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Culture Shock

NFL Power Rankings Week 9















































































































































































































































































































































































Rank Team Quinn Saturday Tori Ziege Andrew Vailliencourt Josh Handszer Will

DeWitt
Zak Berliner Average
1 Denver Broncos (6-1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.0
2 Arizona Cardinals (6-1) 2 2 2 3 4 3 2.7
3 New England Patriots (6-2) 3 5 3 2 2 5 3.3
4 Dallas Cowboys (6-2) 5 3 6 4 3 4 4.2
5 Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) 4 4 5 7 6 6 5.3
6 Indianapolis Colts (5-3) 7 7 7 6 9 2 6.3
7 Detroit Lions (6-2) 8 6 4 5 8 10 6.8
8 San Diego Chargers (5-3) 6 9 8 8 7 9 7.8
9 Seattle Seahawks (4-3) 12 10 10 12 5 14 10.5
10 Green Bay Packers (5-3) 13 8 11 9 10 13 10.7
11 Baltimore Ravens (5-3) 10 12 14 10 15 8 11.5
T12 Cincinnati Bengals (4-2-1) 9 11 9 13 14 16 12.0
T12 Kansas City Chiefs (4-3) 11 14 13 16 11 7 12.0
14 Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3) 14 13 12 14 12 12 12.8
15 San Francisco 49ers (4-3) 15 15 16 11 13 11 13.5
16 Buffalo Bills (5-3) 17 16 15 15 17 18 16.3
17 Miami Dolphins (4-3) 16 17 17 17 16 19 17.0
18 Houston Texans (4-4) 19 21 18 19 19 15 18.5
19 New Orleans Saints (3-4) 18 19 20 21 18 22 19.7
20 Cleveland Browns (4-3) 21 18 19 18 20 23 19.8
21 Carolina Panthers (3-4-1) 20 20 21 20 23 17 20.2
22 New York Giants (3-4) 24 23 23 22 21 20 22.2
23 Washington Redskins (3-5) 23 24 22 25 22 21 22.8
24 Chicago Bears (3-5) 22 22 24 23 24 24 23.2
25 Minnesota Vikings (3-5) 25 25 25 24 25 29 25.5
26 St. Louis Rams (2-5) 26 26 26 26 27 26 26.2
27 Atlanta Falcons (2-6) 27 27 27 27 26 28 27.0
28 Tennessee Titans (2-6) 28 28 28 28 31 25 28.0
29 Jacksonville Jaguars (1-7) 31 31 29 31 28 27 29.5
30 New York Jets (1-7) 30 29 30 30 29 31 29.8
31 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-6) 29 30 31 29 32 32 30.5
32 Oakland Raiders (0-7) 32 32 32 32 30 30 31.3

Short Takes

ZakBerliner:

New England (ranked them 5th): Ever since the debacle in Kansas City, the New England Patriots have been dominant, crushing every single opponent. The only issue is that none of those teams has been very good, so it is difficult to give them too high a ranking.

Pittsburgh (ranked them 12th): The Steelers have been the most inconsistent team in the league so far this season. It is quite difficult to tell if this team is really good, really bad, or just so-so since it has changed character every week.

Josh Handszer:

Chicago (ranked them 23rd): Things are not looking too great in Chicagoland right now. Not only are the Bears coming off two straight losses, but brutal ones, including allowing a franchise-record 38 points in the first half to Tom Brady and the Patriots last Sunday. Throw in Jay Cutler’s quarterbacking woes, Brandon Marshall having more tirades than he does catches, and a locker room divide, and you’ve got the makings of a team on the brink.

Buffalo (ranked them 15th): Hey, maybe the Bills finally are for real after all. Buffalo is 3-1 in the four games started by Kyle Orton since E.J. Manuel’s benching, and that’s certainly good news for Sammy Watkins, who has recorded 279 receiving-yards in the past two weeks. They’ve got four games coming up against the Chiefs, Dolphins, Jets and Browns before their week 14 matchup with the Broncos – plenty of time to add enough wins as the season winds down.

Quinn Saturday:

Arizona (ranked them 2nd): Even the most optimistic Cardinals fans (which I guess would include myself) didn’t dream of the Cards having this fantastic of a start to the season. We’re nearing the midpoint of the NFL season and if Arizona is able to beat Dallas this weekend they will gain huge tiebreakers in the battle for home field advantage in the playoffs. Of course the playoffs aren’t a guarantee for a team that lives on the edge. Head Coach Bruce Arians has done wonders with his “never back down” attitude and is basically that one poker player at the table who is taking everyone’s money, even when he’s bluffing before the final card. This approach will lead to the Cards getting burned at some point—or points—during the rest of the season, but as long as Arians and the team aren’t discouraged by bad luck, the good luck will come right back and the Cards will reach their full potential.

Philadelphia (ranked them 4th): The Eagles have had a few wins where they were lucky to win them, but this is the first time their luck has gone against them. As much as I don’t want to admit it, the truth is that the Eagles played better than the Cardinals on Sunday and probably deserved to win the game more, but critical mistakes did them in, specifically two red zone turnovers that took points off the board. Many will criticize the defense for allowing too many big plays, but the truth is that those plays wouldn’t have mattered even if all they got out of those two drives were field goals. Overall, even though the Eagles lost, I came away just as impressed with them as I was with the victors.

Andrew Vailliencourt:

New Orleans (ranked them 20th): This team has the potential to catch fire and win the awful NFC South. They got a huge win over the Packers and will face Carolina in a game that gives one team the division lead on Thursday. The Saints play really well at home, and have six games remaining in New Orleans.

New England (ranked them 3rd): Brady is back, or rather he never went anywhere. After their slow start, the Patriots look like that dynamic team they have been in past years with Brady at the helm. I’m pretty excited for the showdown between Manning and Brady on Sunday, and you should be too.

Will DeWitt:

Detroit (ranked them 8th): Detroit roared back from a 21-point deficit and found a way to come out victorious in London. This Lions team has found ways to win games despite numerous injuries on offense.

Cincinnati (ranked them 14th): Good week for the Bengals as they knocked off their division rival the Baltimore Ravens to take sole possession of the AFC North. This was a much needed win after dropping two of their last three games and tying in the other.

Tori Ziege:

Buffalo (ranked them 16th): Many (myself included) forget that the Buffalo Bills are 5-3: the same record as the Colts, Packers, Ravens, and Steelers. It hasn’t been pretty, but somehow this team is getting it done with Kyle Orton and without its top-two running backs in CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson.

New Orleans (ranked them 19th): The Saints finally looked like themselves on Sunday Night Football and secured a statement win against the Packers that they were in desperate need of to save the season. Jimmy Graham looked healthy, Brees was turnover-free and Ingram rushed for an impressive 172 yards and 1 TD with Khiry Robinson and Pierre Thomas out. Though I still doubt their capabilities on the road, the Saints are only a half game back of a struggling Panthers team, and can still easily win the NFC South despite a 3-4 record.

 
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