Week 4 is in the books in the NFL, so now it is time to start concentrating on the Major League Baseball postseason for a few days. But before we do just that, here is our second edition of the Tuesday 10-spot, concerning things we observed in the National Football League from this past weekend.
1. The Chargers acquisition of Danny Woodhead might have been the shrewdest bit of business in the NFL offseason.
The regression that Philip Rivers and the Chargers had incurred the past couple of seasons was caused by a multitude of issues, but also seemed to coincide with the departure of matchup nightmare Darren Sproles at running back in 2011. Despite the 2-2 record to start this season, Rivers looks to be back to his old self, and having another Sproles-like matchup problem in the backfield in Danny Woodhead is a main reason why. Antonio Gates is healthy and dominating again, but Woodhead put on a great performance in the win against Dallas (two receiving TDs). Woodhead’s versatility out of the backfield is what Rivers had missed greatly after Sproles bolted for New Orleans.
2. Drew Brees, at worst, is the second-best quarterback in the NFL.
I am not a big rankings person, so this may not matter at all to me in the end, but seeing Drew Brees on Monday night made me think once again that, if I had to rank the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now, that Brees would be No. 2 and ahead of either Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. Other people may agree with me and rank Brees ahead of Brady, given the Patriots’ playoff disappointments the past few seasons after his run of Super Bowls, or ahead of Manning and the bad habit of his teams perpetually disappointing at the end of many seasons. Others may just think I am just plum loco for thinking Brees is better than any of the two. It may prove to be the latter, actually.
3. The Seattle Seahawks defense is just going to get better…at least on paper.
Lost in the talk about the greatness of the Seahawks defense in the early part of the season is that the team had to play the first four games without arguably their best pass rusher, Bruce Irvin, who was suspended for four games this May for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Considered a reach when he was selected 15th overall in the 2012 draft out of West Virginia, Irvin registered eight sacks on the season last year, and his return to the team should make the defense even more versatile and formidable.
4. The Buffalo Bills’ defense might be the league’s most resilient.
While taking a cursory glance at the defensive statistics shows the Bills defense as being a below average unit (399.3 yards allowed), they have been in every game so far and it is mostly because of that same stop unit. Buffalo has been one of the best teams so far at not allowing touchdowns in the red zone (7th in NFL in red zone defense) and has not allowed a touchdown in any of the six red-zone drives by its opponents in the fourth quarter, the main reason they were able to pull out wins late against Carolina and Baltimore. The Bills also lead the league in interceptions with nine, five of those coming at the expense of Joe Flacco on Sunday.
5. There will be multiple teams with non-winning records in the playoffs in 2013.
Only once since the most recent turn of the century has an NFL season featured more than one team without a winning record in the postseason (2004). This season, however, may give 2004 a run for its money, with first place teams in both the AFC North (Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati) and NFC East (Dallas) sporting 2-2 records and those teams giving us no real reason why their inconsistent forms will change anytime soon. But if 2004 is any indication, finishing at 8-8 may not be so bad, given that both Minnesota and St. Louis, both 8-8 and playoff participants that season, won their Wild Card playoff games.
6. Matt Schaub still gives the Texans the best chance at reaching their goals for 2013.
On the other hand, Schaub has the same number of playoff victories as backup quarterback T.J. Yates (one). It may not matter, given that Arian Foster looked like his old self against the Seahawks defense (171 total yards, receiving TD) and the Texans defense is ranked No. 1 in the league at the moment in terms of yards allowed. Schaub just has to get his act together, and fast, or the Colts and Titans may pass them in the AFC South pecking order, if they have not done so already.
7. The Cleveland Browns are screwing up their master plan with all this winning nonsense.
I get it. The team is in a tie for first place after two straight wins (and can own sole possession of it by the end of Thursday night), Brian Hoyer has been a steadying hand at quarterback and the fan base is re-energized after the Trent Richardson trade almost caused the Cuyahoga River to burn once again. At the very end, all this will do is make them lose out on the Teddy Bridgewater sweepstakes while giving the Browns false hope AGAIN that they found their quarterback of the future in the midst of a decent season (see: Kelly Holcomb, Derek Anderson). Losing both games to the Steelers is not a bad idea at all. (OK, even I went a little too far on that one!)
8. It is perfect timing for each of the four teams with a bye week for Week 5 to get that week off.
At 0-4, the Pittsburgh Steelers need a full week to blow up whatever Todd Haley is doing with the offense and figure out whether anyone on the offensive line can actually block. The Minnesota Vikings needs a week to ponder (no pun intended) whether Matt Cassel should be their guy at quarterback going forward, or go back to Christian Ponder once he is healthy. The smear campaign going on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization and quarterback/pariah Josh Freeman might only fester with the week off, but everyone involved just needs to get away from the team facilities for a few days. Washington goes into its bye with a positive vibe after winning its first game of the season at Oakland. Oh, and if the Eagles and Cowboys lose this week, Washington, somehow, will be playing for first place coming out of the bye when taking on Dallas in Arlington.
9. Very little separates 4-0 and 0-4 in the National Football League…
…with the biggest example of that being the 31-7 win by the Kansas City Chiefs against the New York Giants. Yes, the score lends itself to saying otherwise, but late in the third quarter, the Giants were less than a half a yard away (and a successful Andy Reid challenge) from making this game more than winnable for the then 0-3 Giants. As for the Chiefs, the defense is top-notch but the offense is really a one-man show in Jamaal Charles. (Two, if you count Dexter McCluster and his ability on special teams). Kansas City’s offense, outside of Charles, still has some things to prove.
10. NFL: leave London alone, and bring back the London Monarchs.
I’m not actually against the NFL staging games across the Atlantic here and there, but seeing football in London just makes me miss the World League of American Football (which became known as NFL Europe, then NFL Europa). If I gave you the nicknames of the other nine original teams of the WLAF in 1991, could you name where each of the franchises were located? OK, here you go, tough guy/gal: __________ Dragons, __________ Machine, __________ Riders, __________ Surge, __________ Knights, __________ Skyhawks, __________ Thunder, __________ Galaxy, __________ Fire. Answers immediately below.
A: Barcelona Dragons, Montreal Machine, San Antonio Riders, Sacramento Surge, New York/New Jersey Knights, Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks, Orlando Thunder, Frankfurt Galaxy, Birmingham Fire.
