I know we have one more game, but I'll just assume that GB wins. With BYU sucking some serious donkey balls, my focus has shifted from college football to the NFL.
1. Pittsburgh. I was really, really wrong about Pittsburgh. The combined record of Pittsburgh's opponents so far is 6-3, so their opponents haven't lost to anyone else this season. I'm also sensing a little bit of a Ewing Theory with Ben Roethlisberger which means this team might decline when Big Ben comes back. Polamalu is a lot more important to this team than Ben Roethlisberger.
2. Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson -- Green Bay has a ton of players that are top 5 in their respective positions on both sides of the ball. With all the shit Aaron Rodgers put up with when Favre was in Green Bay, I actually find myself rooting for GB a bit.
3. NY Jets. Mark Sanchez looks pretty good, his current passer rating is 104.9. Since losing a putrid game to the Ravens during week 1, they've turned around and beat two quality teams in New England and Miami. If Sanchez continues playing like this, the Jets will be the team to beat in the AFC.
4. Atlanta. Great receivers, very good QB, depth at RB and a decent defense. I think Atlanta and GB will be getting the two first round byes out of the NFC.
5. Indy. There are some huge problems in their secondary, but Manning is looking great again and they still have that pass rush.
6. New Orleans. A narrow loss to Atlanta isn't something to get too worried about. However with Atlanta in their division, New Orleans is looking at a Wild Card berth.
7. Houston. After being called a pussy by Michael Irvin, Roy Williams finally decided to show up against the other Texas team. The Cowboys were playing for their season and it showed. I still see Houston as wild card team and Dallas out of the playoffs.
8. Philly. I see parallels between Michael Vick's career and Steve Young's with the exception of the STDs, dogfighting and prison time. Steve Young at his retirement according to Bill Walsh was the best athlete to have played the position. Vick is an even better athlete and he also has the great arm. Young figured things out later in his career and looks like perhaps the same thing is going on with Vick. Young was lethal when he became efficient as a passer and Vick has looked damn good so far. Their competition hasn't been stellar in the last couple games, but I'm beginning to drink the Vick kool-aid.
9. Miami. This team has gotten pretty solid along the o-line and in the front 7 on defense. The problem for this team is Chad Henne has to develop some more. Brandon Marshall and Ronnie Brown are studs, but I don't think too many teams are worried about Miami's passing ability. It's going to come down to Miami or Baltimore for the final playoff spot in the AFC.
10. KC. I'll finally have to give credit to KC. The teams they've played have a combined record of 1-8, but KC has taken care of business. I do not like Matt Cassel at QB, but Dexter McCluster and Jamall Charles are amazing and they have a great coaching staff. Their defense looks like it's significantly improved.
11. Baltimore. Joe Flacco has gone from being a decent rookie to being a very shaky third year starter. Baltimore's defense is not what it was but more than good enough with Baltimore's o-line, WRs, TEs and RBs. If Flacco figures things out, Baltimore is a Super Bowl contender.
12. Tennessee. Good team, bad QB situation and tough division. They won't be making the playoffs.
13. New England. I've said it before, but look at the Cowboys after the 95-96 season. New England is not a contender and probably won't make the playoffs. A lot of people haven't figured this out yet. The secondary is bad, their running game is bad and, as Bill Simmons mentioned, it looks like Tom Brady has his own Yoko Ono now.
14. Cincy. Good hell, Palmer looks terrible. This is a talented team but the coaching is marginal and the character is bad. Owens is a couple weeks away from blowing up.
15. Chicago. They're about to be exposed by the Packers tonight. Bad o-line, bad receivers and a marginal defense.
16. Seattle. Did you know they were 2-1? It looks like they're getting a one year bump from the new coach. They may even win the division, but they'll probably go 8-8 in the process.
17. Tampa. Freeman looks good, but I think they're an 8-8 team by the end of this season but things are looking up for them.
18. Arizona. This is the last 2-1 team, but their two wins have come against the Rams and Raiders. They were shellacked by Atlanta.
19. San Diego. I think San Diego has the potential to come back and win the AFC West. Really they belong higher, but I can't justify it. They have a great, though douschy, QB. They also have questionable coaching. They're the best team with a losing record right now. But they've also lost to KC and Seattle -- neither of which look like world beaters.
20. Dallas. They've had two early season losses to one bad team and one team that is a pretender. Kudos for the win against the Texans, but they're looking like an 8-8 or 9-7 team and that won't secure a playoff spot this year.
21. Minnesota. Unlike Dallas, I think Minny has it in them to get a wild card spot. I'm thinking 10-6 is possible. With that said, they haven't proven it by beating a team even close to as good as the Texans.
*** A huge divide***
22. Oakland. Oakland is the one team that could move up above the divide. They looked frisky against Arizona yesterday and Heyward-Bey is looking like less of a bust than Michael Crabtree.
23. St. Louis. Two narrow losses to bad teams and decisive win against another bad team. Bradford looks great as a rookie and Steven Jackson is one of the best RBs in the league. They're still too deficient along both lines to make a run this year, but there' cause for optimism.
24. Detroit. This team should have beaten Chicago and they play hard. Like St. Louis, they have reason to be optimistic. They have the right coach and they have a couple stud players in Calvin Johnson and Suh. They were very competitive with Philly.
25. Denver. Has a decent passing attack and not much else.
26. NY Giants. Their defense looks horrible and they've now gotten blown out twice. Yes, I really think Detroit and St. Louis could beat this team on a neutral field.
27. Cleveland. This is another team with some good players and they have good o-line, but unlike St. Louis's and Detroit's coaching staffs, I don't think much of Eric Mangini. They have huge problems at QB. Three narrow losses isn't bad.
28. Jacksonville. I'm not sure how they beat Denver. Plus no one cares about this team. They could be the frontrunners to move to LA, but I'm not sure if LA would even notice.
29. Washington. To be fair, McNabb hasn't been a total train wreck. But the defense and o-lines on this team are just terrible and they don't have enough talent at the skill positions on offense.
30. San Francisco. I'm tempted to put these guys at the bottom, but this team is still head and shoulders above 31 and 32. San Francisco has talent at a lot of positions, the same can't be said for Carolina and Buffalo. However, the QB position looks bad most of the time and they probably have the most overmatched coaching staff in the league. In any given week, San Francisco could probably beat anyone under the divide. They could also beat some teams over the divide, but they've also been run off the field by the likes of KC and Seattle.
31. Buffalo. They've played hard for a couple games. Bad defense, bad o-line, bad QB situation. They have some nice RBs though.
32. Carolina. Good hell this team looks terrible. They've made the Giants, Bengals and Tampa look good and I don't see really too many redeemable traits in this team.
1. Pittsburgh. I was really, really wrong about Pittsburgh. The combined record of Pittsburgh's opponents so far is 6-3, so their opponents haven't lost to anyone else this season. I'm also sensing a little bit of a Ewing Theory with Ben Roethlisberger which means this team might decline when Big Ben comes back. Polamalu is a lot more important to this team than Ben Roethlisberger.
2. Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson -- Green Bay has a ton of players that are top 5 in their respective positions on both sides of the ball. With all the shit Aaron Rodgers put up with when Favre was in Green Bay, I actually find myself rooting for GB a bit.
3. NY Jets. Mark Sanchez looks pretty good, his current passer rating is 104.9. Since losing a putrid game to the Ravens during week 1, they've turned around and beat two quality teams in New England and Miami. If Sanchez continues playing like this, the Jets will be the team to beat in the AFC.
4. Atlanta. Great receivers, very good QB, depth at RB and a decent defense. I think Atlanta and GB will be getting the two first round byes out of the NFC.
5. Indy. There are some huge problems in their secondary, but Manning is looking great again and they still have that pass rush.
6. New Orleans. A narrow loss to Atlanta isn't something to get too worried about. However with Atlanta in their division, New Orleans is looking at a Wild Card berth.
7. Houston. After being called a pussy by Michael Irvin, Roy Williams finally decided to show up against the other Texas team. The Cowboys were playing for their season and it showed. I still see Houston as wild card team and Dallas out of the playoffs.
8. Philly. I see parallels between Michael Vick's career and Steve Young's with the exception of the STDs, dogfighting and prison time. Steve Young at his retirement according to Bill Walsh was the best athlete to have played the position. Vick is an even better athlete and he also has the great arm. Young figured things out later in his career and looks like perhaps the same thing is going on with Vick. Young was lethal when he became efficient as a passer and Vick has looked damn good so far. Their competition hasn't been stellar in the last couple games, but I'm beginning to drink the Vick kool-aid.
9. Miami. This team has gotten pretty solid along the o-line and in the front 7 on defense. The problem for this team is Chad Henne has to develop some more. Brandon Marshall and Ronnie Brown are studs, but I don't think too many teams are worried about Miami's passing ability. It's going to come down to Miami or Baltimore for the final playoff spot in the AFC.
10. KC. I'll finally have to give credit to KC. The teams they've played have a combined record of 1-8, but KC has taken care of business. I do not like Matt Cassel at QB, but Dexter McCluster and Jamall Charles are amazing and they have a great coaching staff. Their defense looks like it's significantly improved.
11. Baltimore. Joe Flacco has gone from being a decent rookie to being a very shaky third year starter. Baltimore's defense is not what it was but more than good enough with Baltimore's o-line, WRs, TEs and RBs. If Flacco figures things out, Baltimore is a Super Bowl contender.
12. Tennessee. Good team, bad QB situation and tough division. They won't be making the playoffs.
13. New England. I've said it before, but look at the Cowboys after the 95-96 season. New England is not a contender and probably won't make the playoffs. A lot of people haven't figured this out yet. The secondary is bad, their running game is bad and, as Bill Simmons mentioned, it looks like Tom Brady has his own Yoko Ono now.
14. Cincy. Good hell, Palmer looks terrible. This is a talented team but the coaching is marginal and the character is bad. Owens is a couple weeks away from blowing up.
15. Chicago. They're about to be exposed by the Packers tonight. Bad o-line, bad receivers and a marginal defense.
16. Seattle. Did you know they were 2-1? It looks like they're getting a one year bump from the new coach. They may even win the division, but they'll probably go 8-8 in the process.
17. Tampa. Freeman looks good, but I think they're an 8-8 team by the end of this season but things are looking up for them.
18. Arizona. This is the last 2-1 team, but their two wins have come against the Rams and Raiders. They were shellacked by Atlanta.
19. San Diego. I think San Diego has the potential to come back and win the AFC West. Really they belong higher, but I can't justify it. They have a great, though douschy, QB. They also have questionable coaching. They're the best team with a losing record right now. But they've also lost to KC and Seattle -- neither of which look like world beaters.
20. Dallas. They've had two early season losses to one bad team and one team that is a pretender. Kudos for the win against the Texans, but they're looking like an 8-8 or 9-7 team and that won't secure a playoff spot this year.
21. Minnesota. Unlike Dallas, I think Minny has it in them to get a wild card spot. I'm thinking 10-6 is possible. With that said, they haven't proven it by beating a team even close to as good as the Texans.
*** A huge divide***
22. Oakland. Oakland is the one team that could move up above the divide. They looked frisky against Arizona yesterday and Heyward-Bey is looking like less of a bust than Michael Crabtree.
23. St. Louis. Two narrow losses to bad teams and decisive win against another bad team. Bradford looks great as a rookie and Steven Jackson is one of the best RBs in the league. They're still too deficient along both lines to make a run this year, but there' cause for optimism.
24. Detroit. This team should have beaten Chicago and they play hard. Like St. Louis, they have reason to be optimistic. They have the right coach and they have a couple stud players in Calvin Johnson and Suh. They were very competitive with Philly.
25. Denver. Has a decent passing attack and not much else.
26. NY Giants. Their defense looks horrible and they've now gotten blown out twice. Yes, I really think Detroit and St. Louis could beat this team on a neutral field.
27. Cleveland. This is another team with some good players and they have good o-line, but unlike St. Louis's and Detroit's coaching staffs, I don't think much of Eric Mangini. They have huge problems at QB. Three narrow losses isn't bad.
28. Jacksonville. I'm not sure how they beat Denver. Plus no one cares about this team. They could be the frontrunners to move to LA, but I'm not sure if LA would even notice.
29. Washington. To be fair, McNabb hasn't been a total train wreck. But the defense and o-lines on this team are just terrible and they don't have enough talent at the skill positions on offense.
30. San Francisco. I'm tempted to put these guys at the bottom, but this team is still head and shoulders above 31 and 32. San Francisco has talent at a lot of positions, the same can't be said for Carolina and Buffalo. However, the QB position looks bad most of the time and they probably have the most overmatched coaching staff in the league. In any given week, San Francisco could probably beat anyone under the divide. They could also beat some teams over the divide, but they've also been run off the field by the likes of KC and Seattle.
31. Buffalo. They've played hard for a couple games. Bad defense, bad o-line, bad QB situation. They have some nice RBs though.
32. Carolina. Good hell this team looks terrible. They've made the Giants, Bengals and Tampa look good and I don't see really too many redeemable traits in this team.
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