Month: October 2012

Baltimore Ravens: Week 8 NFL Power Rankings (#7)

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Power Rankings, 2012 Week 8 NFL Power Rankings, Ravens

Last week: 4 (-3)

Record: 5-2

Not ready to completely drop the Ravens yet. We all saw the Jets suffer a major injury, have a terrible game, and then exceed expectations by covering in 3 straight games. The AFC is still a joke and the Ravens already have 5 wins. As much as injuries to Lardarius Webb and Ray Lewis hurt, their defense wasn’t playing well to begin with. Their offense was actually what was carrying the team. Flacco is too inconsistent to consistently win games without a good defense, which is why they were struggling to win games even when they were winning (4 straight by a touchdown or less), but he’s also likely to bounce back from a horrific showing in Houston. After all, he hasn’t lost back-to-back games since week 6 of 2009, 14 straight. I have a feeling they bounce back after the bye in Cleveland.

Studs

RG Marshal Yanda: Did not allow a pressure on 49 pass block snaps, run blocked for 17 yards on 1 attempt

MLB Dannell Ellerbe: Allowed 4 catches for 32 yards on 9 attempts, 9 solo tackles, 3 assists, 5 stops, 1 quarterback hurry on 4 blitzes

Duds

QB Joe Flacco: 21 of 43 for 147 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, 2 drops, 3 batted passes, 1 throw away, 2 hit as thrown, 50.4 adjusted QB rating, pressured on 16 of 47 drop backs (4 sacks, 4 of 12, 1 throw away, 2 hit as thrown, 1 interception)

LG Bobbie Williams: 2 sacks and 2 quarterback hurries on 49 pass block snaps, run blocked for 0 yards on 1 attempt

WR Torrey Smith: Caught 4 passes for 41 yards on 12 attempts on 49 pass snaps, 3.5 YAC per catch, 2 drops, 2 interceptions when thrown to

WR Anquan Boldin: Caught 3 passes for 24 yards on 7 attempts on 48 pass snaps, 4.7 YAC per catch

TE Ed Dickson: Caught 1 pass for 5 yards on 3 attempts on 17 pass snaps, 2.0 YAC per catch, allowed 2 quarterback hurries on 6 pass block snaps

CB Cary Williams: Allowed 7 catches for 74 yards and a touchdown on 8 attempts, 6 solo tackles, 2 stops, 1 sack on 1 blitz

NT Terrence Cody: Did not record a pressure on 21 pass rush snaps, 2 solo tackles, 1 stop

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Minnesota Vikings: Week 8 NFL Power Rankings (#10)

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Power Rankings, 2012 Week 8 NFL Power Rankings, Vikings

Last week: 11 (+1)

Record: 5-2

The Vikings’ game last week was pretty boring, but since they’re playing tomorrow night in this week’s Thursday Night game, I’d like to take this opportunity to rant about Thursday Night Football. I hate it. One, it screws up my whole schedule. I like football and writing about football because I can spend the whole week preparing for one day. This whole Thursday thing just screws with everything.

Two, it’s unsafe and Roger Goodell is a huge hypocrite. Players simply can’t be expected to play on 3 days rest like that. The players recently overwhelmingly voted against it and that reason probably had a lot to do with it, but Goodell is intent on squeezing every cent of out of players no matter the cost, whether it’s Thursday Night Football (which increases the NFL’s revenue by 1 billion yearly) or an 18 game schedule. That is unless, you know, they start suing him for concussions and then he has to start pretending he gives a damn. This is the problem with having someone who never played professional football running the show.

Three, it’s crappy football. This is for two reasons. One, on short weeks teams are totally unprepared. The under hits about 60% of the time on Thursday Nights and this year scoring is down 8 points per game on Thursday Nights. If it’s a good matchup, it cheats us out of the opportunity to watch them at 100%. If it’s a bad matchup, it’s even worse and no one wants to see that on National TV anyway. More often than not, it’s the latter because of the NFL’s new “everyone gets a national televised game” thing, which is also ridiculous. If you want a nationally televised game, don’t suck, and if you suck, chances are being on national television for everyone to laugh at is not what you want.

