NFL Week Two Power Rankings: Its A New York State Of Mind

NFL Power Ranking Week 2

Last week in parenthesis

 

Best 0-2 Team: Tennessee Titans

Worst 2-0 Team: Denver Broncos

Team who gained the most positions: New York Jets, 11. Beating the Patriots will do that for a team.

Team who lost the most positions: Green Bay Packers, 9. Losing to the Bengals at home will do that for a team.

Team I have yet to figure out: The Bengals. When Chad Ochocinco is motivated they seem to win. Perhaps every team should have a scoring ritual that he can mimic.

On to the Rankings:

 

1.     (6) New York Giants – Running defense struggled, pass defense was excellent. Eli conducted another game winning drive and the Giants spoil Jerry Jones’ night. Any road win in the NFC East is tough.

2.     (13) New York Jets – The Jets now look like a serious contender in the AFC after two great performances. Their defense looks unstoppable, Sanchez has played not terrible, but made plays when he has had to, and the running game is excellent. Perhaps they can challenge the Steelers.

3.     (4) Minnesota Vikings – Struggled against the Lions but put it together in the second half and Peterson ran wild. Their offensive line needs to protect Favre better or his games started streak will be snapped.

4.     (8) Atlanta Falcons – Not a great game against Carolina, but everyone in front of them loses so they move up. Their offense looks good, but defense has to step up, especially if they are going to beat the Saints.

5.     (14) New Orleans Saints – A good win against a pretty good Eagles team, but with no McNabb. Regardless, I am starting to believe they can compete, despite their defense being pretty bad. Drew Brees might have a better year than last year, which is scary.

6.     (1) Pittsburgh Steelers – Lost a tough game to the Bears. Defense wasn’t the same without Polamalu but was still pretty decent. Need to find a running game if they want to defend their Super Bowl title.

7.     (11) Indianapolis Colts – Move up by default of not losing their games. Have not looked impressive in first two games, but the offense is coming around. Defense couldn’t bottle up the Wildcat, how will they fair against the Cards next week?

8.     (12) Baltimore Ravens – Defense was lacking against the Chargers but helped them to field goals in the red zone and made enough plays to win. Flacco looked great. If that offense continues and the defense plays like its supposed to  they could be a front runner in the AFC.

9.     (2) New England Patriots – After two lackluster performances, the Pats have to be wondering. Welker not playing hurt Brady tremendously, and Brady does not look to be in rhythm yet, especially with Galloway. Defense did its part today however.

10. (3) Philadelphia Eagles – Defense was atrocious against the Saints, not that any defense might fair to well. Need to get more pressure on Brees, but I believe with McNabb that the Eagles win the game.

11. (15) Chicago Bears – Cutler avenges his last weeks performance by constructing a game wining drive. Still doesn’t look like the Pro Bowler we know but is getting closer to that form. Defense played scrappy with Urlacher missing.

12. (5) San Diego Chargers – Defense looked terrible in an outing against the Ravens. On the flip side, offense did amazing against a solid Ravens D. Need to score in the red zone if they aspire to reach the Super Bowl.

13. (16) San Francisco 49ers – Another solid, balanced performance. Injury to Gore is concerning. Shaun Hill improves to 9-3 as a starter.

14.  (9) Dallas Cowboys – Tony Romo struggled, but the running game was excellent. Defense needs to step it up a notch if they want to win the NFC, especially in the loaded NFC East. No one hit the scoreboard, that’s also a plus.

15.  (20) Houston Texans – As bad as the Texans played against the Jets, they played this good against the Titans. Their defense needs some work allowing Chris Johnson to beat them in every way, but a win against Tennessee for Houston fans is always so sweet.

16. (7) Tennessee Titans – A surprise 0-2 start for the Titans. They have had some tough games, but the defense really needs some work. The lack of pass rush against the Texans was surprising, especially after the Jets gave them a blue print last week.

