NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Passing The Eye Test

Ab Stanley

1.  New England Patriots (10-2)
Last week #2
The Big Bad Patriots have already positioned themselves for another run at the Superbowl. Only the formalities of playoff positioning is left. In the meantime maybe tell Rob Gronkiwski he’s not in high school anymore.

2.  Minnesota Vikings (10-2)
Last week #4
Can we now agree that Minnesota is the most dangerous team in the NFC? I can’t whole heartedly say any team in the NFL is better than the Vikings with their offense and defense being ranked in the top five. They rush four and still get pressure on the QB. They score touchdowns even when they don’t score a lot.

3.  Pittsburgh Steelers (10-2)
Last week #3
The Steelers win close games which bodes well for a long playoff run. They also enjoy handing out punishing blows to the opposition holding them to 1.5 points per drive. Good luck scoring on them.

4.  Philadelphia Eagles (10-2)
Last week #1
The Eagles are pretty special across the board. Carson Wentz and company are now tied for first in scoring. The one red flag, the Eagles are 1-2 versus teams that had a winning record when they faced each other. Just a reminder, most teams you face in the playoffs have a winning record.

5.  Los Angeles Rams (9-3)
Last week #5
The Rams clinched a winning season  for the first time since 2003. They average 30 points per game (tied for first) they’ve outscored their opponents by almost two touchdowns a game.

6.  New Orleans Saints (9-4)
Last week #6
Alvin Kamara is must see television. He’s the player everybody checks the highlight reels to see what he’s done for the day. Drew Brees never gets old and always seem to make the big plays. Oh , the defense has slapped people around all year too.

7.  Seattle Seahawks (8-4)
Last week #10
Russell Wilson must be channeling his inner Frank White (King of New York movie). You can hear the speech now “From now on, anything on offense I’m involved, a touchdown gets scored on the ground I want in”. He is pretty much their whole offense and the defense has remained stout.

8.  Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4)
Last week #8

What can we call this Jacksonville defense? The Wall of Florida? The Jacksonville Juggernauts? Well we can definitely call them the best in the league. If they manage to win some playoff games, we will be looking at the defense in an historical sense.

9.  Carolina Panthers (8-4)
Last week #7
The Panthers still boast a top ten defense. They’ve allowed 300 yards passing in a game only once this season. There’s only three games this season where they allowed a hundred yards rushing. Their offense is shaky at times especially when Cam Newton isn’t doing it all.

10.  Tennessee Titans (8-4)
Last week #13
Tennessee has no business having the record they have. You can’t point to any one number to prove it (ok maybe rushing). So I guess we have to point to the coaching of Mike Mularkey. Good job coach your team is overachieving.

11.  Baltimore Ravens (7-5)
Last week #12
The Ravens winning formula might be the easiest to identify in the NFL. When they come on the field, they force turnovers (ranked first). Then they proceed to beat the snot out of  you. Pretty simple right.

12.  Atlanta Falcons (8-5)
Last week #9
If Atlanta scores 20 points they win. They are 5-2 versus NFC opponents. The defense has climbed to eighth in yards allowed. Their last four opponents will be all divisional games.

13.  Los Angeles Chargers (6-6)
Last week #15
The Chargers are gonna win the AFC West there I said it. The only team in that division that seems to play with purpose week in and week out.they are 6-2 in their last eight games. Phillip Rivers is fourth in the NFL with 3,292 passing yards.

14.  Dallas Cowboys (6-6)
Last week #15
The Cowboys went through a little drought for a few games without running back Ezekiel Elliot. Then all of a sudden they realized they still had an offensive line they could still run behind. All the Cowboys wins have come when they’ve held opponents under 20 points.

15.  Detroit Lions (6-6)
Last week #11
Using turnovers early in the season, Detroit has used smoke and mirror illusions to make us believe they have a good defense. I’m here to tell you they don’t. The offense is good but they usually rack up points (and yards) in a frantic pace to catch up in most games.

