NFL Week 2 Division-by-Division Power Rankings and Recap

These Power Rankings are based primarily off of what we’ve seen these past two weekends. Preseason hype and supposed roster strength are secondary factors.
The Divisions are ordered by how well each conference has looked. The better ones are at the top, the weaker ones towards the bottom.

• NFC East (6-2) Unquestionably the best conference in the NFL top to bottom.

1. Dallas Cowboys (2-0) Beat Philadelphia in a monday night thriller. The offense is lethal, the defense makes plays and the special teams are vastly improved. This team is the class of the NFC.
2. New York Giants (2-0) The Giants destroyed a really bad Rams team, and even racked up six sacks, an extremely encouraging sign considering the questions surrounding their pass rush. Oh, and they’ve now won 12 straight on the road.
3. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) As frustrating a loss as it was for Eagles fans, putting up 337 yards, winning the turnover battle and having Donovan McNabb throw for 281 yards Dallas are all encouraging signs for a team that should be drastically improved.
4. Washington Redskins (1-1) New Orleans was missing four defensive starters and Washington took advantage. Santana Moss welcomed rookie CB Tracy Porter to the NFL by torching him for 67 yards to complete the comeback win over the Saints. This was big for Washington, who hadn’t played anywhere near their ability since rookie head coach Jim Zorn took over.

• AFC East (5-3) The big question mark, but so far, so good.

1. Buffalo Bills (2-0) QB Trent Edwards and RB Marshawn Lynch are the personified bright future of the Buffalo Bills, but their offensive line is what makes them shine. They battled it out against a scruffy Jaguars team and came out on top. They appear to be legit contenders.
2. New England Patriots (1-1) Matt Cassel did what he was supposed to do against the Jets. No, this isn’t Tom Brady part two, but it could be a Damon Huard/Kyle Orton/rookie Ben Roethlisberger type of situation. As long as that defensive line holds up like they did on that big goal line stand, this team will have a shot.
3. New York Jets (1-1) Who is this Chansi Stuckey guy that Brett Favre seems to like? The Jets battled the Patriots, but New England is a team that has their number (and playbook). It’s kind of hard to judge the Jets and the Patriots since they’ve only played cannon fodder and each other.
4. Miami Dolphins (0-2) So much for optimism. After a pretty respectable opening day, the Dolphins got demolished my Arizona. Their offense was nonexistent and Kurt Warner looked like he was orchestrating the greatest show on turf again.

• AFC South (3-4) The highest upside of any conference. If they get it together, watch out.

1. Tennessee Titans (2-0) A 70-yard coffin corner punt and a backup QB who’s better than the starter are bizarre enough. But few things beat Chris Johnson, who runs a 4.24 40-time, speaking out about how fast NFL defenses are. He backed up last week’s nice performance with his first 100-yard rushing game. Keep an eye on CB Cortland Finnegan, who now has 3 INTs in two games.
2. Indianapolis Colts (1-1) Well Peyton Manning is not healthy and Vikings RB Adrian Peterson just bullied their run defense after Matt Forte tore them apart in the opener, but at least they showed heart in a big comeback sprung by a big Anthony Gonzalez reception and lateral play. Their offensive line has serious issues.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) Who would have thought this team would start off 0-2? Their interior offensive line is absolutely depleted and David Garrard trying to do everything by himself isn’t working. They’ve faced two teams that look like they’ll be in the playoff picture and weren’t overmatched, so there’s still hope.
4. Houston Texans (0-1) They had a bye due to hurricane Ike, but interviews with their players sound eerily familiar to interviews with Saints players in 2005. I hate using the word ‘distraction’ in sports talk, but in the case of a massively devastating hurricane, I’ll call it a distraction.

• NFC North (3-5) Tough and gritty. The Lions are the only non playoff contender.

