3afan
11-02-2006, 08:42 AM
NFL Power Rankings Week 8 (1-15)
1 Bears If you were out for the first half of the 1 o'clock games on Sunday and just got to a TV in time for the halftime highlight shows on CBS and FOX — you saw some pretty standard stuff on the tickers scrolling below: New York beating Tampa Bay, the Bengals neck and neck with the Falcons, and the Ravens up on the Saints. And then you saw this: Chicago : 41, San Francisco : 0. Yes, 41-0. At the half. Chicago ’s officially ROLLING. Their quarterback situation is settled, their defense is looking like the Bears squad of ’85, and their special teams are arguably the best in the league. The only question lingering is over which current Bear will play the Richard Dent role in the “Super Bowl Shuffle” remix…which absolutely MUST be made.
2 Colts - Reggie Wayne had the first 3 touchdown game of his career on Sunday in Denver. Peyton Manning connected with the 6-year-vet 10 times for 138 yards. Critics questioned the Colts strength of schedule leading up to Sunday’s game. They’re are no doubts now. However, if Indy gets past New England next week, there are serious repercussions for us football fans: We’ll have to deal with that whole ‘72 Dolphins media circus all over again. Talking heads screaming. Great.
3 Patriots - Tom Brady threw for 372 yards and hit four different receivers for touchdowns in Monday night’s 31-7 blowout win over the Vikings. New England’s defense sacked Viking quarterbacks Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger four times, and snagged four interceptions. Dillon High’s battle with their cross-town rivals on “Friday Night Lights” being played on NBC at the same time was a far more entertaining game. Voodoo Tatom! New England takes on Indy Sunday, in what should be a game that’s absolutely not hyped up at all.
4 Broncos - The Broncos defense entered Sunday’s game having allowed just two touchdowns through the team’s first six games. Only the 1934 Lions — remember them? — had given up less points through that point in the season. And then the Colts came to town. Yikes. Manning and the boys from Indy put up 34 points, marching up and down the pitch, often times looking unstoppable. So much for those “Best Defense Ever” articles starting to sprout up all over the Internet.
5 Giants - If only the Knicks had jump shots as smooth and as graceful as the members of the Giants defense. Big Blue held the Bucs offense to a paltry 174 yards, and caused six fumbles on the day. While the media seems fixated on Tiki Barber, the Giants defense has been the real story in 2006. As Tiki talks about retirement, promotes his children’s book, aspires to be the next Matt Lauer, shows ESPN his home, and attacks Michael Irvin and Tom Jackson on his weekly Sirius Satellite radio show — the defense is laying low, shutting down opponents week after week.
6 Ravens - The Ravens ended a two-game losing skid, handing the Saints their second loss of the season on Sunday. With Brian Billick calling the shots on offense, the Ravens cruised to a 35-22 win. It also ended up being quite a homecoming for two Baltimore defensive players. Ronnie Prude and Dawan Landry, fellow Louisiana natives, each returned interceptions 12 yards for touchdowns.
7 Chargers - The Chargers got back to their winning ways on Sunday, taking down the Rams 38-24 in San Diego. The league’s most dominant running duo — MT AND LT — bruised and cruised for 216 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Tomlinson also caught a TD pass in the effort. LT and MT — two super heroes with lightning bolt costumes — bringing a Super Bowl trophy to San Diego. Sounds like terrific Halloween costumes.
8 Falcons -I said it last week, and I’ll say it again—though he seems to be the antithesis of all things traditionally acceptable for the position, Michael Vick is a legitimate MVP candidate 8 weeks into the NFL season. With yet another heroic performance in Sunday’s 29-27 win at Cincinnati, Vick has led Atlanta to a 5-2 record despite one of the toughest schedules in the league. Although Vick began the day with an “eh” 73.2 quarterback rating, the Falcons signal caller was on point versus the Bengals — connecting on 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Falcons put up an astounding 420 yards of offense and converted on 7 of 15 third downs. The Falcons take on the lowly Lions Sunday.
9 Saints - The Saints have the NFL season’s First Half Rookie of the Year on their roster. Except, his name isn’t Reggie Bush. No, Marques Colston — the third to last pick in April’s draft — is the hands down best first-year player in the league. The rookie out of Hofstra hauled in 6 passes for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns in Sunday’s loss to Baltimore. While Bush continues to struggle against NFL defenses, teams can’t seem to find an answer for Colston. The Saints currently hold the tie-breaker over division foe Atlanta in the NFC South. The two teams meet again on November 26th. A postseason home game may lie in the balance. Circle the date.
10 Jaguars - The Jags defense — embarrassed last week by the lowly Texans — bounced back to hold the top rated offense in the league to a meager 229 yards and 6 points on Sunday. The win puts Jacksonville right back in the AFC wild card hunt. As for the AFC South division race — it’s a lost cause; the Colts wrapped that one up back in early September.
