What's more fun than top 10 power rankings? Power rankings with picks for the week!
Power Rankings
1. Steelers - Yeah, they lost, but I put them first on the list last week expecting them to lose, and honestly, they should've won the game. Jeff Reed missed two pretty makeable field goals that would've at worst had the game tied had he made one of them, but I think the bigger culprit is the playcalling late in the game. I can't see them being so content to take the game out of Ben's hands with the hint of doubt Reed has now planted. The moment they start giving him a chance on short yardage third downs is the moment they start scoring touchdowns instead of kicking field goals. It's a moment I expect to come very soon.
2. Giants - As bad as I think the Dallas secondary is, I also saw the killer instinct in Eli that he showed in the Super Bowl, something I've never been convinced is there. I still think he'll get blown over the moment he sees a January wind in New Jersey, but for now, he's a quarterback I don't wanna see with the game on the line, winning shootouts with no name receivers and Brandon Jacobs getting shut down. Now excuse me while I go vomit.
3. Saints - There was a time about six years ago when I was the only person on earth who believed in Drew Brees. I think we can all agree at this point he's a shitload better than I ever even thought he would be. I don't know that they'll score 45+ points EVERY week, but I would be shocked if they don't average 30 points a game for the length of the season. They're easily the best offense in football. They'd be at the top save for the fact that Kevin Kolb and Matt Stafford have put up 49 points on them in two games, and neither of them had even started a game in the NFL before seeing them. Can you imagine what a real quarterback might do to them?
4. Jets - Color me officially sold on Sexy Rexy's Jetsies, as Keith Hernandez would surely call them. They're essentially the Ravens' defense at its best with a top notch running game and at least as good of a passing game as the Ravens had when they won the Super Bowl. There's still not a lot to like in terms of wide receivers other than Cotchery, but Dustin Keller is a more than capable tight end and Leon Washington is a home run threat in the passing game. As much as I'd like to see them use him more in the offense, it's probably better to keep him healthy until the games start to matter a little more, especially if they're winning with him as a secondary threat.
5. Patriots - I'm having trouble keeping the faith here, but I just really don't think things are as bad as people want them to look. Everyone has known for as long as the forward pass has been a part of the game that the way to beat a great passing offense is to get quick pressure on the quarterback. You don't have to get sacks, you just have to get on his ass before he's ready to get rid of the ball. The result, when you succeed at that, is what we saw last week. As much as people are killing the defense, they gave up all of 16 points last week, and kept the Jets from finding the end zone more than once despite being in good field position all day. As long as Belichick is the one breaking down the film and coming up with the defensive gameplan, I wouldn't wanna face them.
6. Colts - Here's the thing: as I've said before, the Colts' defense sucks. But Monday night reminded me of a very important principle: they can only give up one touchdown at a time, and Peyton always scores when he's down a touchdown or more, and practically always scores otherwise. If the other team doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, he wins the shootout. Who the hell cares that his receivers have the names of Frenchmen and puppies? He's Peyton Manning. He will beat you.
7. Eagles - I said last week that I was putting the Eagles where I did based on the assumption that we'd have a healthy Donovan McNabb coming out of the bye, and that assumption continues to dictate this ranking. I'm not down on the defense for getting picked apart by Drew Brees like everyone else does. Half of the Saints' points were scored off of turnovers, most notably the two touchdowns the Saints scored in the opening minutes of the second half, which turned the game into a blowout. The Eagles' defense was essentially on the field for the first 11 minutes of the third quarter, with their backs against the wall the entire time. When you look at it that way, it's hard to blame them for the fact that their backs broke.
8. Falcons - I feel like a broken record, but I have nothing much to add to my last opinion on the Falcons. We should finally get a chance to see Brady with some time to throw or some dudes wide open unless the Falcons conjure up a pass rush from out of nowhere. I don't see their deficiency in stopping the run being much of a problem against those pass-happy Pats, but down the road, I just don't think they can hang with the Saints in a shootout, and I'm not convinced a great defense couldn't pretty much shut them down. But against anything less, they should be able to out score their defense most weeks.
9. Packers - I was once totally in love with the Packers' defense, but then all of a sudden they couldn't tackle Cedric Benson and they couldn't get pressure on Carson Palmer and they couldn't even manage to get off the field on 3rd and 34. That kind of thing stays in your memory, especially when it happens against the Bungles. That they made it close late was admirable and an encouraging sign that their offense is gonna be what we thought they were, but man. 3rd and 34 against the Bengals. How do you blow that?
10. Vikings - I'm gonna continue to pretend the Vikings don't play in my NFL for as long as I can, because I can't stand the thought of them or the sight of them, but unfortunately, I couldn't justify anyone being ahead of them in this spot. Adrian Peterson is better than the remaining 22 teams in the league single-handedly, and their defense is good enough to justify putting them as high as you want to put them. But when they need to win games with the pass, and they will, because all teams eventually do, Brett Favre will lose them those games. He'll lose them because karma has to hate him by now, he'll lose them because he's 453 years old with a fucked up shoulder, and most of all he'll lose them because he thinks his arm is infallible and he'll eventually make a dumb throw. When you have that reckless schmuck as your quarterback, you go no higher than the lowest spot I can put you in without feeling like I'm just kidding myself.
Picks for week 3
Washington @ Detriot
San Francisco @ Minnesota
Atlanta @ New England
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