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Soon after week 2 in the NFL wrapped up, I saw various articles analyzing judiciously the 0-2 teams offering opinions on who’s in trouble, and who’s going to be OK.  Most offered comforting words for the likes of the San Diego Chargers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Seattle Seahawks.  All the aforementioned were at least pegged to make the playoffs.   Because plenty have been said about these lovable losers, I thought it’d be interesting to instead look at the 2-0 teams and instead offer some negative speculation.   Let’s assume all of them will be in trouble because let’s face it, no one’s perfect.  So from the Buffalo Bills to the Arizona Cardinals, all of these teams have something to worry about in the coming weeks.

Starting in the AFC East, we have the Buffalo Bills who after dispatching the Seahawks were able to squeak by AFC elite Jacksonville and should feel good about themselves.  Honestly there’s not much criticism to dole out as their defense seems solid, and QB Trent Edwards truly embodies the term, (and I hate using this term) “managing the game”.  So as long as they keep giving the ball to RB Marshawn Lynch, as long as Edwards protects the ball, and as long the defense plays good football, the Bills will be playoff darlings.  Now for the bad news:  they ARE the Buffalo Bills, the same snake-bitten team that went to the Super Bowl 4 years in a row only to lose 4 years in a row.  That being said, finally a team other than the New England Patriots who have a shot at winning the East.  New England on the other hand, sitting pretty at 2-0 have plenty to worry about.  Aside from the obvious gaping hole at QB left by Tom Brady’s injury, the Patriots have thus so far beaten the Kansas City Chiefs, and the New York Jets.  Not exactly a gleaming resume, and yes even though 2-0 is 2-0, once they get to week 6 they will have to face the likes of the Chargers, the Denver Broncos, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Bills.  This stretch in the schedule will validate truly how good a coach Belichick is at game planning and adjustments without his HoFer QB.  With the Miami Dolphins and a stronger but still somewhat mediocre San Francisco 49ers on deck, the Patriots could conceivably be 4-0 heading into a bye week before they face some real competition.

Knocking around the Houston Texans, and barely  escaping the Cleveland Browns in an ugly game, the Pittsburgh Steelers have some weaknesses such as their anemic passing game (albeit against Cleveland the strong wind conditions dictated where the ball went more than the QB’s arm did) and I have a hunch they will struggle on the road this season.  The next 3 games with 2 out of those 3 on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars will be telling on whether or not the Steelers are legitimate contenders.

For the Tennessee Titans, they are eerily similar to their NFC counterparts, the Vikings.  Stout D (although the Viking’s overall D ranking is skewed slightly facing strong offenses such as Green Bay and Indianapolis but held both to a respectable under 20 ppg), strong running game, impotent passing attack are the culprits and common traits both teams share.  However Minnesota sits on the short end of the stick at 0-2 whilst the Titans are sitting pretty at 2-0.  The Titans also mirror the Vikings in that they just hitched their wagon to an older veteran pure passer and benched/put on suicide watch their incumbent young, raw athletic running QBs.  Nevertheless Kerry Collins may not inherently bring the winning aura that Vince Young possesses but he is definitely a better passer and at this point I can guarantee Minnesota would rather go with Collins than Gus-I-got-a-concussion-running-into-the-wall-during-a-game-Frerotte.  Tennessee should be alright that is unless Collins is ineffective and all the Titans see are 8 man boxes and constant taunts of the flaming T’s on their helmets.

No team in the league may be as fortuitous at this point as the Denver Broncos who after receiving several favorable calls (controversial) on their way past the Chargers.  Their offense is potent with rising star Jay Cutler under center, but the defense gives up chunks of yardages and that will be their Achilles Heel this season unless they shore up the way they take on opposing offenses.

The Dallas Cowboys may have the same stake in lucky breaks thus far as the Broncos the way the ball was bouncing last Monday night against the Eagles.  The conundrum here is whether the Cowboys D is really solid, given that:

a) 14 points were direct results of Tony Simpson’s mistakes (fumble in end zone, INT-led-to-TD)

b) facing one of the better offenses out the gate this early in the season in the Eagles.

