>Boy are the bad teams bad….NFL Power Rankings Week 7

October 27, 2009 Leave a comment

>The biggest thing I got from Week 7 was that the bad teams are SOOO bad. Teams #26-32 (Lions and Titans on a bye) went a combined 0-6, and were out scored 210-40. 210-40!!! That’s more than 4 touchdowns a game. Forget win-loss records, I really wonder how bad these teams are against the spread. Because not only are they losing, they are losing BIG and I really don’t see any improvement coming. Can you seriously look at any of these teams and see more than maybe 4 wins?

There are enough incredibly bad teams to have a playoff. Losing teams advance and we can call the last game the Toilet Bowl. In a committee of two, I came up with 2 possible venues: a U.S. Naval aircraft carrier in the Middle East; or Barrow, AK, the northernmost point in the United States.
On the more positive end, I keep New Orleans in the top spot, because (a) they put up 43 point in the last 30:05 of the game, after being down 24-3, and (b) Indy did win big, but it’s against the Rams, and the Rams are just the Rams. Biggest jump goes to Pittsburgh from #8 to #4 after putting the first loss on Minnesota, who dropped from #4 to #5.

Rank

Week 7

Last Week

1

Saints (6-0)

1

2

Colts (6-0)

2

3

Broncos (6-0)

3

4

Steelers (5-2)

8

5

Vikings (6-1)

4

6

Patriots (5-2)

7

7

Falcons (4-2)

6

8

Bengals (5-2)

11

9

Giants (5-2)

5

10

Eagles (4-2)

12

11

Cardinals (4-2)

13

12

Ravens (3-3)

10

13

Jets (4-3)

16

14

49ers (3-3)

9

15

Cowboys (4-2)

15

16

Packers (4-2)

19

17

Chargers (3-3)

20

18

Texans (4-3)

17

19

Bears (3-3)

14

20

Dolphins (2-4)

17

21

Bills (3-4)

24

22

Seahawks (2-4)

22

23

Jaguars (3-3)

23

24

Panthers (2-4)

21

25

Redskins (2-5)

26

26

Raiders (2-5)

25

27

Chiefs (1-6)

27

28

Lions (1-6)

29

29

Browns (1-6)

28

30

Titans (0-6)

30

31

Buccaneers (0-7)

31

32

Rams (0-7)

32

Filed under NFL Tagged with , , ,

>Top and Bottom unchanged: NFL Power Rankings Week 6

October 21, 2009 Leave a comment

>So I’ll admit I had the Bears too high at #8 last week. They’re my biggest dropper, but still deserve to be in the top half of the league. The Saints did more than I thought they were against the G-men, and hit home my point of being the top team. Broncos gain even more legitimacy and climb to #3 behind Indy on the bye.

What did we learn? Week 6 further proved the point that there are a handful of REALLY good teams (Saints, Colts, Broncos, Vikings, and Giants if you generous), and a bunch of REALLY bad teams (Rams, Bucs, Titans, Browns, Chiefs, Redskins, and Raiders). Leave it to the 11 teams that are either 3-2, 3-3, or 2-3 to muddle up the middle of the rankings.

Rank

Week 6

Last Week

1

Saints (5-0)

1

2

Colts (5-0)

2

3

Broncos (6-0)

5

4

Vikings (6-0)

4

5

Eagles (4-1)

6

6

Giants (5-1)

3

7

Falcons (4-1)

7

8

Patriots (4-2)

12

9

Steelers (4-2)

11

10

49ers (3-2)

13

11

Ravens (3-2)

14

12

Bengals (4-2)

10

13

Cardinals (3-2)

17

14

Bears (3-2)

8

15

Dallas (3-2)

16

16

Jets (3-3)

9

17

Dolphins (2-3)

18

18

Texans (3-3)

20

19

Packers (3-2)

19

20

Chargers (2-3)

15

21

Panthers (2-3)

24

22

Seahawks (2-4)

21

23

Jaguars (2-4)

23

24

Bills (2-4)

26

25

Raiders (2-4)

29

26

Redskins (2-4)

22

27

Chiefs (1-5)

30

28

Browns (1-4)

28

29

Lions (1-5)

27

30

Titans (0-6)

25

31

Buccaneers (0-6)

31

32

Rams (0-6)

32

Filed under Uncategorized

>So winning hinges ENTIRELY on Cutler

October 19, 2009 1 Comment

>The Falcons made stopping Forte look way too easy. So the Bears had to go to almost exclusively to the pass, and Cutler, although throwing for 300 yards, couldn’t come up with the big play. Twice in the red zone he threw and interception, both after the Bears had driven down the length of the field. Not only do you NOT score, but it’s really deflating for the team. After one of the turnovers, Matt Ryan drove right back down the field for the go-ahead score.

