Sportaholic NFL Power Rankings Week 1

Welcome to the first edition of this season’s Sportaholic NFL power rankings. So many things to address so we’re not going to waste anytime.

The NFL is now an offensive league now and that was never more evident than this past week of games. 14 QBs went over the 300 yard plateau with 3 of those going over 400 yards and of course the fitting end to the weekend saw Tom Brady’s record breaking 517 yard performance on Monday night football. QBs have been ripping defenses to shreds, while DBs are gasping for air (I’ve seen so many players getting oxygen on the sideline). This will go down as the most prolific passing week in the history of the NFL. There are a few teams who are playing defense these days. Look no further than Baltimore as they just pulverized a team that’s use to doing the pulverizing in Pittsburgh. Houston bullied on the Peyton Manning-less Colts but its hard to put much stock into that due to the situation Indy is facing. The ”Monsters of the Midway” also did a number on the Falcons, who were suppose to have a new high-flying attack. As the season plays itself out, the defenses of the league will stand up but at least for this week, the offenses outclassed the other side of the ball.

Now for the rankings:

1. Baltimore Ravens (1-0) – When you go out and just manhandle one of the most, if not the most physical team in the league then in my opinion you deserve to be at the top of the rankings. The Ravens just pushed around the Steelers in every conceivable way. Raise your hand if you thought this one would be a close game, I will wait. My point exactly, no one could have predicted that Baltimore would just blast Pittsburgh like they did. The numbers don’t lie in this game: Baltimore forced 7 turnovers, ran for 170 yards and Joe Flacco was 17-29 for 224 yards 3 TDs and a rating of 117.5. This was just the first game of the season of course so its expected that some teams will come out flat. Big Ben looked uneasy all day in the pocket and could never find his rhythm. A lot of that had to do with the constant pressure being brought on him by Terrell Suggs (3.0 sacks) and Haloti Ngata. Even the ancient warriors Ed Reed (2 Ints) and Ray Lewis (1 Int) got in on the act. Just as dominant performance as you will get in week 1. Mark November 6th on your calendar as the Ravens travel to Pittsburgh and something tells me that the Steelers won’t forget this whooping that hated rival Baltimore put on them.

2. Green Bay Packers (1-0) The pack attack looks intact as Aaron Rodgers just picked up where he left off last year. The offense is so explosive especially when you add a healthy Jermichael Finley and rookie Randall “Corn” Cobb. Rodgers, who I rate as the 2nd best QB in league with Peyton Manning out, now has full command of the offense and just too many weapons at his disposal. He just put on a clinic in the first quarter of Thursday’s night opener, hitting his first 7 targets with precision laser passes. The defense will only get better for them as well as they get back a lot of players from injury reserve on last years roster. Clay Matthews is still a beast off the edge and will have a monster season as he did last year. A lot of things to like in the land of cheese these days.

3. New England (1-0) - This spot was toss up between the Pats and the Bears. The Pats did most of their damage on offense and the Bears did theirs on defense. I will go with the Patriots off the strength of Tom ‘Golden Boy” Brady passing bonanza. Watching the game for the first few quarters, you would have actually thought that the Dolphins had a chance. But of course once Brady got going with his tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and things got dicey for Miami. Brady threw for 517 yards and didn’t even really use Chad Ochocinco (1 catch 14 yards). Their defense gave it the old "Bend but don’t break method" and allowed Chad Henne to rack up 416 yards but most of those were garbage time stats. The rebuilt defensive line looked good as well with Albert Haynestworth just trampling rookie Mike Pouncey a few times. Vince Woolfork also looked fresh with the addition of Hayneworth taking him out the game for a few snaps. Devin McCourty is one of the more underrated corners in the league and Ras-I Dowling has the makings of a good NFL cornerback in his rookie year. The Pats will be in for a stiffer test this weekend against the Chargers but as always you know Brady and the hoodie will be ready.

