Prior to the season, if you told me that Drew Stanton would be the poster boy for my first power rankings, I probably would have laughed and said his chances were as good as Dan Orlovsky's (UConnnnn).
Well, we're three weeks into the season and there he is...my featured player along with his super savvy head coach, Bruce Arians. That duo, along with a fast and relentless defensive unit, has been instrumental in the Cardinals' impressive 3-0 start. Let's find out exactly how much credit I'm giving them...
It's a no-brainer for the organization to hand the keys over to Blake Bortles. He really should have been the starter from the get go. Everyone knew they were winning four games or less heading into the year, so why keep him on the sideline if they were going to suck either way? Might as well give him the opportunity to learn on the fly and get acclimated to real NFL game speed.
Oakland's defense played extremely well against the Patriots in Week 3; unfortunately the Patriots' complicated and ever-changing defensive schemes made it nearly impossible for the Raiders to sustain any type of offense. They played tough, but a loss is a loss. And they are certainly used to losing.
They'll need RB Doug Martin fresh and at full strength to be competitive.
This is an average defense and below-average team.
28. Minnesota Vikings (1-2): Just as the Bortles era begins in Jacksonville, the Teddy Bridgewater era is now under way in Minnesota. Matt Cassel is out indefinitely with fractured bones in his left foot, so we'll all get a chance to see what Teddy can do. This team is irrelevant without Adrian Peterson, anyway.
I thought this may have been a team that was starting to come together on both sides of the ball, but then I realized that they don't really have any game-changing playmakers. WR1 Mike Wallace has played well and is a solid pro and RB Lamar Miller shows sporadic flashes, but I don't think this team is dynamic enough to make any real noise.
The Browns are a scrappy bunch on both sides of the ball, and they've competed admirably in the absence of WR1 Josh Gordon and RB1 Ben Tate. I like this team's tenacity and competitiveness.
Look, we can talk about rushing, defense, special teams and coaching all day long, but at the end of the day the quarterback position is what matters the most. And Fitzpatrick isn't a very good one. He's short, gets too many passes batted down at the line, doesn't have a particularly strong arm and isn't as accurate as he needs to be for this team to be a contender.
It's a shame, too, because JJ Watt, Andre Johnson, Arian Foster, Brian Cushing and DeAndre Hopkins is up there with the top cores in the league.
This is also another team limited by its quarterback. Maybe someone other than EJ Manuel could make CJ Spiller, Fred Jackson, Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin as effective and productive as they should be.
Andrew Luck and the boys let one slip away from them against the Eagles in Week 2, but they seemed to be over it as they ran up and down the field against Jacksonville. What I don't like about this team right now is their running game -- is Ahmad Bradshaw really the answer? Can he sustain this kind of production? -- and that they clearly miss Robert Mathis on defense. Just not quite the same team without him.
20. New York Giants (1-2): Things were looking grim for Tom Coughlin's Giants in the early going, but they seem to have figured something out in the past week-and-a-half or so. Their commitment to Rashad Jennings this week was encouraging, and the Eli Manning/Victor Cruz combination appeared to be back on the same page.
In addition, Jason Pierre-Paul looked healthy and dangerous on the D-line, as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Antrel Rolle were making plays all over the defensive backfield. If they play like they did today, they'll have a shot in the NFC East.
19. Dallas Cowboys (2-1): Today's comeback victory over the Rams was impressive, but at the same time, how the hell did they fall that far behind to an Austin Davis-led offense?
The answer is simple...this is still one of the absolute worst defensive teams on the planet. Just as in years past, in the long run this team will not be able to make stops when they need them. They need to hire a top-five defensive coordinator.
So what's holding him back? Unfortunately, it's the Jets front office. Thankfully they added WR1 Eric Decker this offseason, but the Jets opted to remain $20 million under the cap while letting playmakers like Emmanuel Sanders and Steve Smith, Sr. sign affordable contracts elsewhere. Geno needs more than just Decker to become a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. The moment Decker got hurt in the Jets' excruciating loss to the Packers in Week 2, New York's passing attack evaporated into thin air. Geno cannot reasonably be expected to play well when his primary targets are David Nelson and Greg Salas.
Woody Johnson and GM John Idzik really dropped the ball this offseason.
I suppose only time will tell.
I like the Redskins in this spot because of their deep playmaking core consisting of running backs Alfred Morris and Roy Helu, Jr., wide receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson and tight ends Niles Paul and Jordan Reed. It's already clear that Cousins is far superior to Robert Griffin III in the pocket, and it certainly doesn't hurt for him to have all of these dangerous weapons flying around. This could be one of the most explosive offenses in the league.
Their rushing attack has been non-existent, Vernon Davis is injured, they rely too heavily upon Michael Crabtree and their defense isn't elite without injured superstar linebacker Navorro Bowman. Back to back weeks the Niners collapsed after strong starts. Jay Cutler picked them apart in the second half of their Week 2 loss, and journeyman Drew Stanton buried them in the second half of this week's brutal loss. This team's just a mess at this point.
Mike McCarthy's guys could be as low as the mid-20s and as high as the top 10, so the next few weeks will determine which path they follow. It should be interesting.
There's an awful lot of talent on this team. Top cornerback and leader Charles Tillman will be missed, though.
