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The Tuesday 10-spot (Ed. 1)

After Andrew Luck (12) came back to the Bay Area and helped the Colts dismantle the 49ers, Indianapolis may have become the team to beat in the AFC South (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
After Andrew Luck (12) came back to the Bay Area and helped the Colts dismantle the 49ers, Indianapolis may have become the team to beat in the AFC South. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

After each full week in the National Football League, A Lot Of Sports Talk will offer up 10 observations, opinions and other inane ramblings concerning the week that was. We will bring other league reporters and fans to contribute to the 10-spot each week, but this time around, we are flying solo. So here are our observations after Week 3 of the NFL season.


 

1. Watching a historically bad defense in person might be more fun than going on a roller-coaster ride three times in a row.

I have had the pleasure of watching the Washington Redskins first two home games in person, and what pleasure I have derived from watching what is on pace to be the worst defense in NFL history. From being the first unwitting victims of Chip Kelly’s hyper-speed offensive attack in the Monday night season opener against Philadelphia to the latest gouging at the hands of the Lions offense, going up against the Redskins “defense” is akin to playing a game of Madden on the easiest level. After this weekend’s game in Oakland, the next four games are against four high-level offenses: Cowboys (away), Bears (home), Broncos (away), and Chargers (home). Bring on the 40-34 games!

 

2. It’s NOT too early to talk about a perfect season for the Denver Broncos.

After Denver’s 49-27 demolition of the Baltimore Ravens in the season opener, I jokingly thought aloud whether the Broncos could go 16-0. It might turn out that the biggest joke about that suggestion was that I was joking. Two more dominant performances on both sides of the ball, and its starting to look like the Broncos may not lose any more than two games this season. Take a hard look at the schedule, and tell me where they get tripped up. They play all of the NFC East teams this season, with the division currently looking like a four-car pileup on an intersection. The other first-place teams in the AFC from 2012 that Denver has to play (New England, Houston and Baltimore, whom they already defeated) are not better than last season’s editions. I don’t think the Broncos will go undefeated, mind you, but it is not silly to think that they might do so right now.

 

3. The Chicago Bears lost their most influential player on defense in the past few years for the rest of 2013…

Melton (69) had the third-most sacks by a defensive tackle in both 2011 and 2012. (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Melton (69) had the third-most sacks in the NFL by a defensive tackle in both 2011 and 2012. (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Brian Urlacher, right? Nope. Well, Julius Peppers, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman are still playing, isn’t that so? Yes, they are, but the Bears’ most influential player on defense, at least in my mind in the past couple of seasons, has been defensive tackle Henry Melton. Melton, who tore his ACL in the Sunday night win at Pittsburgh, was a Pro-Bowler last season and one of the elite run stoppers in the league, as well as one of the best pass rushers from the defensive tackle position (13 sacks combined in 2011 and 2012). Since he started seeing time in the regular season in 2010, the Bears have finished in the top 10 in run defense in the league in each season since. It is a huge loss, especially for Julius Peppers, who was used to having Melton as a second threat in rushing the quarterback and now might get even more attention from opposing offensive lines.

 

4. The winner of the New York Jets-Tennessee Titans game this Sunday WILL make the playoffs in 2013.

Both teams are 2-1 (one will be 3-1 after Sunday), their losses were games in which they could/should have won, and both are in divisions in which the prohibitive favorites (Patriots, Texans) have shown more foibles than they have in the recent past. Obviously, there are many questions surrounding both Jets QB Geno Smith and Titans signal-caller Jake Locker in terms of whether they can lead a team to the playoffs, but the surrounding cast has been better than advertised for both so far. Full disclosure: I am a Jets fan AND I picked the Titans to have a breakout season, so it’s not like I don’t have any horses in this race.

