NFL Week 2 Liquor Cabinet

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor.  

TOP SHELF
Seattle looks decent - I talked about Seattle's struggles last Sunday and felt like San Francisco would make a statement in Seattle. The Seahawks made a statement and dominated all facets of the football game on Sunday. Russell Wilson did not have the best day, but he did not need to with how the defense played plus the rushing attack was solid. To think, they are missing four top flight stars as well makes Seattle pretty scary for the rest of the season.

Cutty comes back - 4th quarter comebacks are overblown, but I am impressed overall with the Chicago Bears offense. Jay Cutler finally has a tight end who can catch the football. Remember Cutler went to his tight ends fairly often even last year with Kellan Davis who dropped at least half of them last season. Cutler stayed protected for the most part as well.  Additionally, the worries about the Bears defense might be overstated.  Minnesota's defense and special teams both had a touchdown meaning Chicago only allowed 16 points.  

Denver just going to blow everyone out? - It looks like it right now.  Who cares if the Denver defense might not be that good, but their second half against New York was eye-opening. The Broncos had a slow build with it too. They scored a late third quarter touchdown with Knowshon Moreno who somehow is still on the Broncos, force the Giants with a three-and-out and they get another touchdown with Peyton Manning throwing to Julius Thomas. Trindon Holiday delivered the knockout punch with the punt return to put the Broncos up 21 points somehow in game that was close for three quarters.

Miami... Sneaky good or too early? - I sold low on Miami to start the year, but they are playing well so far this season. The Dolphins started out the season with consecutive road games and won both of them holding both Cleveland and Indianapolis under 20 points. Ryan Tannehill went for over 300 yards and got Mike Wallace's season started with a 100 yard game. One thing the young quarterback has to cut it is the fumbles. He lost three balls but thankfully, Tannehill recovered two of them.  We shall see how they look at home though as they have been worse there in years past.  

MIDDLE SHELF
Texans pull another one out of their asses - Everyone is talking about the Patriots being the worst 2-0 team right now, but why not Houston? They played one good quarter against San Diego and then they trailed Tennessee by eight with four minutes left in the game yet found a way to win the game in overtime. People will say the cliche line of 'Good teams find a way to win football games' but still, Houston seems a bit overrated to me.  

Atlanta holds on - The Falcons jumped out to a 24-3 lead on Sunday afternoon against St. Louis yet they could not stomp the foot on the throat.  Atlanta kept letting St. Louis come back in this game and thankfully got a big drive from Matt Ryan and Jacob Snelling in the fourth quarter. But the Falcons are going to be without Kroy Biermann, Sean Weatherspoon and Steven Jackson next week, all three are vital to the team's success. Biermann is done for the year, Weatherspoon is on selective IR but that's not a guarantee he will be back this season. Atlanta is much more of a mess than people are talking about right now.  

Joe Flacco does not catch flak... Surprising? - I am somewhat surprised Joe Flacco did not receive much backlash for not being there for the birth of his second child. I asked both my mom and dad about it because they had two kids. Both of them said the same thing, 'Well it's not the first child, the second child, it's more of a been there, done that.' If my sister Annie is reading, please take this up with them, not me.

Eagles score points but cannot stop anyone - Philadelphia might be a year away. It is still super early to say something like that, but it seems like there are some significant holes in that defense. Sure, they can put up 30+ points with the best of them, but their defense cannot stop anybody. I realize San Diego has some tools on offense yet I would never expect them to have 33 points on the road.

BOTTOM SHELF
Oh noooo Dez - Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant balled out on Sunday with nine catches for over 150 yards, but he made two vital errors. Bryant had a crucial drop that probably cost the Cowboys a game. We can have a discussion about Dallas's inabilities to win on the road, but I feel that might be overstated. Dez also retweeted a picture of a vagina, not a great moment in social media.

Ron Rivera or Greg Schiano... Who gets fired first? - Oh boy, I think both of these coaches might be getting the pink slip before November 1st. Let's remember Carolina had the toughest schedule in the NFL before the season started this year.  The Panthers play New York Giants at home this week and then a bye week before two road games in Arizona and Minnesota. If they get blown out by New York, it becomes a real awkward two weeks for Ron Rivera. As for Tampa Bay, the chemistry seems completely off with Schiano and yes, they are two field goals away from being 2-0, yet it does not seem like a good situation.  They play in New England this week before heading home to play Arizona before a bye week.  I will take Rivera.

Poor Jacksonville - I just feel bad for Jacksonville. Just struggling. I am not really going to go in what's wrong with them because it does not matter as they have all sorts of problems. Also they have all the Tim Tebow shit, it is entirely annoying and I feel for the fanbase. Shock the world this week in Seattle.

Detroit remembers they are Detroit - Everyone started to get real excited about Detroit in Week 1 forgetting how much the Lions struggle on the road.  They had a 14-10 lead at halftime, but their offense went silent in the second half. DeAndre Levy netted them an interception return in the third quarter, but that was it for scoring from Detroit. Arizona's defense is good, but if Detroit is as good as everyone wanted them to be in Week 1, their offense does not go scoreless in the second half.

