NFL Top 10 Power Rankings- Week 4

Team----------LW------Record------Reason

1. Patriots------1-------(3-0)--------Maybe part of cheating is scoring 38 points every week.

2. Colts--------2-------(3-0)--------A couple of shakey games against strong division oponents have Colts fans wondering.

3(t). Cowboys---4-------(3-0)--------They dominated the former NFC champs and have shown that they are the team to beat in the NFC.

3(t). Steelers----3-------(3-0)--------The leagues leading rusher+ the stingiest point allowing defense=3-0.

5. Packers------NR------(3-0)--------Favre is breaking records and looking like a kid again.

6. Titans-------NR------(2-1)--------A dominant performance on Monday night against last years 2nd best NFC team, along with Vince Young gets them here. Also, they have a defense!

7. Ravens------5-------(2-1)--------The drop is because of other teams stepping up, and the Ravens almost losing to Arizona.

8. Seahawks---10-------(2-1)--------A solid home win over a respectable Bengals team moves them up.

9. Jaguars-----NR------(2-1)---------Not a great team offensively, but they get it done on defense, and an impressive win over Denver shows it.

10. Bengals-----6-------(1-2)--------2 losses in 3 games isn't good. Don't expect one this week either vs. New England.

Out of Top 10: Bears, Broncos, Chargers
Look out for: Texans, Broncos, Buccaneers, Panthers.

Steelers 37, 49ers 16

Mike Tomlin did something that only one other coach (Bill Cowher) has done as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers: win his first 3 games. Tomlin, who stood on the sidelines in Versace sunglasses and a jacket, watched his team dominate the San Francisco 49ers in all aspects of the game. The 49ers struck early with a long drive capped off with a field goal. But, it was short lived, as kick returner Allen Rossum returned the following kickoff 98 yards for the touchdown, puting the Steelers up for good. Ben Roethlisberger woud throw for 160 yards and a touchdown (to Jerrame Tuman). Also, Willie Parker rushed for 133 yards on 24 carries, the third straight 100+ yard game this season and 16th of his young career. Late in the game, cornerback Bryant McFadden (right) intercepted an Alex Smith pass and returned it for a touchdown. Then, Najeh Davenport added a 39 yard touchdown run. Jeff Reed also added 3 Field Goals for the Steelers, who played a complete game from start to finish. San Francisco's only score came late on an Alex Smith touchdown pass. The Steelers are sitting pretty atop the division, at 3-0, and with the Baltimore Ravens in 2nd at 2-1.


In week 4, the Steelers will head to Arizona to face some bad blood, as they matchup against the 2 men who were denied the Steelers head coach job last spring: Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhunt. The Arizona Cardinals (1-2) played a tough game against the Baltimore Ravens last week, losing on a game winning field goal, 26-23. The Card's are led by tallented wide recievers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin (right), who are the most promissing wide reciever duo in the NFL. Arizona will be facing a Quaterback controversy this week, as started Matt Leinart was pulled last week for veteran Kurt Warner (yes, that Kurt Warner!). In the end, the Steelers offense will outplay the defense of Arizona, and the defense should do enough to handle the high power offense the Cardinals have. Look for the Steelers to improve to 4-0 with another impressive win.
Prediction: Steelers 31, Cardinals 14

Week 3 Top 10 NFL Power Rankings

This is will the first of a weekly updates on the NFL power rankings.

1. Patriots-(2-0)- They may be cheaters, but they have been the best, with 2 dominant performances.
2. Colts-(2-0)- With an offense like that... who needs a defense? (They can play defense too!)
3. Steelers-(2-0)- Besides the Patriots, no other team has been as dominant through 2 weeks as they have.
4. Cowboys-(2-0)- Romo may not be a fluke! The most points scores in the NFL proves it.
5. Ravens-(1-1)- This may be gracious for the way they have played.
6.Bengals-(1-1)- 51 points allowed and in 6th? They still scored 45.
7. Bears-(1-1)- Devin Hester gets them to this position alone.
8.Broncos-(2-0)- They are loving Jason Elam, but they have barely escaped Oakland and Buffalo!
9. Chargers-(1-1)- Didn't look impressive in week 1 and looked awful against the Patriots last week.
10. Seahawks-(1-1)- A loss to Arizona doesn't look good, but every team has a bad game, right?

Also, look out for Green Bay, the 49ers, the Texans and the Lions... (huh?)

Steelers 26, Bills 3

An impressive offense and a dominating defense are what the emotionally drained Buffalo Bills forcefully crashed into Sunday at Heinz Field. The Bills, who all wore a shirt with injured tight end Kevin Everett's number said that they were focused on the task at hand: Pittsburgh. As the game pregressed however, it appeared as if they had no idea what they were in for. The Steelers jumped out to a 12-0 lead at halftime on 4 Jeff Reed FG's. The Bills would strike with a field goal of their own. But, it was a stellar performance by Willie Parker, who rushed for 126 yards and a TD, that closed off any sort of comeback attempt by Buffalo. Parker scored on an 11 yard run and Ben Roethlisberger threw a TD to rookie tight end Matt Spaeth for the second week in a row. The Steelers defense handled the rest, dominating the Bills offense throughout, on way to a 26-3 win. The Steelers have outscored their oponents 60-10 through the first 2 games of the season.
Next up for the Steelers is a home game this Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are a young but promising team, currently standing at 2-0, with wins over Arizona and St. Louis. Some key players for the 49ers are rising star running back Frank Gore, who is coming off a breakout year last year. Young QB Alex Smith will look to impress against a tough Steelers defense... but it will do no good. The Steelers will have the home momentum, and with the way they have been playing on both sides of the ball, I expect the Steelers to move to a great 3-0 start. The Steelers rarely (rarely= never) give up big rushing games on the defensive side of the ball, and with a young QB, there shouldn't be too many problems in the passing defense. It should be a fun game to watch, as this game will feature 2 of the 3 franchises with 5 Superbowl championships.
Prediction: Steelers 24, 49ers 10

Steelers 34, Browns 7

Head Coach MIke Tomlin did something that Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher could not: beat the Cleveland Browns in his first game against them. Tomlin, 35, won his first game as an NFL head coach in convincing fashion by completely dominating the Browns in all aspects of the game. The main performance was by QB Ben Roethlisberger, who was 12 of 23, for 161 yards and 4 touchdowns. The most impressive part was that he had 0 interceptions. Roethlisberger threw touchdowns to Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller and rookie Matt Spaeth, the first of his career. Willie Parker seemed to have a sub-par game, despite rushing for 109 yards, on 27 carries. The defense played extremely tough, forcing Browns starting QB Charlie Frye out of the game. By the end of the first quarter it was 17-0 Steelers, and the Cleveland (semi) faithful began to turn on their team b booing and cursing at them, as well as chanting for Brady Quinn to enter the game. He did not. Instead, backup QB Derek Anderson came in to not fair too much better against the Steelers defense. One fan around me cursed at the Browns by saying "You mother f***ers are f***ing get payed millions of f***ing dollars and you can't make a f***ing tackle!" Some other fans greeted my entry to the stadium by chanting "ass-holes...ass-holes," while we walked through the parking lot. Ah Clevlanders, the classiest of people by far. But it was the 10,000+ Steeler fans who got the last laugh, by waving their terrible towels as the team ran into the locker room as the clock read 0:00.

As for week 2, the Steelers (1-0) will face the emotionally-charged Buffalo Bills (0-1), who lost on a last-second field goal to the Denver Broncos in week 1. As well as losing the game, they also lost backup tight-end Kevin Everett, who suffered a career ending spine injury. The immidiate diagnosis was that he would never walk again, but recent reports are giving hope that he will indeed walk one day. But, his NFL career is most likely over, before it ever really began. So, the Bills will enter Heinz Field Sunday with emotion on their side. How they react though will be the question. Will the sadness be too much to bare, or will they use it for motivation? Some players from the Bills to watch are RB Marshaun Lynch, the rookie who had a big game in week 1, and WR Lee Evans who is a consistent performer. In the end though, I think the Bills will make it tough, but nothing too tough for the Steelers to handle. Heinz Field will be rockin' when Mike Tomlin is introduced and the team runs out onto the field in their 75th Anniversary throwback jerseys. The offense is too strong right now for the Bills defense to handle, and the defense will control the rookie running game from Buffalo. The only problem for the Steelers defense is the trio of Wide Recievers for Buffalo: Pierless Price, Lee Evans, and Josh Reed. Also, this will be a big game for Bills LB, Paul Posluszny, who should have a number of fans in the crowd. But, the Steelers will overcome the difficulties of their secondary and pull together for an emotional game for both teams.

Prediction: Steelers 27, Bills 17

Pittsburgh Steelers 2007-2008

Coming off what might have been a fluke 8-8 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers enter their 75th season under new authority, Head Coach Mike Tomlin. For only the 2nd time in what seems to be the last millenium, the Steelers were in search of a new coach. When Mike Tomlin was interviewed for the job, many fans assumed it was only because of the Rooney Rule, which states that all franchises must interview a minority when seeking a new head coach. To the Rooney's however, they took the interview much more seriously. The leading candidates appeared to be Offensive Coordinater Ken Whisenhunt, or Offensive Line Coach Russ Grimm. But, after Tomlin's interview, they knew that they had found their man, and at 35 years of age, Mike Tomlin became one of the youngest coaches in professional sports. Contorversy immidiately arose about the hire, because Tomlin wanted to introduce a 4-3 defensive set, instead of the Steelers traditional 3-4. Many also feeled as if Whisenhunt and Grimm would have been better suited for the job.
More controversy that arose across Steeler nation was the departure of Joey Porter, the teams emotional leader and star linebacker. After a lackluster season by Porter, the Steelers had to part ways with "da boot," who would eventually sign with the Miami Dolphins. Another loss was veteran Center Jeff Hartings, who retired after 10 seasons in the NFL, the last 6 being with the Steelers. To fill the void left by Porter, the Steelers chose Lawrence Timmons, a linebacker from Florida State University. They also drafted Lamarr Woodley, a defensive end from Michigan, who can also play outside linebacker. To add on to the notable draftpicks was Matt Sepulveda, a 2-time punter of the year from Baylor. This meant that Chris Gardocki's time with the Steelers would be coming to an end.
The Steelers have one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL this season, playing Cincinnati and Baltimore twice, as well as Denver, New England, Jacksonville, Seattle, and St. Louis, all being extremely tallented opponents.
Some other questions entering the season are if Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger can rebound from his NFL leading 24 interceptions. Also, how would the blending of the 3-4 and 4-3 pan out with a mix of veterans and youngsters on the talented defense.
The Steelers went 4-1 in their extended preseason. As good as the record was, we all know that the preseason means nothing, due to the fact that the Steelers went 0-4 in 2005, when they won Superbowl XL. The offense only scored 7 TD's in 5 preseason games, with Roethlisberger passing for 0. But, with the return of Pro-Bowl Running Back Willie Parker, the Steelers should have an explosove running game.
In week 1, the Steelers (and myself) will travel to Cleveland, to face the hated Browns. The Steelers are a very healthy team heading into the opening weekend, with big expectations against the Browns. The Browns will not start rookie QB Brady Quinn, chosing Charlie Frye to lead to offense against the Steelers defense. Some players to watch are: Steelers RB Willie Parker, who had 2 good games against the Browns last season. Also, watch out for Braylon Edwards, WR of the Browns, who is expected to have a big season in Cleveland. The Steelers vs. Browns all-time record (including playoffs) currently stands at 55-55.
Prediction: Steelers 31, Browns 16

Stay tuned for Week 1 recap and Week 2 (vs. Buffalo Bills) outlook.