 

5. I’m sorry, Indianapolis Colts!

Yes, Indianapolis, I picked the team to finish .500 this season. I meant no ill will towards Andrew Luck, nor did I mean to disparage the coaching acumen of Chuck Pagano. It was the defense that I was not sold on, which was considerably bad last season and was masked from the rest of NFL fandom by the brilliance of Luck. But after the Colts’ 27-7 bullying of the San Francisco 49ers (and along with two other decent outings against the Raiders and Dolphins), the next step this team takes will definitely be forward…and not the backward step I thought they would take in 2013. Forgive me, Colts fans. XOXO

 

6. If the Dallas Cowboys somehow screw up winning the NFC East this time around…

The Eagles are not that good. The Giants and Redskins are a combined 0-6. Even Dallas can’t mess this up and NOT win the NFC East, right? Right? RIGHT??

 

7. Thank goodness someone finally taught Terrelle Pryor how to properly throw a football.

Oakland has (some) hope for the future, because of the third-year Ohio State signal-caller, with clear evidence of that being displayed in front of a national audience Monday night in Denver. Yes, Oakland was crushed, but the competence level of the offense was about as high as it has been since Rich Gannon was under center. Even with a sieve-like offensive line and a Darren McFadden who already looks like his best years are behind him at running back, the Raiders still made plays, and it was ALL because of Pryor. If Pryor remains healthy, Oakland has a chance at maybe four or five wins this season…and that would be an accomplishment.

 

8. The Ryans (Rex & Rob), despite how much you may despise them, know how to coach.

One brother almost lost his job in 2012, is coaching under new management that may yet be sold on him and saw his No. 1 quarterback get hurt needlessly this preseason. The other brother did lose his job in 2012 and obtained a new one in trying to rebuild a defense that was statistically the worst in league history.

Rob Ryan's D has allowed 38 points after the first three games.  At this juncture in 2012, the Saints had allowed 102 points. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Rob Ryan’s D has allowed 38 points after the first three games. At this juncture in 2012, the Saints had allowed 102 points. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Cards stacked against them and all, Rex and Rob Ryan are doing two of the best coaching jobs in the early part of the 2013 season. Rex’s Jets are 2-1, and the three biggest problem spots in 2012 (offensive line, running backs, Mark Sanchez) have either been improved or replaced. Even with the silly nature of how the Jets performed in many embarrassing games last season, the mass of reporters and bloggers thinking this team was the worst in the NFL, and by light years, was nothing more than doggerel. Rob, meanwhile, has turned the Saints’ extremely permeable defense in 2012 to one of the stingiest in 2013 so far, as the Saints have started 3-0. The 3-4 scheme just was not conducive to the talent that the Cowboys had while Rob was their defensive coordinator, but New Orleans has taken to his scheme like a duck to water. The Saints are only one of four teams in the NFL to allow 20 points or fewer in each of the first three weeks of the season, along with 3-0 teams Seattle and Kansas City, as well as Rex Ryan’s New York Jets.

 

9. I guess Koa Misi was not lying.

In our interview we did with Miami Dolphins linebacker Koa Misi this summer, he talked about how the Dolphins defense has a chance to be great, and how the Dolphins would be a force in 2013 with the new additions and even better chemistry. Well, after three weeks, I guess those words have proven to be prescient. A win over the Saints on Monday Night Football, and I will have to ask Koa for numbers to play the lottery.

 

10. Ed Hochuli might be the referee’s version of Mr. Olympia, but can Bill Leavy get some love, too?

I guess being downgraded by the NFL means you have to work Browns games, as Leavy did last week. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
I guess being downgraded by the NFL means you have to work Browns games, as Leavy did last week. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

I know he’s most remembered for his shambolic performance (along with his crew) during Super Bowl XL, and he already has had a rough start to this season. But look at the guns on him as well. The former police officer and firefighter is part of the new generation of referees that are known more for their physiques than the white hats adorning them. Can we get a 2014 NFL referees calendar in stores soon? Tell me that won’t be a collector’s item!! Wait, it won’t??

 

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