17. (21) Arizona Cardinals – Got their “Can’t win on the East Coast” off of their back. The offense was crisp, the defense was active, and was the normal Arizona Cardinals we are used to seeing.

18. (18) Buffalo Bills – Beat a less talented Buccaneers team. Should have won by more. Defense stepped up when it needed and Trent Edwards continues to play excellent minus that one interception.

19. (10) Green Bay Packers – Losing to the Bengals? Pretty bad. Their defense looked terrible and their offense was out of sink, and failed to shred the Bengals defense. I’m not sure who the Packers are yet, especially after last weeks outing.

20.  (17) Seattle Seahawks  – Had a reality check after dismantling the Rams. Hassleback is hurt and their defense needs a lot of work. Allowing 207 yards to one player is just frightening.

21. (30) Cincinnati Bengals – As bad as last week was, this week was just as good. They brought their bad karma into Green Bay and turned it around. The offense looked great against an above average defense and the defense did enough to win the game.

22. (19) Washington Redskins – Did not play well against the terrible Rams. Defense bottled up Jackson but the offense has to come around to compete with any of the teams in the NFC East. The running game has to step up.

23. (27) Denver Broncos – The Broncos are 2-0, but much with smoke and mirrors. A miracle the first week and the Browns in week 2. I will wait until they play a good team to reserve judgment. Although they did play well against the Browns.

24. (23) Oakland Raiders – Beat the lowly Chiefs. The defense was great, but the running game has to be better because Russell is just not where he needs to bet yet. They are moving in the right direction I believe.

25.  (22) Miami Dolphins– Did everything they could do to win the game, but their defense failed them. I’m not sure how you lose the game when you have 45 minutes in time of possession. Wildcat looked back to normal form, but need to find a way to make Pat White plays more productive. Defense needs to not let big plays happen.

26. (28) Carolina Panthers – Jake Delhomme redeemed himself after his last two games. Defense needs to step up if the Panthers want to compete. 0-2 start is not a good sign in the loaded NFC South.

27. (23) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Played hard again, but this year is going to be tough. Defense allowed Fred Jackson to run all over them. Offense is going to have to carry them much of the way.

28.  (24) Cleveland Browns – Defense was atrocious against the Broncos and the offense wasn’t much better. Braylon Edwards had a good game though.

29. (29) Kansas City Chiefs – Played hard against the Raiders in a classic defensive struggle. Cassel needs to play better if they are to win any games this year. Defense played well against the Raiders run.

30. (26) Jacksonville Jaguars – Let the Cardinals run all over them and the 31-17 score was a favorable final score. Garrard didn’t make any mistakes, but the defense allowed the highest passing percentage in one game in NFL History.

31. (31) Detroit Lions – Played an excellent first half against the Vikings, but then realized they were the Lions. Fans hope to see more of Stafford to Johnson in the future.

32. (32) St. Louis Rams – Also played well enough to move up, but couldn’t make any plays at the end of the game to win. Offense is atrocious, Bulger needs to step up his game. 

 

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NFL Bone Heads of the Week

 

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Happy Tuesday Morning Loyal Reader!  I’m back with another F-…I mean Bone Heads of the week award. 

You might be wondering about the name change.  Well because I’m long winded I’ll be glad to tell you. 

It turns out that my dear old mother is a reader of Bleacher Report (who knew).  Also she didn’t quite care for the name “F-Tard”, so to make my sweet mother happy this article will now be the NFL Bone Head(s) of the Week.

Now, on to the Bone Heads!

This week was a tough one.  There were some dumb plays, but unlike last week, there were none that really cost the team in the long run. 

I had plenty of nominees, one was Tony Romo with his three picks, but they weren’t really dumb as they were misfires or bad reads.  The first interception was a great audible by the Giants and then a good jump route. 

The second was a fluke, and third the safety was so far off I’m sure 90 percent of the quarterbacks in the NFL would not have seen him.  So, Romo, you’re safe for this week.

