Home Articles/Editorials 2014 NFL Power Rankings – Week 11

2014 NFL Power Rankings – Week 11

0

Eli Manning was almost benched late in the 2007 NFL season, as his performance was putrid over his first four years leading up to that game, causing Tom Coughlin’s face to grow redder than Stalin at his worst. A few heroics from Plaxico Burress, David Tyree, Michael Strahan, and Justin Tuck (along with major meltdowns from Asante Samuel and Rodney Harrison) brought the Giants four playoff wins, including a Lombardi Trophy that year.

Eli Manning was embarrassingly bad in 2011, as the roster saw a bunch of turnover following the Super Bowl winning season and Manning’s big contract. They squeaked into the playoffs at 9-7, promptly followed the heroics of Hakeem Nicks (and the meltdown of Wes Welker) to roll to four playoff wins and a second Lombardi Trophy for Manning and Coughlin.

The Giants will not make the playoffs this season, and will probably be bad next season. That’s the plan for good ol’ Eli. 16 bad games, 16 bad games, 16 bad games, 16 bad games but sneak into the playoffs and then bam! Eli plays horribly for four straight games but some other hero plays his ass off and Eli gets a Super Bowl MVP trophy. Well next year is the year the Giants have penciled in for Eli to be bad but for the Giants to sneak into the playoffs. Stan, don’t you have to keep Manning and Coughlin around on the off chance they experience a third set of miracles to overcome his bad play? Is the thought of God intervening and handing you another undeserved Super Bowl worth another six years of poor quarterback play and watching games like this past week? You tell me.

Stan

The “Laughable” Tier

32. Oakland Raiders – This team refuses to look terrible even though they haven’t won a game yet. They don’t get blown out. Its like they know people have money on them and they want to beat the spread.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars – The Jags were on a bye but they still suck.
30. Tennessee Titans – Titans looked a little frisky in the first half against the Steelers but they couldn’t stop the run and that’s what doomed them.
29. Washington Redskins – They’re lucky I didn’t drop them lower. How do you lose…by 20…to a team on a 5 game losing streak…at home? And then RG3 threw his teammates under the bus like the “cornball brother” he was once accused of being.
28. New York Giants – Five interceptions. That’s all I have to say about that.
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – It looks like they’ve got a budding star in Mike Evans and they could totally make a run at the division…which makes me sad.
26. Carolina Panthers – Speaking of sad, the Panthers had victory snatched away from them by special teams. Graham Gano would be kicking himself right now if he could kick anything at all right now.
25. New York Jets – I understand how Jets fans feel right now. You wish the bye week was longer don’t you? Well its back to reality.

The “So Many People To Blame” Tier

24. Minnesota Vikings – Just more growing pains for Teddy Football.
23. Chicago Bears – Did anyone actually watch this game? Neither team is making the playoffs.

The “Don’t Get Crazy” Tier

22. Atlanta Falcons – Four wins and they’re tied for the lead in the division. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2014 NFC South.

The “Get Your Sh*t Together” Tier

21. Buffalo Bills – The Dolphins are legit. They have a really good defense and a capable offense. Sometimes thats all you need.
20. Cleveland Browns – They really let us all down by losing to Houston the way they did. With the way every team in the AFC North is flip flopping, they can’t afford to lose to teams they might be better than.
19. Houston Texans – Maybe Ryan Mallett is all they needed!
18. New Orleans Saints – I’m ready to jump off the Saints bandwagon. They lost Brandin Cooks, Drew Brees looks mortal and the defense is decimated. That said, they can still make a run.

The “Gingers Can’t Be Trusted” Tier

17. Cincinnati Bengals – Whats this world coming to? Black is white, up is down, the Bengals are beating the Saints on the road? Its like I don’t know myself anymore.

The “Scary Good or Scary Bad” Tier

16. St Louis Rams – Wow.

The “Who Are We?” Tier

15. Baltimore Ravens – Full disclosure – a week without Steve Smith is not an enjoyable week.
14. Pittsburgh Steelers – You know things aren’t looking too great when beating the Titans is a “huge road win” for your team.
13. San Francisco 49ers – I know they got 5 interceptions and they beat my Giants but the offense looked really bad. Five picks and they only won by 6. Let that sink in.

The “Sleepers” Tier

12. Philadelphia Eagles – When will people learn that you can’t hold down Jordy Nelson one on one?
11. Miami Dolphins – I watched Bob Holtzman interview Cameron Wake after the game and I was scared through the TV. Still am.
10. Kansas City Chiefs – Mike Francesa said these guys are the official sleeper team in the AFC. So its official.

The “Don’t Panic” Tier

9. Indianapolis Colts – I’m gonna need for everyone around Andrew Luck to realize they’re in the presence of greatness and step up. Either that or inject themselves with his DNA. Totally plausible.
8. Detroit Lions – Let the slide begin

The “Our T-Shirts Will Be Sent To Africa” Tier

7. Dallas Cowboys – Let the slide continue.
6. San Diego Chargers – I hope their 13-6 win over Oakland just means that Oakland is better than we think.
5. Seattle Seahawks – Kansas City is good. Thats why Seattle lost. Seattle is without some of their best defensive players and they played “the official sleeper team in the AFC” according to Mike Francesa…so theres that.

