By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com
We won’t look to far into week one as there is a long ways to go. Some teams caught everyone off guard such as Kansas City and the Texans. The shocking teams usually do just that and fade as the season goes on. Will see how real both those teams are, or if they end up being the Denver Broncos of last season. Glance away to see where your team lands on this weeks power rankings.

1. New Orleans Saints
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Green Bay Packers
5. Indianapolis Colts
6. Houston Texans
7. Tennessee Titans
8. New York Giants
9. New England Patriots
10. New York Jets
11. Pittsburgh Steelers
12. Dallas Cowboys
13. San Diego Chargers
14. Washington Redskins
15. Cincinnati Bengals
16. Philadelphia Eagles
17. Arizona Cardinals
18. Miami Dolphins
19. Jacksonville Jaguars
20. Kansas City Chiefs
21. Chicago Bears
22. Denver Broncos
23. San Francisco 49ers
24. Atlanta Falcons
25. Seattle Seahawks
26. Carolina Panthers
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
28. Buffalo Bills
29. Detroit Lions
30. Oakland Raiders
31. Cleveland Browns
32. St. Louis Rams

By Zack Cimini
Notjustagame23@gmail.com

The 2009 season is 25 percent complete with a month In the books. The team rankings are staying fairly steady. Are the Patriots back in the top ten with their win vs. the Ravens? Which 4-0 team is the best?

Biggest Mover: Denver Broncos from 11 to 6
Biggest Decline: Dallas Cowboys from 12 to 17

1. New Orleans (1)- Brees hasn’t had the stellar games the past few weeks but it’s the defense stepping up a few notches
2. Indianapolis Colts (3)- Four straight 300 yard games for Manning, unbelievable. Wait for Bob Sanders to make his way back onto the field. \
3. NY Giants (6)- Just need to get Brandon Jacobs on track.
4. Baltimore (2)- Flacco played his guts out on the road. This loss will prove to have more value than most losses come January.
5. Minnesota (6)- Favre is gun-slinging away for the Vikings. Can he hold up the second half this season this time?
6. Denver Broncos (11)- You have to give credit to winning and Denver’s doing just that.
7. NY Jets (4)- Suffered a tough loss but should rebound and remain a top ten team all season.
8. New England (9)- Still not sold on the Pats getting it done with their old Brady philosophy. They must develop a week to week reliable ground game.
9. San Francisco 49ers (8)- Signed Crabtree and should get a mix of plays within a few short weeks.
10. Pittsburgh Steelers (10)- They must stop blowing leads and be able to put teams away without giving Mike Tomlin a heart attack every week.
11. Philadelphia Eagles (11)- McNabb’s back and ready to get this team rolling.
12. Atlanta Falcons (14)- Seem to be suited for the fifth or sixth wild card seed.
13. Chicago Bears (18)- They’re winning ugly but Cutler seems to be gaining strides with this offense every week.
14. Cincinnati Bengals (17)- If not for a crazy catch by Brandon Stokely this team would actually be 4-0.
15. Jacksonville Jaguars (19)- The most dominant win of the weekend over a team in the Titans that absolutely needed a victory.
16. Green Bay Packers (15)- Must protect their investment better in Aaron Rodgers
17. Dallas Cowboys (12)- No one seems to know what’s wrong with this team.
18. Arizona (18)- Did the early bye week wake this team up?
19. Houston Texans (21)- Slaton seems to be getting it together after two miserable games to start the season.
20. Carolina Panthers (23)- This team is too talented to not run off a solid win streak.
21. Miami Dolphins (25)- The wildcat is so basic but seems to be unstoppable. Another week of 250 yards plus on the ground.
22. Washington Redskins (27)- Even at 2-2 they’re drop below .500 is just a matter of playing more games. They’re in the toughest division in football and they’re record will show coming out of it.
23. Tennessee Titans (23)- What a difference a year makes.
24. Seattle Seahawks (24)- Seneca Wallace isn’t playing bad filling in for Matt Hasselbeck. Maybe the team should make the chance to the future.
25. Cleveland Browns (29)- Played tough in their loss to the Bengals. Mangini made the right move in inserting Anderson.
26. Buffalo Bills (20)- Maybe that week one disastrous finish against the Patriots played more of an affect to this team than we thought.
27. Cleveland Browns (29)- They’ll be drafting a running back with their top eight selection next season.
28. Detroit Lions (28)- They’re still not winning many games but at least they’re competing.
29. Oakland Raiders (26)- Might be the worst looking offense from top to bottom in the 2000s
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (31)- So why wasn’t Josh Freeman declared starter over Josh Johnson?
31. Kansas City Chiefs (30)- Investing in Matt Cassel so quickly might be the dumbest move of the offseason.
32. St. Louis Rams (32)- It’s getting real ugly for the Rams.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

Here are your post week three team rankings. At 3-0, does Denver deserve a position as one of the top teams? With Dallas squeaking out wins and 2-1, are they ranked high enough to grab one of the final playoff spots in the NFC?

