Four weeks into an exciting NFL season and there is an awful lot to talk about. Here is where I will breakdown the winners and losers of the first quarter of the season.
The Winners
Pittsburgh Steelers
How can they not be big winners? Four games without their starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and they go into their bye week at 3-1. I think this is the NFL’s best all around team and they gave me more reasons to believe it each time they took the field. Their defense was incredible, allowing just 12.5 points per game and holding the NFL’s reigning offensive player of the year, Chris Johnson , to 34 yards on 16 carries in week 2. Charlie Batch did a great job at stepping in at quarterback after Dennis Dixon’s injury in week 2. He threw three touchdowns and averaged over 100 yards throwing. The way they played as a team despite not having their leader under center was inspiring, and if anything a message to the rest of the league. The Pittsburgh Steelers are for real this year.
Arian Foster fantasy owners
I speak from a personal level on this one: Arian Foster is a god. He’s led all players in fantasy points and leads the NFL with 537 rushing yards on 85 carries with an unbelievable average of 6.5 yards per carry. He’s also scored five times, including one receiving touchdown. There hasn’t been a more effective back in the league through four weeks, and Foster is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. In an offense that features arguably football’s best wide receiver in Andre Johnson, this gives the Texans a ridiculous amount of options. Opposing defenses have to worry not only about Andre Johnson as a deep threat, but Arian Foster in the backfield. In week 4 against the Raiders, Foster played just one half of football after being benched for missing a team meeting, and yet still finished with 131 yards rushing with a touchdown. I can’t wait to see his production as the season progresses over the next four weeks. Fantasy owners of Arian Foster, I salute you.
Kansas City Chiefs fans
If I had taken a poll before the season and asked how many people thought the Chiefs would be the only undefeated team in football going into week 5, I would be willing to bet that nobody voted yes. It’s no fluke either. They have been playing really good football. They defeated a potent San Diego Chargers at home in week 1, thanks to a potent running attack and a punt return touchdown for rookie Dexter McCluster. Jamal Charles has been on limited duty with fewer than 40 carries through four weeks, yet he is still averaging close to 80 yards rushing per game. Thomas Jones is getting the bulk of the carries, and he hasn’t been a slouch either, averaging just about 72 yards a game rushing. I don’t know if the Chiefs can keep playing the way they have, but in this report, they are big first quarter winners and a pleasant surprise.
St. Louis Rams/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I lump them together because they are both winners for the same reason: quarterbacks of the future. Sam Bradford has looked fantastic in an exceptionally bad offense in St. Louis. He is completing about 58 percent of his passes and averaging 236 yards throwing per game, with six touchdowns. It’s even more impressive considering his top two receivers are Mark Clayton and Danny Amendola. The Rams organization has to be pleased with what they are seeing from their first overall pick in the 2010 draft. In a similar situation, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to be happy with the production they are getting from second year quarterback Josh Freeman. He has been spreading the ball really well, throwing to eight different receivers, for 544 yards throwing and four touchdowns. Both teams can rest easy knowing the quarterback position is solidified for awhile with two young stars on the rise.
NFC West
Yes, the entire division. Technically they are all losers considering three of the four teams in the division have given up more points than they’ve scored. For the purposes of my report however, they are definitely winners. The NFC West is far and away the weakest division in all of football. I wouldn’t be surprised if a seven or eight win team won the division this year, and after what we have been seeing from these teams, it might actually happen. After coming into the season a favorite to dominate, San Francisco is ironically the only winless team in the division through four weeks. The sad part is that they are still going to win this division pretty easily. There is no questioning that they are the best team on paper, but football games aren’t won on paper. This will be an interesting albeit horrible division to watch as we go forward.
The Losers
Chicago Bears
I promise this is going to be my only homer choice of the report. After a 3-0 start against two tough opponents in Dallas and Green Bay, the Bears entered the new Meadowlands Stadium in New York to face a rather jaded Giants team . The Giants, 2-2, have question marks all over the place. I really expected an old school Chicago beatdown on defense and a fluid and balanced offensive game. In actuality, we got a Giants defense which made the Bears look like Merle Hodge’s son’s pee wee team. Nine sacks, yes, nine sacks in the first half alone. Jay Cutler was a sitting duck the entire night. I can’t say blame is entirely on the offensive line’s shoulders because Jay Cutler made some poor decisions in the pocket which allowed a few of those sacks to happen. The blank stare on offensive line coach Mike Tice’s face said it all. And now Jay Cutler is out with a concussion, leaving the Bears offense in the hands of NFL journeyman Todd Collins. Yikes.
San Francisco 49ers
This was not the team I was promised, and frankly I’m a little surprised. After a winless first four weeks, which included an embarrassing flogging at the hands of an awful Seattle Seahawks team, the 49ers had to make my list of losers. Coming into the season, they were favored to clean house in their division and post a serious playoff threat as a breakout team to keep an eye on. Well, as it turns out, nobody even want to look anymore. It’s been difficult to watch and very frustrating. I can only imagine how Mike Singletary feels. He’s given quarterback Alex Smith a vote of confidence and plans to stick with him through and through. Personally, I think Alex Smith is not very good, but I’m not the head coach of the 49ers, so it doesn’t mean anything in the end. I’m bored with this team already. Big losers in the first four weeks.