Studs

RB Adrian Peterson: Rushed for 153 yards (104 after contact) and a touchdown on 23 carries, 5 broken tackles, allowed 1 sack on 5 pass block snaps, 2 catches for 6 yards on 4 attempts, 1 drop, 1 interception when thrown to

LT Matt Kalil: Did not allow a pressure on 25 pass block snaps, run blocked for 40 yards on 6 attempts

CB Chris Cook: Allowed 2 catches for 20 yards on 3 attempts, 1 solo tackle, 1 assist

RE Jared Allen: 2 sacks, 1 quarterback hit, and 4 quarterback hurries on 39 pass rush snaps, 1 penalty, 2 solo tackles, 1 assist, 3 stops, 1 missed tackle

LE Brian Robison: 3 sacks, 1 quarterback hit, and 6 quarterback hurries on 37 pass rush snaps, 4 solo tackles, 5 stops

CB Antoine Winfield: 1 sack on 1 blitz, 10 solo tackles, 7 stops, 1 missed tackle, allowed 9 catches for 90 yards on 11 attempts

Duds

QB Christian Ponder: 8 of 17 for 58 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, 2 drops, 1 throw away, 45.8 adjusted QB rating, pressured on 10 of 21 drop backs (3 sacks, 1 scramble, 1 of 6, 1 throw away, 2 interceptions)

LOLB Chad Greenway: Allowed 7 catches for 92 yards on 7 attempts, 4 solo tackles, 3 stops, 3 missed tackles

MLB Jasper Brinkley: Allowed 3 catches for 19 yards on 3 attempts, 5 solo tackles, 2 assists, 4 stops, 5 missed tackles

ROLB Erin Henderson: 1 solo tackle, 1 stop, 1 missed tackle, allowed 2 catches for 29 yards on 4 attempts, 1 pass deflection

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Green Bay Packers: Week 8 NFL Power Rankings (#13)

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Power Rankings, 2012 Week 8 NFL Power Rankings, Packers

Last week: 14 (+1)

Record: 4-3

The Packers have looked awfully impressive over the past 2 weeks and Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind, but they’re still the favorite to be this year’s team that goes from a 1st round bye to out of the playoffs, though New England and Baltimore made strong cases last week and you can’t count out San Francisco. However, I have a lot of trouble seeing that team coming from the AFC this year since it’s such a bad conference. In the NFC, you can miss the playoffs even if you deserve it and that might happen for the Packers.

At just 4-3, they’ll need to go 7-3 to make the playoffs at the very least, 8-2 to be safe. I don’t know if they’re quite that good. The defense isn’t great and is missing several players, including now Charles Woodson. They don’t win the turnover battle like they used to. They don’t run the ball well and their offensive line has been inconsistent. There’s still a lot to play out, but for now, I still have them in this spot.

Studs

QB Aaron Rodgers: 30 of 37 for 342 yards and 3 touchdowns, 1 spike, 1 drop, 118.0 adjusted QB rating, pressured on 9 of 40 drop backs (2 sacks, 1 scramble, 4 of 6, 1 drop)

RG Josh Sitton: Didn’t allow a pressure on 42 pass block snaps, run blocked for 19 yards on 1 attempt

C Jeff Saturday: Didn’t allow a pressure on 42 pass block snaps, run blocked for 11 yards on 13 attempt

RT Bryan Bulaga: Didn’t allow a pressure on 42 pass block snaps, run blocked for 11 yards on 3 attempt

WR Jordy Nelson: Caught 8 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown on 9 attempts on 40 pass snaps, 4.4 YAC per catch

WR Randall Cobb: Caught 8 passes for 89 yards on 8 attempts on 38 pass snaps, 3.0 YAC per catch

Duds

RB Alex Green: Rushed for 35 yards (30 after contact) on 20 carries, 3 broken tackles, caught 4 passes for 29 yards on 5 attempts, 1 drop

LT Marshall Newhouse: Allowed 1 sack, 2 quarterback hits, and 3 quarterback hurries on 42 pass block snaps, 1 penalty

RE Jerel Worthy: 1 quarterback hurry on 31 pass rush snaps, 1 penalty, no tackles

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Seattle Seahawks: Week 8 NFL Power Rankings (#14)

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Power Rankings, 2012 Week 8 NFL Power Rankings, Seahawks

Last week: 10 (-4)

Record: 4-3

I’m dropping Seattle from the playoffs in favor of Philadelphia this week, even though Philadelphia didn’t play. Seattle didn’t look particularly bad against San Francisco or anything, but I think Philadelphia is going to edge them out for that final NFC spot and I just changed my mind. Watching Russell Wilson and this terrible passing offense struggle to move the ball on Thursday Night didn’t help. They’ve got a great defense and can run the ball, but the NFC is a loaded conference so I have them just outside right now.

