Vic Carucci's NFL Rankings

[imported_MOX]

This is how the NFL's 32 teams stack up after Week 1:

In the hunt
Teams that look good enough to be among the 12 playoff qualifiers, but not based on conference.
Rank Team Record Comment
1. Dallas Cowboys 1-0 It didn't figure to be quite so easy in Cleveland, but that's the type of thing a legitimate Super Bowl contender does.
2. New York Giants 1-0 The defending champs should make it two in a row at St. Louis.
3. Green Bay Packers 1-0 Brett who?
4. Carolina Panthers 1-0 A healthy Jake Delhomme makes an enormous difference -- enough to overcome the absence of Steve Smith.
5. San Diego Chargers 0-1 Tough loss, but this team still has all of the ingredients to be a major factor in the wide-open AFC.
6. Chicago Bears 1-0 Making the Indianapolis Colts look feeble is no easy task, yet the Bears did exactly that.
7. Indianapolis Colts 0-1 The Colts can't really be that bad ... can they?
8. Buffalo Bills 1-0 Knocking off the perennial NFC West kingpins is a big deal, especially in as thorough a fashion as the Bills did.
9. New Orleans Saints 1-0 No team adapts better in a crisis than the Saints.
10. Pittsburgh Steelers 1-0 The Steelers won big with a familiar formula: Powerful running game and smothering defense.
11. Philadelphia Eagles 1-0 Disposing of the hapless Rams was easy. A much harder test is coming in Dallas.
12. Denver Broncos 1-0 A win's a win, but how much can you really gauge from beating up on an opponent as pathetic as the Raiders were Monday night?

The rest
Teams listed alphabetically

Middle of the Pack
Arizona Cardinals (1-0)
Atlanta Falcons (1-0)
Baltimore Ravens (1-0)
Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1)
Minnesota Vikings (0-1)
New York Jets (1-0)
New England Patriots (1-0)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1)
Tennessee Titans (1-0)
Washington Redskins (0-1)


Needs Work
Cincinnati Bengals (0-1)
Cleveland Browns (0-1)
Detroit Lions (0-1)
Houston Texans (0-1)
Kansas City Chiefs (0-1)
Miami Dolphins (0-1)
Oakland Raiders (0-1)
St. Louis Rams (0-1)
San Franscisco 49ers (0-1)
Seattle Seahawks (0-1)



Is it just me or is this dude smoking crack?????

[Xknight52]

Funny

[Rich_Kotite]

This is a pretty accurate list. 7 or 8 of the 12 teams he listed are in solid contention for a playoff spot. Some of his middle of the pack teams are playoff contenders while some of his playoff contenders are middle of the pack. The teams he has as needing work pretty much are out of contention. There are always going to be surprises in the nfl, even by the week. Carucci did a good job on this and thats just after week one. For the most part, this list has stayed pretty true to form. One thing that cant be taken into account with these predictions is injuries. Indy, SD, and Philly have all struggled in large part due to injuries of key players like Merriman, Manning, and Westbrook.

[Xknight52]

I don't wanna hear about Indys injuries they had almost there whole starting offense!!!

[Rich_Kotite]

You dont have to hear about it but its the truth. Manning and Saturday have both been injured. Manning had multiple surgerys and clearly wasnt 100% early in the season. Maybe Indy isnt a good team but without a doubt, they have had key injuries.

[Biggin]

bob sanders??

its a totally diff team when sanders is playing

[Rich_Kotite]

yep, forgot about Sanders. No Bob Sanders, no run defense.

[starbuck]

and no #1 starting running back for Indy.

[Biggin]

addai is great too, not having him is a huge hit


and marvin has lost his mojo a lil bit, and d clark didnt have any TDs until monday.


i hate indy with a passion, but they are still a good team when they are healthy.

[duckmeat]

Steve Young and Emmitt Smith both agreed that Manning is not anywhere near a hundred percent. Factor that in with the rest of his ailing team, there's your problem. If they were healthy this year, they would win the AFC esp in the absence of Brady.