I am a sports and music fanatic from Farmington, CT, currently attending Saint Joseph's University in Connecticut. I am mainly interested in College Basketball, CIAC High School Basketball, and Major League Baseball, though I follow just about all sports closely.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Pat Kelly's NFL Power Rankings: Week 3

Okay, you'll learn as this blog get's started that I have a mini obsession with lists, and for many of my posts I will make a ranking to get my point across. You may like it, you may not, but I really don't care because that's how I like to do it and this is my blog. I'll be trying to do a week-by-week power ranking for the NFL. This year the NFL has been so interesting because there has been a huge shift in the powers in the NFL as many teams that had struggled in the past few years (Houston, San Francisco, Green Bay) are potentially playoff teams, while some of the powerhouses of last year (San Diego, Chicago, New Orleans) are struggling a bit. I'm not going to say that my list isn't biased, because it is completely based on what I believe, but I personally think my biased opinions are prtty accurate (maybe it's just me). Have a look at the list:

1. New England Patriots (3-0)
I don't think there's any argument about this one. Cheating or not, the New England Patriots are by far the most dominant team in football this year.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0)
Maybe this is biased because the Steelers absolutely crapped on my 49ers last week, but the Steelers are easily among the leagues best.
3. Dallas Cowboys (3-0)
Tony Romo has shown that he is among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, and the defense has done enough to stay with the elite teams. By far the best in the NFC.
4. Indianapolis Colts (3-0)
Peyton Manning may have the best offense in football, but back to back close games at Houston and Tennessee, put them a step behind Dallas and Pittsburgh.
5. Green Bay Packers (3-0)
Although there may be better teams out there, Green Bay is the only other undefeated teams, and San Diego and Philadelphia are not cheap wins.
6. Tennesse Titans (2-1)
My favorite sleeper team. I think the Titans, and Vince Young, proved a great point by beating New Orleanes by a lot on Monday night.
7. San Diego Chargers (1-2)
Definately the best of the teams with only 1 win. Once Phillip Rivers gets things figured out, look for the chargers to go on a huge roll and win 12-13 games.
8. Houston Texans (2-1)
I like the Texans this year. They really did need a change of pace at quarterback and Matt Shaub is doing a good job at that role. Look for a possible 10 win season.
9. Seattle Seahawks (2-1)
Should be a great game as Seattle goes into San Francisco next week. Should prove who's the best team in the NFC West.
10. San Francisco 49ers (2-1)
Gave Pittsburgh a decent game up until the end, and Alex Smith, although he has not excelled, has shown he can win close games. Plus, they're my team so I've got to rank them high.
11. Baltimore Ravens (2-1)
Many other lists will have them higher but I don't see anything in them. I just can't see a team with Kyle Boller playing as their best QB, winning more than 9 games this year. Good chance for a Wild Card though.
12. Carolina Panthers (2-1)
Haven't beaten a team that has won a game yet, but Carolina has a chance to contend in their weak NFC South division. Needed to win at home against Houston though.
13. Chicago Bears (1-2)
Brian Griese won't bring anything special to the table, but that's not what the Bears need. They need a quarterback who won't turn the ball over and let the defense do the work.
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1)
Jacksonville proved that they could beat a decent team with there win at Mile High last week, but Week 1's loss at home against Tennessee hurt them.
15. Philadelphia Eagles (1-2)
Donavon McNabb and the Philadelphia offense showed me something by abosolutely destroying a weak Detroit defense. Now let's see them beat someone decent.
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)
Tampa Bay hasn't beaten a team that's won a game yet, but both New Orleans and St. Louis are respectable wins. An upset at Carolina this week could be big.
17. Washington Redskins (2-1)
Yes, the Redskins are this high. They were undefeated going into this week's tough loss at home against the Giants, and winning at Philadelphia on Monday night last week helped out their spot.
18. Cincinatti Bengals (1-2)
Probably will drop to 1-3 next week as they play New England, but look for Carson and the boys to get hot. As long as they get some defense, they should be okay.
19. New Orleans Saints (0-3)
Easily the best team remaining without a win. Still look for New Orleans to make a playoff run as there toughest competition in there division is the Houston Texans.
20. Arizona Cardinals (1-2)
Ah, NFC West bias. To go in and almost beat the San Francisco 49ers at their own field, should rank this team higher, but I'll keep it at 20 for now.
21. New York Giants (1-2)
The Giants defense at least showed to be better than that of an average Division 1AA college team last week, but it's not like the offense is super either.
22. Denver Broncos (2-1)
The Broncos record is a lot better than they've played. Their two wins were both close games against horrible teams (Buffalo and Oakland) and couldn't even stay close with Jacksonville.
23. Detroit Lions (2-1)
Detroit was unbelievably 2-0 going into their annihalation by Philadelphia, but neither of their wins came against high quality opponents.
24. St. Louis Rams (0-3)
The Rams haven't look very good in there first three weeks, but with Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger they are bound to win some games.
25. Kansas City Chiefs (1-2)
Losses to Houston and Chicago put them at 0-2, and it took a tough win at home against a weak Minnesota team to pick up a win. Look for a rebuilding year.
26. New York Jets (1-2)
The Jets are actually the second best team in their division. That's really not saying very much.
27. Minnesota Vikings (1-2)
When you lose to Detroit and Kansas City in back to back weeks, you aren't a good team. Plus, Minnesota's only win is against Atlanta.
28. Cleveland Browns (1-2)
You would think a team would gain a lot of momentum after scoring 50+ points on an above average team, but they didn't...at all.
29. Buffalo Bills (0-3)
They've played 3 possible playoff contenders, but got absolutely destroyed by 2 of them.
30. Oakland Raiders (1-2)
Better than last year, still not very good. Maybe they'll win 3 games this year.
31. Miami Dolphins (0-3)
It's been such a horrible string of events for the Dolphins since Ricky Williams "retired", and they aren't looking like they're going in the right direction yet.
32. Atlanta Falcons (0-3)
Have fun, Atlanta. The last time an NFL superstar had such a sudden halt to his career was in Miami with Ricky Williams. See above.
Well, this is my list for this week. You may agree, you probably disagree, but who cares, you're wrong. I'm pumped for Week 4 as we have really no good games except my Niners playing Seattle. But you can never trust Fox, they'll probably put Philadelphia vs. Detroit on again!