A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
We as a culture of NFL writers and fans need to find something else to talk about other than Tim Tebow and Ndamukong Suh.
I’m not saying to eliminate them as a topic altogether, because obviously they are leading stories week to week in the NFL. What I’m saying is there has to be something else to talk about.
For once, Andrew Luck is not the toast of the college quarterback world.
Combine Stanford’s loss to Oregon two weekend ago with Luck’s pedestrian numbers against Cal on Saturday (20-30, 257 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT in a 31-28 win), and then mix in superlative performances by Baylor’s Robert Griffin III and USC’s Matt Barkley this past Saturday, and Luck doesn’t seem luck such a clear-cut #1 prospect any more, now does he?
Like 80% of America, I own a smart phone. Specifically a Blackberry. I am on my Blackberry constantly, much like everyone else who has one. I email, text, tweet, check my Facebook, and play the occasional BrickBreaker.
So please indulge me in a quick rant before we get to this week’s Power Rankings.
Week 8 is now in the books after Philip Rivers fumbled away a road win in Kansas City, which means we are right around the midway point of the 2011 season. Most teams have played 8 games, a few have played 7, and we can finally start to state with some level of certainty who is good, who is not, and who is too enigmatic to declare.
Without question, the story of the first half of the season (other than this) has been the ascent of the Detroit Lions.
They went 0-16 three years ago, then 2-14 in Jim Schwartz’s first year, then 6-10 last year; and now halfway through their 2011 slate Detroit, sitting at 6-2, is a bona fide contender in the NFC. And the Lions aren’t just an empty record either. They have the skill, attitude, reputation, and right now the health (knock on wood) to suggest that they aren’t going away.
So in honor of the Motor City Mufasas, and their roaring wreakers of wreckage Ndamukong Suh and Calvin Johnson, I give to you my Midseason NFL Power Rankings, with each team presented alongside a Motown classic that sums up the first half of its season.
[Read more...]
We are seven weeks into the NFL season and I have no clue what to make of it.
Teams are wildly inconsistent and we may have just had the worst week of games yet.
We had three nearly unwatchable games (Browns-Seahawks, Broncos-Dolphins, Ravens-Jaguars), the “return” of Carson Palmer, and the worst combination of prime time football games since ‘Nam. The Saints scored more points on Sunday night against the Colts (62) than the Rams have scored all season (56)! The best game this week was Vikings-Packers, which wasn’t really even that good of a game, just the least bad throughout the entire 60 minutes.
Through seven weeks of the season, I am sure of only three things:
Is this an affect of the shortened preseason and teams just aren’t used to each other yet? Maybe. Kind of hoping so. If this turns into a trend and we are getting handfuls of bad games each week, the NFL might start losing fans.
I don’t really have anything to rant or tangent about this week. I’ve been sick lately, and no one really wants to hear about me not being able to breathe or getting two new prescription inhalers to use. Yes, I am a nerd. I walk around listening to hipster music wearing glasses and keep an emergency inhaler in my backpack. [Editor's note: actual picture of Sick Hipster Drew Lange below.]
Image source: Monkey Jedi
At least I like football right? That’s got to count for something.
I don’t like that NFL teams wear pink during the month of October. I love the idea that they are celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month and doing what they can to increase awareness and honor those who have fallen victim to the disease, but I don’t like that they add pink to the uniforms for the whole month.
30 years from now when the next generation of kids are watching highlights from the 2011 season, they will randomly see players wearing pink, and unless the NFL continues this practice forever, they won’t know why. The great thing about highlights from the 60s and 70s is that teams always looked the same. They were the definition of uniform.
Nowadays each team has at least one throwback or alternate uniform that they wear periodically throughout the season. And while they look great, it messes with continuity. I realize that the extra uniforms bring in racks on racks on racks of extra money each season, but they need to do away with it. Teams should be forced to pick one uniform design – one home, one away – and stick with it. If the throwback uniforms are such a hit and look better than the default uniforms, then switch back.
On to the Week 5 Power Rankings.
This week’s power rankings are brought to you a few days late (due to actual school work) and courtesy of National Drink a Beer Day (due to Jerod’s tweets). Enjoy!
