Season's first month was strange
— -- September was a head-scratcher in the NFL.
The off-the-field problems were issues, but on the field, not a lot of things made sense. Only 10 teams escaped with winning records, and top teams such as San Francisco, New England and New Orleans were inconsistent or underachieving.
Teams can be up-and-down. That's the nature of football. The Kansas City Chiefs looked lost in their first two losses while missing as many as seven starters. They came back and won their next two games, including blowouts of Miami and New England.
What's surprising is what's been happening in two divisions -- the NFC South and the AFC East. Most people concede the AFC South is the league's weakest division. The Indianapolis Colts should run away with the division, and we will see over the next two weeks if the Houston Texans' 3-1 start is a byproduct of an easy opening schedule.
However, I'm struggling to grasp some of the poor play from the NFC South and some of the thinking of teams in the AFC East.
First, the NFC South. This division features Drew Brees, Cam Newton and Matt Ryan. Despite that, the NFC South is 2-7 in road games, and Brees and Ryan are 0-5 on the road. The Saints lost to the Cleveland Browns on the road and the Falcons gave up 41 points to the Minnesota Vikings in Teddy Bridgewater's first start. Ouch.
Injuries could make things worse. The Falcons have three starting offensive linemen on injured reserve. The Carolina Panthers enter October without their two best running backs and two best fullbacks. And the Saints continue to underachieve at 1-3 with a defense that struggles to stop anyone.
Also baffling is the AFC East, and part of the problem is the decision-making. Maybe Logan Mankins was overpaid, but for the Patriots to trade him and go with an interior offensive line that allows too many defenders to be around Tom Brady's feet is bizarre. Another issue for Bill Belichick is the lack of speed at wide receiver. Brady is working with slot receivers and a recovering Rob Gronkowski. This has caused the Patriots to huddle more and not get off as many plays. It's also made Brady one of the worst deep throwers in football.
Suddenly, the division is up for grabs for the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. The debate is whether those teams are making the right decisions at quarterback. Buffalo coach Doug Marrone benched EJ Manuel after 14 career starts to go with Kyle Orton, a 35-35 career starter who leaves the future of the Bills' QB position uncertain. By continuing to play a struggling Geno Smith, the Jets have created a distraction that has players either defending him or bashing critics in the fan base.
Even though the Dolphins are set at quarterback with Ryan Tannehill, coach Joe Philbin wouldn't even say until late last week that he would start against the Oakland Raiders. By doing that, Philbin created a quarterback debate that didn't need to happen.
Strange month.
From the inbox
Q: What do you think the potential is for Washington to go 4-12 this year? I think it is rather high when they are playing the NFC West and their own division. Also, do you think removing the kickoff would be as tragic as I view it being, at least from a sports history perspective?
Evan in Spokane, Washington
A: The Redskins are better than a 4-12 team for talent. While the 1-3 start makes it doubtful that they will have a winning season, they will bounce back because of the schedule. The NFC East also plays the AFC South and is 5-1 in those matchups so far, with the Redskins being 1-1. They still play Tennessee and Indianapolis. Plus, the NFC East isn't all that strong. Washington can win three or four games in the division. It has talent in the front seven along with good offensive skill players. As far as the kickoff, I would hate to see that go away. It's exciting seeing great plays by Devin Hester and the other stellar returners. Don't remove that aspect of the game.
Q: The current NFL roster is 53 players, but on game day only 46 players can suit up -- is this correct? I have heard you and other reporters comment on the rash of injuries and how the lack of depth on game-day rosters is a recipe for disaster. What is the rationale for not allowing more players on a team? With the NFL such a cash cow and the desire for everyone involved to keep players fresh and healthy, why not at least allow all 53 to play on Sunday?
Zubin in New York
A: This became a big topic over the weekend with the Falcons losing three offensive linemen to injuries and using a tight end at right tackle. Most teams keep only seven active offensive linemen. Last year, I counted about four times when a team suffered at least two injuries to offensive linemen and was one injury away from using a tight end. The reasoning for keeping the active roster at 46 is old and out of date. Those supporting 46 active players believe it would be a competitive edge for the better teams to have four or five extra players active. With 32 teams and 53-man rosters, there isn't a significant difference in the quality of the last five or six players on a roster. The league needs to expand the number of active players as soon as possible. The NFL is big on safety. Is it smart to risk Matt Ryan to injury because the Falcons used a tight end at right tackle? It's not a financial issue, because teams pay for the 53-man roster.
