NFL 2007 Week 2: AFC Edition

Things start to get more clear in the second week of the season and, while it's early yet, it seems that the cream is rising to the top more quickly than usual. Plus, I nearly fall dead once again.

AFC East: The Patriots may be cheaters (along with every other team in the league in one way or another, so who really cares), but they are quickly establishing themselves as the best in the AFC, even if the rest of their division looks simply terrible. They dismantled the Chargers like nobody has in two years. When it was 24-0 at the half, they quit trying and still kept the second half score tied. The Jets lost to a good team, and put points up on a really good defense, but with their quarterback troubles, they aren't going anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised to see that Pennington has played his last game in New York, given that he was supposedly good to play on Sunday but didn't. Buffalo looked even worse yesterday than they did a week ago, and got none of the breaks they did at Denver. It's hard to say who will be at the bottom of the division at this point, since the Dolphins also have looked exceptionally bad. The Cowboys are looking like a good team but, next to the Dolphins, they look better than they are.

AFC North: The Steelers have outscored their opponents so far 60-10...that is ridiculous. They didn't look quite as sharp this week as last, but this team is an offensive and a defensive machine. The rest of the division can fight it out for a wild card. I don't care what happened yesterday, the Browns will have nothing to do with a wild card berth. Derrick Anderson was barely capable of handling college football, let alone the pros. He took advantage of an opportunity and a very poor defense to do little more than fool fantasy owners into believing he's worth a damn. Guess what...he isn't. Just wait until the next two weeks until he's benched for Brady Quinn. The Bengals must shore up their defensive issues or they're going to have "half a hundred" hung on them every week. What looked decent in week one turned into garbage into week two. Their fate may be more questionable than any other team in the league. The Ravens have the best chance to be second here. Their defense is still dominant and they'll win the same way they've won for a decade. They don't look like an elite level team, but they're going to hurt some offenses over this season.

AFC South: I can't believe I'm writing this but the Texans, after the second week, still look like a real team. We'll see, since they have to play a lot of good teams, but they're impressive so far. If Andre Johnson can't play for a couple of weeks, they'll be in trouble. They have the Colts this coming week which will be a test I don't think they'll pass, but they are showing a lot of potential. Is it possible that Indy is a better team than they were last year? That's hard to believe, but they've been dynamite on all levels. The Titans played a spirited game against them, but they're just not in the Colts' class. Vince Young is looking better every week and the threat of Chris Brown and LenDale White is formidable. They should be tough for anybody who they play. Less tough will be the Jaguars, who may be 1-1, but have had one of the most inept offenses over those two weeks. They are going to be mauled in the division and likely outside of it. What happened to Jones-Drew? Defenses have figured out that he can run, so they guard against him and he can't break a tackle. Without anything else to hang their hat on, there won't be much going for Jack Del Rio besides his wardrobe.

AFC West: The Broncos may be 2-0, but I'm 2-0 for heart attacks this year too, and I wish it would stop. They are first in the NFL in total offense with 455.5 yards per game and second in defense with 218.5 per game, but they just can't seem to make it into the endzone. This must stop. Where are the Chargers this year? With Norv Turner as coach, they're exactly where they belong. When a coach can't call plays that net LT a hundred yards total in two games, you're doing something wrong. They are the big disappointment of the NFL (even if I'm thrilled). They've played two very tough teams, and they won't be so pathetic against worse teams, but they have some hills to climb. Speaking of failing running backs, Larry Johnson's looking as bad as his team. Maybe they need to start handing the ball off every down again, but Huard looks terrible and if Brody Croyle was worth anything, he'd already be in there. Given their age, these guys will be failures for years to come. But no failures match that of the Raiders. Yes, they put up a fight in Denver, but what they really did was take advantage of the opportunities the Broncos afforded to them. They will compete closely with the Chiefs for worst in the division, but not to worry Oakland, your team will win out.