[Editor's note: For the record, this tweet was sent five hours before these Power Rankings were submitted.]
Welcome to the first MSF Power Rankings of the 2011 NFL Season!
You may have noticed that we are starting after Week 1, and there is a good reason for that. My Preseason rankings would have been awful. Just a peak into what I originally had: Colts at 14 (Before the Peyton news), Bears at 21, Chiefs at 11, Steelers at 2, and the Bills at 30.
Thank goodness I waited. Now off to the rankings after actually watching the teams play.
NFL training camps have officially started and starting August 8th we will get to enjoy Sunday’s full of football until February.
Football season is officially among us again.
The preseason and training camp is all about reading up on thousands of reports on every little detail and trying to remember the names and numbers of 80 guys for that first game in case one comes out of nowhere to make the roster. It is my favorite time of year.
Today I present you my first annual preseason Power Rankings. Please do not bookmark this and bring it up when the season actually starts. Unless I’m right. In that case, feel free to bring it up as often as possible.
Well all, it’s here.
This is the final Power Rankings of the Year, and with it comes major shake-ups to the top Five, as the last of the undefeateds have fallen.
I want to thank all of my readers for your support through this season, and I look forward already to next season’s power rankings.
(On a special side note, congrats go to Cleveland for winning their third straight. Perhaps mentioning them in my Power Rankings has been good luck for the Browns; perhaps Mike Holmgren needs to be made aware of this and he could send a little compensation my way :-D.)
For the last few weeks, the following historical question has been asked: could we have two undefeated teams in the Superbowl?
That question was answered this week on the NFL Network’s Saturday Night Football when the Dallas Cowboys handed the New Orleans Saints their first loss of the season. The Saints loss left the Indianapolis Colts as the NFL’s lone unbeaten team at 14-0 (coincidentally, the same regular season record that the Miami Dolphins had in 1972).
So we now that the Colts are #1, but do the Saints hang onto their #2 ranking? Read on to find out.
(Also, as a little treat, make sure to read to the end of this week’s rankings for a little surprise, and a Christmas gift from a writer to his editor.)
We’re going to open this week’s Power Rankings with another moment dedicated to MSF Editor-in-Chief, Jerod Morris.
The Cleveland Browns get mentioned for the first time this season in a positive light today, after their win over Pittsburgh, who are now losers of six straight, and likely out of the playoffs.
So, congratulations Cleveland and, of course, Jerod.
This was the Super Bowl for the Browns, and you won.
[Editor's Note: Thank you Myles. It was quite a week for Browns fans, many of whom - like myself - are still on Cloud 9 after last Thursday's thrilling W. Thus, to make this week's Power Rankings even more of a tribute to the Browns, I have chosen a very special song to provide our Week 15 NFL Power Rankings mood music.
Click the play button below (or click here if you don't see a play button), then proceed onto Myles' personal, one-man circle jerk otherwise known as his #1 and #2 spots in the rankings.]
Now onto the teams we actually care about:
[Read more...]
Much like the marriage and reputation of Tiger Woods, who has apparently been trying to catch up to Wilt Chamberlain in the “Ticks on the Bedpost” category, some of the NFL’s elite teams have been on the decline.
Two teams, however, have continued to carry their torches and remain undisputed as #’s 1 and 2 in the not just our Power Rankings, but everybody’s NFL Power Rankings.
Until someone can defeat New Orleans or Indianapolis — and perhaps twice considering Minnesota’s loss last weekend — no one can supplant them in the top spots.
The only question is: who is #1?
1. New Orleans Saints (11-0)
The Saints get the bump because of their dominant performance against the Patriots, a team the Colts needed a late comeback miracle to beat.
Drew Brees is unconscious. These receivers are unstoppable. And how good did Mike McKenzie look back in a Saints jersey?
New Orleans and Indianapolis both remain on their course to perfection, and have both done it so far by beating the New England Patriots. For the first time in NFL history, two teams have made it to 11-0.
This quest for perfection, for both of these teams, is getting very exciting. Could it happen?
2. Indianapolis Colts (11-0)
I’m not sure how long this team can spot their opponents 17 points and continue to win, but somehow, they just keep on winning.
