Week 3 Power Rankings
Posted by Eric Engberg on September 17, 2008
ESPN’s weekly power rankings are out and based on what ESPN is telling me the NFC is starting to strut its stuff again. With the Cowboys, Steelers, Giants, Packers, and Eagles manning the top five spots that means the NFC holds four of the top five and with the Panthers coming in at number eight that gives the NFC five of the top eight teams in the league according to ESPN.
Just like last week there are some things that do not make sense to me here. First is the Patriots move back up to the sixth spot despite the fact they have looked rather lackluster in their two wins against the Jets and Chiefs. The Jets are supposed to contend in the AFC East but they do not look as though they have their stuff together just yet and the Chiefs are one of the worst teams in the league right now. It seems as though ESPN is overvaluing that win against the Jets who were only ranked 14th last week to begin with. Do not get me wrong I still think the Pats are a playoff team but I want to see how they respond to a challenge before ranking them in the top 6.
This leads me to the next two on the list. I am trying to figure out the justification for rating Colts, and the Pats for that matter, above the Panthers. Consider the Panthers just beat a Bears team that humbled the Colts on opening night in their own stadium. It was all the Colts could do to get past what is appearing to be an overrated Vikings squad. The Colts offensive line is a mess right now and they would probably lose to several teams ranked below them right now. I have a hard time ranking a one loss team against an unbeaten team when that loss came from a team ranked lower than they are. I don’t have a problem with the Eagles being rated that high because their only loss is on the road to the top rated team. Honestly, given the way they are playing right now I think I would put the Broncos, Titans, and Bills ahead of the Colts.
The Cards are a big mover this week jumping up from 21 to 14 just behind the Chargers. I find it interesting that they would rank an 0-2 team ahead of a 2-0 team. I think 14 is about right for the Cards given their two wins are against the Niners and the Dolphins but I would slot them ahead of the Chargers simply because of the discrepency of their respective records. The upcoming games against the ‘Skins and Jets will give us a better feel for how good this team is. Whose bowl of Cheerios did Ken Whisenhunt pee in? What is up with making the Cards travel to D. C. and New York for back-to-back games with 1:00 kick offs? That seems hardly fair.
The last rankings I have a real issue with is that of Seattle in relation to San Francisco. The Seahawks have lost both of their games this year, including one to the Niners at home, yet they are somehow ranked ahead of the Forty Niners in this week’s rankings. Explain that one to me. How do you justify ranking the team that just beat them at home ahead of them when Seattle’s overall record is worse. Given how early it is in the season don’t this past week’s results San Francisco is the better team right now? Granted, on paper, Seattle is probably the better team but until they prove it on the field they have to be rated lower than the Niners for the time being.
That is about it for now. Maybe, one day, ESPN will be able to produce a power rankings that does not have as many glaring deficiencies as the current one does.
