Too late for a turnaround? Teams struggling early on
We’re only past two weeks of the NFL season and already teams are in danger of falling well short of expectations and seeing their title hopes crash. There are certainly some surprising 0-2 teams that many expected big things from. The Cowboys, Vikings and
49ers were all heavy favorites to win their divisions or at least make the playoffs. Two games may seem small but the fact is only three teams in NFL history have won the Super Bowl after starting 0-2; the 1993 Cowboys, the 2001 Patriots and the 2007 Giants.
It’s been done before so hope is not all lost for slumping teams, but they don’t have much more time to turn it around.
How ‘bout them Cowboys? Every year it seems, experts jump on Dallas’ bandwagon thinking this will finally be the year they get over the hump. They never fail to disappoint and they’ve disappointed so far with two losses, first a sloppy 13-7 loss to Washington
then another sloppy loss to Chicago. It’s ridiculous how Dallas continue to find ways to lose with the amount of talent they have.
So far, the Cowboys look undisciplined and completely out of sync with each other. Granted their offensive line is banged up but with the depth they have on offence and on defence, it’s still hard to figure why they’re 0-2. Another glaring weakness is a
lack of balance on offence. Tony Romo has thrown the ball nearly 100 times in the last two games. While it is important to throw the football in today’s NFL, you need something of a running game. Where are Felix Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice? They’ve
been invisible, quite simply because they’re not getting the football. With a weakened offensive line you’d think the Cowboys would make it easier on them by driving forward with a power running game. If the Cowboys can’t turn things around soon, they may
be the busts of the year, again.
The Minnesota Vikings tried their hardest to bring Brett Favre back because they believed he would give them the best chance to win a Super Bowl. So far though, Favre may be doing more harm than good for the team. In two games, Favre has only one touchdown
pass and four interceptions. He only had a total of seven picks last year. He’s starting to play like a 40-year-old and the Favre critics are already suggesting Favre should have stayed retired.
Favre doesn’t deserve all the blame for Minnesota’s slow start. He’s missing his favorite receiver in Sidney Rice first of all. His best receiver at this point is his tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. Favre is also playing on a surgically repaired ankle that
clearly is not 100%. Favre said he came back for his teammates but if he can’t start getting the wins, maybe he’d be best served being a supporter for his team. The Vikings are already two games behind Green Bay and Chicago and with such a tough schedule upcoming,
they may find themselves at the point of no return very soon.
The San Francisco 49ers were picked to win the ridiculously weak NFC West but they find themselves in an early hole. After a horrible outing in Seattle, they lost a heartbreaker, 25-22 to the New Orleans Saints on Monday night. You know what though? The
NFC West is so weak that they can recover quite quickly and still take the division. Probably 9-7 is good enough to take the west this year and that’s easily attainable.
After being completely unprepared in Seattle, the 49ers showed they could hang with the best when they forced the Saints down to the wire. They lost on the last play of the game and they can continue to improve. They still have some weaknesses like the inconsistent
passing game and a young o-line but they have great defence and a great running game. That will lead them out of their 0-2 hole with plenty of time to capture their division.
Some teams really have to figure things out quickly. In a mere 16-game season, the year can slip away in a hurry. Two losses to begin the season may not mean much in baseball or hockey, but in football it can break your season and dash your hopes.
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