The Good, Great and Ugly from the NFL's First Quarter (Part 1)

Remember when we were watching NFL players walking around in suits, wearing serious faces as negotiators every time we flipped the channel to ESPN? Now the regular season is already 25 percent through. One excruciatingly long off-season has led to what can already be considered an exciting and drama-filled regular season in just four short weeks. There have been some good moments, some great moments, and some undoubtedly ugly moments. It’s been everything a fan could ask for following such grim off-season outlooks filled with lockout subject matter. The times when dreary prospects of losing the season entirely floated through our minds have virtually been forgotten. It’s as if there was never anything to worry about.

The good can’t be mentioned without first mentioning Josh Freeman. His stats might not jump out at you (three touchdowns and four interceptions on the season with a mediocre 81.1 passer rating), but other than the NFL’s elite, there are not many quarterbacks with the leadership qualities Freeman obtains. He nearly led his Buccaneers to a comeback victory over the Detroit Lions in week one despite a 27-13 deficit with less than four minutes remaining, then concocted the comeback a week later after the Bucs trailed the Vikings at halftime 17-0. When he iced a victory over Atlanta in week three by forcing the Falcons to jump offside and achieve the necessary final first down, he finally turned some heads. Josh Freeman is a bright, burly, big-armed quarterback who’s shown several signs of brilliance at just 23 years of age. A season that was projected to be so-so due to Tampa Bay’s lack of activity in free agency is turning out to be fruitful in its early stages. Josh Freeman is the catalyst, and a significant drop-off from last season’s 10-6 record doesn’t appear likely with him under center.

On the other side of the country, the Bay Area is showing flashes of prevalence in the first four weeks. San Francisco is a surprising 3-1, and has made the most noise within its defensive front. The 49ers currently rank fourth in rushing defense after the first quarter of the season, and just completed an impressive comeback victory (depending on which perspective you’d like to take) over the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Call it a massive Eagles collapse if you’d like, but a bad team still rolls over when faced with a 23-3 third quarter deficit. The 49ers are certainly not bad. Moreover, Alex Smith played good, which doesn’t happen very often. The 49ers have grit – which is just enough in the putrid NFC West.

In the East Bay, the Silver & Black are re-awakening Raider Nation and stirring the pot with some scintillating football.
It started with Oakland’s first 1-0 start since 2002 in which Darren McFadden began his 2011 “Best Running Back in the NFL” campaign, and hasn’t disappointed since. Run DMC is proving to be the complete package as a runner, blazing past defenders with his straight-ahead speed, running over defenders with power, catching and running with precise vision on beautiful screen plays, and even lines up at wide receiver sparingly and runs surprisingly crisp routes. He’s the core of every trick play, which head coach Hue Jackson has a knack for calling at pristine moments. Last year, I typed a sentence about McFadden in this column, saying he would be the best back in the NFL in two years, but I took it out thinking people would jump all over me for it. I regret doing that; he could already be there. He’s the heart of an Oakland offense with frightening speed at skill positions (Jacoby Ford, Darrius Heyward-Bey and the rising Denarius Moore), and he’s the prototypical complement to Jason Campbell. Campbell was virtually mistake-free until last Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, but the Raiders still showed they could at least hang in there with one of the best teams in the league and not display total frailty. Exciting play doesn’t always culminate in a successful season, but the confidence the Raiders have carried over from last season’s sweep of the AFC West and the swagger that is continuing to build with Hue Jackson at the helm is changing the dynamic of the franchise. Although a 2-2 start would have been a reasonable prediction around schedule-release time, nobody would have thought the Raiders would do so in this fashion.

