Week 10 Quick Hits: Giving 49ers and Alex Smith Their Due

A quick tour of the games in Week 10, including some terrible tackling, an Eagles team that can’t close and Tim Tebow’s (count ‘em) two pass completions in a victory:

49ers 27, Giants 20

Few prognosticators would have predicted a 49ers victory if told beforehand that Frank Gore would rush for 0 of his team’s measly 77 yards against the N.F.C. East-leading Giants. Take away the run game, you take away the entire 49ers offense. Or so we thought.

Alex Smith had his best outing of the season, regardless of what his good-but-not-great numbers might say. He was able to sustain offense through the air early and late, with no critical turnovers against a typically fierce Giants pass rush. The victory can also be attributed to a handful of big second-half defensive plays, including Carlos Rogers’s second interception. It was a wide-open pick, as the ex-Redskin had perfect underneath positioning against a route that Mario Manningham, much to the surprise of Eli Manning, broke off. Patrick Willis erupted in the fourth quarter, perhaps after hearing all week that the second-year star Navorro Bowman had become San Francisco’s best linebacker. Willis was quick to diagnose and close in on tackles, and he was effectively physical in coverage.

Seahawks 22, Ravens 17

The Ravens have become like a top-tier N.B.A. team. They show up in full force for rivalry games and take their foot off the gas for the presumably easy midseason road trips. Baltimore’s three losses this season: at Tennessee after blowing out Pittsburgh in the season opener, at Jacksonville after destroying Houston and, Sunday at Seattle after another win over Pittsburgh.

One commonality amongst the three losses is the disappearance of Ray Rice. His stat line in losses reads: 13 carries for 43 yards, eight for 28 and, most recently, five for 27. The headlines say that Marshawn Lynch rushed for 109 yards against this stingy Ravens D. But it took him 32 carries to get there. Credit Lynch for his tenacity – he iced the game with broken tackles down the stretch.

But also credit the outcome in part to Ravens kick returner David Reed. He lost two fumbles and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the first half. That led to six easy Seahawk points. Those are the types of mistakes that division-round playoff teams, not Super Bowl teams, make in trap games.

Bears 37, Lions 13

Just one of those games that got away from the Lions. They’re now considered the third-best team in the N.F.C. North, and the tease for their Thanksgiving showdown won’t be about possibly catching the Packers but instead about fighting for a wild-card berth.

Seeing the Bears post 37 points with methodical offense and crazy return touchdowns feels comforting and familiar – like the aroma of your mother’s best recipe or memories of summer camp. Back-to-back pick-sixes to open the second half and Devin Hester’s 82-yard punt return score before that gave Chicago a league-high seven touchdown returns on the season. That matches their combined total of the ’09 and ’10 seasons. In ’08 the Bears had seven touchdown returns. (In ’07 they had eight and in their Super Bowl ’06 season they had nine.)

Saints 26, Falcons 23

This game  lends more evidence to what Greg Cosell, the executive producer of the “NFL Matchup Show,” has been saying for years: the biggest myth in football is that you must establish the run in order to set up play-action. In truth, well-executed play-action works regardless of how a team is running. New Orleans gained just 41 yards on 16 carries in this game. Yet according to ESPN’s Stats and Information, Drew Brees completed 17 of 19 passes for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns after a play-action fake. (For more on this game, see this separate post on the Falcons’ controversial decision to go for it on fourth down in their territory in overtime.)

Steelers 24, Bengals 17

Mike Wallace is widely regarded as a top-10 wide receiver. Hines Ward is on the decline but still venerated for his blocking and pedigree. Heath Miller is the steady, perpetually underrated tight end. And last season, Emmanuel Sanders started to emerge as the long-term No. 2 wideout. But right now, the fastest-rising stock in Pittsburgh is that of Antonio Brown. The sixth-round pick from a year ago has 39 catches for 540 yards in nine games. He led the Steelers with 86 yards on five receptions Sunday, thanks to a three-catch, 57-yard outburst on the final drive of the first half (which culminated with a field goal).

Ravens corner Lardarius Webb recently said that Brown is Pittsburgh’s best receiver. Mike Tomlin calls Brown the hardest worker on the team. He’s a quick, polished route runner who can gain yards after the catch and locate the soft spots deep in a zone. Ben Roethlisberger loves to go to his inside receivers on third down and in spread formations. Expect Brown to align inside more and more.

Rams 13, Browns 12

Let’s none of us pretend to have watched this game. Perhaps we could have watched it if the N.F.L. hadn’t scheduled 10 early window games and just three late window games. The league has been good about balancing early and late window schedules in recent weeks, but every so often it gets caught up in catering to the local markets and forgets about Red Zone Channel viewers and Sunday Ticket subscribers. If there had been, say, only eight early window games and five late window games, or an even more balanced seven-six split, then all of the matchups – including awful ones like this – could at least be acknowledged. Instead, we’re left to wonder because there just wasn’t room to turn to this channel on Sunday.

Dolphins 20, Redskins 9

See gripe above.

Cowboys 44, Bills 7

The Bills topped (or bottomed) their season-worst performance from last week (a 16-point loss to the Jets) by three touchdowns Sunday. Their return to earth is hastened by a defense that is a pass rusher shy of having sustainable big-play capabilities.

DeMarco Murray has given the Cowboys the potent ground game that this offense, at its core, is built around. Think about it. Jason Witten is a possession tight end. Dez Bryant is an explosive home run threat with iffy fundamentals. He can blow the doors off  single coverage (see his 34-yard first-quarter touchdown in which he snagged the ball from behind cornerback Leodis McKelvin, who had perfect positioning but, unfortunately, just “good” athleticism, not “otherworldly” athleticism). But Bryant is not polished enough to headline a pass-happy attack like a Calvin Johnson or a Steve Smith. Tony Romo is a creative third-down improviser and play-action passer, but he’s not a consistent spread and progression-read type quarterback. What’s more, as the Bills found out, Rob Ryan’s defense is stingy and dynamic enough to conjure a few big plays of its own.

Dallas’s identity is that of a balanced, traditional run-pass team. Murray’s emergence has allowed them to find that identity.

Jaguars 17, Colts 3

Curtis Painter was benched for a second straight week — after two interceptions, three sacks and just 94 yards on 19 attempts. More concerning to the Colts were the two interceptions and lost fumble that Andrew Luck had against Oregon the night before.

Broncos 17, Chiefs 10

By now you’ve heard, Tim Tebow completed 2/8 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown at Kansas City. Some of the headlines will laud Tim Tebow for his latest miracle. Believers will smugly tell Tebow-doubters (a k a scouts, coaches, players and expert analysts) about how there’s no arguing that Tebow is a winner. If those believers are really cocky, they might even praise Tebow for posting a 102.6 passer rating and a stellar 8.6 yards per pass attempt Sunday. They’ll definitely praise him for 43 yards rushing and a touchdown.

The real question is, How in the world did the Chiefs give up 95 yards on 16 option plays a week after the Raiders revealed to the entire league every possible mistake a defense can make against the option?

