• Top Ten... Bottom 5 - Week 7

    by
    msclemons
    Published on 10-25-2011 10:02 AM
    31 Comments Comments

    I was really close to making this a Top 5... Middle 22 ... Bottom 5 article. There are 6 teams with 5 or more wins, 5 teams with one or fewer wins and 16 teams at 4-2, 4-3 or 3-3 (interestingly, no 3-4 teams). That's a big wad of average packed in the middle of the NFL twinkie.

    Top 10
    1) Green Bay Packers - Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind. Watching him reminds me of Joe Montana in his prime. Yeah, I went there.
    2) New England Patriots - An uneventful bye-week highlighted by two Tom Brady hairstyle changes.
    3) New Orleans Saints - The Saints 62 points were more than the total points scored in the other 12 games.
    4) San Francisco 49ers - The 49ers had the week off and still gained ground as the other NFC West teams all lost. This was the first time in 8 years that the 49ers didn't get beat by the bye week.
    5) Pittsburgh Steelers - That embarrassing start to the season is firmly in the rear view mirror now.
    6) Baltimore Ravens - Every team has at least one stinker a year. It's a rule. The Ravens need to fix their tendency to overlook bad teams.
    7) Detroit Lions - Some really sloppy play in two consecutive losses. Still a lot of talent on this team.
    8) Buffalo Bills - The next three weeks will tell us if the Bills are for real.
    9) Cincinnati Bengals - Made it through the bye week with no arrests. Yes, I know that's a cheap shot. I have no shame.
    10)New York Giants - Suddenly sitting pretty atop the NFC East. Could be scary if they get their running game back on track.

    Honorable Mentions
    Chargers - Tell us the truth. Andy Reid was calling the plays during that two minute drill.
    Jets - Their only wins against top ranked teams happened when the other team gave away the game.
    Bears - During the last two weeks the O-Line tried something new. Blocking.
    Falcons - How in the heck is Matt Ryan not in a cast? Ankles don't bend that way.
    Texans - That was a beat-down on the Titans.

    Bottom 5
    28) Arizona Cardinals - Aren't they glad they gave up their best CB and a 2nd round pick for Alex Smith 2.0?
    29) Minnesota Vikings - Ponder actually had some life. Unlike the corpse of Donovan McNabb.
    30) St. Louis Rams - Stephen Jackson looked the best he has since 2008. Unfortunately, the rest of the team also looked like 2008.
    31) Indianapolis Colts - If the BCS was in charge of the Suck4Luck campaign giving up 62 would be considered "style points".
    32) Miami Dolphins - This was the most humiliating display I've seen in 30 years of watching football. On TV it sounded like a home game for Tebow. I hope every football person in the organization (if there are any) drops a deuce in Stephen Ross' coffee cup.

    Dishonorable Mentions
    ESPN - how do you pay twice as much as NBC for a schedule this bad?
    Baltimore Ravens - South Jacksonville High! How do you lose to them?!?
    Denver Broncos - It seems like Elway and Fox are trying to make Tebow fail so they can say "told you so" to the Denver fanbase.
    Seattle Seahawks - Win ugly and lose coyote ugly.

    Comments 31 Comments
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    1. Polishguy00's Avatar
      28) Arizona Cardinals - Aren't they glad they gave up their best CB and a 2nd round pick for Alex Smith 2.0?

      -And they might have paid him more than Andrew Luck will get in his first deal.
      Reply
    1. Pruitt's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by Polishguy00 View Post
      28) Arizona Cardinals - Aren't they glad they gave up their best CB and a 2nd round pick for Alex Smith 2.0?

      -And they might have paid him more than Andrew Luck will get in his first deal.
      One day in the not too distant future, historians will look at the fact that the Cardinals actually almost won a super bowl as the greatest anomaly in sports history.
      Reply
    1. dandrea's Avatar
      we tend to have a bit of a fascination with the base ten system. theres no way i can squeeze any team outside of the Packers, Pats, Steelers and Saints into the top 5. while i think the niners separated themselves from the giants, ravens, falcons, etc...something just doesnt fit with rodgers/brady/smith/ben/brees. cant put them in that category yet.

      that top 4 is pretty unsurprising compared to preseason predictions. it would be equally unsurprising to find them as the last 4 remaining teams. There isnt much that would shock me with that middle pile of teams. Falcons/Ravens/Bengals/Giants/Texans/Chargers/Jets....any of them could finish 11-5 or 6-10 and it wouldnt surprise me.
      Reply
    1. vancemeek's Avatar
      Dandrea summed it up pretty well. When I was typing up my recap, I realized that I don't really like any of the teams outside of the top few. I could have ranked #5 as #15 and vice versa.
      Reply
    1. iwatt's Avatar
      Seahawks Browns box score looks like something out of a mudbowl in the 20's
      Reply
    1. iwatt's Avatar
      By the way, I DVRed the Jags-Ravens game. Is it worth watching?
      Reply
    1. Trumpetbdw's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by iwatt View Post
      By the way, I DVRed the Jags-Ravens game. Is it worth watching?
      Depends. Are you friends with Sam Koch? Otherwise, no.
      Reply
    1. vancemeek's Avatar
      If you like hard hits and defensive intensity, then yes. If you like offense, a resounding no.
      Reply
    1. Hoser's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by iwatt View Post
      By the way, I DVRed the Jags-Ravens game. Is it worth watching?
      I liked it. But I'm a fan of smash mouth, defensive minded games. I have no problem with a 3-0 game so long as it's good defense and hard hits and not total offensive ineptutude. It can be hard to tell the difference but you know it when you see it. Usually Steelers vs. Ravens are my favorite games of the year to watch.

