NFL Top 10, week 2

ANFL Top 10, after Week 2

There are a lot of questions about this year’s NFL teams, which makes it very interesting. Key injuries, surprise wins, surprise losses make this very interesting, and it’s only after week 2. So how in the world can we possibly make a top 10 after only two games?

Easy! We just force one!

To be honest, this isn’t fair to make a top 10 this early, but just for the sake of argument, I wanted to see if I could create a top 10 of the NFL teams this year. The easy thing to do is to simply assume that every 2-0 squad is immediately credible, but that may not be so much the case. But it’s our starting point as we begin to name the top 10 NFL teams, as of the end of week 2:

Before we begin, we need to first make a list of all the 2-0 teams:

Giants, Vikings, Falcons, Saints, 49ers, Jets, Colts, Ravens and Broncos. That’s the list of 9 teams that are currently undefeated…so it might be assumed that all 9 should be in the top 10, right?

Maybe.

But this also means we must include some 1-1 teams, and right now they number 14, meaning we have to decide the ten best teams out of over 20, as of only the second week of the season.

Ugh.

Well, after doing my math, I came up with my top 10, but before I do, let me start with the team that just missed out on the cut, and why:

MISSED CUT: Minnesota Vikings 2-0

See, technically the Vikings should have made it, since there were in fact 9 undefeated teams, but I looked at all the other teams that were 2-0 and 1-1 and to be honest, I can’t place the Vikings as a top 10 team, not yet. Beating the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions proves nothing, even though the Vikings do score 28 points to the good. But until they beat tougher foes, I can’t put them on the top 10, not yet.

#10 Buffalo Bills (1-1)

This team SHOULD have been 2-0, with that wacky loss to New England, and their win over Tampa Bay has them 12 points more than they give up, not bad for a 1-1 team. We saw that the Bills may just be as good as advertised, but how long before Mouth Almighty, Tongue Everlasting (TO) starts to undermine the team? As long as they are winning he will be quite…but another loss or two, watch out for fireworks.

#9 Chicago Bears (1-1)

To me this might be the best 1-1 team in the NFL, having lost to the Packers but beating the Superbowl Champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The question here is all about the quarterback, who plays kinda like a werewolf. You just never know what you’re going to get out of Cutler, and with the defense wounded, this could cause some problems as the season goes on. One would have to think that the Bears will lean heavily on an already limping defense, but they are good enough to get the job done.

#8 Denver Broncos (2-0)

I very nearly wanted to place the Broncos even lower, because their two wins are based off beating the Bengals and Browns…and how much noise did THEY make last year? But I was more impressed with their wins than over 2-0 Minnesota, even though the Broncos scored 26 points more than their opponents, while the Vikings scored 28 points more. But between those two, I gave the nod to the Broncos because well, ANYBODY can beat the Lions…

#7 Indianapolis Colts (2-0)

There is a lot of transition going on with the Colts, and one wonders if they can hold serve in their own division. With wins over the Jaguars and the Dolphins, they Colts look ok, but of all the 2-0 teams in the NFL at this moment, the Colts have the slimmest margin of points over their opponents, with a +6. That’s hard to figure out when you have Peyton Manning, and something they better fix soon or they won’t remain undefeated for long.

#6 San Francisco 49ers (2-0)

I realize this might be a bit premature, but hey, it’s only the second week. I put the 49ers here because they won two division games already, one over the Cardinals, who just came off a Superbowl loss. But many have questioned the strength of the NFC West, and I am one of them. They do manage to score 17 points more than their opponents in total, which kinda splits it to like 8 points a game. I don’t think they’ll get any better IF they sign Michael Crabtree (greedy rascal), but I also don’t see this perfect record going too much longer either. Still, two wins over division foes isn’t bad.

#5 New Orleans Saints (2-0)

Talk about 5 hour energy! My home town is racking up the points, having the highest point differential in the NFL after 2 weeks. The Saints have scored 44 points more than their opponents, which averages to like 22 points MORE per game than the opponent. This is a high maintenance machine, but I placed it at number 5 because well, you did beat the Lions…ho hum….and you also beat a wounded Philadelphia team. That does not mean the Saints are a joke, you can’t score tons of points unless you are good, but we will see when they play tougher competition.

#4 Baltimore Ravens (2-0)

People are still talking about that Ray Lewis hit at the end of the game…wow, what a STOP! And beating the Chargers in their house means the Ravens mean business. Add to this some offensive attacks and you may have a pretty tough team in Baltimore. I placed them here because of the impressive win over the Chargers, but not any higher because one of their wins was against the Chiefs, who wasn’t exactly burning up the charts last year. The Ravens average about 10 points more than their opponents per game, which is pretty impressive since the Ravens aren’t known for their offense.

#3 New York Jets (2-0)

Wow, who woulda thought… well, somebody did. And right after Brett Farve left them too. At 2-0 the Jets are one of the top 5 scoring teams in the NFL. They have 24 points total more than their opponents, which averages to about 12 points per game more than teams they play. With wins over the Texans and the Patriots, all eyes look to the AFC East and this team to make noise. They look for real, but one wonders…beating the Texans isn’t saying too much, and is this a down year for the Pats? If so, are the Jets as good as the record… or just Jesting…..

#2 Atlanta Falcons (2-0)

There is no more mystery about Matt Ryan, and the Falcons have beaten the Dolphins and the Panthers…two teams that were decent last year. There is a lot of promise for the team, and with offensive weapons it is likely to see this team hovering near the playoffs by the end of the season. But is Carolina just that bad this year, and what of the Saints? Can Atlanta best the Buccs twice? Lots of questions, to be answered as the year goes on.

#1 New York Giants (2-0)

So if things go the way I said, then the Jets and Giants meet in the Superbowl, right? Well, that’s way too early. But the Giants are good, and it is always a good sign when you knock down two of your division rivals. Beating the Redskins and the Cowboys are always good signs, but they play hard games. Their +8 point differential over 2 games means they are winning on an average of only 4 points…one possession. They have yet to play the Eagles, and if they are healthy, it could be a fight. Missing a very key receiver could be a problem, one they have to adjust to quickly, but it seems they are doing ok.

So that’s my list of the top 10 teams of the first two weeks, you notice I didn’t add in the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn’t put them in because with a loss to the bears, and a win over the Titans, it wasn’t really saying too much. The Steelers are struggling with offense, and with a key injury on defense, that could be a problem too.

I also didn’t put the Patriots on the list because by many accounts, they OUGHT to be 0-2. They didn’t win that Buffalo game, the Bills GAVE that to them. Yeah, I know a win is a win, but it was not very impressive.

Things will start shaking out as we go on, so surely these rankings are subject to change….tune in as we keep checking on that…