Give credit to the Broncos for going with the run-oriented, Tebow-friendly game plan. John Fox knows that the option is Denver’s best bet on offense. And allowing Tebow to be a runner week in and week out is the only way the option can have any teeth. Most teams would not accept all the risks of allowing their young first-round quarterback to run on a regular basis. But that’s only because most teams feel that their young first-round quarterback has an arm worth protecting.

Cardinals 21, Eagles 17

If the Eagles were a hockey team, they would be living up to Dream Team expectations. They’re 7-2 in games ending after three periods. Unfortunately, they’re not playing on Broad Street. A minus-47 fourth-quarter point differential has left them at 3-6 and all but out of playoff contention.

Football America has blamed the wide-9 defensive scheme, Dream Team hype, young offensive line and, naturally, Andy Reid for the Eagles’ 2011 futility. Perhaps it’s time to blame the “$100 million” quarterback. With top receiver DeSean Jackson out because of a good old-fashioned grounding from Reid, and with Jeremy Maclin missing time with  a shoulder injury, Michael Vick looked stumped in the pocket. He finished  16/34 for 123 yards with  two interceptions. His drop-back timing, anticipation and post-snap coverage reads have been poor this season. There’s no arguing that he’s a remarkable talent, but clearly, opponents have picked up on a lot of his flawed tendencies now that there’s a library of recent film on him. Entering this game, Vick was  3-7 in his last 10 starts, with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Texans 37, Bucs 9

The perennial preseason breakout team is finally breaking out. Most impressive is the way the Texans, without their best player (wideout Andre Johnson), are thoroughly pummeling inferior clubs. They ran the ball down Cleveland’s throat for a 18-point win last week. This week, they got ahead on a young and, lately, sloppy Bucs team early and gradually applied more pressure to the neck as the game wore on.

For the Bucs’ defense, it’s a tossup between which long touchdown surrendered was more inexcusable. The 80-yarder to Jacoby Jones featured poor angles by both safeties and general unpreparedness by an entire unit that reacted poorly to the naked bootleg that Houston’s offense does all the time. The 78-yard touchdown to Arian Foster, on the other hand, featured atrocious tackling (pathetic execution by Aqib Talib in the flats on the play).

The vote here goes to the second touchdown. Blown coverages and poor reads are one thing, but there’s a certain purity in defensive ineptitude that stems from bad tackling.

Titans 30, Panthers 3

The Titans are 5-4 and getting hints of production out of their star running back again. Chris Johnson has shown glimmers of his old self in recent weeks and posted a season-high 130 yards on 27 carries against a Carolina defense that has struggled all season to stop the run. The Titans’ final three games are against AFC South opponents. If their rushing attack keeps going, they could enter that stretch with an outside shot at catching Houston.

Patriots 37, Jets 1

The Patriot dynasty is back on! With Antonio Gates looking sluggish this season, a strong case could be made for Rob Gronkowski as the best tight end in the A.F.C. The second-year star has wide receiver-like ability and is one of the better run-blockers at his position. The Jets simply had no answer for him Sunday night.

Pardon the Jets if they cry foul about their schedule this week. They have a game in Denver on Thursday night. It’s patently unfair for a team to travel more than one time zone on a short week – let alone coming off an 8:20 Eastern Sunday kickoff.

Andy Benoit is an NFL analyst for CBSSports.com and founder of NFLTouchdown.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLTouchdown.com or @Andy_Benoit.

 

 

 

 

 

Is Sanchez a Leader? And Other N.F.L. Questions

I have a two-part question about the continuing development of Mark Sanchez as both a team leader and a quarterback. Seen game by game and season by season, how do his performances compare to the development of established quarterbacks like Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, etc., and is it relevant to compare his development to theirs? Is it relevant to compare him to other younger quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford?

Also, how does one gauge whether Sanchez is the team leader that many in the news media want him to be, let alone what the Jets’ management wants him to be? Is he that leader? Is he becoming that leader?Rocky Bleier, Brooklyn

These are all imperfect comparisons, but you can eliminate a few of these guys because Sanchez started immediately as a rookie on a team built to run and play defense.

Manning, Rivers, Brees and Rodgers did not start immediately as rookies. Eli Manning started later in his rookie season. Stafford has been hurt often so we haven’t had enough complete seasons to look. Flacco and Roethlisberger started right away on teams that were built to look the way the Jets want to look: great defense, powerful running games. Roethlisberger has become one of the best quarterbacks in the league on a team that now relies heavily on the pass (see its victory over New England). Flacco is still uneven, although he is surrounded by better receivers than he was for a few years.

Would I stack Sanchez up against Roethlisberger? Absolutely not. Is he more comparable to Flacco? Yes, and Sanchez gets extra credit because he has performed well in playoff games. But Boomer Esiason said something interesting to my colleague Ben Shpigel for an article he did about Sanchez’s third year: it’s time for Sanchez to be the reason the Jets win games, rather than the reason they don’t lose. That’s a substantial difference — is there any doubt Rodgers or Brees is the reason his team wins so much? But Sanchez seems to be trapped in the role of game manager. And the fact that the Jets, after their recent losses, have shifted back to the ground-and-pound offensive style suggests they still don’t think he can hoist the team on his back and lead the way.

As for whether he’s a team leader, that’s a process that usually takes place out of sight of reporters and fans. Can he take control of the locker room if need be? I’m not sure about that. In the recent losing streak there was plenty of sniping from Santonio Holmes aimed at Sanchez. In the end, leadership comes from winning, though. That’s the conundrum the Broncos face with Tim Tebow — people talk about his great leadership ability, but in the N.F.L. you cannot be a great leader if you don’t deliver on the field. Sanchez has to deliver — really win games when it’s all in his hands — to be considered a great leader.

Say the Colts end up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft. Will they take Andrew Luck, or trade for multiple picks, draft another quarterback (to sit behind Peyton Manning for a couple of seasons) and a couple of other players to shore up the team for next year?
Justin, Quad Cities

You are asking what is going to be the question of the off-season, assuming the Colts continue in their nosedive (which I think they will). If they have the first pick, I think they will draft Luck. I don’t see how they can pass on him, or trade the pick. Most scouts and personnel executives believe he is the best prospect at least since Manning, and perhaps since John Elway. If you happen to be one of those people, you cannot pass on him. On top of that, Manning’s health remains in question — and it’s unclear at what point his health will be clarified. The Colts have to pay a huge bonus to him in March, so they will have to know with some certainty then what his future will be. But even the best situation for him is that he’s a 35-year-old quarterback coming off three neck surgeries in less than two years. That’s not good. So to me, the first question is do they pay Manning that bonus in March? If they do, the month leading up to the draft will be fascinating. Will Manning be willing to tutor Luck? Will teams offer the farm to get that first pick from the Colts? Would there be a temptation by the Colts to make a trade to load up to try to win a few more Super Bowls while Manning is still playing?

