The season is finally underway and to prevent us from have the typical Week 1 overreaction we decided to give it two weeks to respond to what’s transpired so far. The takeaways:
1) The Chargers and Bills are for real:
We all had suspicions that maybe Philip Rivers and his Chargers could be good. They snuck into the playoffs last year with a week 17 victory against the Chiefs. We expected both the Broncos and Chiefs to be better this year and didn’t forsee San Diego doing much of anything. They look great though. They beat the Seahawks and didn’t hesitate to attack “the best corner in the game”, Richard Sherman. Rivers has a team of receivers that he’s built great rapport with. He spreads the ball all over the field. Kenan Allen, Malcolm Floyd, Eddie Royal and My God in heaven would you check out Antonio Gates?! The dude is 34 and plays like he’s 24. I don’t see him slowing down any time soon. Danny Woodhead and Ryan Matthews pose an impressive 1-2 punch in the back field as well (sans Matthews’ injury). Defensively they’ve improved. Manti Te’o has shown flashes of his collegiate brilliance and their traditionally pathetic secondary has improved as well with the 5th ranked CB in the game – Jason Verrett.
Meanwhile, the Bills are the best team in the AFC East. Yea. I said it. And guess what else? I called it in my pre-season prediction. The AFC East will be the most competitive division in football this year. The Bills opened up with an impressive away victory at Soldier Field, then followed that act with a home win against division rival Miami. EJ Manual looks healthy, CJ Spiller is still one of the fastest RBs in the league and of course we need to make mention of the best player in this years draft – Sammy Watkins. Their defense has taken a massive leap this year as well. They managed to contain Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffrey, and Martellus Bennett. They held Mike Wallace and the Miami Dolphins to only 10 points on Sunday too. I’m not saying Buffalo is a playoff team, but I am saying they’re on their way.
2) Arizona can Win the NFC West
They went 10-6 last year and missed the playoffs only because their divisional rivals were the best teams in the NFL. With Carson Palmer out this weekend, the Cardinals still managed to pull off a win against the (albeit garbage) Giants. Despite injuries to their defensive unit, Bruce Arians and DC Todd Bowles got them ready. Having Patrick Peterson in your secondary never hurts, either.
Palmer has an elite group of weapons to throw to, and his increased confidence in Arian’s system was evident in week one. What gets them into the post-season however isn’t what’s happening in-house…its what’s happening elsewhere. Rumors of Jim Harbaugh losing the 49ers locker room are getting louder. The Seahawks, while dominant in game one got torched by noodle-armed Philip Rivers recently and have the world’s largest target on their back. St. Louis? Ha. Not even an honorable mention. They have no chance, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they closed the season at 0-16. The path has been paved. Barring massive injuries, they could make a serious Superbowl push this year.
3) RG3’s Career is Over
He got injured again and Kirk Cousins can play. No need to elaborate