1. Green Bay Packers (2-0) If you’re already putting Aaron Rodgers in the hall of fame, remember how good Matt Ryan looked against that Lions defense. Otherwise, the Packers played a sloppy game versus Detroit. Their punter had a high snap go through his hands for a safety and they blew a 21-point lead, but then they scored 21 points in 84 seconds to secure the win.
2. Chicago Bears (1-1) Their super bowl defense is back and in full force and their special teams are stellar. Considering their offense basically just needs to play mistake-free football, Kyle Orton was definitely the right choice. Still, this would be a real contender if they had receivers and an offensive line.
3. Minnesota Vikings (0-2) They’ve now lost two close games to two pretty good teams. They’re giving up a lot of yards through the air, which wouldn’t be nearly as big a problem if they could throw for some yards themselves.
4. Detroit Lions (0-2) The Lions are a joke. After making Matt Ryan and Michael Turner look like Marino and Sanders, they got torched by Aaron Rodgers. Even when Jon Kitna and Calvin Johnson finally managed to get Detroit back in the game, they preceded to give up 24 unanswered points in less than half a quarter

• NFC South (5-3) There are wins, but they’re against each other. Too many questions.

1. Carolina Panthers (2-0) Welcome to the daily show with Jonathan Stewart! Beat San Diego in the opener and this week they mounted a comeback over a rejuvenated Chicago team. The last time Carolina started 2-0 was in 2003.
2. New Orleans Saints (1-1) Their defense had problems before all the injuries. You would have hoped that the offense would be still strong enough to carry them…then Marques Colston got hurt. Reggie Bush of all people is the guy making plays and keeping this team competitive.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) They put Atlanta back in their place and the defense shut down Michael Turner. Sophomore DE Gaines Adams also gave rookie LT Sam Baker fits all day and racked up 2 sacks. They just need to make sure their QB situation doesn’t get too ugly.
4. Atlanta Falcons (1-1) 13 for 33 with 2 INTs is more like what a rookie QB should play like. Their 24-9 loss to Tampa Bay was a buzz kill, but if you thought last week’s performance was the norm for this team, then I want some of what you’re drinking.

• AFC North (3-4) Possibly the only division that already seems decided.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0) After looking very impressive in the opener against Houston, the Steelers beat Cleveland in probably the ugliest game of the weekend. Is it me, or does Pittsburgh get caught playing under unplayable conditions more often than any other team in the NFL?
2. Baltimore Ravens (1-0) They had a bye since Houston was in no condition to host them. Normally having a Week 2 bye is a disadvantage, but Baltimore is very banged-up and needed some time to heal.
3. Cleveland Browns (0-2) Safeties Brodney Pool and Brandon McDonald couldn’t tackle Wille Parker, Jamal Lewis has never been able to run on Dick LeBeau’s Steeler defense and Braylon Edwards couldn’t catch anything thrown his way. As I said last week, expect a lot of mediocrity from this team.
4. Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) The Bungles are back Cincinnati! Remember when Marvin Lewis was considered for coach of the year, and the Bengals’ offense was unstoppable? It’s amazing how far this group has fallen since 2005. At least they have one thing remaining from then: their defense still can’t stop anybody.

• AFC West (3-5) There is a line as clear as the Mason-Dixon line separating top two and bottom two teams.

1. San Diego Chargers (0-2) Yes, they are deserving of the top spot in the division. If the NFL replay rule didn’t have a Kool-Aid man-sized hole in it, they would be 1-1 with a win over Denver, the only other relevant team in the division. I don’t even blame fully referee Ed Hochuli, the NFL’s replay system just doesn’t deal with missed fumble calls sufficiently. However, if San Diego doesn’t post zero sacks and doesn’t allow Jay Cutler to rip them up for 350 yards and 4 TDs, maybe this situation doesn’t even matter.
2. Denver Broncos (2-0) They’ve looked great in two games. People dismissed their stomping of Oakland as a blowout against a bad opponent, but they beat (“defeated”) a very talented San Diego team. For some reason nobody is talking about Brandon Marshall’s 18 receptions against pro bowler Antonio Cromartie, one of the most impressive performances by a receiver in recent memory.
3. Oakland Raiders (1-1) Did anybody in the country even watch the Raiders beat the Chiefs this past weekend? Well, the only thing worth watching was Darren McFadden tearing up Kansas City’s defense for 164 yards. JaMarcus Russell was 6 for 17 with 55 yards…is there anyone who actually thinks he’s going to be a star NFL QB?
4. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2) They lost to the Raiders 23-8 and their QB is Tyler Thigpen. Does anything more need to be said? If Tony Gonzalez weren’t such a class act he would have forced his way out of Kansas City by now.

