The Fan's Perspective

Ahhhhh, finally. We have arrived at the midpoint of the greatest regular season format of all major sports: The NFL regular season. 8 weeks of violent, riveting and sometimes headscratching regular season action down and 8 more to go. So what better time than now to revalute, reconsider and .. well… reassess all the teams. Going from first to worst, seizing them up one by one. Alrighty, enough chit-chat! Here are The Average Fan’s first annual Midseason Power Rankings:

(Important note: This are my personal rankings, not the ODS rankings. The ODS picks will follow the power rankings.)

1. New Orleans Saints (7-0) – The greatest show on turf 2.0 is on pace for 624 total points. Just to put that into perspective: This would shatter the previous record of 589 points held by the 2007 Pats. Could it be that we see two teams go 16-0 in the span of two years. (gasp)

2. Denver Broncos (6-1) – Sure, they lost their first game last week, but remember this: The last time Denver started out 6-0 they won the Superbowl. Just sayin’.

3. Indianapolis Colts (7-0) – And so the controversy begins. I know what you are thinking right now: “Is he on crack!? How can the second still unbeaten team only be at Nr. 3!?” The answer is simple. They haven’t played ANYBODY yet. I already eluded to this in last weeks picks post, but just for the sake of argument I’ll explain it again. The Colts have played these teams so far: Jacksonville, Miami, Arizona, Seattle, Tennessee, St. Louis, San Francisco. The toughest team out of that group is Arizona and they are about as predictable as the plot of a chick flick. The bottom line is that I don’t trust ‘em (that’s why I bet against them this week). They will fall apart just like the Giants did. You just wait. (Of course I could also be terribly wrong, which would mean that we could see a Superbowl of unbeatens. If you thought the stakes for the Giants-Pats Superbowl were high just wait ’til you watch that baby.)

4. Minnesota Vikings (7-1) – I pretty much just have them this high based on their record, because the Vikes are yet another team I don’t trust, but this time it’s more subjective. They really seem like a great team: great QB (Never thought I would say that, but there is a first for everything, right?), a beast for a runningback and a defensive line that swallows up opponents like the Fat Bastard from Austin Powers swallows up babies. And still I can just see the whole house of cards implode in the palyoffs in my mind’s eye. I can litterally see all the disheartened Minny fans starring in disbelief at a disgruntled and frustrated Favre as their whole season goes up in flames quicker than a gasoline-drenched stack of hay. I don’t know if anything can possibly change my mind.

5. New England Patriots (5-2) – They are flying under the radar like a stealth bomber right now. The Pats have allowed the third fewest points and are ranked 7th in points scored. This is just a well-balanced team that is built more like the ‘01, ‘03 and ‘04 championship teams: tenacious D and everybody being utilized and contributing on offense. It feels good to be back.

6. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) – The Eagles are a good team. They really are, but they simply cannot take weeks off like they did against the Raiders. The only two question marks on this team are the coach Andy “I love breadsticks” Reid and their mental toughness.

7. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) – Show me somebody who saw this coming and I’ll show you somebody who is lying.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) – After a slow start with some bad breaks (e.g. the shanked field goal in the loss to the Bears) it seems like the defending champs have gotten the ball rolling with a win over Minny two weeks ago. (If you haven’t noticed yet: The AFC North and the NFC East could present two really compelling division title races this year. In the NFC East the first three teams are all tied up and in the AFC North Pittsburgh and Cincy are even with Baltimore only one game behind.)

9. Dallas Cowboys (5-2) – Speaking of the NFC East, look who we’ve got here! America’s team has quietly gotten it’s act together (well, except for Roy Williams of course who is making headlines running his mouth instead of catching balls -> http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=4622709)).

