Best And Worst Of NFL Week Four

The first month of the NFL season is now in the books, with a lot of things going down that people never really saw coming. The Patriots got crushed by Kansas City, which not too many saw coming. Washington has struggled again, this time getting blown out by the Giants. Cincinnati and Arizona are the only undefeated teams left, due to having bye weeks this week, while Oakland and Jacksonville still can't buy a win even if they tried. Week four was the first week of the season where there weren't too many players going down to injury, Vernon Davis of the 49ers (hip) and Joique Bell of the Lions (concussion) were the only real stars who went down with injuries. With all that going on, there were some exciting games played in week four, here's some of the best and worst from this past week on the gridiron.

Best:
Steve Smith, Wide Receiver Baltimore Ravens
Smith wasn't happy when the Carolina Panthers let him go. What was Carolina's loss was Baltimore's gain. Smith went out and proved that the wide receiver still had a lot left in the tank, with 7 catches for 139 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns, the best numbers for any receiver this past week. Yeah I think it's safe to say that Smith is still a threat in this game and Carolina made a big mistake in letting him walk. I'm sure that Joe Flacco and the Ravens are very happy he's in their lineup.

Worst:
Carolina Panthers Defense
A year ago the Panthers had a stellar defense. In fact, only the Seahawks had a better defensive unit than the Panthers in 2013. This year, however, it has been a bit of a different story. Over the last two weeks, Carolina has been cracked for 75 points and more than 900 yards, something you never expected to happen. Plus throw in the fact that Steve Smith lit these guys up for 139 yards didn't help their case much. Still the Panther defense has the potential to be great again, they just really need to tighten up and play better.

Best:
Andrew Luck, Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
When the Colts started the season 0-2, Andrew Luck was getting ripped on for underachieving. Now Luck has flipped the switch and got Indy back on the right track. Last week, he topped all passers going 29 for 41, throwing for 393 yards and 4 touchdowns. In total, over the last two weeks Luck has thrown for 763 yards and eight TDs. It's safe to say that he has brought the Colts quite a bit of Luck over the last two weeks.

Worst:
Geno Smith, Quarterback New York Jets
Sometimes a second year quarterback has their struggles. It happens to everybody in this game. players do struggle from time to time. This, however, may be getting a little ridiculous. Sunday, Smith barely completed half his passes and turned the ball over two more times as the Jets lost to an NFC North team at home for the second time in six days. Smith also cursed at one of the many upset fans with his performance on his way off the field, though he later offered a thorough apology. Still, head out to the bullpen, Mr. Vick. Rex Ryan says he's sticking with Smith, but the leash has to be getting tight.

Best:
Minnesota Vikings Running Game
Without Adrian Peterson on the field for the Vikings, it looked like the run game in Minnesota was going to take a big hit. Think about it, Minnesota now has Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon running the ball. Two guys nobody ever heard of at the start of the year. This week, however, they made a statement that they can carry the ball in the Twin Cities. This week, against Atlanta, the two combined for 252 yards from scrimmage and three TDs. At least for this past week, the Vikings found a solid running game.

Worst:
Atlanta Falcons Offensive Line
Not the league's most formidable quintet to begin with, Atlanta lost LG Justin Blalock, RT Lamar Holmes and C Joe Hawley to injuries Sunday, forcing second-year TE Levine Toilolo to shift to right tackle. Even with all that going down, they didn't do a very good job of allowing Matt Ryan and that offense to get set up, which is part of the reason the Falcons got blown out in week four by the Vikings.

Best:
Reggie Wayne, Wide Receiver Indianapolis Colts
There were some question marks about Wayne heading into this year. He's 35 years old and coming off the ACL injury that cost him most of last year. So there was no guarantees as to whether or not he could still produce at a high level. This week, Wayne showed he still has quite a bit left in the tank. He snared seven of Luck's passes for 119 yards and a TD. With 1,029 career grabs, Wayne moved into seventh place all-time, and his 13,873 career receiving yards now rank him in the top-10 in NFL history.