And don’t forget the unasked question: who is making these decisions? The first thing that has to happen in Indianapolis is that the owner Jim Irsay has to decide whether to retain Coach Jim Caldwell and Bill and Chris Polian. Nothing is guaranteed after a season like this.

Halfway through Mark Sanchez’s third season it’s time to ask: Do the Jets have a legitimate franchise quarterback in him? Also, how do you like the Jets’ chances against the Patriots this weekend?
Jacob, North Shore, Mass.

I probably mostly answered your Sanchez question above. The phrase “franchise quarterback” suggests to me someone who can consistently carry the team, and I don’t think Sanchez is there yet. He is being paid and certainly is being marketed as the franchise quarterback, and his draft position means he has to be that. Here’s an indicator: the obvious thing to do against the Patriots’ poor pass defense would be to put the game in Sanchez’s hands — the way the Steelers did with Roethlisberger. Will they do it? And will they be successful? If they insist on running, they are not attacking the weakest part of the Patriots. Now is as good a time as any for the Jets to get their franchise quarterback a signature victory.

I do like the Jets’ chances. The Patriots have not lost three in a row since 2002, but their defense is a major problem — if, as noted above, the Jets can exploit the pass defense — and that forces Tom Brady to be practically perfect to win. He has not been perfect several times this year, and in the first half last week he looked as inaccurate as he has in a long time.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Packers should be worried about their defense. They’ve made it this far, he acknowledges, but whether they can repeat as Super Bowl champions at the rate their defense is playing is problematic. The Packers insist they have only a few corrections to make. Is King right? How worried should the Packers and their fans be?
A.B.G., Chicago

I agree with Peter — it’s time to get a tiny bit concerned, despite the Packers’ record. They have made it this far undefeated because Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind, certainly the best quarterback play in the league now and arguably the best we’ve seen in quite a few years. But when they say all the defensive problems are correctible — O.K., it’s time to make the corrections and stop letting teams score so many points. If Rodgers stays healthy, there isn’t much question they should be able to score in crazy bunches. But in the playoffs they will probably face a team like the Niners, who have a good defense, and the Saints, who can also score almost at will. For example, we’ve seen how vulnerable the Chargers have been against other teams, but they went toe to toe with the Packers on offense. Suppose Rodgers has a bad day — it’s conceivable, even Tom Brady has had them this year. Inevitably in the playoffs, games get tighter and despite the tilt of the league to passing, teams that have good defenses go further. So yeah, if you’re a Packers fan, you might start to be worried about the defense. Of course, last year at this time, it was hard to imagine the Packers would even get to the playoffs and the offense really started to take off in the playoffs, so there is still plenty of time. If they improve in the next few weeks, though, buy your tickets to Indianapolis.

I’ve followed Joe Flacco and the Ravens closely over the past three years. Do you share my impression that Flacco has grown into a prime (let’s forget about “elite”) quarterback now that he has high-quality receivers?Wilgar, Washington, D.C.

I think Flacco was always a prime quarterback (if we assume that there is a handful of “elite” quarterbacks like Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Roethlisberger, etc., and then a group behind that group, I’d put Flacco in the second group) and yes, he is obviously being helped by the fleet of receivers he has now. That has been a shortcoming of the Ravens for a few years — they have not been able to stretch the field because of it. Flacco has a strong arm and having a guy like Torrey Smith able to run past everyone takes advantage of that and also forces defenses to back off Ray Rice. What you want now is to see Flacco be more consistent week in and week out. No more of those weird flops against Jacksonville. And you certainly want to see a better completion percentage than the 54.7 percent he is at now (that would be a career low, more than 5 points below his rookie year). He’s on a pace for the first 4,000-yard season of his career, though.

Is there something about Michael Vick’s playing style or preparation that is responsible for his inconsistency from one game to the next? Or is it largely because of his teammates, the offensive scheme, and/or opposing defenses? Does his long absence from the game play a role, or has he always played this way?Matt, Palo Alto, Calif.

Vick has always played this way. Since he has been in Philadelphia, he has actually been more disciplined than he was in Atlanta. He stays in the pocket more, rather than taking off and running. He is a dynamic player and you don’t want to harness that too much or you take away what scares defenses: his ability to take off. The inconsistency of the Eagles this year has plenty of roots but here’s a big one: the offensive line has been a work in progress and no quarterback, not Aaron Rodgers and not Michael Vick, can look good if the offensive line looks bad. Worth noting though: Vick is completing 62 percent of his passes this season. Last year he was at 62.6. Those are the only two seasons of his career above 56.4 percent, which was his high water mark in Atlanta. The alarming thing about this season is that his interceptions are soaring. He has nine already, after just six last year, and he has never had more than 13.

How does the N.F.L. decide how to fine a player for what it determines to be an illegal hit? Does the N.F.L. explain each situation in detail so fans can understand the logic? Ryan Clark obviously disagrees with the $40,000 fine he just received. Clark and Coach Mike Tomlin have described the details of how Clark tackled the receiver and they are openly stating the hit was legal. Again, does the N.F.L. have an obligation to describe its rationale?Eric Conrad, Canton, Mich.

Several members of the league office, including Ray Anderson, who is in charge of all football operations, and Merton Hanks, who works for Anderson, look at the film of each play and each game. They are aware that some plays need special scrutiny. They have every camera angle imaginable available to them. Then they determine the fine. The severity of the fine is often based on past transgressions (think of James Harrison’s escalating fines last year). I don’t think the N.F.L. has a particular obligation to explain its thinking to fans. It does have an obligation to explain what it sees that is problematic to players because the whole point is to eliminate dangerous hits. If there is a genuine disagreement among Clark, Tomlin and the league office about what constitutes an acceptable hit, I suspect there will be communication among them at some point to explain what they want Clark to do differently.

If a pro football player signs a five-year contract but the team can cut him without pay two days, or weeks, later, why would he sign the contract?Evinkeefe, Larchmont. N.Y.

What other choice does he have? The contract usually comes with a signing bonus, which is the only guaranteed money available to players. But this is how the N.F.L. has always worked — no guaranteed contracts because of the high injury rate and relatively short careers. It certainly gives the team more power, but that is why you see players and their agents fighting so hard for the bonus money.

The uniforms increasingly drive me crazy, with pants looking more like bicycle shorts as they creep up the thigh. I thought the N.F.L. was notorious for protecting the uniform? I thought I read somewhere that knee pads would be mandatory. Was I dreaming?A. Greenberg, New York

The N.F.L. wants to make more pads mandatory (thigh pads, knee pads), but players have resisted. They think, correctly or not, that it slows them down. Additional padding was not mandated in the new collective bargaining agreement, so don’t hold your breath for players to don more armor voluntarily — even linemen prefer to wear smaller pads because they are lighter.

