I
know this is a little late, so I’ll try not to let the week 3 game between the
Giants and the Panthers influence my rankings.
1. Matt Ryan
He has played tremendous football so
far this season, spreading the ball around, playing fast, and making smart
decisions. His 5 TD’s:0 INT’s ratio speaks volumes towards his placement on
this list after defeating the Chiefs with ease and outplaying Peyton Manning’s
Broncos.
2. Philip Rivers
It hurts me to say this, but this
guy has been performing. There’s no run game in San Diego, there’s no star
receivers (if you don’t count Gates) and Rivers is still playing some of his
best football of his career so far.
3. Ben Roethlisberger
Yes, he suffered defeat at the hands
of Peyton Manning and got punished by the Broncos’ defense, but he responded with
an excellent performance against the Jets (even if they were without Revis).
4. Robert Griffin III
Bias aside, Griffin III is for real.
His lone INT was a rare poor choice under duress, and his play has been very
good so far. His ability to make plays with his feet, and his tendency to not
turn the ball over, have him this high on the list already. In the loss to the
Rams, RGIII did everything he could to put the team in position to win.
5. Eli Manning
After a dud at home in the opener
against the Cowboys, Eli and his Giants started slow against the Buccaneers,
but Eli came alive in the second half—most notably the 4th quarter—and
played possibly the best quarter of football we’ve seen in the last decade with
a tremendous come-from-behind victory.
6. Peyton Manning
18 still has it. Week 1 against the
Steelers, Peyton made a statement. Week 2, he started off terrible, and put the
Broncos in a hole they couldn’t escape from, but they got close. The way Peyton
finished the game against the Falcons says a lot to how effective he still is.
He drops slightly following week 1, but his performance late solidified this
spot in the rankings.
7. Joe Flacco
Joe Cool drops this week after what
I would have generated him as a top 3 QB last week, struggling to be consistent
against the Eagles. While I have more of a problem with Baltimore’s seeming
refusal to run the football and take pressure off of Flacco, I still don’t like
his decision making from week-to-week. But he’s not turning it over like some,
and that’s part of why he’s still this high on the list.
8. Alex Smith
Yes, Alex Smith, of the San
Francisco 49ers. No, he’s not putting up the most amazing numbers in the league
(except for 4 TD’s and 0 INT’s), but he’s doing enough to win games and help
take pressure off of his running game, yes, off of his running game.
9. Tom Brady
I had to get to him eventually, and
I do believe the Cardinals’ defense is amongst the very best in the league. But
Tom Brady lost only his second regular-season game at Gillette Stadium in his
career to Kevin Kolb’s Cardinals, and Brady was as much a part of the problem
as anyone.
10. Aaron Rodgers
The Pack lost to the 49ers, after
Rodgers almost brought them back. Then they come out and pull away from the
Bears (thanks to trickery on special teams) with Rodgers posting a decent
performance. So far this season, he hasn’t looked like a #1 Power Ranking QB.
11. Sam Bradford
Week 1 was nothing to smile about.
Week 2 is another story. Bradford picked apart Washington’s zone-defense all
game long, and while he had a lot of help from the run game and Jim Haslett’s
refusal to adjust to man and the Redskins losing two starters in the front-7,
Bradford did all you can ask of any QB – take advantage of what the defense
gives you.
12. Mark Sanchez
What!? You mean the guy who was a write-in
to lose his job to Tim Tebow (which could still happen). The fact of the matter
is, Mark is playing very good football right now. He stuttered against the
Steelers, and that knocked him down on this list.
13. Kevin Kolb
Yes, Kolb has jumped up this list
further than anyone. Week 1 wasn’t as much his doing (save for a clutch TD), as
it was Skelton’s, but he walked into Gillette Stadium week 2 against Tom Brady
and the Patriots and walked out with a win.
14. Andrew Luck
After a poor start against the
Bears, Luck responded with a big game against the Vikings and really shut one
of the better defensive fronts in the league down single-handedly. A response
that big could have helped earn him Rookie of the Week honors, and could be the
confidence boost he needs to keep his play up.
15. Tony Romo
There’s still no consistency from
Romo, or the team. While I won’t pin the horrible performance against the
Seahawks on Romo, it’s still on him to rally the troops a-la Eli Manning and
orchestrate something in the second half. Romo and the Cowboys got punched in
the mouth, and didn’t swing back.
