Year: 2013

Pittsburgh Steelers: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#23)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Steelers, Uncategorized

Last week: 25 (+2)

Record: 1-4

The Steelers finally broke into the win column against the Jets with an “upset” win. I put upset in quotation marks because the Steelers were actually favored by a point on the road when all was said and done as both the odds makers and the sharps believed the Steelers were better than they looked before the bye and that the Jets were really inconsistent thanks to Geno Smith. Smith continued his inconsistency as the Steelers picked him off twice for their first 2 takeaways of the season and the Steelers looked better with Le’Veon Bell and Heath Miller healthy and a week off to prepare and rest. If they can continue net zero turnover (-0 turnover margin) football going forward, they’ll pull some more “upsets.”

Week 6 Studs

QB Brandon Weeden

WR Antonio Brown

Week 6 Duds

RT Marcus Gilbert

LE Ziggy Hood

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Cleveland Browns: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#24)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Browns, Uncategorized

Last week: 22 (-2)

Record: 3-3

The Browns looked great offensively in the first half as it looked like the return of Josh Gordon was helping even Brandon Weeden look like a passable quarterback, giving him two dynamic passing game weapons with Jordan Cameron. The Browns led 17-7 at halftime, but didn’t score the rest of the way in a 31-17 home loss to the Lions. There wasn’t much Josh Gordon could do about what Weeden did in the 2nd half as he imploded, including a pick six on one of the worst throws you’ll ever see.

Week 6 Studs

LT Joe Thomas

C Alex Mack

Week 6 Duds

QB Brandon Weeden

TE Jordan Cameron

LOLB Paul Kruger

MLB D’Qwell Jackson

MLB Craig Robertson

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St. Louis Rams: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#25)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Rams, Uncategorized

Last week: 28 (+3)

Record: 3-3

The Rams won last week to get to .500, but it was an incredibly fluky win. They won the turnover battle by 4, including two return touchdowns and somehow won the game by 25 despite losing the first down battle by 12 and the yardage battle by 204. Teams who lose the first down battle by 10 and the yardage battle by 200 have won 35 times since 1989, against 380 losses. Ironically, the Texans have surrendered two such wins this season, as the Seahawks won in this fashion earlier this year. Still, the Rams are not going to be able to win that way going forward. Their other two wins came by a field goal and against the Jaguars respectively, while their 3 losses have all been blowouts going into garbage time. They’re still moving the chains at just a 72% rate, as opposed to 75% for their opponents. They could be overrated going forward.

Week 6 Studs

LT Jake Long

CB Trumaine Johnson

Week 6 Duds

ROLB JoLonn Dunbar

DT Kendall Langford

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Washington Redskins: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#26)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Commanders, Uncategorized

Last week: 21 (-5)

Record: 1-4

Apparently a bye week was not all Robert Griffin needed to get right. Griffin ran well, as well as he had all season, carrying the ball for 77 yards on 9 carries, but completed less than 50% of his passes, 19 of 39, for 246 yards and a pick against a banged up Dallas defense against which teams had been moving the ball at will thus far this season. It’s very possible this is just a waste season for the Redskins this year. Even Tom Brady struggled (relatively) in the season after he tore his ACL and he had 4 months extra to recovery and less of a reliance on his legs. Unfortunately, the Redskins won’t have their own top-10 pick this year, but Griffin is still the kind of special talent that can win Super Bowls for this team going forward so Redskins fans have to be patient. Don’t regret that trade.

Week 6 Studs

LT Trent Williams

ROLB Brian Orakpo

CB Josh Wilson

Week 6 Duds

QB Robert Griffin

LG Kory Lichtensteiger

RG Chris Chester

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Buffalo Bills: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#27)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Bills, Uncategorized

Last week: 27 (+0)

Record: 2-4

I’m skeptical how long Thad Lewis can continue his level of play from the Cincinnati game, before you even get into the fact that he’s injured, but the biggest positive takeaway from the Cincinnati game was that Jairus Byrd and Stephon Gilmore returned to limited snap counts and didn’t get reinjured. Both should be full go this week and, considering how well their defense was playing without the leaders of their secondary, they could be a dangerous underdog going forward as long as they get at least decent quarterback play. Of course they just signed Matt Flynn this week after 4th string quarterback Thad Lewis got hurt so…

Week 6 Studs

RT Erik Pears

ROLB Jerry Hughes

Week 6 Duds

MLB Kiko Alonso

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New York Giants: 2013 Week 6 NFL Power Rankings (#28)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Giants, Uncategorized

Last week: 26 (-2)

Record: 0-6

The Giants are making progress. They covered! But in all seriousness, they looked a lot better last week, moving the ball easily against, admittedly, a Chicago defense that is a shell of its former self thanks to injuries, age, and departed coaches. They still lost the turnover battle by 3, including a pick six that turned out to be the decisive play on the final score, but once they start being competitive in turnovers, they’ll be able to win some games and pull some “upsets.” They have a very good chance to break into the win column this week against the Vikings at home on Monday Night Football.

