NFL Power Rankings: Week 9

November 5, 2015November 12, 2015 Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Power Rankings NFL Power Rankings

1. New England Patriots (Last week: 1)
New England keeps on rolling. Miami was hot coming in but cooled off very quickly. The Patriots offensive line buckled a little but the defense shutdown the Dolphins ground attack. Hosting Washington should be a bit of a gimme for the king of the hill.

2. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 2)
That was really rough. The Bengals were lucky to escape Pittsburgh with a win. All day long, the defense held the Steeler offense in check, only surrendering 10 points. However, Andy Dalton had a week to forget. In the past, that used to cost the Bengals the game. They have taken a huge step forward by winning ugly.

3. Denver Broncos (Last week: 4)
It was only one week, but Peyton Manning finally showed up. He didn’t throw any touchdowns but he didn’t have to. The Denver running game got going and punched in three touchdowns. That defense continues to smother even the best offenses in the league. If the Broncos continue to play like this, they will be true contenders.

4. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 5)
Carolina seemed like they were in cruise control Monday night against Indy. Then they let the Colts crawl back into the game and force overtime. The Panthers still managed to pull of a big victory showing that they can win through adversity. They need to clean up the drops and the fumbles but the fact that they keep winning without playing at the top of their game.

5. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 3)
What on Earth just happened? The Packers had an awful outing in Denver. Aaron Rodgers had only 77 yards passing and the ground game sputtered. That is the worst performance we have ever seen out of Green Bay offensively with Rodgers taking all of the snaps. This week isn’t any easier with a trip to Carolina on the line. Green Bay needs to get back on track quickly.

6. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 7)
An early scare for the Cardinals saw them go down 20-7 to the Browns. Arizona turned things around in the second half and dominated Cleveland en route to a second half shutout. Carson Palmer continues to be an MVP candidate as he is tied with Tom Brady for the most touchdowns in the league.

7. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 10)
That was not pretty. Actually, it was downright terrifying. Minnesota went down 20-13 at Chicago with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter. They then scored 10 points in the final minute and 49 seconds to pull off a stunning comeback win. The Vikings were fortunate to win, but they still won.

8. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 8)
The Falcons looked like they had completely left last year behind them during their 5-0 start. Now, it seems like their 2014 form returned though over the last three weeks, losing two out of three to the Saints, Bucs and Titans. Atlanta is falling well behind the rival Panthers and looking at a wildcard spot as the only possibility for the postseason.

9. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 12)
Oakland has gone from a team that no one thought could make the playoffs to the fifth seed in the AFC field in just two weeks. Beating the Jets, and beating them convincingly, is a big step in the right direction for this young Raider team.

10. New York Jets (Last week: 6)
The hangover from the loss to the Pats continued with a rough loss to the Raiders. Todd Bowles will be pressing this team to have a better response this week after he counted 21 missed tackles on film from this past game. For a team who’s defense is supposed to be its strong point, they need to turn themselves around after allowing 30 plus points in consecutive weeks.

11. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 9)
The Steelers have not been able to stay healthy this season. Big Ben finally returned this week just in time for LeVeon Bell to suffer a season-ending injury. Pittsburgh is not completely out of it with DeAngelo Williams ready to take over but it is certainly a blow to this high-octane offense.

12. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 15)
The offense is middling outside of Todd Gurley but boy is that Gurley kid good! Gurley has the most yards per game this season among all running backs. That defense looks like it is the real deal as well with the fourth best scoring defense to this point. If they can hold up then St. Louis might be able to snag a wildcard spot.

13. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 13)
Richard Sherman shutdown Dez Bryant this week, but Dez was coming off a serious foot injury. The fact is, the Seahawks were very fortunate to win this game. Seattle’s offense has looked average at best this season and their record shows it.

14. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 19)
Don’t look now, but the Saints are back to .500 and very much in the wildcard picture. There is still some work to be done as they are behind Minnesota by a game and a half and the rival Falcons by two games but with only two games left on the schedule against teams that currently have winning records, New Orleans has to feel good about its chances.

15. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 14)
A week off for the Eagles hopefully did them well as they prepared for their rematch with the Cowboys. DeMarco Murray will have a chance to play in front of the fans who cheered him on last season. Philly needs to win this one if they have any hope of challenging for the division title.

16. New York Giants (Last week: 11)
Talk about a shootout! Eli Manning threw six touchdown passes against the Saints this weekend. The only problem was that Drew Brees threw seven. Very tough loss for the Giants and the offense looked stellar all game. Steve Spagnolo needs to sit down with his defense and figure out who is willing to actual cover guys this week in Tampa.

17. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 16)
This is just brutal. Indy lost again as Luck threw two picks and got beat up most of the night. The Colts seemed to find themselves late in the fourth quarter and even forced overtime but another costly mistake by the offense sent them home empty-handed. Yet, Indy still leads the AFC South with just three wins.

18. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 17)
The Bills took a break this week after their trip across the pond. With the Dolphins and Jets losing this week, Buffalo has to feel like they are still in a good place, only one game out of a playoff spot. They have to start winning though. Their next three games are all in the division which gives them a chance to make up that ground.

19. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 23)
The Chiefs might request to play every game in London soon. They blew out the Lions, which most teams do, and it was probably the best the Kansas City offense has looked all season. Charcandrick West is showing people that he too knows how to pound the rock behind that KC offensive front.

20. Washington (Last week: 20)
Coming off a bye, Washington has to be delighted that it is only a half game back of the division lead. They would lose the tiebreaker to the Giants and this week they play the Patriots but there is still some optimism.

21. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 18)
Well, Miami came back down to Earth. Fast. The Patriots demonstrated once again that they are still the bully in the AFC East and the Dolphins cannot contend with them yet. It was a blowout in every sense of the word. One that makes you wonder if those two straight wins were just a fluke.

22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 31)
Tampa Bay is fresh off a shocking upset of the Falcons. The Bucs are still a couple of years away from being a playoff team but this is a good sign. The defense played very well, flustering Matt Ryan early and often. Now they have a big game with the hapless Giants defense. Mike Evans might be in good shape for a huge week.

23. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 25)
Jacksonville has two wins on the season and is only one game behind the Colts for first place. That is simply unbelievable, especially given how poorly the Jaguars have played. If the offense centered around Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson and T.J. Yeldon can play consistently, the Jags have as much of a shot at this as anyone else.

24. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 22)
Right now, Cowboys fans are praying for forgiveness for the number of times they made fun of Tony Romo. It is pretty clear now that Romo makes or breaks this squad, who has lost five straight games since his injury.

25. Chicago Bears (Last week: 24)
It looked like the Bears would upset the Vikings. Then it looked like they were headed for overtime. Then the Bears lost. It was almost inexplicable really, yet Chicago made it happen. Now Matt Forte is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a knee injury. Things are really at a low point in the Windy City.

26. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 21)
The Chargers rank number one in the league for passing yards per game. They also rank number 29 for rushing yards per game. Giving Phillip Rivers some help on the ground is key going forward for San Diego, especially with leading receiver Keenan Allen now done for the year.

27. Houston Texans (Last week: 32)
It seems that every team I drop into the cellar wins the following week. The Texans continued that trend with a solid win over Tennessee. Houston is actually tied with the Colts for the AFC South lead but without Arian Foster, I don’t see the Texans making a playoff push.

28. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 26)
For a little while there, it looked as though Cleveland would shock the Cardinals as they lead 20-7. Then they stopped scoring, for the rest of the game. Now the Browns gear up for a divisional battle with the undefeated Bengals with Johnny Manziel at the helm. This could get really ugly, really fast.

29. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 29)
Well it looks like that break for the Ravens hasn’t come yet. Steve Smith tore his Achilles and will not return this season. Now, the leading receiver for Baltimore is Kamar Aiken. That definitely spells trouble.

30. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 28)
The 49ers needed to make a change. I don’t know if benching Colin Kaepernick was it. Kaepernick hasn’t been great but he doesn’t have much to work with. The defense has been miserable as well. This team seems struggle no matter what situation they are in.

31. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 27)
Turns out that moral victories weren’t enough to save Ken Wisenhunt’s job. Tennessee has lost six straight since its impressive opener. Marcus Mariota hasn’t been healthy but that is far from the only issue. Finding a running game is the next step for these rebuilding Titans.

32. Detroit Lions (Last week: 30)
A new era is underway in Detroit. The Lions fired their team president and general manager this morning. Already this year, Detroit dismissed their offensive coordinator. It is going to be a long rebuild where no one is safe. Definitely not Matt Stafford.

Gary Who?

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 Chris McGlynn Football, NFL Cleveland Browns, Gary Barnidge

Who the hell is Gary Barnidge? I’m guessing this was a pretty common search on Google over the past couple of weeks. The Cleveland Browns’ tight end has come out of nowhere to shock the league with his consistently dominant play at the position.

For a player who is playing so well, you have to wonder why we had never heard of him before. Well maybe he is really young? No, actually Barnidge is already 30 and playing in his eighth season in the NFL. Maybe he was buried on the depth chart? It’s the Browns. They do not have talented skill players for him to be buried behind. New quarterback gave him new life? Josh McCown is older than he is and not exactly a franchise QB.

There isn’t really an explanation for Gary Barnidge’s sudden emergence into the NFL spotlight. It sort of just happened.

Barnidge was drafted out of Louisville in the fifth round of the 2008 draft by the Carolina Panthers. Barnidge failed to record a catch in his rookie year. He also did not have a reception during the 2010 or 2011 NFL season. After the 2012 season, Barnidge made the move to Ohio. He didn’t see much of an uptick in production though, continuing as an unknown entity.

In fact, Barnidge’s career stat line heading into 2015 was 44 receptions for 603 yards and three touchdowns. That is probably an average season for most tight ends right there, potentially even a down year. It took Barnidge seven years to pile up those numbers.

There was no indication that anything had changed for the Browns’ tight end during the offseason. No one speculated that the 30-year old backup tight end for Cleveland was poised for a breakout season. That’s right backup. Barnidge did not start the first two games of the season for the Browns at tight end, sitting behind Jim Dray. He had very little production with just four catches for 55 yards and no scores.

Then, in Week 3, Barnidge exploded. He hauled in six catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, his first since 2013. Since then Barnidge hasn’t looked back.

On the year, Barnidge has 40 catches for 567 yards and six touchdowns. He ranks seventeenth in the league for both receptions and receiving yardage among all players. His half-dozen scores are tied for fourth. In all of those categories, he is second among tight ends behind only Rob Gronkowski.

Gronk is far and away the best tight end in the league, and the best one we have seen in some time. His 2015 stat line is 40 catches for 646 yards and 7 touchdowns. Barnidge really isn’t too far off from Gronk’s production this season. The former has player one more game than the latter this year but the latter also has Tom Brady as a quarterback. That is a slight upgrade over McCown.

This is one of the most bizarre stories of 2015. No one, and I mean no one, expected this. Barnidge has taken the league by storm. He is on pace to beat his career totals in receptions and receiving yards this upcoming week in just his ninth game of the season. Barnidge will likely be on that shortlist for the players making the trip down to Hawaii for the annual Pro Bowl as well if he continues his production.

Even if Barnidge begins to taper off down the stretch this is still one of the most impressive runs we have ever seen by a player who was previously so anonymous.

The only comparison I can make to Barnidge’s fast track to fame is actually to a former Cleveland player in Peyton Hillis. Much like Barnidge, Hillis came from nowhere to finish sixth in yards from scrimmage and tied third in total touchdowns.

However, Barnidge and Cleveland fans alike must hope that Barnidge is not a one-year wonder like Hillis. Following his tremendous 2010 campaign, Hillis never rushed for over 600 yards again and scored fewer touchdowns over the next three years than he did in that one season.

There is no telling how long Barnidge’s run will continue. For now, we must simply enjoy it while it lasts.

