Post Week Nine NFL Team Rankings

Follow@cimini

1. Kansas City- I hate to put the Chiefs atop the rankings but they’ve earned it. A 9-0 stand alone record.
2. San Francisco 49ers- I like the way the 49ers have rebalanced their team before their bye week. Seattle doesn’t look the same and the NFC seems to be setup for an easier run than the AFC is.
3. Denver Broncos- It’s November and the hot topic is the weather change. Can Manning avoid his paternalistic cold weather melt downs?
4. New England Patriots- If the Patriots key contributors on offense can stay healthy, they’ll be able to outscore most opponents even with a hindered defense.
5. Seattle Seahawks- There are some serious problems for the Seahawks. They need to diagnose what’s going on with their defense rather quickly. If not they’re going to end up being defeated by a wildcard team in the playoffs.
6. Cincinnati- They suffered a hiccup on Thursday night, but are in full control of their division. With the pressure off they should be able to gain forward as the season moves on.
7. New Orleans- The Saints have to lessen the burden on Drew Brees and get a running game in place.
8. Indianapolis- Second year quarterback Andrew Luck might have to much weight on his shoulders to handle at this stage. We will see if he can keep his heroics going.
9. Carolina Panthers- Quietly the Panthers are emerging as a serious threat. The next two games against the 49ers and Patriots will truly show how far they’ve come.
10. Detroit Lions- The type of win the Lions had before their bye week against the Cowboys is a rally type of win. The whole team has to be motivated now especially with divisional counterparts having issues at quarterback.
11. Green Bay Packers
12. Dallas Cowboys
13. San Diego Chargers
14. Philadelphia Eagles
15. NY Jets
16. Baltimore Ravens
17. Chicago Bears
18. Miami Dolphins
19. Arizona Cardinals
20. Tennessee Titans
21. Cleveland Browns
22. Washington Redskins
23. St. Louis Rams
24. Pittsburgh Steelers
25. Atlanta Falcons
26. Buffalo Bills
27. Oakland Raiders
28. NY Giants
29. Houston Texans
30. Minnesota Vikings
31. Jacksonville Jaguars
32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Team Rankings Post Week Two

Follow@cimini

1. Seattle Seahawks- I was one that gave the 49ers a probable chance to upset the Seahawks. Boy was I wrong. I still think there flaws on offense might come to bite them more than people would expect this season.
2. Denver Broncos- Manning is off to his typical red hot regular season start with a defense that hasn’t had to worry about tight games yet.
3. San Francisco- A regular season loss can be exaggerated at times, especially early in the season. San Francisco will be where they’ve been the last few years once the playoffs begin.
4. Green Bay Packers- As Stephen A Smith says, Aaron Rodgers is a baaaaaad man. His throws and how he is spreading the football around are incredible. They’ll get a tough test this week at Cincinnati.
5. Atlanta Falcons- Injuries are hitting this team early but they have enough talent to sustain through the injury bug. People worried about the Falcons without Steven Jackson just need to refer back to the Michael Turner days. Atlanta got it done with a back that should have been out of the league last year.
6. Houston Texans- Their carousel ways of coming back to win are not what people expected as heavy favorites in both games. This week is a true test for both Baltimore and Houston to see where their teams are at.
7. Chicago Bears- Though the Bears have also came back in their first two games of the season, it has been done in a different way. They’ve fought through turnovers and still managed to grab two wins over quality teams.
8. New England- Those thinking the Patriots are going to resort back to easily blowing out teams are mistaken. They’re downgraded at running back and receiver and it’s going to take patience to win every week.
9. New Orleans- The Saints have won two close games to start the year. They’ve done so by not looking as proficient offensively as we are accustomed to seeing. Will the defense give or will the offense get back to its old ways?
10. Cincinnati- With the Ravens still figuring out things, the Bengals could be ready to leap past the entire division. They’ll need a second receiver to step up to divert attention away from AJ Green if they’re going to do so.
11. Baltimore
12. Philadelphia
13. Miami
14. Dallas
15. Kansas City Chiefs
16. Indianapolis
17. NY Giants
18. St. Louis Rams
19. Arizona Cardinals
20. San Diego Chargers
21. Detroit Lions
22. Minnesota Vikings
23. Pittsburgh Steelers
24. Tennessee Titans
25. Washington Redskins
26. Carolina Panthers
27. NY Jets
28. Buffalo Bills
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Oakland Raiders
31. Cleveland Browns
32. Jacksonville Jaguars

