Defensive Notes

One week into the season, a few observations:

- Looks like the Bears are back. In winning in Indianapolis, the Bears were aggressive, risk-taking, and constantly disruptive -- just like the Bears of old (or two years ago, whichever). Certainly, this wasn't the same Colts offense they faced in the Super Bowl, but give the Bears credit for coming up with a game plan (stopping the run and getting after Manning) and sticking to it. There was a point where Devin Hester got a little cute for his own good, trying to make the Colts think he was taking a knee in order to then break a long return, and while that cost the Bears, you have to have at least some respect for his mindset: thinking about scoring every time he fields a kick.

- Speaking of Hester, Buffalo's Roscoe Parrish looks like he's on his way to having a similar impact this season. He brought a punt back for a touchdown on a play that was largely individual effort, and added 25- and 15-yard returns later. The Bills look like they'll be pretty good defensively, too; there's some talent there, and for now, they're healthy (they weren't a year ago).

- San Diego and New England are vulnerable. The Patriots were fortunate to survive a last-minute drive by lowly Kansas City. San Diego wasn't so lucky against Carolina. New England has lost some secondary guys, while San Diego has lost Shawne Merriman. It'd be easy to write these teams off after one week, but remember, San Diego had some problems early in the season a year ago and put it together. Both, though, necessarily slide a little this week -- the Chargers without Merriman, the Patriots with what now should be a far more mortal offense, putting more pressure on their defense.

- Waiver Wire Defenses of the Week: There are some intriguing choices this week, but two we're particularly interested in are both halves of the Oakland-Kansas City grudge match in Kansas City. The teams played ugly 12-10 and 20-17 games a year ago. Two bad quarterbacks and bad offensive lines could lead to good numbers in terms of sacks and turnovers, not to mention an overall lack of offensive production. One (or both) of these teams will make some waiver wire workers happy, if only for one week.

We're also interested in Arizona, again, at home against a Dolphins team that might be headed in the right direction but definitely isn't there yet. Another lesser defense worth a roll of the dice is New Orleans, and if you saw any of Washington's final two exhibition games or its opener against the Giants, you'll know why -- that offense has problems.

On the flip side, there are some drafted defenses we're wary of this week. The Patriots might rally around the loss of Tom Brady for the season -- or they could come out flat. Certainly, their secondary is vulnerable to a capable quarterback, and you know the Jets will be fired up to knock off the division bully that now has a weakness or two. San Diego traveling to Denver might be problematic, too.

—Andy Richardson

• Comments [0]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.