32(32). Seattle Seahawks 0-2

Tarvaris Jackson vs. the pissed off Pittsburgh defense after a loss. Yeah, there was no way that would end well. And it didn’t. The Seahawks didn’t call a single play in Pittsburgh territory until midway through the 4^th quarter. However, the Seahawks head home to the magic Qwest Field now. They lost 6 games by 14+ points last year on the road, but still went 5-3. They play 3 games at home against the NFC West this year and the NFC West is 6-30 on the road in last season and this season combined. If they lose the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, that will be why.

31(28). Kansas City Chiefs 0-2

The Chiefs have been outscored 150-30 in their last 4 games that have counted. Matt Cassel is 57-109 for 437 yards, 1 touchdown, and 9 interceptions. Remember when everyone thought he was an MVP candidate? Good times. And now the Chiefs have lost Jamaal Charles, in addition to Tony Moeaki and Eric Berry, for the season on IR. Charles tore his ACL in a collision with the opposing team’s mascot. For the record, on a bizarre scale of 1-10, that’s about a 13. 

30(29). Jacksonville Jaguars 1-1

Luke McCown completed 10 passes last week. 4 of those were to the other team. He’s been benched for Blaine Gabbert now, marking the 3^rd starting quarterback the Jaguars will have in 3 weeks. David Garrard might not have been great and he might not have been worth the 8 million he was owed this season, but this team was hardly pressed for cap space, so I still don’t understand that move. Now Blaine Gabbert has to start before he’s ready and before they ideally wanted him to and the team could quit on the coach and the front office any day now with the consistently shifting situation at quarterback. They’re a mess.

29(31). San Francisco 49ers 1-1

If Alex Smith can’t throw for 200 yards against Seattle or Dallas missing 2 of their top 3 cornerbacks, I think it’s safe to say that he’s not going to be a functional starting quarterback in this league. Jim Harbaugh tried, but he did not succeed. Smith is doing nothing more than keeping the seat warm for raw rookie 2^nd round pick Colin Kaepernick. The switch could be made any week now as the 49ers would be smart to see what Kaepernick has before they make the decision whether or not to draft one of the three talented signal callers in this year’s draft (Andrew Luck, Matt Barkley, and Landry Jones). Chances are, they’re going to have a shot to draft one of them this April.

28(27). Cincinnati Bengals 1-1

Andy Dalton is looking better than he did in the preseason, albeit against Cleveland and Denver, and the Bengals have an easy game with San Francisco this week and could easily be 2-1 at the end of it. However, with a recent arrest to Jerome Simpson and a recent 3 game suspension handed out to Cedric Benson, their fans are once again reminded that the Bengals are known more for their negative off the field behavior than anything, positive or negative (mostly negative), on the field.

27(30). Denver Broncos 1-1

TEBOW! TEBOW! TEBOW! Well, the fans got their wish last week…sort of. Due to lack of depth at the wide receiver position after injuries, Tebow came in as a wide receiver to block. He’s saying all the right things and being a good sport, doing whatever the team asks him to do, but you have to wonder when the Broncos are going to try to see what they have with him. I know they didn’t draft him, but he was a first round pick. It would be in their best interest to see what he can do in game action at quarterback, not to mention the right thing to do for a kid in Tebow who has never done anything wrong in game action on any level. Sure he doesn’t look good in practice, but, as Allen Iverson, would say, we’re talking about practice!

26(22). Miami Dolphins 0-2

Living up to his billing as extremely inconsistent, Chad Henne throws for 416 yards one week and then 170 the next on 12 for 30. Speaking of inconsistent, one week after proclaiming Reggie Bush a feature back, the Dolphins gave Bush 7 touches last week (after 20 week 1). The rookie Daniel Thomas, who had disappointed all preseason, got 19 touches week 2 after not getting a single one week 1. Who knows what’s going to happen week 3, but the smart money is on Reggie Bush’s days as a lead back being over (they didn’t last very long).

25(26). Carolina Panthers 0-2

Cam Newton had a rookie record 432 passing yards last week, breaking a record 422 yards, set by Cam Newton the week before. 2 weeks, 2 record breaking performances is a pretty good way to start a career, but I bet Newton wishes there was a W somewhere in there. However, with the lowly Jaguars coming to town this week, there’s a very good chance Newton gets his first win this season. The rest of the team is struggling, but Panther fans have to be happy with Newton’s progression as a starting quarterback. They haven’t had a franchise quarterback in forever.

