Monday, December 11, 2006

Week 15 Rants & Ranks

I’m currently listening to an interview of Bill Belichick from the afternoon drive talk show on WEEI late Monday. I missed the original one, so I recorded it for later. Call me a masochist – I’m probably one of about six people in this country that actually considers a Belichick interview interesting. I know, I’m sick.

That’s about as much of a lead-in as I feel like writing today. Onto this week’s ranks, with a special section devoted to the #1 team…

1. San Diego (1): Two years ago, when Eli Manning demanded that the Chargers not take him because he wouldn’t play in San Diego, there was a lot of talk about the Chargers’ long and storied history of screwing up the draft. People waxed poetic about past years when the Chargers had passed on star players because of signability issues, or because their scouts were sub-par. But look at the big moves this team has made in the past six years: In 2001, the late John Butler swung a draft day deal with the Falcons, moving from the #1 pick to the #5, sending Michael Vick to Atlanta. With the picks acquired from Atlanta, San Diego drafted LaDanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees – the players currently one & two atop virtually every MVP list. Admittedly, Brees now plays in New Orleans. But that is only because the Chargers believed so highly (rightly so) in their current quarterback, Philip Rivers. He was drafted by A.J. Smith (along with Shawne Merriman, the former defensive rookie of the year) with the picks acquired from the Giants in exchange for the rights to Eli Manning. That’s two pretty damned good trades, and they’re the reason the Chargers are currently the most complete team in the NFL.

2. Baltimore (2): They marched in to Arrowhead and handed the Chiefs their hats. I still don’t have complete faith in their offense, but then again, I didn’t really believe in the 2000 Ravens offense either…

3. New Orleans (10): Biggest jump in the ranks for the biggest win of the week. Hands down, the most impressive all-around performance in Week 14. The Chargers let the Broncos back in the game in the third quarter – the Saints’ game in Dallas was never in doubt.

4. Dallas (5): They got completely dominated by the Saints, at home, in a game that they needed to keep a firm hold on the #2 seed in the conference. But right now, only one or two teams below them might be favored if they played on a neutral field.

5. Jacksonville (9): I just cannot get over the 250 yards rushing in the first half. Maurice Jones-Drew is officially my favorite rookie this year…

6. Cincinnati (6): Carson Palmer still doesn’t look 100% recovered from that ugly knee injury. They’re winning games, but the offense is not as dominant as it once was. Good thing the defense seems to have rounded into shape, but with their final three games, they’re going to need an all-around effort.

7. Indianapolis (2): I just cannot get over the 250 yards rushing in the first half. Gee, that sounds vaguely familiar…

8. New England (3): They had a golden opportunity to clinch the division and position themselves for the #2 seed in the playoffs. Instead, they coughed it up (literally), and now have only a one-game lead over, *shudder*, the Jets…

9. Chicago (8): As I type this, Rex Grossman is having his best half of football in quite awhile – 6/13, 92 yards, a TD and 22 yards rushing. But most importantly… no turnovers. Yet. Brian Griese is still holding out hope…

10. Seattle (7): They lost to Arizona. I should drop them farther, but I can’t bring myself to put them behind Atlanta or Phily. But none of that matters – as long as they have home-field advantage for at least the first two rounds, they’ll be fine in January.

11. Pittsburgh (18): This makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. But I can’t deny the fact that they could probably stomp most of the teams below them right now.

12. Philadelphia (17): It says a lot about my confidence in Michael Vick’s ability to lead a team to playoff victory that I’m moving Phily, a team currently led by Jeff Garcia, above the Falcons. Even considering both teams won this week.

13. New York Jets (12): No reason to cough up that game against Buffalo. The Big plays killed them – 50+ yard TD run, 70+ yard TD pass, 50+ yard INT Return TD… There’s your ballgame.

14. Atlanta (15): Here’s the thing – I know that Mike Vick has this great winning percentage as a starting quarterback. I know he has a rocket arm, rubber legs, and a field vision that is unmatched when he’s in full scramble mode. I know he’s the most entertaining and maddening player in the league to watch for any length of time. I just cannot see him ever winning a Super Bowl without some help. He’s a one man highlight reel, but not a one man wrecking crew.

15. Miami (19): The team that lost to the Titans earlier this season is gone. This Dolphins team is legit, at least on defense. I don’t think there’s one person in the world outside of his family that believes Joey Harrington is going to be leading this team very long, but for now, he’s competent and he’s holding the reigns.

16. Tennessee (16): They’re 6-7 on the year, after starting out 0-5. That’s pretty impressive. They’re not making the playoffs this year, but they could be awful scary in 2007.

17. New York Giants (20): The only reason I have them this low is they lost to the Titans. I can’t put NY above Tennessee so soon after losing to them, especially considering the loss came at home.

18. Denver (13): They only make the playoffs with a miracle finish. Who thought that was even possible eight weeks ago?

19. Kansas City (11): Another year, another chance for them to gripe about only having six teams make the playoffs in each conference… Sooner or later they’ll actually step up and win the games that matter, so we won’t have to hear about the exclusionary process of the NFL playoffs.

20. St. Louis (24): Is it just me, or did the wheels on this team come flying off at a record pace this season?

21. Carolina (14): I’m sorry, but if you have Chris Weinke chucking the ball 40+ times per game for the final four weeks, well, that’s not exactly an idea way to go about defending a division title.

22. Arizona (25): Dare I say that the Cardinals are *gulp* back in playoff contention? At 4-9, they’re still theoretically alive in the NFC. If they win out, and the Giants, Eagles, Falcons and Vikings all lose the final three games, the Cardinals would actually hold the tiebreaker. Sickening.

23. Buffalo (23): If not for three big plays, they’re dominated by the Jets. Can’t move them up for that, even if they did get the win.

24. San Francisco (22): But I can most certainly drop the Niners after a sad looking game against the Packers. How did Alex Smith not have 600 yards passing against that Green Bay secondary?

25. Minnesota (28): They’ve gone from 25 to 28 to 25 in three weeks. Just proves one thing – the NFC really is horrible.

26. Cleveland (21): Well, they never really had a shot against the Steelers this week. And they played like it. At least show up for the game, guys.

27. Green Bay (30): Somehow, they’re not eliminated from the playoffs yet either. I’m seriously beginning to hate the NFC. Can’t they just put the entire conference out of its misery and declare the winner of the AFC Title game the champion.

28. Houston (26): Hmmm… they need a running back, but passed on Reggie Bush. They need a quarterback, but passed on Vince Young. Mario Williams is a damned good defensive end, but he will never fill the shoes of Bush or Young. Too bad.

29. Oakland (29): They played the Bengals awful tough, even if the final score didn’t reflect it. It’s official – they Raiders’ pass defense is actually competent. Scary.

30. Detroit (31): What’s left to say? Seriously – they need to blow it all up and start from scratch. Just keep Roy Williams, Kevin Jones, and Shawn Rogers – the rest can go.

31. Washington (27): Ladell Betts has done a nice job filling in for Clinton Portis this season – he’s actually got a legit shot at a 1000 yard rushing season. Too bad the rest of the team quit about seven weeks ago.

32. Tampa Bay (32): Ugh. Think Jon Gruden would trade that one Super Bowl ring to have been coaching a legit contender every year since?

Lata.

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