Following an exciting first round, we break down the favorite picks, most pleasant and biggest surprises, most under-appreciated pick, worst move and more.
Peyton Manning, Mario Williams, Mike Wallace and Carl Nicks headline an intriguing free agent class that can shift the balance of power this offseason.
The Eagles seemingly came out of nowhere to sign Nnamdi Asomugha as they eye a trip to the Super Bowl.
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Three weeks are in the NFL books, and the list of injured impact players grows. While injuries happen every year to seemingly every team, league parity and a lack of capable fill-ins make the injured players appear even more valuable. For two teams, the season could be effectively over after just three games, with expectations for some other teams likely out of reach thanks to the injury bug.
The bug bit hardest in the AFC East. The Jets, considered by many (though not myself) to be a contender for a deep playoff run, lost both Chad Pennington and Jay Fielder in the same game. Pennington is done for the year, and possibly longer, with a torn rotator cuff. When a QB depends on savvy and perfect accuracy like Pennington has done throughout his career, the further loss of velocity even after he comes back will likely render him nothing more than a backup. His backup Fielder was lost two series later and is out until December. By that time, the 1-2 Jets will be a distant afterthought in the playoff picture. Star RB Curtis Martin was already showing his age and lack of burst; now defenses can cram the line even more and force the two-headed monster of the very green (Brooks Bollinger) and old green balls (Vinny Testaverde, now 41 and at least 6 years past his usefulness) to beat them. Listening to Jets players, fans and media, this team appears completely demoralized and will be lucky to finish 6-10.
Their AFC East brethren were also hit hard. The Patriots lost defensive glue Rodney Harrison, widely regarded as the leader and tone setter for a chronically decimated secondary. He's out for the year with a torn ACL, and tests will reveal if the other CLs are torn as well. If they are, thus marks the end of Rodney Harrison. Perhaps just as critical is the loss of starting left tackle Matt Light. At this time his status is undecided, but he left the stadium on a cart with a cast already in place. That would leave the right side of the offensive line in the hands of two rookies. Bill Belichick has made some pretty awesome lemonade with sourer lemons than this, but the grove sure looks picked pretty clean right now. A threepeat is looking like a longshot, especially with the improved play of the Colts and Chiefs.
The Bills weren't immune from the bug either, as their best overall player, LB Takeo Spikes, tore his Achilles tendon and is out for at least 10 months. For a team struggling already with a shaky young QB and a defense that wasn't meeting expectations, this is likely a death blow for the 1-2 Bills. Even the surprising Dolphins suffered some impact injuries, though they get a bye week to get Junior Seau, Tebucky Jones, and Ronnie Brown healthy. All of the sudden, Miami has legitimate reason for playoff optimism. If they can keep immune from the injury bug, that is.
That nasty bug was also virulent in Arizona. The Cardinals will be without 3 starters, including QB Kurt Warner, for their trip to Mexico to play the improving 49ers. The Cards were a trendy pick to win the NFC West, but at 0-3 and now without key linemen Russ Davis and Oliver Ross for the rest of the year, it's simply another in a long series of lousy years in Phoenix. Another underperfoming team with lofty expectations, the Minnesota Vikings, will be without as many as 6 projected starters in their Week 4 trip to Atlanta. Last week's Encroachment extolled the importance of injured C Matt Burk. Joining him on the sidelines will be WR Nate Burleson, LB EJ Henderson, S and special teams captain Willie Offord, and likely DEs Kenechi Udeze and Lance Johnstone. DBs Darren Sharper and Brian Williams are also dinged up. This means the struggling Vikings face the Falcons' dominating run game, and some lightning fast guy named Vick, with a hodgepodge of unproven replacements and unhealthy starters. At least the Vikings can take comfort that a 7-9 record just might win their division, because there's no way either Green Bay or Chicago (playing their rookie backup QB) are going to win more than that, and the Lions are still a giant question mark.
The injury bug has left its teeth in the season already, and for the hardest hit teams the venom appears lethal. How these teams, and others certain to suffer key injuries, can cope and replace the injured starters will be a major determining factor for the remainder of the season. Fans have to hope the injuries to their teams aren't as serious as those to the other team, that the injury bug flies to another locale and bites harder there than to their players.