Q: I'm a lifelong Raiders fan, as embarrassed as I am to admit it right now, and I basically assume they're going to lose every week, so I'm surprised when they don't. Given the current situation (coach out the door, GM on the way out, terrible stadium, fed-up fans and no way to attract any good free agents), is there any hope for the future?
Philip in Boulder, Colorado
A: This is probably as bad as it gets for the Raiders. They are 0-4, going through a coaching change and have a bad, old roster. But a quarterback can cure a lot of things. Look at what Andrew Luck did to turn around the Colts. I'm not going to dismiss the chances of Derek Carr becoming a good quarterback, but what if the Raiders get the first pick and can draft Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston? They could draft a top quarterback and maybe develop a trade market for Carr. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, though. The Raiders' roster could get worse in a year or two once this year's free-agent class transitions into retirement. Where you don't give up is when a team gets a franchise quarterback.
Q: If the NFL is looking to reduce concussions, I may have a solution. After a field goal is attempted, the team on defense gets the ball from the spot of the kick, even if the kicking team makes it. This eliminates the kickoffs after made field goals and also makes teams think harder about going for it. Field goal tries of 50-plus yards may turn into more fourth-down conversion attempts. The NFL would win both ways.
Patrick in Columbia, South Carolina
A: I don't see how that type of change would help. A simpler solution to cut down on the field goal attempts would be to narrow the uprights, which might discourage longer kicks. By putting the ball at the spot of the field goal, it creates three problems. The first would be the question about field position. Do you really want to cut down potential points and reward a defense that couldn't keep teams out of field goal range? Second, where is the cutoff? If you kick a field goal from the 15, does the other team start at the 15? The third issue is that it would promote more punts, which could create more of a safety issue. Let's not make too dramatic of a change that could hurt the game instead of help it.
Q: My 49ers have lost their identity. Our problem last year until Michael Crabtree came back from injury was we just didn't have the quality WRs to do play-action successfully after our ground-and-pound. Just because you get better cake batter doesn't mean you change the cake. You make the same cake with the better ingredients. We should still be running the ball and play-actioning off that, not running five-WR sets. OC Greg Roman has constantly been a failure in not sticking with what works.
Matt in Richmond, Virginia
A: I agree that the 49ers have veered from what Jim Harbaugh believes in. He loved to run the ball out of two-back or two-tight end formations. In Week 3, he shifted to a four- and five-receiver offense because two tight ends were hurt. The 49ers went back to their roots against the Eagles on Sunday, but much of that was because they had the ball so much. They ran 76 offensive plays to the Eagles' 56. Don't be overly critical of Roman. He's a brilliant offensive mind. Sometimes he might have a tendency to put too many things into a game plan, but look how quickly he helped Colin Kaepernick develop. It also wouldn't surprise me if the Raiders go after Roman as a head coach after the season if Mark Davis can't land a big name. For personnel, the 49ers might have improved their receiving corps as much as any team in football. What they shouldn't do is go too much against their profile by spreading the field with receivers and neglecting the running game.
Q: It's good that the NFL is cracking down on off-the-field conduct issues like domestic abuse, but what about DUIs? There are multiple DUIs every offseason, and most are left unpunished except for Donte' Stallworth, who was famously given a long suspension for killing somebody. But every DUI has a chance of catastrophic results, and players should be punished accordingly and not let off easy/enabled by soft punishments. A good alternative would be for the league to provide some kind of service that can pick up players and drop them off whenever and however they want with no questions asked.
Daniel in Miami
A: Both of your main points have been addressed. The league works with teams in having cab services available for players who believe they are under the influence. The NFLPA also has worked with teams on providing these services. Even though players can afford their own cab rides home, they have the option to use these services at no cost, and their names aren't reported to the teams. In the past two weeks, the league and the NFLPA worked out an arrangement to have players convicted of DUIs or who have pleaded guilty to these types of driving issues to be suspended for two games, an increase of one. Unfortunately, players will still go out and drink and possibly drive. They can't claim they don't have options if they feel driving would be too dangerous, and they also can't claim they didn't know about the possible punishments.
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