Overtime Galore

The Detroit Lions may have been 2-5 headed into their game against the New York Jets, but don’t let the record fool you – the Lions are not a horrible football team. The Jets found this out on Sunday. The Jets needed overtime to beat the Lions. It was an interesting game to watch, specifically after the Lions’ second touchdown. The Lions’ kicker, Jason Hanson, had injured himself earlier in the game so the Lions were forced to attempt the PAT with the back-up, who happens to be Defensive Tackle, Ndamukong Suh. Suh hit the right upright, had he hit that kick, the Lions win this one in regulation instead of losing 23-20 in overtime.

The Arizona Cardinals aren’t very good since Kurt Warner retired. This week they were very good for about 3.5 quarters. The Minnesota Vikings were trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter, but were able to tie the game and take it to overtime. In overtime, the Vikings ended up winning the game on a field goal, 27-24. The Vikings would not have won if it were not for Brett Favre’s career high 426 passing yards. That’s right, his career high came at the age of 41.

The last overtime match-up was a thriller between the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders’ rookie Jacoby Ford literally ripped a pass from two defensive backs to set-up the game tying field goal. The Raiders won the game, 23-20, in overtime bringing their record to 5-4.

No Contest

This week there were five games that were no contests, that is one team won by more than 14 points.

The largest margin of victory this week was the Packers 45-7 thumping of the Cowboys. Wade Phillips was fired as a result of this debacle. I have literally run out of words to describe how bad the Cowboys have played this season.

The Giants were able to handle the banged up Seahawks in Seattle, 41-7. It really was never a contest, the Giants led 35-0 at halftime.

The Saints had no problem with the Panthers the second time around. In the first meeting the Saints were barely able to beat the Panthers 16-14. This time, the Saints crushed the Panthers, 34-3. Matt Moore went down with an injury that could threaten the remainder of his season, sorry Steve Smith owners.

The next no contest didn’t have the result many expected. The score in the Patriots-Browns game was 34-14, only the Browns were the team to score 34. The Browns were led by Peyton Hillis, who seemed unstoppable amassing 184 yards rushing on 26 carries. The Browns also had a nice game-plan against the Patriots, including an incredible “fumblerooski” for a TD.

The Ravens returned from their BYE week refreshed and took care of business against the Dolphins, 26-10.

The Rest of the Action

The Bills suffered another loss by three points. The Bears beat the Bills, 22-19. This was the third week in a row that the Bills lost by a field goal.

The Chargers have started their “charge.” They were able to beat a struggling Texans team, 29-23. Phillip Rivers seems unstoppable this season and he is on pace to crush Dan Marino’s single season passing record.

The Falcons held on against the division rival Bucs, 27-21. Roddy White was forced to leave the game with an injury, which could be problematic for the Falcons in the future.

Michael Vick returned to the Eagles, as did DeSean Jackson, and they picked up where they left off. Jackson had over 100 yards receiving and Vick was very effective both passing and running the ball. The Eagles just managed to beat the Colts, 26-24. Vick is undefeated as the starter this season.

On Monday Night Football, the Steelers opened fast by jumping on the Bengals early. They had a 20 point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but what seems like the norm, they allowed the Bengals back into the game. They managed to win 27-21 thanks to a 4th down defensive stand inside the red zone with under one minute to play in the game.

That does it for the Week 9 action, remember to check back next week to find out what you may have missed in Week 10.

Which game was most surprising to you? Comment Below!

[Photo Credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images via BleacherReport.com]

1. Patriots (Prev. 3): The Patriots have the best record in the NFL, but they continue to fly under the radar. Their offense isn’t as explosive as it has been in recent memory, but it is highly effective.
2. Colts (Prev. 5): Despite numerous key injuries on offense (Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, all RBs), the Colts continue to play well. Peyton Manning is having another great season and the Colts are coming of a great win against the Texans in Week 8.
3. Jets (Prev. 2): The Jets suffered a minor set-back by dropping a large goose-egg against the Packers in Week 8. The Jets offense struggled mightily and the Packers demonstrated that the Jets are very beatable. On the positive side, the Jets defense did not allow a TD in the loss.
4. Falcons (Prev. 6): The idol Falcons are able to crack the Top 5 this week behind the Titans loss at San Diego. The Falcons’ game against Tampa Bay this week is for first place in the NFC South.
5. Steelers (Prev. 1): The Steelers take a small drop in the rankings after losing to the Saints on Sunday Night Football. The Steelers have had a tough schedule up until now and could have easily been worse than 5-2.

