Jacksonville Jaguars @ Carolina Panthers I know Cam Newton has a lot of passing yards, but the Panthers don't run the ball no anymore. Wondering why the team paid halfback DeAngelo Williams all that cash in the offseason has to be a question many have. Carolina has given him the ball just 22 times so far. His backup, Jonathan Stewart, ran for 1,133 yards in 2009 and has only 23 touches. Newton leads the team in rushing attempts and yards, besides being the only Panther to run for a score this season so far. I don't care how good Newton is, that is a questionable strategy offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski is implementing. This team needs to run to win! For all of that passing, the winless Panthers are still only 18th in scoring amongst NFL teams so far. Their defense is 26th in points allowed, thanks to the fact star middle linebacker Jon Beason was lost for the season after getting hurt in Carolina's first game. They should move up this week after facing a Jaguars team that has one player, Maurice Jones-Drew, who can actually do something with the football. Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio's gamble on cutting David Garrard has looked dumb so far because his replacement, Luke McCown, was horrible. Now Jacksonville is starting their rookie quarterback earlier than expected because of this. Blaine Gabbert can't do any worse than McCown, but he will most likely feed MJD the ball 30 times or more. That will be the key here. Jaguars 23 Panthers 21 Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings The Donovan McNabb Era has gone so swimmingly that Vikings fans are calling for rookie Christian Ponder. Minnesota can't seem to score and they are ranked 31st in the league in passing. Detroit is doing just what many all thought they would be doing. This team is for real. Watch them play and see what I mean. Lions 34 Vikings 20 San Francisco 49ers @ Cincinnati Bengals Not only did the Bengals top receiver, Jerome Simpson, get busted with illegal smoke by the Feds the other day, Cincinnati just found out top running back Cedric Benson is being suspended three games. Guess Benson can go finish out his jail time now after his appeal either reduces his sentence or gets rejected next Tuesday. The Niners blew a win last week, but that is because Alex Smith is one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. I predict Smith is going to be benched within the three weeks. But the 49ers are upset enough over last week to win this one. 49ers 24 Bengals 19 Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns OK, the Browns are not as good as I thought they would be. They are young, so I still feel Cleveland will be good by the end of the year. Miami is the better team here, especially after finding a good running back in rookie Daniel Thomas last week Dolphins 27 Browns 24 New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills Every NFL fan should be happy the Bills are 2-0 right now. But the dream stops here. A reality check is coming in the form of Tom Brady. Buffalo might have success against a beat up New England defense that has given up a ton of yards already, but the undefeated Patriots ride on Brady's abilities. Patriots 37 Bills 27 New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles Michael Vick completed 43 percent of his passes against a blitzing Giants defense last year. Now he is hurting with a neck injury because his blocking is horrible. Still, the New York secondary is destroyed by injuries and Eli Manning has been mediocre at best this season. Though he thinks he in a elite NFL quarterback, the question is : do elite quarterbacks lead a 27th ranked scoring offense with just a 80 QB rating? That rating goes down more against the three Pro Bowl cornerbacks Philadelphia has, as well as the fact starting wide receiver Mario Manningham will not play and the other starter, Hakeem Nicks, is dinged up. Eagles 30 Giants 21 Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans The Titans shocked the NFL in Week 2 by beating the Baltimore Ravens handily despite no running game to speak of. Chris Johnson looks like a guy who didn't go to training camp with his 77 yards on 33 carries. But the Tennessee defense is the story They are ranked fourth in the league in points allowed and it is hard to pass the football against them. The Titans already have forced eight turnovers in two games. Denver needs to run the football well this week. They can't rely on just chucking passes all day, so maybe Tim Tebow will run a few option plays since that is about all he is good for right now. Titans 20 Broncos 10 Houston Texans @ New Orleans Saints Since 1950, only 11 running backs have run for over 100 yards in the first two games of their careers. This list includes Hall of Famers Earl Campbell and Marshall Faulk. Another guy is this list is Ben Tate of the Texans. Look for him do get his third easily against a terrible Saints run defense. New Orleans star quarterback Drew Brees will be testing out Wade Phillips revamped Houston defense. The Texans rank first in both points and yards allowed so far. This will be the difference as that explosive Texans offense wears down a mediocre Saints defense. Texans 38 Saints 27 New York Jets @ Oakland Raiders Watching the Raiders blow a win against Buffalo last week was ugly. While Oakland can score points, they cant stop opponents from scoring. The Raider have scored and given up 58 points, not a formula for success. The Jets do not let opponents score often. Oakland's rushing attack is there best strength, while the Jets run defense is that squads best