• NFC West (3-5) The Arizona Cardinals are clear cut favorites, yeah… that bad.

1. Arizona Cardinals (2-0) If this roster were playing under any other franchise (except Detroit), they would be considered super bowl contenders. Picking the Cardinals is just a textbook recipe for losing credibility every year. But they have talented playmakers all over the depth chart and demolished a Miami team that looked much improved until they played this squad.
2. San Francisco 49ers (1-1) A little tip for the future: trust Mike Martz. When he starts J.T. O’Sullivan over Alex Smith and brings in antique WR Isaac Bruce to be his go-to-guy, trust him. O’Sullivan was 20 for 32 with 321 yards and a TD while Bruce raked in 153 yards in an overtime victory over 4-straight NFC West champions Seattle.
3. Seattle Seahawks (0-2) You just have to feel for Matt Hasselbeck. Can you remember any team that had this many offensive injuries this early in the season? These are the WRs listed on their official depth chart: Logan Payne, Courtney Taylor, Billy McMullen, Michael Bumpus. Compared to those names, newly acquired wideouts Keary Colbert and Koren Robertson look like Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. On the bright side, they had 8 sacks against the 49ers, including two by rookie Lawrence Jackson.
4. St. Louis Rams (0-2) Do I really have to acknowledge their existence this year? This might be the worst third-down team in recent memory. RT Alex Barron gave up two more sacks to Justin Tuck, further building his already abysmal NFL resume. They’ve been outscored 79-16 in their first two games.

NFL Week 1 Division-by-Division Power Rankings and Recap

These Power Rankings are based primarily off of what we saw this weekend. Preseason hype and supposed roster strength are secondary factors.

The Divisions are ordered by how well each conference has looked. The better ones are at the top, the weaker ones towards the bottom.

NFC East – 3-1
1. Dallas Cowboys – 1-0 – Thoroughly dismantled a Cleveland team that many had winning their division. I didn’t, but they’re certainly a better team than St. Louis, the team Philadelphia beat. Tony Romo had a field day against Cleveland’s secondary, passing for 320 yards.
2. Philadelphia Eagles – 1-0 – Dominated a Rams team that looked a lot like the Dolphins that Scott Linehan used to coach for. Donovan McNabb picked their secondary apart, three WRs had over 100 yards and the Rams’ offensive line was terrible...2002 Houston Texans terrible.
3. New York Giants – 1-0 – They beat a Redskins team that looked just as bad in their opener as they had in preseason. Plax Burress took complete advantage of Shawn Springs being out for Washington with 10 catches for 133 yards.
4. Washington Redskins – 0-1 – Watching their opener, you could only feel sorry for London Fletcher (didn’t he used to have a hyphened "Baker” at the end?). He seemed to be in on every play with 17 tackles, but that was mostly because their D-Line got blown off the line on every running play in a losing effort to the Giants. Campbell is not grasping Zorn’s West Coast Offense very well at all.

