Tuesday 18 September 2012

NFL Power Rankings - Week 3

1 (1) San Francisco 49ers - The NFL's best team had another good win against a strong opponent.  The 49ers have gone 2-0 in games against the Packers and the Lions.  I expected the 49ers to be a good side before the season began and so far they haven't disappointed.  Running-back, Frank Gore, had another good day, running for 89 yards and a touchdown. 

2 (4) Green Bay Packers -
Green Bay got their season back on track with a win over the Bears.  I criticised their defense and running game last week but they bounced back superbly this week and were the main reason behind the victory.  Green Bay are a good all round football team and will surely not be far off when it comes to the Superbowl.
 

3 (2) New England Patriots - The Pats had a nightmare against the Cardinals and managed to lose a game everybody thought they would win.  The offense, simply, couldn't get into the end zone.  They dominated much of the game but had to settle for field goals and it's usually not enough to secure wins in the NFL.  They had chances late on but couldn't take them.  They failed on a two point conversion, which would have tied the game and then in the dying seconds, Stephen Gostkowski, shanked a 42 yard field goal to hand the Cardinals the win.
 

4 (5) Pittsburgh Steelers - Pittsburgh kick started their season with a comfortable win over the New York Jets.  Roethlisberger threw for 275 yards and the o-line held up for most of the game.  The defense managed to get the better of Mark Sanchez and restricted the Jets to just 10 points.  The offense done their part and the Steelers are 1-1.
 

5 (7) Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons move to 2-0, after Peyton Manning, gift wrapped them the victory on Monday Night Football.  The Falcons are a good side who don't need help from anyone and they made the most of the opportunity.  The Falcons look like the best team in the NFC South by quite some distance, so they should get another go at the playoffs this year.
 

6 (3) Baltimore Ravens - A tough loss for the Ravens in Philadelphia and it's one that their coaching staff has to accept some responsibility for.  Joe Flacco wasn't having a great day but they kept putting the ball in his hands. The one player who was hurting the Eagles was running-back, Ray Rice.  Rice averaged 6.2 yards per carry but he was only given 16 runs. When he was having so much success, why not increase his workload?
 

7 (9) New York Giants - The Giants came back from a late deficit to clinch an important win.  An 0-2 start would have been very bad for the defending champions, especially as both games were at home.  Eli Manning was the name on everyone’s lips.  Early on the Giants fans would have been cursing him after three interceptions handed the Bucs a big lead.  Credit were its due though and Eli managed to get his team out of the hole and he ended up throwing for 510 yards to lead the Giants to the win.
 

8 (12) Philadelphia Eagles - There are a lot of good things about this Eagles team. The defense looks a lot better than last year and Demeco Ryans looks like being a key player.  LeSean McCoy is an elite running-back and Michael Vick had a good game at quarterback.  The one thing that is stopping the Eagles from being regarded as a serious contender, is turnovers.  The Eagles have turned the ball over on nine occasions in their opening two games. They are 2-0, having won both games by one point but unless the turnovers stop, every game is going to turn into a lottery.
 

9 (11) San Diego Chargers - San Diego go to 2-0 after a blow out victory over the Titans.  The Chargers weren't hugely impressive last week but they made up for it this week.  Backup tight-end, Dante Rosario, will grab most of the headlines after he had three touchdowns.  Regular tight-end, Antonio Gates, missed the game through injury and Rosario made the most of the opportunity.
 

10 (14) Houston Texans - Another easy win for the Texans and they find themselves at 2-0. The next five weeks will tell us exactly how good the Texans are. They have Denver, Tennessee, New York Jets, Green Bay and Baltimore, before their bye week. At least four of those should give the Texans a tougher test than they have faced so far and if they can come through that run with three or four wins then they will have more than earned the right to be considered an elite football team.
 

11 (6) Detroit Lions - The Lions lost to the San Francisco 49ers in a tight game on Sunday night.  The Lions kept it close throughout but failed to take advantage from scoring positions and kicked four field goals.  Both sides had five scoring plays and the difference was, the 49ers were able to get into the end zone on three of their scoring drives.  The Lions also had a costly turnover which led to a San Francisco touchdown.
 

12 (8) Chicago Bears - The Bears were well beaten by the Packers and their offensive line has to accept a lot of the blame.  Quarterback, Jay Cutler, was sacked seven times and their offense couldn't get much going at all.  The defense made things difficult for Aaron Rodgers, sacking him five times but the offenses failures, resulted in a big defeat.
 

13 (13) Denver Broncos - Last week we spent the week talking about Peyton Manning being back.  This week was the return of the Manning Face.  Peyton had a nightmare in the first quarter, throwing three interceptions.  The Falcons punished the mistakes and picked up 10 points from the turnovers.  Credit to Denver they never gave up and almost got back into the game but their quarterback had given them too much to do.
 

14 (10) Dallas Cowboys - Dallas got brought back down to earth after losing, heavily, to the Seattle Seahawks. The Cowboys had a bad game on the ground, picking up just 49 yards and giving up 182 yards. Quarterback, Tony Romo's accuracy was a lot lower this week and he only managed to complete 23 of his 40 pass attempts.
 

15 (20) Arizona Cardinals - The Cardinals had a fantastic win in New England, over the much fancied Patriots.  Credit has to go to the Cardinals defense who managed to force the Pats to kick field goals for the first 58 minutes of the game.  They then stopped a two point conversion and in the final drive, they managed to hold the Pats to a missed field goal.  The Cards are the surprise package so far at 2-0. 
 

