First & Then: NFL Week 2
FIRST:
It cannot possibly be as difficult as Sunday made it seem for each team to have one excellent kicker on their roster. In the first two weeks 31 kicking opportunities have been missed across 32 games.
If I could go back in time I'd stick with soccer as a main sport, kick for the football team, go to a college with a football team and become a walk on kicker for them. It cannot be harder than this, it's practiced repetition and then muscle memory like a free throw for your leg. The underrated aspect of it is the mental toughness and discipline it takes. I'm not just talking about the game winning kicks in a game's waning seconds but also the mental fortitude and self-assurance it takes to walk out and boot one after you missed the previous attempt. Recently is seems like this problem is growing and spreading and then you also have teams like the Browns and Chargers who have historically checkered pasts with the kicker position. We even have two ties already this season and the kickers are at least primarily responsible if not solely. That's right another tie! A week after the Browns and Steelers drew 21-21 in a second half monsoon, the Packers and Vikings played to a 29-29 stalemate. Uncannily, in both games both teams each had a missed field goal in overtime that could have given them the win. It would not surprise me if several kickers were released this week and replaced by current non-rostered kickers like Sam Ficken and Dan Bailey for next week's games.
THEN:
We are down to nine undefeated teams: Miami, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Denver, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Green Bay (they count because neither have lost yet). Who's going to be the last one standing? None of them have an easy road ahead and as the cliche goes, let's take it one week at a time. Minnesota is the only team that's all but a certain lock to make it through their week three matchup since they play the Bills, although Green Bay is a strong favorite in the nation's capital also. Jacksonville will need to avoid a let down after beating the Pats as they host division rival Tennessee. Miami must keep the dog pile driving beast that is Marshawn Lynch in check while KC will need to out shoot Kyle Shanahan's offense. Denver and Cincinnati are in for dog fights against Baltimore and Carolina respectively. While the most surprising 2-0 team in Tampa Bay attempts to use Fitzmagic to truly curse the Steelers' September. Then, week four is book ended between the Vikings at Rams on what will hopefully be the first quality Thursday night game in years and Denver vs. Kansas City on Monday night. In the AFC my money is on Kansas City because I think the Jags drop a trap game off an emotional high to Tennessee next week before beating KC in week five. Cincy and Miami will both have lost in week three or four; Cincy plays Carolina and Atlanta, Miami plays Oakland then New England. In the NFC how can anyone not like the Rams to make a 16-0 run? Well, their schedule would be one reason not to think that. They play Minnesota, Green Bay, New Orleans, Kansas City and Philadelphia at some point this season. If you are keeping track that means they play every NFC playoff team from last year except Atlanta. I like Green Bay's soft schedule to enable them to last longest without a loss since I see a month of matchups that are extremely winnable (@ Wash, v. Buff, @ Det, v. SF) before they face the Rams.
There are also nine winless teams: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Houston, Oakland, NY Giants, Detroit, Chicago and Arizona. The clearly worst teams in this bunch are Buffalo and Arizona and we'll throw Cleveland in just due to their hereditary attachment to a losing culture. The Browns have clearly taken a step forward and should win one of their next two matchups, either this Thursday v. NY Jets or next week @ Oakland. Although, an October 14th first win in week six over the Chargers so that Hue Jackson's only two wins are over the same team would be highly amusing. Arizona has opportunities hosting Chicago and Seattle the next two weeks with later season shots at Oakland and Detroit. All of those are home games they have to get at least two wins out of those four. The Bills meanwhile are exceeding even my expectations at sucking and have maybe (and it's a BIG maybe) two chances to win a game this season; week nine vs. Chicago and week fifteen vs. Detroit. If they can't pull one of those off or shock the Dolphins or Jets in a division upset 0-16 is almost guaranteed. The Bills will absolutely be the last team to get a win this season and they may not get one at all.
Don't forget to check back on Friday for my weekend picks post.