PSL Power Rankings #7
What an absolutely insane first few weeks it’s been in the NFL. Seventeen teams, 17!!!, are still over .500. And it’s just crazy how one week a team (let’s say, the Giants) can look like total crap and then the following week come out and smoke a top-five team like the Falcons. Powerhouses like the Bengals losing to junk teams like the Buccaneers and surprises like the Saints are making this season something to watch. It’s almost impossible to tell who’s going to be left standing at the end of the year. Especially after Monday night’s Bears-Cardinals game. Chicago has looked like far and away the best team in the NFL. The offense was rollin’ up the points, the defense was shuttin’ teams down and appeared to be playing with such consistency. Then, Arizona, a dreg of a team, gets them at home and blows their doors off. But, in the blink of an eye, two lucky defensive plays, a special teams score and a missed Neil Rackers FG later, the Bears are still undefeated. What Monday night’s game showed me is that the Bears are not invinceable. In fact, they may not be as good as we all thought. They’ve played most of their games at home and haven’t really faced a tough road challenge yet. Rex Grossman and Bernard Berrian have yet to show what they can do against a good defense on the road. I’m not sold. However, they stay at #1. The big movers up this week, the Carolina Panthers, jump up nine spots all the way to #5, while the Falcons fall 11 spots to #16. Meantime, the Birds’ second tough loss of the season drops them out of the top 5, but not out of the top 10. Not yet, anyway. Now… onto the rankings… (1) Chicago Bears (5-0) - They escaped from the desert by the skin of their teeth, in one of the most bizarre games I have ever seen. To have your quarterback turn the ball over six times and come back from 20 points down in the second half without an offensive touchdown is simply incredible. (2) Indianapolis Colts (5-0) - Their trade for Bucs’ DT Booger McFarland should help out that run defense, which has been the achilles heel of the Colts so far in ‘06. They paid a steep price though, giving up a second-round pick. We’ll see if picking a Booger works out for Indy. 4) San Diego Chargers (4-1) - The Colts are higher because they’re undefeated, but for my money, the Chargers are the best team in the AFC, if not the NFL. Of course, Schottenheimer will find a way to sabotage their Super Bowl chances, but we’re still at least a couple months away from that. Philip Rivers is for real. (9) Seattle Seahawks (4-1) - It hasn’t been pretty for the Hawks this season, with Shaun Alexander’s foot injury and the loss of Steve Hutchinson drastically affecting the running game. However, last Sunday’s monster comeback win in St. Louis, with the division lead on the line, was monstrous. Seattle needed that game. (14) Carolina Panthers (4-2) - Since Steve Smith returned to the lineup, the Panthers are 4-0. It’s hard to believe that one wide receiver can make that much of a difference, but the facts are the facts. That was one impressive performance by Jake Delhomme in Baltimore on Sunday, too. (7) New England Patriots (4-1) - The Pats drop down a spot on the bye week, amid rumors of a possible trade for disgruntled Raiders WR Randy Moss. It didn’t happen. Can you imagine Moss and Belichek co-existing? Talk about oil and vinegar. Of course, Tom Brady still has no one to throw to. (10) Denver Broncos (4-1) - I hate their offense and I think Jake Plummer is a terrible quarterback. But their defense has convinced me to finally move them up a bit. Only one touchdown through the first five games of the season? Never been done before. (8) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2) - I may have these guys rated a bit too high at the moment, I realize that. They’re a very uneven team, you just don’t know what you’re going to get from these guys. But I just feel like this team is ready to really start clicking on offense. Once that happens, watch out. (12) New Orleans Saints (5-1) - I don’t think they’re more talented than the Eagles, but they definitely showed they are for real on Sunday. After the Birds completely stole momentum from New Orleans early in the fourth, the Saints took it right back and dominated the entire fourth quarter. Quite an impressive win by a quality team. (3) Philadelphia Eagles (4-2) - Yes they should be 6-0 but they’re not. Frankly, the defense has not been good enough for this team to be undefeated. And we can talk about all the mental breakdowns and the talent level all we want to. But until this team is able to give tacit commitment to the running game and stop the big play on D, they will continue to beat themselves. (6) Cincinnati Bengals (3-2) - What is going on in Cincinnati? Perhaps all the police blotter activity has caused these guys to lose their focus, but there is no way, NO WAY, a Super Bowl contender should lose to a winless team, I don’t care where it is. These guys have been up-and-down all year and they better get it fixed soon. (11) St. Louis Rams (4-2) - Despite losing a huge intra-division game at home to the Seahawks, they were quite impressive on Sunday. It was quite a slugfest between Hasslebeck and Bulger. Unfortunately, the Hawks got the ball last and scored on a monster FG as time expired. But the Rams appear to be for real too, as long as Bulger keeps playing mistake-free football. (16) Dallas Cowboys (3-2) - One question… do you think Bill Parcells is happy or disturbed that Terrell Owens caught three touchdown passes on Sunday? It is an absolute zoo in Dallas, with a fight between Owens and his receivers coach, rumors of fines or suspensions that never came about, and reports of severe friction between Owens, Jones and Parcells. Yikes. (17) New York Giants (3-2) - Despite a very impressive win over the