The “Man, The Top Four Teams Are Surprisingly Balanced” Tier

4. Denver Broncos – Wow.
3. Green Bay Packers – Who else is excited for the inevitable Packers-Cardinals NFC Championship game? I expect a combined 220 points.
2. Arizona Cardinals – I bet the Cardinals are smart enough not to play Jordy one on one with one safety over the top.
1. New England Patriots – I hate the Patriots but not because they’re good. I hate them because you know damn well Jonas Gray is going to carry the ball 8 times and barely crack 60 yards rushing next week. Its inevitable and its the Patriot way.

Rob

The “Nothing’s Changed and Nothing Will” Tier

32. Oakland Raiders

31. Jacksonville Jaguars

30. Tennessee Titans

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

28. Carolina Panthers

27. Chicago Bears

26. New York Giants

25. New York Jets

These teams were the worst eight teams in the league in this order last week, and despite the Buccaneers and Bears getting wins, I just have no reason to think anything is different this week.

All of these teams really seem hopeless, without a ton of young talent across the roster or any obvious places that an upgrade will vault them towards mediocrity in 2015.

The “Things Have Gotten Worse, But Will Get Better (Maybe)” Tier

24. Washington Redskins

23. Minnesota Vikings

22. Cleveland Browns

21. Buffalo Bills

Yes all of these teams are taking a step back from what their expectations might have been a few weeks ago. The truth is, those expectations were a product of false hope, after they overachieved in stretches early in the season.

Still, these teams have young rosters and reason to believe that a good offseason will get them back in contention (because when you think of smart roster decisions, you think of the Bills, Browns, Vikings, and Dan Snyder-run Redskins).

If Robert Griffin III comes back to form and the defense continues to improve and if Teddy Bridgewater emerges from this season a polished passer, both those teams could see themselves turning into young and exciting groups of talent.

For both the Browns and the Bills, all they need is good quarterback play and the rest of the roster should take shape. The Bills will likely target a replacement for Kyle Orton this offseason. The Browns will give Brian Hoyer a shot to mesh with the returning Josh Gordon, but I suspect they will hand the reigns over to Johnny Manziel next season with a more complete roster.

Still, that hope that these teams have will likely be dashed away once again early next season, because they are the Bills, Browns, Vikings, and Dan Snyder-run Redskins.

The “Teams With Actual Hope” Tier

20. Atlanta Falcons

19. St. Louis Rams

18. Houston Texans

17. Cincinnati Bengals

the teams in the tier before this all have frisky and young, so they have some hope to cling on to. The teams in this tier are a little different. These four teams have powerhouse talent. These four teams have “Best Team in the NFL” type talent. They each just have major flaws that are blocking that talent from shining.

The Rams, Texans, and Bengals all have the full package. If you disagree, imagine Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, or Tom Brady was the starter in 2015 for some reason. You would immediately catapult them to Super Bowl favorites.

The Falcons have a thin but fixable roster themselves, and with just a few good draft picks and solid free agent signings, they could quickly go back to being NFC competitors, especially in a division that they are tied for first in despite only having four wins and being 0-6 outside their own division.

The “Just Sneak In” Tier

16. Philadelphia Eagles

15. New Orleans Saints

14. Baltimore Ravens

13. San Diego Chargers

12. Pittsburgh Steelers

11. San Francisco 49ers

10. Seattle Seahawks

These seven teams are all loaded with talent, but unlike the four teams from the tier above, none of them have the obvious flaw (except for probably the Eagles).

All of these teams look like playoff teams more Sundays than not, but have underachieved thus far (except for the Eagles).

Three or four of these teams will likely squeak into the playoffs, but any of them can get hot and take down the top teams that are not as invincible as the Broncos and Seahawks and 49ers were last year.

The “Starting To Look Scary” Tier

9. Miami Dolphins

8. Kansas City Chiefs

7. Detroit Lions

6. Dallas Cowboys

5. Arizona Cardinals

In a good way, these teams all look poised for deep postseason runs even though they haven’t locked themselves into the playoffs just yet.

They have the same flaws as the teams ranked 15 spots lower than them, but they have made sure to scratch and claw their way to likely playoff berths anyway. They might not have the star power or consistency of the next four teams, but they have the talent to compete.

The “Powerhouses” Tier

4. Indianapolis Colts

3. Denver Broncos

2. Green Bay Packers

1. New England Patriots

Luck. Manning. Rodgers. Brady. They would have catapulted the Rams, Texans, and Bengals up to these spots. I don’t know if they have any spots on the team that leave them vulnerable, but I know they have quarterbacks to cover their holes.

SIMILAR ARTICLES

0

0

0
video

0

Comments are closed.