Sluss's 2007 AFC Rankings (Week 2)

[vixticator]

I feel like commenting on the Titans in week two for no real reason. They played much better than I expected, especially defense. Manning faced a lot of pressure all day. Mortal QB's would have been owned. Vince Young much better than week one where he seemed to throw ball at recievers feet all day. This past week Young looked rather poised, confident... very accurate at times. He didn't run a whole lot until late. Brandon Jones dropped a rather routine ball that would have put them in position to win at last second.

Based on this and having watched both Saints game I think MNF is going to be a huge beatdown.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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I'm displeased, though not suprised, that you didn't mention the Colts in here, but in any case I agree the Pats seem to have more "player talent".


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I mean the Colts are up there in the elite teams, certainly offensively anyway. you still give the WR edge to Indy, and Addai does look more like and everydown back than Maroney at this point.

but I still have some questions about some key defensive personnel, and how some of those undersized guys are going to hold up over the year. the Pats and Colts are pretty close offensively, but there is a pretty big difference in the DL an LB talent imho.

[Richard Tanner]

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I feel like commenting on the Titans in week two for no real reason. They played much better than I expected, especially defense. Manning faced a lot of pressure all day. Mortal QB's would have been owned. Vince Young much better than week one where he seemed to throw ball at recievers feet all day. This past week Young looked rather poised, confident... very accurate at times. He didn't run a whole lot until late. Brandon Jones dropped a rather routine ball that would have put them in position to win at last second.

Based on this and having watched both Saints game I think MNF is going to be a huge beatdown.

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Just as it pertains to the Colts game, there were a few fairly large blown calls in that game that lead to wild swings.

I will agree with you, however, that I think the TEN D was very suprising, but I'd ad to that the IND D was suprising as well. For the first time in recorded history they basically stopped VY, and suprise, suprise, Bob Sanders always seemed to be there. As if we need more proof he's the key to that defense along with Freeney.

Cody

[Richard Tanner]

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I mean the Colts are up there in the elite teams, certainly offensively anyway. you still give the WR edge to Indy, and Addai does look more like and everydown back than Maroney at this point.


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You left off QB [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].
As RBs go, I'm calling that a wash, Maroney was likely going to the Colts if the Pats didn't pick him (some say it was the reason the Pats did take him), and he and Addai are both very solid backs. Lets be honest though, we don't line up to see them rush, we want to see the whole package.
For WRs, I have to give the Colts the edge. Call me a homer, but after watching Tony G. play, I won't put money against Harrison (Then non-HGH one), Wayne and Gonzo. That's a sick trio.
As for TE, I'm going to take Clark/Utecht/Fletcher over Watson/Brady/Thomas based on versitility, but it's a negligable edge.
OL is another wash, both Peyton and Brady aren't likely to see more than 20 sacks a year.

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but I still have some questions about some key defensive personnel, and how some of those undersized guys are going to hold up over the year. the Pats and Colts are pretty close offensively, but there is a pretty big difference in the DL an LB talent imho.

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This is where it gets hard for me. No question the Pats have more "raw talent" on D. I mean is anyone really trembling when they heard undrafted rookie Ed Johnson's name at DT during intros? Maybe they should be, but give me a few more games before I buy the hype.

That said, the Colts have said, and proved, each of the last three years, that it's more about system then personnel. Freeney and Sanders are names and the rest, though names to those of us in Indy, are cogs in the larger machine.

Either way, I can't wait for 11/4 at the Dome. I'm dying to see the way they're going to play Randy Moss. Certainly safety help over the top, I can't imagine them letting Randy run wild, but Sanders makes a larger impact running the occasional blitz then mearly being another DB in coverage.

Cody

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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That said, the Colts have said, and proved, each of the last three years, that it's more about system then personnel.

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well I guess we can argue about this again [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

here is the Indy defense's NFL rank, according to DVOA, over the past few years:

2006: 27
2005: 8
2004: 19
2003: 15

average those all up, and you basically get "meh". now, you can say that the 2006 Indy defense with Bob Sanders was much better than 27th in the NFL, and you would be right...but when you're talking about a guy who has missed a ton of games in his career so far, you can't assume you are going to get a healthy full season out of him...

Indy has won b/c of a historically great offense. (per DVOA, 1,1,1,2 in the years I showed above). I don't think the defensive system has shown that they can take average or below talent and be anything more than an average defense over any large sample size.

[Billy Bibbit]

The only bad call I remember in the Titans game was the missed pass interference against Reggie Wayne on the interception. Obviously that call made a huge difference but I don't remember "several" bad calls.

I just watched the Denver-Oakland game on NFL Replay and Jay Cutler looked a lot better than I expected, but I still think Denver's run defense is such trash that I can't rank them ahead of Pittsburgh or Baltimore.

1. New England
2. Indianapolis
3. San Diego
4. Pittsburgh
5. Baltimore
6. Denver
7. Houston
8. Tennessee
9. Cincinnati
10. Jacksonville
11. NY Jets
12. Oakland
13. Miami
14. Cleveland
15. Buffalo
16. Kansas City

I've watched at least one game of all the teams except Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, the Jets, Miami, and Kansas City, so I'm sort of guessing on where I'm ranking those five teams. Oakland is a lot better than last year and I might want to move them as high as 10th.

[vixticator]

I may have to watch Houston soon, haven't seen any of their games yet. Find it a bit hard to believe that *basically* you add Schaub, subtract Carr, and suddenly you are a contender. You mean they suddenly have a defense? DeMeco Ryans is pretty sick, one of best young defensive players. Okoye making impact already? I can't even name anyone in secondary outside of Daunte Robinson. Of course I've seen like 2 games in their franchise history, lol. Bring me up to speed!

[Billy Bibbit]

The Texans improved a lot over the course of the 2006 season. At the beginning of the year they were a bottom 5 team in the NFL and by the end of the year they were an 8-8 caliber team IMO. Their win over us (I'm a Colts fan) was not a fluke and I think it gave them a lot of confidence coming into this season. It's not like just adding Matt Schaub and Ahman Green suddenly gave them 6 extra wins.

And yes their defense is pretty solid.

[prohornblower]

They also picked up Ahman Green, and late in the season last year they could count on Dayne to eat clock when they have a lead, which is carrying over to this year.

Amobi had 2 sacks last game and a FF, and I think Mario's impact will be better b/c of Amobi, and Amobi's b/c of Mario. If that makes sense.

They finally got rid of their dogmeat punter Chad Stanley and picked up about 8 yards per punt, which is huge if you think about it.

Shaub is way way better than Carr so far, and because of that, you are also able to get Johnson on all cylinders. Synergy!

So basically there are a bunch of things that are working for them right now that weren't last season. They look way way better. I was hoping they'd go 8-8 this season but now I might legitimately be disappointed if they don't make a wild card.

[Nez477]

I think this article really sums up why the Broncos two close losses were as close as they were, and how they should right the ship

Why so few points?