Out with the old and in with the new _ that's the story of this young NFL season so far, as old powerhouses are dying quickly while unexpected new teams are rising to the top.
Perhaps the team experiencing the greatest turnaround from the 2001 season is the Carolina Panthers. After finishing last year at 1-15, the Panthers are now sitting in first place in the AFC East with a 3-0 record. Are the Panthers worthy of 3-0? After picking up victories over the Baltimore Ravens, the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings (all of whom are 0-3) the answer is probably not, but there is not denying that the Panthers are an improved team.
While a playoff appearance may still be a reach for Carolina, Panthers fans can already brag that their team has tripled last year's win total. The resurgence of veteran quarterback Rodney Peete and running back Lamar Smith have created an offensive threat in Carolina. The real test of the Panthers strength will come this Sunday when they play the Green Bay Packers.
While the Panther's 3-0 record may be the result of an easy schedule, the New England Patriots 3-0 record has proved to all critics that this team is the real deal. Turning the Kansas City Chiefs into their most recent victims, this victory did not come as easily to the Pats as it had in the prior two weeks. Entering halftime down to the Chiefs, the Pats required overtime to secure their victory. So while New England surely didn't dominate its opponent, the result in the standings was the same as usual, another W.
Also proving that they deserve to be feared by the league are the New Orleans Saints. Meeting the Chicago Bears in an early season test of their strength, the Saints looked weak early in the matchup, falling 20 points behind the Bears. The Saints rallied quickly in the second quarter and came out strong in the second half to eventually overpower the Bears for the 29-23 victory.
Quarterback Aaron Brooks has been outstanding for the Saints, and his showing against Chicago was no exception as he threw for 233 yards. However, the biggest question going into the season for the Saints was not how Brooks would perform, but rather how the offense would respond to the trade of RB Ricky Williams. While no dominant running back has emerged for this team, Deuce McAllister has been doing just enough and that's all that they've needed so far.
Though Williams' absence hasn't hurt the Saints, his presence seems to have jump-started the Miami Dolphins offense. Running for 151 yards on Sunday, Williams played a key role in the Dolphins rout of the Jets. Under this new offense with Williams as the featured back, the Dolphins are now sitting pretty at 3-0 as well.
With some unexpected teams starting off shockingly well, it is not surprising that a number of formerly revered teams find themselves wondering what went wrong this off-season. The most surprising losers thus far have to be the St. Louis Rams, who made it all the way to the Super Bowl last season. With Monday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers _ the team's third loss of the year _ the Rams spiraled further into NFL purgatory.
After falling to 0-2, Mike Martz told his veteran bunch to forget worrying about their past losses and focus on regaining their strength. After watching the Rams play on Monday night, however, one wonders what strength Martz is speaking of and when he will realize the time to worry has arrived.
Apparently recent Super Bowl contestants aren't the only teams having trouble finding their winning ways. Former AFC Champions the Tennessee Titans seemed to have regained their swagger after their opening week victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.
After Eddie George's superior performance, it looked like the Titans were headed back down the playoff path again. Apparently they've decided to take a detour though, as weeks two and three brought losses to the Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns _ not exactly the leagues' toughest teams.
Leading the Browns 28-14 in the second half, the Titans had their second consecutive late game meltdown. This lack of closing ability is due to the inconsistency of both Steve McNair and Eddie George. While the Titans offense depends on the great potential of these men to perform, they are both extremely injury prone.
The Good
During a pre-season matchup the San Francisco 49ers were displeased with the Washington Redskins for running up the score in a game that didn't matter in the standings. Well this week when the game did matter, it was San Francisco who got their revenge, defeating the Redskins 20-10.
The Bad
For Dallas fans, last weekend's NFC East game between the Eagles and the Cowboys was disheartening. Riding high after a victory over Tennessee in week two, the Cowboys foolishly believed that they could compete with the Eagles. Ending the first quarter up 10-3, Cowboy fans bought into this hope as well. But in the end the Eagles proved Dallas wrong, finishing up the game with a 44-13 romping of their division rivals.
The Ugly
This week the Cincinnati Bengals deserve sole possession of this honor. The story is quite ugly in Cincinnati these days, as the Bengals are averaging 5.3 points per game _ not exactly enough to worry any opponent. To make matters worse this week, the Bengals' offense put in their poorest offensive showing yet, mustering up only three points, while being called for a penalty before the first snap.
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