Awful

32. Buffalo Bills 0-2

I almost considered moving the Bills out of last place and into 31^st after I heard the news that Ryan Fitzpatrick was now their starting quarterback. It’s a bad sign when switching to Ryan Fitzpatrick is actually an intelligent football decision. Trent Edwards has zero arm strength, zero courage to make things happen more than 5 yards out, and zero idea how to lead a touchdown drive. Fitzpatrick can do all three of those things better than Edwards. Edwards has a 56% completion percentage, a 4.6 YPA and 2 picks to 1 touchdown, and has led two, count them, two, touchdown drives this season.

However, if the Bills had actually drafted a quarterback like Jimmy Clausen in the 2^nd round, they wouldn’t have this problem. Anyone who still thinks the Bills drafted well, after CJ Spiller has 9 yards on 8 carries and Torrell Troup barely plays, is just wrong. If they had gone with an offensive lineman or a quarterback with even one of those picks, they’d at least have some hope for the future.

As smart as the move to Fitzpatrick is for them, they should have switched to Brian Brohm, simply because he’s younger and less proven. You know what you’re getting with Fitzpatrick and that’s 6-8 wins with a strong supporting cast. He’s not getting you to the playoffs. Brohm is a former 2^nd round pick who hasn’t gotten a chance to prove himself yet. Why not see if he has anything? That’s the only excuse for not taking a quarterback in 2010, that they wanted to see what Brian Brohm had first, but they haven’t let him see the field yet.

31. St. Louis Rams 0-2

The Rams have one win since October 19^th, 2008, almost two calendar years. Their last division win was November 18^th, 2007. Since the start of the 2007 season, they have 6 wins, for a record of 6-44. Simply put, this franchise is in an extremely miserable state right now. The fact that I’ve ranked them ahead of the Buffalo Bills says a lot about how pathetic the Bills are right now, but enough bashing of the incompetent Bills. Let’s move onto the Rams.

The Rams are getting close. They’re playing better. Sam Bradford is the best signal caller they’ve had since Marc Bulger was conscious. They’ve lost their first two games of the season by a combined 6 points. They’re going to win a game soon. Probably not this week at home against Washington, but after that they have Seattle in St. Louis, Detroit in Detroit, an early season form Chargers team in St. Louis, then they go to Tampa Bay and are home for Carolina before their bye week. There’s a good chance they win at least one, if not two of those games, as Sam Bradford continues to mature.

A final word about the Rams is another positive and its props to the St. Louis line. Teams like the Lions with Matt Stafford and the Texans with David Carr couldn’t protect their quarterback early and it led to early career struggles and injuries that Carr never recovered from and Stafford may never recover from. Bradford has been sacked 5 times in 2 games, which isn’t enviable, but the Rams’ offensive line, which was supposed to be one of the worst in the league thanks to injuries, isn’t allowing the pass rush to consistently get into the backfield and into Bradford’s face which is key.

30. Cleveland Browns 0-2

Browns fans laughed at me when I had the Browns ranked worst in my Power Rankings over the offseason, citing, we’re playing the Bucs and Chiefs week 1 and 2, how bad could it be? We’ll they’ve now lost those two games. I’m ashamed that I moved this team back up my Power Rankings this offseason, after watching Jake Delhomme play well in the preseason. They aren’t very good at all. If they couldn’t win those two games, they’re going to have a tough time winning more than 4 this season. The interesting thing this offseason will be to see if they draft a quarterback with their early pick. I know they just spent a 3^rd rounder on Colt McCoy and that Mike Holmgren almost never drafts quarterbacks early, but McCoy was nearly cut this preseason and this team is in desperate need for a good signal caller.

29. Arizona Cardinals 0-2

I thought their offense was bad enough, but that defense? Giving up 41 points to the Falcons! I know the Falcons can put points on the board, but 41?! The Cardinals couldn’t stop the run all game, something that was supposed to be their team strength as Michael Turner rushed for 75 yards on 9 carries before getting hurt and then Jason Snelling came in and rushed for 129 more yards on 24 carries. Matt Ryan was 21 for 32 for 225 yards and 3 scores. I know a drunken Derek Anderson throwing 2 picks aided the Falcons offense with good field position, but that was a sorry showing for an Arizona defense that was supposed to keep this team in games.

