The NFL season is two weeks old and as you look across the landscape there’s not one team that makes you sit up and take notice.
There are contenders who predictably showed up and pretenders who took their first of many assumed steps back and contenders unpredictably playing like pretenders. I think that’s what the league boils down to.
Only by week 8 can we honestly assess a team and have enough evidence to support the pretender/contender label for each team so week 2’s Power Rankings again are completely based on record and one other caveat. So, there won’t be a 1-1 team having a higher spot than a 2-0 team, and an 0-2 team won’t be higher than a 1-1 team because of my opinion. The facts are the facts and you have to read the writing on the wall. An 0-2 team CAN NOT be better than a 1-1 team. Opinion from sportswriters do not affect standings in professional leagues.*
*= take THAT BCS!
Until there’s a good body of work to go by, we won’t know a thing: so 0-2 means 0-2 and I think we all know who I’m referring to.
With that said here’s your Week 2 Power Rankings heading into Week 3:
32. Buffalo Bills- The Bills are unsurprisingly bad, being outscored by a margin of 17 to 49 which is a whopping 32 points. My only question is how did Chan Gailey get a head coaching job? Its not the 90’s anymore.
31. Carolina Panthers- In John Fox’s walk year, his team is playing like they want him to be fired. They’ve been outscored by 26 points and Matt Moore has been an unmitigated disaster. I guess the Matt Moore mystery has been solved.
30. San Francisco 49ers- Despite an impressive showing against the defending Super Bowl champs here’s two reasons why I don’t buy it: Alex Smith continues to tease with his un-even play and can’t be trusted in big spots even though he led a game tying drive. Second it was the home opener so the team and fans are more hyped up than usual and they still couldn’t take a game after the Saints came off a long layoff and with their offense still not clicking like it usually does. Beware of the home opener tease and the Saints refused to do so.
29. Cleveland Browns- They are 0-2 and former Brown Braylon Edwards had one of the worst media sessions ever after one of the dumbest acts. Of course the Lebron “Decision” is up there too which leads me to the question: do Cleveland sports teams just not believe in PR people? Then I remember that they don’t need to talk Cleveland fans into coming to the stadium, even if they suck.
28. St Louis Rams- Out of the teams that are destined for Top 5 picks in the draft before they even play a game, the Rams are atleast secure in their QB. That’s about the only positive I’m drawing from this team. Bradford is a winner, his defense just needs to lehold a lead.
27. Detroit Lions- The Lions are better than their record suggests but don’t expect them to climb the charts soon: QB Stafford is out for 2 months probably. On the good news front: Jahvid Best became a legend in my eyes by singlehandedly helping the Lions cover and have a great fantasy week that helped his owners clinch wins. I should know, I was on the receiving end and winning end of that equation.
26. Dallas Cowboys- Look, its clear they are beating themselves. They are much more talented than even some 2-0 teams but just because you’re talented, doesn’t give you the right to go and play a stinker of a game 2 weeks in a row. What sucks more is that I bought into the Cowboys offense on fantasy and have a member of their offense in every single league I’m in. I have Tony Romo is three leagues as my starting QB. At some point I’m going to hurt myself for caving into the public perception and not trusting my gut that said not to ever have a rooting interest for the Cowboys. By the way I’m enjoying every moment of this.
25. Minnesota- They have been outscored by a measley 9 points and despite what everyone thinks they deserved to lose last week’s game. It would be beyond fitting if the Brett Favre Vikings go 4-12 or 3-13 and he’s left with no other bidder to create a new Favre watch for next year. As for last week’s game against the Dolphins, watching the way AP was running it doesn’t make Brad Childress’ 4 consecutive run calls all that bad at the goal line, and you have to give the Dolphins all the credit but after the 3rd run, a play action was the “ask Madden” call and yet they went for the run again going to the well one too many times. That’s the kind of decision making that will make Favre hate your guts as a coach and get you fired in the process.
24. Oakland (1-1)- Honestly, even their wins are ugly. Bruce Gradkowski was named the starter in mid week and honestly I’m sure it made Raider fans happy. When Bruce Gradkowski being named your starter can bring forth hope from a fan base, you know its bad.
