NFL: Week 3 Rookie Recap

The third week of the NFL season saw a pair of rookie runners show off their blazing speed and the top QB taken in the draft rebound from an abysmal outing to post another solid start.  We also saw another rookie quarterback make his pro debut and the top tight end taken in the draft score his first career touchdown.

Steve Slaton, Houston – Week three was Slaton’s time to shine as he cruised to 116 yards on 18 carries including his first career touchdown against a stout Tennessee defense.  For the year Slaton has 159 yards and is averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

Felix Jones, Dallas – Continues to use his elite speed to deliver big plays for the Cowboys.  Jones was rather ineffective aside from his 60 yard touchdown run.  Jones compiled a career-high 76 yards on six carries.  For the season he has 148 yards on 18 carries for a whopping 8.2 yards per carry.  Jones has also made a major impact for the Cowboys as a kick returner.  In 3 games he has two returns of 40 or more yards including a 98-yarder for a touchdown against Philadelphia.

Matt Ryan, Atlanta – Ryan rebounded from an abysmal outing against the Buccaneers to post another solid game against the Chiefs completing 12 of 18 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown.  It is tough to gauge just where Ryan is along the developmental process as his two best games have come against two of the worst teams in the league while his only game against a potentially playoff caliber team was not good.  For the year Ryan has completed 53.1% of his passes for 511 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Week 3 Power Rankings

ESPN’s weekly power rankings are out and based on what ESPN is telling me the NFC is starting to strut its stuff again.  With the Cowboys, Steelers, Giants, Packers, and Eagles manning the top five spots that means the NFC holds four of the top five and with the Panthers coming in at number eight that gives the NFC five of the top eight teams in the league according to ESPN.

Just like last week there are some things that do not make sense to me here.  First is the Patriots move back up to the sixth spot despite the fact they have looked rather lackluster in their two wins against the Jets and Chiefs.  The Jets are supposed to contend in the AFC East but they do not look as though they have their stuff together just yet and the Chiefs are one of the worst teams in the league right now.  It seems as though ESPN is overvaluing that win against the Jets who were only ranked 14th last week to begin with.  Do not get me wrong I still think the Pats are a playoff team but I want to see how they respond to a challenge before ranking them in the top 6.

This leads me to the next two on the list.  I am trying to figure out the justification for rating Colts, and the Pats for that matter, above the Panthers.  Consider the Panthers just beat a Bears team that humbled the Colts on opening night in their own stadium.  It was all the Colts could do to get past what is appearing to be an overrated Vikings squad.  The Colts offensive line is a mess right now and they would probably lose to several teams ranked below them right now.  I have a hard time ranking a one loss team against an unbeaten team when that loss came from a team ranked lower than they are.  I don’t have a problem with the Eagles being rated that high because their only loss is on the road to the top rated team.  Honestly, given the way they are playing right now I think I would put the Broncos, Titans, and Bills ahead of the Colts. 

NFL: Thoughts on Week 2

As an Eagles fan last night’s loss was awfully tough to take.  It is not solely because it was against Dallas but because of the feeling that Philadelphia had a chance to put Dallas away and could not pull the trigger.  Not to mention the last play they ran.  Was that really the best they could come up with.  I thought we have always been told that you have to throw to or past the marker on 3rd or 4th down.

The game was somewhat encouraging in that McNabb looks like he is playing with a purpose this year.  He was moving around in the pocket and hitting his targets.  If not for some dropped passes he would have had his second 300 yard game in as many outings.

I was also very impressed with how well the run defense played.  They kept Marion Barber contained most of the game and held the Cowboys as a team to just 2.8 yards per carry.  There were only two runs where Barber really had significant gains.

The secondary, on the other hand, was atrocious at times.  What they were doing with Sheldon Brown on Terrell Owens at times just boggles my mind.  Fortunately they made the right adjustments and Owens was a nonfactor after he scored his second touchdown. 

NFL: Preseason News and Notes

As we move closer to the beginning of the regular season there are some interesting storylines developing around the league:

Are the Giants seriously considering luring Strahan out of retirement?  I know they desperate to find another pass rusher with Osi Umenyiora going down for the year.  And, I know Strahan sat out most of camp last year but he was also working out on his own and staying shape.  Do the Giants really believe Strahan has kept himself in game shape?  Furthermore how many weights is Strahan lifting while he is living it up over in Greece right now?  Strahan says he would come back for $8 mil but then again who wouldn’t?  He still looked like he has some lead left in his pencil at the end of last year, but, then again, he also had the luxury of not having to be the guy and played in a rotation that was 3 deep in terms of quality pass rushers with Justin Tuck in the mix.  Would Strahan have enough to go back to being an everydown end in the NFL again?  Are the Giants even willing to take the $8 million gamble that he does?

On the heels of an impressive showing in his last preseason game against the Titans Matt Ryan has been dubbed the opening day starter at quarterback for the Falcons.  This always has the potential to go either way but QBs who spend four years in college and start for two plus seasons, including 3 bowl games, tend to succeed more times than not at the next level.  In watching Ryan play quite a bit last year he impresses me as one of those guys who easily shakes off the bumps, bruises, and mistakes that go with playing the position and moves on.  He seems to be one of those guys who impresses with his leadership skills as much as his QB skills.  Besides, it is not as though Joey Harrington, Chris Redman, or D. J. Shockley provide Falcons fans with anything to be excited about.  With Micheal Turner and Jerious Norwood to hand the ball off to Ryan should be okay for now.

Apparently Kurt Warner has beat Matt Leinart out for the starting job in Arizona.  Is this a wake up call to Leinart who made the news for his wild offseason co-ed parties or does Ken Whisenhunt truly believe Warner is the best fit to lead his team?  Given Warner’s inability to stay healthy during his tenure in Arizona Leinart will probably be back on the field before you know it.