Philadelphia Eagles
Yeah, I’m going with losers on this one. First of all, they have the worst coach in football in Andy Reid (this is a guy who burns all three of his timeouts before the two minute warning in a close game). Secondly, the quarterback controversy was just one embarrassing press conference after another. First he names Kevin Kolb as his starting quarterback, which I have no issue with. He said that Kolb was his guy, and he stuck to his word. Kolb gets injured, and when he is ready to return, Andy Reid says that he feels like Mike Vick would give the team a better chance to win. I agree with him, but I do think it alienated Kevin Kolb just a little bit. Now both Mike Vick and running back LeSean McCoy are injured, so it’s Kolb’s turn to get back under center. I’m putting the Eagles as a loser simply for the fact that they can’t get their issues straightened out. Andy Reid is an awful human being. Enough said.
John Bonamego/Miami Dolphins Special Teams
I was floored by the way the New England Patriots special teams handled the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a horrendous turn of events for a special teams in one night. A blocked punt, a blocked field goal, and a kickoff returned for a touchdown all led to Miami Dophins special teams coordinator John Bonamego’s predictable firing.
The First Quarter MVP’s (three at each position, guys who have had a major impact on their teams in the first four weeks):
QB
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
RB
Arian Foster, Houston Texans
Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh Steelers
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
WR
Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons
Austin Collie, Indianapolis Colts
Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos
TE
Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers
Dustin Keller, New York Jets
Zach Miller, Oakland Raiders
DE
Mario Williams, Houston Texans
JustinTuck, New York Giants
Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles
DT
Haloti Ngata, Baltimore Ravens
Sedrick Ellis, New Orleans Saints
Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions
LB
Clay Mathews, Green Bay Packers
James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers
Curtis Lofton, Atlanta Falcons
CB
Leon Hall, Cincinnati Bengals
Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers
Terrell Thomas, New York Giants
Safety
LaRon Landry, Washington Redskins
Patrick Chung, New England Patriots
Steve Gregory, San Diego Chargers
K
Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons
Josh Scobee, Jacksonville Jaguars
Mike Nugent, Cincinnati Bengals
Most Impressive Single Game Performance (player)
Patrick Chung, New England Patriots
4 tackles, 1 interception, 1 defensive touchdown, blocked kick, blocked punt (vs. Miami Dolphins)
Most Impressive Single Game Performance (team)
New York Giants
50 tackles, 10 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions, 3 points allowed (vs. Chicago Bears)
Power Rankings
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)
2. New Orleans Saints (3-1)
3. Green Bay Packers (3-1)
4. Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
5. Atlanta Falcons (3-1)
6. New York Jets (3-1)
7. Houston Texans (3-1)
8. Indianapolis Colts (2-2)
9. New England Patriots (3-1)
10. Kansas City Chiefs (3-0)
11. San Diego Chargers (2-2)
12. Chicago Bears (3-1)
13. Miami Dolphins (2-2)
14. Dallas Cowboys (1-2)
15. Minnesota Vikings (1-2)
16. Washington Redskins (2-2)
17. Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
18. Philadelphia Eagles (2-2)
19. Tennessee Titans (2-2)
20. Denver Broncos (2-2)
21. New York Giants (2-2)
22. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2)
23. St. Louis Rams (2-2)
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2)
25. Arizona Cardinals (2-2)
26. Seattle Seahawks (2-2)
27. Cleveland Browns (1-3)
28. Oakland Raiders (1-3)
29. San Francisco 49ers (0-4)
30. Carolina Panthers (0-4)
31. Detroit Lions (0-4)
32. Buffalo Bills (0-4)
2 comments:
I like your recognition of Pat Chung. The kid is going to get even better
This is great stuff, man. A very enjoyable read. You're definitely going to be a great journalist, haha.
I agree with everything, surprisingly. Arian Foster's performance last week was even more impressive because AJ was out, and I'm sure the defense focused more on him than Walter, Jones, and an unrecovered Daniels.
For the best performance, I love the Giants pick, although I could've saw that one coming - the Bears line looked terrible against Dallas, but they won with quick passes against heavy blitzes. The Giants didn't want or need to blitz; they love the 4 man rush and the Bears had no answer. What shocked me most this year was NE's romping of CIN in week 1. I'm not high on CIN at all, but I did expect their defense to play well and NE's defense to play like shit. Neither happened; NE looked incredible. Gotta love Wes' comeback performance, too.
Also, I have to agree with Peyton as MVP, although instead of PR or MR, I might want to include Kyle Orton, who is keeping Denver relevant with mediocre/injured receivers and no running game. He's putting up unprecedented numbers, but then again so are Rivers and Ryan haha. And I do like the Brandon Lloyd nod. How about Collie becoming the best fantasy WR? Who would've seen that coming....
Great call on Leon Hall as #1 CB. He gets no love because of Woodson and Revis, plus the fact that he has 85 and TO stealing all the national media attention.
Definitely a good call on Matt Bryant, too. Guy is clutch as hell.
Great post. We should be blog friends...if I can figure out how to do it.
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