23. Arizona Cardinals (1-1)- Early on, I’m sure everyone is focusing on the loss of Kurt Warner, but how about losing guys like Antrell Rolle and Karlos Dansby who made a huge play on 4th and Goal to help the Dolphins win the game and start 2-0. They have allowed 17 more points than at this point and they never gave up more than 40 at any point last season.
22. Seattle Seahawks (1-1)- There goes all that optimism after starting off the season impressively. By the way for those of you wondering: TJ Housh has 1 reception for 27 yards and Mike Williams (his replacement and reason why Pete Caroll felt as though he could let go of TJ) has 5 receptions for 71 yards and 0 TD’s.
21. Denver Broncos (1-1)- What else can happen to this franchise? A day after winning their first game they have to deal with a beloved teammates apparent suicide. I say apparent because of rumors persisting that the culture around the Denver sports athlete is one that’s bordering dangerous and has seen more incidents involving athletes turn serious than any other group. Maybe they needed Tim Tebow for more reasons than just football in Denver?
20 Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1)- They are so boring, I fell asleep trying to find something to say about them.
19. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) On the one hand Michael Vick looked really good, and not to be taken lightly since it was against a better than you thought Detroit Lions team on the come up. On the second hand its the Eagles so they’re eventually going to botch this. I get why Andy Reid went with Michael Vick. You have to ride the hot hand and too many times in this situation I’ve seen Kevin Kolb get his starting job back JUST because he was named the starting QB heading into the season. But the big thing here is that Kolb himself is an unknown since he didn’t have much credibility as a viable star coming into the season except for the optimism of fantasy geeks. Well, Vick turns out, is the second best fantasy QB in many formats. How weird is the NFL?
18. New York Giants (1-1) I asked this question to Peter King on twitter and I’ll ask it again: have the Giants tuned out Tom Coughlin? Its getting to the point that the offensive line is playing like crap or old whatever the excuse is for the day and the game planning was terrible. This was exactly what you saw from them last year when they went in the tank. The leaders the Giants have now are NOT the vocal rah rah guys you need in that position and good for Antrell Rolle for calling them out on that. The captains are supposed to be vocal. I hate when guys say that in order to be captains you can lead by example: yes, but sometimes you got to yell. Just saying that you don’t need to do the yelling is ridiculous. Captains do whatever’s necessary to win just like head coaches do. Tom Coughlin goes from super tough guy military drill sergeant to lovable grandpa and the Giants win the Super Bowl. If you can’t do what needs to be done to win then you will NEVER be a good captain. Its like making someone the CEO of a company who’s scared of getting in front of a podium in front of his employees to give an address.
17. Washington Redskins (1-1) It wasn’t pretty the way they lost that game against the Texans but for now, we’re holding it to the fact that the Texans are actually a good team. Fact is, Mike Shanahan’s defense led by NFL tackles leader Laron Landry (who was all over field in the Texan game) has been the bigger surprise than their new offense led by Donovan McNabb who is quickly learning that he doesn’t have nearly enough weapons in DC as he did in Philly. Why are they the highest ranking team in the NFC East? Because they’re the most overrated 1-1 team in what’s becoming the most overrated division in all of the NFL.
16. Atlanta Falcons (1-1)- How does one qualiify a 41-7 blowout against a team quarterbacked by Derek Anderson? Hmmm. I buy into this team as a contender but I’m still not sure.
15. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)- They beat another NFC North team making the last time they lost to a team from their division November 30th against Baltimore, the team they beat this past Sunday in what was an ugly game. The Bengals have the talent to win their division again. Like I said, I think the Ocho Cinco and Owens relationship will be fine because Ocho Cinco doesn’t have much of an ego or nothing comparative to Owens so he’ll willingly take a back seat long enough for it to seem ok to bash Owens without it seeming like the eventual event that everyone’s predicting.
14. New England (1-1)- You have to put New England here because the combination of Belichiek and Brady can’t be lower than middle of the pack. Was it just me or did those constant camera shots of Brady give you the feeling that he had absolutely NO answer for that Jet defense in the second half?
13. Tennessee Titans (1-1)- As tough as this may be to say, we’ll know that they are a legit team if they beat the Giants. If they lose, they are a pretender. That tells you more about the Giants than it does about the Titans but hey who cares?
