The first week of the NFL’s 2011 season was officially put in the books early this morning, and there was no shortage of shocks and surprises. Today, I want to highlight the teams that already find themselves in dire straights.
Indianapolis Colts:
The Colts were dominated by the Houston Texans in week 1. The Texans led 34-0 at halftime, and that was when they lifted their foot off the gas pedal. The Texans pursued a more conservative level of play calling in the second half, and it allowed the Colts to put up their only 7 points of the game.
Kerry Collins had a rough game in his Indianapolis debut. He was 16 of 31 with 197 yards and a touchdown, but the biggest story line was the pressure he endured all afternoon. Collins gave the Texans great field position early and often, and the Colts put themselves in a huge hole that no team could have overcame.
The Colts will look to rebound against the Browns, but I don’t expect them to win next weekend either. Peyton Manning makes the Colts work as a team, and his absence puts the team in a terrible position. No player means more to his team than Manning means to the Colts, and they won’t be making it back to the playoffs this season.
Pittsburgh Steelers:
Watching this game is difficult to do, and the Steelers team that took the field Sunday didn’t resemble the team that played the Green Bay Packers last February. It was a performance Steelers fans don’t care to ever see again.
Many, myself included, picked the Steelers to win the AFC North once again in 2011, but the Steelers were put in their place on Sunday. The Ravens put it to them, 35 to 7.
The tale of the day was the Steelers inability to hang onto the ball. The Steelers threw 3 interceptions, and trumped that effort with 4 additional fumbles for a total of 7 turnovers.
Unlike the Colts, the Steelers should be just fine. They need to forget about Sunday, and move on with their season. They’ll get another crack at the Ravens later in the season. In the meantime, they need to take care of business, and they need to get back on track.
Kansas City:
The Chiefs not only got beat by the Bills, they got blown out by the Bills. Not the Patriots, a team I would expect to blow out the Chiefs. The Bills.
If you’re a Chiefs fan, and you’re concerned that the Chiefs divisional championship last season was a fluke, you should be.
Matt Cassel threw the ball 36 times. That’s far too many for any team. Meanwhile, they ran the ball just 18 times, just half as many times as they threw the ball. This is a system that could work for Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but Cassel is not an elite quarterback. He’s good, but not great.
As poor as the Chiefs offense was, their defense needs more work. They allowed Bills’ quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw for 208 yards (not a huge some) and 4 touchdowns (that’s pretty good). Let’s do some quick math. If you score just 1 touchdown on offense, and your defense allowed the opposing quarterback to throw for 4 touchdowns, you probably got blown out, and that’s what happened here.
The Chiefs have their work cut out for them, and if the Chargers get off to a quick start, they can forget about the playoffs in 2011.