Week 5 Quick Hits: Bills Up, Eagles Down

Andy Benoit takes a quick tour of every N.F.L. game on Mondays. Did he miss something? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Bills 24, Eagles 21

Much will be made of Michael Vick’s career-worst four interceptions. But if Jason Avant had held onto a very catchable third down pass near the red zone late in the fourth quarter, we’d probably be talking about how Vick led a jaw-dropping comeback similar to the one he spearheaded at  New Meadowlands Stadium last season. By the fourth quarter, the Eagles had the Bills figured out on both sides of the ball.

Of course, Dream Teams are supposed to have the opponent figured out by the first quarter. Instead, it was Chan Gailey’s club that played with the upper hand. The Bills’ D had a beat on the Eagles’ offense, as George Wilson and Jairus Byrd were all over the field, forcing two turnovers and a litany of other mistakes. Offensively, Gailey tailored the gameplan for exploiting Philly’s dreadful linebacking corps. Aiding this cause is that Juan Castillo’s new defensive scheme places an extra heavy burden on linebacking. The Bills successfully isolated Fred Jackson outside, mainly through off-tackle runs and screen passes. Jackson, the most underrated running back in the A.F.C., finished with 111 yards on 26 carries and 85 yards on six receptions.

Shrewd offensive planning, as well as timely forced turnovers (the Bills lead the league with 12 interceptions, one more than they had all last season), are why a team can go 4-1 despite  defense giving up over 450 yards four straight weeks.

Chiefs 28, Colts 24

The water has stopped gushing into Kansas City’s boat. Taking advantage of favorable scheduling (Minnesota and Indy in back-to-back weeks), the Chiefs have temporarily dropped out of contention in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. That’s fine if their quarterback can continue to post 100-plus ratings (he’s done so the last three weeks). Perhaps all this team needed was to see Matt Cassel berate Todd Haley.

As for the Colts, they’d be wise to go with Curtis Painter at Cincinnati next week, even if Kerry Collins is healthy. Not because Painter has posted spectacular numbers – he threw for a hearty 277 yards Sunday, but his 281 yards Monday against the Bucs were misleading given that 146 of them came off Pierre Garcon catch-and-runs – but because he at least has a feel for Indy’s system.

Vikings 34, Cardinals 10

Adrian Peterson scored three first-quarter touchdowns, each of them ending with a fierce blow to the Cardinals rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson at the goal line (more “Welcome to the N.F.L.” moments for a gifted but slightly overwhelmed first-round pick). The Vikings finished with 172 yards on the ground, a somewhat surprising figure given how stellar the Cardinals’ run defense was against the Giants last week.

The cliff notes of this game paint a perfect portrait of the 2011 Vikings: 172 yards rushing, Donovan McNabb completing just 10 passes to his limited (read: awful) receiving corps, and the defense beating up an inconsistent Cardinals offense thanks in large part to drastic pro-purple mismatches on the edges: end Jared Allen against tackle Levi Brown on the left, and end Brian Robison against tackle Brandon Keith on the right. Allen and Robison, who have been playing with great quickness and tempo the past few weeks, each had two sacks.

That said, the Vikings are 1-4 because a run-only offense and shaky pass defense masked by two good edge-rushers is not a formula for success against non-N.F.C. West opponents.

Seahawks 36, Giants 25

When it comes to turnovers, the Giants are reverting these days. They’re not just dishing them out – they’re dishing them out in ideal locations (two fumbles inside their 20-yard line last week, two this week). Five turnovers and 11 failed third down conversions on 12 attempts? Giant players would be wise to arrive to Tom Coughlin’s next meeting twenty minutes early.

Seattle’s cross-country victory may have been a Pyrrhic one if quarterback Tarvaris Jackson’s pectoral injury is serious. Too bad; with Sidney Rice finally healthy, Jackson was starting to show glimmers of comfort. Jackson was also developing a rapport with Doug Baldwin, an intriguing undrafted rookie wideout who, with 136 yards receiving, would have been the story of this game if not for the spectacular reel of highlights turned in by the undrafted second-year receiver Victor Cruz (eight catches for 161 yards and a touchdown dance that is sure to catch on once fans forget that it was Cruz’s slip that caused Eli Manning’s late pick-six to Brandon Browner).

Steelers 38, Titans 17

Forget vitamins, exercise routines, crossword puzzles and drinking from the Fountain of Youth. The Steelers have cracked the anti-aging code: five touchdown passes from your quarterback, 107 yards on 11 carries from your second-year power back, a dominant performance from your backup defensive line and a handful of impressive solo plays from your superstar safety. Mix these ingredients together and you won’t be accused of being old for at least seven days (and probably 20 days if your next two games are against Jacksonville and Arizona).

Saints 30, Panthers 27

It’s almost as if Cam Newton came into the game agreeing with all the analysts who worried about Gregg Williams baiting him into turnovers. Instead of living in constant fear of that, Newton, like a swimmer accepting the initial misery of icy cold water, just dove right in. He threw his first pass directly to Saints cornerback Patrick Robinson. After he got the senseless turnover out of the way, there was nothing to worry about, and he went on to have a borderline spectacular game.

But, once again, the Panthers lost. In terms of points, Newton’s opening interception was the difference (it led to an easy Saints touchdown). Not that the Carolina faithful are worried. No team has ever managed to excite its fan base with losses quite like these 2011 Panthers. They’ve dropped four of their first five, yet somehow the momentum only continues to build.

Understandably so; Newton is as impressive as any first-year quarterback we’ve seen. But if you really want to be impressed, take a gander at how Drew Brees is conducting a Saints offense that now runs through Darren Sproles and sensational second-year tight end Jimmy Graham. Sproles had 91 total yards on 16 touches; and Graham 129 yards on eight receptions.

Bengals 30, Jaguars 20

The other two starting rookie quarterbacks squared off before a television audience composed of family and close friends. Andy Dalton of the Bengals had the edge over Blaine Gabbert of the Jaguars. Dalton was 21 for 33 for 179 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception; Gabbert was 15 for 28 for 221 yards and a touchdown.

In viewing the film of both quarterbacks in the weeks leading to the game, two things are apparent: Dalton has slightly more talent around him (including receivers who can create their own separation), and his team has kept him in the simpler chapters of its playbook, especially on first and second down. If Dalton had Gabbert’s arm strength and athleticism, it’s possible the Bengals would be shoveling more on his plate.

Raiders 25, Texans 20

The two most run-oriented offenses in football (statistically speaking) aired it out. Jason Campbell attempted 35 passes, and Matt Schaub 51. Both completed less than 50 percent. Darren McFadden and Arian Foster, maybe the two best runners in the A.F.C. right now, had fewer than 23 carries and 70 yards each.

The Raiders wanted to attack cornerback Jason Allen and the still-mysterious Texans secondary; the Texans wanted to….apparently, not attack a Raiders run defense that had given up a league-worst 5.9 yards per attempt coming in, and apparently not account for the absence of leading receiver Andre Johnson.

To be fair, Houston’s passing game did generate 116 yards from throws to Arian Foster, and it managed to capitalize on the heavy-footedness of gimpy middle linebacker Rolando McClain in coverage. Tight ends Owen Daniels and Joel Dreessen combined for 12 catches and 201 yards. But none of those came on the final play, which was highlighted by Michael Huff’s game-saving interception in the end zone.

