Yes, I know that Indy and Miami haven't played yet. Oh well, Indy's good and Miami is closer to its 2007 team than its 2008 team.
1. NY Giants: You've got to respect a win @ the first home game at Jerry's World.
2. Saints: A win on the road against Philly is pretty nice and their offense looks unstoppable. I have questions about their defense. That week four game between the Jets and Saints looks like it will be pretty rad.
3. Minnesota: Sure they've beaten two horrendous teams so far, but they've both been on the road. Great offensive line, very good defense, best RB in the game and serviceable old Favre at QB. They don't excel like the Saints do on offense and they don't have that quality win.
4. Baltimore: Their defense is giving up points and that could just be flukey, but they beat SD on the road and their offense looks better this year.
5. Atlanta: I don't see a sophomore slump for Matt Ryan. They own two wins against playoff teams from last year. They need to keep wearing those sweet throwback uniforms.
6. NY Jets: I have trouble putting a team this high that starts a rookie QB. But Atlanta and Balt both went to the playoffs last year. Their defense looked stellar against two good offensive teams (Patriots and Texans). They have a very good- to great o-line and two good RBs. This team is the next big thing.
7. Indy: This is presumptious at this point given their narrow victory over a crappy Jacksonville team. But Indy has won too many games with Manning and he's still in his prime, so I don't see a dropoff this year.
8. Steelers: Chicago exposed Pittsburgh's offensive line. Willie Parker doesn't look very good right now. They still have that defense.
9. Niners: Whose defense has looked better so far this year than the Niners? Some of given away less points, but did they play two teams that were supposed to be good on offense? Shaun Hill is competant at QB and they have some good RBs. The o-line needs to play better. They should have reached for Michael Oher in the draft last year and not picked that pain in the ass Crabtree. Everything's 20-20 in hindsight, and the Niners would have gotten destroyed for passing on Crabtree initially, but tackle is a position of need and Oher is a great run blocking tackle. Crabtree wouldn't have gotten past #13 (Washington) and he would have been the same asshole with them, so the Niners would have had their own Houston-picking-Mario Williams- moment. Damn all those other teams picking those three OTs ahead of the Niners.
10. Cowboys: Talented team, poorly coached with an inconsistent QB. Romo will throw for 350 yards one game and then serve up a poo-poo platter the next. Jerry Jones isn't thrilled with Wade Phillips but he kept him around because he's waiting for Bill Cowher to come out of retirement.
11. Texans: Houston beat Tennessee on the road yesterday. Houston is loaded on defense (they haven't played like it yet though) and the Shaub-Slaton-Johnson trio is credible on offense. That week one matchup vs. the Jets could have been the two best teams in the AFC.
12. Arizona: They're going to be all over the map with Warner this year. He's old and he's going to play poorly in cold weather. Beanie Wells is averaging over five yards a carry but the Cards aren't giving him very many carries.
13. Pats: These guys are the late 90s Cowboys. People still talk about them, but they're not serious contenders. Trading Seymour was both smart and dumb- dumb for the short term and smart for the long term. Belichek might have known this team couldn't compete after losing so many guys on defense and having a crappy o-line so he's preparing for the future right now. The Pats' offensive line looks horendous, they can't run the ball, Brady looks rusty and the defense is, at best, a mid-range NFL defense.
14. San Diego: And with the firing of Marty Schottenheimer three years ago went the SB chances of a very talented Chargers team. That defense looks bad and Merriman looks like he was the NFL's version of Sammy Sosa. Instead of being so cutthroat with its coaches, management should have been cutthroat with LaDainian Tomlinson and shipped him off instead of Michael Turner. Sproles is nice on special teams and as a change of pace back, but he's not an every down back. Good o-line, great QB, good receivers, bad RB corps and an increasingly bad defense.
15. Chicago: I don't know what to make of this team. They lose at Green Bay and then beat the Steelers. They're the NFC's version of Houston.
Other teams I can't make sense of: Denver, Green Bay, Philly and Cincinnati. Denver's defense looks great, Philly's looks bad. Green Bay loses to Cincy- wtf? Cincy couldn't score against Denver's defense and then drops 31 at Lambeau?
The putrid 6 (in no particular order):
Chiefs: It looks like New England got the better end of that trade with the Chiefs
Bucs: If you fire John Gruden shouldn't you make sure you have some solid prospects lined up?
Jacksonville: The team's given up on its coach and they can't sell out their games.
Rams: If I ranked them, this would be the worst team in the league.
Lions: I think they'll get better as the year goes on. But that will still only mean a couple wins- they get Cleveland and the Rams at home.
Browns: Mangini was hated by the Jets. The Browns already have a similar relationship with this tool two games into the season. The Jets were the most underachieving team in the league last year. Fortunately for the Jets' fanbase, that partially enabled them to have a high enough draft pick to move up to pick Mark Sanchez.
The "She's Only 17" teams:
Raiders: I've had the unfortunate pleasure of watching this team two weeks in a row. My thoughts- great RBs and solid o-line and a frisky defense. The defense has Richard Seymour on its d-line and the best cornerback in the league in Nnamdi Asomugha. Unfortunately it looks like they have a black version of one of the Baldwin brothers not named William at QB.