16. Andy Dalton
I didn’t like the week 1 performance
against the Ravens, but I don’t really like any QB’s chances against the
Ravens. But Dalton responded against Cleveland and made big throws, hitting
open receivers when they were available, and put the game away.
17. Matt Schaub
Yeah, he’s a lot better than best of
the bottom half of the league, but he’s not throwing. Why would you, with that
run game? Either way, he isn’t… and judging him against some of these other QB’s
who are making plays, is going to upset people regardless. I’ll leave him here
until he has to sling it.
18. Cam Newton
Legs, deep throws, and a little help
from Paul Pier.. err.. Steve Smith. Newton torched the Saints’ defense, and
added a win on the season and jumped up in the power rankings.
19. Christian Ponder
Coming off of a loss to the Colts in
which he was infinitely better than his week 1 performance against the Jaguars,
Ponder put up solid numbers, but his defense didn’t do enough to be a
difference. For Ponder to climb this list, it’s going to take the ability to
set a lead and keep it, even when his run game is non-existent (shame on you
Adrian Peterson).
20. Russell Wilson
I want to see this kid pass the
football. It has been rare. Then again, why pass when you can run the way the
Seahawks do, and play defense as well as they have been playing? However,
Wilson is making plays with his feet, and he isn’t making many terrible
decisions. I need to see more, though.
21. Ryan Tannehill
The rookie started the season a
little cold, but gained some traction against the Raiders with the help of
Reggie Bush. If he can continue playing the way he did Sunday, he’ll rise in
the rankings even more.
22. Matthew Stafford
It almost feels blasphemous to have
this kid this low, but 2 TD’s and 4 INT’s and a loss in week 2 really slid
Stafford down this list.
23. Mike Vick
Miraculously, the Eagles are 2-0.
Mike Vick hasn’t been a contributor to that. He’s done more to lose games than
RGIII has to win games. In fact, Vick should be sitting where Brees is, but the
only reason I have him any higher is he actually has 2 wins on the season, and
one was in large part to his effort to make a play with his legs to grab the
lead against the Ravens.
24. Ryan Fitzpatrick
What an ugly start to the season,
but a response in KC (who I don’t necessarily consider much of a threat) has
saved Fitzpatrick a little. He has work to do, as does his team, but he can use
this game as a boost to his confidence moving forward.
25. Josh Freeman
The Bucs were close to putting
Manning away. A collapse by the defense, and not much help from the offense and
the run game, left the Bucs’ sails windless. Freeman has been better than a lot
on this list so far in terms of decision making, but he’s just not that
accurate of a passer.
26. Drew Brees
By far the largest decline in the
league. It’s not like Drew isn’t still putting up SOME numbers, but he’s not
playing well. He’s making horrible decisions and just can’t seem to get
anything going. His defense has been detrimental to his performance as well,
but let’s not act like he had a great defense last year.
27. Blaine Gabbert
Gabbert has been playing okay. He
has two losses on the year, but the second loss was against the Texans who are
a top 5 team in the league this year. He hasn’t been exceptionally well
throwing the football, but he’s not throwing passes to defenders, and that
counts for something.
28. Matt Cassel
He hasn’t been consistent, and he’s
not a winner this year. But Cassel’s not the worst of the worst, either. If the
Chiefs can get something going on the ground, Cassel will have opportunities to
make something happen, but based on what we’ve seen so far, that’s not
happening.
29. Jay Cutler
Could you be any worse than Jay
Cutler was against the Packers? I’m sure you can, but that’s by far one of the
worst performances we’ve seen so far this season. Jay can blame his O-Line for
getting hit… he can’t blame them for when they’re holding off all pressure and
he just slings it wherever he wants, bringing Brett Favre back to Lambeau. Jay’s
better than this, but he hasn’t played it yet this season.
30. Carson Palmer
What’s the difference between Palmer
and Cutler? Cutler has a win on the year. Palmer hasn’t been playing well, but
he also hasn’t been playing outrageously poorly. However, he hasn’t looked to
be competent at any point in either game, and that really hurts the former Pro
Bowler.
31. Jake Locker
He still hasn’t put it together. He
has talent, and tremendous potential, and Chris Johnson’s horrid performance so
far this season has done nothing to make Locker’s Life any easier, but it’s
still on Jake to play at a higher level than he has been.
32. Brandon Weeden
I think this kid has potential to be
a good player, but that’s just it, potential. So far this season, he hasn’t
looked well at all. He’ll get it together, I’m sure. But until he does, he’ll
be sitting right here at the bottom of these rankings.
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