NoCalMike Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Sometimes it mystifies me how much feedback we get from the CBS SportsLine.com Power Rankings. Believe it or not, Bill Belichick might have an even better team. (AP) They evoke so many emotions from the fans, ranging from anger to praise (yes, there is some) to sheer rage. For once, I'd like to offer an emotion of my own after doing another batch of them -- relief. That's because the second set of Power Rankings for 2005 were as hard to do as any I've done since we started them. Parity is tough. The top team was easy. How can it be anyone else but the New England Patriots, a team that seems to have improved if that's possible, thanks to a series of veteran acquisitions? The Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons all are easy picks in the top 10. Then it gets hard -- really hard. Of course, that won't earn me any pity from my e-mail haters. Skimming the rankings, I can see the nastiness coming now. The fans of the Packers, Bills and Seahawks will be heard loud as they complain about their perches. But the feeling here is Green Bay and Seattle will take a slide and the Bills aren't ready to be a playoff team. The reality is, aside from the top four or five teams, and maybe the bottom three, there is very little difference between the others. The Arizona Cardinals are 20th in these rankings, but I believe they can win their division. The Cincinnati Bengals are 23rd, and they are the chic pick by some to be a playoff team. Can they be higher than that come December? Of course they can. That's why it's so tricky. So go easy. The flowers are blooming. The golf clubs are out. The sun is shining more. Save your wickedness for the dank, dark days of winter. By then, the rankings are easier to do. Even more important, by then I can better handle the searing I get from fans. POWER RANKINGS Current Team Previous 1 New England Patriots 1 The champs have actually improved in the offseason, adding key veterans like David Terrell and Duane Starks. Taking them down won't be easy. 2 Indianapolis Colts 2 We know the offense will be good, and adding Marlin Jackson in the first round will help upgrade the defense. 3 Philadelphia Eagles 3 A deep, talented team again looks like it will be the class of the NFC. Are there any challengers? 4 Baltimore Ravens 5 This is a team we're really high on this year. If Kyle Boller can develop, watch out. The feeling here is he will. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers 4 They will push for the AFC title again, and the key to getting to the Super Bowl will be the improvement of Ben Roethlisberger. 6 Atlanta Falcons 6 Will Michael Vick improve his passing? If he does, they can unseat the Eagles. 7 Jacksonville Jaguars 10 They were a trendy team to watch last year, but this year they are a legit playoff team. They do need to keep Fred Taylor healthy. 8 San Diego Chargers 7 Was 2004 a fluke? Not likely. But they will be hard-pressed to have the same record in an improved division. 9 Denver Broncos 11 It's time for Jake Plummer to take this team to a playoff victory. If not, the heat gets hotter on The Teflon Coach. 10 Minnesota Vikings 16 They will miss Randy Moss, despite what they may say, but the improvement on defense may make up for that. 11 Carolina Panthers 15 They've made some nice moves in the offseason, but there is still some uncertainty as to who will be the feature back. That's not good for the style of ball their coach prefers. 12 New Orleans Saints 13 This is the year. It's time for this talented group to play as it did in the final four weeks last season. 13 Oakland Raiders 25 Can't wait to watch all the 38-35 games this team plays. Kerry Collins to Randy Moss will be explosive. 14 New York Jets 8 If Chad Pennington's shoulder is fine, they'll be competitive. If not, they'll be drafting in the top 10. 15 Buffalo Bills 14 The defense will be good again, but the team's fate rests with J.P. Losman. Is he this year's Roethlisberger? 16 Kansas City Chiefs 17 Once again the main question is the same: Have they done enough to help the defense? 17 Seattle Seahawks 9 I don't know why, but I have a feeling they will slide some this season. They'll be competitive, but slide just a bit. 18 Green Bay Packers 12 There are a lot of holes on defense, which might force Brett Favre to play like the old Favre. Is that possible? 19 St. Louis Rams 21 Will push the Seahawks and the Cardinals for the NFC West title. If they don't, there will be big changes next year. 20 Arizona Cardinals 27 This team starts here for now, but look for them to be higher as we move closer to the season. Watch out for this group. 21 Dallas Cowboys 26 Can Drew Bledsoe take the offense a notch up from a year ago? The defense will be better with the addition of more talent. 22 New York Giants 29 They will be better than a year ago, but they're still a year away from pushing the Eagles. Look out in 2006. 23 Cincinnati Bengals 19 They are this year's trendy pick. The offense will be fun to watch, but the defense has to make strides for this to be a playoff team. 24 Houston Texans 18 This is a huge year for this franchise in terms of making a playoff push. Have they done enough to do so? 25 Tennessee Titans 20 Coach Jeff Fisher will have this team playing hard and Steve McNair makes them a threat. But they've lost so much the past couple of years. 26 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Carnell Williams will enliven the running game, but the line is still suspect, and is Brian Griese the long-term answer at quarterback? 27 Detroit Lions 24 It's all on Joey Harrington. If he grows as a player, the Lions will be much improved. If Jeff Garcia is playing, they'll be out of it by November. 28 Washington Redskins 22 The staff doesn't believe in Patrick Ramsey, yet he will be the starter at quarterback. The offensive system is also outdated. The defense might have to carry this team again. 29 Chicago Bears 28 They better hope like heck that Rex Grossman is 100 percent healthy. If not, it's going to be a long year. 30 Miami Dolphins 30 Nick Saban will be a heck of a coach. It just won't show for two or three years. 31 Cleveland Browns 31 The last regime left behind a mess that will take time to clean up. But Phil Savage will make that happen. 