 29 of 42 for 278 yards and 2 touchdowns, although part of that might be Detroit’s crappy secondary. [...]
Last week: 22 (+3) Record: 1-2 The Panthers looked horrible at home on Thursday Night, but they were the inferior team and superior, veteran, proven teams always have the advantage over teams like the Panthers. The good news is that they still rank 3rd in the league in yards per play differential. They’re getting killed [...]
Record: 1-2 Last week: 20 (-1) Andrew Luck doesn’t have any help. He played well, but losing at home to Jacksonville is embarrassing. The good news is that they outplayed the Jaguars, despite the loss, and they should be getting healthier defensively soon, after the bye. They also have a very easy schedule and Andrew [...]
Last week: 29 (+8) Record: 2-1 The Bengals, my original pick to go from out of the playoffs to 5 wins or fewer, are still in the running. I had them doing do because I thought they were the worst of the 12 playoff teams last season (other than Denver, who added Peyton Manning). Andy [...]
Last week: 22 (-11) Record: 1-2 Their defense is the real deal and they’ll play spoiler to a few teams. They’ve had a tough schedule, as well. However, the NFC is loaded and Sam Bradford is not a good enough quarterback to succeed behind this patchwork offensive line, which will remain patchwork for the foreseeable [...]
Last week: 21 (-2) Record: 1-2 Every year a team goes from in the playoffs to winning 5 games or fewer. The Lions, one of my preseason overrated teams, are a finalist for that spot, but I have them finishing a little bit better than that. However, their defense is atrocious just like last year [...]
Last week: 14 (-10) Record: 1-2 Robert Griffin is the real deal, but whatever little help he had to begin with is getting hurt. Brian Orakpo’s and Adam Carriker’s absence on defense has led to them getting torched defensively by the Rams and the Bengals in the last two games and Trent Williams’ and Pierre [...]
Last week: 19 (-6) Record: 2-1 Remember how the Jets’ chance to make the playoffs was on the conservative offense, good defense, don’t make mistakes, easy schedule model? Yeah, that doesn’t work if you can’t play good defense and without Darrelle Revis, they’re going to have a hard time doing so many of the things [...]