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| Seattle Seahawks. Photo credit NFL |
by Christian Sipione of Sipi Sports
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Criticize me as you will, but I will not demote a side from the top of the power rankings after their 8th successive victory, dragging their record out to 8-0. When KC lose a game, then by strength of schedule so far they will be rightly dropped down a spot or a few, but until then, they are my number 1 team in the NFL.
2. Denver Broncos
At 21-7 against Washington, I had my doubts that the Broncos were forcing their way back into the game. But it didn't take long before Peyton Manning took the contest into his own two hands, as he has so often done in his successful career. The Broncos hit back nicely after a loss to the Colts 2 weeks ago. They scored the last 38 points to stun the Redskins and undo all of their early work.
3. New Orleans Saints
I officially have no more reasons to put the Saints below the Seahawks.
When you have Drew Brees as your Quarterback, you're going to win football games and a hell of a lot of them.
The Saints demolished the Bills, in a game that many viewers thought would be closer. But that is never the case when Drew Brees takes matters into his own hands. There is simply no way to stop him, or the Saints when Drew Brees is playing like this.
4. Seattle Seahawks
After two consecutive close fought victories versus divisional rivals, the Seahawks don't look as mighty as they did two weeks ago.
But their record speaks for themselves and good teams win against bad teams, to allow themselves hiccups against the better teams.
Lynch only had 8 carries, he was clearly frustrated as he saw his opposing RB run for well over 100 yards on the night.
In some serious bad news for the Seahawks, WR, Sidney Rice tore his ligament and is headed for surgery. Which means Doug Baldwin will start at flanker. The Hawks will be hoping to get star WR, Percy Harvin back on the field sooner rather than later now.
5. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have beaten quality opponents this season in Seattle, San Fran and Denver.
That 23rd December match against the Chiefs could well be the battle for the 1st seed in the AFC.
6. San Francisco 49ers
5 on the trot and the 49ers keep on rolling. Kaep was electric against the Jags, passing for 1 TD and running for 2 more. The 49ers are still to get Michael Crabtree and Mario Manningham back on the offensive side and once they do, they will have one of the more dangerous receiving tandems in the NFL with Crabtree, Boldin, Manningham and Davis.
7. Cincinnati Bengals
No one on this planet was expecting what happened on Sunday against the Jets. Ok, maybe 1 or 2 people were. How on earth did Marvin Jones score 4 TDs? Jones' big day is the result of what happens when Andy Dalton is in firing form and so is AJ Green. Even when AJ Green isn't in firing form, he is going to be double covered at times, usually leaving someone else open. Marvin wasn't exactly open ALL day, but he was single covered quite often, giving him a chance to make catches and boy did he do just that.
8. Green Bay Packers
If you were worried about how the Packers were going to go this season after their loss in Week 1 to the 49ers, you probably don't watch too many Packers games.
Unlike the past few seasons, the Pack finally have a three-down-back in Eddie Lacy. I'm impressed with this kid to say the least.
He might not be Usain Bolt or even close, but he runs hard and is very patient, especially for a rookie. He can take off once he finds a hole, too.
9. New England Patriots
The Patriots got themselves a lifeline on Sunday, coming from no mans land to defeat the Phins 27-17. As unlike Tom Brady as Tom Brady has been this season, he found a way to get the W as he did against the Saints.
10. Detroit Lions
Calvin Johnson had more receiving yards than 13 NFL team do on a weekly basis in the NFL.
Matthew Stafford led the Lions back from the dead against the Cowboys as the 4th Quarter exploded as a whole. The winner of this game was going to come out of it with serious confidence that they can make the playoffs this season. The Lions now have a big opportunity to steal the division right from the Packers this season, in what would be the unlikeliest of outcomes
11. San Diego
San Diego had the bye last week, they play the Skins away from home in a must win game for them. The Chiefs and Broncos are as good as unreachable for the Chargers and even the Raiders celebrated a win last week. They’ll need to win these must win games to have a shot at a wildcard.
12. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are on a 4 game winning streak and Cam Newton is arguably in career form right now. The Panthers are dangerous football side when he is completing close to 65% of his passes. This Defense is for real, too.
13. Dallas Cowboys
In a surprise to no one, Tony Romo and his boys saw another big lead diminish on Sunday, as the Cowboys fell to the Lions in heartbreaking fashion. These are the sort of games that will haunt NFC teams vying for a post-season spot in the long haul.
14. Chicago Bears
According to Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com, Jay Cutler is eyeing an early return for the Bears. I sincerely hope this is the case for the Bears, because with Josh McCown as their starting QB, the losses will pile up and they will be out of playoff contention before we know it.
15. Arizona Cardinals
A big time performance by the Arizona Cardinals last week, sees a big time rise for them in the rankings. It’s secretly for any viewer to see a QB go down and the Cards threw Matt Ryan to the turf 4 times. He was lucky it wasn’t 10.
