Bengals:

Cinci’s offensive playcalling was downright stupid. Jay Gruden crashed and burned as an Arena Football coach; I was shocked he got the offensive coordinator job here. Gruden spent the first 40 minutes of gametime calling one predictable play after the next -- running to the left side and throwing five yard safe checkdown passes. Hello, Champ Bailey is hurt and you've got speedy downfield weapons!!

Cinci was complete inept in third and short situations - three times in the first half, they had 3rd and 1 or shorter, three times they failed to convert. Their first and only third down conversion for the entire game came after the two minute warning. The Bengals didn’t attempt any downfield throws at all until they were down by two touchdowns. As soon as they started throwing downfield, they scored on four consecutive drives.

You should KNOW that Cinci's two point conversion attempt (way too early, in the 3rd quarter, of course) wasn't going to work – this team isn’t the Patriots when it comes to those 'attention to detail' sort of things. Then, on their very next drive, they took the field goal on 4th and inches from inside the five yard line when they had the Denver defense exhausted and on their heels. And the 4th-and-1 play call with the game on the line and less than a minute to go was laughably bad – leaving an unblocked man headed straight for Andy Dalton. Dalton was good here; his coaching was not.

Broncos:

When this game started, Denver had an injury riddled defense, all kinds of first time starters. In fact, nearly half of their entire team payroll was on the inactive list, including RB Knowshon Moreno, WR Brandon Lloyd, WR Demaryius Thomas, DE Elvis Dumervil, LB D.J. Williams and CB Champ Bailey. By the time the game was over, it was far worse than that, with Tim Tebow forced into action as a wide receiver and a secondary that was as green as it gets at the NFL level.

Denver won the game, despite a litany of errors during crunch time; gaining only one first down on their last six possessions. Two key things you won’t see in the box score. Punter Britton Colquitt nailed an 81 yarder with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, completely flipping the field. Of course, it was wiped out by a stupid 'unsportsmanlike conduct' penalty. Next drive, Willis McGahee ran out of bounds, stopping the clock as they were desperate to let it keep ticking. Gutty win, might be a while before this team gets another one!

Colts:

Indy is trying to show a commitment to the run, after finishing in the bottom four in the NFL in rushing yards for the last three seasons. However, this offensive line was built for pass protection, not run blocking. Dallas Clark is a pass catching tight end, not a run blocking tight end. They didn't have a fullback on the roster until the end of training camp; not a natural fit for the offense. That's not an optimal scenario for a team trying to effectively run the football. They were stuffed repeatedly on third-and-short and settled for two red zone field goals.

Meanwhile, this undersized linebacking corps looks particularly vulnerable. We saw another breakdown on special teams, giving up a long return in the fourth quarter when field position was paramount. They couldn’t get a single first down for most of the second half. One of their two returning offensive linemen from last year, guard Ryan Diem, limped off the field and didn’t return.

I’m not going to rip Kerry Collins -- just look at the box score for that. No surprise here that a 39 year old QB coming out of retirement trying to learn one of the most complex offenses in the NFL in three weeks is struggling. This team of veterans knows what's coming…..

Dolphins:

This defense allowed more than 600 yards last week, the worst performance in the history of the franchise. The box score is going to say they played better this week. They didn’t. Miami was on defense for 23 plays in the first quarter alone. The pass defense got shredded repeatedly, and every time Houston needed points, they scored points.

It's clear that Chad Henne does not inspire much confidence in his teammates, deservedly so. He’s not a clutch player, dating back to his tenure at Michigan (0-4 against Ohio State, for example).

Where's the homefield edge? Miami is now 1-11 SU in their last dozen home games. This was the quietest stadium in the NFL today, by a fairly wide margin.

The special teams were horrific today – blocked field goals, dismal field position, starting seven drives from their own 20 yard line or worse. And Miami’s red zone execution continues to be problematic, scoring only one TD on their four red zone opportunities.

No season is over after two weeks, but Miami has the feel of a sinking ship right now….