If you watched this week's ugly win over the feisty Raiders, you would agree that I've posed a fair question. New England's offense just isn't what it used to be. They still have the second-best coach in all of professional sports (Bill Belichick is second to Gregg Popovich), but Brady's lack of mobility is hurting them, TE Rob Gronkowski has been reduced to a mere redzone threat, RB Shane Vereen's role has been undefined and the receiving corps has been quiet outside of Julian Edelman.
Plain and simple, I do not see a Super Bowl contender here.
If I were HC Ron Rivera I'd be a little concerned after this one. Offensively they are being forced to rely too heavily upon rookie WR Kelvin Benjamin and veteran TE Greg Olsen. Cam Newton was also horribly inaccurate and constantly under pressure. For a 2-1 team, I'm not particularly high on these Panthers.
However, offensively, when the Steelers are clicking they should be right up there with the best in the league. Big Ben, Bell and Brown -- that's alot of B's and a helluva trio.
9. Baltimore Ravens (2-1): In spite of all the controversy and media coverage revolving around the above-featured player who will remain nameless because I'm sick and tired of hearing it, John Harbaugh's boys have pieced together back-to-back solid victories to go to 2-1. I don't think there's any question that John is the superior coach of the Harbaugh brothers. Jim lets his emotions boil out of control, and that lack of professionalism clearly trickles down to his players and infects them with irrationality and negative energy.
8. Detroit Lions (2-1): They won with a dominant offensive performance in Week 1 against the Giants, but this week they dominated the Packers on the defensive side of the ball. That can mean one of two things: 1. They have a dominant offense and defense or 2. They don't know what their identity is, and neither unit is actually elite. It's a one or the other kind of thing.
John, on the other hand, always seems to have things under control. I think he's right up there at the top of the list with Belichick and Pete Carroll.
Let's see if Matthew Stafford and Ndamukong Suh can get their units going in the same game. Then maybe Jim Caldwell's guys would be on to something.
At this point in the Mike Smith era, we know what to expect from these Falcons: A high-scoring offense led by Ryan and WRs Julio Jones and Roddy White, and a defense that could get torched at any given moment (especially on turf). Although the Bucs didn't seem capable of torching anyone.
In terms of construction and organizational philosophy, this Eagles team is not too dissimilar from the aforementioned Saints and Falcons. This is a wide-open offense with a number of different weapons and a defense that could hardly be described as "stout." But pay that defense no mind, as Nick Foles continues to cement his position among the league's premier quarterbacks. I was never especially impressed by his arm strength, but he's really won me over with his surprising toughness and tremendous accuracy thus far this season.
Offensively, Philip Rivers does an outstanding job picking up yardage when it's available; meaning he takes what the opposing defense gives to him. He rarely ever forces a throw. He gets the offense rolling on first down and generally has San Diego in very manageable third-and-short situations. The Chargers also have a high success rate in those third-and-short scenarios. In addition, they are among the league leaders in time of possession.
However, the big story this season has been their surprisingly top-flight defense led by LB Donald Butler, pass rusher Dwight Freeney, super safety Eric Weddle and newly-acquired CB Brandon Flowers. I've also been impressed by LB Manti Te'o and rookie CB Jason Verrett. The latter is definitely one of the best defensive rookies I've seen this season. This defensive unit is forcing its way into the discussion with the Seahawks, Bengals, Panthers and Cardinals.
So what's the good news for John Fox and company? Their defense is definitely better than it was last season. DeMarcus Ware and Aquib Talib were obviously major acquisitions, and Denver is also ecstatic to have Von Miller and Chris Harris back healthy, two key players who did not suit up for the Super Bowl. I think they'll rank in the top 10 defenses at season's end.
To me, Stanton is the guy. You remember what happened when Drew Bledsoe got hurt as a Patriot (Tom Brady). You remember what happened when Trent Green got hurt as a Ram (Kurt Warner). The Bears had the opportunity to let Josh McCown ride out a hot streak last season, but they decided to go back to Cutler, floundered down the stretch and missed the playoffs altogether. Bruce Arians...make the gutsy call.
On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals' defense has been absolutely phenomenal. Led by Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu and Deone Bucannon in their lightning-fast secondary, this is not a unit to be taken lightly. There's no question that the Arizona Cardinals are the real deal right now, but they may not be as good if Palmer gets the ball back.
But of course the story for this team has been its ridiculously-dominant defense. Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap are monsters on the D-line, LB Ray Maualuga has held down the fort in the absence of stud LB Vontaze Burfict (concussion) and veterans Leon Hall, Terence Newman and Reggie Nelson have anchored the Bengals' very solid secondary.
This team isn't going anywhere. They will likely be engaged in a three-horse race with the Broncos and Chargers for the AFC crown.
We all know about the Seahawks' physical and outstanding defense, but their game-winning drive displayed what makes their offense so tough to stop: Russell Wilson saves his scrambling for critical situations. Opposing defenses tend to settle into coverage throughout the course of a game -- maybe they begin to believe that Wilson is going to continue making plays with his arm -- and then he runs all over them late in games. Sure he made a couple of nice throws on that final drive, but the third-down scrambles for first downs were the overall key to the victory.
The "Legion of Boom" wants to sack, strip and pick its way back to the Super Bowl. Repeat?
John Frascella is the author of Theo-logy: How a Boy Wonder Led the Red Sox to the Promised Land, the only book centered on popular executive Theo Epstein. Looking for a columnist? John can be reached at John.Frascella@gmail.com.
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