NFL Power Rankings Week 9

1. Colts – They keep winning even though they needed the help from Lady Luck
2. Saints – This team also keeps producing the goods.
3. Vikings – The bye week will have done this team the world of good.
4. Bengals – Huge game this weekend.
5. Steelers – See above
6. Patriots – Brady versus Manning is just going to be fun to watch.
7. Cowboys – Romo is showing some signs of actually be quite good.
8. Broncos – This team needs a win soon to stop the rot.
9. Cardinals – They keep showing that last years play off run away from home wasn’t just luck.
10. Falcons – Atlanta finally have the running game going.
11. Chargers – Rivers and co pulled the win out of the bag last week.
12. Eagles – McNabb and co need to start beating some decent teams and not just the poor ones.
13. Ravens – What has happened to this teams defence.
14. Texans – Houston were so unlucky to not win last weekend versus the Colts.
15. Jets – The defence needs to come off the bye week with all guns firing.
16. Giants – New York is slowly falling apart.
17. Packers – Massive lose to Tampa Bay pretty much ends all hope this team had of making the playoffs.
18. Dolphins – The wildcat nearly worked again versus the Pats but not quite.
19. Bears – How can this team win games by so many points then lose games by so many points?
20. Jaguars – Just keep giving the ball to MJD and then hit Sims-Walker on the play fake.
21. Panthers – This team just needs to run the ball more often.
22. 49ers – Has Crabtree ruined the 49ers chemistry?
23. Seahawks – I just can’t decide how good or bad this team is.
24. Titans – Tennessee has finally gotten the running game going and suddenly they are winning.
25. Bills – Will all this Vick talk distract the team?
26. Raiders – How will Oakland hurt itself his week?
27. Redskins – Washington isn’t far off being the worse team in the league.
28. Chiefs – If Kansas wants to be taken seriously they need to beat team like Jacksonville.
29. Rams – Steven Jackson is still the only plus point in this team.
30. Lions – They need to win a few more games this season to call it progress.
31. Buccaneers – Freeman is a huge plus point for this team and he may turn into this years Aaron Rodgers.
32. Browns – Do you get the feeling their will be a new coach next season.

Review of Sunday’s NFL

This Sunday showed why the Colts and the Saints are still the two teams to beat this season.  Both were in losing positions and both showed that they have the mental strength and luck (Colts in particular) to win games.  The Texans can take heart from the fact that they played the Colts close but yet again they managed to beat themselves instead of beating them.  The Saints on the other hand let the Panthers get a big lead early but pulled it back to win comfortably.

In other games the Cowboys defence finally decided to show up and this helped them beat a Eagles team that looked poor at times.  The NFC East is now the Cowboys to lose after the Giants managed to throw away yet another game this week, though I doubt many Chargers fans are complaining.

In the rest of the NFL Washington managed to lose again, Randy Moss and Tom Brady decided to start playing again and Tampa Bay finally managed to win a game.  Not seen any highlights of these games yet but well played to Josh Freeman for winning his first NFL game.  This game also pretty much ended the Packers season.

NFL Preview 9

Atlanta to beat Washington
No way this poor Redskins team manages to beat the Falcons especially after such a good performance from Atlanta on Monday night.

Arizona to beat Chicago
For some reason the Cardinals are a better away team than home team this season and so I am going to take them to pull off an upset over Chicago this weekend.

 Indianapolis to beat Houston
If the Texans want to be taken seriously this season then they must beat the Colts on Sunday. This will put them to wthin touching distance of Indianapolis and give them a great chance to at least get a wild card spot.

Cincinnati to beat Baltimore
Probably the toughest game to call this weekend and I fancy the Bengals for some reason. Baltimore will be looking for revenge after getting beaten in week 5 by the Bengals, so look for the defence to play hard especially Ray Lewis since it was his head hit that cost them the game the last time.

Jacksonville to beat Kansas City
There is always one game on that noone cares about and this is it. Jaguars to win if they give the ball to MJD more than 8 times in a game.

Green Bay to beat Tampa Bay
The Packers need a win here to keep on the heels of the Vikings and should manage it against one of the worst teams in the NFL.