Worst:
Ben Roethlisberger, Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
This wasn't a bad performance by Big Ben, but more a case of back luck than anything. Ben had a good game, throwing for 314 passing yards and three TDs. The problem is he got little help from his blockers (five sacks), or backs (85 rushing yards, 3.1 yards per carry), or defense (squandered seven-point fourth-quarter lead). Ben deserved a little more help than he got on Sunday.

So there you have it, some of the best and worst from week four in the NFL!

NL Wild Card Preview: Pirates Host Giants

One Game. One game to determine who moves along in the National League Post Season. The last time the Pirates and Giants faced each other in the post season was in 1971, when the two star power laden teams met for the National League pennant. Pittsburgh took the series three games to one. That was then, in a five game series with two teams who have talent heavy ball clubs. Fast forward to now, when the teams are meeting again in the playoffs. Both teams still have very talented clubs but this is a one game playoff, not a five game series. Still the park will be rocking.

Both teams come into tonight's game having identical records of 88-74. The reason the game is being played in Pittsburgh is because the Pirates won four of the six meetings between the teams this season. Playing the game in Pittsburgh is going to be a huge factor in this game for a couple of reasons. First is the fact that PNC Park is going to be very very loud and going to rock, just like it did last year. That played a factor last year when the Pirates beat the Reds in the playoffs. Plus think about this. Pittsburgh is 51-30 at home this year during the regular season, while they went 37-44 on the road. San Francisco was over .500 in both situations, going 45-36 at home and 43-38 on the road. The disparity between the Pirates home and road record is a little startling, which is why it benefits the Pirates more to play at home. Besides home field, there's more to it than that for tonight's game.

Starting Pitching:
Madison Bumgarner (18-10, 2.98) gets the ball for the Giants, while Edinson Volquez (13-7, 3.04) gets the start for the Pirates. No surprise Bumgarner got the ball for the Giants in this game, as he has been the best starting pitcher for the Giants this season. In fact, Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum, who's now coming out of the pen, are the only Giants pitchers with winning records and more than 10 wins this year. Bumgarner faced the Pirates once this year, back on July 28th, getting hammered out in San Francisco. Bumgarner does have good numbers in the playoffs, having a record of 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA in 35 2/3 career postseason innings spread across six starts and one relief appearance. All of those numbers came during the Giants' 2010 and 2012 World Series runs. The problem here is, Bumgarner has gotten hit pretty good by the Pirates. Sure Andrew McCutchen has not had much luck against Bumgarner (2-for-10) but Russell Martin (3-for-7), Jordy Mercer (3-for-7), Gaby Sanchez (3-for-9) and Neil Walker (3-for-9) have all had some success in limited samples. Leadoff man and third baseman Josh Harrison has owned Bumgarner in their relatively short careers, going 4-for-5 with a home run and walk.

Meanwhile, Volquez has been good for the Pirates, being one of three starters with double digit wins and winning records for Pittsburgh. Volquez knows the Giants hitters, having faced them while a member of the Dodgers. Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Belt  and Buster Posey have had success against Volquez over the years. On the other hand, Brandon Crawford (.150/.150/.150) has been helpless. Gregor Blanco has been okay (.263/.364/.263).

Advantage: Pirates

Offense:
Pittsburgh had better numbers during the season than the Giants. The Pirates were able to out score, out slug and out hit the Giants over the course of the season. San Francisco struggled down the final stretch, while the Pirates started to heat up. San Francisco utalized the long ball a little more than the Pirates, but Pittsburgh's offense is a little healthier and is getting hotter right now than that of the Giants.

