September 19, 2017 at 6:28 p.m.
Not much is known after two games
Rays of Insight
What do we know?
After two weeks of the NFL season, the answer is often “not much.”
Think back to a year ago:
•Carson Wentz looked like a potential MVP candidate and his Philadelphia Eagles were 2-0. They would later lose five straight games and finish out of the playoffs.
•The Atlanta Falcons were 1-1 after losing to the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers and barely squeaking out a win over Oakland, and didn’t look like much of a contender. They went on to score blowout wins in the final three games of the season, and it took overtime for New England to beat them in the Super Bowl.
•Notre Dame product Will Fuller looked like a rising star, having surpassed the 100-yard mark in each of his first two games while averaging more than 20 yards per catch. He never reached the 100-yard mark again, and only surpassed 50 yards twice in the final 10 games of the season.
West stacked
The Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders are all 2-0.
But it’s really the last team in the bunch, the San Diego, err, Los Angles Chargers, that proves the AFC West may be the best division in football. (It’s going to take a while to kick that habit.)
Los Angeles is two kicks — a blocked field goal in the waning seconds of game one and a missed field goal with five seconds left in week two — away from potentially being perfect. The Chargers have lost their first two games by a combined five points.
Every team in the division is a potential playoff contender, even the one that started 0-2.
That’s scary for the rest of the AFC.
At this point, it seems clear that, barring catastrophic injuries, the AFC West will produce a pair of playoff teams. And three is a distinct possibility.
Hunt is good
It’s likely few knew Kareem Hunt’s name well since he came out of the University of Toledo and was a third-round draft pick.
But when Kansas City starting running back Spencer Ware went down to an injury, the job was Hunt’s to take.
He has done that, and more.
Through two games, Hunt has racked up 229 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and 126 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He’s averaging 7.6 yards per carry.
He certainly can’t keep those numbers up, but they are also no fluke.
Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid likes to use his running backs in the passing game, which has led to big numbers not only for stars like Jamaal Charles and LeSean McCoy, but lesser-known names like Brian Westbrook (more than 2,000 total yards and 12 touchdowns in 2007) and Duce Staley.
Something’s wrong
There is clearly something wrong with the Indianapolis Colts.
How wrong is it?
That’s a difficult question to answer with Andrew Luck on the sidelines.
To be fair to Indianapolis, any team starting a backup quarterback would be likely to struggle. The simple fact is, there aren’t that many starting-level NFL quarterbacks on the planet. Most teams aren’t even lucky enough to have one, let alone two.
But that leads to the biggest concern about the Colts.
If they knew there was a chance Andrew Luck would not be available for the first game of the season, or the first two, or three — he’s already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns — or more, why did they not have a better plan?
Past performance had already made it fairly clear that Scott Tolzein, who had sub-par quarterback ratings of 66.8 and 64.7 in the only years in which he saw significant action, is not a quarterback who can even be a stop-gap in the NFL. So why did it take the Colts until the final week of the preseason to trade for Jacoby Brissett or to make some sort of other move in an attempt to stabilize the position?
Other organizations would not have allowed the situation to fester for so long. Now, after an abysmal 0-2 start, it seems unlikely Indianapolis will be able to mend the wound in any meaningful way.
It’s going to be a long year for the Colts.
That much, we seem to know.
After two weeks of the NFL season, the answer is often “not much.”
Think back to a year ago:
•Carson Wentz looked like a potential MVP candidate and his Philadelphia Eagles were 2-0. They would later lose five straight games and finish out of the playoffs.
•The Atlanta Falcons were 1-1 after losing to the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers and barely squeaking out a win over Oakland, and didn’t look like much of a contender. They went on to score blowout wins in the final three games of the season, and it took overtime for New England to beat them in the Super Bowl.
•Notre Dame product Will Fuller looked like a rising star, having surpassed the 100-yard mark in each of his first two games while averaging more than 20 yards per catch. He never reached the 100-yard mark again, and only surpassed 50 yards twice in the final 10 games of the season.
West stacked
The Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders are all 2-0.
But it’s really the last team in the bunch, the San Diego, err, Los Angles Chargers, that proves the AFC West may be the best division in football. (It’s going to take a while to kick that habit.)
Los Angeles is two kicks — a blocked field goal in the waning seconds of game one and a missed field goal with five seconds left in week two — away from potentially being perfect. The Chargers have lost their first two games by a combined five points.
Every team in the division is a potential playoff contender, even the one that started 0-2.
That’s scary for the rest of the AFC.
At this point, it seems clear that, barring catastrophic injuries, the AFC West will produce a pair of playoff teams. And three is a distinct possibility.
Hunt is good
It’s likely few knew Kareem Hunt’s name well since he came out of the University of Toledo and was a third-round draft pick.
But when Kansas City starting running back Spencer Ware went down to an injury, the job was Hunt’s to take.
He has done that, and more.
Through two games, Hunt has racked up 229 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and 126 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He’s averaging 7.6 yards per carry.
He certainly can’t keep those numbers up, but they are also no fluke.
Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid likes to use his running backs in the passing game, which has led to big numbers not only for stars like Jamaal Charles and LeSean McCoy, but lesser-known names like Brian Westbrook (more than 2,000 total yards and 12 touchdowns in 2007) and Duce Staley.
Something’s wrong
There is clearly something wrong with the Indianapolis Colts.
How wrong is it?
That’s a difficult question to answer with Andrew Luck on the sidelines.
To be fair to Indianapolis, any team starting a backup quarterback would be likely to struggle. The simple fact is, there aren’t that many starting-level NFL quarterbacks on the planet. Most teams aren’t even lucky enough to have one, let alone two.
But that leads to the biggest concern about the Colts.
If they knew there was a chance Andrew Luck would not be available for the first game of the season, or the first two, or three — he’s already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns — or more, why did they not have a better plan?
Past performance had already made it fairly clear that Scott Tolzein, who had sub-par quarterback ratings of 66.8 and 64.7 in the only years in which he saw significant action, is not a quarterback who can even be a stop-gap in the NFL. So why did it take the Colts until the final week of the preseason to trade for Jacoby Brissett or to make some sort of other move in an attempt to stabilize the position?
Other organizations would not have allowed the situation to fester for so long. Now, after an abysmal 0-2 start, it seems unlikely Indianapolis will be able to mend the wound in any meaningful way.
It’s going to be a long year for the Colts.
That much, we seem to know.
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