1. New England Patriots (11-3): With the Packers losing to an AFC East team and the Patriots dominating Miami on Sunday, the Pats are back on top. Up next will be a road game against the New York Jets. Rex Ryan has given New England fits in the past, but I'd be shocked to see an upset this time around.
2. Seattle Seahawks (10-4): Seattle's offense my not wow too many people, but for how great their defense is playing, that doesn't matter. In Seattle's last four games, all wins, they've allowed just 27 points (6.8 per game), against teams with a combined record of 34-22 (.607).
3. Denver Broncos (11-3): The emergence of tailback C.J. Anderson may not be good for Peyton Manning fantasy owners, but he'll definitely be good for Manning and the Broncos come playoff time.
4. Green Bay Packers (10-4): So, Aaron Rodgers is human after all. The really bad news for the Packers is, due to that loss, Green Bay finds themselves as the 6th seed in the playoffs, which would mean they'd be forced to play anywhere but Lambeau in the post-season. For the year, Green Bay is just 3-4 on the road.
5. Arizona Cardinals (11-3): The Cardinals have gone from Carson Palmer to Drew Stanton to Logan Thomas to Ryan Lindley at quarterback this year. Regardless of who plays at quarterback the rest of the way, it will be difficult for the Cardinals to miss out on the post-season. Unfortunately, Mr. Lindley's first stat with the team will be against the defending Super Bowl champ Seattle Seahawks.
6. Dallas Cowboys (10-4): When healthy, Dallas has one of the best, most balanced offenses in the league. The only problem being they still have one of the worst defenses in the league. It'll be interesting to see how the Cowboys, 3-4 at home this year, fare against the AFC South champ Indianapolis Colts this coming weekend, especially if DeMarco Murray is out with an injury.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (9-5): No matter how the Eagles finish the season this year, one thing has to be for certain - they're going to need to improve in the secondary this off-season if they want to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
8. Detroit Lions (10-4): The Lions are kind of like the Arizona Cardinals. They may not play pretty most games or win by impressive margins, but they seem to find ways to win at game's end. With the win against Minnesota and Green Bay's loss to Buffalo, Detroit finds themselves back in first in the NFC North. While their game against Chicago this coming weekend could come into play as far as a potential Wild Card goes, the NFC North title will come down to that final regular season game on December 28th, when the Lions go to Lambeau.
9. Cincinnati Bengals (9-4-1): Not even psychics can figure this team out. Given that unpredictability, even though I'm picking Denver to beat the Bengals on the road this coming weekend, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Bengals win.
10. Indianapolis Colts (10-4): Good, not great. Andrew Luck has been off in recent weeks. The defense has been inconsistent. The running game is harder to find than Waldo. Like the before-mentioned Eagles, Indianapolis will have to make some off-season moves to improve on defense (and in the running game) if they want to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
11. Baltimore Ravens (9-5): With Cincinnati facing Denver, Baltimore may have a golden opportunity to leap past the Bengals in the AFC North standings with a win against Houston. The Texans are a pesky team, though, so it won't be easy, especially if J.J. Watt continues at the pace he's been going.
12. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5): It's going to be a huge and very interesting weekend coming up in the AFC North. Cincinnati (9-4-1) faces Denver (11-3) at home. Baltimore (9-5) goes on the road to take on Houston (7-7). Kansas City (8-6) heads to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers (9-5). Yeah, there's a greater chance for me to win the lottery than for this division to be decided before the final week of the regular season.
13. San Diego Chargers (8-6): After starting the year off as one of the hottest teams in the league, at 5-1, the Chargers have dropped five of their last eight, and are now on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff race. At a game back of both Baltimore and Pittsburgh for a Wild Card spot, the Chargers' road game against San Francisco is pretty much a must win if they want to have any chance at making the post-season.
14. Kansas City Chiefs (8-6): Overall, Kansas City is a pretty solid, fundamentally-sound football team. They're going to need to find some semblance of a vertical passing game if they want to think about taking that next step, however.
15. Buffalo Bills (8-6): Buffalo has one of the best defenses in all of football. In the past two weeks, against the likes of Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, the Bills defense gave up 0 touchdown passes and intercepted four passes. With a win against Oakland this coming weekend, the Bills would go to 9-6 and still have a shot at a Wild Card spot.
