Yes, it's about that time! This is the third year for our poll. As a reminder, here is last year's final ranking:

(first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Pittsbugh(9) 99 pts.
2. New England(1) 91 pts.
3. Indianapolis 76 pts.
4. Philadelphia 69 pts.
5. San Diego 65 pts.
6. Atlanta 32 pts.
7. NY Jets 31 pts.
8. Denver 30 pts.
9. Green Bay 26 pts.
10. Buffalo 20 pts.

In 2003 we had New England at #1 while Carolina at #10 was the other Super Bowl team; last year the two Super teams (Pats and Eagles) were #2 and 4 in our rankings. I guess that means we're doing better. wink

Everyone is welcome to participate. Here are the rules: after the games are played each week, present your top teams ranked from 1 to 10 -- no ties, don't pick only 5 or 8 or 15. You can post them here, e-mail me or send me a PM. I will add up the results, with points in reverse of the ranking (10 points for a first-place vote, 9 points for second, etc.) and post the tally for each week prior to the next weekend's games, probably around Friday night or Saturday -- earlier if there are Thursday games.

We haven't done any preseason polls in the past. I personally think there shouldn't be any such thing (including -- especially -- in the NCAA) because I like a game to be played before making an assessment. Feel free if you'd like to post your own preseason top 10, though.

Okay, people, don't forget your Power Rankings! wink

After Week 1.

1. Indy - Beat a Ravens D that looked as good as ever.
2. Pitt - Took care a bad team the way you are supposed to.
3. Atlanta - Avenged their loss and their D was impressive. This will last only 1 week.
4. KC - Got some breaks and bounces, but put up a great performance over a playoff team.
5. Dallas - Won on the road against a tough team.
6. Jax - Looked very solid all the way around, which is what it takes to win in the playoffs.
7. NE - Was unimpressive in their win over Oakland.
8. Philly - D was pretty good w/out Trotter. They need more from their O.
9. Buffalo - With McGahee and that D they will knock off a lot of teams.
10. Baltimore - A respectable loss to the Colts. That D is brutal. That's a different game if Stover didn't miss 3 FGs.

Week 1 is always hard to Power Rank. It's a mixture of how you expect a team to be compared to how they actually did.

1. Indy - Just because Dungy's a nice guy wink
2. Dallas - Drew/Tuna work wonders
3. Tampa Bay - no one gave them a chance - Cadillac may be the real deal
4. KC - why not?
5. Pittsburgh - Parker who?
6. Jacksonville - good defense, Fred's still healthy!
7. New England - Best looking team?
8. New Orleans - always nice to see the kitty's lose
9. Buffalo - real test this weekend
10. Atlanta - whomp there it is

[ September 13, 2005, 10:52 AM: Message edited by: PewterPirate ]

1. New England - No other team knocked my socks off enough to dethrone NE.
2. Indianapolis - Defense hung in while the offense got it together
3. Kansas City - Yes, the AFC West will be a race.
4. Atlanta -
5. New Orleans - Was it emotion or will the Saints manage to be the NFC poster children for schizophrenia.
6. Dallas - Made the most of their 2nd chances.
7. Pittsburgh - Are the Steelers going to become Broncos East, where anyone can become a 1.000 yd rusher.
8. San Diego - Between no Gates, and defensive penalties keep eventual Dallas scoring drives alive, it's a testament to the Chargers that they still were in position to win this game at the end
9. Philadelphia - Tough loss, probalby would be ranked higher if it were a higher scoring game or if the Egleas had gotten deeper in Atl terriory at the end.
10. Tampa Bay - The team that's better than people think beat the team that's not as good as people think.

1. NE
2. Indy
3. Pittsburgh
4. KC
5. Buffalo
6. Cincinnati
7. Jax
8. Dallas
9. Atlanta
10. Miami

Indianapolis
New England
Atlanta
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Kansas City
Carolina
Dallas
San Diego
Jacksonville

1. New England - #1 until someone beats them
2. Indy
3. Atlanta
4. KC
5. Pitt
6. Dallas
7. Jax - Damn Seahawks
8. Philly
9. Mee-ami
10. Detroit - Just because they are 1-0. Hey, it may be the only time Joey sees a top 10 ranking.