Then we have Coach Jim Zorn of the Washington Redskins for his poor play calling in the red zone and the ill-advised going for it on forth and three from the five yard line.  Alas though the Skins won and I picked on them last week.

So who to pick?

Well even though I said I had already picked on the Skins I’m going to have to do it again (Guys I love you, please stop making me mention you in this article).  My NFL Bone Head of the week is Robert Henson.

Who?

You know Robert Henson, the seventh round pick from Texas Christian. You know, the rookie linebacker.  Yeah, that Robert Henson.

Don’t worry, I had no clue who he was until Monday morning either.

Well for those of you who did not watch the epic offensive battle of the Redskins’ 9-7 win over the St. Louis Rams let me tell you, the fans at Fed Ex Field in Washington DC, I mean Landover, MD were not happy with the team’s production.

Failing to score on three red zone attempts on a team that was shut out the week before made the fans quite cross.  With every run up the gut in for one yard or less in the red zone a choir of boos rained down on the team.

Mr. Henson had had enough of it.  After the game he he hopped on his Twitter account and ripped the fans. 

First off, who subscribes to his Twitter account to where this would make headlines?

Anyways he called the fans “disloyal” and “dim-wits”, which I’ll agree with 25 percent of that statement. 

Disloyal?  Not Redskins fans.  When a team can start 0-5 like they did a few years back and still sell out games that screams unabashed loyalty to a team, especially when you have a much hated owner like Dan Snyder at the helm.

Dim-wits?  I’ll agree that 50 percent of the people booing are probably dim-wits.  Mostly because these are the same fans who will boo when the punt team comes out no matter the situation.  They probably go for it on Madden when its 4th-and-26. 

However not all the fans booing are dim-wits nor were any of them disloyal.  They were simply expressing their displeasure with the coach’s play calling.

The boos were not directed at the players, not one of them.

So Mr. Henson (for your own protection I suggest you change your name) for calling out one of the most rabid fan bases in the NFL has earned you the coveted NFL Bone Head of the Week.  Congratulations, Sir!

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My Official New Orleans Saints Review

Drew Brees should be receiving jail time for his performance the past two weeks.

In two games Brees showed that he is a good hunter by gunning down some Lions and some Eagles. We all know it is illegal to kill an Eagle, let alone 11 of them.

Brees leads the NFL with nine passing touchdowns, two interceptions, 669 yards and a quarter back rating of 132.9.

Brees has never played better in the first two games of a season in his career, but what makes this even better was the fact that he got it going on the road.

In 2008 Brees was not as effective on the road as he was at home, which was part of the reason the Saints were 2-6 on the road. In 2006 when the Saints went to the NFC Championship Brees had 17 passing touchdowns and only two interceptions on the road.

In 2008, his worst season on the road, he had 14 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions. I did include the San Diego game across seas but if you take it out you will see Brees is 11-11 on the road.

Brees has improved at home throughout his seasons with New Orleans, but if he can continue to deliver on the road that will make a big difference between the Saints being in the playoffs or not.

But there’s no doubt in my mind Brees is looking better than ever, and teams better beware.

All of the offseason the main debate was over who would be the starting running back in the 2009 season. I have no doubt that Pierre Thomas will be the starter when healthy, but a running back that not many people even spoke about has definitely opened some eyes in the first two weeks of the season.

In two games Mike Bell has brought balance to the Saints offense with 229 rushing yards on 45 attempts with a 5.1 yards per carry average. Bell also had a rushing touchdown against the Eagles.

Bell has shown that he has great vision with his cut backs. But he also has shown he can be the power back for the Saints, putting his shoulder down and getting physical with opposing defenses.

The Saints commitment to running the ball better has brought a balance to the number one offense in 2008, which makes me believe this the Saints offense will be at it’s best in 2009.