But the offense isn’t getting away without getting any crap. Aside from a Tim Hightower 80 yard touchdown run, this offense stunk on Sunday, just as bad as the defense. A drunken Derek Anderson somehow only threw 2 picks and somehow managed to complete 17 of 31 passes. He was so inaccurate that he should have looked a lot worse statistically. Credit Arizona’s talented receivers (Larry Fitzgerald) for making him look at least mediocre. It might not be long before undrafted rookie Max Hall unseats Anderson as starter, but even Hall didn’t look good Sunday, going 1 for 2 for 3 yards and a pick in limited action in relief of Anderson. However, I expected this from their offense post Kurt Warner. Their crappy defense was a huge surprise.

Better luck next year

28. Detroit Lions 0-2

I hate to bring this up, but if Matt Stafford started vs. Philly, they would have won. Shaun Hill played decently, but he’s not the type of quarterback that wins that type of shootout where you have to regularly throw downfield. Matt Stafford is. If Stafford doesn’t get hurt and a bullshit rule doesn’t nullify Calvin Johnson’s score, this team is 2-0. Even still, they’ve only lost their 2 games by a combined 4 points. They’re not a horrible team. However, they aren’t going to beat a lot of teams if their quarterback isn’t capable of throwing downfield regularly, to match the points that Detroit’s defense is giving up. Even with a revamped defensive line, quarterbacks like Michael Vick are still having huge games on them. As good as Jahvid Best is, they can’t rely on him to make those points back in a hurry and that’s why they just barely lost to a mediocre Eagles team.

27. Denver Broncos 1-1

The Broncos had a great offensive explosion against the Seahawks and Kyle Orton has put up strong numbers to this point, but I’m not buying this team, even in a weak AFC West. They are 1-1 against an easy schedule of Jacksonville and Seattle and only looked good against Seattle’s defense because, well, Seattle’s defense isn’t very good. Regardless of how they looked against the discombobulated 49ers on opening week, this defense is pretty much completely devoid of talent at almost every spot on the field.

In fact, I would go as far as to say the Broncos are the worst team in the AFC West. Of course, only time will tell if that statement is true. We haven’t learned a ton about this team through 2 games and I could be wrong, but I’m sticking with my preseason assessment of this team, which is that it’s poorly coached, it can’t stretch the field offensively, and defensively it can’t stop the run, a bad combination. There’s a reason why this team went 2-8 down the stretch last year, and that was before they traded their best (only good) receiver, Brandon Marshall.

26. Oakland Raiders 1-1

The Raiders brought in Jason Campbell in the offseason to solidify the quarterback position for the first time since the days of Rich Gannon. 2 weeks into the season, there’s already a quarterback controversy as the Raiders are switching from expected savior and former first round pick Jason Campbell, to career journeyman Bruce Gradkowski. Needless to say, it doesn’t look like the Raiders are in all that much better shape now than they have been in the last 7 years. It’s sad really, because this team was expected to do good things. Now they have to hope that Gradkowski can rally the team around him the way he did late last season and the way Jason Campbell couldn’t. He’s got a good start, rallying the team to comeback to beat a crappy Rams by 2, in the way that he did last season in the game in which JaMarcus Russell was benched permanently. However, beating the Rams is one thing, beating solid teams is a different thing completely.

I would like to point out some positives for the Raiders and that’s that, for the first time since they’ve been drafted, their 2008 and 2009 first round picks are showing some live. The 4^th pick in the 2008 draft, Darren McFadden, is 2^nd in the league in rushing, and Darrius Heyward Bey, the 7^th pick in 2009, caught 6 passes for 80 yards last week, almost matching his career production to that point, last week in a win over St. Louis. Now let’s see if they can keep it up, surprise everyone, and shake off the bust tags that were slapped on them early.

Looking forward to a top ten pick

25. Jacksonville Jaguars 1-1

David Garrard threw 4 picks in 23 attempts in a miserable loss, by 25 points, to a Chargers team that wasn’t even playing that well. Back in 2007 Garrard threw 3 picks the entire season, in 325 attempts, as he led the team to the playoffs. The fact that Garrard is playing badly right now is really bad news for this team because his strong play, efficiency, and status as an elite game manager was really all this team had going for them. MJD is averaging 3.7 yards per carry over the first 2 games, whether it be because of that injury that wasn’t really an injury, but actually might be or because of other reasons. The defense simply can’t stop anyone in any form, as it couldn’t last year. They needed to add a defensive end or a cornerback at 10, but instead they reached for a defensive tackle and they still can’t stop anyone defensively. They’re not doing a lot right and that’s not a formula for winning football game. They need MJD to get right/healthy or Garrard it get right, because otherwise they aren’t going to be able to even hang with most teams, let alone win games.

