What We Know After Week 2

Well, I've finally found time to update the blog after the beginning of the school year. What I want to try and start doing is showing facts about the National Football League after every Sunday. So, now that Week 2 for the most part is in the books, let's take a look at what we know.

The Green Bay Packers defensive renovation project is not finished.

Cedric Benson torched the Packer defense for 131 yards Sunday afternoon. There's a possibility that the Bengals have found their groove offensively, but I'm not buying that. Not a year after Green Bay had one of the worst defenses in the league last season. I'll reiterate what I've said all along. The Packers are a really good football team. As a matter of fact, I said they would win the Super Bowl in August. Right now, I don't see the same team that I saw in August. The Pack doesn't seem in sync, and on defense, that's understandable. Dom Capers just installed the new 3-4 scheme in the offseason and some of the players, such as Aaron Kampman, are still adjusting to their new roles. Offensively, this should be a top 5 offense, however the Packers are still not performing up to their potential. This is thrown on their offensive line who allowed 5 sacks to something called Antwaan Odom Sunday. Things won't get better for the Pack, as Chad Clifton most likely tore his ACL. To get back on subject, the Packers will be fine as long as their defense can get used to their new roles.

The Vikings still have some things to figure out.

The Vikings are turning out to be a second half team. Last week, the Vikings got off to a slow start and trailed Cleveland 13-7 at halftime. The Vikings wound up winning 34-20. This week, the Vikings trailed Detroit 10-7 at halftime. The Purple came out and won the game 27-13. Maybe the Vikings aren't getting enough sleep, but it seems that there are a couple holes that the Vikings have yet to fill. The offensive line didn't look dominant when it came to pass protection Sunday. Brett Favre was constantly under pressure. The Vikings have prided themselves off quality offensive line play, but the right side didn't look good today. Anthony Herrera's time in Minnesota appears to be short, and Phil Loadholt will be a good lineman, but he's a rookie and needs time to develop. The Vikings will be fine, and after all, they are leading the NFC North after week 2, but they need to work out a couple more kinks to become the elite team many expect them to be.

JaMarcus Russel is not the quarterback to lead the Oakland Raiders

When you take a quarterback #1 overall, the expectations are pretty high for said player. Some of the quarterbacks who have been taken #1 overall include Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, and Troy Aikman. They're pretty good. However, there are other quarterbacks such as David Carr, Alex Smith, and now we can add JaMarcus Russel to this list. At one point in the game against the Chiefs on Sunday, Russell was 3/17 passing. That was in the fourth quarter. I've heard of slow starts before, but for a #1 pick going into his third year, that's ridiculously bad. Yeah, he's got a bazooka attached to his neck, but unlike a missile, accuracy actually matters in the National Football League. The Raiders need to get rid of this clown, ASAP. The sad part about all of this is that the argument falls on deaf ears. Al Davis is starting to remind me of my Great Grandpa Carl if he ran a football team. All he cares about is the big play, which is fine, but at some point you need more than just the ability to chuck the ball 70 yards. The Raiders had a quarterback, but he happens to be in Philadelphia (Mr. Garcia). It'll be interesting to see if/when the Raiders pull the plug on the JaMarcus Russell experiment.

The NFC East is ridiculously weak.

The Eastern Sports Propaganda Network would balk at this. The NFC East, for the first time in a while is incredibly mediocre. All the "experts" talk about is how strong the East is and I say nay. Did you see the Saints destroy the Eagles Sunday? Drew Brees looked like he was playing against a pop warner football team. The Eagles also don't have their starting quarterback, Donovan McNabb. They'll get a new toy next week when Michael Vick is activated, but will that really matter? The Cowboys are more stable than they were a year ago, but it doesn't hide the fact that Tony Romo sucks in November and December. It'll take a while, but the Cowboys inadequacies will show themselves, and this team will go into the toilet. The Giants don't have any targets on offense and Eli Manning might be the most overrated QB in the league. Speaking of overrated, there's the Washington Redskins who could only muster 9 points against the St. Louis Rams, who couldn't hold water in a paper cup. This division is respectable, but they won't get three teams into the playoffs like in the past. I expect another division (the North and the South are candidates) to get the wild cards.

I know what you're thinking, IT'S WEEK 2!!! But, it's always fun to make observations as the NFL season is a roller coaster. I'm excited to see just how this season plays out and, hey, I could always be wrong.