strength. Plus New York needs to stay on a winning pace with their division rival New England Patriots. Jets 34 Raiders 20 Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers The Chiefs are going so bad right now, head coach Todd Haley will be lucky to to win five games all year. All of their best players are getting hurt so bad, they are lost for the season. The Chargers offense is just too powerful for a depleted Kansas City squad. San Diego is also upset over losing last week. Chargers 42 Chiefs 14 Baltimore Ravens @ Saint Louis Rams The Ravens got embarrassed last week after embarrassing the Pittsburgh Steelers the week before. Saint Louis is going to attack a suspect Ravens secondary that is ranked 28th in passing yards allowed. With deep threat Lee Evans out this week, Baltimore will need to rely on the run game and young tight ends. Sam Bradford won't have wide receiver Danny Amendola to throw to, so Mike Sims-Walker will need to play big. Even if Rams star halfback Steven Jackson suits up this weekend, he may be best served in the passing attack since Baltimore is stout against the run. Ravens 24 Rams 21 Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Game of the Week This could be a helluva battle! The Bucs rediscovered a run game last week, which hasn't been seen since 2010, and this will helps against a mediocre Falcons defense that is 28th in points allowed and 27th in yards allowed. Tampa Bay cannot lean on the passing game as much as they have the first two weeks. Matt Ryan has been inconsistent so far, but the quarterback did help Atlanta come back in a thrilling win last week. Pro Bowl halfback Michael "Burner" Turner has been the Falcons biggest star this year, which is not a good deal for a Buccaneers defense ranked 31st in run defense and 28th in total yards allowed. The best run game should win this, which is why I am going with Atlanta. Falcons 23 Buccaneers 17 Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears The Bears have played no team more than they have the Packers. Though they are 91-83-6 against Green Bay, the franchises have met just twice in the postseason. The last time was in a 2010 NFC Championship Game where the Packers prevailed 21-14. In the three games the teams played in last year, every contest was decided by a one score difference. The 2011 Bears season is looking a lot like 2010, where the defense is carrying a erratic offense. The Bears offense needs to step up this week because the Packers have the worst pass defense in the NFL after giving up 800 yards in the air already. But the Packers got weapons galore on offense. Plus they take care of the football by not turning it over. The secondary is the weakness of the Chicago defense, so I expect Aaron Rodgers to pick them apart when he needs it most. Packers 23 Bears 21 Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks Snoozeville! Let's see if Larry Fitzgerald has a big day. Cardinals 30 Seahawks 20 Pittsburgh Steelers @ Indianapolis Colts OK, Indianapolis quarterback Kerry Collins is already banged up and hasn't even been in the Colts system for two months. This is not a good sign when facing an angry Steelers team still seething for having their butts kicked two weeks ago. Curtis Painter may be forced in if Collins struggles, and he was less than impressive in preseason. Steelers 34 Colts 10 Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys This rivalry is like all NFL rivalries today. Watered down by free agency, so these battles have A LOT less meaning to the players involved these days. Dallas is banged up good and the undefeated Redskins are healthy. If Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan doesn't almost blow a win again with his suspect play calling, like how he about forgot the run game in the second half of last weeks win after halfback Tim Hightower had dominated the first half, then Washington should get their 39th win in 101 games versus Cowboys thanks to their solid defense. Redskins 27 Cowboys 24 Power Rankings 1. Green Bay Packers 2. Houston Texans 3. New York Jets 4. New England Patriots 5. Detroit Lions 6. Washington Redskins 7. Buffalo Bills 8. Atlanta Falcons 9. Philadelphia Eagles 10. Baltimore Ravens 11. Pittsburgh Steelers 12. Chicago Bears 13. Tennessee Titans 14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 15. New Orleans Saints 16. San Diego Chargers 17. Oakland Raiders 18. New York Giants 19. Dallas Cowboys 20. Cincinnati Bengals 21. Jacksonville Jaguars 22. Arizona Cardinals 23. Minnesota Vikings 24. Miami Dolphins 25. San Francisco 49ers 26. Cleveland Browns 27. Saint Louis Rams 28. Denver Broncos 29. Seattle Seahawks 30. Carolina Panthers 31. Indianapolis Colts 32. Kansas City Chiefs
you just lost all credibility with me. the niners didnt lose because of alex smith. he looked pretty freaking good. we lost because the defense started playing zone defense / prevent. if we had stuck to the man and blitzing we would had won.
Pats at #4? For real? Behind the Jets, who barely won their first game. And the Texans? Definitely disagree with that list. Although I like the Lions at 5. And the Saints at 15, 3 behind the Bears, who they just dominated. The Saints played GB, your #1 ranked team down to the wire. They should be waaaaay higher. Really don't like this list.
I think those are crap ranking just cause ure 2-0 shouldent autimaticly put you ahead of someone. The skins im not buying that there good and the pats like someone said 4 really? There 1 easily
Yea I don't have a problem with the Packers at #1. They look fantastic. So far the Patriots and Packers look like 1 and 1A.
