What We Learned in Football this Weekend

What we learned this week in the NFL:

-The Chicago Bears have weapons on offense. Martellus Bennett, Brandon Marshall, and Matt Forte give the Bears a solid tandem of explosive play makers for Jay Cutler. Impressive win by the Bears in a tough divisional game against Minnesota. There defense always creates turnovers and with the improvement of the offensive line, the Bears seem like a threat in the NFC.

-Washington will take a step back this year. Robert Griffin III just isn’t what he was last year. The threat of his running the football is no longer there and his terrible mechanics throwing the ball will have to be something he overcomes.

-The Dolphins can contend in the AFC East. Going into Indianapolis and pulling out a win was big for quarterback Ryan Tannehill. With all the new pieces the Dolphins brought in this offseason the Dolphins roster is talented enough to win the AFC East. If the Patriots continue to struggle, Miami will be nipping at its heels all season.

-Having a solid back up running back in the NFL are much more important than people may think. Ben Tate, Bernard Pierce, James Starks and Knowshon Moreno all had breakout games this week. Each of these running backs were the difference makers and helped there team win on Sunday.

-The New York Giants do nothing but turn the football over. The lack of running game for the Giants, which is pathetic to say the least, has led to Eli Manning throwing over 40 passes the last two games. This just isn’t the identity of the New York Giants. If the Giants can’t run the ball effectively, it will be a long year for the Eli Manning and the Giants.

- The Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers game Sunday night was nothing but sloppy. Penalties and turnovers were the story of the game. Colin Kaepernick looked tentative to run the football and the wide receivers failed to win one-on-one with the Seattle defensive backs. Seattle got the better of the Niners at home, I expect the Niners to return the favor later in the year when Seattle travels to San Francisco.

What We Learned in College Football:

-Texas A&M defense is still a Big 12 type defense. Johnny Manziel needed maybe 3 or 4 stops on Saturday from his defense in order to beat the Tide. Manziel was sensational as well as Mike Evans, answering anything Saban and the Alabama defense threw at him. With a win in College Station, Alabama only has LSU to beat before it plays for another SEC Championship.

- UCLA is a threat this year. After being down 18, UCLA scored 31 unanswered points to defeat Nebraska in Lincoln. Brett Hundley is only a sophomore but is developing into a prime time player for Jim Mora.  We will see how serious UCLA’s Rose Bowl chances can be after they have back to back road games at Stanford and at Oregon later in the season.

- Mack Brown won’t make it through the season. The program has fallen off since their title match with Alabama a couple of years ago. They are horrific on defense, making tackling look near impossible for their defense. Inconsistent play at quarterback since Colt McCoy left and not many explosive players on offense leaves Texas with no choice but to move in a new direction, with a new head coach at the end of the season.

Sunday's NFL Week 1 Recap

NFC:

1. The 49ers are going to be a force all season. San Francisco looked great on offense.Colin Kaepernick was on fire throwing the ball all day and looked to be on the same page with his receivers. Anquan Boldin had a career day and Vernon Davis and Kaepernick seem to have found their groove together. The defense looked good even though the Packers scored 28 points. I think the Niners are going to beat the Seahawks easily next Sunday night.

2. New Orleans looked good defensively against Atlanta. They held Atlanta’s explosive offense to just 17 points and 367 yards offense. The Saints D had 3 sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery. The Falcons defense on the other hand was just OK. Drew Brees and the Saints scored 23 points and had over 400 yards offense. If the Saints defense continues to play well, New Orleans will be the class of the South once again.

3. The New York Giants turned the ball over 6 times Sunday night against Dallas and still had a chance to win. The Giants offense was disgusting and they will be looking for a running back after David Wilson cracked under pressure. Dallas will need to find a way to run the football better and get Dez Bryant more involved in the offense if they want to win games. Both teams looked terrible to say the least.

4. The Detroit Lions are going to be hard to stop with Reggie Bush at their disposal. Bush had 191 yards offense and a touchdown. With him and Calvin Johnson the Lions can score at any time when on offense. The Lions are explosive and even though it was against the Vikings they had 469 yards of total offense and Megatron only had 37 yards receiving.

5.  The Chicago Bears beat a good AFC team in the Bengals on Sunday. Best news for the Bears, Jay Cutler was sacked 0 times. Cutler threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns and the new look Bears defense without Brian Urlacher, still recorded 3 turnovers. The Bears were the biggest surprise this week for me in the NFC. I expected the Bengals to be the more physical team and get to Jay Cutler. If the Bears can protect Cutler like they did on Sunday, the Bears will be very tough to beat.

AFC:

1. The top teams in the AFC struggled on Sunday. The Patriots had a hard time shaking off the Bills, the defending Super Bowl Champs got embarrassed Thursday night and the Cincinnati Bengals got beat by the Chicago Bears. I expect at three of these teams have better performances next week especially the Patriots who seemed out of sync on Sunday especially between Brady and his new wide receivers.

2. The Denver Broncos put on a show Thursday night. Peyton Manning’s seven touchdown passes tied an NFL record. With Thomas, Welker, and Decker at his disposal, Manning might have his best year passing…EVER!

3. The AFC North was 0-4 on opening week. The Ravens got beat down and embarrassed on defense Thursday. The Steelers look like they might have a terrible year on offense barely being able to score against the Titans defense. The Browns turned the ball over but had chances to win the game all day Sunday against Miami, but couldn't execute. The Bengals defense was not as dominate a expected. Next week hopes to be a better showing for the North.

 4. Terrelle Pryor was more than impressive Sunday. With very little to work with, Pryor did enough through the air and with his legs to keep the Raiders in the game with a chance to win. I though Pryor would look much like Tim Tebow but his decision making and accuracy was outstanding. Maybe the Raiders won’t be as bad as well thought?

5. The rookie quarterbacks in the AFC made their debuts. Both looked sloppy at times but both ended up having a chance to win in the fourth quarter. For Geno Smith, he led the Jets to a comeback win and threw a touchdown as well as racking up 267 yards through the air. Smith led the Jets on a game winning drive under a minute that led to a Nick Folk game winning field goal. E.J. Manuel had Tom Brady and the Pats on the ropes. Manuel had two touchdowns and zero turnovers but Brady came out victorious. Geno Smith will get his chance Thursday night to beat the King of the AFC East.