Two weeks into the season is time enough for some NFL teams to panic if their early performance is lower than expectations. Here is a quick look at teams that have one cleat on a banana peel and the other on the edge of a cliff.
No fair taking potshots at hard luck teams like the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs or Jacksonville Jaguars. That’s just too easy. This is a list of teams that can still make a postseason charge if their level of play this weekend returns to their preseason promise. In no particular order, here are five whose early hopes could be flushed in NFL Week Three.
Chicago Bears (1-1) – There is no great shame in losing to the New Orleans Saints in their stadium. There is a big problem in leaving all that video of how the Bears were crushed by the blitz for the Super Bowl Packers to see. The Saints laid six sacks and 10 quarterback hits on Bears QB Jay Cutler as OC Mike Martz called more and more pass plays to catch up late. Chicago running back Matt Forte is not happy with his contract. He did not expect the Bears to balance the scales by using him less. The Bears are the 24th-ranked offense after two weeks. If they cannot beat Green Bay Sunday, how do they ever expect to beat Detroit?
Baltimore Ravens (1-1) – Two games is too soon to count the Ravens out of the playoffs. But how on earth does a team go from crushing the Pittsburgh Steelers in week one to losing to the Tennessee Titans 26-13? The Ravens stopped RB Chris Johnson for 53 rushing yards. Perhaps they should have let Johnson run because QB Matt Hasselbeck burned them all afternoon for 358 yards and a touchdown pass. Meanwhile Joe Flacco reopened all the questions about him that he answered the week before against Pittsburgh. Can this man lead the Ravens to the division title? The regular season rematch against the Steelers is in their town. The Ravens have the look and feel of a wild card, again.
Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) – I was impressed by Eagles QB Mike Kafka’s second-half performance for his nine pass attempts against the Atlanta Falcons. But Philadelphia did not make all that effort to surround him with talent. This is Michael Vick’s team and the idea of facing the New York Giants this weekend without him must send shivers up the spine of Iggles fans…and coaches. Vick is going through assessments to see if he has recovered from a concussion enough to play. The Giants do not have the Falcons’ offense. The Eagles have DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin for whoever is under center. The Eagles without Vick, however, are just another division contender within reach of the Giants, Cowboys and (gasp) Redskins.
Oakland Raiders (1-1) – Few expected Oakland to challenge the San Diego Chargers for the division, but nobody expected the Raiders to lose the Buffalo Bills. Oakland blew a 21-3 halftime lead and wasted QB Jason Campbell’s career day (69.6 percent passes completed, 1 passing TD, 1 rushing TD, 108.5 passer rating) in its meltdown against the Bills. Lay that loss on the defense. But that won’t stop the Raiders’ mercurial owner Al Davis from fixing things. “Hey, we got a rookie quarterback like Cam Newton. If Newton can throw for 400 yards per game, so can Terrelle Pryor.” Uh-oh.
St. Louis Rams (0-2) – The Rams lost the tiebreaker to win the NFC West last year. They did that despite a 7-9 record. So there is no reason to panic over a winless start when they have 14 more bites at the apple for the seven or eight wins needed to take the worst division in football. The problem is that the Rams did not pass the eyeball test against the Giants Monday night. When you have Sam Bradford as your quarterback, your team is supposed to own an injury-riddled secondary like the Giants, not give up turnovers that turn into touchdowns a few plays later. The Rams just looked unsettled in night-lights in the big town. That would have been true even if their horse, Steven Jackson, were available to play. In the long years from the Greatest show on Turf to picking yourself up from the turf, the Rams forgot how to win. Sigh! It’s a process. Too bad the process continues against the Ravens. The Ravens look kinda mad.
