- Green Bay over Detroit - Kansas City over Oakland - New York Giants over St. Louis Rams - Indianapolis over Minnesota - Cincinnati over Tennessee - New Orleans over Washington - Carolina over Chicago - Buffalo over Jacksonville - Seattle over San Francisco - Atlanta over Tampa Bay - New York Patriots over New England Patriots - Arizona over Miami - San Diego over Denver - Pittsburgh over Cleveland - Dallas over Philadelphia
I didn't want to do a preseason power rank article because it's so hard to figure out who will be good this year and who will tank. Glad I made that call. This is what my PR would have looked like just 1 week ago.
1. New England Patriots 2. Indianapolis Colts 3. San Diego Chargers 4. Dallas Cowboys 5. New York Giants 6. Jacksonville Jaguars 7. Pittsburgh Steelers 8. Seattle Seahawks 9. Cleveland Browns 10. Tennessee Titans
Ha! Wow. Glad I didn't post that.
So here are my new 'Top 10'. ___
1. Dallas Cowboys (1-0): The 'Boys looked incredible in a hostel environment in Cleveland, boosting them up to my new #1.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0): It's hard to deny that the Steelers are not a very good football team. And with questionable play from other AFC teams, they now look like the new team to chase.
3. New York Giants (1-0): The defense is so good, even without all its stars.
4. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0): Sure, they beat down the lowly Rams, but they did it in an impressive way. Week 3: Steelers @ Eagles. Whoa. Big time.
5. San Diego Chargers (0-1): Shocker. They stay in the top 5 because I think that Carolina is a better team than people think.
6. New Orleans Saints (1-0): The Saints are so fast offensively, but need to answer the call with the loss of WR Marques Colston.
7. New England Patriots (1-0): They won the game but lost the battle. Matt Cassel now actually has to do something. Should be interesting. Still a good team though.
8. Green Bay Packers (1-0): AR is the real deal in my opinion. I have said that all along. The Pack are a talented team with a lot of emotion.
9. Indianapolis Colts (1-0): Outside of Cincinnati, this was the worst showing last week. Especially since they got nailed by the Bears. They are better than that though, and will improve.
10. Tennessee Titans (1-0): Losing Vince Young may be a good thing. He seems to be a little unstable mentally at QB, which has been a problem of his all along.
The Steelers entered their first game of the regular season with a lot of questions. - Could Ben Roethlisberger continue to shine at QB? - Could Willie Parker bounce back from a broken leg? - Could the aging defense keep up with the rest of the league? - Would the highly questionable offensive line be able to protect Big Ben?
The Steelers answered all these questions in blowout fashion.
(At some point I want to get some sort of highlight reel going on here... we'll see.)
But here is the scoring summary:
(Courtesy of ESPN.com) ___
(Willie Parker shined, totaling 138 yards on 25 carries and scoring 3 times.)
(Ben Roethlisberger managed the offense, completing 13 of 14 passes for 137 yards and 2 scores, both to Hines Ward. Ben also showed good mobility, busting off a big 17 yard run on the Steelers first scoring drive.)
(James Harrison showed why he made the ProBowl last season, racking up 9 tackles (7 solo), 3 sacks, and a forced fumble.)
(The O-Line held up well. Ben got sacked a couple times but they were great in the run-block.)
The defense as a whole played well through the first 3 quarters, but let up a bit in the 4th, allowing 14 points in the final 9 minutes of the game. Thankfully the game was already sealed at that point. ___
___
I have to talk about the injury to Tom Brady. Let me start by saying that I do not like Tom Brady. I am a Steeler fan and therefore I wish the utmost failure to Brady and the Patriots.
But.
I'm not sure it's right for people to be cheering that Brady got injured. Think about if that were to happen to Big Ben, or the best player on whatever team you root for.
When Sidney Crosby went down, the people who cheered were Flyers fans... do we want to be like that? No.
While I am happy that Tom Brady won't be around this year, I never really want to wish injury, or cheer for injuries to any player.
Now, if the Pats don't have a good season, their fans will have an excuse to use for every loss, no matter how well Matt Cassel plays. ___
Next week I will make the annual trip to Cleveland. This one is huge. Primetime, night game, in Cleveland. The Browns lost this past week so you know they want some payback. Photo's will be posted (if things go well) and maybe some video's as well. Stay tuned. ___
FInally a look at the AFC. (Aka my internet has been installed!)
