Writing the Pine

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Anderson’s NFL Power 10: Week 3 Edition

Ideally, I would prefer to post these power rankings after the Monday Night game, but neither team would crack the Top 10 regardless of the outcome. So without further ado, here is this week’s NFL Power 10:

1) New York Giants (3-0) – The G-Men took care of business as expected against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Eli Manning was effective once again and the Giants defense was superb as they did allow a single first down during the entire first half of the game. That’s a remarkable feat. I’m not even sure that happens in a college game where USC goes up against an opponent like San Jose State. The running game finally came alive this season as Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw imposed their wills on the game. Jacobs still has room for improvement as he is trying to be too cute at the line of scrimmage by shifting east and west too much. C’mon Brandon, you’re 6′4, 264 pounds; this ain’t a ballet!

2) Minnesota Vikings (3-0) – I got a lot of heat last week from my loyal Writing the Pine readers for ranking the Vikings this high. Let me clarify this point: these rankings are based on a combination of a team’s talent, week to week performance, and how they are projected to finish the season. The Vikings won the NFC North last season with a dominant running game, a dominant defense, and no quarterback. I think Sunday’s Week 3 miracle proved that there is indeed a legit quarterback now in Minnesota. Sure, he might look older than our president and sure, no one in our generation can relate to the Wrangler Jeans that he endorses, but Brett Favre is a difference maker, when healthy, on any team. On a day where an underrated 49ers defense contained Adrian Peterson from running wild, Brett Favre had to do much more than asked during the past few weeks. He answered the call in a big way with a last second touchdown throw despite getting hit by two linemen. These Vikings are indeed legitimate Super Bowl contenders with Number 4 under center.

3) New Orleans Saints (3-0) – There’s been a lot of talk about Drew Brees shattering not only Dan Marino’s record for yards this year, but also Tom Brady’s record of 50 touchdowns that he established 2 seasons ago. This talk has been provoked by his two masterpiece performances to start the season. However, on a day where the Buffalo Bills defense didn’t allow a single touchdown to the early frontrunner for MVP, the Saints proved that they are much more multi-dimensional than they have been in seasons past. The running game carried the offense as Pierre Thomas, who didn’t play until the second half as he is easing his workload following a sprained MCL that he sustained during the preseason, broke the 100 yard mark and hauled off two touchdowns. Thomas bruised and punished the defense late in the game and definitely left his mark despite only two quarters of play. The defense also shined as they were relentless in pressuring Trent Edwards after Sean Payton had called out the underachieving defensive front four of the Saints by recording SEVEN sacks. Remember that this D-line has 3 former first round draft picks in Charles Grant, Will Smith, and Sedrick Ellis. The secondary has shown its improvement, not allowing Terrell Owens a single catch, something that hasn’t happened in 158 games. Rookie Malcolm Jenkins, although seeing limited action on defense, has been a stud on special teams, forcing his 2nd turnover of the season.

4) New York Jets (3-0) – Another win for the Jets and another win due to the Jets number one ranked defense. This Jets defense certainly had talent last year, but it took the arrival of Coach Rex Ryan’s scheme to put it all together. The main theme of this unit is aggression. Ryan dials up blitzes, both run and pass blitzes, about 2/3s of the time. Their defensive look on third down is scary. Opposing quarterbacks know that the Jets are sending the entire house at him, yet they seem completely helpless against it. Imagine 8 MMA fighters rushing at you immediately once you snap the ball. The two MVPs of this team are Kris Jenkins and Darrelle Revis. Jenkins seemingly finds a way to always make it to the backfield, disrupting any semblance of a running game. Meanwhile, Revis is making a strong case for being the 3rd best corner in the league after Nnamdi Asomugua and Champ Bailey. Next week’s matchup pits my number 3 team against my number 4 team. That will be a great game: a classic chess match of a aggressive defense against an aggressive offense.

On a sidenote, check out the post game press conference http://www.nfl.com/videos/new-york-jets/09000d5d812f6601/Jets-postgame-press-conference. Bart Scott gives the media an emphatic How Dare You.

5) Baltimore Ravens (3-0) – The Ravens played a complete game on both sides of the ball today. The defense was very disruptive and forced a quarterback change at halftime as we might have seen the last of Brady Quinn. The offense was balanced yet again. Joe Flacco threw for over 300 yards without a turnover and the duo of Willis McGahee and Ray Rice seem to be wearing down defenses. Their schedule has been somewhat favorable early on. I’d be interested in seeing how the offense performs against the Steelers defense.

6) Indianapolis Colts (3-0) – I must admit: I did my power rankings for Week 2 prior to the Monday Night game. I also wrote the Indianapolis Colts off for dead after losing Anthony Gonzalez and Bob Sanders to injury, not to mention the turnover on the coaching staff. Yes, ‘How dare me?’ At the end of the day, any Peyton Manning led team will find its way into the playoffs. And based on that fact alone, they should probably never fall out of the Power 10. After leading his team to victory on Monday Night against a gritty Miami Dolphins team despite the offense being on the field for approximately 15 minutes total in the game, Manning delivers a masterful performance against a sturdy Arizona Cardinals defense. He looked like the dominant Peyton Manning that set the record for touchdowns several seasons back before Tom Brady broke it two seasons ago. Cris Collinsworth made a great point about the Colts defense: If a team is playing from behind from the Colts, they are extremely difficult to beat as Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis are two of the best pass rushers in the league. Kurt Warner took a licking all night.

7) New England Patriots (2-1) – The Patriots had a nice bounce back win this week against a very talented Atlanta Falcons team. The defense stepped up to the challenge. Bill Belichick seemingly finds ways to substitute in players that he loses and prevents opposing offenses from going off on the scoreboard. Simply put, the guy’s got a brilliant offensive mind. With all of the turnover on the defensive side of the ball, I challenge anyone to name 5 players on defense that were active for the game this week. Tom Brady played an efficient game, but still left a number of plays out there. Perhaps the loss of Wes Welker hurts the team more than we give him credit for.

Atlanta Falcons (2-1) – There was a lot of buildup for the Falcons coming into New England. Matt Ryan was coming back home to play against the Patriots and quite frankly, this was supposed to be a statement game for the Atlanta Falcons (it seems like any team that plays the Patriots will be in for a statement game that week). The offense, even with all of its talent, fell flat, only putting up ten pitiful points on the scoreboard. And even though the Carolina Panthers appear to be regressing, the Falcons need to keep pace with the Saints in the race for the NFC South crown.

9) Green Bay Packers (2-1) – The Packers took care of business this week against a team that now holds the longest losing streak dating back to last season in the St. Louis Rams. It took a while, but the Packers offense finally woke up. Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback, but his biggest issue is that he’s holding the ball way too long. He’s been taking an excessive amount of sacks seemingly in the past few weeks. A sack on any drive will serve as a drive killer and that’s what the story was for the Packers for much of the first half. The defense was great though as expected against a weak Rams offense. Is Greg Jennings’s injury more serious than the team is letting on?

10) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2) – Another last minute loss for the Steelers. Each of their 3 games now has come down to the wire, I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed that. They just can’t seem to close out games. Part of that is poor play by the offensive line which trickles down to their running game and their ability to run out the clock. That’s always been the a staple of the Steelers’ bread and butter to close out games. On the defensive side, although the unit is still playing well, they are missing Troy Polamalu’s ballhawking ability to create turnovers. I know it’s early, but it’s worth noting that the Steelers are now third in their division behind the Ravens (3-0) and the Bengals (2-1, though they should really be 3-0). Some adjustments need to be made. The panic button needs to be pressed right now for the defending Super Bowl Champions.