Back by popular demand -- well, I demanded it and I am very popular with myself, at least wink -- for the 4th year in a row it's the NFL Power Rankings!

This is where we ended up at the end of the 2005 season:

(first-place votes in parentheses)
1 Indianapolis (6) 69 pts.
2 Seattle (1) 61 pts.
3 Denver 58 pts.
4 New England 47 pts.
5 Pittsburgh 40 pts.
6 Jacksonville 30 pts.
7 Chicago 27 pts.
8 Cincinnati 24 pts.
9 NY Giants 7 pts.
t-10 Kansas City 6 pts.
t-10 Washington 6 pts.

So the two Super Bowl teams were #2 and #5 in our poll. By comparison, in 2003 they were #1 (Pats) and #10 (Panthers) and in 2004 they were #2 (Pats) and #4 (Eagles).

Everyone is welcome to participate. And while it's not mandatory that you participate every week, it certainly would help.

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 preseason polls 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.

Can I select WVU if I think they are better than some pro teams?

Some posters on here might rank them 1st...

You can do whatever you want in your imagination or on some other thread, you twisted little cruller.

I may even change my Board name to MickyMountaineer since WVU seems to be the "in thing" these days.
eek!

Well, take further discussion of that or any related subject elsewhere, please.

And now (well, tomorrow after breakfast), off to the Windy City. wink

My rankings:
1. West Virginia
2. Eagles
3. Gabe Kapler

Hey - those were mine - cheater. wink

Chill - have fun in Chi-town and come back with your sense of humor. eek! wink

My sense of humor has never been better.

Ok I guess I'll start them off. This is always tough to do the first week. here it goes.

Week 1

1. Indy
2. Pitt
3. Cincy
4. NE
5. Sea
6. Chicago
7. SD
8. Balt
9. ATL
10. JAX

Let's give this a first-time, first-week shot:

1. Cincinnatti
2. Indianapolis
3. Chicago
4. Jacksonville
5. Seattle
6. Pittsburgh
7. New York (Giants)
8. San Diego
9. New England
10. Atlanta

1. Indianapolis
2. San Diego
3. Pittsburgh
4. Baltimore
5. Jacksonville
6. Cincinnati
7. New England
8. Atlanta
9. Philadelphia
10. Seattle

1. Pittsburgh
2. Cincinnati
3. San Diego
4. Indianapolis
5. Jacksonville
6. Baltimore
7. New England
8. Philadelphia
9. Atlanta
10.Seattle

1. Cincinnati
2. New England
3. Baltimore
4. Indianapolis
5. Seattle
6. Chicago
7. Atlanta
8. San Diego
9. Pittsburgh
10. Dallas

1. Indianapolis
2. San Diego
3. Cincinnati
4. Pittsburgh
5. NY Jets
6. Atlanta
7. NY Giants
8. Jacksonville
9. Chicago
10.Baltimore

(Seattle did not impress me this week)

1. Pittsburgh
2. San Diego
3. Baltimore
4. Indianapolis
5. Atlanta
6. Chicago
7. Cincinnati
8. Seattle
9. Minnesota
10. Jacksonville

1. Indianpolis
2. Cincy
3. Pitt
4. Seattle (yeah, even though they didn't impress, they still have the talent)
5. San Diego
6. Jax
7. Baltimore
8. New England
9. Minnesota
10. Chicago

1. WVU - some people on this Board think they are the second coming of Gee-zuz; so who am I to disagree.

2. Cinn

3. Baltimore

4. San Diego

5. New England

6. Jacksonville

7. Philadelphia (they have to prove they are worthy of this ranking this week;but they looked like the Eagles of 2004 this week; albiet against a weak (and poorly coached) Houston team).

8. Indianapolis (The Colts have a one dimensional passing game and a QB who is mostly brilliant but makes huge mistakes - I am beginning to agree that he isn't a prime timer despite his immense talent).

9. Pittsburgh. But only if Big Ben comes back soon and healthy.

10. Dallas.

11. Chicago.

[edited for spelling]

[ September 13, 2006, 08:06 AM: Message edited by: mdphl ]

I nominate this for your funniest post ever Maddog! wink

With Chaddy Bear (3rd highest QB rating for week 1) at the helm I have a feeling you're gonna see some magic this year.

But honestly, I can't believe you think this one is funnier than the one about the rottweiler and the blind nuns.

Oh well, I try.

[ September 13, 2006, 11:50 AM: Message edited by: Maddog ]

I nominate THIS as the funniest post ever.

I enjoyed the Manning Bowl and thought both teams had strong showings. Go ahead and shoot me.

Rule #1 of being a Charger fan.

She-li Wo-manning is the devil incarnate. Nothing good can ever be said about her, except for the thanks of getting Rivers, Kaeding, and Merriman for his "not wantin to come here cause we don't know how to run things, cause my daddy said so" ass.

[ September 14, 2006, 07:39 AM: Message edited by: Boltergeist ]

1. Atlanta
2. Pittsburgh
3. Philadelphia
4. Cincinnati
5. Chicago
6. Baltimore
7. Seattle
8. New England
9. San Diego
10. Indianapolis

LOL... I'll keep that in mind.

Week 1 Power Rankings

(first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Cincinnati(3) 95 pts.
2. Pittsburgh(3) 89 pts.
3. Indianapolis(5) 85 pts.
4. San Diego 77 pts.
5. Baltimore 59 pts.
6. Atlanta(1) 46 pts.
7. Jacksonville 44 pts.
8. Chicago 42 pts.
9. New England 39 pts.
10. Seattle 36 pts.

