Week 17 Power Rankings

[crisper57]

Post em here. You may never see it again!

PFT:

1. Cardinals (13-2; last week No. 2): Nine straight wins, and a much-deserved leapfrogging of a team with one less loss.

2. Panthers (14-1; last week No. 1): If 16-0 in the regular season makes it harder to go 3-0 in the postseason, it’s better to go 15-1 en route to 18-1.

3. Patriots (12-3; No. 3): Marty Mornhinweg says, “Does this mean I finally get another head-coaching job?”

4. Broncos (11-4; No. 9): Peyton Manning will now have plenty of time to issue statements and give interviews disputing that Al Jazeera report.

5. Chiefs (10-5; No. 7): Nine straight wins makes them the hottest team in the AFC. And still no one believes in them.

 

[crisper57]

NFL.com:

#2. So Cory Redding has two-inch hops. And a touchdown. That sure looked like the best team in the NFL thrashing the Packers on Sunday. Carson Palmer is a certifiable MVP candidate. David Johnson has produced like anything but a third-round pick from Northern Iowa. The wide receiver corps -- Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, John Brown, and J.J. Nelson -- is, top to bottom, the premier group in the league. And give it up to the Honey Badger-less secondary, which caused Aaron Rodgers to hold, hold, hold, until he was being draped all over.

 

[crisper57]

Bleacher Report

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2600109-where-does-every-team-rank-heading-into-week-17

It's strange seeing a team not named the Carolina Panthers sitting atop these rankings. That was their perch, and it felt like a permanent home. Now it belongs to another team that made a louder statement.

#1

The Cardinals do more than just win games. They crush souls and dreams.

They've won nine straight games to first clinch their division, and now a first-round bye after a 38-8 throttling of the Packers Sunday afternoon. Three of their last four wins during that stretch have come by 20-plus points.

The Cardinals' only real perceived weakness was an inability to get consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Any concern there was answered thunderously with eight sacks on Rodgers.

 

[crisper57]

SB Nation

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/12...fs-broncos-bengals-patriots-steelers-seahawks

Okay, this is getting uncomfortable.

#1

However, with a dominating blowout win over the Packers at home, the Arizona Cardinals move up claim the top spot in this week's rankings, their first trip to the No. 1 spot this entire season. It's been a long time coming though, as Carson Palmer powered his crew to their ninth straight win. They're balling on offense, averaging a league-best 420 yards and 32.2 points per game, while the defense is giving up a paltry 18.5 points per contest. That means, on average, the Cardinals are winning in a blowout, and even worse for their potential foes in the playoffs, they seem to be getting better as the season goes on.

 

[crisper57]

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/rankings/

#2

Strong case that they're Super Bowl 50 frontrunners with league's top offense and a D that just embarrassed Aaron Rodgers.

 

[crisper57]

MMQB

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/12/29/nfl-peter-king-power-rankings-week-16

1. Arizona (13-2). Last week: 3. There’s a change at the top, as you can see. It’s based totally on facts. No emotion. Arizona has won nine straight, by an average of 13.1 points. Four of those nine wins came over teams assured of playoff spots. Arizona has won the last two by 23 (over a playoff contender, Philadelphia) and by 30 (over a playoff team, Green Bay). Meanwhile …


2. Carolina (14-1). LW: 1. … Panthers lost their first game of the season Sunday, to 8-7 Atlanta. No real worries about Carolina, but in the last four weeks, they’ve lost to Atlanta, and given up 38 to New Orleans and 35 to the Giants. Tough staying at the top. How great would a Carolina-Arizona NFC title game be, wherever it’s played?

 

[crisper57]

Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...a-cardinals-are-the-nfls-best-team-right-now/

1. Arizona Cardinals (13-2) | Last week’s rank: 2

The Panthers have been the league’s best team over the entirety of the season. But the Cardinals are the league’s best team right now. They’re terrific on offense, with QB Carson Palmer perhaps now back in the league MVP race with Carolina’s loss. They’re terrific on defense even after Tyrann Mathieu’s season-ending knee injury. The totality of their dominance Sunday against a playoff team like the Packers was striking.

 

[daves]

Finally, after all these years (and if the numbers went back further, probably for the first time EVER!) - the Cardinals are #1 on ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/rankings/trended/_/name/ari

(By the way, my mind has always been boggled by comparing that chart to this one:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/rankings/trended/_/name/ne)

...dbs

 

[vince56]

Right? ESPN's first headline after the Cardinals win a Super Bowl will be about Yankees spring training.

 

[TJ]

The man crush is real.

 

[Capital Card]

I'd like to nominate this thread for HOF status.

Go Cards!!!

