The AFC is Not the Dominant Conference Anymore

Remember when the AFC was leading the league with the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Ravens, and even the Chargers? And the NFC was just the Eagles and their disappointing runs to the NFC Championship games? Well those days are over; the NFC is now the dominant conference and it’s not even close.

The thing that defines a great conference starts with the Quarterback position. The AFC still has Brady, Peyton, Roethlisberger, and Rivers, but they are on the back end of their careers (Manning and Brady) or are just not living up to their potential (Rivers). When you go over to the NFC, you see the Quarterbacks of the future and in their prime. Eli, Rodgers, Brees, Stafford, Ryan and even the young stars like RGIII and Cam Newton, all reside in the NFC. They are all in their prime or are lighting up the league at a very young age.

You can see that the AFC is losing its luster just by looking at the records of the teams. Only two teams in the entire division are above .500, which are the Ravens and the Texans. Both of these teams have their flaws. The Ravens have lost their defensive identity and may struggle the rest of the season, while the Texans have some holes in the secondary and have had question marks at Quarterback. But the rest of the Conference is average at best.

When you look at the NFC, it’s not only the Quarterbacks that are leading the teams, it’s the defense. The 49ers have maybe the best defense in football, while the Giants, Bears, Seahawks, Packers, Cardinals, Vikings and Falcons all are playing some of the best defensive football in the league. Defense is what wins Championships (Or at least that’s what they say).

Overall it’s looking as if the NFC will be the dominant conference for at least the foreseeable future. It’s up to players like Andrew Luck, Andy Dalton, and other young players to try and take the AFC back to the top.

Did the Ravens Really Win on Sunday?

Usually a win against the Cowboys is a very good day. While the Ravens may have received the “W,” they did not actually win in the long run. Going down in this game was their best corner, Lardarius Webb, the best player in franchise history, Ray Lewis, and the most dominant defensive lineman on the team, Haloti Ngata. Now while it seems that the injury to Ngata is not going to be for the year, it looks like Webb and Lewis will be lost for the year.

That Hurts.

This defense is already without Terrell Suggs and is trying to adjust. This is a crippling blow to the defense. There is no replacement on the team for a guy like Ray Lewis. He is one of the smartest linebackers in the NFL and brings the huge leadership factor on the field.

It’s irreplaceable.

Then you come to Webb. He is a playmaker and rarely gives up the big touchdown. Jimmy Smith will be called up to replace Webb, but he has not been able to show consistency in his first two years in the NFL. Cary Williams will not be able to sustain the same play that Webb has been able to do.

Then on top of it all, they could be without Ngata for at least the next couple weeks, which will stop some of the pass rush and run stuffing ability. It is already known that the run defense is not what it has normally is known to be, giving up a hundred yards to running backs a couple weeks. Also Terrell Suggs is not there to help the pass rush.

The Ravens Defense is going to be crippling to the team’s success and will be the reason they do not win the division.

Joe Flacco is going to have to show that he can go out and win some of these games and score 24+ points a game consistently. This will be a chance for him to finally prove that he can be an elite Quarterback in the league.

How many wins do you think the Ravens can have with all these injuries?

 

Photo Courtesy of Eveningsun.com

The Most Impressive Rookie in Washington?

                Alfred Morris might still be driving a ’91 Mitsubishi, but he has been playing like a player who should be driving a Lamborghini Gallardo or a Rolls Royce. After being selected in the 6^th round of the 2012 NFL Draft as a Fullback out of Florida Atlantic. He recorded his second 100 yard rushing performance of the season and is fourth in the league in rushing at the moment, ahead of guys like LeSean Mccoy, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Steven Jackson. These guys are all pro caliber players, but are being out performed by a “Fullback?”

