Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Rick Gosselin's NFL rankings: Are the Cowboys in the top 10? - Dallas Morning News (blog)

1. Denver. Peyton Manning is on a pace to pass for 112 touchdowns.

2. SF 49ers. The trade for WR Anquan Boldin makes 49ers GM Trent Baalke the early front-runner for NFL executive of the year.

3. Seattle. The Seahawks have won eight in a row at home. The last opponent to win in Seattle was San Francisco in 2010. The 49ers visit again Sunday.

4. Green Bay. The Packers finally figured out how to stop Colin Kaepernick from running. Now they must figure out how to defend his passing.

5. New Orleans. Sean Payton is back and so, apparently, are the Saints.

6. New England. The Patriots open the season with consecutive games against rookie quarterbacks. Call that favorable scheduling.

7. Indianapolis. QB Andrew Luck has played turnover-free football in his last four regular-season games.

8. Houston. The Texans and Patriots are the only teams that rank in the Top 10 in both offense and defense this week.

9. Chicago. Marc Trestman joins Marv Levy, Mike Holmgren and John Harbaugh with a first career NFL coaching victory over Cincinnati.

10. Detroit. Reggie Bush is going to make Matthew Stafford a better QB, Calvin Johnson a better WR, the OL better blockers and the defense fresher and more effective.

11. Dallas. The Cowboys are on pace for an NFL record 96 takeaways this season.

12. Philadelphia. Chip Kelly joined Jimmy Johnson, Leslie Frazier and Jim Schwartz with a first career NFL coaching victory against the Redskins.

13. Atlanta. Pass defense was a problem for the Falcons last season and remains a problem this year

14. Kansas City. Andy Reid left the NFC East in 2013 but the NFC East did not leave him. His Chiefs play the next three weeks against the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants.

15. Cincinnati. Of the nine teams that have appeared on Hard Knocks, only one went on to win a division title _ the 2009 Bengals. Cincinnati must dig out of an 0-1 hole to repeat that feat in 2013.

16. Baltimore. The Ravens obviously miss the defensive stability provided by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. After one week, Baltimore ranks last in the NFL in defense.

17. Miami. The Dolphins, Vikings and Titans are the only teams that open the season with their first two games on the road. Call that unfavorable scheduling.

18. St. Louis. The Rams are 1-0 for the first time since 2006.

19. Carolina. Another WR needs to step up for the Panthers. Steve Smith can't do it all by himself.

20. Washington. The Redskins were the NFC East's best a year ago with a 5-1 divisional record. They are already 0-1 in the East this season.

21. Minnesota. NFL MVP Adrian Peterson is going to need some help for the 0-1 Vikings to return to the playoffs in 2012.

22. NY Giants. The Manning brothers passed for 912 yards and 11 touchdowns on the opening weekend. Peyton won, Eli lost.

23. Tennessee. The Titans were one of only four NFL teams that did not commit a turnover on the opening weekend and have a road victory at Pittsburgh to show for it.

24. NY Jets. The Jets collected one of four safeties on the NFL's opening weekend. The league didn't see its fourth safety in 2012 until the sixth weekend.

25. Buffalo. The winless Bills must plow forward without their nickel cornerback (Ron Brooks) and kick returner (Marquise Goodwin) because of injuries.

26. Arizona. The Cardinals saw their defensive streak of sacks in 22 consecutive games come to an end in St. Louis last weekend.

27. San Diego. Blowing a 21-point lead at home on opening weekend is a poor way to start the season.

28. Tampa Bay. With Doug Martin in the backfield and Vincent Jackson on the flank, the Buccaneers should be more potent than the 250 yards and 12 first downs they managed in their opener.

29. Pittsburgh. The Steelers are now 0-1 at home. The last Super Bowl champion to lose its home opener was Tampa Bay in 2002.

30. Cleveland. The Browns need a passer efficiency rating better than Brandon Weedon's current 48.4 to climb out of the cellar in the AFC North.

31. Oakland. QB Terrelle Pryor may not win much in his first season as a starter but he'll certainly keep things exciting for the Raiders.

32. Jacksonville. With the Jaguars still looking for their first touchdown of the season, they move from Blaine Gabbert to Chad Henne at quarterback this week.

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