16. Baltimore Ravens
A bye for the Ravens last week, sees them drop a spot, due the the Cardinals big win.
They play Cleveland this week, in what shapes to be an enticing divisional game.
17. Tennessee Titans
The Titans had the bye last week, they should be well rested up after that loss to the 49ers. Hopefully the week off put to bed any Jake Locker injuries.
18. New York Jets
The Jets performance last week warrants them 32nd place, so a 4 spot drop is the best case scenario for them. But hey, Geno had a good week 2 weeks ago, so he was due for a bad week this week. But don’t worry Jets fans, Good Geno to the rescue this week, he should spark the Jets to a big win against the Saints! I’m obviously joking, but he may keep them in the contest in what will be a bounce back week.
19. Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins began the season 3-0 and everyone started actually believing the pre-season hype they received. Even me. After 4 consecutive losses and 4 games without a Tannehill TD pass, things are looking shaky and a match against last weeks’ 40 point victors, the Bengals, in a short week mightn’t end too well.
20. Cleveland Browns
Slug, Slug, Slug fest is exactly what the Browns and Ravens match will be. But without further ado, I present to you the 21st ranked Browns, with QB Jason Campbell who threw for 2 TDs against the Chiefs. More than any QB has done this season. The L column might continue to be piling up for the Browns, but I actually see this side winning a few more games this season. As long as Brandon Weeden stays well clear of the starting QB position.
21. Oakland Raiders
In the second best news for the Raiders on Sunday, Terrelle Pryor ran for a 93 yard TD, in what was the longest QB run for a TD in NFL History. The best news, being a win against the Steelers which keeps them fighting and still in the hunt for a playoff spot. They are just one game away from being in the playoffs at this stage.
22. Buffalo Bills
The Bills stayed with the Saints for longer than expected last week, but Thad Lewis isn’t going to provide many shining moments for the Bills. Especially against the Saints.
23. St Louis Rams
The Rams impressed the entire NFL community, as they went within one play to snapping a victory against their far more superior(as the record states), divisional rivals.
In a game which I expected to be a big win for Seattle, the Rams stunned us all with Kellen Clemons as the starting QB.
24. Atlanta Falcons
Based on NFL.com poll, the Falcons are the most disappointing team this season, and rightly so. With a more than capable QB in Matt Ryan, new recruitment, Steven Jackson and a receiving corp which boasts the likes of Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, the Falcons were expected to fly into the playoffs. Julio went down and is out for the season and so are the Falcons, just about.
25. Washington Redskins
21-7 sure sounds better than 0-38.
The Skins scored 21 of the first 28 points to lead the Broncos by 14 points. That was all that they could cheer about though, as the Broncos ran on the next 38 points to demolish them and put a serious damper on their playoff hopes.
26. Philadelphia Eagles
Without Michael Vick, the Eagles are in serious trouble. It’s going to be yet another disappointing season. Nick Foles and Matt Barkley are just no comparison to Michael Vick, especially under the offense that Chip Kelly is running. They will need to head back to the drawing board and opt to roll with a style of play that suits whoever it is that gets the starting job.
27. Pittsburgh Steelers
When compared to each of the teams behind them, I think the Steelers have the better of chances at making the playoffs, or at least finishing with the better record. Their schedule doesn’t help, though, as they face NE, DET, CIN and GB.
28. New York Giants
The Giants got their second win in a row and are now just 2 wins behind the division-leading cowboys. They've certainly got the talent to win a few more games, but they’ve dug themselves too deep a hole. In order to somehow win their division, the Cowboys would have to finish 7-9 to give them a shot.
29. Houston Texans
Case Keenum was actually OK against the Chiefs 2 weeks ago. It might just be a good thing that Matt Schaub isn’t starting in Houston anymore, as his form this season probably doesn’t even warrant a start for the Vikings. Provided Hakeem Nicks doesn't catch 2 balls of 10 thrown his way again this season or in his life, for that matter.
30. Minnesota Vikings
Christian Ponder is the worst starter in the NFL, in a world where the Jaguars had a franchise QB, all starting QBs are healthy and backups are still backups. I lost count with how many times Ponder missed a wide open receiver, or stared down one receiver on a play and still threw the ball to him, even when clearly covered. Yet they still scored over 30 points. Their divisional ‘friends’ were just trying to make them feel good about themselves.
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Glennon isn’t the worst QB starting in the NFL and he’s quite far from it. The Bucs need quite a few more players of talent in order to become a playoff team once again. They’re a long way away at the moment.
32. Jacksonville Jaguars
Will it be Jacksonville, or Tampa Bay who will be ‘crowned’ the worst team of the season and given the number 1 draft pick as a reward? Jacksonville, it will be some miracle if they aren’t to finish 0-16.
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