What did we learn from week 4 in the NFL?
Lots of things to take away from yesterday’s games, more than I can fit into this piece but i’ll just focus on the things that really stood out for me. First things are first: we’re only four weeks into the season and as the past seasons have shown, the NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. Of course there are teams that look like contenders and others that look like they need to prepare for the 2014 season but at the same time, people must realize that this season is very much still young. Are the Broncos going to miss the playoffs? Not a chance. Peyton Manning is leading an offense that looks absolutely unstoppable, very much showing the Eagles yesterday how the ultimate NFL offense is ran. I know it’s really early but i’d pay close attention to the Broncos because we might be witnessing history with their offense. Aside from the Broncos, there were many impressive performances yesterday. Philip Rivers had the best individual performance (35-42, 401 yds, 3 TDs) against my Cowboys yesterday, winning at home and dare we say: is Rivers back? I’ll slow down on the Chargers because they still have to play both the Broncos and Chiefs twice. The Lions trouncing the Bears was also very impressive and all of a sudden, they’re the best team in the NFC North. Who saw that coming? Another division that’s surprising is the AFC South. The Colts dominated the Jaguars, the Titans dominated the Jets and now both teams are above Houston in the standings.
Does any team want to win the NFC East or the AFC North? Aside from the Redskins beating a bad Raiders team and the Browns edging out the Bengals, every other team in those divisions lost their games this weekend. The Giants and Eagles seasons look finished but with the Cowboys leading the division at 2-2 (vs Broncos next week) the NFC East is still very much up for grabs. As far as the AFC North goes, my Bengals pick can very much still hold as they are tied for the division lead but a loss against the Browns yesterday leaves me very lukewarm about them. So both of those divisions were very unimpressive yesterday but they weren’t the only ones. Geno Smith’s fumble in his own endzone was about as bad of a play that we’re going to see all season. It wasn’t on the level of the butt fumble but it’s certainly added to the array of bad plays by any quarterback playing for the Jets. So big ups to Geno for keeping that tradition going. Also very unimpressive was anything to do with yesterday’s game between the Cardinals and Bucs, Baltimore’s balance on offense and the Texans inability to close out games.
Enough about yesterday’s bad watches because it’s about time that we have a good game on a Monday night. The Dolphins head into New Orleans to take on the Saints in a battle of undefeated teams. One of these teams will join the Seahawks, Patriots, Chiefs and Broncos as the NFL’s early season elites. I’m very tempted to take the Dolphins after their big win over the Falcons last week but then I remember that the Saints at home are very hard to beat. Right now it’s the Saints (-7) but I feel that Miami can keep the game close while fighting to the very end. Drew Brees is set for a monster game but I feel that right now, the Dolphins can keep up. It felt weird to type that. Anyways, enjoy game!