Rank
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Logo
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Team
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Rec
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Blurb
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1
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Denver Broncos
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1-0
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Whoa. QB Peyton Manning took no prisoners Thursday night. This team looked complete at Mile High. If they didn’t drop a 49-bomb on Baltimore, the defense would have probably played a more aggressive game rather than the conservative effort they showed. The Broncos owned every facet of the game.
Next week they will travel to the New Meadowlands to face the New York Giants and face a tougher pass rush. Another strong performance will reinforce their position on this list.
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2
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San Francisco 49ers
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1-0
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Strong win over a playoff team and early Superbowl favorite. QB Colin Kaepernick looked good and proved that he can make plays with his arm as well as his feet. He picked up 412 yards through the air, adding 3 scores with his arm. WR Anquan Boldin showed up and looked like a true #1 receiver for the first time in his career. The defense looked stout and kept a top 5 offense to a reasonable mark. Hard to find flaws in this style of play.
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3
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Houston Texans
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1-0
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They scored 24 unanswered points to top the Chargers Monday night. Good teams find ways to rally back from bad games, and they pulled it off with a last second field goal.
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4
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New England Patriots
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1-0
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It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Patriots pulled off a win in Buffalo on Sunday. From a statistical standpoint, New England looked like the better team, but was only barely able to edge off a surprisingly tough Bills team. QB Tom Brady threw the ball 52 times in the contest and pulled his team into field goal range in the closing seconds of the game. These guys look beatable, but if they can string together some wins, what does it matter?
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5
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Green Bay Packers
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0-1
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Not a good day for Green Bay. The secondary looked awful. The run defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed. The “new” running game couldn’t find a spark. QB Aaron Rodgers was struggling to find time in the pocket. They did, however, keep what could have been a blowout a close game. How? 2 statlines tell the story: WR Jordy Nelson, 7 catches, 130 yards and a TD; WR Randle Cobb, 7 catches, 108 yards and a TD. The receiving corps looked good.
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6
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Chicago Bears
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1-0
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The biggest statline of the game: QB Jay Cutler was sacked zero times. Not once against arguably the toughest D-Line in football. Trestman’s offense did something Lovie never could; they made appropriate half-time adjustments and came out to win the game. And did anyone see that 58 yard field goal by K Robbie Gould? Keep playing like this, Chicago, and you got a playoff team.
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7
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Seattle Seahawks
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1-0
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Hard to feel good about the home win Sunday. 12 points against a bad Carolina defense? 109 penalty yards? Someone needs to tell this squad that the football games count now. The defense was strong, but they won’t be able to get away with a 12 point win when they play a playoff team.
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8
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Atlanta Falcons
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0-1
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To be fair, the Superdome is a hard place to play. However, the Saints do not have a strong defense. In fact, they had one of the worst defenses in the league last year. The Falcons were just unable to score. QB Matt Ryan looked strong, but they couldn’t pull off the win in the closing minutes. Atlanta played nowhere near as well as they could, so they aren’t taking a massive drop.
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9
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New Orleans Saints
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0-1
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Hell of a way to start a redemption season. The Saints dismantled their biggest rival at home Sunday on the back of a strong team effort. The defense looked rebirthed after the atrocity that was last season. QB Drew Brees looked in playoff form. It’s nice to have HC Sean Payton back.
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10
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Cincinnati Bengals
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0-1
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Despite a 162 yard, 2 TD day out of WR AJ Green, the Bengals weren’t able to muster enough offensive firepower to take down the Bears Sunday. The offense only seemed able to move down the field on long plays; they were unable to keep the chains moving with ease. The defense didn’t seem to have an answer to Bears’ receiver Brandon Marshall and struggled to put pressure on QB Jay Cutler. They’ll get a shot to redeem themselves next Monday against the struggling Steelers.
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11
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Dallas Cowboys
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1-0
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In a game they should have won handily, the Cowboys kept finding way to keep from pulling too far ahead. However, they ultimately broke the Jerrydome curse by beating New York in Dallas.
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12
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Baltimore Ravens
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0-1
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Shhh shh shh Baltimore fans. It’s all over now. The bad man is gone.
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13
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Indianapolis Colts
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1-0
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The Colts shouldn’t have ever needed to comeback against the Raiders. However, they did. The defense had no answer for Raiders’ QB Terrelle Pryor’s legs. Ultimately, they got the job done, but it wasn’t pretty.
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14
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New York Giants
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0-1
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Has anyone read HC Tom Coughlin’s new book? It’s called How not to start a season; 6 “Giant” screwups. The Giant’s 6 turnover night marks the most the Giants have committed in a single game for a quarter century. Good luck against Denver next week.
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15
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St. Louis Rams
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1-0
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Important win for Saint Louis. QB Sam Bradford looked strong and the defense was able to ward off a tough Cardinal attack. And how about DE Robert Quinn’s 3 sack day? Looking good Rams.