 

[crisper57]

Fox Sports

1. ARIZONA CARDINALS (13-2) HIGH: 1 / LOW: 11
Talk about a statement game -- the Cardinals dominated a Packers team that many thought was destined for postseason success before taking a beat down. If the Cardinals can continue to generate pressure like they did in Week 16, they will make a deep postseason run. View season trend.

 

[crisper57]

CBS (Prisco)

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/...cardinals-take-top-perch-but-can-they-keep-it

The Arizona Cardinals are the best team in the NFL.

There, I said it.

They've ripped off nine straight victories, beating some good teams along the way, to get to 13-2 and have a chance at the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

The Cardinals lead the NFL in scoring, are fourth in scoring defense and are tops in point differential, one of the most-telling stats of all. Coach Bruce Arians has an aggressive offense led by Carson Palmer that will challenge defenses deep and won't back down.

The defense is aggressive, will blitz from all angles, and is ranked seventh in the league in third-down defense, which means the Cardinals are getting off the field. When your offense can score the way the Cardinals can score, third-down defense is so important.

After their blowout of the Packers this past Sunday, coupled with the Carolina Panthers' loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Cardinals now move up to the top spot in my Power Rankings. I thought Arizona would have a good team, but they are even better than I expected.

The emergence of rookie running back David Johnson has helped the offense in a big way, both as a runner and a passer. The Cardinals can throw to score, and then run to win if that's what it takes.

Come playoff time, they will be a tough team to beat. Even if they have to go to Carolina to win, they have the talent and the style to do so.

This could be the year of the Arizona Cardinals. Right now, they are the best team.

#1

They compensated for the loss of Tyrann Mathieu with a heck of an all-around defensive game against the Packers. The pressure was impressive.

 

[Cardiac]

This thread is awesome and I have zero concerns about it jinxing us.

 

[football karma]

i was going to make this argument on the Cam vs Carson for MVP thread, but its germane for this as well:

the Panthers will play a max of 4 winning teams this year ( and could be as low as 2 teams if 8-7 Houston and Washington lose this sunday). The average wins of those winning teams (today) is 8.75. Three of those four games were at home.

Arizona will play 6 winning teams this year with average wins (today) of 9.6 -- two of which were on the road.

Finally -- with one week to go, overall strength of schedule shows the Cards with the 13th hardest, while Carolina with the 26th hardest https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

 

[Cheesebeef]

This team is too damn good to believe in jinxes this season.

 

[MrYeahBut]

I'm so emotionally invested in the team this year I'm not sure what a crash and burn would do to me....

 

[Capital Card]

I'm so emotionally invested in the team this year I'm not sure what a crash and burn would do to me....

Yea, someone brought that up to me at lunch today, and I honestly didn't have an answer.

Go Cards!!!

 

[NJCardFan]

And Yahoo still has them at #2. Schwab is such a Cardinal hating hack that it's almost sad. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-power-rankings--a-change-at-the-top--nope--not-necessary-212056613.html

I really think he looks at the standings and goes by records. In case of a tie he flips a coin. But the truth is he's a bandwagon Seahawks and Patriots fan. Week after week, even after we beat them, it pained him to put the Cards ahead of his beloved Seahawks and I know it tore him up to put the Cards ahead of the Patriots even after the Patriots lost to the Eagles and we stomped a mudhole in the Eagles.

 

[crisper57]

Yahoo

2. Arizona Cardinals (13-2, LW: 3)

The Packers offense seems beyond broken, but it's still a huge positive for the Cardinals defense to play that well without Tyrann Mathieu.

1. Carolina Panthers (14-1, LW: 1)

Whatever you thought of Carolina before Sunday, you should still think the same about them today. That loss doesn't fundamentally change anything.

 

[NJCardFan]

I'm so emotionally invested in the team this year I'm not sure what a crash and burn would do to me....

Trying to tell me that I'd have to put you on Constant Watch?

 

[Bert]

This team is too damn good to believe in jinxes this season.

Exactly. Superstitious nonsense. These guys are focused, if we lose, it aint gonna be because of some internet power ranking, lol.

 

[MrYeahBut]

Trying to tell me that I'd have to put you on Constant Watch?

My wife has a daily reminder in her phone to make sure I take my 'meds'...

 

[crisper57]

ESPN

The Panthers' winning streak is over. So is their four-week run at No. 1.

The Cardinals, winners of nine straight, including a dismantling of the Packers in Week 16, have ascended to our top spot for the first time ever in these Power Rankings. Carolina is now No. 2, followed by New England and Denver, which returned to the top five after beating Cincinnati on Monday night.

The Cardinals have won nine straight games for only the second time in franchise history. The last time they did that was across the 1948-49 seasons (11 straight).

 

[jmt]

I'd like to nominate this thread for HOF status.

Go Cards!!!

ME too! GBR! This is great!