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The Ultimate Source for your Ph.D. in Pigskin |
Week Four Power Rankings Last week, I told you about three games that would have an impact on the rankings: New England/Miami, Chicago/New York Giants, and Pittsburgh/Baltimore. In many ways, that was true. However, the biggest effect at the top was caused by the Colts, Eagles, and Titans losing to inferior teams. You know what, I think it may happen again this week. The four games I think that could really affect the rankings are Houston/New York Giants, Green Bay/ Washington, Philadelphia/San Francisco, and Minnesota/New York Jets. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I'm leaning towards the latter three underdogs pulling the upset. Green Bay hasn't played well in the last couple of weeks, while Washington could really stake a claim to the NFC East. San Francisco seems to be playing up or down to their competition, and with Philly probably missing Mike Vick, it could be the 49ers first win. Lastly, the Vikings have a shot to turn this thing around with a win over a really good team. If they don't, bringing back Brett was a bad idea. If they do, it could be a catapult back into the race for the best team in the NFC.
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| 1 |
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Green Bay |
3-1 |
I feel a little uneasy giving this spot to a team that barely eeked out a win against an 0-4 team at home, but they seem to be the most balanced of the top seven. |
| 2 |
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New York Jets | 3-1 | The Jets were a legitimate contender for the top spot, but I can't get the opening game 9-point offensive output out of my head. |
| 3 |
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New Orleans | 3-1 | They may be a little high, but they're still the defending champs and have a bigger bullseye than anyone. Don't expect them to blow out too many teams this year. |
| 4 |
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Baltimore | 3-1 | The Ravens are another candidate for number one, but the name "Joe Flacco" keeps reverberating through my mind when I think of putting them there. |
| 5 |
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Pittsburgh | 3-1 | Well, the lack of a passing game finally caught up to them. I don't think that will be resolved immediately, but with the bye and the Browns next, they should be OK. |
| 6 |
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Houston | 3-1 | They dominated the Raiders for three quarters...then almost handed them the game. Aryan Foster's on pace to better Chris Johnson's numbers from last year. |
| 7 |
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New England | 3-1 | I don't think I've ever seen a more dominant game played by a special teams unit than the Patriots on Monday night. |
| 8 |
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Atlanta | 3-1 | For the most part, I like the personnel and what they can do on offense. The defense, on the other hand, I don't trust as far as I can throw. |
| 9 |
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Indianapolis | 2-2 | A lot of people are freaking out about the Colts' 2-2 start, but not me.They've lost two games to running teams, against which they've always struggled. |
| 10 |
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Kansas City | 3-0 | How do you jump five spots without even playing? When several teams ahead of you suck that week. Also, we should find out more when they play Indy this week. |
| 11 |
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San Diego | 2-2 | They haven't really played a solid team yet and they won't until week seven against the Pats. Plus, they're always known for slow starts. |
| 12 |
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Miami | 2-2 | As I stated earlier, I'm not going to blast them for running into the greatest special teams performance of all time. |
| 13 |
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Philadelphia | 2-2 | The Eagles are going to be tricky for the rest of the season. If Mike Vick is playing, I like them right here. If it's Kevin Kolb, they may slide into the high teens. |
| 14 |
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Tennessee | 2-2 | Does anyone else think the Titans put too much stress on being the "biggest bully on the block" instead of winning football games? |
| 15 |
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Cincinnati | 2-2 | Fine, Carson Palmer was able to get the ball to Terrell Owens. So what? You lost to Cleveland! The freakin' Browns!!! |
| 16 |
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Dallas | 1-2 | Playing Tennessee right out of the bye week will let us know if they were able to refocus and build off of that momentum from beating Houston. |
| 17 |
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Minnesota | 1-2 | Not to be cliche, but we'll find out what the this team's about on Monday night. If they show up against the Jets, they're good. If not, well.... |
| 18 |
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New York Giants | 2-2 | They're pass rush reminded me of the team that beat New England in Super Bowl XLII, the Bears O-line is awful. Let's see if they can sustain it against the Texans. |
| 19 |
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Chicago | 3-1 | As I said last week, Lovie Smith has to figure out how to fix Jay Cutler's protection, or he's going to be hospitalized several times by the end of the season. |
| 20 |
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Washington | 2-2 | I was happy to see the Philly fans be classy for once. I was even happier to see Donovan McNabb show them what they'll miss for the next few years. |
| 21 |
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Denver | 2-2 | Yes, they beat the Titans on the road, but there's no way you're going to win more than you lose when your offense rests on the arm of Kyle Orton. |
| 22 |
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Jacksonville | 2-2 | Interesting note: every team the Jags have played this year is 2-2. With their record being 2-2, I'm not sure if they're slightly above or below average. |
| 23 |
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Tampa Bay | 2-1 | How do you drop in the rankings when you didn't even play? When the creator realizes that you are much closer to the team that played in week three than one and two. |
| 24 |
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St. Louis | 2-2 | Maybe I was a little too condescending when I made it out like this team was all about "the ol' college try." They might just be the class of the NFC West. |
| 25 |
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Seattle | 2-2 | I can already tell, Pete Carroll and the Seahawks inconsistency is going to plague me like San Diego. |
| 26 |
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San Francisco | 0-4 | OK, OK, so it's not the bottom five, but it's close enough. Besides, if it wasn't for Nate Clements need for personal attention, they'd be 1-3. |
| 27 |
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Arizona | 2-2 | We're four games into the season, and Ken Whisenhunt has already on his third quarterback. He might as well start looking at tape of Andrew Luck and Ryan Mallett. |
| 28 |
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Detroit | 0-4 | Maybe I'm a sucker for the Lions, but I feel like this team's luck is about to change. True, they haven't won, but three of their losses are by a combined 10 points. |
| 29 |
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Oakland | 1-3 | Obviously, Bruce Gradkowski isn't the future, but there's a spark in that offense when he's under center instead of Jason Campbell or anyone else. |
| 30 |
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Cleveland | 1-3 | Agreed, beating the Bengals is a pretty impressive win. However, it was a rivalry game and we all know things get whacky in those. |
| 31 |
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Carolina | 0-4 | After forcing him to throw 33 times in a 20-7 loss to the Bengals, the Panthers eased to load on Jimmy Clausen to 21 attemts this weekend. This needs to continue. |
| 32 |
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Buffalo | 0-4 | Only 12 more to go for one of the greatest predictions of all time! |