Don’t be surprised if the Raiders’ “Winning one for Al” story line grows  over the next month. Oakland’s coming schedule: home vs. Cleveland, home vs. Kansas City, bye, home vs. Denver.

49ers 38, Bucs 3

Chalk this one up to a young Bucs team traveling 2,800 miles on a short week after playing their first nationally televised game in the Raheem Morris era. It happens.

Niner fans, don’t take this as a slight to your team. Elementary as the Niners are offensively, they’re one overtime away from being undefeated.

Chargers 29, Broncos 24

As quarterback controversies go, it doesn’t get worse than the one John Fox has on his hands. First, the controversy has climaxed with the team fresh off its fourth loss and entering a bye. So it has two weeks to fester.

Second, deep down, Fox knows that there will be at least a few players in his locker room who feel that he sacrificed the good of the team by capitulating to the Mile High fans. Those who know football, including Broncos players, know that – this game aside – Tim Tebow can’t match Kyle Orton as an all-around quarterback.

But Orton has been hounded by critics all season, and his performance has suffered. After a reportedly tough week of practice, he went 6 for 13 with an interception in the first half Sunday. Fox apparently felt as if he had no choice and nothing to lose in benching the usually steady Orton.

With Tebow leading two scoring drives and giving the Broncos a shot at the end zone for a chance to defeat the Chargers on the final play, fans will criticize Fox for not making the switch sooner. And they’ll assume that he and his staff are giddy to see what Tebow has. In truth, Fox and his staff know that a gameplan full of quarterback draws and screen passes can work in improvisational fashion, but not against a defense that will have seen it on film and prepared accordingly.

This logic won’t register with a lot of Bronco fans. All they know is that Tebow came in and showed grit, had that “It” factor and gave the offense a spark.

Patriots 30, Jets 21

The Jets concluded their brutal three-game road trip with a third straight loss. Time for panic? No. But it’s certainly a time for concern. With 7:14 remaining in the fourth and the score 27-21, the Patriots ran the ball 11 times for 62 yards to set up a game-icing field goal with just over one minute remaining. New England, featuring a solid but thoroughly unspectacular BenJarvus Green-Ellis, finished with 152 yards on 35 carries (Green-Ellis accounted for a career-high 136 of those yards).

What has happened to the Jet run defense? Supposedly the foundation of Rex Ryan’s club, it ranked 27th the conclusion of this game.

Packers 25, Falcons 14

The Packers finally got a defensive win, but their offense once again deserves a  tip of the cap. Aaron Rodgers was able to get comfortable behind a makeshift offensive line and throw for nearly 400 yards. An astounding 12 Packers caught a pass. As for that makeshift line, it appears to have a bright future given that its most impressive performer was Derek Sherrod, the first-round rookie who could barely make the game-day roster last month.

Andy Benoit is an NFL analyst for CBSSports.com and founder of NFLTouchdown.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit-at-NFLTouchdown.com or @Andy_Benoit.

Eagles Are a Dream Team That Makes Fans Scream

A sense of dread is creeping over Philadelphia. It is flowing through the streets, covering all of the dried-up previous layers of dread.

This year’s dread is different. In the past, the Eagles have been failures, teases, doomed underdogs, strife-racked self-destructors and punchy palookas. But they have never been a laughingstock. They have never called attention to themselves so demandingly, only to pratfall so comically. The Eagles are 1-3, and they are so tragically flawed, so bumbling and inept at football basics, that they are easy prey for those who choose to mock the latest so-called Dream Team.

Philadelphia does disappointment and frustration well. It has no stomach for comeuppance.

The Dream Team label was applied by the backup quarterback Vince Young, his lone contribution to the Eagles so far. The Eagles have twice needed a backup quarterback to replace Michael Vick at the ends of games, but Young strained a hamstring in the preseason and vanished, leaving Mike Kafka to close out losses to the Falcons and the Giants. It only took two weeks to turn Kafkaesque into a sports cliché; the Eagles are so embarrassing that they even wear out literary references.

The Eagles’ problems started long before Young arrived this summer with his foot in his mouth. Andy Reid promoted the offensive line coach Juan Castillo to defensive coordinator before the lockout. Castillo’s previous experience on the defensive side of the ball had been at Kingsville High School in Texas, from 1986 to 1989.

Promoting Castillo was one of those decisions that was so inexplicable that it had to make hidden sense, like using a goose as a watchdog. Perhaps Castillo had a latent knack for defense that lay dormant for 21 years. Or maybe he was the perfect push-button coordinator to call vanilla schemes and let newcomers like Nnamdi Asomugha and Jason Babin do the things that made them All-Pros.

Unfortunately, Castillo had ideas. He and the new defensive line coach Jim Washburn installed a new Wide-9 defensive front, with splits between defenders so expansive that a Ford Excursion can drive through them, though Michael Turner or Frank Gore will do if you want to save gas. The scheme itself would be sound if the Eagles’ linebackers could shed blocks, but Casey Matthews, Brian Rolle, Moise Fokou and Jamar Chaney (two rookies, two former seventh-round picks) could seemingly get stopped by a garden gate with no latch. The Eagles have allowed 18 runs of 10 or more yards and give up 5.6 yards per carry, a number kept artificially low by the fact that running backs stop upon reaching the end zone.

As for Asomugha, one of the best man-to-man pass defenders of his generation, he can often be seen playing zone, watching receivers race past and wondering where, if not who, his safeties are.

Superstars like Asomugha were acquired to cover the gaping holes in the foundation of the Eagles’ roster. Unfortunately, the holes have swallowed the superstars. Reid has relied on too many rookies at key positions. Matthews has proven to be the Zeppo of the proud Matthews family. The first-round pick Danny Watkins admitted that he was “overwhelmed” by the N.F.L. experience and lost his preseason starting job at guard; the void was not really filled, Vick is just expected to sidestep it.

The sixth-round pick Jason Kelce won the starting center job, though he ran virtually unopposed. Kicker Alex Henery got into the disappointment act by missing two easy field goals against the 49ers.

Even the reliance on rookies at so many important up-the-middle positions cannot explain the lapses in fundamentals, judgment and sanity by the Eagles’ highly touted acquisitions. Receiver Steve Smith’s lone contribution so far has been a tipped pass that resulted in an interception, a play he perfected as a member of the Giants last season. Running back Ronnie Brown tried to throw a pass with three 49ers defenders draped over him at the goal line last week. Babin’s seven sacks are partially offset by his six penalties, though in fairness, Babin’s penalties are frequently declined because the offense gained so many yards after he jumped offside.

Incumbent Eagles have fared better, but only running back LeSean McCoy (446 total yards, 6 touchdowns) is completely blameless thus far. Reid rewarded him with nine carries last week.

