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Thanatos

TGP Power Rankings, Mid-Season Style

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Alright, we have come to the halfway point in the 2018 NFL season, (already?), and the elites are beginning to separate themselves from the pack. I think we have a clear top echelon of teams, and some of the early season surprises are fading back into their usual selves. We have a juicy matchup between #1 and #2 this week (spoiler alert), so lets get right down to it.

 

Largest Risers: PIT Steelers (+11), HOU Texans (+9), LA Chargers (+8), NE Patriots (+8)

Largest Fallers: JAX Jaguars (-16), TEN Titans (-16), CHI Bears (-8), DEN Broncos (-8)

 

Top Ten Matchups: #1 LA Rams @ #2 NO Saints, #10 GB Packers @ #3 NE Patriots

 

1. :Rams: (8-0) (-): LA pulled one out they probably deserved to at least sweat on a bit more. Aaron Rodgers getting the ball with 2 minutes and a timeout only needing a FG is not a situation any defense wants to be in. The Rams are built from top to bottom for success and they are rolling. A huge, potential homefield deciding matchup is up next versus the only other team in football riding a six game winning streak.

2. :Saints: (6-1) (+7): Nawlins defense has vastly improved since the first few weeks of the season and Drew Brees is not even having to strain himself sometimes to win games. They got a bit lucky last week versus Baltimore, but even so the worst case there is they go to OT. Soundly defeating Minny on their own turf after narrowly taking one also on the road versus Baltimore is a pair of games the Saints really love to come out 2-0 from, especially with a showdown versus the Rams up next.

3. :Pats: (6-2) (+8): Tom Brady continues to defy Father Time, and yet another year is upon us where the Patriots will cruise to an AFC East title and a likely first round bye. It's easy to be ho-hum about what NE has done, but its honestly incredibly impressive in a league built for parity.

4. :Chiefs: (7-1) (-2): The Chiefs Patrick Mahomes is doing incredible things in what is basically his rookie season as a starter, but KC's defense is what brings them down a notch. Versus the Patriots, Mahomes and co. put up 40 points... and still lost. It's hard to win in January with that kind of defense. They looked a lot better versus Cincy last Sunday night, and then held off Denver today.

5. :panthers: (5-2) (+1): Carolina's dominating win versus Baltimore was simply a great four quarters of football after two straight weeks failing miserably in the first couple of quarters and then trying to mount a comeback, once successfully, and once failing in the opponent's redzone. If Cam plays like he did versus the Ravens formerly #2 overall passing defense, Carolina can beat anyone in the league. But he has to play that well consistently. Christian McCaffrey is a huge weapon in all phases of the game, and it's good to see DJ Moore finally getting some touches in the wake of the Torrey Smith injury.

6. :Redskins: (5-2) (+7): Washington is a very quiet 5-2, with a 1.5 game lead on the Eagles in the NFC East. Alex Smith has been effective, but its Adrian Peterson who is the surprise, looking like a much younger version of himself. He is at least top-5 in rushing yards in the NFL, and looks rejuvenated in Washington.

7. :Vikings: (4-3-1) (+7): The Vikes just got beat by the Saints, but overall in their last four games they have gone 3-1. The NFC North is absolutely up for grabs and I think this is the best team in it. Props to Adam Thielen, who is the first WR in NFL history to start a season with 8 straight 100 yard receiving games.

8. :Chargers: (5-2) (+8): The Chargers are certainly large risers since the quarter point, riding a 4 game winning streak. Rivers has been quietly having a fantastic year and LAC looks poised to make a run in the AFC. They have lost only to the Rams and the Chiefs, but they have also beaten mainly bad teams, with their best win probably being the W versus the Titans.

9. :Steelers: (4-2-1) (+11): Pittsburgh has re-taken their spot as perennial AFC North contenders, winning three straight since the quarter mark to put themselves in first place in the division. LeVeon Bell still hasn't played a snap and James Connor has made that not matter one bit.

10. :Packers: (3-3-1) (-): Green Bay is at .500 after seven games, and right in the thick of things in the AFC North, only a half-game out of the lead. As they unquestionably have the best QB in the division, everything is right in front of them. They need to put that huge mistake by Ty Montgomery that likely cost them the game versus LAR behind them, and focus on the Patriots.

11. :Bears: (4-3) (-8): Chicago looked good versus the Jets with a 24-10 victory to get back on track. This team had lost two in a row, including one to Brock Osweiler and the Dolphins, (what). Mack has been a godsend on defense, but even without him versus NYJ, the Bears still pulled out the W.

12. :Bengals: (5-3) (-5): Cincy's defense got absolutely roasted by the Chiefs on Sunday Night football, and then they nearly let Fitzmagic steal a win versus the Bucs. I get that they're 5-3, but this just feels like deja vu all over again. Cincy is going to sneak into the postseason in all likelihood, merely to end up as fodder for the big dogs once again.

13. :Ravens: (4-4) (-5): Back to back losses to the NFC South really hurts Baltimore. They never really had a shot versus Carolina mostly due to turnovers removing any shot at a comeback, but Tucker's first career missed XP was huge versus New Orleans. Baltimore needs to regroup with a rematch versus Pitt coming up, a game they absolutely must have.

14. :Seahawks: (4-3) (+4): Only a close loss against the top team in football prevented the Hawks from winning 5 straight. They are looking good, though they are in a loaded NFC and will need to play like they have recently in order to make the postseason. Russell Wilson is playing some fantastic football, and David Moore has stepped up big time recently with four Tds in his last three games to give the Hawks offense some life.