24. Kansas City Chiefs 2-0

Every year it happens. A bad team goes 2-0 to start the season. Last year a bad team, the Broncos, went 6-0 to start the season, only to finish at 8-8 and in complete ruin. It happens. Football can be really unpredictable. You can win one week on Monday Night, on a punt return, a long run by the more talented running back that your coach isn’t using, and an interception that sets up an extremely short field. You can win the next week because you’re playing the awful Browns. Even then they needed a pick six and 3 field goals to win it. This isn’t going to continue.

Matt Cassel is horrible. The only two touchdown drives he’s led this season were a 69 yarder, in which every single yard was gained on the ground, and a 12 yarder. He’s averaging a mere 4.9 YPA this season, and he’s still only completing 54% of his passes, with 2 interceptions. Quite simply, he’s only making safe passes and still not completing them. Their luck is going to run out very soon. Cassel doesn’t have the supporting cast to be that bad and consistently win. In fact, the team’s best player (though cornerback Brandon Flowers is challenging him for this title) is their backup running back Jamaal Charles, who Todd Haley refuses to use.

Speaking of Jamaal Charles, this season Charles has 24 touches, for 176 yards. Thomas Jones has 34 touches, for 127 yards. Charles is outgaining Thomas by 49 yards, despite having 10 fewer touches. Why he is not the starter yet?! In fact, why wasn’t he the starter to begin the year? Charles proved he could handle the load late last season with 1417 yards on 250 touches, despite not becoming starter until midseason. By contrast, Thomas Jones had 1460 yards, just 43 more, on 341 touches, 91 more touches, despite running behind the considerably better offensive line.  It’s almost like Haley has something personal against Charles. Or maybe he owns Thomas Jones in fantasy football or something like that.

23. Carolina Panthers 0-2

In two short weeks this team went from a sleeper of mine to a laughing stock. I guess that’s what happens when a quarterback who appeared to be a solid game manager in 5 starts last year turns the ball over a Jake Delhomme like 7 times in 2 games, completes a Derek Anderson like 40% of his passes, is being protected by an offensive line, that was supposed to be great in both pass protection and run blocking, but has given up 8 sacks in 2 games and can’t pave the way for their strong running backs at all. It also doesn’t help that Coach John Fox, who is coaching for his job, is inexplicably using the mediocre Mike Goodson in key situations, over their two headed monster of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart at running back. Oh, and that pass defense that was one of the best in the league last year can’t stop anyone, partially because their now Julius Peppers less pass rush has accumulated no sack in 2 games (the team as a whole has 1, from linebacker Dan Connor).

Maybe Jimmy Clausen is the answer at quarterback, but, even though I think Clausen is a solid quarterback, I don’t think he’s going to be great in this offense. Their receivers seem to be the problem. They’re not getting open at all, with the exception of Steve Smith occasionally. I think that’s a huge part of the reason, along with that horrid offensive front, why Moore is struggling and Clausen has struggled in limited action. I don’t expect him to turn those limited struggles around too much, at least not right away, unless John Fox changes up the game plan, running more with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, and not Mike Goodson, so the quarterback doesn’t have to carry the team, with pressure in his face and no one open downfield. Still, I think it’s going to be an ugly season for Clausen and the Panthers.

Probably not a playoff team

22. Seattle Seahawks 1-1

I had a feeling that Matt Hasselbeck would regress after a strong week 1. He did last year and he did it again this year going 20 for 35 for 233 yards 1 touchdown and 3 picks in a loss to the lowly Broncos week 2 after going 18 for 23 for 170 yards 2 touchdowns and a pick in a win week 1. I think the worst is yet to come as Hasselbeck is the type of quarterback who gets worse under strong pressure from the pass rush, something he has not yet seen from the discombobulated 49ers week 1 and the Elvis Dumervil less Broncos week 2.

