For years the NFC West has been the butt of jokes for being the worst division in the NFL. This reached a peak when Seattle qualified for the playoffs as divisional champion at 7-9 and became the first team with a losing record to make the playoffs.
In 2011/12, the San Francisco 49ers reestablished some respectability for the division with a 13-3 record and a devastating loss in the NFC Championship game.
Week 2 of the NFL season saw the NFC West deliver the most impressive collective performance with 4 out of division wins.
These included the impressive with Seattle beating the Cowboys 27-7, the narrow with St Louis holding on to win 31-28 over Washington and the confusing with Arizona somehow beating New England 20-18.
San Francisco’s 2011/12 season seemed to be an aberration, after years of disappointment and underachieving, the 49ers finally achieved played with some consistency and powered by a historically strong defense, returned to the playoffs.
Entering this season, the 49ers seemed to be a prime candidate to regress to the field. After two weeks and two dominant performances against last year’s playoff teams, the 49ers have confirmed that they are an elite team and a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
In a quarterback oriented league, the 49ers are a contrast in style to the majority of elite teams in the NFL.
Like the Steelers and the Ravens, the key to the 49ers success is their defense. They have the most complete defenses with depth and talent at every position.
Unlike the Steelers and the Ravens who have legitimate questions at cornerback, the 49ers excel as much in pass coverage as they do in their run defense.
Patrick Willis looks to be the closest thing to vintage Ray Lewis, Justin Smith is a nightmare on the defensive line and Carlos Rogers, Dashon Goldson and Donte Whitner provide a blanket on the back end that can stop the best passing attacks.
The 49ers have shown that they are able to slow the best passing offenses to a near halt. Neither the Lions nor the Packers, two of 2011’s best offensive units, had answers for the 49ers.
Offensively, the 49ers have more questions. They do have a solid running game led by Frank Gore and when former Oregon standout Lamichael James returns from injury, the rookie should only propel the 49ers to a relentless running attack. Quarterback Alex Smith will never be Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers but he doesn’t have to be.
Smith’s strength is his intelligence. He rarely makes mistakes – his last interception was thrown Thanksgiving 2011.
Smith is able to diagnose defenses and put the 49ers in a position to capitalize on their running game and punish opposing defenses when the key in on stopping the run. The 49ers balanced attack is effective and mistake averse. They will never score 45 points but they don’t have to.
When gifted with the field position and scoreboard advantage that their defense provides, 20 points usually will win the game.
Maybe the 49ers would have been better earlier if they had have drafted Aaron Rodgers or Jason Campbell back in 2005 but right now Alex Smith is the perfect quarterback for this team.
The interesting trend in the 2012 NFL season is that despite the league turning pass happy and the belief that quarterbacks win championships, the three best teams in the league; Baltimore, San Francisco and Houston, are united by their elite defenses.
Whether this is an outlier for this season or will continue for the seasons to come remains to be seen. Maybe defenses do win championships.
Arizona beat the Pats
Arizona’s victory over the Patriots is baffling. A field goal fest, both teams were sluggish offensively with Kevin Kolb throwing 140 yards and although Brady threw for 316 this was only possible by attempting 46 passes.
The obvious reason for the Patriots’ loss was the usually automatic Stephen Gostowski missing a 42 yard field goal but the Patriots inability to to convert their opportunities is a worrying sign for a team loaded with offensive weapons.
Somehow, despite their questions at quarterback, Arizona are 2-0 and tied for the lead in the division with the 49ers.
Rookie quarterbacks had a better weekend with three rookies (Luck, Wilson and Tannehill) notching their first win with the three victorious quarterbacks performing effectively but not outstanding.
The losing rookie quarterbacks had performed better with Brandon Weeden the standout throwing for 322 yards.
Other headlines include the New Orleans Saints continue to struggle without head coach Sean Payton falling to 0-2 after losing to the Carolina Panthers 35-27. Pittsburgh delivered a quality performance across the ball with a 27-10 victory over the Jets.
San Diego are an early surprise at 2-0 with a 38-10 win over Tennessee contradicting their established trend of disappointing September performances. Baltimore were very unlucky in their narrow 24-23 loss to Philadelphia that was clouded by a controversial offensive pass interference call on Torrey Smith late in the fourth quarter.
Performances of the Week:
Eli Manning (NYG) 31-51 510 yards, 3 TDs, 3 Interceptions: The three interceptions aren’t ideal but Manning did just about everything he could to will the Giants to a comeback win against Tampa Bay.
Manning showed again that he ranks as one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the league, powering the Giants to a 25-7 final quarter to win 41-34 win. The 510 yards thrown for was the 8th most ever by a quarterback in the NFL.
C.J. Spiller (BUF) 15 carries, 123 yards 2 TDs: In the opening two games, C.J. Spiller has been the most explosive runner in the NFL. He has ran for 292 yards on only 29 carries for an absurd 10 yards a carry.
After two disappointing seasons that failed to justify his high draft selection and in which he saw only spot duty behind starter Fred Jackson, Spiller has made a remarkable rise to be the best running back in the early part of this NFL season.
It seems near impossible to maintain his gaudy yards per carry number but Spiller has show that he is able to provide the consistency and versatility that the Bills lost with the season ending injury to Jackson.
Reggie Bush (MIA) 26 carries, 172 yards, 2 Tds: Bush also found himself in the category of Spiller as a running back drafted high who wasn’t able to establish himself as an every down back. In 2011 Bush showed some glimpses that he has the durability to play at that rate and in 2012 Bush has delivered for the Dolphins with consistency and is gradually erasing the disappointment in his tenure at New Orleans.
Clay Matthews (GB) 7 tackles, 3.5 sacks: Although this game happened days ago, Matthews still delivered the performance of the week in leading the Packers defensive domination of the Bears. Matthews was at his best, pressuring Jay Cutler from all sides and terrorizing the Bears offensive line. If the Packers can play with a degree of defensive help, they will be find themselves back at the top of the league.
Disappointments of the week
New Orleans Saints: The loss of coach Sean Payton was obviously a concern for the Saints but their fall to 0-2 has been caused by more than just the void in coaching. The Saints defense that already wasn’t very good is worse, being shredded by Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton in successive weeks.
Drew Brees is tallying a high passing yardage but these statistics are being inflated by garbage time numbers.
Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys managed nothing against the Seahawks losing 27-7. Their running game that looked so potent in Week 1 was completely shut down and they were unable to slow Seattle on the ground with Marshawn Lynch running for 122 yards. Their improved pass defense only allowed Russell Wilson to pass for 151 yards but this lack of aerial offense might have just been due to the Seahawks finding easy yards on the ground.
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