24(24). Indianapolis Colts 0-2

The Colts have looked really bad in these first 2 weeks, getting destroyed by Houston and the losing to Cleveland in Indianapolis, a week after Cleveland lost at home at Cincinnati. However, I don’t agree with the naysayers who think this will be a 2-14 or 3-13 team. They still have Reggie Wayne. They still have Dallas Clark. They still have Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. They still have Gary Brackett. Kerry Collins is playing terrible right now, but he’s historically a slow starter and about a month ago he was retired. Give him a few weeks to warm up or worst case Curtis Painter comes in and plays better than Collins is playing now. This team will win some games.

23(21). Minnesota Vikings 0-2

Yikes! One week after Donovan McNabb throws for 37 yards against San Diego, the Vikings blow a 17-0 lead against Tampa Bay at home. Is it time to call up old man Favre yet? More likely this team just switches to Christian Ponder earlier than they’d like to. The good news is that Kevin Williams is back this week after a 2 game suspension, so they’ll get better. I don’t know if they’ll get a lot better though.

22(25). Oakland Raiders 1-1

The Raiders blew a 21-3 halftime lead last week on a last minute drive by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the once lowly Bills. That has to hurt. The Raiders really have to be concerned about their defense after giving up touchdowns on all 5 2^nd half drives by the Bills last week. They face their toughest test this year with the Jets coming to town. It’ll be interesting to see how Jason Campbell does against a tough New York defense, especially since New York figures to be able to at least slow down Darren McFadden. Something tells me he won’t throw for 300 yards again this week.

21(23). Tennessee Titans 1-1

A week after losing to the same Jacksonville team that got demolished in New York week 2, the Titans bounced back at home against Baltimore, who was fresh off of beating the Pittsburgh Steelers by 28. However, I think Baltimore was just flat after an emotional win over the big, bad Steelers and they weren’t fully prepared for the lowly Titans. I still don’t think this team is all that great. Denver this week shouldn’t be much of a test, but Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Houston in their next 3 games will be tougher.

20(15). St. Louis Rams 0-2

The Rams were supposed to take a step forward this season. However, injuries have plagued their defense and with Steven Jackson and Danny Amendola hurt, Sam Bradford doesn’t have a lot of help around him on offense in terms of playmakers. They’re making stupid mistakes and Sam Bradford is cracking under the pressure of having to do it all by himself in just his 2^nd season. Their first 2 games were both winnable games. Now they have to play Baltimore, Washington, Green Bay, Dallas, New Orleans and then go to Arizona and Cleveland. I know the NFC West sucks, but the Rams could be out of the race entirely at the end of that stretch if they sit at 2-7 or 3-6.

19(20). New York Giants 1-1

The Giants won the injury bowl against the Rams, but they could have easily lost if St. Louis hadn’t made so many mistakes. Needless to say, I don’t like their chances much in Philadelphia this week assuming Michael Vick plays. I think they just lost too many guys in the offseason and to injuries to field a competitive playoff team.

18(19). Washington Redskins 2-0

Lo and behold the Redskins are 2-0. I won’t consider them a legitimate playoff contender until they beat a legitimate playoff contender, but the work Mike Shanahan has done with Rex Grossman to make him a legitimate signal caller and also the work Rex Grossman has done to make himself into a legitimate signal caller is pretty remarkable. However, let’s see how they do against Dallas first.

17(16). Cleveland Browns 1-1

I had this team at 11-5 in the preseason, powered by a weak schedule. So far they’ve beaten one weak team, Indianapolis, and lost to another Cincinnati. I still hope they can put it together and make the playoffs, but realistically it’s looking like this is the Cleveland team were going to see all year. They’ll win some games against bad teams and lose some against bad teams and ultimately end up around 8-8.

 

16(17). Arizona Cardinals 1-1

St. Louis is really banged up due to injuries and has a hell of a schedule coming up. Seattle and San Francisco both suck. Arizona should win this division by default, the 2^nd year in a row this division has a default winner. Maybe it’s time we stop with this whole, all division leaders make the playoff things. The playoffs should be the best 12 teams regardless of division and conference (maybe not conference, but certainly division). That’s the fairest way. I’m tired of 7 and 8 win teams like Seattle last year and Arizona likely this year making the playoffs at the expense of good 9-10 win teams.