NFC South – 3-1
1. Carolina Panthers – 1-0 – Dante Rosario had Panther fans forgetting about Steve Smith, who didn’t play in Carolina’s last-minute surprising upset over a Chargers team that many had picked to win the Super Bowl and didn’t even play that poorly.
2. Atlanta Falcons – 1-0 – Matt Ryan’s 62-yard TD to Michael Jenkins on his first NFL pass was shocking, unexpected and was a precursor to a strong win over Detroit. The NFC South's last place team has always come out on top the next year, but no one thought this rebuilding team could keep up the trend. They looked fully capable this past Sunday – then again it was against the Lions.
3. New Orleans Saints – 1-0 – The Saints battled with Tampa Bay and came out on top in a very good NFC South rivalry game. Reggie Bush had a very impressive day with 164 totall yards.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 0-1 – They battled with New Orleans until the end, but Scott Fujita wasn’t having any of it as he intercepted Jeff Garcia with 40 seconds remaining. You know Derrick Brooks couldn’t stand seeing Reggie Bush running all over his team while he was out nursing an injured hamstring.

NFC North – 2-2
1. Chicago Bears – 1-0 – Phenomenal effort against a supposedly formidable Indianapolis squad. Matt Forte had people forgetting Cedric Benson had ever rushed for the Bears and the defense reminded us how this team made the Super Bowl just two seasons ago.
2. Green Bay Packers – 1-0 – They slugged it out against a tough Minnesota team and came away with the win. Aaron Rodgers played very well, showed surprisingly good mobility and even made his first Lambeau Leap.
3. Minnesota Vikings – 0-1 – Faired well but couldn’t steal one from Green Bay at Lambeau. Even though they out gained the Packers, the Vikings aren’t going to win if their defense doesn’t make plays.
4. Detroit Lions – 0-1 – If the rest of the division really is as strong as it looked in the opening week, Detroit is going to be like the little brother that somebody was forced to drag out to the sandlot. They got absolutely demolished by an Atlanta team that nobody had winning anything this year. Detroit was so bad that Michael Turner had 220 yards while John Abraham was virtually unblockable all game, sacking Jon Kitna three times.

AFC East – 3-1
1. Buffalo Bills – 1-0 – They just went out and firmly crushed a Seattle team that was very much favored to win on the road. Roscoe Parrish broke 5 tackles on his 64-yard punt return TD and Punter Brian Moorman threw a fake punt to backup DE Ryan Denney – there is no question that Buffalo has the best Special Teams in the NFL.
2. New York Jets – 1-0 – Almost blew a 13-point lead to the Chad Pennington-led Miami Dolphins, but future perennial Pro Bowler Darrelle Revis wouldn’t let it happen. Brett Favre played well and Jerricho Cotchery will probably have a carer year this season.
3. New England Patriots – 1-0 – The good news is they won their opener. The bad news is Tom Brady is done for the year and the team they beat was the Chiefs who are about as young as the 2002 expansion Texans. This will be Belichick’s best job to date if he can get this team to the playoffs.
4. Miami Dolphins – 0-1 – How do Bill Parcells’ teams always turn around so quickly? Because he brings in guys he knows from experience will be positive influences on the team. Miami lost to New York, but almost had a huge comeback to beat the Jets. They will be better this year, maybe even better than New England. How weird would that be?

AFC North – 2-2
1. Pittsburgh Steelers – 1-0 – One game into the season it looks like Pittsburgh is going to absolutely dominate this division just like they did against Houston in the opener. Willie Parker had more TDs than he had in all of 2007 while OLB LaMarr Woodley appears to be a player to watch on that Pittsburgh defense.
2. Baltimore Ravens – 1-0 – The defense allowed only 154 yards to Carson Palmer’s Bengals offense, but we knew the defense would be good. The offense? They needed a 42-yard double reverse to Mark Clayton and a comical 38-yard scramble by mammoth rookie QB Joe Flacco to put points up, but hey, that’s what rookie Head Coaches are good for.
3. Cleveland Browns – 0-1 – When your 5 Defensive Backs combine for 34 tackles, it means the other team’s offense put up yards. In Cleveland’s case, Dallas put up 487 on them. Playing an actual legitimate schedule, expect this to be the norm for the Browns this year.
4. Cincinnati Bengals – 0-1 – If you thought your team had problems, they’re Michael Jordan’s Bulls compared to this disgraceful bunch. They gave up 358 yards to the Ravens on some of the most laughable plays you’ll see, while Carson Palmer couldn't even amass 100 yards through the air. Chad JOHNSON? 1 catch.

