NFL Midseason Power Rankings

The following power rankings are courtesy of Dr. Z of Sports Illustrated. I thought about putting my own together but realized it would look quite a bit like his but with some very noticeable differences. Below you will see HIS picks in order with MY comments on why I do or don't agree with their placement. Also, I've instituted an abbreviated format of posts for my main page to save space and allow older posts some extra time to be read, so go ahead and give the link below a click to resume this article. Nice work..



1.Tennessee Titans- Dr. Z points out in his comments that he's fed up with sports analysts predicting a fast decline once Tennessee sees some real defenses. I happen to be one of these analysts and would probably put these guys at around number four.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers- Really? Based on performance so far I might agree, but this team is down to its reserve running backs, the offensive line is still shaky, and Santonio Holmes is looking at a possible suspension. There's little upside on the horizon in Pittsburgh.

3. New York Giants

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

5. Carolina Panthers- Too high if you ask me. This team should show its true colors in the next few weeks. I say that without looking at their schedule, of course.

6. Buffalo Bills- This is a team that deserves to be higher up the board. Maybe sitting at number 3 where the Giants are presently. Then I'd move the Giants up to 2 and put the Steelers here.

7.Washington Redskins- Hype alert. This team came out with two division wins and then lost to St. Louis. Yeah, ST. Louis. I'd put Philly and Dallas above these guys.

8. New England Patriots- A bit high perhaps. These guys have little hope of making the playoffs.

9. Dallas Cowboys- Once Romo's back, these guys should bounce back and end up in the top five.

10. Philadelphia Eagles

11. San Diego Chargers

12. Jacksonville Jaguars

13. Arizona Cardinals- I'd put this team in the top eight at least. They seem to be dominating their division and have won a couple of big games.

14. Chicago Bears

15. Atlanta Hawks

16. Green Bay Packers- The Pack is below Chicago and Atlanta? That might be a little harsh. They're inconsistent, but not incompetent.

17. Indianapolis Colts

18. Denver Broncos

19. New Orleans Saints

20. St. Louis Rams- Cue Chris Berman: "WHAT?!?" Looks like Dr. Z's either riding the hype train off the last two wins or he's been sniffing glue again.

21. New York Jets- Brett Favre is bummed to be this low in the rankings. It'll be another uneventful January for the old guy.

22. Baltimore Ravens- I would rank this team at least five spots higher based solely on their defensive game.

23. Miami Dolphins

24. Minnesota Vikings

25. Houston Texans- This team had a lot of analysts on the bandwagon to have its first winning season. It looks grim.

26. Oakland Raiders- The Raiders are stoked to be this high in the rankings.

27. Cleveland Browns

28. San Francisco 49ers

29. Cincinnati Bengals

30. Seattle Seahawks- Out of every team in the league, this one fell the furthest. They probably should have foreseen a problem in April when they didn't have any decent wideouts.

31. Detroit Lions- These last two come down to one question. "If these teams were to have a matchup this weekend, who would win, Detroit or KC?" Dr. Z nailed it on the head.

32. Kansas City Chiefs