As we hurtle into Week 3, the NFL continues to try and redeem itself on the weekends after tumultuous weekdays.
It’s nice to be able to focus on football and not the chaos going on off the field. The action has largely been exciting and there have been plenty of surprises.
Of course, plenty of things also don’t quite add up yet, and we’re not sure what to trust. Some teams are in disarray when not long ago they were favorites, while other teams have arisen when we thought they would be terrible.
Injuries, suspensions, poor game planning and just plain old bad luck have all been factors and will be so again this weekend. There are a lot of compelling stories to follow this week.
Here are ten I have my eye on.
Are the Buffalo Bills for real?
One of the surprise teams in the NFL, the Bills sit atop the AFC East at 2-0. An impressive comeback win in Chicago and a thorough beating of the Miami Dolphins seem to indicate this team is legit, but it’s so early and the team has so many offensive holes that nobody is sold.
How they handle a San Diego team fresh off an impressive win over the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will go a long way towards starting to convince us that the Bills are for real.
It may all come down to EJ Manuel. The second-year quarterback hasn’t been fantastic the first two games and at some point the team has to discover if they can rely on him to win them games. This weekend is one where they might need him to do just that and whether he is able to will be an early indication of where the team stands.
What’s up with Nick Foles?
Yes, Nick Foles’ stats look OK when viewed from a pure numbers standpoint, but if you look closer you’ll see a quarterback struggling.
This is especially true in the first half of the last two games where he has been a complete mess.
Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 35 quarterback after two games. Even if you remove backups and spot starters like Derek Anderson or Drew Stanton, that’s not good.
In his defense, it’s early and the likes of Andrew Luck, Tom Brady and Russell Wilson are pretty low on the list as well. As always, the numbers at PFF can be subjective so by no means is their opinion the definitive one. But it highlights that Foles has had issues.
The Eagles have done a great job coming back from large first-half deficits but you can only do that for so long. Part of the reason they keep falling behind is because the offense can’t get going and that problem falls right on Foles.
If the Eagles are going to have lasting success this season – or a playoff run – they need more from their quarterback early in games.
Can the Vikings stay focused? Is it time for Bridgewater?
A two-for-one!
Even the most passionate Packers, Lions or Bears fans have to feel a little for new Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer. Who could have foreseen the tumultuous first few weeks of the season?
With Adrian Peterson gone for the moment (and maybe the season), the Vikings have lost their most potent weapon on offense and the impact has been significant. The Vikings were a mess against the New England Patriots and while it’s very early, the season already seems to be in jeopardy.
Competition for playoff slots will be tight in the NFC and the NFC North is going to be a very hard division to come out of with one. The Vikings have little margin for error and if the offense continues to struggle, it could be a long season.
Most glaring last week was the weakness at quarterback. Some fans had convinced themselves that Matt Cassel could be the answer this season after Week 1, but Cassel looked….well, like Cassel against the Patriots. He has no accuracy long, makes poor decisions and is not someone you can count on week to week.
Does that mean it’s “Teddy Time?” Bridgewater looked good in preseason and I have long contended that there is no real benefit to having him on the bench. Why not get him some time in real games to start his development?
We know what Cassel can do. We don’t know what Bridgewater can. Maybe it’s time for a change.
If Cassel struggles this week against the New Orleans Saints, the team might make that move.
Is Kirk Cousins the real deal?
There’s an old, well know saying that the most popular football player in a city with a struggling team is the backup quarterback. That certainly has seemed true in DC, as Robert Griffin III has slowly been losing the confidence of many pundits and some fans this season.
With RG3 now out for the next 6-8 weeks, as reported by USA Today’s Gary Mihoces, those people are going to finally get what they want: a long look at Kirk Cousins.
We’ve seen him a few times before, such as at the end of last season when Griffin was benched by then-coach Mike Shanahan for the last three games of the season. Washington lost all three games and Cousins totaled 747 yards, with 4 touchdowns to 5 interceptions.
Is that what he brings to the table? On the surface he seems a more natural fit for new head coach Jay Gruden’s offense and if that is the case, and he does well, what happens when Griffin returns?
What is going on with the Colts?
While the Indianapolis Colts were a team I was never quite sold on, I don’t know I expected them to look as bad as they have at times in the first two games.
Yes, they were in position to win late against both the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles, but both games featured some huge collapses. In Denver, the defense and offense both were atrocious in the first half before playing well later on. Meanwhile the Colts built an early lead against the Eagles but watched it leak away in the second half as the defense fell apart and the offense sputtered.
They should be able to win the next two games, one in Jacksonville and one at home against Tennessee, but both the Jaguars and Titans have played some good football and could be trouble, especially if the Colts continue to play unevenly.
The AFC isn’t exactly filled with powerhouses but the Colts were supposed to be one of the few.
Right now it seems as if they aren’t quite as secure in that conversation as we thought they were.