You might say, how do you get better than number one? By getting a rushing attack that has ranked in the bottom half of the league into the top half. The run game makes the play action pass that the Saints love even more affective.

Even Reggie Bush got a run up the gut against the Eagles that resulted in a 19-yard touchdown to put the Eagles away. I’m hoping that run can get Reggie’s confidence up and will show him that you don’t always have to bounce it to the outside to get a solid run.

Last season everyone was wondering, what is going on with Marques Colston. He didn’t seem like he was in rhythm after his injury.

But this year is completely different. Colston came in eager to make his statement to the NFL and has recorded 11 receptions for 128 yards and three touchdowns.

Along with Colston, tight end Jeremey Shockey has shown he is ready to step up, recording two touchdowns—both against the Lions.

How about Devery Henderson? Henderson embarrassed corner back Sheldon Brown who came in with a Jason mask. I  think he was just getting his team fired up for nothing.

I’ll give Sheldon Brown some credit. He did have out standing coverage. Brees just made an amazing pass, and Henderson made an outstanding catch. Honestly Henderson has shown some improvement in the past two games.

Now onto the defense that is currently tied for first in interceptions. I would like to say that if you look at the scoreboard it looks like the same old Saints. I do have to be  worried because the Saints haven’t played against a proven quarterback just yet.

The Saints  have allowed over 500 yards passing in the first two games. The have had teams try to throw on them 89 times and have only allowed 47 completions with a 52.6 completion percentage. The Saints have only allowed three passing touchdowns but also picked off six passes and recorded three sacks. 

Three of those interceptions come from veteran Safety Darren Sharper who took a interception to the house on a 97-yard return in the fourth quarter against the Eagles.

Two of the interceptions were also recorded by linebacker Scott Shanle, who got his first two career interceptions in the first two games of the season.

It seems to me the Saints are trying to make plays on the ball, which makes me very happy. I’m hoping the rest of the Saints will step up and get some more interceptions in week three against Buffalo.

The Saints run defense has definitely been stingy so far. In two games against solid rushing attacks the Saints have only allowed 118 rushing yards on 41 attempts with a 2.9 average and two rushing touchdowns.

They have given up a total of 40 points defensively if you take away the safety the Saints gave up on purpose and the fumble recovery returned for a touchdown in week one. But if you don’t, they gave up 49 points.

The Saints special teams improved in week two but did allow another return up to Saints territory again. This is the third return the Saints have allowed an opposing team to take up to Saints territory, and the three of them combined have cost the Saints 17 points.

The Saints were able to keep punt returner DeSean Jackson in check, which was an improvement along with rookie Malcolm Jenkins forcing a fumble which gave the Saints great field positioning on a kick return.

I expect the Saints to work more on their returns and kickoffs to help the offense and defense get better field position.

 

 

 

 

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Monday Night Wrapup: What To Make of Colts-Dolphins?

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NFL Power Rankings: Week 3

The Bengals’ 31-24 upset win over the Packers at Lambeau Field really shook up the rankings, as Cincinnati jumped from 25th to 13th in front of Green Bay. 

Then Pittsburgh lost to Chicago, dropping the top-ranked Steelers all the way down to 16th, behind the Bears, who lost to the Packers in Week 1. 

The big winner in all this was 2-0 Denver, which leaped from 24th to 12th, thanks to its miracle victory over Cincy in Week 1.

 

1. Baltimore Ravens (2-0)

Baltimore’s impressive 31-26 win at San Diego, combined with Pittsburgh’s loss, leaves the Ravens atop the rankings this week.  Baltimore has the best rushing defense (41 yards per game) and fourth-best rushing offense (164 ypg).

 

2. New York Giants (2-0)

The G-Men spoiled the Cowboys’ opener at their new stadium by picking off Tony Romo three times.  The Giants have the fourth-best pass defense (157 ypg) in the NFL.