New England to beat Miami
I’m guessing we will get a lot of Wildcat in this game but look for Tom Brady to do his usual thing which is simply winning games.

New Orleans to beat Carolina
Yes the Panthers beat Arizona last week but this week they come up against a team that is managing to win in lots of different ways. The New Orleans defence will be looking to pick off Delhomme since he has had trouble looking after the ball this season.

Seattle to beat Detroit
This is probably another game that not many people are that bothered about. Seattle to win because they have a better QB.

Tennessee to beat San Francisco
They looked more like the Titans of last year on offence now all they need to do is sort out the defence. I still fancy the Titans to pull off another win and put the 49ers  season to bed. The 49ers have looked a lot worse since Crabtree got into the line up.

San Diego to beat New York
Rivers will be over the moon to be facing this Giants secondary. Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd should both have big games.

Dallas to beat Philadelphia
This game last year nearly cost Wade Phillips his job but things should go better this year. I actually hope the Eagles win this so going on my logic that means the Cowboys will win. Look for lots of points in this game.

Denver to beat Pittsburgh
Just for the record Clark should not play in this game for the Steelers, no way any game is more important than your health. A few soccer players over here in Britain have found this out the hard way. Onto the game I fancy the Broncos to get back to winning ways with a victory over a decent Steelers team.

NFL Power Rankings Week 8

Indianapolis Colts - This team just keeps playing well and winning soso not much more you can say about them.

New Orleans Saints - Another good victory against a divisional rival .  This team most be looking forward to their next three games and a chance to be 10-0.

Minnesota Vikings – Favre will be happy after beating the Packers in their won back yard but now they most keep winning.

Denver Broncos – The actual score line will hurt more than the lose but this team still have a chance to go 10-6 at least.

New England Patriots - It is a good bye week when your main rivals beat up each other and extend your divisional lead.

Cincinnati Bengals - This team is a real threat to someone in the playoffs if they can remain healthy.

Dallas Cowboys – HUGE game versus the Eagles next week.  Romo is looking better though but everyone remembers the last game in Philly.

Philadelphia Eagles – Just like the Cowboys this is a HUGE game since whoever wins it takes advantage in the NFC East with the Giants in freefall.

Pittsburgh Steelers – Slowing beginning to look like the Super Bowl champs.

Houston Texans - Made franchise history this week but if they want to show they can compete with the big boys they need to play beat the Colts on Sunday.

Baltimore Ravens - A good win over Denver last week but they need to start winning on a consistent basis.

New York Giants - Boy does this team need a bye week soon.  The Chargers will love playing against this dodgy defence.

Arizona Cardinals - For a change this team can’t win at home and are great away from home.  Bad defeat to the Panthers on Sunday.

Atlanta Falcons - Coming close to beating the Saints just isn’t good enough at the moment.

Chicago Bears - They need to start winning away from Solider Field.

Green Bay Packers – Their season is over if Rodgers keeps getting beat up like he did on Sunday.

San Diego Chargers - Rivers will be looking forward to the Giants on Sunday.

New York Jets – Why can’t they beat the Dolphins?

Miami Dolphins - Boy did Ted Ginn Jr look good running back kick offs.

Carolina Panthers – Finally the coaching staff remembered to run the football.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Just waiting on Jones-Drew to start complaining about never getting the ball.  come on guys he got over 150 yards on 8 touches and then you decide to let David Garrard win you the game.

San Francisco  49ers – Alex Smith looked good for two weeks running, now he only needs to win a game.

Buffalo Bills – This team needs to start producing results against dgood teams and not just the bad ones in the league.

Seattle Seahawks - Really just not playing all that well.

Washington Redskins - This is the only team that looks better when they aren’t playing.

Oakland Raiders - Still can’t believe they beat Philly this year.

Tennessee Titans - Could this be the start of a run  of results?

St Louis Rams - finally Steven Jackson got some reward for all his hard work.

Kansas City Chiefs – Need a win this weekend.

Detroit Lions – Losing to the Rams is a bad thing.

Cleveland Browns - They could well be the worse team in the NFL right now.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - This is one ugly football team.

