While many of us recall our sophomore year of high school with the appropriate mixture of humiliation (hormones), frustration (Geometry), or nostalgia (the ’90s), we can all agree that it was ultimately a very tumultuous year.  The proverbial sophomore slump doesn’t discriminate based on gender or genre as we have seen bands (The Killers), television shows (Heroes), and directors (Richard Kelly) who have fallen under the sophomore jinx’s fickle spell. 

            Though there are a myriad of reasons for any sophomore slump, in the case of the NFL, such a distinction may only be a state of mind.  Sure, guys like Steve Slaton and Matt Forte have gotten off to horrendous starts in part because their teams’ schedules certainly lent themselves to a lack of production (Slaton drew the Jets and Titans; Forte had to face the Pack and the Steelers).  But just ask Chris Johnson, Joe Flacco, and Matt Ryan about their early sophomore campaigns.  These guys are refusing to appear on a growing list of players who struggle during their second season, and the league couldn’t be happier to watch its new generation of stars usher out the old guard.

            Frankly, I thought the “Smash ‘n Dash” moniker and game plan was overrated, but the league has moved toward the two back system, so Titans RB Chris Johnson was forced to be the latter to Lendale White’s former.

Hey, Lendale. Keep drinking tequilia because I'm a one man show now. (Gregory Shamus-Getty Images)

After a 1200+ yard/10 TD rookie season, the East Carolina speedster figured to take a step back as teams figured out a way to contain him.  After a lackluster week one against the stifling Steelers’ defense (15/57), still featuring S Troy Polamalu, Johnson went bananas last week against the Texans (284 total yards/3 TDs).  The self-proclaimed “every coach’s dream,” who essentially broke up with White via Twitter, isn’t going to play second fiddle to the former USC fatso any longer, and Jeff Fischer (and Johnson fantasy owners) should be salivating.

            When it became apparent that both Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco and Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan were going to start for their respective teams last season, I wrote on my former site that each city was about to undergo a Renaissance of colossal proportions and neither signal caller disappointed.  Ryan made every Hotlantian forget what Eagles’ fans are now forced to remember—Mike Vick—while Flacco catapulted himself to stardom, albeit through a very conservative weekly game plan and stout defense, by taking his team to the AFC championship game.  Two weeks removed from the start of their second season, each young stud has picked up right where he left off.

            Ryan has undoubtedly benefited from the savvy off-season acquisition of future Hall of Fame TE, Tony Gonzalez.

Hello, Atlanta. I'm your savior. The pleasure is all yours.

 Though far from being simply a game manager, Ryan has done just that in the Falcons first two wins (Miami, Carolina).  The Exton, PA native has averaged 225 YPG while throwing 5 TDs against only 1 pick.  Gonzalez has done his part (72 YPG/2 TD), and the Falcons are 2-0 without standout WR Roddy White being much of a factor (47 YPG/1 TD).  With his first true test of the season, in Foxboro, Ryan can cement himself as the new face of the NFC with a win against a puzzlingly inconsistent Patriot club.

            Fans of our site shouldn’t be surprised that Flacco is getting some love.  Truth be told, it’s much easier to cover our fair town’s favorite son when he’s playing like the standout he’s always been.  There’s no question that Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh did just about everything right last year, not the least of which was naming Flacco his starter and allowing him to learn on the fly.

Yeah, I'm kind of tired of handing it off. I'm going to go ahead and air it out.

While Flacco struggled out of the gate, he put himself in extremely rare company by advancing his team to the AFC championship, and while no rookie quarterback has ever reached the Super Bowl, Flacco and his Ravens gave the Steelers all they could handle before a late Flacco pick punched a ticket to the Bowl for Pittsburgh.      Now, armed with the kind of experience some quarterbacks will never have (right, Matt Leinart? Nice work), Flacco, with the help of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, has shed the game-manager label. 

Averaging just under 250 YPG, Flacco has thrown 5 TDs against 2 INTs in his first two weeks while the Ravens have averaged just under 35 PPG.  Last week’s shootout with the Chargers, in San Diego, ended with an all too familiar Ray Lewis tackle for a loss, but it was Flacco’s efficiency and 2 TDs that helped seal the deal for the Ravens.  Now, instead of asking Flacco not to lose the game (a la Trent Dilfer), Harbaugh and Raven Nation can relax with the knowledge that Flacco can win a game for them as well.

            So, sophomore slump? Well, it’s a long season, and there’s no guarantee that these three super sophs won’t end up running gassers in practice for poor play, but there’s no question that for the Titans, Falcons, and Ravens the slump is far more theoretical than practical.