---

BY PHIL KATZ

In print | October 5, 2006

Every week, pretty much every major sports publication creates “Power Rankings” for each league. The idea is simple: if two teams played on a neutral field, this week, who would win? Of course, like any rankings, these are completely subjective, but if you disagree with my rankings, get your own column.

1: Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are undefeated, and while they don’t look unstoppable like they did last season, they are clearly the class of the league.

2: Chicago Bears. Apparently Rex Grossman is a decent QB when he stays healthy. The best defense in the league suddenly has a competent offense to come along for the ride to the Super Bowl.

3: Philadelphia Eagles. On Monday Night Football this week, the Eagles’ “Fan of the Game” got escorted out of the stadium for heckling other Eagles fans for not standing up and cheering loud enough. He was wearing a cheesesteak hat.

4: Seattle Seahawks. (With Shaun Alexander)

5: Baltimore Ravens. Still waiting for this veteran team to get caught by injuries, by the fact that Steve McNair is no longer a good passer or by the police. Smart money is on option three.

6: Atlanta Falcons. Can they just eliminate the pretense of the forward pass in this offense? Other than an emotional blowout in New Orleans, the protection for Ron Mexico has been impressive; he hasn’t infected a single defender this season.

7: New York Jets. I know they’re 2-2. I know they have starting wideouts named Laveranues and Jerricho. But the Jets gave Indianapolis all they could handle this week.

8: San Diego Chargers. If one team shows the importance of coaching, it’s the team with the best tailback in the NFL, the best pass rush in the NFL, the best TE in the NFL and the loss to Baltimore last Sunday.

9: Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars hit much harder than everyone else. I bet that hurts. Also, once more, just so everyone knows, Byron Leftwich is not the slowest QB … he’s just the slowest black QB.

10: New England Patriots. Now that they have a great running game, a great QB, talented tight ends, an aging defense and no NFL-quality receivers … what are they saving money for? Do they know it can’t roll over into next year?

11: Cincinnati Bengals. On a decidedly Bengals-loving field, the Patriots beat them pretty thoroughly just last week. So I guess they don’t get listed above the Patriots.

12: Dallas Cowboys. I saw a T-shirt on Monday that read “Dallas Sucks. T.O. Swallows Pills.” Is this tasteless?

13-27: Parity? Or mediocrity?

28: San Francisco 49ers. Frank Gore needs to get healthy for this team to have a chance (of holding off a strong challenge from Correll Buckhalter for this season’s “Top Goal Line Fumbler” title).

29: Detroit Lions. Because according to Roy Williams, when they score six points, that’s only a few plays away from scoring 40. And if they can score 40 every game, they’ll be a pretty dominating team.

30: Seattle Seahawks. (Without Shaun Alexander).

31: Miami Dolphins. I have Daunte Culpepper and Chris Chambers on my fantasy team. I will now chew broken glass.

32: Tennessee Titans. Well, they certainly stomped Andre Gurode and the Cowboys last week (rimshot). And some day their franchise QB might even learn to throw overhand.

33: Oakland Raiders. Is there any combination of events that would make you bet on the Raiders? Is Art Shell still alive out there?

Phil is a senior. You can reach him at pkatz1@swarthmore.edu.

---

« RETURN TO SPORTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »