ESPN's First Power Ranking of the Season

[Rob0729]

They have the Pats at number 2. Steelers should be #1 until they lose. Gotta love Clayton's comments though:

QB Tom Brady's broad shoulders have to carry an aging defense.

The Pats lose the three oldest players on defense at least as far as starters and they are still aging? Shouldn't they be younger without Vrabel, Harrison, and Bruschi?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings?season=2009&week=1

 

[patsfan13]

Espn's cluelessness shines through!!!

Steelers should be #1 until they lose.

 

[DarrylS]

Clayton is just another ass clown, wtf cares what he says, guess he did not read where 9 rookies made this squad... but then who cares about the facts.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I know the Steelers are the SB champs. But they won it all in probably the weakest year of the league in the decade? Anyone agree?

Pats were not the pats.
Colts were not the Colts.
The Titans were the #1 seed.
The Cardinals represented the NFC.

 

[Timbo717]

To be honest I usually never get a lot of good info from Clayton, seems to just parrot what others think/say. More or less fits right in at ESPN.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I know the Steelers are the SB champs. But they won it all in probably the weakest year of the league in the decade? Anyone agree?

Pats were not the pats.
Colts were not the Colts.
The Titans were the #1 seed.
The Cardinals represented the NFC.

It's customary to have the SB champ #1. No problem there.

However, the Cryptkeeper and "aging defense" just shows how much "analysis" we can expect.

Don't waste time on those clowns.

 

[Gwedd]

Espn's cluelessness shines through!!!

Steelers should be #1 until they lose.

Yes. At times, the cluelessness at FESPN is simply breathtaking.

 

[jmt57]

More Power Rankings

FWIW (which isn't much), here are some more Power Rankings.

CBS Sports - Pete Prisco
Pats, Steelers, Colts, Giants, Titans, Eagles, Falcons, Cardinals, Chargers, Packers.
AFC East: Dolphins #19, Bills #22, Jets #24.

FoxSports has it Steelers, Pats, Eagles, but they haven't updated since early August.

Newsday lists the Giants, Chargers, Steelers, Pats, Ravens, Eagles, Vikings, Colts, Bears and Cardinals as the top ten, with Miami #16, Buffalo #20 and the Jets #24.

Indy Star is surely going to incur the wrath of Colts fans by listing the Steelers, Pats, Giants, Eagles, and Chargers ahead of the Colts.

Arizona Central has the Eagles on top, followed by the Pats, Chargers, Vikings, Steelers, Titans, Ravens, Panthers, Packers, Cardinals #10, Colts #11, Giants #12, Falcons, Saints, and Bears.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Aging defense? WTF? we shaved how many years off our "average age" on D and are still enduring the "aging defense" BS?

The only reason at this point that this defense is aging is because every day they get another day older. So yeah, I guess they are "aging" after all.

 

[letekro]

Colts are being drastically underrated.

 

[livinginthe past]

I haven't done the math (and don't intend to) but the Patriots are apparently still the 3rd oldest '53' in the NFL.

 

[BadMoFo]

I guess Shawn Springs means we have an old defense.


These are the new guys.

Springs, 34
Burgess, 31
TBC, 29
Bodden, 27
McGowan, 25
Ninkovich, 25
Butler, 23
Pryor, 23
Chung, 22
Lockett, 22

Bodden, McGowan and Lockett have birthdays soon.

 

[Kontradiction]

They have the Pats at number 2. Steelers should be #1 until they lose. Gotta love Clayton's comments though:



The Pats lose the three oldest players on defense at least as far as starters and they are still aging? Shouldn't they be younger without Vrabel, Harrison, and Bruschi?

NFL Power Rankings Week 1 - National Football League - ESPN

It's simple, really, Rob. Clayton is an idiot.

And I do agree with the Steelers being #1. They are the world champs. Until someone knocks them off, they are the best.

 

[mgteich]

Other than rating the colts and dolphins too high, this seems to be a very reasonable assessment of the status quo.

If anything, the patriots and chargers will tend to be overrated because their divisions are so putrid.

They have the Pats at number 2. Steelers should be #1 until they lose. Gotta love Clayton's comments though:



The Pats lose the three oldest players on defense at least as far as starters and they are still aging? Shouldn't they be younger without Vrabel, Harrison, and Bruschi?

