Cat Crave » NFL power rankings

NFL Power Rankings Week Ten

Ken Dye — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 23:18:40 +0000

1) Atlanta Falcons – Still undefeated, still #1 here and will stay here until they lose
2) Chicago Bears – Urlacher had the longest pick-6 in NFL history if you go by time elapsed in the process.
3) Houston Texans – No Ben Tate this week so Foster will have to solve that Bears D this week.
4) San Francisco 49′ers – They never do “beat themselves”
5) Denver Broncos – If they can keep improving, a Super Bowl run isn’t out of the question this year
6) Baltimore Ravens – They will be falling soon I think. Oakland has a chance of beating them
7) New York Giants – Eli’s only had 2 TDs in 2 weeks but the defense is top notch again
8) Pittsburgh Steelers – No Mendenhall? No problem. This team is living up to their lunchpail image this season.
9) Green Bay Packers – The Sleeping Giant is awake but injuries are holding them back – scary
10) New England Patriots – Not up to normal Patriots team standards this year.
11) Indianapolis Colts – Andrew Luck is looking like the OROY more and more each week
12) Seattle Seahawks – Nobody wants to travel to Seattle and face this team at home
13) Miami Dolphins – lost yet another squeaker @ Indy; watch out folks they are close and improving
14) Minnesota Vikings – 5-4 but I think they’ll fade in the second half
15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – If the defense ever does gel this team is a handful
16) Detroit Lions – Starting to find the winning way again; could climb still
17) San Diego Chargers – This is a Jekyll/Hyde team even within the same game, let alone week to week
18) Oakland Raiders – Should give the Ravens a closer game than they want this week in Baltimore
19) Arizona Cardinals – Could hold a while or climb with that D, but should fade by season’s end
20) St. Louis Rams – Another team fading after a good start but the offense just isn’t there
21) Washington Redskins – RG3 can’t catch it, too! Someone really needs to step it up at WR
22) Philadelphia Eagles – Andy Reid will be gone after this season
23) New Orleans Saints – Offense is top-5 but defense is bottom-5
24) Dallas Cowboys – The team continues to struggle all around – Jason Garrett’s last year?
25) Carolina Panthers – Rivera needs to really pull this team together fast to save his job after GM fired
26) Cleveland Browns – Solid D when healthy but Trent Richardson struggles to stay healthy
27) Cincinnati Bengals – Fading fast after a good start
28) Tennessee Titans – Offense still seeking identity as they’ll languish in the bottom third all year
29) New York Jets – All “Rex” and no “Tyrannosaurus”
30) Buffalo Bills – Calling All Coaches: Hotseat!
31) Jacksonville Jaguars – Yes, Alabama could beat them.
32) Kansas City Chiefs – refer to my comment about Jacksonville.

NFL Week Seven Power Rankings

Ken Dye — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:13:02 +0000

Some shaking up going on at the top of this week’s power rankings! Houston lost the top spot, vacating it for the only undefeated team remaining, the Atlanta Falcons. When they do lose (and they will – soon), a bunch of grey-haired old men in Miami will be having their champagne celebration that they’ve been having for the past 40 years when the last undefeated team loses. The Niners slide as the Giants just laid out the blueprint for defeating them and it’s not that strange…stop the run, harass the QB…hello! *bops head, complaining he coulda had a V-8*

Stop the run, and pressure the QB! Amazing! Astounding! Order a second one for free – just pay processing!

That’s why the 2-loss Giants vaulted the one-loss Ravens and Bears. Actually, the Ravens WOULD be third, but they’ve lost so many key players to injury on that defense that they’re not the same team they’ve been in…forever on that side. You can run the ball on ‘em, and relatively easily do so.

