PFF Week: Up North, Week 3

It’s your last chance to get caught up on the happenings at PFF before the next slate of games is upon us, and our new ‘PFF Week’ posts provide quick access to the week that was. The ‘Up North’ edition covers all things pertaining to the AFC and NFC North divisions for a one-stop Saturday shop built to keep you in the loop and on top of your football-watching game.

Week 2 Wrap

Coming into the season the AFC North looked to be stocked with four competitive teams each with a chance (at least on the surface) of vying for the division title. The second week of the season saw a little bit of reality creeping into the picture in a pair of division matchups with the Ravens getting past a stout Browns defense in their first home game of the season. A possible hint at a changing of the guard in the division also took place with the Bengals beating the Steelers on Monday Night Football.

The NFC North had its own exciting matchup with the Vikings and Bears in a surprise shootout. The Packers shredded an overmatched team from the NFC East, while the Lions caught a nasty splinter in their paws courtesy of the Cardinals. Looking for more in-depth information on these games? You can get that right here with the Re-Focused articles for the Week 2 games: Cleveland at Baltimore | Pittsburgh at Cincinnati | Washington at Green Bay | Minnesota at Chicago | Detroit at Arizona

So just because the games are over does that mean the analysis is over? No, no it does not. You can see just which players had their names called for the PFF Team of the Week by Khaled Elsayed and which ones needed a bit more time in the film room after being placed on Khaled’s ‘Had a Bad Day’ Team. The NFL is a league where youth is king (provided you have the right quarterback to lead it) and Khaled also kindly provided his take on the Race for Rookie of the Year as well.

Also in the holding pattern for loyal readers is Sam Monson’s Analysis Notebook covering a pair of game winning touchdown drives in separate games. Palazzolo’s Pitch: Versatile Big Men gives you an inside look at a few players manning the trenches and just who is impressing Steve early on in the season. Nathan Jahnke offers a statistical point on each team in his 32 Observations for the second week of the season. Meanwhile, Gordon McGuinness’ Secret Superstars series has an interesting player from the AFC North featured in Week 2’s player review.

Looking Ahead to Week 3

So now that Week 2 is wrapped up its time to look forward to the next round of games that are on deck. Will the Bengals follow up their impressive Monday Night game with a win vs. the Packers or will they struggle against a polished passing quarterback? Can the Browns start to make amends for their public relations issues with a win over the Vikings for their first win of the season? Can the Lions establish themselves as a team that makes the right corrections after a tough loss as they face Washington? Beating the Browns is one thing but do the Ravens have enough rope to lasso the Texans at home despite their injuries? At 0-2 do the Steelers have enough punch to check the Bears who dealt with a pair of close games to open their own season on Sunday Night Football?

Your Three to Focus On articles on these games are right here for you to take a quick look at: Green Bay at Cincinnati | Cleveland at Minnesota | Detroit at Washington | Houston at Baltimore | Chicago at Pittsburgh

Additionally…

One of the cornerstones of Pro Football Focus is the drive for continuous improvement. With that in mind Neil Hornsby expands the coverage of some special teams players and the impact they’ve had in games with The Third Phase.

Also check out the following to get a bigger picture of the scope of PFF’s footprint right now.

–  Who’s at the top, who’s at the bottom and where is your favorite team located in the PFF Power Rankings.

–  Who is going to win, who is going to lose and which PFF analyst will take the lead in the PFF Pick ‘Em for Week 3?

That wraps up the outlook for this weeks amount of games as the teams finally get up to full speed. Will your favorite team answer the bell with a win or will they end up leaving the field with a loss on the scorecard?