11 Chiefs - Larry Johnson scored 4 touchdowns and Damon Huard threw for 312 yards in Sunday’s 35-28 win over the depleted Seahawks. Herm Edwards’ squad escaped a near disaster, overcoming fumbles, falling cornerbacks, and Brodie Croyle’s disturbing new mustache to hold on for the win. Edwards’ comments after the game were noteworthy as always: “I said it last week and I’ll say it again — it’s about your will and ours was good enough to win.” How this guy doesn’t have a book-on-tape motivational speaking empire is beyond me.
12 Seahawks - In his first NFL start, Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace threw for 198 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in a 35-28 loss. A B-plus performance as far as NFL debuts go. The highlight of Wallace’s day came on a 49-yard touchdown toss to Darrell Jackson which put the ‘Hawks up 28-27 late in the fourth quarter. Alas, the defense — which gave up close to 500 yards on the day — couldn’t stop the Chiefs in the end. Sure, the Seahawks miss Hasselbeck and Alexander. But they miss that shutdown defense from 2005 even more.
13 Bengals - Chad Johnson found the end zone in Sunday’s loss to Atlanta. But S.I.’s coverboy failed to break the 100 yard mark for the seventh straight week. The Bengals face division leading Baltimore this weekend. I’d love to call this the AFC’s game of the week, but a certain two teams out of Indy and New England happen to play each other on Sunday as well. That said, this weekend’s game with Baltimore is a must-win for Cincy. A victory, and they’re back in the driver’s seat of the AFC North. A loss — and they’re just another .500 team with fledgling postseason dreams in the AFC.
14 Cowboys - Quite a week for Bill Parcells. On Monday, he had a face of confusion as his former team absolutely crushed his current one. Later in the week, his face was on the cover of the New York Times’ “Play” sports supplement. On Sunday’s Fox NFL pregame show, Jimmy Johnson said he thought Parcells was done after this season. On Sunday at 7, he was painted by Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis on “60 Minutes” as an all-business, old-school teacher of the game. And by Sunday at 11, he was kissing a player on the head. Whatever face of Parcells’ you want, the truth is in the numbers — despite a roller coaster ride of a season unlike any other he’s been through — the Cowboys are currently a 4-3 team with solid postseason chances. On Sunday, Tony Romo looked like a seasoned vet in the fourth quarter and the defense looked unbreakable in the second half. A win over Washington on Sunday, and the ‘Boys are actually in pretty good shape heading into the second half of the season.
15 Panthers - The Panthers, the chic pick to win the NFC for many talking heads during the preseason, are now 4-4 and in the midst of a 2-game losing skid. Muffed punts, Deshaun Foster dropping open field screen passes, Jake Delhomme over-throwing receivers, and the Dallas rushing attack making the Panthers defensive line look like Swiss cheese — Carolina looked like anything but a Super Bowl contender on Sunday night.
1 Bears If you were out for the first half of the 1 o'clock games on Sunday and just got to a TV in time for the halftime highlight shows on CBS and FOX — you saw some pretty standard stuff on the tickers scrolling below: New York beating Tampa Bay, the Bengals neck and neck with the Falcons, and the Ravens up on the Saints. And then you saw this: Chicago : 41, San Francisco : 0. Yes, 41-0. At the half. Chicago ’s officially ROLLING. Their quarterback situation is settled, their defense is looking like the Bears squad of ’85, and their special teams are arguably the best in the league. The only question lingering is over which current Bear will play the Richard Dent role in the “Super Bowl Shuffle” remix…which absolutely MUST be made.
2 Colts - Reggie Wayne had the first 3 touchdown game of his career on Sunday in Denver. Peyton Manning connected with the 6-year-vet 10 times for 138 yards. Critics questioned the Colts strength of schedule leading up to Sunday’s game. They’re are no doubts now. However, if Indy gets past New England next week, there are serious repercussions for us football fans: We’ll have to deal with that whole ‘72 Dolphins media circus all over again. Talking heads screaming. Great.
3 Patriots - Tom Brady threw for 372 yards and hit four different receivers for touchdowns in Monday night’s 31-7 blowout win over the Vikings. New England’s defense sacked Viking quarterbacks Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger four times, and snagged four interceptions. Dillon High’s battle with their cross-town rivals on “Friday Night Lights” being played on NBC at the same time was a far more entertaining game. Voodoo Tatom! New England takes on Indy Sunday, in what should be a game that’s absolutely not hyped up at all.
4 Broncos - The Broncos defense entered Sunday’s game having allowed just two touchdowns through the team’s first six games. Only the 1934 Lions — remember them? — had given up less points through that point in the season. And then the Colts came to town. Yikes. Manning and the boys from Indy put up 34 points, marching up and down the pitch, often times looking unstoppable. So much for those “Best Defense Ever” articles starting to sprout up all over the Internet.
5 Giants - If only the Knicks had jump shots as smooth and as graceful as the members of the Giants defense. Big Blue held the Bucs offense to a paltry 174 yards, and caused six fumbles on the day. While the media seems fixated on Tiki Barber, the Giants defense has been the real story in 2006. As Tiki talks about retirement, promotes his children’s book, aspires to be the next Matt Lauer, shows ESPN his home, and attacks Michael Irvin and Tom Jackson on his weekly Sirius Satellite radio show — the defense is laying low, shutting down opponents week after week.