Bills: I can't make sense of this team, kind of like Cincy, Green Bay and Denver
1. NY Giants: You've got to respect a win @ the first home game at Jerry's World.
2. Saints: A win on the road against Philly is pretty nice and their offense looks unstoppable. I have questions about their defense. That week four game between the Jets and Saints looks like it will be pretty rad.
3. Minnesota: Sure they've beaten two horrendous teams so far, but they've both been on the road. Great offensive line, very good defense, best RB in the game and serviceable old Favre at QB. They don't excel like the Saints do on offense and they don't have that quality win.
4. Baltimore: Their defense is giving up points and that could just be flukey, but they beat SD on the road and their offense looks better this year.
5. Atlanta: I don't see a sophomore slump for Matt Ryan. They own two wins against playoff teams from last year. They need to keep wearing those sweet throwback uniforms.
6. NY Jets: I have trouble putting a team this high that starts a rookie QB. But Atlanta and Balt both went to the playoffs last year. Their defense looked stellar against two good offensive teams (Patriots and Texans). They have a very good- to great o-line and two good RBs. This team is the next big thing.
7. Indy: This is presumptious at this point given their narrow victory over a crappy Jacksonville team. But Indy has won too many games with Manning and he's still in his prime, so I don't see a dropoff this year.
8. Steelers: Chicago exposed Pittsburgh's offensive line. Willie Parker doesn't look very good right now. They still have that defense.
9. Niners: Whose defense has looked better so far this year than the Niners? Some of given away less points, but did they play two teams that were supposed to be good on offense? Shaun Hill is competant at QB and they have some good RBs. The o-line needs to play better. They should have reached for Michael Oher in the draft last year and not picked that pain in the ass Crabtree. Everything's 20-20 in hindsight, and the Niners would have gotten destroyed for passing on Crabtree initially, but tackle is a position of need and Oher is a great run blocking tackle. Crabtree wouldn't have gotten past #13 (Washington) and he would have been the same asshole with them, so the Niners would have had their own Houston-picking-Mario Williams- moment. Damn all those other teams picking those three OTs ahead of the Niners.
10. Cowboys: Talented team, poorly coached with an inconsistent QB. Romo will throw for 350 yards one game and then serve up a poo-poo platter the next. Jerry Jones isn't thrilled with Wade Phillips but he kept him around because he's waiting for Bill Cowher to come out of retirement.
11. Texans: Houston beat Tennessee on the road yesterday. Houston is loaded on defense (they haven't played like it yet though) and the Shaub-Slaton-Johnson trio is credible on offense. That week one matchup vs. the Jets could have been the two best teams in the AFC.
12. Arizona: They're going to be all over the map with Warner this year. He's old and he's going to play poorly in cold weather. Beanie Wells is averaging over five yards a carry but the Cards aren't giving him very many carries.
13. Pats: These guys are the late 90s Cowboys. People still talk about them, but they're not serious contenders. Trading Seymour was both smart and dumb- dumb for the short term and smart for the long term. Belichek might have known this team couldn't compete after losing so many guys on defense and having a crappy o-line so he's preparing for the future right now. The Pats' offensive line looks horendous, they can't run the ball, Brady looks rusty and the defense is, at best, a mid-range NFL defense.
14. San Diego: And with the firing of Marty Schottenheimer three years ago went the SB chances of a very talented Chargers team. That defense looks bad and Merriman looks like he was the NFL's version of Sammy Sosa. Instead of being so cutthroat with its coaches, management should have been cutthroat with LaDainian Tomlinson and shipped him off instead of Michael Turner. Sproles is nice on special teams and as a change of pace back, but he's not an every down back. Good o-line, great QB, good receivers, bad RB corps and an increasingly bad defense.
15. Chicago: I don't know what to make of this team. They lose at Green Bay and then beat the Steelers. They're the NFC's version of Houston.
Other teams I can't make sense of: Denver, Green Bay, Philly and Cincinnati. Denver's defense looks great, Philly's looks bad. Green Bay loses to Cincy- wtf? Cincy couldn't score against Denver's defense and then drops 31 at Lambeau?
The putrid 6 (in no particular order):
Chiefs: It looks like New England got the better end of that trade with the Chiefs
Bucs: If you fire John Gruden shouldn't you make sure you have some solid prospects lined up?
Jacksonville: The team's given up on its coach and they can't sell out their games.
Rams: If I ranked them, this would be the worst team in the league.
Lions: I think they'll get better as the year goes on. But that will still only mean a couple wins- they get Cleveland and the Rams at home.
Browns: Mangini was hated by the Jets. The Browns already have a similar relationship with this tool two games into the season. The Jets were the most underachieving team in the league last year. Fortunately for the Jets' fanbase, that partially enabled them to have a high enough draft pick to move up to pick Mark Sanchez.
The "She's Only 17" teams:
Raiders: I've had the unfortunate pleasure of watching this team two weeks in a row. My thoughts- great RBs and solid o-line and a frisky defense. The defense has Richard Seymour on its d-line and the best cornerback in the league in Nnamdi Asomugha. Unfortunately it looks like they have a black version of one of the Baldwin brothers not named William at QB.
Bills: I can't make sense of this team, kind of like Cincy, Green Bay and Denver