Contenders with problems
09/18/2007
Stalter Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Before “Johnny NFL wiz” feels the need to remind me, I realize every team has only played two games.
However, 120 minutes of football is more than enough time for teams to show their weaknesses.
Thanks to analysts and announcers shoving it down our throats on a weekly basis, we all know that the NFL is a copycat league. Teams study film religiously in an effort to pinpoint opponents’ weaknesses, so show flaws to one team and you’re basically showing them to the rest of the league. That’s why if the five so-called contenders below don’t correct their problems soon, their postseason aspirations may crumble.
For each team, I’ve detailed why they’ve struggled thus far and what may cost them a trip to the postseason. First, however, here are the teams you won’t find on the list and why:
- The Chargers looked horrible Sunday night against the Patriots, but that’s just a case of one team owning another. San Diego will be fine and while Denver will give them a run at the AFC West crown, they’ve still got a great shot at making the postseason.
- Most pundits didn’t consider the Chiefs, Jets, Giants and Rams legit contenders, so don’t ask why they’re not included.
Now that that’s taken care of, to paraphrase Jake Taylor in “Major League”: “All right, football fans, let’s get nasty.”
1. The Cincinnati Bengals: Abysmal defense
Jamal Lewis has seemingly revived himself in Cleveland, but there’s no way he should rack up 215 yards on any defense. There’s also no excuse to give up 51 points to a Browns team that averaged just 14 a game last year.
So what’s going wrong? Well, a little bit of everything, but it all starts with defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan, whose play calling is unimaginable and inconsistent. In their Week 1 victory over the Ravens, Bresnahan successfully utilized the blitz to put pressure on Steve McNair and Kyle Boller the entire game. In Sunday’s loss to Cleveland, either the Browns offensive line is Fort Knox or the blitzes Bresnahan called just weren’t effective. Which leads me to the players. Their lack of execution is going to cost Bresnahan his job. The linebacker unit struggles getting off blocks, the defensive backfield is a liability in man-to-man coverage and bends too much in a soft zone, while the line creates little to no pressure without a successfully timed blitz.
Maybe it’s scheming, lack of execution by the players, or maybe the Bengals just don’t have enough talent on that side of the ball. Regardless, this team is pissing away all of their offensive talent.
2. The New Orleans Saints: Jambalaya of problems
The Saints were a good team last year minus the defense, but they also snuck up on opponents and Sean Payton’s play calling was phenomenal. This season, they still have the same weak defense and with a year’s worth of film to help dissect his tendencies, teams are on to Payton. Another problem is the letdown effect coming off last year. They seem to lack fire and motivation after thriving with an “Us against the world” mentality last season. But let’s dive more into the technical problems.
The defensive problems are a little easier to identify. Nobody tackles, the corners can’t be trusted in man-to-man and the safeties aren’t much help over the top in zone. So what you get every week is a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” prevent defense that sorely lacks the playmakers necessary to hold up against better offenses.
As far as the offensive woes are concerned, it starts with the stars not making plays. Maybe Drew Brees is still troubled by the dislocated elbow he suffered in the Pro Bowl, because he’s a mess. His decision making has been terrible, he’s not gliding in the pocket like he did last year, and his arm strength is way down. Perhaps compounding his woes is the offensive line, which can’t open rushing lanes for Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister and certainly isn’t giving Brees enough time to go through all of his reads. Finally, the Cover 2 has owned Payton thus far. Both the Colts and Bucs have successfully shut down the spread attack Payton likes to employ, while defensive lines have generated a pass rush without sending extra defenders. The result is a once dynamic Saints offense struggling to put points on the board and a 0-2 start.
It also doesn’t help that the Saints erred in letting veteran kicker John Carney go for Olindo Mare, who has only converted one of three field goal attempts.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars: Something’s missing
Yes they’re 1-1, but if the Falcons had anything that resembled a field goal kicker, it’s possible the Jags are 0-2 and heading for 0-3 at Denver next week. Are they talented? Extremely – but something is lacking at this point.
The defense – which gave up 282 rushing yards to the Titans in Week 1 – played markedly better on Sunday, sacking Joey Harrington seven times and limiting the Falcons to only 82 yards on the ground. However, it appears that unless they blitz, they’re not creating much pressure, which in turn is producing big plays for the offense. That’s usually a recipe for disaster.
The problems are more pronounced on offense. First and foremost, David Garrard has played well, so don’t look at the quarterback play for reasons why this team has only managed 23 points in two games. The running game is the issue, where Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew have been stagnant mostly due to an ineffective offensive line. Center Dennis Norman and guard Vince Manuwai have more often resembled revolving doors than run blockers, while tackle Khalif Barnes still struggles mightily against speed rushers. So a dominant unit only a year ago has turned into a huge weakness. Add another year of inconsistent wide receivers and a tough AFC to the mix and this team might underachieve all season.
4. Seattle Seahawks: Road woes continue?
Since this column is dedicated to why certain teams will miss the playoffs because of their weaknesses, my points about the Seahawks are probably lame in comparison to the other teams I’ve listed. But follow me for a second.
Since the divisions re-aligned in 2002, Seattle’s road winning percentage is just .463. Other than their Super Bowl run in 2005 when they went 5-3, the Seahawks have not had a winning road record in five seasons and they’ve started 0-1 this year after losing 23-20 to the Cardinals on Sunday. They appear more cautious and less motivated away from Safeco Field, which isn’t a good sign with trips to San Fran, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Carolina on the horizon.
So, are the Seahawks going to miss the playoffs if the go 4-4 on the road again? Probably not, but if they can’t win on the road in the regular season, what makes anyone think they can do it in the postseason? Don’t forget that both of their playoff games during their Super Bowl year were at home. So maybe their road woes are a flaw that will show up during the postseason, instead of one that will keep them out of it.
5. Philadelphia Eagles: Lacking offensive creativity
Other than a couple of possessions this season, the Eagles offense has been as fun to watch as paint dry. Donovan McNabb has really struggled with consistency, has shown a major lack of mobility and just doesn’t seem comfortable overall. Maybe he needs more time to recover from offseason knee surgery or it’s possible that the entire offense needs to gel again after Jeff Garcia took over the reigns last year. Or maybe this team just isn’t the contender many pundits (including myself) thought it would be.
It was obvious in their 20-13 loss to the Redskins on Monday night that McNabb and Brian Westbrook needed more help. Receivers Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis struggled getting off jams and creating separation. In turn, McNabb was easily pressured and sacked.
It’s a long season, but the Eagles have done nothing offensively to suggest they are a legit contender.
Questions or comments? Send them to astalter@bullz-eye.com.