Capper Notes on the AFC
By Teddy Covers
Welcome to Teddy’s unique look at the NFL. Teddy watches the games typing furiously on his laptop while giving you the key info that the box scores and game recaps simply don’t have. This week: AFC tidbits from Week 8.
Bengals:
For as much criticism as Carson Palmer has taken so far this year, the Bengals passing game is not even close to being their biggest problem. Palmer clearly doesn’t have great chemistry with newcomers Jordan Shipley, Jermaine Grisham and Terrell Owens. His arm strength isn't what it was five years ago, pre-injury, and his accuracy is problematic at times, but he's not the guy who’s killing this team.
The Bengals can't run the ball. A team that is 9-2 when Cedric Benson gains 100 yards or more over the last three years should be feeding him the ball at every opportunity. But this offensive line isn't opening holes, and they're struggling to protect their quarterback.
Bills:
The Bills have a grand total of one interception all year, and we could see why when George Wilson dropped an interception that was thrown right to him. It was one of several missed opportunities from their secondary.
The Bills have spent the entire season struggling to stop the run, transitioning back and forth between a 3-4 and a 4-3 base defense. When you don't create turnovers or negative plays in the passing game, you'd darn well better be able to stop the run. The Bills allowed more than six yards per carry again today.
Their biggest problem here was on the offensive line. The offensive game plan reflected the struggles of the OL and the conservative nature of this coaching staff. Make no mistake about it -- this team is still hungry for their first win, not a downtrodden bottom feeder. The effort and energy were there for the last remaining winless team in the NFL.
Chiefs:
Todd Haley is continuing to eschew obvious field goal attempts, going for it on fourth down in opponent’s territory. It's a high risk/high reward strategy that has failed them repeatedly this season, despite the strength of their running game.
Here, in a scoreless game, facing a fourth and 2 from the 22, Haley went for it and watched his team get stuffed on the ground. Then on a third and one, next drive, they threw an incomplete pass. I think offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was outthinking himself today.
This front seven defensively is getting better by the week. They really controlled the line of scrimmage here and generated a pass rush without blitzing. Cornerback Brandon Flowers continues to make-game changing plays in the secondary, another young, talented emerging star.
This team is only going to get better.
Jaguars:
Jacksonville certainly didn't look like a dead team today with David Garrard back at QB. Their pass blocking was much better than it's been, giving Garrard time to find receivers downfield, to go along with their steady diet of quick slants and screens.When this offense starts clicking, it’s potent.
But more than anything, a Jags defense that spent the first seven games of the season getting torched repeatedly stepped up with a strong performance. Bottom line: when the Jags don’t get blown out, they are finding ways to win. But when things go wrong for Jacksonville, as we've seen in four different 22+ point defeats, they have a glass chin.
Jets:
This red zone defense is nothing short of outstanding. The best way to get the ball in the end zone against the Jets is to score on a big play TD, a strategy the Vikings used effectively on Monday Night Football a few weeks back.
You're simply not going to grind out easy yardage without being able to stretch the field against this stop unit, and this run defense is virtually impenetrable. The Jets shut down Green Bay on each of the Packers' first five third -down chances and held them to 2-of-14 on third downs for the full game.
This offense did not come out of the bye clicking on all cylinders. After avoiding interceptions for the first five games of the season, Mark Sanchez now has four INTs in his last two games, bringing back bad memories of the 20 picks he threw as a rookie last year. All three Jets turnovers came in Green Bay territory, to go along with their missed field goal and two drives stopped on downs.
Raiders:
This might be the most aggressive defense in the NFL right now. All they do is blitz, on virtually every passing down. When those blitzes reach the quarterback, it's a very good thing, but when they don't this defense can get torched by big plays downfield. Today, they reached the quarterback, notching eight sacks for the afternoon.
Oakland’s physical nature is quite apparent on offense as well. This running game is about as smashmouth as it gets. Now if only they could start avoiding some of the penalties and pounding in touchdowns in the red zone, it might be time to start giving this team some real respect.
Titans:
We're seeing a new element from the Titans passing game with Vince Young at QB - deep, downfield throws. Four different receivers caught passes of 25 yards or longer in the first half. Young’s first seven completions went for 150 yards and that's not counting the pass interference penalty set up by a long throw. Even after Kenny Britt got hurt, they still took shot after shot downfield.
But the Titans defense is really struggling to contain the better offenses that they face. We saw them get torched at Dallas, but the Titans were able to win the game thanks to numerous Cowboys miscues. Kyle Orton threw for 350 yards against this defense in Nashville, leading Denver to a rare road win.
It wasn't pretty on the defensive side of the ball here either. The defensive line stepped up, but the back seven really got ripped apart from start to finish.