Vick, of course, mixes many big plays into all of the chaos: he has completed 17 passes of 20 or more yards despite having to dodge an unblocked defender on nearly every play. His heroics have kept the team in games while adding to the impression that Eagles football is a chaotic hybrid of a playground pick-up game, a roller derby and Black Friday morning at a Wal-mart. The Eagles are honors students who did not study and are trying to wing the test. They are just brilliant enough for stylish failure.

The Eagles are trying to bounce back from their disastrous start. “The Dream Team thing is over,” Vick said Wednesday, a tacit admission that perhaps the team bought into it in the first place. Watkins is back in the starting lineup, though he did not so much rise to the role as watch it fall to him. Reid and Castillo have adopted linebacker juggling as a hobby. The game Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, marked as an easy win in August, is being called a desperation game.

Eagles fans, meanwhile, are calling for Reid to be fired, but because they started doing that in earnest in about 2005 it has lost its value even as a therapeutic mantra. Fans treated the whole Dream Team concept with icy distrust in the first place. Free-agent spending sprees? That is what the Redskins do. Preseason crowing? That is for the Cowboys. The Eagles are supposed to sit tight through the off-season, enter the year with the same coaches running the same systems, cross their fingers and win through a mix of perseverance, heady play and luck. Like the Giants.

When they do not do that, the dreadful feelings return.

And the Phillies are not helping.

Leading Off: World Goes Mad, or at Least Football Does

If you went on vacation for a few weeks, left the country, put the iPhone on airplane mode and left it there, it would be easy to return and wonder if the sports world had gone completely off the rails. We know this from personal experience. But, as it turns out, it was not necessary to leave the country and turn off your smartphone to feel unmoored. In fact, you could have watched every second of the Lions and Bills starting the season 3-0, with a few glimpses over at the Browns going 2-1, while still trying to wrap your head around the Colts without Peyton Manning and still wonder what the heck is going on.

This is clear from the number of plugged-in football people who have been paying close attention and still reacted to Sunday’s developments by saying, “What the heck is going on?” This crowd is led by the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy, who absorbed the Patriots’ defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory against the Bills and decided the laws of the universe have been rewritten. O.K., sure, maybe there are subatomic particles that can travel faster than light and scientists can stumble on new planets orbiting more than one sun, but Tom Brady throwing four interceptions and the Bills taking over as the new Kings of Karma? This cannot happen. The Buffalo News’s Mike Harrington even says so. The Bills even had a touchdown overturned and it ended up helping them. And thus, perhaps the rustiest of the Rust Belt cities has a reason to go wild, writes Yahoo.com’s Les Carpenter.

Yes, as Dan Wetzel writes on Yahoo.com, it’s Bizarro World. In the case of the Lions, they gave some hints last season that this was possible, but as Don Banks writes on SI.com, the mind-blowing part is that both the Lions and Bills have developed resilience neither team could have imagined. SI.com’s Peter King throws the Browns into the mix and heralds a new day for the Terrible Trio.

The weirdness hardly stops there. Not only is the Eagles’ once seemingly indomitable ship taking on water, the lifeboats are getting pretty crowded for a team that’s 1-2 and was being called the Dream Team about eight seconds ago. A loss to the hated Giants and Michael Vick’s broken hand are only the edge of their problems, writes Clark Judge on CBSSports.com, and The Philadelphia Daily News’s Sam Donnellon even goes so far as to say Coach Andy Reid might soon be reaching for a pair of water wings. While ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano believes Vick missing a few weeks might actually help the Eagles get organized and stop relying so heavily on him, the Philadelphia Daily News’s John Smallwood is wondering if Vick’s playing style may be his undoing. Against the Giants, a calamitous 14 minute, 51 second stretch was the Eagles undoing, and the Giants were happy that for a change, they did not engineer that calamity, writes Ohm Youngmisuk on ESPN.com.

In other calamities with Philadelphia echoes, Donovan McNabb is now being hooted toward the sideline in his latest city (Minneapolis), with the Star-Tribune’s Jim Souhan rushing to the head of the pack calling for Christian Ponder to start at quarterback after the Vikings torpedoed themselves for a third straight game. In Baltimore, Ravens fans not only have a win over Pittsburgh to enjoy already this season, they watched rookie receiver Torrey Smith turn his first three N.F.L. catches into touchdowns. Not bad for a day’s work. The Panthers’ Jonathan Stewart might be saying the same thing about his amazing, 60-yard, waterskis-would-have-helped touchdown if it hadn’t been overturned on replay.

Yes, there were other sports with forehead-slapping developments going on over the weekend as well. The Red Sox elbowed into the picture in dramatic fashion, interrupting their epic collapse with a dramatic 14-inning victory over the Yankees, which pulled them at least momentarily back from the ledge, writes Jeff Passan on Yahoo.com. It might be only a momentary reprieve, writes Joe Lemire on SI.com, but they’ll take it. As Danny Knobler writes on CBSSports.com, they are desperately trying to rewrite their own story.

There was a golf story this weekend that did not involve Tiger Woods until Woods decided to hijack the news and hire a caddie away from Dustin Johnson. But if you could ignore that little tempest, you are likely trying to figure out just how Bill Haas managed to make off with the FedEx Cup jackpot. We’re not even sure Haas knows how.

If all that isn’t strange enough, it’s worth taking in one more sight: a fantastically low-budget ad featuring Diego Maradona and his Dubai driving license.

But, not it’s still not stranger than the Bills and Lions being 3-0.

Follow Leading Off on Twitter: twitter.com/zinsernyt

Is Michael Vick Being Treated Unfairly by Officials?

Michael Vick said that he wasn’t complaining and that he wasn’t blaming the officials … and then, if my reading comprehension skills are still O.K., he complained and blamed the officials.

Below is a partial transcript of his talk with reporters — after the Eagles’ loss to the Giants – in which he says officials have been looking the other way as he has been battered in the pocket. The full conversation is at Eagles.com.

Let us know whether you agree with him. On Sunday night, the ESPN analyst and former quarterback Trent Dilfer was adamant that Vick had not been treated differently by the officials, saying essentially that it was all in Vick’s head. (Vick’s head is a different story.)

On the play in which he hurt his hand: “It was on the pass to (WR) Jeremy (Maclin).  (It was) Just an unfortunate situation, after such a great play, and I felt like I got hit late.  There was no flag. Broke my hand.”

On whether his hand was on his helmet when he got hit: “It really doesn’t matter where it was at. I was trying to protect myself.  Still didn’t get a flag and that’s pretty much been the story for the last three weeks. I mean obviously at some point something catastrophic is going to happen and I broke my hand. Not to blame the refs or say that it was their fault. It’s just one of those unfortunate situations and I just think more precautions should be taken when I’m inside the pocket. I mean if you look at all the replays, I’m on the ground every time and it’s unfortunate for myself and it’s unfortunate for my team and I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t, if I were to sit here and say I wasn’t frustrated right now because of that.”

On whether he feels he’s not getting the calls other quarterbacks do: “Absolutely.”

