The NFL season kicks off tonight. Here are the top 10 teams, as ranked by the AP Poll:
1. San Francisco 49ers: 0-0
T2. Seattle Seahawks: 0-0
T2. Denver Broncos: 0-0
4. Atlanta Falcons: 0-0
5. New England Patriots: 0-0
6. Houston Texans: 0-0
7. Green Bay Packers: 0-0
8. Baltimore Ravens: 0-0
9. Cincinnati Bengals: 0-0
10. Washington Redskins: 0-0
The # 8 Ravens play the #2 Broncos tonight in the season opener. On Sunday, the # 1 Niners will host the # 7 Packers. Those are the only games featuring two top-10 teams.
The Dolphins start the season ranked 22d, just one spot behind the Kansas City Chiefs.
You will remember that we did our own poll in 2010 and 2011, and then the AP poll started last year. Here are the teams that finished at the top of the poll in each of the last three years. As you can see, the poll winners have struggled in the playoffs:
2010: New England Patriots (beaten by the Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoffs)
2011: Green Bay Packers (beaten by the Giants in the NFC Divisional Playoffs)
2012: Denver Broncos (beaten by the Ravens in the AFC Divisional Playoffs)
The placement of the Redskins, by the way, is a classic AP poll move. If you think about it, the Redskins are either really good (assuming that RG3 is healthy) or terrible (assuming that RG3 is not healthy). The AP guys have no idea which it's going to be, so they've put the Redskins in 10th to start off.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, it turned out that the Redskins were terrible. As were the Falcons.
DeleteAs the Super Bowl Champion, the Ravens should get to open the season at home -- but the Orioles are in town tonight, and the O's and Ravens share the same parking lots. Since the NFL was unable to get the O's game moved, we're starting the season off in Peyton's back yard. This will not be Peyton's final lucky break of the year.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the Ravens were really lucky last year.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the kickoff has been delayed for 15 minutes due to lightning.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Orioles are playing away in Baltimore.
MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE TRIED HARDER TO PLAY THIS GAME IN CHARM CITY!!!
Baltimore, by the way, is a very underrated sports town. Charm City has three World Series Titles (1966, 1970, 1983) and six NFL titles (1958, 1959, 1968, 1970, 2000, 2012). Plus the Baltimore Bullets reached the NBA Finals in 1971.
ReplyDeleteGiven that Baltimore is home to the 20th-largest metropolitan area in the United States (by population), and that Baltimore had no major league sports prior to the mid-1950's, that's a very good record.
It's 14-14 late in the first half -- just an excellent game. It's so great to have the NFL back.
ReplyDeleteLauren Tannehill @LaurenTannehill 31 Aug
DeleteFOOTBALL IS BACKKK, SO PUMPED #aggies #dolphins #letsgo
12:23 PM - 31 Aug 13
Rich Brooks did a phenomenal job as football coach at UK.
ReplyDeleteI love the NFL.
ReplyDeleteWhoop! Whoop! Miami's punter earned a nod from Peter King in the "Monday Morning Quarterback" after the Dolphins' win at Cleveland yesterday:
ReplyDeleteSpecial Teams Player of the Week
Brandon Fields, P, Miami. It was a field-position game in Cleveland, with two offenses struggling for much of the day. Fields punted five times for a 53.8-yard average, with a stellar 47.6-yard net average. He had a vital 66-yard punt early in the third quarter with the Dolphins backed up at their 16 that rolled out of bounds at the Cleveland 22. A 66-yard net punt, with his team down 7-6 and getting nothing done offensively. That’s big.
Meanwhile, on the NFL Network, we're on break from NFL AM for a "Highlight Express" segment. Next up is The Aftermath. Later this afternoon, we have Around the League Live and, then, NFL Total Access.
ReplyDeleteSo, that's four shows. (Remember "Highlight Express" is just a little break-in segment and not an italicized show in its own right.) Here are the four descriptions that my cable provider lists for the programs:
-- "The NFL Network's flagship program provides news on all 32 teams."
-- "Writers from around the country discuss NFL issues. Also: press conferences and interviews."
-- "NFL highlights, news, information and analysis; and a look back at all of Sundays games."
-- "A weekday show featuring pro-football news and highlights."
Can you match each differentiating blurb with the program that it describes?
"Flagship program" -- NFL Total Access
Delete"Writers . . . discuss" -- The Aftermath
"NFL highlights, news, etc." -- NFL AM
"A weekday show" -- Around the League Live
You have one correct.
DeleteWell, they should go with my names anyway.
DeleteYou had NFL Total Access right. It's the flagship program.
DeleteThe "weekday show featuring pro-football news and highlights" is NFL AM.
Then, The Aftermath switches gears to give us "NFL highlights, news, information and analysis."
"Writers from around the country discuss NFL issues," then, on Around the League Live.
Thanks for playing.
My names really were better.
DeleteOK, here's how it appears that the 2013-14 playoffs will go:
ReplyDeletedolphins lose at texans
rams lose at bears
colts win at titans
seahawks win at cowboys
colts lose at broncos
bears lose at saints
texans lose at patriots
seahawks lose at 49ers
patriots lose at broncos
saints lose at 49ers
49ers over patriots
"Fall festival at the Tannehill's."
ReplyDelete