As football season finally kicks into gear, one can begin making judgements on how teams are stacking up across the league. The New England Patriots look like the best team as of now, especially with the addition of Antonio Brown.
The Kansas City Chiefs are just below them with the talents of Patrick Mahomes, but their defense is still their weak after giving up 26 points to the hopeless Jacksonville Jaguars. The Los Angeles Rams look like the top dogs in NFC, but the New Orleans Saints, with a healthy Drew Brees, are right there with them at the top.
The Miami Dolphins, however, look like one of the worst NFL teams ever assembled. They were on the wrong end of another blowout this week and have now given up 102 points in just two games on their home turf.
The New York Jets also looked horrific against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night without quarterback Sam Darnold who is out indefinitely with mononucleosis. The Cincinnati Bengals also returned to their true mediocre form after putting up a good battle against the Seattle Seahawks last week.
The amount of penalty flags being thrown this season is getting out of hand. Referees are throwing flags for phantom penalties and even the slightest bit of contact and it makes watching games so tedious. Ratings will start to suffer because no one wants to slog through a three and a half hour game that is filled with game-changing penalty calls.
This is compounded with how often referees make the wrong call too. The Saints had a touchdown taken off the board because a whistle was blown far too early.
Unfortunately the injury plague has struck early this season with multiple star and top-level players going down. Ben Roethlisberger is now out for the season with an elbow injury that will require surgery and while he said he would return for the next three seasons to play out his contract, I’m not sure that will be the case.
Adding to the packed injury list is now Cam Newton; his game status is now unclear according to reports on Tuesday because of a foot injury.
The most impactful injury from this week will most certainly be the ligament damage in Drew Brees’ throwing hand. Early reports have indicated that he will have to miss six weeks minimum after surgery.
Brees’ absence for most of the game Sunday showed the weakness of the Saints’ offense this week because they were largely unable to move the ball against the Rams. If the Saints cannot make things happen with Teddy Bridgewater, the entire landscape of the NFC could change quickly.
There will be calls for Taysom Hill to play quarterback, but I think it would be ineffective to put a player who is only used in gadget plays under center, especially with a talent like Bridgewater who was a Pro Bowl quarterback in 2015-16.
Here’s a recap some of the biggest games this week:
Chargers 10, Lions 13,
In one of the biggest shockers of the week the Detroit Lions survived a late Los Angeles Chargers drive with a Darius Slay interception in the endzone to seal the game. In a Sunday afternoon tradition, Phillip Rivers trailed late in a one-possession game while scrambling around and yelling at his teammates and then blew the game. The Lions are not a very good team but this was an impressive win for them over an extremely talented Chargers team.
Cardinals 17, Ravens 23
Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray both needed to come out at the beginning of this season and prove that they deserve to start in the NFL and they both have done so. Murray played another great game, throwing for almost 350 yards in his second career start, and has showed the league that despite being short he can still play the QB position.
Jackson continued his hot start to the season as he has thrown for 596 passing yards and ran for 126 yards on the ground in the first two games of the season. Jackson’s skillset is similar to Michael Vick’s in his prime and he could light the league up like Vick did if he keeps improving.
Patriots 43, Dolphins 0
The Patriots look downright unstoppable right now and their schedule does not get any harder down the road. They have an embarrassment of riches with their skill players, including the All-Pro receiving talents of Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon. Do not sleep on their new and improved defense either.
Stephon Gilmore is the best corner in the league and the defense on their own have outscored their opponents 14-3. On the other hand, the Dolphins are so bad they’d get their doors blown off by the 0-16 Browns from just a couple seasons ago.
Colts 19, Titans 17
Adam Vinatieri looks cooked. The all-time leading scorer and best kicker in NFL history has missed multiple kicks in his last three games dating back to last year’s playoffs. It’s sad to see one of the greats fade away but Father Time is undefeated and from the sound of it Vinatieri could announce his retirement this week.
Despite the kicking woes, the Indianapolis Colts did steal this game on the road to even up the AFC South race. Jacoby Brissett is not close to Andrew Luck’s skill level but he is a serviceable QB that can lead his team to a win.
Saints 9, Rams 27
This game did not go according to expectations and that can all be placed on Drew Brees injuring his hand early in this game. Brees left the game early and reappeared on the sidelines after half time but did not go back into the game. Without Brees the mighty New Orleans offense looks a lot more manageable. The referees blew an enormous call against the Saints again in this one.
Games to Watch Next Week
New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday)
This game will only be interesting if Drew Brees is able to recover from his hand injury because the Saints offense loses a lot of its power when Brees is not under center. The Seahawks look like they could be contenders in the NFC this season but the defense is questionable after giving up 46 points in two weeks. A Seattle victory here could have huge implications toward the end of the season when it comes to playoff seeding.
Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday)
The Ravens stormed into Arrowhead Stadium last season and almost stole a win, but after a miraculous fourth quarter drive by Patrick Mahomes to force overtime, the Chiefs were able to hold off the Ravens. Mahomes has picked up right where he left off in his MVP campaign last year and this could be a great test for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
Houston Texans at Los Angeles Chargers (Sunday)
It will be interesting to see if the Chargers can come back from a tough loss in Detroit this week. The Texans barely held on to their victory over Jacksonville but they face a much tougher test this week as they travel to LA. Look for a strong rushing attack by the Texans with Duke Johnson and Carlos Hyde leading the charge and some carries by Deshaun Watson because the LA’s defense is fifth in the league in rushing yards allowed.
I think the dolphins have a lot of potential. They are sleepers