My Top 10 Teams At The 1/4 Way Mark

[PATRIOT64]

Here is what I see in order as the Top 10 best teams in the NFL for the first 1/4 of the Season: ........................................................................................................................................... -1)CHICAGO BEARS: Smothering defense reminicent of 1985 and the 2000 Ravens -Harris is the best D-Lineman in the NFL right now bar none and Rex Grossman and the offense seems to play just well enough to keep the defense off the field and they can score against anyone right now - these boys are downright scary at this point. .......................................................................................................... .... -2)BALTIMORE: That 2000 dominating defense is back and just like the Bears McNair and his offense are playing well enough to win on their own - You just can't score 20 points on these guys and that means trouble for opponents..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... -3)INDIANAPOLIS: Its hard for me to put them up this high but lets face it the Peyton and offensive unit we all know and hate is extremely hard to outscore unless you run the ball so good that you control the clock like 45 minutes of the game or get many turnovers,until a team does that its gonna be tough-Ask the Jets who played the game of their lives sunday and gave Peyton 2 minutes to long to do his magic-At least its the regular season and not the playoffs-The Defense line is banged up and nowhere near last years unit yet and is by far the softest part of this team........................................................................................................................................................................................... -4)CAROLINA: Yeah I know they are playing so so right now but a true football fan knows that once Steve Smith has played a few games and that Defense gets underway they can dominate anyone in the league,they will be right there loaded and dangerous come playoff time......................................................................................................................... -5)DENVER: You get the feeling that Mike Shanahan could put Pee Wee Herman in the backfield and he would get 100 yards rushing - Mike is a great coach and equal in football intelligence to BB,If he had Brady he would have won several more Championships-Brady and Co. will back me up here when I say they have one of the fastest and best defensive fronts in the league and can shut down any running game,That is a BIG factor come playoff time........................................................................................................ -6)NEW ENGLAND: Kept them down this far until I see three important things from this team -IF we have 3 or more consecutive games where we show some life in the passing game and the rushing unit continues to stay over 125 yards a game on average -IF The defensive secondary can stay healthy and can shut down top offenses on a regular basis and - IF Gostkowski can start hitting FGs regularly that are longer than 25 yards distance -IF that happens we can start looking for Dominating Elite status to once again invade Patriot Nation ....................................................................................................... -7)SAN DIEGO: As long as Ladanian Tomlinson is running with the rock and Shawne Merriman continues to play like a young Lawrence Taylor this team will continue winning and playing everyone tough,Phillip Rivers has been impressive so far with just a decent group of receivers in my opinion................................................................................................................................................................................................ -8)PHILADELPHIA: If you can call them 'Cinderella' at this point that is the kind of team they are,Most pronosticators were picking them dead last in the division-By what I have seen so far they are playing better than anyone in the division,just 2 years removed from the SB and 1 year from the T.O Soap Opera but most impressive is Donovan McNabb playing better than most QBs in the NFC with Westbrook playing great (when not hurt) and the defense playing hard after losing Jevon Kearse and playing some smashmouth football for a change........................................................................................................ -9)CINCINNATI: Got to do some soul searching after the Patriots took them behing the woodshed last sunday,If the Defense can learn how to control the line of scrimmage instead of getting backed off like some high school unit they will be a force down the road...You all know Carson and his receivers are the top of the crop of the NFL when they are on their game and can score 30 quicker than Peyton and Co.,It just needs more consistency,Glad it was not there sunday....................................................................................................................... -10)PITTSBURGH: As Rick Flair says 'To Be The Man You Got To Beat The Man' and until the many of the other teams not mentioned in my top 10 do that to the defending champs you gotta put them in the top 10 .......................................................................................< THATS MY TAKE ON THE BEST NFL TEAMS PLAYING THE BEST FOOTBALL AT THIS POINT >...................................

 

[fnordcircle]

oh man there's no way i'm reading that until you fix the formatting!

 

[zoostation]

oh man there's no way i'm reading that until you fix the formatting!

LMAO... I just said the same thing to myself. I'm dizzy now.

 

[drew4008]

WAY too hard to read. Come back when you can type. And the Ravens are not a top 5 team, the Chargers beat them up all game. Steelers and Bengals will sweep em.

 

[PatsDeb]

I don't think the Steelers should be on this list at this point in the season. They had an okay game against what we now know to be a pretty bad Miami team, and two losses after that. Big Ben better get his head on straight or they are going nowhere. Not sure he can do that after all he's been through.

 

[desi-patsfan]

why the need for so many dots? ANd baltimore deserves to be in the top 10 but definetly not number 2.

