Thrill Shots

Here are my weekly power rankings, with the team’s previous rank in parenthesis.

1. New York Giants (1) – Another week, another blowout by the Giants. Eli Manning’s foot bears watching, but so long as he can stay on the field, the Giants can – and likely will – stay atop the rankings.

2. Indianapolis Colts (2) – Not only did they go to Nashville and put the final nail in the Titans’ coffin, but they did so in disturbingly dominant fashion.  Peyton Manning is on one of his out-of-control binges right now, which should almost be expected from the best quarterback ever to lace them up.  Expected or not, it’s still amazing to watch.

3. Minnesota Vikings (6) – What’s remarkable about the Rams game is that the vaunted Vikings defense actually gave up 400 yards of offense to the worst team in football.  But the four turnovers kept the lead a healthy four touchdowns.  And it wasn’t even that close.

4. New Orleans Saints (3) – Biggest game of the year coming off the bye for the Saints:  hosting the Giants in what could be one of the best games of the season.

5. Denver Broncos (10) – Fluke plays, crazy catches, etc. etc.  That was a big-time win against the Patriots, and a big-time performance by Kyle Orton.  I have no choice but to call them legitimate at this point, even as every instinct I have tells me that this is a .500 team that has caught a bunch of breaks and is playing good enough defense to capitalize on those breaks.  While Kyle Orton may remind the loony Peter King of 2001 Tom Brady, the Broncos remind me of the 2001 Chicago Bears; a fluky, lucky team with a pretty damn good defense who will have no impact on the playoffs other than providing some better team a first round opponent.

6. Atlanta Falcons (not ranked) – Was that slaughter of the 49ers out west evidence of the Falcons’ prowess, or are the 9ers a bit worse than we thought?  I’m inclined to believe the former, and look forward to what is going to be a huge match-up with the Bears on Sunday night in Hotlanta.

7. Chicago Bears (8) – A one-rank bump on the bye week primarily because Baltimore and New England keep messing around instead of being the top-tier teams I expected them to be.

8. Cincinnati Bengals (not ranked) – All righty, I’m fully aboard the Bengal Bandwagon.  Cedric Benson has decided that he’s interested in playing football (thanks, Ced.  Appreciate it.) and Carson Palmer is back to being Carson Palmer.  Wins over Baltimore and Pittsburgh mean something.  3-0 in their division means that until the Steelers get it together and the Ravens right the ship, the Bengals may well be the team to beat in a nasty AFC North.

9. Baltimore Ravens (4) – Two tough tests in New England and versus Cincinnati, two losses.  This weekend will be the toughest test to date in the Metrodome.  In fairness, they kept it dangerously close in both of their losses, and I still think this is one of the best couple of teams in the AFC, but if they can’t keep it close (or pull the upset) against Old Man Winter, they risk dropping off the map here, at least for a little while.

10. Philadelphia Eagles (not ranked) – Every week I display a complete lack of faith in this team, and every week they come out and punch somebody in the mouth.  Last week’s hapless victim was the woeful Buccaneers.  This week’s is the Raiders.  And I don’t care that it’s in Oakland; doesn’t matter.  This could be a three score game in no time whatsoever.

(Previous week’s rank listed in parenthesis)

1. New York Giants (1) – Blasting through the hapless Chiefs isn’t exactly impressive in and of itself, but it’s the rest of the G-Men’s body of work that makes them the best team in football.

2. Indianapolis Colts (3) – I heard some idiot a few weeks ago say that Drew Brees might be the best quarterback in the NFL right now, even better than Peyton Manning.  What kind of tard must that guy be?  Okay, it was me…

3. New Orleans Saints (4) – …even still, Brees is better than 30 other starting quarterbacks in the league.

4. Baltimore Ravens (2) – If Mark Claytin didn’t have bricks where most people have hands against the Pats on Sunday, the Ravens may be nudging Big Blue out of the 1 spot.  As it is, this is still a hellaciously good outfit that looks like it is fully armed for a Super Bowl run.

5. New England Patriots (7) – Hard to discount a Belichick-Brady team, but I do not feel the Patriots so far this season, win vs Baltimore notwithstanding.

6. Minnesota Vikings (6) – Number 4 will still pull the occasional great game out of his hind end thanks to the weapons surrounding him and the beastly line in front of him, as evidenced in the Dome versus Green Bay on Monday. This is a nasty bunch too.

7. New York Jets (5) – No shame in losing to the Saints. No shame in picking up Braylon Edwards and giving your rookie QB a sweet weapon.

8. Chicago Bears (9) – After three close games, the Bears needed a game where they could just run up the score on somebody.  Enter: Detroit Lions.  The Bears are a little under-appreciated right now, I think.  This is a team that can contend for the NFC crown.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (not ranked) – They spent the first half of Sunday night’s affair dong-whipping the Chargers into submission, only to try and give away the game in the second half.  Either Mike Tomlin’s team is not making good in-game adjustments, or they’re wearing down as games go on.  In either case, I’d be shocked if the ship isn’t righted once Troy Polamalu comes back and the schedule gets more favorable.

10. Denver Broncos (not ranked) – Do I believe deep down in my heart that Denver is the 10th best team in the NFL?  Do I believe this is a better team than, say, San Francisco, Atlanta, Cincinnati, or Green Bay?  No.  In fact, I still anticipate a .500-ish record for the Broncos.  But with a 4-0 start and a points-allowed average of 6.5 per game, I couldn’t in good conscience  leave this overachieving bunch off the list.  Fret not, however, as they will be vanquished after next week’s loss to the Patriots.