However because the top two WRs for the Eagles were out, that does not look favorably on the Boys unless you also come back with the breakout performance of Desean-premature-celebration-Jackson and the fact that top CB Terrence Newman was only used in nickel D the whole night.  If all the long passes completed on the Cowboy’s 2ndary were in fact in nickel formation, then just forget what I said.  The next game vs. the Packers should/could answer immediate questions on who the top dog in the NFC is, much less the NFL.

The defending champs on the other hand have successfully staved off the dreaded Super Bowl hangover starting out fast taking out the Washington Redskins and the St. Louis Rams.  The New York Giant’s recipe as of press time has been mostly stalwart play from the defense, power run attack and minimal mistakes from Eli Manning.  If it sounds familiar AND boring, then yes you have just read the same recipe that the Bills, Titans, and Patriots employ with no regard for TV ratings.  Not like they care, winning is what matters right.

And when winning is the only thing that matters even if it means jettisoning the baggage that is your first ballot future hall of famer/perennial icon/face of the franchise for two decades/overbearing personality, then well you may come off as a genius when your plan so far has yet to blow up in your face (read: Green Bay management).  As my friend Moofs would say, since when is Aaron Rodgers not Aaron Rodgers?  In my timeless opinion his situation is unfairly full of pressure in that anything short of 2 Super Bowl victories will be considered a failure.  Having none or one in his career will always be retorted by, “well Brett Favre had 1 Super Bowl and a couple of MVPs”.  Then again the fact that Favre unretired and is proceeding to look mediocre on another team only helps Rodger’s case.  That being said their defense is still questionable in terms of strength much like the Cowboys which can only be answered as we get deeper into the season.  The offense however is on par with any out there, but much less without a healthy/effective Ryan Grant running the ball.

Of all the teams the Carolina Panthers are the most mysterious to me.  Of course their cookie cutter recipe for success: QB manager to minimize mistakes + good running game + hard-nosed defense = wins, much like the aforementioned teams.  However now with super stud WR Steve Smith back from suspension for fisticuffing with a teammate, the dynamic of this offense changes.  Yet their supposed struggles at home remains an issue of concern for me as I think its peculiar for any team to struggle at home.  Sure they sneaked past the Bears who gave up a 10 point lead for one, but the fact remains that historically the Panthers are not formidable in the confines of their own stadium.

And last but certainly somewhat least, your Arizona Cardinals who after pasting mediocre to bad teams such as the 49ers and the Dolphins, are riding high with a 2-0 start on the backs of geriatric gunslinger Kurt Warner and his bad ass wideouts, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.  The surprising 7th rank aggressive defense also complements this perennial underachiever/cusp of breakout year franchise.  Not since the days of Jake the Snake Plummer have the Cardinals even sniffed the playoffs.  Will this year be any different? We’ll let Brenda Warner decide that.

And on that note, that wraps up my assessment of the 2-0ers but be on the lookout for a few things in week 3:

- Will the Bengal’s offense finally get untracked after two bad games in bad weather led by a QB who hasn’t had time to get in sync with his Ocho Cinco y Ocho Cuatro?

- How will Tennessee and Minnesota fare going full force with new yet old QBs running their offense?

- Cleveland and Jacksonville will beat the Ravens and Colts, respectively.  (call it desperation, call it bad breaks finally falling their way)

- Will San Diego finally get a win?  Too talented to go winless much longer.

What happened to the week 1 column? Well truth be told, a combination of sloth and Reno, Nevada got in the way of the much anticipated regular season NFL column debut.  Along that line of thought, of which I have to say Reno is a highly recommended getaway for those looking for a nice road trip to a casino/sports book without too much of a crowd.  And much props to Nevada University for the hospitality (we were sitting on the 35 yard line 4 rows up in the home section surrounded by blue-clad Wolfpack fans.  They also field a very solid team (the thrashing given to them on the road by no. 6 Mizzou non withstanding, shows you how much Texas Tech has to go before having illusions of grandeur), and a very dynamic as well as exciting offense.  I do question the intention of the fans leaving with 6 minutes left with Nevada only down 9 points.  By that extension I had to “armchair QB” in hindsight and question why the coach did not go for two on their last score to try to make it an 8 point game.