                He is most definitely not a Fullback anymore, and he looks like he’s here to stay in the Washington Redskins starting lineup. Mike Shanahan has an innate ability to find that “Diamond in the rough” type player. He found players like Mike Anderson, Peyton Hillis, Clinton Portis, and the most famous one, Terrell Davis. Alfred Morris is gaining comparisons, albeit very early, to the aforementioned Davis. Both were selected in the sixth round of the draft, both are of very similar stature (5’ 10”, 215-220 lbs), and both have started their careers very fast. Over this past weekend Morris became the second player to rush for 75 yards or more in his first five starts, the only other player to do so was Eric Dickerson, a Hall of Famer.

                Now no one is saying he is going to be a Hall of Famer, but we cannot deny the fact that he is looking to be a good starting running back in the NFL. All of these yards he is running for is also behind a very average offensive line and on a team that people know are going to run the football. The performance of Alfred Morris deserves all of the attention it is receiving, and the two rookies in Washington are both playing great football to start off the season.

                Who do you guys believe has been the more impressive rookie in Washington?

Wednesday Morning Quarterback? The most surprising NFL Facts

            Well we’re a quarter way through the season and there always seems to be stuff we never saw coming become reality. But there’s also stuff we kind of figured would still be there (Cough* Cough*… Tony Romo). Overall, this season has been really exciting. There’s been drama that the media loved (Aka replacement Refs). There were high scoring games. There were games that will go down in infamy (Cough* Cough*… Replacement Refs again…). But lastly we got our regular referees back into the game (Which in two more weeks will be scolded as much as the replacements were). But by no means would any of us have seen these things going into the season. I would put money on it…

The Minnesota Vikings are leading their Division: Who would have guessed that Christian Ponder would be in the top five rated quarterbacks in the league thus far, and that about eight-nine months after shredding up his knee, All Day would be back almost at full speed. Well maybe you could have called those, but I doubt it. The true key to their success has been the play of their defense. They have played outstanding and kept them in games.

RGIII is Playing at a Pro Bowl Level: after writing about RGIII in my first blog entry I was going to hold back on writing about him again, but he’s been that good. Not only did he beat the Saints (Granted they have not looked good, but in week 1 the pressure was ridiculous on RGIII), but he put his team in position to beat the Rams and Bengals in the final drive of the games, that just came up short on penalties on Josh Morgan and Kyle Shanahan. But then he goes out and dominates the Bucs by basically scoring two rushing touchdowns, and then the defense lets the Bucs back in the game, only to see RGIII construct another game winning drive (without the use of his headset) and win another game on the road. RGIII has also only played one home game out of four, which is usually disastrous to a rookie QB.

The Arizona Cardinals are Undefeated?: The same Arizona Cardinals, who could not pick a Quarterback until the last week of preseason, and then subsequently lost that starting QB in the first week, only to go back to Kevin Kolb, are 4-0? That just seems crazy to me, but they have won 11 out of 13 games and have taken down teams like the Patriots and the Eagles, so they have to have something good on that team. Again the defense in playing great and they may have one of the breakout players in Patrick Peterson.

The New Orleans Saints are Winless: Lead by a Hall of Fame Quarterback, with weapons at every position on offense, including the biggest mismatch player in Jimmy Graham, they have mustered up ZERO wins. Granted they lost two very close games, but that is how close teams are in the NFL. The next time someone says a Head Coach does not matter much in the NFL, show them this year’s New Orleans Saints. Sean Payton was the backbone of this organization. He is such a great play caller and is able to manage things well on the field; it’s obvious that they miss him in that locker room.

            This year in the NFL is looking like it will be a good one. I’m looking forward to seeing if any of these teams or players can sustain these numbers or are they just another flash in the pan overreaction that seems to bite us all in the behind every single year. What are your biggest surprises of this year in the NFL?

 

Quick hits-

Congratulations to the Washington Nationals on winning the NL East. This is their first division title in a very long time and it will be nice to see them in the playoffs and also congratulations to the Baltimore Orioles for clinching a playoff spot for the first time in fifteen years. Sports in the Beltway area are looking up. Dare is say Joe Flacco vs RGIII Superbowl in the future??