Very little has changed, the AFC still has The Big 3 (1 Viewer)

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

Indianapolis was extremely impressive on Thursday night. The New Orleans Saints were considered by most to be a top 3 NFC team and maybe they still are, since they did play in Indy. But after that game, I was certain that Indy was the team to beat. Their offense was clicking and their defense shut down an explosive offensive unit in NO.

I was very interested to see what New England would look like. My thoughts after the game, "Wow, they are good."

I thought a few times early in the game, the defense was confused. The Jets did a decent job of mixing up formations or going on quick counts. NE was burned a couple times but I believe that was just because it was the first week. There's no doubt in my mind that Coach Belicheck will have those little things ironed out very soon. The addition of Randy Moss is just huge. He's still got it and New England's going to be tough for anyone to beat.

The Bears did about as well as you could for about 3 quarters. Then the next thing you know LT still winds up with 2 Td's. One throwing and 1 passing. Their defense is hard hitting and aggressive. They just smothered the Bears on offense and will be in every game because of LT and the D. I still think they lack quality receivers when you're talking about beating teams like Indy and NE down the stretch but Gates certainly helps out in that department.

Those are the top 3 teams still in my opinion. I'd keep Indy at the top because they won it last year till they get beat. I'd put NE 2nd because of the addition of Moss as well as I'm still not convinced San Diego's offense is entirely on the same page with the new coaching staff.

 

[BogAl]

No love for the Steelers?

 

[Steeler]

No love for the Steelers?

The Steelers effectively played their 6th preseason game this week so you can't take too much away from that performance other than the Browns suck really bad.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

No love for the Steelers?

No offense to Cleveland fans but I have to say they probably looked like the worst team in the NFL week 1. That could certainly be because of dominant play by Pittsburgh, but I think a lot of it is they are just bad.I do think Pittsburgh is improved from last year. Ben Rothlesberger looks healthy and confident starting off the season which is great to see. Santonio Holmes is a huge plus for the Steelers. Hines Ward absolutely needed help on the other wing and it looks like he's found it.Pittsburgh's certainly a team to keep an eye on and should challenge Baltimore and Cinci but I wouldn't put them ahead of Indy, NE or San Diego at this point.

 

[yetiknight]

I do agree that the big three have not changed. Denver didn't look very dominant at all. Jacksonville and Tennessee won't overtake Indy. Pittsburgh played Cleveland.

The only NFC team I was impressed with was Chicago. They played that game close. Defense was pretty dominant. They have to eliminate the mistakes. They still have to win at least ten games against the NFC.

 

[code]

:waitingtoseecincy:

 

[Warehouse Nasty]

:waitingtoseecincy:

Preview: Great passing offense, Rudi will take a step back, defense will be so bad that they won't make the playoffs.

 

[SSOG]

I do agree that the big three have not changed. Denver didn't look very dominant at all. Jacksonville and Tennessee won't overtake Indy. Pittsburgh played Cleveland.The only NFC team I was impressed with was Chicago. They played that game close. Defense was pretty dominant. They have to eliminate the mistakes. They still have to win at least ten games against the NFC.

Maybe it's the homer in me, but when I see a team roll up 470 yards while allowing under 200 (more than doubling the yardage output of the other team), and holds the other offense to under FIFTY NET PASSING YARDS, I consider that a pretty good performance, regardless of the final margin of victory. If Buffalo never returns a punt for a score and Elam makes even one of those FGs, I think everyone would have been suitably impressed by the Broncos, so unless you think their special teams are going to be positively wretched all season long, you can't draw too many conclusions based on that. If anything, my big concern about Denver was their defense, and it certainly looked pretty awesome today.