16 (15) New York Jets - The Jets offense returned to the team I expected them to be and Mark Sanchez was back to playing like Mark Sanchez.  The Jets quarterback completed just 37% of his passes, for 138 yards.  That's just not good enough in the NFL and I don't think he can afford too many more performances like that with Tim Tebow on the sideline.  The defense done a good job against the run but they weren't able to stop Ben Roethlisberger and with little help from the offense it wasn't to be for the Jets.
 

17 (18) Buffalo Bills - The Bills bounced back from their defeat to the Jets with a comfortable win over the Chiefs. CJ Spiller had another big game on the ground, rushing for 123 yards and two touchdowns. The Bills defense and special teams also got in on the act, with the defense getting three turnovers and Leodis McKelvin returning a punt for a touchdown.
 

18 (21) St Louis Rams - St Louis bounced back from their defeat to the Lions, with a good win over the Redskins.  The Rams looked good and had over 450 yards of offense.  The defense stood up well to the task of facing RG3 and only for turnovers and a bad call by the officials when Steven Jackson had got into the end zone, the victory could have been more comfortable.
 

19 (16) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Tampa Bay lost a high scoring game against the Giants but they were far from impressive in doing so.  They were handed a lead at half time thanks to a crazy second quarter from Eli Manning.  They got 14 points off his three turnovers but they couldn't stop the passing attack in the second half and blew an 11 point lead in the fourth quarter.
 

20 (19) Washington Redskins - RG3 tasted defeat in the NFL for the first time, when his Redskins, lost to the Rams.  Griffin had another decent game, completing two thirds of his passes.  He had one touchdown but did have his first interception.  He saved his best work for the ground and ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns from 11 carries.
 

21 (22) Indianapolis Colts - The Colts managed to pick up the first win of the Andrew Luck era with a narrow win over Minnesota. Luck threw for two touchdowns but more importantly, he never threw any interceptions.  A lot has changed in Indianapolis this year but some things never change and not for the first time in his career, Adam Vinatieri kicked the game winning field goal.
 

22 (24) Seattle Seahawks - Russell Wilson picked up his first win as an NFL quarterback, when his Seahawks beat the Cowboys, 27-7. Wilson wasn't asked to do a great deal but when called upon, he did what he had to. He completed 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. He also managed to pick up 28 yards on the ground off 4 carries. Marshawn Lynch led the offense, rushing for 122 yards and a touchdown.
 

23 (26) Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals bounced back from their heavy defeat in Baltimore, with a tough win over the Browns. The Bengals never got it easy and were made to dig deep to pick up their first win of the season. Andy Dalton was the key man, completing over 75% of his passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns.
 

24 (17) New Orleans Saints - Another bad week for the Saints who look to be missing head coach, Sean Payton, a little bit more than some people expected. The Saints weren't too bad this week and put up some good numbers on the offense but ultimately they had two costly interceptions that cost them the game. The first was returned for a touchdown and the second was in the dying seconds when they needed a touchdown and two point conversion, to take the game to overtime.
 

25 (29) Carolina Panthers - A huge win for the Panthers and one that will have instantly gained them the respect of the division. The Panthers got their running game firing this week, going for 219 yards and even then, Mike Tolbert only had two carries, although one was near the goal line and he took it into the end zone. The Panthers have got to be looking to run the ball first and foremost and use Cam Newton's arm as their backup plan.
 

26 (32) Miami Dolphins - Credit were it's due, that was a great win for the Dolphins. Time will tell exactly how good it was but the Dolphins needed a win and they got one in spectacular fashion. Reggie Bush had a great day, picking up 197 yards from scrimmage, including two touchdowns. Quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, was solid if not spectacular and the defense completely stuffed the Raiders rushing attack. Good day for Miami.
 

27 (23) Tennessee Titans - The Titans were completely outplayed by the Chargers and it showed in the final result. Tennessee only had the ball for 16 minutes and were unable to do much with the little possession they had. The biggest concern will be running-back, Chris Johnson. This was supposed to be his year but so far it's just not happening for him.
 

28 (31) Cleveland Browns - Another tough defeat for the Browns who looked a lot better offensively. The two rookies, Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson, had great games. Weeden threw for 322 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and Richardson had 145 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. The problem for the Browns this week was penalties. They were flagged ten times and it cost them over 100 yards.
 

29 (25) Kansas City Chiefs - Another heavy loss for the Chiefs and once again they were hurt by turnovers. Take the turnovers away and the game was quite tight. The Chiefs had more yards of offense but the two fumbles in the first half were costly, with the Bills getting a touchdown from the first and the second was at the end of a long drive, with the Chiefs on the one yard line.
 

30 (28) Minnesota Vikings - A defeat for the Vikings this week but another respectable performance. It was a very tight game and it was ultimately decided by a late field goal. Ponder had another good game for Minnesota and Peterson was steady without being spectacular.
 

31 (27) Oakland Raiders - The Raiders start off 0-2 after being blown out in Miami. The Raiders couldn't get their running game going and averaged just 1.6 yards per carry. The Raiders defense couldn't stop the Dolphins running and gave up 263 yards on the ground. Quarterback, Carson Palmer, threw for 373 yards but he only completed 24 of 48 passes. A 50% completion rate, won't win football games.

32 (30) Jacksonville Jaguars -
Another defeat for the Jaguars and it was a very poor performance. They only managed 117 yards of total offense and gave up over 400, including 200 on the ground. The Jags were outplayed in every department on Sunday and if they don't improve then it looks like another poor season in Jacksonville.

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