1) Atlanta Falcons
2) Houston Texans
3) New York Giants
4) Baltimore Ravens
5) Chicago Bears
6) San Francisco 49′ers
7) Seattle Seahawks
8) Denver Broncos
9) Green Bay Packers
10) Minnesota Vikings
11) Philadelphia Eagles
12) St. Louis Rams
13) New England Patriotss
14) Miami Dolphins
15) Cincinnati Bengals
16) Washington Redskins
17) New York Jets
18) Pittsburgh Steelers
19) Dallas Cowboys
20) Arizona Cardinals
21) San Diego Chargers
22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
23) Tennessee Titans
24) Indianapolis Colts
25) Buffalo Bills
26) Detroit Lions
27) Carolina Panthers
28) Cleveland Browns
29) New Orleans Saints
30) Oakland Raiders
31) Kansas City Chiefs
32) Jacksonville Jaguars

Teams on the rise:
Seattle Seahawks – the ‘hawks just defeated the Patriots (which I predicted), and their defense is top-ranked in the NFL. Russell Wilson shows signs of being a QB that can step up and deliver when the team needs him most, and Marshawn Lynch is running strong.

Green Bay Packers – The team finally got untracked last week against the undefeated Texans. Look out, league, the offense is awake!

Miami Dolphins – If not for 2 overtime losses, they’d be leading the AFC East. LEADING it! The defense is stout and the offense is coming along nicely. This is one of those teams that nobody wants to play these days.

Teams on the slide:
Arizona Cardinals – Their defense can keep them in most games, but their offensive line woes cost Kevin Kolb some playing time and they just can’t win with a John Skelton starting at QB. Even with Kolb, this team is suddenly vulnerable.

Pittsburgh Steelers – The injury bug has really bitten this team this year. Troy Polamalu is the key to the defense and he can’t stay on the field these days. The offensive line is walking wounded too, and the linebacking corps is staying dinged up. The steel curtain’s definitely showing rust.

Philadelphia Eagles – When you fire a defensive coordinator when the defense is in the upper-tier while the offense ranks near the bottom of the NFL, you have to wonder if anyone knows what’s going on there. Doesn’t look like the organization does….

NFL Week Six: Power Rankings

Ken Dye — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 01:28:01 +0000

Here are my week 6 power rankings. Keep in mind these rankings aren’t JUST about the records of the teams but also very subjective things like perceived strength of schedule played and perceived momentum…teams on a winning streak with so-so records should overall be ranked higher than teams on a losing streak but that may still have a winning record – like Arizona. It’s more like a “top-32″ college poll.

1) Houston Texans
2) Atlanta Falcons
3) San Francisco 49′ers
4) Baltimore Ravens
5) Chicago Bears
6) New England Patriots
7) San Diego Chargers
8) New York Giants
9) Pittsburgh Steelers
10) Philadelphia Eagles
11) Minnesota Vikings
12) Denver Broncos
13) Seattle Seahawks
14) Cincinnati Bengals
15) St. Louis Rams
16) Arizona Cardinals
17) Green Bay Packers
18) Miami Dolphins
19) Dallas Cowboys
20) Washington Redskins
21) Indianapolis Colts
22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
23) New York Jets
24) Buffalo Bills
25) Carolina Panthers
26) New Orleans Saints
27) Kansas City Chiefs
28) Detroit Lions
29) Tennessee Titans
30) Oakland Raiders
31) Cleveland Browns
32) Jacksonville Jaguars

Not much change at the top as Houston and Atlanta remained the only 2 unbeaten teams in the NFL. San Fran is pretty much tied for the top at #3 with a very impressive dominant win over the Bills. The “big-name” team that is really struggling would be the Green Bay Packers. That’s one team I can’t figure out with their own dominance the past two seasons. That offense is really not performing that well, and their defense didn’t get the job done against the young Colts when they blew a 21-3 halftime lead in Indy last Sunday.

The Miami Dolphins are 2 overtime losses away from being 4-1 and leading the AFC East and beat the Bengals on the road. Folks, they’re a team nobody wants to play against these days.

Other surprise teams that continue to surprise are the Minnesota Vikings, the St. Louis Rams, and Seattle Seahawks. All were thought to be cellar-dwellers or close to it and that the NFC West would be a very weak division after the Niners. Not so. The NFC West has all 4 teams above .500, but the Arizona Cardinals are finally starting to show that they are mortal – even with Kevin Kolb playing surprisingly well.

So far, the biggest disappointments are the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers, each with but a single victory apiece. The Saints aren’t such a disappointment because of not having their head coach available – at least I’m not surprised by their snail’s-pace start.

Carolina’s 1-4 start? That’s a different story, and they just lost All-Pro center Ryan Kalil to a foot injury.