9/21/07
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 Two
games into the season and five playoff teams from last season
remain winless. With the Saints, Eagles, Giants, Chiefs and
Jets all winless, it's time to have a look at their chances
of turning things around in 2007. Over the last five seasons,
only four teams of the 60 that have made the playoffs over that
time period started the season 0-2. We'll go out on a limb and
suggest that this year two teams that are currently 0-2 will
make the playoffs this season. Look for the Saints (courtesy
of a weak schedule) and Eagles (too much talent) to end up in
the post-season this season.
- Keeping with the 0-2 theme, only one of the previous 60 playoff
teams started the season 0-2 at home and qualified for the playoffs.
With the Rams suffering two home losses already, you can stick
a fork in them 'cause they're done.
- If you're looking for a reason why the Jets are 0-2, we've
got two of them for you. No sacks and no turnovers over the
first two weeks of the season. This team simply isn't good enough
on offense to win without the defense contributing turnovers
and the special teams also playing well. With Pro Bowl kick
returner Justin
Miller on injured reserve, the special teams contributions
figure to be reduced from last season so the Jets need their
defense to pick it up.
- The Bills passing game was a disaster for the first half
of 2006 before coming alive over the team's final seven games
of the season. After two games, it's pretty clear that the passing
offense is back where it was at the start of 2006. After opening
the season with a 97-yard passing performance from J.P.
Losman, the Bills then managed only 23 yards passing and
one first down in the first half against the Steelers in week
two. With expected wide receiver stud Lee
Evans only contributing four catches for 23 yards over the
first two weeks and Losman not being a draft pick of the current
regime, it certainly won't be a surprise if the team benches
Losman in favor of rookie 2nd round pick Trent
Edwards, who looked good in training camp, at some point
this season.
- Looks like Derrick
Brooks days as an every down player may be coming to a close.
The Bucs linebacker has been a tremendous playmaker over the
years but was badly beaten by Seahawks running back Maurice
Morris for a 34-yard touchdown in week one and looks to have
finally lost a step after 12 years in the league. With free
agent addition Cato
June an excellent coverage linebacker and 2nd year player
Barrett Rudd excelling over the first two weeks of the season
(24 tackles, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries),
the team began rotating Brooks with June in their nickel package
in week two, a situation that isn't likely to change anytime
soon. The Bucs public reasoning was that they wanted to rotate
Brooks and June due to the high game day temperature but this
was for a public relation exercise to cover the fact Brooks
role is diminishing.
- The Colts can't be pleased with their offensive performance
this past week against the Titans. Despite being able to move
the ball and getting a solid contribution from rookie 1st round
pick Anthony
Gonzalez, the team only managed to come away with 22 points
against the Titans. Despite being inside the red zone five times
and inside the eight-yard line three times, the Colts only managed
one touchdown and three field goals.
- Look for the Packers to give 1st round pick defensive tackle
Justin
Harrell some playing time over the next few weeks. Woefully
out of shape and ineffective in preseason, Harrell was a major
training camp disappointment and his prognosis for playing time
entering the season was poor. However, with defensive tackle
Johny Jolly and defensive ends Aaron
Kampman and Cullen
Jenkins nicked up, Harrell has been practicing with the
first team this week meaning he's likely to suit up against
the Chargers this week. Harrell is the only 1st round pick that
doesn't have an excuse for not receiving any playing time yet
this season. Quarterbacks Brady Quinn of the Browns and JaMarcus
Russell of the Raiders have yet to see action while Saints wide
receiver Robert Meachem and Bears tight end Greg Olsen are injured.
- Another highly regarded rookie coming out of training camp
was Giants 2nd round pick Steve
Smith. With Amani
Toomer entering his 12th season and coming off a knee injury
and 2005 2nd round pick Sinorice
Moss accomplishing nothing as a rookie, Smith looked like
a good bet to have a solid rookie season in New York. However,
the rookie went down with a fractured scapula last week against
the Packers and is expected to miss four to six weeks. With
the injury and Toomer playing well over the first two weeks,
don't expect much from Smith over the balance of his rookie
season.
-
 Cowboys
quarterback Tony
Romo has put up some huge numbers over the first two weeks
of the season, prompting renewed interest from owner Jerry Jones
in wrapping up his signal caller to a long-term contract extension.