[ September 13, 2005, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: Mariner Duck Boy ]

1. Indianapolis
2. Pittsburgh
3. New England
4. Kansas City
5. Buffalo
6. Jacksonville
7. Atlanta
8. Tampa Bay
9. Miami
10. Dallas
.
.
.
32. Jets frown

1. Patriots
2. Steelers
3. Colts
4. Chiefs
5. Bills
6. Dolphins
7. Falcons
8. Cowboys
9. Bengals
10. Giants

31. Vikings :mad: :mad: :mad:

[ September 13, 2005, 01:30 PM: Message edited by: George_Vikingfan ]

1. New England
2. Indianapolis
3. Atlanta
4. Pittsburgh
5. Buffalo
6. Tampa Bay
7. Dallas
8. NY Giants
9. San Antonio/Baton Rouge/New Orleans
10. Kansas City

I agree on the Vikings, George. Sunday was maddening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

Some of your ratings are just plain crazy.

Week 1 Power Rankings

1. NE
2. Indy
3. Pitt
4. KC
5. Atl
6. Buf
7. Phil
8. TB
9. Jax
10. NO

We await your top 10.

Yeah alot of my current top 10 are not the teams that are the among the ten best in football. But after week 1, I'm not going to rate any team that lost a their game. The Eagles are almost surely better than my 4-10 teams but they did lose.

And I fear I may be able to rank the Vikes 32 next week as they go into Cincinnati this week!

1. Indianapolis
2. New England
3. Atlanta
4. Philadelphia
5. Jacksonville
6. Pittsburgh
7. Kansas City
8. Dallas
9. Buffalo
10. Tampa Bay

1 NE
2 Indy
3 Pitt
4 Philly
5 KC
6 Atl
7 Cincy
8 Buf
9 Carolina
10 Jax

1) Pats
2) Colts
3) Steelers
4) Falcons
5) Chiefs
6) Eagles
7) Jags
8) Bills
9) Bengals
10)Giants

1. New England
2. Indianapolis
3. Atlanta
4. Kansas City
5. Pittsburgh
6. Dallas
7. Buffalo
8. Jacksonville
9. Miami
10.New Orleans

If anyone still wants to vote, do so ASAP. wink

Okay, here are the Week 1 Power Rankings. Interesting: the Pats got twice as many first-place votes but end up in second place overall thanks to a couple of 7th-place votes. Indy had none lower than 3rd.

(first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Indianapolis (5) 139 pts.
2. New England (10) 134 pts.
3. Pittsburgh 106 pts.
4. Kansas City 94 pts.
5. Atlanta 90 pts.
6. Dallas 51 pts.
7. Buffalo 46 pts.
8. Philadelphia 43 pts.
9. Jacksonville 40 pts.
10. Tampa Bay 21 pts.

Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 16 pts, New Orleans 13, Miami 12, San Diego 7, Carolina 6, NY Giants 5, Detroit 1, Baltimore 1.

Week 2
1. Indy
2. Pitt
3. KC
4. NE
5. Philly
6. TB
7. Cincy
8. Atl
9. NYG
10. Jax

1. Indy
2. Pitt
3. NE
4. Cinn
5. KC
6. Jax
7. Caro
8. Tampa
9. Atlanta
10. Philly

1. Pitt
2. Philly
3. Indy
4. KC
5. NE
6. Cincy
7. Carolina
8. Tampa
9. Atlanta
10.jax

1. Pitt
2. Tampa
3. Indy
4. Cin
5. Caroline
6. KC
7. Jax
8. NE
9. NYG
10. Phil

1. Indianapolis
2. Pittsburgh
3. Carolina
4. Kansas City
5. Philadelphia
6. Tampa Bay
7. New England
8. Jacksonville
9. Tennessee
10. Washington

1. Indy
2. Pitt
3. KC
4. Carolina
5. NE
6. Philly
7. Cincy
8. Tampa Bay
9. Jax
10. Vick & Co.

1. Pitt
2. NE
3. Phila
4. KC
5. Atlanta
6. Indianapolis
7. Carolina
8. Cinn
9. NYGiants
10. Tenn

After Week 2.

1. Indy - Beat 2 tough defenses, and won despite poor performance from their stars.
2. Pitt - Hasn't really been challenged yet, but takes care of poor teams.
3. KC - Playing pretty solid all the way around.
4. Philly - Bounced back and have that dangerous swagger.
5. Jax - Lost to the best on the road.
6. Carolina - losing to NO in week 1 is a tough match up. Played well against the champs.
7. Cincy - Steadily climbing the ranks.
8. Giants - Solid front D-line, strong running game, and QB can take care of the ball. Needs better play from the secondary to move any higher.
9. Atlanta - Beat the best of the NFC, then go on the road cross-country on a short week, and almost pull out a win.
10. NE - Defending champs get the benefit of the doubt. Another loss and they drop off my top 10.

