Although Robert Griffin III put up another great performance in Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams, sloppy play and key injuries on the defense have given the Redskins a reality check.

Shocking the world in Week 1 by beating the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome was nothing to look down upon, but the Redskins should have put a pounding on the St. Louis Rams in Week 2 to put a cherry on top of their first 2 games.

The Redskins defense wasn’t exactly great in Week 1 either, but RG3’s performance made that a non factor. The defense continued that pattern in Week 2 by giving up 31 points to Sam Bradford and the Rams. The defense has now given up a total of 63 points in the first 2 game of the season. This will not lift the Redskins into playoff contention.

The beaten down defense of the Redskins will also have to survive without two key players on their defense. They will have to go without two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Orakpo and defensive end Adam Carriker for the rest of the season. These are two injuries that the Redskins desperately cannot afford. One of their backups will have to step up to make sure this isn’t a major blow to their season.

As for Sam Bradford, he was the better of the two quarterbacks, completing 26 of 35 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns as he rallied the Rams passed the Redskins. All you Fantasy football nuts out there should keep an eye on Bradford with RG3 sure to be swooped up in all fantasy formats.

For the Redskins to be contenders in the NFC East, their defense needs to shape up quickly. Unfortunately for them, RG3 can’t play defense.

OK fans, let’s get this out of the way right now. The Rams?! Really? The Rams beat the Saints. My head is still spinning on its neck like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. What can you say? Any given Sunday. Well, we’ve got another Sunday (and Monday) right around the corner and our picks are fresh out of the oven.

ESPN has baked up a tasty little batch of predictions for the upcoming week, as did I. Each week I go head to head with the experts and their two fortune telling robots. The race is pretty close and is still anyones game. Read on to see how they did, how I did and what teams we’re labeling as the easy wins, the fights to the finish and the upsets of the week. Check it out!
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For the fifth consecutive meeting the New York Giants toppled the St. Louis Rams. Needless to say, winning streaks mean NOTHING. But try telling that to an Eagles fan. It was both an unpolished victory and a dominant display of Big Blue athleticism, against a team that were not operating on all four cylinders. The same can be said of the NY Giants, however.

The end result shouldn’t come as a surprise to the football world, as the Giants were the odds on favorites. Many, including SS Kenny Phillips, considered this to be a “must win” situation. It seems more than a bit premature to pin the second game of the season as a “must win.” But when you factor in the magnitude of the upcoming game against the Philadelphia Eagles, it makes all the sense in the world. There were numerous comforting and unsettling familiarities that took place in last night’s matchup. Let’s take a look at them.
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Offense:  Coach “Spags”  was fortunate enough to inherit a top ranked running back in Stephen Jackson.  Jackson, as many of you know, is a true stud at running back.  He recently became the only player in team history to rush for 1,000 yards in 5 consecutive seasons. He is banged up this week, and is backed up on the depth chart by the newly acquired  Cadillac Williams.  At Quarterback the Rams have Sam Bradford, the number one overall pick in the 2010 draft.  Bradford stepped right into the role of starting QB and impressed many in his first year in the NFL.  He is still a work in progress, but it is clear he has all the tools to be a very good if not great NFL QB.  The Offensive line is young on the outside.  They have a rookie Left Tackle in Rodger Saffold, and a second year right tackle in Jason Smith, Smith might be held out this week with an injury.  The interior of their line was all acquired through free agency and has an average of 7 years experience anchored by Right Guard Harvey Dahl.  Where the Rams fall short on offense is in their receiving corps.  What was once the strength of the Rams of the 1990′s has now fallen on hard times.  Danny Amendola is out with a dis-located elbow and that leaves Mike Sims-Walker and Greg Salas as the starters along with Tight End Billy Bajema. Sims-Walker was signed this year after some average years in Jacksonville.  He had one catch last week for 5 yards.  The offense is obviously based off the running game, but with Jackson listed as doubtful, it could be a long night for the Rams offense.

The Defense:  This obviously is “Spags”s specialty and is littered with familiar names, high draft picks, and former Giants.  Up front they have Chris Long, a first round draft pick, Fred Robbins, a former Giant, Justin Bannan, and James Hall each with 10 years NFL experience.  Behind them is a fabulous group of Linebackers that would make any New York fan jealous.  Second year linebacker out of Ohio State, James Laurinaitis is in the middle of two free agents Brady Poppinga formerly of Green Bay, and Ben Leber, formally of the Minnesota Vikings.  Once again however, the fall off to the secondary is noticeable.  With injuries to this unit they are left with a very young group at corner, and some castoffs at Safety.  Justin King and Bradley Fletcher are the young corners with a combined total of 5 years experience, and Craig Dahl and Quintin Mikell are the starting safeties backed up by former Giant James Butler.

The transformation of the St. Louis Rams is well underway and “Spags” is building a team and an organization at the same time.  He needed to change the culture in St. Louis and begin a new era.  He certainly seems like the right person for the job.  After finishing at 7-9 last year and having a chance to make the playoffs in the weak  NFC West Division,  The Rams will continue to build through free agency and the draft. They have a franchise Qb, and what seems like a good mix of veterans and young players.  With no one player having more than 10 years experience, they are set up for good things in the future.

After a long, grueling offseason, the NFL kicked off its season opener…and what an opener it was. We witnessed the impossible, the improbable and the impartible. Yes, football season is upon us folks. That means that the guys over at ESPN are knee deep in their predictions once again. That also means that, so am I.

How did I match up against the pigskin parliamentarians last week? Was my Magic 8 Ball working as good or better than the big guys’? I bet you’ll be surprised at the results. Click the link below to find out the W/L ratios, my predictions for this coming week and the analysis of each game.
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