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Dr. Z's NFL Power Rankings
Week 5
Posted: Tuesday October 09, 2001 5:54 PM
We're beginning to hear it already, the countdown to the Rams' undefeated
season. I mean we've only played four games. Give us a break already. But yet
.. but yet ... in spite of my own complaining, I find myself wandering through
the Rams' schedule, wondering where the glitch is going to come, if at
all.
Road game on grass would be my guess, since I don't see anyone slowing them down
on the St. Louis Speedway. There are three of those roadies still left: Jets,
Patriots and Carolina on the divot minefield called Ericsson Stadium. Now let's
look at ... wait a minute, this is nonsense. I'm not gonna start handicapping
their season. See what a trap a vacant, undisciplined mind can fall into?. On
the subject of vacant and undisciplined, here come the
rankings:
| Dr. Z's Power Rankings |
| Rank |
LW |
Team |
| 1 |
1 |
|
St. Louis Rams (4-0)
The Lions threw some blitzes at Warner, but he got to his hot reads too quickly,
and his guys were making good catches for him. So what's the fallback position?
A zone? Too many holes to exploit. The answer is that your front four has to
collapse the Rams' forward wall by
itself.
|
| 2 |
2 |
|
Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
Terry Allen, pulled in from the street, rushes for 108 yards against Tennessee.
There are probably 25 teams in the NFL that have a better right side of the
offensive line. People tend to get inspired when they smell serious
paydirt.
|
| 3 |
4 |
|
Denver Broncos (3-1)
Broncos express going up, Green Bay express going down. That's the way it is in
the old elevator game, when you're at penthouse
level.
|
| 4 |
3 |
|
Green Bay Packers (3-1)
The Packers dropped one spot after their squeaky loss to the Bucs in 102-degree
heat, Tampa Bay was elevated eight positions. I'm afraid that's the best I can
do to narrow the gap without throwing my whole board out of
whack.
|
| 5 |
5 |
|
Indianapolis Colts (2-1)
I decided not to penalize the Colts for their bye week. I must be getting soft
or
something.
|
| 6 |
6 |
|
Miami Dolphins (3-1)
The shock of that St. Louis thing has worn off and they're back to what they do
best: run the ball. (A strange phrase. Why does everyone always say run the
ball ? I mean we never say "pass the ball." This will
require some
research).
|
| 7 |
7 |
|
Oakland Raiders (3-1)
Crunch time in Indy this weekend, but I think that, uh, who did I pick again in
the magazine? Linda honey, read me what I wrote. That's it, I think the
Raiders will win on the ground. OK, Linda, I know ... they're not playing in
the sky ... just stop wising off,
OK?
|
| 8 |
16 |
|
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)
How can I find so many things wrong with this team after such a big win? Let's
start with their two defensive stars, Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp. Did they
leave a forwarding address when they went
south?
|
| 9 |
9 |
|
New York Giants (3-1)
Everyone, including me, is saying that the Rams will simply present too much
speed for the Giants' cover guys. But that's exactly what they said before New
York demolished the Vikings in the NFC Championship last year, wasn't
it?
|
| 10 |
10 |
|
New Orleans Saints (2-1)
It comes in waves. Funny how so many runners all had big days on the same
Sunday. Steelers, Giants, Seahawks, Broncos, Dolphins, Saints. It's all from
the same script. Once we get our running game going, then blah blah
blah.
|
| 11 |
11 |
|
San Francisco 49ers (3-1)
What, the Niners ahead of the Eagles? Come now, old chap. But I refuse to
demote San Francisco after a victory. That would be too cruel, coming from one
who rooted for the Niners in the days of Wally Yonamine and Visco
Grgich.
|
| 12 |
8 |
|
Philadelphia Eagles (2-2)
Jake Plummer simply makes a habit of coming from behind against the Eagles.
It's a matter of styles. He just seems to have a better read on their blitz
packages than other people
do.
|
| 13 |
23 |
|
Cleveland Browns (3-1)
The time has come to give the poor devils their due. They're playing well,
they're beating good teams. I don't want to resort to the old "they are
for real" cliché. Let's just see what happens when they face the
Ravens in two weeks. I'm not necessarily looking for a victory, just a good,
competitive showing.
|
| 14 |
12 |
|
San Diego Chargers (3-1)
Weird thing. My machine automatically puts in the acute accent after the last e
in cliché, but won't do it for other words, such as Rene or pate. Thus,
fractured French is everywhere. Oh, the Chargers? Well, if Rene gets enough
pate, he won't have to resort to the
cliché.
|
| 15 |
13 |
|
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2)
I had at least 10 good reasons to explain why the Jags would beat the Seahawks,
and I mentioned them all to my friends who like to do a bit of, ahem, investing.
I am quite bitter about the showing that this team put up last weekend. There
are people with very heavy shoes who are looking for
me.
|
| 16 |
18 |
|
Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)
Here's a weird one. The Heinz Field opener was marked by continuing complaints
from both QBs about slippery footballs that weren't properly rubbed up or
something, which accounted for the rather modest passing yardage. Well, this
week the foe is K.C. on the road, and if it's one thing they know how to do in
Arrowhead, it's rub up
footballs.
|
| 17 |
22 |
|
Chicago Bears (2-1)
Higher, they deserve to be higher. I'll write a letter myself to the Mailbag to
save you the trouble. The problem is that if I raise them any higher then I
have to start messing with teams that
won.
|
| 18 |
15 |
|
Minnesota Vikings (1-3)
Beware, all you phenomenal young QBs who have the world by the tail before
you've really learned the game. Daunte Culpepper is coming down to
earth.
|
| 19 |
20 |
|
New York Jets (2-2)
In defense of Mo Lewis, who will get the book thrown at him for putting Rob
Johnson out of commission, I have known Lewis for 11 years and I've never known
him to resort to cheap shots or flagrant fouls. So why did I come down so hard
on Browns' rookie Gerard Warren last week for something similar? Because this
might be his regular style, who knows? And it definitely isn't that of
Lewis.
|
| 20 |
14 |
|
Tennessee Titans (0-3)
They have no cornerbacks. Eddie George is limping. Their offensive line has
deteriorated. I don't really see many weapons to win with, except toughness and
resolve, and the Ravens hammered that last
weekend.
|
| 21 |
26 |
|
Seattle Seahawks (2-2)
An offensive line that had given up the most sacks in the NFL got itself
together and put on a drive-blocking extravaganza against the Jaguars, and Shaun
Alexander ran for 176 yards. He had rushed for 27 in the three previous games,
in relief of Ricky Watters, who is now out. So this week Denver will bring
eight into the box and the Hawks will throw. Then in the next game Miami will
drop back into coverage, and Seattle will run. Then the Redskins will crowd the
box with eight and ... is there no end to this accordion world of pro
football?
|
| 22 |
17 |
|
Kansas City Chiefs (1-3)
There a dramatic pass-catching race going on between tight end Tony Gonzalez and
the entire crew of wideouts. The wideouts are one catch ahead (24 to 23) while
Gonzalez leads in yardage, 341 to 313). Given such a set of tools, is it no
wonder that Trent Green is hardly the carpenter who will repair the leaky ship?
There, I've done it, crowded three analogies into one helpless
sentence.
|
| 23 |
19 |
|
Atlanta Falcons (2-2)
Michael Vick's on-the-job training program continues,
speeded up this time by Chris Chandler's umpteenth concussion. Another one of
these and the guys with the serious faces, the same ones who told Steve Young
and Troy Aikman to get out of the business, will be paying Chandler a call, and
then Vick will be the man, and about every fifth week he'll have some kind of
breakout game and everyone will write that it's amazing how fast he has caught
onto the system. And then in about 15 years, when he's doing his
autobiography, he'll admit, "That first year, man, I didn't know what I
was doing at
all."
|
| 24 |
21 |
|
Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
First they get me all excited, then they break my heart and my overall
handicapping record suffers. And now just look what I've done, picked them
once again to beat a fairly decent team. Some people just don't know
when to let go. If they bomb out again this weekend, that's it, I'm through
with them, terminado. They'll simply have to make it on their own.
|
| 25 |
28 |
|
Arizona Cardinals (1-2)
How seriously do you take an upset over a good team? In the Cardinals' case,
three places, which is a stall while I gather my thoughts for ...
|
| 26 |
25 |
|
Carolina Panthers (1-3)
Every time I took a look at the 49ers game, Muhsin Muhammad was making a tough
catch to keep the chains moving. Then I'd switch off and when I'd come back the
Panthers would be down by another three points or seven points or something.
Does this mean, gasp, that I did not watch this game in its entirety? Hardly,
it was being taped and I'll get to it as my No. 7, around Thursday. I just took
an occasional recreational look, while I was breaking down the tape of
Redskins-Giants.
|
| 27 |
24 |
|
New England Patriots (1-3)
Dave Wannstedt marveled at the read Bill Belichick had on his first play,
dropping linebacker Mike Vrabel into coverage for the interception, anticipating
the pass when for three weeks the Dolphins had started each game with a run.
Unfortunately, Belichick couldn't put on a uniform and anchor himself into a
four-point stance and stop the Miami running attack, which produced 209 yards.
Which is what I've been telling you all along. Players, ya gotta have the
players.
|
| 28 |
27 |
|
Buffalo Bills (0-4)
This is the sadness part of the program. I don't want to give away the ending,
but you will not find a victory from here on
in.
|
| 29 |
30 |
|
Dallas Cowboys (0-4)
A one-point elevation for the run they made at the Raiders toward the end of the
game.
|
| 30 |
31 |
|
Washington Redskins (0-4)
Another one-pointer for the fierce battle they put on against the Giants, with
end Kenard Lang leading the way. At this rate, the Skins would be sitting in
the top spot if the season lasted another 29
weeks.
|
| 31 |
29 |
|
Detroit Lions (0-3)
Clunk. Defense tried blitzing the Rams and when that didn't work, it shut down
operations. Offense performed under the theory that if stayed on the field long
enough something bad was bound to happen. I won't even get into the
Detmer-Batch situation because who cares,
really?
|
To send a question or comment to Dr. Z, click here.
|
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