AFC South – 1-3
1. Tennessee Titans – 1-0 - They upset everybody’s darling Jacksonville Jaguars, and while I still don’t get how Tennessee keeps winning games, I do understand two things: Tennessee’s defense is the most underrated in the NFL and Chris Johnson is going to be an electrifying player in this league. The Titans immediately get better with Young out these next few games.
2. Jacksonville Jaguars – 0-1- Wasn’t Jacksonville supposed to be the epitome of a smash mouth football team? They finished with 17 carries for 33 yards against the Titans’ stingy defense. When will DT Albert Haynesworth finally get the credit he deserves?
3. Indianapolis Colts – 0-1 – When the most consistent NFL franchise over the past nine years gets stomped by a team many had contending for the first overall pick in the upcoming draft, people point fingers at the QB who didn’t play in preseason. People who watched the game saw Matt Forte embarrass the Colts’ undersized defense while his own defense scored 8 points themselves.
4. Houston Texans - 0-1 – The Texans have a lot of isolated great players, but they aren’t a complete team yet and it showed. While DE Mario Williams (2 sacks, FF) and WR Andre Johnson (10 rec, 112 yards) did all they could, others failed, like QB Matt Schaub (sacked 5 times) who threw Pittsburgh S Troy Polamalu the easiest interception of his career. Jason Varitek had a harder time catching Tim Wakefield than Polamalu had catching that pass.

AFC West – 1-3
1. Denver Broncos – 1-0 – The division’s only winning team annihilated Oakland. The defense struggled at times, but the offense was a fine-oiled machine. Eddie Royal had a fantastic debut with 9 catches for 146 yards and a TD.
2. San Diego Chargers – 0-1 – Were upset in the final second of the game by Carolina. The offense played well, but San Diego’s defense really struggled to stop a Panther offense whose best player didn’t even suit up.
3. Kansas City Chiefs – 0-1 – Came within five yards of knocking off the New England Patriots, but this effort was tough to judge due to mid-game injuries to both starting QBs. Still, an encouraging effort from a team that most people had at the very bottom of their preseason power rankings.
4. Oakland Raiders – 0-1 – Man, Mike Ditka sounded as disappointed as a mother who had just caught her son smoking for the first time when broadcasting the Raiders. He might have expected more from this team, but that may have been a little naive. Still, a 27-point home loss to a Denver team that most people didn’t even have finishing above .500 fails to satisfy even the lowest of expectations.

NFC West – 1-3
1. Arizona Cardinals – 1-0 – The NFC West appears to be the ACC of Pro Football. Arizona beat the 49ers on the road, but was hardly convincing in doing so. Still the defense, heralded as opportunistic, forced 5 turnovers and given the play of its division foes there’s legitimate reason for optimism in the desert.
2. San Francisco 49ers – 0-1 – San Francisco’s offense is Frank Gore. J.T. O’Sullivan looked decent at QB, but the 49ers put the ball on the ground 5 times (losing 4), which essentially ends any shot you’ll ever have at winning a football game. On a side note, some guy named Parys Haralson had 2.5 sacks for the Niners – that tied his career total thus far.
3. Seattle Seahawks – 0-1 – They came out more flat than a Stacy Keibler's stomach in a bad loss to Buffalo. The running game struggled, Matt Hasselbeck was sacked 5 times and the Special Teams surrendered two TDs. You’d think the Seahawks would want to send Holmgren off with a bang this year. Look for them to rebound.
4. St. Louis Rams – 0-1 – I almost listed their record as 0-2; it felt like they had lost twice in one game. They were out gained 522 to 166, got burned by Hank Baskett for 90 yards on one play, surrendered 100 yards to three separate no-name receives, were penalized 9 times, sacked 4 times and came within 3 minutes of being shut out by a Philadelphia team that made St.Louis look like a team from the Sun Belt conference.

