NFL observations: Another week gone by

So week 7 is in the books and it starting to become clear who are the pretenders and who are the contenders. Here were some of my observations regarding this weekend:





First off, let me throw a congratulations to the Jaguars for a lights out Monday Night game. Leading up to the game, just about EVERY analyst was saying that the Jaguars were done and that Ray Rice would run all over them and that Joe Flacco would throw 4 TDs, blah blah blah Raven love. It was sickening really. Even the Dolphins and Colts were given a chance by analyst to win their games.

Speaking of the Dolphins.... How bad is this team? They had a 15-0 lead with a little over 3 minutes remaining and ended up blowing it to lose 18-15. If you asked me who I thought was going to have the #1 pick of the 2012 draft, I'd point you right to the Dolphins.

I dislike blowouts. I hate when teams win by such a margin that the game is not even worth watching. But a lot of this is due to a rules system that heavily favors the offense and makes it difficult for even the best defenses to shut down even the most mediocre QBs. This week, the Colts were blown out by the Saints 62-7. The Cowboys manhandled the Rams 34-7. And the Titans fell 41-7 to the Texans. Sure these games make for exciting highlights. But this is kind of like watching a bad action movies: It has its good moments that excite you and then everything else is just awful. Kind of like Transformers *lets not go here :P*

So unless you have been living under a football rock, you know about this guy named Tim Tebow. He is pretty much the most talked about QB right now. Let me go on record to say that I think he will be a good QB in the years to come. He is too hard working not to succeed. But do I think 24 teams, including Tebow's hometown Jaguars, made a mistake in now drafting him? No. Lets get blunt: Sure, Tebow won the game. Sure, it was pretty miraculous. But the Dolphins also showed that for 55 mins they could shut Tebow down even when his running game had some steam. Remember that I implied that the Dolphins are pretty much the worst team in the league this year. So what does this mean for the other 30 teams who are not the Broncos and are better than the Dolphins? Yea. Tebow may be in a heap of trouble in the upcoming weeks.

There is something else that has constantly been coming up in recent weeks. Its always come up in the past but not as much as it has this year. Its the double edged sword of "O look, they played great one game. They are the next NFL great" vs "O, they had one game BUUUUUUUUUUUT... they still need to prove to me they are worth something". Let me give an example: Tim Tebow wins one game against a punchless Dolphins team who cannot close out a game and all of a sudden, fans all over the nation wish their team had taken Tebow. It was one little game and already he is being anointed as the next coming of John Elway. Here is another good one: Tony Romo. After back to back losses where Romo continued to show that he could not be clutch, he went on to win one game in the last minutes against the SF 49ers. All of a sudden, absolved of all his past faults and once again elevated to elite level. My beloved Jaguars get leveled one week by a Steelers RB and all of a sudden, the Jaguars go from being a stout defense to being a defense you can run all over with high school RBs. Yet in that same note, the Jets and Eagles keep getting burned week in and week out and yet many people keep saying "BUUUUUUUT *SHOULDER SHRUG* its the Eagles and the Jets. They'll get their swagger back". *Though the jets seems to have gotten a bit of it back this week against Blunder Phillip Rivers.

Speaking of Philip Rivers... Could you be any more worthless of the #1 draft pick I spent on you in my Fantasy Football draft? For the love of gawd, I am starting Colt EFFING Mccoy over you. COLT MCCOY!!! AND HE'S STILL OUTSCORING YOU!

Let me close out this week's NFL observations with an NFL playoffs prediction and why I think it'll go down this way.

AFC East:
Division Winner: New England Patriots - Is there really any doubt here?
Wild card: Buffalo Bills - This is a near coin flip between the Bills and the Jets. But hot team is hot and the Jets cannot stop anyone on defense. Advantage goes to Fred Jackson running over them.

AFC North:
Division winner: Pittsburgh Steelers - Another coin flip, as the Steelers seem lost this year. They are starting to become a pass team with a D that is having a lot of trouble holding down opposing offenses. But would you take Flacco or Dalton over Roesthlisburger?
Wild card: Baltimore Ravens - Lets be honest. The other two divisions are too weak to send a wild card and the Bengals have a rookie at QB. Advantage Ravens.

AFC South:
Division winner: Jacksonville Jaguars - Yea a little bias. But let me explain. That win last night literally save the Jaguars season. That puts them at 2-5. But lets look at the rest of the division: Texans 4-3, Titans 3-3,  Colts 0-7. If the Jags win next week against the Texans, it could be serious business. After all, lets be honest: The Texans are still the Texans, the Titans are slightly above mediocre, and the Colts team became bottom dwellers when Peyton Manning was lost for the season.

AFC West:
Division Winner: San Diego Chargers - The Raiders just lost their starting QB for the year and I do not think Carson Palmer is the answer. And the Chiefs do not seem to be that elite team that will win the division. O and do not forget to mark your calendar for the annual "Surge to several victories at the end of the season" run the Chargers like to do. BTW they are sitting at 4-2.

NFC north:
Division winner: Green Bay Packers - two words: Aaron Rodgers.
Wild Card: Detroit Lions - If these guys can get back on track, they will make the playoffs. And with that defense and an explosive offense, its very possible these guys go all the way.

NFC East:
Division winner: New York Giants - IMO this is quickly becoming the Giants division to lose. The Redskins are in disarray, the dream team turned into a nightmare, and the Cowboys still have Tony Romo.

NFC West:
Division winner: San Francisco 49ers - The rest of the division sucks. End of story.

NFC South:
Division winner: New Orleans Saints - Once again the Saints are showing why they are the class of the NFC.
Wild card: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - another serious coin flip but the Buccaneers have already beaten the Falcons once and I say they can do it again. Advantage Buccaneers.

Well that just about covers my thoughts for this week. Till next time!