Carolina Cruisin’

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 Chris McGlynn Football, NFL Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers, Luke Kuechley

North Carolina. Known for barbecue, country music and hard-nosed football. Don’t look now, but the Carolina Panthers are bringing back an old-school style of play and they are really good at it.

Everything you hear about NFL offenses these days revolves around passing. In fact, the league is on pace to beat the record set in 2013 for most pass attempts per game across the entire league. At the same time, NFL teams are running the ball at a record-low rate. 2015 is on pace to be the fewest rushing attempts per game, breaking the previous low set in 2014, which beat the low mark set in 2013 before that. In short, passing is trending upwards and running is trending downwards.

That doesn’t seem to bother the Panthers though, who are determined to win by running the football. They have more rush attempts per game than anyone else in the league through the first eight weeks of the season. And they are pretty successful too as they lead the league in ground yards per game. This team has the look of the 2013 Seahawks, with a mobile quarterback and strong defense, except they rely even more heavily on the run.

On the other hand, Carolina seems pretty adverse to throwing the ball. The Panthers are attempting the fifth fewest passes per game and have the third fewest passing yards per game. Usually that is a recipe for disaster but these boys from Charlotte seem intent on bucking the trend.

Oh and did I mention that Carolina is undefeated. This is a winning brand of football.

At the helm of the offense is Cam Newton. The Auburn product has taken a little while to get to this point. Not so long ago, pundits criticized his maturity and questioned if he had the right tools to be an NFL quarterback. “Super Cam” is far from conventional but he is effective nonetheless.

Strictly looking at Newton’s stats without taking into consideration all sides of his game limits the understanding of how important a piece he has been this year for the Carolina offense. His completion percentage ranks second to last among qualified passers, only above Ryan Mallet’s. However, the Panthers rank seventh in the league in drop percentage, which certainly hurts Newton’s completion percentage.

Newton also ranks 28th out of 33 quarterbacks in yards per game average, which is far from stellar. However, his total yardage per game is much better. Cam has always been good with his legs and he leads all quarterbacks with 40.9 rushing yards per game. He also ranks 13th in the league in terms of rushing first downs. That’s right. In the league.

When you factor in Newton’s ability to use his athleticism to extend plays and drives, his short comings as a passer become a little more excusable, especially when he is punching in points. Newton has 11 touchdown passes on the year so far. He also has four rushing touchdowns, which ranks him fourth among all players. For passing and running touchdowns, Newton ranks tied for sixth in combined scores among quarterbacks. Clearly, the Panthers are doing something right because they are scoring the fourth most points per game.

Luke Kuechly — Kuechly lead the NFL in tackles in 2014.

While Carolina might be denying convention on offense, the defense is truly the unit to watch. They rank ninth in yards per game allowed and tenth in points per game allowed. They have played three games though without captain Luke Kuechly, who is still somehow in the top 50 for tackles, even though he has only played four games. Mario Addison, Shaq Thompson and Dwon Edwards have all missed time as well. Carolina has been one of the better defensive teams in the league despite all the injuries to its front seven. For a pass rush that already stacks up well with 20 sacks in seven games, getting healthy is bound to make it even better.

That defense is good at giving the ball back to the offense. Carolina is third in turnovers generated per game. This Panthers defensive unit is gritty and seems to be getting better as the year goes on.

It is far from perfect but it has worked thus far. It is scary to think that the Panthers have room to improve as well if Cam can improve on his accuracy and the receivers stop dropping the ball. With all of that room to improve, it is ridiculous that the Panthers have won 12 of their last 13 games dating back to last year without being seen as a complete team. This team has the mental toughness to be a true contender, as shown in a fourth quarter road comeback victory against Seattle and a tense overtime win against the Colts.

Carolina has officially put the rest of the league on alert with their gritty and old fashioned play so far. The question now is can anyone stop them.

How much longer is the NFL going to put up with Greg Hardy?

October 29, 2015October 30, 2015 Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Social Issues Dallas Cowboys, Greg Hardy

There are some players, no matter how talented they are, that just should not be playing in the National Football League (see Rice, Ray). Greg Hardy is quickly putting himself into that same category as someone who the NFL does not need playing.

