I am sitting here like a kid at Christmas waiting for the ESPN Week 3 power rankings to come out today. After closely watching these rankings for years I am convinced more than ever they are beyond biased. The juggling of the AFC East in the rankings last week was a joke. Week One we saw the Jets, Patriots and Dolphins raked 9, 10 and 11 respectively. I was surprised to see the Jets ranked ahead of the ESPN darlings, the New England Patriots.
As week one went in the books we saw the Jets losing to the Ravens in an embarrassing fashion. This sent the Jets from 9 to 11 in the rankings. The Patriots won but gave up 345 yards to Carson Palmer who completed 34 of his 50 throws. The Pats defense looked horrible. Still ESPN rocketed Belichicks Patriots to 4 in the power rankings. 4th?
The Dolphins won their opener against the Buffalo Bills and sank in the rankings lower than the Jets. the Miami Dolphins slid from 11 to 15th. The reasoning for this said John “Gollum” Clayton is “To barely win in Buffalo isn’t a great start for the Dolphins”.
After Sunday’s outings the Patriots defense has truly been exposed. the Patriots offensive line that I told you a month ago that was “no more protection than wet toilet paper“ proved me correct. Making things more interesting the Miami Dolphins embarrassed Brett Favre’s Vikings in their home opener.
I am wondering if 2- 0 and being at the top of the toughest division in football is enough for “Gollum” Clayton. So I wait with baited breath to see what ESPN does this afternoon. Will they simply swap the Patriots and the Dolphins in the rankings? Or will they drop the Dolphins another 4 spots because they only beat an aging Quarterback.
So it all comes out in the wash on Sunday. Mark Sanchez and the Jets faces Miami’s Mike Nolan defense anchored by Karlos Dansby. My opinion of Mark Sanchez? He isn’t as good as he looked on Sunday. The Patriots defense is really that bad. I predict Mark Sanchez will throw more picks on Sunday than he has all season.
This week the Patriots face division foe Buffalo who are hungry for a win and will try with all their heart to exploit New England’s inability to stop the run. If the Patriots can’t walk away with a win on Sunday it will be very interesting to see where they land on the power rankings on Week 4. Even if they do win “To barely win in Buffalo isn’t a great start for the Patriots”.
