Week 9 Sweet 16

[ivanvamp]

Pats with a dominant effort in London, Gronk with two of the best TD dances I've ever witnessed. Now, the Sweet 16:

1. Atlanta (--) - Still on top.

2. Houston (--) - No change here either.

3. NY Giants (--) - This team is really, really good.

4. San Francisco (--) - Can't move them up or down.

5. New England (--) - Same here. Great effort this week but can't put them past any of the teams ahead of them.

6. Chicago (--) - Boy, that defense is stifling.

7. Green Bay (--) - Wow, no movement in the top 7 at all. Amazing.

8. Baltimore (--) - Make it the top 8.

9. Denver (+1) - The league should take notice. Peyton Manning is in terrific form and these Broncos have a pretty sweet schedule the rest of the way.

10. Pittsburgh (+1) - Starting to turn their season around. Still have a chance to win the division with all the injury issues to Baltimore.

11. Miami (+2) - Is this team for real? At least they've gotten to the coveted "2nd best team in the AFC East" spot.

12. Indianapolis (N/A) - Nobody thought they'd be this good this soon. Great job by this team.

13. Minnesota (-4) - Not sure what to think of this team at this point.

14. Seattle (-2) - Same thing here.

15. Arizona (-1) - Awful performance last night, but who else to put here? At least they're still .500 (for the moment, though I see them sliding off the map).

16. Detroit (N/A) - Someone has to be here. May as well be them. How's that for a rousing endorsement?

Moving up: Den, Pit, Mia
Moving down: Min, Sea, Ari
Moving in: Ind, Det
Moving out: NO, Phi

Mid-Season Awards:
MVP: Matt Ryan. Other guys are very much in the conversation, but he's the man at this point, given his performance and the fact that Atlanta is the last undefeated team.
Defensive Player of the Year: JJ Watt. Monster season.
Rookie of the Year: Chandler Jones. Guy has been everything we've hoped for, and more.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Hard to argue that top 10. I would switch us and Chicago's spots though, if I'm not mistaken they've only lost 1 game. And their D is ridiculous this year.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Chandler Jones defensive Roy.

Robert Griffin offensive Roy.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

The Colts aren't a legit #12 as you rank them

I would think Seattle,Detroit,Minnesota,Cincinnati or even San Diego would beat them

 

[DolphinsX72]

Colts are scrappy though. Their defense will probably do them in, especially on the road where they will struggle, but we'll see.

 

[Fball]

The overall quality of the league is improving, imo - especially with the influx of a few good young QB's.

Everyone says the NFC is superior, and it is, but the top 4 in the AFC are all excellent teams. After that, it drops off a bit, but it won't be long before teams like the Colts and Fins are in the mix.

 

[Kontradiction]

Chicago should be above the Pats right now and Denver should be above Baltimore. Other than that, no argument from me. But if you want one, I'm sure I could arrange a nice multi-page pissing contest.

 

[BSR]

The overall quality of the league is improving, imo - especially with the influx of a few good young QB's.

Everyone says the NFC is superior, and it is, but the top 4 in the AFC are all excellent teams. After that, it drops off a bit, but it won't be long before teams like the Colts and Fins are in the mix.

I don't know if I would say its improving. I think there are a lot of mediocre/inconsistent teams right now, including NE. The teams that are looking dominant are Atlanta, Houston, and maybe Chicago and the Giants. Some of these other teams really need to start pulling away from the pack to start to be considered good.

 

[VrabelJr]

Giants, Chicago, and Denver are probably too high. Steelers and Ravens are too low.

 

[ivanvamp]

Giants, Chicago, and Denver are probably too high. Steelers and Ravens are too low.

I don't know how the Giants are too high. They're the defending SB champs, only three teams have a better record than them, they have the best big-game QB in the league (sorry to say), and they've won four in a row.

But hey, it's just my opinion.

 

[BradyBranch39]

good job. a few comments:

I'd be tempted to move the Giants down 2 or 3 spots.
I think Denver should be ahead of Baltimore because they're way healthier.
Pittsburgh would have problems with the Dolphins, and probably lose.
There's a huge gap between the top 11 and the Colts, IMO.
And then another huge gap between Seattle and the rest of the NFL.

 

[Creative Username]

Giants are not worthy of their ranking.
They nearly lost to the ever inconsistent Cowboys (in fact the only thing they're consistent in is being inconsistent.) and couldn't put them away after being up 23-0 in the FIRST QUARTER. That being said, the 'boys D really stepped up from previous weeks and could have won them the game had Romo not gift wrapped it to them and mailed it, stamp and everything to Coughlin's hand. He throws one less pick, and they win.

As a team that lives and dies by turnovers, we should all know that this game could have easily gone either way.

Yes, they did lay down a beating of San Fran IN Candlestick, but they're inconsistent as well. They'll lose to Minnesota one week (who admittedly have been better than everyone thought) and then put up 600 against the Bills, only to score 3 against the Giants.

IMHO we should be third with Giants behind us and San Fran at number 5

 

[ivanvamp]

good job. a few comments:

I'd be tempted to move the Giants down 2 or 3 spots.
I think Denver should be ahead of Baltimore because they're way healthier.
Pittsburgh would have problems with the Dolphins, and probably lose.
There's a huge gap between the top 11 and the Colts, IMO.
And then another huge gap between Seattle and the rest of the NFL.

I think it would be an interesting question to pose: Who are the legitimate contenders for the Super Bowl trophy this year, at this point in the season?

For example, I don't see any way the Dolphins, even though they appear to be pretty solid, can be taken seriously as a threat to win the Super Bowl.

So here's my list, in no particular order:

Atlanta
Houston
New England
NY Giants
Green Bay
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
Denver

I don't see Minnesota, Dallas, Philly, Baltimore (injuries), Miami, Indy, San Diego, Seattle, Arizona, etc., as being serious contenders. Baltimore could beat some teams in the playoffs, but to go all the way with a defense minus Webb and Ray Lewis, seems to me to be a real stretch.

So I see the SB winner coming from one of these eight teams listed above.

 

[brdmaverick]

Hard to argue that top 10. I would switch us and Chicago's spots though, if I'm not mistaken they've only lost 1 game. And their D is ridiculous this year.

I shouldn't say I 'like' this, but I agree with it.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Chicago should be above the Pats right now and Denver should be above Baltimore. Other than that, no argument from me. But if you want one, I'm sure I could arrange a nice multi-page pissing contest.

Hey, why not!

Do you really think that Houston and Atlanta, who have notoriously not gotten it done in the past, are actually better than the Giants after three consecutive, tough wins over San Francisco, Washington and Dallas, with two on the road? Maybe I've made the mistake of underestimating them X2 in February, but I really don't see how they're not the best team (now, at least).