21. Philadelphia Eagles 1-1

It’s no surprise Andy Reid flip-flopped from Kevin Kolb to Michael Vick mid-week, after assuring the media that Kolb was the starter. The toughest decision Reid’s had to make in years is whether to have cheesesteak or pizza for dinner. I like the Vick move in the short term, because Vick is way more mobile, something that’s huge when you’re playing behind a line as bad as Philadelphia’s and need to scramble often to avoid sacks, but I hate the move in the longterm.

Vick’s a free agent this offseason. If he has a good year, they’ll almost certainly need to overpay him to keep him and that’s not a good idea. If he leaves, then they’ll just have Kolb, who will have a total of 3 starts (one he didn’t even finish) experience in 4 yrs. Plus he won’t have the confidence he had coming into this year. Coming into this year he could be like, they traded Mcnabb to play me. Going into next year he’ll be like, I’m only here because they couldn’t afford Vick. It’s a lose/lose situation for this team in the future if they start Vick and because I don’t see them going anywhere this season either way (how do you almost lose to the Shaun Hill led Lions?), I hate the move overall because it barely helps them this year and kills them in the future.

Speaking of Michael Vick, I don’t know why the media is so quick to not only forgive him, but come to his rescue when someone doesn’t forgive him. I like 2^nd chances. I’m a believer that people make mistakes and that they should be given 2^nd chances. People do stupid stuff and if they pay the price and appear sincerely apologetic after everything, I’m willing to forgive them. What Mike Vick did wasn’t stupid. It wasn’t a mistake. It was fucked up. Killing/torturing/fighting dogs is not a stupid mistake, a lapse in judgment, or anything like that, it’s a sign of a bad person. A DUI, as sad as those can be sometimes, is a stupid mistake. Taking money from boosters is a stupid mistake. Putting yourself in a situation where someone can accuse you of rape is a stupid mistake. Intentionally killing an animal for reasons other than your own survival isn’t a stupid mistake. It takes someone messed up in the head to do that.

I don’t see why guys like Tim Tebow, who don’t do anything wrong and don’t really act to toot their own horn, are hated by so many people for being “pretentious.”  I don’t see why guys like Ben Roethlisberger, against whom nothing is proven other than that he likes to party, drink, and be around women who are also drunk (and what guy doesn’t right?) are hated. But at the same time, Vick, who killed, is defended.

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Call me crazy, but I’m starting to think this team is for real, to a point. Many will write off their 2-0 start, saying they only beat a turnover prone Jake Delhomme and a suddenly even more turnover prone Matt Moore. However, I’m not one of those people. I like what I see, especially from the ever important quarterback position, where Josh Freeman looks about 100 times better than he did last season, after putting in a ton of work in the offseason. The 2009 1^st round pick has a quarterback rating of 95.0, with a completion percentage of 56%, a YPA of 6.9, and 4 touchdowns to 1 pick in their two wins, despite playing with a broken thumb.

I’m not predicting them to go to the playoffs, at least not yet. They do need to beat a couple teams of note before I do that. But can this team finish at .500? Of course they can. Can they position themselves this season to be projected as a sleeper for 2011? Once again, of course they can, thanks to a stronger, rebuilt young defense, and talent at the quarterback position.

One last note, unfortunately Buccaneers safety Tanard Jackson will not be part of this team this season, after being suspended for the rest of the season, after violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Jackson was suspended for 4 games at the start of last season for the same reason and will not even be eligible for reinstatement until September 22^nd 2011, exactly one calendar year from today. Jackson is one of the league best young safeties and had 5 picks in 12 games last season, following his suspension.

Making some noise

19. Chicago Bears 2-0

I expect this to be my most criticized ranking, ranking the 2-0 Chicago Bears 19^th, behind the 0-2 Minnesota Vikings, their division rivals. I’m going to back this up. Jay Cutler played out of his mind Sunday against Dallas. However, that’s what Jay Cutler does, sometimes. Sometimes, he’s horrible. He’s amazing enough of the time for people to think he’s a better quarterback than he is, but that’s a separate story.

And they still almost lost to an unraveling Cowboys team. Their first game should have been a loss, if it wasn’t for the stupidest rule in the rule book, and not just a loss but a loss to the Shaun Hill led Lions. I expected this team to get creamed this week against Green Bay, as Aaron Rodgers tears apart Chicago’s weak secondary and Clay Matthews disrupts Jay Cutler’s 7 and 9 step drops, to force some of Cutler’s patented brainfart interceptions. After that, I don’t expect this team to finish the season at any higher than .500.

