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Will the best team in the NFL please stand up? Six weeks into the 2012 season, and a favorite has yet to emerge.
My apologies to the ’76 Steelers, ’85 Bears and ’00 Ravens, among others, but in this new era of professional football, offense is king. The top two defenses in their respective leagues, in terms of points allowed per game, gave up a combined 68 points this weekend. While Houston and San Francisco looked incredibly pedestrian on their respective home fields, the opposite can be said of Green Bay and the New York Giants. Aaron Rodgers tied a Packer record by tossing six touchdowns in their 42-24 shellacking of the formerly undefeated Texans and the Giants produced an all-around dominating effort, holding a 49ers team that had scored 79 points the previous two weeks to just a field goal.
I am legitimately beginning to think that the football gods really like birds. Three of the five Raven wins have been by three points or less, with the latest coming on a missed Dallas field goal at the horn. In Atlanta, the Falcons escaped disaster to move to 6-0, with four of those six wins coming by a touchdown or less and certainly aided by some timely luck. We all know about the early Christmas present the replacement officials gave the Seahawks in Week 3. And even though the Cardinals have lost two in a row, they did start 4-0 with one of the worst offenses in the league. Unfortunately for the Philadelphia Eagles, I think that the gods may like dogs just a little bit better, as Michael Vick turned the ball over another two times in their OT loss to Detroit.
| Team | Rank | Previous Rank | Record | Thoughts |
Atlanta Falcons | 1 | 1 | 6-0 | Needing a last second 55-yard field goal to beat a terrible Raiders team has many questioning how good Atlanta really is. But a team’s record is objective. Bottom-line: 6-0 is 6-0 every day of the week. |
Chicago Bears | 2 | 6 | 4-1 | How did a team with a bye jump four spots, you may ask? Well, Chicago has been one of the more impressive teams thus far, posting a +78 point differential, easily the best in the league. Combine that with the losses of Houston and San Francisco, as well as the ugly win by Baltimore and there’s your answer. |
New York Giants | 3 | 7 | 4-2 | When the defense plays like it did on Sunday, this team looks like it could repeat as Super Bowl champs. Hanging 26 points on a team that hadn’t given up more than 22 in a game all year is even more impressive when you see that Eli Manning only had 193 yards passing. |
Houston Texans | 4 | 2 | 5-1 | Houston received their first real test of the year and laid an egg against Green Bay. A defense that had given up only 73 points all season, gave up 42 to Aaron Rodgers and company. Next week’s matchup against 5-1 Baltimore will reveal a lot about this team. |
Baltimore Ravens | 5 | 4 | 5-1 | How does a team that won drop a spot in the rankings? Even without considering the ugly nature of four of their five wins, the loss of perhaps their two best defensive players, Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb, for the season is devastating for a defense that has given up almost 400 yards per game. | ||||
San Francisco | 6 | 3 | 4-2 | After Sunday’s miserable loss at the hands of the Giants, I continue to question whether a team that lacks a top-10 quarterback and a consistent passing attack can win in today’s NFL. This question will be answered by the end of the season, as the 49ers face a brutal schedule over the final 10 weeks. | ||||
Green Bay Packers | 7 | 13 | 3-3 | There’s the team that averaged 35 points a game last season. Don’t look now, but after a six TD performance, the reigning MVP leads all quarterbacks in passer rating. | ||||
Seattle Seahawks | 8 | 16 | 4-2 | Russell Wilson has now beat Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton and Tom Brady over the first six weeks of his rookie season. As Richard Sherman showed, Seattle certainly isn’t a team that lacks confidence. | ||||
New England Patriots | 9 | 5 | 3-3 | Another blown lead late in the fourth quarter exposes a concerning trend for the Patriots. Consider this: including the postseason, Sunday marked the seventh time since 2009 that the Patriots lost a game after holding a lead in the final five minutes of regulation. | ||||||||||||
Minnesota Vikings | 10 | 8 | 4-2 | Minnesota’s stingy defense was scorched by Washington on Sunday. Two important home games await before the schedule becomes extremely difficult. | ||||||||||||
Arizona Cardinals | 12 | 9 | 4-2 | I think it’s safe to say that the Cardinals wings have been clipped. With their next four games coming against Minnesota, San Francisco, Green Bay and Atlanta, this team could be 4-6 come Week 11. | ||||||||||||
Denver Broncos | 11 | 17 | 3-3 | Denver’s gameplan is clear: fall behind by double-digits in the first- half, then attempt to make a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback. Amazingly, the Broncos have outscored opponents 79-6 in the fourth quarter this season. If this team realizes that football games are 48 minutes long, then they could be dangerous. | ||||||||||||
