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Comments September 25, 2007
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1/1
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Colts
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3-0
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The Colts improved to (3-0) with a win over the hot starting Texans (who were playing without star receiver Andre Johnson).
The Indianapolis defense held the Texans to just 50 yards rushing. It was only a few games
ago when Indianapolis allowed Houston to rush for 191 yards in week 16, 2006.
The Colts’ D made sure there was no rerun.
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2/2
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Patriots
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3-0
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When Trent Edwards relieved the injured J.P. Losman in the first quarter he lead the Bills on an 80 yard touchdown drive to put Buffalo ahead
7-3. That’s when the Patriots’ defense woke up, allowing Buffalo a mere 104 yards of offense the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, the patriots’ offense put up 485 yards en route to a 31 point victory.
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3/7
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Cowboys
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3-0
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Romo’s play was MVP caliber as he, Owens, Witten, and the rest of the Cowboys’ offense sliced through the NFC’s most prolific
defense like hot butter to the tune of 24 second half points, and 431 yards overall.
The win almost qualifies as a Super Bowl sweep.
Recall the Cowboys beat the Colts during week 11 last season in Dallas. Now they just pounded the Bears in Chicago.
Mark your calendar for the week 6 matchup
versus New England.
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4/3
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Ravens
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2-1
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The Ravens won in a close finish versus the Cardinals
on a Stover field goal as time expired.
In unusual fashion Baltimore’s defense couldn’t hold a three score lead in the fourth quarter.
It makes one wonder what the offenses of the Colts, Patriots, or Cowboys might have done.
Meanwhile, even though the Ravens trail the Steelers in the standings,
they’re still ahead of them in the power rankings.
Recall that
last season Baltimore beat Pittsburgh twice by a combined score of 58-7 (once by shutout) with a crushing as recent as week 16.
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5/6
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Steelers
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3-0
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Pittsburgh notched another double digit win over a team ranked near the bottom of our power rankings, taking down San Francisco
to improve to 3-0.
As far as power rankings go, there’s only so high a team can go without winning versus other top ranked teams.
The Steelers will get their chance.
Presently if you want to compare the (3-0) Steelers to the (2-1) Ravens,
consider that
last season Pittsburgh lost to twice to Baltimore by a combined score of 58-7 (once by shutout).
And this season Pittsburgh has yet to beat a team of any substantial ranking, and they’re coming off
a non playoff season. They still have to earn their way past Baltimore.
Or Baltimore has to fall apart, which they almost did in week 3 against the Cardinals.
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6/14
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Titans
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2-1
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The Titans have won 8 of their last 10 games going back to last season with the only two losses during that span coming
versus New England and Indianapolis. Throw in two victories against
Jacksonville (currently ranked #7) during that span and it’s not hard to place the Titans in the top 10… However, Tennessee’s
remaining schedule is absolutely brutal. So beware of penciling them into the postseason at this early juncture.
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7/9
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Jaguars
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2-1
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The usually strong Jaguars’ defense held the Broncos to just 265 yards in Denver…
It seems that every time Jacksonville breaks into the top 10 after beating a top team (which they’ve done on
many occasions); they blow a game versus a team they’re supposed to crush…
At least the Jags have a bye in week 4.
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8/4
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Chargers
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1-2
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The Chargers allowed over 400 yards
of offense, falling on the road in Green Bay.
Even with a record of (1-2) we still see the Chargers as stronger than most of the other 31 teams.
So we’ll hold off pushing the power ranking panic button for now.
There will be plenty of opportunity to do that if San Diego loses at home to Kansas City next week.
As for why we still have the Chargers ranked ahead of the Packers? The Chargers are still (15-4) in their last 19 games.
And we see this matchup as going to the Chargers in San Diego as well as on a neutral field.
But it won’t take much more of what’s been transpiring this season for the Packers to move further into the top 10, or for San Diego
to fall out of the top 10 altogether.