6 Ravens - The Ravens ended a two-game losing skid, handing the Saints their second loss of the season on Sunday. With Brian Billick calling the shots on offense, the Ravens cruised to a 35-22 win. It also ended up being quite a homecoming for two Baltimore defensive players. Ronnie Prude and Dawan Landry, fellow Louisiana natives, each returned interceptions 12 yards for touchdowns.
7 Chargers - The Chargers got back to their winning ways on Sunday, taking down the Rams 38-24 in San Diego. The league’s most dominant running duo — MT AND LT — bruised and cruised for 216 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Tomlinson also caught a TD pass in the effort. LT and MT — two super heroes with lightning bolt costumes — bringing a Super Bowl trophy to San Diego. Sounds like terrific Halloween costumes.
8 Falcons -I said it last week, and I’ll say it again—though he seems to be the antithesis of all things traditionally acceptable for the position, Michael Vick is a legitimate MVP candidate 8 weeks into the NFL season. With yet another heroic performance in Sunday’s 29-27 win at Cincinnati, Vick has led Atlanta to a 5-2 record despite one of the toughest schedules in the league. Although Vick began the day with an “eh” 73.2 quarterback rating, the Falcons signal caller was on point versus the Bengals — connecting on 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Falcons put up an astounding 420 yards of offense and converted on 7 of 15 third downs. The Falcons take on the lowly Lions Sunday.
9 Saints - The Saints have the NFL season’s First Half Rookie of the Year on their roster. Except, his name isn’t Reggie Bush. No, Marques Colston — the third to last pick in April’s draft — is the hands down best first-year player in the league. The rookie out of Hofstra hauled in 6 passes for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns in Sunday’s loss to Baltimore. While Bush continues to struggle against NFL defenses, teams can’t seem to find an answer for Colston. The Saints currently hold the tie-breaker over division foe Atlanta in the NFC South. The two teams meet again on November 26th. A postseason home game may lie in the balance. Circle the date.
10 Jaguars - The Jags defense — embarrassed last week by the lowly Texans — bounced back to hold the top rated offense in the league to a meager 229 yards and 6 points on Sunday. The win puts Jacksonville right back in the AFC wild card hunt. As for the AFC South division race — it’s a lost cause; the Colts wrapped that one up back in early September.
11 Chiefs - Larry Johnson scored 4 touchdowns and Damon Huard threw for 312 yards in Sunday’s 35-28 win over the depleted Seahawks. Herm Edwards’ squad escaped a near disaster, overcoming fumbles, falling cornerbacks, and Brodie Croyle’s disturbing new mustache to hold on for the win. Edwards’ comments after the game were noteworthy as always: “I said it last week and I’ll say it again — it’s about your will and ours was good enough to win.” How this guy doesn’t have a book-on-tape motivational speaking empire is beyond me.
12 Seahawks - In his first NFL start, Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace threw for 198 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in a 35-28 loss. A B-plus performance as far as NFL debuts go. The highlight of Wallace’s day came on a 49-yard touchdown toss to Darrell Jackson which put the ‘Hawks up 28-27 late in the fourth quarter. Alas, the defense — which gave up close to 500 yards on the day — couldn’t stop the Chiefs in the end. Sure, the Seahawks miss Hasselbeck and Alexander. But they miss that shutdown defense from 2005 even more.
13 Bengals - Chad Johnson found the end zone in Sunday’s loss to Atlanta. But S.I.’s coverboy failed to break the 100 yard mark for the seventh straight week. The Bengals face division leading Baltimore this weekend. I’d love to call this the AFC’s game of the week, but a certain two teams out of Indy and New England happen to play each other on Sunday as well. That said, this weekend’s game with Baltimore is a must-win for Cincy. A victory, and they’re back in the driver’s seat of the AFC North. A loss — and they’re just another .500 team with fledgling postseason dreams in the AFC.
14 Cowboys - Quite a week for Bill Parcells. On Monday, he had a face of confusion as his former team absolutely crushed his current one. Later in the week, his face was on the cover of the New York Times’ “Play” sports supplement. On Sunday’s Fox NFL pregame show, Jimmy Johnson said he thought Parcells was done after this season. On Sunday at 7, he was painted by Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis on “60 Minutes” as an all-business, old-school teacher of the game. And by Sunday at 11, he was kissing a player on the head. Whatever face of Parcells’ you want, the truth is in the numbers — despite a roller coaster ride of a season unlike any other he’s been through — the Cowboys are currently a 4-3 team with solid postseason chances. On Sunday, Tony Romo looked like a seasoned vet in the fourth quarter and the defense looked unbreakable in the second half. A win over Washington on Sunday, and the ‘Boys are actually in pretty good shape heading into the second half of the season.
15 Panthers - The Panthers, the chic pick to win the NFC for many talking heads during the preseason, are now 4-4 and in the midst of a 2-game losing skid. Muffed punts, Deshaun Foster dropping open field screen passes, Jake Delhomme over-throwing receivers, and the Dallas rushing attack making the Panthers defensive line look like Swiss cheese — Carolina looked like anything but a Super Bowl contender on Sunday night.