Seattle Seahawks

Studs

RB Marshawn Lynch: Rushed for 103 yards (61 after contact) on 19 attempts, 2 broken tackles, caught 1 pass for 13 yards on 2 attempts, 1 drop

C Max Unger: Allowed 1 quarterback hit on 28 pass block snaps, run blocked for 60 yards on 10 attempts

CB Brandon Browner: Allowed 1 catch for 4 yards on 2 attempts, 1 interception, 2 solo tackles, 1 stop, 1 missed tackle

Duds

WR Golden Tate: Did not catch a pass on 3 attempts on 22 pass snaps, 1 drop

TE Zach Miller: Was not thrown to on 20 pass snaps, allowed 1 quarterback hurry on 2 pass block snaps

RT Breno Giacomini: Allowed 1 sack and 4 quarterback hurries on 28 pass block snaps

LE Red Bryant: Did not record a pressure on 17 pass rush snaps, 2 solo tackles, 2 stops

DT Alan Branch: Did not record a pressure on 18 pass rush snaps, no tackles

DT Brandon Mebane: Did not record a pressure on 18 pass rush snaps, 1 solo tackle, 1 penalty

RE Chris Clemons: 2 quarterback hurries on 22 pass rush snaps, 1 missed tackle

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Pittsburgh Steelers: Week 8 NFL Power Rankings (#15)

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Power Rankings, 2012 Week 8 NFL Power Rankings, Steelers

Last week: 16 (+1)

Record: 3-3

Whether or not the Steelers can make the playoffs really depends on when Troy Polamalu gets back. Their win last week was impressive, until you consider that the Bengals are very good. Without him, they’re a pretty average team overall, but with him, they can definitely make the playoffs. Since 2009, the Steelers are 8-9 in games without Troy Polamalu and allow 21.4 points per game. With him, they are 27-8, allowing 14.4 points per game. He’s already been ruled out for another week against a sneaky tough Washington team.

Studs

RB Jonathan Dwyer: Rushed for 122 yards (114 after contact) on 17 attempts, 4 broken tackles,

QB Ben Roethlisberger: 27 of 37 for 278 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception, 1 throw away, 3 drops, 97.6 adjusted QB rating, pressured on 12 of 40 drop backs (3 sacks, 6 of 9, 1 touchdown, 2 drops)

C Doug Legursky: Did not allow a pressure on 42 pass block snaps, run blocked for 86 yards on 10 attempts

WR Antonio Brown: Caught 7 passes for 96 yards on 8 attempts on 38 pass snaps, 5.3 YAC per catch

CB Keenan Lewis: Allowed 2 catches for 16 yards on 5 attempts, 2 pass deflections, 3 solo tackles, 1 stop, 1 missed tackle

CB Ike Taylor: Allowed 1 catch for 8 yards and a touchdown on 2 attempts, 1 pass deflection, 1 solo tackle, 1 assist

LOLB Lamarr Woodley: 1 interception, 2 quarterback hits on 19 pass rush snaps, 3 solo tackles, 3 stops

Studs

WR Mike Wallace: Caught 8 passes for 52 yards on 14 attempts on 38 pass snaps, 4.8 YAC per catch, 3 drops

MLB Larry Foote: 2 solo tackles, 4 assists, 1 stop, 1 quarterback hurry on 4 blitzes, didn’t allow a completion on 2 attempts

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Dallas Cowboys: Week 8 NFL Power Rankings (#16)

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Power Rankings, 2012 Week 8 NFL Power Rankings, Cowboys

Last week: 15 (-1)

Record: 3-3

The Cowboys haven’t been playing well lately, but they get the Giants in Dallas this week and if they win, they’ll hold the season series and be tied with the Giants in the loss column. However, they’ll have to do it without middle linebacker Sean Lee, one of the league’s best linebackers, who is done for the year after having toe surgery. They’re a contender and one who grades out well in the important statistics, ranking 5th in yards per play differential and 7th in rate of sustaining drives differential, but right now I have them just out of it in the loaded NFC. There could be several 9 or even 10 win teams in the NFC who don’t make it in.

Studs

QB Tony Romo: 24 of 34 for 227 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 drops, 104.9 adjusted QB rating, pressured on 6 of 36 drop backs (1 scramble, 2 of 5, 1 drop)

LG Nate Livings: Did not allow a pressure on 37 pass block snaps, run blocked for 6 yards on 2 attempts

P Brian Moorman: 4 punts for 197 yards, 2 inside 20, 4 returns for 4 yards, 48.3 net yards per punt

Duds

LT Tyron Smith: Allowed 5 quarterback hurries on 37 pass block snaps, run blocked for 8 yards on 3 attempts

WR Dez Bryant: Caught 2 passes for 14 yards on 3 attempts on 31 pass snaps, 0.5 YAC per catch, 1 drop

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