Although the Buccaneers, Raiders and Niners have displayed commendable assets, some extraordinary attributes have been portrayed in the first four weeks of the NFL season; and there’s no better place to start than Cam Newton.
I know he was already mentioned in the Week 1 Retrospective, but he’s worth mentioning again. Let’s start with the boring stuff first – stats. Newton has thrown for 1,386 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions in his first four games as an NFL quarterback with an 84.5 passer rating. Most importantly, his 60 percent completion percentage is an above satisfactory mark for a rookie quarterback. He’s already the first rookie to throw for more than 400 yards in two games. Moreover, Newton has been given the offensive reins. Despite running back DeAngelo Williams’ hefty contract extension this past off-season, first-year head coach Ron Rivera has introduced a pass-heavy offensive scheme (which has been outlined pretty well here). Cam Newton has already attempted 163 passes and is on pace to attempt a whopping 615 throws this season, which would break Sam Bradford’s rookie record of 590. He’s also on pace to complete 388 throws this season, which would also be a rookie record. Nobody in the world would’ve projected these numbers by Cam “THE MAN” Newton before the season. (Yes, that is his nickname. Start catching on. Or just do what Deion Sanders does and blurt “CAAAMM!” every time he zings a pass or breaks the pocket. That one’s fun too.) But we could’ve predicted his attitude, which we talked about subsequent his week one performance. He’s on a mission to improve every week and makes his teammates better in the process. Wide receiver Steve Smith has been utterly reinvigorated (530 receiving yards through four games and averaging 22 yards per catch) and the Carolina Panthers are an extremely fun team to watch. Of the three premier early games last Sunday (Detrot/Dallas, San Fran/Philly, Pittsburgh/Houston), none caught my eye like Cam Newton and the Panthers versus Chicago. That’s how much of a leadership impact Cam Newton has had as the number-one overall pick, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to stop wowing us. It’s the intangibles.

Obviously, you can’t mention precocious greatness without mentioning the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. Precocious for the Lions in the sense that, well, it’s the first time they’ve jumped out to a 4-0 start; and precocious for the Packers and their 4-0 start because Aaron Rodgers has now become the slinging savant that nobody thought he would ever get the chance to become.

Detroit’s unequivocally endearing greatness has been highlighted by its fearlessness. Regardless of the Lions’ talent, teams have to play a solid and complete four quarters against them every game. The defense may be suspect (20th in rushing defense and 29th in passing defense), but the offense is relentless and capable of capitalizing on even the slightest of breakdowns. The Vikings and Tony Romo have already exemplified that for us. They held off the patented Josh Freeman comeback in week one as well, so a mentality of experience is already building after four weeks.

Oh, and Calvin Johnson has been pretty good too. Eight of his 24 catches this season have been touchdowns. If you’re good at math, that’s one third of his catches. So every third time Calvin Johnson catches a pass, it’s of the touchdown variety – which is absurd. He’s become the preeminent red zone receiver, as he displayed with his touchdown catch in which he was draped with triple coverage against the Cowboys last Sunday. The fade route inside the 10 yard-line became an overused tactic in the NFL for a while, but “Megatron” is a can’t-miss in every red zone passing situation. If he’s not the best receiver in the NFL yet, he’s getting there. And how great of a nickname is “Megatron”? Doesn’t it fit him seamlessly? He literally looks unstoppable and nonhuman right now. Fans can’t get enough of him, and neither can Matthew Stafford.

As for the 4-0 Packers, Aaron Rodgers is the only player of discussion right now. We brought him up in the Week 1 Retrospective as well, but isn’t he making a case for top quarterback in the league right now? The way he plays the quarterback position – the pinpoint accuracy, gracious mobility and leadership bravado – is so much to marvel over. He’s so cool-headed that it’s immensely admirable. He never seems to get rattled, spreads the ball amongst a multitude of receivers, and finds ways to improvise on certain plays but make them appear beautiful at the same time. And are we going to see this play literally every game? Here it is again against the Broncos last Sunday. I literally shouted "It's that play again!" as it was happening. It’s become the patented Aaron Rodgers play-action fake bomb.

Granted, Tom Brady has been playing out of his mind this year, but I’d rather watch Aaron Rodgers play quarterback any day of the week. His savant-like play en route to Green Bay’s 4-0 start makes for some nice beginnings for a possible title defense.

The Bills have been great and are playing the part of Cinderella thus far, but last Sunday’s Bengals match-up was their first true test of focus. It’s tough to say that they failed dramatically, considering Cincinatti’s quietly stout defense (the Bengals have only allowed 18.5 points per game, which is currently sixth in the league; they are also third in total pass defense and seventh in total rush defense), but they still squandered a 17-3 halftime lead. Maybe things are getting back to normal again. It goes without question that Ryan Fitzpatrick is a reputable NFL quarterback, and he deserves a nice contract extension after this season. He and Stevie Johnson have a nice connection and Fred Jackson flanks them in a nice three-headed offensive attack. The Bills will have no problem putting up points this season and will continue to be an incendiary bunch, but a postseason aura hasn’t been developed. A win at home against the Eagles this Sunday would be a nice step in that development, considering Philadelphia’s current sense of urgency. Speaking of Philadelphia…

To read Part 2 of this column, featuring the "Ugly" from the NFL's first quarter, click here.