AFC West Quick Preview

1. San Diego Chargers - 12-4 - They have just as much talent as Indianapolis and New England. They just have to put it all together. Shawne Merriman's injury doesn't keep this team out of contention.
Best Player: RB LaDainian Tomlinson
Most Underrated: DE Luis Castillo
Breakout Candidate: WR Vincent Jackson

2. Denver Broncos - 6-10 - Jay Cutler is on the verge of stardom. However, the Broncos have experience a pretty severe drop the past few years and it derives from poor line play.
Best Player: Champ Bailey
Most Underrated: D.J. Williams
Breakout Candidate: QB Jay Cutler

3. Oakland Raiders - 6-10 - The Raiders are slowly becoming the Knicks of the NFL. They try, but some of the moves they make point at Al Davis senility. Tommy Kelly and Gibril Wilson's contracts are beyond absurd, as is trading a 2nd and 5th round picks for DeAngelo Hall.
Best Player: CB Nnamdi Asomugha
Most Underrated: LBs Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison
Breakout Candidate: TE Zach Miller

4. Kansas City Chiefs - 3-13 - Kansas City is going to be horrendously bad this year. Fortunately they're also extremely young and have nowhere to go but up.
Best Player: RB Larry Johnson
Most Underrated: S Jarrad Page
Breakout Candidate: DE Tamba Hali

AFC South Quick Preview

1. Indianapolis Colts - 11-5 - Peyton Manning is fine. The Colts will have to start the Mike Pollack era early, but they had to do the same thing with Tony Ugoh last year. The defense is still the fastest in the league.
Best Player: QB Peyton Manning
Most Underrated: MLB Gary Brackett
Breakout Candidate: WR Anthony Gonzalez

2. Jacksonville Jaguars - 10-6 - Yes, they're a good team. No, they haven't caught up with the Colts. Their Offensive Line is somewhat suspect and the team is relying on two rookies to provide a pass rush.
Best Player: CB Rashean Mathis
Most Underrated: MLB Mike Peterson
Breakout Candidate: OLB Clint Ingram

3. Houston Texans - 8-8 - They have a lot of extremely talented young players and have begun to establish a decent Offensive Line. Not having CB Dunta Robinson really hurts a potential breakout team.
Best Player: MLB DeMeco Ryans
Most Underrated: WR Andre Johnson
Breakout Candidate: QB Matt Schaub and DT Amobi Okoye

4. Tennessee Titans - 7-9 - Slowly but surely America has started to realize who the real MVP of this team is: DT Albert Haynesworth. The offense needs QB Vince Young to develop.
Best Player: DT Albert Haynesworth
Most Underrated: OLB David Thornton
Breakout Candidate: MLB Ryan Fowler

AFC North Quick Preview

1. Pittsburgh Steelers - 9-7 - I never like picking a team that has a bad offensive line, but I don't like anybody else in the division and the team is still set pretty much everywhere else.
Best Player: NT Casey Hampton
Most Underrated: RB Willie Parker
Breakout Candidate: WR Santonio Holmes

2. Cleveland Browns - 8-8 - Derek Anderson completed 58% of his passes and threw 19 picks against an easy schedule. He'll have to hope last year's worst total defense has improved enough to survive this year's brutal schedule.
Best Player: WR Braylon Edwards
Most Underrated: LT Joe Thomas
Breakout Candidate: OLB Kamerion Wimbley

3. Baltimore Ravens - 7-9 - I would have liked to pick them to win the division until injuries hit and Flacco got the nod at QB. DE Trevor Pryce healthy makes the veteran defense Super Bowl caliber.
Best Player: S Ed Reed
Most Underrated: DE Haloti Ngata
Breakout Candidate: OL Jason Brown

4. Cincinnati Bengals - 6-10 - It seems you can't talk about the Bengals without at least thinking of that wideout I won't mention but I know you're thinking about. Teams that revolve around isolated controversial figures fail.
Best Player: WR #85
Most Underrated: DE Robert Geathers
Breakout Candidate: CB Leon Hall

AFC East Quick Preview

AFC East:
1. New England - 13-3 - They're still head and shoulders above everyone else. But don't the secondary and Tom Brady's injury have the Super Bowl Loser's curse written all over it?
Best Player: QB Tom Brady
Most Underrated: DE Ty Warren
Breakout Candidate: ILB Jerod Mayo

2. New York - 9-7 - I liked this team before they picked up Favre because that Offensive Line of theirs will be great. On defense a lot hinges on NT Kris Jenkins.
Best Player: OG Alan Faneca
Most Underrated: S Kerry Rhodes
Breakout Candidate: CB Darrelle Revis

3. Miami Dolphins - 6-10 - Bill Parcells means instant turn around. The Dolphins have a talented young Offensive line and an easy schedule to build on.
Best Player: RB Ronnie Brown (healthy)
Most Underrated: ILB Channing Crowder
Breakout Candidate: C Samson Satele

4. Buffalo Bills - 5-11 - They went 7-9, but had the 30th and 31st ranked offense and defense, respectively. The only .500 team they beat was Washington the week Sean Taylor was killed. I don't see a breakout year with a tougher schedule.
Best Player: LT Jason Peters
Most Underrated: C Melvin Fowler (OLB Angelo Crowell before his injury)
Breakout Candidate: MLB Paul Posluszny

Penn State vs. Oregon State - Observations

PSU 45, OSU 14

• Daryll Clark finally ran today...it's great to see that dimension on offense again.
• The O-Line is making Royster look like a Heisman candidate... although he'll probably never amount to much in the NFL.
• One play they lined up Derrick Williams at RB and Evan Royster at FB. Clark took the snap and tossed it to D-Will who threw a deep pass that was close to being a big gain. You have to love how creative they're getting this year.
• Nobody on the team has hands anywhere near as good as Jordan Norwood's. One catch he had, three Beavers collided on him after he caught it; that was incredible.
• Mickey Schuler is not giving JoePa any reason to play Quarless.
• Aaron Maybin is an excellent pass rusher, but is very undersized and takes plays off.
• Mr. Versatility Jerome Hayes started at DE, but he stood up the entire game. Very interesting...
• Bani Gbaju was listed as the starter but Navarro Bowman got a lot more snaps and was flying to the ball the whole game. If Bowman can keep out of trouble he'll be the starter soon.
• Rather than going to the Nickel, coaches opted to flex out Tyrell Sales. He thrives in coverage and could be an interesting prospect for Tampa 2 teams in the NFL. A.J. Wallace barely played at all.
• Mark Rubin often lined up right on top of OSU's slot receiver, leaving Scirrotto alone deep. This position is known as the "hero". It's interesting that they would play the taller, but less physical Rubin in that role.
  
• Speaking of Scirrotto, for a guy as small as he is, he plays the game at 100 miles per hour and looks to drill everyone near him...he's fun to watch.
• Rubin and Josh Hull also both had INTs. Both guys had been decent starters but weren't really making a lot of plays. Was nice to see them step up. Hull's play increased significantly after the pick.
• True Freshman Jack Crawford replaced suspended Abe Koroma in the DT rotation. He could be this year's Steve Wisniewski.
• On Punt Return they had both Williams and Scirrotto lined up to return. You generally see that kind of thing on kickoffs, but I had never seen it on a punt return.

Overall, it was nice to see PSU romp OSU the way they did. Even when facing weaker opponents you do get a glimpse of your weaknesses. Wisconsin is starting slow, Michigan can't throw the ball at all. etc. Last year when playing Buffalo it became pretty clear that Penn State was a team that tended to start slow and you could pass on. Today I really didn't see much negative. The run defense was a little weak and it seemed that once they finally started rushing in the second half that PSU was somewhat breakable that way, but even so they were hardly destroyed on the ground. We'll see if Syracuse will expose them somewhere, although the way the Orange are playing they might not even come to the stadium next week.