Advantage: Pirates

Final Analysis:
The game being played in Pittsburgh is going to be huge, considering how good the Pirates have been at home. Not to say that the Giants aren't a good road team, because they are. But I think how loud the crowd was last year against the Reds, its going to play a factor again tonight. Ever since the all-star break, the Pirates have gotten hot and the Giants have been around average. San Francisco is a good ball club and they can probably go punch for punch offensively with the Pirates, but Pittsburgh pitching staff has been better as of late than that of the Giants.

Winner: Pittsburgh Pirates

AL Wild Card Preview: Royals Host Athletics

Twenty nine years is a very long time to wait. That's how long it has been. The Kansas City Royals are playing in their first playoff game since they won the World Series all the way back in 1985. Fans of this baseball franchise have been waiting for a long time to get a taste of October baseball once again. In that time frame the team has had only nine winning seasons, but none of them have been good enough to get them into the playoffs till this year. To make things even more interesting, they are playing a team in the A's who called Kansas City home from 1955-1967. One club has an offense that doesn't look like it should be a playoff team, while the other offense has been a shell of its former self over the last two months.

These two clubs got to this point in different ways. Oakland comes into tonight's game with a record of 88-74, while the Royals finished the season at 89-73. Kansas City seemed to turn things around at the right time, getting hot down the stretch. Meanwhile the Athletics really struggled over the final two months of the season, after the all star break the team compiled a .433 winning percentage, the lowest by a team since the all star game was instituted in 1933.

During the regular season, these two teams met seven times, with the Royals winning five of the seven. All of that means little to nothing now, as it comes down to one game to decide who moves on to take on the Angles in the Divisional round. So with that in mind, lets see how these two teams stack up heading into this one game playoff.

Home vs. Road
This game could be a benefit for the Royals and possibly hurt the A's. Oakland finished the year a game under .500 this year on the road, as they went 40-41. Meanwhile the Royals went a respectable 42-39 at home. Both teams are solid at home and have room for improvement on the road. Oakland is going to have to scratch and claw and fight in this game to have a chance to move on.

Starting Pitching
Jon Lester (16-11, 2.46) gets the start for Oakland, while James Shields (14-8, 3.21), takes the ball for the Royals. This is the reason why the A's brought Lester on board. They did give up quite a bit in the deal, when they sent Yeonis Cespedes to Boston, as Cespedes had been the heart and soul of the Oakland lineup. But Lester is worth it come playoff time. Lester has an 8-5 record on the road this season, while going 2-3 all time in his career at Kaufman Stadium. Of the likely starters, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Omar Infante, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas have seen Lester at least 15 times. Of those guys, only Hosmer, Cain and and Escobar have had success against Lester.

As for Shields, he has done pretty well at home, but has been a better pitcher on the road this year. Of the expected A's starters, only Adam Dunn, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie and Josh Reddick have at least 15 career plate appearances against Shields. In six career postseason starts, Shields is 2-4 with a 4.98 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. As for Lester, in his 76 2/3 career postseason innings, he has a 2.11 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Last postseason, he was dominant for the Red Sox.

Advantage: Athletics

Bullepn:
Is there a better pen in baseball right now than that of the Royals? Not that I can think of. Kelvin Herrera Wade Davis and Greg Holland have been great out of the Pen for the Royals this season. There have been times however, that Ned Yoast has mishandled the bullpen this season, which might come back to bite him in the rear end tonight, should he misuse his pen if it gets that far. Lets not take anything away from the Oakland Pen here. Sean Doolittle has been good closing games in Oakland, saving 22 games this year. Still the Royals have the better pen here.

Advantage: Royals

Offense:
At this point in the season, neither team has been offensively strong, but Oakland is better off at this point I feel. Kansas City managed to become the first team to ever make the playoffs in a season in which they finished last in the league in home runs and walks (ESPN). They finished ninth in the league in runs scored, they don't have anyone with 75 RBIs, and they have no one with 20 home runs. They play small ball to score runs and rely on their solid pitching to make those low run totals hold up. As for Oakland, its been a flipped switch for them to be able to produce. Oakland has two guys, Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss, who have over 20 homers on the season, to go along with three other guys who have double digits in long balls. Oakland can produce runs, but ever since the trade of Cespedes, Oakland hasn't been able to find that offensive groove again. No Cespedes and injuries to Moss and Donaldson are a big reason why Oakland's production has gone down as the year has worn on. Still I think Oakland has a bit more of a punch to their lineup.

