Here they are, right before Thursday Night Football:
1. Denver Broncos
Back in first thanks in no small part to Aaron Rodgers's injury, but any small slip up against a weak Chiefs team next week could cost them their spot.
2. Seattle Seahawks
Right on the Broncos' heels. And speaking of heels, Achilles didn't make two free throws after his heel got fucked up. But I digress. This team is getting healthy at just the right time, and they were about a Peyton Manning incompletion away from number 1 already.
3. Green Bay Packers
Still a team to watch out for when Rodgers gets back. But it's their running game that has really been huge for them this season. After going 44 games without a 100 yard rusher, they're now averaging a whopping 4.8 yards per carry, 4th in the league and 1st among teams without a super-athletic QB bumping up the average (not counting Seneca Wallace).
4. Philadelphia Eagles
They're back and as good as ever before. Nick Foles has been the best passer in the NFL this season, and Vick was pretty good, too. The whole offense is amazing, just like the Packers', with the same kind of injury-induced hiccup slowing them down for a couple of games.
5. Cincinnati Bengals
They've been really good. They had a tough game in Baltimore, though, and I'm not as sold on their D without Geno Atkins.
6. San Francisco 49ers
They just can't throw the ball. Kaep just isn't being carried by his teammates (especially on the line) the way he was last year. But they do everything else really well, and are still one of the best teams in the league.
7. New Orleans Saints
That offense is amazing. 625 yards!! Everybody was too busy looking at what Brees did to notice that they also piled up 242 rushing yards as well. But they can't stop the run. At all. They're the only team worse at it than the Chiefs. And the Chiefs are awful. They're going to need to fix that up a little by the time they head to Seattle.
8. Arizona Cardinals
Yes the Cardinals. By my rankings, they should get the second of the NFC wild Cards. That's 3 NFC West teams in the top 8. And the other one just beat a team by 30 that everybody else thought was top 3 in the league. The Cardinals defense is for real.
9. New York Giants
Speaking of defenses that are for real, the Giants have what could be the best in the entire NFL. After starting 0-6, they've won 3 straight and look like they could even make an improbable run at the playoffs.
10. New York Jets
Another good defense combined with an O that often self-destructs.
11. Detroit Lions
A good defense combined with a D that often self-destructs. There seem to be a lot of teams like that this year (Broncos, Packers, Eagles, Saints, Bears, Redskins, Chargers, Falcons). No team outside of the NFC west is good at both (I define good as top 10).
12. Carolina Panthers
They keep making their run, and it looks really good. It does. They are pretty good. But let's chill our horses for a little bit. They aren't actually a threat to the Seahawks in the NFC, although they're definitely way better than some other really bad teams in playoff position (see Colts, Chiefs). I really want to see them match up with the Saints though. The Saints will have trouble stopping the running game.
13. Cleveland Browns
See #10. But worse. They're still a better than average team though. And they're the fucking Browns, so that means something.
14. Houston Texans
They've easily been one of the unluckiest teams in the league this season. It's going to be nearly impossible for them to catch the much-worse Colts in the division. But the best player in the world isn't going to go down easily.
15. New England Patriots
I don't know what to make of this team. On one hand, they're the Patriots. On the other, for the whole season other than their game against the Steelers, they've been one of the worst offenses in the league, and their defense has injury issues. On the third hand (don't question it), the offense is tossing aside their injury issues. They might actually be elite once healthy.
16. Chicago Bears
See #11. But worse.
17. Washington Redskins
They might be coming alive with Robert getting healthier. But as #11 mentions, the D self-destructs.
18. Minnesota Vikings
Ponder just went 17/21. Ponder. 17/21. Just throwing that out there. But they're still going to end up like Petey's front seat on Sunday.
19. Tennessee Titans
So what they lost to the Jags. That's just the variance of the NFL. They had some bad breaks. And it's not like they're a great team themselves.
20. San Diego Chargers
Don't let their holding Denver to 28 fool you. They were never in that game. The D was never going to be able to hold up. But the offense is good. I'd be shocked to see this team with the worst D in the league lose to the Chiefs in a couple weeks.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers
Not a great win, but a solid one. The defense played well. Maybe that's not so hard against the Bills though, at least in the passing game.
22. Baltimore Ravens
The Bengals may have gotten lucky on the hail mary, but the Ravens were on the other side of the breaks for the rest of the game. They didn't really move the ball, although they somehow passed for 11 first downs on just 104 yards. And I can't give them credit for all the penalties that the Bengals committed.
23. Oakland Raiders
They did a good job keeping it close against the Giants, but there's a fine line between good mediocrity and bad mediocrity in the NFL. It's too easy to cross, and the Raiders did. Don't count them out though, at least from getting back to good mediocrity. As I mentioned recently, there's a very little difference between the teams in the middle of the pack (this week, the teams not in the top 7 or bottom 6).
24. Buffalo Bills
Why do I really just not want to talk about the Bills? I don't know, but I don't. So I won't.
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
They won! Yay! And they actually have a pretty good defense. There's no real reason why they should be the team with just 1 win and the Chiefs should have 9. Just luck. Not that the Bucs are good. Just that the Chiefs are bad. Really bad.
26. Miami Dolphins
And the team that gave the Bucs that first win. Their D is kinda okay too.
27. Indianapolis Colts
Yeah, the Colts. That "good" team that beat the top 2 teams (and #6). But it's luck. And not with a capital L. Same reason they lost to a worse Rams team by 30. There's a lot of variance in the NFL. But at least they're better than our #28 team (whom they play in week 16).
28. Kansas City Chiefs
I've already mentioned how bad they are. They don't stand a chance against the Broncos. Neither does the spread (Broncos by 7.5).
29. Atlanta Falcons
They just got decimated. That defense is atrocious. This team is actually worse than the Chiefs. The fucking Chiefs!
30. Dallas Cowboys
See #29
31. St. Louis Rams
Good for them beating the Colts. Really good for them beating the Colts by a lot. But the Colts suck. And the Rams got pretty lucky.
32. Jacksonville Jaguars
Winning is nice, but this team is still awful. They shouldn't expect much more of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment