NFL Power Rankings (Week 3)

Week 3

1)   New York Giants (2-0)

Plaxico Burress who? Mario Manningham and Steve Smith have played like pro-bowlers so far.

2)  Baltimore Ravens (2-0)

Their offense has drastically improved and their defense is always stingey.

3)  Atlanta Falcons (2-0)

“Matty Ice” has picked up where he left off last season and his new toy Tony Gonzalez has been a difference maker. 

4)  Minnesota Vikings (2-0)

 Adrian Peterson is a straight beast and their defense is solid, but I want to see what happens when Brett Favre has to air it out. 

5)  Indianapolis Colts (2-0)

Vintage Peyton Manning against the Dolphins, but they have to find a way to sustain drives and get their defense off the field.

6)  Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)

Parker and Mendenhall have to get back on track if the Steelers want to repeat. 

7)  New York Jets (2-0)

Their defense is for real and don’t sleep on Sanchez, he looks very comfortable early on in the season. 

8)  New Orleans Saints (2-0)

Drew Brees has the Saints’ offense looking virtually unstoppable. If the defense gets better, watch out for the Saints.

9)  San Diego Chargers (1-1)

 LT’s hurt and defense has key injuries, but Philip Rivers can chuck the pigskin.

10) San Francisco 49ers (2-0)

Mike Singletary has the 49ers playing smash-mouth football and say what you want about Shaun Hill, but he’s 9-3 as the starter.

11) New England Patriots (1-1)

Brady and Belichick don’t look to be on the same page so far and the defense has lost most of its leaders. 

12) Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)

They need McNabb to come back quickly if they want to compete for the top spot in the NFC East.

13) Chicago Bears (1-1)

Jay Cutler has to be more consistent in order for the Bears to make some noise.

14) Dallas Cowboys (1-1)

Their defense gives up too many big plays and Romo needs to limit the turnovers, especially in big spots.

15) Buffalo Bills (1-1)

 Trent Edwards and Fred Jackson have been impressive so far and they could easily be 2-0.

 

More College Football Top 10 Upsets

South Carolina Stymies Ole Miss (SCAR-16, #4 Miss-10)

The “Old Ball Coach” usually beats his opponents using his superior offensive knowledge but not against the Rebels. It was actually the Gamecocks’ defense that held one of the nation’s best offenses to only 10 points and made Jevon Snead look eerily uncomfortable. Mississippi let the pressure of being on prime-time television get to them and South Carolina took advantage of the Rebels lackluster performance. 

Hawkeyes Tame the Lions…Again (Iowa-21, #5 PSU-10)

Iowa has now won 7 of their last 8 games against Penn State, who were the #5 team in the country basically by default. The Nittany Lions did not deserve to be ranked #5 and it showed against Iowa. PSU moved into the top 5 because of early upsets within the top 10 and by playing weak teams early on (Akron, Syracuse, Temple). PSU is a top 15 team at best until they can prove themselves against a somewhat worthy opponent.

Oregon Thumps California (Ducks-42, #6 Bears-3)

This wasn’t the usual underdog puts in a great effort and comes away with a close, hard-fought victory kind of upset win. This Oregon win was that of an absolute thrashing of the Golden Bears of California. The Ducks dominated from the start, seamlessly playing like there wasn’t a defense on the other side of the ball. Oregon did whatever they wanted whenever they wanted on both side of the ball. On the other hand, Cal had one of their patented “didn’t show up” games against a very dangerous opponent. This looked like the year that the Golden Bears were finally going to play consistent football throughout the season and challenge the already one loss Trojans for the Pac-10 Title, so much for that.

If you’re looking for my thoughts on #9 Miami losing to #11 Virginia Tech, there aren’t any. I don’t consider VT beating Miami in Blacksburg an upset.

As always your thoughts and comments are welcome and encouraged.