Week 3 in Review
Alright. What the hell!?
Weren't the Giants Super Bowl champions just twenty months ago? At this time last year, the Giants were defending champions, and they got off to a 6-2 start, soundly beating the Super Bowl bound 49errs in San Francisco. They still looked good, like a contender.
Now? They looked absolutely horrendous.
It's not that they lost....again! It's the way that they lost that bothers me. I mean, essentially what happened is this: they got off the plain after arriving in Carolina. They got to the stadium, and suited up. They took the field, and then absolutely got pushed around all over the field, showing no life to them. They did not even fight back, losing 38-0. They, they changed back to their normal clothes, and got back on a plane, and left Carolina in shame, suddenly the butt of all sorts of jokes in the NFL.
And rightly so, frankly.
This was a Super Bowl champion! People were beginning to view them as a budding dynasty less than a year ago!
What happened?
I have been a fan of the NFL since 1981. My favorite team was always the New York Giants, and as a fan, I feel that they have rewarded me for my faith in them. Since 1981, only one team, the San Francisco 49ers, have won at least as many Super Bowls as the Giants have (they actually won one more ring than the Giants). Other than that, nobody has enjoyed as much championship success during that span. Not the New England Patriots, the team of the last decade, who won a total of three (although they made it to seven, and almost won the two against the Giants). Not the Dallas Cowboys, the team of the nineties, who also won three Super Bowls in that decade, and no others since 1981. Not the Washington Redskins, who also won three Super Bowls from the early eighties to the early nineties, with another Super Bowl loss during that span added to the mix.
Yes, I have watched the Giants reach five Super Bowls, and win four of them - often in memorable fashion. This is particularly true with the one point victory over Buffalo, and the victory over the previously undefeated "Greatest Team Ever? in the New England Patriots.
So, yes, I have been rewarded, to say the least.
But that loss yesterday was embarrassing. I can only remember one game where the Giants were humiliated like that since I have followed them, in terms of just simply getting blown out, and that would have been the playoff game from the 1993-94 season, when they got walloped by San Francisco, 44-3.
Perhaps I could try to analyze what went wrong, but I would not even know where to begin. They look like Swiss cheese - holes everywhere. Manning is getting sacked and roughed up, because the offensive line seems weak. There is no running game to speak of, making the Giants very predictable on offense. They are relying on Manning too much, and although I don't blame him as much as some do for the picks, he cannot get the job done on his own.
And the defense looks absolutely horrible. They have allowed 36, 41, and 38 points in the first three weeks of the season - far and away more than any other team.
The special teams even appears suspect.
Now, they are 0-3, and heading to KC, where the Chiefs are riding high at 3-0, and brimming with confidence. The Giants, meanwhile, have to be reeling and lacking completely in confidence. I don't see why they would turn it all around to shock Kansas City, unless the Chiefs suffer a letdown.
Otherwise, these Giants will go 0-4, which would be their worst start since the disastrous 1987 season, when they started 0-5, with three of those losses being with scab players. Back then, they were the defending Super Bowl champs, and had a terrible season. The regular players went 6-6, with those three losses by the scabs completing the record at season's end at 6-9. They were never even close to competing for the playoffs, and looked nothing like they had just one year earlier, when they took the title as the league's juggernauts.
Now, like those '87 Giants, they too are not far removed from the Super Bowl victory as well. But they are failing and falling - and fast! This time, there are no scab players to lay blame on. This season is spiraling out of control, and if they fall to 0-4, which I think is inevitable, then the season is pretty much lost. Only one team in NFL history ever recovered from an 0-4 start to reach the playoffs, and that was the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who were then a young, up and coming team with a lot of talent, and a strong drive. The Giants, by contrast, may have their best days (at least with this lineup) behind them. This was a must win game for Big Blue, and they did not even show up. They looked Dead On Arrival in Carolina.
