Wednesday, September 12, 2018

2018 NFL Power Rankings-Week one

1.Los Angeles Rams-The addition of Ndamukong Suh alongside recently extended stalwart Aaron Donald provides the Rams a world class defence on top of having numerous playmakers at Jared Goff's disposal.

2.Philadelphia Eagles-Wasn't completely sold on the performances from the Eagles on opening night but a gritty win from the defending champions doesn't allow me to drop them much further then the two position.

3.Green Bay Packers-Aaron Rodgers wasn't going to let an apparent ankle injury get in the way of, when we look back at the 2018 season as a whole what may be the year's greatest comeback. What happened to the Bears D?

4.New England Patriots-I was convinced headed into the week that this was Texans/Patriots matchup was upset city but apparently Tom Brady only deflates the opposition's football.

5.Kansas City Chiefs-Long gone are the days where Tyreek Hill was playing musical chairs with a plethora of collegiate programs and has settled nicely in his infant professional career. I'd like to see anybody disprove my opinion that Hill is a top five NFL receiver.

6.Houston Texans-The former stomping grounds of legend Warren Moon were my pick to reign victorious in the AFC and while a disastrous first half was their undoing versus the Patriots, DeShaun Watson will receive MVP discussion by year's end.

7.Minnesota Vikings-Somewhere in the state of Minneapolis quarterback Kirk Cousins is yelling at the top of his lungs, "how do you like me now?" to the entire state of D.C.

8.Pittsburgh Steelers-James Conner has Pittsburgh faithful theorizing, "LeVeon who?". Conner can't possibly replicate his wordly week one numbers(again he faced the Browns) but one more week of this charades and Bell loses all leverage he may have had in negotiations.

9.Los Angeles Chargers-Overshadowed by the heroics of Tyreek Hill was Melvin Gordon. The Chargers don't receive much in the way of national media attention but Gordon has quietly become a proficient back in both rushing and catching the football.

10.Atlanta Falcons-Former Saskatchewan Roughrider, current Falcon offensive coordinator needs to learn the virtue of patience. Choosing not to take the points early in the contest was a catastrophic strategic error that shaped the outcome of the game.

11.Baltimore Ravens-You looked great Baltimore, but at the same token you contained a quarterback in Nathan Peterman who in all reality should be going about his craft on a CFL practice roster. This was a hard team to gauge and have a pivotal Thursday nighter v Cincinnati.

12.New Orleans Saints-Customary result for the Saints. Score at will but defence can't stop a lick. When will the defensive urgency match the skillset of the creative offence? Never? Sean Payton's job on the line.

13.Washington Redskins-A darkhorse of mine entering this campaign. The reason I initially left the 'Skins on the outside looking in was in lieu of the trepid running atack but Chris  Thompson and Adrian Peterson have seemingly erased any doubts out of the backfield.

14.Jacksonville Jaguars-The Jags, in my opinion, are a poor man's version of the Eagles. A gritty team who's learning how to win. Here's what I don't understand,you let Allen Robinson walk to Bears, lose Marqise Lee to a season ending injury and refuse to fill the void when quality replacements were and are out their. Corey Coleman was just snagged today by the Patriots but paging Dez Bryant!

15.Dallas Cowboys-It's fitting I just finished synopsing the Jaguars because the Cowboys may be the one team in the NFL that has worse receiving depth then the Jags. Thank goodness for Ezekiel Elliott.

16.Chicago Bears-After the controversial(from a Northern California perspective anyway) acquisition of Khalil Mack, things are surprisingly looking calmer in the Windy City. The linemen battery of Mack and Roquan Smith is only rivalled by the Rams but I was very dissapointed by the second half performance of Mitch Trubisky. It was a game in their palms and even with Trubisky only a second year player the excuses only run so far.

17.Cleveland Browns-The Browns didn't lose so that's a start. Give coach Hue Jackson full credit as for the first time in a few years, a clear direction has been orchestrated by the Browns administration. Seeing as how Josh Gordon was a dead man walking, any contributions from him would be a pure bonus.

