TABRankings Week 8 Commentary
At this point, it seems like the Broncos are playing a full level above the rest. Denver holds a 126.06-point advantage over second-ranked Indianapolis. That difference makes a greater gap than one between the the Colts and 14th-ranked Philadelphia, which means to say the Colts are closer to the playoff fringe than being the league’s best team. That shows how great Denver is right now.
As for some other notes:
- Should we believe the Chiefs are a Super Bowl contender? They shot up the ranks to now be in the Top 5. However, the Chiefs don’t pass the eye test with flying colors quite like that. Kansas City has arguably the league’s best “game manager” under center, but that will be a shortcoming come the postseason. Alex Smith still needs to prove he can win high-scoring games, as opposed to the average 14 points allowed by the Chiefs defense in their four victories. We like how high they rank, but questions remain.
- We know one Top 8 team we’re not buying yet. It’s the Detroit Lions. Detroit got extremely lucky to win the last two games. The Saints, up 23-10 late, allowed an excusable touchdown to Golden Tate with less than four minutes to go on a third down attempt. The Saints would’ve been fine allowing a first down, but nothing more. Instead, weak tackling angles allow Tate to break open for a 73-yard touchdown. That saved a minute. Then Drew Brees threw an interception in his own territory to set up the go-ahead touchdown. Next, the Falcons were up 21-3 in the second half when allowing a deep touchdown pass to Tate on a 3rd-and-25. Ryan then threw the ugliest interception of the season to set up a Detroit field goal. Finally, the Falcons gave the Lions an extra 1:20 while holding a 21-19 lead to give Detroit time for the game-winning field goal. By any normal effort and execution to close out the game, the Lions are 4-4. Therefore, we can’t help but be skeptical of this team.
- We’re honestly surprised how well the AFC is doing compared to the NFC. The AFC averages a 14.5 ranking, while the NFC averages an 18.5 ranking. This suggests that the AFC is playing considerably better than NFC, which is different than expected and almost the opposite from last year. We’ll keep tabs on this story in the second half of the season.
- Teams we think will move up: Chargers (currently 10th), Packers (currently 12th), Seahawks (currently 16th), Saints (currently 22nd) and Vikings (currently 27th)… Four of these teams we think will make the playoffs, but another improves in the second half.
- Teams we think will move down: Colts (currently 2nd), Chiefs (currently 5th), Bengals (currently 6th), Lions (currently 8th) and Bills (currently 11th)… We still the Colts are most likely playoff team of the five. The Bills are our least-likely choice.
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