-->

NFL POWER RANKINGS

June 9, 2007 by Jo Sparkes

Okay, lets face it. Power Rankings are opinions, and biased at that. No one believes them — but we can’t resist checking them out. And in the off-season, the criteria for such rankings is thin and often silly.

My forte.

So being tired of waiting to see my team at the top, I decided not to get mad, but to get even. Here it is, the Official ASFN Power Rankings. And if your team is lower than you expected – good.

Of course there will be complaints – and we encourage you to voice your concerns. Send them all to Dr. Z, care of CNN SI. He’s great at dealing with that sort of stuff.

#	Team	Thoughts
1	Arizona Cardinals	Faced with a choice of Whisenhunt or Grimm, they managed to land both, and then shored up their O-line weakness with their top draft pick. They even have Super Bowl home field advantage.These are MY Power Rankings. Seriously – what did you expect?
2	Detriot Lions	As a Cardinal fan I feel for any team always ranked at the bottom, so I put them at the top. They also took Calvin Johnson in the draft — regardless of the ‘stuck in a rut’ comments. Well done.On the other hand – Millen, Marinelli, Martz? Maybe you should try other letters in the alphabet.
3	Cleveland Browns	See *Detroit Lions justification. I’d mark them higher if Condon wasn’t Brady Quinn’s agent.
4	Indianapolis Colts	It annoys me no end that this team won the Super Bowl last year, and people still rank them below the Patriots. I put them here because they have a classy coach. And Peyton doesn’t date models.
5	New Orleans Saints	This is probably where most people have them – and I hate to be like most people. But in New Orleans’ aftermath from Katrina winds and George Bush, don’t you just love what Drew Brees and Reggie Bush accomplished?
6	Washington Redskins	No doubt about it – Gibbs is a Hall of Fame Coach. And I do have fond memories of Redskin Super Bowl victories. But the only reason I ranked them this high is my entire family comes from the D.C. area – and they know where I live.
7	New York Jets	If ‘Mangenius’ can get through a Sopranos episode unscathed, anything is possible.
8	Chicago Bears	You gotta love Lovie. I’d move them higher, but I’m still smarting from last year’s Monday night game against the Cardinals. And can somebody please lose that ‘they are who we thought they were’ clip?
9	Baltimore Ravens	If Ray Lewis is doing a little mentoring, McGahee will be just fine.Okay – some of my family is in the Baltimore area. But they’re from the smaller and gentler side.
10	Buffalo Bills	“Losman to Evans” has a nice ring, doesn’t it? Easy to type, rolls off the tongue. As good as a running back named Marshawn Lynch.The downside is a new head coach and a tough division. But your time is coming.
11	Jacksonville Jaguars	Last year was a major disappointment at 8 – 8. It really seems the Jags are poised to move — I’m just not sure in which direction.But I sure wouldn’t bet against Fred Taylor these days.
12	San Diego Chargers	So you canned an experienced coach with a 205/139 win/loss record and a final regular season of 14 – 2, for an experienced coach with a 59/82 win/loss and a final regular season of 4 – 12.You’re kidding me, right?
13	Philadelphia Eagles	Could there be any truth to the rumor that T.O. was a Rush Limbaugh plot?
14	San Francisco 49’ers	Joe Montana, Steve Young, and … Alex Smith. Sorry, I still don’t see it.If you really want a perfect deal for that new stadium, try calling it something besides ‘Monster’.
15	Cincinnati Bengals	I like the Bengals. I like that they climbed out of the bottom ranks of the NFL and had three guys in the Pro Bowl last year.But when your best off-season move was going 4 whole months between arrests – there’s a problem.
16	Pittsburgh Steelers	Advice to Roethlisberger: when a reporter suggests you are immature, ditching all the older, wiser men around you does NOT make you look smarter.
17	New York Giants	The next time a whiny kid throws a tantrum that he won’t take $54 million to live in San Diego – just stay out of it.
18	Carolina Panthers	Their off season training included a day at the races, meeting at a friend’s house, and tennis. Sounded a lot like my sorority days. Carrfare – Cost of the trip from Houston to Charlotte. Good value.
19	Kansas City Chiefs	If there is a worse name for a quarterback than Brodie Croyle, I’d like to hear it.
20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Seven Quarterbacks on the roster – including one who’d rather retire than play in Florida. Admit it – aren’t you just the least bit wistful you let Dungy go?
21	Green Bay Packers	Football Outsiders analyzed ‘Sacks Allowed’ and how much a great quarterback affects the stat. Being mathematically minded, I’m waiting to see how good Green Bay’s O-line is without Favre. And waiting … and waiting …
22	Miami Dolphins	You guys really meant ‘Quinn’, right? But no one could read Cameron’s handwriting?
23	Seattle Seahawks	If Hasselbeck is healthy … if Alexander gets his carries …If the refs didn’t attend the NBA management school of fair play.
24	Tennessee Titans	After two terrible seasons the Titans got back to .500 as Vince lived up to his press, completing 46 passes to Bennett, and 33 to Wade, and 18 to Travis Henry. So they release Bennett, Wade, and Henry. You guys did get that letter from Goodell, right? About Pacman?
25	Minnesota Vikings	Adrian Peterson is a wonderful addition, even if the running game wasn’t their greatest need. But when your own veterans have doubts about the season …
26	Denver Broncos	The Broncos are going all the way. All that was lacking was an ‘Elway’ caliber quarterback, and now they have it in Griese – I mean Plummer. No, wait. It’s Cutler now, right?
27	Houston Texans	Why draft Vince Young when you can spend $48 million on a guy with a total of 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions for his entire 2006 season.
28	Oakland Raiders	Don’t you want youth in your players and experience in your coaches?
29	Dallas Cowboys	You had the choice between Bill Parcells and Terrell Owens – and you took T.O.?Just what Owens needs, by the way. An easy-going coach who can’t get his guys to work out.
30	St. Louis Rams	If you really want an interesting bet in Las Vegas, go for the over/under on how many regular season games before an ESPN Analyst declares ‘the Rams are back’.Don’t take the over.
31	New England Patriots	Branch cost them one round in the playoffs; Asante costs them 30 levels in rank. Plus it’s Brady’s turn to have a Colt monkey on HIS back. (Great image, huh?)This is the year the Patriots go from being ‘cost savvy’ to ‘cheap’.
32	Atlanta Falcons	I actually don’t have anything against Atlanta. But my dog insisted.