18. Minnesota Vikings 0-2

As bizarre as it sounds, this team would have a better record if Tarvaris Jackson had started the first 2 games, instead of Brett Favre. Say what you want about Jackson, but he wouldn’t have turned the ball over 5 times in 2 games and those turnovers are the sole reason why they lost the Miami game and a part of the reason why they lost the opener in New Orleans to a Saints team that somehow only managed 14 points.

I don’t expect Favre to be this bad forever, however. He’s Favre. He doesn’t go 0-3 to start seasons. He’ll go 0-3 to end it and kill his team’s playoff chances, but he doesn’t start 0-3. He’s obviously in a lot of pain with his ankle, that combined with Minnesota’s suddenly horrible line not being able to protect him, and that’s why he’s been struggling. I don’t expect him to get back even close to 2009 form because of those reasons, but he’s not going to be this bad forever. I don’t have them making the playoffs, but they’re not a terrible team, at least not as terrible as they’ve looked so far this season.

17. Tennessee Titans 1-1

I have been a fan of Jeff Fisher as a coach for a while, but his decision to bench Vince Young in the midst of a bad, but not horrifying performance, for the ancient Kerry Collins is a head scratcher for me. Vince Young, as we’ve seen in years past, is not the most mentally stable person and he doesn’t handle being benched all that well. It seemed unnecessary to bench him, and even if it did somehow help them win the game, which it didn’t, it still could have major negative effects in the future.

The old saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks, you have none and I’m a big believer in this. This team needs someone, a leader at quarterback, who they can turn to and say that’s our guy. If you’re flip-flopping quarterbacks, the team doesn’t have that. The locker room doesn’t have that. The receivers, the offensive line doesn’t have that. Unpredictability at the quarterback position is bad for the entire team. Remember the Browns a few years back with both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, how they were flip-flopping between them all preseason. How did that turn out?

Quarterback controversy is never a good thing. Sometimes it’s necessary and it’s good in the long run to switch quarterbacks, but I don’t see it being necessary here. Vince Young is the best option now and even if you don’t agree with that, you can’t deny he’s the best option for the future. The team needs to know that and believe that.

 

Close, but no cigar

16. Cincinnati Bengals

In my mind, this team is very overrated. People are saying, except for that one bad half against New England, this has been a good team. That’s simply not true. Their “good” half against New England was a bunch of short passes against a prevent defense that New England was using to protect against the big score and force Cincinnati to run out their own clock with a big lead.

Their “good” game against Baltimore, was not a tough grind it out win like they had last year. It was a game they could have easily lost if the Ravens defensive backs could catch, despite the fact that the opposing quarterback threw 4 interceptions. Plus, if the opposing quarterback throws 4 interceptions and the most you can do is turn it into 5 field goals, which could have been only 3 if the Ravens defensive backs could catch, that’s not good at all, even against one of the league’s premier defenses.

A lot of the blame has to fall on Carson Palmer’s shoulders. I read in several places that Palmer could possibly be on the hot seat in Cincinnati if he didn’t have a good year this year and that the Bengals could draft a quarterback in 2011 if he does struggle. Now that doesn’t seem so crazy. He has TO and Ochocinco on his side and he still can’t do anything offensively

15. Miami Dolphins

I’m really disappointed by what I’m seeing from Chad Henne. I know he looks good on paper, 61% completion percentage, 0 picks, 2 wins. However, the important stats are that he only has 1 passing touchdown, and a YPA just over 6. He’s also only led his team on 2 touchdown drives this season, despite having an amazing running game behind him. And it’s not like he’s playing the Steelers or the Ravens or the Jets. He’s played the Vikings and the Bills, not exactly A type defenses.

He’s got an amazing arm, but he’s not using it. 6 yards per attempt is not how you lead scoring drives. I would like to see him take more chances downfield, otherwise, this team isn’t going to do much offensively. It’s like why Trent Edwards is struggling in Buffalo. If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. Unlike Edwards, Henne actually has the arm strength to take smart chances downfield and not expect the ball to end up in the defender’s hands.

Until he does that, I don’t think this team can consistently win games where Henne is going to be counted on to produce, meaning a game against a team with an elite passing game that will force Henne to match, or a game against a team that can stuff the run, forcing Henne to throw to compensate. Unfortunately, that’s about 60% of their remaining schedule, starting with the Jets week 3.