Others receiving votes: Philadelphia 25 pts., NY Giants 8, NY Jets 6, Minnesota 4, Dallas 3, St. Louis 2.

I am totally lost with these results.

I could be missing some posts but the number of points assigned to some (most) of the teams doesn't correspond with what I see posted here. And at least one team received points (St. Louis) that I don't see in anyone's rankings.

Willing to admit I didn't do a comprehensive review and could be wrong.

We could have some anonymous voters send FCMN their ranking via PM, since I saw 10 public votes, yet 12 1st place votes.

Upon further review, one of those votes may have come from the tabulator himself.

[ September 16, 2006, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: Boltergeist ]

As stated above, people can send me e-mails or private messages with their votes rather than post them. And yes, I also add my own vote (which I normally don't post).

This is nothing new from previous years.

I've seen these same identical ranking results on another website so I was wondering whether there is participation beyond Outsports. Not that it matters - just wondering.

I'm also wondering why you wouldn't post your own list FireCharlie. If a tree falls in the forest...

I rarely, if ever, post my own top 10. Among other things, it adds an air of mystery to things since you'll never know what the final totals will be until I post them. wink If you have further questions or concerns feel free to e-mail or PM me.

Mystery?

I think somebody has too much time on their hands.

1. San Diego
2. Baltimore
3. Atlanta
4. Chicago
5. Jacksonville
6. Indianapolis
7. Cincinnati
8. Minnesota
9. New England
10. Seattle

What a great week this last one was. Here goes:

1. Cincinnati
2. San Diego
3. Atlanta
4. Jacksonville
5. Indianapolis
6. Baltimore
7. Chicago
8. Seattle
9. NY Giants
10. New England

[ September 18, 2006, 11:26 PM: Message edited by: Jepson ]

1. San Diego
2. Cincinnati
3. Atlanta
4. Baltimore
5. Jacksonville
6. Indianapolis
7. New York Giants
8. Chicago
9. New England
10. San Francisco

Week 2

1. Indy
2. Cincy
3. Jax
4. SD
5. NE
6. Sea
7. Chi
8. Balt
9. ATL
10. Pitt

1. Jax
2. Cinn
3. Indy
4. SD
5. NE
6. Pittsburgh
7. Baltimore
8. Atlanta
9. Seattle
10. Philly

1. Indianapolis
2. Cincy
3. Seattle
4. San Diego
5. Jax
6. Pitt
7. Chicago
8. Baltimore
9. Minnesota
10. New England

Just under: Atlanta

1. Bengals
2. Chargers
3. Bears
4. Ravens
5. Colts
6. Falcons
7. Vikings
8. Jaguars
9. Seahawks
10. Patriots

Week 2 Power Rankings

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

1....4 San Diego (3) 77 pts.
2....1 Cincinnati (2) 76 pts
3....3 Indianapolis (3) 64 pts.
4....7 Jacksonville (1) 61 pts.
5....5 Baltimore 49 pts.
6....6 Atlanta 45 pts.
7....8 Chicago 43 pts.
8....10 Seattle 27 pts.
9....9 New England 22 pts.
10...-- Minnesota 12 pts.

Others receiving votes: Pittsburgh 11 pts., NY Giants 6, Philadelphia 1, San Francisco 1.

1. San Diego
2. Chicago
3. Cincinnati
4. Indianapolis
5. Baltimore
6. Jacksonville
7. Denver
8. Seattle
9. New Orleans
10. Minnesota

Wow, a lot of upsets this last weekend. Here comes a shake-up in my standings:


1. Cincinnati
2. Indianapolis
3. San Diego
4. Jacksonville
5. Chicago
6. Seattle
7. Baltimore
8. Philadelphia
9. New Orleans (I hesitate to type that...)
10. Atlanta

1. Cincinnati
2. Indy
3. San Diego
4. Jacksonville
5. Denver
6. New England
7. Baltimore
8. Philadelphia
9. Seattle
10. Chicago

1. Bengals
2. Chargers
3. Colts
4. Bears
5. Seahawks
6. Ravens
7. Jaguars
8. Broncos
9. Vikings
10. Saints

1. Cincinnati
2. Colts
3. Jaquars
4. Chicago
5. Carolina
6. Giants
7. Philadelphia
8. Denver
9. Ravens
10.Vikings

Boltergeist: If you see this, I'm sorry Buddy. You know my concerns about the Chargers (QB play). But if they win next week, I'll put them in the Ravens' #9 spot.

THIS is where I have any beef with your rankings. What have the Panthers and Vagies done to deserve these rankings. Two teams that pretty much have played like the 0-3 they should be. In case you didn't notice, that score in Seattle was 42 to freakin 3 at one point. How these two teams could be ranked ahead of teams like say Atlanta, Seattle, or the Vikings (all of which have beaten one of those teams) bewilders me more than any omission of the Chargers.

1.Colts
2.Bengals
3.Seahawks
4.Bears
5.Ravens
6.Chargers
7.Jaguars
8.Eagles
9.Saints
10.Vikes

Week 3
1. Indy
2. Cincy
3. SD
4. Sea
5. Balt
6. Chi
7. Den
8. Jax
9. NO
10. NE

1. Indianapolis
2. Cincy
3. Seattle
4. San Diego
5. Chicago
6. Baltimore
7. Jax
8. Denver
9. Minny
10. New Orelans

This is getting hard because I've seen so many undefeateds look like crap and 2-1's that really stunk it up when they lost. But here goes...

1. San Diego
2. Cincinnati
3. Indianapolis

4. Chicago
5. New Orleans
6. Jacksonville
7. Seattle
8. Baltimore

9. Denver
10. New England

Thanks for the tabulations JIP!