Gridiron Blitz: Week Three Review

Music to listen to: L’Via L’Viaquez by The Mars Volta

I’m going to try something different for my review of week 3 of the NFL season. Instead of reviewing every single contest (what, you want my intense analysis of Oakland and Arizona?), I’m going to make some observations and see where it goes.

-The theme of this season seems to be redemption. All three of the undefeated teams left in the league and arguably the player who has performed the best the first three weeks of the year. Let’s get to them.

Kansas City: The Chiefs have a full cast of guys who are seeking second chances. You have Matt Cassel trying to prove that his first year in Kansas City was not his best. The top coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel had unsuccessful turns as head coaches and are back in the familiar confines of being an assistant coach in the NFL. Team leader and linebacker Matt Vrabel was traded by New England and thought to be at the end of his career. Defensive linemen Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson were considered first-round busts but are on a now competent defensive unit. Even running back Thomas Jones was not asked to come back to the Jets despite having an excellent season last year. Now after beating San Diego, Cleveland and San Francisco, the Chiefs already hold a two-game lead in the AFC West.

Chicago: Jay Cutler had arguably the worst season for a “top” quarterback last year. Head coach Lovie Smith almost lost his job in the offseason. Devin Hester had to answer questions about his abilities as a receiver and return man. Brian Urlacher was coming off his worst season as a pro and a season-ending injury last year. Running back Matt Forte was below-average last season. Now, with wins over Dallas, Green Bay and Detroit, the Bears are the top team in the NFC.

Pittsburgh: You do realize that Charlie Batch is the Steelers’ fourth-string quarterback? Many thought that after losing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the first four games f this season, the Steelers would be lucky to be 2-1 at this stage, maybe even 1-2. Now, they are 3-0 and ready to face Baltimore. You also have arguably the best defensive player in football, safety Troy Polamalu, back after his own injury-filled last season to return to his dominant play.

Michael Vick: We all know the story by now. I’m on record for saying that the Eagles should have gone back to starting Kevin Kolb after week two and going into this past week’s contest against Jacksonville. I was proven wrong this week because Vick looked outstanding. I’m still not sure about the long-term hopes for Vick because he can revert back to his average play at any moment but you have to appreciate his comeback from where he came from. He did the crime, served his time and is now the MVP of the league through three games.

-I’ve always thought that if you fired a coordinator during the regular season or changed starting quarterbacks earlier than week five of any year, your team is probably not going to have a good year.

Philly decided to start Vick and its gone well. The Raiders decided to bench Jason Campbell and nothing has changed. Carolina is starting the Jimmy Clausen era about one year too early. Arizona didn’t even wait until the regular season began to cut Matt Leinart.

The Bills even did an unusual move by their standards. They started the season with Trent Edwards, benched him and cut him, all in a three-week span. I can’t think of another scenario of that happening in the NFL in my 20+ years of viewing the sport.

The most telling early-season change however has been the firing of offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye by San Francisco. This was a desperate move by a desperate franchise and head coach. Everyone including myself picked the 49ers to win the NFC West but didn’t expect the 0-3 start, particularly looked bad in both road contests at Seattle and Kansas City. This is the last move that head coach Mike Singletary could make to take the heat off himself. If the offense doesn’t improve in the next few contests, the 49ers may be the first team to fire its head coach this season.

-I may have to rethink my thoughts that Baltimore doesn’t have the offense to win a Super Bowl. Anquan Boldin’s three touchdown performance against Cleveland shows that the Ravens can pass the ball. All of this has happened while the rushing attack has been below-average by Baltimore standards.

-I can’t read the Redskins. How did they not show up at St. Louis? This came after blowing a 17-point, second half lead at home to Houston last week. Now they have to travel to a hot Philadelphia team along with the melodrama of their starting quarterback Donovan McNabb returning to face his old team.

-Kicking is a dicey proposition. New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley can go from last season’s hero to cut by week four of this year. He has missed several easy field goals, including the potential game-winner against Atlanta in overtime this week, but the Saints need to be careful of cutting a kicker who has been successful for them in many pressure situations.

Sabastian Janikowski of the Raiders on the other hand should be ashamed of himself as well for missing that 32-yard field goal to potentially give the Raiders a win over Arizona this week.

-I have to give Mark Sanchez credit for playing well the past two weeks. I still don’t think he’s at the stage to get the Jets to a Super Bowl, but the key has been the Jets opening up the playbook. Let the man make some mistakes and you will reap the benefits.

-Dallas and Minnesota won must-win contests but I wouldn’t expect much from either squad.

For Dallas, it was nice for Roy Williams to show up for a contest. Good job, Roy. They are still a dysfunctional unit that will finish below expectations. Houston is a good team so the win was solid but with Philadelphia playing so well, the Cowboys still has concerns.

For Minnesota, the Vikings just decided to give the ball to Adrian Peterson and see what happens. He’s a top player and that strategy worked for one week but ultimately, the passing game needs to come together and between Farve’s regressed skills and injured receivers, that may not happen. At least the defense is playing at a high level.

-When does Tom Coughlin clean out his office from the Giants’ offices? Some may say week 10 or something along those lines but I’m not buying that. He did win the team a Super Bowl and a mid-season change isn’t going to help the Giants this year. Besides, they will have their choice of John Fox or Bill Cowher this offseason.

-Along those same lines, I think Norv Turner should edit his resume, if you catch my drift.

Those are my thoughts. Did I miss anything? Think I’m a fool? Agree? Disagree? Just want to yell at me? What are your thoughts?