Week 1 NFL Power Rankings

I love putting together my NFL Power Rankings each week.  I think this is the sixth year in a row I’ve done it.  Of course ranking NFL teams really means nothing since there’s a playoff, but it is fun to do.  I do not look at any other power rankings prior to making my list.

It is hard to come up with anything after just one week.  There are still so many question marks.  There are clearly three teams in the upper tier.  After that there is a fall off.

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have a comment leave it at the bottom.  I usually irritate peeps with my rankings…

Top Ten:

1. SAINTS – They learned how to win without scoring a lot in week one.

2. RAVENS – My Super Bowl Champion pick.  The Ravens defense was outstanding last night.

3. PATRIOTS – Easily could be another championship year for the Pats.  They destroyed Cincy.

4. TITANS – This spot was tough.  Like I said…big drop off.  I like the Titans defense and running game.

5. GIANTS – I was surprised how well NY played in week one.  I loved Nicks when he was at UNC.

6. PACKERS – Barf.

7. TEXANS – This seemed a bit too high, but the win over the Colts is a cornerstone victory.

8. COLTS – Even with a loss, and a loss of Bob Sanders, you can’t dismiss the baby horses.

9. VIKINGS – Offense looked poor, but they still barely lost to the champs on the road.

10. JETS – Incredible defense, but putrid offense.

Bottom Five: (#1 being the worst)

1. BRONCOS

2. BILLS

3. BROWNS

4. 49ERS

5. FALCONS



Freeney's Injury Likely to Keep Him out of Super Bowl

In my opinion, it seems that Dwight Freeney will be in street clothes for Super Bowl XLIV.  This evening, Colts head coach Jim Caldwell says that the team is preparing for Sunday as if they will not have the services of Freeney.

This is a huge blow to the Colts.  You could easily make the argument that Freeney is the second best player on the team behind Peyton Manning.  Even if he could somehow manage to get on the field, Freeney’s greatest asset is speed.  A third degree ankle sprain with a torn ligament would greatly diminish Freeney’s vaunted pass rush.

One thing that I have not seen brought up is the fact that Freeney should not have even been in the game when he was injured in the AFC Championship. The game was well in hand against the Jets when Freeney turned his right ankle.

For a team that was so overly cautious to pull its starters instead of going for perfection, it is ironic that Freeney gets hurt in a time when he could have been kept on the sidelines.

How will this affect the game?  Now the other all-pro defensive end Robert Mathis will get a lot more double teams.  Raheem Brock will more than likely take Freeney’s spot at end.   The loss will be felt the most on obvious Saints passing downs.  Drew Brees many now have just that one extra second to find a receiver to convert a first down.

I hate this for Freeney.  He is such a class guy.  I hope there is some way he will be out on the field, but I think the Colts are going to have win this championship without him.



Mt. Carmel's Talented Tyra Buss 2nd at PPK

The second best 13 year-old in the entire nation in the NFL's Punt Pass and Kick competition is from right here in the Tri-State.  I have gotten to know Tyra Buss the past few years covering her during PPK.  She comes from a great athletic family.  Her older brother Kyle had an amazing career as quarterback of the Golden Aces.

After Tyra won the regionals for the St. Louis Rams, her score had to be among the top four to qualify for Nationals.  She made it and was invited to the AFC playoff divsional game in San Diego as the Chargers hosted the Jets. Tyra competed and finished runner-up prior to the NFL playoff game.

She was kind enough to come to the station and tell her story live on NEWS 25.  She thought she would be nervous on live TV, but she was fantastic.  She is definitely good enough to take my job. 

Here is the entire sportscast with Tyra on it.  Congrats to Tyra Buss, and best of luck to you in the future!! 

NOTE: If you are on the front page, you may not be able to see the video player, so just click the top headline to go inside the story.

NFL Conference Championship Previews and Predictions

First off, my apologies for the lack of updates.  Between studying and preparing for the Washington at Princeton broadcast(I’ll blog about that later) and trying to buy a car I have been slammed.

So let’s get to the NFL.  It is always bittersweet for me this time of year.  I love the conference championships and of course the Super Bowl, however, that means the NFL is coming to a close.  And let’s face it…the world without football is cold and empty.

