Tag: NFL Power Rankings (Page 4 of 8)

Two teams in the top 5 fall from last week, while the Packers continue to slide and the Giants continue to climb.

Let’s get nasty…

Check out Week 6’s Power Rankings

1. Pittsburgh Steelers
Previous Week: 1
After shaking off the rust in the first half, Big Ben threw three touchdowns in his return to action last Sunday. If he’s already playing at the top of his game, this is the team to beat for the foreseeable future.

2. Indianapolis Colts
Previous Week: 2
That wasn’t a very convincing performance in Washington on Sunday night, but a win is a win in the NFL. That said, something tells me the Jets will be moving into this spot within the next couple of weeks.

3. New York Jets
Previous Week: 4
The Jets certainly didn’t dominate the Broncos last weekend and they were bailed out by Renaldo Hill’s pass interference call inside the 5-yard line in the closing minutes. But it’s never easy for East Coast teams to travel cross-country and beat the Broncos in Denver. Yet, that’s exactly what Rex Ryan’s team did.

4. New England Patriots
Previous Week: 7
Tom Brady wasn’t sharp until late in the Pats’ win over the Ravens, but he was efficient when it mattered most. Deion Branch isn’t Randy Moss, but he proved on Sunday that he doesn’t need to be in order to help New England win.

5. Baltimore Ravens
Previous Week: 3
Tough loss for the Ravens in New England last Sunday. I wouldn’t say they dominated the Pats for most of the game, but they were definitely in control. In the end, they got Tom Brady’d.

6. New Orleans Saints
Previous Week: 8
I guess the Saints answered the question of whether or not the Bucs were for real. That’s the performance everyone has been waiting for out of this team.

7. New York Giants
Previous Week: 11
I held off bringing the G-Men back into the top-10 until they proved they could stop beating themselves with costly turnovers. They’ve done that over the last three weeks and they might be the most confident team in the NFC right now.

8. Philadelphia Eagles
Previous Week: 10
The Eagles’ win on Sunday over the Falcons was one of the most dominating performances I’ve seen from a team against a playoff-caliber opponent. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect day was the injury sustained by DeSean Jackson. Get better soon, DeSean.

9. Atlanta Falcons
Previous Week: 5
When a team starts 4-1 and has as much talent as the Falcons, not many people get fixated on how that team won those games. When a team travels Philly, allows Kevin Kolb to throw for over 300 yards and then gets dominated in every phase of the game, people start throwing the term “overrated” around when two of said team’s wins were courtesy of a missed field goal and a fluke fumble. The Falcons still have a lot to prove.

10. Green Bay Packers
Previous Week: 6
Three weeks ago the Packers were sitting atop these rankings as the clear-cut best team in football (in my eyes, anyway). But an ugly Monday night loss to the Bears and 40,034 injuries later, this team is on the verge of dropping out of the top-10.

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We’ll officially name this week: The week were Anthony starts from scratch because the Packers are a walking infirmary and I don’t trust the Colts as far as I can throw them.

There are always a couple of weeks where you have to start from scratch and because there is no clear-cut team in the league right now, this is one of those weeks.

Let’s get nasty!

Check out Week 5’s Power Rankings

1. Pittsburgh Steelers
Previous Week: 4
Do I really believe the Steelers are the best team in the NFL? I don’t know, maybe. Their secondary is still a concern and I wonder if they’ll ditch the run now that Big Ben is back, but this team has the best front seven in football and managed to win three out of four games with Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch. So yeah, I guess they’re the best team right now. I guess.

2. Indianapolis Colts
Previous Week: 2
Peyton Manning was completely held in check for four quarters by a vastly improving Kansas City defense, but kudus to Indy’s run defense for finally showing up. Their second half effort allowed the Colts to win on a rare off day by Peyton.

3. Baltimore Ravens
Previous Week: 3
The Ravens win over the Broncos last Sunday was more impressive than you think. They were coming off two straight divisional games, including an emotional last-minute victory over the Steelers in Pittsburgh and had to face a non-divisional opponent at home. I thought for sure we would see a letdown from this team, but instead they put together a rather complete victory.

4. New York Jets
Previous Week: 7
Last year, the Jets relied on their running game and defense to win games and held their breath hoping Mark Sanchez wouldn’t screw things up. This year, they’re still running the ball well (LaDainian Tomlinson looks G.R.E.A.T.) and playing good defense, but now Sanchez is no longer a liability. He’s really making strides in his second year.

