Week 11 JJ Rankings

By JJ Jackson on November 18, 2014

First place is a bad place to be. Wait….what? That doesn’t make any sense. Well it did in Week 11. First place teams went a puzzling 2-6. The only two wins came at the expense of other first place teams, so if you take those two games out of the equation, first place teams went 0-4. The Browns and Broncos lost to teams with losing records. Even though the Colts and Eagles lost to teams with winning records, they were embarrassed in their defeats, losing by a combined 55 points. It’s hard to breathe on the mountain top. But hey, it could be worse. They could be the Raiders, wondering what a view from the top looks like:

1) Arizona (9-1)
No Carson Palmer? No problem. Drew Stanton completed passes to 10 different receivers, and the defense was dominant. Next week’s game in Seattle should be fun (USA TODAY Sports / Matthew Emmons)

2) New England (8-2)

If Jonas Gray runs the ball like he did against Indi for the remainder of the season, the Patriots are going to be very difficult to stop on the offensive side of the ball

3) Green Bay (7-3)

Scoring 50+ points against a hapless Bears team is one thing. Doing it to an 8-2 Philadelphia team is a bit more eye opening. Aaron Rodgers is so good, I honestly believe if he played for the Raiders, they would be a playoff caliber team

4) Kansas City (7-3)

There were a handful of people that gave me shit about having the Chiefs so high on my rankings last week. After grinding out another win against another quality team, any more questions?

5) Detroit (7-3)

The Lions defense kept them in the game on the road against the Cardinals. They just faced a better defense. Now they have a road game against the Patriots staring them in the face

6) Denver (7-3)
Peyton Manning clearly struggles against teams that can apply pressure on the quarterback without blitzing. Let’s see how he handles his next two games against Miami and KC, especially with all of the injuries the Broncos have sustained on the offensive side of the ball (photo Ron Chenoy / USA TODAY Sports)

7) Dallas (7-3)

Dallas moves up three spots in the rankings while sitting on their asses. Which is good, because that’s exactly what a sane doctor would tell Tony Romo and his achy breaky back to do at this point

8) Philadelphia (8-3)

Against the Packers, Mark Sanchez looked much more like “butt fumble Mark,” than “Monday night Mark,” from a week ago. Which Mark Sanchez will show up for the remainder of the season?

9) Cincinnati (6-3-1)

Even if the Saints are scuffling, winning in the Superdome is impressive. AJ Green looked as healthy as he has all season

10) Seattle (6-4)

I can’t wait to watch the Seahawks and Cardinals play on Sunday. The NFC West is going to get very interesting in the next few weeks

11) Pittsburgh (7-4)
The Steelers have treaded water for the last few weeks. Let’s see what they look like after the bye when they get healthy on the defensive side of the ball

12) Indianapolis (6-4)

Andrew Luck has a lot of 300 yard passing games. That’s nice. But it isn’t quite the same when it is done out of necessity. Indi’s running game is awful, and losing Ahmad Bradshaw with a broken ankle isn’t going to help. Good luck with Trent Richardson Colts fans!!!

13) San Francisco (6-4)

Losing Patrick Willis to a toe injury for the rest of the season is a big blow to the 49ers defense. Getting Navorro Bowman and Glen Dorsey back should help offset that a bit

14) Baltimore (6-4)
The Ravens have the easiest remaining schedule of all the AFC North teams. Which probably means they’ll finish last in the division, considering how things have gone this year (Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports)

15) Miami (6-4)

Ryan Tannehill looked good on Thursday night against the Bills. If the Dolphins improve in the red zone, they could make a late season run

16) Houston (5-5)

Ryan Mallett adds a whole other dimension to the Texans offense. And this just in: JJ Watt is a fucking beast

17) Cleveland (6-4)
Bigger impact? Getting Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron back on offense? Or losing Karlos Dansby and Jabaal Sheard for the year on defense?(Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)

18) San Diego (6-4)

Slipping past the Raiders while playing in front of their home crowd does not strike fear in the hearts of the Chargers upcoming opponents. What the hell happened to San Diego?

19) Buffalo (5-5)
Kicking field goals isn’t the object of football, just in case the Bills didn’t know. The template for beating Buffalo is pretty simple: shut down Sammy Watkins and the offense will follow, no matter how good their defensive front four is

20) St Louis (4-6)

If the Rams ever get their quarterback situation figured out, they are going to be a handful. Their pass rush is back, and back with a vengeance. Peyton Manning is still asking Papa Archie to hold his hand when he goes to sleep after Sunday’s game

21) Atlanta (4-6)

Ladies and gentleman, your first place Atlanta Falcons!!! All four of the Falcons victories have come against NFC South foes. Atlanta would be in last place in three other divisions in the league. I guess what I’m saying is, the Falcons are just a turd covered in sparkles and glitter

22) New Orleans (4-6)

The defense is awful. The coaching is awful. And now Drew Brees is awful? And the Saints stink at home? What the fuck is going on here? What parallel universe are we in?

23) Chicago (4-6)

Even when the Bears played well, they still had to fight off a late game drive against the Vikings to secure their first home win of the year

24) Minnesota (4-6)
Someone had to let the Bears win their first home game

25) New York Giants (3-7)

I don’t give a shit what your last name is, when you throw 5 interceptions in one game, you deserve to have the microscope shining bright on you. Ryan Nassib couldn’t do much worse, could he?

26) Carolina (3-7-1)

Carolina has lost five in a row. Panthers fans are waiting for the arrival of the Ghost of Cam Newton Past

So bad in NYC for the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets are Joe and his daughter Jessica talking about Joe making a comeback?(photo William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER / US PRESSWIRE)

27) New York Jets (2-8)

Any week when a New York team has a game off, it’s a great week in the Big Apple

28) Tampa Bay (2-8)

If Mike Evans had a decent quarterback to throw him the football, a) the Bucs would probably have more than 2 wins, and b) he may actually be offensive rookie of the year