The James Harrison Participation Award: Chicago Bears
If there's one team that made the business trip just for the paycheck this weekend, it had to be the Chicago Bears. As 15-point underdogs facing the Seahawks in their home opener, there wasn't much hope that the Jimmy Clausen-led Bears would be any match for the Legion of Boom and prodigal son Kam Chancellor. HOWEVER, you'd have to go back to 1980 to find another team that punted on every. single. possession. in a game. That's right, Chicago punted on all nine possessions despite putting zero points on the board. What's more, the Bears had more than three times as many punt yards as they did offensive yards in this one. If it were possible for this award's namesake to walk into Chicago's front office and strip the Bears of their franchise rights today, I'm almost positive Harrison would do it.
Another week with Ndamukong Suh, another set of offensive fireworks for Miami's opponents. This time, the Dolphins gave up nearly 430 yards of offense and a 95.3 QB rating to the surging Tyrod Taylor and rival Buffalo Bills. Miami's plethora of problems right now certainly cannot be pegged solely on Suh, but as I mentioned in my preseason preview, his massive contract penned by Dolphins GM Dennis Hickey really limited this team's ability to balance out the rest of the defensive roster and therefore limited their margin of error too. Of course, it's still too early to tell if this big free agency haul will be a net positive or a total bust, but through three games, Suh has just seven tackles and zero sacks. With the Dolphins currently in the cellar of the AFC East, it's either going to take a significant defensive turnaround or trial by Ryan Tannehill shoot-out to give this team a shot at January.
With more time and couch potato insight, I might have done a separate feature on the wealth of 3 - 0 teams we have this season and whether or not I think they're any good. Instead, I'm giving out some tiered awards based on what these franchises have done so far and where I think they might be going. First, we have the shrimp slayers, or the teams that have edged out very weak opponents for the most part over their first three weeks. That's not to say these teams aren't any good in their own right, it's just that we won't really know until the competition heats up. The Broncos, for example, have beaten three teams that are a collective 1 - 8, and it took some incredibly timely defensive takeaways in the fourth quarter of each game to come out on top. With Denver's offense continuing to look uneven at best, another division title is hardly a guarantee even with their current 2-game lead. The Falcons and Panthers on the other hand are almost certainly the only contenders for the NFC South, but they too have had a cakewalk schedule so far that has included 75% of the NFC East for Atlanta and the 2 - 7 collective of the Jaguars, Texans and Saints for Carolina. All but one of these two teams' games to date have come down to the fourth quarter, so it's hard to believe they're primed for a Super Bowl run at this stage. In any case, wins against quality opponents would add another level of legitimacy to these teams' fast starts.
The Right Place, Right Time, Right Stuff Award: Bengals & Cardinals (tie)
Cincinnati and Arizona haven't exactly faced world-beaters either for the most part, but they've been mighty impressive on both sides of the ball while doing it. Cincy is second only to the Patriots in offensive yards per game and among the best on defense in terms of rushing yards and points allowed. Andy Dalton has looked better than ever so far this season, suddenly confident enough in his supporting cast and defense not to force plays that aren't there. The Cardinals have been even better - stunningly so. They've won their first three games by an average of more than 25 points, or four possessions, and have found a goldmine of playmakers on offense, defense and special teams that are all capable of finding the end zone. Coming off of another devastating injury, Carson Palmer is showing that he has more than enough left in the tank to lead the highest-scoring team in the NFL this season. Longtime Bengals and Cardinals fans are probably waiting for the other shoe to drop, and history suggests that this is a distinct possibility. But if these teams can stay healthy and keep doing what's working, they've got some real spoiler potential against the old guard in their respective conferences. Let's hope they can keep it up as they go into the tougher parts of the schedule ahead.
And finally, there's plenty of positive things to say about the performance of the Patriots and Packers this month as is nearly always the case. I could kick the tires a little on New England's young defense or Green Bay's reshuffled offensive line, but as long as Brady and Rodgers are under center, they'll be in the top tier of NFL contenders. The ticket to January has already been rubber-stamped. You're welcome for this Pulitzer-caliber analysis, by the way.
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