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16
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Philadelphia Eagles
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1-0
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Is it 2010 again or did this 2013 Eagles team actually look complete? QB Michael Vick scored 3 touchdowns on Monday Night Football, but the real story was in the play of RB LeSean McCoy. McCoy carried the ball 31 times for 184 yards and a TD. The team slowed down considerably in the fourth quarter, but that is coachable.
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17
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Arizona Cardinals
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0-1
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Yes, they lost. But fear not, Cardinals fans. QB Carson Palmer looked good. The defense looked good. The offensive line looked better... –ish. It might not be a Superbowl day in Arizona, but there is reason to hope.
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18
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Minnesota Vikings
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0-1
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The Minnesota Petersons began their year with an “L” against a divisional opponent. RB Adrian Peterson scored all 3 touchdowns for the Vikings, 2 on the ground and 1 from the air. Not only did the Vikings’ secondary play poorly against Detroit’s aerial attack, but they were unable to stop Lions’ RB Reggie Bush. Also, to be perfectly blunt, QB Christian Ponder sucked today. 4 turnovers? Inexcusable.
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19
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Miami Dolphins
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1-0
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Miami’s defense took down Browns’ QB Brandon Weeden 6 times Sunday. They also picked him off 3 times in the first half alone. Despite a terrible running effort, the ‘Fins took home the “W.”
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20
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Detroit Lions
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1-0
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It was less Detroit winning than it was Minnesota losing. Next week against the Cardinals will tell a better story.
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21
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Carolina Panthers
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0-1
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Apparently, the offense is Carolina’s strength. However, if you watched the game Sunday, you wouldn’t be able to tell. 1 touchdown? Come on, man. If it wasn’t against a top defense, it would be hard not to question the ability of this squad.
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22
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Kansas City Chiefs
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1-0
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You can’t choose who you play; you just have to beat the team in front of you. Kansas City did that Sunday, taking down the Jaguars in a decisive contest. QB Alex Smith and the defense wrecked in Jacksonville, and the Andy Reid era begins with a steady win.
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23
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Buffalo Bills
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0-1
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Moral victory in Buffalo. QB EJ Manuel came to play ball. He balled hard and nearly took his team to an early win against a huge divisional rival. Don’t count these guys out.
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24
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San Diego Chargers
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0-1
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Week 1 reinforced a principle that has been around for decades now: the Chargers always find new ways to lose games. This week it was 5 consecutive 3-and-outs in the fourth quarter.
The team did, however, look terrific for the first 3 quarters. At one point they were beating the AFC Superbowl favorite Texans by 3 touchdowns. But the fact of the matter is they handed the game to Houston. No excuses in San Diego.
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25
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Washington Redskins
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0-1
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That Redskins’ first half was arguably the most pathetic performance of week 1. QB Robert Griffin III threw two early and sloppy interceptions and only completed half of his passes. The offense didn’t put any points on the board until the final 16 minutes of the game. The defense gave up 26 first half points. Again, the second half looked like a different game, but the bell had already rung in Washington.
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26
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Tennessee Titans
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1-0
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Tennessee and Pittsburgh combined for the lowest total yardage of any two teams in over 430 games. The defense played better than expected, but this team isn’t going to win championships anytime soon with performances like Sunday’s. For now, they will just take the “W.”
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27
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Pittsburgh Steelers
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0-1
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It was really bad in Pittsburgh on Sunday. The game wasn’t as close as it looked, and it didn’t look good at all. The offense didn’t score against a pathetic Titan defense until garbage time. Starters were injured all over the place. Horrible showing by the Steelers.
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28
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Cleveland Browns
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0-1
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The Browns lost this week along with the rest of the AFC North. QB Brandon Weeden struggled early on. The running game couldn’t keep up. The offensive line was terrible.
Pro’s? The run defense was dominant. 20 yards on 23 attempts? Are you kidding me? Weeden also found his stride later on in the game. But, in the end, it was a little too little and a little too late.
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29
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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0-1
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Horrible discipline gave the Jets the win Sunday. Hard to stomach a loss like that. Poor team performance all around.
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30
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New York Jets
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1-0
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Did they deserve to win? No. Will it count as a win anyway? Yup.
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31
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Oakland Raiders
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0-1
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Terrelle Pryor wanted the win and he was only 1 last minute interception away from it. As of right now, the kid is the NFL’s leading rusher. It will be interesting to see what next week brings for Oakland.
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32
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Jacksonville Jaguars
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0-1
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Two points. Two. QB Blaine Gabbert threw more touchdown passes to Kansas City than he threw to his own team. In fact, he threw none to his own team. He completed fewer than half of his passes and managed only 121 yards in this gruesome defeat.
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