1. New England (9-0) Nothing to say here.
2. Dallas (8-1) Looking strong for the top seed in the NFC, though Green Bay is playing well too.
3. Pittsburgh (7-2) A top-five offensive and defensive team and Ben Roethlisberger is playing as well as any QB in the league. The special teams could be a downfall if not fixed.
4. Indianapolis (7-2) If Freeney is indeed out for four weeks, the Colts could be in trouble.
5. Green Bay (8-1) And to think, Brett Favre was actually thinking about retirement.
6. Jacksonville (6-3) Found a way to win two of three without Garrard, who should be back this week.
7. N.Y. Giants (6-3) There's just something missing with Eli Manning.
8. Tennessee (6-3) Teams are forcing Vince Young to throw on them. He has precious few receivers to get the ball to.
9. San Diego (5-4) Philip Rivers needs to play better.
10. Cleveland (5-4) The Browns are better, but not ready to handle the big boys yet.
11. Detroit (6-3) Stumbled in the desert last week.
12. Seattle (5-4) Still need to play better on the road.
13. Tampa Bay (5-4) The bye came at a perfect time for a banged-up team.
14. Washington (5-4) This is a Jekyl and Hyde team to be sure, but so are a lot of teams in the teens.
15. Buffalo (5-4) The win streak ends this week at New England.
16. Arizona (4-5) This team could make a push for the playoffs in the second half.
17. New Orleans (4-5) All the momentum they acquired by winning four in a row was lost last week.
18. Philadelphia (4-5) Is the old Donovan McNabb back?
19. Denver (4-5) Dominated the Chiefs without Larry Johnson.
20. Chicago (4-5) Don't count the Bears out in the NFC just yet.
21. Kansas City (4-5) Johnson's out and they now have big trouble at QB. Not a good sign.
22. Houston (4-5) Should finally get Andre Johnson back.
23. Carolina (4-5) John Fox has to be on the hot seat. Bill Cowher anyone?
24. Cincinnati (3-6) Two of three wins have come against the Ravens.
25. Baltimore (4-5) Remember when people thought the Ravens were still good?
26. Atlanta (3-6) Believe it or not, the Falcons have won two in a row.
27. Minnesota (3-6) In trouble without Adrian Peterson.
28. Oakland (2-7) If they combined both teams on the Bay, they still wouldn't have a QB.
29. San Francisco (2-7) Putrid offense.
30. St. Louis (1-8) Starting to get healthy.
31. N.Y. Jets (1-8) Only hope of another win comes against Miami.
32. Miami (0-9) Challenging for the spot of the worst team in history.
Gotta rant somewhere...
ReplyDeleteThe THIRD time the Steelers have come out completely unprepared to play an inferior team. I hope one of you reporters plan to ask Tomlin why that is.
Bruce Arians stubborn insistence on playing TWO tight ends, one of whom, Spaeth, couldn't block either of my octagenarian parents. Arians insistence on asking Willie Parker to run without a fullback, which Parker has stated he prefers. It's easy to tell how frustrated Parker is because he can't get any holes to run to and has no one leading the play. Play Krieder or Davis or Davenport in a two back set. ALL of them can block for running and passing plays. Sit Spaeth, he is useless. If Willie Colon cannot block his man, take him out of the game and try Max Starks. Could he be worse? I don't know what to do with Mahan, who is not making anyone forget the three men who played center before him.
The special teams continue to hurt the Steelers. Yeah, they didn't give up a long return, just traded that for giving NY good field position on every kick. Being afraid to kick deep cost them the game, it conceded the battle of field position before NY's offense even took the field.
Every team in the league knows now the Steelers won't and can't run the ball. They will all be teeing off on BR just like they did last year. As a lot of predicted at the start of the year, being a pass first team isn't the formula for long term success. I can only hope Tomlin figures out the offensive game planning needs to be corrected and starts putting the reins on Ben and Bruce.