NFC rankings: Elite meet with Falcons-Bears, Giants-Saints
Despite Matt Ryan's attempts to sway the judges, the Falcons held their place as No. 5 in the rankings.
It’s always dangerous to draw conclusions about an NFL season at the five-week mark. But we’re already starting to see separation between the haves and have-nots in the NFC.
The Falcons somewhat unmasked San Francisco last week. If they really belong among the NFC’s elite, this will be their chance to prove it. They play the Bears, Cowboys and Saints in the next three weeks.
Of the top six ranked teams in the inaugural Schultz NFC Rankings (copyright, 2009), four teams — the New York Giants, New Orleans, Minnesota and the Falcons — all pounded their opponents last week. The other two had byes. I believe it’s completely appropriate at this point to interject: Damn, I’m good.
1. NY Giants (5-0): In the last three games, the Giants have outscored the Raiders, Chiefs and Buccaneers by a combined score of 95-23. Safe to say this week’s opponent can match that 23 in the first half alone. New York will take the NFL’s No. 1 defense into game six against …
2. New Orleans (4-0): The Saints are averaging almost double the yardage (414) that the Giants are averaging (210). With all the buildup to this game, it’s almost easy to forget the Giants want to duct-tape their former teammate, Jeremy Shockey, to the goal post and take turns aiming the punt machine at him.
Favre is about to face some difficult defenses.
3. Minnesota (5-0): Brett Favre has nine touchdowns and two interceptions in five games. Pay close attention because the next three games are against the Ravens, Steelers and the Packers (the rematch in Green Bay).
4. Philadelphia (3-1): Still don’t have a great feel for how good the Eagles are. After a Week 2 loss to New Orleans, their schedule had consecutive games against the Chiefs, Bucs, Raiders and Redskins. In short, they only need to breathe to sweep.
5. Falcons (3-1): Michael Turner and Roddy White were key in the blowout at San Francisco, meaning the offense we all expected this season has arrived. This week: They face a Bears’ defense without Brian Urlacher, which is sort of like saying, “There’s no cement holding those bricks together.”
6. Chicago (3-1): The defense isn’t as strong without Urlacher but the offense has been getting better each week. Since throwing four interceptions in Week 1, quarterback Jay Cutler has seven touchdowns and one interception.
7. Green Bay (2-2): The Packers have had a week off since losing to the “Minnesota Favres” on a Monday night. Win the next two over Detroit and Cleveland, and watch everybody get worked into a frenzy again over the rematch at Lambeau Field.
It turns out T.O. wasn't the Cowboys' only problem.
8. Dallas (3-2): I think we’re finding out the Cowboys’ issues went far beyond Terrell Owens and related distractions. The defense, expected to be solid, ranks 28th against the pass, and Dallas had to scramble to defeat Kansas City in overtime last week.
9. San Francisco (3-2): Nothing against the TV crew that kept talking about how physical coach Mike Singletary had the 49ers’ defense playing leading up to the Falcons’ game. But at some point don’t you need to point out that the other team is socking the Niners in the mouth? The 49ers aren’t bad. But they’re not there yet.
10. Arizona (2-2): The running game ranks among the league’s worst. But Fantasy owners don’t care because Larry Fitzgerald has scored four touchdown catches.
11. Carolina (1-3): After a report surfaced that coach John Fox thinks he is going to be fired, the Panthers beat Washington. But if they can’t rush for 100 yards in a game, they’re cooked. And so is he.
12. Seattle (2-3): The Seahawks ended a three-game losing streak by beating Jacksonville. But they could be looking at early playoff elimination if drop they drop the next two games against Arizona and Dallas.
13. Detroit (1-4): The Lions hung with Pittsburgh (28-20) despite Matthew Stafford being out with a knee injury. In his absence, Daunte Culpepper threw for 336 yards. You wouldn’t know it by the record, but coach Jim Schwartz is changing the culture.
