Week #9 Power Rankings
Oct 28, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) celebrates scoring a touchdown with wide receiver Roddy White (84) during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE
After leaving Lincoln Financial Stadium on Sunday, the first thought that came into my head besides the FIRE ANDY REID chant and I couldn’t wait to see the Bears highlights, was how much better the Atlanta Falcons were in person. This is a very solid football team on both sides of the ball. Their defense is solid with some good pass rushers and pretty good coverage guys, and they are not out of position to give up the big play. What was really impressive was their methodical offense with big play capability. The last part used to be absent from their offensive arsenal, but the addition and explosion of Julio Jones makes them difficult to defend. It wasn’t until late in the game that the Falcons even had to punt, and unlike most games they didn’t play to the level of their opponent instead they took it to them the entire Sunday afternoon. Here are this weeks rankings.
1. Atlanta Falcons (7-0)- Very impressive win in Philly. Matt Ryan and the offense played a near perfect offensive game.
2. NY Giants (6-2)- They weathered the storm of the Cowboys rally and then shut down Romo to end the game in their favor by a fingernail.
3. Houston Texans (6-1)- A week off and less than two weeks away from a visit to Soldier Field!
4. Green Bay Packers (5-3)- They keep getting hit with injuries and no rushing game, yet they keep on winning ugly.
5. Chicago Bears (6-1)- Speaking of winning ugly! They are 3-0 when wearing the 40’s throwbacks including their last win against the Packers…something to think about!
6. San Fransisco 49ers (6-2) Their defense can demolish any average to below average offense with relative ease!
7. New England Patriots (5-3) The Rob Gronkowski Nutcracker celebration dance has to be the best of the year so far. Their offense can demolish any average to below average defense!
8. Denver Broncos (4-3) They are through their tough part of the schedule and it looks like Peyton and crew are getting in sync pretty quickly! They could be tough to stop very soon.
9. Baltimore Ravens (5-2) The defense was giving up a ton of yards before Ray Lewis was lost for the year, it will be a large task to ask Flacco to carry them every week!
10. Miami Dolphins (4-3) That was a huge beat down in New York. The Dolphins are not a walkover this season.
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) I’m still not a believer in them yet. This week in Giants stadium should be a good measurement of where they are at.
12. Minnesota Vikings (5-3) Christian Ponder needs to get back to playing solid football before the Viking start free falling.
13. Seattle Seahawks (4-4) They were so close to winning at Detroit and yet they couldn’t stop Titus Young
14. Detroit Lions (3-4) Stafford finally has a #2 target to go along with MegaDrop.
15. Arizona Cardinals (4-4) They cannot run the ball or pass it at least Fitzgerald can catch the ball.
16. Indy Colts (4-3) The joys of having a superstar in the making rookie QB…Win against Green Bay, lose against Jacksonville each week a different story.
17. Dallas Cowboys (3-4) A roster full of, you name the adjective, they are it, they have lots of talent…on finding ways to lose.
18. Philly Eagles (3-4) Most fans at Lincoln Financial would have cheered if Hurricane Sandy had blown Vick and Andy Reid away for good!
19. Tampa Bay Bucs (3-4) Doug Martin is finally emerging and Josh Freeman is a fantasy savior the last couple of bye week must starts!
20. New Orleans (2-5) Their offense was stopped for the first time this season. Their defense generally can’t stop anyone at anytime.
21. Washington Redskins (3-5) You cannot drop 9 passes it’s unacceptable, even at my son’s flag football games but especially in the NFL!
22. St Louis Rams (3-5) That had to feel like the longest flight home from England of All Time! Jeff Fisher has been outscored by the Patriots 104-7 in their last two meetings
23. Cincinnati Bengals (3-4) They need to have straighten out the defense during the bye week.
24. Buffalo Bills (3-4) They need to find a defense during the bye week
25. San Diego Chargers (3-4) You have a week to prepare and you come away with six points against the Browns?
26. Oakland Raiders (3-4) Wow you have beat the Chiefs and Jags back to back… Let’s all jump on this bandwagon!!
27. Carolina Panthers (1-6) Cam is finding it out the hard way that its tough to close out games in the NFL this team could be 4-3 or 5-2
28. NY Jets (3-5) Nobody outside of Queens cares about this team well except for everyone wanting to see Tebow play.
29. Tennessee Titans (3-5) Will they spoil Jay Cutler’s homecoming Sunday or just play their normal below average selves?
30. Cleveland Browns (2-6) Didn’t think they would have another victory Sunday, but who would have thought Robert Meachem would drop a walk in touchdown either.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-6) They were competitive at the Packers. Moral victories seem bigger when they are not for your team!
32. KC Chiefs (1-6) My favorite stat from the weekend, the Chiefs have not led a single second of any game in regulation. Yep they stink!!