2009 NFL Barometer: Week 2

Welcome back to the Barometer. We had a few new rankers join the party this week; much thanks to them and to all our rankers. The thing about Week 1 that surprised me the most (well, besides that Brandon Stokley TD) was how close the Monday night games were. Both promised to be blowouts, yet they turned into riveting television. Did ESPN know something we didn’t? Apparently.

Half of your teams are undefeated, and half of your teams are winless. Who’s going to start the season on a two-game winning streak? Post your thoughts in the comments section below. Let’s take a look at how the NFL ranks this week.

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	D Z	D N	R W	I B	F F	M A	S S	B C
1		New England Patriots	2.5	2	1	4	3	1	3	3	3
Last week: Win 25-24 vs. BUF. New England rises to No. 1, despite almost losing at home to the Bills but for a bit of good fortune.
2		Pittsburgh Steelers	2.6	4	2	1	1	2	2	8	1
Last week: Win 13-10 vs. TEN (OT). Great kickoff matchup, if you like defense. Can the passing game overcome the running game’s ineptitude?
3		New York Giants	3.8	3	3	3	2	9	4	4	2
Last week: Win 23-17 vs. WAS. Just took care of business against Washington in a tough divisional matchup. They look tough to beat.
4		San Diego Chargers	4.5	1	9	2	4	5	8	2	5
Last week: Win 24-20 at OAK. Another miracle finish, as the Charges let the Raiders hang around just long enough to scare them.
5		Indianapolis Colts	5.4	5	5	8	5	6	5	1	8
Last week: Win 14-12 vs. JAC. It doesn’t have to be pretty sometimes, but losing Anthony Gonzalez is ugly. Can the Peyton Mannings stay on beat?
6		New Orleans Saints	7.0	6	6	9	9	3	11	5	7
Last week: Win 45-27 vs. NO. I think we expected a drubbing, but they let the Lions hang around too long. The D has to step it up.
7		Green Bay Packers	7.1	7	10	5	8	11	1	6	9
Last week: Win 21-15 vs. CHI. The defense looked superb in Week 1. Maturation by Aaron Rodgers could lead to a Super Bowl ticket.
8		Baltimore Ravens	7.6	12	7	10	11	4	6	7	4
Last week: Win 38-24 vs. KC. Speaking of defense, what happened here? For a team identified by elite defense, 24 points at home to the Chiefs is bad.
9		Philadelphia Eagles	8.1	8	4	6	7	8	12	9	11
Last week: Win 38-10 at CAR. Now this defense looked sensational. It will have to be, to weather the loss of Donovan McNabb for these few weeks.
10		Minnesota Vikings	9.9	13	13	7	6	10	13	11	6
Last week: Win 34-20. Easy first week opponent leads to easy second week opponent for Minnesota. Should be least shocking 2-0 team ever.
11		Atlanta Falcons	11.0	10	12	12	10	14	7	13	10
Last week: Win 19-7 vs. MIA. Watch out — the Falcons are for real. Imagine what the score would have been if the running game got going.
12		Dallas Cowboys	11.5	11	8	13	13	12	10	12	13
Last week: Win 34-21 at TB. Is T.O.’s picture up in the dictionary next to the term “addition by subtraction”? Because it should be.
13		Tennessee Titans	12.3	9	11	11	12	13	15	15	12
Last week: Loss 10-13 at PIT (OT). The defense really showed it didn’t need Albert Haynesworth, dominating the champs for three quarters.
14		New York Jets	14.9	15	15	16	20	16	9	14	14
Last week: Win 24-7 at HOU. Yes, we’re sold on this team. Sure, Mark Sanchez did nice, but how about that D? Could they win the AFC East?
15		San Francisco 49ers	15.0	14	16	15	15	17	16	10	17