32 San Francisco 49ers 32 Taking Alex Smith with the first pick was a step in the right direction. Mike Nolan will turn this team around. It will just take time. Ya know, it is way to early to even get mad or care on bit about the rankings, but unless this guy thinks our defense is going to be a LOT worse, then he must be banking on our offense being worse then last season. EDIT: (my bad) here is the linkage: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/8441273 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHUBAKAH Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Your right. This means less than a hill of beans.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartskins Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 NoCalMike: could you put in a link, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowtrain Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Ah yes. It was clear that this was to be a useless exercise after reading the explanation for the very first team: "The champs have actually improved in the offseason, adding key veterans like David Terrell and Duane Starks." How absurd is this statement? First, forget about the fact that the Pats have also lost some important veterans, like the heart and soul of the D in Bruschi (probably), as well as Andruzzi on the OL, Law, and Patten, etc. But we're to believe that a 100% bust in Terrell (without a 700 yd receiving year in 4 seasons) is expected to offset, not only FA departures, but the loss BOTH COORDINATORS as well? Yes, apparently the presence of the incomperable David Terrell is so overwhelming that loss of Crennell or Weis is not even worthy of brief mention here. That's embarrassing. Remember that much of the Pats success has been due to great coaching that exploited weaknesses and forced opponent errors, rather than simply overpowering teams with brute athletic force. That coaching essentially gave the Pats 3 head coaches on the sidelines, during practice, during film study and during games. It was a coaching triumverate that fortuitously stayed intact for years. That's now long gone. Sure, Belichick is still there. But all those who now accuse Parcells of owing success to Belichick must now ask how many Super Bowls Belichick won without his own assistants. With Brady and BB, the Pats still clearly remain the team to beat. But to think that they are overall an improved team without their O and D Coordinators because they picked up a disappointing 3rd WR in David Terrell strains all logic and common sense. Incidentally, in the playoffs, the #14 ranked Jets did beat the #8 ranked Chargers in their own stadium (twice on the season), right? And they would've also beaten the #5 ranked Steelers in their own stadium to head to the AFCCG, if not for TWO shanked FGs in the final two minutes, right? Just checking. Okay, I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeHateMe Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 You forgot the importance of adding Duane Starks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Liked it better when it was called 2004 power rankings CBS could have samed some expense by posting a link to their rankings from December Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 also, to have Baltimore and Philly above Pittsburgh....who basically whooped both last year...and only lost a guy who was injured a lot. Hey there Jerks! The Steelers are the up and coming team this year....not anybody else in the AFC North. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeythetapeworm Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by Flowtrain Ah yes. It was clear that this was to be a useless exercise after reading the explanation for the very first team: "The champs have actually improved in the offseason, adding key veterans like David Terrell and Duane Starks." How absurd is this statement? First, forget about the fact that the Pats have also lost some important veterans, like the heart and soul of the D in Bruschi (probably), as well as Andruzzi on the OL, Law, and Patten, etc. But we're to believe that a 100% bust in Terrell (without a 700 yd receiving year in 4 seasons) is expected to offset, not only FA departures, but the loss BOTH COORDINATORS as well? Yes, apparently the presence of the incomperable David Terrell is so overwhelming that loss of Crennell or Weis is not even worthy of brief mention here. That's embarrassing. Remember that much of the Pats success has been due to great coaching that exploited weaknesses and forced opponent errors, rather than simply overpowering teams with brute athletic force. That coaching essentially gave the Pats 3 head coaches on the sidelines, during practice, during film study and during games. It was a coaching triumverate that fortuitously stayed intact for years. That's now long gone. Sure, Belichick is still there. But all those who now accuse Parcells of owing success to Belichick must now ask how many Super Bowls Belichick won without his own assistants. With Brady and BB, the Pats still clearly remain the team to beat. But to think that they are overall an improved team without their O and D Coordinators because they picked up a disappointing 3rd WR in David Terrell strains all logic and common sense. Okay, I'm done. I agree with just about every single thing that you said. However, I'm not gonna blame any sportswriter for not having the balls to put the Pats lower than #1. I'd have them there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryerye05 Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 those are the worst power rankings i have ever seen. i dont understand how we could be put at 28 when we had the number 3 defense in the league with as many injuries that we had. yes our offense was pretty bad but i dont understand how it would get worse after a year. gibbs went 6-10 his first year, in most cases coaches do better after thier first years, i dont really see how they rould rank us as being worse off for next year.