On why he feels he doesn’t get the calls: “Why? I mean, you all see it. There’s no reason for me to go into a big dissertation about why I’m not getting the calls.  The refs, they have to do their job as well. I even mentioned it in training camp to the refs when we had our little meeting, so just for precaution. But hey, I don’t know.”

On whether he felt that there were other late hits on him: “Everybody saw the game. I was on the ground constantly. All of the time. Every time I throw the ball in all my highlights and just watching film in general, every time I throw the ball I’m on the ground, getting hit in the head and I don’t know why. I don’t get the 15-yard flags like everybody else does but hey- I’m not going to complain about it. I’m just making everybody aware and hopefully somebody will take notice.”

In N.F.L., the Cost of Doing Business Through the Air

For excitement, the first two weeks of the N.F.L. season have exceeded expectations. Scoring and passing yardage are at near-record levels, and Sunday’s Dallas-San Francisco game was just one example of the many games that have been decided by big passing plays at the finish.

But for teams with futures heavily dependent on their starting quarterbacks, and that is just about every team, there is an inherent risk.

Already, a seemingly large number of high-profile quarterbacks have absorbed debilitating hits. Philadelphia’s Michael Vick walked off the field spitting up blood after sustaining a concussion against the Falcons. The Vikings’ ferocious pass rush also drew blood against Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman as he led the Buccaneers to a come-from-behind 24-20 victory.

There is more. Dallas’s Tony Romo delivered his deciding 77-yard pass to Jesse Holley in overtime against the 49ers as he was fighting the effects of a cracked rib and punctured lung that had knocked him out of the game in the second quarter. And Chicago’s Jay Cutler has given new meaning to the term “picking yourself up off the mat”; he has been battered by an N.F.L.-leading 11 sacks in the first two games.

Other quarterbacks among the walking wounded include Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, who nearly had a serious knee injury against Seattle; Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, who has been sacked nine times; and the Jets’ Mark Sanchez, who on his first play of the 2011 season was body-slammed to the turf by Dallas’s DeMarcus Ware. Sanchez also absorbed some heavy hits against the Jaguars on Sunday.

Be careful  what you wish for, football fans, your big-play quarterback could be next.

2011 Philadelphia Eagles Season Preview

Andy Benoit is previewing all 32 N.F.L. teams. He completes the N.F.C. East today. He previously previewed the Cowboys, the Giants and the Redskins.

Apparently, the Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and General Manager Howie Roseman weren’t kidding when they said back in June that their club would make a major splash in free agency. The  infusion of defensive talent after the lockout was on a scale perhaps never before seen in one N.F.L. off-season.

Before landing the prize of the ’11 free-agent class (former Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha), the Eagles signed the ex-Titans defensive end Jason Babin (12½ sacks in ’10) and the Packers star defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins. They also traded for the Cardinals rising star cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

As if this weren’t enough, there was the ensuing enrichment of an offense that ranked third in scoring and second in yards last season. Brought in were ex-Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, ex-Broncos right tackle Ryan Harris, ex-Packers tight end Donald Lee, the former Giants receiver Steve Smith and the first-round-drafted guard Danny Watkins. And, perhaps more crucial than all those moves was the hiring of “retired” Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd.

Of all these transactions, the Rodgers-Cromartie trade best symbolizes the gamble this so-called Dream Team is making in 2011. In that deal, Philly acquired an additional second-round pick in 2012, giving them double-digit draft picks heading into next year. Thanks to shrewd contract language and crafty accounting from salary cap maestro Roseman and team president Joe Banner, there was more than enough cap room to sign Asomugha and maintain a healthy financial outlook for the future. Keeping one eye down the road has made this a playoff organization 9 of the past 11 years.

But the Rodgers-Cromartie trade obviously came at a price. By making Kevin Kolb one of the 10 regular contributors from last year’s squad to be let go, the Eagles have effectively put all of their eggs in the Michael Vick basket. This is the only true gamble for Lurie, Roseman, Reid and Banner in 2011. And it may be  the biggest any of them has ever made.

Offense

The magnitude of the Vick Gamble has nothing to do with Michael Vick’s off-field history and image. That was a separate gamble made two years ago when the organization signed him fresh out of prison. This gamble is much more complex because it’s multifaceted and tied directly to what happens on the field.

Let’s deal with the obvious first: It was a gamble to trade a proven backup like Kolb when you have a starting quarterback who’s subjected to as much wear-and-tear as the run-happy Vick. He missed four games early last season with a rib injury and battled various ailments down the stretch.

The acquisition of  quarterback Vince Young provides an important cushion because it gives the Eagles a backup with serious starting experience and a playing style that is similar to Vick’s. But unlike Kolb, the 28-year-old Young may not be a potential long-term starter. Young doesn’t have great arm strength or throwing mechanics, and didn’t show the mental fortitude to lead a franchise in Tennessee. He can run, but not in a mismatch-creating fashion like Vick.

This means the Eagles are banking on Vick long-term. But being 31 years old and heavily dependent on athleticism, how many quality years does he have left? Two? Three? Can you imagine him rushing for 676 yards and 9 touchdowns as a 35-year-old? Steve Young was an effective scrambler in his late 30s, but he also had less wear and tear, having become a starter much later in his career than Vick.

This could be one reason the Eagles opted in February to give Vick the franchise tag in ’11 rather than a long-term contract. A more likely reason, however, was the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement and technical language from Vick’s previous contract. Still, what if the Eagles are quietly harboring at least a few doubts about whether Vick is really the superstar he appeared to be last season?

Yes, Vick has developed better pocket passing skills in Marty Mornhinweg’s West Coast-style offense than he ever exhibited in Atlanta. But because he still has a lot of bad habits in the pocket – such as stepping up into pressure, eyeing the pass-rush or abandoning the play by scrambling unnecessarily – Vick leaves a lot of plays on the field. It’s jut rarely noticed because he does it in such exciting fashion.

The addition of offensive line coach Howard Mudd could go a long way toward correcting this. Last season, under O-line coach Juan Castillo, Eagles blockers had to  choose one of five or six techniques  based on the situation. The mental burden made for difficult cohesion. Mudd, one of the best teachers in the game, will have his linemen do less thinking, more reacting.

This simplicity is a big reason first-round rookie right guard Danny Watkins can start immediately. And why sixth-round rookie Jason Kelce can challenge ’09 starting center Jamaal Jackson (returning from last year’s triceps injury) and ’10 starter Mike McGlynn for the center job. And why ex-Bronco Ryan Harris, a solid right tackle before missing 13 games over the past two seasons in Denver, can step in ahead of incumbent Winston Justice should the up-and-down Justice not fully recover from off-season knee surgery. It’s also why unrefined backup tackle King Dunlap could challenge for playing time (Mudd loves the 6-8, 310-pounder’s natural ability) and why left tackle Jason Peters can be expected to make his fifth straight Pro Bowl, and why left guard Todd Herremans can recapture his formidable run-blocking.

