NFC team betting notes
By TED SEVRANSKY
Welcome to Teddy’s weekly look at the NFL. Teddy spends every Sunday typing furiously at his laptop as he watches the games, giving you the key info that the box scores and game recaps simply don’t have. This week: NFC tidbits from around the league.
49ers:
Frank Gore is an absolute beast, arguably the single toughest runner in the NFL. Having Gore picking up chunks of yardage with every carry makes things much easier for first year starter JT O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan looked pretty good running this offense, including a really nice throw downfield to Vernon Davis, who could be the No. 1 guy in the passing game this year, the best tight end Mike Martz has ever had to work with. But, just like the Martz-run Lions last year, this defense couldn’t get off the field and the offense couldn’t kill any clock, notching only one decent drive for the entire second half.
Cardinals:
With Gabe Watson and Alan Branch out, this defensive line was really getting pushed around, particularly against the run. Run defense was a big problem in Arizona last year and it doesn’t look particularly improved for 2008. The pass defense, on the other hand, looked really good – this is a top notch secondary, with Adrian Wilson making big plays all over the place. Edgerrin James is so far past his prime it’s not even funny. Could rookie Tim Hightower be the answer? Hightower had 2000 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns last year at 1-AA Richmond. Perhaps the problem is with the offensive line – Kurt Warner had his backside firmly planted on the turf repeatedly, and there certainly weren’t many big holes to run through. If Warner continues to take hits like this every week, he won’t be healthy by the end of September. Big problems with Arizona’s red zone offense when they can’t run the football.
Cowboys:
T.O = too easy. Terrell Owens was wide open downfield all day long, with the Browns defense awfully concerned about Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton. This offense looks like it’s going to be extremely tough to slow down, let alone stop. The first dozen times that Tony Romo dropped back to pass, he didn’t get sacked or hurried even once. That’s an offensive line doing their job, especially when we consider Marion Barber rushing for better than seven yards per carry during that span, and Felix Jones replacing him and running for seven yards per carry himself.
Eagles:
Donovan McNabb seems much more mobile in the pocket than he was last year; able to sidestep opposing pass rushers. He’s two years removed from his ACL injury, looking very sharp early on. DeSean Jackson was drafted, in part, for his prowess as a kick returner. Voila – first game, first long punt return, setting up a first and goal on a spectacular play. Philly had the fewest interceptions in the NFL last year and didn’t force a single turnover today, but, frankly, they didn’t need to, holding the Rams 0-11 on third down conversions thanks to complete domination at the defensive line of scrimmage.
Falcons:
This offensive line looks very good – surprisingly good. Atlanta dominated the line of scrimmage here from start to finish. Matt Ryan sure looks a lot better when he had time to throw and a strong running game to support him. They have decent skill position talent – Michael Turner, Jerious Norwood, Roddy White and Michael Jenkins makes for a pretty darn good quartet of weapons. Really impressive performance – this team might have ‘sleeper’ written all over it. The last place team from the previous season in the NFC South has improved to win the division in every year since 2002.
Lions:
New year, same old Lions. This defense got torched repeatedly down the stretch last year when Detroit went 1-7. Here we saw missed assignments in the secondary leading to a pair of easy 60+ yard first quarter touchdowns against them. The missed tackling here is downright embarrassing; the antithesis of their preseason efforts. And this offensive line is once again a subpar unit – Jon Kitna’s got great receivers, but no time to find them. Calvin Johnson, in particular, made some truly amazing receptions in traffic, a potential difference maker for this team. And the rookie running back Kevin Smith looked really good as well – this team is loaded with skill position talent. This is a dead nuts over team.
Rams:
Drew Bennett got hurt again, didn’t even make it through the first quarter before going down. This team has real question marks at wide receiver once again, especially with Tory Holt blanketed today, held to one catch for nine yards. Speaking of ‘once again’ this offensive line was confused and baffled by the Eagles blitzes. Not to mention all the false start penalties! This secondary was absolutely awful, torched repeatedly, far worse than the stats are going to show thanks to a handful of Philadelphia dropped passes or missed connections. By far, the Rams suffered through the worst looking opener of any team in the league on the opening weekend of action.
Saints:
Last year, Drew Brees got off to a horrible start, with a 1-9 touchdown to interception ratio over the first four games of the season. Here, he threw an ugly pick six in the first quarter after leading the Saints down the field for a touchdown on their first drive, although he did settle down and throw three TDs against a quality pass defense. Run defense was problem No. 1 for the Saints last year. They spent millions in free agency, drafted help, and guess what. Run defense looks like problem No. 1 for the Saints again this year. Too many weak arm tackles! At least they have a pass rush – Charles Grant was a monster today, and the Saints consistently got pressure from their front four without having to utilize the blitz. I’m impressed with rookie cornerback Tracy Porter (2nd round, Indiana), who made a handful of excellent plays in single coverage.
Seahawks:
Very fast paced offense – this team is getting in and getting out of the huddle in seconds, jogging up to the line of scrimmage, and snapping the football quickly. The Seahawks expect to run their offense at a much faster pace in 2008 than we’ve seen in recent years, and it showed – they had nine drives in the first half alone. Clearly, this is not an Under team. Huge injury to Nate Burleson knocked him out of the game in the third quarter. For a team with cluster injuries at wide receiver already, if Burleson’s knee injury is serious, this West Coast offense lacks a single legitimate receiving threat. Throw in a struggling running game and we can project serious offensive deficiencies for the Seahawks in their immediate future.