14. Washington (2-3). Dan Snyder is now the worst owner in the NFL, only because most forget Al Davis is in the league.
15. Vacant.
16. Vacant.
PRACTICE SQUAD: Last week I had St. Louis and Tampa Bay tied for 16th. But after they lost to the Vikings and Eagles by a combined score of 71-24 and dropped to a collective 0-10, I figure neither deserves to be on the NFC’s active roster. Their combined net point differential: minus-184. At minus-190, they’re officially dead in 12 states.
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130 comments Add your comment
DawgFan
October 14th, 2009
7:11 am
I’ve always wanted to do this: FIRST!!!!!!
Falcon57
October 14th, 2009
7:26 am
Jeff, I completely agree with your statement about the “TV Crew’s” coverage of the Falcons-49ers game. I kept waiting for them to acknowledge the Falcons just plain out punching the PHYSICAL 49ers in the mouth and taking the breath out of them but NO, all they could talk about was Singletary and how he has had that team playing. No professionalism at all in their coverage, just plain one sided coverage. You would think we deserve more from a national media source. Now if we can just do the same to the Bears this week!!! GO FALCONS!!!!
Asheville Dawg
October 14th, 2009
7:31 am
third
Asheville Dawg
October 14th, 2009
7:35 am
Just wanted to tick the second guy off. Looking forward to first Falcons -Saints match up to really see how good the Birds are. They should shred the depleted Bears defense.
"Chef" Tim Dix
October 14th, 2009
7:48 am
Eli: The other white meat.
Samuel
October 14th, 2009
7:55 am
Chef, it’s: Eli: The other white Manning
Rod
October 14th, 2009
7:58 am
I’ve got a question.
Why was Roddy White penalized 15 yards for his endzone celebration?
He has done back-flips in the endzone before, without a penalty. So, this time he does a front-flip and gets a flag. And, no, he didn’t flip over the goal-line, he was already 6 yards into the endzone and was just doing a celebratory flip.
Chef menteur
October 14th, 2009
7:59 am
SAINTS RULE. SHULTZ you r a dufuss
"Chef" Tim Dix
October 14th, 2009
8:01 am
Sam: so true.
Tim
October 14th, 2009
8:02 am
Jeff – please re-read what you wrote. The lack of editing and proof reading is HORRID!!!!
honest_abe
October 14th, 2009
8:04 am
siragusa mentioned it right before the 2nd half that some of the 49ers woes should be credited to how the falcons were playing.
but i will admit. listening to daryl johnston kiss mike singletary’s arse all day was like listening to nails on a chalkboard.
"Chef" Tim Dix
October 14th, 2009
8:04 am
Rod: 15 yd. penalty for utter stupidity. Dangerous landing.
Looked simular to Evel Knievel’s first bounce at Ceasar’s Palace.
t larry
October 14th, 2009
8:10 am
fourteenth wow
Go falcons
Come on Jeff, bring back FALCONS SORRY. he was so funny
Dean
October 14th, 2009
8:23 am
Tim, the column was put up at 0642. You’re right, but mitigating circumstances are understandable! I was up at 0358 this morning (my dog’s snout in my face wanting to “take care of bizness”. I couldn’t have written my name. But then, come to think of it, I don’t get PAID to write my name!
Chris
October 14th, 2009
8:25 am
Most under-rated thing about the Falcons: The collective wingspan of their receivers. White, Jenkins, Gonzalez and Finneran are all huge and consistently hang onto the ball. It has to make it easier for a quarterback to have 4 guys that are so big and reliable.
Blue Fender
October 14th, 2009
8:31 am
I think Chicago will implode at some point this year because Lovie will refuse to wipe the remaining strained peas from Cutler’s chin. He’ll whine until he gets traded to some team that “appreciates” him. Quite possibly this will be the game that everyone will point to as the beginning of the end of the new Chicago Bears era.
GO FALCONS!
Androidawg
October 14th, 2009
8:38 am
I was thinking the exact same thing as gabeaux. I have noticed this all over the AJC website. Does anyone edit these posts? It should be embarrassing for professional journalists.
DawgFan
October 14th, 2009
8:40 am
I also noticed how the TV announcers were singing praises to the 49ers all through the pregame stuff. I was surprised that Moose and Goose weren’t wearing Niners gear. How bad do Carolina, Washington, Dallas, and Green Bay feel about being behind the perennially looked-down-upon Falcons?
IceFan
October 14th, 2009
8:46 am
Jeff,
Nice article, but your grammar is almost as bad as Ledbetter’s. Would you guys PLEASE proofread before you submit your work?
As for the rankings and the season, I think you’ve got it right at this point. I might swap the Falcons with the Eagles at 4. I also think it works in our favor that the NFC North will beat up on each other all year. The Falcons should have a really good chance of making the playoffs even if we can’t pull out the division.
Loel
October 14th, 2009
9:06 am
If the Falcons are not perceived good enough, after 4 games, to win the division but can make the playoff, then what good is that. That means they would crash into New Orleans somewhere and still come home disappointed. They are only one game behind NO with 12 to go and still have the two games head to head.
Sound Mind
October 14th, 2009
9:07 am
Are you folks kidding me. This is a internet article ranking the NFC teams not “Pride and Prejudice”. Enough with all the grammar whining.
matt r
October 14th, 2009
9:10 am
1 New Orleans 2 Atlanta 3 New York Giants 4 Minnesota 5 Philadelphia 6 San Francisco 7 Green Bay 8 Chicago 9 Dallas 10 Seattle 11 Arizona 12 Detroit 13 Carolina 14 Washington 15 TB 16 St. Louis
Dan
October 14th, 2009
9:21 am
Not getting all the love for the North, beat up on each other??? how bout playing patty-cake with each other. Only one impressive out of conf win for the division, Bears beating Steelers. Other wins are skins hawks bengals browns niners etc. Hard to say any are elite until they beat someone of significance.
Tim
October 14th, 2009
9:22 am
“Chef” Tim Dix – “simular”. Huh? Would that be anything like SIMILAR?
I’ve heard people say “simular”, but I thought they just didn’t know how to pronounce the word “similar.”
SIMULAR IS NOT A WORD!!!!!
F-105 Thunderchief
October 14th, 2009
9:22 am
Tampa is a disaster. Morris is no Mike Smith or Mike Tomlin.
Jeff Schultz
October 14th, 2009
9:29 am
DawgFan – As my people would say, today you are a man.
Falcons57 – I would hope if they smack the Bears up front, they would get recognition.
Gabeaux – What did I miss? Tell me the typo and I’ll compensate you.
Tim – You get double Gabeaux’s pay.
Androidawg, others – OK, that’s it. Are you putting me on. . . . . Somebody tell me one typo.
Matt R – Even if the Saints beat the Giants and the Falcons win, I don’t think I can put the Falcons ahead of the Giants just yet.
Jay Falcon
October 14th, 2009
9:39 am
Rod,
The NFL rule is if you jump but don’t land back on your feet it’s excessive celebration. So, you should be sure you can land a flip before you try one in a game.
Get It Right
October 14th, 2009
9:46 am
Here you go, Schultz. “The Seahawks ended a three-game losing by beating…” A three-game losing ? Streak, perhaps?
Spend more time proof reading and less time worrying about Limbaugh.
Howard Roark
October 14th, 2009
9:46 am
Even for 6:42am…that was a ROUGH draft JS! Glad to see that you are all polished up now.
Haiku Man
October 14th, 2009
9:47 am
Take a look at this
oyu’ev reven dame a tpyo?
Jeff Schultz types just fine
Ryno
October 14th, 2009
9:48 am
Mr. Schultz – great job yesterday afternoon on 790. Made the long drive home much more passable.
I’m still a bit leary of giving Philly too much credit. They’ve had the good fortune of playing both Tampa and Carolina. Of course – they’ve done quite well without McNabb, so they have everything to gain from here on out.
DJ
October 14th, 2009
9:54 am
Dead on the rankings Jeff. Can you get info on the scheduled TV crews? I sit on the front row endzone and the “Goose” is gonna get an earful each and every time he walks his fat *** past my seat!