Of course, the Giants are not alone, especially in the NFC. Even in their own division, their is a team that, arguably, looks at least as bad, and perhaps worse, then the Giants. Washington, last year's division champs with the hot young quarterback, suddenly can't get anything going. They lost again, this time at home to Detroit. Those two teams look like they are battling one another in a lowly cellar dweller race.
But these two teams are not alone in struggling. In fact, quite a few teams that were hot last season are not (so far) this season.
Consider this: out of the five playoff teams from the NFC, only one has a winning record: the undefeated Seattle Seahawks, who predictably beat up on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Seattle was expected to be hot, and they are not letting down.
But the others? Well, the 49ers surprisingly got blown out by the Colts at home. This gives the Seahawks a two game lead over them, and the other teams in the NFC West, as the Rams lost to the Dallas Cowboys, and the Cardinals lost to the also undefeated New Orleans Saints. But the surprise is san Francisco, a team that many expected to be the best in the NFC, if not the NFL.
And they are not alone. I mentioned the Saints, who are in a similar position right now to Seattle. At 3-0, they have a two game lead already over everyone else in the division. The Atlanta Falcons, a team that hosted the NFC championship Game last season with the best record in the conference at 13-3, have started this season at 1-2, suffering another loss, this time to the Dolphins. Tampa Bay lost bad to the Pats, and the Panthers, of course, won their first game against the G-Men.
And in the NFC North, the two participants in the playoffs last season find themselves with losing records as well. Green Bay blew a sixteen point lead in the second half, and lost to the Bengals, dropping their record to 1-2, starting off with that poor mark for the second season in a row. Butt they have not sunk as low as the winless Vikings, who dropped yet another game, this one to the visiting Browns, who were also winless going in. Many expected Minnesota to emerge this season, but they may have just dug themselves in a hole that they won't be able to dig out of. Certainly, it won't be easy.
The NFC North has two teams that are doing far better so far than they did last season. The Bears crushed the Steelers in Pittsburgh, who like the Giants, are a perennial threat each season that seems to be failing. Pittsburgh is winless, and looking horrible. But the Bears are one of three undefeated teams in the NFC at 3-0. Right behind them are the Lions, who I already mentioned beat the Redskins, to raise their record to 2-1.
There are fewer surprises so far in the AFC. The Chiefs and Dolphins, of course, are flying high with 3-0 records. And the Jets are a mild surprise, having held off the Bills to raise their record to 2-1.
But all of the teams that qualified for the playoffs in the AFC last season seem to be playing well thus far. The Broncos, favorites for many to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this season, are putting their undefeated 2-0 mark on the line against the Raiders. And I already mentioned New England, who beat Tampa Bay in their most impressive game thus far, to remain unbeaten at 3-0.
The Colts wanted to bounce back after the disappointing loss to Miami at home, and they won a huge game on the road in San Francisco. And I already mentioned how the Bengals came back from a large deficit to defeat the Packers at home, raising their record to 2-1.
The defending champion Ravens got a huge win against the Houston Texans yesterday, blowing them out and avenging a blowout loss last season to Houston, handing the Texans their first defeat, and raising their own record to 2-1.
The Titans beat the Chargers, which means that they, too, are in a three-way tie for first in the AFC South with the Texans and the Colts. The Jaguars, of course, are solidly in last place at 0-3.
Some mild surprises, and some big surprises. A part of me half expected the Bears to be on the wrong end of a blowout against the Steelers, but they instead bombarded Pittsburgh. The Bengals, who have been good, but have shown weaknesses against the better teams, acquitted themselves quite well in beating Green Bay. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the Dolphins staying unbeaten by beating Atlanta.
And so there are three teams that remain unbeaten after three games, which may be the most that I remember in any season. Plus, some teams that should be better really have their backs against the wall, and absolutely need to win next weekend. Chief among these: the Giants, the Vikings, Washington, and Pittsburgh. They are all in dire need of their first win of the season, just to keep their heads above water.
Should be an intriguing Week 4!
No comments:
Post a Comment