NFL Power Rankings – Week 1

The NFL season finally kicks off on Wednesday night with the Cowboys taking on the Giants in New York. And then the rest of the league follows suit on Sunday and Monday with a full slate of games. Crazed, football-starved fans have been getting by on projections and analysis and fantasy drafts, but now the real thing begins.

Here’s an update to my pre-season rankings for Week 1.

1. Green Bay – Top to bottom, still the best talent.
2. New England – Brady and Gronk will be hard to stop.
3. NY Giants – Defending champs have to be near the top.
4. Baltimore – Always play tough defense. Can Flacco and the O deliver?
5. Pittsburgh – Big Ben has Haley’s new offense and Wallace finally.
6. San Francisco – Not sure they can repeat 13-3 with Alex Smith.
7. Houston – Texans lost key pieces, but play in a weak division.
8. New Orleans – Despite everything, they’re still dangerous.
9. Detroit – Lots of firepower and off-field issues.
10.  Atlanta – Good team still trying to prove it is great.
11.  Philadelphia – Vick says dynasty. Let’s see it on the field.
12.  Chicago – Cutler. Forte. Marshall. And a good D.
13.  Dallas – Sooner or later, they have to live up to the hype … right?
14.  Kansas City – The ACL trio returns. Solid D. It’s all on Cassel.
15.  Buffalo – Great offseason, but can they compete in AFC East?
16.  Denver – Everybody love Peyton, but the team needs more tools.
17.  Cincinnati – Great young core. Insanely tough division.
18. San Diego – Promise big every year. It’s do-or-die time for the bosses.
19. Carolina – Big dreams in PantherLand after Cam’s rookie year.
20.  NY Jets – Rex’s weight loss and the team’s loss of wins will mirror.
21.  Tennessee – Steady team. Big decision on the QB.
22.  Seattle – Pete believes. No one else is sure. Pick a QB, please.
23.  Washington – RGIII has the town by the tail. But can he win?
24.  Arizona – Solid by not spectacular anywhere. Iffy at QB.
25.  Tampa Bay – Lots of moves to improve the roster. And a new coach.
26.  St. Louis – Fisher is the new sheriff in town. Sam has to rebound.
27.  Oakland – Reggie has some work to do in the post-Al era.
28.  Miami – Philbin takes over. Tannehill at QB. Long season ahead.
29.  Jacksonville – MJD finally reported. Gabbert has looked much improved.
30.  Cleveland – New owner. New QB. New RB. Big hill to climb.
31.  Indianapolis – His name is Luck, and he’ll need it this season.
32.  Minnesota – AP is still recovering. Is Ponder the guy?

Welcome back, football. We’ve missed you terribly.

As always, thanks for reading.

Steve

The NFL's Top 10 QBs for 2012

MTSS is continuing with the latest installment in a series of “Top 10” blogs, today highlighting the best quarterbacks for the upcoming season. As a reminder, these players are being ranked based on what each one is expected to contribute this season versus what they have done in the past. Here goes.

1. Aaron Rodgers – Mobile. Accurate. Steady. The coolest since Montana.
2. Drew Brees – Continues to prove the doubters wrong. Single-season passing king.
3. Tom Brady – Proving to be the best draft pick in Patriots history.
4. Eli Manning – He may not look the part, but he just wins when it counts.
5. Ben Roethlisberger – Expect Big Ben’s production to increase with Haley’s pass-happy offense.
6. Matthew Stafford – Finally played a full season and lived up to expectations. More to come.
7. Tony Romo – The most over-analyzed player in the league. He’s solid. Must prove he’s clutch.
8. Philip Rivers – A down year in 2011, but expect him to bounce back with new weapons in tow.
9. Michael Vick – If the dude could only stay healthy … sick numbers when he’s on the field.
10. Peyton Manning – Hall of Fame worthy, but can he stay healthy? Hold your breath, Bronco fans.

Best of the Rest – (listed alphabetically) Jay Cutler, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub. These five quarterbacks are ascending in the QB ranks, but just haven’t done it well enough or long enough to crack the top tier.

So who am I missing? Where do I have the order all messed up? Sound off; give me your list.

Thanks for reading.

Steve

The NFL’s Top 10 RBs for 2012

As the first installment in a series of blogs I’ll be doing over the next two weeks leading up to NFL Kickoff Weekend … here are my thoughts on the best running backs in the NFL, right now. Not what they’ve done in the past, but rather what we can expect from them this season.

