Thursday 19 September 2013

NFC 2 Week Recap

Well as promised for all you weird people who like the NFC more than the AFC here is my recap and preview for that division. If you skipped the AFC preview and are only reading this one, shame on you! GO back and read the AFC preview. If you read the AFC preview and are not reading this one then...well I can't really do anything about that. Okay, here we go.

NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys (1-1): The Boys are doing what the Boys do best. They ruin the hopes of their divisional foes by beating them, but then lose in ugly fashion to follow it up. After beating the the Giants in prime time in week one the Cowboys followed it up with an ugly defeat in Kansas City. DeMarco Murray had a decent 20 carries for 86 yards in week one, but answered with a blunder against KC rushing for 25 yards on 12 carries. This weeks match-up versus St. Louis should be a good measure as to what the season may entail.

Philadelphia Eagles (1-1): This team came out of the gates on fire in week one. They ran 52 first half offensive plays and at one point in the game lead the rival Washington Redskins 33-7. Then we got a good look at just how bad their defense really is when Washington came back and made things interesting. The poor defense carried over into week two against the San Diego Chargers as well. Phillips Rivers and Eddie Royal looked like they were running practice routes with nobody covering Royal or rushing Rivers. There was one touchdown where Royal could have caught the ball, taken the time to make sure all pieces of his uniform were in check, and then skipped to the end zone. Instead he just jogged in. This team can score, but they are going to need some stops if they want to win.

Washington Redskins (0-2): It hasn't even really gotten going in full force yet, but I am already sick of all the talk about RG 3 and out's knee. His brace is too tight, he's not as explosive, Dr. James Andrews (who for some reason is as common a household name as George Clooney) says he shouldn't play this style, yada yada yada. My expectation is that he is going to come out this week against the Detroit and ball out. They may not win, but it will be a different RG III and a different RG III is exactly what the Skins need.

New York Giants (0-2): Hahahahahaha Peyton Manning is so much better than Eli Manning. This just reiterates the fact that younger brothers will never be able to be better at anything than their older brothers. Well that and the fact that the Giants suck. Can't wait to hear every talk about firing Tom Coughlin again after two crappy years in a row for this team.

NFC North:
Daaaaa Bears (2-0): This is a team that gets over looked year after year and with a new head coach and the heart of the D, Brian Urlacher, retiring everybody over looked them again. Well now they have two impressive wins against the Bengals and divisional rival Vikings. Both games were at home, but still no less impressive. Jay Cutler has a big somber-face man crush on newly acquired tight-end Martellus Bennett. The man has three touchdown catches the year which already surpasses the total by all the Bears tight ends combined over the whole season last year. Expect those numbers to continue to rise as the year progresses. Oh and their new head coach, Mark Trestman, was taken straight out of the CFL. OHHHH CANADAAAAA.

Detroit Lions (1-1): This is a brand Suh team this year. Ha, see what I did there? My man Jim Schwartz is on the chopping block and this team needs to perform in order for him to keep his job. Reggie Bush put in a great performance in week one helping them to a big win over Minnesota, but then the team stumbled a bit against an underrated Arizona Cardinals team. For some reason I think this team is going to stick around for a little while. Ironically enough the only part of this team that isn't really "Suh" is Suh. Guy just gets dumber every year.

Sure did look like that lineman had a really good shot at catching him...


Green Bay Packers (1-1): San Francisco got the best of them in week one, but then they got more than the best of Washington in week two. Aaron Rodgers decided he was going to have an Aaron Rodgers type of day and only throw for a mere 480 yards. Bottom line is as long as Rodgers is healthy this team will be in the hunt.

Minnesota Vikings (0-2): Being in one of, if not the toughest, division in football is never a cakewalk. Starting the year out 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the division only makes this year more like a walk across hot coals for the Vikes. Good thing all anyone cares about with this team is whether or not APAD will break the rushing record.