Washington Redskins | 13 | 18 | 3-3 | Dropping 38 on Minnesota’s vaunted defense was impressive. If Washington’s defense can improve, then they could be a contender in a tightly-packed NFC East. |
Philadelphia Eagles | 14 | 11 | 3-3 | This team is like a dysfunctional relationship. The looks may be there (in this case talent) but there is absolutely no chemistry. I’m not sure how firing the defensive coordinator, Juan Castillo, was justified given that the offense has only scored about 17 points per game. |
Pittsburgh Steelers | 15 | 10 | 2-3 | Just when it looked like the Steelers were finally getting healthy, Troy Polamalu reinjured his calf, and the offensive line got banged up. Luckily, LaMarr Woodley should be back for Sunday night’s game at Cincinnati. |
Miami Dolphins | 16 | 20 | 3-3 | If Miami continues to run the ball and stop the run as effectively as they have, then they certainly have a chance to stick around in a log-jammed AFC East. |
St. Louis Rams | 17 | 12 | 3-3 | Talk about a tough schedule. St. Louis’ next three games come against Green Bay, New England and San Francisco. |
San Diego Chargers | 18 | 15 | 3-3 | Blowing a 24 point lead against a division rival at home is unacceptable. Rightfully so, Norv Turner finds himself on the hot seat yet again. |
Dallas Cowboys | 19 | 19 | 2-3 | Dallas put together one of their better efforts so far in a two point loss to Baltimore. Unfortunately, the Cowboys continued to bolster their reputation as a losers by managing the clock poorly at the end of regulation, forcing Dan Bailey to try a 51-yard field goal. |
Detroit Lions | 20 | 23 | 2-3 | Perhaps a comeback win in Philadelphia will turn Detroit’s season around. We’ll see if they carry any momentum into next week’s Monday night game in Chicago. |
New York Jets | 21 | 22 | 3-3 | Demolishing a young Indy squad at home didn’t really catch my attention. Rex Ryan’s always bulletin-board worthy quotes certainly did though. | |||
Cincinnati Bengals | 22 | 14 | 3-3 | I can overlook last week’s loss against Miami, but losing to a winless Cleveland team is unacceptable for a team that has playoff aspirations. The offense needs to run the ball better to take pressure off of Andy Dalton, who threw three picks on Sunday. | |||
Indianapolis Colts | 24 | 21 | 2-3 | A home game against Cleveland and their 30th ranked pass defense should get Andrew Luck back on track next week. | ||||
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 23 | 25 | 2-3 | Josh Freeman threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns in the demolition of the Chiefs. This guy could certainly be a stud one day. | ||||
New Orleans Saints | 25 | 24 | 1-4 | The Saints are first in passing yards per game, yet rank 30th in rushing yards per game. You need balance on offense to succeed. Not to mention the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed. |
Buffalo Bills | 26 | 26 | 3-3 | The defense got a needed game against Arizona’s less-than-mediocre offense. Still, giving up 430 yards per game is not a formula for success. |
Tennessee Titans | 27 | 30 | 2-4 | An upset win over Pittsburgh may not mean much to a team that is surely not playoff bound, yet the fact that Chris Johnson finally had a good game (91 yards on 19 carries) is promising. |
Carolina Panthers | 28 | 27 | 1-4 | Maybe the bye week will help get Cam Newton and the passing game on track. A team that many thought could be a sleeper in the NFC South has been disappointing thus far. |
Oakland Raiders | 29 | 29 | 1-4 | Although Oakland lost a heart-breaker to Atlanta, they looked much better than their no-show the week before at Denver. A home game against Jacksonville next week is very winnable. |
Cleveland Browns | 30 | 32 | 1-5 | Sure Cleveland was the last team to win a game, but four of their five losses were by 10 points or less. Winning at Cincinnati was just a reminder that any team can win any given week. |
Kansas City Chiefs | 31 | 28 | 1-5 | The hits just continue to pile up for a team that made the playoffs just a season ago. Kansas City fans may actually applaud the return of Matt Cassell after Brady Quinn threw for two picks and zero touchdowns on Sunday. |
Jacksonville Jaguars | 32 | 31 | 1-4 | Jacksonville ranks 22nd or worst in passing and rushing offense as well as passing and rushing defense. |
Josh Forte is from the newest and one of the smallest cities in Massachusetts:
Gardner. Josh is a member of the Boston College Class of 2014 and is double majoring in Economics and English. Perhaps the only things he loves more than working out are each of the Boston sports teams. He began writing for both Culture and Sports his junior year. Other than lifting weights, he enjoys cooking, playing basketball and listening to hip-hop. Follow him on Twitter @jforts.