15(18). Buffalo Bills 2-0

The Bills are 2-0. Their reward, they get to be 9 point home underdogs to the Patriots and still have the majority of the public bet against them. They have to be feeling disrespected. This is a decent team, believe it or not. Ryan Fitzpatrick is the perfect fit for Chan Gailey’s offense and they’re going to be really motivated to prove the doubters wrong and end a ridiculously long losing streak against the Patriots. Don’t be surprised if the Bills give the Pats an early season scare for the 3^rd straight year, or even win this game. Anything can happen in the NFL. We’ve seen it before. 

14(12). Chicago Bears 1-1

Yikes! One week the Bears were stomping on the Falcons, the next week Jay Cutler gets sacked 6 times by a New Orleans pass rush who was missing Will Smith and couldn’t get any pressure against Green Bay week 1. Cutler actually should have been sacked more than 6 times. He did a really good job of avoiding pressure and getting the ball out quickly. If it wasn’t for his moping around on the sideline, I’d say I was really impressed with Cutler last week. Now the Bears head home and play Clay Matthews and the Packers without right tackle Gabe Carimi, which means we could see a repeat of the Chicago/New York game where Cutler took 9 sacks and got hurt last season. Carimi was their only good offensive lineman last week. When he got hurt, everything went from bad to worse.

13(11). Dallas Cowboys 1-1

One week Tony Romo is the goat after throwing a last pick against New York. The next, he’s a hero leading a late comeback in 4^th quarter and in overtime with a cracked rib and a punctured lung. By the way, I don’t agree with DeAngelo Hall saying he’s going to aim for Romo’s ribs this week. I don’t expect Hall to avoid his ribs. If he hits them, it’s football, but to aim for his ribs is to purposely inflict what could be very dangerous harm to Romo. There’s a lot your ribs protect and aiming for them is no different from aiming for a guy’s head. If it happens it happens, but you don’t try for that.

12(14). Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1-1

If the Buccaneers could show up in the 1^st half of games, they’d be a pretty good team. One week after almost engineering a 27-13 comeback against Detroit, the Buccaneers succeeded in coming back from down 17-0 against the Vikings week 2 in Minnesota. At halftime of that game, they looked like just another team in a sophomore slump. Now they’re right in the playoff mix again. I think this team hangs around all season, but the NFC is really crowded. Beating Atlanta this week would definitely help.

11(13). Pittsburgh Steelers 1-1

The Steelers got the bounce back win they needed against Seattle, but again it was Seattle. There was nothing in that game that made me even think about reconsidering my stance that this is a 9 or 10 win team and could easily miss the playoffs. The good news for them is that the AFC is thin this year. With Indianapolis dropping out of the playoff mix, there are really only 5 teams other than Pittsburgh that have a realistic shot at making the playoffs this year out of the AFC, New England, San Diego, Houston, Baltimore, and New York. However, maybe a surprise team like Buffalo sneaks in.

10(9). Atlanta Falcons 1-1

The Falcons beat one of the 4 teams to beat them last year, Philadelphia. However, if Michael Vick doesn’t go down in that game, I think Atlanta is a 0-2 team right now looking at a must win game in Tampa Bay. Matty Ice is cool in the 4^th quarter, but I don’t think they make that comeback if Philadelphia has a quarterback who can throw the ball downfield and complete 3^rd and longs. They’re still just on the playoff border for me in a stacked NFC. Needless to say, a loss in Tampa Bay this week would be very bad.

9(10). New York Jets 1-1

The Jets defense looked awesome last week, but then again it was Jacksonville. Luke McCown sucks. Besides, if I were a Jets fan, I’d be more worried that Mark Sanchez only had 182 yards and threw 2 interceptions against a terrible Jacksonville secondary missing its best defensive back, Derek Cox. Also, Shonn Greene, who was supposed to be the lead back this year, has a mere 75 rushing yards and 1 score on 26 carries. I would say if Shonn Greene can’t get it together this week against a poor Oakland run defense, he’d be benched, but who would they bench him for. LaDainian Tomlinson is too old to be a lead back. Besides, he’s only got 24 yards on 11 carries this season. If they can’t run the ball, I don’t like their chances, no matter how good their defense is.

