Sunday, October 9, 2011

Week 5 Predictions

Week 5 Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers (LW: 2): After dropping down to No. 2; the Packers quickly regain the top of the rankings. The Packers have been the only – truly - consistent team this year.



2. New England Patriots (LW: 1): After falling apart to the Bills, the Patriots rebounded and had no problems with the Raiders. The Patriots have to be pleased with the resurgence of their running game, if they can keep it up, it will help Tom Brady out a ton.



3. New Orleans Saints (LW: 3): The Saints have been pretty consistent, but they are letting teams stick around for too long, and soon enough you’re going to slip.



4. Houston Texans (LW: 4): The Texans are one redzone touchdown away from being undefeated. It was good to see Arian Foster get back on track, but the injury to Andre Johnson has to be a concern.



5. Detroit Lions (LW: 12): I am placing them this high because they are undefeated, but don’t expect to comeback from 20 point deficits too often. If they are really going to emerge as a Super Bowl contender, then they will have to get going sooner and not rely on comebacks to win games.



6. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 13): I think the Ravens are a great team this year, but they are having a real problem with being consistent. If you remember, they killed the Steelers in week 1, then got killed by the Titans in week 2 and now they kill the Jets. This team has the talent to compete for a Super Bowl, but consistency is all that stands in their way.



7. Tennessee Titans (LW: 17): I’m really not sure what to think of the Titans, what a surprise! They have played sharp and are now tied for the division lead. Seattle fans have to be upset that they lost Hasselbeck.



8. Washington Redskins (LW: 14): I look at this team and do not see a ton of talent, but come Sunday they always play well; and now lead their division. Mike Shanahan has done a great job turning this team around.



9. San Diego Chargers (LW: 9): This team has a ton of talent, but if they want to keep in the lead of the AFC West; then they will need to clean up their mistakes.



10. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 6): They are winning, but most of their wins have come on last second scores, against mediocre teams. The Falcons have a chance to really dominate this year, but the offensive line will have to improve.



11. Chicago Bears (LW: 10): The Bears have shown me this year, that if, they run the ball, they can hang with any team in the league. The one problem…Mike Martz’s seems to always forget to run the ball, but when he did, they ran for over 200 yards last week.



12. Buffalo Bills (LW: 18): I still think this is a good team, but I predicted they would lose this game, for the reason that all young teams lose following a big win. I think they can bounce back next week and have a quality performance.



13. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 8): Like the Patriots did last week, the Cowboys did it this week, and that is…self-destruct. Tony Romo was having the game of his life in the first half, and then in the second half he throws 3 pick - all of which resulted in scores! If the Cowboys have any thought of competing for the division, they need to clean up the mistakes quickly!  



14. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 5): They totally fell apart against the Texans, and now they are banged up badly. Are the Steelers done? Have they gotten too old? I guess we will see, but it sure seems like it.



15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 15): Yes, they are winning games, but this team is nowhere near and good as they were last year. It took the entire game for the Buccaneers to finally take the lead and beat the Manning-less Colts.



16. New York Jets (LW: 7): I’m not ready to write off the Jets yet, because if you remember last year, the same thing happened and they played in the AFC championship game, so don’t panic Jets fans.



17. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 11):  I think the Eagles have a make or break game this weekend, which will determine the result of the season. They had a 20 point lead and totally fell apart. The defense has to get better and Namidi has to play like he did before, he got his big contract.



18. New York Giants (LW: 16): They are winning, but I am not overly impressed with the Giants. It took injuring Vick, faking injuries themselves and a bad call. This team may be 3-1, but I have to see them flat out win a game.



19. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 20): This is another team that has a good record, but hasn’t proved anything to me. They did beat the Eagles, but that was on a wired collapse by Philadelphia. So as with the Giants, I have to see them win a quality game.



20. Oakland Raiders (LW: 21): I really thought OaklandOakland is slowly climbing out of the bottom tier teams in the league, but their not there yet.



21. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 25): I think this team has potential, but it will take a year or so for the team to gel and for the new acquisitions to get comfortable. Still, this team has been competitive, which it was not last year.  



22. Carolina Panthers (LW: 22): It seems like every time Newton has a great stat day the Panthers lose, should they run the ball a little more? It did work against the Jaguars.



23. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 27): I think this team has a lot of potential, but they are also very young and need some time to mature. It has been good to see the defense get back to form.



24. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 29): Gabbert has looked impressive in his first two games, and this team is slowly improving, will it be enough to save Del Rio’s job? I guess we will see.



25. Miami Dolphins (LW: 23): Are the Dolphins trying to throw the season for Andrew Luck? It does seem like that, with the mediocre play of this, very talented, group of players.



26. Denver Broncos (LW: 26): After getting killed by the Titans and Packers in consecutive weeks, the Broncos are right back in the Andrew Luck race.



27. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 30): They are starting to get better, but the injuries are killing them. I think this team has to be the favorite to land Andrew Luck right now.



28. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 31): They looked ok against San Diego, then pretty much dominated against Minnesota, will the Chiefs have a turn around? Or will they fall back into the Luck sweepstakes?



29. Cleveland Browns (LW: 28): This team has been hot and cold all season, and Colt McCoy needs to step it up now if, he doesn’t want to be Andrew Luck’s backup.



30. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 32): I thought for sure the Seahawks would throw the season just to get Luck, but suddenly they are playing better and giving some (pretty good) teams a hard time.



31. St. Louis Rams (LW: 19): This team has done nothing but disappoint this season. I had the Rams winning the division, but now it seems like they may be in the race for the first overall pick, although I doubt they’d take Luck.



32. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 24): Minnesota looked awful against a struggling Kansas City team. And now everyone is wondering, what it will take, for the Vikings to hand Christian Ponder the reigns.

Sunday, October 2, 2011