Drive Safely
October 14th, 2009
10:08 am
Dear “Supporters of the Dog Killer:”
You are required by law to turn on your vehicle’s headlights and use turn signals in heavy rain.
Do that mean ANYTHING to any of you ??????
U-no
October 14th, 2009
10:17 am
Haiku Man, that’s awesome!
DJ
October 14th, 2009
10:19 am
Rod…the rule is if you touch the ground during your celebration it’s 15 yards. Next time Roddy needs to stick the landing.
Rush Limbaugh
October 14th, 2009
10:20 am
You damn liberals…..You are ruining my chances to own an NFL team.
Hillary Clinton
October 14th, 2009
10:22 am
Shut up you fat drug addict.
Reality Check
October 14th, 2009
10:39 am
Announcers were biased, but the Falcons get that treatment when Billick is doing our games and nobody here complains. Falcons looked a lot better, but Shawn Hill, no receivers, and no running backs will do that. Need to put several good games together before we are considered elite (remember New England game.)
Roseanne Barr's 50-inch panties
October 14th, 2009
10:47 am
I don’t care if Shultz proof-reads or not. I didn’t come here for an English Grammar course, I came here for football enlightenment. That I have received…
Great job Jeff!
Jeff Schultz
October 14th, 2009
10:48 am
Get it right – Got it! Missed that one. But this is really about Rush Limbaugh, isn’t it? Hey, at least I spelled his name right.
Ryno – Thanks. Done the show with Bell a few times now and it’s a blast. He makes it easy. At least 27 seconds of prep time goes into the show.
DJ – TV this week is the A-team on NBC: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Andrea Kramer.
"Chef" Tim Dix
October 14th, 2009
10:49 am
Tim: Thanks.
Jeff Schultz
October 14th, 2009
10:49 am
Roseanne Barr — Thanks for the words — the undergarments, you can keep.
Al Smith
October 14th, 2009
10:50 am
that saints/giants game will show who the best team is. should be epic, or a blowout
Roseanne Barr's 50-inch panties
October 14th, 2009
10:51 am
LOL
Thomas
October 14th, 2009
10:54 am
Get ready to move the Jints down and the Saints up! WHO DAT!
PreyDawg
October 14th, 2009
11:03 am
Al is great, Collinsworth is okay but talks way too much and sometimes whines like Tarkenton used to which is most annoying. Kramer is not hot. She is not even warm. There are way too many legit hot babes in this business who actually know the game and do just as good a job for us to all be forced to look at Kramer. Whatever happend to the smokin Latino Babe from Fox Sports. She was not only beautiful she also dug up worthwhile information. If this post makes me a male chauvinist then I embrace that label.
Andy "100 regular season career wins" Reid
October 14th, 2009
11:03 am
Thanks for the effort, Jeff. I enjoy your columns. Rankings hardly matter but they are fun to discuss. It’ll be the same this year as it is every year: a couple of teams with two or three losses (the Division Champs); a bunch of teams at 9-7 / 8-8 (one from each conference being the Wild Cards), and the rest of the league at 3-13 / 4-12 / 5-11. Obviously, they missed the field goals the Wild Cards made. The NFL has packaged an ultra-Madison Ave. campaign in getting people to believe that parity is not a synonym for mediocrity. (Did I spell that correctly?)
Paddy
October 14th, 2009
11:22 am
Roddy penelty, excessive stupidity. The Dre Bly syndrome. When will these guys ever learn? The ans; NEVER!!!
PROOFREADER
October 14th, 2009
11:24 am
Isn’t Denver 5-0 with a victories over the Vikings and Pats?
Boo Boo
October 14th, 2009
11:40 am
The Falcons were coming off a bye week, so the D-line was able to play 4 quarters, making the D-backs better at coverage. Now, the Falcons face the Bears after a bye week. Then the Cowboys after a bye week. Then the Saints after a bye week. The good game against San Francisco was so yesterday, its hard to remember. As Gary Grandview was recorded telling a referee, “NFL means Not For Long.”