16. San Francisco 49ers (7-7): The 49ers may still have one of the best defenses in the game. However, their offense is about as inept as Florida voting machines.
17. Miami Dolphins (7-7): No matter how improved they looked a few weeks ago, it seems as if the Dolphins may start going the way of the Dallas Cowboys (before this year) and finish 8-8 yet again.
18. Houston Texans (7-7): Houston gave Indianapolis all they could handle on Sunday, but still came out on the losing end, 17-10. Hey, after going 2-14 a year ago and being without top pick Jadeveon Clowney for most of the season, Texans fans have to be pleased with their team going .500 through 14 games. Arizona's Bruce Arians will get the Coach of the Year award at season's end, and deservedly so, but don't be surprised to see Houston's Bill O'Brien receive a few votes as well.
19. St. Louis Rams (6-8): If the Rams get a decent quarterback in the off-season, look out for them next year. The biggest challenge for St. Louis going forward is the fact they're playing in the best division in all of football, the NFC West. Seattle won the Super Bowl last year. San Francisco had gone to three consecutive NFC title games, including one Super Bowl, before that streak came to a halt this season. Arizona is tied for the best record in the league this year, at 11-3. Every night, head coach Jeff Fisher probably mumbles to himself, "Only if we played in the NFC South..."
20. Minnesota Vikings (6-8): Speaking of coaches whom should receive some recognition for a good job done this season, first-year Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is one of those very coaches. Starting quarterback Matt Cassel went out early with a season-ending injury. This resulted in the team going to rookie Teddy Bridgewater. Then there was all the turmoil surrounding Adrian Peterson. For the Vikings to win between 6 and 8 games with all of that going on is quite an achievement.
21. Cleveland Browns (7-7): "They are who I thought they were!" Sorry, I was just finding my inner-Dennis Green right there. Okay, so I didn't expect the Browns to be 7-7 through 14 games this season, but did think they'd be 5-9 or 6-8, and after starting the year 6-3 and being in the playoff conversation, the Browns have lost 4 out of 5, and will once again be sitting at home during the post-season. After the awful quarterback play in recent weeks, the biggest question in the off-season for the team is going to be, "Who will be the starter in 2015?" I think Brian Hoyer's days as a starter for the team are done. Manziel's sample-size is very small, but that was an awful showing on Sunday and it'll be interesting to see which direction the team goes next season.
22. New Orleans Saints (6-8): As of right now, my #7 team, Philadelphia, would be left out of the playoffs, in favor of my #22 team, New Orleans. Something just isn't right about that...
23. Carolina Panthers (5-8-1): If the season started two weeks ago, the Panthers would be a perfect 2-0! Unfortunately for them, they were 3-8-1 prior to that.
24. Atlanta Falcons (5-9): Yes, Atlanta is 5-9 and with a loss on Sunday in New Orleans, they'll be out of playoff contention. However, for as sad as it is to say, the Falcons control their own destiny. If they beat New Orleans and Carolina in their final two games, the then 7-9 Falcons would have a home playoff game.
25. Chicago Bears (5-9): Die-hard Bears fans have gone from enthusiastically uttering, "Da Bears!" to saying, "Da Humbug!"
26. New York Giants (5-9): The two big questions going into the off-season are: 1) Will Tom Coughlin be the team's coach next year, and 2) Will Eli Manning still be the team's quarterback?
27. Washington Redskins (3-11): Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins, and Colt McCoy aren't the answer apparently. Neither is Jay Gruden nor Daniel Snyder...
28. New York Jets (3-11): For the first time since they're opening day win against the Oakland Raiders, Geno Smith led his team to a victory this past Sunday against Tennessee. In Smith's two wins this year, his opponents are a combined 4-24 (.143). The Jets outscored the Raiders and Titans by a combined score of 35-25 in those two games (average of 17.5 - 12.5). So, way to go, Geno!
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-12): For as awful as this season has gone, I still think the Bucs should give first-year head coach Lovie Smith at least one more year at the helm. They've lost a lot of close games and I think the team should improve fairly significantly in Smith's second year if he's given that opportunity.
30. Oakland Raiders (2-12): With wins against Kansas City (8-6) and San Francisco (7-7), Oakland has the chance to play spoiler for the third time this year when they play host to Buffalo (8-6) on Sunday.