16.  Green Bay Packers (6-6)
Last week #19
Green Bay is hanging in there treading water until Aaron Rodgers comes back (in two weeks). Every win they can snatch in the meantime usually is due to the  defense playing good.

17.  Kansas City Chiefs (6-6)
Last week #14
The Chiefs can still score enough to win games. Their defense couldn’t knock over a stack of Jenga blocks. Only two teams give up more yards than the Chiefs.

18.  Buffalo Bills (6-6)
Last week #16
Buffalo’s defense has allowed the fewest passing touchdowns in the league. Their inability to score is their biggest reason for an even record. They are 23rd in points scored and 29th in yards gained.

19.  Oakland Raiders (6-6)
Last week #20
The Raiders are another team that has to score at least 20 points to win. In fact, they haven’t scored more than 17 in all of their losses. One of only things they do well is get it done in the red zone, scoring 66.7% of the time they get inside the twenty.

20.  New York Jets (5-7)
Last week #24
The Jets have played above everybody’s expectations. Kudos to Todd Bowles, the entire league thought the Jets would tank the season to get a young quarterback. Bowles seemingly had other plans for his squad..

21.  Washington Redskins (5-7)
Last week #17
The 20 turnovers the Redskins have are way too many. Especially since they haven’t forced as many on defense (16). They also can’t stop anybody else from scoring giving up 26.1 points per game.

22.  Cincinnati Bengals (5-7)
Last week #21
The Bengals have scored 30 twice this year with both instances being versus the (0-12) Cleveland Browns. The offense is just downright bad. They are second to last in yards gained and in the bottom eight as far as points scored. When will it be time to move on from Andy Dalton?

23.  Miami Dolphins (5-7)
Last week #28
The Dolphins actually whipped a team on Sunday. Scoring 30 points for only the second time this season, its the first time this season they didn’t trail at halftime. Miami still ranks very low on offense. They’ve also given up 23 turnovers only three teams have given up more.

24.  Arizona Cardinals (5-7)
Last week #22
The Cardinals injury report looks like a sign in sheet at a local gym. Playing without a lot of the starters (and backups) they put up a fight but most of the time to no avail.

25.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-8)
Last week #25
Tampa Bay can’t run and they can’t stop the run either. They also give up the second most amount of total yards to opponents.

26.  Houston Texans (4-8)
Last week #23
Houston has lost five of six games. They have way too many turnovers for a team that doesn’t force any.

27.  Denver Broncos (3-9)
Last week #26
Denver is a fiery train wreck. Not much else you could say when you lose eight straight games and drop from first to 31st in points allowed.

28.  Chicago Bears (3-9)
Last week #27
The Bears offense has amassed a robust 68 yards rushing the past two contests. Running the football is one of the things they do well but they have two games where they didn’t reach 21 yards rushing. Mitchell Trubisky is not ready to play yet. It’s not like the Bears are equipped to help him that much either.

29.  San Francisco 49ers (2-10)
Last week #31
For a guy who didnt throw a touchdown pass, Jimmy Garoppolo sure looked good passing the football in his first start for the 49ers. The Shannahan system just got a big upgrade.

30.  Indianapolis Colts (3-9)
Last week #29
The Colts have too many questions to really answer. I can’t see too many of their players returning next year. A few of them need to hang it up.

31.  New York Giants (2-10)
Last week #30
Ah the New York (Football) Giants. After a crazy Monday, Steve Spagnualo takes over a ridicolus situation that got ugly quick. If I was Eli Manning, I wouldn’t start another game for the Giants. Its not in his nature so he’ll probably be back under center this week.

32.  Cleveland Browns (0-12)
Last week #32
The Browns average 14.6 points per game. Wide reciever Josh Gordon returned to snatch four catches for 85 yards. With all that time off, he still showed a playmaking ability Cleveland sorely lacked. His return is a rare bright spot for the Browns.

Ab Stanley

Atlanta, GA

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