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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Fantasy WR Rankings Reaction

Earlier in the offseason, I posted my 2013 Fantasy Football Ranks, so that everyone could get prepared for the fantasy football season. If you missed those rankings, they are posted here.I asked for a lot of feedback, so I knew how to look more in depth at each individual. I won’t be writing about each individual player, instead I will look to spend more time on players that might represent more points for discussion. Charlie and Mitch were more than happy to toss some thoughts about my ranks on the August 14 Tapping the Keg Podcast, if you missed that, the link is here.I’ll use some of the players they mentioned, some players SnoTap contributor Bryan Reynolds mentioned, and players I think are points of discussion this offseason. If you there is anyone you disagree with my rankings on, as always send them to SnoTap12@gmail.com, and I’ll make sure to address it in the next column.




TE Rankings Reaction QB Rankings Reaction

#4 Andre Johnson- This was one of the hardest ranks for me at the wide receiver position. Johnson has always had immense talent on the field, but injuries, offensive game plan, and a lack of another target to take defense’s attention has led to an inconsistent fantasy career. Last year, Johnson put it together, especially at the end of the season, when it mattered most. This rank shows that I think Johnson has one more healthy season in him, and the Texans have an offense that will focus a bit more on getting him the ball. If Johnson stays healthy and preforms up to his potential, he is one of the few players that can give Megatron a run for the number one receiver spot, but he is a risky pick. Johnson has the ability to put up huge numbers, but also has the ability to be a wasted draft pick, choose carefully. 

#5 Larry Fitzgerald- Fitzgerald is coming off a season that was a disappointment to anyone that drafted him. He has been dealing with a roundtable of terrible quarterbacks over the past few seasons, and although Carson Palmer isn’t a Hall of Famer, an upgrade to adequate is just what Fitzgerald needs. I still view Larry as one of the best wide receivers in football, talent has never been his issue, quarterback play has. Now that he has someone that can get him the ball, I see a bounce back season in Fitzgerald’s future.  If Palmer can stay healthy, and get enough time to get the ball downfield, there is a great opportunity in the Arizona passing game. The fact that Fitzgerald can still win jump balls in the end zone will also help him and the Cardinals on the goal line. If the rest of your league is letting Fitzgerald slip in the draft, pick him up and get a great value.

#6 Dez Bryant- Charlie mentioned multiple times that he thinks Dez Bryant should be ranked higher. Many fantasy football players likely have Dez competing for the number two spot behind Calvin Johnson. I believe in Bryant stepping up this year, I just don’t think that we should rank him that high, just yet. He had an inconsistent start to his career, combining a lack of focus at times with injuries. Bryant did come on very strong at the end of last season, but I want to see him put it together for a long period of time before moving him up too far in the rankings. His potential to put together a disappointing season is what stops him from being ranked higher in my mind.

#18 Wes Welker- In the offseason, Wes Welker went from one Future Hall of Fame quarterback to another, transitioning from Tom Brady to Peyton Manning. Many people viewed this as an opportunity for Welker to continue to dominate, as Manning loves to throw it to slot receivers. I think Welker will be very successful in Denver, but will feature a reduction in value due to a couple reasons. The first is he is no longer the only receiver on his own team. In New England, Welker was hands down the number one receiver each season. In Denver, Welker has to fight with Eric Decker and DeMaryius Thomas for targets. Since Denver will throw the ball a lot, Welker will still have a lot of receptions, but it won’t be the insane number of targets he has had recently. The second reason Welker might not be as high of a value is chemistry with his quarterback. Although I have no doubt Welker and Manning will get along, there were few tandems with better chemistry than Brady and Welker. When Brady got in trouble, he knew where Welker would be on the field without even looking, it will take some time to develop that with Peyton. For those reasons, I think Welker will have a good, but not great season in Denver.

#19 Danny Amendola- For years, Wes Welker was a high end fantasy receiver for the New England Patriots, becoming an absolute stud in PPR leagues. For the last few seasons, people have compared former Rams WR Danny Amendola to Wes Welker. It only made sense when Welker moved to the Denver Broncos that Amendola would take his place. Since that move has taken place, many have said that Amendola will put up a monster season, replicating Welker’s performance, as long as he stayed healthy. I am not on board with that analysis. Amendola has a lot of potential, and is an injury risk, but it is not as easy as slotting him in Welker’s role, and getting the same results as long as they are on the field. Amendola needs to create chemistry with Tom Brady, needs to learn a new offense (something many young players have struggled with in New England), and then needs to stay healthy. Amendola has potential to be just as good as Wes Welker, that is true, but expecting it is going to lead to a lot of people reaching for him in drafts, be smart and realize there is more risk here than just injuries.

#23 Randall Cobb-Yes, I am a Packer fan. Yes, I am a huge Randall Cobb fan. Yes, I have heard all the reports about how much Rodgers loves Cobb, and how many targets he will get this season. No, I will probably not own Randall Cobb on any teams this year. The hype seems to be getting a bit high for Randall Cobb this offseason in terms of fantasy football. Just last season, many fantasy experts were talking about players needing to stay away from Packer receivers because with so many targets, it was hard to predict who would get the ball each week. That issue still seems to be present in my mind, with Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and a potentially refocused Jermichael Finley. Combine all of those receivers with an increased running game, and there might not be as many targets out there to make Cobb a number 1 fantasy receiver. So yes, I think Randall Cobb is a great player, and I’m very happy he is a member of my favorite team, I just think there is a chance he doesn’t have the amazing fantasy season people are starting to expect. 

Check back tomorrow for our reaction on the running back position.

Adam

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SnoTap Buzz: Thursday July 25th

I could probably post DLHQ's interview each day. The show itself is pretty funny, but I always like the interview topic. Stanford's David Shaw is one of my favorites in terms of college football coaching.

Florida State tight end Nick O'Leary, grandson of Jack Nicklaus, got into an absolutely brutal motorcycle crash in May but ended up coming way with minor injuries. That bus might have saved his life as crazy as that sounds. (Tomahawk Nation)

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings is still making comments about Aaron Rodgers. Now people are thinking Jennings might be onto something because they feel there is too much smoke. No that's not it, Aaron did not go to bat for Greg, simple as that. (Star Tribune) 

Dez Bryant is basically the football equivalent of the old baseball saying 'He is in the best shape of his year and poised for a career year.'  Still completely regret letting him go in a keeper league in 2012. (CBS Sports)

Very interesting comments from Southern Miss head coach Todd Monken about the conferences splitting up and what kind of teams will come play them at home. I would love to see better non-conference games and why we need to get rid of multiple FCS games. (Sun Sentinel) 

Madison Square Garden is going to move in 10 years and right now, it does not seem sad yet it will be sad in a decade from now. (New York Times) 

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