4. Chicago Bears (1-0) – It’s a wonder what 1 game can do for a team. After facing all the toughness questions in the off-season due to his non-performance in the NFC championship game, Jay Cutler lit up the Falcons secondary to the tune of 312 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Bears defensive were on it as well as they recorded sacks, 2 by Julius Peppers and 2 by Henry Melton who appears to ready for his close up as the new starting DT for the Bears. Maybe the most impressive Bear of them all was Brian Urlacher as he had an interception and picked up a fumble from Matt Ryan to take it in for the score. Chicago really has no worries on defense as they are deep and talented but its usually the offense that doesn’t perform. I think this year will be different as Mike Martz’s system has been in place for a year now. Cutler seems to be comfortable but he still is getting sacked too much as he was taken down 5 times this game. Matt Forte looked the part as well as he exploded for a 56 yard scamper off a screen pass. The Bears made the defending NFC South champs look like chumps and enough can not be said for that. But they better keep Cutler clean if they want a chance to compete this year.

5. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) – The Eagles are all about the big play and it was on full display against the Rams. Michael Vick's passing numbers were pedestrian (14 of 32 for 187 yards 2 TDs) but you just can’t prepare for what he brings to the game with his legs (8 carries 98 yards). On top of what Vick does you have Lesean McCoy (15 rushes 122 yards), and Desean Jackson (6 catches 102 yards) who can take it to the house at anytime. More importantly for the Eagles is that the defense looked good as they limited Sam Bradford to just 188 yards passing and after allowing Steven Jackson to break off an early big run they held Rams in check on the ground as well (Although Jackson left the game with a strained quad might have had a lot to do with that). The free agents showed up as well as Cullen Jenkins recorded a sack and Jason Babin’s was just a force as he had two sacks, two tackles for loss and four QB hurries. The Eagles racked up 5 sacks in total as the reliable Trent Cole also had one. The only thing that can stop the Eagles is the Eagles in my opinion.

Offensive player of the week: Cam Newton – Wow. That was the first thing that popped in my head when I saw Killer Cam’s stat line of 24 of 37 for 422 yards and 2 passing TDs. Even though Tom Brady passed himself silly against the Dolphins, I still have to go with Cam because we expect that from Brady. Newton’s outburst wasn’t expected as he just obliterated the Cardinals defense and raised his expectations ceiling. What more can you ask for from a rookie QB who didn’t have the benefits of training camps and OTAs. Newton proved that he will be a hand full as he scored with his legs as well for his 3rd touchdown. The happiest guy besides Newton in a Panthers uniform you ask? Steve Smith, who wavered from being on a team that is clearly rebuilding, Smith had 8 catches for 178 yards and caught Newton’s two touchdown passes. Newton is by far ahead of schedule, now the only question is if he can keep this up.

Defensive player of the week: Brian Urlacher - This one is really tough because so many players had great games. Brian Urlacher (1 Int and Fumble recovery for TD), Terrell Suggs (3 sacks), Jason Babin (2 sacks,) Ed Reed (2 Ints) Mario Williams (2 sacks) and Demarcus Ware (2 sacks) to name a few. But I will go with Urlacher as his Interception of Matt Ryan seemed to sink of the confidence of the entire Falcons offense. His fumble recovery for a touchdown was classic Urlacher as he seems always find the ball when there is a scrum of players searching for it. He is the soul of the Bears team and if he continues his high level of play it will simply rub off onto that entire unit, which is already pretty good by the way.

Sportaholic AFC-NFC Championship Game Burning Questions

If you didn’t enjoy what you witnessed in the divisional round of the playoffs this weekend, then you just don’t like football. Baltimore and Pittsburgh staged a battle of attrition as both teams hit each other with such ferocity in that rivalry. The players aptly named their third meeting of this season as Armageddon and that looked like how both teams approached it. New England and the New York Jets did most of their hitting below the belt in the media. The Jets just couldn’t contain themselves against their arch rival and actually backed up their brash talk with a defensive masterpiece that befuddled soon to be MVP Tom Brady. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers confirmed what I had thought all along about the Falcons with their crushing defeat. The monsters of the midway from Chicago easily handled Seattle as Jay Cutler showed he can execute under playoff pressure.




