Thursday, September 29, 2011

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Week 3 Power Rankings

1. New England Patriots (LW: 2): The Patriots offense looked brilliant again and the Chargers No. 1 ranked defense couldn’t do a thing to stop them. I think the Patriots have a bit on work to do on the defense, because they played weak at times.



2. Green Bay Packers (LW: 1): The Packers played Newton perfectly, let him get all the yards he wants, but just don’t let him score; they did exactly that forcing three picks. The Packers reign at the top of the standings only lasted two weeks, but all they need is the Patriots to slipup and they’ll take the top again.



3. New Orleans Saints (LW: 4): After a week 1 setback the Saints were clicking against the Bears and this team was able to show its true potential.



4. Houston Texans (LW: 5):  I haven’t seem the Texans face a high quality opponent this year, but they have looked pretty sharp from so far and Wade Phillips defense is improving.



5. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 12): After week one hiccups the Steelers came out angry and killed the Seahawks. The defense went from letting the Ravens score 35 points on them, to this week letting the Seahawks score 0.



6. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 11): A decent bounce-back week for the Falcons although without the Michael Vick injury and a dropped pass at the end of the game, the Falcons would have started the season 0-2.



7. New York Jets (LW: 9): They bounced back after a mediocre week and the defense played great, although I am still concerned that this team may be held back by the bad play of Mark Sanchez.



8. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 6): Tony Romo got the fourth quarter jitters out against the Jets and came back with a overtime game winning drive. I think if anything is wrong with this team, it is the sorry play of the Dallas receiver; they really need to step it up.



9. San Diego Chargers (LW: 10): The Chargers played a good game, but the Patriots flat out played a great one. The defense needs to improve on its pass defense and the Chargers have to cut down on the turnovers.



10. Chicago Bears (LW: 7): I still think this team is a playoff caliber team, but I think last week they played a Super Bowl caliber team and that was the difference.



11. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 8):  How long will Michael Vick be out? Its hard to say, but they could really use Vince Young or Kevin Kolb right now.



12. Detroit Lions (LW: 13): They played a good game, but I wouldn’t give the Lions took much credit, the Bills also killed the Chiefs in week 1.



13. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 3): I am afraid this team was so build on beating the Steelers that by the time week two came around they were totally out of gas. They need to improve quickly because the Steelers are not going to wait for them to.



14. Washington Redskins (LW: 15): For a team everyone thought was a favorite to win the Andrew Luck race, they are doing really good, they are 2-0 and I think this team could be in shape to make a run for the playoffs.



15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 14): Tampa Bay did win this week, but they have looked very flat from so far. If this team is going to compete in a very competitive NFC South, then they need to step it up.



16. New York Giants (LW: 18): It was a nice redemption game, after they looked awful in week 1, can they keep it up? Also they need to send their defensive players to acting school, because they did a poor job.



17. Tennessee Titans (LW: 26): After an awful week 1 the Titans also had a good comeback game and put it on the Ravens. Hasselbeck’s play was better this week, which is a good sign for the Titans.



18. Buffalo Bills (LW: 17): Are the Bills for real? Well, that question will get answered very quickly with the Bills facing the Patriots this week. They have looked impressive so far, but can they beat a high quality team?



19. St. Louis Rams (LW: 16): This team didn’t look great this week and have had a flat start to the season, but in a weak NFC West division, no one is out of the race until after week 17.



20. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 21): People are going to start questioning the judgment of Jim Harbough after he had a chance to go up by 14 instead of 10 and as you know that decision didn’t work out well.



21. Oakland Raiders (LW: 20): After a sloppy week 1 the Raiders followed it up with an even sloppier week 2, after being up by that much you have to hold your lead and close out the game and the Raiders didn’t do that.



22. Carolina Panthers (LW: 25): Cam Newton may be getting yards but he still has no wins and had a 3 interception day against the Packers. The yards are nice, but touchdowns and wins are better.



23. Miami Dolphins (LW: 24): The Dolphins just can’t win at home and a team that I think has a talented core, can’t seem to put it together in Miami.



24. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 19): Well, it’s now been two weeks in a row that McNabb has cost the Vikings the game. He had a great first half and the Vikings were up by 17, but he couldn’t duplicate that in the second half and the Vikings lose another one.



25. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 23): I think this team is up and coming, but they have a bad pass defense right now and it is costing them games.