 

3. Indianapolis Colts (2-0)

Against Miami, Indy had the ball for only 14:53, the lowest time of possession for a victorious squad in 32 years.

 

4. Minnesota Vikings (2-0)

The Vikes have opened the season with two road wins, albeit over Cleveland and Detroit.

 

5. New Orleans Saints (2-0)

Scoring 45 on Detroit is one thing, but putting up 48 at Philly is another.  The Saints have the best offense (468 ypg) in the league.

 

6. Atlanta Falcons (2-0)

You think Matt Ryan likes having Tony Gonzalez on his team?  The two hooked up for more than 70 yards and a score for the second straight week.

 

7. San Diego Chargers (1-1)

Even without LaDainian Tomlinson, the Bolts hung tough with a strong Ravens team.  It was a far better performance than their game against Oakland in Week 1, even though they won that contest.

 

8. Dallas Cowboys (1-1)

Did anyone else catch those “Cage Girls” dancing above the cheap seats at the new Cowboys Stadium?  Bravo, Jerry Jones.

 

9. New York Jets (2-0)

I guess those seven points the Jets allowed the Texans in Week 1 was no fluke, especially since Houston went out and scored 34 on Tennessee.  Rex Ryan has the best defense in the NFL (241 ypg).

 

10. New England Patriots (1-1)

Not sure how some people had the Patriots among the top two in their power rankings last week after they barely snuck by the Bills, which those same people had ranked some 20 spots lower.

 

11. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)

There’s no shame in losing to the Saints when you don’t even have Donovan McNabb available, but McNabb doesn’t play defense and giving up 48 at home is never a good thing.

 

12. Denver Broncos (2-0)

I think this is the biggest surprise so far this season.  The seven points the Broncos held the Bengals to in Week 1 is looking a lot more impressive after Cincinnati scored 31 at Green Bay on Sunday.  Denver has the second-best defense in the league (253.5 ypg).

 

13. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)

A lot of knockout pool participants were cringing at around 4 p.m. on Sunday.

 

14. Green Bay Packers (1-1)

Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 10 times in two games: more than any other quarterback in the league.

 

15. Chicago Bears (1-1)

After a 43.2 QB rating at Green Bay in Week 1, Jay Cutler turned in a 104.7 performance at home against the Steelers.

 

16. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)

A loss to Chicago, combined with the fact that their Week 1 win over Tennessee doesn’t look as good anymore, drops the Steelers 15 spots.

 

17. San Francisco 49ers (2-0)

Since Week 13 of last year, the Niners have won six games.  By comparison, the Patriots have won just five.

 

18. Buffalo Bills (1-1)

The Bills have the sixth-best rushing attack in the NFL (154 ypg).

 

19. Arizona Cardinals (1-1)

Kurt Warner’s record-breaking 24-for-26 performance led the Cards to a nice bounce back win at Jacksonville, despite the east coast 1 p.m. start for a West Coast team.

 

20. Houston Texans (1-1)

After a disappointing home-opening loss to the Jets during which they scored just seven points, the Texans put up 34 at Tennessee.

 

21. Tennessee Titans (0-2)

The Titans have the second-best rush defense in the league (49.5 ypg) but the worst pass defense (339 ypg).

 

22. Seattle Seahawks (1-1)

Seahawks fans could be looking at a repeat of 2008 if Matt Hasselbeck isn’t able to recover quickly from a rib injury he suffered against San Francisco.

 

23. Carolina Panthers (0-2)

At least Jake Delhomme only threw one interception this game.

 

24. Miami Dolphins (0-2)

I feel a little better about taking Ronnie Brown over Brian Westbrook in my fantasy draft now.

 

25. Washington Redskins (1-1)

I don’t care if they win, scoring only nine points on the Rams will get you dropped three spots in my rankings.

 

26. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2)

The Jags are 5-14 since beating the Steelers in the 2007 wild card playoffs.