Advantage: Athletics

Final Analysis
Most of the things that can be taken into account over the course of a series can be thrown right out the window in the Wild Card game, as its one and done in this situation. Sure the Royals have a balanced team with good pitching, but most of them don't have playoff experience under their belt, which is going to hurt them tonight. I know Oakland isn't the same ball club that you saw from the start of the year, still I think they have enough to pull out one more win.

Pick: Oakland Athletics!

Derek Jeter Final Farewell

After twenty seasons in the Major Leagues, it has finally come to an end. Derek Jeter has played his final game on a baseball diamond. He wasn't a power hitter, wasn't the flashiest defensive player ever, wasn't the fastest guy on the diamond. What he was was one of the most consistent players to ever step on a big league field. He put up solid numbers every year, found a way to lead his team, make the big play in the field at the right time and came up with a clutch hit every now and again. Some of the memories Jeter has left with the fans will live on for quite a long time, even past his induction into the Baseball Hall of fame.

Jeter played his first game in the Majors on May 25th, 1995 going 0 for 5 at the plate with a strikeout in a Yankees 8-7 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The following day, Jeter picked up his first hit and scored his first run as the Yankees fell again to Seattle 7-3.

Now, here we sit, twenty years later and the Captain is hanging it up for good at age 40. During that 20 year run as the shortstop of the New York Yankees, Jeter finished with .310 batting average, 3,465 hits, 544 doubles, 260 home runs, 1,311 RBI and 1,923 runs scored. He led the league in Singles twice (1997, 1998), Runs scored once (1998) and Hits twice (1999, 2012). The runs scored total trail on Babe Ruth in team history, while he's the team leader in hits and doubles for a career. That's just during the regular season.

During the playoffs, he put up numbers that were just as impressive. Sixteen times Jeter played in the playoffs, where he hit .308, while picking up 200 career hits, 20 home runs , 61 RBI and 111 runs scored. In the World Series alone, Jeter was money. In seven World Series trips, Jeter hit .321 while picking up 50 hits 3 home runs and 90 RBI. The guy was flat out money come playoff time, Those numbers put up by Jeter in the playoffs earned him the nicknames "Captain Clutch", and "Mr. November".

He was an all star 14 times, won the gold glove five times, won the 1996 rookie of the year and was named MVP of the all star game and World Series in 2000.

The numbers only tell cold facts about Jeter. His style of play and his professionalism are what made him so good at what he did and made him liked and respected by so many others. Sure he has taken criticism for his defensive play. Some people have gone on record of saying that Jeter is one of the worst defensive players to ever step foot on a baseball diamond. Sure Jeter made errors on the field when he played, but nobody is every going to be perfect at every aspect of the game, I mean the guy is human and can't make every play. Besides I think winning the gold glove at shortstop five times in a career still has to mean something.

But besides his defensive play, his consistency on offense, I feel, more than makes up for it. From his first full season in 1996, Jeter has played fewer than 148 games a season only three times in his career: when he dislocated his left shoulder on Opening Day 2003 (119 games), when he injured his calf in 2011 (131 games), and in 2013 when he struggled with a myriad of injuries (17 games). If you take an average for Jeter, over his entire 20 year career, over a 162 game schedule, Jeter hits .310 with 204 hits, 113 runs scored 32 doubles 21 steals 15 home runs and 77 RBI. That right there should speak volumes as to just how consistent a hitter Jeter was over the course of a career.

Jeter is also known for his professionalism. In an age where professional athletes often find themselves in personal scandals, Jeter has mostly avoided major controversy in a high profile career in New York City while maintaining a strong work ethic. Due to his style of play, opponents and teammates hold Jeter in high esteem. A clubhouse leader, Jeter defuses confrontations between teammates.

See what made Jeter so good on the field was that he was consistent. He never put up the huge offensive numbers, because with a few exceptions, shortstop isn't a position really known for huge numbers on both sides of the ball. Jeter has been able to deliver at the plate and in the field at a consistent rate for twenty seasons, which is why he was able to stay on a Big League roster for all that time.

People can hate on Jeter if they want but at the end of the day, the guy was professional in every sense of the word. he delivered in the big moments when he needed to. The guy was a winner and one of the greatest to every play this game,

So walk off into the sunset Captain you deserve it for one hell of a career. See you in Cooperstown!

Best And Worst Of NFL Week Three

Week three in the NFL season has come and gone, with a lot of ups and downs coming around the entire league. Injuries are still hitting the league hard as Dennis Pitta of the Ravens (Hip), Danny Woodhead of the Chargers (Ankle),  Matt Cassel of the Vikings (Foot), and TY Hilton of the Colts (Ankle) are all going to now miss time due to injuries. The league has seen injuries increase week by week, which is making things tougher on teams. Not only that but we have some other surprises around the league as well. Case in point the Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bangles all lead their divisions with 3-0 records. Meanwhile the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Bucs are all sitting at the bottom of their divisions at 0-3. The rest of the league is sitting in the middle either at 2-1 or 1-2.

So with all that being said, week three in the NFL provided some good  and some not so good performances from the action on the field.

Best:
Kirk Cousins, Quarterback Washington Redskins
He may not have been perfect, and the end result of the game wasn't what he was looking for, but Cousins played his heart out Sunday. Cousins finished the day 30 of 48 for 427 yards and three touchdowns. The only downside was he threw one pick. Still his 427 yards were tops among all passers in the league this week. He kept the Redskins in the ballgame, which is helping make a statement for him to remain the starter in DC even when RG3 comes back from injury.

Worst:
Denver Bronco's Offense
This has become an interesting case. Since the start of last season, including playoffs, the Broncos have played a total of 22 games. During 20 of those games, Denver has averaged 35.6 points. That's something to really be happy about. What's stunning is what happens in those other two games, which include week three. Those other two opponents have been the Seattle Seahawks. In those games against the Seahawks, Denver's high powered offense has scored a total of 26 points combined. There must be something in the air but Denver's offense cant find a way to beat Seattle's defense.

Best:
Pittsburgh Steelers Defense
Over the past few seasons, it seemed to some observers that the Steelers defense is a shell of its former self. Here you have a defense that was one of the more feared pass rushing teams in the entire league. As of late though, it hasn't seemed that way in the Steel City. Sunday, against the Carolina Panthers, the Pittsburgh Defense looked like a flash of its former self. Pittsburgh generated its first pair of turnovers in 2014 while posting three sacks and six quarterback hits in Carolina. If this is a sign of things to come for the Steelers, they are going to be a force in the AFC the rest of the way.

Worst:
Stephen Tulloch, Linebacker Detroit Lions
Most NFL players like to celebrate after making a big play. Whether its on offense or defense, when a guy makes a big play, he is usually happy about it and wants to celebrate. It's a norm in the NFL. Sometimes, though, celebrations can end up in disaster. Case in point, Stephen Tulloch of the Lions. He officially entered the Bill Gramatica Hall of Shame by injuring his knee during a post-sack celebration that knocked him out of Detroit's 19-7 win against Green Bay, which ended his season. not smart dude.

Best:
Baltimore Ravens Running Game
Baltimore had high hopes when the season started for the running game. But as time went on, their star back Ray Rice isn't there anymore. And to make things worse going into the game against the Browns, Bernard Pierce was out due to a thigh injury. So you think the raven run game is in trouble? Didn't look that way Sunday. Taliaferro and Justin Forsett came in and combined for 154 rushing yards (at 5.3 yards a clip) while FB Kyle Juszczyk chipped in with 54 receiving yards, including a 9-yard TD. Give these players credit for on-field resilience while the off-field tempest around their bosses continues to rage.

Worst:
San Diego Chargers Running Game
Now I know the Chargers came away with a complete 22-10 win over Buffalo on Sunday, to improve there record to 2-1 this year. So with things seeming to go right for the Chargers, how could this be a problem? Easy, the Chargers running backs are dropping like flies. Ryan Mathews went down with a knee injury last week, then Danny Woodhead, injures his ankle on the first play of the Bills game and he's lost for a little while. The Chargers now had to go with Donald Brown, but he didn't look very good at Buffalo with just 62 yards on 31 carries. And now the Chargers' depth at tailback is in really bad shape, at least until Mathews returns. So while the Chargers have a two-game winning streak, it has come at a price.

Best:
Knile Davis, Running Back Kansas City Chiefs
No Jamaal Charles? No problem. Davis, his second-year understudy, galloped for 132 yards and a TD as the Chiefs cruised in Miami for their first win of 2014.

Worst:
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Cornerback Tennessee Titans
On a play where he probably should've had a pick six, the Titans corner got beaten for an 18-yard TD ... caught by Bengals QB Andy Dalton.

Game of The Week:
Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks
Superbowl Rematch. It had a big fight feel to it, just like the last meeting between these two teams in New Jersey back in February. The first meeting was kind of lopsided, in which Seattle walked away with the World Championship. This one was much better played, a game which many were expecting to see at the big game. Denver came back to tie the game late, thanks to  Peyton Manning's 26-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Tamme with 18 seconds left in regulation and his 2-point conversion pass to Demaryius Thomas. Denver never touched the ball in Overtime, as the Seahawks ran the ball down the field capped off by the Marshawn Lynch 6-yard TD run. This game had a little bit of everything and lived up to all the hype.

Worst Game of The Week:
New England Patriots vs Oakland Raiders
The end result of this ballgame was one that most people could have seen coming. How we got there though, was anything but. Oakland, despite falling to 0-3, actually hung in with the Patriots, falling 16-9. Sloppy play from both teams led to what we have, but either way, New England managed to walk away with the W.

Best And Worst Of NFL Week Two

There has been a lot of negative stuff going around the National Football League this past week, with all of it coming from off the field incidents. While all that stuff has gone on, the play on the field during week two is what should be really talked about right now. There's a lot to talk about from the second week of the season. Sure the injury bug has started to hit hard around the league, with star players like Robert Griffin III (ankle), Knowshon Moreno (elbow), and Eric Decker (hamstring questionable) among the big names going down with injuries in week two. Along with that, some teams saw surprises in their ballgames, like the Saints falling to 0-2 on the year, Seattle losing its first game of the year to the Chargers, Chicago coming back in the 2nd half on San Francisco and Buffalo staying undefeated. Those are just some of the big headlines coming out of this week around the league. We know there's a lot of action going on on Sundays, so we got you covered. Here are some of the best and worst from week two in the NFL.

Best:
Antonio Gates, Tight End San Diego Chargers
It's a well known fact that Gates career has been on a decline the past few years. He was one of the top five tight ends in all of football, but now is somewhat of a shell of his former self. This past Sunday, Gates showed the football world that he still has something left in the tank. He had seven catches for a total of 98 yards and three touchdown catches. Those three TD grabs were the first time he's done that in a game in almost nine years. And to make that even more impressive, he did it against arguably the best defense in the entire league.

Worst:
Seattle Seahawks Secondary
In the season opener, Richard Sherman wasn't really tested by the Green Bay Packers. Week two was a completely different story. It wasn't just on Sherman, it was on the entire Seattle secondary. The Seahawks lost their first really meaningful game in about nine months, and it was the secondary that seemed to be kinda a letdown. Chargers Quarterback Philip Rivers filleted the famed Seattle secondary (and linebackers) for 284 yards and those three scoring darts to Gates. Seattle's defense looked really average, which isn't really a good thing heading into their Superbowl rematch against the Broncos at home.

Best:
Cam Newton, Quarterback Carolina Panthers
After missing week one due to the rib injury, Newton came back under center with a bang in the week two win over the Lions. Despite the fact that he was sacked four times, Newton still finished the day going 22 of 34 for 281 yards and a touchdown. Under normal circumstances, that might not look like a outstanding week, but it was not only the first start of this season for Newton, he put up those numbers and lead the Panthers to victory without DeAngelo Williams and Greg Hardy.

Worst:
Matt Ryan, Quarterback Atlanta Falcons
Week one saw Matty Ice go off against the Saints with over 400 yards passing, three touchdowns and no turnovers in the big win over the Saints. Week two was a different story as it seemed Matt Ryan came back to earth a little bit. Ryan went 24 of 44 for 231 yards and a touchdown. The three picks Ryan threw really hurt the Falcons chances in their loss to the Bengals. Plus throw in the fact that his passer rating was under 50% this week, and it would spell a recipe for disaster for the Falcons passer.

Best:
Dallas Cowboys Defense
In their season opener against the 49ers, the Cowboys defense looked bad. San Francisco really lit them up good in the opening game, plus he wasn't given much help from Romo's performance in week one either. Then week two rolled around and the Cowboys really came to play against the Titans. Dallas held the Titans to 10 points, 82 rushing yards and picked off QB Jake Locker twice as the Cowboys evened their record at 1-1.

Worst:
New Orleans Saints Defense
Their performance against the Falcons in week one was pretty bad, allowing 568 total yards in the overtime loss that started the year off. So many people thought that the Saints would be able to turn things around against the Cleveland Browns. That didn't exactly go according to plan, either. New Orleans lost track of Browns WR Andrew Hawkins, whose 28-yard reception with 6 seconds to go set up Cleveland's game-winning field goal. A popular preseason Super Bowl pick, the Saints and their sorry defense are suddenly looking like playoff long shots given the historical lack of success for teams starting 0-2 — though they remain just a game out of the NFC South lead.

Best:
Sammy Watkins, Wide Receiver Buffalo Bills
I don't think too many people had the Bills pegged to start the season off 2-0. But they are, thanks to their 29-10 win in week two over the Dolphins. Watkins had a big game this week, helping power the Bills to their victory. The rookie receiver  began paying dividends Sunday, for the Bills, thanks to his eight-catch, 117-yard effort that includes his first NFL TD. Those receiving yards were 5th most in the NFL this week, but Watkins leads all rookie receivers in yards and catches this season. This game was sort of his coming out party, letting other teams know that he has arrived.

Worst:
Robert Griffin III, Quarterback Washington Redskins
This isn't exactly a bad performance but more a case of bad luck than anything else. A dislocated ankle most certainly jeopardizes his season. But it's not the only question that could arise after backup Kirk Cousins, who some analysts view as a better fit for coach Jay Gruden's offense, shredded the Jaguars in relief of RG3. So who knows where he stands when he comes back this year, if he does.

Best:
Bill Belichick, Head Coach New England Patriots
With the Patriots win on Sunday over the Vikings, Belichick picked up career victory number 200 as a head coach in the NFL. The win makes him one of only six coaches in league history to win 200 games, the others being Marty Schottenheimer, Curly Lambeau, Tom Landry, George Halas, and Don Shula. During his 15 years as coach of the Patriots, not including this year, Belichick has had one losing season and one other year where the team has won less than ten games in a season. So congrats to Bill Belichick for hitting the 200 win mark.

Worst:
Marty Mornhinweg, Offensive Coordinator New York Jets
The timeout that he called with about 7 minutes left in regulation cost the Jets a game tying touchdown in their loss to the Packers. What I want to know here is why was he even calling a timeout in the first place. No coach, other than the head coach, is allowed to call a timeout. Marty's stupidity in this instance screwed the Jets over in this game and cost them a chance to win the ballgame in Green Bay.

There you have it. Some of the best and worst from week two!

NFL Goes Through Week From Hell

There's really no other way to put this. The last week for the National Football League has been a week of pure public relations hell, for all that has been going on off the field. First there's the whole situation with Ray Rice and how the league went about that. Then throw in what is being reported about Carolina Panthers defensive linemen Greg Hardy was found guilty in a North Carolina Court for assaulting his former girlfriend, thus causing the Panthers to sit him out in week two. To add more to this pile, Minnesota Vikings Running Back Adrian Peterson turned himself in to Texas authorities for beating his four-year-old son, which caused the Vikings to take him out of the lineup in week two as well. As you can see, this has really been a rough go of it for the league.

First lets start with the Ray Rice incident. We all know that the league mishandled this situation right from the start. Nobody really knew how badly the league mishandled it, but you knew somebody had dropped the ball. Now we have a somewhat clearer picture here. According to the reports that have been coming in, four league executives have said that Roger Goodell had seen the video months ago from inside the elevator and still didn't say a word. If that wasn't bad enough, according to various sources, when Goodell met with Ray Rice back in April, regarding this incident, Rice had told Goodell to his face that he had hit his fiance. Goodell has said in interviews that Rice was indifferent about it when they met back in April. So somebody here is lying, its either Goodell or its everybody else. In this case I really think it's Goodell. He's trying to cover his rear end for this whole thing. Now that all these reports regarding the Rice incident are coming around, Goodell is trying to make up for it by making the ruling against Rice he did. But by the time the ruling came down it was already too late, the cat was already out of the bag.

So with all this going on with Goodell, they are now going to have an independent investigation delving into Goodell’s possible involvement in a cover-up of the Rice affair, it adds even more pressure on what the commissioner will do, either being forced to quit or he's going to get fired because of this.

But wait, there's more to it than that.

Now throw into the mix the conviction of Carolina's Greg Hardy. Hardy was convicted in court for assaulting his former girlfriend, Nicole Holder, in an incident that allegedly involved hair-pulling, slamming a toilet seat on her arm, and putting his hands around her neck, according to reports. During week one, Hardy was allowed to play for the Panthers. Once this story became public, Hardy was scrapped from the Panthers lineup in week two in their win over the Detroit Lions. I'll give the Panthers credit in this incident for the way the have handled this story. They pulled him from the lineup, and gone on public record saying that they do not support this kind of incident. Now whether or not he will be back in the lineup next week is still up in the air, the Panthers are going to allow the legal process to take course.

Same thing too with the Vikings. Before Sunday's loss to the Patriots, the Vikings found out that Adrian Peterson turned himself in to Texas authorities for beating his four-year-old son bloody with a tree branch. He faces two years in prison for child abuse if convicted, but for now he will simply remain on the 53-man roster. He didn't play Sunday, but the team said he may be back for week three. The team is going to wait and let the legal system play out before making a decision on what to do. Minnesota has taken the high road and gone on record as to where they stand with this.

Nothing can be done yet to either Hardy or Peterson by the league until the process has gone through the legal system. I'm sure, though, once everything is sorted out, that appropriate actions will taken by both the NFL and the respective teams. What both teams should do is take this week by week as the story unfolds.

From a league point of view, these two stories couldn't come down at a worse time. Things were bad enough with what was happening with Ray Rice. Now add this onto that story, its making a public relations nightmare for the entire league. The NFL has had better weeks, that's for sure. The league is too powerful to ahve this really bring it down, but there has been damage done. It shows that the NFL isn't perfect and really needs to change the way it handles things. If it doesn't, it's going to get a lot worse.