10. Atlanta Falcons (4-3) – Please make up your mind, Atlanta! Good or not?

11. Houston Texans (5-3) – Guess what! Matt Schaub is leading the NFL in passing yards. Now guess who pointed him out as a potential breakout candidate this year in his fantasy preview (http://www.thefansperspective.com/2009/08/31/fantasy-frenzy/)! Me. But enough boasting. Just know that the Texans traditionally play the Colts tough. The little brother corollary if you will. Acoording to this theory there are some teams in a division that just get up for games against specific division rivals. Like a little brother always trying his hardest to beat his bigger brother. Other examples for this thesis include: the Pats-Dolphins games and to an extent the Chargers-Raiders games.

12. Arizona Cardinals (4-3) – Sure, they are a lobsided offense (most pass attempts and fewest rush attempts). Yes, their rush defense is not as good as perceived. But, hey, is that going to prevent me from putting money on the schizophrenic Cards this weekend. No, sir.

13. Baltimore Ravens (4-3) – Strong win against Denver, but they got a pretty tough stretch of games coming up: at Cincinnati, at Cleveland (alright granted that’s a W right there), Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and at Green Bay. If they can make it out of there at 7-5 they better sacrifice the football Gods a lamb or something.

14. Green Bay Packers (4-3) – Let’s go back in time a bit. Here we are at the 2005 draft. Now bare with me for this one. Let’s say Green Bay doesn’t take Rodgers with the 24th overall pick . Let’s say they trust Favre for a couple more years (he was 34 at that time). Their two best options in my opinion would’ve been Roddy White (scenario 1), now a Pro Bowl receiver for the Falcons, or Logan Mankins (scenario 2), now a Pro Bowl guard for the Pats. White would’ve given them a receiving corp of White, Jennings and Driver for the 2006 season. Mankins on the other hand would’ve undoubtedly sured up the O-line. Either way we would probably be looking at a better team in 2009. Now this of course would’ve set off a chain reaction. Washington would probably have taken Rodgers instead of Campbell. Now you’re looking at a possible contender in ‘09 in Washington. If scenario 1 happens then Atlanta wouldn’t have gotten White and we would’ve probably never seen Matty Ice go off like he did in ‘08. If scenario 2 transpires then who knows if 16-0 ever happens.

Isn’t it incredible how one little move can alter the course of so many franchises in so many different directions. In fact I’m so flabbergasted I think I have to lay down.

15. New York Giants (5-3) – I apologize. I should’ve seen it coming. I should’ve warned you.

The point is the Giants are a mirage. Let’s look at their games week by week.

Week 1: They barely win against a Redskins team that we quickly found is actually heinous.

Week 2: They narrowly edge a Cowboys team that was overrated and hadn’t realized that they have a top 5 wide receiver in Miles Austin.

Week 3: They blow out a Tampa Bay team that has as many wins as you and me right now.

Week 4: They win against Kansas City, but allow an offense that employed guys like Larry Johnson (the -ed in employed is crucial here) to score 16 points.

Week 5: They spank a Raiders team whose quarterback has thrown for as many touchdowns over the course of seven games as Brodie Croyle in one game.

Week 6: Here is where they show their real self for the first time: The Giants get crushed by the first good team (New Orleans) they face.

Week 7: Then they lose to a Cardinals team that basically just throws (Arizona leads the league with 293 pass attempts compared to a league low 138 rush attempts).

Week 8: Last but not least they are dominated by a Philly team that lost to the Raiders two weeks before.

Case closed.

(As I’ve mentioned before, I think the Colts are headed down the same dark path.)

16. New York Jets (4-4) – Probably the most gracious of all 32 teams. They don’t get beat, they just give games away like presents, because you know, of course they are actually better than everybody else. How benvolent! (I don’t think I could’ve packed more sarcasm in 3 sentences. I could try, but I don’t think it’s possible.)

17. Chicago Bears (4-3) – At some point they’ll have to win on the road.

18. San Diego Chargers (4-3) – The Chargers are like Notre Dame football: Always overrated heading into the season and totally unsatisfying to watch.