31. Tennessee Titans (2-12): Their Thursday night "showdown" against Jacksonville could very well determine who the worst team in football is this year.
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-12): Ditto.
2. Seattle Seahawks (10-4): Seattle's offense my not wow too many people, but for how great their defense is playing, that doesn't matter. In Seattle's last four games, all wins, they've allowed just 27 points (6.8 per game), against teams with a combined record of 34-22 (.607).
3. Denver Broncos (11-3): The emergence of tailback C.J. Anderson may not be good for Peyton Manning fantasy owners, but he'll definitely be good for Manning and the Broncos come playoff time.
4. Green Bay Packers (10-4): So, Aaron Rodgers is human after all. The really bad news for the Packers is, due to that loss, Green Bay finds themselves as the 6th seed in the playoffs, which would mean they'd be forced to play anywhere but Lambeau in the post-season. For the year, Green Bay is just 3-4 on the road.
5. Arizona Cardinals (11-3): The Cardinals have gone from Carson Palmer to Drew Stanton to Logan Thomas to Ryan Lindley at quarterback this year. Regardless of who plays at quarterback the rest of the way, it will be difficult for the Cardinals to miss out on the post-season. Unfortunately, Mr. Lindley's first stat with the team will be against the defending Super Bowl champ Seattle Seahawks.
6. Dallas Cowboys (10-4): When healthy, Dallas has one of the best, most balanced offenses in the league. The only problem being they still have one of the worst defenses in the league. It'll be interesting to see how the Cowboys, 3-4 at home this year, fare against the AFC South champ Indianapolis Colts this coming weekend, especially if DeMarco Murray is out with an injury.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (9-5): No matter how the Eagles finish the season this year, one thing has to be for certain - they're going to need to improve in the secondary this off-season if they want to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
8. Detroit Lions (10-4): The Lions are kind of like the Arizona Cardinals. They may not play pretty most games or win by impressive margins, but they seem to find ways to win at game's end. With the win against Minnesota and Green Bay's loss to Buffalo, Detroit finds themselves back in first in the NFC North. While their game against Chicago this coming weekend could come into play as far as a potential Wild Card goes, the NFC North title will come down to that final regular season game on December 28th, when the Lions go to Lambeau.
9. Cincinnati Bengals (9-4-1): Not even psychics can figure this team out. Given that unpredictability, even though I'm picking Denver to beat the Bengals on the road this coming weekend, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Bengals win.
10. Indianapolis Colts (10-4): Good, not great. Andrew Luck has been off in recent weeks. The defense has been inconsistent. The running game is harder to find than Waldo. Like the before-mentioned Eagles, Indianapolis will have to make some off-season moves to improve on defense (and in the running game) if they want to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
11. Baltimore Ravens (9-5): With Cincinnati facing Denver, Baltimore may have a golden opportunity to leap past the Bengals in the AFC North standings with a win against Houston. The Texans are a pesky team, though, so it won't be easy, especially if J.J. Watt continues at the pace he's been going.
12. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5): It's going to be a huge and very interesting weekend coming up in the AFC North. Cincinnati (9-4-1) faces Denver (11-3) at home. Baltimore (9-5) goes on the road to take on Houston (7-7). Kansas City (8-6) heads to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers (9-5). Yeah, there's a greater chance for me to win the lottery than for this division to be decided before the final week of the regular season.
13. San Diego Chargers (8-6): After starting the year off as one of the hottest teams in the league, at 5-1, the Chargers have dropped five of their last eight, and are now on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff race. At a game back of both Baltimore and Pittsburgh for a Wild Card spot, the Chargers' road game against San Francisco is pretty much a must win if they want to have any chance at making the post-season.
14. Kansas City Chiefs (8-6): Overall, Kansas City is a pretty solid, fundamentally-sound football team. They're going to need to find some semblance of a vertical passing game if they want to think about taking that next step, however.
15. Buffalo Bills (8-6): Buffalo has one of the best defenses in all of football. In the past two weeks, against the likes of Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, the Bills defense gave up 0 touchdown passes and intercepted four passes. With a win against Oakland this coming weekend, the Bills would go to 9-6 and still have a shot at a Wild Card spot.
16. San Francisco 49ers (7-7): The 49ers may still have one of the best defenses in the game. However, their offense is about as inept as Florida voting machines.
