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AFC Review by the Gaming Todays Ted Sevransky
AFC review November 02, 2010 7:08 AM by Ted Sevransky
Bengals
For as much criticism as Carson Palmer has taken so far this year, the Bengals passing game is not even close to being their biggest problem. Palmer clearly doesn’t have great chemistry with newcomers Jordan Shipley, Jermaine Grisham and Terrell Owens. His arm strength isn’t what it was five years ago, pre-injury, and his accuracy is problematic at times.
But he’s not the guy who’s killing this team.
Cincy’s biggest offensive problem has been its inability to run the football. A team that is 9-2 when Cedric Benson gains 100 yards or more over the last three years should be feeding him the ball at every opportunity. But this offensive line isn’t opening holes, and they’re struggling to protect their quarterback; another unit that has declined from last year to this year.
Cincy’s defense carried them to the playoffs last year but it’s clearly declined in 2010, particularly without Jonathan Joseph and Pac-Man Jones in the secondary today. When you’re using a safety as your nickel cornerback, you’re likely to struggle in pass coverage. Tank Johnson got hurt and Frostee Rucker limped off the field. This defense is getting really banged up.
Bills
The Bills have a grand total of one interception all year, and we could see why here. George Wilson dropped an interception that was thrown right to him — one of several missed big play opportunities from their secondary.
The Bills have spent the entire season struggling to stop the run, transitioning back and forth between a 3-4 and a 4-3 base defense. When you don’t create turnovers or negative plays in the passing game, you’d darn well better be able to stop the run. The Bills allowed more than six yards per carry again against K.C.
Their biggest problem was on the offensive line; their weakest showing in the last month. The offensive game plan reflected the struggles of the OL and the conservative nature of this coaching staff. Buffalo didn’t take any downfield shots at all, just dinking and dunking all afternoon.
Make no mistake about it — this team is still hungry for their first win, not a downtrodden bottom feeder. The effort and energy were there for the last remaining winless team in the NFL.
Chiefs
Todd Haley is continuing to eschew obvious field goal attempts, going for it on fourth down in opponent’s territory. It’s a high risk/high reward strategy that has failed them repeatedly this season, despite the strength of their running game.
Against Buffalo in a scoreless game, facing a fourth and 2 from the 22, Haley went for it and watched his team get stuffed on the ground. Then on a third and 1, next drive, they threw it, incomplete. I think offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was outthinking himself today.
This front seven defensively is getting better by the week — they really controlled the line of scrimmage here, and generated a pass rush without blitzing. Cornerback Brandon Flowers, another young talented emerging star, continues to make game changing plays in the secondary,
This team is only going to get better — bright signs on the horizon for Kansas City.
Jaguars
Jacksonville certainly didn’t look like a dead team against Dallas with David Garrard back at QB. Their pass blocking was much better than it’s been, giving Garrard time to find receivers downfield, to go along with their steady diet of quick slants and screens.
Garrard completed all 10 first-half passes, finding a nice rhythm right from the get-go. Marcedes Lewis and Mike Sims-Walker showed excellent run after the catch ability. Maurice Jones-Drew showed some spark, ripping off big gainers. When this offense starts clicking, it’s potent.
More than anything, a Jags defense that spent the first seven games of the season getting torched repeatedly, stepped up with a strong performance. Bottom line: when the Jags don’t get blown out, they are finding ways to win. But when things go wrong for Jacksonville, as we’ve seen in four different 22+ point defeats, they have something of a glass chin.
Jets
This red zone defense is nothing short of outstanding – it’s very hard to score touchdowns against N.Y. from inside the 20. The best way to get the ball in the end zone against the Jets is to score on a big play TD, a strategy the Vikings used effectively on Monday Night Football a few weeks back.
You’re simply not going to grind out easy yardage without being able to stretch the field against this stop unit, and this run defense is virtually impenetrable. The Jets shut down Green Bay on each of the Packers’ first five third down chances and held them to 2-14 on third downs for the full game.
Dropped passes have been a problem for this receiving corps all year, and they were a problem here as well. This offense did not come out of the bye clicking on all cylinders, that’s for sure. After avoiding interceptions for the first five games of the season, Mark Sanchez now has four INT’s in his last two games, bringing back bad memories of the 20 picks he threw as a rookie last year.
All three Jets turnovers came in Green Bay territory, to go along with their missed field goal and two drives stopped on downs. This was a classic ‘fat and happy off the bye’ performance.
Raiders
This might be the most aggressive defense in the NFL right now. All they do is blitz on virtually every passing down. When those blitzes reach the quarterback, it’s a very good thing, but when they don’t this defense can get torched by big plays downfield. Against Seattle, they reached the quarterback, notching eight sacks.
There’s no question that this defense is head and shoulders better than they were to start the season. The Raiders are getting much better play from their front seven; not giving up any easy yards on the ground. It’s a rather dramatic improvement by a team that spent the first month of the season getting gashed between the tackles on a weekly basis.
Oakland’s physical nature is quite apparent on offense as well – this running game is about as smashmouth as it gets. Now if only the Raiders could start avoiding some of the penalties and pounding in touchdowns in the red zone, it might be time to start giving them some real respect.
Titans
We’re seeing a new element from the Titans passing game with Vince Young at QB – deep, downfield throws. Tennessee has been far more aggressive firing downfield in recent weeks. Four different receivers caught passes of 25 yards or longer in the first half against San Diego.
Young’s first seven completions went for 150 yards and that’s not counting the pass interference penalty set up by a long throw. Even after Kenny Britt got hurt, they still took shots downfield.
But the Titans defense is really struggling to contain the better offenses that they face. We saw them get torched at Dallas, but were able to win the game thanks to numerous Cowboys miscues. Kyle Orton threw for 350 yards against this D in Nashville, leading Denver to a rare road win.
The defense gave up big gainers on the ground and through the air, unable to contain a potent dual threat offense. The defensive line stepped up, but the back seven really got ripped apart from start to finish.