On the bubble...
11. Jets
12. Bills
13. Bucs

1. Colts
2. Steelers
3. Eagles
4. Patriots
5. Chiefs
6. Bengals
7. Panthers
8. Falcons
9. Buccaneers
10. Jaguars

32. Vikings :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Indianapolis
3. Kansas City
4. Carolina
5. New England
6. Giants
7. Tampa Bay
8. Philadelphia
9. Cincinnati
10.Jacksonville

1. Indy
2. Pittsburgh
3. Carolina
4. Kansas City
5. Cincinnati
6. Philadelphia
7. Tampa Bay
8. Giants
9. New England
10. Atlanta

Having a team posted twice on the rankings ... not a good thing.

[ September 20, 2005, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: The_Hammerman ]

Don't worry, I think someone did that before. One thing someone did last year was only rank nine teams. wink

I'll take this opportunity to mention that next week I will need the rankings in early since I'll be away, so I'll need everyone's votes by Wednesday night 9/28/05.

Indianapolis
Pittsburgh
Atlanta
Philadelphia
Carolina
New England
Kansas City
Cincinnati
Jacksonville
Seattle

1) Colts
2) Steelers
3) Chiefs
4) Bengals
5) Eagles
6) Pats
7) Giants
8) Falcons
9) Bucs
10) Jags

1. Indianapolis
2. Pittsburgh
3. Tampa Bay
4. Giants
5. Kansas City
6. Cincinnati
7. Washington
8. Carolina
9. New England
10. Chicago


32. Houston...fourth season, back to square one.

1. Pittsburgh
2. Indianapolis
3. Kansas City
4. Philadelphia
5. New England
6. Cincinnati
7. Tampa Bay
8. Carolina
9. New York Giants
10. Jacksonville

1. Indianapolis
2. Pittsburgh
3. Kansas City
4. New England
5. Cincinnati
6. Philadelphia
7. Tampa Bay
8. Jacksonville
9. New York Giants
10.Atlanta

We have 17 voters so far this week -- I think that's the highest total we've had in the last 3 years.

One or two of you wink might remember the cumulative ranking I did for the end of each year, averaging the rank of all the teams each week to sort of gauge which teams we ranked highly most consistently. I had an idea, though -- why not just add up the point totals each week? It seems easier and maybe more accurate.

Week 2 Power Rankings

THIS...LAST
WEEK..WEEK (first-place votes in parentheses):

1....1 Indianapolis (12) 159 pts.
2....3 Pittsburgh (5) 158 pts.
3....4 Kansas City 117 pts.
4....8 Philadelphia 92 pts.
5....2 New England 91 pts.
6....--- Cincinnati 78 pts.
7....--- Carolina 72 pts.
8....10 Tampa Bay 57 pts.
9....--- NY Giants 35 pts.
t-10...5 Atlanta 32 pts.
t-10...9 Jacksonville 32 pts.

Others receiving votes: Washington 5 pts., Seattle 3, Tennessee 3, Chicago 1.

Reminder -- early deadline next week. I need votes by Wednesday night. Thanks!

[ September 23, 2005, 09:20 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Week 3 Ranking

1. Tampa Bay
2. Cincinnati
3. Indy
4. New England
5. Jacksonville
6. Pittsburgh
7. Atlanta
8. Miami
9. Denver
10. San Diego

[ September 27, 2005, 06:19 AM: Message edited by: Cadillac ]

1. Indianapolis
2. New England
3. Pittsburgh
4. Cincinnati
5. Jacksonville
6. Atlanta
7. Tampa Bay
8. Denver
9. Miami
10.Philadelphia

1. Indianapolis
2. New England
3. Philadelphia
4. Cincinnati
5. Pittsburgh
6. Tampa Bay
7. Jacksonville
8. Atlanta
9. Denver
10. Kansas City

[ September 27, 2005, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: BallHatGuy ]

1 Indy
2 NE
3 Philly
4 Pitt
5 Atl
6 KC
7 Cincy
8 Tampa
9 Jax
10 Seattle

1. Indy
2. New England
3. Philly
4. Pitt
5. Cincy
6. Atlanta
7. Tampa
8. Jax
9. Denver
10.KC

1. Indy
2. New England
3. Cincy
4. Pittsburgh
5. Philadelphia
6. Atlanta
7. Tampa Bay
8. Jacksonville
9. Denver
10. San Diego

1. NE
2. Indy
3. Cinn
4. Pitt
5. Tampa
6. KC
7. Denver
8. Jax
9. Atl
10. Phil

Just another reminder: please put up your rankings by tomorrow night. Thanks!