NFL Power Rankings Week 1 - National Football League - ESPN

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I know the Steelers are the SB champs. But they won it all in probably the weakest year of the league in the decade? Anyone agree?

Pats were not the pats.
Colts were not the Colts.
The Titans were the #1 seed.
The Cardinals represented the NFC.

i strongly disagree. a ring is a ring.

16 regular season games. three or four post season games against charged opponents. as bb likes to say, it's a big mountain to climb and only one team gets all the way to the top every year. i remember that there were those who tried to diss XXXVI by saying we were lucky or the Rams had a bad day or whatever. bull**** to that and the same for dissing the Steelers this year. as i recall, Arizona put up a pretty good game that day and it took a circus catch to beat them (sound familiar?).

the only lombardi i've ever even been tempted to discount was the one won by the Skins in the strike-shortened year, but even then every other team had the same chance to take the hardware home.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Clayton says the Patriots have an aging defense? I plugged in their depth chart based on the Patriots.com depth chart. Using the 3-4 defense (using the 4-3, their age is even lower). The average age of the Patriots defense is 27.7 years on average. THAT is with Springs as a starter. The D is under 27 average if Willhite ends up being the starter.

If you then figure that rookies Brace, Pryor, Butler, and Chung should get some significant playing time, the defense is anything but old. I thought Clayton did this for a living. Doesn't he know that Vrabel, Brushchi, and Harrison aren't on the defense anymore? Can't he do the same math I just did?

 

[Rob0729]

I haven't done the math (and don't intend to) but the Patriots are apparently still the 3rd oldest '53' in the NFL.

Oldest 53 is not the defense though.

 

[falloutboy14]

I haven't done the math (and don't intend to) but the Patriots are apparently still the 3rd oldest '53' in the NFL.

1 Redskins 28.02
2 Saints 27.99
3 Cardinals 27.74
3 Patriots 27.74
5 Lions 27.62
6 49ers 27.51
7 Steelers 27.50
8 Vikings 27.48
9 Seahawks 27.41
10 Falcons 27.39
11 Titans 27.29
12 Browns 27.18
13 Jets 27.16
13 Broncos 27.16
15 Bears 27.02
16 Cowboys 26.93
17 Bills 26.93
18 Chargers 26.93
19 Texans 26.89
20 Giants 26.88
21 Ravens 26.83
22 Raiders 26.82
23 Eagles 26.81
24 Rams 26.73
25 Jaguars 26.61
26 Bengals 26.60
27 Dolphins 26.47
28 Bucs 26.46
29 Panthers 26.39
30 Chiefs 26.36
31 Colts 26.34
32 Packers 26.16

From: Three of nine oldest teams in NFC West - NFC West - ESPN

I think you guys have shed the "aging defense" notion. I think you're down to 2-3 players in the low 30s which, is rather standard. When I saw this, I checked the Colts & we have 3 as well on defense.

I think the offense is really the older group now. Galloway & Fred Taylor don't help, but Brady, Moss, and the O-line are getting up there. Don't mean that they're old-old, but the FO's gonna have to start looking at replacements within the next 2-4 years.

 

[Underoath]

It's customary to have the SB champ #1. No problem there.

However, the Cryptkeeper and "aging defense" just shows how much "analysis" we can expect.

Don't waste time on those clowns.

Not trying to say the Steelers don't deserve it, or that we deserve it more than them, but, that is just dumb logic. If the Steelers win the superbowl, then lose half their team, are we still obligated to consider them the best team the next season? No. Now I'm not saying that's what happened, it clearly isn't, but every year is a new year.

However, these PRESEASON power rankings are apparently doing exactly what they're meant to: make people talk, criticize, and praise them.

 

[jmt57]

Chris Price's First Power Ranking

It Is What It Is WEEI 2009 NFL POWER RANKINGS-WEEK 1

Chris Price has the Steelers first, followed by the Pats, Colts, Giants and Chargers. The Eagles, Titans, Falcons, Cardinals and Ravens round out his top ten. In the AFC East he has the Jets #18, Dolphins #20, and Bills #22.