THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY WEEK 7

The Good: The Jets have a marquee win over the struggling Chargers.

The Jets really needed this win. Coming into this week, the Jets had three wins, but the teams they beat only had 3 combined wins. Despite Phillip Rivers struggling a bit, the Charger were out to their most impressive start in years with a 4-1 record. Had the Jets lost this game, their playoff hopes would have all but vanished. The Jets put themselves in a big hole by having a turn over go for a touchdown on the first drive of the game, but they fought back and shut out the Chargers in the second half of the game. Their offense played surprisingly well, especially the connection between Mark Sanchez and Plaxico Burress, and their defense played their best game of the season. Hopefully the Jets pull themselves together for the rest of the season, but the Chargers have a lot of questions to answer.

The Bad: The Ravens’ offense only puts up 7 points against a subpar Jags’ defense.

This was the worst game the Ravens have put together in a long time. This game was a complete mess. Both teams’ star running backs combined for 4 fumbles and neither offense ever really got anything going. The Ravens and the Jags each only converted 2 third downs (2/12 and 2/16 respectively), making this one of the toughest games to watch of the season. Blaine Gabbert threw for less than 100 yards and completed less than 50% of his passes, yet they still came out victorious. Gabbert didn’t make any good plays, but he didn’t make any big mistakes to cost them the game. That’s all they needed to get past a Ravens team that is struggling to find an identity on offense.

The Ugly: The Colts get blown out 62-7.

How the mighty have fallen. The Colts won their division going 10-6 last season, but they have already lost 7 games this season without their leader, Peyton Manning. The Colts are sporting the worst defense in the league and the third worst offense. Every aspect of this team has fallen apart without Manning and it was clearer than ever in their decimation by the Saints. The Saints totaled over 500 yards of offense and held the Colts to around 100 yards passing, despite struggling against the pass in recent weeks. The Saints at home is a tough matchup for any team, but allowing anyone to run up 62 points on you is inexcusable. This team has lost all motivation and the coaching staff needs to take a lot of the blame for this team’s performance. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY WEEK 6

The Good: The Buccaneers prevail over the Saints at home.

Where did this performance come from? Josh Freeman threw for over 300 yards, backup running back/fullback Earnest Graham rushed for over 100 yards, and the defense caused the high powered Saints offense to turn the ball over 4 times, picking off Drew Brees a shocking 3 times. This team was down probably their most talented players on both offense and defense (running back LeGarrette Blount and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy), yet they played by far their best game of the year. On top of this, they have a solid lead in their division with impressive wins over both the Saints and Falcons, who were both supposed to be Super Bowl contenders. Sorry to quote Dennis Green, but the Bucs are apparently the team I thought they were, a dangerous young team with a solid shot at making the playoffs.

The Bad: Sam Bradford throws for over 300 yards, yet scores only 3 points and gets injured.

How do you produce over 400 yards of offense and put up 3 points? If anyone is counting, that is driving the length of the football field 4 times. This shows a complete lack of efficiency when it really matters, most importantly in the red zone and on third down. The Rams were 0/3 in the red zone and 3/13 (23%) on third downs. That is atrocious. I don’t care who Sam Bradford is throwing to and how bad his offensive line is playing, he has to be better. There is no excuse for a quarterback who is getting $60 million guaranteed to be so ineffective. I know he is still very young, but he needs to get much better for this team to even have a chance to win a single game. And that is if he even gets to play, considering he has a high ankle sprain and is wearing a walking boot. Maybe the Rams need a change of scenery, and sunny LA is looking better and better.

The Ugly: Rex Grossman throws 4 interceptions against a struggling Eagles' defense and gets benched.

For most of the beginning of this season, we have seen the good Rex Grossman. It was about time we saw the bad. Unfortunately for Grossman and the Redskins, the bad Grossman is pretty hard to watch, as all Bears fans know all too well. Grossman threw four interceptions to the Eagles’ underperforming safeties (three of which went to Kurt Coleman, who had just won his starting role back this week after getting benched). Not-so-sexy Rexy looked the way we expected him to play, under throwing open receivers and tossing up bombs for no apparent reason straight into defenders’ hands. He was benched for John Beck, who was not overly impressive, but seems to now have a strong hold on the Redskins’ quarterback spot. Despite a 3-2 record, do not be surprised to see the Redskins join the “suck for Luck” sweepstakes. Who thought having a quarterback battle between Rex Grossman and John Beck was a bad idea? Oh yea, everyone. The Redskins went from good to ugly oh so fast. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY WEEK 5

The Good: The Raiders down the Texans 25-20.

