The Wednesday Walk Through
After a successful first week of the WWT, we are back with more of the football information and fun that made you bookmark Pro Player Insiders last week.
Each Wednesday, readers of this column will sit in and enjoy exactly what you read the week before. The idea of the column is to present the information in sections that will run each week. It might sound a little confusing, but you will catch on.
With out any further ado, let’t start the Wednesday Walk Through…
5 Things I wont Forget about Week 2
- The replacement officials officially went from a slight distraction to a disaster. One scab had to be pulled off the Saints vs. Panthers game because his facebook page was filled with pictures of the ref proudly dressed in his favorite Saints apparel. One official, asked LeSean McCoy on the field if he could step it up for his fantasy team. Penalties were marked off incorrectly, the pace of the games was horrible, and that was before Monday. The Monday Night Football game was a complete fiasco. The game took longer than Gilligan’s stay on the island and there was so many mistakes I don’t even have the space to list them all. We need to get the real referees back soon. This is only going to get worse.
- The end of the Patriots and Cardinals game was bizarre. The Cardinals marched into New England poised to shock the world and then did everything they could in the fourth quarter to give the game back to the Patriots. The bizarre part is that the Patriots didn’t seem to want the game. Danny Woodhead had a touchdown called back due to a holding penalty by Gronk and the Stephen Gostkowski missed a 42-yard field goal that would have won it for the Patriots. The happiest person in the stadium after the Gostkowski miss was Cardinals running back Ryan Williams. Williams fumbled the ball away to the Patriots inside the two minute warning when it seemed like the Cardinals were ready for the victory formation. I still can’t believe the Patriots didn’t make him pay.
- Speaking of the victory formation, what in the world was Greg Schiano and the Buccaneers doing at the end of their game against the Giants? I am sure Coach Schiano was frustrated that his team got outscored 25-7 in the fourth quarter and blew a golden opportunity to leave Met Life Stadium 2-0, but that gives his team no right to try and take out the knees of any of the Giants players after the game is clearly over. The league has said that the Buccaneers broke no rules and Schiano says if you watched his Rutgers team play you would know his players go to the final gun. Fine. This isn’t Rutgers. This is the National Football League. Act like a professional, Coach.
- The Buffalo Bills destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs and CJ Spiller looks like he could be one of the league’s next big stars. The Bills had their backs against the wall (as we pointed out in the WWT last week) and the team stepped up with a dominating effort against the Chiefs. I heard a few experts pick the Chiefs to win the AFC West this season, but that isn’t going to happen. What has happened to Jamaal Charles? 6 carries for 3 yards? I know the guy is fighting back from a serious knee injury, but Adrian Peterson is taking that excuse off the table.
- Jay Cutler is a good quarterback but the guy is a lousy leader. I am in no way a Cutler hater, but he put on a pathetic display last Thursday. Cutler struggled to even complete a pass as the Packers pass rush hounded him all night. I could live with that. I could even live with the interceptions. The problem is that Cutler has the worst body language in the league, he doesn’t play the game like a leader, and he bumped one of his offensive lineman. Jay, you need those big men to protect you from being smushed for fifteen more weeks. Sure, the offensive line struggled on Thursday, but a leader takes the heat off the lineman and earns their respect. Is it possible that anyone inside the Bears locker room respects Cutler?
Raking the Rookie QB’s
They say that this is a quarterback league and five team’s are playing with a rookie behind center this year. Each week, the WWT will rank the progress of the five rookie starters to see who develops quickest this season and who might be a draft day miss.
- Robert Griffin III (Washington Redskins) (Last week: 1) Griffin is still number one despite tasting defeat for the fist time in a Redskins uniform. Griffin still played well passing for over 200 yards and rushing for 82. He also scored his first two rushing touchdowns. It isn’t going to get any easier for Griffin as teams continue to get more and more information from the tape. He is going to have to stay patient as professional defenses make adjustments and throw stuff at the kid that he hasn’t seen before.
- Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts) (LW: 2) Luck got his first win against the Minnesota Vikings by getting his team into field goal position in just a handful of seconds after the Vikings had tied the game with :31 to go. Luck had two touchdown passes on the day and avoided any interceptions. Last week, Luck got his first 300 yard game out of the way and this week he got his first win. I am sure fans in Indianapolis are thrilled with the way things are progressing.
- Ryan Tannehill (Miami Dolphins) (LW: 4) Tannehill moves up a spot thanks to a no interception day and a hell of a performance by Reggie Bush. The Dolphins dominated the Raiders, but if Tannehill really wants to move up on this list and challenge Luck and Griffin, he is going to have to prove he can beat better competition. A win this week against the Jets wouldn’t hurt.
- Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) (LW: 3) Wilson really didn’t do anything wrong in the Seahawks victory over the Cowboys, but he didn’t do much either. Wilson had one touchdown pass but threw for under 200 yards. It has become a dirty word in football, but Wilson looked like a “game manager” to me.
- Brandon Weeden (Cleveland Browns) (LW: 5) Weeded is still last in the rankings, but he showed a lot of promise in the Browns close loss to the Bengals. Weeden threw for 322 yards and had 2 touchdown passes while avoiding the interceptions that killed him in the opener. I heard most of Ohio breath a sigh of relief all the way from Buffalo after Weeden’s improved play. Still, this league is about wins and Weeden is the only rookie quarterback who doesn’t have one.
