I realize I should be better on the uptake, but there are
only so many Sundays left before golf season ends. As such, I had to re-watch the Skins game
this past week, and truthfully turned it off when the Pack went up 31-0. Still, some thoughts for you to chew on.
The defense looked halfway decent in the first half, sacking
Rodgers three times. But, thanks to a
genius coaching decision to go for it on 4th and 3, Green Bay scored
the first points and never looked back.
But we need to square with the fact that once the football physically
leaves the quarterback’s hands, whether via handoff or pass, Washington has
very little ability to stifle an offense.
James Starks, a junkheap player who flashes once every four years, bull
rushed us for 132 yards. You ask me,
that’s inexcusable. In addition, the
tackling by the defensive secondary continues to fall short. On a little hitch play David Amerson barely
laid his hand on James Jones going by.
This doesn’t mention Jermichael Finley running over Doughty, Wilson, and
Amerson before being tackled by Doughty who recovered by ten yards to finally
bring him down. Of course, Bacarri Rambo
looks lost, and I loved hearing Troy Aikman claim the Redskins had “addressed
their needs in the draft.” Yeah,
right. The wonderful play of Rambo and
Amerson fills me with such confidence. (I don’t want to discuss Meriweather, but now
we know why he can’t stay with a team…he doesn’t read the rulebook).
I should be fair, however…the Packers are a better team than
us and we likely had a slim chance of winning this game anyway. To ask a young group of cornerbacks to cover
a Super Bowl caliber receiving corps in Week 2 is a daunting task. On that same note, I realize RGIII hasn’t
been very good. His inability to
complete passes is a problem, and he appeared to be fiddling with his footwork
on Sunday. While this creates passing game
issues, it also means the running game can’t get going. Alfred Morris quietly amassed 107 yards on 13
carries, but only received five second half looks. When you need to play from 31 points down,
that tends to happen in the running game.
Back to RGIII…he’s rusty.
That’s all this is. We watched
Peyton Manning flutter a few passes against the Falcons last year, and his
season turned out pretty well. I think
RGIII needs more time in the pocket. We
played what will likely be top 5 offenses our first two weeks, so it’s not out
of the realm of possibility that the defense narrows the gaps a little
bit. Throw in the middling NFC East, and
the season remains very much in play.
After the hugely successful 2012, we in DC expect the Skins to all of a
sudden turn themselves into perennial contenders, despite an abhorrent
secondary and a roster that, in certain areas, just isn’t very good. I cannot stress enough the importance of that
statement. This is Year 2 of RGIII, and
already we want to bench him in favor of a guy who’s thrown 58 passes in the
NFL!? Three of those, I should add, were
interceptions. Cousins is a good backup
of course, but he provides very little compared to RGIII. He’s less accurate and makes poor decisions.
Week 3 is against the Lions.
The backs, Bush and Bell, are too much in the Lesean McCoy mode for my
liking, and we can expect them to play havoc with the defense, as will Calvin
Johnson. But, I think this is the week
where the running game puts it together and we keep Detroit’s D-Line on their
heels.
Bit #1: Week 2 Power
Rankings
I will remind everyone that for Power Rankings, style points
matter a ton. Especially with so many
2-0 teams, it’s necessary.
1. Broncos (2-0)
+40 point differential is best in the NFL
and the two wins have been convincing against respectable clubs. But, they are fighting a charge from…
2. Seahawks (2-0)
Any concern about a lackluster performance
against Carolina in Week 1 dissipated on Monday night. Beating the defending NFC Champion in such a
dominant fashion was very impressive.
Marshawn Lynch hit Beast Mode and, what’s more important, if the NFC
comes through Seattle there is no doubt the ‘Hawks are making the big
game. That was one loud stadium.
3. Packers (1-1)
Coming back to Lambeau certainly helped out
Green Bay in a game that ended by 10:00 in the second quarter. Losing Lacy will affect the running game, but
the receiving corps looks much-improved from the Stonehands Corps of last year. Big win at home over a lousy team will be a
solid foundation for the coming weeks, but don’t expect the defense to hold
teams under 25 points.
4. 49ers (1-1)
Yeah, San Fran beat the Packers in a big
way, but the showing against Seattle brings up plenty of questions. The biggest one has to be the running game,
where Frank Gore has 60 yards on 30 carries through two weeks. In the first half of last season, he averaged
5.5 yards a carry. In addition, the
Niners experience tons of injuries on defense Sunday night, and the length of
their injury report rivals a Kardashian receipt. Still lots there, but I wouldn’t be shocked
to see a bit of a dip early on.
5. Texans (2-0)
Another escape against an inferior team has
me worried. Numbers 5-8 on this list
might as well be interchangeable.
Houston may have lost Andre Johnson for the year but is not gonna do
anything if Randy Bullock can’t make a field goal (1-for-5 on the year). Ben Tate provided great depth on Sunday, but
Houston needs to start proving it can beat superior teams.
6. Bears (2-0)
Chicago must play better, but you have to
like Jay Cutler getting it done in the clutch.
Throw in a big day for Matt Forte and I’d say the Bears escaped in Week
2 against a team that, on paper, they should beat. Should be 3-0 after Monday night against
Pittsburgh, but after the last two games nothing is certain.
7. Patriots (2-0)
You know my thoughts…this is a soft
2-0. Tamp Bay next week has an
apparently legit defense and a miserable offense, so the Pats might sneak a win
out again.
8. Saints (2-0)
After being bailed out by Rob Ryan’s
defense (pick your dropped glass off the floor now, please), the Saints could
certainly use some Drew Brees help. The
alleged return to the running game so touted by Sean Payton doesn’t appear to
have worked out. Jimmy Graham has been a
huge asset yet again, but this team isn’t really sticking up to the league’s
power players.
9. Falcons (1-1)
The ability of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones
was, yet again, on display this past week.
The main concern now will be injuries on defense, as Kroy Biermann,
Asante Samuel, and Sean Witherspoon all went down. Biermann is out for the year. Steven Jackson also has some injury concerns,
so the Falcons have some open questions to address.
10. Bengals (2-0)
Don’t look now, but Giovani Bernard has
jets. In an absurd stat, the offense
averages 7.2 yards in plays where Bernard touches the ball. Throw in a potentially shutdown defensive
line, and Andy Dalton may not need to do very much this year.
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