NFC South Review Week 2

[xerxes]

People seemed to like this last week, so I figured I'd do it again. My random thoughts after watching all the NFC South games. Saints vs Bucs, Falcons vs Rams, and a short blurb on Panthers vs Bills.

 

Saints

 

When you look at the score, you'd think it was a battle of evenly matched teams gritting it out in the rain. In reality it was a story of the Saints constantly trying to give the game to the Bucs, and the Bucs just refusing to take it. It was like the Saints brought a house warming present over to the Bucs and kept saying, "Please take this W. We know you've had it rough, and we'd just like to help you out." And the Bucs kept saying, "No no, please we don't like W's. I mean if you brought a heartbreaking L, we'll take that, but I'm sorry we just can't take your W."

 

For reference the Saints had: 2 picks (one a pick 6), a missed field goal, and failed to get any points from 1st and Goal from the 1 yard line.

 

I'm not sure if it was the Bucs D, the rain, or Brees having a bad night, but he looked off pretty much the whole game. His deep ball was off. He threw 2 picks right at Bucs defenders, which he just must have not seen, and most of his yards were picked up on dink and dunk check down passes. 

 

The Saints D looks to be legit. They're not great, but they don't need to be. I mean it's hard to tell against Freeman, who looked terrible, but they did what they needed to do. Martin started to wear them down the longer the game went on, and if there was even a threat of a pass, I think they would have buckled after being gashed on the ground.

 

Jimmy Graham is pretty damn good. He had some gutsy catches over the middle, and took advantage of a breakdown in Bucs defense for an easy TD. 

 

The running game actually looked pretty good. Other than Sean Payton calling like 40 screens. The Bucs weren't really getting that much pressure. Not sure why Payton had some many damn screens. 

 

Conclusion: In the end, Brees pulls a rabbit out of his hat after a missed field goal by the Bucs. As off as Brees looked, he threw an absolute laser to setup the field goal. He couldn't have thrown a better ball. And that's why the Saints are the Saints and the Bucs are the Bucs. 11-5

 

 

Tampa Bay

 

You know... at least we're not Tampa. They're 0-2 by a combined 3 points. Last week they outplayed the Jets and managed to throw the game away. This week, they got outplayed and were lucky to lose the game by only 2 points.

 

First off, this was a stupid sloppy game on both sides. Not sure if the rain was a huge factor, but it just didn't look good. I didn't bother to look it up, but Tampa has to lead the league in unnecessary roughness penalties. They got 3 this week. One nullified a strip sack, and honestly was probably the cleanest of the 3. There was hit on Jimmy Graham that was straight up dirty though. Oh and they had an illegal formation bring back a 70 yard TD to Vincent Jackson.

 

Josh Freeman... where to start. How about 9 of 22? He has a couple good throws and one good run but otherwise sucked. Here's the thing. The Bucs are a good team. They've got a solid (although maybe dirty) defense. Vincent Jackson is a beast. Doug Martin is a beast. Their offensive line is solid. Basically, they're a QB away from being a good team. 

 

Doug Martin was a little slow starting but really got going later. Almost single-handly kept the Bucs offense alive. I say almost because Vincent Jackson is really good. He was constantly getting open and making plays. Freeman only had 9 completions 5 of them were to V-Jax.

 

Defense looked good except for the penalties. They had two good picks (although it's hard to say if that was Brees making stupid mistakes or the Bucs playing good). The pick 6 was a pretty inspired run back. 

 

Conclusion: So once again the Bucs find a way to lose. Freeman looks like he's regressing from week to week, and he'll hold the team in the cellar. Don't be surprised to see a QB switch during their bye as a last ditch effort of Schiano to save his job. 4-12 

 

Falcons

 

If you don't hate the Falcons, you must be some sort of Jeff Bridges happy hippie who just loves everybody. I swear these little fudge packers have to be the luckiest SOBs in football. Rams have a series of poor field position and bad penalties. The Falcons have literally everything bounce their way in the first half to go out 24-3, and the Rams just can't recover.

 

First off, let me say to the people who wanted Tavon Austin. I don't care about the two TD's. Dude had 3 good catches (two happened to be TD's), and 3 bad drops. He also looked lost on returns. Maybe he'll be good in the future, but he is not an instant difference maker like Star has been.

 

Here's the thing about the Falcons. Matt Ryan is actually pretty good (as much as I late that little fuger). They have some damn good skill position guys e.g. Julio Jones. And they have *gasp* coaching. If you want a clinic on how to compensate for a poor offensive line, watch the 1st half of this game. Matt Ryan is getting constant pressure, but the Falcon coaches design the plays to deal with it. Quick throws, screens, bootlegs. 

 

The defensive was nothing special. They benefited from the Rams starting behind the 20 I think on almost every possession in the game except 2, and Osi got a really easy pick 6 when the Rams RB just batted the ball in the air as a gift. The first time the Rams got the ball past the 20 yard line. They marched easily down the field. I will say the defense it good about not giving up the big play. Once again, I think this is the result of solid coaching.

 

Without Jackson, their running game took a huge drop off, but seemed to come back a bit in the 4th quarter. 

 

Conclusion: This team isn't winning a superbowl with weak defensive and offensive lines. Hog Mollies matter, but solid coaching, good QB play, and skilled skill position players make them a quality team. 10-6.

 

Panthers

 

You know... I just... you see there's... I don't I... *sigh*... It's kinda like when... There's something about.... Honestly I don't know... I just don't know.

 

Conclusion: There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of men to describe how I felt watching this game. 7-9

[CLTPanther]

Psssst.. it's week 3

[xerxes]

Psssst.. it's week 3

I know. Just didn't have time during the week till now, and this was my last chance before it became truly irrelevant.