It’s tough when linemen don’t know where their quarterback will be, however. Vick’s nature makes the offense built almost solely on big plays. Normally, that doesn’t work. But normally, an offense doesn’t have a lethal running quarterback, two wideouts with 4.3 speed (DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin) and a running back that can make any defender whiff in space (LeSean McCoy).

People generally think that an offense built on speed is one predicated on the skill players  running by defenders. That’s part of it (Jackson has 18 catches of 40-plus yards over the last two years; Jeremy Maclin registered a 30-plus-yard catch in six games last season). But more than that, speed forces a defense to be overly cautious. Defensive linemen rush Vick with less vigor for fear that he’ll escape the pocket. Linebackers drift more toward the flat for fear that LeSean McCoy will get upfield. Obviously, cornerbacks play off the wideouts for fear that they’ll get burned over the top, while safeties are less inclined to drop down in the box (which is one reason the Eagles led the league with 73 runs of 10-plus yards last season.)

The threat posed by speed is what makes Philadelphia click. It creates enormous space for screen passes (McCoy led the Eagles with 78 receptions in ’10) and hitch routes on the outside. Vick does not often look for underneath options like tight end Brent Celek and slot receiver Jason Avant, but those passes are consistently there if he wants them.

Take away the speed on the outside and this becomes a completely different offense. It’s vital the Eagles have a happy Jackson (he staged a brief holdout in search of a long-term deal) and a healthy Maclin (the third-year pro battled an unspecified illness during the off-season and training camp).

If Maclin is out, the free-agent pickups Johnnie Lee Higgins or Sinorice Moss, because they posses decent wheels, may get a shot ahead of last year’s intriguing fifth-round rookie, Riley Cooper. And then Steve Smith could take over in the second half of the season, after recovering further from his knee operation. But more likely, Reid and Mornhinweg would wind up giving more carries to McCoy and newcomer Ronnie Brown – which isn’t terrible but certainly not the key ingredient in a Super Bowl recipe.

Defense

It’s a new defense in 2011. Three new starters along the front line, two new starters at linebacker and, barring a trade of cornerback Asante Samuel, three new starters in the five-man secondary (which is the predominant defensive package the Eagles will use this season). Also new is the system – or at least elements of it. Gone is Sean McDermott and some of the pressure-heavy schemes of predecessor Jim Johnson. In place is probably an even more traditional 4-3 installed by first-time defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. Castillo is one of a select few of coaches to move from the offensive side of the ball to defensive coordinator. (Most recent to do it is Mike Nolan, who in 2002 went from wide receivers coach to defensive coordinator in Baltimore. But Nolan had defensive coaching experience at previous N.F.L. stops; Castillo hasn’t coached defense since 1989 at Texas A&M.)

Whoever coordinates Philadelphia’s defense would have too many resources to fail. Nnamdi Asomugha is indeed a shutdown corner. He played only man-coverage in Oakland but has made clear that he’s also capable of operating in all forms of zone. Asomugha gives the Eagles coverage varieties they were missing with Asante Samuel as their top corner. Samuel is an elite playmaker, but his lack of physicality limits him to off-coverage technique. If he isn’t traded, he’ll most likely still start outside, with Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a more athletic man-defender, assuming Joselio Hanson’s nickel role. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles choose Asomugha or Rodgers-Cromartie to cover the slot in nickel.

The plethora of cornerbacking talent does wonders for the young safeties. Free safety Nate Allen, a promising second-round pick a year ago, has a chance to blossom as a free-ranging playmaker – assuming he bounces back from tearing a patellar tendon (knee) last December. The even younger strong safety Jaiquawn Jarrett (a second-round pick this past April) will also have special freedoms. Expect Jarrett, a lively run defender at Temple, to have plenty of leeway for a rookie, as backups Jarrad Page and Kurt Coleman are both up-and-down players.

With three of the top 10 corners in pro football, the Eagles could theoretically blitz on every down and still be safe. But Castillo’s scheme emphasizes more of a classic four-man rush, which is why revered defensive line coach Jim Washburn was brought over from Tennessee. Washburn will have his old Pro Bowl defensive end from last season, Jason Babin, on the right side and tireless everydown star Trent Cole on the left. Both skim the edges with impeccable leverage and should relish getting snaps in the wide-aligning nine-techniques that Washburn employs as a means of ensuring one-on-one matchups.

Inside, Cullen Jenkins is one of the best pugilists in the game. He can get in the backfield or anchor against the run. His five-year contract amounts to a one-year trial period, perhaps because the team wants to see how he’ll translate from 3-4 defensive end back  to 4-3 defensive tackle. Or, perhaps it’s because the Eagles think that breakout undrafted defensive tackle Antonio Dixon will become the better long-term investment. With Mike Patterson’s recent health problems (he has a brain arteriovenous malformation –a tangle of blood vessels in the skull, which may require surgery), Dixon and Trevor Laws will have a chance at first- and second-down snaps. That is, if they can fend off new backups Derek Landri (a try-hard veteran who can be attacked on the ground but can also get penetration) and Anthony Hargrove (a once-in-a-while playmaker from the Saints). On third down, the Eagles can use former starting defensive ends Juqua Parker and Daryl Tapp inside next to Jenkins. Both can also be backside run-stoppers from the outside, if need be.

It’s an embarrassment of riches in the front and back four; the Eagles’ second-string defensive line and backfield are comparable to some teams’ first-string units. The hope is this can mask what’s expected to be a mediocre linebacking group.

It was assumed that fourth-round rookie Casey Matthews was drafted to star on special teams. Instead, he’s starting at middle linebacker. We know better than to bet against any member of the legendary Matthews family, but it’s hard to imagine a rookie filling the shoes of underrated Stewart Bradley. To do so, Matthews will have to be a thumper against the run and eat up significant ground in vertical pass coverage.

Bradley’s presumed replacement, Jamar Chaney, will now start on the weak side. The seventh-round pick from a year ago moves well against the run but doesn’t figure to work ahead of either strongside linebacker Moise Fokou or Akeem Jordan in the frequently used nickel package.

Special Teams

The David Akers era ended a year or two sooner than expected when Alex Henery was selected in the fourth round. The undrafted punter Chas Henry (who, unlike his fellow rookie kicker, knows how to properly spell his own last name) replaces Sav Rocca. In the return game, Jorrick Calvin will  handle kickoffs, and DeSean Jackson will watch terrified punters boot the ball out of bounds.

Bottom Line

On paper, yes, this is something of a Dream Team. The defense has too many talented players to fail. The offense, however, is one Vick/Maclin/Jackson injury away from having to be redefined, which is a bit unsettling (although the Steve Smith signing certainly helps). But most teams would be redefined if their quarterback or star receiver went down. Assuming everyone stays healthy, Philly’s Super Bowl fate will come down to the performance of its transformed quarterback.

Predicted Finish: 1st N.F.C. East

Andy Benoit is the founder of NFLTouchdown.com and covers the N.F.L. for CBSsports.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLtouchdown.com.