Mid-Season Power Rankings

1) Giants
First of all, let me say that there are three or four other teams that I'd be quite happy to put here. That aside, I don't see any side with more potential to dominate than the Giants right now. Exhibit A: last weekend, when faced with a trip to Seattle - a team who is showing a lot more Jekyll than Hyde of late - and whose twelve man had been talked about in the build up as a potential game-breaker. Did they flinch? No. They stormed into a three touchdown lead before the first quarter was over and didn't concede a point until the game was long dead and buried. And since I'm quite the believer that Pete Carroll and the Seahawks are going places, I only applaud the Giants. They've come a long way from the last time I watched a full game of theirs - MNF against Chicago when they took until the 4th quarter to score a touchdown...

2) Jets
As we all know, the Jets were Rex Ryans preseason pick for the Superbowl, and they were mine too. Week 1 odds of 18/1 quickly dimished to as little as 7/1 and they've certainly done all the right things to claim their stake as a Superbowl contender. They're strong in all positions, which is why there are so many questions over whether Sanchez is good enough at QB. What is comes down to is this: they may not be as strong at QB as they are in most other areas of the field, but when they're as good as they are, they don't need to be.

3) Steelers
I'm not a fan of the Steelers, but I can't help but admit that their season so far has been ridiculously impressive. They seem to dodge every obstacle thrown in their path with ease. Take the first few weeks, Charlie Batch in for Big Ben, with people thinking they'd be lucky to escape 2-2, but much to the contrary, they breeze it! Then Big Ben comes back, and although he seems a little out of practice, they still manage to get through. Even with Troy Polamalu playing way below his best they're still pretty hot on defense.

4) Falcons
Along with the Philli, Atlanta are the team that I can't stop watching; they're just so good. I've had a moan about how they're stressing Matt Ryan too much and relying on their ungodly high 3rd down percentage, but they're winning games, and Matt Ryan is enjoying a sickening good run of form. My only worry is their dependancy on Ryan, and whether this is just him being great, or him in a good run of form...

5) Eagles
Of all the quarterback controversies I've seen, the Eagles have the best. The talk over these past few years is that Kevin Kolb is shaping up to be a really good QB, and that he is. But in terms of the best QB in the league right now, there are fewer as good as Vick. Much like the Falcons though, the Eagles rely on Vick to be the unstoppable which they've been of late. With Kolb, they're strong, but with Vick they're unstoppable. For me the question is whether he can keep it up and stay injury free until the end of the season. If he can, then the Eagles are the team to watch.

6) Titans
Three words: Fisher, Moss, and Young. Vince Young is on great form. And while Moss didn't work in Minnesota (this time around), Fisher and Chilli are different coaches. One has an AFC Championship under his belt and is the longest tenured coach in the National Football League; the other has four years of head coaching experience and is one loss away from being sacked. Moss will show some respect.

10) Vikings
Yes, I put the Vikings tenth despite them being one defeat away from playing golf in January (i.e. no playoffs). But, for me, what these rankings are about is how good a team is - not what their record is. If we take away their crazy loss to Miami back in week two, we're looking at a 4-4 football team (and everybody seems to be hopping back onto the Chargers bandwagon now that they've managed to get things back to 4-5). But wins and losses aside, this is a strong football team. Jared Allen, Peterson, Favre, Rice when he's healthy, the Williams wall... I could go on.

Cinci Disappointment (2-6)

At 2-6, the Cincinnati Bengals' season is over, and it's a shame that that's the case. Back in preseason I had them as playoff contenders, maybe even superbowl outsiders, but for one reason or another, they have failed to live up to all aspirations. As for the biggest underachiever so far, I think there are several teams that chase them for that prize, but no others have fewer excuses than the Bengals...
Minnesota boast one of the top teams in the NFL, but Favre has had ankle problems and struggled with tendonitis, Sidney Rice has been sorely missed, and let's not even mention the Moss saga.
The Chargers, I believe, are one of the most overrated teams in the NFL and Phillip Rivers has performed incredibly given the circumstances. Obviously their excuses for the premature end to their season lie in contract disputes with icons such as Merriman, and more importantly the sidelining of Vincent Jackson and the damage that it caused to their receiving corps.
Finally, the Cowboys may stake their claim for the mid-season underachievers, but frankly I believe it would be a false one. They're a team with a lot of big names, but their problem is that they're not much of a team. On top of that, they give away penalties like it's preseason, and their special teams are one of the worst around.
Nevertheless, Cincinnati fall under none of the above (aside from the poor special teams play!) They've not been lacking in talent in the areas where it matters, they've been free of any contract disputes, and for the most part, escaped injuries. Carson Palmer, now in his 8th year, looked set with the addition to T.O. to the offense, and as if that wasn't enough, they drafted two wide-out starter rookies in with their first three picks! And in case they needed to balance things out, they have Cedric Benson - one of the leagues top backs - in the backfield. Can I be blamed for believing that Marvin Lewis - fresh from winning head coach of the year - would be 'going places' with this team in '10?!
For me, the blame lies with Carson Palmer. Looking at his stats, he's 20th in the league in QB rating and 8th in interceptions thrown. Another interesting stat which doesn't bode well is that thirteen quarterbacks have taken more sacks than him, which makes it hard for him to blame his O-line...
Moreover, what hurts Cinci is that this was the year he was really meant to show up. Peyton Manning has barely anything to work with this year and yet he still finds a way to win games. With the aforementioned weapons at Palmer's disposal he should be leading the league in most categories. But alas, he isn't.
It could be argued that Cinci got unlucky this year with their schedule and had to face some of the top teams in the league early on, but take the Bucs game for example, this was not one of those, yet they lost it. And Palmer's stats for that one? 58% with average gain of 5 yards, 2TD, oh, and 3INTs...
Oh, and why did I write a post about this?! Because I love T.O. and I'm still pissed he didn't get a look in in the Top 100! The dude never gets the credit he deserves!