On the playoff bubble

14. Atlanta Falcons 1-1

Where did that 41 spot come from? I knew the Falcons had a good offense, but not that good. We’ll have to see if that continues, but Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Jason Snelling all looked amazing in their victory over…er destruction of Arizona. With teams like Dallas and Minnesota struggling in the NFC, this team could be in good position to capitalize. Huge game against New Orleans though first.

13. Baltimore Ravens 1-1

Last week I remarked how Joe Flacco looked like he could throw the ball 200 yards downfield through the stands and into the parking lot on every throw. Well, that’s still true, but I also talked about reining it in, controlling it. He definitely didn’t do that in a loss to the Bengals, where he threw 4 picks in 39 attempts, and only completed 17, 44%, of his passes. The good news is, the defense looks good and has yet to allow a touchdown in 8 quarters. If they can get it together offensively, maybe give the ball to Ray Rice, only 43 touches in 2 games, more like they did last year and work off that.

12. Dallas Cowboys 0-2

The reason why this talented team is 0-2, they are doing stupid things at the wrong time. Romo has 656 passing yards this season, good for 2^nd in the league. However, he’s only thrown 2 touchdowns, his team only has scored 27 points, and he hasn’t won a game. Dallas is actually 4^th in the league in yards. So why only 27 points in 2 games? They’re simply not capitalizing. They’re missing field goals, turning the ball over after good drives, nullifying game winning touchdowns on penalties, making stupid play calls. If they can straighten that stuff out, they still have the talent to go 11-3 the rest of the way. But can they straighten that stuff out? My guess is not quite and they’ll go 9-7 and barely make the playoffs.

11. New York Jets 1-1

Mark Sanchez had a huge game against the Patriots throwing for 220 yards and 3 scores with no picks on 21 of 30. Does this mean the Sanchize is ready to be an elite quarterback? Not so fast. Remember, while that was his best career game, it was still only one game. He’s got to do it more and preferably against a defense that’s a little better than the Pats. However, it’s a great start to what was supposed to be a sophomore breakout year for the 5^th overall pick in 2009. If Sanchez can play as well as he did in the playoffs last year, they’re going to be a really good team once again. And this is coming from a Pats fan. I’m legitimately scared of this team taking the division from Brady and co.

Playoffs and maybe more

10. San Francisco 49ers

After the 49ers’ loss, I am even more convinced this team will win the division. I know that might sound counterintuitive, but it’s really not that crazy. Every other team in this miserable division lost last week, including beyond pitiful performances from Arizona and Seattle. Even in defeat, the 49ers looked good. They committed stupid turnovers and a play in which backup center David Baas snapped the ball a good 8 feet above Alex Smith’s head forcing Smith to knock it out of the back of his own end zone for a safety, to prevent it being recovered for a defensive touchdown. If it wasn’t for those things, they would have won that game. They also had to burn some timeouts because of miscommunication with the play calling and Vernon Davis forgetting he was supposed to be on the field.

If they can straighten this stuff out, they’ll cruise through most of their easy divisional games and I trust them to straighten the stupid stuff out. Alex Smith is looking great in his first season in which has the same offensive coordinator as the year before. He didn’t look too sharp against a mediocre Seattle team, but his performance, at home, under the Monday Night lights, against the reigning Super Bowl championships, is very encouraging.

That last drive he had, in which he led the team down the field with time running out to tie it, with the wind blowing into his face, was amazing. I loved how he did it both through the air and on the ground. It was very methodical. It’s not his fault that the defense gave up the winning field goal on the next drive. Smith did everything he could. Hell, it’s not really even the defense’s fault all that much. Drew Brees is just that awesome.

9. New York Giants 1-1

I’m starting to think that Tom Coughlin is not cut out for this job anymore. This team is really talented, but they aren’t winning like they should be. This may just be an overreaction and we’ll definitely know more after a few more games, starting with Tennessee this week, but I have a decent feeling we could be talking about Coughlin being on the hot seat in a few weeks. That being said, I still have this team ranked high because they have a really talented team and because they’ve been there before. Plus, the NFC is looking really weak as a conference this year.

8. Washington Redskins 1-1

So far this season, the Redskins have won a game they shouldn’t have, when Cowboys tackle Alex Barron felt it necessary to strangle, choke, and possibly rape Brian Orakpo to keep him away from Tony Romo, nullifying the game winning touchdown. They’ve also lost a game they should have won. Not only did they have a huge lead early against an up and coming Houston team that is more experienced blowing big leads than coming back from big deficits, but they did kick the winning field goal. However, a possibly genius icing the kicker timeout call from Gary Kubiak brought it back and the Redskins lost an overtime thriller to a very good opponent.

