KabaModernFan

Another week in the books and the picture is starting to become a little more clear. In about a week or two we should all know who the contenders and pretenders are, but right now we can only go off of what we have after two games. One thing we do know is that QBs are dropping like flies, with four coaches deciding to pull their starter for the backup. Will the trend continue? I don't know, but there are some things we can always count on. Like no matter who the Bills put at QB, they're still going to suck. And with that, let's just get right to it, shall we?

32) Buffalo Bills - Switching Trent Edwards for Ryan Fitzpatrick is the most lateral move I could think of, and I don't see how this improves the Bills at all. Is it supposed to? You would think that between the Stanford and Harvard grads, they would have at least one competent QB. Maybe if they stitched them together like some kind of Frankenstein monster it would work. And how bad must Brian Brohm be that he's 3rd on the depth chart that is this crap sandwich? The only decision the Bills should be worried about right now is whether to take a quarterback or a left tackle with the number one pick in the draft.

31) Cleveland Browns - They have at least been competitive and kept games close, but then again they haven't exactly faced the best competition. We'll know just exactly how optimistic the fan base should be for the future after they play the Ravens this coming week. For what it's worth, I still think Josh Cribbs may be the best QB on this roster.

30) St. Louis Rams – Looked frisky, but against the Cardinals and Raiders. Not much to brag about. However, I still feel like this team is headed in the right direction. I like Sam Bradford, I have a tiny man-crush on Steven Jackson, and they’re quietly putting together an offensive line (Jason Smith, Jason Brown, and rookie Roger Saffold). The defense needs some work, but Spagnuolo is a coach that can put it together sooner rather than later. I like this team in a couple of years, for now they stay at the bottom.

29) Carolina Panthers – Have already waved the Jimmy Clausen white flag and it’s not even week three. They can’t seem to run the ball as effectively as they have in the past, as neither DeAngelo Williams nor Jonathan Stewart have been able to manufacture a touchdown. All of this is nothing more than the perfect storm for John Fox to quietly clean out his office as Bill Cowher moves in.

28) Oakland Raiders – Is Bruce Gradkowski possibly good or is Jason Campbell that bad? Darren McFadden has been rather impressive at least, now that he has sole possession of the number one role as long as Michael Bush is coming back from his injury. A win against the Rams isn’t exactly anything to write home about, but a win is a win and they don’t get those often in the Bay anymore, more on that later…

27) Arizona Cardinals – Looked as bad as we all thought they were against a contender in the Falcons. Derek Anderson did Derek Anderson-type things and threw two interceptions, and even rookie Max Hall got in on the fun and threw his own pick. On that note, we’ve only gone through six teams, and there have already been four backup quarterback sightings. And we’re not even close to being done yet.

26) Detroit Lions – Ryan Mathews over Jahvid Best could end up to be a much bigger blunder than we thought, as he did it all against Philly. Shaun Hill is a proven quarterback in the NFL, and he can hold down the fort while Matt Stafford is out, which nobody seems to be able to give an accurate timetable on. Again, this team is good in the future, still putting it all together for right now.

25) Jacksonville Jaguars – These next three teams are all pretty much interchangeable, and the only thing the winner (loser?) gets is a higher draft pick. San Diego went right through this defense, as the Jaguars allowed nearly 500 yards of offense. Maurice Jones-Drew is behind names such as Tim Hightower, Jason Snelling, and even Michael Vick. If he’s not going, neither is this team.

24) Seattle Seahawks – Still convinced they got extremely lucky breaks against the 49ers, and were easily handled by the Broncos this past week. They actually didn’t play terribly, but turnovers at key moments by Matt Hasselbeck killed any chance the Seahawks had to compete. He threw three interceptions, and in a week where backup quarterbacks stood up and took their revenge, we still didn’t see any of Charlie Whitehurst and his hair. I’m disappointed.

23) Denver Broncos – Have the highest ceiling of this cluster of teams, and Kyle Orton is looking very impressive early in the season. The defense has fallen off more than just a little bit, but with the loss of Mike Nolan, that’s to be expected. I’m interested in seeing how they perform against the Colts coming up, their first real test of the season.