Al Davis may have spent the last ten years seemingly trying to destroy this franchise, but he clearly was still very important to his team. The Raiders were playing extra hard this week for their recently deceased owner/general manager and it paid off. For the first time in as long as I can remember, the Raiders won this game by the strength of their defense. Yes, they allowed Matt Schaub to throw for over 400 yards, but they held Arian Foster to 3 yards a carry and held the Texans explosive offense to just 6 second half points, helped by intercepting Schaub in the red zone with only seconds left on the clock. The Raiders offense had one of their worst games so far this year, but as a team they found a way to win. This was a great win for this franchise and I have a feeling that the Raiders are going to be knocking my Jets out of the playoffs when the end of the season rolls around.

The Bad: The Buccaneers’ offense continues to struggle.

What in God’s name has happened to the Bucs? Last season Josh Freeman and Mike Williams looked like the best young quarterback-wide receiver combo in the NFL. This season they look like what everyone expected out of them last season. Freeman has already throw as many interceptions through 5 games as he did all of last season and Williams is on pace for less than 600 yards and 3 touchdowns (he had 964 yards and 11 touchdowns in his rookie season last year). I have heard of a sophomore slump, but this is ridiculous. The Bucs were down fast to the 49ers thanks to a porous defense and a pick six by Freeman, and they simply were never able to recover. Usually when a team goes down early, their quarterback throws for a ton of garbage yards, but the 49ers still only gave up under 200 yards passing. The 49ers are much improved from last season, but they are barely a playoff caliber team and they blew out the Bucs 48-3. The lockout has clearly hurt this young Bucs team, but there is no excuse for how poorly this team has played through the first 5 games. It is amazing to me that they are 3-2, but they have to improve fast if they plan on staying above .500.

The Ugly: The Eagles fall to 1-4.

I said last week that the Eagles barely missed out on making the ugly list, but this week they were not so lucky. I knew this game would be a tough matchup for the Eagles, but it was a must win game to try to establish themselves as a playoff contender. They instead went out and proved that they deserve to be 1-4. The Eagles continue to play like they are only interested in putting up fantasy numbers for their fans and don’t care about winning games. This team continues to gain enormous amounts of offense yards, but fails to put up points on the board when it counts. They turned the ball over 5 times against an average Bills defense and that alone will lose you any game. As bad as the offense was, the defense still is the weakness of this team. They allowed Fred Jackson to have almost 200 total yards and Ryan Fitzpatrick only threw 6 incompletions all game (that’s almost as many interceptions as Vick threw). This is about as ugly as it gets. Despite all the hype surrounding this team before the season started, the Eagles are off to its worst start since Andy Reid’s first season with the team in 1999. If they don’t improve soon, it could be Reid’s last.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY FROM WEEK 4

The Good: The Lions come back… again.

How many times can this team play an awful first half and then win a game in the last seconds of the 4^th quarter? I am once again impressed with the Lions, yet I still cannot be a believer in a team that plays so poorly in the first half of games. There are only so many times a team can bounce back like this. Having watched USC in their glory days be a “second half team,” I know how easily this playing style can come back and bite you hard. Despite my lack of belief in this team, it would take a big meltdown for this team to miss the playoffs.

The Bad: The Ealges blow a 24-3 lead against the 49ers.

Does having Ronnie Brown on your team immediately make you a 7-9 team or worse? What was he thinking on that “pass” that was essentially him handing the ball to the 49ers defenders? How do you lose a game where your quarterback has almost 500 yards of offense? How do you run LeSean McCoy only 9 times in a game in which you were winning big until the last few minutes? Most importantly, how does your highly overpaid defense allow Alex Smith, the same Alex Smith who has been at best mediocre for his entire career, throw for almost 300 yards against you? A lot of questions and very few answers. If it weren’t for possibly the ugliest game in NFL history, the Eagles would have gone from bad to ugly real fast. I am so back on the “Andy Reid is a terrible coach” bandwagon. And boy oh boy does it feel good to be back.

The Ugly: The Jets-Ravens game.

Coming into this matchup, you knew that this would be a defensive struggle. However, the Jets offense accounted for 3 points for the Jets and 3 touchdowns for the Ravens. That is astonishingly bad. However, the Ravens offense was not much better, turning the ball over three times themselves. The Ravens special teams were even worse, fumbling the opening kickoff and allowing barely on a roster Joe McKnight to run 107 yards for a touchdown on a kickoff return. I have never seen a game this ugly before in my entire life and this was by far the ugliest performance of the week. Both these teams have a lot of work to do, but clearly the Jets are the inferior team. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY FROM WEEK 3

The Good: The Lions comeback win.