Week 6 Studs

LT William Beatty

RT Justin Pugh

Week 6 Duds

RG David Diehl

DT Shaun Rogers

SS Antrel Rolle

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Minnesota Vikings: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#29)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Uncategorized, Vikings

Last week: 29 (+0)

Record: 1-4

The people who said that Adrian Peterson should not have been playing this week are the worst kind of people. I preemptively tweeted this after Peterson’s 2-year-old was tragically murdered by some psychopath, “If Adrian Peterson plays this weekend, everyone should be fine with that. It’s his son. Not yours.” I hadn’t actually seen anyone of note have a problem with him potentially playing at that point, but I remember what some members of the media had said about the Chiefs’ decision to play after the Jovan Belcher and knew some people would have a problem with Adrian Peterson choosing his method of grieving. And sure enough, Phil Mushnuck of the New York Post had a problem with it, saying, among other things  “it’s sickening the NFL’s latest MVP, hours after his son died — allegedly murdered — declared he was “ready to roll,” ready to play football.” He also inappropriately mentioned Peterson’s “arrest” last summer. I’m not going to give him the page rank boost by linking to him, but Google it and read it if you’re in the mood to be pissed off.

Week 6 Studs

RT Phil Loadholt

C John Sullivan

Week 6 Duds

RE Jared Allen

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Oakland Raiders: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#30)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Raiders, Uncategorized

Last week: 30 (+0)

Record: 2-4

The Raiders faced a 4th and 48 in their loss to the Chiefs this week, which is, unofficially I believe, an NFL record. It was so bad that even a solid punt, 46 yards, didn’t reach the chains. Negative plays were a theme of the day for the Raiders, as they were sacked 10 times. Terrelle Pryor is to blame for much of it, probably more than the offensive line. He held the ball way too long (2.94 seconds per throw, 4th longest of quarterbacks this week) and had a ton of trouble reading the toughest blitz he’s faced thus far in his career, taking a sack on 38.5% of his pressured snaps (2nd highest in the NFL this week). Still, this offensive line is in shambles thanks to injuries and their lack of baseline talent. Pryor was pressured on 55.3% of his snaps.

Week 6 Studs

RE Lamarr Houston

ROLB Sio Moore

CB Tracy Porter

Week 6 Duds

QB Terrelle Pryor

LT Khalif Barnes

RT Tony Pashos

RG Mike Brisiel

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#31)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Buccaneers, Uncategorized

Last week: 31 (+0)

Record: 0-5

Mike Glennon looked better in his second NFL start, completing 26 of 43 for 273 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, but remember he had 2 weeks to prepare for this one and he was facing arguably the worst defense in the NFL in the Philadelphia Eagles. He still has 11 games to prove himself going forward, but if the Buccaneers finish with a top-5 pick and fire Greg Schiano, they’ll have a very tough choice between a top defensive player like Jadeveon Clowney and a 2nd tier quarterback like Tajh Boyd or, if they declare, Marcus Mariota or Brett Hundley. I’m not so sure they wouldn’t take the latter.

Week 6 Studs

LT Donald Penn

DT Gerald McCoy

CB Darrelle Revis

Week 6 Duds

LG Ted Larsen

RG Davin Joseph

C Jeremy Zuttah

LE Daniel Te’o-Nesheim

DT Akeem Spence

MLB Mason Foster

FS Mark Barron

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Jacksonville Jaguars: 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (#32)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 7 NFL Power Rankings, Jaguars, Uncategorized

Last week: 32 (+0)

Record: 0-6

The Jaguars are awful, but it’s way too early to start thinking about 0-16 for them, just like it’s way too soon to start thinking about 16-0 for Denver. As we’ve seen in recent years with teams like the 2007 Dolphins or the 2010 Colts, going 16 games without a victory in the NFL is really hard. They’ll probably pull off some random upset before the season is over. Candidates include home games against Arizona, Tennessee, and Buffalo, as well as a trip to Cleveland. I wouldn’t be shocked if they beat San Diego this week, if the Chargers turn in another road dud off of a home upset, like they did after beating the Cowboys a few weeks ago.

Week 6 Studs

WR Justin Blackmon

FS John Cyprien

Week 6 Duds

LG Will Rackley

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