Last week in my predictions I went 3-1.  I thought I was going to have a clean sweep until the very surprising Chargers upset loss to the Jets.  That brings my playoff record to 5-3.  So who do I like this week?  Leave your predictions in the comments section below.

I am very excited for this game.  By far these are the top two teams in the conference.  For the Vikings to win…their defensive line needs to be healthy.  Kevin Williams and Ray Edwards are listed as questionable.  Edwards had a career game against the Cowboys last week.  Receiver Percy Harvin is suffering from migraine headaches and is also listed as questionable.  Those would be some major losses for Minnesota if they can’t go. 

When you matchup the Saints and Vikings player by player they are pretty dang equal.  Really breaking it down, I would give the Saints offense a slight edge, and I would definitely give the Vikings defense an advantage. 

I really would love to see the city of New Orleans celebrate getting to the Super Bowl.  I also would really like Purdue’s Drew Brees make it to the big game.  He has had such a great career.  I find it interesting that both quarterbacks in this game were shipped off from previous teams.  So now, do you think the Chargers and Packers would still like to have Brees and Favre back?!  Both Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers are obviously very solid, but Brees and Favre have been clutch.

 I do not have a lot of confidence in this pick.  Almost always a road team wins in this round.  However, I am going to hope for my nemesis Brett Favre throwing a critical interception late.

MY PICK:     31-28

Well this game is a lot less exciting.  As a matter of fact, I had an offer for tickets to the game and turned it down.  I did not want to travel and pay 180 bucks for a ticket for this game.  Watch it now be an instant classic and I’ll regret it.

First off, like most, I love Rex Ryan.  As a Bears fan his dad Buddy is a hero of mine.  I actually got to meet Buddy and interview him a few years back.  Anyhow, Rex has the swagger and confidence that has taken a mediocre team to the brink of a Super Bowl.

However, the dream ends tomorrow for the Jets.  I give them ZERO percent chance to win this game.  The Colts are far superior in almost every facet.  They certainly are motivated by the debacle when these two teams met last.  I think Peyton Manning would have to turn into Rex Grossman for the Jets to win this game.

Dallas Clark will have a huge game and the Colts will head to another Super Bowl in Miami.

MY PICK:
 
27-9



Sunday NFL Divisional Playoffs Recap

Rex Ryan is making believers all across the NFL country.  It is great to have a personality in a head coach instead of the same boxed up soundbytes.  Of the four divisional games, I did not expect the Jets to be the road team that came out on top.

New York’s defense stifled Phillip and the Chargers.  I always enjoy the Norv cutaway shots on the sidelines.  He and Wade Phillips make the whiniest faces. 

Those missed field goals were huge, however, I give the game mvp to the Jets offensive line.  They opened up holes in that smashmouth running game.  Darrelle Revis was a close second.  Revis gets a shot at Reggie Wayne next week.

The Vikings pounding the Cowboys did not surprise me at all.  I predicted a two touchdown victory.  The national media fell in love with the overhyped cowpokes and for some reason everyone slept on Minnesota.  Like I said in my prediction blog earlier this week, the Vikings really don’t have a weakness.

Here are the matchups and the times for the Conference Championships.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

New York Jets (9-7, #5 seed)

at

Indianapolis Colts (14-2, #1 seed)

Sunday at 2pm on CBS

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

Minnesota Vikings (12-4, #2 seed)

at

New Orleans Saints (13-3, #1 seed)

Sunday 5:40pm on FOX

Sunday NFL Has to be Better than Saturday

Do y'all agree that yesterday's NFL playoff games were horribly boring?  I was pumped up all week for the four playoff games, and was really letdown.

The Saints and Cardinals game started out awesome.  The first quarter was at least loaded with fireworks.  However, when Kurt Warner was uprooted after another Arizona turnover you knew that game was over.

New Orleans looked fantastic on both sides of the ball.  Drew Brees makes such great decisions.  While Jeremy Shockey got a lot of credit for the touchdown because he was hobbled, Brees made that play by scanning the whole field and then coming back to Shockey to deliver a strike.

The Saints will be the favorite next week no matter if Dallas or Minnesota wins today.

