"Hey....we are at the top of the Sportz Assassin's NFL rankings!!!!"
With the ending of Week 1 of the NFL season....I'm going to start my NFL and NCAA football rankings. Everyone has their rankings....but I was one of the few people that had Texas #1 for most of the season on my poll last year [yet, I foolishly picked against them in the Rose Bowl].
I mean, someone had to take the spot vacated by my big Michigan-USC BCS championship game!
Here we go....
NFL-Top 10
1-STEELERS: The defending champs didn't have their QB, but still beat the Dolphins in typical Steeler fashion.
2-COLTS: Lost in the Manning Bowl was the fact that the Colts went into a tough atmosphere and beat a defending division champion with big dreams.
3-BENGALS: Cincy's offense didn't look spectacular...but keeping Larry Johnson out of the endzone [well, they gave up a ton of yards, though] and creating turnovers was a nice way to win in a rough place to do so.
4-SEAHAWKS: Sure, they beat the Lions 9-6. But you can't tell me they still aren't the NFC's best team.
5-BEARS: The Bears have an eery similarity to the 2000 Ravens. This defense is unbelievable [yeah, I know it was just against the Packers, but still]. But the offense seems to be getting better.
6-EAGLES: It was nice to see Donovan McNabb smile again. And him connecting with #18...the antithisis of #81.
7-CHARGERS: They completely dismantled their rival in their house....without really throwing the football. Still, I'd like to see Philip Rivers have to do something before I completely buy into this team.
8-PANTHERS: Yeah, they were drowned by a horrible offensive showing and a surprisingly bad run defense....but this team tends to always lose home openers [see: Saints, last year] and come out okay. And there was no Steve Smith there.
9-FALCONS: Save the "how are they ranked below Carolina when they just beat them" crap. Atlanta didn't beat Carolina's best...but I was very, very, very pleased that Jim Mora is allowing Michael Vick more freedom in the offense. And Vick rewarded him.
10-PATRIOTS: The offense still needs work, and trading Branch won't help them now. Still, getting a 1st round pick for a guy who hasn't netted a 1,000 yd season.
NCAA-Top 10
1-OHIO STATE: When you can go into the home of #2 and smack them down...you've earned it!
2-NOTRE DAME: They sunk because of a low scoring win at G-Tech? C'mon.
3-USC: That USC-Notre Dame game later this year could be a matchup of undefeateds
4-AUBURN: This team is stacked and is ready to embark on the hellacious SEC schedule. Next: LSU.
5-LSU: Hello, Auburn.
6-WEST VIRGINIA: I still don't have them winning the Big East, but this is a whale of a team.
7-LOUISVILLE: I have the Cards doing that. Oh, and they get Miami-FL this weekend.
8-TEXAS: Sure, a young QB is going to make mistakes against the #1 team in the land. Still, they have a Big XII to win.
9-FLORIDA: My man Chris Leak gets a nice test in Knoxville this weekend.
10-MICHIGAN: And the reward is Notre Dame.
2 comments:
Man oh man Sportz. You left off the Ravens? I think you're missing the boat on this one......
I'm not sold on them yet. They trounced the Buccaneers who have a crappy QB [in my eyes] who gave them waaaay to many opportunities to succeed. They will handle Oakland and then head to Cleveland where they may end up 3-0 heading into a stretch against the Chargers, Broncos, Panthers, Saints and Bengals. If they are 5-3 or better after that....they could have a shot at the postseason. Anything worse that 5-3, then no. Their 2nd half of the schedule includes the Falcons, Steelers [twice], Bengals and Chiefs.
I'm not yet sold on their offense. In that Tampa game, they only gained 271 yards...had 7 of their 12 offensive drives end in 4 plays or less [including five 3-and-outs]. Oh, and 1 of the drives that had more than 4 plays was the final one of the game where they ran out the clock.
Their defense is legit....but I haven't seen enough that I like from their offense to warrant a Top 10 ranking yet.
-Sportz
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