Sportaholic NFL Power Rankings Week 9

 Another week and another shuffle in the rankings. The NFL has been so weird this year. You usually can count on one or two dominant teams but not this year. This has become the year of the unknown. We never know from week to week which teams will show up. There are a few consistent teams ( Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New York Jets) as far as winning, but they are not ripping teams apart. A few teams are playing as well as can in the situation their in ( Indianapolis and Green Bay) and then you have the upstarts, who are no longer the push overs they use to be (Kansas City, Oakland, and even Detroit). Now with that being said, I present to you the week 9 rankings.

1.Baltimore Ravens (6-2) - Its looks like that Bills game was a fluke. I had been reluctant to put them in the top spot without seeing a dominant performance from them and I finally got what I was looking for out of them against Miami. Ray Rice is an underrated back and I always come away impressed with his play when I get a chance to see him. Joe Flacco had a great game going 20/27 for 266 yards 2 TDs no Ints.The addition of Ed Reed has put playmaking back into their secondary as well. They added another playmaker on the offense in Donte Stallworth as too. The Ravens and Pittsburgh will battle the whole season for the AFC north crown.

2.Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) - The Steelers came out dominant at first against the Bengals but had a hard time putting them away. Ben Roethlisberger was less than spectacular but got the job done. They got more than enought breaks from the lowly Bengals (How can this team be so bad at the simple things?) Hopefully James Harrison won't be hearing from the league for his hit on Jordan Shipley, it looked perfectly legal to me. Pittsburg just keeps chugging along beating the teams that they are suppose to. Thats what champions do.

3. New York Jets (6-2) - This is the hardest team in the league to predict on a week to week basis. They almost lost to Detroit, if it wasn't for the last moment heroics. They have a young offense and that leads to inconsistency. Speaking of consistency, Mark Sanchez has to learn to stop thinking so much and just go play some football. The Jets did have the run game working as Tomlison and Shonne Greene combined for 101 yards rushing and 114 yards receving. And the one thing they can always count on is Sexy Rexy's defense.

4. New York Giants (6-2) - Welcome to the rankings Giants (and NFC). The New York football Giants defensive line have become the most domineering and destructive force in the league. They now have taken out Matt Hasselback, Tony Romo (for the season), Jay Cutler, and Matt Moore. This was their recipe for the Super Bowl last time they won in 2008. I know somewhere in Dallas, Jon Kitna is paranoid and he should be.

5.New England Patriots (6-2) - Previously number one ranked New England makes a mighty stumble. I know by the look on Bill Belicheck's face that he hates losing to his former protege Eric Mangini. The Browns actually showed the blueprint for beating the Pats. They ran the ball effectively racking up 230 yards, 184 of those coming from Peyton Hillis (Boy does that trade for Brady Quinn is looking awfully good now). They flustered Tom Brady with with a variety of fronts and coverages, which is the only way to stop him. It's hard to imagine the Browns soundly beating New England at every phase of the game like they did. You have to love the trick play they ran on the goal line with Chansi Stuckey and Josh Cribbs as well. New England will bounce back but that sure was an ugly loss.

Other News and Notes from the league:

The Channing Crowder and Le'ron McClain incident has grown legs. Now Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano is confirming that the Ravens fullback spit in the face of Crowder. I saw the replay of the incident but never saw anything come out of McClain's mouth. Even though I didn't see it, it's hard to say that Crowder would have got that upset if he didn't. The league will review it and if McClain did, he will be fined .

If you saw the Austin Collie hit when it happend, what was your initial reaction to it? I personally don't think it was a dirty hit. It's just football and the nature of the game itself. Collie tried to get down after making the catch but was in between two defenders with another one trying to get out of the way. Its unfortunate the way it turned out. If Quiton Mikell and Kurt Coleman get fined for that, then the rule is officially ridiculous. Even two of Collie's teammates (Aaron Francisco and Jacob Lacey) stated that it was a clean hit. Everyone should hope Collie is ok and makes a full recovery.

Phillip Rivers just won't let the Chargers give up. He is single handely keeping the Chargers season alive. Rivers has had to deal with various reasons for his top four receivers being out. Vincent Jackson had the whole holdout thing and Antonio Gates, Legedu Nanee and Malcolm Floyd all being out with various injuries. He has had to make due with practice squad receivers with rookie Seyi Ajirotutu catching two touchdowns passes last game. The guy just has a will to win and has thrown for 2,944 yards through nine games, 357 more than any other quarterback. He is on pace to break Dan Marino's all -time season mark. I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks it or if San Diego comes back to win the division with Rivers at the helm.