12. San Diego Chargers (1-1)- They were lower on my list earlier in the week but they gained a few spots by getting their starting left tackle back this week. All that does is leave Vincent Jackson having a much longer vacation than even he had predicted. Guess what: McNeil came in without a new contract: he signed the reduced tender he got after he rejected the original 3 million tender. Which leaves us with one conclusion: DO NOT try and out bluff AJ Smith.
11. Baltimore Ravens (1-1)- I’m putting them here because I believe in that offense. I am also putting them below on the Jets because I feel as though their team isn’t that good on defense.
10. New York Jets (1-1)- We knew that defense was championship caliber despite losing Kris Jenkins again for the season, this time 6 plays in, but if that’s the Mark Sanchez we’ll see for the rest of the season then it could spell trouble for the rest of the league in terms of keeping the volume down coming from Florham Park. By the way, I got super pumped when LDT crashed into his tight end who was blocking for him, picked up the first down and got up and started smacking his helmet a few times like a mad man as if to say “come get some.” I immediately decided that regardless of match up LDT was going into the starting line up of my fantasy team.
9. Indianapolis Colts (1-1)- There was desperation in the air and premature talk that Peyton was losing it and so on and so forth. Oh well, I guess they’re going 12-4 again. I dont know if they’ll ever be let off the hook by another team like the Giants did this past Sunday but I can promise you that Peyton can put up those numbers when he wants to when his game is on point.
8. Kansas City Chiefs (2-0)- I like their defense. Eric Berry is already a force which is saying something and if Ndamkong Suh weren’t around he’d be my leading NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate but the Chiefs certainly have the makings of a surprise run despite not possessing a single player that would scare the daylights out of a team. I would say Jamal Charles but for some reason the Chiefs won’t use him in the game.
7. Tampa Bay Bucs (2-0)- As good as the Chiefs have been, the Bucs defense has been really good giving up the third fewest points behind Miami and Pittsburgh. How about that Josh Freeman kid? Last year they looked about as lost as they could be against the Giants, this year they look confident and you definitely need more than one guy to take down Josh Freeman.
6. Chicago Bears (2-0)- The most interesting point I’ve heard about the Bears is that they have two other former head coaches on their staff that offer up so much information to Lovie Smith who’s clearly playing with house money. He assumes he might be looking for a job elsewhere after the year and so his relaxed mood and health of Brian Urlacher has stabilized this maligned team. The offense still needs to work on it. Big test coming up Monday night against the Pack.
5. Miami Dolphins (2-0)- I like, but don’t love the Dolphins. Not from a particular rooting stand point but just from a “what the heck is it that excites me about this team again?” kind of feel. You just never know which player jumps out at the screen that makes them fun to watch. All I do know is that Karlos Dansby done earned his paycheck last Sunday with that Fourth and goal play.
4. Houston Texans (2-0)- People predicted upset since he would be preoccupied with his second Super Bowl of the season against the Cowboys. Despite all the talk, here’s the one thing people need to understand: Matt Schaub is staying healthy and that’s why this team is going good.
3. Green Bay Packers (2-0)- They’ve scored the third most point in the league behind Houston and Indy who also have a few QB’s who can be characterized as nice. What more can I say without beginning to drool?
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0) Remember that time everyone was afraid of how they’d have to hope for the best and pray for a 2-2 start but here they are and the Steelers might make it to the other side of the rainbow with Roethlisberger itching to throw? Hmm, seems like the Coffee was good.
1. New Orleans Saints (2-0) Forget everything you saw from that game: when it needed to be done, Drew and his teammates rallied together and won the game. That’s what champions do.
Here’s the picks for the games:
GIANTS (-3) over Titans
Patriots (-14.5) over BILLS
Browns (+11) over RAVENS
Steelers (-3) over BUCS
Bengals (-3.5) over PANTHERS
SAINTS (-3.5) over FALCONS
49ers (-3) over CHIEFS
Lions (+11) over VIKINGS
COWBOYS (+2.5) over Texans
Redskins (-4.5) over Jacksonville
Colts (-5.5) over BRONCOS
ARIZONA (4.5) over OAKLAND
Jets (+2.5) over DOLPHINS-
Charger (4.5) OVER SEATTLE
PACKERS (-3) over Chicago
Last week: 12-4
Season: 21-11
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The Lazy Eye of Sports 