Best Target to Catch Ratios from Week Two

Follow@cimini Paying attention to stats and not your fantasy points is how you can dive into your roster and decide to make necessary improvement. Each week I give a breakdown of a key category in best targets to catch results ratios from NFL players. Here is a look at who put up stellar numbers and others that did not. Julio Jones Jones ripped apart a St. Louis secondary considered strong. His biggest play came when he was lined up in the slot and the Rams failed to give the nickel back corner any help. That resulted in an eighty one yard play. Jones completed the game with eleven catches on fourteen targets. Stevie Johnson Stevie Johnson is used to playing with a different quarterback constantly. EJ Manuel may end up ending that trend for Johnson. That will allow Johnson to garner extra respect in fantasy leagues. He finished Sunday with eight catches on ten targets, including a game winning touchdown with two seconds left. Greg Jennings Jennings was in my personal dog house, but crept out momentarily after Sunday’s game. The Bears secondary is not the best at halting catches, their strong area is creating turnovers. Jennings was brought in to give Christian Ponder some confidence and comfort ability in finding a receiver to throw to. Sunday Jennings had five catches on six targets, and made the tough grabs over the middle you’d expect from the veteran. James Jones and Randall Cobb If Aaron Rodgers keeps slinging the football the way he is you might as well hand him the MVP. It’s only two games in but Rodgers nearly pulled off the upset at San Francisco, and torched the Redskins week two. James Jones enjoyed a monster game with eleven catches on twelve targets, and Randall Cobb finished the day with nine catches on ten targets. Mike Wallace Miami satisfied their well paid receiver with nine catches on eleven targets Sunday. They intermixed designed quick hot routes with also finding him on normal pass patterns. It seems that Wallace feeds off just getting the ball in any fashion possible to propel him. That’s a good sign for a Miami team starting to show strong signs. Others that did well: Greg Olsen 7 catches/8 targets, Dez Bryant 9 catches/13 targets, Eddie Royal 7 catches/8 targets, DesSean Jackson 9 catches/15 targets, Antonio Gates 8 catches/10 targets, Nate Burelson 7 catches/8 targets, Jimmy Graham 10 catches/16 targets, Cecil Shorts 8 catches/14 targets, Eric Decker 9 catches/13 targets, Julian Edelman 13 catches/18 targets

Not so Good

Tavon Austin 6 catches/12 targets, TY Hilton 6 catches/12 targets, Dwayne Bowe 4 catches/8 targets, Torrey Smith 7 catches/13 targets, DeAndre Hopkins 7 catches/13 targets, Vincent Jackson 5 catches/11 targets, Wes Welker 3 catches/8 targets, Brandon Myers 6 catches/10 targets, Anquan Boldin 1 catch/4 targets, Aaron Dobson 3 catches/10 targets, Kembrell Thompkins 2 catches/7 targets

Week Two Wide Receiver Rankings

Follow@cimini

1. AJ Green
2. Calvin Johnson
3. DeMaryius Thomas
4. Larry Fitzgerald
5. Randall Cobb
6. Julio Jones
7. Victor Cruz
8. Brandon Marshall
9. Pierre Garcon
10. Dez Bryant
11. Wes Welker
12. Andre Johnson
13. Marques Colston
14. Reggie Wayne
15. Vincent Jackson
16. Hakeem Nicks
17. Jordy Nelson
18. DeSean Jackson
19. Torrey Smith
20. Anquan Boldin
21. Julian Edelman
22. Mike Wallace
23. Antonio Brown
24. Dwayne Bowe
25. Cecil Shorts
26. Eric Decker
27. Steve Smith
28. Lance Moore
29. Tavon Austin
30. Miles Austin
31. Mike Williams
32. Roddy White
33. Chris Givens
34. Rueben Randle
35. Steve Johnson
36. Michael Floyd
37. Golden Tate
38. Jerome Simpson
39. Brian Hartline
40. Greg Jennings
41. Andre Roberts
42. TY Hilton
43. Rod Streater
44. Harry Douglas
45. Marlon Brown
46. Kenny Britt
47. Chris Givens
48. Malcolm Floyd
49. Brandon LaFell
50. Santana Moss
51. Alshon Jeffrey
52. DeNarius Moore
53. Darrius Heyward-Bey
54. Kyle Williams
55. Doug Baldwin
56. Sidney Rice
57. Kenny Stills
58. Riley Cooper
59. Terrance Williams
60. Mohammed Sanu