Week 2 Playoff Projections
Instead of power rankings, each week the WWT will look at what the playoff situation would look like in each conference if the season ended today. It will be interesting to see this list evolve from week-to-week.
NFC
East- Philadelphia Eagles
North- Green Bay Packers
South- Atlanta Falcons
West- Arizona Cardinals
Wild Card 1- San Francisco 49ers
Wild Cars 2- Seattle Seahawks
AFC
East- New York Jets
North- Baltimore Ravens
South- Houston Texans
West- San Diego Chargers
Wild Card 1- Denver Broncos
Wild Card 2- New England Patriots
Must See TV- Week 3 Edition
Each week, the WWT will get you ready for the upcoming week of action in the NFL by ranking the five games every NFL fan must watch.
1. New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, September 23 at 8:20 on NBC
The Patriots and the Ravens both lost games that they should have won on Sunday robbing NBC of a chance to promote the battle of the 2-0 AFC Goliaths. I still think it’s the most interesting game on the week 3 schedule. Can the Patriots rebound from an embarrassing loss at home to the Cardinals? Will the Ravens use Ray Rice more and close the game if they take a lead into the second half?
2. Houston Texans at Denver Broncos, Sunday, September 23, at 4:25 on CBS
The Texans are 2-0 after two relatively easy wins over the Dolphins and the Jaguars. The Broncos should prove to be a more difficult test on Sunday. My guess is that Peyton Manning isn’t going to throw thee interceptions in the first quarter again this week and the Texans are going to have to earn it if they want to be 3-0. When Manning was in Indianapolis he tortured the Texans by breathing them just about every way imaginable. Can he do it again with the Broncos?
3. Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers Sunday, September 23, at 4:05 on Fox 
Falcons at Chargers is one of only two games on the week three schedule that features two teams that are undefeated. The Falcons looked great early on Monday night but they didn’t play very good in the second half. It felt like if their was a fifth quarter the Broncos would have beat them. The Chargers have never played good in September under Norv Turner and have benefited from a soft early schedule. Atlanta is a much better team than the Raiders and the Titans combined so we will learn just how good the Chargers are this week. Can the Falcons win on the road if they can’t get Michael Turner going even a little bit?
4. New York Giants at Carolina Panthers, Thursday , September 19, at 8:20 on NFLN
Cam Newton and the Panthers offense got going last week against a reeling Saints defense. This week they get to play a Giants defense that was embarrassed in back to back weeks by the Cowboys and the Buccaneers. At this point, the Giants can’t defend the pass and needed Eli Manning to pass for over 500 yards to win last week. The Giants will also limp into Carolina with some key players injured and without much time to heal. Hakeem Nicks, Ahmed Bradshaw, andDavid Diehl all skipped the trip to Carolina.Can the Panther upset the defending Super Bowl Champions? If they do, is it really an upset?
5. New York Jets at Miami Dolphins, Sunday, September 23 at 1:00 on CBS
The Jets came back to earth in Pittsburgh last week and looked more like the offensive team we expected to struggle this season than the team that blew through Buffalo and looked like the greatest show on turf. The Dolphins won a home game thanks to a great performance from Reggie Bush, but can Bush run between the tackles the way he did last week against a much better Jets defense. I still think New England is going to win the AFC East so if either of these team want to make the playoffs they are going to have to beat each other.
Make Sure He is in your Lineup
Each week, the WWT will pick out a player that absolutely has to be in your fantasy lineup this week.
Brandon LaFell, WR (Carolina Panthers) Randall Cobb didn’t work out last week, but he should have. That one is on the Packers not me. This week, I love LaFell against a reeling Giants secondary. LaFell looked great against the Saints last week and he is clearly one of Newton’s favorite targets. If LaFell is on your bench, or maybe even available in your league, this is the week to give him a shot in your lineup.
Must Win Game of the Week
Each week, the WWT will tell you what team absolutely positively needs to win their upcoming game.
New Orleans Saints over Kansas City Chiefs: You can really list this game either way. The Saints need to beat the Chiefs, and the Chiefs need to beat the Saints. One of these teams is going to wake up on Monday 0-3 and their season is going to be over. The Saints defense has humiliated themselves for two straight weeks and it seems like the pressure is getting to Drew Brees. Brees threw an awful pick-six against the Panthers that changed the momentum of the game. My guess is that if Brees trusted his defense he would have thrown that ball away. The Saints travel to Lambeau to play the Packers is two weeks and they don’t want to show up there without a win.
One Last Thing…
First, thank for reading the second ever edition of The Wednesday Walk Through. I hope you enjoyed it and will be back here next Wednesday for more of the same. I will end the column each week with one last thing. It might be a prediction. It might be a statement. It might be a question. The only thing that is for sure is that before I end this column each week there will be… One. Last. Thing.
Congratulations, Sam Bradford. That was an awesome performance last week against the Redskins. All anyone talked about all week was Robert Griffin III and many people have already written you off. I was impressed with your 26 completions on 35 attempts for 310 yards and 3 touchdowns. Former first overall picks need to step up in their buildings against teams with rookie quarterbacks. That is what you did, Sam. We will all be expecting more of the same as the season progresses.
