Week 3 NFL Power Rankings

Jim Lang's Power Rankings: September 29, 2009

TW	LW	Team	Our Take
1	1	(-)	Rest of the NFL: The Giants don’t mean to be a bunch of bullies. It’s not like Tom Coughlin tells his players to embarrass the other team like the way they physically manhandled the Bucs. I mean is it Couglin’s fault that his defence didn’t allow the Bucs to get a first down until there was five minutes to go in the third quarter? This is just what happens when you coach a team with such a deep and talented group of athletes on the defensive and the offensive lines. The Giants only allowed 28 yards rushing as they posted their first shutout on the road since 1983. Up next, the Chiefs.
2	2	(-)	The more you watch Brett Favre’s last second game winning touchdown heave to Greg Lewis, the more amazing it gets. First off, Favre had to dodge one 49ers defensive lineman and then get the ball off a split second before he was flattened by another. Favre is more than just a quarterback, he’s a legitimate NFL legend. That play was the exact reason the Vikings worked so hard to sign Favre in the offseason. If you log on to sutbhub.com, you can buy a pair of lower bowl tickets to Monday nights Vikings/Packers game for just under $5,000. What a gong show that’s going to be, I can’t wait.
3	3	(-)	If Brett Favre is the NFL’s ultimate gunslinger, then Peyton Manning is the league’s ultimate surgeon. Manning dissected the Cardinals defence with the precision of a world class surgeon. Of course, it doesn’t hurt’s Manning’s numbers when his GM can find stud receivers like Pierre Garcon, seemingly out of thin air. Garcon, a sixth round draft pick from a tiny Division III school in Ohio, is in his second year with the Colts and has been a perfect fit in their offence. The Colts have to worry about the health of Dwight Freeney. The defensive end had two sacks before leaving the game with a quad injury.
4	4	(-)	Unlike the Giants, the Ravens go out of their way to beat up their opponent. The Ravens like physically pounding other teams in the ground. They think it’s a lot of fun. They sing songs and hug each other after it's over. Poor Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson might need therapy after the beating their received at the hands of the Ravens defence. Meanwhile, Joe Flacco had another 300-yard game and looks like he’s taken his game to the next level.
5	5	(-)	The New York Daily News has already anointed Mark Sanchez as the next Broadway Joe. In other words, a good looking quarterback who’s making plays and has his team in first place in the AFC East with a 3-0 record. Sanchez is the first rookie quarterback since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger to start a season undefeated. The NY Daily News had another little tidbit about Sanchez, in his off hours, he’s dating budding super model Hilary Rhoda. Ah yes, it’s good to be the king of New York.
6	7	(-)	If the Packers/Vikings tilt is the game of the week, then a close second has to be the battle between the undefeated Saints and the undefeated Jets. In the win over the Bills, the Saints proved that they could win with defence and a good running game. The amazing fact about Pierre Thomas and his 126 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Bills is that it all came in the second half. That running game will be a must on Sunday because Sean Payton and Drew Brees know full well that Rex Ryan’s Jets defence will be coming hard all day long.
7	11	(-)	Tom Brady is still cussing out everyone on his team, but the Patriots looked like a totally different squad against the Falcons. I am no expert, but I don’t think Brady and Joey Galloway are good friends. The one thing the Pats did against the Falcons that they didn’t do the first two weeks is the run the ball. Not only did the Pats run the ball for a solid 168 yards, they held the Falcons to 58 yards rushing. You do that in the NFL, and you will win most of your games. Once Brady gets his timing down, the Pats offence will really take off. The Pats defence didn’t have a sack against Atlanta and they still don’t have an interception this season.
8	12	(-)	No matter what anyone in Green Bay says on the record, there can be no denying the fact that everything up until now has been a dress rehearsal. Of course, the Packers are thrilled with their 2-1 record. But their Week 4 match up with the Vikings is one they’ve been thinking about for a long time. In fact, there isn’t a single person in the entire state of Wisconsin that hasn’t been waiting for this day: Monday, October 5. In Minnesota. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers versus Brett Favre and the Vikings and may the best man win. There will be huge pressure on Aaron Kampman, AJ Hawk and the entire Packers defence to get Favre. However, they still have to worry about Adrian Peterson. ESPN might set an all time ratings record for this game.