26. Denver Broncos (LW: 28): The Broncos get a win, which I don’t think helps much and now Tebow will have to wait a while longer before the stubborn John Fox will give him a chance.



27. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 27): The Bengals couldn’t close out the game against the Broncos, but the team has promise and by the end of the season should be climbing up the rankings.



28. Cleveland Browns (LW: 30): The Browns flat out don’t have a lot of talent. They are a mediocre team and only won against a beat up Colts team. They need to step it up or Colt McCoy won’t have a chance to show what he can do.



29. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 22): Well, Luke McCown didn’t last long and it looks like the Blaine Gabbert era is at hand. I think they should keep McCown in for a week or two more and then turn it over to Gabbert.



30. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 31): They are now 0-2 and they don’t look like they are going to win too many this year. There is now, officially, 3 team that look like the favorites to land Andrew Luck and the Colts are one of them.



31. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 29): The Chiefs totally fell apart this season and now the information has come out that Jamaal Charles is out for the season, can it get much worse for the Chiefs? Well…yes that is if Seattle wins less games then the Chiefs and the Chiefs miss out on Andrew Luck. But, as of now with the tough schedule they have, the Chiefs look like the favorites to land Andrew Luck, plus it looks like Todd Haley could be out the door as well.



32. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 32): Seattle looked bad against the Steelers and Tavaris Jackson has looked awful. Are the Seahawks intentionally throwing the season, so they can get Andrew Luck?

Week 2 Predictions

Week 2 Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers (LW: 1): I think after Thursday night’s game people can start forgetting about the Packers having a possible Super Bowl hangover.



2. New England Patriots (LW: 2): If it wasn’t for Green Bay playing a better opponent then New England, the Patriots would have been No. 1 on my list. Brady looked great and that offense is going to be hard to stop



3. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 9): The Ravens showed that they are ready to surpass the Steelers and to become the leader of the AFC North, will that continue through the season?



4. New Orleans Saints (LW: 7): The Saints offense played a great game, but their defense couldn’t stop Aaron Rodgers. I think Greg Williams is going to have to get his defense back on track if they are going to far well in a division full of good QB’s.



5. Houston Texans (LW: 12): They totally took the Manning less Colts apart. They did have Kerry Collins at QB, but that defense flat out shutdown the Colts. Is this the year for the Texans? 



6. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 13): They may have lost but they looked sharp in their last minute loss to NY. I think the Jets were running off a lot of emotion so don’t under estimate what this Dallas team in capable of. Tony Romo tore apart the Jets D in the first half and for a guy that has been out for an entire year he looked sharp.    



7. Chicago Bears (LW: 15): Well, I had no trust in the Bears and they proved me wrong. I did pick Chicago to win the game, but not blow out my No. 3 ranked Falcons. If the offense line and Jay Cutler can stay sharp, watch out.



8. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 6): I thought they looked ok, but they didn’t take over the game till both Sam Bradford and Steven Jackson left the game. The defense (when Bradford was in) looked bad and they couldn’t stop Steven Jackson. A win is a win, but they need to protect Vick better, or he won’t be there for long.



9. New York Jets (LW: 8): Yeah, they won, but I wasn’t impressed. It was the same last second win that they had all of last season and all of the season before. If they are going to go to the Super Bowl they are going to need to save their energy and not waste it every week trying to squeak out a win.



10. San Diego Chargers (LW: 5): They got the job done, but if they are looking to try for the Super bowl, they are going to have to play sharper then that.



11. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 4): A poor start for a team that I thought was going to take the next step this year. Matt Ryan looked bad and the rest of the team didn’t perform either. Will they be able to get their act together next week for Michael Vick’s homecoming.



12. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 3): Well, people said their age wouldn’t affect them and I guess we were wrong. The Steelers looked really flat and they need to rebound quickly or the Ravens are going to get too much of a head start.



13. Detroit Lions (LW: 14): They looked solid against a good Buccaneers team and that defense has definitely improved.



14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 11): This is another young team I thought was ready to take the next step, but the Lions are becoming one of the feared teams in the NFL. The team needs to step it up to stay competitive in a tough NFC South.



15. Washington Redskins (LW: 25): For a team that I thought was in the Andrew Luck race, they did pretty good. Rex Grossman looks like he could have a solid year and the defense looked solid too.



