2014 NFL Power Rankings – Week 15
Okay, I have a quick question. DID YOU SEE JOHNNY FOOTBALL TRY TO PLAY QUARTERBACK ON SUNDAY?!? Oh my God. OH MY GOD. That was the most exciting 60 minutes of football all season, and that includes the 60 minutes I watched the Odell catch on loop on my phone while sitting in the bathroom.
Let’s start from the beginning. I never thought Johnny Manziel should have been drafted in the first round. I thought it was crazy. Literally, it seemed like the craziest thing ever. Of course, it isn’t that crazy considering the Jaguars drafted Bortles third overall in the same draft. It isn’t that crazy considering the Browns drafted Brandon Weeden in the first round two years ago even though he was a year older than Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers. Still, for a short kid who lacked arm strength and might have been a Blood with all the red flags, a first round pick was very high.
Also, remember the Browns traded back from fourth overall to ninth, so the Bills could take Sammy Watkins. They picked up a first-round pick next year (from a team that could win 9 or 10 games). They ended up trading up a pick –for no reason—to take corner Justin Gilbert, who has been whatever across from Joe Haden. So they could have stayed at fourth overall and taken either Sammy Watkins or Khalil Mack.
If they really wanted the Bills’ pick, then instead of moving from ninth to eighth, they could have tried to get to seventh or sixth and took Mike Evans. Or they could have sat at ninth and took Odell Beckham. All these options sound better than trading up for Gilbert.
Then, sitting at 26th overall, they traded up to 22nd to take Manziel. They gave up a very valuable third round selection in the process. They could have sat where they were and took Teddy Bridgewater. Instead of Gilbert and Manziel they could have had:
- Watkins and Bridgewater
- Mack and Bridgewater
- Beckham and Bridgewater and the Bills 2015 first-round pick
All three of those options look pretty good right now for a team that found a way to 7-4 before dropping three ugly games in a row.
Granted, Brian Hoyer has been terrible as well, and deserved to be benched. At least you would think Manziel has upside, and while Hoyer is a free agent at the end of the year, the Browns are tied to Johnny Football. The team is out of playoff contention, and Manziel should start the next two games as well. Just don’t expect him to be the savior. It was his first start, but I think it will prove to be more affirming and less of an anomaly.
Stan
The “Who’s Gonna Keep The Jets From Taking A QB” Tier
The “Oh So No One’s Getting Fired?” Tier
The “Unlucky or Terrible” Tier
The “One Side Of The Ball Hates The Other”” Tier
The “Just Keep Winning” Tier
The “Just Hang On!” Tier
The “Keep On Trucking” Tier
Rob
The “Embarrassed We Thought [Insert QB Here] Was Good” Tier
32. Tennessee Titans
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Jacksonville Jaguars
29. Washington Redskins
28. New York Jets
Here was basically either Plan A and B for each of these teams: Jake Locker, Charlie Whitehurst, Josh McCown, Mike Glennon, Chad Henne, Colt McCoy, Kirk Cousins, Geno Smith, Michael Vick.
The Redskins technically started Robert Griffin III, but he got injured early in Week Two, and it was like pulling teeth to get Jay Gruden to go back to him, despite incompetency from Cousins and McCoy.
The Jaguars are the only team in this group with a logical Plan B, which was their 3rd overall pick Blake Bortles, who seemed terrible in college and looked terrible in the NFL so far. Of course, they get bonus points for at least taking a chance on someone who wasn’t guaranteed to blow up the season. And as bad as he has looked, the offensive line has outshone him in infamy in Jacksonville.
Josh McCown is the worst of the group, because there was actual excitement about him. Even other Plan A quarterbacks like Jake Locker and Geno Smith came with a groan of inevitability.
