Los Angeles Rams

Thoughts about Week 2 in the NFL

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 18, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher reacts during a NFL game against the Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

What four things stood out to the author this week?

People always overreact to week 1: teams are declared good or bad and players are lionized or castigated for their performances. Let’s try not to make major sweeping decisions but see what is standing out after 2 weeks.

The upcoming slides really focus on a group of teams that are struggling. Their struggles can be related to injuries, lack of production or just having to deal with a tough schedule. The issue is that these problems can’t continue if this group wants to make a playoff run.

Several of the teams on this list have head coaches that are on the hot seat. It also includes Jeff Fisher who should be on the hot seat but appears close to getting a 3-year contract extension.

Again, we have only just finished the 2nd week of the season but things are starting to get critical for a few franchises.

1. Jeff Fisher getting a contract extension.
Jeff Fisher hasn’t gotten close to the playoffs since he took over the Rams. And despite the awful trade that the Redskins made with him to get RG3, the Redskins have made the playoffs twice during Fisher’s tenure in St Louis/Los Angeles. Fisher has been taking opportunities to remind the Redskins of the trade at every turn..

And yet, Fisher, who has been extremely disappointing and gave up the crown jewels for a quarterback who can’t beat out Case Keenum right now, is getting a 3 year extension. All this despite not having a season with a winning record yet in his current job. The easy retort from Fisher and his supporters is that they just beat the Seahawks and that shows ‘progress’ or something.

But fully 1/7 of Fisher’s wins with the Rams have come at the expense of the Seahawks. Whatever it is that Fisher does vs them he really should think about doing in the rest of his games.

Aug 1, 2016; Mankato, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings tackle Matt Kalil (75) walks of the afternoon session for a break due to a storm at training camp at Minnesota State University. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

2. The Vikings’ offensive line.
The Vikings can be a contender when they want to be. They have the coaching, the defense, the quarterback play and enough skill position talent to beat anyone. And even though they won on Sunday night vs the Packers, they have a fatal flaw when it comes to taking the next step and being potentially the class of the NFC: their offensive line. And Adrian Peterson and the entire Vikings’ running game was basically impotent against a so-so Packers’ front 7.

The problem with their offensive line seems to be relatively simple: not enough talent. Matt Kalil started out his NFL career looking like the next incarnation of Tony Boselli. Now he looks like Alex Barron: an overdrafted tackle who just doesn’t have the mental focus to be consistently good.

Alex Boone and Andre Smith were brought in to solidify the line but with the problems with Kalil and Fusco, the Vikings should start thinking about shipping out Kalil in exchange for another left tackle(maybe for Joeckel straight up?) because they need a change pretty badly.

Sep 1, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) stretches before the game Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

3. Oakland’s defense.
The Raiders spent all that money and draft picks on their defense and their coordinator Ken Norton Jr had been rumored to be a hot candidate for future head coaching openings in college and the pros.

And the net result of all this hype is that the Raiders are worst in the NFL in yards given up, yards per play, first downs given up, passing yards given up, passing touchdowns given up and only have 2 savks on the season(tied for 31st in the NFL) and 1 interception(tied for 7th worst in the NFL).

Jack Del Rio has now reportedly taken away playcalling from Norton which essentially kills his future career prospects. But it seems very doubtful that this is going to fix the root problem in Oakland. Namely that teams have figured out to just block Khalil Mack out of the play and aren’t worried about Irvin or the secondary.

It would have been helpful if the Raiders never signed Irvin, who’s a liability in coverage and has to attack the backfield most downs. With Ward and Mack at End, it means that teams can attack 2 linebackers and 2 safeties instead of having to deal with 3 LBs. And the rest of that corps is pretty average against the pass.

The fix for this defense isn’t coming this season, and might not be truly fixed for a couple offseasons. One idea would be to move to a 3-4 defense full time, then Irvin and Mack could be stand up rushers and the strong safety would have more freedom.

Sep 18, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) throws a pass during the second half of the game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. San Diego won 38-14. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

4. The mess in Jacksonville
The Jaguars spent the offseason acquiring big names with good highlight reels. They didn’t spend much time on building a real team and it shows. The offensive line is a total mess and doesn’t appear to have many answers. The defensive line has seen some life from Fowler’s return due to injury but Malik Jackson has been a big bust.

The linebackers are a mess, Jack hasn’t played much or well yet and Jalen Ramsey is the best in a bad secondary. Where did it all go wrong for the Jags, who were a common pick for a team to emerge from the shadows of failure and become a playoff contender. They pulled a Dan Snyder and mistook big names for good play.

The two biggest problems that they have are that Malik Jackson is playing defensive tackle in a 4-3 when he only showed anything as a 3-4 5 tech end and that their only consistent offensive lineman is AJ Cann. For the money that they gave Malik Jackson, they could have had Russell Okung(or dealt for Ryan Clady) and still signed 2-3 better fits for their system.

Myles Jack and Jalen Ramsey could be better long term picks, but they could have taken any number of players of equal talent that could be contributing to fixing their problems more than they are.

The lack of talent on both lines could also mute the effectiveness of where they’ve invested heavily: Bortles, Ivory, Hurns/Robinson/Thomas and Jack/Ramsey. Bradley is a smart defensive mind but it’s doubtful that he’s got the goods to be a head coach and the front office appears to be in over it’s head as well.

That said, if they can acquire two quality starters on the offensive line(one of whom being a left tackle) and organize the defensive line properly the Jags could become a quality team in a season or two. This year looks lost.