It was well documented this offseason that Hardy was in a court battle over his domestic abuse incident involving his girlfriend. Hardy received a 10-game suspension from the NFL for the 2015 season, which he appealed and was then reduced to four games.

Hardy has been back on the field for only a limited time and he has made his presence felt. He picked up eight tackles and three sacks in his last two contests. However, it has been the impact Hardy has made off the field that is much more noticeable.

Obviously, Hardy is a man with character issues. Anyone who assaults his girlfriend and then defends it as if it wasn’t his fault has character issues. That was a risk for the Cowboys as soon as they signed him. Hardy is certainly a controversial figure but Dallas seemed to brush that aside.

Convincing yourself that you will be able to control a volatile player is a poor idea. The Cowboys clearly thought they had a handle on Hardy and boy were they wrong.

Somehow, Hardy walked away from this without a fine, suspension or any punishment from the team. That has to leave most fans scratching their heads and wondering why.

Well at least the Cowboys aren’t praising him for this kind of behavior, right?

Hold the phone, after all of that, Dallas not only isn’t having a reaction to Greg Hardy’s outburst, they want to give him a contract extension? Jerry Jones has seriously lost his mind here. In watching that first video of Hardy’s outburst from last Sunday, it is clear that he is a locker room cancer. He got into a fight with star wide receiver Dez Bryant over the issue. It seemed as though Bryant was telling Hardy that he was out of line and needed to respect the coaches. Bryant has never been the best at following team rules so if he thinks that Hardy is overboard then you know something is wrong.

It also shows how much Hardy only thinks about himself. He isn’t a team player at all and decided to take his anger out on a coach. If I were the Cowboys front office, I would’ve already suspended him for conduct detrimental to the team. Hardy is a menace of a player and not in a positive way.

If Dallas is unwilling to make the proper decision here, then the NFL needs to step in. Verbal confrontation with a coach is one thing but Hardy’s physical retaliation should be more than enough to warrant at least a fine. In all honesty, Hardy shouldn’t even be playing right now in the first place because his suspension should never have been overturned so I’m surprised that the league isn’t jump all over this situation.

Making excuses for players that have talent coupled with poor attitude can tear apart a team. We saw it happen to the 2012 Jets with Santonio Holmes. Jim Harbaugh turned out to alienate the entire locker room last year. Brandon Marshall even took shots at Jay Cutler over the last two years. Team’s can implode if they are distracted off the field issues. The Cowboys already sit at 2-5. You would think they’d realize that they need to turn things around.

It is not easy to punish a top player like Hardy when he is doing so much for your team on the field. But the Cowboys need to step up and take a stand. If they let this continue, Hardy becomes bigger than the team and gets to play by his own rules.

I’m tired of watching Greg Hardy be a bully. Hopefully, the NFL is too.

NFL Power Rankings: Week 8

October 28, 2015November 5, 2015 Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Power Rankings New England Patriots, NFL Power Rankings

1. New England Patriots (Last week: 1)
No change at the top as the Pats took care of the rival Jets. It was far from the best game New England has played this year. Actually it might have been their worst, with 12 total drops by receivers on Sunday. The fact that the Patriots won while not being at their best underlines just how talented this team is.

2. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 2)
An off week for Cincinnati allows the Bengals to gear up for the second half. Still undefeated with Andy Dalton playing the best football of his career and a plethora of offensive weapons, this is the best we’ve seen the Bengals in years.

3. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 3)
The bye allows the Packers to prep for Denver. This is one of the marquee matchups of the season. Green Bay’s high powered offense against Denver’s incredible defense. Aaron Rodgers is going to have his hands full dealing with Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware all night long.

4. Denver Broncos (Last week: 4)
Hopefully this bye week allowed the Broncos to figure out what on Earth to do about their offense. They rank third worst in rush yards per game and 14th in points per game. Plenty of those points have been defensive scores as well. If you factor out the defensive scoring, the Broncos’ offense is only averaging 19.2 points per game.

5. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 6)
Cam Newton had a bit of a rough outing against Philly. He threw for less than 200 yards and had three passes picked off. Still, the Carolina defense and run game got the job done. Carolina might be the most unpredictable undefeated team we have seen in some time.

6. New York Jets (Last week: 5)
Well they certainly gave the Pats a challenge, but the Jets could not stop the Patriots in crunch time. The Jets had a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter. The New York defense gave up two fourth quarter touchdowns and ended up losing by seven. Todd Bowles could not generate enough pressure on Brady without having to blitz. When the Jets did blitz, they paid for it.

7. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 9)
Bruce Arians and Carson Palmer almost mismanaged the clock into a loss. They gave Baltimore a chance late to tie the game but a game clinching interception bailed them out. Arizona has been shaky over the past few weeks but still have a healthy lead atop the NFC West.

8. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 7)
Whatever happened to that Atlanta offense that dominated the first five weeks, it has completely disappeared. In the past two weeks, the Falcons have 31 total points and five turnovers. They were fortunate to be playing the lowly Titans this past week otherwise Atlanta probably would’ve lost its second straight game.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 8)
The Steelers will be very happy to see Ben Roethlisberger take the field again. Youngster Landry Jones had a tough week against the Chiefs, throwing two interceptions. Pittsburgh’s offense only managed 13 points and looked like a team that lacked an identity. Their leader returning should right the ship just in time for a huge matchup with undefeated Cincy.

10. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 12)
Everyone proclaimed Teddy Bridgewater a game manager after a few weeks of mainly handing the ball off. He lit up the Lions though for 300+ yards and a pair of touchdowns. Minnesota is showing that it can adjust to play however it needs to get the win.

11. New York Giants (Last week: 16)
It was closer than it probably should have been but the Giants got a big divisional win at home. They find themselves back atop the NFC East and just in time as well. Dallas has Dez Bryant set to return this week with Tony Romo not too far behind. The Giants need to extend their lead now while they can.

12. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 18)
Huge win for the Raiders to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The scoreline does not reflect how dominant Oakland was in this game. Derek Carr outplayed Phillip Rivers. Latavius Murray almost outrushed the Chargers on his own. Great divisional win for the Silver and Black.

13. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 14)
Seattle got back on track with a good win against San Francisco. It wasn’t totally convincing for the Seahawks but they out played San Francisco all night. All of Seattle’s wins have come against teams well under .500 this season. They need to beat a good team before anyone buys into them again.

14. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 13)
Philly seemed headed in the right direction and honestly, they are still on course. Winning in Carolina was unlikely at best for the Eagles. The defense created some turnovers but the offense was no match for the Panther defense. Because of how weak the NFC East is across the board, Philly is still in the playoff picture but this team is way too inconsistent to be considered good.

15. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 19)
St. Louis has more yards per game and more points per game than only one team in the league. It turns out that it is division rival San Francisco. This was a solid win against Cleveland and Todd Gurley looks like a stud but the offense is far from complete. Nick Foles needs to start holding up on his end of the bargain.

16. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 10)
A huge comeback seemed imminent for the Colts as they continued to rack up points in the second half. However, Indy couldn’t overcome a very poor start and Andrew Luck threw multiple interceptions in his fourth game this season. Considering he’s only played five, that is a major concern.

17. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 11)
Buffalo probably wasn’t overly satisfied with their road trip overseas. The Bills made a fantastic comeback and pulled ahead in the fourth quarter, but failed to hold the lead. Jacksonville outplayed the Bills for a good chunk of the game and Buffalo’s offense looks inconsistent on a week-to-week basis.

18. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 20)
If this continues, Dan Campbell will be the mayor of Miami by season’s end. The Dolphins blew out two mediocre teams but they seem to have renewed fight in them. They are still on the outside looking in but they are definitely headed in the right direction. The real test comes this week against the Patriots.

19. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 23)
Two weeks and two wins for the Saints put them in a position to potentially salvage their season. They still have a bit of a ways to go but with wins over the Falcons and Colts, New Orleans has shown that they can hang with potential playoff teams.