What we learnt in the NFL during week 8

The Saints and the Colts are still winning games even without playing all that well for the whole game.  This is a good thing if you are a fan of these teams but not so good for teams in their conference.  Have to say I would personally like this to be the Super Bowl since it would be a great game with two great QBs.  The Colts have to stop a high scoring offence next week when they play the Texans but I would think Manning and the Colts are confident about winning here.

The Giants and the Jets both have problems at the moment and need a nice solid win versus someone to steady the ship.  In the case of the Giants not to sure when this will happen since I can see the Chargers coming out throwing next week.

Steven Jackson finally got the reward his good play deserves when the Rams managed to beat the Lions.  This result shows how much both teams still have to go but everyone knew this was going to be a rebuilding season for both teams.

Finally the worst team in the league at the moment is the Browns and at the moment I just can’t see how they are going to win a game.  Seriously at the moment they would be as well as playing Cribbs at QB since both Quinn and Anderson just aren’t performing.   Never mind maybe the bye week will solve all their problems but somehow I doubt it.

Next week I am looking forward to seeing the Texans at the Colts and the Cowboys at the Eagles.  Although in a personal note I’m hoping the Redskins won’t be quite as bad after the bye week.

NFL Power Rankings after week 6

1. Saints

They look scary on offence with so many weapons and nowadays they have a decent defence with Sharper looking like he will intercept a ball almost every game.  Remind me alot of the Colts on their Super Bowl run.

2. Colts

Manning looks good, Wayne looks good and they have a nice 1-2 running game with Addai and Brown.  Also helps the rest of the division is pants at the moment.

3. Vikings

Nothing seems wrong with this team and they would be 1 or 2 on my list is because Brett Favre has blown up late in the season for the last two years.  This team needs home field advantage in the play offs since Favre doesn’t like the cold weather.

4. Broncos

They are unbeaten, they look good on defence and Orton is winning games without doing anything fancy.  They also have a easy division and should have the division wrapped up pretty soon.

5. Giants

Yes they got spanked by the Saints but they have a banged up secondary and no every team has Drew Brees at QB.  Need to get more pressure from there front 4 so they don’t need to blitz so much.  The next 3 weeks will show for sure if they are a Super Bowl contender or not.

6. Falcons

A big win versus the Bears shows that Matt Ryan can take this team a long way.  Having Tony Gonzalez in the red zone helps alot too.

7. Patriots

Tom Brady and the offence had fun versus the Titans and now they must show they can do this week in and week out.

8. Bengals

Losing to the up and down Texans this week have seriously hurt this teams reputation and losing Odom for the season will hurt them more.

9. Steelers

They have started winning again, Mendanhall is running the ball well and Big Ben is putting up career numbers plus Troy is back on the defence.

10. Packers

There are alot of teams at 3-2 in the NFL and this is probably the one I personally wouldn’t want to be facing.  They have the potential to put up big numbers on offence and a defence that can cause some damage.

11. Cardinals

Arizona are starting to function on offence and because of their division they have a chance of getting in the play offs again with a .500 record.

12. Bears

Surely fans must be asking why they wasted so many picks on Cutler when Orton is winning with a Broncos team that doesn’t seem that much better on paper.  I think that if this team fails to make the play offs this year Lovie Smith is gone.

13. Ravens

They looked good the first 3 weeks and average the last 3 weeks.  Maybe they should have kept Stover has the kicker.  Defence needs to start playing better.

14. Eagles

One week they are destroying teams and next week they are losing to the Raiders.  This lose could come back to haunt them.

15. Cowboys

Romo needs to be more consistent and the defence needs to start making plays.

16. 49ers

Still not sure Shaun Hill is the answer at QB.  The team needed the bye week after being ripped a new one by Atlanta the other week.

17. Texans

So inconsistent it is unbelievable!  Great catch by Daniels this week though.

18. Jets

Sanchez is turing the ball over far too much for this team to win.  They are based on the old Ravens which is a strong defence and a QB who protects the ball.  They lose either of these things and they aren’t going to win games.

19. Jaguars

So inconsistent it is unbelievable!  Maurice Drew-Jones rushed well this week but will he do next week?

20. Dolphins

Henne played well versus the Jets but asking him to play like that all season may be asking too much.  Expect lots of Wildcat for the remainder of the season.