Anyways, good trip and nothing like watching the Dallas Cowboys play the Cleveland Browns on opening weekend at the Phoenix airport on my layover with virtually no one offended that I was bogarting the flat screen outside of the airport bar watching Tony Romo hook up with TO.  Apparently Arizona Cardinal fans are scarce and/or do not travel a lot.

With that being said, week 1 was one of the more busy opening weekends I can remember, with few upsets lots of offense, and several grand entrances by rookie running backs (see: Matt Forte, Kevin Smith, Chris Johnson, Steve Slaton, and Felix Jones).  Of course the biggest news was injury to superstar New England Patriot’s QB Tom Brady.  Going down early in the game with what is now known as torn ligaments in his knee and out for the year, Brady was hoping to avenge last season’s heartbreaking Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants.

Many will attest that the loss of Brady will knock the Patriots down a few notches but that it gives a chance to illuminate how truly good a coach Bill Belichick is and how deep and talented this New England team is without their leader.  Few others will contend that the Patriots may still be a fringe AFC playoff team, but nothing more and certainly not still elite.  I have to say I agree with those few (maybe there’s more of us but I get the feeling we’re in the minority like Ross Perot voters).  As mentioned in my power poll (snicker, power poll as if I have the credentials), Tom Brady makes New England elite when their offense, especially their passing offense, is otherworldly and almost untouchable when they have it on.  Evidently the woes of the offensive line dating back to the Super Bowl and beyond were masked by the talents of one Mr. Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker.  Without Mr. Giselle in the picture, the Patriots are nothing more in my humble opinion than an above average offensive team with a slow and aging overrated defense still riding on the fumes of accomplishments past.  I mean don’t get me wrong, as long as they have Moss, Belichick and anyone smart enough to just chuck the ball high in the vicinity of Moss and to look for Welker in the flat, then they will win their share of games… it just might be expecting much to duplicate 18-0 (obviously even with Brady this would be difficult).

In light of this development so far the short list of contenders I briefly mentioned in my preseason blurbs have all so far won their first game (Green Bay, Dallas, New England, to a lesser extent the New York Giants).  Yes its just one game but its a step in the right direction to get the playoff ball rolling.  The lone loss by the always-in-contention Indianapolis Colts should not have come as a shocker although I do not have written proof that I had a feeling they would fall to the Chicago Bears.  You’ll just have to take my word for it!  For one, with Peyton-Manning-the-control-freak hurt all off season and joining training camp late and not playing in a single preseason game, a lot of rust was to be expected.  Combine that with the Bear’s expected resurgence, at least for one week, behind a lesser-trigger-happy-sucky-QB in Kyle Orton and rookie standout Matt Forte alongside a re-energized defense and you have a recipe for an upset in the Colt’s new stadium.

A few things to leave with you before I leave you to go buy a Cincinnati Bengals 85 jersey with “Ocho Cinco” written on the back.  Keep an eye on the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, and Carolina Panthers who I think will be candidates to make deep pushes into the playoffs.  The Bills were already a solid team with a few close losses last year and by going with the steady hand of Trent Edwards, they may make some noise this year.  Carolina’s upset of the San Diego Chargers on the last play last week announces their supposed resurgence but it remains to be seen if they can (weirdly) consistently win at home before crowning them contenders.  The Broncos should be decent as many overlook the fact that QB Jay Cutler is still young and only in his 2nd year as a starter so overall the team should be cut some slack as much as Denver balances their attack between rushing and passing.  That and with the immediate splash rookie WR Eddie Royal has made, the skies the limit for this team.  Well OK that and the retooled defense.  Eddie Royal… now that sounds like the lead singer of a Van Halen cover band, how can you go wrong?

In a span of about 10 years from 1987-1996, 7 of the 10 Super Bowl Champions hailed from the NFC East.  3 from the Dallas Cowboys, 2 from the New York Football Giants, and 2 from the Washington Redskins.  By winning Super Bowl XLII, the Giants ended a 12 year drought (last one achieved by Dallas in 1996) in which neither the Boys, the Skins or the G-Men hoisted up that Lombardi Trophy.  As a matter of fact in the 42 history of the Super Bowl, there was never a 5 year span in which neither the Cowboys, Giants or Redskins were crowned NFL Champions…  until 1997-2007.

