It was a great Sunday for many area fans to catch up on teams other than the Vikings and Packers. But unless you have the NFL Sunday Ticket, chances are you were treated to the Bears/Lions snoozefest instead of a pretty good matchup between the Giants and 49ers. We'll spin through that and more in a look at some key NFL story lines.
• If you're wondering if the 49ers -- who improved to 8-1 by defeating the Giants -- are for real, then we'll answer that swiftly: They are. While their record might be a shock because San Francisco hasn't won more than eight games in an entire season since 2002, it is not a fluke. The Niners lead the NFL in turnover differential (plus-13) and have one of the stingiest defenses in the league (15.3 ppg allowed). They have several nice victories on the road (at Cincinnati, at Philadelphia and at Detroit). Their one soft spot might be quarterback Alex Smith. His traditional numbers -- 11 TD passes, three INTs, 95.8 passer rating -- are solid and certainly better than anything he's done as a pro. But his Total QBR -- tracked by ESPN and described as "a quarterback rating that takes into account all of a quarterback's contributions to his team's scoring" -- puts Smith 21st among NFL quarterbacks with a mark of 46.9 (50 is average).
• That flushing sound? Houston's chances of making serious noise in the AFC going down the toilet with the news QB Matt Schaub is out for several weeks. Matt Leinart is the new starter.
• Everything the Broncos are doing right now with Tim Tebow as the starting QB seems so very odd compared to the direction of the rest of the league. Sunday, of course, was an extreme example: Denver ran the ball 55 times and attempted only eight passes -- with Tebow completing just two of them. In the four games since Tebow took over as starter, Denver has 915 rushing yards and 430 passing yards. To put in perspective, there are exactly zero NFL teams that have more rushing yards than passing yards for the season. But the Broncos are also 3-1 in those games after a 1-4 start under Kyle Orton.
• There is no shortage of depressing news coming out of Redskins land these days, but this quote from linebacker Brian Orakpo was the chart-topper this week after a 20-9 loss to the Dolphins: "It's like every team we're going to play, they already know they're going to win because of the way we're playing. It's just ridiculous, man."
• Kevin Kolb got $21 million in guaranteed money as part of a five-year deal after being traded from the Eagles to the Cardinals for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2012 second-round pick. The question now -- aside from what was Arizona thinking? -- is whether Kolb still will be the starter when he returns from a toe injury. Kolb was mediocre before the injury, and replacement John Skelton looked sharper in leading back-to-back victories.
• Atlanta coach Mike Smith is taking plenty of heat for going for it -- and failing -- on fourth-and-1 from the Falcons' 29 in overtime Sunday against the Saints. We'll say this: Against the Saints, it's not as crazy an idea as some would make it out to be. But Atlanta's offense isn't dynamic enough to make a defense worried in that situation.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment