Took in quite a bit of it this weekend, both college and pro. I’ll start with college.
First, Penn St actually looked like a decent squad against Michigan. Michigan obviously has a good QB there, but I think they’re head coach is in over his head. He’s used to outscoring over-matched opponents. When coaching at Michigan, he’s not going to over-match anyone. That means he needs to field a defense and he clearly can’t. My guess is Michigan fans are longing for the “miserable” days of Lloyd Carr.
Oregon has a heckuva offense. I watched them against USC and they were really something. I picked it up at 32-29 USC ahead early in the 3rd. Oregon scored on their next 3 drives, pretty much exhausting USC with that “blur” offense. I’m not convinced it’s the offense itself so much as they’ve got a lot of good players at all of the skill positions, and a solid offensive line. My guess is that personnel makes any offensive system look good. I don’t know if they are the best team in the country, but as of now I’d love to see them go up against Auburn, or whoever is the best in the SEC.
Switching to the pro’s, Pittsburgh impressed me last night. Frankly, I thought they were more hype than not prior to last night’s game. But they really do have a good defense. When Roethlisberger gets his game legs back, they’re going to be even tougher to beat. As for New Orleans, I was really impressed with their defense. Anyone counting them out in the NFC is making a mistake.
I know the Cowboys have finally descended to “outright embarrassment” but the Vikings have got to be nipping at their heels for that honor. Remember, they went out and basically begged Favre to come back. You can bet that won’t happen again. In fact, my guess Favre is pretty much playing himself into permanent retirement this year. No team is going to go after him this offseason.
While on the subject, these are 2 teams loaded with talent. Normally, teams like that are good for .500 records and everyone commenting on why they’re merely under-performing. The ‘Boy’s and Vikings have 3 wins between them- and one of those was a game between each other! I can’t recall 2 teams with as much talent as they’ve got being this bad. Ever.
I still think the Jets are the team to beat, but now I’d say Pittsburgh is up there. New Orleans is probably a top ten team now, but they’re the only NFC team I’d put in that class. The AFC is still holding all the aces. With the halfway point of the season approaching, the wheat will start to separate from the chaff now.