While the Lions looked terrible in the first half of their game against the hapless Vikings, you have to be impressed with the way they kept themselves in the game despite being down 20-0 at half. They did not give up on themselves and they fought back as a team. It doesn’t hurt that, when healthy, Calvin Johnson might be the best receiver in the NFL. I have not been a believer in this team, but this game is making me rethink my opinion of them. They are turning their talent on paper into success on the field, which has been their problem the last few years. I hope this team stays healthy because they are really fun to watch. Can you believe the Lions are one of three undefeated team, a list which includes the Bills? What has the NFL come to?

The Bad: The Jets’ run defense.

Remember when the Jets were the ground and pound team that lead the NFL in rushing? Me neither. The Jets barely made it to 100 yards rushing, while the Raiders galloped for a whopping 234 yards against the Jets’ usually stout run defense. The Jets defenders seemed to forget basic gap responsibility and they were gashed for huge gain after huge gain in the run game. The Jets need to rebound quickly because they have to stay on the road for the next two weeks against the Ravens and Patriots, and then come home to a Dolphins team that always seems to give them trouble. They have to find a way to win two out of the next three games or they might be sitting on the couch when the playoffs roll around.

The Ugly: Tom Brady’s 4 interceptions.

After going out on a limb last week on my Stubborn Oxen Blog (http://stubbornoxen.blogspot.com/) saying that Tom Brady is the best quarterback to ever play the quarterback position, Brady comes out an delivers one of the worst performances of his career. After throwing four interceptions all of last season, he threw FOUR picks against the Bills this week, who they had not lost to in almost 8 years. To make matters worse, Brady looked dominant in the first half, throwing for three touchdowns and jumping out to a 21-0 lead over the Bills. They got cocky after their big lead and it cost them this game. It was not just Brady who lost them that game, especially considering how poorly their defense continues to play, but Brady, for possibly the first time in his career, was the main reason his team lost. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY FROM WEEK 2

The Good: Tony Romo plays with broken ribs and punctured lungs to win in OT.

What a bounce back performance by Romo after a horrible 4^th quarter in Week 1 against the Jets that cost his team the game. Romo made up for it by coming back into Week 2’s matchup with a punctured lung and broken ribs. He lead his team from behind to make it into overtime and then made the plays to give his team the win without his top two receivers, Miles Austin and Dez Bryant. This is exactly the type of game that he needed to quiet his critics.

The Bad: The Raiders defense giving up 5 touchdown drives in a row to the Bills.

The Raiders have more talent on their team in 2011 than they have had in probably over a decade, which includes their 2003 team that went to the Super Bowl. However, the constant turnover on their coaching staff is still killing this team. They are horribly undisciplined and it is probably going to cost them a shot at the playoffs. Injuries have hurt them as well, but they need to put it all together and play up to their potential on both sides of the ball in one game. If they can do that, they will be a hard team to beat. Until then, they will continue to lose games the same fashion they lost to the Bills. No team had ever in the history of the NFL scored 5 touchdowns in five straight possessions, and they allowed the Bills to do that to them. The Chargers are licking their lips after getting beat by the Raiders twice last season.

The Ugly: The Ravens getting blown out by the mediocre Titans.

How did the Titans win this game with Chris Johnson averaging 2.2 yards a carry? It is completely inexcusable that the Raven only ran Ray Rice 13 times in this game, when Flacco was clearly struggling and he had such a good game last week against the Steelers top run defense. The Ravens need to get better against the pass and they cannot let mediocre quarterbacks throw for over 350 yards on them. Flacco needs to play better on the road or this team is not going to make the playoffs.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY FROM WEEK 1

The Good: Cam Newton throws for 422 yards.

What a performance by Cam Newton in his first start. I am not ready to stamp him as a franchise quarterback, since we all knew the kid has a ton of potential. He will have to prove himself against better competition, but considering everyone was expecting the Cardinals defense to have a field day against him, this was one heck of a performance. The biggest surprise was the Panthers inability to run the football, which makes Newton’s 400 yard passing performance even more impressive. I am not sold on Newton yet, but this provides a lot of hope for a team that had none last season.

The Bad: Just about every teams’ special teams.

Remember when everyone thought the new kickoff rules would limit the number of kickoff returns for touchdowns? That didn’t really pan out this week. Three kickoffs were returned for touchdowns, which was part of a record setting week that saw 8 returns for touchdowns. That doesn’t even include the numerous blocked kicks and punts we saw this week. A lot of special team players are running sprints as we speak as punishment for their horrible performances in week 1.

The Ugly: Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ performance.

I do not think Ben Roethlisberger has ever had a worse performance than he did against the Ravens this week. After looking so strong in the preseason, he looked completely lost in this game and seemed to have forgotten how to play the quarterback position all together. You have to give the Ravens defense a lot of credit for an amazing game plan against all of the Steelers weapons, including Rashard Mendenhall who could not find a running lane all night long. This is the worst the Steelers have played in a very long time.