Lessons From Week Two

Green Bay 34 Buffalo 7: With six sacks in two games, Clay Matthews has emerged as an early Defensive MVP candidate, the second in two years for the Packers. Buffalo’s offense is completely inept and the Bills were totally overmatched.

Miami 14 Minnesota 10: Maybe Brett Favre should have stayed retired. Sure he’s missing his favorite target, Sidney Rice, but everything about Favre looks old right now. The 0-2 Vikings are in serious trouble. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have become one of the early-season’s most intriguing teams. With a deep running attack, improving quarterback, and surprisingly solid defense, Miami may make the AFC East a three-team race.

Kansas City 16 Cleveland 14: It wasn’t as exciting as their win against the Chargers, but the 2-0 Chiefs got the job done. The big-play capability of the Chiefs is the team’s biggest weapon, and a primary reason gamblers should avoid KC; it’s just impossible to tell when a kick return, pick-six, or dump pass could change the momentum of a game. The Browns really struggled to move the ball on the ground, but with Seneca Wallace at QB, Cleveland’s options were limited.

Chicago 27 Dallas 20: The 0-2 Cowboys have benefitted from equally rocky starts by the NFC East’s other teams. Still, Dallas has all kinds of problems. Tony Romo has been erratic at best, the team can’t run the ball, and its attitude just seems to be missing. This was a huge win for the 2-0 Bears who seem to have regained their swagger on defense and are quietly becoming decent offensively as well.

Atlanta 41 Arizona 7: Atlanta produced only nine points in Week One, but that was against the vaunted Steelers defense. The 41 point outburst against Arizona was more in line with what I expected out of the Falcons this year. Even without Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood, the Falcons pounded the Cardinals. Arizona is in for a very long year, just too many huge losses on both sides of the ball.

Tampa Bay 20 Carolina 7: The efficient Matt Moore from 2009’s final weeks has disappeared. Carolina just seems lost offensively, and Coach John Fox has already announced that rookie Jimmy Clausen will start in Week Three. The Bucs have shown some feistiness in getting to 2-0. They’ve got an interesting group of young receivers and have showcased good young talent in the defensive front seven. They’ll come crashing down to earth for sure, but the Bucs have already met the expectations of many for this season.

Philadelphia 35 Detroit 32: Michael Vick may yet become an effective NFL quarterback. In what was arguably his best game as a pro, Vick showed incredible balance and evasiveness in the pocket while still making accurate throws and good decisions. I can’t remember a time when Vick looked less like a running back than yesterday. He has baggage obviously, but Vick looks poised to be a starter somewhere in 2011. Detroit actually played well without starting quarterback Matthew Stafford. Rookie Jahvid Best has been electric thus far, and the team has shown plenty of flashes on both sides of the ball. They are still doomed to a losing season, but the Lions are creeping toward respectability.

Cincinnati 15 Baltimore 10: The Bengals defense has arrived. I expected Baltimore to really break-through offensively this season, but with 20 points through two games I have concerns. Still, against the Jets and Bengals maybe 10 points is all that can be expected. Cincinnati continues to have problems scoring points because Carson Palmer is a shell of himself. But the D is now one of the league’s best.

Pittsburgh 19 Tennessee 11: The Steel Curtain is back. The Steelers have been just dominant on defense through two games and Ben Roethlisberger or not, the Steelers are playoff bound. A healthy Troy Polamalu is just as important as Big Ben and the Steelers showed it doesn’t matter who is under center when their D is healthy. Pittsburgh made the great Chris Johnson look mortal. The Titans play strong D and can run the ball, but once again questions at quarterback are becoming problematic.

Denver 31 Seattle 14: Seattle got smacked a week after shocking the 49ers. Most people thought the Seahawks would really struggle this year, and their Week Two result was much more in line with expectations. The Broncos got a very good game from Kyle Orton and should hover around .500 this year.

Oakland 16 St. Louis 14: Two of the league’s doormats engaged in a typically boring struggle. The Raiders got a second dynamic performance in a row from Darren McFadden. His health and production are crucial to the Raiders’ success. This year is obviously all about Sam Bradford for the Rams. His development is the only story Rams fans should care about. Expectations should remain low though as Bradford has no weapons to speak of.

Houston 30 Washington 27: The Texans are extremely resilient. Two comeback wins in the season’s first two weeks against two good teams have proven that the Texans have arrived. They have arguably the league’s best receiver, one of its best quarterbacks, and an impressive young running back on top of and up and coming defense. Houston also certainly seems to have some arrogance now and the “it” factor. Washington really got screwed out of a win that would have put them in the NFC East driver’s seat. The ‘Skins are a different team with Donovan McNabb at QB and a competent coaching staff. They will be in it till the end this season.

New York 28 New England 14: The Jets made a huge statement by crushing the Patriots in the second half. Even without Darrelle Revis, the Jets are a superior defense. They also have to be thrilled with LaDanian Tomlinson and Mark Sanchez. This was the team Rex Ryan spent the whole summer bragging about. Conversely, the Pats defense looked atrocious. Without a running game, New England is extremely one-dimensional. Most weeks they’ll be able to score enough points to win through the passing game alone, but against true contenders like the Jets, the Pats will be exposed.

San Diego 38 Jacksonville 13: The Chargers showed that even without Ryan Matthews, Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeil, they can be a force offensively. Their shocking Week One loss to Kansas City is now in the rearview mirror, and the Chargers should have no problem cruising to a division title. The Jaguars are simply a very mediocre team made worse by very poor quarterback play. Those pining for Tim Tebow last April probably aren’t very happy right now.

Indianapolis 38 New York 14: And it wasn’t that close. The Colts are a superior team to the Giants and probably 31 other teams in the league right now. They’re an absolute juggernaut on offense, and with a surprising running game they’re essentially un-defendable. The Colts also reminded everyone why they’re so good at protecting leads with the dominant play of defensive ends Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney. The Giants seemed to realize they were out-matched halfway through the Colts’ first drive. After that, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride panicked and the rest of the offense began thinking about what they’d do after the game. The defense was gashed also, but to be fair, there aren’t many teams that can contain the Colts.