21. Chargers

Rivers and Merriman spend far too much time mouthing off at opponents rather than focusing on their own play.  Norv Turner can’t last another year in San Diego.

22. Seahawks

Just have too many holes at the moment to win on a consistent basis.

23. Bills

Trent Edwards getting hurt won’t help this team.  Actually surprised how bad this team have been this season.  Yet another coach that must go at the end of the season.

24. Panthers

Too tough a division for a team that is plainly not playing that well.

25. Raiders

Nice win this week but who really cares about this team anymore.

26. Redskins

Zorn is gone soon and so this team needs to find a head coach who is going to stay in place for 3 or more years and make a difference.  They will draft a QB with next years first round pick.

27. Lions

Out of all the teams in with only 1 win this season this is the only one that looks like it has some talent on its roster.

28. Chiefs

Yes they beat the Redskins but this isn’t something to brag about these days.

29. Browns

Cleveland don’t look any better under Mangini.

30. Titans

Jeff Fisher is too good a coach for this team to keep playing this badly.

31. Rams

They had a chance to win on Sunday bit blow it, story of their season so far.

32. Buccaneers

Man this team down right stinks.  The Pats will look forward to playing them next week in London.

My thoughts about Week 5 in the NFL

Week 5 showed some interesting things in the NFL starting with the Bengals proving they are for real after beating the much fancied Ravens in Baltimore.  Yes they needed help from Ray Lewis but yet again Carson Palmer showed he is still a quality QB.  Cincinnati are one miracle play away from being perfect.

Though speaking of the week 1 loss to the Broncos brings us nicely onto Denver.  This team was written off at the start of the season but McDaniels, Orton and a quality defence has shown that this team has a good chance of making the playoffs.  Orton hasn’t done anything pretty but he hasn’t done anything wrong either.

Week 5 also showed that the NFC East is between 2 teams Philly and NY since both the Redskins and the Cowboys really are just not that good.  Although the Cowboys won they only beat the Chiefs and Washington, in fact let’s not even go there since it just upsets me.

Buffalo and Cleveland could just be the two worse teams to have played in the NFL and to say that the game on Sunday was dreadful would be an understatement.  6 – 3?  I have been to higher scoring football games (that is proper football!)

The Colts and the Giants both look good and I expect that you properly won’t get very good odds for a Manning bowl in Miami at the end of the season.  Both the Manning brothers are also clear MVP leaders along with Jared Allan of the Vikings.

Finally week 5 showed that a lot of teams are still searching for an identity.  Take Jacksonville and Seattle for two good examples.  Either these teams are either good or rotten but they are hardly good or rotten two weeks in a row.  Look for the Jags to bounce back this week and play well and if you do fantasy football but little Jones-Drew in your team since he should see a lot of the ball versus St Louis.

Predictions for NFL week 5

Ravens to beat the Bengals

Baltimore is playing well but so are the Bengals but I just think the Ravens will have too much for them.  Look for the Ravens defence to play much better after last week.

Panthers to beat the Redskins

Is anyone interested in this game?  Really two bad teams and I fancy the Panthers to win because they are at home.

Bills to beat the Browns

The Browns can’t score on offence and to make things worse they have traded Edwards to the Jets.  Guess they have already written off the season.  The Bills aren’t much better but are at home at least.

Steelers to beat the Lions

Detroit has won one game this season but they aren’t going to get win number 2 this weekend.

Cowboys to beat the Chiefs

Chiefs need to get a win soon but I can’t see it happening this weekend versus the Cowboys.  Look for the Dallas defence to play well and for Romo to have a slightly better game than he has been having.  Though it is nice to see Romo getting found out for what he really is a decent QB rather than this superstar people were making him out to be.

Vikings to beat the Rams

Peterson to get over 200 yards? Wouldn’t put it past him or for Favre to have a big game.  The Rams are probably the worse team in the NFL at the moment.

Giants to beat the Raiders

Oakland just isn’t that good and won’t be when they have a thug has head coach or a nut job as an owner. Manning and the Giants look good and should make it 5 – 0.

Eagles to beat the Buccaneers

McNabb is back and they defence is playing well whereas noone is playing all that well for the Bucs.