5. Atlanta Falcons
Previous Week: 5
Don’t expect this team to blow opponents out every Sunday because it’s not going to happen. They love to methodically wear teams down and then break their backs in the fourth quarter when the games on the line. And as of right now, Mike Smith’s squad is executing that strategy to perfection.

6. Green Bay Packers
Previous Week: 1
It’s not the loss to the Redskins that causes this team to drop – it’s the number of injuries that continue to pile up. Morgan Burnett, Nick Barnett, Ryan Grant, Jermichael Finley, Clay Matthews and now Aaron Rodgers may miss this week? Not good.

7. New England Patriots
Previous Week: 8
We’ll see what kind of team this is without Randy Moss. The Deion Branch acquisition helps solid, but he can’t do what Moss can do on a field. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Bill Belichick changes his offensive approach (i.e. switching to more two-tight end sets instead of going three-wide) from here on out.

8. New Orleans Saints
Previous Week: 6
I’ll say it last week and I’ll say it again: The Saints are just going to have to get by until they can get healthy. They repeatedly shot themselves in the foot last Sunday in Arizona and it cost them a win against a team that was starting an undrafted rookie QB. This team needs Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas back soon.

9. Chicago Bears
Previous Week: 10
Major kudus to Mike Martz, Matt Forte and the defense in last Sunday’s win against the Panthers. The Bears could have accepted their fate with Todd Collins at quarterback and they didn’t. Instead, they put together a complete game and dominated an opponent that didn’t belong on the same field as them. Now here’s to hoping no Chicago fan has to endure another snap of Collins the rest of their lives.

10. Philadelphia Eagles
Previous Week: 11
For at least one week, Kevin Kolb put a cork in his critics. But will Michael Vick return to face his former team this Sunday? You know he’s going to try and do everything he can to face the Falcons.

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There were a lot of movers and shakers in the power rankings this week and we could have a lot of moving parts next weekend too with a couple of big-time match ups (none bigger than the Steelers and Ravens this Sunday in Pittsburgh).

Let’s get nasty…

Check out Week 3’s Power Rankings

1. Indianapolis Colts
Previous Week: 2
The Colts didn’t dominate the Broncos by any stretch of the imagination on Sunday, but that was no less an impressive victory. They were coming off a quasi-must win on Sunday night and had to travel cross-country to play in a tough environment. Good win.

2. Green Bay Packers
Previous Week: 1
I don’t know whether to rip the Packers for that horrendous display last night or remark how impressive it was that they still had a chance to win a game after committing 18 penalties. Either way, that was some ugly football.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers
Previous Week: 10
I have to admit, I thought the Steelers would get caught looking ahead to their game with the Ravens this weekend when they took on the Bucs. Obviously I’m not that bright.

4. Baltimore Ravens
Previous Week: 4
I’m starting to think I have this team rated too high, but then again the Ravens haven’t played a complete game yet. Their offense struggled the first two weeks and their defense took a step back last Sunday against the Browns. I think when this team puts it all together it could dominate, but we haven’t seen it yet.

5. Atlanta Falcons
Previous Week: 13
Yes, there loss to the Steelers in overtime was ugly. But there aren’t many offenses that look good against Pittsburgh’s defense. Matt Ryan stepped up in a huge way on Sunday in the win over the Saints. It may have been his finest performance to date.

6. New Orleans Saints
Previous Week: 3
Tough loss for the Saints, who were a Garrett Hartley chip shot away from 3-0. At least fans can take comfort in the fact that Drew Brees and Sean Payton won’t rest until they iron out their issues.

7. New York Jets
Previous Week: 10
I’m not the biggest Mark Sanchez fan, but there’s no doubt he’s been impressive the past two weeks. He’s found a solid weapon in tight end Dustin Keller.

8. Philadelphia Eagles
Previous Week: 9
I’m still waiting for Michael Vick to take a game off (he’s been prone to in the past), but I have nothing but positive things to say about his game to this point. He’s been spectacular.

9. Houston Texans
Previous Rank: 5
The Texans learned a valuable lesson this week in that playoff hopefuls can’t take weeks off. They just didn’t show up against the Cowboys.

10. Chicago Bears
Previous Week: 15
The Bears are the greatest team alive – period. Bear Down, Chicago Bears.

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