9	NR	(-)	With so much attention focused on Michael Vick, some people may not have noticed what Kevin Kolb did against the Chiefs. Kolb threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns and became the first quarterback, ever, to throw for 300 yards in each of his first two starts. So now the Eagles have Kolb, McNabb and Vick at quarterback. They also discovered that LeSean McCoy is a more than capable back up to Brian Westbrook. The Eagles defence is among the tops in the league in sacks, interceptions and forced fumbles.
10	9	(-)	That had to be a tough flight home for Mike Singletary and the 49ers as they did everything humanly possible to win that game in Minnesota. The problem is that it’s tough to game plan for a miracle worker like Favre. Losing Frank Gore in the first quarter hurt them big time. I don’t know what it is, but the more I learn about what Mike Singletary is trying to do in San Francisco, the more I admire the man. The Vikings game confirmed my belief that under Singletary, the 49ers will NOT lose a game because of a lack of effort.
11	10	(-)	Tony Romo should thank his lucky stars that Jerry Jones built that new billion dollar palace the Cowboys play in. It’s taking the fans' minds off the fact that he had another pedestrian game. The Cowboys won the game for three reasons: defence, running game and Jake Delhomme. Missing Marion Barber, the Cowboys still ran for over 200 yards. The defence had three sacks, two interceptions and scored the decisive touchdown courtesy of cornerback Terrance Newman. My big complaint about the new stadium is that camera crews spend too much time focusing on the roof and the scoreboard and not enough time on the cheerleaders. But, that’s just me.
12	6	(-)	Matt Ryan and the Falcons received a big time wake up call up in New England. Ryan was 17 of 28 and couldn’t get anything going against the Patriots defence. You know it’s a bad day for the Falcons offence when Tony Gonzalez only catches one pass. Now they go into a bye week and have to start preparing for a brutal stretch of games. After their bye week, the Falcons will face, in order, the 49ers, the Bears, the Cowboys and the Saints. This will be the part the schedule that tells us what the Falcons are really made of and whether or not they can keep pace with the Saints in the NFC South.
T12	NR	(-)	Wow. Last week, the Bengals went up to Lambeau Field and stunned the Packers. This week, Carson Palmer put together a brilliant fourth quarter drive as the Bengals beat their long time nemesis, the Steelers. Not that Palmer is 100 per cent healthy; the Bengals are a different team. Twice, Palmer converted on fourth down in the Bengals game winning drive. His mere presence gives the entire team confidence. Here’s an interesting fact about the Bengals, dating back to last year, they are 5 and 1 in their last six regular season games. This week, they get the Browns. Maybe Marvin Lewis will smile after that game.
SOTW	NR	()	As with every week in an NFL season, there are always a number of very worthy candidates. But in week three, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning stood out above everyone else. The phenomenal Manning had his way with the Cardinals defence, throwing for 379 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers. Add that all up and you have a quarterback rating of 130.5.
StOTW	NR	()	I thought for second about giving it to Jake Delhomme; however, upon further review, there is only one choice: Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell. In an embarrassing loss to the Broncos, Russell was 12 for 21 for 61 yards and two interceptions. Add that all up and you have a quarterback rating of 22.6.
TTMU	NR	()	I can’t believe I am about to say this, but the Pittsburgh Steelers need to wake up. That’s two straight weeks now that they’ve watched the other team steal a win away from them. That’s just not supposed to happen with the Steelers, not now, not ever. Coming off of that painful loss to the Bengals, the Steelers have to get ready to host a dangerous Chargers team in the Sunday nighter.
TOTR	NR	()	Before Broncos fans start sending me hate mail, consider some facts. If it wasn’t for a one in a million tip to Brandon Stokley, they never would have beaten the Bengals. Then they beat the Browns the Raiders. Beat the Cowboys this week and I will believe. So, all that being said, I think the team on the rise is the Bears. They’re coming off of a solid road win in Seattle and they’re home to the Lions this week. Assuming they didn’t burn their retina’s looking at those hideous Seahawk uniforms, the Bears should be 3-1 heading into their bye week.