I realized today that I was forgetting to keep track of such importantly esoteric things like Power Rankings. Of course, I'm guilty of thinking about such things, as is evident in our SB Nation Power Rankings But that doesn't mean that I can't compile and mock the rest of the traditional sports media. Remember, if I screw up, I'm just a homer fan, when they screw up, they're screw ups.
Ok, enough of that.
Let's see where we rank in my non-scientific sample of Power Rankings. (These are semi-randomly grabbed from a Google Search of 'NFL Power Rankings').
First, The Worldwide Leader
6 (8) Jaguars 3-1-0 QB David Garrard is doing the things that make coaches sleep easier -- basically, he's not screwing up. Garrard has yet to throw an interception this season, which helps explain why he ranks 5th in QB ratings.
Fair points all around, Jags are behind New England, Indy, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay. To be honest, the WWL does a better job than most here.
The fine folks at Fox News
5 (9) Jaguars Was that really the Jacksonville Jaguars offense completing some big game-breaking plays on Sunday? It sure was. The Dirk Koetter era in northern Florida is officially underway. And while Arizona State improved to 5-0 in the post-Koetter era on Saturday, the Jags' offensive coordinator -- and former Sun Devils head coach -- orchestrated an impressive offensive outburst against the sturdy Chiefs defense on Sunday. Maurice Jones-Drew and Dennis Northcutt each had huge plays on offense, while the defense held All-Pro running back Larry Johnson to just 12 yards rushing. The Jags gave up a franchise-record 282 yards rushing to Tennessee in their season opener. They've not allowed more than 48 yards on the ground in any of their three games since. A creative offense and a dominant defense? That's the stuff playoff teams are made of. It looks like we've got ourselves one down in Jacksonville.
Wow, look at that. 5th in the rankings and some comments that required just a little bit of research. Notice the key phrase "That's the stuff playoff teams are made of." I like that.
CBS Sports Who haven't posted PR's yet, so we'll hang out with Clark Judge and Pete Prisco instead.
Judge
. What Atlanta saw from Byron Leftwich is what Jacksonville did, which is why the Jags gave up on the guy: He's remarkably inaccurate. In fact, his accuracy is so bad he couldn't even lead Warrick Dunn with an easy lateral -- blowing a sure last-minute touchdown. If this is what Byron Leftwich is, he has no future with the Falcons.
OK, so Clark didn't say a word about the Jags, but he's nasty toward Byron, which I guess counts as coverage.
Prisco:
The Jaguars got an A -- it would have been the golden A+ if they had scored a little more -- for their 17-7 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The Redskins own the Lions at home, going to 21-0 in their history against the Lions in Washington...As for the Jaguars, their defense is carrying the team. Were it not for a touchdown pass on the last play of the game by the Chiefs' Brodie Croyle, they would have had a shutout at Arrowhead. When the Chiefs scored, the PA announcer yelled something about no shutout at Arrowhead...The Jaguars have given up 41 points in four games, the second best per-game average in the league to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Were it not for that last-second score, they'd be first at 8.5 points per game. As it is, they're slightly behind the Steelers, who are giving up 9.4 points per game. Jacksonville is giving up 10.2 points per game.
By winning at Kansas City, they have won back-to-back road games, both against the AFC West. The offense still isn't scoring at a great rate, but quarterback David Garrard is protecting the football -- no interceptions in four games -- and the running game is starting to come alive.
Jacksonville plays host to the Houston Texans next Sunday and then in two weeks has a huge game with the Indianapolis Colts on a Monday night. Although they have struggled with the Texans in recent years, losing twice to them last season, they are favored next week and should go into that Colts game at 4-1, while the Colts will be undefeated at 5-0 since they're off next week.
But that's in the future. This week was about making sure they put the bye week problems of the past behind them. They were 1-3 coming off a bye under coach Jack Del Rio.
Damn Pete, that's a whole lotta words for the NFL's least popular team. But I expect after we beat Houston and Indianapolis that we get a lot more ink.
I've been writing this "real time", as I stumble across something I toss it up. Sorta like a "reality show" of my mind. So as I persue the tubes, I realize that my weekly nightmare has posted. Yes, your friend and mine, he of The New Republic, it's Gregg Easterbrook:
Sweet Sight: The Kansas City spectators, perennially among the most loyal in the league -- the Chiefs were fourth in attendance in 2006, trailing only Washington and the New Jersey clubs, which play in larger stadia -- had emptied out of Arrowhead Stadium by the middle of the fourth quarter Sunday, with Jacksonville ahead 17-0. It's pretty sweet to be playing on the road and look up with plenty of time to go and realize the home crowd has left. Note: Larry Johnson had a horrid day Sunday, and he has just 275 yards rushing after five games. But remember, he started relatively slowly in 2006, too, with 357 yards rushing after five games -- then finished the season with 1,789 yards.
Ok, so this weeks TMQ wasn't entirely intolerable, and I'll admit, I sorta agree with some of his "rules and maxiums", like not punting in the Maroon zone. Maybe it's the pretenousness that gets me, or his holier than though attitude, but whatever. It's tuesday, it's a long time till game time.
This is the "Official End" of celebrating the victory. The rest of the week, from here on out, is focused on the Texans. In the first of many plugs, please read Battle Red Blot for all your Texans needs!
-Chris