Wade Phillips almost wasn't the first coach to get fired this season. Brad Childress almost got that distinction after he made the impromptu decision to cut Randy Moss, without consulting owner Zygi Wilf. You know that is kind of important Brad. If you going to cut a future hall of famer, you might just want to tell the guy who owns the team not to mention you cost your team 3rd round draft pick. Wilf reportedly so upset he responded by almost firing the embattled Childress rather than cutting Moss. The Vikings owner surveyed his players to see what the atmosphere was like. Fortunate for Childress, Wilf backed off. But now the coach will be based on a week to week performance. The victory they pulled out against Arizona was unbelievable. Favre rescued the Vikings season and his coach's job.

And Finally, what is your over/under on Jason Garrett remaining the coach in Dallas after this season? I say its about 50/50 at best. Jones will let Garrett audition but it really is unfair to Garrett. He has the same players who cost Wade Phillips his job. I will say their is no motivation like knowing your job is on the line. Everyone will be on the hook if they continue to play the way they have been. If Garrett doesn't get the job done, Jones will be relentless in finding a big name coach to fill the vacancy.

I don't necessarily think that you have to go after the big name coach in order for the team to be successful but I'm sure Jerry will chase the big names first. Just look at Mike Tomlin, Jim Harbaugh and Mike Smith.They all have had success and were not big name at the time of their hiring. If Jerry does chase, Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden seem like good hires. Cowher has a track record as a disciplinarian and would add some needed direction in that department but a lot of sources are saying he won't be interested in the position because of the authority Jerry Jones would want to exert on him. As for Gruden, he would come into a similar situation as the one he had in Tampa Bay. There are players in place but the culture of the team needs to be changed. He is a football man in every pore of his body. I think he could turn around the team. Hopefully they can get someone, even if it's not the big name to turn the fortunes of the franchise around for America's team.

Titans vs. Chargers game review

The Titans extended their losing streak to the San Diego Chargers losing 33-25 in San Diego Sunday. The lost snapped the Titans three game win streak and extended the Chargers win streak over the Titans to eight games dating back to 1993. They continue to be the only team Jeff Fisher has not defeated in the league, and for some reason just have the Titans number.

The game started out well for the Titans when they got a blocked punt by Nick Schommer for a safety to give them a two point lead and the ball. The Chargers would come back to score later in the first quarter on a 15 play 83 yard drive topped off by a 1-yard run by Mike Tolbert. Vince Young looked sharp to open the second quarter completing passes to rookie Damien Williams and Lavelle Hawkins. He would later connect for a one yard touchdown pass to TE Craig Stevens. San Diego would go three and out and their next drive and the Titans would score again on their next, this time on the legs on Chris Johnson for a 29-yard burst. Johnson looked to be surrounded in the back field but was able to cut back and make two defenders miss and got a great block from Vince Young. It was just a beautiful run and really the lone highlight ofJohnson’s day. He would finish with 15 carries for just 59 yards and that one touchdown.

San Diego would march right back down the field on the next play and score to make it 19-14 and that would be the score going into halftime.

The third quarter is when things begin to slip away from the Titans. The offense began to sputter leading to three consecutive punts in the third. San Diego on the other hand found their rhythm and scored on a field goal from Kris Brown and a game breaker touchdown from Antonio Gates. Phillip Rivers would find him streaking up the sidelines for a 48- yard strike. That score gave all of the momentum to the Chargers heading into the fourth quarter.

Even with uncle mo on the side of the Chargers, Vince Young and the Titans were not finished. Young would find Nate Washington for a 71 yard bomb deep down the middle on the Titans first drive in the fourth. The Titans would try a two-point conversion but would fail making the game 25-27 in San Diego’s favor. The Chargers again would roar back and score a touchdown on an 8 play 52 yard drive capped by a Phillip Rivers pass to Darren Sproles for 13 yards. San Diego would have a bad snap on the extra point forcing Kris Brown to run and get tackled without ever attempting the extra point. This was important as it kept it a one possession game for the Titans at 33-25.

On the Titans next drive, Vince Young would go down with an apparent ankle/Achilles injury. He would finish the game 10/21 for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Kerry Collins would enter the game in mop up duty for Young. Collins would lead the last drive for the Titans but to no avail as Chris Johnson would drop his pass on a fourth and two that would seal the victory for the Chargers. “It was just a dropped ball, that’s about it, a play I was supposed to make,” Johnson said. “I make it nine out of 10 times but it was just a dropped ball.”

Said Collins: “We just couldn’t hook up for whatever reason. It’s unfortunate because we fought our butts off to get down there

The Titans fought hard but could not pull out another tough close game. The Chargers are a desperate team and finally played like it. Phillip Rivers would finish 27-36 for 305 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was able to dissect the Titans defense and throw for big gains. The Titans have a bye week next Sunday and it will give them a chance to evaluate their season to this point and to get all of the injured healthy. They should be very happy with a 5-3 record but also disappointed with two close losses to Denver and San Diego. They could easily be 7-1 at this point. Their next game is Nov. 14th at the Miami Dolphins.