Biggest Move Up: Minnesota Vikings. From 10 up to 6
Biggest Decline: Atlanta Falcons. From: 7 to 14

1. New Orleans (1)- Impressive win that showed their defense can step up, or Trent Edwards is just that bad at hitting open targets.
2. Baltimore (2)- This team is growing by the week. When is Flacco going to have that let down game, and how will he respond from it?
3. Indianapolis Colts (3)- Manning is on his way to another MVP type year
4. NY Jets (4)- Hand over the coach of the year award to Rex Ryan already
5. NY Giants(6) – Question marks with injuries all over their defense, and what do they do, shut out the Buccaneers.
6. Minnesota Vikings (10)- Offense and defense had their ups and downs this past week but pulled it together when needed.
7. San Diego Chargers (9)- Are going to need LT back soon and defense to step up in order to be an elite team.
8. San Francisco 49ers (8)- They’ll be the third different team in three years to win the NFC West
9. New England (12)- Brady’s half time rant was exactly what the Pats needed.
10. Pittsburgh Steelers (5)- We’re not worried about their start
11. Philadelphia Eagles (13)- True test will be how they fare against their divisional opponents
12. Dallas Cowboys (16)- Not winning pretty but getting it done.
13. Denver Broncos (11)- We’ve seen these waves of success from the Broncos before. They are doing a great job running the ball effectively and relying on their defense.
14. Atlanta Falcons (7)- They’re going to need to find a way to win on the road, or a repeat of last years first round playoff exit will happen again. As they will be headed to the NFC West’s home field once again.
15. Green Bay Packers (17)- Tough to gauge the Packers right now. Ryan Grant must step it up and the return of Chad Clifton will help both Rodgers stay off his back, and Grant to hit holes cleaner.
16. Chicago Bears (18)- Matt Forte where are you?
17. Cincinnati Bengals (23)- Cedric Benson is a great story. Hand him the comeback player of the year. He was supposed to do what every other high pick draft bust does. Be cut by his former team sign a basic meager deal, and then be cast off and forgotten.
18. Arizona Cardinals (14)- If Whisenhunt’s going to call the plays he needs to balance the attack. Warner and this team are not going to get away with airing it out 90% of the time like they did last season.
19. Jacksonville Jaguars (22)- Suddenly the Jaguars have one of the bottom five defenses in the league. That means a .500 season
20. Buffalo Bills (15)- One more week before the TO show season two begins. Give Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Harvard alum, another shot as a starter (Rams, Bengals).
21. Houston Texans (19)- They’re becoming a mini version of the Saints, except a few notches below in the fire power.
22. Tennessee Titans (20)- Special teams cost them a shot at bouncing back and getting their first win. They’ll be ok, as the AFC is not quite as dangerous as last year. They’ll need to get it going and they should be able to hang around and have a shot at the last wild card spot.
23. Carolina Panthers (21)- It’s time for a franchise make over. John Fox has been there for quite some time.
24. Seattle Seahawks (24)- Played their guts out but Cutler proved to be too much.
25. Miami Dolphins (27)- A year ago the Dolphins were winning the type of games they’re losing now. It’s going to get ugly quickly for the Dolphins.
26. Oakland Raiders (25)- Tom Cable may be swinging at Jamarcus Russell here real soon
27. Washington Redskins (26)- Tell us how the finger pointing is at Jason Campbell who threw for 340 yards, two touchdowns and only one pick?
28. Detroit Lions (31)- Might be able to hit the three win mark this season.
29. Cleveland Browns (28)- Ugliest quarterback back and forth switch since Rob Johnson/Doug Flutie.
30. Kansas City (30)- There’s no hope for the Chiefs.
31. Tampa Bay (29)- We called Leftwich’s benching weeks ago. He should have never been named starter. Where the Bucs went wrong is letting Jeff Garcia go. He would have this team 2-1 right now
32. St. Louis (32)- Give Boller a shot and move on from the Marc Bulger era.

By Zack Cimini
Notjustagame23@gmail.com

Where does your favorite team rank heading out of week two?

1. New Orleans- Until their offense is stopped they’ll keep winning games. We’ve seen this before though and it doesn’t carry over in the preseason.
2. Baltimore Ravens- If Flacco keeps things together this could be the best all around Ravens team since coming to Baltimore
3. Indianapolis Colts-Never a question on being one of the best regular season teams
4. New York Jets- Team is totally different from a mental standpoint of a year ago
5. Pittsburgh Steelers- Lost a tough one thanks to Jeff Reed
6. New York Giants- Eli is showing the Giants were right on cutting the check early
7. Atlanta Falcons- Matt Ryan and the Falcons can’t be stopped at home
8. San Francisco 49ers- Even with nine men in the box Gore couldn’t be stopped. Shaun Hill will have to prove himself to get this team to a playoff level.
9. San Diego Chargers- Are they on their way to another up and down year?
10. Minnesota Vikings- Cupcake schedule thus far.
11. Denver Broncos- 2-0 and in a favorable division
12. New England Patriots- Should be 0-2, they have to get things fixed in a hurry
13. Philadelphia Eagles- Kolb likely to go again. He needs to let things open up and deliver a must win against KC.
14. Arizona Cardinals- Big win at Jacksonville
15. Buffalo Bills- Looking like a tough challenger in the AFC East
16. Dallas Cowboys- Romo is in a funk maybe worse than Delhomme’s
17. Green Bay Packers- Teams lacking sustainable chemistry on both sides of the ball.
18. Chicago Bears- Forte needs to get going.
19. Houston Texans- Schaub just needs to show up every week like a true starter.
20. Tennessee Titans- Proving to be a fluke a year ago when they were able to win close games
21. Carolina Panthers- Always seem to start off rough than go on a winning streak to tease than fade.
22. Jacksonville Jaguars- What happened down in Jacksonville?
23. Cincinnati Bengals- Surprisingly should be 2-0
24. Seattle Seahawks- Injuries seem to always plague this team. Poor offensive line and a weak tandem of running backs. It’s going to be a long year
25. Oakland Raiders- They have potential, but need Jamarcus to stop performing like a quarterback that’d be beat by a fourth grade in a pass skill competition.
26. Washington Redskins- Team seems to be headed south
27. Miami Dolphins- Another 0-2 start, this one will be hard to shake out of with the Jets and Bills launching ahead
28. Cleveland Browns- When will Mangini switch starters again?
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Byron’s not the answer as a starter. Might as well get Freeman in for some action
30. Kansas City Chiefs- Cassel will get this team some wins with his arm, but at what risk? The Chiefs need to reevaluate and load up new talent in a lot of spots.
31. Detroit Lions- They’ll get their one victory eventually and finish the year 3-13
32. St. Louis Rams- We feel bad for Steven Jackson.

By Chris Burrows

Not sure when to put in that second-rate back or receiver that you picked up? Not sure which defenses to avoid picking up? Well here are the defenses around the league that will increase your offensive players’ numbers if they come face to face and that you should avoid adding to your own roster at all costs.

1. Houston Texans
To say that the defense in Houston is having issues would be an understatement. At the beginning of September first-time defensive coordinator Frank Bush was still unsure who would be getting the starting jobs and the secondary was a complete question mark. Pro Bowler Mario Williams’ return to the defensive end position seems to be the only sure thing with rookie first-round pick Brian Cushing, who was set to start at strongside linebacker, still out with a knee injury. There are also open defensive tackle position and cornerback positions that are proving hard to fill among injuries and CB Deljuan Robinson’s hiatus from the team. All of these problems will make overcoming their 23rd ranked rush-blocking in 2008 difficult and will give big games to opponents and their RBs.

2. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are notoriously bad at stopping the air-game. That shouldn’t change in 2009. They are another team experimenting with a 3-4 hybrid defense but they don’t seem to have the personnel to capitalize on it with their starting CB from 2008, Brian Williams, going to Atlanta and cut several other members of the squad. They’ve shown a proclivity in the preseason for their lack of pass-rush and only managed one sack in three games.

3. St. Louis Rams
Steve Spagnuolo is trying to pick up the pieces of a defense that allowed 465 points and was ranked 30th last season. New strong safety James Butler is an effective and important piece of it but it’s definitely a year for rebuilding under former-defensive coordinator Spagnuolo. Look for some improvement but St. Louis should continue to struggle to stop the run game to a harsh extent.

4. Kansas City Chiefs
Second in almost every “worst of” category only to Detroit, the Chiefs have managed to stay on-task between seasons and have shown incredible improvement in preseason play (despite the absent offense).

Head Coach Todd Haley announced a new 3-4 defense during the off-season that veteran players would have to adjust to—and it seems to be working. The Chiefs have allowed just 64 points and pulled off seven sacks in their four losses. But with their offense a major concern, expect Kansas City’s defensive squad to suffer under long on-field stints—they will likely spend a lot more time on the field than the offense and that’s enough to wear any defense down to nothing.

5. Arizona Cardinals
A middle of the road defense in 2008, the Cardinals have revealed manifold issues defensively after going 0-4 in their four preseason games in 2009 and allowing a whopping 47 more total points than they scored—and that can’t all be blamed on Warner’s sputtering offensive unit. Though the pass-rush has been a pleasant side-effect in AZ, their pass-stopping abilities haven’t been. Something needs to happen in Arizona before the train goes flying off the tracks.

6. Detroit Lions
Experts disagree on whether or not the Lions actually had a defensive squad last season. Whatever they had, it led the NFL in total yards allowed, yards per game allowed, total rushing yards allowed, points allowed, least interceptions (4), and games lost with 16. Also, they only had 30 sacks. Expect some progress to be made in this season with Jim Schwartz—former successful Titans defensive coordinator—taking over the helm.

Some summer additions will depth to this formerly abysmal defense. Rookie Safety Louis Delmas, new Cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Anthony Henry, and a new defensive line will all help to scale back their outrageous ’08 numbers—they’ve only allowed 76 points so far in the preseason—but don’t expect them to be fantasy-worthy just yet. Matt Forte, Steven Jackson, Adrian Peterson, and other RBs will get the chance to rack up some big numbers vs. Detroit again in ’09.

7. Cleveland Browns
There are some bright spots in Cleveland—new LB D’Qwell Jackson comes to the squad after leading the league in total tackles, and the new 3-4 defense under Eric Mangini should help stop the all-so-important rushing game of the AFC north. But weaknesses in some key holes may be their downfall—the safety and cornerback positions are notorious Browns weak points. The team allowed the fifth most points of defenses in 2008 and 70 points in four games so far this season. If your second-stringer RB is going up against the Browns—put him in.

Sleeper bad defenses to avoid:

Tennessee Titans
The Titans have allowed 104 preseason points so far after 2008 saw them lose Pro Bowl DT Albert Haynesworth and coordinator Jim Schwartz to #4 on this list.

Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles aren’t the force that they were last year after losing some real meat and potatoes players: safety Brian Dawkins, linebacker Stewart Bradley, and defensive mastermind Jim Johnson are all gone.

1. New England
They’re annihilating teams one after another. A challenge does not seem to be in their near future. What’s even crazier is that Donte Stallworth is just now getting into the offense, after struggling to get acclimated because of training camp injuries.

2. Indianapolis Colts
Both their studs in Marvin Harrison and Joseph Addai had to leave their victory early against the Broncos. Ironically Harrison took the clipping in his back by his own teammate, Joseph Addai.

3. Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys hit it correctly by inserting Romo. He’s the real deal and in a weak NFC looks poised to carry this team to the Super Bowl.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers
When the Steelers were without Troy Polamalu the Steelers defense could not contain the Cardinals offense.

5. Seattle Seahawks
They’re playing this well with a banged up Shaun Alexander and DJ Hackett. This team just stays consistent and will be a threat against the Cowboys in the playoffs, just like last season.

6. Tennessee Titans
Their beat down at New Orleans and Vince Young’s command is going to be awfully tough for teams to match.

7. Green Bay Packers
Favre and the Packers look marvelous but when will defensive coordinators figure out a correct strategy in shutting Favre down? He will make mistakes but somehow is avoiding them. If the Packers can’t figure out a running game then sooner than later a bad streak of games will come.

8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The pairing of Jeff Garcia and Jon Gruden is eerily similar to the vet slinger Rich Gannon. Garcia is just getting the job done and enough credit can not be said to their defense. If the Bucs could land Tiki Barber, they would be the strongest contender in the NFC.

9. San Diego
After all of their losses no one would want to play them when a playoff berth comes alive in December. The best thing for San Diego is to take a look at the rest of the AFC currently. Besides the Colts and Patriots the rest of the AFC is bunched up at the .500 mark. Meaning the Chargers are a game out of all of these teams. They’ll be okay and get things rolling starting this week.

10. Detroit Lions
Mike Martz already has my vote for coach of the year.

11. Baltimore Ravens
12. Jacksonville Jaguars
13. Chicago Bears
14. Arizona Cardinals
15. Washington Redskins
16. Cincinnati Bengals
17. New York Giants
18. Denver Broncos
19. San Francisco
20. Cleveland Browns
21. Carolina Panthers
22. Oakland Raiders
23. Kansas City Chiefs
24. Philadelphia Eagles
25. Houston Texans
26. New Orleans
27. New York Jets
28. Atlanta Falcons
29. Buffalo Bills
30. Minnesota Vikings
31. Miami Dolphins
32. St. Louis Rams