I haven’t gotten around to my Week 3 recap as yet, but I’ll hit some of my talking points in this post.  I’ll probably forgo a full-on Bears post this week, and just blend a few notes in here and there.

Here are this week’s power rankings.  Last week’s rank follows the team name in parenthesis.

1. New York Giants (1) – Another dominant win for the best team in the game.  With the Chiefs and Raiders in their immediate path, I wouldn’t look for a drop-off anytime soon.

2. Baltimore Ravens (2) – Blowing out the worst franchise in the league does not a champion make.  However, this next stretch just may: at New England, vs. Cincinnati, at Minnesota.  If Baltimore is 6-0 after that stretch, we could be looking at something really special.

3. Indianapolis Colts (4) – Picking up one spot this week for knocking off the NFC champs from a year ago.  Arizona might not be the team they were last year, but the way the Colts imposed their will upon the Cards, I have a little more faith in them than I do in the Saints.

4. New Orleans Saints (3) – They didn’t deserve to lose one spot – that was about Indy, not them – but there was no reason not to do what they did (and more) against the Bills.  Here comes an interesting pair of home games for Nawlins:  vs. Jets, vs. Giants.  The true test looms.

5. New York Jets (5) – I gave them very little chance against the Titans, who should’ve been (and perhaps were) in desperation mode after an 0-2 start.  The Jets took care of business.  Now the test in New Orleans, followed by – get this – at Miami, vs. Buffalo, at Oakland, vs. Miami, vs. Jacksonville.  I still am not entirely sold on this team (I’m a little closer this week than I was last week), but at this point an 8-1 start wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

6. Minnesota Vikings (9) – Big jump for purple this week.  They squeaked by a tough 49ers team with a little Brett Favre magic.  There is a lot to like about this team’s chances, but not their sked:  vs. Green Bay, at St. Louis, vs. Baltimore, at Pittsburgh, at Green Bay.  Other than the Rams, there’s no gimmie in this stretch.

7. New England Patriots (7) – That’s a little more like it.  Solid win over the Falcons, heading into this fearsome match-up with Baltimore, which will really test their mettle.

8. Dallas Cowboys (8) – Facing Carolina seems like just the tonic a solid-but-not-great team would need after that heartbreaking loss to the Giants the previous week.

9. Chicago Bears (not ranked) – They’ve played three very solid defensive games, and if Jay Cutler doesn’t throw eight hundred interceptions in the first half of week one at Green Bay, this is a 3-0 team.  That said, the running game remains a concern, even if the defense is surprisingly not one.

10: Cincinnati Bengals (not ranked) – Okay.  The Bengals go into Lambeau and knock off the Packers in fine fashion.  A blowout at the hands of the Steelers looms, right?  Wrong.  Carson Palmer & Co are back in business, and this time, he appears to have a functional defense complimenting his talent.

1. New York Giants – My preseason pick to win it all has two tough divisional victories under their belts, and Eli Manning may have had his best day as a pro on Sunday night in Dallas.  Unless the Justin Tuck injury is more serious than expected, look for the G-Men to go on a little run here with the Bucs, Chiefs and Raiders in their immediate path.

2. Baltimore Ravens – Are we sure this is the Baltimore Ravens?  Are they really going out there and winning shootouts?  Yes, they are.  Joe Flacco and a potent running game have put Baltimore in first place even before that ferocious defense gets into high gear.

3. New Orleans Saints – Peyton Manning may be my favorite quarterback, but the best one in the league right now is Drew Brees.  Lighting up the Lions for six touchdowns is one thing.  Going into the Linc and running up 48 on a tough Eagles team is quite another.  Their defense will have to ratchet it up a bit, but look out world, the Saints are doing some damage.

4. Indianapolis Colts – Close victories against both Jacksonville and Miami weren’t incredibly confidence-inspiring, but they were hard-fought wins by a team in some transition.  And for all that is changing these days in Indy, number 18 has stayed the same – top notch.

5. New York Jets – This won’t last long, because they aren’t nearly as good as they’re showing.  But the Jets have had a nice couple of weeks to open the year, including knocking off the Patriots.

6. Atlanta Falcons – Sophomore Matt Ryan is picking up where he left off last year.  Just wait until Michael Turner really gets going.  It could get toasty in Hot-lanta.

7. New England Patriots – Tom Brady may have left his magic in Foxboro on Sunday, but that seems unlikely to continue.

8. Dallas Cowboys – The ‘Boys had every opportunity to beat the Giants to open their new cathedral, but too many mistakes by Tony Romo and an inability to stop Eli Manning was their undoing.  I expect the “D” in Dallas to return, but where is Romo headed?

9. Minnesota Vikings – They let the lowly Lions stick around for a while before hitting the throttle.  You have to wonder what might happen when they go up against a real team for the first time after toying with Cleveland and Motown in the first two weeks.  Any team with Adrian Peterson, that defense, and a surprisingly game-manager-esque No. 4 has precious few reasons to worry.

10. Tennessee Titans – This is it, Jeff Fisher.  A couple of very close losses to two very good teams has put them in a hole.  With one of the best coaches in the NFL and a ton of talent, I doubt the Titans lose for long… but one more against MarkSanchez & Co. this weekend, and I will be forced to adjust my Super expectations of them.