Week 3 Look-Ahead
By Tony Mejia
Monday night's frantic Eagles comeback provided a fitting ending to Week 2.
Like many of its predecessors thus far in the 2014 NFL season, it defied logic.
Yet again, a team with a double-digit second-half lead couldn't hold it. Injuries were rampant, but didn't affect the outcome despite reason dictating they probably would. Another underdog won outright, making them the 15th to do so among the first 32 games. Dogs are 19-12-1 ATS thus far entering Thursday night's game between Tampa Bay and Atlanta, giving us plenty to consider entering Week 3 beyond the interesting array of 2-0 teams.
New Orleans and Indianapolis, sleeper Super Bowl contenders depending on who you talked to preseason, are 0-2.
Defending champion Seattle leads a pack of 18 teams at 1-1 of all shapes and sizes.
Is it parity? Or insanity?
After watching Philadelphia tie the Monday nighter at 27-27, the Colts opted to run twice despite Mychal Kendricks being sidelined, then saw Andrew Luck fail to deliver a catchable ball in the face of pressure. Beyond the questionable officiating, Indianapolis melted down at home with its performance and decision-making. Underdog wins.
Sunday night delivered Chicago's comeback from a 17-0 second-quarter deficit in San Francisco. You know, the game where Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery went from being considered doubtful to play in the morning to hours later, combining for eight catches, 95 yards and Marshall's three stunning touchdowns. Somehow, despite losing Peanut Tillman for the season and Chris Conte for the game, the secondary held up and changed the game. Down two starters, the offensive line held up against 49ers pressure, giving Jay Cutler time to work.
17-0.
Mike Ditka texted Marc Trestman and called it one of the most enjoyable Bears wins he's seen in decades.
So, yeah, there's a level of insanity to all that has transpired to date, almost as if the play is attempting to play catch-up to the off-field chaos.
Judging by pre-game line moves, sharps loved Minnesota in spite of Adrian Peterson's absence and fell flat on their collective face. Thanks to Drew Brees throwing a pick-six and Rob Ryan failing to get his defense properly lined up in another critical two-minute drill, the Saints lost to a Browns team that is perfect in covering thus far. A Dolphins team that looked fantastic in trouncing New England 23-0 during Week 1's second half was outscored 20-10. Did Knowshon Moreno make that big a difference?
The sample size is small. That's one truth we can cling to entering Week 3.
It applies everywhere. It's the answer to whether Cleveland's Brian Football, owner of 118.1 passer rating when working no-huddle, is really a Heisman hopeful. Or whether the defense in Carolina and Arizona is really good enough to carry their teams. Thus far, they've managed to win in spite of QB platoons where neither guy was overwhelming. Andy Dalton has been good, but it's been the Bengals defense that has done the heavy lifting. That could remain a constant if A.J. Green's toe injury becomes a season long issue.
Buffalo's heavily scrutinized ex-quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and its current version, E.J. Manuel, are 2-0, too. The Texans and Bills went a combined 8-24 last season.
Nick Foles is undefeated. He hasn't played well and his receivers have done him no favors, but he's won and covered despite double-digit second-half deficits in each of the first two weeks. That's unprecedented.
Are the Eagles going to put up a gaudy win-loss mark as the passing game improves or is the inaccurate passing and drops epidemic set to catch up to them?
We're going to start finding out. For now, though, Darren Sproles has been league MVP.
Nope, haven't forgotten about Peyton Manning, but the fact is, he's not paying the bills. Back-doored by Luck in the opener and inexplicably failing to cover against injury-plagued Kansas City, there is some truth to the Broncos easing into the season without key figures like Wes Welker and Danny Trevathan.
How else do you explain the Chiefs game? Already down Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito, Kansas City lost safety Eric Berry and star back Jamaal Charles in the first half, they outscored the disinterested Broncos 7-3 the rest of the way. Week for all those second-half tickets lost.
A summit meeting with Seattle won't see Denver pull any punches, so we'll see where exactly a team labeling itself as hungrier than ever truly stands. Avoiding its first two-game losing streak since October 2012 is sure to offset the feeling that Seattle would be indifferent to this Super Bowl rematch, as was clearly the case this preseason.
Other key tests in Week 3 feature the Bills answering more question against the Chargers, potentially due a letdown traveling cross-country following an emotional win. The Ravens look to continue moving on from the Ray Rice fiasco in already hostile Cleveland, while the Vikings go on the road to New Orleans minus Peterson.
The Saints are double-digit favorites against Minnesota, but given those aforementioned defensive issues and Marques Colston coming off a game where he was virtually ignored, there will probably be a market for those willing to back the Vikes resilience.
The Texans could be 3-0 if they doom the Giants to an 0-3 start, which is certainly possible given how ragged Tom Coughlin's group has looked.
Arizona has a chance to stay perfect if backup Drew Stanton can protect the football at home against San Francisco, which arrives with similar aspirations for Colin Kaepernick. Tony Romo handed San Francisco its first win, but it's fair to say that Jim Harbaugh's team hasn't finished. Not drives, and certainly not fourth quarters, where It has been outscored 28-0.
Romo will be back on the road at St. Louis, looking to help his team take another step forward, while NFC East cohorts Washington and Philadelphia square off in a city unlikely to have much love for DeSean Jackson. Sunday night's showcase sees Pittsburgh at Carolina as the Panthers try and duplicate Baltimore's defensive effort that opened Week 2 with a 26-6 rout. There are certainly easier venues and defenses for Ben Roethlisberger to try and rediscover his rhythm against, but the Steelers may have new weapons Lance Moore, Dri Archer and Martavis Bryant in play if they're medically cleared.
On Monday night, we'll get a chance to see if there's going to be a Kyle Fuller factor, as the Bears rookie corner has shown signs of being special and will square off with Geno Smith, who has turned it over in each of the first two games despite showing a much better grasp of the Jets offense. New York seems to have an edge with its stout run defense against a Bears attack that hasn't been able to get the Matt Forte-led ground game going.
There can be no promises other than a larger sample size to draw upon next week, but the NFL does have a terrific slate of games to help offset the off-field drama and remind us why we put up with all the nasty distractions.
We love the on-field drama, even when we hate it, and it's certainly delivered an inordinate amount of twists through the season's first two weeks.
w-thumbs!^
