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Who would have ever thought before the season began that through six weeks, every team in the NFC South would be at or better than .500? On Sunday, Drew Brees continued his pursuit of Dan Marino’s record for most passing yards in a season and Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan led Atlanta to a jaw-dropping last second victory over Chicago. The division deserves a closer look and perhaps, some accolades.
Tampa Bay (4-2)
Starting in place of injured Brian Griese, Bucs QB Jeff Garcia secured the starting job for at least one more week after Tampa Bay’s dominant performance in a 27-3 win over Carolina. Garcia returns to the starting lineup after being benched in favor of Griese following a season-opening loss to New Orleans. Head Coach Jon Gruden isn’t Garcia’s biggest fan as demonstrated by his quick benching after week one and by Gruden’s rather public pursuit of Brett Favre in the offseason. With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine Garcia starting the rest of the season unless he makes it impossible for Gruden to make a change with his play and the team’s performance. Continuity at the quarterback position is a key factor to a team’s success in the NFL. Tampa Bay’s lack of a clear number one QB concerns me but a stout defense and a favorable schedule that includes Seattle, Kansas City, Detroit, and Oakland down the line gives reason to believe that the Bucs will vie for a second consecutive division title.
Carolina (4-2)
Wow, it’s hard to overstate just how bad Carolina was Sunday in Tampa Bay. The Bucs blocked a punt (the third time Carolina has had a punt blocked this year!) and returned it for a touchdown early in the first quarter and Jake Delhomme tossed three interceptions, all of which went off the hands of intended receivers, in a lopsided 27-3 defeat. Much like the Bucs, the Panthers depend upon a normally stingy defense and steady turnover-free football from their quarterback. This season, Jake Delhomme has thrown five touchdowns and five interceptions. He must protect the football and get the ball to play-makers Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams for Carolina to have success on offense. Last year, good defense and consistent play from the quarterback was the key to Tampa Bay’s division title run. The Panthers will need to follow the same strategy. But Carolina’s division aspirations will ultimately be decided in December when they’ll host Tampa Bay and Denver before taking on the Giants and Saints on the road to end the season.
Atlanta (4-2)
I have to admit that I didn’t give the Falcons much of a chance against the Bears at home Sunday. I thought I had Atlanta figured out. Entering week six, the Falcons had won games against the 27th, 31st, and 32nd ranked run defenses in the league and their two loses had come against teams with rush defenses ranked in the top half of the league. With the Bears ranked fourth (now fifth) against the run, I figured the Bears would shut down Michael Turner and Matt Ryan would struggle against an athletic and opportunistic defense. I was partially right; Michael Turner rushed for just 54 yards. However, rookie QB Matt Ryan threw for 301 yards and led the Falcons to a thrilling victory on a last second field goal by Jason Elam. More impressive, the Falcons had lost the lead, and what looked like the game, when the Bears went ahead 20-19 with 11 second to go in the fourth. But the Falcons received the ball on their own 44 after a squib kick and Ryan, standing tall in the pocket under pressure, made a perfect throw to Michael Jenkins for a 26-yard pass as he went out of bounds with one second to go to set up the winning kick. Head Coach Mike Smith is the coach of the year thus far in 2008 and Ryan is the hands-down rookie of the year. As for the rest of the season, the only thing you can say about Atlanta is that anything is possible, and as future opponents should take note, the team believes it too.
New Orleans (3-3)
Dan Marino threw for 5,084 yards in 1984, an average of just under 318 yards per game. In 2008 through six games, Drew Brees is on pace to break Marino’s fabled record, averaging more than 332 yards per game. Brees completed his first 16 passes Sunday and finished 26-30 for 320 yards and three touchdowns, another workman-like performance for the MVP of the first half of the season. Brees who is on his way to eclipsing 4,000 yards passing for the third consecutive season has been putting up impressive numbers ever since his arrival in New Orleans prior to the 2006 season. The problem with the Saints always seems to be whether or not they have enough defense to win games when the offense isn’t scoring thirty points. Turnovers also tend to be a problem as last week’s loss against Minnesota proved. The major issue with the Saints is the chemistry of this team is just like the 2007 squad that missed the playoffs: a mediocre defense buoyed by a high-scoring offense. Another concern is the team’s inconsistent special teams play. Martin Gramatica was placed on IR last week after converting just six of ten field goal tries this season, including critical misses in the final minutes in defeats against Minnesota and Denver earlier this season. Unproven rookie Taylor Mehlhaff converted two of his three kicks Sunday against the Raiders but I am not sure the Saints have a team formula in place that will take them very far in the playoffs, if they can even get there.