1. Arian Foster – Two-time defending rushing champion. Hard to argue with that.
2. Ray Rice – The bowling ball from Rutgers. Who wants to tackle that thing.
3. LeSean McCoy – Has been called the nearest thing we’ve seen to Barry Sanders.
4. Chris Johnson – CJ2K had a down year last year, but looks electric in the pre-season.
5. Maurice Jones-Drew – Now the man in Jax, he’s holding out. That hurts his ranking.
6. Adrian Peterson – Would be No. 1 except for that December knee injury.
7. Matt Forte – Mr. Do It All with no fanfare. Forte is solid in all phases.
8. Jamaal Charles – He’s a virtual carbon copy of Johnson, but with less baggage.
9. Steven Jackson – Rams all-time leading rusher. Five straight 1,000-yard seasons.
10. Michael Turner – He’s carried the ball a ton. May be set for a down year.

Best of the Rest – (listed alphabetically) Ahmad Bradshaw, Frank Gore, Fred Jackson, Ryan Mathews, Darren McFadden. These guys are all great backs, but each of them have yet to put in all together on a consistent basis either due to injury, opportunity or production.

Who am I missing? And how would you list them?

Thanks for reading.

Steve

NFL Week 6: Games to Watch

We are five weeks into the 2011 NFL Regular Season and if there’s one thing for sure, this year is turning out to be the season of surprise – surprises positive and surprises negative. On the plus side, we have great unexpected success stories in Buffalo, Detroit, San Francisco and Washington. And on the down end, we have teams laying eggs like Indianapolis, Minnesota, Philadelphia and St. Louis.

 

Two months ago, who would have thought the 49ers at Lions game would one of the biggest ones on the Week 6 schedule. Well, it is. And the records for the teams in the Eagles-Skins game are backwards from what everyone expected. That’s why they play the games.

Last week I went 3-1 on these preview games; overall I'm 15-5.

Here are four of this week’s best games.

49ERS (4-1) @ LIONS (5-0)

These two teams are the talk of the NFL football world, going a combined 9-1 through five weeks of games. Detroit was somewhat expected; San Francisco was not. The 49ers were terrible last year, they have a rookie head coach and the lockout kept them from installing a new system this summer. None of it seems to have mattered. And the Lions are rolling, winning in every conceivable fashion. The edge goes to the Lions playing at home.

Detroit 31, San Francisco 24

BILLS (4-1) @ GIANTS (3-2)

This is a hard game to figure. Buffalo is one the real surprises of the season so far; the team’s only loss so far is a road loss to the Bengals. The Bills have beaten New England, Oakland and Philadelphia, and certainly look like a team that is for real. The Giants are, again this year, one of those tough teams that just seem to find a way to win. Their defense has been hit hard by injuries, but they find a way to put players on the field and gut out hard-fought victories. The G-Men do it again this week, but just barely.

New York 24, Buffalo 23

EAGLES (1-4) @ REDSKINS (3-1)

It’s hard to say which of these teams is a bigger surprise – Philly on the down side or Washington on the plus side. Everyone has heard all about the Eagles’ talent and how they were supposed to be winning. And everyone has grown accustomed to doubting the Redskins’ talent and Mike Shanahan’s coaching. Well, maybe Washington is finally putting it together. The team is leading the NFC East and hosts the reeling Eagles. They keep on surprising and the Eagles keep on falling.

Washington 27, Philadelphia 24

TEXANS (3-2) @ RAVENS (3-1)

At the beginning of the year, most folks probably looked at this match-up and just marked is as an easy win for the Ravens. And maybe it will be anyway. But when you look closer at this game, it gets more and more interesting. The Texans are balanced on offense, and Wade Phillips finally has the team playing some defense. The Ravens are a hard team to figure, going hot and cold from week to week. Flacco is still inconsistent, but Ray Rice is the offensive engine. He’ll deliver again.

Baltimore 23, Houston 21

Missouri Round-up

The Missouri Tigers celebrate the centennial of the Homecoming where homecomings all began. Mizzou welcomes the Iowa State Cyclones to town for the big party, and everybody remotely associated with the university hopes they don’t spoil it. The Tigers are 2-3 and already 0-2 in conference play; I don’t see how they can lose this one at home. The Chiefs are off on their BYE this weekend, and the Rams will probably wish they were by the time they leave Green Bay. I fully expect the Packers to destroy St. Louis’ undermanned Rams. Run for cover, fellas.

As always, thanks for reading.

Steve