Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Week 7 Power Poll



Power Poll:

1. Green Bay (6-0):
I look at the halftime score against the Rams -- 24-3. Sounds about right. I look at the final score -- 24-3. What the heck happened? Did the Rams refuse to take the field in the second half? Did they forfeit? Quite a luxury for the Packers, for Aaron Rodgers to have his worst half of the season when they were already up 21 points against the worst team in football. Now they visit the Vikes, where Christian Ponder will make his first start and then comes their bye, which will pose an equal challenge.

2. Baltimore (4-1):
They let the Texans hang around for a half, and then, after Houston took a 14-13 lead, they only allowed them to cross midfield one time, and that was all the way to the 38-yard line. Ray Rice got 161 yards from scrimmage and no touchdowns, while Ricky Williams had 8 eight yards and scored. Clearly Ray Rice is a choker. This is still the superior Harbaugh-coached team, and in my opinion, the class of the AFC.

3. New England (5-1): So wait, now they're gonna play defense too? Well, that's just great. Nah, it wasn't quite that impressive for the Pats. They didn't pressure Tony Romo that much (only two sacks) and were helped by Felix Jones' early injury, which turned Dallas one-dimensional. Chad Ochocinco has been a total bust, and slowly but surely, their offense is starting to run out of tricks since people are starting to become wise to their lack of speed -- just like last year. A bye week to scheme will hold off the dogs a bit longer, but not in December and January.

4. San Diego (4-1): Coming off a bye week and looking to make some noise on the road at New York. The Chargers have been off the NFL's radar this past month with the emergence of the Raiders and the 49ers, but I've seen nothing to suggest that they're still not the best team on the west coast. They've improved incrementally and have no real weaknesses. If Philip Rivers can make hay against the vaunted Jets secondary, their secret will be out.

5. New York Giants (4-2):
Speaking of teams without a weakness, the Giants are starting to emerge, even if their overall play has been less than the sum of its parts. Their pass rush is as fearsome as any in the league; Victor Cruz and Jake Ballard have seamlessly replaced Steve Smith and Kevin Boss; and Ahmad Bradshaw is an underrated back. For my money, they're the NFC East favorites, even with all their injuries in the secondary. Will get the lowly Dolphins after their bye week.

6. San Francisco (5-1):
Here you go Niners fans -- I can't in good conscience rank them any lower. The offensive line and running game gets better and better, but Alex Smiths' completion percentage has stayed the same or dropped every game since the opener against Seattle. He badly needs Braylon Edwards back, because this throwing 15 passes to Michael crabtree stuff isn't gonna work. The bye is perfectly timed in that regard.

7. Detroit (5-1):
The better team won on Sunday, but make no mistake, the Lions were one play -- it was 4th-and-goal for the Niners from the 6-yard line -- from beating the locals. Coming into the season I was worried about their secondary, but it turns out that their run defense is the bigger issue. I'm not quite sure why they (or the Eagles) use the Wide-9 defense. Seems like more trouble than it's worth. Another concern for Detroit that popped up is that they have no short-yardage running game. Nobody on the team who can pick up a 3rd-and-2, which puts all the pressure on Matthew Stafford (who looked worse than his numbers suggested to my eye). He's lining up in shotgun and the opposing team knows they don't have to worry about the run at all. Heck, they don't even have a fullback on the roster. They tried to trade for Philly's Ronnie Brown, but the deal was voided. Let's see how they react to their loss -- and to their coach flipping out -- against Atlanta.

8. Pittsburgh (4-2):
They appear to have righted their ship for the time being, but you still wonder how Big Ben will hold up with that line. Only 17 points at home to Jacksonville isn't exactly inspiring, but they can throw it to Mike Wallace for 50-yards just about any time they want and the defense suddenly doesn't look all that old. Interesting game at Arizona coming up. Let's see if Troy Polamalu and Co. make Kevin Kolb piss his pants.

9. Buffalo (4-2): Their two losses were at Cincy and the Giants, and they had a 17-3 lead in the former and were tied at 24 and driving late in the latter, when a killer interception by Ryan Fitzpatrick doomed them. Still, this is a team that can run it, throw it and force turnovers, so they'll be hanging around in the playoff race. Their first game after their bye will be the sinking Redskins at Toronto.

10. Oakland (4-2): I can't emphasize enough how horrible their trade for Carson Palmer is. A 2012 1st-rounder and a 2013 2nd (that would be upgraded to a 1st if Raiders make AFC title game in either of the next two seasons) is an insane amount to pay for someone whose arm is shot. Didn't anyone in the Raiders' offices watch the Bengals play the last couple of years, or did their late owner refuse to spring for the Sunday Ticket package? It makes me wonder what it will take to trade for the #1 pick and the right to draft Andrew Luck. Five 1st-round picks? Ten? Also, why did they give Kyle Boller the backup job if they trust some guy who's been on his couch the past six weeks to play over him? All of a sudden the game against the Chiefs carries lots of intrigue.

11. Tampa Bay (4-2):
Clearly the problem all along was LeGarrette Blount. Well, either that or Josh Freeman actually took this opponent seriously. Whatever it was, the Bucs finally showed off a downfield passing game and their secondary took advantage of a few gifts from Drew Brees. Still not sure about Tampa's overall quality, but they sure do know how to play their division foes. For the second time in three years they're "hosting" a game at London because they can't sell out their home games. Why not just move there there permanently at this point? Just make them the London Buccaneers. Arrange their schedule so they play at home and on the road in consecutive four-game blocks to cut down on jet-lag. Lets just end the pretense already.