Are the Giants dead in the water?
Back in the early days of training camp, I wrote about the enthusiasm and optimism that new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo brought to a New York Giants offense which had stagnated under Kevin Gilbride. It looked a bit rough, but we all figured it was only a matter of time before it all came together, given the talent at hand.
Yet the offense is still misfiring, even after five preseason and two regular season games and that optimism is a thing of the distant past. Opening with two losses for the second season in a row and facing a surprising Houston Texans team on Sunday, the Giants are suddenly teetering on the edge of a third loss and another lost season.
Can they turn it around? The offensive line is in tatters, and defensive end J.J. Watt isn’t going to cut them a break (well, unless he’s a full-time tight end). Eli Manning is trying to do too much again and is clearly not comfortable yet in the scheme and if he holds the ball too long again, well, it’s going to be a long day.
I’ve felt for some time this could be head coach Tom Coughlin’s last year, but I thought he’d be leaving on his own terms. If he loses this game, things could get bad as the schedule doesn’t get any easier. The Falcons, Eagles and Cowboys are three of the four teams they face before their Week 8 bye and the Colts, Seahawks and Niners are cued up when the Giants come back.
We could see sweeping changes for the organization this offseason.
But first we need to get past this season, one which has the potential to be a long one for the Giants.
Did Denver do enough to overcome Seattle?
The Broncos definitely walked away from their decimation at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks having learned a few things. They brought in some new, hard hitting defensive backs in T.J. Ward and Aqib Talib, added former Dallas Cowboy DeMarcus Ware and brought Emmanuel Sanders as a vertical threat and also to replace Eric Decker.
Was all of that enough? So far the results have been a mixed bag, although they are 2-0. The defense has collapsed a couple of times and the offense has misfired once or twice.
We’ll get a real test of how far the Broncos have come this week when we get a repeat of our last Super Bowl matchup.
The Seahawks have looked pretty good so far, even though they lost to the San Diego Chargers last week. They’ll be ready for the Broncos, and the 12th man will give the visitors a warm welcome in Seattle.
It’s a tough road game for the Broncos and perhaps given that it’s not fair to read too much into any result.
But the Broncos built this team with the Seahawks in mind, and they are probably as anxious to test their mettle as we are to see it tested.
Will the Chargers have a let down in Week 3?
Teams often stumble after big wins, but good teams – the real contenders – don’t.
Are the Chargers for real? They were a surprise last season as they snuck into the post-season and caused a little havoc by sending the heavily favored Cincinnati Bengals home early, before pushing the Denver Broncos to the limit with a late comeback before losing in the Divisional Round.
This year they are expected to do well and expected to make the playoffs. The win against the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks last week only added fuel to the fire.
San Diego is traveling a long way to meet this year’s surprising team, the Buffalo Bills. While a cross-country trip is always looked upon as a negative, this is another type of game that legitimate contenders find a way to win.
The Chargers could be considered one of the best teams in the AFC (which admittedly is almost damning with faint praise most years) but in order to do that, they have to avoid a letdown.
Which Detroit shows up this week?
The Detroit Lions looked as good as advertised when they pounded the New York Giants in Week 1, but then looked like the “same old Detroit” when they were beaten by the Carolina Panthers in Week 2.
Which is it guys? Who are you?
The Lions are home again this week, welcoming a Green Bay Packers team coming off a too-close-for-comfort win against the New York Jets. Somehow, some way, they need to find a way to be consistent.
This team doesn’t feel like it has an identity. Yes, the offense will always cater to Calvin Johnson via Matt Stafford, but Stafford continues to be inconsistent and have mechanical issues.
Defensively the front line has played pretty well, but the secondary continues to be an issue. And if you have secondary issues, Aaron Rodgers will make you pay.
Don’t believe me? Ask the Jets all about it.
The Lions should be in the thick of the NFC North race all season long, but if that’s the case they have to win these home divisional games.
So if the Lions want to win, they have to make sure the “good” Lions show up. Because if the team that just got beat by Cam Newton and company makes an appearance, it’s going to be a long afternoon.
Can a Carson Palmer-less Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers?
With Carson Palmer officially out for Sunday, should we write off the Cardinals?
Should we do that for the season as well?
Quarterback Drew Stanton led the team to a victory over the New York Giants in Week 2, but as we’ve already covered, that might not be very impressive this season.
And if you look at the game again, you’ll notice that most of the heavy lifting was supplied by a Ted Ginn punt return touchdown and some outstanding defense. Stanton’s arm was a non-factor.
The question then becomes, can the Cardinals defense win out against the Niners offense? The offense has been pretty effective thus far and should fare well against the Cardinals even if tight end Vernon Davis is out.
When Sam Bradford went down, the hopes of the St. Louis Rams went with him. Will it be the same for the Cardinals without Palmer?
We’ll see how bad – or good – things look this week in a true test against a tough San Francisco team.
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