Jetée

I really like that the perennial losers of the past 2-8 years (the Chiefs, the Lions, the Rams, and the Raiders) seem to be "surprising" everyone in how well they are playing at this point in the season.

Not just better offensively, but in the case of the Rams and the Chiefs, their defenses have vastly improved as well (while the Raiders and Lions defense still give up a lot of points, I do think both team there are in the top 5 of the league when it comes to sacks, as well as eye-opening special-teams play).

I wouldn't call the Seahawks or Browns markedly better yet, but I do see the upgrades insceme, play-calling, and overall, the "feel" of a team in a better position than they were last year (more on the defensive side of the ball for these two, but it's an improvement, no less).



Plus, I'm just as surprised as anyone at how well the Buccaneers are playing right now, and it's being done with middle-of-the-pack play, and just a drive to win (and a cushy opening slate of games). I knew they weren't going ot be one of the dreg teams this season, because for the better part of the last decade, they were consistently a winning ball club (and only last year's record, as well as the year before where they had a 1-game lead in the division with a month to play, and let both Carolina AND Atlanta bypass them, and they ended up missing the playoffs at 9-7 due to the tiebreaker against Atlanta).



Finally, remember that preseason prediction I made in this very thread, what about the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions? It looks like I made a (semi-)good call on both. I stated that Detroit would be much improved on offense, (and they needed to be, what with their still in-progess shamble of a defense) and they are only the sixth best team in the NFL in average total points per game (at 26.1, right behind the Chargers and ahead of the Giants, Eagles and Texans) ; additionally, Detroit has being scrappy enough to be in a position to win in nearly every single game they've played thus far up until very late in the fourth quarter. This is a team, more than any other I can name at the moment, that is tailor-made to be involved in "shoot-outs" on a weekly basis (potent offense, plus lousy defense -- though I do think the Bills might be the second team in such an argument to come to mind, along with the Texans and Cowboys).

About the 'Skins defense prediction (a return to top-10 status) I made, however; I don't know what Jim Haslett thinks he is doing, or where the "identifiable" problem seems to be, exactly, but this team is wholly underperforming. Nearly every week (Washington will have already been five nationally-broadcast games this season, when you also factor in the Week 10 Phi@Was Monday Night re-match) I see good play after tremendous tackle, interception-opportunity made, yet still, like always, this is a "bend-but-don't-break" defense. In half the games they'e played thus far, Washington has limited their opponents to 14 pts or less, which is great, (and also ties Pitt. and the NYJ defense for most in the season) yet they've also allowed Indy and Houston to basically dial up their respective offenses at will against this defense, due to uncapitalized opportunities (mainly, interceptions that are right there for the taking). And then there goes the mentioning of losing to lowly teams like the Rams and Lions (both teams scored 30+ against the 'Skins, and both teams, in the past 3 seasons, have a combined 4-2 record against Was.). It's a very Jeykll-and-Hyde-type season for this D -- really no other way to put it. I see LaRon Landry as an All-Pro safety this year, DeAngelo Hall has a very good chance at making another Pro-Bowl, London Fletcher is always a consistent tackling machine, and I think he should be making his second consecutive tropical trip; additionally, CB Carlos Rogers might be able to a claim for a Pro-Bowl spot if he'd only learn to catch the errant/lob ball interceptions that are thrown to him, and it goes without saying that LB Brian Orakpo is among one of this defense's most valuable cogs (he is tied for third in the league with seven sacks, right behind Cowboys' LB DeMarcus Ware). There's just something missing in the play-calling or coverage or something else that has this team playing so out of sync, when it has at the very least five potential Pro-Bowlers lining up each week, yet it is still giving up the second-most yards per game (nearly 400 ypg! mostly via the pass; only Houston gives up more) in the NFL.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi