Ranking the Power Rankings

It’s that time of year again – the start of the NFL season is around the corner. This means that a whole bunch of people at ESPN get paid to watch football (tough job, there) and critique every moving part of every team. Whether they do it effectively or not is another story altogether, but either way we’re going to talk about it.

That’s right. The NFL PREASON POWER RANKINGS ARE OUT!

Everyone relax- we know you feel like it would need to be December 25^th and you would have to run down and look under the tree for a present like this, but we’ll just give you a brief summary now.

Here’s your top 10:

1.     Packers

2.     Patriots

3.     Eagles

4.     Saints

5.     Steelers

6.     Falcons

7.     Jets

8.     Colts

9.     Ravens

10. Chargers

This actually is a pretty good ranking although we do have some critiques of our own…

First thing’s first: THE EAGLES SHOULD BE #1… WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY DOING AT ESPN?! THIS WAS A NO-BRAINER… (just kidding) The Eagles, on paper, are a phenom in the making, but they still have a lot to prove. There is a lot of cohesion to happen still, and they have a lot of moving parts that still need to fit together perfectly. But regardless of what you say about Andy Reid, we're strong believers in him as a coach. He’s a player’s coach and a loyal guy and a guy that players will play for. Not just play, but bust their asses. He also has enough clout as a coach in the league to garner the respect of these new guys in the locker room quickly. Just give Big Red some time. If anyone is going to whip these guys into shape, it’s him. Not to mention that this team has put a big target on their backs, and if anything will pull a group of guys together, it’s the 'us against the world’ mentality. (Let’s hope this actually all takes and we're not just talking out of our backsides) Either way, 3^rd in the power rankings is a fair spot at this point, if not a little generous.

The Packers are definitely the team to beat – they are the world champs, but take a second to look beyond that. Are they good? Yes. Are they incredible? No. Don’t forget the Packers almost didn’t make the playoffs last year. We’ve seen teams catch fire in the past and come on strong to win a Super Bowl. It’s not out of the question. Lets not forget the fact that the NY Giants actually beat the undefeated Patriots a few years ago in a game that we still can’t believe actually happened (Believe in Miracles?). The Giants were and still are (in our opinion) pretty awful. Lightning strikes, but for the Packers, will it strike twice?

Final Quick Hits on the Rankings in the top 10:

The Bears should be in the top 10 – they are still complete, with or without Olin Kreutz. They have a good running game (that added a VERY capable Marion Barber to an already good back in Forte), a wrecking-ball defense, and a QB that is at times frustrating but still above average.  (Oh, not to mention a guy named Devin Hester returning kicks)

If the Bears should be in, we would boot the Colts. We know you can’t go wrong with Peyton Manning, but we've never been sold on their stable of running backs that always seem to be ‘proven’, but continually cycle in and out of starting roles. Not to mention an always-shaky defense and a team that is continually getting dinged up. Yes, Peyton Manning is unreal. He almost made this team look good last year with almost none of his offensive starters, but he can’t do everything.

Finally, the Ravens and Chargers are too low. The Chargers have a great QB and seem to be RIGHT THERE every year before they inevitably fall apart. Their ranking at 10 might be fair, but we have to believe that they are due to put it together this year. Not to mention, we're hoping for a strong Sophomore campaign from Ryan Matthews at RB. The Ravens are too good too. Flacco has a stable of receivers and a good strong back in Ricky Williams that was already added to a pretty good back you may have heard of – Ray Rice. And then, there is always that defense that seems to more than handle its share of the load. They’re good.

Here are two teams that we hope everyone is wrong about:

The Detroit Lions. They are too talented and just need to break that ‘can’t win’ mentality. Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley should dominate most (probably all) offensive lines. Matt Stafford is just good enough (if not a little better than that) if he can just stay healthy.  They also have a freak in Calvin Johnson catching the rock and about 9 healthy, young running backs that are very good (I’m exaggerating, but they have a lot). We feel like we could go on forever talking about them, and with our strong points, they seem like they should be favorites for the Super Bowl. But oh, wait, they’re the Detroit Lions – they need to shake that sentiment.

The Arizona Cardinals. Those of you that know us know that we love Kevin Kolb. Michael Vick is phenomenal, but we wanted Kevin to succeed in Philly so badly. He’s just insanely accurate, and with the services provided by Larry Fitzgerald, we can only assume that he has to do well (God, I hope so).  Don’t forget that they did something we loved in the 2^nd round and drafted a pretty talented Hokie running back in Ryan Williams. All that needs to be said is watch out for this kid. Williams and Beanie Wells make for an impressive looking young backfield.

Good Luck, Cards and Lions. God Speed.