20. Washington (Last week: 21)
Kirk Cousins is still pumped up! Washington pulled off the biggest comeback in franchise history this weekend in spectacular fashion. Alfred Morris and Matt Jones combined for just 34 yards on 15 carries and the defense got gashed by Doug Martin but the resilience Washington showed was impressive.

21. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 17)
After a great effort against Green Bay where they pushed the Packers to the brink, San Diego fell flat on its face against Oakland. The Raiders ran away with this game early and San Diego did not have enough time to catch up. It seems like Denver has the AFC West all but locked up.

22. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 15)
Matt Cassell played for the Cowboys at quarterback and it wasn’t much of an improvement for Dallas. Cassell threw a pick six against the rival Giants that ended up being the difference in the game. Dallas is hanging tough in most games but they still cannot get a win with Romo and Dez sidelined.

23. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 31)
Charcandrick West just made a name for himself in Kansas City. West posted 110 yards on a five-yard per carry average and scored a touchdown. The Chiefs don’t seem like they have any shot of making the playoffs but they knocked off a good team in Pittsburgh even if it was with Landry Jones at the helm.

24. Chicago Bears (Last week: 24)
It is a little troubling to see the Bears playing as poorly as they are. Matt Forte has been on fire and Alshon Jeffrey has been fantastic in his past two weeks. Yet, Chicago sits at 2-4. They haven’t had a tremendous amount of turnovers, but they have the second worst net point differential in the league. Piecing both sides of the game together has been tough for Bears to this point.

25. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 32)
I am not a fan of moving a team to London but the Jaguars might want to get on board with that movement. They got only their second win of the year at Wembley and it was a great win for them. Factions of Jaguars fans exist across the pond already. If any team is heading there, it will be Jacksonville.

26. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 25)
The offense came back down to Earth and the defense was gashed by Todd Gurley. Cleveland had been competitive this season with their last three loses all by one possession. The Browns looked outmatched in this one though and head home to take on the Cardinals. The road doesn’t get any easier for the Browns from here.

27. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 26)
Playing the Falcons close is a moral victory but Ken Wisenhunt isn’t very interested in those. The Titans had every opportunity to win this game against Atlanta. They led 7-3 at halftime and only gave up seven points the rest of the week. Unfortunately, for the defense, the offense never scored again. Not having Marcus Mariota hurt Tennessee and the lack of a running game hurt even more.

28. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 27)
Getting blown out at home by Seattle seems to be an annual occurrence for the 49ers. This one was particularly brutal as San Francisco only managed three points and never even looked like they had a shot of winning. Colin Kaepernick seems to slowly be losing favor in the locker room and among the coaches. Change will be coming soon in the Bay Area.

29. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 30)
Someone give the Ravens a break! Baltimore lost all communication between the sideline and quarterback Joe Flacco on the game ending drive against Arizona. The Ravens had some bright spot but it all goes down as another loss.

30. Detroit Lions (Last week: 28)
Detroit failed to get the Minnesota offense off the field and could not hold the ball long when they had the chance. The Lions need to find some success running the football and then do it consistently to keep the pressure of Matt Stafford. The offensive coaching staff got a shake up so we will have to see if that changes anything.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 29)
It seemed like the Buccaneers had a win locked up in Washington up 24-7 at halftime. Tampa ended up losing by one after Washington scored the decisive touchdown with under a minute left. The Bucs have a great young core but it is a long way from developed.

32. Houston Texans (Last week: 22)
There is a possibility that the Texans would have given up 70 points in this game if the Dolphins had kept their foot on the peddle. Down 41-0 at halftime, Houston made a feeble attempt at a comeback and fell well short. Ryan Mallett got his walking papers on Monday and Arian Foster’s season ended with an Achilles injury. The Texans’ season is quickly spiraling out of control.

The Aftermath

When sporting news breaks, we cover the fallout.

NFL

NFL Power Rankings: Week 9

Gary Who?

Carolina Cruisin’

NFL Power Rankings: Week 8

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