Fancy Store-Bought Dirt

The FSBD Top 32: Week 9

Minor adjustments have resulted from Monday's Steelers-Ravens game. Paul's comment is pretty convincing but I don't feel the need to change that part of the poll, at least not in haste.

UPDATE: Minnesota's record (finally) fixed. This is exactly why one should use a time-saving device (say, a spreadsheet that would auto-update teams' records, previous week's ranks, and next week's opponents) instead of cutting, pasting, typing, etc.

I really want to agree with Brian's critique of the Vikings (I had them in the late 20s when mainstream sources had them in the mid teens) but the funny thing is, they've outscored their opponents. Compare to e.g. the Broncos.

Better yet, compare the Minnesota team itself to Baltimore. The Ravens have had a big reputation going back to when they neutralized Peyton Manning last January (and would have won a playoff game if they had ANY offense that day). They're still two slots ahead of the Vikings in this poll itself, but what exactly do they do better than Minnesota does? Adrian Peterson at this point is clearly better than Willis McGahee; right now the Vikings' defense is better, and while either Kyle Boller or circa-2007 Steve McNair is still probably better than Tavaris Jackson, is it that huge a difference?

32. St. Louis (0-8) (Last week: 32) Bye. (Week 10: at New Orleans)

31. Miami (0-8) (Last week: 31) Bye. (Week 10: vs. Buffalo)

30. San Francisco (2-6) (Last week: 30) Even when it was a one-point game the outcome seemed clear. (Week 10: at Seattle)

29. NY Jets (1-8) (Last week: 29) Bad home loss trumps bad road loss. (Week 10: bye)

28. Atlanta (2-6) (Last week: 28) Ugly, ugly game. (Week 10: at Carolina)

27. Oakland (2-6) (Last week: 26) That concludes our run of abysmal teams. (Week 10: vs. Chicago)

26. Cincinnati (2-6) (Last week: 25) By far the worst non-abysmal team in the NFL. (Week 10: at Baltimore)

25. Houston (4-5) (Last week: 27) The worst is over, I think. More upside than downside from here, especially as soon as Andre Johnson comes back. (Week 10: bye)

24. Carolina (4-4) (Last week: 21) Without their top QB and barely a pulse (1 of 2) (Week 10: vs. Atlanta)

23. Arizona (3-5) (Last week: 19) Without their top QB and barely a pulse (2 of 2) (Week 10: vs. Detroit)

22. Philadelphia (3-5) (Last week: 16) Fork in them? (1 of 2) (Week 10: at Washington)

21. Denver (3-5) (Last week: 15) Fork in them? (2 of 2) (Week 10: at Kansas City)

20. Buffalo (4-4) (Last week: 24) Their four losses: Routed at Pittsburgh and at New England; Monday night collapse vs. Dallas; and that buzzer-beating field goal in the same game where they had a player paralyzed. As of right this instant, there's a pretty bright line between the top 20 and the other 12. (Week 10: at Miami)

19. Kansas City (4-4) (Last week: 18) When the Bears beat them in Week 2, did you think these teams would end up in consecutive slots? (Week 10: vs. Denver)

18. Chicago (3-5) (Last week: 17) Bye. (Week 10: at Oakland)

17. Minnesota (3-5) (4-4)(Last week: 23) They say they key to championships is to run the ball and stop the run. This might be one of the worst teams imaginable that still accomplishes those two specific things so well. "Hi, my name is Adrian Peterson. I'll be very, very good for awhile." (Week 10: at Green Bay)

16. Seattle (4-4) (Last week: 12) What a flawed team. Still the likely NFC West champ, in a division where 7-9 might even be enough. (Week 10: vs. San Francisco)

15. Baltimore (4-4) (Last week: 11) TBA. (Week 10: vs. Cincinnati)

14. Cleveland (5-3) (Last week: 22) Need defense, and will have to step up on the road in the second half. Big rematch coming up. (Week 10: at Pittsburgh)

13. Washington (5-3) (Last week: 14) The two worst teams in the AFC East both took them to overtime. Admittedly they did win them both. (Week 10: vs. Philadelphia)

12. New Orleans (4-4) (Last week: 20) Momentum is sweet, and likely to continue. (Week 10: vs. St. Louis)

11. Tampa Bay (5-4) (Last week: 13) Righted the ship a bit. (Week 10: bye)

10. Jacksonville (5-3) (Last week: 9) I didn't expect the defense to be the problem. (Week 10: at Tennessee)

9. San Diego (4-4) (Last week: 6) Adrian Peterson outrushed LaDainian Tomlinson by 256. Of course you saw that coming. (Week 10: vs. Indianapolis)

8. Detroit (6-2) (Last week: 10) Now that was a dismantling. Eight seems impossibly high, especially given how crushing both losses were, yet no other team has a better claim to this spot. (Week 10: at Arizona)

7. Tennessee (6-2) (Last week: 8) Made it look easy. (Week 10: vs. Jacksonville)

6. NY Giants (6-2) (Last week: 7) Bye. (Week 10: vs. Dallas)

5. Pittsburgh (6-2) (Last week: 5) Boomer Esiason (on the radio coverage) is preemptively angry that ESPN et al might ask whether Ben should have still been in the game in the third quarter. (Week 10: vs. Cleveland)

4. Green Bay (7-1) (Last week: 4) Thanksgiving should be fun. (Week 10: vs. Minnesota)

3. Indianapolis (7-1) (Last week: 2) Better luck net time. (Week 10: at San Diego)

2. Dallas (7-1) (Last week: 3) It's not the Colts' loss so much as the Cowboys' own convincing win. (Week 10: at NY Giants)

1. New England (9-0) (Last week: 1) Well then. (Week 10: bye)

Posted by Matt Bruce at November 4, 2007 09:10 PM