Bottom Five (Best to Worst):

28. 49ers (Prev. 30): If the 49ers had beaten the Panthers in Week 7, things would actually not be looking too bad in San Francisco. After the BYE week, the Niners have three key games against beatable opponents. If the Niners are able to beat St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Arizona, winning the (bad) division is a possibility.
29. Broncos (Prev. 26): The Broncos have fallen apart this season. They had a very solid offensive team to start this season, but defense is another story. They have been outscored by 69 points, 53 of which came over the past two weeks. They need to make a defensive adjustment quickly.
30. Cowboys (Prev. 29): I have run out of words to describe the Cowboys this season. They are playing horribly and someone needs to step-up – in a big way.
31. Panthers (Prev. 31): Steve Smith took the blame for their loss against the Rams in Week 8, but I actually feel bad for him. He is a very talented receiver stuck in a horrible situation (a la Larry Fitzgerald).
32. Bills (Prev. 32): The Bills are ever so close to getting that first win. For the second week in a row, they lost a tough game in overtime. You have to wonder if these two recent losses are going to demoralize the Bills, or inspire them to get over the hump.

Be sure to check back next week for the Week 10 Power Rankings!

Disagree? Comment Below!

[Photo Credit: FanPop.com]

I want to thank everyone that commented to me on Twitter, e-mail and the comments section about the original week 9 rankings. I have taken a long hard look at the formula that I introduced as a BETA this week, and I have made a minor tweak and I must say that the resulting rankings are even better now.

Be sure to read my original rankings, here, for my thoughts on each of the teams.

Here are the new rankings:

*Once again, tiers consist of teams that finished within 20 points of each other using my ranking formula*

Tier 1


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1. Saints
2. Colts
   Tier 2
   

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3. Broncos
4. Vikings
5. Bengals
6. Patriots
   Tier 3
   

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7. Ravens
8. Cowboys
9. Steelers
10. Falcons
11. Eagles
12. Cards
13. Giants
14. Chargers
15. Dolphins
16. Texans
17. Packers
18. Jets
    Tier 4
    

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19. Bears
20. 49ers
21. Panthers
    Tier 5
    

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22. Jaguars
23. Seahawks
24. Bills
25. Raiders
26. Titans
    Tier 6
    

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27. Browns
28. Lions
29. Chiefs
30. Redskins
31. Rams
    Tier 7
    

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32. Bucs

Two quick things to mention from last week: The New York Giants had their secondary exposed again, this time by the division rival Eagles. The Giants lost their 3rd straight game and now are sitting at 3rd in the division. They will need to fix the secondary issues before heading into this week’s game against the Chargers, if they don’t, Rivers will pick them apart. The Arizona Cardinals, who had the number 1 ranked rushing defense got torched on the ground for 270 yards by the Panthers.

I must say I think the formula is quite accurate, but some teams were ranked so close to each other that they could go either way. For this week, I want to show you the raw rankings. These are not including my opinion, I do have a few minor disagreements, which will be mentioned in the description. Without further ado, here are the ranking:

*Tiers consist of teams that finished within 20 points of each other using my ranking formula*

Tier 1

1. –Saints- I don’t think there is much question here
2. –Broncos- This is probably the one that will draw the most disagreement. I have to admit #2 is slightly high for them, and that the Colts should be #2 but the Broncos have had a great season against good competition.
3. –Colts- Immediately I can tell why the Colts got bumped to #3 despite being undefeated this season- they have had the 2nd easiest schedule in the NFL (Redskins are first). The Colts opponents are a combined 17-33 and the Colts have had 3 games end with less than a TD difference, despite Manning’s amazing season.
4. –Bengals- I don’t have a huge problem with the Bengals being ranked this high, if you look at their team they are pretty solid all around.

