Thursday, September 9, 2010

NFL Watchability Rankings #16-1

Happy NFL opening day, everyone!


16Arizona Cardinals I'm not gonna lie...I forgot the Cardinals in my first post. No, they don't deserve to be here. But now that Leinart is gone and Derek Anderson is in, their offense should definitely be better. Beanie Wells is soft. Tim Hightower sucks. Only Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston (Go Blue!) don't suck on the team. I'm just really glad Matt Leinart is gone. That guy sucked. But yeah...The Cardinals don't belong here. My bad.
15Seattle Seahawks I'm not a big fan of Pete Carroll, but there's no denying that he's a great coach. The Seahawks certainly aren't as talented as most teams in the NFL, but they have just enough talent and a great coaching staff that should rejuvenate this struggling franchise. I had this relatively high ranking with the anticipation of TJ playing for the Seahawks, so now that he's gone, this high of a ranking may not be merited.
14 San Diego Chargers The Chargers would be so much higher on this list 1)if Vincent Jackson was going to play and 2) if I didn't hate Philip Rivers. The Chargers are always the team with the most offseason hype that never makes the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how Ryan Mathews fairs in his rookie year and how well Rivers can play without Jackson, but in the end, the Chargers are in the WAC of the NFL, and should easily make it to the first round of the playoffs, where they will lose to a inferior teams. After all, that's how it's always been.
13 Atlanta Falcons After the Saints, the Falcons must be the feel-good comeback team of the last few years. After decades of mediocrity, the player who led them to the playoffs was arrested and put in prison for dog-fighting. Despite this adversity, they drafted Matt Ryan and picked up Michael Turner, the two players that are the new foundation of the team. The Falcons have over-performed for their franchise these last two years, and it's often hard to root against them. With Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Michael Turner, and the speedy Jerious Norwood, this might be the year where they Falcons finally make it deep into the playoffs.
12 Dallas Cowboys It really seems like in the history of the franchise, the Cowboys have never been boring to watch. This year with the addition of Dez Bryant to the receiving corps of Miles Austin and the inconsistent but still dangerous Roy Williams, Tony the Gunslinger will have as many targets to throw to as he ever has. The Cowboys are the favorites to win the ever-deep NFC East, which will have the most entertaining division games of the league. America's Team has a lot of pressure to perform well, and the eyes of the nation (or at least Texas) will be watching all of its games.
11 Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning leads one of the most efficient offenses in the NFL. Even though it's a total joy watching him expertly lead the offense, there never seems to be much drama in Colts games, as they seem to win all the games they are supposed to win. That said, he is easily my favorite player to watch when he's mic'd up, saying words and phrases that I can never in my lifetime understand. I really wish the team had more electric players, as Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark (and obviously Peyton) seem to be the only guys that can make big plays. Also, Addai sucks balls.
10 Cincinnati Bengals The Bengals feature the rowdiest, loudest, most arrogant, and most entertaining wide receivers in the league, who are both made to be on TV. TO has been known for having a big mouth, crying, and throwing popcorn in his face. Ocho Cinco has been known for his over-the-top celebrations, over-used twitter page, and his recent dating show, The Ultimate Catch. The Bengals may not do that well on the field, but off the field, they'll definitely be the most fun to follow.
9 Baltimore Ravens The Ravens may have the best offense they've ever had this year, with Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, TJ, and Ray Rice (yay Rutgers!). The Ravens have finally found the offense to compliment their legendary (but now aging, sadly) defense. If you want to see efficient offense and hard-hitting defense, just watch a Ravens game.
8 New England Patriots The Patriots are ranked relatively low for a team that has torn through the league this last decade. There are question marks all over the team. Will Tom Brady pull it together and be the Tom Brady of 2008? Will Randy Moss start being fast again? Will Maroney show up this season? However, even with all of these uncertainties, we know that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are going to put together some specactular games for us.
7 Philadelphia Eagles Last year, the Eagles were definitely one of the most fun to watch teams. With the amount of young talent on the team, I think they will continue to be incredibly fun to watch, even if their youth costs them a few games. DeSean Jackson is an absolute beast - his first 10 (of 12) touchdowns of the season averaged 61.3 yards each, the shortest being 35 yards. The big question mark on the team is obviously Kevin Kolb, but he threw 71 and a 64 yard touchdowns to Jackson last season, so I'm really not too worried. I'm probably going to write another post about the Eagles, so stay tuned. And yes, the Eagles are probably over-ranked on this list, but who cares...I'm a homer!
6New York Jets The Jets will probably be the only defense that people will tune in to watch (now that Darrelle Revis is signed). The games they play in will not be the most high scoring or have the most big plays, but every week, I will be extremely interested in how opposing offenses will perform. Will Ocho Cinco catch more than two balls? Will Tom Brady figure out the defense? How will Miami's wildcat fare? The addition of LT and the maturation of Mark Sanchez will only help this cause. Plus, we've seen the Jets suck for so long, so this is a nice change.
5Tennessee Titans This high ranking for that Titans comes because of the most electrifying player in the game today, Chris Johnson. You never know when he's going to break a big one, and when he does, he always does it in spectacular fashion. If Vince Young improves this year and plays anything like he did his rookie season, he also has the chance of making huge plays both with his arms and with his legs. The Titans offense will be one of the most difficult to play against, and definitely one of the most fun to watch.
4 Miami Dolphins The Dolphins have the most unique offense of the NFL, with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams leading a wildcat offense, and with Chad Henne leading the traditional offense. The Dolphins also have the most unpredictable offense, switching between the two offensive schemes often and rotating offensive players around. Also, their defense isn't very good, allowing other teams to stay in the game. Last year's Dolphins-Colts game must have been one of the top 5 of the entire season, with the Dolphins losing with more time of possession than any other losing side. The Dolphins will only get better this season, with the maturation of Chad Henne and Pat White and the addition of Brandon Marshall. Dolphins-Jets games may be some of the most strategically entertaining games of the season.
3 Green Bay Packers For all you doubters out there, Aaron Rodgers has proved himself to be the real deal. The Packers feature one of the most high-powered offenses in the league this year, with dangerous receivers like Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, and Jermichael Finley. They also feature a dangerous (though sometimes inconsistent defense), led by the versatile (and heroic) Charles Woodson.
2 New Orleans Saints Do I think the Saints will repeat as Super Bowl champs? No way. Do I think they will still be one of the teams that's most fun to watch? Yes way. Pass-oriented offenses are always fun to watch, especially when one of your running backs is named Reggie Bush. Big defensive plays also help the Saints' cause(thanks, Darren Sharper!). Will Drew Brees break Marino's record for total yards thrown in a season? I sure hope so - that would be fun to watch.
1 Minnesota Vikings I don't like the Vikings, I really don't. However, they really do have the most electric players all around. They have an exciting, unpredictable quarterback, talented skill players in Percy Harvin and Sydney Rice, and fearsome defensive players like Jared Allen and Antoine Winfield, not to mention the super-stud Adrian Peterson. I almost always root against the Vikings, but it's hard to deny that they have playmakers all over the field. Also, the Vikings play in high-turnover games, because of their own stiff defense making plays and AP being a fumble machine and Brett Favre's style of play always has that risk (though, credit to him, he did really well last year).

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