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 below the Cards, Giants, and Lions? jeez and it's only May Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowtrain Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by HeHateMe You forgot the importance of adding Duane Starks. You mean THE Duane Starks? In that case Romeo and Charlie who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinsMarchingBand Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 look how bad the NFC is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kameuh Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 OMG May 3rd power rankings! These are such good predictors of future success, I might as well come back to ES next year... The NFL equivilant of Fortune Cookies, though to give credit to fortune cookies, I might be taking a trip soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaDRoc Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 All I have to say about these power rankings: BLOW ME!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by Flowtrain Ah yes. It was clear that this was to be a useless exercise after reading the explanation for the very first team: "The champs have actually improved in the offseason, adding key veterans like David Terrell and Duane Starks." How absurd is this statement? First, forget about the fact that the Pats have also lost some important veterans, like the heart and soul of the D in Bruschi (probably), as well as Andruzzi on the OL, Law, and Patten, etc. But we're to believe that a 100% bust in Terrell (without a 700 yd receiving year in 4 seasons) is expected to offset, not only FA departures, but the loss BOTH COORDINATORS as well? Yes, apparently the presence of the incomperable David Terrell is so overwhelming that loss of Crennell or Weis is not even worthy of brief mention here. That's embarrassing. That was my exact thought when I saw the ranking. You might be able to justify putting the Patriots at the top of the power rankings, but that's not the way to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernCali Skins Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 what do u expect? common..... not trying to be a party pooper but that may be some harsh truth... we picked 9th.... so we were the 9th worst team.... makes us ranked 23rd.... when the draft finished... many people on the outside of our many biased fans.... believ we had a bad draft because we did not adressed all our needs... so that dropped us some ranking because other teams did adressed i cant complain with the ranking:2cents: lets get it moving up when the season starts rollin:cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forbeskin Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 He might as well of said... #1- Patriots and everybody else will fall in behind. Why even bother and make one up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhead Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Wow. My initial reaction was to remind myself that CBS employs the worst sports analysts for each sport (their live NFL game coverage blows as we all know...Deion? Gumbel? Ha! Their NBA coverage is worse). The second thought that I had was that a writer looks like a genious when he plays the media bias game. Works every time. 3rd Defense and 6-10 record, along with the other 6-10 records this past season (which means we were all tied) and us being the Skins, I'd say we got high praise to be at 28 .:laugh: There's gonna be a lotta crow eatin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowtrain Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 The other strange one is the Denver Broncos. We know they lost a bunch of players like Neil, Herndon, Hayward, Kennedy, Droughns, etc. They also didn't take a player in this year's draft until the end of the second round. And although they snuck into the playoffs as a WC the last 2 years, they've given up 90 points combined in those 2 losses. So what makes one think that they've done enough to take a step up in class? Apparently it's the fact that they signed the entire Cleveland Browns DL -- who, by the way, were dead LAST against the run last year. Well at least they have the 2004 INT leader at QB. So I guess Shanahan will have his first playoff win in 6 years afterall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLusby Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 I hope they post that power ranking in the locker room. Outdated?? Football is football! Execution is everything! A great team can almost tell the defense the play and with proper execution it will still gain yardage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thespaniard Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by TLusby I hope they post that power ranking in the locker room. Outdated?? Football is football! Execution is everything! A great team can almost tell the defense the play and with proper execution it will still gain yardage. This can be true...if you have the personnel to do it. Right now, with the exception of about 3 or 4 guys on offense, I dont know if this is the case... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Prime Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 "28 Washington Redskins 22 The staff doesn't believe in Patrick Ramsey, yet he will be the starter at quarterback. The offensive system is also outdated. The defense might have to carry this team again. " I'm so sick of the media assuming crap they know nothing about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thespaniard Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by Gothtimus "28 Washington Redskins 22 The staff doesn't believe in Patrick Ramsey, yet he will be the starter at quarterback. The offensive system is also outdated. The defense might have to carry this team again. " I'm so sick of the media assuming crap they know nothing about While the media may not know for sure that is the case, i think it is a valid assertion on their part given the fact that they drafted campbell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 We lost 1/2 the season based on "Brunell" There is not a sportswriter out there that hasn't written about it no matter the city they are in. Then they say they don't believe in Ramsey and list us basically last... Yet Ramsey had a rating of: 61.2, 63.1, 139.2, 69.8, 103.0, 62.1, 100.8. Which aint too shabby considering he missed 9/12 - 11/07 or one heck of a Training camp / 1/2 the season... What-Evah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDane Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Next. :yawnee: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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