Monday Observations: Crown 'em? Jags, Bills, etc. regress quickly
What a Denny Green Sunday!
Oh, what's that you say? You don't have any friggin' clue what the hell I'm talking about? Let me explain. A Denny Green Sunday is when a bunch of teams and players reveal their true colors after flirting with rarified air in the first few weeks.
In other words, to steal a phrase from Green's epic post-Monday Night Football rant when coaching the Cardinals: "They are who we thought they were!" I couldn't help but think of that clip, repeatedly, as the 10 early kickoffs were going on, Green's words ringing in my ears.
I could hear it after each series in the Colts-Jaguars blowout, with Jacksonville looking every bit as bad the past eight quarters of football as they did at any point during their 0-8 start last season (and nothing like the team that rallied to finish 4-4). As Jacksonville's offense limped along (again), Blake Bortles finally made his NFL debut and Chad Henne (4 for 7 for 33 yards before being yanked at the half) resumed normalcy with a clipboard, I could hear Denny in the distance.
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I could hear his voice rising just a bit higher every time Jake Locker sailed an errant pass or looked confused as the Titans, a team whose personnel led me to look at them as a team with the potential to have a top-five pick in 2015, fell behind 19-0 and were drubbed for the second week in a row. I looked over, and Locker was 11 for 20 for 97 yards with two interceptions. Denny was screaming.
Denny's voice was deafening as I watched the Texans, the worst team in the NFL last season, put forth an outing every bit worthy of their 2013 brethren. And there's Ryan Fitzpatrick, a man whose very DNA seems wired for turnovers, regressing to the mean after two weeks without an interception, throwing horrible picks, missing snaps and failing to execute much of anything. I looked over at this game again, and Fitzpatrick was 11 for 21 for 120 yards and two interceptions. (He added another pick and you have to wonder if Bill O'Brien starts spending a little more time coaching up Ryan Mallett).
"They are who we thought they were!" You tell 'em, Denny!
As the Chargers held the ball for over seven minutes to start the third quarter and marched up and down the field on the Bills and generally had their way with Buffalo, Denny was ringing in my ears. After another 2-0 start, are these Bills fool's gold again? Have they turned a corner?
This is the time of year, nearing the second month of the season, when we generally start to get a handle on who is for real and which teams are offering just more of the same old, same old. Plenty of season to be played, for sure, and only time will tell, but Denny Green Sunday certainly raised some probing questions for more than a few teams and their quarterbacks and stirred up some old ghosts.
Despite the loss, Kirk Cousins was in command of the Redskins' offense vs. the Eagles. (USATSI)
Redskins, Browns have choices to make
The Skins and Browns have a potential issue on their hands. It's one that's best addressed in the offseason but, alas, that time has passed, and particularly for the Browns. It's clear for both of these teams that the guy currently operating at quarterback is far superior, right now, to the recent first-round draft pick who is not currently playing for one reason or another.
And eventually if things continue as they are, with Kirk Cousins and Brian Hoyer shining each week, then their contracts are going to become a situation. Hoyer has played well enough that the Browns could be 3-0. They are 1-2 despite his best efforts. Hoyer has kept them in every game, he has yet to turn the ball over and he's exuding the same flair for the dramatic and poise under duress and ability to rally his club that he did last season before injuring his ACL. Sunday, against the Ravens, Hoyer was excellent, completing 19 of 25 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown.
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That he has done it this year without Josh Gordon and barely with Jordan Cameron (and with a bunch of rookie running backs trying to block) is all the more noble.
The Browns did not offer a contract with nearly enough upside protection for Hoyer this preseason (a deal that would rightfully compensate him if he played above-average football and took this team to the playoffs on a long-term deal) and thus now they are 13 games away from having him walk as a free agent, playing a position of acute need around the league, and making just $1 million this season.
Yeah, that could be a problem.
Hoyer hasn't thrown an interception in his past five starts dating to last season (he had three in his first start as a Brown), and for his Browns career he has completed 118 of 191 passes (62 percent) for 1,331 yards, with eight touchdowns against those three interceptions. His rating is 90, and, remember, he has been doing this with extremely limited weapons.
With Gordon -- who has exceptional chemistry with Hoyer and was once targeted 20 times in a game -- set to return for the final six games, if I were the Browns I might try to lock Hoyer up. Johnny Manziel isn't making any big money as a late-first-round pick, and the Browns have plenty of cap space to burn.
As for Washington, Cousins is making just $570,000 this season and has one year (at $660,000) remaining beyond this on his rookie contract. There is no argument that Cousins is not a better fit than Robert Griffin III in Jay Gruden's offense. Cousins has been nothing short of superb since taking over for Griffin when RG3 was injured in Week 2, and Cousins may have taken the starting job for good. Washington's offense has been prolific with Cousins, scoring 75 points in less than two games (albeit against the Jacksonville and Philadelphia defenses).