All that being said, I really like what I’m seeing out of this team thus far this season and that’s why I have them ranked this high, the highest ranked team in a very talented NFC East division. Donovan McNabb seems rejuvenated by a move to Washington under Mike Shanahan. The offensive line and wide receivers haven’t been nearly as bad as people thought they would be, thanks to strong play from the underrated Jammal Brown on the line and the underrated Santana Moss as a deep threat through the air. The defense is solid despite the controversy with Albert Haynesworth. I wouldn’t call them a legitimate dark horse, but they’ll make the playoffs and they’re my pick to win that division.

Dark Horses

7. New England Patriots 1-1

After that loss to the Jets, I was half expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop out of Tom Brady uniform and tell us that we had been punked. Or maybe it was really Ashton Kutcher leading that team in the second half, and forcing it to Moss on every single play as if this were some Madden game. Or maybe I’m just making Ashton Kutcher references because Tom Brady’s ridiculous hair makes him looks like Ashton Kutcher. Either way, the fact that Tom Brady was just out quarterbacked by the “Sanchize” is absolutely ridiculous.

What was Brady doing in that 2^nd half? I can’t even remember a time he didn’t throw to a tightly covered Moss. Did he throw to anyone else in that half? I know Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk went down with injuries in that game (Welker’s fine, Faulk’s not, done for the year with a torn ACL) but you have other weapons. Brandon Tate, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, someone!

I don’t know if Brady was just really excited by Moss’ amazing catch to score a touchdown late in the 2^nd half (which was amazing by the way) and forgot that Moss wasn’t God and couldn’t do anything if he was tightly covered. I don’t know if Brady decided that, with Revis out of the game, Antonio Cromartie on Moss was an easy matchup (it’s not because Cromartie can match Moss’ height almost inch for inch), but whatever reason he had for doing what he did, it didn’t work. Does Brady forget that he won his 3 Super Bowls by spreading the ball around to multiple receivers and always throwing to the open guy, never playing favorites? That one throw to Moss that was picked off by Cromartie looked like a perfect pass straight to Cromartie. All in all, Brady was 2 of 10 throwing to Moss and 18 of 26 throwing to everyone else.

Enough Brady bashing. I do love the man and I think that’s the longest I’ve ever bashed him. I almost didn’t feel right doing it. Almost. Now onto that defense, which I have no problem bashing. That defense looked as bad as they did in the Saints game last year, with the exception of the first quarter where they were barely on the field. They couldn’t tackle. Runners were getting extra yards on them with ease. They couldn’t cover. It was horrible. I know they’re inexperienced, but they need to show a little bit more than that in the coming weeks. I’m hoping that more experience and more of Bill Belicheck’s tutelage is enough to make them a half way decent squad by the end of the season.

If they become a halfway decent squad by the end of the season, they could win a Super Bowl. Teams like the Colts and Saints have done it with halfway decent defenses and amazing offenses. They’re not my pick, even as a Patriots fan, but they can do it, which it why they’re in my Dark Horse category. Besides, it’s not like Brady is a bad quarterback. He’s amazing when right, he’s just not right sometimes. It didn’t help him that the Jets defense is awesome. Well, awesome for them. Brady plus a halfway decent defense can win a Super Bowl. It’s not likely, but it could happen. Or maybe I’m just a homer.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers 2-0

Remember when people were wondering if the Steelers could win 2 games with Ben out and saying how if they won 2, they still had a shot at the playoffs. Two games in and they have two wins with the only one matchup that everyone assumed they would win coming up, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The one problem, the Bucs are 2-0 and the Steelers have lost yet another quarterback, with Dennis Dixon going down with injury, 6 weeks at least after knee surgery, and Charlie Batch having to take over. Batch is definitely capable of winning 1 of these next two games with Ben out, behind this amazing defense that forced 7 turnovers against Tennessee. I imagine they can do the same sort of thing to either Josh Freeman or Joe Flacco in the next two weeks and that’s all Charlie Batch will need.