-West-
This division will be more competitive than most people think. I really like the Chargers chances at winning it all, but it will no doubt be a tough trip. THe Broncos and Jay Cutler have a chance at competing this year in the division. I think it's division title or bust for this division. No Wild Cards. The Raiders now have potential at Running Back, with the drafting of Darren McFadden. FInally the Chiefs will be much improved after coming off with the best draft class this season, unfortunately it won't be enough.
1. San Diego Chargers 2. Denver Broncos 3. Oakland Raiders 4. Kansas City Chiefs
-South-
Maybe the most competitive division in the AFC, the AFC South sported 3 playoff teams last year. This year I don't know if they will get that lucky. A lot of people are picking the Jaguars, but I'm not sold on them quite yet. I think the Colts are the class of the division and with a great QB and a young, fresh back running the ball, I think the Colts have the division. The Jaguars will be close behind and might win the division. I just don't think they have the big time players to win the division, but not having that has kinda been the source of their success recently. Also competing for the division will be the Tennessee TItans. Rookie Running Back Chris Johnson looks like a good fit with Lendale White. Now the team is in the hands of Vince Young, who has some proving to do. Rounding out the division are the Houston Texans, who have some talent on both sides of the ball, but probably won't have what it takes in this tough division.
It's no wonder who the winner will be in the division. The Pats were amazing last year, to put it simply. I don't think they will be as good this year, but at the same time I think they will do fine and easily win the division. Coming in second will be the Buffalo Bills. I think the Bills are a very good, young team with a lot of potential. Competing for second will be Brett Favre and the New York Jets, who have made big strides to be able to compete this season. Rounding out the division will be the Miami Dolphins. The 'Fins won't be as bad as they were last season, but still won't be very good.
1. New England Patriots 2. Buffalo Bills 3. New York Jets 4. Miami Dolphins
-North-
Ah, my favorite division. A division known for toughness and rivalry. I still think the Steelers are the best team, even though the Browns are on the rise. I think that with a great defense, running and passing game, the Steelers are on pace the win the division. The Browns will get second. They have a lot of talent with Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards and Kelen Winslow. They have great lines and could compete for the division title. The Ravens are a pretty young team offensively, and a pretty old team defensively. Because of this they will come in third. All that talent, and I see the Bengals coming in last. There are too many distractions on this team, no real running game and a weak defense will all lead to another disappointing year in Cincy.
But anyways, Thursday night the Steelers came in with a couple things in mind: stay healthy and look to trim down the roster. For the most part both of those goals came through.
I'm back again with the likes and dislikes. (I'm thinking about stopping this feature for the regular season.)
Here goes... ___
===Likes===
THE BIG NASTY D - I am more and more impressed with this defense every time I see them take the field. Their abilities to stop drives and hold teams to field goals could come in handy during the regular season.
WILLIE PARKER
- Willie didn't see a lot of action, but he had 4 carries for 34 yards, including a great 26 yard rush. There is no doubt that with Rashard Mendenhall and Willie Parker, the Steelers will have the best 1-2 punch in the NFL, right up there with Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor of the Jaguars.
OFFENSIVE LINE
- Other than the fumbled snap on the opening drive, I thought the line held up well. They allowed 0 sacks and gave the QB's time to throw. Thats all you can ask for.
JEFF REED
- He missed one. But he hit 4, including the game winner (again). He is just solid and has been all preseason.
===DIslikes===
QUARTERBACK
- I wasn't to impressed with anyone at QB. Ben didn't even throw a pass. Maybe that was for the best. He needs to stay healthy.
SECONDARY
- It wasn't too bad. They forced 2 INT's, but let up 264 yards passing. That needs to improve.
FINISHING - The trend of the preseason continued, as the offense was unable to finish their drives, resulting in 5 FG attempts. Thats a possible 35 points instead of the 12 that we got. ___
___
All in all it wasn't too bad of a game. Arnold Harrison fell victim to injury but thats the nature of the beast that is football.
The team looks ready for the Texans on Sunday, lets hope they pull it out. It's important that they start the season well because the first few games will be their easiest.
The third preseason game is always the most interesting. The starters typically play at least a half and the offenses tend to open up a bit more.
The Steelers/Vikings game Saturday night was one of the most interesting preseason games I have ever seen. ___
Here are the likes and dislikes:
===Likes===
THE FIRST TEAM DEFENSE -I thought they held Adrian Peterson in a big time way. He didn't have a single run over 6 yards.
BYRON LEFTWICH -I thought Leftwich played great in the second half, leading the Steelers down the field to win the game.
JEFF REED -Yet again J-Reed proved he is a big time kicker in this league, booting 4 FG's including the game winner from 47 yards (it would have been good from 60).
FANS -Our fans stuck around til the end of a preseason game. Solid.
HALF OF MENDENHALLS GAME -Despite the 2 fumbles, Mendenhall ran with power and speed.
COACHING -I loved what Tomlin did at the end by doing a situational practice of a last-second FG attempt.
===Dislikes===
THE FIRST TEAM OFFENSE -3 point in the first half. Willie Parker had a tough time and Big Ben was running for his life all night. Fortunately though, the Vikings defensive front is the best we will face this season... hopefully.
BIG BEN -He looked a little out of touch with his receivers. He was able to use some good footwork to get out of some bad situations though.
NOT FINISHING -If we would have finished our drives this would have been a blowout. Jeff Reed has 7 FG's in 3 games.
THE OTHER HALF OF MENDENHALL'S GAME -2 fumbles really put the team in bad spots. He needs to learn how to run and wrap the ball at the same time. ___
In closing, I want to talk about rashard Mendenhall a little more.
I thought this was the perfect game for 'Shard. Not only was he able to run hard and find holes, but he fumbled twice. The fumbles are a good thing. Here is why:
- It's better that he did it now instead of later. Who cares if we lose a preseason game.. it's about learning. Now Mendenhall can learn how to run and protect the ball better. He won't be able to overpower NFL players like he could at Illinois and now he knows that.
I still think that the Seahawks are the team to beat. They have more of a running game with Julius Jones and still have a solid QB in Matt Hasslebeck. Although, I do think that Arizona will make a good push (see: last years Browns) and contend for at least the WIld Card spot, if not a division title. The Rams and 49ers are still teams with potential but I just don't see either team having what it takes to contend in this division.
1. Seattle Seahawks 2. Arizona Cardinals 3. St. Louis Rams 4. San Francisco 49ers
-South-
(Reggie Bush and Ray-J's leftovers.)
This is one of the least impressive divisions in football. I think though that the Saints will take it this season. Drew Brees will be himself and with weapons like Marques Coleston and Reggie Bush, the Saints will be in good shape offensively. If anyone is going to contend it is going to be the Bucaneers, who won the division last season. I think that the Bucs have a great shot to win the division with Jeff Garcia and Ernest Graham leading the way. The Falcons are turning the corner and getting over the dog-killer it seems, which is 100% a good thing. Matt Ryan looks like he can compete in this league. The Panthers are a ways off from the playoffs in my opinion, but still have good weapons in Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett for QB Jake Delhomme to throw to.
1. New Orleans Saints 2. Tampa Bay Bucaneers 3. Carolina Panthers 4. Atlanta Panthers
-East-
(The Jersey says it all. *Plaease see bottom.)
Maybe the best division in football sports the NFC's best team, the Dallas Cowboys. The 'Boys will win this division, but it won't be easy. They have a tough schedule and play great opponents in their division. The division also sports the Superbowl Champs from last season, the New York Giants. The G-Men are not going to repeat, but they should be competitive enough to sneak into the playoffs again. The Philadelphia Eagles are a team on the rise. Again being led by Donavan McInjury and Brian Westbrook, the Eagles are poised to potentially turn the corner this season and make a playoff run. FInally there is the Washington Redskins who finished their season strong last year and would like to continue their excellent performance into this season. Questions at QB though will keep them out of the playoffs this season in my opinion.
1. Dallas Cowboys 2. New York Giants 3. Philadelphia Eagles 4. Washington Redskins
-North-
(No jokes... he's just a beast.)
Ah yes, the division without a QB. Aaron Rodgers WILL step up this season and take over where Favre left off. I think Rodgers is a very good player and will handle the pressure fine for the Packers, leading them to a division title. Coming in at a close second place will be the Vikings. The Vikings will get big time play by Adrian Peterson, but since they play the Giants Week 17 and the Packers play the Lions, I give the division to the Pack. The big question will be Tarvaris Jackson at QB for the Vikings. Rounding out the division are the Lions and the Bears. I think both teams will have decent records, but with no real great QB's or RB's, I don't see them going too far.
1. Green Bay Packers 2. Minnesota Vikings 3. Detroit Lions 4. Chicago Bears ___
*-I am in no way homophobic or a hater of gay people. I just hate Tony Romo.
I am a Junior Broadcast Journalism major at Point Park University, in Pittsburgh, PA. I love all sports... especially those played by Pittsburgh teams.
