Opening night tonight. The Cheatriots vs the Steelers. This is about as wide open a season as I think I've ever seen. I think that the past two super bowl winners both have taken a major step backward, and that Green Bay has already lost its best WR for the season. I think the eventual SB champion will be at best 12-4, as I don't see any dominant teams. The Hawks lost a lot in free agency, lost their OC and OG, and are having one of the three LOB members left holding out. The Cheatriots lost both their starting corners. The Steelers lost the all pro C and have major PED related suspension issues at the start of the season. Could be anybody's year. Except the Browns. Its never the Browns year.
The Seahawks go down to my Rams in week 1. Something nice and unexpected having our starting QB actually start week one, as opposed to be out for the season with an injury... Mariotta looks like the second coming. Dallas and San Diego come back for high drama wins. And Johnny 'Show me the money' Manziel is destroyed once again. The AFC East shows its might, with all four teams winning, including an 'upset' in the Bills over the Colts. Pretty good slate of football yesterday.
And Mariota beating the ever-loving crap out of Winston. You have no idea how happy I am that the Jets didn't have the chance to draft Winston.
Patriots are 7 & 0 and look solidly the best team in the NFL. Having the Broncos, Patriots, and Bengals all undefeated might be the impetus the AFC needs to produce an undefeated team again. Because this year, even 14-2 might not get you home field advantage in the playoffs.
And then there was Sunday night. Denver looked like Denver again on offense, and, impossibly enough, the Denver defense looked the best it has all season and it was already the clear-cut best defense in the NFL. If Manning and Kubiak have finally figured out how to make the offense work, Denver is definitely the superior team to New England. This could certainly just be one outlier game, but if it isn't, Denver's going to be scary good down the stretch.
I like Peyton Manning, but unless he plays dramatically better down the stretch, Denver is not the best NFL team.
Has it ever happened before that the NFL has had four undefeated teams this late in the season? I remember once the Giants and 49ers were undefeated at 11-0 and about to play on Monday night but then both were beaten the week before the much anticipated match up. That was the Sunday where ALL SIX division leaders lost on the same day for the first time in NFL history.
The Denver game was hard to watch. As a fan of Peyton Manning I want him to finish his career with both dignity and success. Today held neither. On another note although Eli had a good game the Giants should have won.
Yeah, even though I'm supposed to hate anybody with the name Manning as a Pats fan, it is hard to see Peyton's swift deterioration. I'm glad he beat the passing yards record, but I have to think his career is basically over.
The only way Mannings career can continue past this year is if he takes a mammoth pay cut and is willing to be an "elder statesman" back up quarterback. I don't see that happening though he would probably be good at it as he is already a "coach on the field". Better to retire gracefully, go into broadcasting or coaching, and accept his first year eligible enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in 5 years. What surprises me is how few relatively young QBs there are anymore. Luck is regressing. Kaepernack is all but gone. Brees isn't young anymore and is basically fading. Manning is old and going fast. Rodgers is about the only QB in is prime. Brady is old but playing better than ever mainly because he is still so royally pissed off about being called a cheater. Regarding the Patriots it is clear that the League did them a huge favor by the Deflategate accusation as it basically eliminated the famous post Super Bowl hangover winning teams are known to have.
So, how's that QB trade working out for the Rams and the Eagles so far? I'm thinking that neither team really got it's money's worth. Bradford looked like a world-beater in the preseason, but has been spotty-at-best since then, and is now injured/concussed. Foles has been VERY up & down so far, but mostly down. Yesterday it looked like he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with a pass!
Rams bench Nick Foles. Case Keenum to start vs. Ravens next week. After watching yesterday's game, it doesn't surprised me one bit.
It's time for Peyton to retire. Like the guy but at this point he's just not there anymore. Bengals just lost tonight so the only two undefeated are Patriots and Panthers. It would be cool to see both teams make it to a Super Bowl undefeated and playing against each other. And there are no up and coming quarterbacks. IMHO colleges are not producing the types of Quarterbacks that NFL teams need. The NFL better find a solution because it is really sucking the wind out of the game when you're losing because your QB sucks so bad that he can't do anything.