12. New Orleans (4-2):
I keep saying it -- this defense is built to play with a lead. When they're not leading, they look very ordinary. Brees meanwhile, was downright below ordinary, with three or four just awful throws. Mark Ingram hasn't been nearly effective as I expected during his rookie year, and once Sean Payton broke his leg and tore some knee ligaments in a collision with tight end Jimmy Graham, I had a feeling it was gonna be a long day for the Saints. However, they'll get healthy against the Manning-less Colts in another thrilling prime time game.

13. New York Jets (3-3):
Defense started slowly but warmed up after Darrelle Revis' 100-yard pick-six, which my fantasy team great appreciated. Mark Sanchez and the offense never really got going, but it was of little consequence against Miami. Playing San Diego at home will be a nice test of their level. Interesting quote from Rex Ryan, saying he could've won a couple of Super Bowls if he had the Chargers roster. I guess it's meant to fire up his team, to get them to show him they've got more talent than San Diego. Not sure how exactly the Chargers use it for bulletin board material. If they kick the Jets' asses, doesn't it prove Ryan's point?

14. Cincinnati (4-2):
A bye week on the schedule, which gives Mike Brown a whole week to laugh about the highway robbery he just pulled off. The quarterback he's playing now is already better than the one he traded. Pretty curious to see if they can pull off a win at Seattle next week.

15. Houston (3-3): The defense is already starting to show signs of cracking without Mario Williams. Eventually they'll get Andre Johnson back, and we'll get back to the usual routine of narrow shootout losses. This might be an NFC West situation, where 8-8 takes the division. Big game on the road with the Titans on Sunday.

16. Tennessee (3-2):
I pump them up, pump them up, pump them up, and they laid an egg at Pittsburgh. Now I hear they're entertaining the idea of bringing in T.O. These Titans really do know how to draw my ire. Hopefully they'll get creamed by Houston and I can ignore them completely from that point on.

(and now, the lightning round)

17. Philadelphia (2-4): What can I say? I'm that easy. As long as the Eagles play Washington or nobody every week, they'll be rocketing up these power rankings.

18. Chicago (3-3): Oh sure, if you told me ahead of time that the Bears would out-sack the Vikings 5-1 and that Devin Hester would have another return touchdown, I'd have predicted a 29-point win too. Good game at London against Tampa comin' up.

19. Dallas (2-3):
Defense was superb against the Patriots, but not enough to overcome that Romo stench. A virtual bye week now against St. Louis and a gimpy Sam Bradford, but you know Dallas will find a way to make it close.

20. Atlanta (3-3): Alright, so they beat Cam Newton at home. What do you want, a cookie? Win at Detroit and we'll talk. How sad is this slate of games when the best three match-ups are Falcons-Lions, Chargers-Jets and Bears-Buccaneers?

21. Washington (3-2):
What's this? The Redskins got off to an early promising start before quickly going into the tank and changing QBs? That never happens. If they lose at Carolina on Sunday, we can stick the fork in them, yes?

22. Seattle (2-3):
They'll probably have to start Charlie Whitehurst on Sunday, which would seem like a huge letdown if it wasn't for the fact that Tarvaris Jackson is the injured starter.

23. Cleveland (2-3):
Conveniently, Seattle's opponent this week are the Browns. I'd say some cliche thing like we can just about close the book on the loser of this game, but when it comes to these two teams, I've never opened the book in the first place.

24. Kansas City (2-3):
With a totally rusty Carson Palmer looming, that game at Oakland looks pretty winnable, doesn't it? Quite the interesting week for the AFC West.

25. Minnesota (1-5):
What happened to their defense at Chicago? Eh, I'm sure it was just a one-game blip and they'll be fine against, let's see... Green Bay. Yeah, they'll be fine.

26. Arizona (1-4):
We have reached the dregs portion of the power rankings. If the well-rested Cardinals can't summon the energy to topple a Pittsburgh team that's flying cross country, then I fear the Kevin Kolb era will come under some serious scrutiny.

27. Carolina (1-5):
Cam Newton may be crashing down to Earth, but facing John Beck should cushion his fall.

28. Denver (1-4): John Fox and John Elway want Tim Tebow to fail spectacularly, which is why they dealt away Brandon Lloyd. Unfortunately for them, the Miami Dolphins are far more committed to failure, so there might be all kinds of shenanigans in this game.

29. Jacksonville (1-5):
I hear they might be kind of okay at defense. Or something. I don't know. It's something I think I read somewhere. There's no way I'd ever watch them play.

30. Indianapolis (0-6):
How grand their game against the Saints must have seemed to the TV execs at NBC. Super Bowl re-match! Manning against Brees in Manning's hometown! If only they scheduled this six weeks later so they could flex it out. Alas.

31. Miami (0-5):
Jason Taylor said Chad Henne was better than Mark Sanchez. He made no such claims about Matt Moore. At this point they're openly tanking, right?

32. St. Louis (0-5):
Remember when Sam Bradford won the Rookie of the Year? Yeah, that was fun.

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