16. St. Louis Rams (LW: 18): Take away the injury to Steven Jackson and Sam Bradford and I think the Rams would have been able to beat the Eagles. This team is for real and from what I saw in week one, they are the front runners to win the division.



17. Buffalo Bills (LW: 27): Are the Bills this good, or are the Chiefs just that bad? We’ll see, but one guy that looked great was Ryan Fitzpatrick with 4 TD passes, this is the reason Buffalo passed on a QB in the draft.



18. New York Giants (LW: 17): Well, I didn’t expect the Giants to do as well as everyone else said they would, but I didn’t think they’d get handed by Washington that easy. They need to find someone to help that defense, or this team is in for a long season.



19. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 19): Besides the play of Donovan McNabb, this team looked great. The question will now be if McNabb can step up his game or if you start rookie Christian Ponder.



20. Oakland Raiders (LW: 21): The Raiders may have won, but only because they have a kicker that has a crazy strong leg. If this team is going to make the playoffs, cutting down on the penalties is a must.



21. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 23): They looked ok, but Ted Ginn saved the day and I just wasn’t overly impressed with the 49ers.



22. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 22): Well, the first game without David Garrard and the Jaguars are 1-0, can they keep it up? No one knows, but they need to get Jones-Drew healed quickly if they want to be a contender for a very weak division.



23. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 24): The offense looked good, but as a defense you can’t give up 400 plus yards to a rookie QB who isn’t very good at passing. They need to get their defense in order, but they do come out of week one with a win.



24. Miami Dolphins (LW: 26): Chad Henne and the offense did their part, but that defense couldn’t stop Tom Brady, the nice thing is, they only have to face him one more time this year.



25. Carolina Panthers (LW: 28): Newton looked good in his debut, but they need to get the running game going if that is going to keep up.



26. Tennessee Titans (LW: 20): The team looked flat to start the game and by the time they had regrouped it was too late. They need this offense to get back on track, because Jacksonville isn’t quite what you’d call a tough defense.



27.  Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 29): They did win, but only because Cleveland played awful. It was not good to see Andy Dalton go down in his first game, but with a guy like Gradkowki as a back up, the Bengals aren’t in bad shape.



28. Denver Broncos (LW: 30): John Fox is doing it again with super conservative game planning and the Denver crowds are already tired of it. When will they try Tebow? Who knows.



29. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 16): Kansas City totally collapsed and they lost their best player in Eric Berry for the season. Todd Haley needs to get his team in order, or they might be in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes as well.



30. Cleveland Browns (LW: 31): They came close, but the Browns still don’t have the fire power for Colt McCoy to have success. I think passing on Julio Jones was a big mistake and now in late game situations McCoy has no one to throw to.



31. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 10): Without Peyton this team looks like the 0-16 Lions, they are defiantly in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. Will Luck be the successor to Peyton? They are compared to each other all the time.



32. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 32): I predicted a possible 0-16 season for the Seahawks and from Sunday’s game I don’t think that is out of the question. Will Pete Carroll pick the highly valued Andrew Luck, or go for his old player Matt Barkley?

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Week 1 2012 Mock Draft

          Here is my first mock draft for next year’s draft. I have the Seahawks finishing last in the League with a 2-14 record and then landing the highly prized QB out of Stanford's Andrew Luck. I think people need to watch out, because if Landry Jones has a Heisman season and brings the National Championship trophy to Norman, then he could very well dethrone Luck as the top QB prospect. I also think there is a good chance Matt Barkley stays in college for his senior year, taking him off the draft boards.