At least the Titans had a Plan C in Zach Mettenberger. Even though he was a sixth-round pick, he fell due to injury and character concerns and is theoretically a better talent than hid draft position would imply. Of course, four of his LSU weapons (Beckham, Landry, Hill, Alfred Blue) are putting together rookie years ranging from incredible to really good, and somehow Mettenberger looked lost at times playing for the Tigers.
Still, of the bunch of quarterbacks, Mettenberger seems to be the least like a lost cause at this point. Not necessarily a compliment, but not necessarily and insult either.
The “Let’s Glaze Over These Four Teams So We Can Talk About Manziel” Tier
27. Oakland Raiders
26. Chicago Bears
25. Carolina Panthers
24. New York Giants
They get bumped up out of that dysfunctional tier, despite firing their coach midseason in favor of Tony Sparano, and having a general manager on the precipice of the same fate this offseason. Impressive feat for the Raiders.
I think the Bears move on from Marc Trestman and company.
The Panthers are 5-8-1. Derek Anderson was the quarterback for two of those wins. Both came against the Buccaneers. The Panthers could still win the division if the Falcons beat the Saints this weekend. This is all nonsense.
At least (other than the loss to the Jaguars) they aren’t embarrassing themselves or their 68-year old coach. Of course, that could mean they have a 69-year old coach in 2015, which isn’t a great thing either.
The “DID YOU SEE JOHNNY FOOTBALL TRY TO PLAY QUARTERBACK?” Tier
23. Cleveland Browns
[See opening.]
The “We Are Embarrassing Ourselves, But At Least We Didn’t Draft Manziel” Tier
22. Atlanta Falcons
21. New Orleans Saints
20. San Francisco 49ers
On the other hand, the winner of the Saints vs. Falcons game this week in New Orleans will more or less decide which NFC South team gets a home playoff game in round one. The scary thing is these teams both could win a first round game, which is why I am almost rooting for Derek Anderson and the Panthers at this point, with their outside shot at a division crown.
The “Can You Believe Manziel Went In The First Round?” Tier
19. Minnesota Vikings
Bridgewater looked good in this game, really good. He had the Vikings within a chip shot field goal of taking the lead at the end of the game, and with barely any time on the clock drove them back for one last chance (albeit a 68 yard longshot) of stealing a victory against a mighty Lions’ defense.
Is he great? No, he’s not perfect. He is a rookie. He isn’t shooting out of a cannon like Luck or RGIII or Wilson. But he is dealing for stretches at a time, and looks to be the best rookie quarterback in the league.
By the way, this is not surprising, since back in January after the college football season was over, the talk was “Will Bridgewater be the first overall pick, ahead of Jadeveon Clowney?” Then he “struggled” at his pro day, and almost became a second round pick.
The Texans would be hosting a playoff game if they drafted Bridgewater first overall (not saying he is better than Clowney, but Clowney didn’t have an impact as a rookie). Everybody knew he was the best prospect, but he just wasn’t as much fun as Manziel and Bortles, I guess.
The “We Didn’t Score A Touchdown And We Are Still Happy To Not Have Manziel” Tier
18. St. Louis Rams
17. Houston Texans
Shaun Hill and Austin Davis are way better players right now than Manziel. I know it sounds like I am killing him, but he is just not ready for primetime.
Speaking of not ready for primetime players, I wonder if we can get Taran Killam to impersonate Tom Savage not knowing how to hand off the ball to the running back on a simple stretch or dive play?
The “If Everyone Keeps Talking About Manziel, We Can Fly Under The Radar ” Tier
16. Miami Dolphins
Jeez, I’m really dragging out this Manziel stuff. No player has taken over a Power Rankings like this since Kirk Cousins pooped on the field and rubbed the fecal remains deep into the turf with Jay Gruden’s nose while heaps and heaps of media personalities lauded him as the savior from the RGIII-era Redskins.
Hey, at least we aren’t talking about how badly Miami elfed up their playoff chances for the second straight year under Joe Philbin, right?
