Month: September 2013

Houston Texans: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#15)

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Last week: 15 (-3)

The Texans could easily be 0-3 right now, needing comebacks to beat both the Chargers and Titans, two supposedly inferior opponents. They haven’t really played that well dating back to last season. Over their last 16 games (including playoffs), a full season’s worth, they are 10-6, but also -10 in point differential. I still think they’ll win the AFC North, but only by default and if the Colts can keep up what they did this week, they’ll probably win the division easily. Tennessee, as they showed in their near win week 2 in Houston, will be competitive as well.

Week 3 Studs

C Chris Myers

LE JJ Watt

Week 3 Duds

LT Ryan Harris

RT Derek Newton

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Tennessee Titans: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#16)

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Last week: 17 (-1)

The Titans are much improved over a season ago, but they have had good luck with turnovers that will probably not continue going forward. Their +5 turnover differential is tied for 4th best in the NFL and it’s not like they are forcing a ton of takeaways, forcing 5 through 3 games. It’s just that Jake Locker hasn’t thrown an interception on 87 attempts, which won’t continue. It’s not like he’s excelling in other areas as a passer (though he did rush for 68 yards on 5 attempts last week), completing 58.6% of his passes for an average of 6.6 YPA. They are also recovering 85.7% of all fumbles, tied for best in the NFL, which is highly unlikely to continue.

Week 3 Studs

QB Jake Locker

WR Nate Washington

LT Michael Roos

DT Jurrell Casey

Week 3 Duds

WR Kenny Britt

LOLB Zach Brown

MLB Moise Fokou

CB Coty Sensabaugh

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Miami Dolphins: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#17)

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Last week: 19 (+2)

The Dolphins are 3-0, but I haven’t really changed from my pre-season projection for them because none of their wins have surprised me all that much. Win in New Orleans this week and we can talk. Teams win 3 games in a row all the time (22 of 32 teams did last season, including these Dolphins, who finished 7-9) and it’s not usually that impressive, but it’s just so much more noticeable when it happens at the start of the season. I’m not saying the Dolphins are the 2011 Bills or the 2012 Cardinals, but the only way they win the division is if the Patriots don’t improve going forward.

Week 3 Studs

QB Ryan Tannehill

DE Dion Jordan

DE Olivier Vernon

CB Brent Grimes

Week 3 Duds

LE Derrick Shelby

LOLB Philip Wheeler

DT Randy Starks

FS Chris Clemons

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Indianapolis Colts: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#18)

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Last week: 25 (+7)

I was shocked that not only did the Colts beat the 49ers, but they beat them handily in San Francisco. Previously in the Andrew Luck era, they were sweating out close wins against bad teams and getting blown out by good teams, especially on the road. Unless the 49ers are significantly worse than we expect them to be, the Colts just blew out a good team on the road. It’s very possible that was just an aberration. Yes, they did add Trent Richardson, but his impact (13/35/1) was minimal on that specific game. However, Andrew Luck is clearly improved in his 2nd season in the league and if Trent Richardson can have an impact on the running game once he gets integrated, with Ahmad Bradshaw also seeing carries, they’ll be a much better team, in terms of level of play, than last season. That just might not be reflected in their final record.

Week 3 Studs

MLB Jerrell Freeman

Week 3 Duds

RG Jeff Linkenbach

LOLB Erik Walden

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New York Giants: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#19)

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Last week: 16 (-3)

Like the Steelers, the Giants can’t be expected to lose the turnover battle by an average of -3 by game. That would be a -48 turnover margin that would blow the modern day record for a season out of the water. The Giants are probably too talented to even get close to the record. Eli Manning won’t continue throwing an interception on 7.0% of his passes and they won’t continue recovering just 22.2% of their fumbles. If there is any division in football you can win after starting 0-3, it’s the NFC East, but I don’t see that happening. 2nd place isn’t out of the question at all though, with the division having 3 combined wins.

