2009 NFL Barometer: Week 3

With #1 New England and #2 Pittsburgh suffering losses in Week 2, we’re bound to see some shakeup in the Week 3 edition of the NFL Barometer. Remember, the top two teams in the Barometer at the end of the regular season go on to play each other to determine the Barometer Championship Series champion — wait, that doesn’t sound right at all. I know! Once the season is over, let’s have a playoff to determine the best team of 2009. That way, we won’t have to spend the offseason arguing about which team is the real champion.

Thanks again to our rankers for taking the time to rank all the NFL teams 1-32, giving the Cafe a barometer to judge the best, worst, and average teams of the NFL. If you’d like to be a part of the process, please contact me on the message boards and we’ll get you set up. On to the rankings!

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	D Z	D N	I B	F F	S S	B C	U H
1		New York Giants (2-0)	1.4	1	1	1	1	4	1	1
Last week: Win 33-31 at DAL. Huge road divisional win for the Giants, who look to have some capable WRs in tow.
2		Indianapolis Colts (2-0)	2.1	2	2	4	2	1	2	2
Last week: Win 27-23 at MIA. Only Peyton Manning could win a game in which his offense only had the ball for 15 minutes.
3		New Orleans Saints (2-0)	3.0	3	4	3	3	2	3	3
Last week: Win 48-22 at PHI. Without McNabb across the field, this is a game the Saints should have won, and did.
4		Baltimore Ravens (2-0)	4.7	4	3	5	5	5	5	6
Last week: Win 31-26 at SD. Another big win, but this defense is allowing a ton of points. Will they get it together?
5		Minnesota Vikings (2-0)	6.1	6	8	2	7	9	4	7
Last week: Win 27-13 at DET. The Vikings gave their fans a scare with a tepid first half, but ultimately the best team won.
6		New York Jets (2-0)	6.3	7	5	8	4	3	9	8
Last week: Win 16-9 vs. NE. Signature win for Sanchez and Ryan, and Jets fans are starting to have delusions of grandeur.
7		Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)	6.3	8	6	7	6	6	7	4
Last week: Loss 14-17 at CHI. To be the champs, you have to beat the champs — so are the Bears the champs now?
8		Atlanta Falcons (2-0)	7.6	5	11	6	8	8	6	9
Last week: Win 28-20 vs. CAR. Atlanta strikes me as one of those teams that quietly goes 13-3, if that’s even possible.
9		New England Patriots (1-1)	8.0	9	7	9	11	7	8	5
Last week: Loss 9-16 at NYJ. Shut out in the second half? What’s wrong with Belichik’s minions?
10		Green Bay Packers (1-1)	11.4	11	16	10	9	12	11	11
Last week: Loss 24-31 vs. CIN. Super Bowl teams don’t let four-win teams come to their stadium and beat them.
11		Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)	12.3	13	9	11	16	13	14	10
Last week: Loss 22-48 vs. NO. Kevin Kolb actually fooled me into thinking he was an NFL QB — for a quarter.
12		San Francisco 49ers (2-0)	13.0	10	13	12	17	10	10	19
Last week: Win 23-10 vs. SEA. Another big divisional win for the 49ers, and now they have to be taken seriously.
13		Dallas Cowboys (1-1)	13.6	14	14	13	10	15	13	16
Last week: Loss 31-33 vs. NYG. Hey, Jerry, at least everyone loved your big TV. And that’s all that matters, right?
14		San Diego Chargers (1-1)	13.6	15	10	15	17	11	12	15
Last week: Loss 26-31 vs. BAL. My Super Bowl pick is seeing the wheels fall off, with injuries piling up on both sides.
15		Chicago Bears (1-1)	14.9	16	15	14	15	16	15	13
Last week: Win 17-14 vs. PIT. Jay Cutler’s stats might not be great, but that was a great job in pulling out a tough win.
16		Tennessee Titans (0-2)	15.9	17	12	20	12	19	17	14
Last week: Loss 31-34 vs. HOU. At 0-2, the Titans rank three spots ahead of the 2-0 Broncos. What?
17		Arizona Cardinals (1-1)	17.6	19	18	19	22	17	16	12
Last week: Win 31-17 at JAC. The Cardinals fly east for an early game and pull out an easy win. Big props for that.
18		Houston Texans (1-1)	19.0	20	20	17	18	22	18	18
Last week: Win 34-31 at TEN. Now that was sure to be one of the most entertaining games of the year. When’s the rematch?
19		Denver Broncos (2-0)	19.1	12	25	18	19	14	21	25
Last week: Win 27-6 vs. CLE. OK, it was the Browns, but that defense is looking great, and Oakland is up next. 3-0?
20		Buffalo Bills (1-1)	20.3	26	19	25	13	23	19	17
Last week: Win 33-20 vs. TB. This team could have suffered a letdown after a fluky Week 1 loss, but they handled business.
21		Seattle Seahawks (1-1)	20.9	21	22	19	20	21	23	20
Last week: Loss 10-23 at SF. Big loss to a division rival, and they might have lost their QB for a while. Not looking good.
22		Miami Dolphins (0-2)	20.9	22	17	21	25	20	20	21
Last week: Loss 23-27 vs. IND. If you can’t win a game in which you have the ball for 45 minutes, just give up.
23		Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)	21.9	18	27	16	24	18	24	26
Last week: Win 31-24 at GB. Huge win on the road — could this be a good team? We’ll know after next week’s game.
24		Washington Redskins (1-1)	23.0	23	24	23	22	25	22	22
Last week: Win 9-7 vs. STL. My conversion chart says beating the Rams by 2 at home actually counts for two losses.
25		Carolina Panthers (0-2)	24.4	24	21	22	26	27	28	23
Last week: Loss 20-28 at ATL. Big improvement in losing by only one score this week, and Jake didn’t turn it over 5 times.
26		Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2)	25.3	25	23	24	29	26	26	24
Last week: Loss 17-31 vs. ARI. So much for a 2009 turnaround — coach Jack Del Rio can’t afford too many more losses.
27		Oakland Raiders (1-1)	25.7	27	26	30	21	24	25	27
Last week: Win 13-10 at KC. That was a game where you want to give both teams losses. Can we give the Titans the win?
28		Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2)	28.0	28	30	27	28	28	27	28
Last week: Loss 20-33 at BUF. The offense shows promise, but the defense makes this a 4-5 win team.
29		Kansas City Chiefs (0-2)	29.1	29	28	29	30	30	29	29
Last week: Loss 10-13 vs. OAK. Matt Cassel on the hot seat already? Maybe they trade for Kevin Kolb in Week 7. Not.
30		Detroit Lions (0-2)	29.7	30	29	28	31	29	30	31
Last week: Loss 13-27 vs. MIN. Can’t we give them half a win for winning the first half? Don’t worry — you win this week.
31		Cleveland Browns (0-2)	30.7	31	32	32	27	32	31	30
Last week: Loss 6-27 at DEN. How do you decide between the two bottom teams? Both are worse than the 0-19 team above.
32		St. Louis Rams (0-2)	31.6	32	31	31	32	31	32	32
Last week: Loss 7-9 at WAS. Good job by the Rams defense, limiting the Skins to three FGs. Moral victory FTL.

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