Does your bandwagon have it's wheels yet? Week Three of the NFL
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by Barkingclam
Basically, one fourth of the NFL is undefeated right now. Teams like Dallas, Green Bay and Denver are undefeated. Down in Houston, the Texans are looking like sleepers. And in Detroit, Jon Kitna has turned a bad team around.
But, it’s only week two. Still, does your bandwagon have it’s wheels yet?
Let’s look at Houston. Thus far, they’ve beaten two teams – a terrible Kansas City and a decent Carolina. Their defense is looking good – perhaps there’s still time for Mario Williams to go down favorably in the history books – and their new QB Matt Schaub is looking pretty sharp.
Indeed, Schaub has passed for three TDs, for over 450 yards and has one of the best QB Ratings in the league – fifth, ahead of Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger.
Does their bandwagon have its wheels?
Well, it certainly looks so – they’re winning games against good teams, and some have them as this weeks upset pick against Indianapolis.
However, they play in the tough AFC South, and their first inter-divisional game is this week. They still have to play Jacksonville and Tennessee twice on top of another game against Indy.
Plus, they’ve lost their main wideout, Andre Johnson, to a knee sprain. All three of Schaub’s touchdowns have gone to Johnson, as well as close to half of his passing yards. Their next closest, statistically speaking, is Owen Daniels, their tight end.
So while their bandwagon might have wheels, metaphorically speaking, it might not be roadworthy.
How about Detroit? They’re 2-0, and Jon Kitna is looking… well, not like Jon Kitna. Their receiving corps is starting to pan out and they have a solid running game.
Does their bandwagon have its wheels?
If Kitna stays healthy, then yeah, they do. While they’re squeaked past both the [Minnesota Vikings| Vikings] and the Raiders, they’ve been a solid team. Halfback Tatum Bell has rushed for over 100 yards already, Kitna has passed for over 500 and for four touchdowns and Kevin Jones should be back soon, if not this weekend.
However, this is a team that allows almost as many points as they score: they’ve allowed more points then anybody else in their division, and they did it against two fairly soft teams.
In fact, the Detroit defense is ranked 14 in rushing yards allowed (215) and 21 in passing (473). Overall, they’re ranked 17 in points allowed (38) and 21 in total yards (688).
While it’s likely that their defense will improve as the year goes on, it’s also likely that when they play Chicago twice, when they play San Diego on week 15 and when they play Dallas on week 14, they’ll have a hard time keeping pace with them.
And that’s with Kitna is rebounding from a concussion. Sure, he came back and finished the game, but it’s still a concussion. With the O-line that the Lions have (Kitna’s been sacked three times, the backup J.T. O’Sullivan three times), the next concussion will surely end his season.
(For what it’s worth, ESPN has projected that O’Sullivan would get sacked 24 times and picked off 16 times should be become the starter. Is this the guy you want starting against Chicago? Against San Diego? Against Denver, even?)
Still, a win is a win – especially when it’s inter-division. By beating the Vikings, the Lions have given themselves a leg up in the NFC North that nobody else has.
Yet, anyway.
