WaxPack Sports Blog

Week 4 saw two (Dallas, Philadelphia) of the top 3 teams in the NFL Power Rankings lose…leaving the New York Giants on top, looking to defend their Super Bowl trophy…last weeks top performers included rookie who should be making their way into your 2008 collection…

Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens: A good performance on MNF will help any player to grow in stature, and Flacco did did just that last Monday in a losing effort against the Steelers….

Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears: He continues to lead rookies in rushing (347 yds) and is on a pace to lead the league in carries! Chris Johnson (RB, Tennessee Titans) is right behind with 337 yds and Darren McFadden(RB, Oakland Raiders) has been injured but is averaging 5.3 yds per carry!

Eddie Royal, WR, Denver Broncos: Is showing that he is not a fluke, leading rookies with 27 catches, while DeSean Jackson has the most rookie receiving yds with 327. And in third place in rookie receptions is Forte with 18, so when he isn’t running the ball, Kyle Orton is throwing it to him.

Those with high hopes for Rashard Mendenhall (RB, Pittsburgh Steelers) will have to wait until next year as he suffered a fractured shoulder in the MNF game…Jonathan Stewart(RB, Carolina Panthers) leads rookies in tds with 4…and the oldest kid in the NFL, Brett Favre, had 6 tds passes for the Jets…and finally, through 4 weeks this season, more coaches have been fired (2), than the Colts or Seahawks have victories….

Week 3 in the NFL season has 3 teams from the NFC East at the top of most power rankings…Dallas, New York and Philadelphia, and 3 teams few expected to be at the top of their divisions…Denver, Tennessee and Buffalo. There are players having a big influence in their rookie campaign, and some veterans too, who will see the value of their items start to climb in the hobby market….here are the best of them so far:

Matt Ryan, rookie QB, Atlanta Falcons: Has led the Falcons to a surprising 2-1 record, has 2 tds, 2 ints a 53% completion ratio and a 77% passer rating. He has made it easier to let the Mike Vick era fade away in Atlanta…

Matt Forte, rookie RB, Chicago Bears: leads rookies in rushing with a 4.2 avg yds/carry…he is also 3rd among rookie in receptions…

Darren McFadden, rookie RB, Oakland Raiders: He is a little dinged up, but has managed a 5.7 avg yds/carry and has made the Raiders more competitive already…

Eddie Royal, rookie WR, Denver Broncos: One of the beneficiaries of Jay Cutler’s breakout start, he leads rookie in receptions with 18 for 194 yds and 2 tds…

DeSean Jackson, rookie WR, Philadelphia Eagles: Continues to make a big impact as a wr and returner…has 17 catches for 256 yds, averaging 15 yds/catch…and he should have a td too…

Michael Turner, rb, Atlanta Falcons: Early leader for free agent pickup of the year…who would have thought he would be more productive than LT after the first 3 weeks…59 rushes, 366 yds, a 6.2 avg yds/carry and 5 tds…

Ronnie Brown, rb, Miami Dolphins: The forgotten man when Ricky Williams returned…part of the largely disappointing crop of running backs from the 2005 draft (Carnell Williams, Cedric Benson, J.J. Arrington)…he has the game of the season with 17 carries for 113 yds, 4 rushing tds and one passing…the return of the single wing was a big success in NE…

Brandon Marshall, WR, Denver Broncos: He has returned from his suspension with a bang, and followed up his 18 catch effort last week with 6 receptions for 155 yds, averaging 25.8 yds/catch and a TD…maybe he will be little TO after all…

Good morning!  Time to review week 2 of the NFL season…there are a lot of surprises as usual…Buffalo 2-0, Denver 2-0…and in the “should they be worried about missing the playoffs already” department…Jacksonville, Minnesota, San Diego, and Seattle, all 0-2…and some things are as usual, even though the key pieces are not…New England 2-0, Miami 0-2…Pittsburgh 2-0, Cleveland and Cincinnati both 0-2…and the NFC East looks very tough…now to players who could be more valuable on the hobby market…

The rookies:

Darren McFadden, rookie RB, Oakland Raiders: ran all over the Chiefs for 164 yds on 21 carries (7.8 yds/carry) and a TD…a good follow up game next week against an improved Buffalo team in NY will boost his value…as a player to collect and to use in fantasy football…

DeSean Jackson, rookie WR, Philadelphia Eagles: 6 catches for 110 and almost a touchdown…he is a legitimate weapon for Donovan McNabb…he just needs to make sure he crosses the white line before celebrating…

Matt Forte, rookie RB, Chicago Bears: Followed up a strong debut with 23 rushes for 94 yds against Carolina…leads all rookies in rushing…4th in the league…

And for the others:

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers: Looks like he has been playing for years…24/38 for 328 yds, 3 tds, 0 interceptions, 117 QB rating…maybe the Packers brain trust knew something…

Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys: Big game on a big stage, 21/30 for 312 yds, 3 tds, 1 int, 123.2 QB rating…it is still hard to believe he was undrafted…although having TO playing lights out doesn’t hurt…and speaking of TO…

Terrell Owens, WR, Dallas Cowboys: Only 3 catches for 89 yards, but 2 for tds against his former team on Monday night…

Jay Cutler, QB, Denver Broncos: The young QB looks more comfortable every week…36/50 for 350 yds, 4 tds, 1 int ( a bad one on the goal line) and a QB rating of 109.6…adding Brandon Marshall experience to Eddie Royal’srookie start (5 more grabs for only 37 yds, with 1 td and a 2 pt conversion, leading rookies in receiveing) may mean a big year for Cutler…

Brandon Marshall, WR, Denver Broncos: 18 catches for 166 yds and a td… not a bad way to come back from a 1 game suspension…

Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions: 6 catches for 129 yds and 2 tds…he could be headed for the breakout season everyone is looking for…

And at the bottom this week…St. Louistakes the spot…only 1 td in 2 games…104 yds rushing in 2 games..and they haven’t run a play inside their opponents 20 yd line…

Good afternoon and welcome to the WaxPack Sports blog…the first posting ever…please take a look at the website (www.waxpacksports.com) when you have a chance as we have some fine sports collectibles for you to review…

Every Monday or Tuesday, depending on the season, we will look at the players from the weekend in sports and how their performance might have altered their value to collectors, up or down…this week was the first weekend of the NFL season, so we are focusing on rookies and players who are in new places.  The early winners are:

Matt Ryan, rookie QB, Atlanta Falcons: Threw a TD pass to Michael Jenkins on his first pass in the NFL…Ryan was on everyone’s radar due to his draft status…just another reason to find his cards

Matt Forte, rookie RB, Chicago Bears: 123 yards and a 50 yd TD run in his first start will make Forte popular in places outside of Chicago

DeSean Jackson, rookie WR, Philadelphia Eagles: 6 receptions for 106 yds and 97 yds in returns in his first start will get him immediate attention.

Michael Turner, RB, Atlanta Falcons: In his first start out of the shadow of LaDanian Tomlinson, Turner set a team rushing record with 220 yds.

Joe Flacco, rookie QB, Baltimore Ravens: Won his first start and managed the offense effectively, scoring on a long run himself.

Eddie Royal, rookie WR, Denver Broncos: With Brandon Marshall sitting out, no one knew what to expect out of the rookie starting in his place. He responded with 9 catches for 146 yards and a TD to give the Broncos another threat at wideout.

On the down side, give the whole Cinncinati Bengals offense a bad grade…Carson Palmer had a career low passer rating of 35.3 and Chad Johnson (Ocho Cinco) only had 1 catch…