NFL Quarter-Pole Rankings

The Fighting For The Right For The First Overall Pick In A Bad Draft Division

32. Oakland Raiders (1-3)

            Their upset win over Pittsburgh was fun, but it was back to reality in Denver.

31. Tennessee Titans (1-3)

            Jake Locker has been the lone bright spot, but he’ll miss at least this week’s game against Minnesota with a left shoulder injury. He’s the real deal, but the defense is a mess.

30. Cleveland Browns (0-4)

            The defense isn’t horrendous (especially when Joe Haden is on the field), but one could argue that the only objective Cleveland had when drafting Brandon Weeden was to secure the rights to Matt Barkley.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3)

            Blaine Gabbert has shown more flashes in four games this year than the full 2011 season, but needs to establish more consistency for Jacksonville to become a competitive team. At the very least, he’s on course to do enough to prevent the Jaguars from drafting a quarterback in the first round of next year’s draft.

28. Kansas City Chiefs (1-3)

            If the Chiefs hadn’t dumped so much money into Matt Cassell, they’d already be exploring new quarterback options.
 

The Both Teams Played Hard, Both Teams Played Hard Division

27. Miami Dolphins (1-3)

            Would Matt Moore be worth an extra win or two so far if he was playing over Ryan Tannehill? We’ll never know.

26. Indianapolis Colts (1-2)

            Andrew Luck hasn’t been as flashy as Robert Griffin III, but Colts fans should still feel great about their new franchise quarterback.

The Coaching Does Matter Division

25. New Orleans Saints (0-4)

            Perhaps New Orleans will win a game now that Sean Payton has been allowed to watch one in the stadium.

24. Carolina Panthers (1-3)

            So far, there has been no week-to-week consistency from Ron Rivera’s bunch.

God’s Division

23. New York Jets (2-2)

            This Monday night’s “TEBOW! TEBOW! TEBOW! TEBOW!” chant might be louder than the “BULLSHIT!” chant we heard in Baltimore two weeks ago. Things aren’t looking good for the Sanchise.

The Good Bad Teams Division

 

22. Buffalo Bills (2-2)

            I had a great sentence prepped for Buffalo, but it was interrupted by another Patriots touchdown.

21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3)

            If Josh Freeman wasn’t completely inept for six of the last eight quarters of football he’s played, Tampa could be 3-1.

20. Washington Redskins (2-2)

            Redskins fans will forever be able to wonder what this team could’ve done if Brian Orakpo didn’t use copious amounts of steroids, causing his pectoral muscle to separate from his body.

19. Detroit Lions (1-3)

            An abysmal secondary and the return of Matthew Stafford to the weekly injury report spell the undoing of the 2012 Lions.

18. St. Louis Rams (3-2)

            A year off hasn’t hurt Jeff Fisher at all. He has his Rams playing hard every week, and Sam Bradford looking like a franchise quarterback.

17. Dallas Cowboys (2-2)

            Dez Bryant is really the perfect microcosm of what the Cowboys have been for the past decade. He has as much talent as any wide receiver in the league, but too many dumb mistakes doom him in the end.

16. Seattle Seahawks (2-2)

            Russell Wilson sucks.

The Edward Nigma Division

15. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2)

            If Rashard Mendenhall returns from his ACL injury like Adrian Peterson did, the Steelers are a Super Bowl contender. If not, they will struggle to win games without a running game and a pass rush.

14. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1)

            I’ll be nice and say Philadelphia hasn’t played their best football yet, but they are still 3-1. If they can get the offensive line figured out, they could run away with the NFC East.

The 2005 Ford Focus Division

13. Cincinnati Bengals (3-1)

            They aren’t particularly sexy (except for A.J. Green, who’s the best wide receiver in football that the masses don’t know about), and they won’t beat elite teams, but the Bengals will do just enough to snag a wildcard spot.
 

The Fatally Flawed Division

12. Green Bay Packers (2-2)

            No physicality on offense. I stole that from Mark Schlereth.

11. Minnesota Vikings (3-1)

            Can’t cover anyone. I made that up myself.

10. Arizona Cardinals (4-1)

            I don’t care what he’s looked like so far. Kevin Kolb is still the quarterback.

9. Denver Broncos (2-2)

            Peyton Manning is putting up numbers, but his throws make him look like a modern version of Billy Kilmer.

8. San Diego Chargers (3-1)

            Norv Turner coaches them.

The Rope-a-Dope Division

7. New York Giants (2-2)

            You can’t write off the Giants until they are mathematically eliminated from winning a Super Bowl.

6. Chicago Bears (3-1)

            Chicago beat three bad teams, and had one quirky loss to Green Bay on a Thursday night. Not enough on the resume to name this team a Super Bowl favorite, but they are close.
 

The Super Bowl Favorites Division

5. San Francisco 49ers (3-1)

            Any concerns about San Francisco after their loss at Minnesota were put to bed by their complete annihilation of the Jets last week.

4. New England Patriots (2-2)
            The Patriots are two 2-point losses away from being undefeated, and have the easiest schedule in the league the rest of the way. They could still finish 13-3.

3. Baltimore Ravens (3-1)

            It pains me to say it, but Joe Flacco might actually be good.

2. Atlanta Falcons (4-0)

            Matt Ryan, your 2012 NFL quarter-pole MVP.

1. Houston Texans (4-0)

            There isn’t a more complete team in football right now than the Houston Texans. Matt Schaub has been great (even despite losing part of his ear). Arian Foster and Ben Tate have been dominant on the ground. Andre Johnson has returned to form. J.J. Watt has made everyone forget about Mario Williams. We could be talking about a 14-2 Texans team when we get to January.