Week 4 ESPN Power Rankings are here (link to voter breakdown). Granted, power rankings don't mean too much--especially this early in the season--but they serve as a decent enough indicator of where teams stand. Other sites' rankings are subject to the whims of their singular writers, but ESPN's system is able to dampen the biases of each voter (e.g. Kuharsky overranking the Jets, Clayton the Cowboys, etc.) by having a pool of them. However, this new voter Ashley Fox really sucks. A few outliers are okay, but she consistently ranks teams far away from what the general consensus tends to be. I just rolled my eyes the last couple weeks at the Texans falling victim to her odd perceptions, but this week's was just too egregious: Jets moving up to 4 after losing to Oakland; Steelers at 6 after almost losing to the Colts; and of course, the Texans' spot at 17... so I redid the rankings without her: Yeah I know, waste of time... but come on, we're Texans fans--having a high ranking in some meaningless weekly vote is typically the biggest victory of the year for us! *sigh* Surprisingly, excluding her only changed 9 teams' rankings--none of which moved more than 3 spots. Maybe I'll get rid of Clayton next... Disclaimer: I'm no make-me-a-sammich guy--I'm not even manly enough to be a waterboy, much less be that knowledgeable about sports. I'm the first to acknowledge that there are plenty of women who know more about sports than I do... but Ashley Fox is not one of them.
The steelers line is weak and injured? Well, I'll be damned. We should just rush three and send back eight. What could go possibly wrong?
10. Texans (No. 6; 3-2): Fortunately for the Texans, everyone in the division lost. 19. Cowboys (No. 19; 2-2): The late-game misfortunes of Houston’s quarterback has resulted in a nickname based on the Cowboys’ signal-caller: Schromo http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/11/week-five-power-rankings-2/
Things aren't nearly as encouraging for the Texans. Not only did they fall six spots to No. 12, but star LB Mario Williams is out for the season with a pectoral injury. With the well-rested Ravens waiting in Week 6, the Texans' tumble could be just beginning. 12 (Last week 6) Texans 3-2 The loss of Mario Williams for the season and the way they lost to Oakland don't bode well for Texans. (Kuharsky) http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings
I'd bump the Texans way low on the rankings if I were doing them. They’ve lost arguably their best players on each side of the ball Foster is dinged up Tate is out Casey is out Texans moral has to be low There has to be doubt in the locker, they’ve never really experienced success before, how could they possibly remain positive?
Thought this was interesting.... Fox Sports Power Rankings Area NFL Power Rankings by WhatIfSports.com RSSadd this WhatIfSports.com utilizes its football simulation to rank all 32 NFL teams. To come up with the rankings, each team plays every other team 10,000 times. Teams are then ordered by winning percentage. The predictions use the most up-to-date stats, rosters and depth charts. WHATIFSPORTS NFL POWER RANKINGS RK TEAM CHG WIN PCT PS/G PA/G 1 Packers 78.0% 28.2 17.8 2 Texans 75.4% 28.3 18.7 3 Steelers 70.8% 25.6 18.1 4 Ravens 66.5% 23.5 17.5 5 49ers 63.9% 23.1 17.9 6 Patriots 63.9% 26.2 21.6 7 Jets 62.8% 23.5 18.2 8 Cowboys 59.7% 24.5 20.9 9 Falcons 59.2% 23.0 19.8 10 Lions 56.1% 22.7 20.5 11 Saints 55.1% 25.1 23.1 12 Giants 54.7% 22.9 21.3 13 Chargers 54.2% 25.1 23.5 14 Eagles 54.0% 23.4 21.7 15 Bills 52.0% 22.0 20.9 16 Chiefs 51.6% 21.5 20.9 17 Bears 49.3% 22.0 21.8 18 Titans 48.4% 21.1 21.6 19 Buccaneers 48.2% 22.9 23.3 20 Vikings 47.4% 20.7 21.8 21 Bengals 45.7% 19.2 20.9 22 Raiders 43.7% 20.0 22.2 23 Cardinals 42.1% 21.5 24.4 24 Panthers 41.8% 21.6 24.4 25 Browns 41.7% 19.5 22.4 26 Redskins 34.6% 18.1 23.6 27 Dolphins 33.7% 18.9 25.3 28 Seahawks 33.3% 17.5 23.4 29 Jaguars 31.9% 16.5 23.4 30 Rams 30.7% 18.3 25.5 31 Broncos 28.5% 16.0 23.7 32 Colts 18.4% 15.1 27.5 ------------------- Seems like a few teams are ranked a bit too low, and I know there are a lot of variables you'd have to take into account for this, but it's nice to see the Texans ranked so highly. I'm assuming this is like the BCS of NFL football, and a win over the Steelers, coupled with close games against the Ravens and Raiders also don't hurt too much. Interesting that in those simulations, the Texans scored the most points per game, and allowed the sixth-least amout of points per game.
Sooooo, what you're saying is WhatIfSports's mid-season Super Bowl prediction is Green Bay vs. Houston????
That's one of the funniest gifs I've ever seen. I'd rep you if I could, but I have to spread it around first. Now to google that video in the gif.
I'd still stick with that assessment. What they've done on the defensive side of the ball has been miraculous considering all of the injuries. I never said they weren't good or wouldn't win the division, but if my job was to write power rankings I'd have dropped em' down quite a bit based on those factors. Its logical. I guess you could write power rankings based on gut feeling, but that's a pee-pee game.
thegary's power rankings: packers saints ravens texans steelers patriots bears niners giants nobody else has a chance.
Unless Rogers pulls a Matt Schaub, I don't see anyone taking the Packers down with home-field advantage.
if the niners can be a tier 2 team with alex smith we can at LEAST be a tier 4 team with Matt Lienart
FIFY. I think that Leinart with a year and a half under his belt in our system can duplicate Alex Smith's performance. Our defense is as good if not better than the Niners, and our running game is the best in the NFL. Granted, Leinart could **** the bed, and all of this would be for nothing. I'm really just ready for next Sunday to hurry up and get here so all the speculation can end.
I agree, i think we could smoke the niners.. i mean they are a good team but we just seem better.. Another thing.. i think Matt Lienart with Andre=Matt Schaub without Andre
i'll give you that the ravens are inconsistent but when they are on their game they are tough. just ask pittsburgh. niners have had an easy schedule, i think they might be false prophets. we shall see.
