These are my NFL Power Rankings.
1. They're the defending Super Bowl Champions, and they beat the top team from last year. Shouldn't have gone to overtime due to Ward's fumble, but there shouldn't be any concerns after coming off that big NFL Kickoff win.
2. Coming into the season, their only concern was Manning being able to work with a group of weak receivers. However, those receivers played excellent down the stretch of the game. The Giants should take the division again, so long as the games they play won't require them having to desperately throw the ball late in the game.
3. Sure it was against the Chiefs, but they scored 38 points against them. One of my favourites to win the Super Bowl. The 24 points that they gave up isn't a concern: the Chiefs scored off a Joe Flacco interception and a blocked punt. In reality, the defence gave up 10 points.
4. The win against the Bills can be seen in two ways: good or bad. I see both. The lead that the Bills blew was completely unacceptable, and had they not fumbled on the kickoff and Jackson had played well enough, the Pats would have had little to no time to be able to score. However, scoring two TDs in that time shows Brady's ability to win. Pats fans should still be concerned: Brady received poor pass protection and their defence is declining.
5. They may have almost lost to the Raiders, and I won't argue that they probably should've done a little better. However, the Raiders have improved, it was on the road, and they're fired up with Seymour. Rivers played well in clutch time, and that is also great. Their offensive play in the late stretch of the game can be compared with the Patriots, but like the Patriots, the Offensive Line is also weak, and the defence is a concern.
6. 13 of the last 15 Colts/Jaguars games have been decided by 8 or less points, so that shouldn't too much of a worry. What Colts fans should be worried about, however, is that the running game is weak and Anthony Gonzalez is down for a while, though Manning will find a way to win.
7. The Saints defence does not suck: 14 of the points they gave up against the Lions were due to the opposing defence scoring, and the special teams. Plus, six passing TDs by Brees? I don't care what defence its against, Brees throwing six TD passes in the first week is amazing. Brees, not Brady and Manning, could be the leagues best Quarterback this year. If they win this week, they're in the top 5.
8. I'd rank them higher if McNabb wasn't injured, but Garcia is capable of taking the starting role. They forced turnovers against the Panthers, even though Delhomme was starting, that should be something to be proud of. They face a huge test against New Orleans this week. Then again, Garcia is very old, and he's going to be very angry getting out of his wheelchair for the game, Michael Vick hasn't played in two years and would be more effective if opposing defensive linemen were dogs, and Kevin Kolb apparently thinks that passing the ball to his teammates is a no-no.
9. So long as Favre isn't throwing into double coverage, the Vikings are a Super Bowl team. AP was more than impressive in the second half of the game. He was weak in the first half, as well as the Vikings themselves, but if AP is handed the ball and Favre doesn't have to throw, expect this team to take the division. However, shame on them for allowing the Cleveland Browns to score their first offensive touchdown since November 17th, 2008. The defence should be ashamed.
10. Williams will be a thousand times better than last year. T.O is a negative influence after year 1. There are still some concerns though: they gave up 450 yards against a team that is lead at Quarterback who takes forever to throw the ball, and is expected to be rebuiliding this year. Plus, Romo not even being able to be able to win even in December is still a lingering concern in the later stretch of the season.
11. The best of the losers, they lost to the defending Super Bowl Champions by three. However, Johnson and White weren't as effective on the ground as they would've liked, Kerry Collins hated to let go of his walker for the game, and the Defence looked shakey in the forth without Haynesworth occupying two defenders.
12. Sure it was against the Rams, but a 28-0 win is as perfect as you can have this week. They're taking back the division this year, provided that they don't have the injuries they did last year.
13. They intercepted Cutler 4 times in his opener, and Rodgers to Jennings is scary for defences. A concern is that even though they got 4 interceptions, they weren't able to really finish the Bears until late in the game.
14. No team surprised me more than the Jets last week. Rex Ryan/Mark Sanchez will make a run at Coach of the Year/Rookie of the Year. This could be an early sleeper to go into the playoffs.
15. I kind of forgot about them to be honest, but their defence is still bad, and Turner wasn't impressive in their win. Atlanta is one of the leagues most overrated teams right now, but I'm sure this will be critisized a lot, but I don't see them as a playoff team.
16. Jay Cutler throws 4 interceptions, they have virtually nothing at receiver,Forte was a disappointment, Urlacher is down for the season. Yeah, this is a Super Bowl team, no doubt.
17. Their defence held the Cards to 16 points, so right nowthey're good. While the offence has Gore, there isn't much talent outside of him, so if they do well, they're going to need help there, and that may require a miracle and Crabtree signs with the team.
18. A playoff calibur team if they played in a weaker division. They managed to stay in the game for a while, but they play in a brutal division, are overshadowed by all three rivals, and Campbell/Zorn are as bad as a QB/Coach duo as they come.