49ers to beat the Falcons

San Fran is playing well and I thing they will have enough to beat the Falcons on Sunday.

Cardinals to beat the Texans

I can see both teams putting up a lot of points this weekend and also look for Fitzgerald and Johnson to have big games.  Fancy the Cardinals since they are home.

Broncos to beat the Patriots

Broncos are playing well which isn’t good news for all the McDaniels haters but something I’m personally not shocked about.  Orton is playing well enough to win games and the defence is finally showing how good it can be.

Jaguars to beat the Seahawks

Just not sure about this game since both teams aren’t that great but the Jags are slightly better.

Colts to beat the Titans

When you are winless the last team you want to play is the Colts on fire and Manning playing as well as he has for a few years.  Peyton is already MVP favourite and quite rightly since without this team would be average at best.

Jets to beat the Dolphins

Two young inexperience QBs in this game but the difference is Sanchez has a great defence to get him the ball back a lot.

MVP favourite

Dallas Cowboys the 21st best team in the NFL

Life in Dallas just keeps on going, the team have released their best receiver, they have a fantastic new stadium (but can’t get anyone to buy the rights to name it) and Tony Romo has ditched Miss Simpson.  Really just another off season for the Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas has a few problems they will need to sort out this season if they are to progress to the play offs (something I don’t think they’ll do) and if the head coach is to have a job next season.  The offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, also needs to prove that he can win games for this franchise.  This summer all the talk has been about how poorly Garrett did in the run in to the season when last year the poor man was being linked with every job in the NFL.

The Cowboys let T.O. go and I do understand why they did but they have to really hope that Williams steps up to the plate or this team is doomed.  They play 3 top defences in their own division not to mention playing the Bucs, Panthers and Chargers.  All of these teams will simply load up the box to stop the running game if none of the wide receivers show that they can be a threat down the field.  Then the Cowboys have to hope that Romo can produce anything down the stretch since they last two seasons he has simply collapsed.  The loss to the Eagles at the end of last year might go down as one of their worse in history.

On the defence side of the ball they still have Ware, how is quite simply one of the linebackers in the NFL but they also have a dodgy secondary that teams are not afraid to attack.  The whole secondary unit needs to really improve this year or they are going to fail reach .500 mark this season.

In reality I think this will be a dreadful season for the Cowboys with them finishing 6 – 10 or maybe I am just hoping that because I really don’t like them.  Though at least the fans get a shiny new stadium to sit in.

Week 15 Preview

Bears to beat the Saints  - Chicago at home should be too strong for the Saints but with Brees under centre you never know what can happen.

Falcons to beat the Bucs – Matt Ryan is having a great season and so is Michael Turner (possible MVP) plus in this division home field advantage seems to be very important.

Redskins to beat the Bengals – Even a Washington team in the middle of a slump can surely beat the Bengals.

Titans to beat the Texans – The Titans to win this and with other results maybe going their way they might have home field advantage locked up for the playoffs.

Packers to beat the Jaguars – This is the hardest game to predict since both teams are really poor at the moment.  More surprising is that both teams defence is struggling.

Dolphins to beat the 49ers – Miami will continue to win and will continue to put pressure on the Jets and the Pats.

Rams to beat the Seahawks – Two poor teams so I’m simply going with the home team here.

Jets to beat the Bills – The Bills are struggling and the Jets must win so they can control their own destiny.

Chiefs to beat the Chargers – See the comment for the Rams game.

Colts to beat the Lions – Please everyone can beat the Lions can’t they.

Cardinals to beat the Vikings – Warner and his men seem unstoppable at home and so the fact this game is in the desert means they win.

Ravens to beat the Steelers – Tough game to call but I think that the Ravens have a point to prove here.  Don’t look for two many points with two great defences on show.

Panthers to beat the Broncos – Carolina should be good enough to beat a poor Broncos team with no running backs.

Pats to beat the Raiders – Pats to win because they playing the Raiders and need to win to have any chance of winning the division.

Giants to beat the Cowboys – The Giants haven’t lost two games in a row for ages or it simply seems like ages.

Eagles to beat the Browns – Philly should take care of a team that simply packed up early last week versus the Titans.