Cousins is spraying the ball all over the place, getting everyone involved (despite not having top tight end Jordan Reed in either game and without DeSean Jackson essentially for all of Week 2). Cousins is oozing confidence and comfort in the system (Griffin was doing neither). Cousins is more athletic than he's given credit for, and it's hard to watch him and not project big things.
With Griffin's return nebulous and Cousins in position to get a stranglehold on this job, it sets the stage for a potentially significant extension for Cousins, and, perhaps, some difficult decisions with Griffin.
Tom Brady has to find a reliable target other than Julian Edelman, who is taking a beating. (USATSI)
What's wrong with the Patriots?
I am mystified at the New England Patriots' miserable offense. And I don't anticipate there being any quick fixes, either.
Since a strong opening two quarters of the season this unit has been suspect. They blew the lead against the Dolphins, needed big plays from the defense and special teams to put up points at Minnesota and then, against a Raiders team that was so awful through two weeks that coach Dennis Allen's job security was the cause of league-wide speculation, they were simply inept.
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Oakland came in unable to stop anyone, allowing a robust 200 yards rushing a game and getting ripped to shreds by none other than Fitzpatrick last week. All they did Sunday was absolutely swarm Tom Brady, batter and bruise him, and New England's offensive line has to be considered a massive concern at this point.
It's a weekly occurrence and the carnage is mounting. Brady is getting hit way more than he should at this stage of his career, and the timing and tempo of the offense are being derailed.
There is no diversity -- everything flows through Julian Edelman in every key situation (he accounts for nearly half their passing offense), and Rob Gronkowski shows up big every once in a while but isn't that dominating presence. After all Gronk's body has been through, we'll see if he does again.
And that's pretty much it, folks. Danny Amendola hasn't made a mark and he had some balls slip through his hands. There isn't any semblance of deep stuff -- there isn't enough time to get it off -- and this looks like an exasperated group.
They were lucky to survive Oakland 16-9 in a field-goal fest, and Brady's frustration was evident, barking down the sidelines, seeming to half-ignore coordinator Josh McDaniels at one point, struggling to peel himself off the field time and time again.
Brady has yet to throw for 250 yards in a game and has just one touchdown pass in each of his first three games. There are too many drops. Brady is trying to fight through everything crumbling around him. He has yet to throw a pick, but you have to wonder if this becomes an extended problem.
There is no pace or tempo to speak of. The Patriots seem sluggish and unsure, and everything was a struggle even in their home opener against a weak Oakland defense. Edelman is doing yeoman work to try to hold it up, but he is being targeted so much, and taking so much abuse as a small guy playing in high-traffic areas, that you have to wonder about him holding up, too.
I don't put anything past Brady and McDaniels and Bill Belichick, and if anyone can turn it around, it's them. But it's going to take some doing.
More observations
• The Saints and Browns might want to put out an APB for a new kicker. It's hard to think Shayne Graham and Billy Cundiff are the answer. With so many young kickers making a name in recent years -- and doing it for peanuts -- I would be holding some kicking competitions to find the right guy.
The Rams couldn't hold a 21-0 lead as the Cowboys matched their biggest comeback. (Getty Images)
• The Rams' defense has me relatively speechless at this point. Not exactly what I expected out of them, and blowing a 21-0 lead to the Cowboys (at home) isn't going to engender much confidence. The more this looks like a lost season for the Rams, the more I wonder if they end up angling for Los Angeles sooner rather than later.
• Add Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees to that list with Brady on quarterbacks who aren't finding things easy at all this season. I thought all three of them would be flirting with 5,000 yards but as the season's quarter pole approaches, that seems remote. It feels like the pendulum is swinging back in favor of the defenses and not because of some crackdown on defensive holding, either.
• I have a feeling we see more of Alfred Blue as the season goes on for the Texans. Looked the part, and Arian Foster's health issues have been popping up for a few years now.
• I feel sorry for the good people of jolly London. Dolphins against Raiders? At Wembley? Really? This isn't the way to grow the brand. Yikes. That's a tough sell. If the Dolphins were really trying Sunday, well, it wasn't much coming through. If they were trying to send a message about this Joe Philbin regime, well ... And Ryan Tannehill has a ways to go. This Chiefs team was utterly gutted by injuries and suspensions and wiped up the Dolphins in Miami.
• Cardinals coach Bruce Arians is living right, man. I feel like I say it every week. He's now 22-9 as a head coach in the regular season dating back to his interim season with the Colts. He's now 2-0 with Drew Stanton as his starting quarterback. Somehow I find myself liking his chances, already, at Denver, coming out of the bye week.
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