Falcons on Sunday, I just can’t put these guys any higher, not until I see it on a more regular basis. This team, along with the Redskins, are two of the most stupefying teams to figure out in the NFL. Some weeks they look like Super Bowl contenders, other weeks they look like crap. I have no idea what the Giants are, so I’m sticking them here in the middle of the pack until I find out. (13) Baltimore Ravens (4-2) - Again, another team with a very good defense but serious issues on offense. The solution? Fire Jim Fassel. I have no idea if this is going to help anything, and the bye week should give Steve McNair time to be ready to go following his concussion on Sunday. But the offense was misfiring even with McNair in there, and Brian Billick thinks he’s the solution. We’ll see. (5) Atlanta Falcons (3-2) - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You stop Mike Vick from running and shut down Warrick Dunn, you beat the Falcons. It’s not a difficult formula. Kudos to the Giants for once again showing us all how it’s done. (15) Minnesota Vikings (3-2) - It’s becoming apparent that no one’s catching the Bears in the North, so the Vikes must focus their attention on the Wild Card. The bad news, there are a bunch of times with more talent who appear to have the inside track. (20) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-3) - Finally, the Steelers looked like the Steelers of old. The extra week of rest seemed to do Ben Roethlisburger a lot of good, Willie Parker showed that flash that makes him special, and Hines Ward found the end zone. They’ve got a long way to go still, but the Stillers are not dead yet. (22) New York Jets (3-3) - This just feels like an 8-8 team to me. They’ve got no running game whatsoever, you just don’t know what you’re going to get from Chad Pennington from week to week, but they play a bad enough schedule to allow them to beat up on some of the dreggier teams in the NFL. (18) Kansas City Chiefs (2-3) - Have I mentioned that Herman Edwards can’t coach? Granted, they played the world champs after a bye week on their home field. That’s like lambs to the slaughter. But 45-7? Good teams don’t lose like that. (19) Washington Redskins (2-4) - How on earth, with all that talent and all that money and all those high-profile coaches, do you lose a game at home to a rookie quarterback and the Tennesse Titans? How on earth did that happen? The Skins are proving once again that money isn’t always the answer. (21) Buffalo Bills (2-4) - While Willis McGahee may be having a fine year yardage-wise, he just can’t seem to find the end zone yet. The Bills’ red-zone offense is almost non-existent and they do just enough each week to lose. (23) San Francisco 49ers (2-4) - Alex Smith continues to play well, but the San Fran defense is a mess. They’ve given up 48, 41, 38 and 34 points in their four losses. Yet, they’ve beaten the Rams. This is a wacky league, friends. (30) Tennessee Titans (1-5) - Despite my Redskins bashing just a moment ago, that was quite an impressive win by a team that most had counted down-and-out. And while they’re certainly not going to the playoffs this year, they do have a young quarterback they can get excited about… Vince Young. He showed the poise of a player much older and calmly led the Titans to a big win on the road on Sunday. (24) Cleveland Browns (1-4) - Unfortunately, the Browns don’t have any young, great player to give them hope. Unless you’re counting Kellen Winslow, Jr., who has yet to show he will be worth the investment. It’s a long climb up for the Brownies. (25) Miami Dolphins (1-5) - OK, so we’re officially declaring this season for Miami a wash, right? I mean, Daunte obviously came back too soon from injury which is the reason the entire team has flushed its season down the toilet, correct? C’mon guys, show some heart! This season has been as much about the putrid play of the offensive line and the terrible defense as it has Culpepper. No heart in Miami. (27) Green Bay Packers (1-4) - During the bye week, Brett Favre threw three interceptions during a family picnic. His QB rating actually went up. (29) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4) - A very impressive first win of the season for Jon Gruden and the Bucs, beating the Bengals at home. You’ve got to like how Steve Gradkowski has kept them in both games they’ve played since Sims went down with a busted spleen. And Cadillac Williams is finally starting to show some life, too. (31) Detroit Lions (1-5) - Congratulations to the Detroit Lions for their first win of the season over the Bills. And congratulations to Roy Williams who, after I traded him away in week 3 of my fantasy football league season, finally showed a little heart and put up a big week. Friends, if you’ve got Roy Williams on your fantasy squad, get rid of him now. Because he won’t do that again until Week 12. (28) Houston Texans (1-4) - How many teams were on the bye this week? Geez! I hate this new bye system. It seems like a third of the league didn’t play in Week 6. (26) Arizona Cardinals (1-5) - Wow. What to say about Monday night’s loss. Just a staggering, mind-blowing choke job. It wasn’t just the fact that they blew a 20-point lead, it’s the fact they did without giving up an offensive touchdown. Think about how difficult that is. It’s nearly impossible! But not for the Cardinals. The one bright spot… Matt Leinart is going to be a very good quarterback in this league for a long, long, long time. (32) Oakland Raiders (0-5) - The good ship lollypop was in high spirits during the bye week. Randy Moss almost got traded to the Patriots and Jerry Porter was suspended. How did both of these guys not get traded for draft picks, especially considering how many teams could use a good wideout? I don’t get it.
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