Ben Nance's Week 7 Power Ranking's-
Biggest Rise- New England (12 to 8)
Biggest Fall- Philadelphia Eagles (13 to 19)
Sleeper Pick- Jets
Most Overrated- Broncos
Most Underrated- Texans
1. New Orleans Saints (5-0)- This team has honestly shocked me at how well they've played up to this point. Offensively they are the juggernaut we all assumed they would be, but defensively, I'm shocked. Sean Payton might have spend the best $250,000 of his salary by digging into his own pockets to get Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams to Nola. Quite a bold gamble on SP's part... but now looks well worth the initial investment. (Maybe Payton will take up a career on Wall Street after coaching).
Most Impressive Stat- #5 in Defensive Run Yards Per Game (83.4)
2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0)- To be honest, I underestimated Peyton Manning. At 33, I thought he had reached his apex during his 31 TD, 9 INT 2006 season. I was badly mistaken. As the #2 Ranked QB (Passer Rating-wise) and completing an astonishing 73.5 % of his passes, I feel pretty safe to say Peyton is playing at the top of his game. If he stays upright and protected, they could very well make a run at allowing a Manning to win for the third time in four years.
Most Impressive Stat- #2 in Points Allowed Per Game (14.2)
3.Minnesota Vikings (6-0)- Adrian Peterson. The best lines in football. Three years of stopping the run better than anyone. Missing element? A 40 year old grey-bearded gun slinger? (No, not John Wayne in his later years). Brett Lorenzo Favre has made the Vikings into the most lethal team in the league. Name a way to win football games: Run the football, pass the football, stop the run, create turnovers, win the special teams battle and get plain lucky. Lets see... check, check, check, check, check and checkkk. This team looks to be the most complete, on one hand, and on the other, the most likely to have a "schism" destroy their whole season. Ok, I'm joking about that but I implore someone to name a more deadly/combustible mix than the 2009-2010 Minnesota Vikings. Heinz Field should be the epic setting for the game of the week.
Most Impressive Stat- After throwing 55 INT's in the last three years combined, Favre has only thrown TWO this year (compared to 12 TD's). The least he's ever thrown in a season is 13.
4. Denver Broncos (6-0)- Lets be honest here- with a starting QB named Orton, a first year coach who fans called to be fired before even coaching one game, a starting rookie RB and a WR who has been named "Scandal" Marshall due to his diva-esque behavior - this team looked to be sliding fast. Now, less than two months later, they are 1 of 4 undefeated NFL teams. With key victories over NE, Dallas and San Diego, Denver APPEARS to be a ligitimate team. The true test will come in the following two weeks when they play the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium and then welcome the Steelers (who have won their last 3 games) to "Invesco Field" at Mile High. IF, and I emphasize IF, the Stallions come out of this two game stretch with an 8-0 record, I'll buy the hype.
Most Impressive Stat- Kyle Orton has 9 TD's, 1 INT and a three figure QB rating (100.1) Last year he finished with 18 TDs, 12 INT's and a 79.6 QB rating. Oh, did I mention that the 5'11 Elvis Dumervil is on pace to record 30 sacks this year? Lol wow
5. New York Giants (5-1)- The NFL's #1 Overall Defense looks to be serious NFL Super Bowl Contenders. Yeah, yeah New Orleans "Brees'd" through the G-Men, but dont't let one regular season game fool you. That epic matchup very well could very well be repeated in the NFC Championship game in January. I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up with the best record in the NFC. You can pretty much sum up the NYG's in 3 stats- #1 Overall Defense, #1 Pass Defense and #3 in Offensive Scoring. Unless David has taken some serious steriods, then I doubt anyone will be slaying this metaphorical Goliath.
Most Impressive Stat- Steve Smith has 41 catches for 525 yards and averages 12.8 yards per catch. Yeah we're not talking a Carolina's Steve Smith. Talk about Breakout Player of the Year (This should be a real awards IMO). Oh, did I mention he's tied for 2nd in the NFL with 4 TD catches.
6. Atlanta Falcons (4-1)- I honestly think this team is a year or two away from being an elite power in the league. Their defense, contrary to popular thought, plays the most interesting ball for this squad. They give up 359 YPG (24th in the league), including 241 Passing YPG and 118 Rushing YPG (good for 21st and 23rd respectively). What's compelling though, is the fact that they are ranked FOURTH in the league in Points Per Game given up. Weird eh? Apparently they have A. One of the best Red Zone Defenses' in the League or B. They're quite lucky. I'll take C, a mixture of both. Matt Ryan is a straight up star at QB and looks to be the best 1st QB taken since Eli Manning (better than Staffake, "San"chise, "Uni-Brow" Flacco, JaMuscle Russell (yeah right), Shady Quinn, "Prince" Young, Matt No'Heart, Gay Cutler, Alex Smith (his name is as boring as his playing), etc. Watch for Matty Ice to be the best QB in the league in 2 years.
Most Impressive Stat- Atlanta's Offensive Line hasn't allowed a sack since Week 1
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)- After losing two in a row, the Steel City has bounced back to win three straight. The catch? The beat San Diego, Detroit and Cleveland. This team falls into the "too early to judge" catagory. With impressive numbers on both sides of the ball (5th in Offensive Yards Per Game, 3rd in Defensive Yards Per Game), its hard to gauge exactly how good the defending champs actually are. Big Ben is doing what he does best- winning but in a precarious fashion by leading the league in Yards and ranking 2nd in Completion %, but he also has thrown 6 picks to only 10 endzone grabs. Hmm. They are 2nd in passing but have fallen all the way to FIFTEENTH in rushing yards per game. They've completely passed the reins over to Mendenhall and pushed quick Willie Parker down to #2 on the Depth Chart. Tiss Tiss Tomlin, Tiss Tiss. It amazes me how quickly people give up on RB's. I think that move could come back to haunt them. The game at Heinz Field will give us all a real good feel about not only the Metal Men, but the NFC's powerhouses' in general.
Most Impressive Stat- The Steelers are ranked 3rd in Overall Defense along with being ranked 5th in Overall Offense
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