8(8). Detroit Lions 2-0

The Lions live up to the preseason hype once again, joining Buffalo and Washington in the group of teams it’s weird to think of as 2-0 teams. The majority of 2-0 teams make the playoffs and I like Detroit’s chances better than Buffalo’s or Washington. And for the record, I don’t have any problem with Detroit running up the score on Kansas City. You may say it’s unsportsmanlike, but I don’t agree. If you suck, you deserve to get humiliated and you know that huge win had to feel good for Lions fans after all they’ve been through. Even better for Lions fans, I like their chances to improve to 3-0 this week against Minnesota.

7(5). Baltimore Ravens 1-1

Baltimore lost last week, but that’s understandable because they were flat after giving 110% to win a huge game against the hated rival Steelers. John Harbaugh normally does well after a loss, especially a loss as a favorite, so I like their chances to get back to 2-1 this week in St. Louis. I still really like this team. The AFC doesn’t have a clear 2^nd best team after New England. Baltimore could definitely be that team.

6(7). San Diego Chargers 1-1

The early season struggles haven’t gone anywhere for San Diego. A week after almost losing to Minnesota in San Diego in a game that Donovan McNabb threw for 37 yards in, the Chargers lost a winnable game in New England in which the yards totals were pretty even. It makes sense that the Patriots always beat the Chargers. The Patriots will kill you if you shoot yourself in the foot and the Chargers do that a lot. The fact that San Diego is still a legitimate contender to be the 2^nd best team in the AFC shows how poor the conference is this year.

5(6). Houston Texans

My pick for 2^nd best team in the conference after New England is Houston right now. San Diego always shoots themselves in the foot and I don’t know if Baltimore is talented or disciplined enough to really be an elite team in this league. Houston wins by default. I’m impressed with their ability to win in situations they shouldn’t be 100% in. The Texans could have easily coasted against the Colts with Peyton Manning out. They didn’t. The Texans could have easily coasted against the lowly Dolphins after an emotional win over the hated rival Colts. They didn’t. I really like this team this year. However, I think they’d be the 4^th best team in the NFC if they were an NFC team. This week’s game against New Orleans should prove that.

4(4). Philadelphia Eagles 1-1

Speaking of the NFC, Green Bay, New Orleans, and Philadelphia line up 2-3-4 for the 2^nd week in a row. The NFC is just better this year. Philadelphia probably wins last week in Atlanta if Michael Vick doesn’t get hurt. They have an easier game this week with New York and Vick should be back. This might be the most talented team in the league if their defense continues to play like it did last week. Julio Jones and Roddy White couldn’t do anything, but their front 7 did a better than expected job on Michael Turner, except for one big run. However, turnover and chemistry issues have them behind New England, Green Bay, and New Orleans. Their team still hasn’t been together long and plus Asante Samuel is unhappy that the Eagles brought in Nnamdi Asomugha and DRC and says he would be willing to play elsewhere. That’s not a good thing for team morale.

3(3). New Orleans Saints 1-1

The offense has always been consistent. They’ve scored 30+ in their first 2 games, a pretty common occurrence for this team. However, after Aaron Rodgers lit them up week 1, Jay Cutler couldn’t do anything against them week 2 anything thanks to New Orleans’ pass rush. It’s tough to grade their defense so far because most teams struggle against Rodgers, but then again, most teams can get pressure on Jay Cutler. Still, I think this is one of the elite teams in the league. Green Bay is better than them, but no one else in the NFC is.

2(2). Green Bay Packers 2-0

The Packers should be a little bit concerned about their pass defense. They’ve allowed the most passing yards in the league and free safety Nick Collins is done for the season with an injury. However, I wouldn’t be too concerned. Drew Brees is an excellent quarterback and it’s possible they were just sleepwalking against Carolina and that’s why they gave up so many yards to Cam Newton. I think their defense is good enough for them to win a lot of games as long as Aaron Rodgers is healthy and leading that offense.

1(1). New England Patriots 2-0

This defense bends, but does not break. Sure they gave up a lot of yards to Miami and San Diego, but they still won by 14 points. Besides, almost every time Tom Brady drops back to pass, something good happens for this offense. Their offensive line is playing very well and that should be a scary thought for the rest of the league. New England remains #1.