19. Miami Dolphins (3-4) – There is always that below average team nobody wants to play. This year it’s the Dolphins. You just don’t know what you’ll get out of them. They are predictably unpredictable. I swear that paragraph made sense when I started writing it.

20. San Francisco 49ers (3-4) – After three crushing losses in a row (two of them decided by a combined score of seven points) a collective fan base is thinking the same thing right now: “What the hell happened?”

21. Carolina Panthers (3-4) – They have the best pass defense in the league and a runningback tandem that is unmatched right now. If they just had an average quarterback they’d be remarkably better. Actually I take that back. If they had a JV high school quarterback they’d be better. You get the idea. Jake Delhomme is luridly terrible.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) – I’ll put this in mathematical terms to make it as comprehensible as possible: MJD + a bag of scat = the 2009 Jaguars

23. Buffalo Bills (3-5) – The Bills get run on more than Usain Bolt’s treadmill.

24. Seattle Seahawks (2-5) – They have had at least 6 players on their injury report every week of the season. A total of 74 players. That has to be some sort of record.

25. Kansas City Chiefs (1-6) – At least they are trying, but that’s about the best thing you can say about them.

26. Washington Redskins (2-5) – The Redskins have the Black Forest cake of cake schedules. Seriously it’s a joke. Their opponents average number of wins are 2,28 and they have only played two teams with winning records so far. Tells you how horrific they actually are.

27. Oakland Raiders (2-6) – Sign Nr.329 that your franchise is dysfunctional: Your head coach punches out an assistant. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2009/08/17/2009-08-17_tom_cable_punches_assistant.html

28. Detroit Lions (1-6) – I guess they didn’t want St. Louis to break their “record”. Too bad they can’t stop Tampa Bay.

29. Tennessee Titans (1-6) – Don’t remember these Titans.

30. St. Louis Rams (1-7) – Somebody should get Steven Jackson out of this mess of a team. He needs to be rescued like a shipwrecked man from a sinking boat. You can fly him out of there with a helicopter for all I care, but somebody needs to help this poor man. (If you look closely you can actually see him signaling S.O.S. during games with his eye shield.)

31. Cleveland Browns (1-7) – They can fire all the people they want. Derek Anderson is still going to suck. Little stat on Anderson: Approximately every 8th pass he throws is intercepted. How much worse can Brady Quinn possibly be?!?!? Does he like throw an INT on every 7th pass or what!? (shaking my head profusely)

32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-7) – We finally arrived at the bottom of the barrel. I looked at their schedule and I have to say that there is a pretty good chance that they might go 0-16. Think about the ramifications. They’d be the only franchise to accomplish this “feat” twice. Plus, we woul have consecutive seasons with teams going 0-16. What a league!

Alright, let’s wrap this baby up. But not before I reveal my ODS picks for this week (home teams in caps, ODS numbers in parentheses):

ATLANTA (6,188730816) over Washington (2,60833989)

Arizona (6,12425597) over CHICAGO (4,81875023)

Baltimore (10,17039674) over CINCINNATI (7,484870108)

INDIANAPOLIS (10,16784438) over Houston (6,750164078)

JACKSONVILLE (2,994183077) over Kansas City (2,056861582)

NEW ORLEANS (11,65634212) over Carolina (3,921558321)

NEW ENGLAND (12,6324) over Miami (6,103122212)

NEW YORK GIANTS (8,379512495) over San Diego (6,048922949)

Dallas (7,31074911) over PHILADELPHIA (7,083633048)

SEATTLE (4,717749731) over Detroit (2,618239415)

SAN FRANCISCO (5,146290801) over Tennessee (2,871091419)

Green Bay (9,542728394) over TAMPA BAY (1,915602958)

DENVER (9,797000536) over Pittsburgh (7,837731426)

Last week: 6-7

Overall: 35-19

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This entry was posted on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 11:19 pm and is filed under NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.