1. Seattle Seahawks: Andrew Luck/QB/Stanford

2. Washington Redskins: Landry Jones/QB/Oklahoma

3. Buffalo Bills: Matt Kalil/OT/USC

4. Cincinnati Bengals: Quinton Coples/DE/North Carolina

5. Denver Broncos: Matt Barkley/QB/USC

6. Miami Dolphins: Nate Porter/OT/Boise State

7. San Francisco 49ers: Jayron Hosley/CB/Virginia Tech

8. Cleveland Browns: Justin Blackmon/WR/Oklahoma State

9. Jacksonville Jaguars: Alshon Jeffery/WR/South Carolina

10. Carolina Panthers: Jared Crick/DT/Nebraska

11. Minnesota Vikings: Riley Reiff/OT/Iowa

12. Oakland Raiders: Ryan Lindley/QB/San Diego State

13. Arizona Cardinals: Mike Adams/OL/Ohio State

14. Kansas City Chiefs: Travis Lewis/LB/Oklahoma

15. Chicago Bears: Vontaze Burfict/LB/Arizona State

16. Detroit Lions: Brandon Boykin/CB/Georgia

17. Indianapolis Colts: Matt Reynolds/OT/BYU

18. New York Giants: Luke Kuechly/LB/Boston College

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ray-Ray Armstrong/SS/Miami

20. Tennessee Titans: Courtney Upshaw/LB/Alabama

21. St. Louis Rams: Ryan Broyles/WR/Oklahoma

22. Houston Texans: Donte Paige-Moss/DL/North Carolina

23. Dallas Cowboys: Kelechi Osemele/OL/Iowa State

24. San Diego Chargers: Michael Floyd/WR/Notre Dame

25. New England Patriots (from: New Orleans): Brandon Jenkins/DL/Florida State

26. New York Jets: Jerel Worthy/ DL/Michigan State

27. Cleveland Browns (from: Atlanta): Dont'a Hightower/LB/Alabama

28. New England Patriots: Alfonzo Dennard/ DB/Nebraska

29. Baltimore Ravens: Dre Kirkpatrick/DB/Alabama

30. Green Bay Packers: Trent Richardson/RB/Alabama

31. Philadelphia Eagles: Mike Brewster/ OL/Ohio State

32. Pittsburgh Steelers: Michael Egnew/TE/Missouri

Playoff Prediction

          Here is my early prediction of what will happen in the playoffs. The team that are in the playoffs are according to my post where I predicted each team's records. I picked the Eagles and Steelers to play in the Super Bowl (with the Steelers winning that game), although I don’t think the Eagles are an particularly good team, I think the teams they face in the playoffs aren’t built to stop the Eagles and that is why a team that isn’t the best in the conference still wins it. I think the same goes for the Steelers, I think the Patriots are by far the best team in the AFC, but I think the Ravens are set up perfectly to beat the Patriots, so that saves the Steelers from having to face the Patriots. I think Patriots could beat the Steelers while they can’t beat the Ravens, but the Ravens can’t be the Steelers. So it is all about who you play in the playoffs and if you are a team that has the pieces to be able to beat the other team's pieces.

AFC

Wildcard
Ravens at Chargers-Ravens win
Jets at Texans-Jets win

Divisional
Ravens at Patriots-Ravens win
Jets at Steelers-Steelers win

Conference
Ravens at Steelers-Steelers win

NFC

Wildcard
Eagles at Cowboys-Eagles win
Saints at Rams-Saints win

Divisional
Eagles at Falcons-Eagles win
Saints at Packers-Packers win

Conference
Eagles at Packers-Eagles win

Super Bowl
Eagles at Steelers-Steelers win

Champion
Pittsburgh Steelers

Prediction of each Teams records

          Here is my prediction for each team’s record according to the strength of their schedules. Some of these teams I think are much better then their records suggest, but other are worse. For example, I think the Cowboys are a good team, but not a 12-4 team, but since they benefit from a weak schedule, they will look better than they really are and the same goes for the Titans. Also, my prediction that the Colts would go 8-8 is based on the fact that Peyton Manning will most likely be out for the first couple weeks.





NFL



AFC



AFC NORTH



Steelers 13-3 Y

Ravens 11-5 X

Browns 4-12

Bengals 3-13



AFC SOUTH



Texans 10-6 Y

Titans 10-6

Colts 8-8

Jaguars 4-12



AFC EAST



Patriots 14-2 Z

Jets 12-4 X

Dolphins 4-12

Bills 3-13



AFC WEST



Chargers 12-4 Y

Chiefs 7-9

Raiders 6-10

Broncos 3-13





NFC



NFC NORTH



Packers 12-4 Y

Lions 8-8

Bears 7-9

Vikings 5-11



NFC SOUTH



Falcons 13-3 Z

Saints 11-5 X

Buccaneers 9-7

Panthers 4-12



NFC EAST



Cowboys 12-4 Y

Eagles 10-6 X

Giants 9-7

Redskins 3-13



NFC WEST



Rams 10-6 Y

Cardinals 6-10

49ers 4-12

Seahawks 2-14

Week 1 Predictions