Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

[Mitchy moo]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/powerRankings NFL Power Rankings Week 2
Rk	Team	Last Wk	Rise/Fall	High/Low	Comment
1	Patriots	1	-	1/1	After watching another systematic dismantling last Thursday in their Oakland opener, as I type no team in the league seems prepared to match the execution exercises of Tom Brady and the Patriots each week. After taking the Raiders’ best first-half shots, the coaching staff made the necessary adjustments and started pushing the Raiders’ O-line around at will. Give New England’s new-look coaching staff an ‘A’ in their debut.
2	Colts	3	(+1)	2/3	While we should certainly take a near-shutout of the Baltimore Bollers (sounds like a CBA team) with a grain of salt or three, there was plenty to like about Tony Dungy’s new and improved defense. The addition of Pro Bowl DT Corey Simon helped, but he only played 30 snaps. It was youngsters like Larry Tripplett (two sacks) who helped bottle up the Ravens and Jamal Lewis. Peyton and Co. played conservatively against the Ravens’ 46 defense. Their real opener comes this week. Brace yourselves.
3	Bills	5	(+2)	3/5	I feel Steeler Nation collectively frothing at the mouth. I get your e-mails and know your Steelers beat the Bills in the season finale last year. Guess what: It’s 2005, and I believe this Bills team has all the ingredients to make a deep playoff run. Awesome defense and special teams. Save a spot on the Pro Bowl for Willis McGahee. Plus there’s juicy receiver fruit to pick from for rookie QB J.P.Losman that will only get better once speedster Roscoe Parrish returns from injury.

[DMBcrew36]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

wow... im surprised we're ranked that high.. go bills

[Throne Logic]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

We'll see how things go with Tampa Bay. I think 3 is a little high for this team at this stage. The offense needs to be able to put up TD's to justify this ranking.

[BillsOverDolphins]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

way too high for us...the other polls have us at 9, which is about right after 1 week of play. Unless our offense shows improvement(which will be doubtful against TB's D), than we don't belong that high.

[Mitchy moo]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

We'll see how things go with Tampa Bay. I think 3 is a little high for this team at this stage. The offense needs to be able to put up TD's to justify this ranking.

You maybe right but:

1. NE scored 30 points-gave up 20 points & gave up 351 TOTAL NET YARDS

2. Indy scored 24 POINTS gave up 7 points & gave up 401 TOTAL NET YARDS TO THAT PROFILIC SCORING MACHINE BALTIMORE (NOT)

3. Bills scored 22 and gave up 7 points & gave up 120 TOTAL NET YARDS.


If the raiders, baltimore, or houston all played each other at a neutral site, I would take houston just based on talent alone.

We gave up ~65% less total yards to similiar opponents, so I feel the Bills deserve that ranking or better based on that performance.

[Mitchy moo]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

You maybe right but:

1. NE scored 30 points-gave up 20 points & gave up 351 TOTAL NET YARDS

2. Indy scored 24 POINTS gave up 7 points & gave up 401 TOTAL NET YARDS TO THAT PROFILIC SCORING MACHINE BALTIMORE (NOT)

3. Bills scored 22 and gave up 7 points & gave up 120 TOTAL NET YARDS.


If the raiders, baltimore, or houston all played each other at a neutral site, I would take houston just based on talent alone.

We gave up ~65% less total yards to similiar opponents, so I feel the Bills deserve that ranking or better based on that performance.

Titans took 303 TOTAL NET YARDS from Pittsburgh, for those who argue for 4th.

Eagles took 301 TOTAL NET YARDS from atlanta's vaulted D (Philly looked inept all game and really didn't do anything but still got 301)

So in the top 5 teams here, who had the best total performance?? I would say the Bills easily based on combining all sets of stats & yardages.

[ublinkwescore]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

I think we'll fare well against the Bucs. We have two great recievers outside that will make teams pay all year long if they try to 'Houston' us early in the game, and if they play back like houston did, our O line will be able to open the holes for McGahee.

It's like McGahee said - defenses are gonna pretty much have to pick their poison with this O.

[MTBillsFan]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

WOW!! Much better than ESPN...eagles 0-1 with a poor performance in the top 10?

[vicmantak]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

I don't know but it seems to be realistic. This power rankings are a personal point of view (Adrian Hasenmayer) and have dramatical changes week by week --- but there are only a few teams that are not difficult to figure ahead of the Bills like Steelers, Chiefs and maybe Chargers, Vikings and Eagles with the Pats and Colts obviously included.

I would say Bills on the top 10... something that is really GREAT...

[Typ0]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

it's impossible to really tell what a team has until mid-season.

[Typ0]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

well...you can tell what they have. The question is how will they use it.

[Jan Reimers]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

Nice to get some recognition, but definitely too high at this point in the season, particularly with JP having only one start under his belt.

It might be an appropriate rating at midseason, if JP continues to build on his debut.

[don137]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

I agree it is too high...With that said, I do have to agree that the offense will get better once Roscoe Parrish comes back...This team has the foundation of something special however I think JP is too young to get too excited just yet. He will incur growing pains.
The difference between this year and recent years is I feel this team can win any game on its schedule(maybe with the exception of at NE).
This defense is something to cherish just like the Bills offense of the early 90's.

[Mitchy moo]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

I agree it is too high...With that said, I do have to agree that the offense will get better once Roscoe Parrish comes back...This team has the foundation of something special however I think JP is too young to get too excited just yet. He will incur growing pains.
The difference between this year and recent years is I feel this team can win any game on its schedule(maybe with the exception of at NE).
This defense is something to cherish just like the Bills offense of the early 90's.

Our first QB that played us this year:

This is as helpless as I've felt playing quarterback since I've been in the third grade," Carr said after the Texans managed only 120 yards and 11 first downs against a plundering unit that now invades Tampa for Sunday's home opener.

Yeah I think the D' might have sent a message there.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Re: Bills ranked 3rd on Fox power rankings!

If you base it on how the teams performed in their first games, OK, but, if you are looking at the longer haul, I think it is a bit high.

There are five things that I would have to see before I can put the Bills in the top 5: 1.) JP would have to play as well or better than he did in the opener on a consistent basis (at least string a couple of good games, home and away together); 2.) the defense would have to shut down a couple of offenses with more weapons than Houston has (Carr, Davis and A.Johnson are good, but they don't have anyone else to threaten you--NO, KC, SD, NE, even TB, Carolina and Oakland have multiple threats on offense); 3.) the offense has to be more efficient in the red zone--converting 20% into TDs won't get it done against the elite teams; 4.) the whole team has to cut down on penalties--if you commit 10 penalties a game, sooner or later it is going to catch up to you; 5.) the Bills win a couple of road games--to be a serious playoff contender, let alone an elite team, you have to be able to win on the road.

All those things are doable and, if the Bills can do those five things, they will truly deserve to be ranked as one of the top 5 teams in the NFL.