15. :Eagles: (4-4) (-3): Philly needed that win in London to stop the bleeding after blowing a 17-0 lead to Carolina the previous week. The Eagles sit at .500 after 8 weeks, and that seems like a good place for them to be. They certainly look nothing like the defending champions, but only a game and a half back from the division leaders means they still have plenty of time to turn this around. Given the loaded NFC, I doubt a wildcard comes from the East, so a division title is likely necessary to make the postseason.

16. :Texans: (5-3) (+9): Houston has made a large leap forward, winning four straight to advance to 5-3 which gives them a 1.5 game lead on the Titans in the AFC South, and Houston has looked like the best team in that division for the past few weeks.

17. :Cowboys: (3-4) (+2): Dallas' defense is playing very well, one of the best in the NFC in terms of yards and points, but their offense is flat out stuck in neutral. I know a lot of the blame always falls on the QB, but Dak has no weapons to throw to outside of Cole Beasley and Elliot out of the backfield. The midseason trade to get Amari Cooper may have been a hefty price, but the Boys can absolutely compete in the East if they can just get some offense going.

18. :Falcons: (3-4): (+3): Atlanta is looking up at both Carolina and the Saints in the NFC South, three games back from the lead. They absolutely must take the next two matchups versus those division rivals to have any shot at climbing back into this one. 

19. :Lions: (3-4) (+5): Detroit has won 2 of their last three games, but losing to Seattle hurts. It was a game the Lions really needed to take, though with the NFC North all neck and neck, they are still in prime position to make a run.

20. :Titans: (3-4) (-16): Tennessee had a great shot at taking a game from the Chargers in London, but couldn't quite seal the deal. The run-game has got to step up for the Titans to take some of the pressure off of Mariota's shoulders.

21. :jags: (3-5): (-16): There was a lot of talk about the Jags finishing what they missed out on last year. I think they forgot the NFL never gives you anything. Losers of four straight, Jacksonville is in full blown desperation mode, looking up at both the Titans and Texans in the AFC South.

22. :Colts: (3-5) (+4): The AFC South comes in nearly all back to back, as the Colts find themselves right back in the thick of things at 3-5. Only two games behind Houston, the Colts could easily storm right back into the division race.

23. :Broncos: (3-5): (-8): Denver is likely out of things at the midway point, losers of three of their past four and simply too far back to catch Los Angeles and KC, especially with the latter having two wins in head to head matchups.

24. :dolphins: (4-4) (-7): Losers of 3 of their last four, the Fins do boast an OT win over the Bears. But this team has an easy schedule and will probably end up 8-8 or even 9-7 despite not being all that good. Some of the pieces are there for future seasons, but at least one of those pieces wants out in a bad way. 

25. :Bucs: (3-4) (-3): Fitzmagic returned on Sunday versus the Bengals, but it wasn't quite enough to dig the Bucs out of the four-INT hole that Winston had put them in. It will be very very interesting to see if Tampa gives Winston a $20 million/year contract in the offseason, and I'm unsure how much less than that he would take.

26. :Jets: (3-5) (+2): New York has played some really good games, (the absolute dismantling of Denver comes to mind), and some really bad ones. They're not going to be going to the postseason this year, but Sam Darnold gives them promise for the future. Get the man some weapons and let him see what he can do.

27. :Browns: (2-5-1) (-4): Cleveland has at least been very entertaining this season, though Sunday's domination by Pittsburgh showed this team still has quite a ways to go to be competitive. Baker Mayfield is electric, the Browns might want to try to move Tyrod to get some compensation for him. Jacksonville might be interested.

28. :Bills: (2-6) (+2): Buffalo's season is toast at the midway point, they need to just let Josh Allen let it rip for the rest of the season and see what they've got at this point.

29. :Cardinals: (2-6) (+3): Arizona has won two games, but both of them were against the Niners, who are bringing up the rear in our midseason power rankings. Josh Rosen has been up and down as a rookie starter, but he essentially just has Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson as weapons on offense.

30. :Raiders: (1-6) (+1): Oakland fell to the Colts in a high scoring affair, another game where the Raiders could have used the services of Khalil Mack. However it is tough to imagine one DE being able to turn this team into a contender, so perhaps Gruden is right not to overpay for him when the Raiders need a rebuild before being a viable contender. Getting a first round pick for Amari Cooper honestly seems like a good trade to me, I don't think he was playing up to his first round status.

31. :Giants: (1-7) (-5): The Giants played Carolina tough, but outside of that one offensive attack, their offense has been extremely stagnant save for OBJ making insane catches and Saquon Barkley trying his best to win his team the game single handed. Barkley has been amazing, but when your QB can't get anything going at all, it's hard for a RB to carry the team. This should probably be Eli's last year.

32. :49ers: (1-7) (-3): San Fran's season went into the tank with Jimmy G's injury, and now you almost want to lose a lot of games to give him some more help next season. They played GB competitive on Monday Night, which was a surprise, but they simply dont have the talent to compete every week.

Edited by Thanatos
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1) Rams

2) Chiefs

3) Patriots

4) Saints

5) Chargers

6) everybody else

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Don't really get how LAC is above Carolina or Washington. LAC has beaten no one, and got handled by both the Chiefs and the Rams. Carolina dominated Baltimore from the word go and came back from 17-0 to nearly beat Washington and the finished the comeback versus Philly. Meanwhile the Skins have some puzzling losses (to Indy and then the blowout to NO), but overall have a far more impressive resume than the Chargers, IMO.

Edited by Thanatos

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