Super Bowl XLII Poll Results / Wk 2 NFL Rankings

Well, the 2008 Super Bowl poll produced some interesting, yet somewhat predictable results...

Indianapolis Colts 2 (9%)
Chicago Bears 1 (4%)
New England Patriots 7 (31%)
San Diego Chargers 2 (9%)
New Orleans Saints 0 (0%)
Baltimore Ravens 0 (0%)
Philadelphia Eagles 0 (0%)
Dallas Cowboys 4 (18%)
Other (specify with a comment) 6 (27%)

The two teams which received the most votes also seem to have played the best football so far two weeks into the season. The New England Patriots have been nothing short of dominant the past two weeks, while the Dallas Cowboys have put up an NFL leading 82 points. One could also make an argument for the 2-0 Pittsburgh Steelers as well, as they've only allowed 10 points total their first two games, while scoring 60. The Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts not surprisingly are 2-0, defeating their nemisis, the Tennessee Titans by just two points on Sunday... Some other early good surprises would be the 2-0 Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans. As for the 2-0 teams least likely to keep things up, well I'd have to say the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions would fit that bill, as none of these three teams looked very impressive in the season's first two weeks. The Broncos in particular have been a disappointment to many, having to rely on the foot of Jason Elam to pull out victories against the lowly Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders.

As for the disappointers... well the New Orleans Saints would have to top that list... an 0-2 start with a sputtering offense and a defense which has given up 72 points??? This team is not looking at all like the Super Bowl team many of us (including me!) predicted it would be... The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants are also off to unexpected 0-2 starts... I think there is some hope for the Eagles, especially once Donovan McNabb gets to close to 100%. As for the Giants, I'm not so sure. I think they will miss Tiki Barber a lot more than most people thought...

So, who is the worst team in football?? Well, the Raiders probably would have been the early choice for that honor, but they've actually led both of their games late in the fourth quarter this year... At this point, the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons would probably have to share that honor with the two teams combining for only 23 points in the season's first two weeks.

I'll go ahead and try to rank the NFL's teams from top to bottom. Record is only one consideration. I also take into account strength of schedule, strength of victory (or loss) and other intangibles into consideration... two of my "sleeper teams" for 2007 (the Redskins and Texans) both crack the top 10:

1. New England Patriots (2-0)
2. Dallas Cowboys (2-0)
3. Indianapolis Colts (2-0)
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0)
5. San Diego Chargers (1-1)
6. Chicago Bears (1-1)
7. Baltimore Ravens (1-1)
8. Washington Redskins (2-0)
9. Houston Texans (2-0)
10. Green Bay Packers (2-0)
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11. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1)
12. Tennessee Titans (1-1)
13. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)
14. Arizona Cardinals (1-1)
15. San Francisco 49ers (2-0)
16. Seattle Seahawks (1-1)
17. Denver Broncos (2-0)
18. Philadelphia Eagles (0-2)
19. Cleveland Browns (1-1)
20. Detroit Lions (2-0)
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21. New Orleans Saints (0-2)
22. Minnesota Vikings (1-1)
23. Carolina Panthers (1-1)
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1)
25. St. Louis Rams (0-2)
26. Oakland Raiders (0-2)
27. New York Giants (0-2)
28. Buffalo Bills (0-2)
29. Miami Dolphins (0-2)
30. New York Jets (0-2)
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31. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2)
32. Atlanta Falcons (0-2)
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Feel free to comment on the poll results and/or my review and rankings... hopefully your team(s) is/are in the upper half at the very least!

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