Monday, September 10, 2012

NFL Week 1 In A Nutshell

Two things have become evident in Week 1 of the NFL season.

 

First, rookie QBs received much more hype based on their pre-season results than probably should have been given just yet. Besides RG3 and sort of Luck it was a complete rookie suck fest. It is possible that this can change and that the problems were just jitters but we shall see.
 
RG3- Win: 19/26, 320 years and 2 TDs

Luck- Lost: 23/45, 309 years and 1 TD with 3 INTs

Tannehill- Lost: 20/36 for 219 yards and 3 INTs

Weeden- Lost: 12/35 for 118 yards and 4 INTs

Wilson- Lost: 18/34 for 153 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT

 

RG3 played against a solid Saints defense and he even added 42 yards on the ground. Expect to see a similar performance next week against St Louis and when they hit their Bye week in Week 10 I think it is totally possible to see them with a winning record as long as he keeps up his play.
 
Luck had a very decent output against a stingy Chicago defense and if he hadn’t thrown the picks people would be praising him for his play. Indianapolis has a tough schedule and Luck may not see his second win until Week 9 or 10 (Dolphins and Jags respectively) but on the positive side he would have doubled up last year’s win total and could quite possibly hit 3 or 4 wins if luck is with Luck (see what I did there?)
 
Tannehill was just really out of his league against the Texans defense. His 3 picks were all bad decisions and he gives the defense time to react and jump the route because he follows his target receiver before he threw the ball. Houston was rushing additional players forcing Tannehill to make a quick read and make the throw before getting hit, expect to see upcoming teams rushing him with extra players and blitzes. One positive for Miami is they have weak schedule, it is quite possible that they may not even see a (real) winning team until late in the season. That being said, it is reasonable to say that the Dolphins may actually end the season close to .500 as long as they can score as often as they give up the ball.
 
Weeden just plain sucked, I know Browns fans are going to point out that the game could have easily went the other way but as my high school coach used to say, “Second place is just first place loser”. Look, Vick sucked too but he led the team to a 91-yard drive for the go-ahead TD with 5 minutes left so he took the reins when it was necessary and won the game. Do you realize that Weeden had a 5.1 Passer Rating? I didn’t even know that was possible. He threw 35 passes, completed 12 and gave up 4 INTs. He had 1/3 as many interception as completions. Things are not going to get any easier either, Cleveland was handed probably one of the hardest schedules just based on the division but then someone thought it would be fun to toss in the Giants, Redskins and Broncos for additional Yuks. I am going to go out on a limb and say the Browns end up going 2-14 or even possibly 1-15 and McCoy will see the starting role by Week 3 (who himself will be pulled and replaced by Week 6). On the positive side the Browns will have the chance to draft another QB in the 2013 NFL Draft next April, possibly even Matt Barkley (If Pete Carroll doesn’t bomb the Seahawks season for the chance to draft Barkley).
 
Wilson, if there was a QB who was hyped beyond his talent it was Wilson. Look, I am a Seahawks fan and I have hopes for Wilson. I still think they should have taken Nick Foles but that is neither here nor there right now. Wilson was tossed in to an unstable coach’s game plan and while Wilson fans will point out his pre-season play, I will point out every QBs pre-season play. Every QB has an awesome pre-season for a reason, it is pre-season and many coaches are resting their star defense and they are not going to use their best defense plans, they are going to toss the most basic defense so no other team can figure out the game plan during the regular season. Understand, I am not down on Wilson it is Pete Carroll and his system that I am down on.
 
I had the misfortune of watching two of my favorite teams playing and if you did not see the game, trust me it was a race to see who sucked less. Neither team was superior and even though the Seahawks were handed the chance to win with less than 1 minute left they basically sat down and shit themselves. The Seahawks had 6 plays to win with 51 seconds left even making it to the Cardinals 4-yard line. Wilson threw 3 straight passes on similar plays in to the endzone and screwed up everyone one of them.
 
I personally think Wilson was given a bad hand and I am holding out hope that he can rise above Carroll’s crappy coaching but I am a realist too and do not expect to see Wilson starting possibly as early as next week against the Cowboys. Watch, Carroll is going to switch out QBs like cogs, never staying with one to long before moving to the next option. I think that it would not be a stretch to see Carroll bring Portis in from the Practice Squad and give him at least one start or bring in an un-signed free agent.
 
I made this prediction awhile back and I stand by it (I seriously hope I am proven wrong) but the Seahawks are going to end the season with less than 3 wins and will give the Browns a serious challenge for the chance to draft Matt Barkley. Pretty sad when you consider that just last week people ranging from ESPN and Sports Illustrated to various sports and collectible blogs were talking about how the Seahawks are going to be the surprise dark horse in the NFC after their 4-0 preseason and how well Wilson outplayed Flynn. Here is what I figure for Seahawk wins- 1 win against the Rams and a win against the Dolphins and even those will be wins based on a cosmic aligning by the planets along with 6 starting QB changes.
 
I am a Seahawks fan and this is the beginning of my 12-step program. I sooooo want to be wrong here but only time will tell.

 

Second, the replacement refs suck! I think that the NFL could have grabbed a handful of fans and tossed them in zebra stripes and they would have gotten better results.
 
To steal a line from Harland Williams in “Something About Mary”, Roger Goodell has only one thing to say to these scab refs…

Step in to my office

Why?

Cause you’re fuckin fired!

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