Charlie.

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32 in 31: Detroit Lions

Another year of 32 in 31. Sports News on Tap takes the month of August to preview the National Football League. We spend every day of the month looking at a new team and how they will fare in 2013.

Fair to say, the Detroit Lions were a complete mess last year. Comparable to being drunk at 5 pm after day drinking since 9 am meaning you probably have stains of beer, burrito and drool on your shirt and probably made some unsuccessful passes at the opposite sex, this was the Lions last season.

They added some new pieces, gave Matthew Stafford a brand new contract and they are ready to make an attempt to return to the NFL Playoffs.

OFFENSE
After receiving much criticism about his injury history, Stafford remained healthy for the second consecutive year.  Yes, there is still a chance the injury bug rears its ugly head especially with Stafford throwing the ball 600+ times in 2012 and 700+ times in 2013 plus his weird motion does not help either.  This leads to gaudy numbers, but let's be honest here, he is nowhere near a top ten quarterback in the National Football League. Stafford had nearly 5,000 yards, but had a quarterback rating of 79.8.  He gets the numbers just based off doing it a bunch of times.

The hope is Stafford's passing attempts should go down this year as they signed Reggie Bush from the Miami Dolphins. Bush gives the Lions their first running threat in the Stafford era.  They had a revolving door of running backs that Detroit hopes will end this season with Bush. He had some great years in Miami and being in a closed stadium with field turf should only help Bush's year.

Calvin Johnson had another big season with the Lions which should surprise no one, but he will get some of his buddies back from injury lightening his load in terms of attention by opposing secondary. Nate Burleson and Ryan Broyles both figure to be factors for this team. The development of Brandon Pettigrew is crucial as well.

DEFENSE
The Lions defensive line has always been a talking point when people discuss this team, and they shaped a little differently this year although they will be just as dangerous. Detroit drafted Ziggy Ansah in the first-round making an absolute lethal combination with Ndamukong Suh in terms of speed and size once Ansah puts on a few pounds. So far, Nick Fairley has missed nine games in two years as a Lion, and he needs to find a way to stay on the field as the former Auburn defensive tackle can be a major player.

One of the biggest concerns with the Lions has always been their secondary. They tried to fix things with Glover Quinn from Houston and they get Louis Delmas back from injury last year giving them a legitimate tandem at safety for the first time since Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana.  Their cornerbacks are decent with Chris Houston and probably Bill Bradley, a second-year player who started a couple games before getting hurt. The Lions should not be getting burned in the passing game as much as they have in the past couple of years.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Sigh. Jason Hanson has finally retired, sad times. They added David Akers from San Francisco, but he did not have the greatest year with the Niners although playing in a controlled home atmosphere for the first time in his career should help him.

KEY ADDITIONS
RB Reggie Bush, S Glover Quin, DE Jason Jones, WR Devin Thomas - We talked about most of these players already, Thomas could be a returner for them.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS
K Jason Hanson, DE Cliff Avril, OT Jeff Backus, DE Kyle Vanden Bosch OT Gosder Cherlius, P Nick Harris, CB Jacob Lacey, KR Stefan Logan, OG Stephen Peterman, WR Titus Young Sr.

LIONS DRAFT PICKS
DE Ziggy Ansah, CB Darius Slay, OG Larry Warford, DE Devin Taylor, P Sam Martin, WR Corey Fuller, RB Theo Riddick, TE Michael Williams, LB Brandon Hepburn - Love the Riddick and Taylor picks, I feel both could make an impact this year.

GAME TO WATCH
Thursday November 28th vs. Green Bay 11:30 am - The Lions finish their year with only three games against division opponents in the last eight games. Two of those are on the road with one being at home on Thanksgiving against the Packers. This should be quite a significant Turkey Day game.

WIN TOTAL 
7-9 - Could the Lions get to the playoffs?  Yes, it is possible, but they face a pretty tough schedule even for finishing with only four wins. They have the talent, but it is still unknown if they have the chemistry to put it all together. If the Lions do not win seven games, the seat is very warm for Jim Schwartz.

Charlie.

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SnoTap Buzz: Friday August 2nd

I could watch Robin Thicke, The Roots and Jimmy Fallon signing 'Blurred Lines' with elementary instruments all day long.

Kansas City Chiefs 2012 first round pick Dontari Poe, a defensive tackle, quits eating barbecue and loses 20 pounds. When you live Kansas City, I have no idea how that's possible. There is a zero chance I could do that. (Sporting News) 

Everyone in Detroit Lions camp are getting excited about 'Kickalicious' their kicker from Norway. I hope he makes the team, but it will be weird not seeing Jason Hanson kicking meaningless field goals against the Packers. (NFL.com) 

Here's Kyle Scott, the creator of Crossing Broad, talking about blogging, buying and releasing the Riley Cooper tape.  I always wonder what would happen if I am offered something like this about a Wisconsin athlete. I have no idea honestly, it would all depend. (Crossing Broad) 

The Chicago Bears are so lucky to have Martellus Bennett for his skills and also his demeanor. He is completely out there, but it makes him so great. (MMQB) 

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