Last week: Win 20-16 at ARI. The 49ers are my sleeper team this year and they didn’t disappoint, beating the NFC champs at home.
16		Seattle Seahawks	15.5	16	14	14	19	7	18	20	16
Last week: Win 28-0 vs. STL. Many predict a rebound from the Seahawks, but a 28-point win at home against the Rams really says nothing.
17		Jacksonville Jaguars	18.5	20	17	17	18	22	14	16	24
Last week: Loss 12-14 at IND. The defense looked better in Week 1 than anyone could have expected. Are they on the way back up?
18		Arizona Cardinals	18.9	19	21	19	17	21	22	17	15
Last week: Loss 16-20 vs. SF. Sorry Cardinals, but you’re the next in line to suffer the Super Bowl-loser curse. Six wins, here we come.
19		Miami Dolphins	19.4	17	19	20	14	25	21	19	20
Last week: Loss 7-19 at ATL. The Dolphins looked like they hadn’t practiced at all this offseason. They need to shake the rust off quickly.
20		Chicago Bears	20.0	18	20	18	16	19	23	24	22
Last week: Loss 15-21 at GB. Losing Brian Urlacher hurts big time. The GB defense is good enough to shut down offenses, but can they blossom versus Pitt?
21		Houston Texans	20.1	23	23	21	21	18	19	18	18
Last week: Loss 7-24 vs. NYJ. Embarrassing loss for everyone’s favorite sleeper. This will haunt them if they finish a game out of the playoffs.
22		Carolina Panthers	21.8	22	18	23	22	24	17	27	21
Last week: Loss 10-38 vs. PHI. The Human Turnover Machine has 11 giveaways in his last two games — nice extenstion, Panthers.
23		Washington Redskins	22.4	24	22	22	23	26	20	23	19
Last week: Loss 17-23 at NYG. Somewhat promising in defeat, the Skins get the benefit of a UFL game this week against the Rams.
24		Tampa Bay Buccaneers	24.5	25	28	26	24	20	26	21	26
Last week: Loss 21-34 vs. DAL. This week’s Bucs-Bills game probably qualifies for “who-cares-but-fantasy-football-geeks” status.
25		Buffalo Bills	25.1	30	24	24	27	15	24	32	25
Last week: Loss 24-25 at NE. Gotta hate the season-ending loss in the first week of the season. Seriously, how do you bounce back from that?
26		Oakland Raiders	26.4	29	25	28	30	23	27	26	23
Last week: Loss 20-24 vs. SD. Of course, if you’re the Raiders, keeping the game within a touchdown acts like a win. Yay, they’re 1-0!
27		Denver Broncos	27.0	21	27	25	25	28	30	30	30
Last week: Win 12-7 at CIN. You know the Bengals were frantically jabbing the ‘Rewind’ button on the controller after that play.
28		Kansas City Chiefs	27.6	27	29	29	28	27	25	25	31
Last week: Loss 24-38 at BAL. If Brodie Croyle can have success in Baltimore with this offense, think of what a healthy Matt Cassel can do.
29		Cincinnati Bengals	28.0	26	26	31	26	29	29	29	28
Last week: Loss 7-12 vs. DEN. So you can’t score more than a last-minute TD against a terrible defense? Good luck in 2009, Bengals fans.
30		Detroit Lions	28.3	28	30	27	29	30	31	22	29
Last week: Loss 27-45 at NO. I don’t know — the Lions scoring 27 against any team should earn them something, no? Let’s make them 1-0 too.
31		Cleveland Browns	30.1	31	31	30	32	31	28	31	27
Last week: Loss 20-34 vs. MIN. Hey Cleveland fans, at least the Indians are still — oh, right. Well, maybe LeBron will stick around. OK, that was mean.
32		St. Louis Rams	31.4	32	32	32	31	32	32	28	32
Last week: Loss 0-28 at SEA. Not a great debut for Spags. Maybe he should start scouting supermarkets — it worked last time.

(9 votes, average: 2.89 out of 5)  Loading ... Want to see your own fantasy wisdom published? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!