NFC South:
New Orleans Saints (2-0): Welcome back Sean Payton. While the Vikes have an uphill battle to face the Saints have a downhill one. Not really. But what's better than being 2-0 after two weeks with both of those wins coming against divisional opponents? The Saints handled everything Matty Ice and the Falcons threw at them in week one and then they instigated frustration towards Greg Schiano in week two when they beat the the Buccaneers. This team has it's swag back, bring on the Cardinals.

Atlanta Falcons (1-1): Had a tough week one loss at the hands of the Saints, but bounced back nicely with a 31-24 win over the Rams. A bittersweet victory though as their prize off-season possession, Steven Jackson, went down and will miss 2-4 weeks. As if that wasn't enough, star linebacker Sean Weatherspoon found himself on the IR with the eligibility to return in week 11. This is still a good Falcons team though and you can bet that they aren't going anywhere soon, nor will forget that week one loss.

Tampa Bay (0-2): I think there are only two questions that need to be asked with this team. Will Josh Freeman still be the quarterback at the end of the season? Will this team implode in a Red Sox fashion due to dissent towards Greg Schiano? I don't mean Red Sox fashion as in they were good and collapsed, I kind of just mean collapse.

Carolina Panthers (0-2): This team just oozes with so much potential. Arguably the best line backing core in the NFL led by Luke Kuechly, an animal all by himself. A good defensive line led by a monster in Charles Johnson. They have a great young quarterback with Cam Newton and have surrounded him with young wide-receiver talent. A then they have their star in Steve Smith. They played well against Seattle, but then came up with a dud against Buffalo letting rookie E.J. Manuel pick their secondary apart leading up to a last second touchdown. How will they fair against the 0-2 Giants? My guess Eli torches them.

NFC West:
Seattle Seahawks (2-0): Seattle has a question for everybody in the NFL and it's; "What about us?" San Fran this, San Fran that, the Seahawks quieted everyone down when they literally brought the thunder down on the 49ers last weekend. That game alone says enough for this team.

St. Louis Rams (1-1): Had a good week one win against a divisional opponent in the Arizona Cardinals, but then fell behind too much too early against the Atlanta Falcons. It is Sam Bradford time St. Louis and Jeff Fisher has the ability to coach this team to a winning season.

San Francisco 49ers (1-1): These guys got flat-out out-played this past week against Seattle. They still have the most complete team in the NFL though and don't expect them to forget that Seattle loss anytime soon. The Niners will bounce back, but have a very intriguing match-up against Indianapolis. A classic quarterback vs former college coach match up.



Arizona Cardinals (1-1) The wild-card team of the NFC. Not in the sense that they are a wild card team, but more in the sense of who knows how good this team will be. I personally think that they are much better than people are giving them credit for and that it is only a matter of time before we start to see the pass happy quarterback and pass happy coach get things rolling. It also helps that the pass happy offense has Larry Fitzgeralds hands to throw all of those passes at. Last time I checked he had a pretty good set of them. A few years ago in a weaker NFC I could see this team doing big things, but it's too strong a conference now.

Division Winners:
East: Eagles. Everything in my guys says to go with Cowboys, but then everything else says that they will choke at some point. They do have Tony Romo after all.

North: Chicago Bears. Trestman has this team figured out already and understands how they are going to play week in and week out. When your coach can game plan like that, things tend to work out.

South: Saints. I think the Falcons are going to have a set back year and with Payton back at the helm I think the Saints will march again. Ha. Gotta love cliché lines.

West: Seahawks. Had you asked me this before the season I would have said the 49ers, but after seeing the way the Seahawks D has just dominated the first two weeks I am convinced they are the real deal.

Wildcards:
49ers: Can't see very many arguments here. Probably the second best team in the conference.
Lions: Reggie Bush is going to make them click this year and as long as he stays healthy I think they will go places.


In an exciting bonus there is in fact an NFL game being played tonight by the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Andy Reid's homecoming, if you will. As far as my prediction for tonight, I predict there to be cheers for Reid with a smattering amount of boos. As for the game I saw somebody in High Point, NC driving around with Eagles flags on their car today and that's a good enough reason for me to pick them.

Eagles 26
Chiefs 18

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