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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Tap's Thursday Night Pick: Ravens at Broncos

Thursday night picks will be a couple of the college games and the NFL game. Usually, we just do ranked teams, but for Thursday night, we will add some unranked games just for the hell of it. Ed. Note: No games worth talking about in college football so it's all the big boys tonight.  

Baltimore at Denver 7:30 NBC - For some Milwaukee and surrounding Milwaukee area residents, the National Football League will not get off to a rosy start for them. Time Warner Cable and WTMJ, the NBC affiliate have been at cable war since late July and neither side is showing signs of letting up. This means both NBC games cannot been seen unless someone buys an antenna for the cool price of 25 dollars or finds some bunny ears lying around the house. My best recommendation is pick up the antenna or head to a bar. I would do the latter, it's Thursday, it is a great excuse to get drunk to celebrate football returning for another season.  As for the game itself....

Both teams come in with some questions even though they have established players all over the field. For the Ravens, this will be their first game without Ray Lewis or Ed Reed even being on the sidelines. While I think the Ravens will be better as a unit, it is still going to take time. The Broncos have similar concerns on defense as Von Miller and Champ Bailey will be missing from action. Miller provided a majority of the pass rush for the Broncos so someone will need to set up in that category. As for Bailey, he cannot get exposed again by Torrey Smith and that's a shame.

With the questions on defense, Joe Flacco and Peyton Manning should both have field days out there. With Flacco's new contract and the way he played to finish out the year, it will be interesting to see how much of the team belongs to him versus Ray Rice still getting some love. Manning will have a new weapon with Wes Welker and I assume he uses it very well.

I do think we get a high scoring game to start the year and even though, the Ravens are on the road, it is tough to bet against history as the defending Super Bowl champions have never lost this Thursday night. I am taking the Ravens in an extremely tight one coming down to a field goal. Baltimore 31-28  

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32 in 31: Baltimore Ravens

Another year of 32 for 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. 

The Super Bowl champs are back to try and defend their title with some familiar faces, but mostly a new
version of this team. With Ray Lewis retiring and Ed Reed going to Houston, the Ravens are now Joe Flacco's team without question. This is his squad and his opportunity to make his case for being one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League. But as we have learned throughout the years, it is hard to defend the crown as Super Bowl champs.

In the last five years, there has been a true variety of how teams do after winning the Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers nearly went undefeated, but suffered a loss in the divisional round to the eventful Super Bowl champions, New York Giants. Those same Giants missed the playoffs last year and the same fate happened to the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers after their Super Bowl win.  A Super Bowl champion has not won a playoff game the year after since the New England Patriots repeated as champs in 2004 and 2005. It is not easy having the target squarely on your back.

OFFENSE
The Ravens were dealt a seismic blow when they lost Dennis Pitta for the season with an injury. Pitta became Flacco's go-to man in redzone situations as well as being a safety valve when he could not find someone deep. They lose Anquan Boldin meaning Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones need to be more than just vertical receivers. For Jones, that is highly unlikely but people should expect Smith to be a fringe Pro Bowl player at his position.  While much is made about Flacco and how good he is, people forget about Ray Rice. He is a top-tier running back in the National Football League who can do it all on the football field. Sometimes the Ravens offense tends to bury Rice and that is still something they need to improve on this season. Baltimore is a better team when Rice and Flacco are working as duel threats, not just Flacco chucking deep balls down the field.

DEFENSE
Personally, I believe the defense will be at the same standards they were for many years now. There was statistical proof last season the Ravens were a better defense when Ray Lewis did not play a snap. While he certainly carried the emotions for the 2012-2013 Baltimore Ravens, he did not really have the same impact as he had before. It is likely rookie Arthur Brown will play a major role in Lewis' absence and they add Elvis Dumervil on the outside with Terrell Suggs which will be just plain scary. Ed Reed might be another story. He still made plays at his old age, and would always be good for a couple returns during the season. In other words, he is a playmaker.  The Ravens look to move on with free agent Michael Huff from Oakland and rookie Matt Elam from Florida whom seems to fit perfectly with Baltimore's tough nose defense.

SPECIAL TEAMS 
Jacoby Jones is obviously the highlight of this group. Jones is a complete threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. Justin Tucker succeeded as a rookie, but there is no guarantee he will be the same player this year. Sam Koch is solid as their punter.

KEY ADDITIONS 
LB Elvis Dumervil, DE Chris Canty, QB Caleb Hanie, S Michael Huff, DE Marcus Spears - They did not do much in the offseason yet Dumervil is still a very large fish that could have a huge impact.

KEY DEPARTURES
LB Ray Lewis, S Ed Reed, WR Anquan Boldin, C Matt Birk, LB Dannell Ellerbe, NT Ma'ke Kemoeatu, LB Paul Kruger, S Bernard Pollard, G Bobbie Williams, CB Cary Williams.

RAVENS DRAFT PICKS 
S Matt Elam, LB Arthur Brown, DT Brandon Williams, DE John Simon, FB Kyle Juszczyk, OT Ricky Wagner, DE Kapron Lews-Moore, OT Ryan Jensen, WR Aaron Mellette, CB Marc Anthony - I would keep my eye on Wagner and Simon. Wagner might have been a higher pick if he had better workouts.

GAME TO WATCH 
Thursday November 28th - vs. Pittsburgh 7:30 pm - We will get there tomorrow, but I expect Pittsburgh to be pretty damn good this year. This could decide the division and it is on Thanksgiving night. I love it so much.

PREDICTION
12 to 14 wins - I think the Ravens will be most like the Green Bay Packers after their Super Bowl win and take the top spot in the AFC. I worry a bit about the new parts on defense and Pitta's injury does not help their cause either although Flacco might be an MVP candidate this year. Yes I am going to drink battery acid for several days now.

Charlie.

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