 

27. Oakland Raiders (1-1)

The Raiders beat the Chiefs despite only having 176 yards of offense and holding the ball for just 21:21.

 

28. Tampa Bay Bucs (0-2)

The Bucs have the second-worst defense in the league (450 ypg).

 

29. Cleveland Browns (0-2)

Disappointing start for the Eric Mangini era in Cleveland.

 

30. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2)

Even with Matt Cassel back, the Chiefs can’t win.

 

31. St. Louis Rams (0-2)

Fifty-eight players have scored more points than the Rams this year, including Olindo Mare and Shayne Graham.

 

32. Detroit Lions (0-2)

Even Ernie Harwell couldn’t get the Lions a win.

 

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison.

Jordan Schwartz is Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees Community Leader. His book “Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man” is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

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Fantasy Football Pitfalls—Week Three

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The Matt Forte Saga: Why Is He Struggling So Much?

I am sure I will take some flak for saying this, but Matt Forte is not as good of a running back as everyone thinks.

He can be explosive. He can catch the ball. He can make plays after the catch. But, he is just not a complete running back.

I don’t believe his vision is all that great. And, in the history of the NFL, vision is what makes you a great running back. A running back has to be able to see the cutback before he commits to the run and he has to have the ability to make that cutback. 

As of right now, Matt Forte is not seeing those cutbacks. It seems that if a gaping hole is not provided for him in the designed area of the running play, he is just going to be cut down in the backfield or bowl into the backs of his offensive lineman and take a gain of a yard or two.

I saw several plays in the first two weeks where he took the handoff and ran straight ahead into the pile of lineman when there was a hole opened up to the left or right of him. 

In the NFL, those holes close up quickly. I would have liked to have seen him at least try to make the cut and try and get through that hole rather than just give up on the play and head into the trenches where he had to have known he wasn’t going to come out the other end.

He has looked jittery these first two weeks. I am not sure if we can contribute that to the fact that he has gone up against two 3-4 defenses (one being the best in the business in Pittsburgh), or if it’s a sophomore slump (which I don’t believe in), or if it is just him being exposed for what he really is.

Last season, he benefited from a good amount of big plays. He took several runs for big gains, which padded his stats a lot more than most Chicago fans want to admit. 

He was never the running back who would take several carries for five to 10-yard gains.  He was either breaking it long or getting tackled at the line of scrimmage and, unfortunately, it was more of the latter than the former.

Another reason for his standing out was the plays he made with his hands. He is a great pass catcher out of the backfield and I believe that his making some plays in that facet of the game helped shade his struggles when running the ball.

If you look into his game stats, you can see his struggles. If you take out his longest run from each game he played in, he averaged 3.1 yards per carry on the rest of his 300 carries last season. That is not a good number. 

I understand that stats are deceiving and that most of the running backs who lead the league in rushing benefit from breaking big plays. However, they also are practitioners of the five to 10-yard gainers. They aren’t broke or bust only type backs.

If you look more into his rookie season, he had three 100-yard games and only three other games over 80 yards. Does that sound like an elite back to you?

All of this came with being fourth in the NFL in rushing attempts. So, he had ample opportunities to gain those yards, but he just always seemed to fall short.

This is not an article claiming that Matt Forte is done. I don’t believe that at all. But, I just feel that he needs to be knocked down a peg or two so that the expectations for him aren’t so lofty. 

As of right now, Bears fans are expecting him to be Adrian Peterson (and not the Bears’ Adrian Peterson) and Him he is not.

If the Bears are going to succeed this season and in the future, Matt Forte is going to have to develop better vision. I am not sure if it is his understanding of how to read defenses before the snap or if it is his focusing in on a point after he takes the handoff and not being able to release his eyes from that spot thereafter. 

Whatever it is, he needs to work on that ability. Otherwise, he is going to have to wait for big holes to break open and in the NFL, that only happens once in a great while. And, you do not have a great while to become a great back. It is quite easy to lose your job in the NFL.