A 3-1 start to the season, and especially a potential 4-0 start, without Big Ben would be amazing. This team would legitimately be a Super Bowl contender with that. Their defense is just as good as it was in 2008 when they won it all. Ben will be back and the running game, with Rashard Mendenhall, is even better than it was in 2008. A lot will depend on how in shape, mentally and physically Big Ben is when he returns, but I could definitely see this team winning it all for the 3^rd time in 5 seasons.

5. San Diego Chargers 1-1

This team is just stupid for not taking the Vikings’ offer of a 2^nd round pick and another undisclosed pick for Vincent Jackson. Vincent Jackson is never playing another game for the Chargers either way, as he’d just leave as a free agent this offseason. Plus even if they could resign him, resigning Vjax and swallowing their pride looks really, really bad from an organizational standpoint right now. Plus Vjax is not in game shape and I don’t even know if he’s worth a 2^nd rounder at full strength. He’s a good, but not great receiver.

Even if none of that other stuff was true, it’s basically a free 2^nd rounder. He’s gone after this season anyway. Why not take a 2^nd rounder? If they’re trying to bargain for more, that’s just dumb, because the deadline for him to be traded and still play 12 games this season for the team where he’s sent was today. After today, he can only play 10 for the team he goes to. A 2^nd rounder was a ridiculously high price already. No one’s going to outbid that now that he can only play 10 games for a team.

Back to the rest of the team, they didn’t look good in a win over the lowly Jaguars, who were on the road and traveling across 3 time zones. But that’s okay, because they do this every September and still win 11+ games and win this lowly division. I expect they can do that again just as I expect they will choke in January again. Some things just transcend trends and become expectations. Those two things have both done that.

Elite runner ups

4. Houston Texans 2-0

The biggest knocks on the Texans coming into this season were that they couldn’t beat the Colts, they couldn’t keep big leads, and they couldn’t win close games. Week 1 they beat the Colts, keeping a big lead in the process. Week 2, they didn’t keep a big lead, they came back from a big deficit, a huge sign of mental strength. They also won a close game in that game, winning in overtime by 3.

They’ve also won both games in different ways, which I like to see. Week 1 was almost all running the ball. Week 2 was almost all passing the ball. I’d like to see them win more games in impressive fashion, but I’m sticking with this team as a legitimate Super Bowl contender and a team that could be the 2010 version of the New Orleans Saints. Those two teams are really similarly built and both, similarly, came out of nowhere and mediocrity to do it.

3. New Orleans Saints 2-0

Speaking of the Saints, the real Saints are 2-0 after winning a Monday Night game they could have easily lost. This team certainly doesn’t look the same as the team did last year with 39 combined points in 2 games, but they are winning. It’s also becoming clear after that Monday Night game that they could have trouble winning in hostile road environment. They’re used to their cushy home, with the fans that love them and the dome with no weather. They almost lost that game in San Fran, because it was a hostile environment with a crazy Monday Night crowd there to see Jerry Rice’s number retired. Plus that crazy weather, the cold, the wind. It’ll be interesting to see if they continue to struggle in similar situations, starting with at Atlanta this Sunday, on a short week after a Monday Night game.

All that being said, let’s be honest. They’re still a scary team. They still look like they could score 30+ on you on any given night. They’re going to get Darren Sharper back to make that opportunistic defense even better and even more opportunistic. And let’s be honest. Was anyone surprised that Drew Brees lead that game winning drive late the way he did, even in a hostile environment? I didn’t think so. That’s why this team is good.

2. Indianapolis Colts 1-1

The Colts are ranked just higher than the Saints here, even though the Saints beat them in the Super Bowl last year and even though the Colts have lost a game this season and the Saints haven’t. I’ll tell you why. First of all, the addition of Jerry Hughes to the Colts as a 3^rd pass rusher this offseason, I think, puts the Colts ahead of the Saints. I don’t think the Colts lose that Super Bowl if they have a 3^rd rusher like Hughes in the mix, considering how hurt Dwight Freeney was playing in that game. 2^nd, the Colts are more consistent. They’ve done this before. They win 12 games every single season. The Saints have done it only once and they’re already looking a bit shaky to start the season.

The Favorite

1. Green Bay Packers 2-0

I did this a lot last year and I’m going to do it again today. I’ve written 7300+ words today. I don’t want to explain why the Packers are amazing. I’m just going to say that this team is the complete package and that I expect them to blowout the Bears this week in Chicago. My hands hurt.