22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 2-0 is 2-0, nobody can dispute that, but wins against Carolina and Cleveland aren’t enough to move up significantly. Josh Freeman does however have the 10th best QB Rating in the league, higher up than much more accomplished quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, and Tony Romo. I wasn’t sold on him after last season, but after his impressive performance so far, he’s justifying being a 1st round pick.

21) Dallas Cowboys – Ugh, where to begin? The offense has looked disorganized and the defense has looked exploitable. They’ve had virtually no running game, and new kicker David Buehler is shaky at best. There are even rumblings that Wade Phillips might not make it to week 5, with Dallas facing Houston next and then a bye week after. If they drop to 0-3, Jerry Jones will have an awfully long time to mull this one over.

20) San Francisco 49ers – This is an example of a ranking that I don’t necessarily think reflects the actual ability of the team. They looked so much better against New Orleans, but 0-2 is still 0-2. The best news for them is that 6-10 could very well win the NFC West, so no reason to panic.

19) Philadelphia Eagles – Nearly gave away the game to Detroit in the 4th quarter, but Michael Vick looked as good as ever and forced Andy Reid to give him the starting job for now. He gives them the best chance to win, but this offensive line (Given up a league-high 12 sacks) and defense as a whole unit (Most points allowed against them) have to step up if the Eagles want to make a Playoffs run down the line.

18) San Diego Chargers – Thoroughly dismantled Jacksonville, but it’s another case of beating up on the weaker teams. There are still some concerns to be had though. Ryan Mathews fumbled again and was basically sat in favor of converted fullback Mike Tolbert. I can’t give them much credit for this win, but they look like they’re getting back on track.

17) Kansas City Chiefs – Matt Cassel should really be giving half of his paycheck to Bernard Pollard for getting him this job, he’s just looked awful the first two games. Luckily this is a team with a solid running attack featuring Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs actually boast the league’s 9th best rushing defense as well, but the secondary is exploitable. I have my doubts that they’ll be able to maintain their winning ways for much longer.

16) Chicago Bears – Could be in line for a big move up the rankings with a good showing against the Packers on Monday night. Not being sure if the Cowboys are any good hinders the ranking of this team just a little bit, otherwise they could easily be a borderline Top 10 team. The Cutler-Martz marriage is looking good so far. As long as the offensive line doesn’t get him killed, this team could potentially sneak into the Playoff hunt. Stay tuned…

15) New York Giants – This week’s recipient of the “Completely and Thoroughly Spit Roasted” award. They looked overmatched in every single aspect against the Colts, and it makes one seriously reconsider how good they actually are, especially now that we know how bad Carolina sucks. Next week against Tennessee will give us (hopefully) a better idea of this team’s potential.

14) Minnesota Vikings – Brett Favre’s age my finally have caught up with him, as he looked completely incapable of running this offense efficiently. Adrian Peterson is absolutely terrifying, but he can’t do it all on his own. The secondary has been ravaged by injuries and doesn’t seem to be getting healthy anytime soon. If Detroit beats them in Minnesota this coming week, we can safely call this a full-scale implosion and start the Tavaris Jackson Watch.

13) Washington Redskins – Should’ve beaten the Texans this past week, but allowed them to make a comeback and ended up letting the game slip away in overtime. The good news is that the offense looked much more impressive than it did against Dallas in week one, and Donovan McNabb seems perfectly fine to lead this team. The NFC East is wide open at this point, and the Redskins have to be the early favorite in my mind.

12) Tennessee Titans – Can’t drop them too far down because the Steelers defense will make just about everybody look bad this year. The Kerry Collins sighting shouldn’t be seen as a sign to panic, it was just an attempt to spark the offense, which kind of worked. Chris Johnson will be running with a purpose against the Giants after being embarrassed by the Steelers D. I’m not jumping off of Tennessee yet, this team is still good. This defense still did a great job of keeping Rashard Mendenhall in check. No reason to press the panic button in Nashville.

<Due to character limit, I had to split this into two parts. Please click here for Part 2.>