More proof that Cutler needs to play well for a Bears win:
In wins: 624 yds, 71 completion pct, 7 TD, 1 INT, 109.8 passer rating
In losses: 577 yds, 56 completion pct, 3 TD, 6 INT, 59.9 passer rating
What we need in a statement win in Cincy next week. Something to say hey, we deserve to be in the top tier of the NFL. The Bengals actually have a losing record at home this season at 1-2, coming off a 28-17 loss to the Texans. If Matt Schaub can put up nearly 400 passing yards and 4 TD’s, you would think the Cutler-Knox-Hester combination would be able to put up a handful of scores (with Forte getting a couple too for my fantasy team).
I heard that Cutler, over the last 2 years, has thrown 7 red zone INT’s, tops in the NFL. That can’t happen if Chicago is going to be a playoff team. We’re looking up at Minnesota, just about knowing that they are a better football team. I just really hope we can get it together by week 12 when Chicago travels to the Hump Dome.

Filed under NFL Tagged with , ,

>Weekend of 10/16 on CentSports

October 18, 2009 Leave a comment

>Bet #1:

$.40 on Colorado (+10) over Kansas
Colorado 34, Kansas 30 :)
Bet #2:
$.40 on under (54) Texas v. Oklahoma
Texas 16, Oklahoma 13 :)
Bet #3:
$.30 on Minnesota (+17) over Penn State
Penn State 20, Minnesota 0 :(
Bet #4:
$.30 on Bears (+4) over Falcons
Falcons 21, Bears 14 :(

Filed under Uncategorized

>Time to MAYBE think the Broncos are legit? & NFL Power Rankings

October 13, 2009 Leave a comment

>For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been saying the Broncos are the worst 3-0, 4-0, and now 5-0 team of all time, mostly because of the fluke Stokley play in Week 1. And the fact their defense was torrid….last year. But then I think….hey maybe Kyle Orton wasn’t that bad of a QB as I thought. He’s got very respectable stats through Week 5 (104-for-165, 1236 yds, 7 TD, 1 INT, 97.4 rating).

He’s finally got the weapons in Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Stokley to give San Diego a run for their money in the AFC West. They’re already 2 1/2 games ahead with SD on the bye, but a Week 6 MNF matchup with them will be a good litmus test for both teams.
I’m not QUITE ready to hop on the Broncos-are-legit bandwagon yet, but since my fantasy football team was the Kyle Orton Bandwagon, I guess I’ve already got a start.
NFL Power Rankings

Rank

Team

1

Saints (4-0)

2

Colts (5-0)

3

Giants (5-0)

4

Vikings (5-0)

5

Broncos (5-0)

6

Eagles (3-1)

7

Falcons (3-1)

8

Bears (3-1)

9

Jets (3-2)

10

Bengals (4-1)

11

Steelers (3-2)

12

Patriots (3-2)

13

49ers (3-2)

14

Ravens (3-2)

15

Chargers (2-2)

16

Dallas (3-2)

17

Cardinals (2-2)

18

Dolphins (2-3)

19

Packers (2-2)

20

Texans (2-3)

21

Seahawks (2-3)

22

Redskins (1-3)

23

Jaguars (2-3)

24

Panthers (1-3)

25

Titans (0-5)

26

Bills (1-4)

27

Lions (1-4)

28

Browns (1-4)

29

Raiders (1-4)

30

Chiefs (0-5)

31

Buccaneers (0-5)

32

Rams (0-5)

Filed under NFL Tagged with , , ,

>I guess you don’t worry about things till it hits you

October 12, 2009 Leave a comment

>So I guess DirecTV ISN’T the end all, be all sports cable provider. DirecTV dropped the channel Versus before this NHL season. I only found out at the end of promos for the opening weekend games. Normally this wouldn’t affect me because either A) Blackhawks games are usually on Comcast SportsNet or B) I’m watching it at home (through Comcast cable) and have Versus.

But I’m at work and I have people (one of them me obviously) that want to watch the Hawks play the Flames, and I have to turn them away because the game is ONLY on Versus in the US. It kind of reminds me of when the Big Ten Network was in it’s infancy, and Comcast was the last to hold out on putting it in it’s Basic package. Of course money was the issue, and it’s the same here. DirecTV prides itself on have the best sports package among cable/satellite providers, so I really can’t see why they wouldn’t just bite the bullet and take the rate hike.

I actually found out that Versus is wholly owned by Comcast, and they want more money from DirecTV to put it in their package, and DirecTV didn’t think it was worth it. The problem with that is Versus is one of the fastest growing cable networks in the country. They carried games of the NHL Conference Finals in 2008-09 for Christ’s sake! I know the NHL is the smallest of the Big 4 sports in the US, but I would still be willing to guess that a lot of money was shelled out to have the broadcast rights to those games.

DirecTV actually launched a whole email address for fans to voice their opinions on the issue, so for the handful of people who might just maybe follow this, follow my lead and send an email to versus@directv.com and call 1-800-DirecTV

Filed under NHL Tagged with ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.