Week 2 NFL Barometer

The NFL season has finally begun. Last week our rankers made their preseason predictions of how the teams stack up against each other. Week 1 had many surprises including two of the top 5 teams losing and another losing one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. How did all of this affect the rankings? How much did our rankings change after just one week of play?

Injuries rocked the NFL world this week as several big name players went down. Many teams lost their quarterbacks, their field generals, commonly considered the most important position on the field. Others just lost Pro Bowl caliber players. The Patriots lost NFL MVP quarterback Tom Brady, the Titans lost quarterback Vince Young, the Chiefs lost quarterback Brodie Croyle, the Chargers lost linebacker Shawn Merriman, and the Saints lost wide receiver Marques Colston just to name a few. It remains to be seen how these teams will rebound from such tremendous losses. For one, the rankers seem to have little faith that Matt Cassel can keep the Patriots flying high as a top team.

After each week of the NFL season, several active Cafe members get together and rank the 32 NFL teams from first to worst. The Barometer is an average of the rankings submitted by these members. To maintain consistency, the high and low scores have been removed.

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	L a m b s k i n	t r e a t	C o u g s	4 P a c k	J o e l
1 (3)		Dallas	1.0	1	1	1	1	1
Dallas unanimously takes over the number 1 spot after the Patriots lose Tom Brady for the season.
2 (4)		Pittsburgh	2.3	3	2	2	3	2
Willie Parker scored more touchdowns in week 1 than he did all last year.
3 (2)		Indianapolis	3.7	2	5	4	2	5
The Colts looked horrible this week, but our rankers still have faith. Everyone still ranks them in the top 5.
4 (6)		Green Bay	4.3	10	3	3	6	4
Aaron Rodgers passed his first test. Now just a few hundred games started, a few records, and a Super Bowl win to go.
5 (8)		San Diego	5.7	5	6	8	5	6
Shawn Merriman has hung up his cleats for the season, can the San Diego defense stay strong?
6 (11)		NY Giants	6.0	7	4	7	7	3
The Giants looked every bit of the Championship team they were last year, or was Washington just that bad?
7 (1)		New England	6.7	6	7	6	9	7
A devastating loss leaves the former AFC Champs Superbowl hopes on a guy who hasn’t started a game in the pros.
8 (21)		New Orleans	7.0	4	10	5	8	8
How much will the loss of Colston affect this top offense?
9 (20)		Denver	9.7	9	9	17	10	10
Eddie Royal, the new Steve Smith.
10 (16)		Philadelphia	10.3	8	15	14	4	9
“The smurf had a good first game, is he for real?” - m16a
11 (13)		Minnesota	12.0	13	11	11	15	12
Tarvaris Jackson still has a lot of maturing to do.
12 (9)		Jacksonville	12.7	21	12	10	13	13
Their vaunted running game never really got off the ground.
13 (27)		Carolina	13.7	18	8	21	12	11
Who needs Steve Smith when you have a virtually unknown tight end to keep the offense going?
14 (12)		Tennessee	14.0	15	14	9	14	14
Some of us have been hyping CJ4.24 for months. He is the real deal. Believe it. On another note, best wishes Vince. I hope you get whatever help you need.
15 (30)		NY Jets	15.7	11	13	19	19	15
The Favre era has begun in New York and Jets fans like what they see.
16 (10)		Cleveland	16.3	16	18	13	16	17
Cleveland’s offense didn’t look like the powerhouse it was last year, but they were playing the Cowboys.
17 (5)		Tampa Bay	16.7	12	19	15	17	18
Reggie Bush got back to his old ways and destroyed the Gruden’s boys in the fourth quarter. Garcia throwing a pick while driving for a win didn’t help.
18 (15)		Arizona	16.7	14	16	16	18	22
Kurt Warner continues his dominance over the 49ers. He is now 8-1 lifetime against them.
19 (19)		Buffalo	18.0	17	17	18	24	19
The Bills absolutely mopped the floor with the Seahawks. Don’t look now, but the AFC East is wide open.
20 (22)		Chicago	18.3	19	20	20	11	16
The Bears looked great Sunday night in week 1’s most watched game. I’m not a believer yet.
21 (7)		Seattle	21.0	22	28	12	20	21
Seattle drops over ten spots this week. I might travel to Seattle to try out for the Seahawks at wide receiver. The NFL minimum is just fine with me.
22 (23)		Baltimore	21.7	25	21	22	22	20
Joe Flacco wins his first career start and aims to hang onto the job even after Troy Smith gets healthy.
23 (17)		Houston	23.0	24	22	23	23	23
Two touchdowns in the fourth quarter made this game look a lot closer than it was.
24 (18)		Washington	23.3	20	26	24	21	25
Washington is in a very tough division. They will not win many games playing like they did in the season opener.
25 (31)		Atlanta	25.0	23	23	26	27	26
Michael Turner carried the Falcons on Sunday and up the rankings a few spots. Let’s see him do it against a team that isn’t the Lions.
26 (25)		Cincinnati	25.3	26	25	28	25	24
Cincinnati gave up seventeen points to the Ravens. Joe Flacco ran a touchdown in from thirty-seven yards out. This should be a sign as to just how bad the Bengals defense is.
27 (14)		Detroit	26.7	32	27	25	26	27
The Lions were steamrolled this week by Michael Turner. That defense needs to learn how to tackle otherwise they will be drafting Michael Crabtree with their top ten pick next April.
28 (32)		Miami	28.3	28	24	30	29	28
Chad Pennington had a chance to drive and win over his former team, in the end an interception sealed his team’s fate.
29 (24)		Kansas City	29.3	29	30	29	28	31
After Tom Brady’s injury, the Chiefs managed to keep the game close, but our rankers aren’t putting much stock into that.
30 (28)		San Francisco	29.3	27	29	32	30	29
Gore went for over one-hundred and fifty total yards, but it isn’t enough against a surprising Cardinals team.
31 (29)		Oakland	30.7	30	31	31	31	30
“I was wrong, McFadden did look like AD last night, he looked like AD in weeks 10 and 11 of last season.” - deerayfan072
32 (26)		St. Louis	31.7	31	32	27	32	32
The Rams were annihilated by the Eagles passing game. You don’t see three one-hundred yard recievers and over four-hundred yards passing often on the same team in a single game.

Thanks to everyone that helped make these rankings happen!

(12 votes, average: 4.08 out of 5)  Loading ... Questions or comments for Scott? Post them in the Cafe Forums! Want to see your own fantasy wisdom published? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!