Week Two Fantasy Running Back Rankings

Follow@cimini

1. Adrian Peterson- Don’t make much of Peterson’s non-success after his first carry. Not many backs had all around games in week one.
2. LeSean McCoy- The conditioning looks to have paid dividends for McCoy
3. Jamaal Charles- Kansas City will surprise some this week with their expanded offense. Charles has always been a fantasy stud in prior years, and will see his stock rise week to week this season.
4. Ray Rice- The Ravens will stomp the Browns this weekend. Rice should get at least two touchdowns.
5. Matt Forte- His shiftiness isn’t like it use to be, but Forte is a dual threat running back in the Bears offense
6. Arian Foster- His role may be reduced some this year, but he is still a top eight fantasy back week to week
7. Reggie Bush- His numbers will come down drastically this week at a tough place to play. But an overall game of 100 all purpose yards will be suffice for fantasy owners.
8. Eddie Lacy-Lacy’s impact was not huge week one, but he responded better than most backs do after a fumble. In the second half he had some quality runs against a strong 49ers defense.
9. Alfred Morris- Morris was one of many backs that had a case of fumbles week one. Don’t give him the label of sophomore slump just yet.
10. Steven Jackson- Jackson gets to go against his former team and will be ready to go
11. Doug Martin
12. CJ Spiller
13. Trent Richardson
14. DeAngelo Williams
15. Darren McFadden
16. Marshawn Lynch
17. DeMarco Murray
18. Frank Gore
19. Stevan Ridley
20. MJD
21. Chris Johnson
22. Darren Sproles
23. David Wilson
24. Rashard Mendenhall
25. Knowshown Moreno
26. Lamar Miller

28. Ryan Matthews
29. Ben Tate
30. Pierre Thomas
31. Daryl Richardson
32. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
33. Bernard Pierce
34. Ahmad Bradshaw
35. Joique Bell
36. Ronnie Hillman
37. Mark Ingram
38. Isaac Redman
39. Bilal Powell
40. Fred Jackson
41. Montee Ball
42. Kendall Hunter
43. Brandon Jacobs
44. Bryce Brown
45. Daniel Thomas
46. Jacquizz Rodgers
47. Mike Tolbert
48. Mike Bush
49. Ronnie Brown
50. Felix Jones

Week Two Fantasy Quarterback Rankings

Follow@cimini

1. Drew Brees- Geno Smith torched the Bucs with simple throws. Expect Brees to have a typical huge day
2. Aaron Rodgers- Lasers were thrown with precision against the 49ers. The Redskins may want to practice mimicking falling down to delay snaps.
3. Peyton Manning- Of course Manning wants to carve up his younger brother. It won’t be to the tune of seven touchdowns, but he’ll continue his hot start.
4. Matt Ryan- For wins and fantasy points almost no quarterback in the league is better at home.
5. Terrelle Pryor- I love his matchup against the Jaguars this week. The Jaguars defense mustered an all around effort last week only to succumb to zero points offensively. Pryor will roam the field with his legs and avoid ill throws.
6. Eli Manning- The Giants will be sound in all phases to prevent a disaster two weeks in a row. Eli will lead the way
7. Joe Flacco- This team has had a full ten days off, and can’t wait to get back on the football field. The Ravens will have the blowout game of the week.
8. Colin Kaepernick- I don’t care which defense is out on the field, this week it is Seattle. All defenses are in trouble this year if Kaepernick’s accuracy remains the way it was last week.
9. Mike Vick- The Eagles reload but will Vick stay healthy a full season in this fast pace offense?
10. Cam Newton- Fantasy owner want to breathe a sigh of relief with Newton. He’ll put up top ten fantasy quarterback numbers this week.
11. Andy Dalton
12. Andrew Luck
13. RG3
14. Tom Brady
15. Matthew Stafford
16. Jay Cutler
17. Russ Wilson
18. Tony Romo
19. Matt Schaub
20. Carson Palmer
21. Alex Smith
22. Philip Rivers
23. Ben Roethlisberger
24. Ryan Tannehill
25. Sam Bradford
26. EJ Manuel
27. Chad Henne
28. Brandon Weeden
29. Christian Ponder
30. Geno Smith