2010 NFL Power Rankings (Plus Pass Interference Thoughts)

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Ever since the Indianapolis Colts complained endlessly after playing like girls and getting curbstomped by the New England Patriots in the 2003 AFC Championship game, the pass interference rule in the NFL has gotten out of hand. It had a major part in deciding three (count 'em 3!) games this past weekend.

Chiefs~Texans


Cowboys~Vikings


Broncos~Jets
(insert video here)

All the talk surrounding the hard legal hits from this past weekend has kept NFL fans in the dark about a much bigger problem that needs to be discussed. This would've been the perfect week to talk about it. Damn you James Harrison (you should probably retire) and Brandon Meriweather (dude probably brings his helmet to gang fights).

I'll let you slide Dunta Robinson (sorry Smiley)....


Ay Chihuahua that's a big hit! The Pass Interference did pick up some steam from a few familiar voices on Twitter this weekend. Let's check them....

Jason Whitlock: Pass interefernce is the biggest plague in football. It's worse than the BCS.

ESPN's Sports Guy: Here's what I don't get: why don't bad teams just throw deep every down + try to get long pass interfererences? Seems like they'd hit 20%.

A spot foul is just too big of a penalty for what can be, and oftentimes is, extremely minor contact. Too often teams are throwing jump balls down field, with a receiver and cornerback handfighting each other evenly, only to see the defender get flagged resulting in a 50 yard gain. It's too much. Like Sports Guy suggests, teams are designing plays in hopes of drawing the penalty. As a league, this isn't what you want. Penalties are designed to intervene when one side unfairly gains an advantage, but should remain the backstory to the actual play on the field. Having teams purposely try to draw flags penalties/fouls is against the spirit of the game. It's terrible. It's one step closer to the NBA.

You have two options when deciding how to fix the rule.

Option 1: Take a page from the college rule book, and make all Pass Interference penalties 15 yards and an automatic first down. Any infractions shy of 15 yards, should be marked at the spot. Way less complaining in the college game than in NFL you might notice.

Option 2: Instigate a minor and a major infraction. Make the major call a spot foul. Make the minor call a 10 yard penalty. Anything short of 10 yards wouldn't need a minor/major designation and would be a spot foul plus automatic first down. An automatic first down would accompany both major and minor calls as well.

I prefer Option #2 personally. I think it would be the fairest way to enforce the penalty. However, I would be very pleased with option #1 as well, in order to keep things easier, and leave less rule intrepretation for the officials, who have a hard enough job already, and take enough blame from fans and media for their team's losses.

On to the rankings....

NFL Power Rankings: Week 6 Edition

1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. New York Jets
4. Atlanta Falcons
5. New England Patriots
6. New Orleans Saints
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. Philadelphia Eagles
9. Tennessee Titans
10. New York Giants
11. Miami Dolphins
12. Kansas City Chiefs
13. Green Bay Packers
14. Minnesota Vikings
15. Houston Texans
16. Washington Redskins
17. Seattle Seahawks
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
19. Cincinnati Bengals
20. Chicago Bears
21. Dallas Cowboys
22. St. Louis Rams
23. San Diego Chargers
24. Denver Broncos
25. Arizona Cardinals
26. Detroit Lions
27. Jacksonville Jaguars
28. San Francisco 49ers
29. Cleveland Browns
30. Oakland Raiders
31. Carolina Panthas
32. Biffalo Buffs


{Geek Alert}Statistical Analysis: Comparing these rankings to my previous rankings(after Week 3) and to the Evil Empire's rankings.....

Biggest Risers: 

1. New York Jets +13

2. Baltimore Ravens +10

3. New York Giants +8

3. Kansas City Chiefs +8

5. St. Louis Rams +7

Biggest Fallers

1. Green Bay Packers -11

1. Houston Texans -11

1. San Francisco 49ers -11

4. San Diego Chargers -10

5. Cincinnati Bengals -9

Most Overrated Teams (compared to ESPN's Power Rankings)

1. Chicago Bears -8

2. Arizona Cardinals -7

3. Houston Texans -6

Most Underrated Teams (get this....same formula)

1. Seattle Seahawks +6

2. Miami Dolphins +5

3. Dallas Cowboys +5

Thy Dirty Shirkness

5 Players to Watch: Chiefs~Eagles

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The third preseason game is the best barometer of where your team is at heading into the regular season. The Chiefs face a pretty good team with playoff aspirations that will provide a pretty good challenge. If our sights are set on the playoffs this year, we should be aware of it after tonight. With little else to say, I present two opportunities I'd take advantage of in the preseason.

1. Go for two point conversions. Once you have a few extra point opportunities completed, I would switch it up and go for two after most (not all) touchdowns. This is especially true with a veteran special teams unit. If you're working with the same snapper/holder/kicker, the extra point is albeit a foregone conclusion, so why not take an extra opportunity on goalline offense, plays that oftentimes decide games?

2. Insert the backup Quarterback with the first unit without warning. Try and simulate a situation where your starting QB gets injured, and the backup is forced into the lineup. Keep him in for a drive or two, and then go back to the starter. Prepare your team for how it might happen during the season.

5 Players:

1. Brandon Flowers, CB, #24- Goes up against the speedster that is DeSean Jackson tonight. B-Flow made a terrible play last week, going for the ball way too late, and allowing a touchdown. We aren't accustomed to seeing that from him, but if we are to make a playoff push this year, we need our good players to play to their full ability and not rely on reputation. He isn't to the point where we can assume that won't happen regularly, he needs to continue to prove himself, and tonight is a good place to start.

2. Dexter McCluster, Slash, #22- Very involved in game number one, not so much in number two. I'd aim to get him as much work as possible, with his transition to a new position still fresh. He adds a whole new dimension to our offense, as long as he is comfortable. Use these last two games to get the Ole Missile as affluent as possible.

3. Branden Albert, LT, #76- Gets his best test of the preseason against Trent Cole, coming off a 12.5 sack season, tonight. The holes on the line have reared their head mostly on the right side to this point. We badly need Albert to breakout this year, with little consistency found from the rest of the line.

4. Demorrio Williams, ILB, #53- Lost his starting job for the time being to Derrick Johnson. While I was in favor of this, Williams showed me a lot more last week than D.J. He looked anything but satisfied with his demotion. Or maybe the backup LB's just always look better going up against second units. Tough to say. This may be the best position battle on the team going on right now.

5. Kevin Kolb, Eagles QB, #4- I want to see how uncomfortable we can make him. The easiest way to win football games in the NFL is to make the opposing Quarterback uncomfortable. It used to be the Chiefs forte, with a ferocious pass rush combining with the Arrowhead Stadium crowd, and led to one of the best home field advantages in the league. We need to get back to that, especially before Monday Night Football, September 13th, against the San Diego Chargers.

His Dirkness