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10/10/08
After watching the Redskins surprise Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field and the Cowboys slip past the Bengals, it was high time to take an in-depth look at the strongest division in football right now, the NFC East. Did I mention the undefeated Super Bowl champions reside in the division?
1. New York Giants (4-0)
Often in sports, the phrase, “making the leap” refers to a young team that realizes their ability to be one of the elite teams in their sport. Though the Giants won the Super Bowl last year, their championship run, which included victories at Tampa Bay, at Dallas, at Green Bay, and culminated in a stunning victory over the vaunted Patriots was a true shock even to Giant fans. In 2008, the team has made the proverbial leap and is playing with a tremendous amount of confidence on both sides of the ball. Nowhere is this more evident than in the play of Eli Manning. He’s thrown just one interception in 2008 after tossing 20 in 2007 and his quarterback rating of 99.7 is nearly 25 points better than his career rating. Though its first four opponents combined record stands at 5-13, the fact is the Giants should be in the running for the number one seed in the NFC come playoff time.
2. Washington Redskins (4-1)
After a poor performance against New York in a season-opening loss, the Redskins have reeled off four straight victories, including two consecutive wins on the road against division rivals, Dallas and Philadelphia. Did I mention the Redskins offense has yet to turn the ball over this season? The Redskins completely dominated the line of scrimmage against the NFL’s top-ranked rush defense entering Sunday. Clinton Portis ran for 145 yards and a touchdown as the ‘Skins finished with 203 yards against the Eagles who had allowed just 215 yards on the ground in their first four games. What I like about the team going forward the rest of the season is their depth. Veteran Jon Jansen stepped in for injured Stephon Heyer at tackle and was a key component in protecting Jason Campbell from an Eagle defense that entered the game leading the league in sacks. At one point during Sunday’s game, Washington’s defense was without four starters, but still held the Eagles largely in check after Philadelphia’s opening drive. One other important fact to note: the Redskins remaining division games will all be played at home. Whether it be Washington or Dallas, the second best team in the NFC may end up the five seed in the NFC playoffs if they can’t overtake the Giants for the division crown.
3. Dallas Cowboys (4-1)
The Cowboys might be the most maligned 4-1 team in history. Such is the case when the expectations are nothing less than a Super Bowl triumph, and the roster is as star-studded as Dallas. The Cowboys jumped out to an early 17-0 lead over the winless Bengals before playing poorly for nearly two full quarters. The team woke up in the fourth quarter to preserve a 31-22 victory. After an impressive 3-0 start, the Cowboys have been sloppy on offense the past two weeks. Tony Romo and the rest of the offense needs to work on ball security. Meanwhile, the defense is in the bottom half of the NFL, giving up too many third down conversions while allowing more than 20 points per game. Luckily for the Dallas defense, the league’s most dynamic offense is averaging 30.2 points per game. Led by Tony Romo, the offense is difficult to defend with Marion Barber and rookie phenom Felix Jones on the ground, and the talented but mercurial Terrell Owens and Pro-Bowl tight end Jason Witten through the air. No matter what Dallas does the rest of the season, the soap opera in Dallas will be well-chronicled as the season goes forward.
4. Philadelphia Eagles (2-3)
Perhaps it’s something in the Eagles makeup, but I don’t understand how Philadephia always seems to underperform in big games. Two weeks ago, the Eagles were sitting at an impressive 2-1 despite a heartbreaking loss to Dallas on Monday night in week two. Philadelphia has since dropped two winnable games, culminating Sunday in a defeat against Washington, in which it led 14-0 in the first quarter. With an 0-2 record in the division, the team’s road to the playoffs appears very difficult, despite a healthy Donovan McNabb and the emergence of rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Another developing problem for Philadelphia falls on the foot of David Akers. Andy Reid can’t like his team’s chances of winning close games when his kicker is 3-14 from 40+ yards since the start of the 2007 season. What must be particularly galling for Philadelphia fans is the likelihood that the team would almost certainly make the playoffs if it was in any other division in the NFC. At least the Phillies are taking some of the sting away.
