Week 2 power rankings

The Miami Dolphins of course dropped after last weeks loss to the Skins, a few teams made a point of showing why they deserved better, and others why they should be worse. Here are the week 2 power rankings. Last weeks ranking is in paranthesise.

1:

(1) The defending Super Bowl champs start the year off 1-0 with a dismantling of NO.

2:

(2) San Diego only went out and beat Chicago 14-7. Next up the New England Patriots.

3: (3) A manhandling of the NY Jets opened their season, they positive buzz quickly vanished with reports of cheating. Still, the players still have to execute.

4: (6)  A little high in this early season, but they have the highest scoring total of any team, although their defense gave up quite a bit of yards as well. Still, of the teams listed below, for various reasons, they appear better…for now.

5:

(no change)  The ‘Hawks took care of business last weekend beating the Bucs’ 20-6.  Hasselbeck and Alexander got off to good starts.  They just need to keep it moving.

6:

(4)  O.k., they got beat by San Diego, but did you see how awful their offense was?  Rex Grossman is not the answer to the Chicago QB situation and if the Bears are going to rely on their defense every game, they will find themselves dropping in more rankings than mine.

7:

(13)  The Bengals took care of business against the league leading defense of the Baltimore Ravens.  In a close game the, Bengals managed to make several goal line stands in the final minute of the game to pull it out.

8:

(14)  The Panthers looked more like the team that media experts claimed they would like last year.  Solid performance in shutting down the high-octane offense of the St. Louis Cardinals.  Delhomme looks like he did 2 years ago…that could be dangerous.

9:

(11)  The Steelers played Cleveland, they move up because the teams above them did not look all that good.  They played Cleveland.  Let me say that again, they played Cleveland.

10:

(7)  Baltimore lost a close game to the Bengals.  But not being able to put the ball into the end-zone from the 6 yard line or less  7 times in the last 2 minutes?  I think I might be concerned.  Ray Lewis got dinged up so that may be something to watch.

11:

(10)  The got beaten by the Colts in week 1.  They get a pass, but losing in week 2 will not help their optimism after last seasons amazing ride to the Championships game.  It won’t help them in this ranking poll either.

12:

(9)  The Broncos won a squeaker as time ran out on a field goal by Jason Elam.  Jay Cutler has a long way to go before he is the next John Elway, but at least on Sunday, he looked like him on the final drive leading the Broncs’ to a win.

13:

(12)  The Giants lost more than a shoot out at the “O.K Corral” they lost Eli Manning.  Manning may only miss a game or two and perhaps if recent reports are correct, may miss no time…however, his shoulder will be weak and as such, his game will suffer.  The Giants defense gave up 45 points.  Either Dallas is that good, or the Giants are that bad.

14:

(16)  The 49ers are rewarded here for their defense and their desire.  Taking the ball and driving it down the Cardinals throat in the final minutes to win the game was fun to watch…the rest of the game put an insomniac to sleep.

15:

(20)  The Skins managed to pull out a close OT game against the Dolphins.  Their front 7 play was very solid in stopping the run, a problem they had last year.  Jason Campbell needs to be a lot more consistent if the Skins’ have any chance of chasing the Cowboys.

16:

(8)  The largest drop of any team.  They got beaten by the Packers and although the score does not indicate it, the game was never really in the hands of the Eagles.  McNabb is question mark, the lack of receivers is a question mark, and well, pretty much everything else as well.  They have a ways to go and better get to work.

17:(18)  St. Louis lost to what appears to be a very good Carolina team, still, Steven Jackson was non-existent, much to the chagrin of his fantasy owners of whom many took with the 2nd overall pick.   Might be something to watch.

18:

(22)  A deserving jump for a team that played Denver to the final second of the game.  The Bills lost quite a few defensemen including Kevin Everett to a spinal injury.  The injuries could take a huge toll on the team overall, as Everett and Ko Simpson both are gone for the year.

19:

(25)  The Vikings destroyed the Vickless Falcons to open the season.  Tavaris Jackson is still a long way from being a solid starter in the NFL, but the defense looks much improved.  So much so that the defense could keep the Vikings in most of their games this year.

20:

(15)  The Jets felt the wrath of the Patriots and got a first hand look at how Randy Moss will perform in NE.  However, this game is completely overshadowed by the revelation of cheating by the Pats.  So, I wont drop them too far on this one…but hey NY, not every team is going to cheat…so no excuses next week.

21:

(17)  The Jaguars hit a bump in the road to start of the season.  May not be much of a concern, but when you lose to the Titans to start off the season, the psyche may be effected a little.  We will see.

22:

(27)  The Titans were the better team this past Sunday, but I am not sure that they are the better team overall, hence the reason they stay below the Jags.

23:

(19)  The Dolphins defense lost in OT, the Dolphins offense had no running game.  They still managed to play opening day in a hostile environment, play to OT, and Trent Green looked better than any QB since Fiedler was around.  It is not saying much, but considering the Dolphins QB problems, it says something.

24:

(26)  Are they a good team or did they play a bad team?  That will be the question that many fans will want to know.  We should have a better idea after this weekend.

25:

(30)  The Lions showed what their offense could be.  A solid mix of rushing and passing, but it was the passing game that won them the game.  Oakland just could not stop them.

26:

(29)  The Texans took KC to school.  Larry Johnson has not had much time to prepare for the season after a long hold out and it showed in the chemistry of the team.  Still, the Texans looked good and the easily beat an opponent who on paper should have been better.

27:

(23)  Yeah, well, they drop 4 because….they lost to the Texans.  I would say by how much, but considering the Admin guys are Chiefs fans, I wont put them through that agains.  The Chiefs are better than this, but they have to solve the problems at QB.

28:

(21)  This team was supposed to be much improved.  For 4 quarters they looked horrible.  Matt Leinhart couldn’t hit anything, Larry Fitzgerald couldn’t get open.  The defense looked good, but not great.  They have some work to do.

29:

(31)  Hey it’s a jump up for the silver and black.  They played a very well fought game against….the Lions.  The hard part about this is they played the Lions.  They lost.  But they played good…against the Lions.  So ask yourself, are the Raiders better?  Are the Lions better?  Or is it because the teams who drafted 1 and 2 played each other?

30:

(28)  Honestly, I don’t know if the Bucs’ could beat the Raiders or the Lions right now.  They looked that bad.  Albeit against a very good team.  But they still looked bad.

31: .

(24)  No Vick, no nothing.  The Falcons looked bad in the first game for new HC Petrino.  I wonder if he is thinking like Nick Saban about right now…”I am not taking the job at Alabama.”  Never say Never.

32:

(no change)  Well, there was a few changes.  They traded Charlie Frye after benching him in the second half, Brady Quinn is already being called for by the fans.  Romeo Crennell is assuring himself that without the assistance of Bill Belichicks’ signal stealing that he may be in way over his head.  The Browns look horrible.