I think next week (against Seattle) will be a good test of where he stands. Green Bay has an underrated defense and in that game, they looked fierce. Also, we all know how great of a defense Pittsburgh has, so being fed to the lions the first two weeks of the season may have been the best thing for the rest of Matt Forte’s season.

He doesn’t face a 3-4 defense again until Week Eight when the Bears face off against Cleveland. Hopefully, he just struggles with the 3-4 and I am completely off in my assessment of him. 

Seattle has definitely shown its struggles against the run so far this season. Both Steven Jackson and Frank Gore have gone over 100 yards against them, with Gore breaking out for over 200 yards. 

This could be the exact matchup Matt Forte needs. But, he is going to have to show us something if he wants to be named on the same level as the Frank Gores and Steven Jacksons of the NFL.

The Bears have a fairly easy schedule in the coming weeks, but toward the end of the season they will start to see stronger based defenses (Philadelphia, Minnesota twice, Green Bay, and Baltimore), so if Matt Forte is going to get on track, he should think about doing so starting next week. 

Because if he is not playing at a high level come Week 11, the weeks after that aren’t going to make it any easier on him—save the Week 17 game at Detroit.

With the improved passing attack the Bears have, Matt Forte should be running wild on defenses. I do not think we can blame his lack of production on the lack of talent the Bears have at wide receiver, but that could be some of the reasoning. 

If the Bears’ wide receivers continued to improve and safeties had to pay more attention to where they were on the field, defenses would have to stop focusing in on only where Matt Forte is each down.

Football is a team sport, and even though only one man has the ball in his hands at a given time, the rest of the team still plays a part in how well he does with the ball in his hands. 

But, the rest of the team and coaches can only help so much. It is up to the ball carrier to be able to see what his team is doing to help him and take advantage of the openings they are providing. 

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Daily Haze: Miami’s Two-Minute Drill

Anyone stay up for the ending of the Miami-Indianapolis game last night?

Worst two-minute drill ever.

Chad Pennington and the Dolphins’ offense are not really suited for fast football. I swear I have never seen a team so lazy and slow to the ball after each play in such a crucial spot.

Ironically, Miami did have a chance to win the game on a couple occasions. The first came on a deep ball from Pennington to Ted Ginn. The ball hit Ginn in the hands—both of them—five yards deep in the endzone but he failed to hold on despite a favorable single-coverage match up.

Ginn then converted a fourth down play to give Miami one more heave into into the endzone, which was picked off by the Colts’ defense. All-in-all, a sloppy, preseason-esque two-minute drill from the Dolphins, now 0-2 on the season.

Here are today’s great reads:

• The last best fantasy football team name contest of the summer, which officially ends today. Boooooo. [The Hazean]
• In the battle for the new No. 2 spot in the Colts’ receiving corps, Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon caught just one pass each. But Garcon’s went for a score. [Lester’s Legends]
• A bevy of random thoughts on the NFL after the second weekend of regular season football. The Red Zone Channel sounds pretty sweet. [The Big Lead]
• Hang in there, Matt Forte owners. The sophomore has struggled thus far, but his time should come soon. [FanHouse]
• Mark Sanchez, Mario Manningham and Correll Buckhalter headline this list of best waiver wire additions from week 2. [National Football Post]
• Wide receiver and tight end target numbers of interest from the weekend. [Sports Data Hub]
• More on Chris Johnson’s monster fantasy day. He likely set records across fantasy leagues, though I doubt most leagues keep historical stats to check this against. [Roto Arcade]

Got a pressing fantasy football question and need an answer now? Or just want to chat about all the recent developments in the sports’ world? Head over to The Hazean’s fantasy football forums for all that and more. Also remember to check out The Hazean’s fantasy rankings and mock draft database.

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Minnesota Vikings Need More From Brett Favre

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MONDAY MORNING HUDDLE

 

 

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