Its not overly important persay but an interesting factoid given the deep rooted tradition and history of all 3 franchises.  From Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson to Doug Williams, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Mark Rypien (yeah that’s right I said Mark effing Rypien!), Eli Manning (gasp!), to also Tony Dorsett, Emmitt Smith, Ottis Anderson, as well as Lawrence Taylor, Deion Sanders, Osi Umenyiora, to Michael Strahan, and encompassing Art Monk, Michael Irvin and David Tyree =); some of the most memorable faces of the NFL, tried and true Hall of Famers, came from the NFC East.  On a side note, I have not intentionally left out the Philadelphia Eagles, its just that they have yet to win a Super Bowl in two appearances no less but year in and year out are always contenders.

What does that have to do with the 2008 regular season? Nothing.  All smokes and mirrors to distract you from the fact that I didn’t want to solely fawn over the Cowboys but instead try to be “balanced and fair” and rant about someone else.  There are plenty of interesting stories of course, but with the absence of Tom Brady and the supposed mediocrity of Peyton Manning, there is a definite power vacuum in the AFC that’s subsequently being filled by the NFC East.  Yes through only 3 games I am tooting a bold horn in the face of a 17 game season, but with the obvious popular pick in Dallas who’ve so far taken out last year’s surprise team in the Cleveland Browns (Ok not so much difficult but still), the-one-game-away-from-the-Super-Bowl-Green Bay Packers, and the Philadelphia Eagles (who I firmly believe can go blow for blow with the Boys as evidenced by the Monday Night thriller two weeks ago).  You also have the incumbent Super Bowl Champs, the Giants who are also perfect in beating up on lesser teams like Cincinnati, and St. Louis but did win convincingly on opening night against a solid Redskins team.  Philadelphia has in turn also beat up on the hapless Rams but losing an entertaining but crazy primetime game to their rivals have done nothing to diminish their title aspirations especially after mandhandling the Pittsburgh Steelers last week.  Washington in true form lining up behind their strong D bounced back from a week 1 loss to beat two very good offensive teams in the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints which only stakes their cause that they can light up the scoreboard as well as play solid defense.

So even though its only been 3 weeks, take one look at the standings and its obvious what sticks out like McCain at a Vietnamese restaurant (or Obama at Sturgis); the NFC East recipients all are above .500, while the Green Bay Packers lead the NFC North with the bad luck/tough schedule Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings limping behind quietly but dangerously.  The NFC South and West sport some schizophrenic teams in Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and San Francisco all whom have good young coaches, QB carousels, and defenses with identity crisis’s.  In the AFC, the aforementioned power vacuum left by Brady/Manning now is filled by the likes of the Buffalo Bills, the Tennessee Titans (with a veteran journeyman QB taking over early in the season), the Baltimore Ravens (behind a rookie QB), and the Denver Broncos who may have used up all their luck in squeaking by the San Diego Chargers, and the Saints.

In truth, while fans outside of the NFC East may not care (nor should you), this is truly a rebalancing of the power wielded for so long by the AFC in the last 10 years (although the preceding 30 were dominated by the NFC), as new blood like the Bills, Titans, and perhaps the Jaguars, and Broncos stake to claim contender status whereby perennial studs like Indianapolis and New England surely have plenty of season left to return to glory.

Some nuggets of ignorance:

- Brady Quinn is not the long term answer to whatever ails Browns, because the O-line is not protecting Derek Anderson, he’s taking more risks leading to more INTs, and the drops by Braylon Edwards does not help.

- Who will win between Atlanta/Carolina, one team who did/will struggle on the road vs. another who have made it a habit in years past to struggle at home (even if they barely are barely 1-0 at home this season)?

- Between Minnesota and Tennessee, which old (cough cough) veteran backup journeyman QB will win in a battle of two good Ds and even better running games?

- Look for Pittsburgh to dominate at home after licking their wounds from Philadelphia against a Ravens team who once again feasted on lesser competition on the heels of a tenacious D but ultimately lacking on O, or least will be against a real defensive team.