We're through the first round of Sunday action in the NFL, and while I only watched a couple of games (thanks cable, and thanks Fox for only showing a 1pm game in New England) I have some thoughts on some players. These are just observations and opinions on my part, but I stand by them. Time will tell if I'm right or not.
- Jay Cutler is going to be fine under Adam Gase. Cutler has looked lost the last few years as he worked with head coaches and coordinators who did not work to his strengths. Enter Gase, who has realized that Cutler is effective when running bootlegs and rolling out of the pocket. Though he did throw an interception, Cutler played a pretty good game. And besides, that mistake was a result of Clay Matthews running hard to jump in front of the receiver. Cutler may end up imploding again, which would mean he's done in Chicago, but getting Alshon Jeffrey healthy will certainly help his case. Throw in an above average tight end and Forte playing for his next contract and Da Bears have some nice offensive pieces. Now if only they had a defense...
- Aaron Rodgers is going to be more than fine even without Jordy Nelson. Yeah, Nelson being out for the year hurts the offense but having James Jones, a receive Rodgers knows and trusts, will help ease that blow. They only have average, at best, tight ends, but Eddie Lacy is a beast and Devante Adams should come into his own. Don't worry about the Packers, the NFC North still runs through Green Bay...
- Peyton Manning is not fine. My only late afternoon option was watching Baltimore vs Denver and Manning looked broken all afternoon. Maybe it's the young and inexperienced (aside from Evan Matthis) offensive line, maybe it's the fact that Manning's neck is still messed up. Either way, Denver's not going to win a lot of games without scoring some offensive touchdowns. If Peyton continues his decline Denver will be competing for a top 5 draft pick, not a Super Bowl.
- Houston needs to stick with Ryan Mallet. This isn't college and you can't just rotate your quarterbacks based on situations and who's playing better. If Hoyer was bad enough to be pulled he's not good enough to keep starting. Bill O'Brien needs to stick with Mallet and let him jell with the first string offense. If he's not good enough either, well, you'll have a shot to get a new quarterback early in next year's draft.
- Losing Terrell Suggs for the year is a huge blow to Baltimore's defense. He's the new heart and soul of that unit and provides a consistent pass rush. Trading away Ngata already left a void in the leadership department, but this one is going to hurt worse. Despite having Jimmy Smith play pretty well yesterday, their secondary isn't that great and relies on the front seven generating pressure. Unless the offense starts clicking, and could be okay once their first round rookie wide receiver can play, Baltimore will be sitting home come playoff time.
- And the Steelers might be joining them in watching the playoffs if their secondary doesn't step up. The front seven is just fine, but the secondary looked completely lost and out of place in Thursday night's opener. So much for their plan of disrupting Gronkowski's routes. They seemingly didn't even know he was on the field. Quite a feat for such a large man. Secondary coach Carnell Lake needs to have his players practice better to get better techniques down. Unless they can improve, Big Ben and the offense can only take the team so far. Best case scenario is a wildcard spot. Maybe the 2016 draft will finally be the time the Steelers draft a defensive back in the first round after not having done so since moving up 2003 to get Polamalu. They won't get another player like him, no one else will ever be like him, but they need better players in the secondary.
- And finally, Eli Manning proved once again that he is not an elite quarterback. Stop saying he is just because he went #1 overall, has 2 Super Bowl rings, and has a famous last name. He's not Peyton. And he's only the third best quarterback from the first round of the 2004 draft. That's right - Roethlisberger and Rivers are much better than Eli. Eli's stat line from last night against Dallas - 20/36 for 193 yards and QB rating of 45.4. He's league average and only won those two rings because of his defense. This is finally the year, even after his new 4 year - $84 million contract extension, that people start realizing Eli is average - not elite. As a result, Tom Coughlin will be ushered into retirement and the NFC East will be a two team race between the Cowboys and Eagles.
Am I right? Am I wrong? Let me know what you think in the comments below...
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