19. Boldin and Breaston are both hurt, Fitzgerald may get injured at any time due to the Madden Curse, and Warner is always an injury risk. Injuries, not lack of talent, will pull them down this year.
20. They held the Colts to 14 points and lost by two points. Pretty impressive, but they're still a question mark.
21. I'll say it right now: the Dolphins were a fluke last season. They took advantage of a Tom Brady injury, a Brett Favre meltdown, and a sorry schedule to turn themselves around. No one will be scared by the Wildcat or Pennington's girly arm this year.
22. They have the talent on the paper, but they always go off to a slow start. They lost to a rookie QB and head coach. Another concern is if Schuab goes down: he is injury prone, and if he goes down, the backups while they have a starting history, its not good. One QB can be the worst of his position (Grossman), another steps out of the back of endzones (Orlovsky).
23. Delhomme has made 9 turnovers in his last two games (also includes the playoff game against the Cards). He's arguably the worst starting QB in the league right now. When you consider starting Matt Moore of A.J Feely over your starting QB, you know your going to do terrible this year.
I read on walterfootball.com that perhaps Delhomme did so bad against the Cardinals was because his son got kidnapped and he needed to throw the game away to get him back (as an obvious joke). It was also joked about that perhaps for this game, Vick kidnapped his son and his dogs, and he had to get them back was to throw the game away and somehow make sure McNabb got injured. Just something I wanted to share.
24. They kept it close against the Chargers, have good players on defence and a good rushing game. They flattened San Diego's offensive line, and played well in that game. Sure Al Davis is the owner, but he doesn't play on the field nor does he call the plays, and the person who does call the plays will smash your face in if you screw around with him. Expect a surprise from them this year.
25.Flukey win, straight up. Josh McDaniels has already done more bad then good in the offseason, and late games are past his bedtime. Orton is still a bad QB, Marshall is an off-field problem, and their defence just plain sucks.
26. Flukey loss, it was robbed from them. Their defence is not as bad as people think, considering that they only allowed six points until they were burned by a lucky play. So how are they this low?How do you only score 7 points against the Broncos Pop Warner defence? I know they're better than this, but I'm still concerned with the offence, but not defence. I'm saying that as being a Bengals hater.
27.One positive: they had 450 yards amassed in their loss to the Cowboys. Then again, we could take a stopwatch to test how long it takes for Leftwich to throw the ball, but we'll lose patience. I could go on and on about a random topic forever, but he still won't throw it.
A fact I shocked to hear about: Wade Phillips was coaching in his first NFL game when the Buccaneers were playing their first. Morris, current coach of the Bucs, was nine days old on the same day! Wow.
28. Fred Jackson and Trent Edwards played well in the game against the Pats. However, their defence and special teams blew that epic meltdown. There is simply no excuse for that. While I'd like to see the good coming out of that one point loss to the Patriots, I just can't. If I were to hear they lost by one point, I would've already said the Bills may be a sleeper this year, but the way it happened? Recovery from that will be extremely difficult.
If God hates one team, its the Bills. Wide Right, Music City Miracle, Four Super Bowls (and having to face three of the best teams in NFL history in the 91 Redskins and 92/93 Cowboys)lost in a row, the Bills/Cowboys game in 2007, now this? I feel sorried for this team.
29. They were impressive in the first half against the Vikings, but they sucked after that.
Anyways, Eric Mangini has got to be one of the dumbest coaches in the NFL. After the Braylon Edwards TD was overturned since he wasn't completely inbounds after being knocked out by the pass interference, he runs three wildcat plays in a row inside the 6 yard line. How dumb is that?
30. Defence completely sucked in that loss, and when Cassel returns, he'll take a sack after every 5 plays. To be honest, I can't understand why they would go after Cassel. He isn't a superstar, he took 47 sacks last year (just think about him behind KC's offensive line), he doesn't have a great arm, and he just benfited from being in the Patriots QB friendly system last year. Croyle is superior to him, but they don't want to give him the keys. It bugs me. Croyle can run a pro-type offence, and he can throw the ball better, yet the Chiefs take Cassel over him.
31. Giving up six touchdown passes can't be given an excuse, not to mention winning one of the past 25 games (against the Chiefs in 2007). Their offensive line sucks, Stafford threw three interceptions in his debut, not to mention coming off an 0-16 season. Throw Culpepper in; its not like the Lions have a chance this year and Stafford needs to develop. I'm worried about him being a first round flop.
Also, I remember midseason in 2007, the Lions were the surprise team of the NFL at 6-2 and looked ready to enter the playoffs. They've won one game since. Wow.
32. They've won less games in the past two years than the Lions and Chiefs have. Your read that right. The Lions have won 7 of the past 32 games, the Chiefs 6, the Rams 5. Plus, they're the only team to have not scored a point yet this season, Bulger is going to get injured, and there are massive question marks on the defence.
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