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Tier 2
5. –Vikings- The Vikings just missed the cut for Tier 1, they have the same problem as the Colts- their schedule has been super easy to date. They have had the 3rd easiest schedule in the NFL with their opponents record being 19-32.
6. –Falcons- The Falcons have a moderate record of 4-3, but they have played the 4th toughest schedule in the league (Opponents record 30-19). I think the Falcons are ranked slightly higher than they should be, the Patriots I believe should be ranked higher than them (there was only a 3 point difference in their grades).
7. –Steelers- I had ranked the Steelers #7 last week, so I have no problem with them remaining #7 after their BYE week.
8. –Patriots- It will be interesting to see how they play against the Dolphins this week, since they are coming of the BYE after pounding two of the worst teams in the NFL in back-to-back weeks.
9. –Ravens- The Ravens rebounded from their 3 game losing streak with a dominant win against the Broncos last week.
10. –Cowboys- The Cowboys have an explosive offense especially with Miles Austin opening up the passing game.
11. –Cards- They should be embarrassed after losing to the Panthers last week. The #1 ranked rushing defense allowed 270 yards rushing? Wow, it didn’t help that Kurt Warner did his best Delhomme impression by throwing 5 INTs.
12. –Eagles- I have a small disagreement with the Eagles at 12, I think they should flip with the Cards and Cowboys. I think the Eagles should be 10 followed by the Cowboys and then the Cards. The main killer of the Eagles was the loss to the Raiders.
13. –Dolphins- The Dolphins are a better team than their record indicates, they have just faced some bad luck to start the season. They have the toughest schedule in the NFL to date with their opponents having a combined record of 29-15 (tied for toughest with the Titans).
14. –Giants- The Giants are opposite of the Dolphins, they are not as good as their record indicates. They have been exposed the last 3 weeks and I think they will be exposed again this week. Their 5 wins include the Redskins, Bucs, Chiefs and Raiders (who have 5 combined wins).
15. –Chargers- The Chargers offense is explosive and with LT starting to run effectively, I think they are a team to watch over the 2nd half of the NFL season.
16. –Texans- The Texans are off to their best start in franchise history thanks to the play of Matt Schaub (one of the most underrated QBs in the NFL). They are trying to eclipse the 8 win mark for the first time ever and I think they will be able to do it this season.

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Tier 3
17. –Bears- They need to perform better on the road.
18. –49ers- They are able to beat the bad teams and play competitive against the good teams. I think the 49ers are a team to watch for in the 2nd half of the NFL season. With Smith at QB and Crabtree at WR, the 49ers offense has seemed to actually have some life in it. I expect Crabtree to have a big 2nd half.
19. –Jets- The Jets hopefully have practiced some special teams defense this week. I still can’t believe that Ginn was able to return two kick-offs 100+ yards for a TD in the SAME QUARTER. Their defense played well, but it has played well most of the season, and it is proven they need more than just a defense (even though they have the #1 ranked rushing team).
20. –Packers- The Packers seem a little low in the rankings, but it is because they are the king of beating up on bad teams. They beat the Browns, Rams, Lions and Bears this season, while losing to the Vikings twice and Bengals.
21. –Panthers- The win against the Cards was huge, will it be a turning point for their season?
22. –Jaguars- The Jaguars have one of the beat RBs in the league on their team (MJD), but they are not a good football team. Just look at their last 3 games: Wk 5- Shut out by Seahawks, Wk 6- Need OT to beat Rams, Wk 8- Lose to the winless Titans.
23. –Bills- Their 3-4 record is deceiving, they are not that good.
24. –Raiders- They beat the Eagles and held them without a TD, yeah I still can’t get over it.
25. –Seahawks- The Seahawks are an interesting team. They are interesting because it amazes me how they can play so well at home and so terrible on the road.

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Tier 4
26. – Titans- They have had some bad luck this season with the fact that they have had the toughest schedule (opponents are 29-15) in the NFL, but for a team that went 13-3 last season, they should have more than 1 win this season. Chris Johnson is a monster at RB and switching to Young was a great decision. They will have a tough game this week against the 49ers, who rank second in stopping the run.
27. –Browns- There really isn’t much to say about the Browns. Mangini is a terrible head coach
28. –Lions- The Lions that went 0-16 last season have not had an easy schedule to start this season (opponents are 30-21), but they missed a huge opportunity against the Rams last week. They need Calvin Johnson back on the field.
29. –Chiefs- The Larry Johnson mess is a huge distraction and this team does not need any distractions, I have a feeling this week could be a long one for them.
30. –Rams- They got a win! I think it will be their only one of the season. Steven Jackson owners must be happy that he finally got in the end-zone, despite the fact that he is tied for second in the NFL with 784 yards. St. Louis really is a one man show.
31. –Redskins- The Redskins have had the easiest schedule in the NFL to date (opponents are 16-35), yet they only have 2 wins? Their offense is terrible, and I feel bad for Jim Zorn because it wasn’t just his fault, it was poor execution by his players. Who will be fired first Zorn or Mangini? The race is on.

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Tier 5
32. –Bucs- The remaining schedule for the Bucs is:  Packers, @Dolphins, Saints, @Falcons, @Panthers, Jets, @Seahawks, @Saints, Falcons. If you see a win in there, let me know.