Earth To AFC?

For years now the AFC has held the powerhouses of the NFL.  The New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts have been considered the best teams in the NFL for years.  The Patriots’ dynasty is one that will go down in history.  Now where are they?  Indianpolis is 1-2 and the Patriots just got slammed by the lowly Dolphins.  ESPN recently took a poll of what people thought were the top five AFC teams.  Neither of those two teams made it.  Who was at the top?  The Broncos, Titans, and Bills.

I will repeat that.  Our nation believes that the best teams in the AFC are the Broncos, the Titans, and the Bills.  These three teams were rated above New England, above Indianapolis, above Pittsburgh, above San Diego.  What happened?

Well the answer to that question depends on which team you’re referring to.  The Patriots?  You could point to Tom Brady’s absence and call it a day, or you could go further.  The Patriots defense that looked so good last year got old in a matter of months.  In this past game, high and mighty Bill Belichick got straight up out coached.  This year’s Pats are not the ones we are accustomed to. The ones that walk into a stadium and win, no matter how badly they play.  Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here, though.  The Patriots are still a good team.  Randy Moss is still Randy Moss.  Bill is still one of the best coaches in the league and Foxborough is going to be a lot more angry after their first loss in two years was served to them there.  Last I checked, 2-1 was still a winning record.  The Patriots are in one of the worst divisions in the league.  They have a bye week upcoming and will be taking an extra hard look at what happened Sunday.  The Patriots are still playoff contendosr.   Are they super bowl contendors?  No way.

So what about the Colts?  Well the fact that Peyton Manning didn’t play during the preseason is obviously hurting them, as they are not gelling as well on offense as they have in previous years.  Also, the loss of Bob Sanders was a big time hit on the defensive side of the ball.  The equation is simple for the Colts:  Less turnovers on offense and better defense.  The Colts are still a good team and are still very capable of making a playoff run.  Will they?  The way the season is headed right now, if the teams that are good continue to be good and the Colts don’t improve, then no.  I do not see them winning their division.  The Titans are 3-0, 2-0 against division.  That’s a steep hill to climb.  Its possible, but will be tough.  The wildcard spot is pretty up for grabs though, so I expect Indi to drag itself into the playoffs one way or another.

Another team I’d like to talk about is the San Diego Chargers.  These guys are good.  Their record is 1-2, but let’s be honest, it should be 2-1.  On Monday night they spanked the Jets.  They disrupted Bret Favre (without Shawn Merriman) and Philip Rivers looked like a probowler, as he has all year.  With Rivers playing like the best QB in the league and LT’s presence, these guys are the best team in the AFC in my opinion, especially when you look at the injuries other elite teams are facing (Willie Parker?  Vince Young? In addition Brady and Sanders).  Next week the Chargers beat Oakland and level back off at 2-2.  The Denver Broncos currently hold the division crown and may hold it for some weeks, but I expect San Diego to reclaim its place up top.

The AFC is a lot more open than many would have thought going into this year and it could be the year we see some new faces representing it in the super bowl.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel

Taking a look at this past weekends slew of football games, there are three teams that have something in common.  Minnesota, Cleveland, and San Diego would all tell you they could have won and should have won.  All three of these teams had very high expectations coming into this season and all three are now 0-2 after coming oh so close to being 1-1.

First let’s look at the team who legitimately should have won:  San Diego (video highlights are posted below).  With time running out Denver was down by 7.  As they approached the end zone, quarterback Jay Cutler stepped back to throw a pass and the ball slipped out of his away from his body.  There was no contact and it did not go toward the line of scrimmage, much less in front of it.   The play was whistled dead after the ball hit the ground, being ruled an incomplete pass, despite the fact that it was undisputably a fumble; this is made doubly painful by the fact that San Diego had successfully recovered it, thus clinching the W.  San Diego was unable to challenge the clearly incorrectly called play and Denver scored a touchdown followed by the game winning two-point conversion.  This loss that should never have happened is especially troubling for a disappointing Chargers team.  San Diego is now 0-2 and in last place in their division, a division that does not seem quite as securely theirs.  The Denver Broncos are now 2-0 with both victories coming over division opponents.  Pressure is mounting on San Diego and they will be hardpressed to overtake Denver unless they start winning soon. 

Cleveland is another team on this list.  Division opponent and hated rival Pittsburgh came to town on Sunday evening and pulled out with a 10-6 victory over the reeling Browns.  This game very well could have (and from a Cleveland perspective, should have) gone the other way.  As time expired in the first half the Browns drove the ball all the way down into the Pittsburgh ten yard line.  With about 10 seconds left and 3rd and short coming up, Romeo Crennel, the Browns’ head coach, did not call a time out.  Instead, confused, Derek Anderson ran a QB sneak for the first down (since he could not spike the ball to stop the clock).  The problem was that took so much time that there was only 8 seconds left.  Down by 7, the Browns did not want to settle for a field goal, but 8 seconds is barely enough time to run a play and kick a field goal if need be.  They tried the play and in the rush Derek Anderson threw an interception as time ran out, leaving the Browns down 7-0 at halftime.  This intermixed with many drops by Braylon Edwards, another inteception by Anderson, a lackluster run game, and a questionable 4th quarter field goal, the Browns practically handed the Steelers a win.  The Browns are now 0-2 in the division and battle Baltimore this week followed by Cincinnati the following week; both games are road games, division games, and must-win games.

The Minnesota Vikings are another team that let a game slip away from them.  On Minnesota’s first five possessions of the game they crossed midfield into Colts territory.  All they had to show for that feat was five field goals, aka, all their points.  Adrian Peterson was dominant, as usual, but the terrible passing game did them in.  In fact, it was so bad that it was recently announced that Tavaris Jackson will no longer be the starting quarterback, instead, backup QB Gus Frerotte will.  A quarterback controversy going into week three of the regular season is not something any team wants, but if the passing game does not improve do not expect Minnesota to win many games this season.  Next weekend the Vikings take on the Panthers, a team that has beaten teams better than Minnesota this season, so it will not be easy pickings.