 

[desi-patsfan]

Orignally posted by PATRIOTS64

"1)CHICAGO BEARS: Smothering defense reminicent of 1985 and the 2000 Ravens -Harris is the best D-Lineman in the NFL right now bar none and Rex Grossman and the offense seems to play just well enough to keep the defense off the field and they can score against anyone right now - these boys are downright scary at this point.

2)BALTIMORE: That 2000 dominating defense is back and just like the Bears McNair and his offense are playing well enough to win on their own - You just can't score 20 points on these guys and that means trouble for opponents

3)INDIANAPOLIS: Its hard for me to put them up this high but lets face it the Peyton and offensive unit we all know and hate is extremely hard to outscore unless you run the ball so good that you control the clock like 45 minutes of the game or get many turnovers,until a team does that its gonna be tough-Ask the Jets who played the game of their lives sunday and gave Peyton 2 minutes to long to do his magic-At least its the regular season and not the playoffs-The Defense line is banged up and nowhere near last years unit yet and is by far the softest part of this team

4)CAROLINA: Yeah I know they are playing so so right now but a true football fan knows that once Steve Smith has played a few games and that Defense gets underway they can dominate anyone in the league,they will be right there loaded and dangerous come playoff time

5)DENVER: You get the feeling that Mike Shanahan could put Pee Wee Herman in the backfield and he would get 100 yards rushing - Mike is a great coach and equal in football intelligence to BB,If he had Brady he would have won several more Championships-Brady and Co. will back me up here when I say they have one of the fastest and best defensive fronts in the league and can shut down any running game,That is a BIG factor come playoff time

6)NEW ENGLAND: Kept them down this far until I see three important things from this team -IF we have 3 or more consecutive games where we show some life in the passing game and the rushing unit continues to stay over 125 yards a game on average -IF The defensive secondary can stay healthy and can shut down top offenses on a regular basis and - IF Gostkowski can start hitting FGs regularly that are longer than 25 yards distance -IF that happens we can start looking for Dominating Elite status to once again invade Patriot Nation

7)SAN DIEGO: As long as Ladanian Tomlinson is running with the rock and Shawne Merriman continues to play like a young Lawrence Taylor this team will continue winning and playing everyone tough,Phillip Rivers has been impressive so far with just a decent group of receivers in my opinion

8)PHILADELPHIA: If you can call them 'Cinderella' at this point that is the kind of team they are,Most pronosticators were picking them dead last in the division-By what I have seen so far they are playing better than anyone in the division,just 2 years removed from the SB and 1 year from the T.O Soap Opera but most impressive is Donovan McNabb playing better than most QBs in the NFC with Westbrook playing great (when not hurt) and the defense playing hard after losing Jevon Kearse and playing some smashmouth football for a change

9)CINCINNATI: Got to do some soul searching after the Patriots took them behing the woodshed last sunday,If the Defense can learn how to control the line of scrimmage instead of getting backed off like some high school unit they will be a force down the road...You all know Carson and his receivers are the top of the crop of the NFL when they are on their game and can score 30 quicker than Peyton and Co.,It just needs more consistency,Glad it was not there sunday

0)PITTSBURGH: As Rick Flair says 'To Be The Man You Got To Beat The Man' and until the many of the other teams not mentioned in my top 10 do that to the defending champs you gotta put them in the top 10 .................................................. .....................................< THATS MY TAKE ON THE BEST NFL TEAMS PLAYING THE BEST FOOTBALL AT THIS POINT >"

 

[texpat]

I would think that Seattle should be in there, and maybe even Dallas (we'll know more about Dal/Phil after this weekend).

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I am surprised at how well Grossman throws the ball. Unlike more hyped QBs like Palmer and Manning, Grossman really seems to have pinpoint accuracy, and would have scored even more the other night if the WRs had done their job better. When was the last time a guy came back from those multiple injuries and immediately played good at the QB position? For now, I see them as #1 in the NFC.

You can't have three teams from the AFC North as all top ten. They will cancel each other out and only one or two will make the playoffs. I say Ravens and Bengals over the Steelers. But the Ravens are simply not the second best team in football.

Atlanta is better than Carolina currently. Carolina is simply overrated, all based on the glory days of steroid abuse.

The Eagles have injuries at running back, and I see the Giants and Seahawks ahead of them for that reason.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

here's mine-

1) Chicago - if that offense is for real then only Philly has a chance to keep them out of the SB.

2) Indy - hey, it's October, right?

3) Philly - McNabb's on a mission. Westbrook is just fantastic when healthy.

4) Baltimore - McNair is using smoke and mirrors, how long can it last?

5) New England - Too high? Exactly which of the following teams would beat them?

6) Atlanta - how long they stay here depends on whether they start scoring.

7) San Diego - they'd be higher but Marty really sucks.

8) Denver - despite the big win in Foxboro, I'm not convinced Jake the Snake has fully rehabilatated himself.

9) Cincy - Defense? We don't need no stinking defense!

10) Dallas/New Orleans Tie - Brees is a star capable of carrying all but the worst of teams. The Tuna and T.O. are obviously making progress in group therapy.

 

[godef]

WAY too hard to read. Come back when you can type. And the Ravens are not a top 5 team, the Chargers beat them up all game. Steelers and Bengals will sweep em.

Looks like he cut-n-pasted it in.

 

[waspie (UK)]

Carolina at 4?! C'mon - they're third in their own division. As Dr Z pointed out - they beat the Saints, the Saints beat the Falcons, the Falcons beat the Panthers. You really can't sort that mess out. But I can think of 15 teams who have had a better first 1/4 of the season.

 

[bakes781]

Seahawks definitely belong in there some where. I'm not that high on Philly until they beat someone of quality.

 

[Ahriman]

Here's my list:

1. Bears
2. Colts
3. Ravens
4. Broncos
5. Eagles
6. Chargers
7. Patriots
8. Seahawks
9. Falcons
10. Bengals

 

[QB12]

My top 5:

Chicago
Indy
Baltimore
Patriots
Eagles

The Sagarin ratings are also interesting and worth a look:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/nfl06.htm


QB12

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

If you're going to (assumably) penalize Seattle for the fact that Alexander has a short term injury you cannot make excuses for Carolina because of Smith's short term injury.

Also, you demand consistent effort from the Pats but not from Carolina because a true football fan knows they are a good team. Well, any fan with half a brain knows that the NE offense will get better with time.

Other than Carolina:

Have you watched the Ravens? They are painful to watch, just like last year. They've played the Bucs (0-3, the Simms injury makes them worse but I don't think they were very good to begin with), the Raiders (0-3), the Browns (1-3, the win being against Oakland so it doesn't really count) and the Chargers (2-1, Marty lost this game more than the Ravens won it). Yeah the 4-0 looks nice but their play looks shoddy. No way they crack my top 5.

How 'bout

1) Chicago
2) Indy - only #2 because Chicago looks so good
3) Seattle - the bad Chicage loss is ok because they're above them
4) NE - so they stunk against Denver. At this point most teams have already had a stinker. And yes I rank them ahead of Denver because while Denver can beat the Pats, the Pats can beat the other teams
5) Atlanta - ignore the NO game
6) Baltimore - they can fall fast from this spot. 4-0 is the only thing that gets them this high

The rest in no order:
Philly - McNabb+
Dallas - Bledsoe-
Carolina - eh whatever
Denver - Plummer-
San Diego - Marty-

I guess 4 of these teams get spots 7-10.

 

[TeamPats]

here's mine-

5) New England - Too high? Exactly which of the following teams would beat them?

8) Denver - despite the big win in Foxboro, I'm not convinced Jake the Snake has fully rehabilatated himself.
QUOTE]

Ummm... Last I checked, and don't get me wrong we played worse then Raiders that day, Denver whooped us in our house. So that is one of the following teams that can beat us. I do agree with the top 4 but I am going to put Denver ahead of New England. Do I think this will last all season? Absolutely not, but at the "1/4" mark they deserve to be ahead of us.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

Ummm... Last I checked, and don't get me wrong we played worse then Raiders that day, Denver whooped us in our house. So that is one of the following teams that can beat us. I do agree with the top 4 but I am going to put Denver ahead of New England. Do I think this will last all season? Absolutely not, but at the "1/4" mark they deserve to be ahead of us.

You make a good point. But, you cannot do rankings solely by which teams beat other teams because oftentimes team A beats team B, who beats team C, who beats team A.

A perfect example is New England / Indy / Denver. If Denver meets NE in the playoffs Denver wins and goes on to lose to Indy. If Denver meets Indy they lose to Indy who loses to the Pats. If NE meets Indy NE wins, only to lose to Denver the next round.

So the question becomes: Who do you have more faith in beating the top teams above them like Indy and Chicago. The past success of the Pats (and failure of the Broncos) leads to a simple conclusion.

If Denver were undefeated I'd put them above the Pats because they beat them. As it stands both teams have 1 loss.