18.Carolina Panthers-Cam Newton was Cam Newton Sunday and it's about time the world begin to familiarize itself to Shaq Thompson, linebacker out of Washington. Kuechly gets the headlines however Thompson is a budding superstar.

19.Tampa Bay Buccaneers-A great team win sans Jameis Winston but the reported injury to DeSean Jackson brings into question if he'll be active Sunday which would be a devastating blow to the Bucs.

20.Tennesee Titans-Memo to newly appointed Head Coach Mike Vrabel: Derrick Henry is an elite running back so this idea that he should be splitting carries with Dion Lewis is asanine. Okay, this may have been a gripe over how my fantasy football weekend transpired.

21.Denver Broncos-Royce Freeman, a former Oregon standout was someone I was going to closely monitor because as everyone(maybe rightfully) sings the praises of Saquon Barkley, it wouldn't surprise me if Freeman surpasses Barkley as top running back from the 2018 draft. This was also a difficult prognosis as that Seahawks defence was, to quote Shaquille O'Neal, horr-awful.

22.San Francisco 49ers-The 401 on the 49'ers is simple. Garropollo has shown signs of competence, the receiving core can suffice but it's imperative they address their non-existent running game.

23.Buffalo Bills-I'll admit as much as I don't want to that I had the Bills pegged as a playoff team however if Sean McDermott continues to rely on Peterman then that proclamation will look worse then the putting stroke of Briny Baird.

24.New York Giants-Saquon Barkley. Exceptional debut. Odell Beckham, Top three receiver in the show. Eli Manning. The SB rings on his fingers would suggest the penchant for clutch. That defence? The Jaguars are a one trick pony offensively and looked stupid out their.

25.Cincinatti Bengals-Solid win against the lowly Colts. The positives from this game I took away were the evolution of Joe Mixon who's checkered past will be ignored if he can replicate his ninety five yard performance. I also appreciated Nick Vigil setting the week one mark with eleven tackles. In all reality far too low of a ranking but I ain't a believer just yet.

26.Seattle Seahawks-Pete Carroll is an interesting case study. Throughout Pete's dominant tenure on the Pacific Northwest, they've had incredible fortune preventing detrimental injuries but with Doug Baldwin being sidelined for the year now, maybe just maybe Carrol isn't he's made out to be and can't overcome even  the slightest adversity.

27.Oakland Raiders-At certain junctures in the game against the Rams, Marshawn illustrated his 'beast mode' demeanour and was a bulldog who the Rams secondary couldn't bring down. Not that it would've mattered as the Rams are frankly a superior team but Wade Phillips had no answer for Jared Cook and should've been targeted even MORE then he was.

28.New York Jets-The New York football J-E-T-S beat up on a transitioning Detroit Lions football club but it wasn't without defencicies. This whole talk that Quincy Enunwa is now a number one receiver is fake news. The defence is serviceable however the output that Sam Darnold displayed in week one may have been a one off.

29.Indianapolis Colts-No identity.For years, the Colts with Peyton at the helm were a methodical bunch who would bore you asleep with the short passing game.Next came Luck with a gameplan of sling and hope for the best. Now? As the Colts enter yet another retool phase I can't finger point the identity.

30.Detroit Lions-Matt Patricia's reputation as a defensive guru took an astronomical hit on Monday Night. The start couldn't of been dreamt up better as the rookie Darnold offered up a pick six but things went South in the motor City in a hurry. The running game prospects has been ballyhooed this offseason and after flopping with Ameer Abdullah, this regime is on pins and needled that Kieran Johnson can match experts hopes.

31.Miami Dolphins-I'll be perfectly blunt, the Dolphins didn't beat the Titans. Mike Vrabel's imcompetency beat the Titans. What's with all of these ex-Patriots coaches given the keys to the franchise only to fall flat on their face in their debuts. Patricia didn't endear himself in Detroit, even further back Josh McDaniels and Romeo Crennel had little to no success in their brief head coaching career. The Belichick way? Only if you're Bill I suppose.

32.Arizona Cardinals-I learned the following in their embarassing loss to the Redskins. Sam Bradford must have some incriminating blackmail on several National Football League General Managers as the fact that he continually stumbles into starting assignments perplexes me. The modern day Vinny Testaverde.

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