The Colts were missing something.  I don't know if was the overblown "rust" or the Ravens defense.  That touchdown right before half really clinched the game. The Ravens made way too many mistakes with penalties and turnovers. 

Indy's defense was very impressive.  It is great to see Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis healthy.  If the Chargers win today, Lucas Oil Stadium will be rocking next week.

Score predictions for today:

 Cowboys     17
 Vikings        31

Jets          13
Chargers  31

Watching The Colts Give It Away

By Ryan Jenkins

Since Lance is on vacation, I thought I'd keep his blog updated. Unfortunately, I was at the Colts game Sunday.  Here's my take on what happened at Lucas Oil Stadium. Let me know your thoughts.

It was my first Colts game of the season, and what a bad one to have paid to see. Late in the third quarter, as I sit in Lucas Oil Stadium, the Colts are up 15-10 against the NY Jets. The game, even though close, seemed to be an easy victory coming for Indy. The crowd was very into the game and supporting their team, and at this point, we the fans can start to smell the streak of wins continuing.

Then, with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter, Indianapolis takes the field and so does Vincennes-native Curtis Painter. The crowd slowly notices the absence of Peyton Manning on the field, and then the boos rain down. The fans are in shock, some having paid hundreds of dollars to watch their favorite team give up.

It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to watch in person. Worse then watching my favorite baseball team get eliminated from the playoffs. At least they tried to win. Ironically, the one-time Jets Head Coach, Herm Edwards said, “You play to win the game.” We as the fans pay to see them TRY to win the game. Not only were Colts fans denied that satisfaction, because of the decision to take out the starters, but so was the entire country.

Unfair to Painter, the boo birds continued every time he took the field. But let me say as a witness and willing participant, those negative words and sounds were towards Jim Caldwell for the decision he was making. During a TV timeout, a PSA played on the video screens in Lucas Oil with Caldwell as the spokesperson. No one there could have told you what Caldwell said…the booing that ensued when his face appeared on the screen drowned out the message.

Many fans left during the sad display of defense as the Jets kept driving down the field, but in the fourth quarter it was still a close game. The fans who stayed were hopeful Peyton would come back in and save the day, but he didn’t. Then Painter came in and threw an interception. The booing came again, and then there were fewer fans than at a Pop Warner football game.

The word from the Colts’ camp is that a perfect season has never been the plan. Please tell me what team in any sport goes out and says: “We don’t want to win every single game.” It would have been a lot easier to watch if Caldwell had come out and said the starters wouldn’t play in the second half. But before the game, Manning said he intended to play all 4 quarters. The home fans were stunned. The hurt everyone felt is hard to explain, but most fans around explain it as betrayal.

The Jets fans behind me asked: “How can you boo a 14 and 1 team? We wish we had a 14 and 1 team.” I thought about that question, and my best answer is that when your team goes out and loses, they’ve tried with all they have to get a win. But on Sunday the Colts, or should I say Jim Caldwell, forfeited the game.

Justin Miller Back With Jets

Photo Courtesy: NY Daily NewsGreat to see that former Owensboro standout Justin Miller is back in the NFL.  He returns to the team that originally drafted him.  The Jets ink a deal to bring the speedster back to New York. 

Miller was one of the most athletic players I have ever covered.  We all knew on the Home Team Friday staff that he would play in the NFL.

Congrats Justin!  He was a Home Team Friday MVP in 2000.  Can't wait to see some highlights soon!

Here is the Associated Press story:

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - The New York Jets have re-signed cornerback-kick returner Justin Miller, acquiring a replacement for the injured Leon Washington on special teams.

Miller was a second-round draft pick of the Jets in 2005, and made the 2007 Pro Bowl season after leading the AFC with a 30.1-yard average and two touchdowns on kickoffs.

He was waived by the Jets last season and signed with Oakland, which re-signed him for one game before releasing him Nov. 11. Miller has a 26.2 career kickoff return average, and five returns for scores.

Washington, a Pro Bowl returner last season, was placed on injured reserve after breaking his right leg Sunday in the Jets' win at Oakland. He replaced an injured Miller as the primary returner in 2007.