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9/11
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Seahawks
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2-1
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Seattle rallied late for a win over the Bengals to improve to 2-1. Although the Seahawks’ allowed 412 yards to Cincinnati,
they held the Bengals’ prolific offense to 21 points.
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10/16
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Packers
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3-0
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If any surprise team in the NFC deserves a top 10 ranking in 2007, it’s the Packers after taking down their 3rd straight playoff team
from last season
(see rant from the
week 2 power rankings).
The Packers earned it with wins over the Eagles, Giants, and now the Chargers.
In fact, the Packers haven’t lost since week 13 of last season (although 3 of those wins
came versus Detroit, Minnesota, and San Francisco, while another came week 17 versus a Bears team that was lying down with the conference all wrapped up).
As for why we still have the Packers ranked behind the Chargers? The Chargers are still (15-4) in their last 19 games
while the Packers are (11-8).
And we see this matchup as likely going to the Bolts if played in San Diego, as well as on a neutral field.
But it won’t take much more of what’s been happening this season for the Packers to climb deeper into the top 10, or for the Chargers
to potentially slip from the top 10 altogether.
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11/5
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Bears
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1-2
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Chicago’s defense was a split second behind Tony Romo for most of the game.
And the Bears’ offense wasn’t strong enough to bail out their defense once the second half collapse began.
Last time we’re going to mention this. Call Bledsoe. He’s thrown for over 39,000 more yards than Grossman and 28,000
more yards than Griese.
Look at the bounce back season Favre is having. Bledsoe is almost 2 1/2 years younger than Favre.
And the Cowboys’ offense was ranked top 5 when Romo took over from Drew.
Otherwise, one gets the feeling the Bears’ defense is ready to further capitulate if the offense doesn’t
start holding up its end of the bargain.
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12/10
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Panthers
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2-1
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The Panthers allowed 262 yards of passing to Harrington and the Falcons in the first half alone. This certainly isn’t the brand of defense that
Carolina is usually known for. They may have gotten a “w” in the standings, but they drop in the power rankings.
Meanwhile, an injury to Steve Smith could spell tough times ahead for the Panthers.
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13/8
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Broncos
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2-1
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The way the Broncos barely survived in weeks 1 + 2 versus the Bills and Raiders, it wasn’t overly shocking
to see them lose to a Jaguars’ team that typically plays tremendous defense…
It’s early in the season, but this is a loss that could keep the Broncos out of the playoffs.
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14/13
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Redskins
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2-1
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The Redskins lost a heartbreaker in week 3 versus the Giants who were just a little bit hungrier for a win.
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15/17
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Eagles
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1-2
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The Eagles’ offense bounced back strong putting up 56 points versus Detroit. But it only counts
for one win. To get back to .500, the Eagles will have to win on the road against the Giants.
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16/20
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Jets
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1-2
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The Jets topped Miami to grab their first win of the season after starting (0-2) thanks to drawing New England and Baltimore in their first two games.
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17/21
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Giants
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1-2
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The Giants arguably saved their season by winning in Washington in week 3.
The season saving must continue in week 4 as the Giants host the Eagles. The winner
gets back to .500; the loser drops two games below. This is essentially a playoff game.
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18/15
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Texans
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2-1
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Playing without Andre Johnson the Texans’ offense had trouble keeping up with all the scoring of the Colts.
The Texans head to Atlanta to face
Schaub’s former team in week 4. It’s win or fall back to .500.
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19/19
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Cardinals
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1-2
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Is there a quarterback controversy brewing in Arizona?
Kurt Warner rallied the Cardinals from down 17 in the fourth quarter in Baltimore.
But it wasn’t enough as Stover connected with time expiring to give Baltimore the win.
The Cardinals have played down to the wire in all 3 games this season.
Most fans would accept that next week versus the Steelers.
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20/23
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Buccaneers
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2-1
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Tampa Bay put the clamps down on the ailing Rams to improve to 2-1. Oh how it pays to be healthy in the NFL.
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21/18
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Bengals
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1-2
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The Bengals lost a heartbreaker in Seattle. Until Cincinnati gets a defense to compliment its
incredible offense, making the playoffs could prove difficult.
