Where We Stand Now

by DCJ on Oct 12, 2009 7:41 PM MDT Comment 4 comments

On the drive home tonight, I heard one of the local (Cincinnati) sports show hosts talking about where the Bengals stand in relation to the top teams. That got me thinking about my post after the first game, where I said:

My own personal conclusion based upon the first game is that even with a lot of improvement still to be made, this Bronco team is at least a middle of the league team, and possibly competitive at the bottom of the upper echelon.

Sorry for patting myself on the back, but I've been married nearly 20 years so it is nice being correct for a change.

Any way, after the jump, I thought I'd give my own personal view of how the teams stack up after week five.

In my opinion, the top half of the league breaks down this way:

Elite Teams (not sure who can beat them)

NY Giants
Colts

Upper Echelon (pretty darn good teams)

Good (dangerous but exploitable)

In defending these categories, let me start with a couple caveats. First, the teams are grouped in no particular order – these are not “power rankings” but rather simple groupings of teams that are on par with one another. Second, I did not look at “schedule strength” or who has beaten whom – unless the NFL switches to a BCS-like ~~abomination~~ method, post season play has nothing to do with schedule strength (just ask Washington) or who your opponent has beaten. Instead, these are my subjective take on how the teams are executing right now.

I think the two teams I have as “Elite” are pretty much inarguable. Both are playing nearly flawless football.

The next category has a bit more argument in it. Both the Saints and Vikings are not in the Elite category because in my opinion they are one QB injury away from mediocrity. Favre and Brees are definitely the elevating factors for both those teams. Denver on the other hand is deeper and less susceptible to a single player downfall, but they are not playing the error-free type of games NY or Indy is at the moment (but I know they will be soon). The Eagles, Steelers, and Patriots round out my list of upper echelon teams.

The third category is probably the most arguable. I waffled quite a bit with the Bengals and Bears, but in the end downgraded them from the Upper Echelon. Cincy makes too many mistakes and sleepwalks through too much of the game to trust, and I've not seen anything tremendous from Chicago. The Ravens could be pushed up a notch as well, but I think their offense is slipping and their defense is playing a bit too out of control – Lewis's hit on Chad O. was simply vicious and stupid, and not good heads-up football. The Jets could also be one category up, but their big win came in an emotional game against a division rival, and they seem to be having a big let down vs Miami. They'll have to play better to win my trust back.

The final four teams are solidly in the good category. They have exploitable weaknesses, but are explosive enough to exploit openings given by opponents. Honestly, I've not seen much of these teams, but I have a general impression these last four teams have good offenses and exploitable defenses, with the exception of SF which is just the opposite.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR

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Nice post

I’d certainly throw Atlanta into good and take the Titans off the list. The Saints seem to be elite too but I understand your logic.

Good stuff.

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."

"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes" Douglas Adams

by orange&blue_aussie on Oct 12, 2009 8:55 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with orange and blue

I think I’d have to put NO up in the elite. This is a very tough thing to try and sort out. It looks pretty good to me. I know you didn’t take schedule into consideration but for all the people who said the Bronco’s have had an easy road, what about the Giants and the Colts. Who have they played that’s so good?

Is it just me or are there way more awful teams this year than ever before. I don’t mean bad teams I mean downright awful. It’s so weird this year. Oakland, St. Louis, Buffalo, KC, Detroit, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Washington. The only reason any of these teams have wins is because they’ve beaten eachother. If not they’d all be candidates to finish winless.

by T.Dot_Bronco on Oct 12, 2009 9:51 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Steelers and Patriots seem categorized more by reputation than results....

There is something missing from both of them…sure they have talent, and can surely beat any team in the league that does not bring their ‘A" game, but somehow the veneer is a little less impervious….I’d drop them to “good”….but it seems pretty good otherwise (On the other hand, not to be too much of a “homer”, but I still think the Broncos have demonstrated skill on both sides of the ball, as have the Saints and Vikings, which I think is what moves a team from Upper Echelon to Elite Status, at least in my mind….)

What if you don't know Jack....but Jack knows you?

by Hugo Norton on Oct 12, 2009 11:06 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Cincy beat the Steelers and Ravens both upper echelon teams imo.

And come close to beating another, us. I hope they win that division up there so we don’t have to listen to the msm patting Big Ben or R Lewis on the back all the time. It’s about time for a change up there and down here (AFCW).

by bfree2bronc on Oct 13, 2009 12:39 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs