oG1KeNoBi Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 Out of the 2-0 teams out there, there are three that stand out to me that given better opponents, would most likely not be 2-0. Which out of these 3 are the worst and/or shouldn't expect a playoff seed in the future? Baltimore Ravens Detroit Lions Carolina Panthers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Detroit's next 3 games should tell us a lot about how "for real" they are. Hosting ATL, @MIN, and hosting CAR. They follow those three with a home game against the Saints before their Week 7 bye. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Lions are 5-1 or 4-2 going into their bye. They should beat the Saints, they should beat Carolina at home, and they're capable of beating MIN anywhere. Not to mention, they will give Atlanta all they can handle next week, in my opinion. Detroit also plays both BAL and CAR, so those games might be key in determining which of the three gets a playoff spot (if any), even though BAL is obviously in the AFC. BAL has played two fairly weak opponents so far. Their schedule in the middle of the season is brutal. In the six-game stretch between Weeks 5 and 11 (they have a bye in Week 10), Baltimore has four road games against relatively tough opponents.... MIN, OAK, TEN, and GB. Sandwiching those games are meeting with the Steelers in Weeks 4 and 13, as well as the Lions in Week 12. CAR has a slightly easier schedule, facing the AFC East. They travel to NE and DET, but host MIN and GB. They also have four games against ATL/TB, obviously, and anybody can beat anybody within the division (except maybe the defense-less Saints?). I don't think any of the three have a chance of doing much damage in the playoffs, but any of them can get there. I see them all finishing right around 10-6. But, if I had to rank them, in terms of playoff chances, it would go in this order: DET - Hosts CAR, which would be the tie-breaker if they need one. CAR - Easier schedule than BAL. BAL - Not only a tough schedule, but it's quite possible that both wild cards come from the AFC West (DEN, OAK, and KC are all 2-0 as well), which would mean that Baltimore needs to win the division to get in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montana is da Man Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 I'm going with Carolina because they didn't look great against the 49ers and they struggled terribly against Buffalo. They play in a very tough division and I can see them losing 5 out of 6 to TB, ATL & NO. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin_Akie Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 The Dolphins should be in that mix assuming they can beat the Jets this Sunday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 I have to go with BAL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 I guess I answered the second part of the question, regarding playoff chances. As for which team is the worst, I think it's hard to say. BAL defense has been great, turnover-wise in particular, yet the CAR defense is ranked as the top defense in the NFL through two weeks. Part of that is who they've played, obviously (for both BAL and CAR). Don't sleep on the DET defense, especially if Ansah and Davis can stay healthy. DET might be the best of the three teams, in terms of having both a legitimate offense AND defense. But, they can't run the ball. Meanwhile, BAL and CAR can run, but they don't score like DET can. I think it's a toss-up between BAL and CAR. The problem with CAR is that Cam was special when he was a running threat. If he doesn't run as much (which he hasn't so far), he's really nothing special. Flacco may not be elite, either, but for whatever reason I trust him to win games/play mistake-free football more than Cam. But, again, I think it's very close. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylcook13 Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 It will be interesting to see if Carolina can keep it up without Olsen. Detroit has a brutal first half schedule but I give them a lot of credit so far! I might even go as far as predicting them to win this week. I agree Baltimore is the worst. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oG1KeNoBi Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 2 hours ago, tylcook13 said: It will be interesting to see if Carolina can keep it up without Olsen. Detroit has a brutal first half schedule but I give them a lot of credit so far! I might even go as far as predicting them to win this week. I agree Baltimore is the worst. Don't know if you remember Ed Dickson when he was on Baltimore, but he had a pretty decent season a couple (maybe 4+) years ago. You think he can somewhat fill the void of Olsen or do you think the targets will simply go elsewhere to players like..... Funchess 😑. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAUgrad Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 The problem I have with Carolina right now is that Cam does not appear to be healthy. Eventually he will have to throw for them to win. He's not capable of doing that right now. He's missing open receivers badly. That may improve as the season wears on but eventually it's going to cost them if he doesn't improve/get healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylcook13 Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 There seems to be a consensus on Funchess getting a boost. He was a TE in college, was picked up in my league and everything I've looked at has boosted him in the rankings. I personally think Dickson will fill in and take most of those looks. I was watching that game and after Olsen went down Cam didn't hesitate going to Dickson and he looked good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oG1KeNoBi Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 Well I think that game answers that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 3 hours ago, oG1KeNoBi said: Well I think that game answers that. Not sure Carolina looks any better. Brutal showing at home against what was an inept Saints team the first two weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oG1KeNoBi Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 4 hours ago, Gopher said: Not sure Carolina looks any better. Brutal showing at home against what was an inept Saints team the first two weeks. True. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 lots of 2-0 teams stumbled, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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