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22/12
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Saints
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0-3
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Not only have the Saints started (0-3). But they dropped their third
straight game by 3 scores or more. We usually don’t drop teams this many spots in a single week,
but in this case an exception has to be made as we kept the Saints propped
a little higher in anticipation of a rebound, which didn’t happen. For the optimists out there, even at (0-3) the Saints still have time to turn it around.
Last season (8-8)
was good enough to make the playoffs in the NFC.
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23/22
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Chiefs
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1-2
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The Chiefs finally got their first win of the season coming from behind to beat the Vikings at home. On the downside Larry Johnson could only muster
42 yards on 24 carries, or 1.75 yards per carry.
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24/24
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Dolphins
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0-3
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The Dolphins fell to (0-3), losing by 3 points on the road to the Jets…
Road losses to the Jets and to the Redskins (in overtime), and a home loss to the Cowboys aren’t enough to send the Dolphins into the 30’s
where they’ll probably be ranked in some other power rankings. This team beat New England and Chicago last season. And while they’re playing some rough football in 2007,
the schedule has been stiff.
We’ll save any drop to the low 20’s or 30’s for next week if the Dolphins should lose at home to the Raiders.
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25/25
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49ers
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2-1
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San Francisco couldn’t hang with the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Barring an upset win over the Seahawks next week,
the 49ers will be back to .500.
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26/27
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Lions
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2-1
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The Lions ran into the Eagles at the worst possible time, and got blasted for 56 points.
The very idea of moving a team up in the rankings coming off a 35 point loss is rather nuts.
However, the Lions won in Oakland, and Oakland beat Cleveland, and the Rams are in
shambles. Not to mention the Lions beat the Vikings, and the Vikings beat the Falcons.
This provides a taste of how complex it can be to properly assemble the rankings.
Anyway, you get the idea. It’s one of those weeks where there’s nowhere to go but up.
And at least the Lions have a couple of wins in their back pocket… Although they’re not the kind of wins
that get a team into the top 10 as was seen in some other power rankings around the country.
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27/29
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Vikings
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1-2
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The Vikings almost pulled off a mild upset in Kansas City, but were shutout in the second half.
On the bright side; the defense played well holding Larry Johnson to just 42 yards on 24 carries, there were no interceptions from the quarterback position,
and Peterson went over 100 yards rushing. It may not be showing up in the standings, but Minnesota’s defense has the team moving up a bit in the power rankings.
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28/30
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Raiders
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1-2
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The Raiders ‘pulled a Broncos’ on the Browns and used a perfectly timed time out
to negate what would have been a game winning field goal by Dawson… On the next attempt the Raiders blocked the kick for the win.
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29/28
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Browns
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1-2
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The Browns allowed nearly 400 yards of offense to the Raiders, but had a chance to win before a perfectly timed time out
negated what would have been a game winning field goal by Dawson. On the next attempt, the kick was blocked.
Tough luck for the Browns. Maybe Cleveland can ‘pull a Raiders’ ‘pulling a Broncos’ on the Ravens next week using the same tactic
if the game comes down to it… That’s the trend anyway.
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30/26
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Rams
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0-3
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The Rams were defeated in Tampa, falling to 0-3. The offensive line has been decimated by injuries. If there’s
one team in the NFL that would benefit the most by somehow rewinding the 2007 season and starting it all over again, it
would be the Rams… At this point, even if they shocked the Cowboys next week, it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.
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31/31
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Falcons
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0-3
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Atlanta racked up plenty of offense through the air versus the Panthers which kept them in the game.
But the defense couldn’t stop DeShaun Foster, and
who knows what the final score would have been if not for Steve Smith’s injury.
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32/32
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Bills
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0-3
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Buffalo held a brief first quarter lead in New England after Trent Edwards led the Bills on an early
touchdown drive playing in place of Losman (injured in the early going). After that it was all New England,
as the Bills’ defense allowed over 400 yards of offense for the 3rd time in 3 games.
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