The “This Manziel Obsession Has Gone On Long Enough” Tier
15. Cincinnati Bengals
I don’t know why the Bengals wanted to humiliate Johnny Football so badly this past Sunday, but they did a hell of a good job doing it.
I don’t know why the Bengals pay Andy Dalton anything more than the minimum salary to play football, but they do a hell of a good job paying him.
The “Best Non-Playoff Team” Tier
14. Buffalo Bills
13. Kansas City Chiefs
12. San Diego Chargers
11. Baltimore Ravens
10. Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia needs the Cowboys to lose to the Colts to switch spots with them, but the NFC East runner up will likely be home in January.
The Bills, Chiefs, Chargers, Ravens, Eagles, and Cowboys are all fatally flawed teams, but they all did some things so well it almost didn’t matter.
By the way Stan, I don’t know if you can count San Diego as a “Just Hang On” team when they have a 13% chance of making the playoffs.
I love Philip Rivers and their offense, but they blew their chances this season.
The “Can’t Wait To Be A Ten Point Underdog On The Road In New Orleans In Round One Even Though We Have Five More Wins Than The Saints” Tier
9. Arizona Cardinals
Ryan Lindley is going to be the quarterback of a 12-4 team that has to travel to either New Orleans or Atlanta for round one. I think that Arizona will be the underdog on the road. I think if the Saints or Falcons finish strong, that spread could be close to double digits.
Here is where I will remind you that Lindley has thrown 181 NFL passes. He has completed 51.4% of those passes for an average of 4.32 yards per attempt. In his time in the NFL, he has thrown seven interceptions and fumbled twice. He has never thrown a touchdown, making him the quarterback with the most pass attempts in NFL history never to throw a touchdown.
Matt Ryan throws a touchdown once about every 21 passes. Drew Brees throws a touchdown for every 19 pass attempts he has. I actually think I might lay the points with the NFC South winner.
The Cardinals should be praying to every single God human imaginations have ever invented in order to hope the Panthers somehow steal that division.
The “Just Good Enough” Tier
8. Pittsburgh Steelers
7. Indianapolis Colts
6. Detroit Lions
All solid teams, just not very interesting right now.
The “Barely In The Playoffs, Yet Still Frightening” Tier
5. Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys seem like shoe-ins for playoff football at this point, but that just is not the case. They will have to beat a good Colts team to stay in the lead in the NFC East. They could be 12-4 and the top seed in the NFC, or they could be 11-5 with an early vacation.
The “Suddenly Not So Flawless Favorites” Tier
4. Green Bay Packers
3. Denver Broncos
The game Aaron Rodgers played against the Bills is just one game. I know, but it derails Rodgers MVP season a little bit, and it has to give us a little pause now that the Seahawks are playing so well. The Packers also lost the inside track to the number one seed in the NFC, and they do not want to travel to Seattle for an NFC Championship game.
The Broncos are still rolling just fine, and I believe DVOA still might list them as the best team in the NFL. I know the defense is improved from last year, but this offense should be improved as well and it just isn’t. Obviously the numbers would be hard to match, but the weapons when healthy early this year were even scarier than the record-setting 2013. Injuries to Julius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, and Wes Welker have hurt, as has their inability to find a running back, but Peyton Manning just doesn’t look as sharp as he did early this year and last year. I just don’t think they can go into Foxboro and be thought of as the favorites in that game, and that is exactly what I expect to happen.
The “Man They Seem Dangerous If They Stay Healthy” Tier
2. Seattle Seahawks
1. New England Patriots
Both these teams seemed to have fallen off the map at a point early this season, The Seahawks were 3-3, and the Patriots got blown out by the Chiefs. All they have done since those low points was get healthy and rip off impressive performance after impressive performance. I think these teams will finish with the top seeds in their respective conferences, and I think it will be a difficult task to knock them off their perches. Neither will have an easy road to the big dance, but I imagine both will be favored in every playoff game they play.