I have some apologizes to hand out this week. First of all, I offer my sincerest condolences to fans of the Dallas Cowboys. Not only do you have to suffer the pain of being a part of the most obnoxious fan base in America, you also will have to endure a plummet to the bottom of the NFC East, after your darling Tony Romo broke his left collarbone this past Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. But the saddest sight in that Cowboys-Eagles game wasn’t Romo’s injury, it was the Eagle’s offense. Honestly Philly, you guys are awful. So for that Eagle’s fans, I apologize. And lastly, I would like to apologize on behalf of my fellow Cornell Sun staff. In last week’s football picks, all but two of the staff picked the Seahawks to beat the Packers on Sunday night. How anyone could ever pick against the real America’s team utterly baffles me and I hope the rest of the Sun has gotten their lives together again. #GoPackGo.
Now without further ado, let’s take a look around the NFL. Through two weeks of the season, the only thing we do know is that, well, we know nothing. Kansas City and Buffalo, two teams that looked impressive in week one and were expected to make huge strides this year, failed to come up clutch in crunch team against division rivals. Will these be the Chiefs and Bills squads of the past, or will they finally step up to the challenge and dethrone the Broncos and the Pats?
Marcus Mariota, who was literally perfect in his week one game against the Buccaneers, was disappointing in his week two contest against my man Johnny Football. Jameis Winston, on the other hand, looked miserable week one against the Titans but was huge in the Bucs upset win over the Saints. It’s early, but there has been no real indication of which Heisman winner will turn out to be the better NFL quarterback.
So what do we know? Well, we know that the NFC East is going to be terrible this year. Without Tony Romo, the Cowboys have fallen from Superbowl contender to a team that would be lucky to finish 9-7. As previously addressed, the Eagles are god-awful. The Giants have forgotten how to win close games in the fourth quarter and it would appear this is the final straw in the Tom Coughlan era. And the Redskins are still the Redskins. But cheer-up Skins fans, you guys might actually be the best team right now in your division. Take advantage of it … seriously. You don’t know the next time you’ll be able to say that.
The AFC South is also just as awful. Through two weeks, the Jaguars and the Titans hold first place in the division. Let me repeat that, the Jaguars and the Titans. After showing major signs of improvement towards the end of last season, the Texans have opened the season with a blowout loss against the Chiefs and a tough road loss against the Panthers. But the most disappointing team in the division has to be the Indianapolis Colts. After opening the season as a trendy Superbowl pick, the Colts have looked far less than super. The Colts’ offense has been unable to do anything when they have the ball and Andrew Luck appears as if he has regressed. Luck has thrown five picks to only three touchdowns and has an abysmal passer rating of 58.9. That is not good.
Lastly, we know that you can never count against Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers. Through two weeks, the Patriots, Broncos and Packers are a combined 6-0 and again look to be the class of the NFL. The Patriots and Packers certainly have their holes on defense, but their offenses are clearly the two best in football. Meanwhile, Manning and the Broncos have struggled offensively to start the season, but their defense has played lights out. Even though Manning is seemingly entering his decline, the Broncos will definitely be a factor this year.
When will the Sun stop picking against the Packers? And when will Demarco Murray stop rushing for negative yards and destroying my fantasy team? Find out these questions and much, much more, in the weeks to come.