This week has seen some teams make significant jumps considering that the season is at its halfway point. The Giants and made the largest jump (7 spots), while both the Bills and Patriots dropped seven places...Here's the full rankings...
32. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week: 32) - Not much is going right for the Colts this year, as they looked almost lost against the Atlanta Falcons. To make matters worse, Dallas Clark is going to miss the next few weeks with what the Colts have termed "a lower leg injury".
31. St. Louis Rams (Last Week: 29) - Apparently the Rams just can't handle success, as they lost a game they should have won against the Arizona Cardinals this past week. There's talent on this team, but I believe their locker room lacks a true leader.
30. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week: 30) - Arizona escaped with an overtime win at home against St. Louis this week. Kudos to John Skelton on doing a decent job filling in for the injured Kevin Kolb. It'd be nice to see Darnell Dockett step up this week, as he hasn't been as disruptive this season (25 tackles, 0.5 sacks).
29. Miami Dolphins (Last Week: 31) - The Dolphins finally broke into the win column with a 31-7 road victory against Kansas City. Matt Moore played one of his best games as a pro (17-23, 244 yards, 3 TD), and Reggie Bush may have a chance of being an everydown back after all (195 yards on 28 carries the past two weeks). I can still see the Dolphins in the 4-5 win range this season.
28. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week: 27) - Hopefully the Jaguars used their bye week to try and get their offense in gear. QB Blaine Gabbert needs Marcedes Lewis healthy and productive for this offense to be anything but anemic.
27. Seattle Seahawks (Last Week: 26) - The 'Hawks were able to get the run game going this past week against Dallas, as Marshawn Lynch racked up a season high 135 yards on 23 carries, but this team still needs to find consistency in their passing game to be successful.
26. Carolina Panthers (Last Week: 25) - This team is surprisingly good through the air, but hopefully they'll use their running game more, as both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart have yet to really find a rhythm.
25. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week: 24) - It will definitely help Christian Ponder having the bye week to prepare and gain more familiarity with his receiving corps.
24. Cleveland Browns (Last Week: 23) - This team looked hopelessly lost on offense against the Texans this past week, totaling just 172 yards of offense against the Texans. Their run defense is also a concern, as they gave up 100 yard rushing efforts to both Arian Foster and Ben Tate against the Texans.
23. Washington Redskins (Last Week: 22) - The Redskins were competitive against the 49ers this past week, as rookie RB Roy Helu had a 100 yard receiving effort, but was unable to get it going on the ground (52 yards on 15 carries). If they can't find balance on offense, John Beck will have to win games by himself, which he hasn't proven capable of doing.
22. Denver Broncos (Last Week: 28) - The Broncos won an AFL style shootout in Oakland this past week. Tim Tebow still struggled with accuracy, but the Broncos racked up nearly 300 rushing yards (both McGahee and Tebow eclipsed 100 yards) against a porous Raiders run defense. Tebow is now 2-1 on the season, and the Broncos are suddenly only 1 game back of the AFC West lead.
21. Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 17) - It seems this team has lost whatever momentum it'd gained from a big win over San Diego last Monday night, looking terrible on both sides of the ball in a 31-3 home loss to the previously winless Dolphins.
20. Oakland Raiders (Last Week: 15) - If this team has any aspirations to make the playoffs, they've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball and defending the run. Their defensive effort against the Broncos this past week was horrendous, allowing 299 yards rushing on 39 carries. Palmer has thrown six interceptions in his first two games as a Raider, and needs to shake off the rust in a hurry.
19. Tennessee Titans (Last Week: 19) - Tennessee had a 17-7 halftime lead, but couldn't do anything on offense in the second half as rookie QB Andy Dalton led the Bengals to 17 unanswered points. Will Chris Johnson return to form at all this season?
18. Tampa Bay Bucs (Last Week: 20) - They played a competitive game against the Saints in New Orleans this past week, but came up short 27-16. This team will miss DT Gerald McCoy, as he's out for the season with a torn tricep.
17. Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: 21) - Rookie RB DeMarco Murray has probably Wally Pipp-ed oft-injured Felix Jones, as he runs with authority and has good vision out of the backfield. The Cowboys played solid football in the second-half against Seattle, but will likely be without WR Miles Austin, who re-aggravated his nagging hamstring injury in the win.
16. Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week: 16) - After their home loss to Chicago this past week, the Eagles are in must-win mode the rest of the year, as they are currently 2 games out of a playoff spot, and lost the tie-breaker to both the Falcons and Bears.
15. San Diego Chargers (Last Week: 18) - The only team that can stop the Chargers offense is the Chargers. Racking up almost 500 yards and 38 points should be enough to win any game. But Rivers threw two touchdowns to Packers defenders, and their late rally came up short against the defending champs. The good news is that they're still the most talented team in the AFC West. The bad news is they haven't been playing like it.
14. Buffalo Bills (Last Week: 7) - In a game that could have given the Bills sole possession of first place in the AFC East, the team played by far their worst game of the season in their 27-11 home loss to the Jets that wasn't as close as the score would indicate. Ryan Fitzpatrick struggled mightily in the first half (4-13, 24 yards, 2 interceptions) while the game was still close. If this team wants to be more than just average, they need to play better against a physical team like the Jets.
13. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week: 13) - Its hard to gauge if this team improved during the bye week, but they did look very good against a very bad Colts team in their 31-7 win. Julio Jones and Roddy White might be the top receiving tandem in the league, and are both very good run-blockers as well.
12. New England Patriots (Last Week: 5) - Two straight losses for the Patriots, and three straight games where there offense has looked average. The Patriots offense has to play nearly perfect football to win, given how poorly their defense has played this season. Could we be seeing the beginning of the end of the Patriots dynasty?
11. Chicago Bears (Last Week: 12) - This team again showed last season's run to the NFC title game was no fluke, as they went on the road and beat a talented Eagles team 30-24. The defense did a great job containing Michael Vick, as he wasn't able to cause his usual mayhem (247 total yards, 1 turnover, 0 touchdowns).
10. New Orleans Saints (Last Week: 10) - A solid performance at home against Tampa Bay, winning 27-16. I'd like to see this team shore up their run defense a little bit, as they are giving up just under 120 yards a game on the ground. They are #1 in yards per game and #2 in scoring, though.
9. New York Jets (Last Week: 14) - Stories of the Jets demise were clearly premature, as they won their third straight game, beating up the Bills in Buffalo 27-11. They dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball, and Buffalo's passing game was largely inefficient. With three solid cornerbacks and a strong front seven, this team can make any offense look ugly.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: 2) - It'll be interesting to see how the Steelers bounce back from their last-second home loss to the Ravens this past week. Their defense was very stout against the run, but Joe Flacco was surprisingly effective against their secondary (28-47, 300 yards) and led a 92 yard game winning drive capped by WR Torrey Smith's 26 yard touchdown catch with 8 seconds left.
7. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week: 8) - Baltimore swept the season series from the Steelers for the first time in franchise history due to their amazing comeback win in Pittsburgh sunday night. The only thing that can stop this team from making the postseason is the hot-and-cold play of Joe Flacco, who acquitted himself nicely against the Steelers defense.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week: 6) - By no means are the Bengals the most exciting team to watch, but they win games with solid quarterback play, a solid running game and an attacking defense. Andy Dalton continues to impress, and were it not for Cam Newton, would be solid candidate for rookie of the year. Cincinnati is the most consistent team on both sides of the ball in the AFC North. Four games remain against the Steelers and Ravens, and should they be able to split those four games, the Bengals will be a lock for the playoffs.
5. Houston Texans (Last Week: 9) - When Andre Johnson gets back, this team will be SCARY to play, as they are now the #2 team in the league in rushing (over 150 yards/game) as Arian Foster and Ben Tate are a scary combination at running back. They are also quietly #1 in the league in total defense, holding their last three opponents under 200 total yards.
4. New York Giants (Last Week: 11) - The Giants went into Foxboro without RB Ahmad Bradshaw and WR Hakeem Nicks, and yet still walked out with a big 24-20 win that saw Eli Manning engineer two fourth quarter scoring drives, including a 80 yard touchdown drive with 1:36 to go, connecting with TE Jake Ballard for the winning TD with just 15 seconds to go. The G-Men now hold a two game lead in the NFC East, and look to clearly be the best team in that division.
3. Detroit Lions (Last Week: 4) - The Lions are hopeful to have Jahvid Best return from injury this week. I still have concerns about their lack of balance on offense, but they are clearly one of the better NFC teams, as their only losses are to San Francisco and Falcons.
2. San Francisco 49ers (Last Week: 3) - They aren't necessarily an exciting team on offense, but the 49ers continue to take care of the football on offense and attack on defense en route to their 7-1 start. San Francisco's magic number to clinch the NFC West is four. Three tough games remain on their schedule (home games against the Giants and Steelers, and a road game against the Ravens), which should give us an idea how good this team can be.
1. Green Bay Packers (Last Week: 1) - The Packers were just good enough to win a tough road game against the Chargers this past week. I'm somewhat concerned with how many yards their defense gives up, but as long as Aaron Rodgers is healthy, they are a lock for a first round bye in the playoffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment