Arian Foster (23) of the Houston Texans tries to fend off the tackle of Jason McCourty (30) of the Tennessee Titansin the first half of their game on Sunday, September 30, 2012, in Houston, Texas. (George Bridges/MCT)
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McNamara: AFC paced the Baltimore Ravens
For the first time in franchise history, the Houston Texans have started out the season 4-0 and look like the best team in football. With the other teams in their division having a combined three wins, it looks as though they may be able to wrap up the division by mid-November.
The Baltimore Ravens have always been one of the top teams in football and seem to be again this year.
They are 3-1 so far this year with their one loss coming by just one point to the Eagles. There were questions coming into the season about the age of their defense and the loss of Terrell Suggs, but their offense has picked up the slack. Ray Rice continues to be one of the best running backs in football and Joe Flacco has stepped up and is third in the league in passing yards.
In New York, it looks as though fans might start chanting for Tim Tebow soon. After the Jets put up 48 points in their first game of the season, they have combined for just 38 points over the last three games and suffered an embarrassing 34-0 loss at home this weekend.
The rest of the season won’t get any easier, especially since their star cornerback Darrelle Revis is out for the rest of the year with a knee injury. Rex Ryan was smart not to guarantee a Super Bowl win for the first time in the last three years.
On the other side of the country in Denver, Payton Manning is starting to look more comfortable with the Broncos. His team is 2-2, but Manning’s passer rating is slightly higher than his career average, and he has thrown eight touchdowns in his first four games. Manning also looks as though he is finally starting to get on page with his new receivers.
Manning’s old team in Indianapolis is struggling so far this season with only one win, but it looks as though they have found their quarterback of the future in Andrew Luck.
Luck leads the NFL is passer rating
and has lived up to the hype he received coming out of college.
Two teams that have been surprising so far this year are the Pittsburg Steelers and the New England Patriots. The Steelers are 1-2 and the Patriots are 2-2. Both teams are normally on top of their divisions and make the playoffs almost every year.
The Patriots look as though they may be starting to return to form. They trailed early in the game this weekend, but came back and won 52-28 over the Buffalo Bills.
After The first four weeks, there have been some standout players in the AFC. Running back Arian Foster and defensive end JJ Watt of the Houston Texans have been standout players and look like the best at their respective positions.
In just his second season, wide receiver AJ Green on Cincinnati looks as though no one can cover him. Green has almost 500 receiving yards, three touchdowns and has stats comparable to Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson through the first 20 games of his career. Alongside second-year quarterback Andy Dalton, the Bengals have a solid core going forward.
While there have been standout players in the AFC, there have also been some players who have disappointed.
The player who stands out the most is Chris Johnson, running back on the Tennessee Titans. Since his contract holdout at the beginning of last season, Johnson has never looked like the same player and is underwhelming again this season. He has zero touchdowns and just 186 rushing yards in four games.
Another major player that hasn’t performed well this season has been Wes Welker. Welker is averaging less than 100 receiving yards a game, and has no touchdowns so far this season.
After just four weeks of the season, there is still a lot of football to be played and anything can happen, but some teams and players stand out above the rest while other teams and players need to turn their seasons around very soon.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 3 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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