Week 3 Studs

CB Aaron Ross

Week 3 Duds

RT Justin Pugh

RG Chris Snee

LOLB Jacquian Williams

ROLB Mark Herzlich

DT Shaun Rogers

LT William Beatty

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St. Louis Rams: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#20)

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Last week: 22 (+2)

The Rams have spent a lot of money in the past two off-seasons and it hasn’t really seemed to have gotten them anywhere. Cortland Finnegan and James Laurinaitis, two of their big money guys, are struggling mightily, which puts the Rams in a tough situation. The Rams can’t really cut either, even if they continue to struggle, but they can’t upgrade them either so they have to hope they rebound. Finnegan has been the worst offender, allowing 13 completions on 15 attempts for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns through 3 games, grading out as ProFootballFocus’ worst ranked cornerback thus far. Fortunately, they could have two top-10 picks on their way if they and the Redskins continue to struggle.

Week 3 Studs

None

Week 3 Duds

WR Chris Givens

TE Jared Cook

RG Harvey Dahl

LE Chris Long

MLB James Laurinaitis

CB Cortland Finnegan

DT Jermelle Cudjo

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Arizona Cardinals: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#21)

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Last week: 23 (+2)

The offense is significantly improved this season, but the defense is now the problem and it’s not going to get better as they’ve lost 3 of their top-4 rush linebackers for the season with injury in the past week. Sam Acho, Lorenzo Alexander, and Alex Okafor, a 4th round rookie in line for a bigger role, are all out and they are left with John Abraham, who is showing his age, Matt Shaughnessy, and Dontay Moch, the latter of whom was recently signed off the street. Fortunately, they get talented middle linebacker Daryl Washington back from injury after one more game and we’ll see if he can play as well as he did in 2012, before the suspension.

Week 3 Studs

C Lyle Sendlein

LE Darnell Dockett

Week 3 Duds

LT Levi Brown

ROLB John Abraham

MLB Jasper Brinkley

SS Yeremiah Bell

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Pittsburgh Steelers: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#22)

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Last week: 22 (-4)

The Steelers had 21 first downs, 2 punts, and 459 total yards to 15, 6, and 258 for the Bears, but lost by 17 because they committed 5 turnovers, 2 which went for touchdowns, without forcing a single turnover. They are now -9 in turnovers on the season, tied with the also 0-3 Giants for worst in the NFL. Fortunately, that kind of thing tends to be inconsistent in the long run. Also fortunately, they return Le’Veon Bell from injury this week and get safety valve Heath Miller back at full strength after he returned in limited fashion last week. That’s not going to be enough to push them from 0-3 into the playoffs, but they’re going to be overlooked going forward. They can still play defense and it’s only a matter of time before they start forcing takeaways (0 on the season).

Week 3 Studs

WR Antonio Brown

LOLB LaMarr Woodley

MLB Lawrence Timmons

SS Troy Polamalu

Week 3 Duds

LT Mike Adams

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Philadelphia Eagles: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#23)

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Last week: 20 (-3)

With the exception of the first half against the Redskins, one of the worst defenses in the NFL, the Eagles’ have really not played that well this season. I still believe in Chip Kelly as an NFL coach, but there’s only so much he can do given how bad their defense is and how flawed Michael Vick is as a quarterback. They aren’t moving the ball as well as they were early in the season, as they’ve been facing tougher defenses, they don’t catch teams by surprise, and Michael Vick is missing open guys and turning the ball over. This is putting so much pressure on their defense, as a result of the faster pace, and they just don’t have the talent to handle that.

Week 3 Studs

WR Jason Avant

LG Evan Mathis

RE Fletcher Cox

CB Cary Williams

Week 3 Duds

WR Riley Cooper

RT Lane Johnson

RG Todd Herremans

MLB DeMeco Ryans

MLB Mychal Kendricks

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Washington Redskins: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#24)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Commanders, Uncategorized

Last week: 21 (-3)

Their defense continues to make it near impossible for them to win games and that’s not something that’s going to change going forward. They’re too young and don’t have another talent. Unfortunately, they won’t get their pick this year, what will probably be a top-10 pick, to fix their defense, but I don’t think they’d trade Robert Griffin and the promise he still has going forward for their 3 picks back if they could.

Week 3 Studs

LG Kory Lichtensteiger

C Will Montgomery

LOLB Ryan Kerrigan

DT Barry Cofield

Week 3 Duds

QB Robert Griffin

RG Chris Chester

SS Brandon Meriweather

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