      Me likey last night but it did have a splash of Flacco ineptitude drizzled on top.
      Reply
    1. RSConn5's Avatar
      Bottom 5 will probably stay the same for the rest of the year. Looks like Suck4Luck is turning into a 3-team race. Is there anyway that Miami didn't lose to this week on purpose? I would feel better about them if they did.

      As for the top 10, I think I would take the Bills and Giants out and replace them with the Texans and Bears.
      Reply
    1. GoBigOrGoHome's Avatar
      31) Indianapolis Colts - If the BCS was in charge of the Suck4Luck campaign giving up 62 would be considered "style points".
      Clem, my man, that is some your finest work right there.

      Style points, indeed.
      Reply
    1. Trumpetbdw's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by Hoser View Post
      I liked it. But I'm a fan of smash mouth, defensive minded games. I have no problem with a 3-0 game so long as it's good defense and hard hits and not total offensive ineptutude. It can be hard to tell the difference but you know it when you see it. Usually Steelers vs. Ravens are my favorite games of the year to watch.

      Me likey last night but it did have a splash of Flacco ineptitude drizzled on top.
      A splash? More like a monsoon.

      I love defensive football as much as the next guy, and that Ravens-Steelers game in 2 weeks already has my blood boiling, but that was just bad football.
      Reply
    1. hobbes27's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by iwatt View Post
      By the way, I DVRed the Jags-Ravens game. Is it worth watching?
      Its definitely worth watching if you have an insomnia problem.
      Reply
    1. hobbes27's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by RSConn5 View Post
      Bottom 5 will probably stay the same for the rest of the year. Looks like Suck4Luck is turning into a 3-team race. Is there anyway that Miami didn't lose to this week on purpose? I would feel better about them if they did.

      As for the top 10, I think I would take the Bills and Giants out and replace them with the Texans and Bears.
      I dunno, Denver and the Seattle could crack the bottom 5.

      Miami didn't lose on purpose. They are just a mess now. I think its a two team race in the Suck for Luck competition. I don't see St. Louis sucking that bad all the way through the season.
      Reply
    1. msclemons's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by GoBigOrGoHome View Post
      Clem, my man, that is some your finest work right there.

      Style points, indeed.
      I'm fairly certain I stole that from someone. I can't remember who but I read about 50 articles late Monday night trying to catch up on the league.

      I'm Carlos Mencia 2.0
      Reply
    1. mikesteelnation1's Avatar
      I want to say Pittsburgh is too high, but I look at the teams behind, and I can't disagree. I don't think were playing top 5 ball right now, but the next two weeks will sort that out.

      Good list, no complaints top or bottom 5, except my skepticism about my steelers till week 10.
      Reply
    1. msclemons's Avatar
      The Steelers are tough to judge because they have been so schizophrenic this year. I think they have more talent than the 49ers for example but in both losses the Steelers looked horrible. One huge advantage the Steelers have is Big Ben over Alex Smith. As dandrea pointed out above - Rodgers/Brady/Brees/Alexcuses/Rothlisberger - one of these things is not like the others.

      I have the Ravens below the Steelers even though they dominated the Steelers head-to-head. Why? They lost to South Jacksonville High!!! Egads.

      I felt like a giant homer on the 49ers placement until I read other power rankings. After that I felt like all power rankings are bogus. Peter King has the 49ers at #2 which proves he has been drinking way too much beer and not enough coffee.
      Reply
    1. mikesteelnation1's Avatar
      Quote Originally Posted by msclemons View Post
      The Steelers are tough to judge because they have been so schizophrenic this year. I think they have more talent than the 49ers for example but in both losses the Steelers looked horrible. One huge advantage the Steelers have is Big Ben over Alex Smith. As dandrea pointed out above - Rodgers/Brady/Brees/Alexcuses/Rothlisberger - one of these things is not like the others.

      I have the Ravens below the Steelers even though they dominated the Steelers head-to-head. Why? They lost to South Jacksonville High!!! Egads.

      I felt like a giant homer on the 49ers placement until I read other power rankings. After that I felt like all power rankings are bogus. Peter King has the 49ers at #2 which proves he has been drinking way too much beer and not enough coffee.
      I understand how you feel trust me. I've said all along the steelers have been schizophrenic, on all units. Never a complete game for any unit.. hopefully it happens this Sunday.. don't sleep on king though, he correctly predicted the sb match up last year, pre season.
      Reply
    1. Trumpetbdw's Avatar
      A complete game. That's been one thing that's been lacking really during the entire Tomlin regime. Not sure why, I don't think it's his fault, but they just get sloppy at some point every game.

      I THINK the Steelers can be taken as serious Super Bowl contenders again. I know it's early, but considering how their schedule lines up, if they go 0-2 over the next two weeks, they really can't be taken seriously as Super Bowl contenders again this season.
      Reply
    1. iwatt's Avatar
      I watched the game. I liked it. The Jaguars secondary was playing great coverage, and I think the refs let them play a little more physical than in the first weeks. It's soemthing I'm noticing these last two weeks, except in some games. They shut down Ray Rice, and we now know that Flacco can't compensate. So he is an average to good QB, but not top 10 IMHO.

      Clem, The 49ers are a very smart team. They haven't made any bonehead mistakes (exccept the Harbaugh challenge in the Lions game). That translates to wins. Like every other team, they are ready for a letdown game at some point, where some fluky mistakes happen. It might be the Zona game before the Harbaugh bowl (it screams trap!), but Zona is so ineffective I doubt it.
      Reply
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