Teddy's tidbits: Seattle's defense is back in business
By Ted Sevransky
Teddy watches games all weekend long; typing furiously on his laptop while giving you the key info that the box scores and game recaps simply don’t have. Today: NFC tidbits from the opening week of the young season.
Chicago Bears
The offensive line protection was there for the pass, but they couldn't move the pile when trying to run the football, particularly in the red zone. They had four red zone drives without scoring a touchdown. They're not taking shots down field in Mike Martz's offense. There’s no trust in the rebuilt offensive line - lots of short three and five step drops.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It's pretty obvious that from a pure 'talent' perspective, this team is behind most others in the NFL on both sides of the football. That being said, they clearly have bought into what head coach Raheem Morris is selling – energy and effort were good throughout, even when they were trailing by double digits.
QB Josh Freeman was not in sync with his receivers. He lacked chemistry after he sat out most of the preseason. He’s a pretty darn good runner though. Freeman is not gripping the ball firmly with his bad thumb - he's got no zip on his throws, and he consistently missed open receivers, including a sure TD in the fourth quarter.
This team has no idea how to close out football games, with numerous gaffes clinging to a three point lead late.
Arizona Cardinals
This team lost a ton of star power in the offseason, but they still have playmakers on both sides of the ball. Pro bowl safety Adrian Wilson had a blocked field goal and a brilliant interception on the first two defensive drives of the season, followed by an impressive sack later.
New QB Derek Anderson was throwing into traffic, missing receivers, not hitting guys in stride. How he won this starting job I'll never understand. He's going to get these receivers hurt, forcing them to stretch to catch balls in vulnerable locations. Anderson and Larry Fitzgerald clearly have no chemistry together just yet. Fitzgerald's negative body language speaks the whole story.
Philadelphia Eagles
This team still loves to blitz on defense. The Eagles created a turnover on the Packers first possession with their pressure. They kept shuttling Vick and Kolb in and out of the game; I really think it hurt their offensive rhythm.
The offense didn't start to work at all until Kolb got hurt and Vick had a chance to get into a rhythm. But Vick was under pressure -- very poor offensive line play.
This defense got gashed all afternoon long, unable to stop the run, with poor coverage in the secondary.
New York Giants
This receiving corps was simply not very good today – too many dropped passes. All three of Eli Manning’s interceptions came off of deflections.
This defense is back, after last year's second-half collapse. We saw a beautiful tackle from safety Kenny Phillips (played in only two games last year) to save a sure touchdown. The Giants DBs picked off three Panthers passes in the end zone.
Detroit Lions
The worst defense in the NFL last year didn't look all that much improved, struggling repeatedly to stop the pass. All the money they spent on the defensive line in the offseason didn't result in a good pass rush against a weak offensive line. But Ndamukong Suh blew up the line of scrimmage repeatedly in the red zone – great defensive intensity by the goal line on three different drives.
Once again, Detroit’s offensive line isn’t capable of opening up holes for the run, or protecting their quarterback enough to throw deep routes.
Green Bay Packers
It’s very difficult to stop this passing game on third down – they’re as good as any in the league. Aaron Rodgers is devastatingly effective as long as he has protection. Protection was an issue, however -- this offensive line got abused by the Eagles blitzes.
I've still got all kinds of questions about this secondary. And these linebackers. And this defensive front. The Pack gave up more than seven yards per carry and allowed Michael Vick to have a career half against them, two very worrisome issues.
St. Louis Rams
Sam Bradford at least has a couple of weapons. Ravens cast-off Mark Clayton, Laurent Robinson and rookie Mardy Gilyard were able to make up for the season ending injury to Donnie Avery.
Bradford was decent; the prototypical rookie QB making his first career start. We saw lots of dinks and dunks, averaging less than five yards per attempt. With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Bradford didn’t come through, looking very green running the two minute drill. But he did show poise in the pocket -- no happy feet here.
Seattle Seahawks
This defense looks much better than last year; a ‘night and day’ difference. A healthy Lofa Tatupu was all over the field. Rookie safety Earl Thomas was dynamite. They walled off the end zone in red zone situations, stuffing San Fran on three different first-half drives.
Matt Hasselbeck showed nice chemistry with his receivers -- seven different guys had catches with his first eleven completions. This crowd definitely had an impact on the game; legitimately a 12th man.