17. Miami Dolphins (7-7): No matter how improved they looked a few weeks ago, it seems as if the Dolphins may start going the way of the Dallas Cowboys (before this year) and finish 8-8 yet again.
18. Houston Texans (7-7): Houston gave Indianapolis all they could handle on Sunday, but still came out on the losing end, 17-10. Hey, after going 2-14 a year ago and being without top pick Jadeveon Clowney for most of the season, Texans fans have to be pleased with their team going .500 through 14 games. Arizona's Bruce Arians will get the Coach of the Year award at season's end, and deservedly so, but don't be surprised to see Houston's Bill O'Brien receive a few votes as well.
19. St. Louis Rams (6-8): If the Rams get a decent quarterback in the off-season, look out for them next year. The biggest challenge for St. Louis going forward is the fact they're playing in the best division in all of football, the NFC West. Seattle won the Super Bowl last year. San Francisco had gone to three consecutive NFC title games, including one Super Bowl, before that streak came to a halt this season. Arizona is tied for the best record in the league this year, at 11-3. Every night, head coach Jeff Fisher probably mumbles to himself, "Only if we played in the NFC South..."
20. Minnesota Vikings (6-8): Speaking of coaches whom should receive some recognition for a good job done this season, first-year Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is one of those very coaches. Starting quarterback Matt Cassel went out early with a season-ending injury. This resulted in the team going to rookie Teddy Bridgewater. Then there was all the turmoil surrounding Adrian Peterson. For the Vikings to win between 6 and 8 games with all of that going on is quite an achievement.
21. Cleveland Browns (7-7): "They are who I thought they were!" Sorry, I was just finding my inner-Dennis Green right there. Okay, so I didn't expect the Browns to be 7-7 through 14 games this season, but did think they'd be 5-9 or 6-8, and after starting the year 6-3 and being in the playoff conversation, the Browns have lost 4 out of 5, and will once again be sitting at home during the post-season. After the awful quarterback play in recent weeks, the biggest question in the off-season for the team is going to be, "Who will be the starter in 2015?" I think Brian Hoyer's days as a starter for the team are done. Manziel's sample-size is very small, but that was an awful showing on Sunday and it'll be interesting to see which direction the team goes next season.
22. New Orleans Saints (6-8): As of right now, my #7 team, Philadelphia, would be left out of the playoffs, in favor of my #22 team, New Orleans. Something just isn't right about that...
23. Carolina Panthers (5-8-1): If the season started two weeks ago, the Panthers would be a perfect 2-0! Unfortunately for them, they were 3-8-1 prior to that.
24. Atlanta Falcons (5-9): Yes, Atlanta is 5-9 and with a loss on Sunday in New Orleans, they'll be out of playoff contention. However, for as sad as it is to say, the Falcons control their own destiny. If they beat New Orleans and Carolina in their final two games, the then 7-9 Falcons would have a home playoff game.
25. Chicago Bears (5-9): Die-hard Bears fans have gone from enthusiastically uttering, "Da Bears!" to saying, "Da Humbug!"
26. New York Giants (5-9): The two big questions going into the off-season are: 1) Will Tom Coughlin be the team's coach next year, and 2) Will Eli Manning still be the team's quarterback?
27. Washington Redskins (3-11): Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins, and Colt McCoy aren't the answer apparently. Neither is Jay Gruden nor Daniel Snyder...
28. New York Jets (3-11): For the first time since they're opening day win against the Oakland Raiders, Geno Smith led his team to a victory this past Sunday against Tennessee. In Smith's two wins this year, his opponents are a combined 4-24 (.143). The Jets outscored the Raiders and Titans by a combined score of 35-25 in those two games (average of 17.5 - 12.5). So, way to go, Geno!
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-12): For as awful as this season has gone, I still think the Bucs should give first-year head coach Lovie Smith at least one more year at the helm. They've lost a lot of close games and I think the team should improve fairly significantly in Smith's second year if he's given that opportunity.
30. Oakland Raiders (2-12): With wins against Kansas City (8-6) and San Francisco (7-7), Oakland has the chance to play spoiler for the third time this year when they play host to Buffalo (8-6) on Sunday.
31. Tennessee Titans (2-12): Their Thursday night "showdown" against Jacksonville could very well determine who the worst team in football is this year.
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-12): Ditto.
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