The winning teams now move on to the conference championships and both have a classic feel to them.



The Jets and Steelers battled each other just a few weeks ago with New York able to pull out the victory 22-15. That was the first victory ever in Pittsburgh for the Jets. The teams have met only 19 times. Even though they don’t have the quantity that Bears and Packers have, they do have in quality. The three burning questions for this game:

1. Can Sanchez do it again? Mark Sanchez was just sensational against the Pats going 16/24 for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns. He thoroughly out played Tom Brady and was the key factor on offense that allowed the Jets to be effective. His performance set up the Jets running game and plays action fakes that were so effective. He seems to be able to raise his play in the playoffs and for the Jets sake hopefully he can do it again.

2. Can the Steelers line hold up against Rex Ryan’s defense: The Jets forced 5 sacks against the Pats basically playing 3 man fronts. They were able to confuse Brady with the look and were able to bump the receivers to throw their routes off. Big Ben of course is a different animal then Brady but when you look at the stats from the Ravens game, you will notice that he was sacked multiple times including the one he fumbled that was taken in for a TD by the aware Cory Redding. The one thing the Steelers have that the Pats didn’t is a speedster in Mike Wallace. Wallace can be the deep threat that could break the coverage of the Jets, so he will be vital in this game Rothlisberger may be the hardest QB to bring down in the league but the Jets will certainly get after him.

3. Will either team suffer a letdown performance, after two emotional and physical games against their arch rivals: It goes without saying how much both of these teams hate the ones they just beat to get here. Both of those games were emotionally charged and physically dominating. The Steelers were down to their last offensive linemen against the Ravens and the Jets seemed way too emotional after their victory over New England. Its funny to think that these two both could have a letdown game based on their come from behind victories over their rivals. Which team can channel their emotions and pick themselves up will have the advantage in this game.



As for the Packers and Bears, these teams have been going at each other for quite some time, since 1921 as a matter of fact and have the longest standing rivalry in the NFL. This is the first time they have met in the playoffs since 1941. They split this year’s games and now face each other with a chance to represent the NFC in the pro bowl. The familiarity between these two teams breeds hatred. Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith spares no punches in his dislike for the Packers. He purposely played his starters in the week 17 even though they had a playoff spot locked up.

1. Aaron Rodgers can you keep this up? Rodgers has been on tear since entering the playoff. He could have gone to jail the way he absolutely assaulted the Falcons secondary for 366 yards and 4 touchdowns. He can burn the defense with his legs as well as he has showed great mobility his entire career. He was actually second in the league in QB rushing yards under Michael Vick. The playoffs have been his coming out party but the Bears defense will want to change that.

2. Will the real Jay Cutler stand up? Cutler played like grizzled vet in his first playoff game against Seattle. He came out firing for the Bears and hit TE Greg Olsen a TD on his third play. He would finish 15/28 for 274 yards 2 touchdowns and no INTs. He also rushed for two more scores becoming the first QB since the great Otto Graham to have at least two throwing and two rushing touchdown in their first playoff game. Not Aaron Rodgers numbers or anything but still good enough. Cutler is always the one rub I have against Chicago because you never know which Cutler will show up. As a matter of fact, the two of his worse games of the season against this very Green Bay Packers team. Cutler’s actions will dictate how Chicago fares in this game.

3. Which defense will impose their will on the offense: There will definitely be no shortage of great defensive players on the field with the likes of Brian Urlacher, Charles Woodson, Lance Briggs, Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers. Both defenses played lights out football in their victories over the past weekend. It poses the question of which one will be superior in the NFC championship game. Both will have to be on their A-game as both quarterbacks come into the game hot and looking to make plays for their teams.



This should be a great weekend of football featuring the final four in the NFL. Who pegged these four teams as the final standing this year? That is the great thing about the NFL, you never know who will rise to the occasion. It will be Jets-Steelers and Bears-Packers for a chance to represent their conference in the Super Bowl.