Ravens 21 Atlanta 26

In the mid-season power rankings, I had originally omitted Atlanta from the top five, but that has now been rectified. They may have only beaten the Ravens by five points last night, but they outmatched them on all cylinders. I'm still yet to be proven wrong about Joe Flacco: he's mediocre when it matters; and last night he was lucky to escape with only one interception to his name. Anquan Boldin helped him out a lot, especially with the touchdown catch, which was arguably under-thrown. Ray Rice is something special however, and he's one of the reasons why they have to be considered as a Superbowl contender. He's quick, he's reliable, and with the exception of when they rush him for the third time in a row (which usually results in a 'no gain'), he usually averages a good four or five yards. The Ravens are solid on defense too. But all in all, they're so much like the Jets: quality team, slightly above average quarterback. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but right now, I can't see either Flacco or Sanchez hoisting the Lombardi come February.

As for Atlanta, I'm big on them right now. I've jumped on the band-wagon, and I'm drinking the cool aid. I'd like to begin by highlighting what they do right, but seeing as they're doing so much right at the moment, I think it would be quicker to highlight the few things they need to change if I'm calling them a serious Superbowl contender:
1) 3rd downs. It's simple: they have far too many of them. And whilst they may lead the league in 3rd down conversions, and are ridiculously great at scoring on drives with a stupid amount of 3rd downs, it simply can't stand up in the long run. Sure, in a game of football, you have four downs, and three of them are fine to use, but I need to start seeing them gaining more than four yards on their first two downs. Every time, it's either two runs for two yards each, or an incomplete pass and a four yard run... ...followed by a magical ten yard pass on third down... Fine if it works, but I see absolutely no logic or reason as to why they're not converting on first or second, yet they are on third. Fine if it works, but they seem incapable of a scoring drive that doesn't involve at least two third and longs. Even on the final game-winning drive last night with 50 seconds left!
2) They have to put the ball in the hands of Michael Turner and Jason Snelling more often. Matt Ryan was 22 for 28 last night ...at half time! Joe Theismann joked "for me, that was a game!" Fine, it's a passing game these days, and the game is arguably better for it, but he's in his third year - he's not Manning yet. He's bloody awesome, and one of the best in the league at the moment, they can't afford to burn him out half way through the season.

That's all. Both teams are contenders for the top five. Both WILL make the playoffs. And like I said before the game, the fact that Atlanta have proved themselves is a minor win for the Bucs seeing as we came from within a 4th and 1 from beating them last Sunday.

Baltimore @ Atlanta

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!!!!! For the last three Thursday's I've been counting down the days until I mid-week football finally begins! With ten minutes until kick-off, I hardly have time to write up a preview for the game, but I expect Atlanta to edge it. The line is -1.0 in Atlanta's favour and although I can't see them winning by too much, I'd bet on them to take that too. In my mid season power rankings - which I'll post up tomorrow - I actually have Baltimore higher than Atlanta, however I feel Atlanta have more potential in this game. Matt Ryan's home record is incredible (16-1), I still don't trust Joe Flacco, and the Atlanta have enough weapons on offense to match the Ravens on defense (Roddy White, Michael Turner and Jenkins, with future HOF Gonzales as if that wasn't enough...)
I think this will also be an interesting game from the Bucs perspective. We only just lost by one score last week and this game will give a better gauge as to where the Falcons rank. A big win from Atlanta tonight would look very favourably on our Buccaneers.