While Romo has rightfully received plenty of praise for his
play, what has gone unnoticed is rookie offensive coordinator
Jason Garrett's seamless transition to running the team's offense.
In only his third season as a coach in the league (the first
two were as Miami's quarterback coach), Garrett has proven that
he's on the fast track to taking over a head coaching position
fairly early in his coaching career. Garrett's aggressive playcalling
has thus far managed to churn out 82 points and 830 yards of
total offense while also appeasing temperamental wide receiver
Terrell Owens.
- Browns coach Romeo Crennel had to be relieved with his team's
51-45 victory over the Bengals this week. It's also nice to
beat the team's state rivals and get the team's first win of
the season but the win also marked only Crennel's second win
against a division opponent during his tenure in Cleveland.
With the win, Crennel improved (we use the term loosely) to
2-12 against AFC North opponents.
- One week after getting scorched by the Cowboys' Jason Witten,
Giants converted outside linebacker Mathias
Kiwanuka proved that wasn't a fluke in the team's loss to
the Packers this week. Tight ends Bubba Franks and Donald Lee
combined for eight receptions, 55 yards and two touchdowns,
albeit not all of the damage came at Kiwanuka's expense. With
Kiwanuka struggling at linebacker and the team unable to generate
much pass rush even with the team consistently blitzing one
or two extra defenders (two sacks in two games), it says here
it's time to move Kiwanuka back to his natural position.
- The Eagles generally do a great job in the personnel department,
often identifying young talent early in their careers and locking
them up to long term extensions before they reach free agency.
However, faced with the choice of attempting to retain Rod Hood
or former Giant 1st round pick Will James (formerly Peterson)
last year, they went with James and the choice is looking to
be a poor one. While Hood went to Arizona and had a strong preseason
in unseating former 1st round pick Antrel
Rolle from the starting line-up, James captured the Eagles
nickelback role and was thrust into a starting role this week
with Lito
Sheppard out. James proceeded to give up big plays to Redskins
wide receiver Santana Moss and looked to be playing scared against
the speedy wideout.
- If you've got the Chargers defense in your FF league, take
note that defensive tackle Jamal
Williams' arm injury isn't as bad as many speculated. He
suffered a hyperextended elbow against the Patriots and was
very ineffective over the course of the game. However, he's
not expected to miss any time and the injury isn't considered
significant.
- Great call by Rams coach Scott Linehan this week against
the 49ers to spike the ball on 1st and 10 from the 49ers 45-yard
line with one minute and 15 seconds remaining and his team down
by one point. The team needed a first down to get to at least
the 49ers 35-yard line which would have meant a 52-yard field
goal attempt by kicker Jeff
Wilkins, essentially the back end of his range at this point
in his career. Despite this and knowing his team had already
given up five sacks on the day, Linehan called for quarterback
Marc Bulger
to spike the ball which proved to be a disastrous call when
Bulger was sacked for a 7-yard loss on the next play. The team
couldn't convert the third down, forcing Linehan to decide between
going for it on 4th and two or having Wilkins attempt a 56-yard
field goal. Wilkins attempt nudged the crossbar and fell short.
-
 More
great coaching down the road in Kansas City. With the Chiefs
trailing the Bears by ten points and facing a 3rd and one from
the Chiefs 16-yard line with nine minutes and 15 seconds remaining,
Chiefs offensive coordinator Mike Solari had plenty of options
at his disposal. He could hand off to Pro Bowl running back
Larry
Johnson or look for something short to either Pro Bowl tight
end Tony
Gonzalez or rookie 1st round wide receiver Dwayne
Bowe (6'2" and 220 pounds). Instead, the play call was a
face to vertically challenged wideout Samie
Parker. Of course, Parker, generously listed at 5'11", couldn't
make the play and the result was a Chicago interception. Rather
than scoring a field goal or touchdown and being down by one
score with plenty of time remaining, they came away empty. Moral
of the story - with the game on the line, good teams get the
ball to their playmakers.
- Look for the Panthers to get 2nd round pick Dwayne
Jarrett dressed for the first time this week. Current starter
Keary Colbert hasn't done anything to loosen things up for Steve
Smith, contributing only four receptions for 34 yards while
managing to drop three balls this week. Drew
Carter has had two solid outings to start the season but
the team views him as more of a downfield threat. With Colbert
once again disappointing, look for the Panthers to give their
prized rookie an opportunity alongside Smith.
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